By Zephyria What Doesn’t Change (7)
His eyes were bloodshot, unlike usual. If eyes could kill, those were the eyes that could.
“Young master, it would be best if you stepped back now.”
Il-gwang carefully led Seong Mu-yeon out of the tent. Seong Mu-yeon couldn’t take his eyes off Baek Ryeo-il’s hunched shoulders until the old piece of cloth concealed him.
Peng Yuan-jin seemed worried by the shouts coming from inside. He waited at the entrance and approached Seong Mu-yeon, saying, “……Don’t take it too hard. Master Baek is just overwhelmed with emotion right now, he’ll calm down with time.”
Seong Mu-yeon forced a weak smile and nodded. Even that small action required a great effort.
“Young master.”
Il-gwang led him to a secluded spot and spoke quickly in a low voice. He was very cautious, looking around. Until just now, Il-gwang hadn’t felt any particular threat even in the heart of the orthodox sect, but now it was different.
“Now that things have come to this, it won’t do. You must return to the Demonic Cult at once.”
“……”
“Didn’t you see the Heartless Sword’s reaction just now? The atmosphere is unusual. This time, it could really become dangerous.”
Judging by Baek Ryeo-il’s reaction, if Ma Jin-cheon were to be harmed here, his life, and perhaps even Seong Mu-yeon’s, would be in danger. With the Young master’s safety at risk, Il-gwang no longer acted rashly.
“Second Young master hasn’t been able to sleep at night, worrying about your safety every single day.”
Eventually, Il-gwang even brought up Seong Mu-ryong. The situation was so urgent that he was using his lord’s name to persuade him.
“You must leave here immediately, as soon as possible.”
It was right a hundred times, a thousand times over.
If Baek Ryeo-il lost his Master because of the Demonic Cult……? How could he possibly bear that rage?
Just like when he charged into the heart of the enemy camp all alone with only a sword, he would kill Seong Mu-yeon in one stroke.
In the original story, when Ma Jin-cheon died, Baek Ryeo-il razed the Henan branch to the ground. To avenge his Master. To kill the Poison Fiend who killed his Master.
So, being nearby the moment Ma Jin-cheon’s life was cut short was far too dangerous.
At least, it was best to take cover until his emotions subsided.
But Seong Mu-yeon shook his head.
“……No. Not yet.”
He stared at the tent where Ma Jin-cheon lay. There was a reason he had followed him all the way here.
‘There’s still something I can do.’
In the original story, Baek Ryeo-il eventually killed the Poison Fiend and took his revenge, but he himself was severely injured and hovered between life and death. The Sect leader poured countless spirit pills and Spirit Pills to save his life.
He had to prevent that from happening.
He could prevent it.
The entrance of the tent was lifted, and Baek Ryeo-il came out. He rubbed his forehead wearily and sighed low and long, then slowly approached Seong Mu-yeon.
As Seong Mu-yeon approached, he felt a terror as if a giant tsunami was crashing down. Seong Mu-yeon would die if Baek Ryeo-il so much as flicked a finger. He became an infinitely weak being before him.
He flinched, wanting to run away immediately, but he grabbed onto his sleeve and held on.
“Ma Instructor is…….”
“He’s alive. For now.”
The qualifier ‘for now’ was attached.
“His external wounds are severe, but not fatal. The problem is the poison.”
Baek Ryeo-il was barely holding back his emotions. Seong Mu-yeon could see it clearly. How angry he was right now. How helpless.
“He was poisoned with a poison I’ve never seen before, and it’s spreading quickly. I’ve used all the antidotes Shaolin has, but none of them work.”
Baek Ryeo-il clenched his fist tightly. Every knuckle stood out white.
“I shouldn’t have let him get away. He might have had the antidote. It’s too late to regret it, and I have to find the antidote somehow. There’s not much time. If I don’t find it quickly, Master…….”
Baek Ryeo-il’s face clouded over. Then he looked up and stared at Seong Mu-yeon and Il-gwang.
“You know where to find that bastard. Help me. Help me get the antidote.”
Because of that, Baek Ryeo-il still had to keep them alive. Seong Mu-yeon felt a little relieved. At least he would be safe until Ma Jin-cheon’s life was cut short. And Seong Mu-yeon knew that moment exactly.
“What are the symptoms? Is it a poison that travels through the blood vessels, devouring inner force and then sublimating into poison qi, multiplying it many times over?”
At Seong Mu-yeon’s question, Baek Ryeo-il’s eyes widened.
“How do you know that……?”
The answer to that question came from Il-gwang.
“That’s the Poison Fiend. He’s a bad seed who’s ostracized even within the Demonic Cult, but he’s brought it upon himself.”
Il-gwang muttered. He had a fairly high position within the Demonic Cult, so it was easy for him to access this kind of information.
Of course, Seong Mu-yeon was a discarded Young master who had been holed up in his residence, so there was no way he could have known such information. But right now, no one cared about that. And having read the original story, he knew things that Il-gwang didn’t.
“I know how to detoxify it.”
“Is that true?”
Baek Ryeo-il was startled and grabbed Seong Mu-yeon’s shoulders. Seong Mu-yeon frowned at the strong grip, but nodded.
“First, I need to see Ma Jin-cheon Headmaster’s condition.”
They immediately returned to the tent.
Ma Jin-cheon, who had been treated, was still pale. His upper body was stripped to treat the wound, and a white bandage was wrapped tightly around his abdomen. Black stains rippled across the exposed skin, gradually spreading.
It didn’t have a known name now, but later it would be called Evaporating Serpent Venom. Countless martial artist lost their lives to this poison while fighting the Demonic Cult.
The first victim was Yu-un Sword Ma Jin-cheon.
But Seong Mu-yeon had read the original story, so he knew how to detoxify Evaporating Serpent Venom well.
“How is it? Can you treat it?”
Baek Ryeo-il asked anxiously. Seong Mu-yeon nodded as if to reassure him.
“Please step back for a moment.”
Once they were far enough away, Seong Mu-yeon grabbed Ma Jin-cheon’s wrist. He channeled inner force into his body through his palm. The poison qi flowed through the blood vessels and acupoint, then surged as it discovered Seong Mu-yeon’s inner force, which it had not yet contaminated.
Even if one was not a martial arts practitioner, one could tell that Ma Jin-cheon’s poison was slowly eating away at his body. Starting from the hand that was touching Ma Jin-cheon, his arm began to turn black.
“Keuh!”
Seong Mu-yeon gritted his teeth.
“Seong Mu-yeon! What are you doing!”
There was no way Baek Ryeo-il couldn’t know what he was doing. He was trying to transfer the poison into his own body. But it was an incomprehensible act, even though he said he knew how to detoxify it.
“Don’t touch the Young master.”
Il-gwang blocked Baek Ryeo-il and rebuked him in a low voice. Savage hostility flickered in Baek Ryeo-il’s eyes as he looked at him. He was seething with the urge to tear the Demonic Cult bastard in front of him to pieces, but he endured it as best he could, given the situation.
Il-gwang bit his lip as he looked at Seong Mu-yeon, who was in pain. He, too, had realized what Seong Mu-yeon was trying to do.
‘Young master……. Why are you going this far?’
A moment later, when Seong Mu-yeon got up, Baek Ryeo-il rushed towards Ma Jin-cheon. Ma Jin-cheon had returned to a much more comfortable complexion. His breathing was steady, and his cheeks had regained their color. The poison qi that had been blackening the area around his abdomen had completely disappeared.
A look of relief crossed his face.
“Now……. Ma Instructor only needs to treat his wounds.”
Seong Mu-yeon tried to step away from the bed, but he collapsed without taking a single step.
“Young master!”
Il-gwang quickly supported his elbow. Baek Ryeo-il had been checking on Ma Jin-cheon, so he couldn’t react in time. Only then did Baek Ryeo-il look at Seong Mu-yeon.
“……What have you done, Seong Mu-yeon.”
Baek Ryeo-il asked, but the answer came from Il-gwang, who was supporting him. Il-gwang snarled fiercely.
“Can’t you see? He took the poison.”
“Then why!”
Il-gwang, angered by Baek Ryeo-il’s reproach of Seong Mu-yeon, was about to open his mouth, but Seong Mu-yeon quietly dissuaded him.
“Don’t get excited.”
He took a light breath and straightened his body. He was a little dizzy, but not to the point where he couldn’t move.
Seong Mu-yeon shrugged at Baek Ryeo-il’s fierce gaze, as if demanding an answer.
“It’s nothing much. This Inverted Meridian, you see. It doesn’t just reject the inner force flowing through the acupoint. The same goes for poison. The rate at which it spreads is much slower in my body.”
Seong Mu-yeon said calmly.
“So, I bought you some time.”
“……You said you knew how to detoxify it? How do you do it?”
“Actually, I don’t.”
Baek Ryeo-il’s face twisted hideously.
“What? Are you trying to play with me right now?”
“That’s why.”
Seong Mu-yeon smiled brightly and said to Il-gwang and Baek Ryeo-il.
“You’ll have to get the antidote as soon as possible.”