113 - Sichuan, China (4)

As soon as the door to the clan leader's chamber opened, the first thing Dang Hwa-seo saw was a semi-transparent white curtain. Beyond it, the hazy figure of an old man could be discerned. The Poison King, Dang Sa Geuk. Her grandfather, and a man deserving of her hatred a million times over. Dang Hwa-seo stared at his silhouette for a moment before formally greeting him. "I greet the head of the Dang clan." Without a trace of emotion. "I am Dang Hwa-seo, the leader of the Yungbongdan, under the Wulin Alliance." Revealing the reason for her presence here. The reply came after Dang Hwa-seo had bowed and counted ten more breaths. "…I see." Just that one word. Dang Hwa-seo found herself flooded with many thoughts. What he would think of her rebellion. Why he had summoned her here alone. And whether he had contemplated the Alliance’s request. However, the response was unrelated to any of that. "You have reached the pinnacle. Impressive." Dang Hwa-seo's eyes flickered. Dang Sa Geuk continued. "What poison have you mastered upon reaching this pinnacle? What have you created?" Dang Hwa-seo could sense the emotions in his voice. Pride, curiosity, and affection. A bitter smile appeared on Dang Hwa-seo's lips. 'What twisted form of affection is this?' Suddenly, something she had kept shut away in her heart began to seep out. An old hatred. "…Is that what you wish to ask?" "Shouldn't I be curious when my granddaughter has made such an achievement?" "Aren't you going to ask about my escape?" "A youthful misstep is nothing special." "Then you're not curious about why I fled." "Have I ever been so harsh to you?" His voice was consistently warm. That was what made it so cruel. Despite her resolve to conceal her emotions, that cruel affection tore at Dang Hwa-seo's insides. His selfishness unearthed the resentment she wished to keep hidden. Dang Hwa-seo clenched her teeth. Her face, now raised, clearly more furrowed than before. Her breathing, too, had become rougher. "I fled because I resented you. I fled because this Dang clan was unbearably repugnant to me. Will you not ask for a reason even now?" "You're saying that again. What exactly displeases you so?" "How can you ask that? After taking away my life and future…." Her voice choked with rising bitterness. Dang Hwa-seo closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Calm enough not to stumble over her words now. "…How can you ask such a question after reducing me to a mere tool of the Dang clan?" Truth be told, on her way here, Dang Hwa-seo harbored a sliver of hope. That perhaps the reason he had summoned her back to the Dang clan now was to apologize. That hope wasn't baseless. On the day of the Yungbong gathering, after Dang Un Gyeong had returned, the Dang clan had remained silent. After the establishment of the Yungbongdan, the Dang clan had sent gifts. Upon her return to the Dang clan, they had shown her Sohyang living healthily and spared from strife. It wasn't strange at all for Dang Hwa-seo to entertain the possibility. 'But….' This was it. Dang Sa Geuk had never harbored any doubts concerning her escape from the beginning. This arrogant old man had merely dismissed her cries as youthful foolishness. Her hatred deepened a shade further. "…Must it really have been me?" Dang Hwa-seo molded her emotions into words and shot them beyond the curtain. "Did it have to be me to fulfill your lifelong wish?" Dang Hwa-seo didn't ask for much. From a young age, all she desired was peace and happiness. Being a martial arts master of transcendent realms, fulfilling the long-standing wishes of this sect, meant nothing to her. "…Dang Un Gyeong deeply wished to devote himself to fulfilling that ambition. So why was it only me?" The undertone of her voice carried a hint of crying. The shattered pieces of hope stabbed into her chest like daggers, causing unbearable pain. That old man would never understand. She had envied her half-brother more than anyone since childhood. Envied him for being loved and raised recklessly without care. "Please, give me any answer." Dang Hwa-seo urged, and the response was far from satisfying. "…Why do you fail to understand my heart? Wasn't it all for you?" Frustration filled Dang Sa Geuk's voice. A redness surged over the whites of Dang Hwa-seo's eyes. As she was about to retort, "Look at me." Dang Sa Geuk drew aside the curtain. Dang Hwa-seo gasped at the sight revealed. "What is this..." Dang Hwa-seo's eyes widened impossibly. Dang Sa Geuk's appearance was nothing like the man she remembered. Simply put, he resembled a dying patient. No, even that was too kind a description. "Look. This is the adverse effect of reaching the pinnacle in toxic cultivation." Dang Sa Geuk's skin was rotting away. Not a single hair remained on his head, and his left eye was gone, leaving only emptiness behind. Was that all? His body resembled emaciated branches. He looked like death personified, as if he might not even be able to rise from where he was. As the curtain was pulled away, the emanating poison made it difficult for Dang Hwa-seo to breathe. “Gasp…!” “Why was the Dang clan's longstanding wish to achieve the Invincible Poison? Why did we obsess over it so much?” Dang Sa Geuk’s voice, rough with phlegm, viciously cut through the air. “This is why.” It was impossible to discern Dang Sa Geuk’s expression. His features had melted away so grotesquely that they barely constituted a face. “Do you know? The poison that comes with reaching the transcendent realm is so terrifying and powerful that merely harboring it destroys the body. This has been a tragedy passed down like a curse since the day the Dang clan was founded.” A semblance of anger seemed to coalesce in Dang Sa Geuk’s voice. Even that was laced with affection. “I truly did not want you to live in such pain. I wished that you would close your eyes with your beautiful smile intact.” Dang Sa Geuk’s empty left eye socket narrowed. “That's the reason. Because you were more precious to me than anything…!” Cough! Dang Sa Geuk spat out black blood. His shoulders heaved and his body shook violently. This image did not befit the name of Poison King; it was pitifully wretched. Then, Dang Sa Geuk creakily lifted his head and fixed his remaining eye on Dang Hwa-seo. “…Why don't you understand my heart?” Dang Hwa-seo was speechless. “Has your misbehavior not ended yet? Have I not given you enough time?” The reproach cut her deeply once more. ‘Certainly….’ This was something Dang Hwa-seo did not know. It was also something that clearly showed his peculiar form of affection. Yet still, it was not a justification. Dang Hwa-seo glared at Dang Sa Geuk with fists clenched. “…I never longed for transcendence.” “In the future, you will. The martial path ultimately ends with the desire for transcendence.” “I do not wish to sacrifice my life for transcendence.” “Was the life of a woman so dear to you?” “Is that what you wish for me to forsake?” “Yes.” For a moment, Dang Hwa-seo’s face went blank. Dang Sa Geuk continued. “Live not as a woman but as the master of the Dang clan. Live for this vast kinship, not just as one of its members. Isn't it all too natural! The countless histories proving it…!” It was a distinct command. Yet Dang Hwa-seo couldn’t understand the words she just heard. “…Why are you so convinced that's important? I've never entertained such thoughts for even a moment?” “Because I did!!!” Whoosh! Poisonous energy filled the space. Dang Hwa-seo staggered. “Ugh…!” Despite being immune to all poisons, she felt dizzy from the thick poison. This was the weight of transcendence. “Do you think there were none like you before? Me, my predecessors, and their predecessors, all had their own lives they wished for! But look! Where did their choices ultimately lead them! They all returned to their homeland!” The shouts intensified the density of the poison. The increasing poison was a concentration of fury. "It's because of longing! In this ruthless and cold martial world, the only refuge is blood kin! Because the reality seen upon waking from a dream is so cruel! Do you think you'll be any different!” Roar! The suffocating poison forced Dang Hwa-seo to her knees. Thud! But still, Dang Sa Geuk didn't stop. “Is it those members who filled your head with foolish notions? Ah yes, Mokryong, wasn't it? That baseborn villager has bewitched you…!” Dang Hwa-seo's head snapped up in surprise. His expression was no longer gentle. “If I kill it, will you come to your senses!” “Just try it!” Dang Hwa-seo shouted out. Her instincts rebelled first against the old man’s stubbornness to target Mok Liwon. Whoosh! Filled with a will to resist, Dang Hwa-seo summoned her energy. The enchanting poison she had accumulated upon reaching the pinnacle began to saturate the space. Her eyes, now wide open, were brimming with fury and combativeness. “I will never allow it, not even over my dead body! I will stop you with my life on the line! Is it your wish to face disaster only to regret it later!” The members were the people she had finally made hers. Dang Hwa-seo could never allow them to be taken from her. “You say the martial world is heartless and this place is the only refuge? You have no right to say such a thing!” Dang Hwa-seo clenched her fists tighter, intensifying the energy. Though the transcendent poison was heavy, her Invincible Poison body alleviated the pressure. The fury boiling within her indicated a willingness to empty her Dantian if needed to resist this toxicity. “The one who was most heartless to me was you!” Crack! The ground was crushed. It was due to the clash of energies. "The cruelest thing to me was the Dang clan itself! Do you know? My childhood was a quagmire at every moment. Every day was hell, and even the dreams I harbored amidst that hell were taken away by you!" Amidst the days writhing in pain, what grew inside Dang Hwa-seo was a longing for warmth. It was her absolute ally, her family. It was the dream of building a warm, loving family that protected each other. That was the dream Dang Sa Geuk had stolen from her. "Why do you think you and I are the same! My dream could have been easily realized, had it not been for you!" Anger turned into hatred, intensifying the poison. The poison (毒氣) transformed into a venomous will (毒心), raising Dang Hwa-seo back to her feet. "I will not let you take anything more from me!" Boom! The energy exploded, sweeping everything between them away. Now, even the curtain was gone. "So…." Dang Hwa-seo bit her lip. Then, gazing at Dang Sa Geuk with shimmering eyes, she said, "...Stop entertaining such foolish thoughts." With that, she turned away. Dang Sa Geuk did not hold her back.