Chapter 211 - One Plan Amid No Plans

"What kind of pledge?"

The Poison King tried to guess my intentions.

"In exchange for your signing a pledge, I have to teach you one poison art a day? Something like that?"

"No."

"Then a pledge that I won't hold you responsible if you steal my poisons or secretly learn my poison arts here, Second Young Master?"

"Poison King, your poisons and poison arts frighten me. I'd prefer to keep as far away from them as possible."

"Then what on earth is this pledge?"

The pledge I wanted was something the Poison King could never have anticipated.

"A pledge that, if you lose this wager, you'll come out of your own world."

The Poison King started. His expression changed in a peculiar way.

"And what sort of world is that?"

"Researching alone, mixing poisons alone, thinking alone, laughing alone. Digging alone. That world."

He thrust his face close to mine. His impossibly youthful face came right up to my nose.

But in that moment, I could feel it. His body had moved closer, but the man called the Poison King had retreated from me. Standing at the boundary between his world and the outside world, he had stepped back and hidden himself.

"All you need to do is take me along and get the cult leader's permission, isn't it?"

"That's right. That's why I came."

"Then whether I live in that sort of world or not has nothing to do with you, does it?"

"It does."

"How?"

"Because I'm going to be the Heavenly Demon. And the next Heavenly Demon wants the Cult's Poison King to be someone who travels the world, not someone who lives alone and lonely."

"!"

"Now, will you sign the pledge?"

The Poison King gave no answer for a while. He would be wondering what I truly meant, what intentions lay behind this condition.

But he wouldn't be able to figure it out. He could never know that I intended to prevent that horrifying incident that would happen in the future.

"Why hesitate? By then you'll already have become a dog anyway. What does it matter?"

I had even made it conditional on his losing the wager.

Despite believing he couldn't possibly lose, he still hesitated. Apparently, leaving this place was that daunting a prospect for him.

I stopped pressing him and picked up the brush.

"Anyway, that's fine. I'll write mine. I'm learning so much from you that I ought to sign a pledge."

I wrote a pledge stating that, if I was poisoned by anything here in the Thousand-Poison Forest, the responsibility would lie not with the Poison King but with me, since I had come voluntarily. I added my personal mark as well.

The Poison King was astonished that I had actually written it. When he first brought it up, he apparently hadn't expected me to go through with it.

"Are you an idiot? Now I won't be held responsible even if I poison you and make you die in agony."

"That won't happen."

"Where does that confidence come from?"

"Only intelligent people can learn poison arts. You're the most intelligent of the Demon Supremes, so you wouldn't do anything that reckless."

I looked around as I spoke.

"Now that I've come here, I understand. Those who master poison arts are the most intelligent people. You have to memorize all these poisonous herbs and substances, and making poisons requires hundreds, thousands of combinations and mixtures, doesn't it? You have to make antidotes, too. And that's not all. You also have to properly learn the art of administering poison. Would someone standing at the pinnacle of all these intelligent people do such a thing? Of course not. You might laugh while digging alone, but you wouldn't do anything that stupid."

The Poison King's eyes grew round. His reaction was as cute as his appearance. He blinked those big eyes a few times, then spoke in wonder.

"You talk a great deal, and you're very good at it."

At that moment, the Poison King was genuinely impressed.

Poison King, I haven't even started yet.

"You won't be bored with me around. Now, I'll get back to work."

After handing him the pledge, I continued working. I brought over a sack of poisonous herbs and opened it. As he watched me sort them, the Poison King suddenly spoke.

"What should I write? You write one, and I don't. That makes me the petty one, doesn't it?"

He had finally decided to write a pledge.

"Oh, nothing much. Just that you'll go outside the Thousand-Poison Gate once every ten days. That's enough."

"That's all?"

"Yes."

"Can I just stand outside the entrance to the Thousand-Poison Gate and come back in?"

"That's fine. All you need to do is leave this place."

"What would be the point?"

"Because the view from outside the gate will be different from the view here."

The Poison King stared at me without a word. Wondering what this is all about? If you're a madman, people call me one too. Let's give it a go, Poison King. Let's see which of us is crazier.

The Poison King wrote the pledge and added his personal mark.

"You've lost, Second Young Master. I'll never be persuaded, so this pledge is nothing but scrap paper. With my resolve this firm, how will you break it?"

In truth, I had no special plan for persuading him. As the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had advised, I was simply treating him the way I always had others.

"I'll have to do my best."

"Do I really look like someone who would bark at the training ground?"

"At least once in your life."

"How did the other Demon Supremes fall for someone as inept as you? I don't understand."

The Poison King's eyes were full of confidence and intelligence. At that moment, he was a different man from the Poison King who had dug with dirt smeared all over his face.

"Be careful. From now on, I'm not responsible if you die."

* * *

The next day, I worked hard as though nothing had happened.

The Poison King regarded everything I did as calculated. Whenever I spoke, he habitually said the same thing.

"I know it's all a ploy to get on my good side. You're wasting your time!"

But I didn't care what he thought.

If there was one plan amid my lack of plans, it was this:

Focus on the work, not the person.

I sincerely applied myself to learning the work. Not because I wanted to learn about poison for some particular use, but because working here was an entirely new experience for me. A first experience always has something to teach.

"When else would I ever live a life of carrying sacks of poisonous herbs on my back and sorting them? This is a valuable experience for me."

I was living differently than I had before. This was something I had never experienced even before my regression.

Thinking differently, using my body differently.

I hoped it would have a positive effect on my life and martial arts. Sometimes, no matter how hard you concentrate on trying to come up with an idea, it won't come. Then it suddenly strikes you in the bath, or while walking down the road.

This was the same. I hoped this unfamiliar work in the Thousand-Poison Forest would bring something fresh to my life and martial arts. I hoped to achieve twelfth-level complete mastery of Wind God's Four Steps while sorting poisonous herbs. I hoped to discover a new aspect of life while mixing poisons.

Thinking that way made everything here enjoyable rather than a source of anxiety.

I believed that, if I kept at it, a chance to move the Poison King's heart would surely come. That chance would arrive when I became genuinely absorbed in poison arts.

"Careful! This time, pour in exactly half!"

When else in my life would I have the chance to mix the fifteen ingredients of Soul-Severing Acid?

"That's it! You've got it!"

I followed his instructions precisely. With my level of martial attainment, how could anything I did lack precision? I could probably do the work more to his liking than anyone here at the Thousand-Poison Gate.

"Do you usually do all this work by yourself?"

"Yes."

"That must be hard."

I knew why he didn't readily allow the human poison vessels in here.

There were so many lethal poisons in his residence that, if he let in the wrong disciples and they caused an accident, it would become a serious problem.

In fact, the Thousand-Poison Forest was subject to strict surveillance and inspections by Heaven-Reaching Pavilion. Any use of poison had to be reported, and its stocks were always inspected.

Once we finished mixing the Soul-Severing Acid, I honestly shared my impressions with a pleased expression.

"This is fun! What poison will you mix next?"

Of course, he didn't believe me.

"I think you'd make a better street performer than a Heavenly Demon."

"Next time you come to the Central Plains with me, why don't we join a performing troupe? With your looks, Poison King, you might even land a leading role."

The Poison King recoiled. His expression said it all. I don't even want to leave this place, and what? You want me to star in a play?

"Just now, in your imagination, every actor onstage and every spectator was poisoned to death, wasn't that right?"

"And did you survive, Second Young Master?"

As he wheeled around, I called after him.

"The performance is canceled!"

He walked away without even acknowledging me.

* * *

The Poison King had little interest in other people's affairs.

If this was how much attention he paid me when I had come on such important business, I could imagine how he ordinarily regarded others. To him, people probably ranked far below poisonous herbs.

Of course, he did sometimes ask impulsive questions. Like right now. While pounding poisonous herbs, the Poison King suddenly asked,

"Listen, Second Young Master. Be honest. You're secretly learning poison arts here so you can poison your older brother, aren't you?"

I answered as I transferred the herbs into a large vat and added water.

"Everyone knows perfectly well that I'm here with you. If my brother were poisoned to death, who would they suspect first? If anything, I'm the one who ought to worry about my brother dying of poison."

THUD! THUD!

Instead of arguing, the Poison King pounded the herbs more loudly.

"I'm not interested in poisoning people. If I could learn even one thing from you, I'd prefer something else."

"What?"

He still wasn't looking at me, focusing only on pounding the herbs. There was no telling when he might slip back into his own world, but my next answer would draw him firmly into this one.

"I'd like to learn how to counter poisons. Isn't the crowning glory of poison arts curing poisoning, rather than inflicting it?"

The pounding stopped at once. His gaze was on me. He looked more astonished than he had at any point since meeting me. I had expressed exactly what he himself believed.

"I've only been here a few days, but it seems to me that making an antidote that perfectly neutralizes a poison is harder than making the poison itself. That led me to think: someone who can make an antidote that reliably neutralizes their own poison, someone who can instantly counter a poison unleashed by an opponent—isn't that person a true master of poison arts?"

In other words, only by perfecting both the infliction and the curing of poisoning could one grasp the ultimate essence of poison arts.

"Where did you hear that?"

From the next Poison King, who learned poison arts from you.

"It's just my own thought. The comparison may be a little odd, but martial arts are the same. Taking someone alive is harder than killing them."

I made my decisive move. A contest that gave me, with my immunity to all poisons, the greatest advantage.

"Choose one poison and teach me how to counter it. I'll cure the poisoning, and you'll inflict it. What do you say? Let's have a match!"

You've studied poison arts your entire life. Surely you can beat someone like me? Isn't your pride at stake?

I didn't taunt him like that. A rash provocation would clearly only backfire.

'Come on, Poison King. Say yes. Say you'll have a match!'

If he just agreed, I would win this wager.

But the Poison King wasn't so easily taken in.

"No."

At his firm refusal, I asked,

"Why not?"

"Do you think I don't see through your ploy? You're hoping I'll say this: 'If you can counter my poison, I'll consider myself to have lost the wager.' Aren't you? That's what you want to hear, isn't it?"

I didn't deny it. In truth, if this hadn't involved me, I would have wanted to applaud him.

"All you have to do is win, isn't it?"

"How can I guarantee I'll win? The method of countering it would be mine, too."

The Poison King resumed pounding the herbs.

"Go practice barking, Second Young Master."

* * *

That evening, I went to see Father.

The more I learned about the Poison King, the more frustrated I became. At times like this, I needed someone who would strengthen my resolve. No one was better suited to that than Father.

Since I visited just before he went to bed, I got another look at Father's nightclothes.

"That's a different floral pattern from the one I saw last time. This must be the finest protective armor in Murim. Enemies would see it and think, 'Oh, surely the Heavenly Demon wouldn't wear nightclothes like that,' and walk right past. Those are the safest clothes there are!"

Father looked at me as if to ask how long I intended to keep spouting nonsense, but he seemed to have known I would visit sooner or later.

"You knew, didn't you, Father? That the Poison King wasn't someone I could win over."

"Have you given up already?"

"Of course not. I've just never met anyone so trapped in his own world."

That familiar sneer appeared on Father's lips. Yes, I had come today to see that smile.

Seeing it gave me strength. In fact, it lifted my spirits.

Yes, enjoy yourself all you like for now. I will bring the Poison King before you.

I asked a question I had wanted to ask for some time.

"Father, you dislike the Poison King, don't you?"

Father neither confirmed nor denied it. He truly loved martial arts, so it was only natural that he disliked poison arts and soul-seizing sorcery.

"If you dislike him, why keep him alive? Why not kill him?"

"Because he poses the greatest threat to our enemies."

"Couldn't he rebel, or go mad and poison the Cult's people?"

"If we're to use the Poison King as the Cult's weapon, we must accept that much risk."

"What if my brother or I die in the process?"

"That, too, must be accepted."

"That's the sort of thing you should only say if you have about ten children hidden away somewhere."

"Why do you assume I don't?"

"You'd better not. One older brother is enough of a headache."

A faint smile appeared on Father's lips. If Sima Myeong or the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had said it, he might have laughed aloud.

"It's always been this way, but whenever I find myself facing an impassable wall, you're the first person I think of, Father. Now that I've seen you, I'm all right. I'll take my leave. Oh, and at this rate, I may soon do something at the main training ground that isn't quite unfilial, but will look it."

After that bit of banter, I was about to turn away when Father suddenly asked,

"Do you think the Poison King is trapped in his own world?"