157

Chapter 157 - Inevitability - 1

If the opponent has finished preparing, it's better to avoid conflict.

This is a principle martial artists in the Murim keep in mind when facing those who wield poison and hidden weapons. If an enemy proficient in poison and hidden weapons is well-prepared and at a distance, one must be ready to sustain significant injury to win.

Dang Geo Ho and the men in black robes had, for this reason, previously forced the bandits to deplete a large amount of the poison and hidden weapons that the enemy possessed.

The men in black robes observed the adversary, Ui-gak, who had finished his battle preparations, but they were unable to make a move hastily because of the depleted poisons and weapons—therein lay their disadvantage.

"Considering the noise they made, these cowards are truly pathetic."

Always talking big. Those who are too afraid of the public eye to achieve greatness. The fear seeping through as their poison and weapons run out is evident. Dang Geo Ho sneered at the unmoving Ui-gak.

"Our preparations are also complete."

One of the men in black robes spoke to Dang Geo Ho.

"There's no need to refuse when they're giving us the lead."

With a nod from Dang Geo Ho, the front-liners in black robes leaped towards Ui-gak.

Although the men in black robes charged at Ui-gak, no hidden weapons came flying at them.

The front line, adept in external martial arts, would not easily be impaled by common hidden weapons. Nonetheless, the absence of any signs of attack as they continued their charge assured the men in black robes of their victory.

Their strategy had indeed succeeded. They surged into the middle of Ui-gak's camp to disrupt his ranks, while the second line would swoop in for cleanup.

Suddenly, the men clad in black robes were but ten steps away from Ui-gak. They were confident of their victory.

"Fire. All units."

These quiet words from the leader of Ui-gak preceded the chaos.

"Kuk!"

"Keuk!"

The blossom of hidden weapons unfurled. Numerous flowers were 'planted' into the black vase of the enemy, and the ones intended to serve as the flowers could not take a few steps before falling.

The men in black robes had presumed that the hidden weapons were exhausted and could no longer be thrown. In truth, it was the scheme of the leader of Ui-gak, who had waited for the effective killing range due to a lack of weapons.

"Kuk! Break through!"

"The left side is exposed!" 

The surviving men of the front line surged into the less defended left flank of Ui-gak's formation.

The leader of Ui-gak saw some of his men fall to the blade, but he trusted his prepared forces and focused on the approaching second line of the black-robed assailants.

"Spread the Dokjillyeo (독질려, poison-thorn-trap) before the second line arrives! Clean up the first line!"

"Chung!"

The Ui-gak warriors, who hadn't used their poison-coated caltrops in the chaotic battle with bandits, began to scatter them now.

"Ugh! My foot!"

The second line of men in black robes halted their charge instantly upon the deployment of the poison-thorn-trap. Ui-gak used this moment to eradicate the invaders of the first line.

"We can't let the entire first line die. I'll scatter the poison!"

A man with purple strands of hair peering out from his black robes, having observed the situation from behind, hastily communicated with Dang Geo Ho.

"Do as you please."

"The second line, retreat! Since the wind is blowing towards Ui-gak, spread the poison mist!"

The men with purple hair burst forward, emitting a suspicious smoke.

"Before poison mist comes this way, we must capture those scoundrels from the Dang family!"

The leader of Ui-gak shouted, watching the smoky vapor rise.

"The poison smoke is too dangerous. We can't go through it to get to their camp!"

The warriors of Ui-gak realized to strike down the traitorous smoke-bearers, they would have to contend with the attacks from the men in black and the risk of intoxication.

"Keuk!"

Defending their position, the order to attack the traitors was essentially a command to die alongside them. The leader of Ui-gak swallowed his frustration while glaring at the traitors.

That's when it happened.

"Kuk!"

An unnoticed hidden weapon pierced the neck of a man in black with purple hair.

"What, what is this? How can there be someone moving within the poison smoke?"

Stunned, the man in black watched a figure walking out of the lethal mist that no one from the Dang family could possibly survive in.

"Poison doesn't affect me."

Emerging through the poison smoke was none other than Dang Hwa Rin.

"It's a poison expert! She's appeared out of the mist!"

"Dang Hwa Rin! Capture that girl!"

"But not everyone here is from the Dang family. How do you propose capturing anyone while they hide within the poison smoke?"

"Help me!"

Dang Hwa Rin, regardless of the black-robed men's panic, weaved through the poison smoke, taking down traitors from the Dang family, then returned to her own camp.

"I'm back."

"Hwarin. Are you okay?"

"Cook cook. Were you worried?"

The leader of Ui-gak got a hapless look at their brief but absurd affection, then turned his attention back to the men in black.

Fortunately, the poison smoke no longer spread and now acted as a river, stopping the two camps from intersecting. The arsenal of hidden weapons was nearly exploited to the last. To make full use of the remaining poison and hidden weapons, one had to be prepared for chaos.

"Prepare yourselves!"

How much blood of the Dang family would be shed? The leader of Ui-gak took out a weapon suited for the melee battle and hoped that not too much blood would be spilled.

"Kuk..."

To think they would resist to this extent. Dang Geo Ho looked at Ui-gak with consternation. After a momentary standoff, the mist finally cleared.

Dang Geo Ho could see, across to the other side, the empty weapon containers in their possession.

"Now! Charge!"

The men in black, with no obstructions remaining, stormed towards Ui-gak.

-----------

Just as the leader of Ui-gak had predicted, chaos ensued.

As the men in black robes collectively infiltrated the camp, casualties began to occur throughout.

Although the martial artists of the Dang family were not defenseless in close combat, as a medical division, Ui-gak naturally had many among them less attentive to such facets of fighting.

Of course, there were also warriors among them who were formidable in hand-to-hand combat.

"I will take you on myself!"

The golden whip wielded by the leader of Ui-gak struck down the men in black robes in a single blow.

"A Golden Dragon Whip? How comes an artifact of the Dang family to be here?"

The golden whip brandished by the leader of Ui-gak, made from the hide of a special spirit beast, had scales growing on it like those found on the skin.

The whip, only usable by those trained in the Golden Dragon Whip Technique, was perfect for chaotic battles.

"Kraak!"

With each whip from the leader of Ui-gak, flesh was torn from the men in black robes.

"A Golden Dragon Whip Technique! Nobody said that the leader of Ui-gak had mastered it!"

"Step aside! I will confront the Golden Dragon Whip Technique!"

Dang Geo Ho pushed aside the faltering men in black robes and stood before the leader of Ui-gak.

"Fool! I will take your head and present it to your clan as atonement for your transgressions!"

The Golden Dragon Whip of the Ui-gak leader targeted Dang Geo Ho with an unpredictable trajectory.

"Haha! Just die right here. I will be the one who creates poison users and etch my name forever into the history of the Dang family."

Dang Geo Ho effortlessly deflected the incoming whip with his hand.

"To block the Golden Dragon Whip? The Blackened Hand? You! How did you master the lost art of Gujeolmanoksu?"

Dang Geo Ho's hand was covered in spots, much like the skin of Dang Hwa Rin.

The Gujeolmanoksu (Nine Absolutes Myriad Jade Hand) was a martial art of poison that could infect the target with one of fifteen poisons upon the slightest touch. It had disappeared about twenty years ago when the Dang family had eradicated a faction within their ranks specializing in creating poison experts.

"Having resurrected even the lost poison arts, how could I not achieve this much?"

"So, you didn't only experiment on your bastards with the poison arts!"

"Hahahat! Whether the body becomes a mass of poison or the hand does, is there much of a difference? It was a curiosity I sought to satisfy!"

"This madness!"

"Now die!"

As soon as he realized the Golden Dragon Whip was no hindrance, Dang Geo Ho lunged at the Ui-gak leader.

As Dang Geo Ho swung the Gujeolmanoksu at close range, the leader of Ui-gak reached out to block—a foolish decision. A mere touch of the Gujeolmanoksu would spell the end, even for the revered leader of Ui-gak.

Dang Geo Ho smiled triumphantly, aiming for the Ui-gak leader's hand. Yet, rather than sustaining an injury, the leader's hand instead filled with an overpowering positive energy that seeped into Dang Geo Ho's hand.

"Is this, the Samyangshinjang (Three Suns Divine Palm)?"

Clutching his burning hand, Dang Geo Ho retreated and asked.

"Your eyesight is good."

"How did someone like the Ui-gak leader acquire a secret art directly from the Dang lineage...?"

The yang energy that burns poison. How could the Ui-gak leader have learned this martial art, which only the direct lineage of a family that masters poison was supposed to know?

"The family head does not discriminate by bloodline or status."

"Kkeuk!"

Dang Geo Ho staggered.

The intense yang energy invaded his body. Suffering from the effects of Samyangshinjang was torturous enough, but for Dang Geo Ho – who had already assimilated the Gujeolmanoksu into his hand – the yang energy that burns away poison was even more deadly.

This was dangerous.

Dang Geo Ho had an inkling that things were not going as planned.

************************

Are we winning?

I was observing the situation safely from a distance, thanks to my military training in chemical and biological warfare defense and careful positioning to avoid the poison mist.

The momentum seems to be on our side.

Hwarin had already dealt with the Dang family's poison expert society, and the majority of the black-robed men who were lured into chaos were being taken care of.

While the damage to Ui-gak was substantial, and I could see people dying, it seemed likely that Ui-gak would emerge victorious unless there were unforeseen complications.

'If it weren't for those guys, that is.'

Even amid the chaos, I looked at the five or six black-robed men standing casually with their arms crossed in the distance.

If the ones being taken care of right now were like extras in a special effects movie, those black-robed men gave off the ominous presence of a monstrous villain appearing in the last three minutes.

It would be nice if they were merely spectators with VIP tickets who would leave after the show, but that wouldn't be the case, I suppose.

"Keuk!"

In the midst of all this, I saw a chunk of Dang Geo Ho's flesh torn away by the leader of Ui-gak's whip. After boasting about their high-level martial arts as if showing off premium business cards, it seems Ui-gak had the upper hand.

Does the leader of Ui-gak consume all the good medicine that comes in? He supposedly oversees medical affairs but shows no signs of weariness. How reassuring.

Dang Geo Ho, now seeming as if he very well may need to cry out for the Three Suns Divine Palm to burn his Nine Absolutes Myriad Jade Hand, was cornered and in dire straits.

"I can't stand it any longer!"

Finally, one of the distant black-robed men stepped in.

In the blink of an eye, one of them closed the gap and grabbed the leader of Ui-gak's whip, beginning to infuse it with a suspicious energy.

The leader of Ui-gak, startled, let go of the whip and backed away.

"Is this demonic energy? Dang Geo Ho, you wicked bastard! Have you joined hands with the evil sect?"

Were they demonic cultists? Things seemed to be taking an unfavorable turn.

"..."

Dang Geo Ho was either puzzled by getting struck by the Ui-gak leader whom he thought he would easily defeat or was embarrassed by the revelation of the demonic sect's identity, avoiding the leader's gaze.

"Having become a lackey of the demonic cult, you dare to speak of your family being the greatest under heaven!"

"It seems I've done everything you could, so now it's my turn."

Ignoring the leader of Ui-gak, one of the black-robed men turned to Dang Geo Ho and said.

"...Leave half alive."

--------------------------------

It's a disaster.

As the observing men in black joined the fight, a massacre unfolded. Suddenly, the leader of Ui-gak and his men were neutralized.

The black-robed men herded us together and dragged Hwarin forward.

"Let go!"

One of the men forced Hwarin to her knees and then released her.

Dang Geo Ho gazed down at Hwarin and took a small box from his robe, opening it.

"This is the poison pill of Thousand-Year Scorpion."

The poison gland of a millennium-aged scorpion, it reeked of decay.

"So what do you want me to do with this?"

"Eat it. Ingest it and form a poison gland inside your body."

"Bullshit. I know eating that would kill me, why would I do it for your sake?"

Well done, Hwarin. After all, even if they force the poison into her mouth, only Hwarin can create the poison gland inside her body. Without her will, the poison master will not be completed.

"You refuse to eat? Very well."

Really, he's lost it. Dang Geo Ho drew a knife and slashed the throat of one of the dying Ui-gak warriors.

"Are you insane?"

"If you won't eat, I will kill one person from the Dang family after another. Eat it."

Dang Geo Ho held out the poison pill to Hwarin.

Her eyes trembled. Hwarin looked at us, biting her lips, as if she was contemplating.

Hwarin, no.

"Pfft. When did I value their lives over mine? I refuse."

A wise choice. Hwarin snorted in disbelief, rejecting Dang Geo Ho's offer.

Hwarin, your acting skills have improved greatly. You're like a graduate of the famous Master Gang Mo's acting school. If you just stop your lips from quivering a bit, you'll really look as if you don't care at all.

"Right. You're making sense. Then how about this."

At Dang Geo Ho's signal, one of the black-robed men walked in, dragging a bound woman.

"Let go! Release her, you bastards!"

The middle-aged woman screamed out.

Her curvaceous body hinted at a past beauty, but age had etched wrinkles across her f

ace that now appeared rather ill-natured and made her seem bad-tempered.

The face was familiar. Who could it be?

Just then, I caught a glimpse of Hwarin's baffled expression. Ah... They look alike.

"Why is that crazy woman here?"

The middle-aged woman's identity was none other than the mother of Dang Hwa Rin.