Chapter 218 - Inviting Us Over Only to Serve Cheap Wine

The burning liquid slid down Great Tiger's throat. It was a taste unlike anything he had experienced in his life. The instant he swallowed it, he knew he had consumed something he should never have touched.

The Poison King approached and handed him a black pill.

"Chew it thoroughly before swallowing. Otherwise, all your organs will dissolve."

Alarmed, Great Tiger hurriedly took the pill. As the antidote took effect, he felt a cooling sensation inside.

"Until I remove the poison completely, you must take this antidote once every day. For every watch you're late, one of your organs will dissolve. Your heart will be the last."

Great Tiger felt his world go dark. Yet he still had a thread of hope. They must be keeping him alive because he was of some use to them.

"What must I do now?"

"Take us to Ji Saeng. That man over there is Second Tiger, I'm Third Tiger, and that gentleman is Fourth Tiger."

In answering Great Tiger, Geom Mugeuk first pointed at Seo Daeryong and, last of all, the Poison King.

The Poison King looked startled as he asked me, "Why me?"

"We need three people, and as you can see, he's wearing a mask, so he can't take part."

I deliberately avoided using the title Laughing Demon in front of Great Tiger.

The Poison King's eyes met the Wicked Laughing Demon's again.

"Given the circumstances, I ask this favor of you."

It was hardly something the Wicked Laughing Demon needed to ask for, but he addressed the Poison King courteously.

Just as the Wicked Laughing Demon had readily stepped aside earlier, the Poison King readily accepted his request.

"Very well. I'll do it."

Then Great Tiger spoke cautiously.

"You all look so young. I don't know whether he'll believe you."

Geom Mugeuk's reply was laden with meaning.

"Making sure he doesn't believe us is the key to this operation."

Great Tiger could not understand what that meant. Instead, he asked the one question that had been on his mind all along.

"Now that I've even swallowed your poison, let me ask one thing. Who in the world are you people?"

"Who else? The younger brothers our eldest brother holds so dear."

Geom Mugeuk pressed his sleep point, and Great Tiger collapsed into sleep.

After putting him to sleep, Geom Mugeuk addressed the two Demon Supremes.

"Strategist Go is moving things along, so Ji Saeng should contact us within a few days. He's dangled a glittering, dazzling lure that Ji Saeng won't possibly be able to resist."

The entire operation was proceeding strictly according to Go Wol's plan. Geom Mugeuk had told him to devise it at ease, without putting pressure on himself.

Go Wol's enemy was neither the Unorthodox Alliance nor Ji Saeng. It was the pressure to handle everything properly as a strategist—and thereby impress Geom Mugeuk.

Seo Daeryong tucked the dead Iron Sword Tigers' bodies under his arms, one on each side.

"I'll dispose of the bodies."

"I'll help."

Geom Mugeuk tucked the remaining corpse under his arm and followed him outside.

Together with Seo Daeryong, he dug a deep pit in the backyard and buried the three men. Considering their atrocities, they deserved to be dumped in the hills as food for wild animals, but that was not an option when they now had to impersonate them.

"As expected, the bodies pile up whenever I go out with you, Pavilion Master."

"Perhaps it's your fault."

"My fault?"

"When we first met, you said the Cult would never change. That made me resolve to change it, no matter what."

Seo Daeryong looked silently at Geom Mugeuk before speaking softly.

"I gave you only one thing, yet you repay me with ten."

He meant that those words gave him that much gratitude and strength.

For someone who knew how to be grateful like this, Geom Mugeuk would gladly give not ten, but a hundred. That was how he felt.

Looking down at the bodies in the pit, Seo Daeryong said, "Sorry. Apparently, you died because of me."

Seo Daeryong filled in the pit and stamped the earth down. Once he had concealed all traces, he asked me, "Aren't you going inside?"

"Let's go in later. Give those two some time to get to know each other."

Seo Daeryong looked at the building.

"Come to think of it, the two most frightening people in the Cult are in there."

He privately wondered how Geom Mugeuk would describe those two.

* * *

The Wicked Laughing Demon was looking out the window, while the Poison King needlessly rearranged the poisons in his bag.

Then they both spoke at once.

"Poison King, you..."

"Laughing Demon, you..."

"Ah, please, go first."

"No, please, you first."

Silence followed, until the Poison King spoke first.

"I never imagined I'd end up somewhere like this with you."

"Neither did I."

"Did you know? When the Second Young Master talks about the Demon Supremes, his eyes shine brightest when he mentions you, Laughing Demon. I'd say he gets excited. That's the impression I get."

Perhaps it was because he had heard something pleasing. The Wicked Laughing Demon's eyes smiled happily through the holes in his mask.

"I feel the same. Being with the Second Young Master seems to excite me too. I don't know why."

He would not know that, in Geom Mugeuk's life before his regression, he had wanted to make Geom Mugeuk his friend. That he had died by Geom Mugeuk's sword, and that Geom Mugeuk had been the only person to whom he had shown his face. He would never know that their deep bond had endured from before the regression.

The Poison King, on the other hand, felt differently.

"The Second Young Master makes me uneasy. He's like a poison with no antidote."

He meant that once you were poisoned, there was nothing you could do. His words also carried a reluctance to fall into such a relationship.

"When we make poisons, we consider any poison without an antidote a failure."

The Wicked Laughing Demon looked out the window again. In the yard in the distance, the poison without an antidote was walking toward them, talking with Seo Daeryong.

In a voice barely loud enough to hear, the Wicked Laughing Demon said, "I don't mind."

* * *

A few days later, Ji Saeng received a report from a subordinate.

"I've heard a strange rumor about the Four Iron Sword Tigers."

"What rumor?"

"They supposedly robbed an escort convoy about a month before coming here and obtained three night-shining pearls of the highest quality."

The mention of top-quality night-shining pearls startled Ji Saeng. Not only were they extraordinarily expensive, they were so rare that even money could not easily procure them. The martial world's wealthiest men snapped them up whenever they appeared. And the Tigers had obtained three?

"There are even rumors that several of the Iron Sword Tigers died in the process."

"Nothing like that came up when we investigated them beforehand, did it?"

There had been several candidates to take charge of Immortal Debt. They had all been thoroughly investigated, and the Four Iron Sword Tigers had been the final choice.

"I suspect that's because it happened recently."

Yet Great Tiger had given no indication of it. When Ji Saeng had asked to see his brothers, hadn't he said they could be presented at any time? If several out of only four had died, that meant everyone except Great Tiger was dead.

"It won't be difficult to check. We needed to meet them anyway. Go tell the Four Iron Sword Tigers I want to see them."

Half a watch later, Ji Saeng met the Four Iron Sword Tigers again at the manor where their previous meeting had taken place.

Once again, a blind hung before Ji Saeng, allowing only his side to make out the faces opposite.

"My respects, Elder. These are my younger brothers. Go on, greet him."

At Great Tiger's words, the three men removed their bamboo hats. Ji Saeng started at the sight of them.

The young man to Great Tiger's left was handsome. His eyes were so clear and deep that it was hard to believe he belonged to the Four Iron Sword Tigers, men who had lived lives of wickedness. Another man was slight of build, and he too seemed ill suited to the group. The last looked far too young to be an Iron Sword Tiger; he seemed to have only just entered the martial world.

"You're younger than I expected."

"Won't our youth make us work all the more enthusiastically?"

Geom Mugeuk, the Poison King, and Seo Daeryong had not bothered with even ordinary disguises. A false beard might have spared them suspicion, but they had deliberately done without. It was all part of Go Wol's strategy.

Ji Saeng asked Geom Mugeuk, "How long have you been an Iron Sword Tiger?"

Geom Mugeuk stole a glance at Great Tiger before answering in a trembling voice.

"Quite some time."

Ji Saeng's lips curled upward at the vague, evasive answer.

'Perhaps the rumors are true.'

He began to think the brothers had died while robbing the convoy and been replaced with new men.

Great Tiger spoke confidently, as though he had nothing to hide.

"Recently, my younger brothers were injured or left, so I took in new ones. They're all trustworthy men. You needn't worry about Immortal Debt."

Concealing his vicious thoughts, Ji Saeng spoke pleasantly.

"Seeing such young, stalwart tigers inspires confidence. Devote yourselves to our great cause. I shall reward you with wealth and glory."

"We will serve you faithfully."

Thus ended Ji Saeng's first meeting with the Four Iron Sword Tigers.

* * *

Three days later, in a moving carriage, Ji Saeng sent a sound transmission to the real Ji Saeng.

—Great Tiger of the Four Iron Sword Tigers has top-quality night-shining pearls.

The real Ji Saeng stopped the carriage. However important the subject, he normally exchanged sound transmissions while driving, but now he had brought it to a complete halt.

—Is that true?

—Yes.

The real Ji Saeng could not hide his excitement. Top-quality night-shining pearls were his favorite treasures, and he collected them by any means necessary.

Among treasures, there were two whose prices only rose, never fell: night-shining pearls and poison-warding pearls.

Whenever he accumulated money, Ji Saeng bought night-shining pearls. He did not buy cheap ones. He sought only the finest.

He did not keep his money in money houses. One day, Yelü Han or the Unorthodox Alliance might search his accounts and take everything he had accumulated. They had the power, and they were more than capable of doing it.

Thus he kept only a portion of his money in money houses and converted the rest into night-shining pearls. He chose them over gold, paintings, or works of art because they were small and light, making them easy to store and move.

—Could someone be trying to play a trick?

The impostor answered his suspicious question confidently.

—That's why I checked again through an information broker. It's certain. They attacked an escorted shipment, and three of the Four Iron Sword Tigers reportedly died in the process.

He did not know that Go Wol had both spread the rumors and taken control of the region's information.

—The only strange thing is that they accepted this job despite having made so much money.

—When have you ever seen greed satisfied?

That was something the impostor felt every time he looked at the real Ji Saeng.

—Perhaps he wanted to hide under your protection, Elder.

—How many does he have?

—Three, they say.

Not one, but three. There was no need for even a moment's deliberation.

—Get rid of them as quickly as possible and recover the pearls. Find someone else to run Immortal Debt.

—The Central Plains are full of trash like the Four Iron Sword Tigers. I'll find replacements soon.

No one could curb his greed for riches.

—I went looking for venison and ended up with a tiger's pelt!

Ji Saeng laughed heartily and set the carriage moving again.

Only one thing could make him laugh so exuberantly.

* * *

The Four Iron Sword Tigers received an invitation from Ji Saeng.

When they arrived, food and wine had been laid out in the room. The dishes were meager, and the wine was so cheap it was difficult to stomach.

Guessing what this spread signified, Geom Mugeuk smiled.

"Now that we're one family, why not remove the blind between us? We'd like to behold your honored face, Elder."

Ji Saeng laughed from beyond the blind.

"Such spirit. Just what I'd expect of a young man. Very well."

The blind between Ji Saeng and the Four Iron Sword Tigers was removed. Since he intended to kill them all anyway, Ji Saeng had no qualms about showing his face.

Geom Mugeuk raised his cup high.

"Come, let's share a drink!"

But Ji Saeng did not raise his cup. He let his cold feelings show, and naturally, the atmosphere chilled.

"Great Tiger, there's a rumor going around about you."

"What rumor do you mean?"

"I hear you landed quite a haul."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"We're family. Let us have a look."

"I truly don't know what you mean."

Great Tiger flatly denied it.

Ji Saeng nodded.

"Yes, naturally you'd react that way. I'd do the same. I understand."

As soon as he finished speaking, four martial artists entered. Brimming with killing intent, their martial skills surpassed those of the Four Iron Sword Tigers.

They were Ji Saeng's most prized henchmen, whom he mainly used whenever someone needed to be killed discreetly.

"The three newcomers won't know anything anyway. Kill them first."

Geom Mugeuk turned to Great Tiger.

"Our poor eldest brother is about to lose all his younger brothers again."

At Geom Mugeuk's words, Great Tiger sighed and looked at Ji Saeng. His eyes said:

'Now you're in deep trouble too.'

An inexplicable sense that something was wrong sent a chill through Ji Saeng's chest. He shouted at his subordinates.

"Kill them now!"

The instant the words left his mouth, all four men crumpled smoothly to the floor.

Ji Saeng went pale with shock. His four subordinates had died without swinging their swords even once. His order had been "Kill them," not "Die." Why had they died instead?

"Poison!"

The Poison King was already gently waving a fan: his signature weapon, the Avici Fan.

Though all four men had been poisoned simultaneously, everyone else in the same room was unharmed. This truly awe-inspiring feat of poison arts was something only the Poison King could accomplish. When he used poison, there was nothing cute or youthful about him. Cold and merciless, he seemed an entirely different person.

Ji Saeng sprang to his feet and drew his sword.

Just as he was about to shout to alert the real Ji Saeng and the other subordinates outside, Geom Mugeuk brought his index finger to his lips.

"Shh!"

He had merely gestured for silence, yet Ji Saeng's mute point had already been sealed.

"Inviting us over only to serve wine this cheap. You'd be better off with this."

Looking at the little vial of poison held out toward him, Ji Saeng realized that his life—spent merrily enjoying the Unorthodox Alliance's backing—had reached its greatest crisis.

And what an overwhelming crisis it was.