Thunk. Rumble.
Gwimongmanyeo's head was severed. The head rolled across the ground, its face still frozen in surprise.
I stared at the sight for a moment, then let out the breath I'd been holding.
"Hoo."
The muscles that had been tensed to their limit relaxed, and the pain I'd been enduring all along came crashing down at once.
The sting rising from the cuts carved across my body. The distinct heat radiating from the wound on my chest, which had been sliced fairly deep.
It hurt considerably, but this much I could bear. The real problem was the Demonic Qi that had burrowed into my blood and meridians through these wounds.
The Demonic Qi was churning through my meridians, which were already a mess from forcing out that last burst of Sword Qi, and it felt like my insides were being twisted apart.
If the Hundred Poisons Clear Blood Pill hadn't strengthened my meridians, I'd probably have passed out by now.
I'd like to take one or two more if possible. I smacked my lips inwardly and sheathed my sword.
Sreung.
My vision blurred. Now that I thought it was over, the tension had finally released, I supposed. Just as I staggered and started to tilt to the side—
"Young hero Cheon!"
Tang So-wol came running from behind and caught me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
A reassuring warmth. The soft touch against my upper body. The scent of the fragrant oil she applied every day. And her eyes, filled with worry.
The nerves that had been frayed by the reckless life-and-death duel gradually settled. With a calmer mind, I leaned my body against Tang So-wol.
"Oh my! Are you alright? No, if it had gotten to this state, you should have asked Father for help!"
"It's fine. I fought because I was confident, and your father simply trusted me."
"That's no way to talk… no, forget it. Just take off your clothes quickly."
"What? Here? That's a bit… at least let's go inside an inn or somewhere."
"What are you thinking? The top is enough. We need to stop the bleeding first, don't we? Stop talking and stay still."
Saying this in a firm tone, Tang So-wol pulled at my martial robes. Perhaps because I had repeatedly dodged attacks wrapped in Demonic Qi by the narrowest of margins, my already tattered robes could no longer hold and tore apart.
Riiip—!
Tang So-wol flinched, clearly not expecting things to come to this, but her eyes trembled roughly at the blood seeping from the small wounds all over her body.
"Again, like this…"
"What is it. Just like last time, this is nothing."
"You can say that all you want, but saying it while drenched in blood doesn't make it believable."
Letting out a sigh, Tang So-wol took out the Golden Wound Ointment from her bosom and began to carefully apply it to the wound sites.
Right now, we were surrounding the inn to make sure none of the Demonic Cult's lackeys could escape.
It was within that large circle that I and Tang So-wol had fought.
In other words, my bare upper body and Tang So-wol carefully applying medicine to me were on full display to the entire Dark Soul Squad and Tang Jincheon.
"Hmm."
This is uncomfortable. I'm not the type to be overly concerned with the eyes around me, but even so, this current arrangement is about as awkward as it gets.
Especially Tang Jincheon, who's staring at me with a blank expression, and Tang Yujin, who's laughing as he pats that man's shoulder—those two are terrifying.
I wish they'd stop provoking me further.
As I subtly averted my gaze from the two of them, my eyes naturally fell on the spot where Tang So-wol had been fighting.
Nearly ten Demonic Cultists lay collapsed on the ground, having vomited blood. Among them was an old man who seemed to be a Peak Realm master.
Unlike the others, he still had a thread of life left in him, barely breathing with a face as dark as death.
A few members of the Dark Soul Squad were in the middle of crushing his Dantian and binding him up.
I asked Tang So-wol, who was feeling my upper arm with a serious expression.
"You spared him on purpose? Well done. I didn't have the luxury, so I had to cut him down. We can interrogate that one instead."
"Is that what matters right now? The other wounds would have been fine with just Golden Wound Ointment, but this one won't heal with medicine alone."
She shot me a sharp glare, then carefully traced my chest with her fingertips.
The touch of her slender fingers. But that ticklish sensation turned to pain at some point. She had touched the area near the wound.
"Bandages—no, there's no time for that either. Please wait just a moment."
Tang So-wol nodded, then swept her side hair behind her ear with the same hand that had been examining my wound moments ago.
And then she brought her face close, sticking out her tongue.
"Bweh."
"W-wait a moment."
Startled, I stepped back, but Tang So-wol stomped on my foot with her own, keeping me from fleeing.
She curved her eyes into crescent moons, smiling with her eyes, then began licking the wound from the outer edge.
Lick, lick.
A damp, soft sensation painted over my skin.
"What is this…"
I was so dumbfounded that I was momentarily at a loss for words, but before long, I noticed something strange.
Just as with the Hundred-Kill Blade Master, I had deliberately lured out a large attack, so the wound on my chest was the deepest, and it was also the spot where I was bleeding the most.
Yet that bleeding stopped in an instant, and the pain that had been tormenting me since earlier began to fade.
It wasn't just the pain of the wound Tang So-wol had licked that disappeared. Even the pain from the internal injuries caused by the Demonic Qi, which I had felt during the battle, was gradually growing fainter.
It felt like a sharp blade that had been carving through my body was being ground down into a blunt edge.
After she had licked at it for a long while, Tang So-wol lowered her face with a satisfied expression, and I asked her.
"What exactly did you do? The bleeding has stopped, sure, but the pain has faded a lot too."
"Hehe. Do you want to know?"
With her arms crossed, Tang So-wol puffed up her nose with a smug look. She continued in a slightly raised voice.
"They say poison, used well, can be medicine. I used a blood-clotting poison to stop the bleeding in the wound, and mixed in a bit of paralysis poison to dull the pain."
"Ohh."
Hearing Tang So-wol's words, he looked more closely and saw that a scab-like substance was blocking the bleeding from the wound on her chest, and when he moved his limbs, he found that the pain had lessened but his overall sensation had grown numb.
"Impressive. Using poison like that is no ordinary feat."
"Well, honestly, it was a bit difficult. But for me, it's not entirely impossible."
True enough. With a Poison Spirit Constitution, she could create and combine poisons directly within her body, so it would be much easier for her.
"However, there is one problem with this."
"Is there a side effect?"
"Side effect, you could say. Well, you see…"
Trailing off, she furrowed her brow and stuck out her tongue again, redder than usual, then pulled it back in.
"It's too gamey. Is it always this unpleasant?"
"…"
A remark that seemed dangerous in more ways than one. And it was accompanied by a very real threat.
Thud.
Tang Jincheon placed his hand on my shoulder and Tang So-wol's.
Gripping only my side with obvious force, he twitched the corner of his eye as he spoke.
"You've done well. Both of you have won against opponents of higher martial level than yourselves."
"It's all thanks to the purple poison-nurturing herb that young hero Cheon gave us."
"Father-in-law. I'm the patient here. If you could ease up on my shoulder a bit…"
I tried to say it carefully, but Tang Jincheon raised his voice as if he hadn't heard a word.
"And that! That last one was a faint but unmistakable Sword Qi! To have glimpsed the Peak Realm at the mere Age of Fifteen! The fortune of the martial world has fallen into the arms of the Tang Clan!"
"Thank you. But if you could just take your hand off my shoulder for a moment…"
"However, do not grow too arrogant. A moment's Enlightenment is but a passing breeze. Do not forget this feeling, and train again and again until it becomes wholly your own."
Tang Jincheon said this with a smile. Yet even as he smiled, an overwhelming pressure radiated from his face.
Even so, it seemed the word "patient" had gotten to him, and he was gradually loosening his grip… but before he could fully let go, Tang So-wol stepped forward.
"Father. Stop tormenting young hero Cheon and hand him over."
"Tormenting? I was only thinking of commending him."
"Yes, yes. Of course you were."
Tang So-wol shrugged and pulled me into her embrace.
My still-young body nestled snugly into her arms. On any other day, I would have felt humiliated, but at this moment, I couldn't have been more grateful.
Tang So-wol wrapped around me as if shielding me. Like a mother bird guarding her egg.
She helped me past Tang Jincheon, who wore a look of utter betrayal, to where Goatee of Haomun was waiting, and asked.
"Is there an inn nearby where all of us can stay?"
"Y-yes? There are plenty of inns in Yanzhou, but with that many travelers coming and going, a place with room for this many people… Ah! There is one!"
"Oh? What a relief. Where is it?"
"Right here."
With that, Goatee pointed to the inn we were surrounding.
He continued in a confident tone.
"The guests all just left, so there's plenty of room. The only problem is that a wall is broken, so cold wind blows in from one of the rooms…"
"…We of the Tang Clan will take care of that part. Father, is that all right?"
"Mm. Do as you will."
Tang Jincheon nodded with a weary voice. When Tang So-wol tilted her head as if to ask whether he'd heard, Goatee quickly scurried into the inn.
He exchanged a few words with the innkeeper, who had been hiding in the kitchen, and soon returned with a bright expression on both their faces.
"He says it's fine!"
"What a relief. Let's go, young hero Cheon. You'll be sharing a room with me. This time I'll make sure to nurse you properly, so just focus on getting better."
"I appreciate the thought, but there's no need to go that far."
"Are you embarrassed because we already lived together in that cave for nearly a month?"
"It's closer to being afraid of my father-in-law."
"Then let's just stay in the room next door."
"Hmm. That does seem like the best option."
Seeing Tang Jincheon's deeply furrowed brow gradually smooth out, I knew this was the right answer.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I leaned on Tang So-wol as she helped me toward the inn.
The innkeeper was a diligent sort—the interior was simple but clean. Tang So-wol laid me carefully on the bed, covered me with a blanket, and rose to her feet.
"I'm not seriously injured anywhere, so I'll stand guard outside. Please take your time recovering."
"Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"More than all right. I'm perfectly fine. My poison has grown stronger than I ever imagined—even a Peak Realm martial artist can't resist it properly."
"That's likely because Demonic Qi isn't well suited for expelling poison."
"I think it's more thanks to the opening you created for me, young hero, that I was able to poison them first."
"I appreciate the words. Still, I don't see why you, Tang So-wol, need to trouble yourself."
"It's because I wanted to do it."
Shrugging her shoulders, Tang So-wol pulled over a nearby chair and sat down in front of me, as if urging me to hurry and tend to my internal injuries.
"Very well. Then I'll focus on Qi Circulation, so I'll leave things to you."
"Yes."
I gazed at Tang So-wol's beaming face for a moment before closing my eyes. Then, following the Oral Formula of the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art, I began to circulate my internal energy.
I expelled the Demonic Qi that had seeped into my body bit by bit, stretched the meridians that had shriveled from being forced too hard, and roused my body's vitality to maximize my recovery.
I poured my last remaining concentration into completing the basic Qi Circulation recovery. At the same time, my consciousness receded rapidly, as if a cord had been severed.
I knew my exhausted body was falling into sleep on its own, but I didn't resist. As Tang So-wol had said, now was the time for rest.
I suddenly came to and opened my eyes to find my surroundings already tinged with dim light. Dawn, was it? Naturally, Tang So-wol was already gone.
I closed my eyes again, thinking I'd circulate my internal energy and then fall asleep.
Creak.
With the sound of something opening, someone began to enter my room.
Reflexively, I grabbed the sword at my headboard and started to rise.
"Who—mph!"
A soft hand clamped over my mouth.
I moved to draw my sword at once, but the familiar scent from her hand made me pause, and I looked up.
The faint moonlight filtering through the window illuminated the intruder's face.
"Shh!"
There stood Tang So-wol, a playful smile on her lips, a finger pressed to them.
Good heavens.