Chapter 68: Five Poisons (3)
Translator: bjgoofy
“Uh, why has the Great Ritual begun!? Wh-what is going on!?”
“Soryong, what is this!? Why has the Great Ritual started!?”
“Grandfa... urgh....”
As the jar began to bubble and make noise as if it were boiling over, grandfather and father-in-law, who had been preparing the other medicinal ingredients to be added to the Great Ritual, rushed over with startled expressions and shouted out.
-Kwaaaaarrrrr!
The medicinal liquid inside the jar erupted with a roaring sound like an explosion.
The excruciating pain surged in, and I couldn’t even open my mouth. Thankfully, Nunim quickly explained the situation to the two elders.
“Th-the centipede made a mistake and dropped a single drop of poison! I-It seems the Great Ritual has started!”
Having heard beforehand that I must not move at all once the Great Ritual begins, I endured with superhuman patience, though I wanted nothing more than to jump out of the jar immediately.
‘C-crazy... this level of pain!?'
It felt as if I had been dropped into a pot of boiling oil.
My entire body felt like it was burning, to the point where I had the illusion that all my skin was being peeled off.
I had been prepared as Yohwa's poison was a paralysis poison, so it wouldn’t hurt, but centipede’s poison, being one that could melt a person, was no joke.
I couldn’t even get angry at Cho, since it was like the kid had just accidentally drooled. What kind of anger could I show for that?
Not that I was in any condition to be angry, anyway.
My jaw trembled uncontrollably.
Fingers, toes, every extremity of my body felt as though they were melting away and disappearing.
A deep scream erupted from the depths of my heart!
‘I haven’t even spent my first night yet! And now I’m everything's going to melt away! Aaaaarrrggghhh!’
“What did you say!?”
“What!?”
The startled voices of the two elders followed Nunim’s explanation, urgent and alarmed.
“Soryong, listen carefully and focus your mind. Try circulating your qi in accordance with the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Technique that you learned before! The Five Poisons Returning to Origin Divine Art is not very different from the base technique. So calm your heart and slowly begin to move your qi. I will assist your qi flow directly through your Baihui acupoint.”
As Grandfather placed his hand on my head, his energy surged into my mind, and within the pain, I recalled my past memories and slowly began to initiate Greater Circulation.
Gritting my teeth, I barely managed to do so somehow.
‘Kkeuh....’
Like that, the qi starting from my dantian began to flow through my meridians and circle my body, slightly reducing the pain.
Once the pain eased a bit through Greater Circulation, I became convinced this was my only path to survival and clung to it like mad.
-Bugurururuk.
All I could hear near my ears was the bubbling sound of the boiling medicinal liquid.
With each continuation of the Greater Circulation, the course would slightly change under the guidance of Grandfather, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons. After about five cycles, the path became fixed.
Only then did the poisons surrounding me and inflicting pain start to feel strangely familiar.
Then, they seemed to be absorbed through my skin, circulated through my entire body along with my internal energy, and began to affect my dantian.
It wasn’t a transformation of the dantian itself. If the qi in my dantian up to now had felt like pure distilled water, now it felt like soda.
Yes, it began to feel like something refreshing and fizzy in my dantian.
Once the medicinal energies and the qi in my dantian stabilized, the pain throughout my body subsided and my mind returned to some clarity.
My consciousness, which had almost vanished in the fear of melting away, began to return.
They said that once the Great Ritual was complete, my energy would overflow, but instead, my body felt utterly drained.
'Damn, I almost died.'
As I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Nunim, who had been unable to even touch me, anxiously stomping her feet right beside me.
Her eyes widened in surprise the moment she saw mine open.
And right next to her, what appeared to be Cho was surrounded by the other girls, Ice, Snow, Yohwa, and Hyang and Bin, all subjecting him to sharp scoldings and glares.
It seemed she was being reprimanded for causing the accident.
The other children were scolding Cho in a language only they could understand.
-Kisis! Kishishi!
-Kkukkku! Kkuu!
-Tsurururu!
Cho, surrounded by the others, had her head completely bowed in a pitiful manner.
Soon, I heard Nunim’s surprised voice as she made eye contact with me.
“Soryong, can you hear me? Can you see? Grandfather said the crisis has passed, and you can speak if you’ve regained consciousness.”
“C-Cho... is Cho okay?”
When I asked if she was okay, since her antennae had been dipped in the medicinal liquid earlier, time suddenly seemed to stop.
‘What? Did the Great Ritual have this kind of effect too?’
Nunim froze in place, making me wonder if time had actually stopped, but that wasn't it.
Suddenly, Nunim sighed deeply.
She answered with a dumbfounded expression.
“Yes, I washed her antennae immediately. While I was worrying myself sick not knowing if Soryong would live or die. Honestly...”
Nunim crossed her arms, her face cold.
My first thought upon hearing her response was, 'I'm in trouble.'
‘That was... instinctual...’
Even in my previous life, I had the habit of checking on the creatures I raised first, so the question had come out unconsciously.
Now that I was officially engaged after the betrothal ceremony, I should have checked on Nunim first, it had been a major misstep.
So, I quickly let out a groan.
“Urgh....”
“S-Soryong, are you hurt somewhere!?”
Nunim flinched at my groan, startled.
I swiftly answered while making a face that looked like I had just regained consciousness.
“Ugh... Hwa-eun, I seem to have caused you great worry. But, is Cho okay?”
At that, Nunim widened her eyes and looked at me with pity as she responded.
"Ah, you haven't fully regained your senses yet, have you!? Grandfather! Grandfather! Soryong has opened his eyes, but he doesn't seem to be fully conscious yet. Please take a look!"
“What!? He’s not in his right mind!?”
Since I barely got through that moment, I decided I really needed to be more careful from now on.
‘That was some lightning-fast reflex.’
***
It wasn’t until two days later that the Great Ritual finally ended.
All of the medicinal liquid in the jar had completely dried and vanished.
When I asked Grandfather, he said that it had reacted with Cho’s poison, adjusted my body to accept the toxicity of just a single drop of Cho’s poison, and then all of it either evaporated or was absorbed into my body and disappeared.
After stepping out of the jar, washing my body, and putting on clothes, I heard Grandfather’s voice.
“Though the poison suddenly changed and I had to hurriedly find and add new ingredients, the Great Ritual finished successfully. Is there anything unusual with your body?”
“No, I don’t feel any abnormalities.”
Thinking back to the pain I experienced at the beginning, even I was a bit worried, but there were no particular issues.
As I replied that I was fine, Grandfather’s concerned voice came again.
“Hwa-eun said you seemed to have memory issues when you regained consciousness. Do you notice anything strange with your memory? I worry that the poison might’ve seeped into your mind.”
“I-I’m alright, Grandfather.”
“Are you truly alright? I think a more thorough examination might be necessary.”
“I’m really fine, Grandfather.”
Trying to escape the situation quickly before I caused any more trouble, I began to slip away, only for Grandfather to hand me five books.
Just a couple days ago, his grandson-in-law’s life was hanging by a thread, yet here he was handing me study materials instead of letting me rest.
They seemed like study materials to prepare for the Ten Poisons Realm test, so I accepted them with a miserable expression. Then, Grandfather spoke.
‘Well... I guess it’s better than not giving me the family’s martial arts manual at all....’
“Why the long face?”
He obviously knew the reason, yet still asked with that teasing tone, such a mischievous Grandfather.
If I had been a better student in my past life, would I have stayed home like a recluse raising venomous creatures and uploading videos on YouTube?
“W-what long face? Of course not. I’m truly glad the Great Ritual ended well. Hahaha.”
As I shook my head in denial, Grandfather opened each book one by one and began to explain.
"Was it my imagination? Anyway, look here."
“Yes, Grandfather....”
“Whether you want to or not, now that you’ve entered the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Divine Art, you need to learn martial arts to match it. So, I plan to teach you the martial arts techniques that accompany the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Divine Art.”
‘Huh? It wasn’t for a test? And this is a set technique with the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Art?’
Grandfather said that there was a set of techniques passed down alongside the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Divine Art.
Only then did I begin to take real interest in the books he handed me.
If it was a complete set, that meant it would be far more powerful than techniques of the same grade once fully assembled, at least that’s how it always worked in the games I used to play.
“Now, what I’ve just handed you are five martial arts techniques.
Centipede Poison Fang Claw, Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand, Scorpion Tail Rapid Kick, Lizard Gecko Body Steps, and Toad Explosive Palm.
Five in total.
Each consists of a claw technique, hand technique, leg technique, step technique and movement art, and a palm technique.”
I had expected them to be martial arts full of poison and killing, but to my surprise, the names appealed to me.
Because they were all martial arts named after the venomous creatures I liked.
'This is completely Maewoon Fabre's exclusive martial art!'
Just hearing the names stirred excitement, and it felt as though they were techniques made specifically for me.
Unleashing the centipede’s venom fangs through one’s fingernails, mimicking the movement of a venomous snake with the hands.
Kicking like a scorpion’s tail, emulating a lizard’s motion with step and movement arts, and finally, techniques of the toad’s palm!
Though I wasn’t quite sure what a toad had to do with palm techniques, I still liked it.
‘I become the venomous creature, and the venomous creature becomes me. This must be that “unity of object and self” Grandfather mentioned!’
Grandfather, seeing the sparkle in my eyes, smiled.
“Looks like you like them.”
“Of course, Grandfather! This is quite unexpected.”
“Unexpected? What do you mean by that?”
Grandfather tilted his head at my words.
I smiled and answered.
“I expected them to be poison techniques or something involving hidden weapons, but it’s fascinating that they’re martial arts named after the venomous creatures I like.”
“That’s because these weren’t originally martial arts from our Tang Sect.”
“What?”
When he said he had handed down techniques not of the Tang Sect to his grandson-in-law, I momentarily wondered if he was discriminating against me for being a son-in-law. But then he continued.
“In truth, both the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Divine Art and these Five Poisons Martial Arts come from a now-extinct sect called the Five Poisons Sect.”
"Five Poisons Sect?"
“Yes. It was founded two hundred years ago by a child of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and a descendant of our Sichuan's Tang Family.”
According to Grandfather, the Five Poisons Sect was established when the second son of the Tang Family, praised as a genius at the time, eloped with the daughter of the Beast Palace’s palace head from the southern wilds. It was both a family and a sect they formed out of love.
They married and created a sect that merged the strengths of the Tang Family’s poison arts and the Beast Palace’s beast-style martial arts.
But since both sects had arts forbidden to be taught outside, and they had not only taken them but combined them without permission, they couldn’t escape being pursued by both families. Eventually, about a century ago, they were wiped out in the jungles of Yunnan.
'There was another crazy family out there. Who hunts someone down for a hundred years!?’
A martial world version of Romeo and Juliet, and of course, it ended in tragedy.
The intense story made me swallow hard.
“After the Five Poisons Sect was destroyed, both families reclaimed their respective martial arts. And the ones that came back to us were this Five Poisons Returning to Origin Divine Art and the Five Poisons Martial Arts.
Though they contain the insights of the Tang Sect, they also include influences from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, so there were many discussions over ownership. But because it required one to withstand poisons, it eventually came to our Tang Sect.
They say the sect leader of the Five Poisons Sect, who never fully mastered the Five Poisons Martial Arts, still managed to withstand the combined attack of the Beast Palace and our Tang Family’s heads. So, these are formidable arts indeed. And since you like venomous creatures, we thought they’d be a perfect match for you.
The Tang Sect couldn’t find spiritual-grade venomous creatures, so most people never made it past initiation, but you’re different.”
‘Whoa... such deep meaning?’
The martial arts having a Romeo-and-Juliet-style backstory made it all the more intriguing, and the fact that they included all the names of venomous creatures I liked made me even more grateful.
“Thank you, Grandfather. I'll train diligently!"
“Good, hoho. Look at you, so happy about it.”
The Five Poisons Returning to Origin Divine Art and the Five Poisons Martial Arts.
They were martial arts that truly appealed to me.
***
After finishing my conversation with Grandfather and stepping out of the Great Ritual Hall, the sunlight I hadn’t seen in three days greeted me.
Three days since the Great Ritual had been initiated.
I wasn’t pickling cabbage or fermenting fish sauce, yet I had spent a full three days sitting inside a jar, finally seeing the light again just now.
At the height of the pain, I really thought I’d never see the sun again, but now I couldn’t believe how warm the sunlight felt.
“Aigoo, now it really feels like I’ve survived.”
Leaving the Myriad Poison Hall and soaking in the sun’s warm light, my body sagged with relief.
I stretched my limbs out fully.
Then, something began crawling quickly toward me.
Flinching, I looked down at the ground and saw her, Cho.
As if she had been waiting for me alone, the creature was scurrying swiftly from the entrance of the Myriad Poison Hall toward me.
“Cho!”
Quickly lowering my body, I scooped the little one up, and it nuzzled her face against my cheek.
-Tsurur!
“You were worried, huh? Daddy’s fine now, so there’s no need to worry.”
From the looks of it, Cho had been terribly anxious and must’ve been waiting for me at the entrance all this time.
Just as we had a short reunion with me holding Cho in my arms…
Like before, the little one made herself at home on my arm.
Now that she had grown longer, she coiled from my wrist all the way up to my shoulder. Perhaps because she had recently undergone she second molting, she felt extremely prickly.
‘I wish it would coil over my clothes... This is kinda sharp.’
Just as I thought that it would be better if Cho coiled over my clothes,
–Tsurur!
Suddenly, Cho responded as if she understood, then climbed onto my clothes and wrapped around my arm again.
'Huh!? What's this?'
I got the strange feeling that something unusual had just occurred between Cho and me.