Chapter 336

Do Yeon-san gently caressed Tang Ikgi’s cheek.

Tang Ikgi felt goosebumps rise all over his body. But his body was paralyzed, and he couldn’t push Do Yeon-san’s hand away.

‘This crazy bastard…’

Tang Ikgi realized that the look in Do Yeon-san’s eyes was not normal.

It was filled with a madness he had never seen before.

Do Yeon-san picked up Tang Ikgi and laid him down in a small boat. Then, he began to row toward the island that was his hideout.

Kkiiik! Kkik!

Every time he rowed, the friction of the wood created a chilling sound. Tang Ikgi’s body flinched each time.

Do Yeon-san muttered as he rowed.

“Too easy. To think it was this easy…”

It was Do Yeon-san who had thrown the mineral that released poison smoke into the well.

Do Yeon-san had made a great deal of preparations for this. But despite his preparations, entering the Cheolsan Manor had not been that difficult.

When they arrived pulling a night-soil cart, they were let in without even being checked.

He had always thought of the Cheolsan Manor and the workshop he belonged to as great fortresses, but it turned out they were all just for show.

Once inside the Cheolsan Manor, there was nothing to stop him.

They wouldn’t even come near him, saying he smelled of feces. Even the martial artists in charge of security.

Do Yeon-san wandered through the Cheolsan Manor as if it were deserted. And he found out where Tang Ikgi’s residence was.

After that, it was just as everyone knew.

He threw the poison-emitting mineral into the well to create chaos. And in the midst of the chaos, he subdued Tang Ikgi.

The needle stuck in Tang Ikgi’s neck was it.

It was beyond his skill to create a complex object like the hidden weapons of the old Tang Clan. But making a simple hidden weapon was not that difficult.

He put a spring inside a small cylinder and made it so that a needle would fire just by pressing a trigger mechanism. And on the needle, he coated a poison made by diluting the mineral.

The poison created when the mineral touched water was so deadly that a single sip could stop one’s breath. Diluting such a potent poison was not an easy task.

To find the right dosage, Do Yeon-san conducted numerous experiments, and eventually, he was able to figure out the appropriate amount.

Do Yeon-san had a natural talent for poison.

He realized this fact while handling the unknown mineral that emitted poison. He understood how to maximize the poison’s effect and how to control its effects at will.

It was not something that could be done just by being taught.

The death of his parents and younger sibling had brought out his latent talent.

Thump!

The boat finally reached the small island.

Do Yeon-san grunted as he dragged Tang Ikgi out.

He tied Tang Ikgi’s body to a large nearby rock.

By then, vitality was slowly beginning to return to Tang Ikgi’s body. The poison had been somewhat neutralized. But by then, he was already thoroughly bound.

Tang Ikgi shouted while tied up.

“You bastard! What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy? Untie me now. I’ll forgive you for everything.”

“Who’s forgiving whom?”

“What?”

“Who’s forgiving whom? You, me?”

“You crazy bastard! Have you lost your mind?”

“You’re the one who made me lose my mind.”

“Is it because I set fire to the hut? I had no choice. I’ll compensate you.”

“No choice? I couldn’t even recover my mom and dad’s bodies. Hehe! How amusing!”

Do Yeon-san chuckled.

In contrast, Tang Ikgi’s face turned deathly pale. He sensed that Do Yeon-san’s madness was no small matter.

Do Yeon-san took something out from his clothes.

It was a bundle of Feather Needles wrapped in cloth.

There was a whole bundle of Feather Needles, as thin as cow’s hair.

Feather Needles were what Do Yeon-san was best at making. He displayed his greatest ability when making delicate objects like Feather Needles.

Do Yeon-san picked up a Feather Needle and waved it in front of Tang Ikgi.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Feather Needles?”

“That’s right. But they’re not ordinary Feather Needles.”

“What?”

“They’re refined from the mineral that came into the workshop. Ah, the Young Master wouldn’t know, would he? What kind of mineral it is? It was brought in from somewhere in the Outer Regions. To be used for making weapons. But you see, it emits poison smoke when it touches water. Unbelievable, right? That such a mineral exists in the world. But it really does. You can believe me. The thing I used to bring the Young Master here was a part of that mineral.”

“Crazy bastard!”

“That’s right! I am crazy. Oh, by the way, I named the poison that’s generated when that mineral dissolves in water ‘Mad Blood Poison.’ It fits, doesn’t it?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Just untie me already.”

“What are you talking about? We’re just getting started.”

“Starting what?”

“Revenge!”

Do Yeon-san stuck the Feather Needle into Tang Ikgi’s blood vessel.

The Feather Needle dissolved instantly upon touching the blood.

“Kraaack!”

Tang Ikgi let out a horrific scream.

The Feather Needle itself was essentially Mad Blood Poison. As the Mad Blood Poison flowed through his blood vessels, he felt excruciating pain.

He screamed continuously and struggled. But the ropes binding his body did not loosen and only tightened around him more strongly.

Do Yeon-san muttered as he watched Tang Ikgi writhe in pain.

“My mom and dad must have been like that, too. They must have been in as much pain as you are. How would it feel to have to go so miserably, leaving your children behind? They couldn’t close their eyes even in death. They must have been worried about their children. But I couldn’t even recover their bodies. Because of you…”

“Kaaah! I was wrong. Let me live!”

Tang Ikgi begged for forgiveness, but Do Yeon-san shook his head.

“It’s too late. I have nothing left now. Not a single thing…”

“Ugh!”

Stab!

Do Yeon-san stuck another Feather Needle into Tang Ikgi’s body. This time too, the Feather Needle dissolved in the blood.

“Kraaaack!”

Tang Ikgi let out a horrific scream.

All the blood vessels in his body bulged out. The sight of black blood swirling along the vessels was visible to the naked eye.

The pain was so great that he just wanted to die. But his whole body was stiffened by the Mad Blood Poison, making even that impossible.

Do Yeon-san squatted down in front of Tang Ikgi.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? It’s hard, isn’t it? I was like that too. Every time you beat me for no reason, it hurt so much I wanted to die.”

“Just kill me. Just…”

“I’ll kill you even if you don’t beg like that. If you just answer my question. Tell me everything you know about Jo Igwang. That man’s sexual preferences, secret places, everything you know…”

“Why… Jo Igwang?”

“You seem to have the leisure to ask questions.”

Do Yeon-san picked up another Feather Needle. At that, Tang Ikgi, terrified, spilled everything he knew.

“In my entire life, I’ve never seen a bastard as two-faced as him. On the outside, he pretends to be purer and nobler than anyone, but everyone knows how filthy he is.”

Do Yeon-san listened intently to Tang Ikgi’s words.

Wanting to be freed from the pain, Tang Ikgi confessed everything he knew.

“Now kill me! Please…”

“I will.”

Do Yeon-san smiled and picked up the remaining Feather Needles.

“Ah, no!”

A look of terror dawned on Tang Ikgi’s face.

He had been hoping for a painless death. But Do Yeon-san, without a care, shoved all the remaining Feather Needles into Tang Ikgi’s body.

“Uwaaaack!”

Tang Ikgi’s horrific scream echoed across the desolate island.

Feeling extreme agony, Tang Ikgi died.

As soon as his breath stopped, his body began to decay rapidly.

Only then did Do Yeon-san get up.

“Hehehe! Sob!”

Suddenly, he laughed like a madman, then cried again.

＊＊＊

The Cheolsan Manor turned into a land of death overnight.

Even though Pyo Wol had collapsed the well to stop the spread, the Poison Qi continued to leak out little by little.

The people inside the Cheolsan Manor had to hastily recover their comrades’ bodies and get out.

If the incident had simply ended there, it could have been managed.

The problem was that the master of the Cheolsan Manor, Tang Cheolsan, had lost his life, and the whereabouts of the young master, Tang Ikgi, were unknown.

At the very moment the unknown poison was spreading from the well, Tang Cheolsan lost his life, and Tang Ikgi was abducted by someone.

Because of this, there was no one to take charge, and the Cheolsan Manor fell into chaos.

With the fall of the Cheolsan Manor following the Sword Flower Pavilion, people’s eyes turned to Pyo Wol. They were curious whether Pyo Wol was involved in the fall of the Cheolsan Manor. But since no evidence was found that he had killed Tang Cheolsan, they could not question him.

The people of the Cheolsan Manor searched for Tang Ikgi.

Since the Manor Lord, Tang Cheolsan, was dead, they thought the young master, Tang Ikgi, should lead the Cheolsan Manor. But Tang Ikgi was nowhere to be found.

It was only natural.

Do Yeon-san had not left Tang Ikgi’s body behind.

It wasn’t that he intentionally didn’t leave it, but rather that it had melted away from the Mad Blood Poison.

Tang Ikgi, turned into a handful of poisonous water, had vanished without a trace.

“Huu! Huu!”

Do Yeon-san let out a bizarre breath.

He had achieved something akin to revenge, but he didn’t feel any better.

It was because he had not yet exacted his true revenge.

The culprit behind this whole situation still remained.

“Jo Igwang!”

Do Yeon-san ground his teeth.

Overnight, his appearance had changed drastically.

Perhaps due to exposure to the Poison Qi, his hair had turned completely white, and a Ghostly Aura flickered in his eyes.

His skin was slowly rotting away, but Do Yeon-san didn’t care.

Clang! Clang!

He hammered away like a madman.

He had realized it for certain when he abducted Tang Ikgi.

That the hidden weapon he made was powerful.

To fire the Feather Needles more efficiently, a more refined trigger mechanism was needed.

Inspiration was gushing forth in Do Yeon-san’s mind like crazy.

It was as if an unseen being was directly injecting knowledge into his head.

Ghostly Aura flowed from Do Yeon-san’s body as he hammered. But Do Yeon-san did not notice this fact.

His mind was filled with only one thought: he must have revenge.

Clang! Claaang!

The sound of hammering was like the playing of an instrument.

Madness and Ghostly Aura spread out, contained in the deep resonance.

Every time Do Yeon-san hammered, ripples formed on the surface of Tai Lake.

It was then.

The ripples that were spreading far and wide were stopped by someone’s feet and disappeared.

Someone was standing on the calm surface of the water.

The sight of the man standing on the water, defying the natural fact that people cannot walk on water, was extremely bizarre.

The face beneath his disheveled hair was covered by a half-broken mask, and from between the mask, his two eyes shimmered with a terrifying Ghostly Aura.

His clothes were tattered like rags, and not a speck of life could be felt in his gaunt hands.

The grotesque man wasn’t even wearing shoes, and his toenails were as sharp as a bird’s talons.

The grotesque man stood blankly on the water’s surface and looked around Tai Lake.

Claaang! Clang!

A faint sound of hammering reached his ears.

The grotesque man walked toward the source of the hammering sound.

As if possessed by something.

The place the grotesque man finally arrived at was the small island where Do Yeon-san was hiding.

Unaware of the grotesque man’s appearance, Do Yeon-san focused on his hammering.

The grotesque man climbed onto a high rock behind Do Yeon-san. And he watched Do Yeon-san hammering.

The more he hammered, the thicker the Ghostly Aura surrounding Do Yeon-san’s body became.

For a moment, a blood-red light tinged with Ghostly Aura flickered in the grotesque man’s eyes.

The grotesque man smelled the same scent on Do Yeon-san as himself.

A scent that only those who had fallen to the very bottom could possess.

The more Do Yeon-san hammered, the thicker the ghostly scent became. That scent drew the grotesque man’s heart.

That was the reason the grotesque man had come here.

A being of the same kind as himself had drawn him in.

Suddenly, the grotesque man raised his head and looked into the empty air.

Something was tickling his senses.

The blood-red light in the grotesque man’s eyes grew thicker.

In an instant, an formless Qi spread out from beneath his feet.

The formless Qi spread throughout the entire island and then covered it in a hemispherical shape.

The island was completely cut off from the outside.

Do Yeon-san’s Ghostly Aura and the sound of his hammering were completely blocked. But Do Yeon-san, engrossed in his hammering, did not notice this fact.

The grotesque man sat down on the rock and watched Do Yeon-san’s back for a long time.

Patter-patter!

Rain began to fall on the hemispherical barrier.