Chapter 28
Carrying the Zither on my back, I headed towards the Cheongwolru House Mistress—no, the Haomun Leader—at the top of Cheongwolru.
Actually, I had intended to carry my Saber at my side, but Munseok had desperately stopped me, leaving me no choice.
“Ah... I told him it was just for self-defense, didn”t I? Self-defense!'
“Look at your eyes right now. They”re the eyes of someone going to bury a body...! I'll guarantee your safety with my life, so please, go empty-handed!'
*How did he know...*
Truth be told, I had planned to smash the Haomun Leader's temple with the hilt of my Saber the moment I saw her face...
But due to Munseok's dissuasion, I had no choice but to head upstairs with only my Zither.
“Well... if anything happens, I can just smash her with my fist... no, with my Zither.”
Lost in thought, I soon found myself right in front of the Haomun Leader's room.
There was no guard at the door, nor any hidden presence of bodyguards, making me wonder if this was the right place, but...
“Please, come in.”
...As I heard the voice from inside, it seemed I was indeed in the right place.
Drrrk—.
“It seems like a long time since we last met.”
“...”
I opened the door and stepped inside. She greeted me, clad only in what appeared to be thin sleepwear. And before me...
“Is this a bribe?”
“If you insist on a term, perhaps a payment for your performance?”
...there was a banknote with the value of 1 Gold Gwan written on it.
I pocketed it for now. Then, I growled at her.
“Do you think money can solve everything that's happened so far?”
If this were a capitalist society, I might have understood, but this was the Murim Society.
One's fist was more important than money.
As I raised my fist and spoke, the Haomun Leader smirked.
“I apologize for what happened the other day.”
“Hmph. If apologies solved everything, why would fists exist, and why would there be grudges?”
“Haha, you are indeed amusing, Sir.”
The Haomun Leader's face held a strange certainty that I wouldn't hit her, which only infuriated me more.
But what could I do?
My right fist was practically crying out to be unleashed.
Thump—.
Perhaps she finally sensed my intent, for she preempted me again the moment I took a step.
“Do you recall the Drunken Immortal Wine you drank yesterday?”
“...!”
At her words, I stopped in my tracks.
Yes. It was definitely a wine called Drunken Immortal Wine.
It was an astonishing wine that had knocked me out in one go, I who hadn't been truly drunk in years.
The Haomun Leader continued, smiling as if she could read my mind.
“The stronger one's Martial Arts, the harder it is to get drunk. You felt good after drinking the Drunken Immortal Wine for the first time, didn't you?”
“...”
“I've heard your zither playing is exceptional. I will provide you with 1 Gold Gwan and one bottle of Drunken Immortal Wine, specially blended, each time you perform for me, every day at this hour.”
“Hmph... should I accept this, or not...?”
Truthfully, I had intended to punish the Haomun Leader to some extent for cheating in our drinking contest the other day.
But the offer she was making now significantly swayed my resolve.
The pleasure of drinking Drunken Immortal Wine was certainly an experience difficult to replicate.
I pondered for a moment, then scrutinized the Haomun Leader, trying to gauge her.
When we first met, the Haomun Leader had been wearing gloves, but now her hands are bare. And those hands...
“...!”
...all her fingernails were gone, and the skin beneath was dark and discolored.
*Hmm... surely not...*
Realizing the Haomun Leader's open secret, I tossed the Zither I had brought onto the floor and asked her.
“If you had offered 200 Gold Gwan from the start, I might have accepted, so why did you insist on that damned drinking contest?”
“I heard from the Sichuan Branch Leader that you are quite suspicious. If I had offered 200 Gold Gwan from the beginning, wouldn't you have refused? And truthfully...”
This time, a hint of sincerity appeared on her face.
...I also didn't think I would lose. I admit it. That drinking contest... was a foul on my part.
The fleeting emotions on her face were clearly a mix of stubbornness and shame. It seemed the Haomun Leader had immense confidence in her Poison Blending.
Convinced of something, I sat down and asked her.
“Then, since I won that drinking contest, can I ask my last question? I haven't done that yet.”
“Haha, that's right. If you ask now, I will answer any question you have. What are you curious about?”
“Are you from the Sichuan Tang Family?”
“...”
At that question, her perpetually relaxed, smiling expression instantly froze. Naturally, that change in expression alone was enough for me to be certain.
No, it was obvious she was from the Sichuan Tang Family from head to toe. Did she really think I wouldn't notice?
I straightened the strings of the Zither in front of me and spoke to her.
“I've seen someone like you before. He was also a blood relative of the Sichuan Tang Family, and like you, he had accepted those things.”
“...”
“First, his fingernails fell out, and later, all his hair fell out, leaving him bald. What comes after that...?”
“...You are probably referring to my sixth cousin (paternal uncle's side).”
“Anyway, aren't you just like him? You look like you don't have much time left, seeing your missing fingernails, do you?”
Ironically, only after I said that did the Haomun Leader's expression return to its usual smile.
“Sir, you speak such cruel words with remarkable ease.”
“You're going to wish for death anyway, aren't you? If that's the case...”
“...”
“Shall I kill you?”
What I had just said was utterly sincere. I was willing to kill her if she asked me to.
That, in itself, would be a good deed for her.
However, she merely shook her head bitterly at my considerate words.
“...I must not die.”
“Why? Wouldn't it be better to die than to live in such agony?”
“If I die, the Poisonous Qi within my body will erupt and kill everyone in this vicinity.”
“Then why not find a place where no one lives and die there?”
“There is no place that is uninhabited. Even if I were to die there, the Poisonous Qi would harm all the essence of the surrounding area, causing damage one way or another.”
“Hmph, tsk. Your life is truly tragic.”
Instantly, my desire to punch the Haomun Leader vanished completely.
No matter how annoying someone's actions, who would want to hit a dying person suffering from a fatal affliction?
Whatever I did to torment her would be but a drop in the ocean compared to the suffering she was currently enduring.
It made sense, for the Haomun Leader before me was a Poison Master. A failed Poison Master, at that.
Poison Masters were Human Weapons of the Sichuan Tang Family, appearing even in the novel. The process of creating them was described in detail, so I knew it well.
First, *Fetal Poison Creation*.
From the moment the mother conceives, she is made to continuously ingest poisons, allowing Poisonous Qi to settle in the fetus's dantian.
After the child is born, they are taught Poison Arts, and all the poisons of the world are steadily injected into them.
This process is repeated, and if the Poisonous Qi fully settles into their Innate True Qi, they can eventually become a Poison Master.
However, even if learning Poison Arts is one thing, injecting poisons from the fetal stage could never be an easy process.
The process involves immense suffering and leads to the death of most of them.
The person I met before had somehow survived until adulthood, but their body couldn't fully adapt to the poisons, and they eventually died of poisoning.
The Haomun Leader before me was no different.
I didn't know how she had escaped the clutches of the Sichuan Tang Family and become the Haomun Leader, but the poisons in her body had not fully settled.
Her fingernails were gone, so her hair would soon start falling out, and eventually, she would die.
Since she hadn't become a perfect Poison Master, immense pain must be tormenting her even now.
Before playing the Zither, I asked her one last question.
“Still, seeing you rise to Haomun Leader at such a young age, it seems you did benefit from the Poison Arts, didn't you?”
“...Haha, indeed. I killed many, deceived many, and betrayed many with poison. Thanks to that, I am also the youngest among the Past Leaders. But...”
The moment she turned her head to look at the rising sun outside the window, her expression was completely different from before.
“...I suppose I'm a little tired.”
“...”
Tired.
Was there any word that better described her current state?
Pitiable and tragic. Those were the definite emotions I felt looking at her now.
But...
“There are countless people more pitiable than the Haomun Leader.”
...This world was a place where countless people starved to death because they couldn't eat.
As merely a Bandit Leader, I had no reason to help her, whose story I didn't even fully know, just because I felt pity.
All I could do for her now was play the Zither in exchange for a few bottles of wine.
“I won't take the gold, for conscience's sake. Instead, give me five bottles of Drunken Immortal Wine each time I play.”
“...A single bottle of Drunken Immortal Wine is worth 2 Gold Gwan, yet you speak as if you are making a concession. Well... I will accept it regardless. The Sichuan Branch Leader praised your Zither skills so highly.”
“That's just Munseok being a bit of a showman. So, is there any particular tune you'd like to hear?”
“I will leave that to your judgment, Sir.”
“Alright.”
Tung—.
Listening to her words, I began to play the Zither.
Tadadang—.
The reason I chose the most cheerful tune I knew was a small act of consideration for her, who was still suffering the pain of her body being gnawed away by poison.