"Welco."
An old woman greeted us as we stepped through the gates.
"You must have had a hard journey getting here."
The old woman had a very kind deanor. From what I’d heard, she was recently appointed to oversee the Tang Clan's dicine Hall. Wasn’t she one of the few surviving elders?
As I looked at her, I bowed my head politely.
"Have you been well?"
"Always the sa. And how have you been, young master?"
"Oh, well… you know."
"I’ve heard you’ve been doing so well that it makes even proud."
"...Haha…."
I laughed awkwardly. Situations like this always left unsure of how to respond. Acting too pleased would seem arrogant, but being overly modest would feel insincere. This much was all I could manage.
Once the greetings were over, the old woman smiled and glanced to the side.
"Young lady."
"Hello…."
Responding to her cue, Tang So-yeol also bowed her head. Her reaction, for so reason, seed slightly uncomfortable.
"It’s been a while. I’ve heard much about how you’ve been soaring to new heights."
"...Thank you."
The conversation didn’t drag on. The old woman seed to sense Tang So-yeol’s unease. Had sothing happened between them? I hadn’t heard of anything.
I considered asking about it, but now wasn’t the ti.
"Let escort you to the preparation room. The clan leader is waiting for you."
For now, I had to focus on the reason we’d co to the Tang Clan.
****************
We followed the old woman as she led the way. The interior of the Tang Clan was much as I rembered it. Although the gates had been closed, it seed that so level of maintenance was still ongoing.
However...
"It’s looking a bit worn."
The forr splendor of the place seed difficult to maintain. The slightly dimd atmosphere and eerie stillness gave it a sowhat chilling impression.
The once-grand structures, which had showcased the might of the Tang Clan as one of the Four Great Families, no longer exuded the sa presence.
In a way, it was inevitable. One could even argue that the Tang Clan had brought this upon itself.
Glancing to the side, I stole a look at Tang So-yeol.
As before, her expression wasn’t particularly cheerful. The problem was, I couldn’t tell if it was because of the current state of the Tang Clan or for so other reason.
I decided to ignore it for now and kept walking. After a short while, we arrived at our destination.
The dicine Hall.
I nodded as I read the na engraved above the entrance. Even before opening the door, I sensed sothing unusual.
"This aura…"
A powerful energy emanated from within the building. It wasn’t just any aura.
"Poison?"
Yes, poison. And in considerable amounts.
It wasn’t a problem for . With my immunity to all poisons, toxins had no effect on . Moreover, even with such quantities, the poison wasn’t potent enough to penetrate directly. For soone of high cultivation, it was manageable.
As for Tang So-yeol, having mastered poison techniques herself, she would be equally unaffected.
"If it’s uncomfortable, I could prepare sothing like a cloth…."
"No need. It’s fine."
The old woman, unaware of my immunity, cautiously offered, but I declined.
"I can manage. Let’s go inside." I grabbed the door and pushed it open. The mont I did—
Whoosh!
A wave of energy surged from within. Mixed with the poisonous aura was the sharp scent of dicinal herbs.
Squinting, I peered into the room.
"You’ve arrived…?"
Inside stood a weary-looking middle-aged man. The master of the Tang Clan, the Poison King, greeted .
"My apologies for not coming out to et you…."
The Poison King spoke in a tired voice but suddenly paused mid-sentence. His gaze shifted to Tang So-yeol, who stood beside .
"Ah, you… you’ve co."
"Father…."
His deanor was sowhat awkward. As the Poison King swallowed dryly while looking at his daughter, Tang So-yeol sighed and spoke.
"It’s been a while."
"Yes, have you been—"
"I heard you visited the branch yesterday."
Tang So-yeol cut him off mid-sentence.
"Well, I had so business with Young Master Gu…."
"I told you I’d be coming to see you today, didn’t I?"
Her voice grew colder, causing the Poison King to falter.
"It was an urgent matter…."
"I’m sure it was. It must have been very urgent. But…."
Tang So-yeol furrowed her brows slightly as she continued.
"Why didn’t you co to see when you were there?"
"…"
The Poison King looked at after hearing her words. His eyes seed to be asking for help, but…
"What could I possibly do?"
There was nothing I could offer. To be honest, I was curious myself. Why would he go all the way to the branch and not see his own daughter? It was strange.
"At the ti, I thought it was just to avoid a scolding."
From Tang So-yeol’s reaction, it didn’t seem like that was the only reason. There was sothing I wasn’t aware of.
"Well…."
The Poison King stamred, trying to co up with an explanation.
"Forget it."
Tang So-yeol cut him off, turning her back on him.
"I’ll go ahead. Young Master Gu, co find when you’re done."
"Huh? Oh, alright."
She gave a curt notification and disappeared. Her speed was impressive—had her footwork technique improved?
She vanished in an instant.
"…"
Scratching the back of my head, I found myself at a loss for how to react. I turned back to the Poison King.
"…"
"…"
Our eyes t, but there was nothing I could do. The awkward silence only deepened.
"...Co in for now," the Poison King said in a slightly lancholic voice. Without a word, I stepped inside.
"Ahem. I’ll just take the liberty of showing you around for now."
His expression was too sorrowful for to say anything. He looked deeply hurt, to the point where I couldn’t even offer any words of comfort.
"He hasn’t been ho in years," I thought.
I had assud it was solely for training, but now I wondered if there was another reason behind it. I was dying to know, but I held back.
"If she hasn’t told , there must be a reason."
Tang So-yeol had said nothing to about this. That alone was reason enough not to ask. Besides, even the Poison King’s expression practically begged .
"Don’t ask," his eyes seed to say.
It was clear he didn’t want to talk about it. So, I ignored the topic and focused on our surroundings as we entered the dicine Hall.
"Hmm."
It was a ss.
That was the first thought that ca to mind.
The inside of the hall was utterly chaotic. Materials were scattered everywhere without any semblance of organization. Picking up one of the items, I examined it closely.
"This is…"
My eyes widened slightly. It looked like an ordinary plant, but the shape was unmistakable.
"…So Gongcho (Small Common Grass)."
It resembled a weed, but it was actually a rare and expensive dicinal herb. It wasn’t sothing that should be lying around on the floor like this.
And it wasn’t just this.
Other valuable ingredients caught my eye. I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
"It wasn’t like this the last ti I visited."
On my previous visit to the Tang Clan, things weren’t this disorganized. Now, the state of the place told its own story. Perhaps the disbelief showed on my face because the Poison King coughed awkwardly as he glanced at .
"Ahem. Lately, I’ve been too busy to tend to things properly."
"How busy does one have to be to treat dicinal herbs like this?" I asked, incredulous. Especially in the Tang Clan, no less.
"It’s the final stage, so I couldn’t spare the ti to manage everything."
"I see."
I decided not to press the issue further. It wasn’t my place to critique their organization. What mattered now was the outco.
"So," the Poison King began, fixing his gaze on .
"Do you really have a solution?"
His eyes were filled with intensity. Just monts ago, he had been cowering before his daughter, yet now his gaze had transford.
But perhaps it was natural.
This was about restoring the legacy that the Tang Clan had lost. It was a chance, perhaps, to rebuild the clan’s forr glory. For the Poison King, it was an imnsely important matter.
And for , it was no less significant.
"First, show the situation," I said.
I needed to assess what was going on. The Poison King wasted no ti leading deeper into the hall.
We entered the manufacturing room, a space where the energy was noticeably more intense.
"This must be it."
It was impossible not to notice. The room was filled with an overwhelming amount of herbs and poisonous plants.
There were bubbling cauldrons with unknown contents. Ingredients floated within, while strange clusters of matter piled up to the left.
The stench was unbearable. It was so bad that I instinctively considered blocking my sense of sll. As I followed the source of the odor, I quickly found the culprit.
Pointing at it, I asked, "Is that it?"
The Poison King nodded silently. That was the answer.
Approaching the pile, I noticed an assortnt of strange clumps. They were the source of the stench, as well as—
"The Poison King’s headache."
These were failed attempts at creating the Dokcheon Pill. That much was clear.
I reached out and grabbed one of the clumps. The stench intensified imdiately. It was brittle, and I could feel the strong toxicity of the poisonous plants mixed into it.
"Hmm…."
The situation was worse than I’d imagined. How could it have deteriorated this much?
"So, this is supposed to be the Dokcheon Pill mixture?"
"Not exactly. It failed before it could even be completed."
"Can you show what happens?" I asked.
The Poison King imdiately fetched sothing. This ti, the lump he brought over looked intact. While the toxicity was still present, at least it didn’t reek.
Notably, it radiated a faint energy, indicating that it was indeed a material for an elixir.
And then—
Buzz.
The energy embedded in my heart stirred. The demonic energy reacted to the object in front of .
It was a mana stone. A bright red one, to be precise.
A mana stone from a Crimson-Rank beast. Gripping the stone, the Poison King picked up a tool.
"Hup!"
Grind—!
He began grinding the mana stone with force, reducing it to a fine powder. The powder fell onto the mixture and was kneaded into it.
At that mont—
Ssszzzz!
"Huh?"
The mixture’s color rapidly began to deteriorate. Soon, the stench returned, growing stronger and fouler by the second.
It was rotting before my eyes.
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