Chapter 90
Imugi meat.
Because it contains deadly poison, an ordinary person who eats it carelessly is very likely to end up in a disastrous situation.
However, for someone at the level of a top-tier expert, they have some degree of resistance to poison. As long as they prepare a few herbs and eat carefully, it won’t cause serious harm.
Someone might ask whether you really need to go that far just to eat it.
That’s something only people who haven’t tasted it would say.
“There’s nothing else in the world like it.”
That was my evaluation in the most positive sense.
The taste of imugi meat truly could not be replaced by anything else.
No wonder the Jaheo King went crazy for it.
In that sense, one of my intentions in bringing out the imugi meat was to win the other person’s favor through its taste.
But that alone wasn’t enough reason to serve someone as precious as the Jaheo King’s favorite food.
“He’s keeping it well hidden, but he can’t fool my eyes.”
According to the information I received from the Hao Clan, Mubaek was a master of movement arts.
Most people who knew of him would believe the same.
But my senses told me otherwise.
The man before me was hiding something far more dangerous.
Cold, yes—but not the chill of winter wind.
A chill that froze the bones… one that felt like it could melt them away.
“So it wasn’t movement arts—your true mastery is poison.”
In my judgment, this aura was poison arts. And not just any poison arts, but one honed to perfection.
Naturally, masters of poison arts value poison as dearly as their own lives.
So there is no better gesture of goodwill than offering poison.
But offering something like imugi poison as a sign of goodwill?
There are only two possible reactions.
Wariness—or favor.
And of course, in this situation…
“I don’t know how you found out that I practice poison arts, but I have no intention of fighting or quarreling with you. So take that imugi meat and leave.”
That was Mubaek’s reaction when I returned from a ‘hunt’ and brought out the imugi meat from my pouch.
Wariness—and an expulsion order.
From his perspective, a stranger had suddenly exposed his greatest secret. His reaction was only natural.
But I had already expected this when I brought out the imugi meat.
The truth is, after coming here, I used the Myung-an (Insight Eye) twice.
Once when Mubaek appeared before me.
And once even earlier—directed at Mubaek’s home, because there was someone else inside the house.
He hadn’t shown himself yet, but I had already seen the boy inside through Myung-an.
And I had also seen the boy’s death—and Mubaek taking his own life afterward.
Once again, Myung-an had shown me not the past, but the future.
“I’m sorry. If only I had learned the cure sooner, you might have lived.”
That was Mubaek’s final voice I heard through Myung-an.
And I saw him holding imugi meat in his hands—though I had no idea where he had managed to obtain it.
“You might not need this—but your son will, if he’s to survive.”
To be honest, I didn’t know anything for certain.
I didn’t know the child’s exact condition.
I didn’t know if imugi meat alone could save him.
In fact, the second was likely not true.
Even top-tier masters barely survived the imugi’s poison. A sick child couldn’t possibly withstand it.
Somehow, it would need to be neutralized or extracted.
That part could be figured out later.
“…You say my son needs this to survive?”
The moment the boy was mentioned, Mubaek’s expression changed for the first time.
From wariness—to disbelief and anger.
“I don’t know what nonsense you heard or where you heard it. I’ll say this politely—get lost.”
A sizzling murderous aura surged from Mubaek, the kind that felt like it could melt skin.
Definitely the reaction of someone who had encountered many swindlers.
Any swindler would have turned tail and run.
It had absolutely no effect on me.
“If your choice is to do nothing but doubt, then watch your son die and regret it before following after him—then sure, I’ll leave.”
The future Myung-an had shown me was now a blade aimed straight at him.
He had every reason to explode in anger, but Mubaek stayed silent.
His trembling eyes told me he had imagined that future himself.
So I pushed harder.
“My family has the Golden Divine Physician. Even if you don’t trust me—surely you can trust a Divine Physician?”
It was one of the methods I had considered long ago for gathering talent for the Golden Merchant Guild.
Using the Divine Physician’s name.
It really was famous.
Mubaek’s eyes shook violently.
“Even the Fire Buddha and the Medicine Immortal shook their heads and gave up on my son. I don’t want to give him false hope anymore.”
A final resistance.
But it held no weight for me.
“So because others gave up—you, his father, will give up as well?”
It was a cruel thing to say.
But I already knew.
To save someone destined to die required resolve—and sacrifice.
And even that wasn’t enough.
Without heaven’s blessing, fate would not budge.
Which meant Mubaek and his son already had heaven’s help—because I was here.
Of course, Mubaek couldn’t possibly know this:
That I had been the Violet Divine Sword, then shattered by that damned blacksmith, then granted a new life by Yama through a bargain, then learned of him through the Hao Clan’s recommendation…
The entire chain of events that brought me here.
To him, it was nothing less than heavenly providence.
And it still wasn’t the end.
In fact, this was only the starting point.
“Only after receiving such heavenly help is there finally a sliver of hope.”
The future Myung-an had shown me was the boy dying—and the father who couldn’t bring himself to try the cure, killing himself in despair.
My appearance had created a chance to try.
And an opportunity to show him to the Golden Divine Physician.
But that didn’t mean the boy would definitely survive.
Perhaps what we needed now was true heavenly luck.
The future was still uncertain.
But I sensed something.
A future Myung-an showed was a future that could be changed.
“Choose. Will you give up—or not?”
Ultimately, Mubaek’s choice was the key.
If he gave up, fate would flow normally.
Regrettable, yes—but not wrong.
I had already given him enough.
I would respect his choice.
But then Mubaek began speaking of something entirely different.
“…Ten years. My child has suffered for ten years—all because of my failure.”
So began Mubaek’s past.
Just as I suspected, he was a master of both movement arts and poison arts.
Three years ago, a heaven-sent opportunity came his way.
He obtained the Thousand-Year Golden Frog—an extraordinary spiritual creature infamous for its deadly poison.
If he could harness its poison, he believed he could break past his limits and reach super-top tier.
But its poison was so fearsome that even poison masters struggled to endure it.
He needed to suppress it somewhat.
And in the short moment he stepped away to prepare those items… tragedy struck.
His son, Mujin, was bitten by the Thousand-Year Golden Frog.
“He survived by a miracle—and has endured three years of nightly agony. But the doctors say he has three months left at most. Heaven is cruel… what crime could a child commit to deserve this?”
My thoughts differed.
Three years?
A child surviving the Thousand-Year Golden Frog for three years?
That was nothing short of miraculous.
Even top experts couldn’t survive more than four days after being poisoned.
For a child with no martial arts to survive three years…
There were only two possibilities:
A heaven-given miracle.
Or an innate constitution suited for poison.
Or both.
If heaven had truly been cruel, it would not have granted either of those.
The boy had already received heaven’s blessing simply by surviving.
And where there is crisis, there is opportunity.
“If the boy survives and grows… he may become the next Poison King.”
Among poisons second only to the legendary Formless Poison was the Thousand-Year Golden Frog.
To overcome it meant becoming immune to anything weaker.
Hardly an exaggeration.
Anyway…
“Now I understand why you needed imugi meat.”
Using poison to treat poison.
A widely used method.
But the Thousand-Year Golden Frog was known as the King of Poisons.
Its poison could not be neutralized—only suppressed.
Yet in my long memory, there was one solution:
Using imugi poison to neutralize it.
Their poisons were so opposite in nature that they could cancel each other out.
“So what you needed wasn’t imugi meat—but imugi poison itself.”
Imugi poison was extremely difficult to obtain.
Even with money, it often took years of luck.
The future Mubaek I saw had been unable to find imugi poison, so he settled for imugi meat instead.
But since I had the poison sac, there was no need for that.
I had kept it inside my pouch for emergencies.
Good thing I didn’t throw it away.
With imugi poison, the boy’s chances of survival rose considerably.
If it wasn’t too late, the Golden Divine Physician could handle the rest.
Which is why—
“…At least spare him from suffering for the time he has left…”
“Sorry to interrupt, but you can finish the story at the Golden Merchant Guild.”
“What? Wh—!”
WHACK!
I suddenly changed my mind.
I would force the choice out of him if I had to.
“This is no time to sit here listening to resignation.”
If we wasted even a moment now, we might regret it forever.
So with a sudden blow, I sent him flying far away.
And as expected—
“You’re skilled, I’ll give you that.”
He flew far, but took no damage.
With flawless movement, he blocked my strike in the last moment.
But there was no time to admire it.
I immediately used my movement skill toward his house.
The moment I emerged holding the sleeping boy—
The chase began.
