Chapter 20 Poison Forest 2

Chapter 20: Poison Forest 2

The young man’s story, roughly understood, went like this.

When many Miao people were captured by the Blood Sect, they had been saved by an old man named Dokno. Thanks to him, they had been able to live safely in the jungle until now. But Dokno was now gravely ill, vomiting blood.

From the rough explanation, he deduced that this old man Dokno was likely a martial artist, probably showing symptoms of demonic possession.

That was why the Miao youth had deliberately come to the front lines to seek help from those skilled in martial arts.

“Please save him. Tokno is our benefactor. Without Tokno, we brothers will all die.”

Faced with this unprecedented situation, Seolpung hesitated, unsure what to do.

Then, Ju Taekyung, who had been following behind and had now joined the others who had stopped, snorted derisively and said.

“What are you agonizing over? Of course it’s a lie. Does it even make sense that unskilled Miao tribesmen could survive in that forest teeming with demons?”

Regardless of whether the team members liked him, his words held enough merit.

But the Miao youth immediately shouted, as if deeply aggrieved.

“That’s not a lie! Tokno’s scent chased them away! Thanks to Tokno, we’re safe!”

At those words, Seon Woo-jin, who had been deep in thought, reacted.

“A scent? What kind of scent are you talking about?”

The youth then thrust forward a crudely made pouch.

“The Koe-mul hates this scent! If you have the scent Tokno gave us, the Koe-mul won’t come near!”

It did have a peculiar scent, but this alone couldn’t confirm if his words were true.

At that moment, Seon Woo-jin’s eyes lit up as he said to Seolpung,

“Let’s go, Team Leader.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t this scent pouch alone worth checking out? And…”

Just then, Joo Tae-kyung cut in with a fierce expression.

“What the hell are you talking about?! You want to go in there because of this pouch, which might even be fake?! And even if it is real, what value does it hold for us?! We’re supposed to find and kill the demons, and you want us to use a scent that demons avoid?!”

But Seon Woo-jin, snorting derisively, ignored him and continued speaking to Seolpung.

“Team Leader, they said they lived deep within the forest. That means they know the geography inside. If we’re not just going to stand guard here forever, don’t we need to know the geography inside too?”

The moment everyone understood Seon Woo-jin’s meaning, they were all rendered speechless.

He was talking about offense, not defense. That to strike the Blood Sect someday, they needed information from the inner regions.

It was a radical idea none of the Thirteenth Generation had ever considered.

Sunwoo Jin’s words shattered their long-held preconceptions, leaving them all to swallow hard.

Even Joo Tae-kyung, who had been about to erupt in anger at being ignored, stammered.

“Wh-what… What the hell are you talking about?! The Blood Sect and the Martial Alliance have a mutual non-aggression treaty, haven’t they?! You can’t just disregard that…!”

Seon Woo-jin responded with a bitter smile.

“Ah, so because we signed that mutual non-aggression pact, we’ve been getting ambushed by those bastards every single day. And weren’t you, Joo Tae-kyung, a disciple of the Pointed Spear Sect? I never imagined a disciple of the Pointed Spear Sect would say something like that.”

At the mention of the Dotsword Sect, Ju Taekyung felt his sect’s honor insulted and drew his sword.

“How dare you!”

But Ju Taekyung couldn’t draw his sword at Seonwoojin’s next words.

Seonwoo Jin had spoken with a look of utter disdain.

“Wasn’t it your lifelong ambition to strike the Blood Sect and reclaim the Zhanchang Sect’s headquarters? Were you just content to guard this place for a thousand years? That’s astonishing.”

Joo Tae-kyung was left speechless.

Having silenced Joo Tae-kyung with just a few words, Seon Woo-jin turned to Seol Pung and asked.

“What do you say, Squad Leader?”

His gaze conveyed that if the answer was no, he would go alone.

Seolpung thought for a moment before asking the Miao youth again.

“How long will it take to get there?”

The young man, who had been watching the exchange with a tense expression, answered immediately.

“Half a day! If we hurry, we can make it in half a day!”

Seolpung frowned at his answer.

“Half a day… If we count the round trip as a full day, that’s a bit vague. We need to be back at least by the afternoon patrol the day after tomorrow. If we try treatment once we get there, we might run out of time. Plus, there’s no guarantee treatment will even be possible.”

Joo Tae-kyung, who had been silent for a moment, chimed in again.

“And it’s desertion from duty. Unauthorized desertion warrants severe punishment. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

Seon Woo-jin chuckled softly and replied to him.

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking you to come with me.”

“What?!”

“Team Leader, we don’t all need to go, right? We just pick the fastest people and run as fast as possible. Team Leader, just me, Sa-young, and about three others. We’ll take turns carrying that young man.”

Seon Woo-jin’s recent technique was so impressive that even Bi Sa-young, who had taught him the non-traditional method, acknowledged it.

In fact, maintaining his speed even while wearing a heavy vest was sometimes better than Biseyoung’s.

Seolpung nodded in agreement, thinking it was a good idea, and Seonwoojin continued.

“And regarding the unauthorized absence from duty…”

After saying that, Seon Woo-jin turned to ask the Miao youth again.

“There must be a lot of monsters there, right?”

“Yes! Yes! There are many! But as long as I have this scent!”

“No, what I want to know is the types of monsters. Among them, are there any that feed on human vital energy to grow stronger? Monsters that move silently like spiders, ambush people, and suck out their vital energy.”

“Yes! There are! Those big ones are extremely dangerous!”

Silently attacking people, sucking their life force, and growing stronger—the frontline workers called these demons ‘ghosts’ or ‘spider ghosts’.

Having heard that much, Seonwoo Jin grinned and said to Seolpung.

“So there are Jugeui. Now that we’ve tracked them down, shouldn’t we pursue and eliminate them?”

Seolpung grinned back and replied.

“Really? This was something we absolutely had to go after.”

The principle was to eliminate the growing demon, the Jugeui, immediately upon discovery.

It was a principle that took precedence over any other duty.

In the end, Seolpung, Seonwoojin, Biseoyeong, and Cheongyeon decided to go there.

Cheongyeon volunteered to go with them, claiming she was just as fast as Biseoyoung or Seonwoojin.

Moreover, she was the second-best swordsman in the Seventh Division after Seolpung, so everyone had no choice but to accept her.

Before departure, Seolpung awkwardly smiled and said to Yeo Yu,

“Watch our backs, Deputy Leader. Sorry I keep making you manage the team for me.”

Na Seo-yu responded with a warm smile.

“Be careful and come back safely. I’ll wait for you.”

Seolpung, feeling awkward, couldn’t meet her gaze and immediately turned his head away.

Beside them, Joo Tae-kyung glared at Seolwoo Jin and said.

“You bastard, even if you’re exhausted from going there, I won’t postpone our duel. You’re not running away to avoid it, are you?”

Seonwoojin chuckled and replied.

“You’re delusional. Compared to this matter, my duel with you holds little significance for me. Don’t mistake things.”

“What?!”

Seon Woo-jin sneered at Joo Tae-kyung, who was gritting his teeth, and leaped forward. On his back, he carried the Miao youth.

***

“Whoa! Damn, he’s fast!”

The Miao youth on my back shouted.

Team Leader Seolpung, myself, Biseoyoung, and Young Master Cheongyeon were racing through the trees like we were flying, just like during our dawn training.

It was the twilight hour, deepening into evening, within an increasingly dense and thick jungle, yet our speed did not waver at all.

“Excuse me! I think I’m going to throw up!”

The Miao youth, who introduced himself as Dakam, seemed fundamentally cheerful and lively.

Even though he had asked for understanding, being carried like a piece of luggage while unable to move his entire body due to having his acupoints sealed couldn’t have been pleasant, yet he was excited like a child the whole time.

Watching him, I recalled my past life.

I had met him in my past life too.

Back then, just like today, he had pleaded with us for help with that same desperate look.

‘And we had refused his request.’

Nothing particularly bad happened as a result. It was just one of those things that passed by.

But long after that, the venomous snake appeared.

A man-eater, essentially a crystallization of poison that could poison people just by getting close.

Our team members, who knew nothing about it, ended up having over twenty people poisoned by that first Venomous Demon they encountered.

And among them was her.

‘Na Sojeo.’

It was Lady Na Seo-yu, the deputy leader of our squad and my first love…

This happened while Squad Leader Seolpung was separated from us, rushing to rescue Joo Tae-kyung and his henchmen from danger.

Neither the physician stationed at the Thirteenth Division nor Lady Dang Yeo-eun, the daughter of the Dang family, could possibly counteract that poison.

So, while we could only watch our comrades die, Squad Leader Seolpung had gone alone, recklessly into the jungle.

This was after hearing Lady Dang Yueyun’s fundamental reasoning: if the venom of the poisonous snake came from the jungle’s venomous creatures, then the antidote was also likely to be found nearby.

Two days later, he returned with several plants he had gathered, claiming they were antidote herbs obtained with advice from the Miao tribe. Tang Yueyun immediately used them to make an antidote and tested it.

As a result, she managed to barely save a few of her companions who were still alive.

But I, the young master, was not among them.

It was already too late.

Her death had a profound impact on us.

‘The change in Captain Xuefeng, and my own change, both happened after that incident.’

Captain Seolpung completely shed her former kind and gentle demeanor, becoming a cold and ruthless person, while I threw myself into training as if to grind my body to dust.

Thus, the squad leader eventually became the Storm Dragon, and I was able to reach the pinnacle of the top-tier realm.

Of course, I don’t know if this young man is the Miao tribe member Captain Seolpung sought advice from back then.

But I believed that if there was even the slightest possibility, one must try everything.

After riding for about an hour, the sun set and the forest plunged into complete darkness, forcing us to slow our pace.

While Captain Snowwind could discern objects in the darkness as clearly as in broad daylight, it was still too much for me, Bi Saying, and Young Master Qingyan.

‘At least the stars are bright enough to see by.’

We landed and set the Miao youth Dakam down. He had to lead the way now, if only to guide us.

I suddenly said to Biseyoung.

“Siyang.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We should practice like the squad leader—closing our eyes to perceive things.”

“Hmph, like that’s possible? We’re already struggling to keep up, and now you want us to add more training?”

He grumbled, but he didn’t refuse. That meant he, too, felt the necessity.

Chungyeon Sojeo said nothing, but I had sensed for some time that she was already practicing that very skill. I had practiced it myself in a past life.

Moreover, while I hadn’t achieved much back then, I had made significant progress since the last incident with the spirit.

Just then, Dakam warned us.

“Don’t get too close to the edge. This place is full of sharp rocks, so be careful…!”

That was the moment. Before his words had even finished, something shot out of the forest like an arrow.

Whoosh!

In the pitch-black darkness, that arrow-like projectile was truly menacing.

Nana and Biseyoung couldn’t even react properly.

“Ugh!”

“What the hell?!”

But it wasn’t Captain Seolpung.

Thud!

As if he’d been waiting for it, Captain Seolpung casually snatched it up. Seeing the thin snake hissing in his hand, he muttered.

“This is… a three-colored snake?”

Then, Miss Cheongyeon was the first to show interest and asked.

“Huh? You say it’s a Three-Chrysanthemum Snake?”

“Huh? Didn’t they say that’s an incredibly rare venomous creature?”

Then, Seolpung Jo-jang caught another one that flew in, answering as he did so.

Chomp!

“Seems that’s not the case here.”

Those serving on the front lines had received basic training on poisons through pamphlets distributed by the military.

The pamphlet stated that the three-colored snake, which flew like an arrow and bit its target, was a precious venomous snake sometimes used as a weapon by martial artists who practiced poison techniques.

Dakam approached with an admiring look and said.

“You’re truly remarkable. No one but Tokno could have done that.”

Team Leader Seolpung asked him.

“Is this kind of thing common around here?”

“That snake? Yes, it’s a common species. Not here yet, but further on there’s Tokrim, so there are plenty of venomous ones too.”

Young Master Cheongyeon nodded repeatedly at Dakam’s words, taking the snake from the squad leader and examining it closely from all angles.

If it had eyes, they would have seemed to radiate a brilliant glow.

Anyway, Dakam said that about an hour’s journey from here lay a vast swamp called the Poison Forest, a place the Miao people absolutely never went, a forbidden zone.

But Dakam’s dwelling lay beyond it.

It seemed he had no choice but to live near there after his own people began being hunted by the Blood Cult.

I suddenly asked him.

“Is the reason the Ma people don’t go there also because there’s a lot of poison?”

“Yes, Tokno said that. He said the creatures were originally made to dislike the smell of tock. But he also warned us to be careful later, because some of them would start spewing tock.”

Hearing this, the squad leader and I exchanged glances.

That old man Tokno seemed to know an awful lot about the demons.

No, if the ‘later’ he mentioned referred to the venomous creatures, then he knew not just a lot, but far too much.

His true identity became even more intriguing to me.

Could it be…