CLS-Chapter 489

Chapter 489:

“Initially…”

There was strength in the voice of the Medicine Hall Chief giving his report.

“All the patients have entered recovery. There were dangerous moments, but they pulled through well.”

“Oh!”

Tang Yong-min brightened up.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. I cannot say with certainty that everyone will make a complete recovery, or that there’s no longer any risk of death. This is an unprecedented condition. We don’t know what variables might arise. However, they’ve passed the most dangerous crisis.”

“Indeed!”

Tang Yong-min clapped his hands in delight.

How could he not be happy?

Setting aside all this talk of crises in the martial world, these were young people in the prime of their lives rotting away while still alive – who wouldn’t feel their heart breaking alongside them?

The Tang Family was cursed as scheming villains who only cared about themselves in the martial world. That meant, conversely, that the bonds within the family were stronger than anywhere else.

Those currently lying in the Medicine Hall were all either distant relatives of Tang Yong-min or close as disciples to him. How could he hide his joy when such children were recovering?

“You’ve worked hard. You’ve truly worked hard, Medicine Hall Chief.”

“No. I haven’t done the hard work. I haven’t really done much. If anyone worked hard…”

The Medicine Hall Chief’s gaze turned to one side.

“That person over there did…”

Everyone’s eyes followed the Medicine Hall Chief’s gaze to one spot. Then everyone took a step back in unison.

“Hmm.”

“Sigh…”

“Tsk.”

Then sighs flowed out. Sensing the gazes gathered on him, Wei Yan-ho, who had been nodding off drowsily, opened his bleary eyes and looked around.

“Hm? What?”

“…”

“Ugh, why am I so tired? Yaaawn.”

As Wei Yan-ho stretched and yawned, the crowd retreated in unison.

“Don’t yawn!”

“Turn your head when you speak! Your head!”

“Ugh! Damn it! Don’t put us in the same place as that guy! Even if this is the Tang Family, don’t we have any human rights!”

Desperate reactions flowed out.

“Why are you all acting like this?”

“Hmm.”

Jang-il raised his hand to rub his face. His eyes stung.

‘Now I’ve seen all kinds of bizarre sights.‘

Jang-il, who had removed his hand, stared straight at Wei Yan-ho.

‘I might have nightmares about this.‘

It was ordinary Wei Yan-ho.

Those bleary fish-like eyes were no different, and his slouched posture wasn’t particularly different either. It was the same Wei Yan-ho as always. The fact that he gave off the exact feeling of a sickly chicken confirmed it.

However, there was just one different thing.

And that one thing was currently driving the crowd into terror.

Skin color.

Wei Yan-ho’s entire body was stained a dark red. The toxic energy of the Crimson Blood had spread throughout his entire body.

“No.”

As Wei Yan-ho opened his mouth, dark red smoke slightly rose from the corners of his lips.

“Eek!”

“Aaaah! Don’t talk, man!”

“…”

Jang-il closed his eyes.

One might think this was an overreaction, but this was a natural response. These were members of the Tang Family, more knowledgeable about poisons than anyone. One might think that knowing a lot about poisons would make them unafraid of poison, but that was absolutely not the case.

Because they knew best how dangerous poison intoxication was, they feared poison even more.

Moreover, the Crimson Blood now slowly flowing from Wei Yan-ho’s body wasn’t a synthetic poison they had created, but a natural poison extracted from nature. They could attempt detoxification, but even they couldn’t be confident of perfect detoxification. There was no specific antidote.

So who wouldn’t be afraid?

Tang Pyeong shouted in frustration.

“Can’t something be done about that? I’ve lived my whole life and never seen such a sight. Every time he speaks, poison flows out – how can we possibly live alongside something like that!”

“The term ‘something like that’ seems a bit harsh…”

Wei Yan-ho felt wronged, but the others all sympathized with Tang Pyeong’s words.

“I wouldn’t say such things for ordinary poison. But this is Crimson Blood! It’s not some low-grade poison like Seven Treasure Mountain poison – if someone gets wrongly poisoned by that, it could wipe out entire bloodlines. Shouldn’t we at least isolate him?”

Tang Yong-min also raised his voice with bulging veins in his neck.

Leaving that walking poison alone like this was a big problem.

That was a Poison Person.

A Poison Person.

It was a realm that not only the Tang Family but all sects dealing with poison dreamed of, but there was a slight difference between the Poison Person they imagined and that lazy Poison Person. The Poison Person they spoke of was a fantasy realm where one could stockpile infinite poison within the body and spew poison at will, but right now Wei Yan-ho was just in a state like pickled vegetables soaked in poison.

“Hmm.”

Tang Cheon-gun rubbed his eyelids.

When one problem was solved, a new problem arose, and when the new problem was somehow resolved, another problem erupted.

“Medicine Hall Chief.”

At Tang Cheon-gun’s call, the Medicine Hall Chief shook his head.

“That cannot be detoxified.”

“Even if it’s Crimson Blood, detoxification shouldn’t be completely impossible, should it?”

“Under normal circumstances, we could attempt detoxification. But it’s impossible for Young Hero Wei. Actually, it’s not that we haven’t tried – we’ve already attempted detoxification, but the antidotes don’t work.”

“Why?”

The Medicine Hall Chief answered weakly.

“The toxic energy and internal energy seem to have properly fused. When the antidotes try to attack the toxic energy, the internal energies block the antidotes and absorb them.”

“…Then does that bastard have to live with that hideous appearance for the rest of his life?”

“Not necessarily. Toxic energy is ultimately still energy, so given time, it will naturally be purified and absorbed. As you can see, hasn’t it become much lighter compared to the beginning?”

That?

He looks scary enough to appear in nightmares.

If that’s lighter, what was he like at first?

“Hmm.”

Tang Cheon-gun rubbed his face vigorously.

Sichuan was a place with much external exchange. Therefore, they inevitably had fewer prejudices about skin color compared to typical Central Plains people. Tang Cheon-gun himself had frequently seen not only foreign peoples but also those with dark skin like the Kunlun slaves.

‘Just being black would be better.‘

It was disturbing enough that a person’s skin had changed to a dark red blood color, but the sight of dark red vapor flowing from his mouth and nose every time he spoke was something else.

It was as if an Asura from hell would look like that.

There was one advantage.

Until now, Wei Yan-ho had been excessively ignored compared to his martial prowess. This was partly due to his young age and lazy personality, but the fact that he didn’t look strong externally also played a big role.

Who could imagine a master who nods off drowsily like a sick chicken?

That external intimidation had been perfectly filled. If one saw Wei Yan-ho’s current appearance, even the bandits of the Green Forest who staked their lives on looking strong would prostrate themselves on the ground and call him big brother.

Except for that one thing, everything else was a disadvantage.

“If he can’t be detoxified, we should at least isolate him!”

“Then you go catch and lock him up.”

“…”

Tang Yong-min closed his mouth.

Catch and lock him up? That guy?

He was someone they couldn’t lay a hand on even when he was normal, and now that guy was spewing Crimson Blood from his entire body – how could they possibly deal with him?

It would be either dying from a sword wound or dying from poisoning – one of the two.

“So… are you alright?”

Tang Cheon-gun asked out of courtesy.

“I don’t seem to have any particular problems. Nothing hurts in particular.”

“…Is that so?”

There was no strength in Tang Cheon-gun’s voice.

‘I should die quickly.‘

What good sights was I expecting to see by living so long that I have to witness such terrible things?

The others all seemed to share similar feelings.

“But shouldn’t we establish some countermeasures? If others get poisoned by this…”

“We can’t let him wander around carelessly like this. Special measures are needed…”

“Please stop.”

A heavy voice drew all attention. The owner of that gaze was Wei Jeong-han. Wei Jeong-han opened his mouth with an extremely stern face.

“I was trying to endure it as much as possible, but this seems excessive. Before worrying about damage that might be caused by Yan-ho, shouldn’t we first praise and thank Yan-ho for his contributions? Who treated the children of the Tang Family? Who absorbed the poison that should have remained in those children’s bodies into his own body and saved those children?”

The gathered gazes scattered.

They felt embarrassed.

No matter how much the Tang Family valued their own family above all else, they weren’t without shame and didn’t lack in knowing embarrassment.

“When you treat someone who has shown kindness to the family in this way, who would want to show kindness to the Tang Family? This Wei feels deep disappointment in the seniors today that cannot be hidden.”

“We, we’re sorry.”

“The situation was so strange that we forgot the proper order. Please calm your anger.”

The Tang Family members, whose necks were said to be so stiff that they even washed their faces with their heads held high, awkwardly offered apologies.

Then Wei Yan-ho looked at Wei Jeong-han with moved eyes.

“Father…”

“Ah! Turn your head when you speak, man! The poison is flying over!”

“…God, damn it.”

Wei Yan-ho ground his teeth as he watched Wei Jeong-han, who had jumped back in surprise.

His emotion was instantly thrown into the trash.

“Your son just wants to look at your face while talking, and that’s what you say as a father! Huh?”

“Your father might get poisoned too! If I get poisoned and die from this, what kind of dog’s death would that be! There’s no greater lack of filial piety than this, you bastard!”

“Want me to show you what real lack of filial piety is? Huh?”

Seeing Wei Yan-ho’s glaring eyes, Wei Jeong-han turned his head away.

‘Even though he’s my child, he really looks disgustingly ugly.‘

It was quite shameful to be scared by looking at his own son’s face, but there was nothing he could do about it. Wei Yan-ho’s current appearance was beyond what could be described as hideous and evil.

“Can’t something be done about that? Huh?”

“I’m detoxifying it.”

“Can’t it be done faster!”

“Then I’d have to blow away the toxic energy, but then I can’t convert it to internal energy. I’m slowly coaxing it to turn it into internal energy. It’ll probably take about a month…”

“You bastard with disgustingly abundant internal energy, how much could that handful be worth! Just blow it away! Blow it away!”

“You have to save up to live well. And…”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.

“If I blow this away, the entire Tang Family would be submerged in toxic smoke – would that be okay?”

“No! Absolutely not!”

Tang Cheon-gun screamed in horror.

“Not many would survive being poisoned by Crimson Blood! Absolutely not!”

“See?”

“Uuugh.”

Wei Jeong-han made a groaning sound.

Of course, the current situation was a hundred times better than a situation where countless people were hanging onto their lives by a thread. There wasn’t anyone suffering major damage either. But why was this so irritating?

“…Let’s continue the meeting for now.”

“Yes.”

Everyone nodded while looking at Wei Yan-ho with disgusted eyes.

“I’d like to hear opinions on whether this Explosive Blood Pill problem should be considered resolved.”

“Not even close.”

The one who answered was Wei Yan-ho.

“The cause of the outbreak still isn’t clear. It’s also true that there’s no treatment method if something like this happens on a large scale. I can’t go around the Nine Provinces and Eight Wastelands treating people one by one.”

“Right.”

“So we need a fundamental solution. We need to make a cure.”

“That’s not easy, which is why we’re saying this.”

“It’ll work out. The Medicine Hall Chief has also gotten a feel for it. I actually have someone I’d like to introduce regarding that matter.”

“Hm? Introduction?”

Tang Cheon-gun looked at Wei Yan-ho with puzzled eyes.