Part 1

Chapter 16. The Blazing Herb Poison

At the moment when a strange light flickered in So-hwa’s eyes, a loud voice tickled her ears.

“Jeom-chil, stay still!”

“We need to help!”

“Staying still is the help we can give.”

The old man gently grabbed Yeon-ah, who was about to rush out, and comforted her.

“What if you get hurt? Wouldn’t that hurt their hearts?”

Yeon-ah trembled in frustration, but she stopped moving. However, she was quite stubborn. Holding a clumsy sword that didn’t fit her body, she stepped forward as though to protect the old man. Even…

Shh.

She subtly placed her left foot wide and blocked the way to So-hwa. Then, in a confident voice, as though she were a grand master, she said:

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect the young lady.”

“….”

So-hwa’s gaze clouded.

It was a desperate, almost laughable sight.

Maybe, if seen twenty years later, it might have seemed reliable, but it was already after Tang Min had given her a harsh lesson.

So-hwa slowly lowered her gaze and looked ahead.

It seemed she should pretend not to notice. It felt like the right thing to do as a person.

Once the rain of arrows ceased, the ambushing enemies poured out.

However, there was no great sense of tension.

“Keuh-eok!”

“Ugh!”

The coldness that spread around remained, but the foul stench was beginning to fade. That meant the number of enemies was decreasing.

The martial artists, who had likely been working together for a long time, silently divided their roles.

Those who were seriously injured focused on blocking the arrows, while those who could still move cut down the enemies charging at them like wolves.

Then suddenly, a wave of intense heat was felt from the front.

“Han-won!”

The deputy leader shouted and rushed forward. The deputy leader caught the falling man from the air and checked his body.

“Han-won! Stay conscious! Han-won!”

One of the Black Tiger Unit members, who had disappeared to clear the path, had returned.

The member of the Black Tiger Unit had a strangely twisted mouth. It seemed he had squeezed out all his strength, as he collapsed into the deputy leader’s arms the moment he returned.

Han-won raised his trembling hand and caught the deputy leader’s gaze.

It seemed he was trying to say something, but his mouth kept moving, and though his tongue seemed stiff, he couldn’t make a proper sound. Still, one word was heard clearly.

“P-Poison…”

“What? What are you saying?”

The deputy leader, who couldn’t understand, asked him again.

“Do you know what kind of poison it is?”

So-hwa, who understood Han-won’s words, started searching her pocket for an antidote and asked what kind of poison it was. Han-won’s gaze shifted from the deputy leader to Tang So-hwa. But he couldn’t respond and closed his eyes.

“Han-won! Stay conscious!”

The deputy leader shook Han-won, and Tang So-hwa quietly placed a hand on the deputy leader’s shoulder to stop him. Then, she crouched beside him and lifted Han-won’s clothing.

“Young Lady!”

What in the world was she doing?

The deputy leader’s face turned pale with shock before twisting into disbelief. Tang So-hwa reached into the wound on Han-won’s arm, and without hesitation, shoved her blood-soaked fingers into her own mouth.

So-hwa consumed the blood-tainted liquid from the poisoned Black Tiger Unit member to verify the identity of the poison.

‘Is it paralysis poison?’

Her tongue tingled, and soon her sense of taste disappeared. She no longer felt the taste of blood. Then she felt her esophagus and stomach slowly stiffen.

As So-hwa observed the reaction of the poison, she flinched. Her stiff organs suddenly spasmed, a convulsion that felt like a jolt.

The spasms were rhythmic, like a heartbeat, though far more intense.

The violent twisting of her stiffened insides made her wince, but soon the movements slowed, and her organs gradually loosened. Her body was starting to reverse the process on its own, beginning the detoxification.

Fortunately, So-hwa was able to identify the poison through this strange reaction.

She knew this poison.

It was a highly potent poison that caused both paralysis and necrosis. It was the Blazing Herb Poison.

A herb-based poison crafted by blending the Danjangcho, which causes intestinal necrosis, with the extract of Gyeonhyeol Bonghu, which enters through the bloodstream and constricts the heart.

Blazing Herb Poison wasn’t a lethal poison meant to cause immediate death, but rather one that caused the victim to lose control of their body and suffer in agony. It was designed to break the enemy’s formation by making their comrades lose morale as they witnessed one of their own vomiting blood and unable to move.

So-hwa carefully examined Han-won’s wound. The injury wasn’t large, so it seemed the arrow had merely grazed him.

If she had administered the paralysis antidote first, it could have been disastrous. Since his heart was constricted, his blood flow had slowed, and if she removed the paralysis too soon, it could cause excessive bleeding.

Stopping the necrosis was the priority.

At that moment, an old man’s hand appeared in her line of sight. The old physician, who had come closer, placed his hand on Han-won’s abdomen and flipped his eyelids open.

“There’s internal bleeding. Given the swelling, immediate surgery is necessary.”

The old man’s voice was urgent.

“We must return to the Yeonju Group immediately.”

“That’s not possible.”

The deputy leader’s firm refusal made the old man raise his voice.

“He could die like this!”

The deputy leader cut off the old man’s agitated words in a calm tone.

“If we go back now, we’ll all die.”

Because So-hwa was so close, she could clearly see the deputy leader’s appearance. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and his arm was slightly trembling.

The deputy leader would want to save his subordinates more than anyone else.

Even after becoming the leader, Tang Jin-hu was a martial artist who prioritized the survival of his subordinates over his own life.

However, the dark forest concealed the deputy leader’s subtle emotions.

The old man, with a furrowed brow, and Yeon-ah and Tang Hak, who were unsure of what to do, silently criticized the deputy leader. Their expressions seemed to question how he could say such a thing.

So-hwa pulled out the antidote for bleeding poison from her pocket. In a calm, even voice, she cut through the tension.

“This is an antidote for bleeding poison. It will stop the bleeding immediately and buy us time.”

“It’s only a temporary solution. The damaged organs must be swiftly removed and sutured. If we don’t act quickly…”

Tang So-hwa shook her head.

“Han-won is a martial artist. He’s one of the Black Tiger Unit’s elite martial artists. You must understand what I mean, physician. Han-won can endure this.”

So-hwa turned her gaze toward the deputy leader.

A wave of heat emanated from him. He was gathering his internal energy. But it seemed he hesitated, unable to pass it to Han-won right away.

Even after sending his subordinates to the front and leaving the Grand Elder at the rear, the deputy leader still hadn’t used his internal energy.

His goal was the survival of the direct descendants. He must have been saving it for the most crucial moment.

And why wouldn’t he want to stay by Tang Min’s side and fight? Why wouldn’t he want to go save his subordinates?

Tang So-hwa knew better than anyone what that feeling of helplessness and pain must be like.

So-hwa felt a faint tightening around her heart. She admired the deputy leader, who was enduring that pain without showing any change in his expression.

The stench had now almost faded, and the scent of blood was more intense. It was because the martial artists who had escaped from the Yeonju Group were displaying overwhelming martial prowess and turning the situation around.

Moreover, seeing that no more arrows were flying, it seemed the Black Tiger Unit members had also dealt with all the ambushing archers.

So-hwa took a step back, as if making a decision.

This was a luxury they could afford now, after gaining the upper hand, and a decision she made.

She asked the deputy leader.

“We need two, or perhaps three, martial artists with high internal energy. The ones who haven’t returned may also have been poisoned, so they need to take the antidote quickly.”

“Yun-jin, Cheol-ho, Ran-hee.”

The deputy leader’s voice, carrying internal energy, sent those three martial artists who had been fighting in the front flying over immediately.

“The enemy has used poison. Give them the antidote and use your internal energy to keep them alive.”

The deputy leader also seemed to believe that the situation would soon be under control and intended to send the remaining forces to help the injured. However, Tang So-hwa, the one who had suggested it, stood still. The deputy leader stared at her quietly and then spoke.

“Young Lady, please give me the antidote.”

“I’ll go myself. There’s no guarantee that all of them were poisoned by the same thing, so I need to confirm it.”

“You can’t.”

The deputy leader immediately refused.

“I don’t need your permission.”

It was a statement to ease the deputy leader’s guilt.

If he gave permission, it would endanger the direct descendant. If he refused, he would be abandoning the deaths of his subordinates. No matter what he said, the worst outcome would rest on his shoulders.

Even though he had raised his internal energy, he still hadn’t passed it to his subordinates, continuing the conversation. Tang So-hwa spoke as if giving an order.

“Deputy leader, keep Han-won alive until I return.”

So-hwa, already having an idea of where the Black Tiger Unit members would be, moved in that direction immediately after finishing her sentence.

“Young Lady!”

At the deputy leader’s shout, three members of the Black Tiger Unit instinctively followed her, acting as her guards.

Normally, So-hwa wouldn’t interfere and would want to follow the deputy leader’s wishes, but she couldn’t wait.

The Blazing Herb Poison was a poison developed by the Tang Clan. Like many poisons stored in the secret poison vault, it had never been used before. It had never been taken outside nor exposed to the enemy.

So why was Blazing Herb Poison here?

So-hwa quickly found the Black Tiger Unit members.

She repeated what she had done for Han-won on five fallen martial artists.

They all had been poisoned with Blazing Herb Poison.

After helping the last martial artist to his feet, So-hwa put the antidote in his mouth. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late, and as his comrade infused internal energy, the martial artist’s complexion slowly began to improve.

As she watched this, a sense of unease took root in So-hwa’s heart.

In the past, if Namgung had come to the Yeonju Group, there was a high probability that these martial artists had crossed paths with him. If the Anhui branch’s martial force had arrived, these men wouldn’t have stood a chance against Namgung, so they must have used poison.

But the past Murim Alliance had kept this matter secret.

A sigh of helplessness escaped So-hwa’s lips.

‘… So they started suspecting us from this point.’

When the unknown group later slaughtered civilians with extreme poison in the future, it seemed that the Tang Clan would be blamed, and perhaps, the others had their suspicions from the start.

The curse that would lead to the downfall of the Tang Clan may have already begun.

Tang So-hwa clenched her hand into a fist.

The whitened knuckles protruded, the tension in her hand palpable.

“Young Lady. We should head back now.”

At Yun-jin’s voice, So-hwa relaxed her hand and slowly raised her head. Her gaze was cold as she looked at him. After seeing him flinch, she turned her gaze away and nodded.

“Yes, let’s head back quickly.”

Upon returning, the enemy corpses were stacked in one place, and Han-won was lying in front of the old man physician.

“Young Lady.”

“Sister!”

The deputy leader and Tang Hak quickly approached upon seeing them.

“We’ve passed the worst of it, but we can’t stay here any longer.”

“No, we can’t just leave them behind!”

The deputy leader’s expression, which seemed to suggest abandoning them, and Tang Hak’s stubborn face both reflected the gravity of the situation.

After silently considering, So-hwa approached the Black Tiger Unit martial artist lying down. From her sleeve, she took out a small medicinal box.

“Young Lady.”

Upon seeing this, the deputy leader furrowed his brow. However, So-hwa didn’t respond and moved closer to the old physician, opening the box. Inside were five Yeonju pills.

“You said these could prevent necrosis and improve recovery, right?”

She asked Jin-cheol, and he nodded.

After confirming his answer, So-hwa took the pills and put one into the mouth of each of the five martial artists.

“Young Lady!”

The deputy leader’s voice rose, and even the watching Black Tiger Unit members flinched.

The Yeonju pills were renowned for their efficacy as elixirs, coveted by martial artists far and wide. Tang Min had entrusted So-hwa with them, knowing her cold and calculating nature. Yet, to everyone’s astonishment, So-hwa had used them all on martial artists whose survival remained uncertain.

The deputy leader’s heart grew heavy.

He feared that if Tang Min found out, it would be disastrous. But at the same time, a sense of relief spread, albeit reluctantly.

So-hwa placed the empty box on the ground, lifting her gaze to look at the old physician.

“Once Grand Elder arrives, we will return to Yeonju Group. Please take care of them.”

At those words, Jin-cheol looked at So-hwa with an unreadable expression and spoke.

“I will do my best in the name of Yeonju Group.”

A deep silence fell.

The thoughts of many individuals, each with different allegiances and goals, tangled in the air.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep