Going To Tianshan (2)

“This place somehow reminds me of a paradise.”

As Neung Je-gang entered the valley and looked over the scenery, he could not close his mouth, which had opened by itself. It was full of all kinds of fruit trees. Though not many of them were bearing fruit, with this much, one would probably be able to eat at least one kind of fruit in each season.

“Does it make sense for there to be this many fruit trees in such a cold place?”

However, after going a little farther in, Neung Je-gang realized the reason. The geothermal heat inside the valley was warmer than in other places. He could feel enough warmth for fruit trees to grow.

“They said Mushik Poison Demon could not live without food, and it seems that was true. Shall I taste one?”

Neung Je-gang discovered a fruit he could pick just by reaching out, plucked it, and put it in his mouth. Abundant juice flowed coolly down his throat. It felt as if all his thirst had vanished.

“So you lived while eating these things to your heart’s content, and still dared to do such a thing at Antang Mountain?”

Because of the fruit, Neung Je-gang instead felt even more hostility.

“It strangely draws me in. Is it because it has been a long time since I ate fruit? But what is the name of this fruit?”

“Hehe! That thing is called Poison Vermilion Fruit.”

“Poison Vermilion Fruit? The name sounds plausible. It has very good poison in it. Very refreshing.”

Neung Je-gang already knew that the fruit was poisonous. When it came to poison, Neung Je-gang was someone who fell behind no one.

“Y-you were not poisoned?”

“Are you Mushik Poison Demon?”

Neung Je-gang did not answer Mushik Poison Demon’s question. Instead, he asked another question.

“Yes. You are Secret Shadow, aren’t you?”

Unexpectedly, Mushik Poison Demon answered readily. It seemed he had no intention of deceiving him. At Mushik Poison Demon’s words, Neung Je-gang let out a sigh of relief. The fact that he knew him proved that he had gone to Antang Mountain.

“You have gone to Antang Mountain before, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I ate very delicious fruit there.”

“Then why did you use poison and kill everyone there?”

“The Twin Monsters said so. They said the building we were leaning against was a latrine. How filthy, making a latrine in a place where there was food. So I killed them all. Fruit must not grow in filthy places. So I made them all die. No one can eat fruit there anymore.”

“…….”

Neung Je-gang understood. The reason Mushik Poison Demon used poison had not been to kill people. He had merely tried to kill the fruit trees, but because he used poison, even the people hiding there had all died.

Should this be called accidental death?

“Who were the people who went there? The ones I know are Deung Hyeon and Deung Gak.”

“I-I don’t know. No one else went there. And I never went there either.”

He had thought that saying he had not been affected by poison might make Mushik Poison Demon spill everything, but it seemed to have made him talk even less instead.

Neung Je-gang wondered if there was a good method, then decided to use Mushik Poison Demon’s unstable mental state. It was a method of using the name Twin Monsters, which he had just heard, to make him confess on his own.

“Liar! The Twin Monsters said they went there. They also said you went there.”

“Th-those bad bastards. We agreed never to say anything.”

Mushik Poison Demon burst into anger. He seemed to think he had been tricked by the Twin Monsters.

“They talked too, so shouldn’t you hurry and talk as well?”

“N-no. The Three Demons will scold me.”

‘The Three Demons?’

Neung Je-gang obtained another piece of information. No matter how many demon heads there were in the world, there were not many demon heads with the title Three Demons. And one could almost say there were hardly any groups powerful enough to threaten Mushik Poison Demon.

For that reason, the title Three Demons alone was enough to search for them. Of course, the name Twin Monsters was the same.

“The Twin Monsters said one more person went with them……. You don’t know who that is, do you?”

“No, I know.”

“Who is it?”

“Ak Chang.”

‘Ak Chang? Who is that?’

Neung Je-gang sorted through his complicated thoughts. The name Ak Chang seemed as if it would come to mind, but it did not quite surface. It was clearly a name he had heard at some point.

“Ak Chang……. What is his epithet?”

Neung Je-gang had muttered to himself, but Mushik Poison Demon, who heard him, answered immediately.

“That bastard’s nickname is Blood-Squeezing Demon. To not even know that……. You stupid bastard.”

“Right. Blood-Squeezing Demon.”

It was precisely the name said to have killed Axe Demon of Ghost Blade and Axe Demon.

“Now I know everything.”

“What?”

“Deung Gak, Deung Hyeon, the Twin Monsters, the Three Demons, Blood-Squeezing Demon, and you, Mushik Poison Demon. Those nine people went to Antang Mountain. Right?”

“H-how did you know? Did the Twin Monsters really say everything?”

“Yes. But the Twin Monsters did not say what kind of Twin Monsters they were. Do you know what kind of Twin Monsters they are?”

“What do I care what kind of bastards they are?”

Neung Je-gang flinched in surprise. He realized that Mushik Poison Demon’s tone had changed. A force different from before was flowing from him.

“You say poison does not work on you? Then let us see if you can withstand this too.”

Paaak.

Mushik Poison Demon’s two hands spread wide, and white powder scattered through the air like snow.

“Hmm! This is Bone-Melting Acid. Turning Bone-Melting Acid into powder like this is impressive.”

Neung Je-gang was calm. The calmer he was, the more Mushik Poison Demon narrowed his eyes.

“To think you are fine even against Bone-Melting Acid. Then this time, it is this.”

A blue-glowing powder once again scattered from Mushik Poison Demon’s hand. The blue powder approached Neung Je-gang like a cloud.

“Cyanide? Come to think of it, since you scattered cyanide over Bone-Melting Acid, it becomes Bone-Melting Cyanide. Do you not have anything better?”

The poisons Mushik Poison Demon scattered were powerful, but Neung Je-gang was absorbing them all with his body. At Mushik Poison Demon’s level of merely scattering poison like this, he could never harm Neung Je-gang, who had learned poison arts themselves.

“Don’t tell me you learned poison arts?”

Only then did Mushik Poison Demon realize that Neung Je-gang had learned poison arts. He must also have realized that he could never win like this.

“There is a poison I created over my entire life. It is a poison I am confident could compete with even the Tang Clan of Sichuan over who is supreme. If you endure even this, I will tell you about everyone who took part in Antang Mountain. How about it? Are you confident you can withstand it?”

“If I were you, I would scatter the poison first before saying that.”

“Hehehe! I already scattered it anyway. Is it bearable?”

At that moment, Neung Je-gang also felt poison energy invading him. It was clearly different from ordinary poison. It was not easily absorbed. But Neung Je-gang had something useful at times like this as well. It was the Solar Flame Divine Art, which made it impossible for poison energy to dare exert its power.

It was a martial art that had been neglected because it had been pushed aside by forbidden arts, but it was by no means a martial art that could be called weak. Mushik Poison Demon’s poison burned away without a trace the moment Neung Je-gang circulated the Solar Flame Divine Art.

“Is that all? It does seem fairly powerful. But what is its name?”

“Hehehe! It is not over yet. One more poison remains. The name of the previous one is Netherworld Powder, and the current one is Demon Poison Powder. Now you will be poisoned by the Netherworld Demon Poison Powder created by those two poisons and die. Hehehe!”

This time, Mushik Poison Demon seemed truly confident. He was confident that even if Neung Je-gang had learned poison arts, it was not a poison he could easily detoxify or absorb. But Neung Je-gang had already burned it all away with the Solar Flame Divine Art. So he was not affected at all.

Neung Je-gang calmly walked toward Mushik Poison Demon.

“Will you tell me everything now? You should keep your promise. No?”

“A-are you really all right? Are you not just putting on a bluff?”

“I am someone who cannot die until I catch and kill all of you anyway. What exactly are the identities of the Twin Monsters and the Three Demons?”

“Hehehe! Fine, I will acknowledge you. You are not lacking even if called the greatest under heaven. Wind-Wave Twin Monsters and Three Demons of Tianshan are their epithets. They are people who had reigned as emperors in Tianshan before you were even born. Not only your master, but even the previous Secret Shadow did not dare attack them. Now that you know, do you feel relieved?”

“Where are Deung Gak and Deung Hyeon?”

“If you want to catch them, you will have to go to the end of Tianshan.”

“The end of Tianshan?”

“I am only the beginning. The beginning of the challenge against you. The Deung father and son bear a grudge against you, but we decided to challenge you because you have learned forbidden arts. We wanted to confirm whether forbidden arts were truly stronger than our martial arts. Perhaps one could say we wanted to know the level of the martial arts we devoted our entire lives to. If you repel all seven of our challenges, then you will be able to meet the Deung father and son.”

“Even if your words are true, I have no intention of sparing you. You are demon heads who should have died long ago. Especially you. You killed far too many people with poison. Do you know that even at Antang Mountain, you killed more people than the Deung father and son did?”

“Hehehe! I know. Back then, I was sane. Just like now.”

The moment he finished speaking, blood trickled down from Mushik Poison Demon’s mouth. He had bitten his tongue.

“Cough!”

Blood surged out through Mushik Poison Demon’s mouth. Judging by the amount and color of the blood, he was clearly soon going to die.

“Hehehe, so I leave after hiding like this all my life.”

Mushik Poison Demon shouted that, then collapsed forward and died without the slightest movement.

Neung Je-gang watched Mushik Poison Demon with cold eyes. He died without ever regretting his sins. He was a demon head who had lived with stubbornness to a dreadful degree.

Neung Je-gang left Mushik Poison Demon’s corpse as it was and turned around. He wanted to go into the valley where Mushik Poison Demon had lived, but thinking of the old man waiting outside, he hurried outside.

After Neung Je-gang disappeared from sight, some time passed, and the body of the supposedly dead Mushik Poison Demon twitched. Mushik Poison Demon quietly opened his eyes. He had not killed himself; he had merely bitten his tongue, shed blood, and pretended to be dead.

“Hehehe! Now he will never come back here again.”

With a satisfied smile, he began walking into the valley. But gradually, his steps slowed. His legs trembled as well.

“Why? Why is this happening? Have I been poisoned by my own poison?”

After taking a few more steps like that, he collapsed forward. As if he did not have the strength to rise again, he lay there and did not move.

Slide.

After Mushik Poison Demon collapsed, Neung Je-gang’s figure, which seemed to have gone back to where he had been, appeared again.

“Did I look like someone who would not know whether you were alive or dead? That is subtly hurting my pride. And you ignorant bastard, poison is not something only you use.”

That was right. Before leaving the valley, Neung Je-gang had scattered the poison of the Three Yang Energy Art. Neung Je-gang approached Mushik Poison Demon and searched his clothes. However, nothing like silver came out. In any case, if villains like this needed money, they could simply commit robbery once.

“It isn’t here. Then did he hide it somewhere in the place where he lived? Finding martial arts and stealing them like this is oddly addictive.”

He went deep into the valley. After searching Mushik Poison Demon’s residence thoroughly, he finally found two secret manuals.

[Poison Sovereign Scripture] [Secret Record of Divine Water]

Neung Je-gang roughly examined the two secret manuals. The Poison Sovereign Scripture was a secret manual containing theories about poison. It did not contain poison arts or martial formulas, only methods of manufacturing and using poison.

“This is useful. In theory, there is almost nothing to discard.”

Neung Je-gang tucked the Poison Sovereign Scripture into his clothes, then examined the Secret Record of Divine Water this time.

“Oh! This is Five Elements True Qi.”

Should he call it luck? It was a secret manual containing the Gyese True Qi of Five Element True Qi, which he had searched for so long.

“If one tries to learn only this separately, one has to give up being a man. If Ma-jil did not have Ihwa True Qi, even if I gave it to him, he almost would not have been able to learn it.”

Gyese True Qi required yin energy. It was impossible for a man to learn. However, for someone like Ma-jil, who had already learned Ihwa True Qi, it did not matter much.

“Now I only need to create Eulmok True Qi? This is an unexpected windfall.”

Neung Je-gang first memorized the formula for Gyese True Qi. It was to compare it with the Gyese True Qi he had been trying to create.

“This cannot compare to the original after all. It is far superior to the Gyese True Qi I had thought of.”

After Neung Je-gang memorized all the contents, he burned the secret manual. It was related to a forbidden art. Since he did not know when he would return to the Central Plains, he destroyed it because it could not be lost by any chance.

“Now I truly have to return to the old man.”

He launched himself outside. As he returned, he picked and gathered fruits other than the ones Mushik Poison Demon had called Poison Vermilion Fruit. He tasted each one and chose those without poison.

When Neung Je-gang returned, the old man sprang to his feet and came close. At that moment, Neung Je-gang’s eyes flashed brightly. It was Neung Je-gang when his mind was working smoothly.

“What happened?”

“Mushik Poison Demon is dead.”

“As expected. I believed you would not struggle against Mushik Poison Demon. You had enough skill to kill Ghost Blade in one move, after all. But the poison must have been dangerous…….”

“I killed him before he could release poison. Since he had the epithet Poison Demon, I had to be careful.”

“I see. Then are you going back now?”

“No. By any chance, do you know where the Wind-Wave Twin Monsters or the Three Demons of Tianshan live? Ah, Blood-Squeezing Demon Ak Chang as well. If you know, please tell me.”

“Do you intend to visit those men and kill them too?”

“Their crimes are too great to leave them alive. That will probably be what happens. And not long ago, there were people who plotted rebellion in the Central Plains and fled this way. They are Kunlun Record Keeper Deung Gak and Deung Hyeon, who bears the epithet Heavenly Mountain Divine Sword. If you know where they are as well, I ask that you guide me there.”

“Well, there is not much I know. I think I can find out where the Wind-Wave Twin Monsters are, but I do not know the others well. If we return to Hami and ask around among the guides, we may be able to find out. What will you do? Will you go to Hami first and find out everything before coming back? Or will you go to the place where the Wind-Wave Twin Monsters are first?”

“If we go to Hami, will they really know everything?”

“Even among guides, each has an area they are confident in, so if you ask around here and there, finding out all the terrain of Tianshan and the people living there is no problem. The only issue is that it costs quite a lot of money to find that out.”

“If it is money, there is not much need to worry. I have some leeway in the money I have, and if that does not work, I can settle it by going to an exchange.”

Of course, Neung Je-gang was not especially inclined to use an exchange. If he used an exchange, news that Neung Je-gang was in Hami would immediately enter the Central Plains.

If that happened, they would probably all run to Tianshan in a line again. He wanted to prevent that at all costs.

“Then shall we go to Hami?”

The old man and Neung Je-gang returned to Hami.

“Do you have around two hundred nyang in gold?”

“I do have about that much, but why?”

“If you give me that money, I will find everything out.”

“You are saying you will investigate alone right now?”

“Why? Do you perhaps not trust me now?”

The old man asked as if offended.

An ordinary person would say at a time like this, “No, that is not it,” but Neung Je-gang was different.

“Yes. Two hundred nyang in gold is a tremendous sum one does not commonly see, so I cannot entrust it to you, Elder. If it is a matter that needs that much, please go around with me.”

“I-I am too offended to do that. I may have to reconsider guiding you as well.”

The old man said that and turned away. Looking at his back, Neung Je-gang smiled faintly.

“In any case, thank you for everything until now.”

Neung Je-gang muttered that toward the old man’s back, then went around here and there to investigate alone. Around the time the day passed, Neung Je-gang bought various items needed for camping outdoors, then chose a decent inn, entered it, and slept.

“Hmm! He still has not moved.”

The next day, Neung Je-gang went around looking for people again. He looked as if he had failed to find a guide. He was making a troubled expression when the old man appeared again.

“I said I would find the information and guide you for two hundred nyang, yet you are being stubborn.”

“Well? Is that not stranger on your side, Elder? If you can go around alone, you should also be able to go around as a pair. Who could believe you when you say you absolutely have to go alone? Two hundred nyang in gold is money you, Elder, would have to work about five years to earn, is it not?”

“You have a talent for offending people.”

“It seems you have a talent for being unreasonable, Elder.”

Neung Je-gang did not lose with words by even a single sentence. Anyone listening would say Neung Je-gang was right. On what basis could he suddenly entrust two hundred nyang in gold? And not to someone he originally knew, but to someone he met here for the first time.

After parting from the old man again, Neung Je-gang wandered somewhere, met someone, and spoke with him for a long while.

“So you are saying you know where the Wind-Wave Twin Monsters are?”

“Yes, that is right. But that is not very useful information. Even if they know, who would try to go there?”

“Please just tell me the location in detail. I can go find them by myself.”

“Very well.”

At last, he obtained a map and explanation of the place where the Wind-Wave Twin Monsters were said to live. Neung Je-gang let out a satisfied smile, returned to the inn, and spent the night again.

While Neung Je-gang had been going around like that, the old man secretly followed behind and saw Neung Je-gang returning with a satisfied expression. He seemed to have obtained the information he wanted.

“Whose residence did he find out about?”

The old man casually approached the person who had given Neung Je-gang information. Then he subtly asked what Neung Je-gang had learned. The man said he had told him about the Wind-Wave Twin Monsters.

The old man hurriedly set out. Watching his back, the man who had sold information to Neung Je-gang grinned. He had originally acted together with Neung Je-gang. Even real guides did not know where the Wind-Wave Twin Monsters lived.

When the old man disappeared, Neung Je-gang appeared from somewhere and hurriedly chased after the old man. The person who acted for him received a reward of fifty nyang in gold for that one performance.