Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye, subdued by Tang So-wol's poison and my Acupoint Sealing.
I carried the two of them into the inn right in front of us. It was a suitably shabby place, but the room itself wasn't all that small.
I thought it would be enough for at least four people.
"They're nearly the size of two other people, aren't they…"
"Everyone from the Paeng Clan is about this size. The higher their level, the bigger they get."
"Whoa. Even bigger than this?"
I shook my head, looking at the two bodies that filled the room even though I'd simply laid them on the floor.
Tang So-wol laid the petite Eon Ga-hye on the bed, opposite to where Peng Woo-jin lay, then returned to my side.
I spoke toward the two who lay on the floor and the bed, breathing quietly.
"You can't move your bodies, but your minds are clear, so listen carefully. It may be hard to believe, but neither I nor Tang So-wol intend to harm you. Nor do we plan to use this as leverage to get something out of you."
"Young hero Cheon. Young hero Cheon. Even if you say that, I find it hard to believe at all. You already poisoned us and used force to bring us here, didn't you?"
"…I know, but I still have to say it, don't I?"
Tang So-wol fidgeted, as if this was her first time kidnapping someone. For her sake, I explained in a bit more detail.
"Think about how anxious you'd be, not knowing what's going to happen from now on. People are wired to listen closely when the topic they most want to hear comes up. And right now, you can't move, can't argue back—all you can do is listen and think, so this will be a good chance to reflect deeply."
"That's certainly true. …But why are you explaining it with such a proud face, young hero Cheon?"
"Well, now that we've cleared up the premise, let's get to the main point."
"Young hero Cheon? Excuse me?"
Tang So-wol called out to me, baffled. I listened to her voice with one ear and let it pass through the other as I continued.
"As I said earlier, I had no intention of harming either of you. But it's also true that I have a purpose. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of kidnapping—no, protecting you."
"Changing your words now won't make any difference."
Tang So-wol, displeased at being ignored, poked my side and pouted her lips.
I wanted to pull those lips right then and there, but… I held back, fearing it would ruin the mood I'd worked so hard to set.
It's absolutely not because I'm afraid she'd fight back and give me something in return.
"There are several minor reasons, but the biggest one is to have an honest conversation without the hassle of hiding anything. If I had approached you normally, become friends normally, and brought things up normally, wouldn't the two of you be putting on an act of hostility between yourselves like today?"
Even Namgung Jong, who was said to be an old friend, didn't know Peng Woo-jin's secret. Perhaps no matter how much time passed or how close they became, he might never hear it from Peng's own lips.
"Then why is a conversation without secrets necessary? Actually, this is the most important part. You both probably know this well. That the suspicious spiritual medicine circulating in Hebei Province belongs to the Demonic Cult. …I believe this is a rather dangerous omen."
Having said that, he crouched down in front of Peng Woo-jin.
"I and my betrothed have also been targeted by the Demonic Cult once before. We've actually fought them too. It's true that they haven't caused any major upheaval in the Central Plains martial world so far, but that doesn't mean we should take them lightly."
As he placed his finger over Peng Woo-jin's acupoint, Tang So-wol, as if she had been waiting, brought her hand to Eon Ga-hye's abdomen.
"Now then. I've said everything I needed to say, so I'll release the acupoint sealing."
At his brief glance, she understood immediately and began drawing the poison energy out of Eon Ga-hye's body.
I likewise drew out the internal energy I had been using to seal Peng Woo-jin's acupoint and released it. And then.
"Kuh! Kill him!"
"Didn't I say I had no such intention…"
I had only released his acupoint, and the first thing out of his mouth was this.
A sigh escaped me at that first word, which somehow sent a chill down my spine. If I released his vital point like this, we'd end up fighting again.
For that reason, I kept my finger resting on his vital point, looking down at Peng Woo-jin growling like a beast.
Then, from behind me, a voice that was somewhat mechanical—yet strangely, the emotion of embarrassment was unmistakably clear in it—spoke up.
"Head of the Paeng Clan. Please stop. Neither I nor the Head have any injuries, and if you had brought up the matter in a proper manner as the Blood Flower Sword Demon said, I would have pretended not to know anything to the end. The beginning was rude, but it's not entirely incomprehensible. …And, it seems you are a little different from the person we had in mind."
"…If that's how you feel, Ga-hye. Very well."
"What is this?"
Peng Woo-jin, who had been radiating a murderous aura as if he would never listen to a word anyone said, immediately lowered that aura along with his voice.
Just moments ago, this man had been making unpleasant noises like "Kuh! Kill them!" and bracing himself for a final stand—yet a single word from his lover made him abandon that resolve entirely.
Honestly, it was absurd. But at the same time, I couldn't say I didn't understand.
It was the opposite situation, but hadn't I myself once risked my life for Tang So-wol? The direction was reversed, but it was roughly the same thing.
Only after confirming that Eon Ga-hye was loosening her wrist—which looked stiffer than usual because the poison energy hadn't fully subsided—did I release Peng Woo-jin's vital point.
The moment his body was free again, Peng Woo-jin turned toward Eon Ga-hye, who sat right beside him.
"Are you alright? I only had my weapon broken by the acupoint sealing—I was sealed without a single wound—but weren't you poisoned?"
"Miss Tang cleanly drew out the poison energy, so I'm perfectly fine. But since the Paeng Clan Head was also poisoned, is it really okay to be moving around like this?"
"It's not a lethal poison energy. It's a bit numb, but I can still move."
"That's exactly what people mean when they say it's not okay."
Still expressionless, Eon Ga-hye spoke in a voice that sounded exasperated. When she turned her gaze this way, Tang So-wol, having noticed, nodded and reached out her hand.
Before long, a thick brown poison energy was drawn out of Peng Woo-jin's body. The poison, reeking of a foul stench, was instantly sucked into Tang So-wol's hand.
Watching this, Eon Ga-hye's eyes twitched slightly.
"…It was amazing when I first saw it too—rather than feeding an antidote, you directly draw out the poison energy."
"Poison arts are my specialty."
Tang So-wol smiled leisurely with her eyes curved, but… I knew better. She was actually flustered right now.
Unlike with Eon Ga-hye, she hadn't poisoned him a second time, yet Peng Woo-jin had been hit with a powerful paralysis poison that only worked when two toxins were combined—and he was still perfectly fine. That had to be why she was thrown off.
That said, this wasn't because Tang So-wol's poison was weak. It was simply that Peng Woo-jin's body was absurdly strong.
The Eon Clan's bodies were tough too, but that was the result of External Arts training using all sorts of medicines derived from the corpse-making method.
If mastered properly, one gained a body hard enough to easily block Sword Qi… but in the end, it was only the skin and bones that became hard.
That was why their movements carried a subtle stiffness.
The Paeng Clan, on the other hand, was simply born with outstanding muscles and bones overall, and possessed bodies that had been further honed through External Arts befitting that natural gift.
Tough skin and hard bones were the basics—on top of that, their muscles were greatly developed, making them stronger, and their insides were so fortified that they rarely suffered internal injuries, and even moderate poisons could simply be endured with their bodies.
Before the regression, I had fought alongside the surviving collateral branches of the Paeng Clan, so I knew this well. No—if the collateral branches were already at that level, then Peng Woo-jin, being of the direct line, would be even more formidable.
That is, if he managed to survive to the end.
Only after patting Tang So-wol's waist from behind—she was sulking inwardly—to comfort her did I finally speak.
"You two must have exchanged enough pleasantries by now, so let's talk with me too. The reason the dispute between the Paeng and Eon Clans is more intense than usual, no matter how I think about it…"
"It's the Demonic Cult. I've had my suspicions for a while now. Me, Ga-hye, and the elders of both families—all of us."
"Oh?"
It was surprising that the real Peng Woo-jin was a far more composed and level-headed person than I'd expected, but what surprised me even more was that he already knew.
"Then why the hell are you still fighting, if you already knew?"
It wasn't Peng Woo-jin who answered, but Eon Ga-hye, leaning against his shoulder.
"It's simple. The elixir's effects turned out better than expected. They're pretending to blame each other while trying to monopolize the elixir circulating in the market. Of course, there's also the distance between Xinjiang and Hebei, and the fact that they underestimated the Demonic Cult's strength."
"…Do you know what the elixir's ingredients are?"
"I've heard it's human. At least, that's what the Murim Alliance managed to obtain."
So he'd hidden Gwiyeong Sin-tu's identity and just introduced him as an informant for the Murim Alliance. Well, he was someone who'd retired long ago, after all.
And considering the grand funeral Gwiyeong Sin-tu had been planning, having his name known would be even more troublesome.
But that wasn't what was bothering me right now.
"It sounds as if you're saying the ones from Hebei Province are different. I've heard they're an inferior version, but…"
As I tilted my head in confusion, Peng Woo-jin continued the answer this time.
"They actually are different. For one, according to the Paeng Clan's Medical Pavilion's investigation, they're made from animals rather than humans. Of course, it's still a rather cruel process since they're made into pills while alive, but in essence, it's just eating animals, so it's not something to be heavily criticized."
"The Eon Clan's Medical Pavilion reached the same conclusion. So the current accusations of colluding with the Demonic Cult are ultimately a contest over who gets to claim these elixirs in the end. Of course, there's also the fact that they simply don't like each other and are getting rougher about it."
"…"
Even after revealing that these were elixirs from the Demonic Cult, nothing was going to change compared to before the regression.
No, looking at the current situation alone, one could say it was actually worse.
The Demonic Cult would raise their guard even higher and prepare to flip the table if things went sideways, while on the other hand, the Paeng and Eon Clans—though the process was slightly different—were knowingly playing into the Demonic Cult's scheme.
A sigh escaped me as my thoughts reached that point.
"If it were me, I wouldn't have taken it even if it meant feeling uneasy."
"If you were an individual, you might think like young hero Cheon. But when you're leading a massive clan, it's a bit different."
Tang So-wol shook her head with a troubled expression at my words. When I met her eyes with a questioning look, she continued with a grin.
"There's a limit to the elixirs an individual can take. Eating the same elixir twice reduces its effect by more than half, and if you've already built up a lot of internal energy, minor elixirs don't help much. So, if it seems risky, giving up one or two elixirs is far more beneficial in the long run."
"That's true. Above all, a lack of internal energy can be made up for to some extent through enlightenment."
"To say that if you lack internal energy, you should gain enlightenment and expand your Dantian—what nonsense is that… Ah."
Tang So-wol, who had been about to laugh in disbelief, nodded her head instead.
"It's certainly possible for the young hero Cheon. But please understand that it's only possible for the young hero Cheon."
"Is that so? What matters with internal energy is how you use it. As long as the amount isn't too lacking, it's fine."
I had always suffered from a lack of inner qi before my regression, but while I might have felt frustrated, I never lost a fight I should have won because of it.
Well. Just as Tang So-wol said, it really might only apply to me—even Peng Woo-jin and Eon Ga-hye were looking at me like I was strange.
"…Anyway, let's move past my story. What did you mean by things changing once you have a clan?"
"To maintain and develop the power of a large group, everyone needs to grow stronger together, not just one person. That's why even family martial arts—when a clan grows large, it reveals its somewhat lower-level arts. For the same reason, elixirs… especially mid-low grade elixirs, the more the better. Doesn't it thicken the mid-tier that handles the clan's substance?"
"I understand."
Even after spending a considerable amount of time with the Tang Clan, I still couldn't quite grasp this kind of perspective.
Still, having learned this much, it wasn't a wasted trip.
After nodding once, I turned my gaze back toward Peng Woo-jin.
"I understand your reason for coveting the elixirs. But you speak as if that's the clan's view, and yours differs… May I ask why?"
"It's nothing much. The clan elders apparently resolved several incidents caused by Demonic Cultists in the past. But they dismissed them lightly, saying the Cult was poisonous but nothing more. We, on the other hand, have never faced a Demonic Cultist ourselves, so we were uneasy about letting it slide."
"Of course, the biggest reason is something else entirely. While we were on guard against the Demonic Cult, secretly sharing information and conducting our own investigation behind the clan's back—one day."
Eon Ga-hye paused there, and her previously expressionless face twisted with barely contained fury.
"We received a threatening letter. It said the sender knew about the relationship between me and the Paeng Clan, and that if we didn't want it revealed to our families, we should stop our useless investigation. …It was probably sent by the Demonic Cult."
"Ah."
I thought I understood why the two of them had died before the regression.