0043 : Demon Subduing Hall
During my time living on Mount Huang, I became aware that there were three types of venomous snakes inhabiting the area. There might actually be more, but the only ones I could confidently identify their habitats and remember their characteristics were these three species. When I mentioned this to Mangnyang during my fifth reincarnation, he said,
[They are the Black Headed Snake, the Blue Snake, and the Fat Snake. In that case, focus on capturing the Black Headed Snake.]
[Why is that?]
[The Blue Snake is nearly non-venomous, and while the Fat Snake possesses strong venom, its toxicity is limited and cannot be made water-soluble.]
At that time, Mangnyang and I were discussing the production of Nerve Poison. We were concocting a plan to poison a well as a method to subdue the fanatical villagers, and I had learned the Nerve Poison Manufacturing Technique from Mangnyang for that purpose.
Moreover, Mangnyang added,
[The venom of the Black Headed Snake is a suitable potent poison and a kind of nerve poison, and if mixed with the Flame Poison generated in an enclosed environment, it will create an extraordinarily powerful nerve poison. If it can be dissolved in water over a full day and night, then a water-soluble nerve poison will be produced.]
[Flame Poison? What is that?]
[Poison is not limited to just nerve poisons; there are various types. There exists a very fine fungus invisible to the human eye, and among those, the bacteria have distinct characteristics different from animal poisons.
Among these bacteria, there are certain types that despise the air we breathe, and one of these is known as Decay Poison. This has an incredibly strong toxicity, easily surpassing most animal venoms.]
[Are you referring to Corpse Poison?]
[Not much different. The key difference is that while it originates from corpses, it can also be artificially harvested, such as from decayed food or animal waste. Scholars collectively refer to these as Flame Poison. The term Corpse Poison is primarily used by martial artists.]
After that explanation, Mangnyang continued,
[The venom from about ten Black Headed Snakes would likely be enough to incapacitate around 200 people. If you wish to reinforce the Nerve Poison further, gather it and bring it to me. I can mix it with Decay Poison in my workshop to quickly create a more potent water-soluble nerve poison.]
[How strong will the finished poison be?]
[It will be extremely powerful. It can knock out nerves themselves and is occasionally used in the purification rituals of certain masters. When used wisely, it can even slow down the aging of the skin, so you can imagine how potent it is.]
Mangnyang let out a bitter laugh.
[You understand now why I named it Flame Poison, right? It’s because of its toxicity, strong enough to burn the human soul.]
I needed to capture at least ten Black Headed Snakes and extract their venom into a small bottle. I was resolute about preventing human sacrifices at this point. Furthermore, I had to seek out Mangnyang; even though I possessed enough knowledge to create Nerve Poison by myself, I needed his workshop to enhance it.
To sustain anaerobic bacteria, conventional preservation methods in the natural world wouldn’t suffice. Mangnyang had always shown an interest in poisons and had set up a special workshop behind his hut, where he created various poisons. If I borrowed that facility, I could likely complete the mixed nerve poison with ease.
Hiss hiss hiss!
I raised my energy and quickly scanned the surroundings of Mount Huang’s peaks. I made my way to the habitat where I knew the Black Headed Snakes resided, carefully searching beneath rocks and near the valleys. They sometimes hid in the underbrush, so I searched meticulously.
‘Found it!’
I could see a Black Headed Snake raising its dark head in alertness. I picked up a small pebble from the ground and knocked it out.
Afterwards, I skillfully placed the unconscious Black Headed Snake into my bag. In fact, during my time living alone on Mount Huang, I had learned various tricks from snake hunters, which made this possible. I wasn’t a professional snake hunter, but I could manage a good enough job.
I spent the entire day hunting Black Headed Snakes on Mount Huang. In total, I managed to catch six of them. Carefully examining the captured snakes, I inspected their venom sacs. Once I identified them, I made an incision to extract the venom. It seemed that the Black Headed Snake could survive even if its venom sacs were cut, unlike other snakes that are more directly connected to their survival mechanisms. After draining the venom, I released the Black Headed Snakes back into the wild.
Watching the snakes flee swiftly, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly. I used to enjoy eating snake meat, grilling it occasionally; however, according to Mangnyang, snakes are infested with parasites and shouldn’t be consumed indiscriminately. Fortunately, my profound inner energy enabled me to burn away the parasites, but still, it was clear that wild boar would be a much better option for eating.
It wasn’t until the following afternoon that I finished extracting the venom from the Black Headed Snakes. Including the previous day’s work, I had gathered venom from a total of 15 snakes into a small bottle. Although the amount wasn’t substantial enough to fill even half the bottle, I felt confident that it would be sufficient.
As I prepared to leave Mount Huang and head to the lower village to see Mangnyang, I suddenly heard a noise.
“Halt!”
“……”
Descending from the mountain peaks, I found numerous martial artists in yellow attire clustered on the road to the lower village. They all bore swords and were intensely vigilant of me. Leading them were four individuals who exhibited remarkable martial arts skills.
Upon recognizing the face of the cold-faced swordsman Gongja among the four, I immediately grasped the situation.
‘Oh no… these are experts from the Huangshan Sect.’
In fact, it seemed that four Elders and a number of inner disciples from the Huangshan Sect had assembled! Judging by their presence, it was safe to say that over 70% of the sect’s strength was gathered in this spot.
They likely chose to wait in the lower village instead of scouring the 72 peaks of Mount Huang for me. I had never imagined that they would be waiting like this, leaving me in a vulnerable situation. I decided to respond directly to the one at the forefront, shooting a sound transmission.
[What’s this about? I’m just passing through after finishing my tour of Mount Huang.]
“I’ve heard that there are three Guardian Dharma Warriors of the White Lotus Sect. May I know your alias?”
[……]
I realized that things had taken a turn for the worse. While they couldn’t possibly know that I had fabricated my identity as a Guardian Dharma Warrior, the fact that they were so straightforwardly probing my identity was not a good sign. It implied they believed I was a Guardian Dharma Warrior and had come to challenge me.
After all, how would I know the aliases of the White Lotus Sect’s Guardians? So, feigning displeasure, I raised my voice.
[How absurd! Are you truly trying to intimidate a traveler in the martial world like this?]
With a mighty roar, I amplified my voice further than usual, intending for all present to hear. This technique, which converts a quiet voice into a sound that reaches the desired target, consumed a significant amount of my inner energy. However, it created a gust of fierce wind that swirled through the area, causing the Huangshan Sect disciples to stagger.
“Ugh!”
“Amazing… such profound inner energy…”
The disciples of the Huangshan Sect were visibly shaken, struggling to maintain their composure as they stared fearfully at me. One of the Elders, looking somewhat displeased, stepped forward and cupped his hands in a martial salute.
“I am Ma Lei, the Elder of the Huangshan Sect. I apologize for the imposition, but we wish to inquire about your identity due to our headmaster’s desire to meet the Guardian Dharma Warrior of the White Lotus Sect in person.”
[In person? That’s an absurd thing to say! I have no business with the Huangshan Sect.]
“Hmm…”
At that moment, Ma Lei, the Elder of the Huangshan Sect, appeared to take note of the atmosphere and discreetly sent me a sound transmission.
[It concerns the Wind Spirit Sect. I earnestly request that you consider it.]
“……?!”
I was taken aback. The sudden mention of an unexpected term caught me completely off guard.
‘The Wind Spirit Sect?’
The Wind Spirit Sect!
This refers to a martial art system developed based on the powers of wind and clouds, in contrast to the Thunder God Sect, which evolved its techniques from thunder energy. Among the various martial factions that existed within the White Lotus Sect, it was undoubtedly a pinnacle martial art, standing firmly in competition with the Thunder God Sect.
However, unlike the Thunder God Sect, it was known that the Wind Spirit Sect always sided with the sect leader and played a part during the purging of the Thunder God Sect. For this reason, Samjeol Lee Kwang often mentioned that he would not spare any practitioners of the Wind Spirit Sect.
But why was an Elder of the Huangshan Sect suddenly bringing up the Wind Spirit Sect?
Observing the situation, it seemed that the Huangshan Sect Elder assumed that if I were indeed the Guardian Dharma Warrior of the White Lotus Sect, I would [naturally] be informed about the Wind Spirit Sect. Furthermore, they seemed to believe that by mentioning it, I would be inclined to listen to their narrative. This indicated that there was undoubtedly some connection between the Huangshan Sect, the White Lotus Sect, and the Wind Spirit Sect.
As I remained silent, Ma Lei, the swordsman, seemed anxious and sent another sound transmission.
“I’ve heard that there is a master from the Wind Spirit Sect among the Guardian Dharma Warriors. If that is indeed you, our leader wishes to meet you personally. After all, there is a deep connection, is there not?”
I realized that the situation was unfolding interestingly.
‘In other words, the leader of the Huangshan Sect has a close relationship with the Guardian Dharma Warrior of the White Lotus Sect who has mastered the Wind Spirit techniques. They naturally think I would comply with their invitation… If that’s the case, this gathering is not meant to attack me, but rather to bring me along as respectfully as possible?’
I pondered whether it would be wise to follow them. I felt that I could extricate myself at any time, and I was curious about the relationship between the Wind Spirit Sect, the White Lotus Sect, and the Huangshan Sect. However, forcing myself to restrain my curiosity, I replied,
“I’m sorry, but I have matters to attend to and cannot afford the luxury of meeting him. However, I will consider meeting him after I’m done, so please wait.”
“When might that be?”
I deliberately sent the sound transmission as if annoyed.
“Must I specify that? Just wait!”
“Ah… understood.”
Ma Lei seemed resigned and accepted my response. He then whispered something to the three other Elders nearby before announcing to the disciples,
“Let’s head back!”
The disciples of the Huangshan Sect flickered their torches as they disappeared into the darkness. The villagers, watching from afar, murmured in confusion, but I had no intention of lingering there, so I quickly set off.
With a swift leap, I soared through the darkness while thinking,
‘Is there a connection between the Huangshan Sect and the Wind Spirit Sect? How should I interpret this?’
My mind was in disarray due to the sudden influx of information. Yet one thing was clear: I had grasped a clue, and after thwarting this human sacrifice plot, it would not be too late to approach the matter slowly. I considered secretly infiltrating the Huangshan Sect later to meet the leader.
No, perhaps there might be another way.
“Ah, never mind.”
Shaking my head, I accelerated my light body technique to soar over the mountain peaks. What mattered most now was saving time to reach Mangnyang. The more time I conserved, the higher the chance of my plan succeeding. I could not afford to be distracted when I needed to focus on this matter. I decided to think about the Huangshan Sect later.
After a few days of rapid travel, I finally arrived at Jinrang Valley, where Mangnyang resided. Due to the lack of sleep during the journey, my mind felt foggy, so I sat down at an inn in Jinrang Valley to recover both my stamina and vitality. It was unwise to engage in important discussions when my mind wasn’t clear.
As I headed to Mangnyang’s residence early in the morning, I found him lounging on a bench, singing a tune. Not too far from him was an empty dining table, indicating he had just finished eating and was enjoying a leisurely moment.
“Hey~ hey, what shall we do~”
“……”
“Quietly~ Let’s keep it that way.”
I suddenly revealed my presence.
“Mangnyang.”
“Uh… wh-wh-who are y-you?!”
Mangnyang let out a bizarre sound, startled as if his heart had dropped. It took him nearly half a moment to calm down from his panic. With a crimson face, he pounded his chest and coughed. After a while, he managed to regain his composure and said,
[I am… Mangnyang, who received divine insight from the Divine Site of True Martial…]
“No, that’s unnecessary. I already know all that.”
“……”
Mangnyang seemed awkward as he withdrew his dark cloud technique and transformation skill.
‘Hmm, what should I do now…’
I considered speaking to him as I had before. However, it felt like that wouldn’t lead to any progress, so I began to present the matter differently.
“Mangnyang, what would you do if such a situation arose?”
“What situation are you talking about?”
I spoke as if it were not my matter, recounting in detail my encounters with zealots and monsters. After listening for a while, Mangnyang suggested a solution.
“If I were you, I would poison the well.”
“I thought the same thing.”
I then handed him a small bottle containing the venom extracted from the Black Headed Snake.
“Here is the venom from fifteen Black Headed Snakes. If you take this, you should be able to mix it with Flame Poison to create a water-soluble Nerve Poison.”
“……!!”
Mangnyang was genuinely surprised. He took the small bottle and stared at it blankly before speaking.
“Who exactly are you? You seem very knowledgeable about poisons; how did you come to know and seek me out?”
“What’s important is not that. The tragedy I mentioned is bound to happen soon, and you and I can prevent it. Those individuals are planning to do the same thing again.”
“Hmm.”
“If you help me, I will give you all of this.”
Thud.
At the same time, I placed the silver ingot I brought from the village chief’s house on the table. I had used one ingot for travel expenses, but its intrinsic value alone was comparable to a considerable treasure. Stunned, Mangnyang opened the box to examine the ingots and spoke in disbelief.
“Hmm… this is more than enough as a reward.”
“How long will it take?”
“Probably a day… or at most two.”
“Understood. I will wait in the side room. I will pay for the accommodation separately.”
“……”
Just then, Mangnyang suddenly called out to me.
“Wait a moment.”
“What is it?”
“I want to accompany you to that village.”
Surprised by Mangnyang’s firm resolve, I exclaimed,
“No way. It’s extremely dangerous there, and I can’t afford to look after someone without any martial arts skills.”
Mangnyang shook his head.
“Hmm… No, I think the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
Looking closely, Mangnyang wore an expression akin to having discovered an amusing toy. He was evidently very interested in this matter. He grinned and said,
“Somehow, after hearing your words, I feel like I could uncover the [truth] that you might have missed.”
“What on earth is that?”
“It’s just a hunch.”
Mangnyang shrugged.
“Honestly, I could just stay here safely with this money. The choice is yours.”
I pondered.
Should I accept Mangnyang’s suggestion and take him to the village of the tragedy?
After a brief deliberation, I nodded.
“Alright.”
“Great. I’m counting on you.”
At worst, it was worth a try.
And there was an intangible trust that Mangnyang might uncover something, which bolstered my decision.
