CLS-Chapter 241

Chapter 241

Immune to ten thousand poisons?

Did I say such a thing?

Heheng!

Immune to ten thousand poisons, my frozen ass.

When I think about how I was fooled back then, I still can’t believe it. I thought those bastards had used weak poison because that guy was acting so nonchalant.

Well, that’s not wrong, is it?

Of course, I did think that guy was from the Tang Clan back then. In the martial world, the only ones brazen enough to act so boldly right under Mount Hua’s nose are the reckless Tang Family, known for their audacity.

What? Secretive?

The Tang Family?

What nonsense.

If you just ask those bastards ‘You guys did it, didn’t you?’ They’ll frantically deny it with the determination to die by the sword, even going so far as to harm themselves and cause a complete uproar, so unless it’s something really serious, people just let it slide.

Because it’s too troublesome.

Think about it.

Does it even make sense for a martial artist to die from poison?

Even ordinary people don’t die immediately from snake bites. You’d have to be bitten by a snake with truly lethal venom to maybe die.

So how strong would the poison have to be to kill martial artists, who have several times more resistance than ordinary people, through poisoning?

That’s why the source of such poison can only be the Tang Family or the Five Poisons Sect. The Tang Family is the type that tries to play dumb about such obvious things.

It’s not that people don’t know and get fooled—it’s that when they’re actually pointed out as the culprits, they make such a fuss that it becomes too disgusting to deal with, so people just endure it.

Huh?

What about when people actually die?

Of course, when people die, the situation is a bit different. That’s when you really need evidence.

What’s impressive about the Tang Family bastards, if you can call it impressive, is that they seem to have separate poisons for such occasions. So they handle things carelessly in normal times, but when they really need to do something important, they properly use strong poison to carry out their work.

Haven’t they ever been caught doing this?

Of course they have.

That’s why the Tang Family has faced the crisis of complete annihilation several times. Historically, it’s happened multiple times, and uh…

Yeah, right. They nearly got completely overturned because of that bastard.

Did Wei Yan-ho charge in?

No.

Wei Yan-ho isn’t the type to openly chase after them and overturn everything just because he was wronged. He’s the type who finds even that troublesome and just lies around.

…You’ve heard it all, so why are you asking something so obvious?

That’s Wei Yan-ho’s way.

When he thinks there’s some grudge, at the time he just seems to pass it off magnanimously like nothing happened, but looking back later, he somehow gets his revenge.

It’s so natural that people only realize ‘Ah, that person didn’t forget about that incident and got his revenge’ after the other side suffers a great loss.

Huh?

Didn’t you say last time that Wei Yan-ho nearly destroyed the Tang Family before they could even attack?

That’s also true.

What do you mean?

Well, the thing is…

***

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Wei Jeong-han bolted upright from his bed at the sudden loud scream that pierced the night.

“What, what is it?”

“Aaaahhhhhhh!”

It was a clear scream.

And the voice screaming was very familiar to him.

“Yan-ho?”

Wei Jeong-han’s face instantly hardened.

“Yan…”

He tried to think about the situation rationally, but Han Sang-ah was different. As soon as she heard Wei Yan-ho’s screaming voice, Han Sang-ah kicked down the door with lightning speed and ran down the corridor.

“Yan-ho!”

Han Sang-ah burst open Wei Yan-ho’s door and screamed when she saw Wei Yan-ho rolling around on his bed.

“What’s wrong!”

“Uh, mom… my stomach hurts…”

“Your stomach?”

Han Sang-ah’s face turned ashen.

Wei Yan-ho is a martial artist. Martial artists boast several times the stamina of ordinary people. To exaggerate a bit, they could chew and digest iron chunks.

For Wei Yan-ho, who could be considered high-ranking even among such martial artists, to suffer from a stomachache was no ordinary matter. If it were a normal stomachache, it would have healed before Wei Yan-ho even noticed, and even spoiled food shouldn’t have given him so much as a rash.

But his stomach hurts!

“Oh, let me see!”

Looking at the sweat flowing down his forehead, he really seemed to be in pain. As his mother, she couldn’t possibly not know that while Wei Yan-ho might be lazy, he never faked illness.

During all those long years of laziness, wasn’t Wei Yan-ho the type who would get beaten rather than make excuses about being sick even once?

“A physician! Call a physician!”

She shouted at Wei Jeong-han, who came running into the room, and Wei Jeong-han turned around with a hardened expression.

“Miss Jin!”

Fortunately, their lodging housed a physician praised throughout the land.

“Poison?”

“Yes.”

Frost settled on Jin Ye-ran’s face.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

Jin Ye-ran placed her hand on Wei Yan-ho’s forehead. Her hand stroking the head of Wei Yan-ho, who had finally fallen asleep after groaning in pain, was gentle, but her voice was far from gentle.

“It’s impossible for a martial artist of Young Master Wei’s caliber to have a stomachache.”

“But there are no symptoms of poison, are there?”

At Wei Jeong-han’s words, Jin Ye-ran looked up at him.

“What are the symptoms of poisoning?”

“The face turning black, or turning blue.”

“That’s about biological poison.”

“Biological poison?”

“Yes. Poisoning symptoms vary tremendously. Mineral poison can melt human stomachs or poison people and make them turn completely white. Depending on what poison is used, symptoms can manifest in hundreds of different ways. Stories about blood turning black when poisoned are just rumors. Or perhaps someone deliberately created a fixed perception about poison.”

Wei Jeong-han’s face hardened beyond measure.

“Then you’re certain it’s poisoning, Miss?”

“Yes. As a physician, I’m telling you that Young Master Wei has been poisoned.”

“…Can you treat it?”

Jin Ye-ran quietly shook her head.

Wei Jeong-han’s eyes widened.

“Then, then?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Because he has such a robust body, this level of poisoning will heal quickly. There’s nothing particular I need to do for him. Other than providing some pain relief, no other medicine is necessary.”

“Still, using medicine would be…”

“Medicine used on a healthy body sometimes becomes poison. I can’t give more poison to someone who’s already been poisoned, can I?”

Wei Jeong-han nodded.

He didn’t quite understand what she meant, but anyway, if Jin Ye-ran said so, it must be true. Hadn’t he already seen plenty at Nashan of what an excellent physician she was?

Not as an acquaintance, but as a physician, she was someone he could fully trust.

“Then…”

Wei San-ho, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.

“The important thing is who administered the poison.”

His voice was unusually calm.

So much so that Wei Jeong-han, who had expected him to be jumping around furiously since Wei Yan-ho had been poisoned, found it strange. But when Wei Jeong-han saw Wei San-ho’s face, he had to immediately revise his thoughts.

“Calm down, San-ho.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Wei Jeong-han kept glancing at Wei San-ho with an ominous feeling. Though he wasn’t openly displaying anger or hatred, Wei San-ho’s expressionless face, as if covered with a sheet of ice, looked even more dangerous.

‘While brotherly affection is a good thing…’

It wasn’t this severe in the past, but since Wei Yan-ho had gone missing and returned, Wei San-ho had shown a tendency to be excessively obsessed with Wei Yan-ho.

Since he had lost and regained his younger brother through his own mistake, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Wei Jeong-han subtly changed the subject.

“Then we can’t find out who the culprit is?”

“I’m a physician. I can’t know such things.”

“Hmm…”

Wei Jeong-han had to wonder whether he should consider this fortunate or unfortunate.

While it was regrettable that  Wei Yan-ho right now, there were too many people who wouldn’t stay still.

If an incident broke out, it would be a big one.

Starting with what Wei San-ho might do.

‘I can’t even purely worry when my own child is hurt.’

This is all because the children’s influence has grown too great. While Wei Jeong-han was struggling, controlling his grown children was not an easy task for him either.

“Um…”

At that moment, Jang-il, who had been watching the situation, spoke up.

“What is it?”

Jang-il scratched his head and sighed.

“I’m conflicted about whether it’s right to say this now, but I can’t not tell you what I know…”

Wei San-ho spoke in a cold tone.

“Just get to the point.”

“Jeez, what a scary way of talking!”

Jang-il cleared his throat and explained. After telling them everything about how the person he saw at the tavern today seemed to be from the Tang Clan, the atmosphere in the room began to turn cold.

“The Tang Family…”

Wei Jeong-han quietly stroked his chin. At the same time, Wei San-ho turned around and tried to go outside.

“Where are you going?”

“To the Heavenly Alliance’s lodging.”

“What are you going to do there!”

“I need to ask.”

“…”

“And I’ll find out. Whether they really targeted Yan-ho.”

“What will you do if they say yes?”

“Father.”

Wei San-ho spoke in an utterly rigid tone.

“This is poison strong enough to make even Yan-ho lie down. An ordinary person would have died a hundred times over. This level of poison cannot be used without murderous intent. They tried to kill Yan-ho.”

“Mm…”

“No matter how great the Tang Family’s influence, we can’t not respond to this kind of treatment, can we?”

“Stop it.”

“Father!”

“I said stop!”

When Wei Jeong-han’s voice rose, Wei San-ho bit his lips tightly.

“How do you think I feel watching my precious child lying there poisoned! If I could follow my feelings, I’d want to run to Sichuan right now and set the Tang Family estate on fire. But there’s no evidence.”

“Tang Jongguk was there. Wearing a mask!”

“Who will testify?”

“…”

Wei San-ho turned around, but Jang-il hung his head awkwardly.

“He has his own position. Even for something he confirmed with his own eyes, he’d be cautious, let alone pointing out the Tang Family as the culprit based on mere suspicion without direct confirmation. It’s not something that can be handled by someone in the position of Little Beggar.”

“Then are we supposed to just take this? There probably isn’t a single piece of evidence left by now.”

“I’m not saying we should just take it. For now…”

Wei Jeong-han bit his lips tightly.

He wanted to say they should see how things develop and respond accordingly, but without evidence, there was nothing they could do. If they pressed them without evidence, word would spread that the Guangdong Wei Family was now throwing their weight around.

That was something he, as the representative of the Orthodox Alliance, shouldn’t hear.

His insides felt like they were boiling over and turning black.

‘Tang Myeong, that son of a bitch I want to tear apart!’

If he weren’t burdened with great responsibility, he’d want to rush to Tang Myeong right now. But the fact that he couldn’t do so was tormenting Wei Jeong-han.

And then.

“Tang Family?”

From the mouth of Wei Yan-ho, who had finally managed to open his eyes, the words “Tang Family” flowed out.