“What kind of pledge?”
The Poison King guessed at my intention.
“In exchange for your pledge, I have to teach you one Poison Art a day? Is it that kind of pledge?”
“No.”
“Then is it a pledge stating that if you, Second Young Master, steal my poisons or secretly learn my Poison Arts here, I will not hold you responsible?”
“Poison King. I am afraid of your poisons and Poison Arts. I would rather stay as far away from them as possible.”
“Then what in the world is the pledge about?”
The pledge I wanted to write was something the Poison King could never have anticipated.
“A pledge that if I lose this bet, you will come out of your world, Poison King.”
The Poison King flinched in surprise.
His expression changed strangely.
“What kind of world is my world?”
“A world where you research alone, mix alone, think alone, laugh alone. Dig in the ground alone. That is the world I mean.”
He thrust his face right up to mine.
His unbelievably young face came within inches of my nose.
But in that moment, I could feel it.
Although his body had moved closer, the person known as the Poison King had retreated from me.
Standing on the borderline between his world and the outside world, he had stepped back and hidden himself.
“All you have to do is take me back and get the Cult Master's permission, and you're done, right?”
“That’s right. That’s the reason I came.”
“Then whether I’m in such a world or not, it has nothing to do with you, does it?”
“It does have something to do with me.”
“What does it have to do with you?”
“Because I am the one who will become the Heavenly Demon. Because the next Heavenly Demon wishes for the Main Sect's Poison King not to be a lonely Poison King, but one who roams the world.”
“!”
“Now, will you write the pledge?”
The Poison King did not answer for a moment.
He must have been curious about my true intentions, about what purpose I had in setting such a condition.
But he would never know.
He would never realize that I was thinking of preventing that terrible incident that would happen in the future.
“Why do you hesitate? It’s something that would happen after you’ve become a dog anyway. Does it matter?”
I had even added the condition that it would only happen if I lost the bet.
Even though he thought there was no way he would lose the bet, he still hesitated.
It seemed that leaving this place was that burdensome for him.
I stopped pushing him and picked up a brush.
“Anyway, fine. I will write it. There is so much to learn from you, Poison King, so of course I should write a pledge.”
I wrote a pledge stating that if I were to be poisoned by any poison here in the Thousand Poison Forest, it would not be the Poison King's responsibility, but my own, as I had come here of my own free will.
I even stamped it with my seal.
The Poison King was genuinely surprised when I actually wrote the pledge.
It seemed that even when I first brought it up, he didn't think I would actually write one.
“Are you a fool? Now, even if I poison you and you die a painful death, I will not be held responsible.”
“That won't happen.”
“What makes you so confident?”
“Because only intelligent people can learn Poison Arts. You, Poison King, are the most intelligent of the Demon Sovereigns, so you would not commit such a reckless act.”
I looked around and said, “After coming here, I understand. I understand that the one who has mastered Poison Arts is the most intelligent person. You have to memorize all these poisonous herbs and toxins, and to create poisons, you must combine and mix hundreds, even thousands, of ingredients, right? And on top of that, you have to create antidotes, don't you? Is that all? You also have to seriously learn the art of administering poison, don't you? You’re telling me that the person who stands at the pinnacle of such intelligence would do such a thing? There’s no way. You might laugh while digging in the ground by yourself, but you wouldn’t do something so foolish.”
The Poison King's eyes widened.
His reaction was as cute as his appearance.
His large eyes blinked a few times, and he spoke as if in wonder.
“You talk a lot, and you talk well.”
In that moment, the Poison King was genuinely impressed.
Poison King, I haven't even started yet.
“You won’t be bored with me around. Now, I’ll get back to what I was doing.”
After handing him the pledge, I continued my work.
I brought a sack of poisonous herbs and untied it.
The Poison King, who had been watching me sort the herbs, suddenly said to me, “What should I write? You write one, and I don't. Wouldn't that make me seem like a petty person?”
He had finally decided to write the pledge.
“Ah, it’s nothing much. Just that you will leave the Thousand Poison Gate once every ten days. That is enough.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“Can I just stand in front of the gate and then come back in?”
“That’s fine. As long as you leave this place.”
“What's the meaning in that?”
“Because the scenery you see from here and the scenery you see from the front gate will be different.”
The Poison King stared at me silently.
You’re probably wondering what this is all about, right? If you’re a madman, then I’m also someone who’s called a madman.
Let’s give it a try, Poison King.
Let’s see which one of us is the bigger madman.
The Poison King wrote the pledge and stamped his seal.
“Second Young Master, you’ve lost. I will never be persuaded, so this pledge is nothing more than a scrap of paper. With my will being so firm, how are you going to break it?”
In truth, I had no special plan to persuade him.
As the Blood Heaven Blade Demon said, I would just treat him the way I have been.
“I’ll have to do my best.”
“Do you really think I’m the kind of person who will bark in the Training Grounds?”
“Just once in your life.”
“How did the other Demon Sovereigns fall for someone as careless as you? I don’t understand.”
The Poison King’s eyes were full of confidence and intelligence.
He was a different person now from the Poison King who was digging in the ground with his face covered in dirt.
“Be careful. From now on, I’m not responsible even if you die.”
*
The next day, I worked hard as if nothing had happened.
The Poison King believed that every action I took was intentional.
Whenever I said anything, he would habitually say this.
“No matter what you do, I know it’s just a trick to get on my good side. It’s a waste of effort!”
But I didn’t care what he thought.
If there was one plan within my lack of a plan, it was this.
Do not focus on the person, focus on the work.
I learned the work with sincerity.
It was not to learn poison for any particular use.
It was because working here was a new experience for me.
There is always a lesson that a first experience teaches.
“When in my life would I ever get to live a life of shouldering and carrying sacks of poisonous herbs and sorting them? This is a valuable experience for me.”
I was trying to live in a different way than before.
It was something I had never experienced, not even before my regression.
I think differently, and I use my body differently.
I hope this will have a positive impact on my life and my martial arts.
There are times when no matter how hard you focus on trying to come up with an idea, it just doesn’t work.
But then, suddenly, while taking a bath or walking down a path, it will strike you.
It’s the same thing.
I hope that this unfamiliar work in the Thousand Poison Forest will have a fresh influence on my life and martial arts.
While sorting poison herbs, I hoped my Four Divine Wind Steps would reach Twelve-Star Great Mastery.
While mixing poisons, I hoped to realize a new side of life.
With these thoughts, everything here felt less anxious and more enjoyable.
I believed that if I continued this way, an opportunity to move the Poison King's heart would surely come.
That opportunity will come when I genuinely immerse myself in the Poison Arts.
“Be careful! This time, you must pour in exactly half!”
When in my life would I ever have the chance to mix the fifteen ingredients of Soul-Severing Acid?
“That’s it! That’s it!”
I followed his instructions precisely.
With my level of martial arts mastery, how could my work not be precise? I could probably work more to his liking than anyone else in this Thousand Poison Forest.
“But do you usually do all this work by yourself?”
“Yes.”
“It must be difficult.”
I knew the reason why he did not carelessly allow poison masters into this place.
There were so many deadly poisons in his residence that if he were to let in disciples who were not careful and they caused an accident, it would become a huge problem.
In reality, the Thousand Poison Forest was a place under the strict surveillance and investigation of the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion.
Any use of poison had to be reported, and the inventory was always checked.
After finishing the mixing of the Soul-Severing Acid, I frankly expressed my thoughts with a pleasant look on my face.
“This is fun! What poison will you be mixing next?”
Of course, he didn’t believe me.
“I think you’d be better as an actor in the marketplace than as the Heavenly Demon.”
“Next time, how about we join a performance troupe when we go out to the Central Plains together? With your looks, Poison King, I think you could even aim for a leading role.”
The Poison King looked disgusted.
His expression said it all.
I don't even want to leave this place, and what? You want me to take the lead role in a play?
“In your imagination just now, all the actors on stage and the audience were poisoned to death, weren’t they?”
“Do you really think you, Second Young Master, would have survived?”
As he spun around, I shouted at him.
“The performance is cancelled!”
He walked away, pretending not to have heard.
*
The Poison King had little interest in other people’s affairs.
If this was the level of interest he showed me, who had come on such an important matter, I could guess how he usually viewed others.
To him, people probably existed far below poisonous herbs.
Of course, he did ask questions impulsively from time to time.
Just like now.
The Poison King, while grinding poisonous herbs, asked abruptly, “Hey, Second Young Master, be honest. You’re trying to steal and learn Poison Arts here to poison your brother to death, aren't you?”
I replied as I moved a large container and filled it with water.
“When everyone knows I’m here with you, Poison King, if my brother dies from poison, who would they suspect first? I’m the one who should be worried about my brother being poisoned to death.”
Thump, thump! Instead of a rebuttal, the sound of the Poison King grinding herbs grew louder.
“I have no interest in poisoning people. If there’s one thing I could learn from you, Poison King, I would want to learn something else.”
“What is it?”
He still wasn’t looking at me, focusing only on grinding the herbs.
There was no telling when he would retreat into his own world again, but my answer now was one that would surely pull him back to this side.
“I want to learn detoxification techniques. Isn't the flower of Poison Arts detoxification, not administering poison?”
The sound of grinding herbs suddenly stopped.
His gaze was on me.
He had the most surprised look on his face since we had met.
Because I had stated exactly what he was thinking.
“It has only been a few days, but what I’ve felt since coming here is that creating an antidote to perfectly detoxify a poison seems more difficult than creating the poison itself. That’s why I had this thought. A person who can create an antidote that can perfectly detoxify the poison they made. A person who can instantly detoxify an opponent's poison. Isn't that person the true master of Poison Arts?”
It meant that one could only grasp the ultimate state of Poison Arts when they had perfected not only administering poison but also detoxification.
“Where did you hear such a thing?”
From the next Poison King, who learned Poison Arts from you.
“It’s just my own thought. The analogy might be a bit strange, but it’s the same with martial arts. Capturing someone alive is harder than killing them.”
I threw down the gauntlet.
It was the most advantageous challenge for me, who was immune to all poisons.
“Choose one poison and teach me the detoxification technique for it. I will detoxify, and you, Poison King, will administer the poison. How about it? Let's have a match!”
You’ve practiced Poison Arts your entire life, so surely you can win at this level, can’t you? Isn’t this a matter of pride?
I didn't provoke him in that way.
A rash provocation would surely only have the opposite effect.
Poison King, say yes.
Say let’s have a match!
If he agreed, this bet was my victory.
But the Poison King was not so easily swayed.
“I refuse.”
At the Poison King’s firm refusal, I asked, “Why do you refuse?”
“Do you think I don’t know your tricks? You’re hoping I’ll say something like this. If you can detoxify my poison, I will consider it my loss in the bet. Right? That’s what you want to hear, isn’t it?”
I didn’t deny it.
In fact, if it weren’t my own business, I would have wanted to applaud him.
“You just have to win the bet, don’t you?”
“How can I guarantee that I’ll win? The detoxification technique is also my technique.”
The Poison King started grinding herbs again.
“Go and practice barking, Second Young Master.”
*
That evening, I went to see my father.
The more I learned about the Poison King, the more frustrated I felt.
At times like this, I need someone who can help me strengthen my resolve.
In that regard, no one was more suitable than my father.
Because I visited him right before he was about to sleep, I got to see my father’s pajamas once again.
“The flower pattern is different from the one I saw last time. This must be the greatest protective armor in the Martial World. Your enemies will see it and think, ‘Nah, there’s no way the Heavenly Demon would wear pajamas like this,’ and just walk past. That robe is the safest one of all!”
My father looked at me as if asking how long I was going to spout nonsense, but he seemed to have known that I would visit him at some point.
“You knew, didn’t you, Father? That the Poison King was not someone who would fall for my tricks.”
“Have you given up already?”
“Of course not. It’s just that I’ve never seen someone so trapped in their own world before.”
That characteristic sneer formed on my father's lips.
Yes, I came today to see that smile.
Seeing that smile gave me strength.
It actually made me feel better.
Yes, enjoy yourself to your heart's content for now.
I will definitely bring the Poison King before you.
I asked the question I had wanted to ask for a while.
“Father, you don’t like the Poison King, do you?”
My father neither confirmed nor denied it.
As someone who truly loved martial arts, it was only natural that he disliked things like Poison Arts or Soul-Devouring Art.
“If you dislike him, why do you keep him alive? You should just kill him.”
“Because he is the most threatening to our enemies.”
“Couldn't he start a rebellion, or go mad and poison the people of our Main Sect?”
“If you want to use the Poison King as a weapon for the Main Sect, you must accept that level of risk.”
“What if my brother or I die in the process?”
“That, too, must be accepted.”
“That’s the kind of thing you say when you have about ten hidden children somewhere.”
“What makes you think I don't?”
“You’d better not. My one brother is already such a headache.”
A faint smile appeared on my father’s lips.
If Sama Myeong or the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had said it, he might have laughed out loud.
“It’s always been like this, but whenever I face a wall I can't break through, I think of you first, Father. Seeing you like this is enough. I will take my leave now. Oh, and if things continue like this, I might have to show you an act of filial impiety that isn't quite filial impiety at the Grand Martial Arts Arena soon.”
After jesting like that, I was about to turn and leave when my father suddenly asked.
“Do you think the Poison King is trapped in his own world?”