Episode 62. Creating a Thousand Poisons from Ten Thousand Flowers...
Won Seung had given Yong Jo-woon ten Blood Replenishing Pills, but since he was such a master, it seemed like they barely made a difference.
‘He’s from Peerless Valley, so his saber techniques must be flawless. But age is something no one can overcome. Cheon Il-hae and Hwa Cheon-gang must have decades of internal energy built up.’
From what Won Seung had observed, Yong Jo-woon seemed to have about forty years’ worth of internal energy, similar to himself. For someone in his late twenties, that was already impressive.
Still, he fell short compared to Cheon Il-hae or Hwa Cheon-gang.
Won Seung had met both men in person. He couldn’t be sure of the exact difference, but he could tell their internal energy surpassed his own.
That meant Yong Jo-woon needed a spiritual medicine that could rapidly boost his internal energy. The medicine Won Seung was most familiar with was the Meridian Cleansing Pill.
The Meridian Cleansing Pill could dramatically increase internal energy—a dream for any martial artist.
Since this would be Yong Jo-woon’s first time taking it, he’d be able to experience its full effects. He might even gain twenty years’ worth of internal energy in one go.
But there was a problem: he didn’t have enough herbal medicine. To make a spiritual medicine like the Meridian Cleansing Pill, you needed a huge variety of herbs.
Won Seung had been buying herbs whenever he could, and his poison lab was packed to the brim. Even so, there were still some missing ingredients—most of them rare and hard to find on the market.
Some of them were even classified as poisons, so regular herbalists wouldn’t touch them.
‘Who knew the Meridian Cleansing Pill required so many ingredients…’
Just the cost of the herbs alone was several thousand nyang. And some of them couldn’t be bought even if you had the money.
His master had given him three of these precious pills.
The thought of his master made his chest ache with sudden emotion.
“I suppose I’ll have to go see this Physician Gong.”
He hadn’t forgotten the physician who had saved Jong Won-bo by cutting open his throat, and he’d been gathering information about him. From what he’d heard, the man was known for his bold knife work, which divided opinions among people.
If he was from the Heavenly Poison Sect, he’d probably have poisonous herbs as well.
Afternoon.
Won Seung put on a Human Skin Mask modeled after Ohgu’s face and dressed in Ohgu’s clothes.
He left the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and walked just like Ohgu would.
He kept a poisoned dagger hidden up his sleeve, gripping it tightly as he walked along the main road—he never knew when Cheon Seok-san might attack.
‘Just try to come at me!’
Strapped to the leather vest under his clothes were rows of poison vials. If Cheon Seok-san showed up, he’d give him a taste of the Heavenly Poison Sect’s eighteenth leader.
He spread his senses as he walked, scanning the area, but there was no sign of Cheon Seok-san.
The clinic was right on the main road, so it wasn’t hard to find.
It was a typical four-sided courtyard-style clinic.
The door was open, and as he stepped inside, he found himself in the consultation room. At a large desk, a young man was busily writing something.
“Are you here because you’re feeling unwell?”
The young man stopped writing and straightened up as Won Seung entered.
He looked to be in his early twenties, a handsome youth.
Won Seung tapped the prescription slip in his hand and said, “I’m not sick. I’m here to buy some herbs.”
The young man smiled. “This is a clinic. We don’t keep that many herbs on hand. You’d be better off going to a pharmacy.”
“I’m looking for something pharmacies don’t sell.”
“Something pharmacies don’t sell?”
A wary look appeared in the young man’s eyes.
He studied Won Seung closely, and when he noticed the unnatural look of his face, his expression hardened.
“I don’t know what you’re after, but we don’t sell herbs here. This is a clinic for treating people. Please leave.”
His tone was firm.
Won Seung sighed inwardly.
The Human Skin Mask was hastily made, so anyone looking closely in good light would notice something off.
He reached up to his neck and, with a swift motion, pulled off the mask.
The young man jumped back in shock at the sight.
“I’ve been wearing the mask because an assassin is after me. I hope you’ll understand.”
The young man still looked wary.
Won Seung gestured inside. “Let’s talk inside.”
With the clinic door wide open, anyone passing by might recognize him.
But the young man blocked the doorway, refusing to move.
Just then, a sharp voice called out from inside.
“Wu Yun, let him in for now.”
Reluctantly, the young man stepped aside, and Won Seung entered.
Past the reception area was a courtyard surrounded by buildings on all sides—a classic four-sided compound.
Rooms lined each building, and the air was thick with the scent of medicine.
In the courtyard stood a middle-aged physician, watching Won Seung as he entered. The man wore a headscarf, his expression gentle but his eyes sharp. He held a medicine pot in his hand.
Seeing that Won Seung looked younger than expected, the physician gave him a once-over and asked with interest, “I happened to overhear. Why are you looking for herbs here that aren’t sold in pharmacies?”
“Would you take a look at my list?”
Won Seung handed over the list of herbs he’d written down.
The physician glanced over the list, his face stiffening slightly.
“These ingredients are toxic. We don’t use them as medicine. Naturally, we don’t have them.”
Before the physician could tell him to leave, Won Seung spoke up.
“Isn’t it true that medicine can be poison, and poison can be medicine?”
“?”
For a physician, the idea that it all depends on how something is used wasn’t a difficult concept. But hearing such words from someone as young as Won Seung was surprising.
But then...
“They say you can create a thousand poisons from ten thousand flowers, and a hundred medicines from a thousand poisons.”
The physician’s expression changed instantly. He stared at Won Seung, eyes wide, frozen like a statue.
Originally, it was the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers, but after disaster struck, it became the Heavenly Poison Sect. Later, it nearly became the Hundred Medicines Hall, but was destroyed by the Tang Clan before that could happen...
That phrase contained the sorrowful history of the Heavenly Poison Sect and was also a secret code used to identify each other.
“Master?”
The young man, called Wu Yun, looked at his master in surprise.
From the physician’s reaction, Won Seung immediately knew he was a disciple of the Heavenly Poison Sect.
“Shall we talk inside?”
“Ah!”
With both his disciple and Won Seung urging him, the physician finally came to his senses and handed the medicine pot to Wu Yun.
“Give this to the patient in the last room.”
Then he led Won Seung to a private room.
Once they were seated in the cozy room, the physician spoke first.
“My name is Gong Yi-gwan.”
“I’m using the alias Pung Un-saeng.”
Won Seung didn’t want to reveal his real name. If Lady Ju heard about it, who knew what trouble would come his way?
Besides, at Red Blood Mountain, everyone believed he’d lost his memory and was living as Number Fifty. Since he planned to take revenge on them, he had to cut off any chance of future trouble.
He also didn’t fully trust Gong Yi-gwan yet. Just because they shared a sect didn’t mean he could reveal everything.
He had no intention of revealing that he was the leader of the Heavenly Poison Sect.
When Won Seung gave a false name, Gong Yi-gwan frowned slightly.
“You sound like someone from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers. Why give me an alias?”
“Is Gong Yi-gwan your real name?”
“……”
“People from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers aren’t exactly in a good position these days.”
Gong Yi-gwan gave a short, derisive laugh.
“Are you talking about the Tang Clan? That’s ancient history.”
He wondered to himself,
‘This youngster is quite arrogant. Whose disciple could he be?’
Gong Yi-gwan was the senior disciple of Jang Go-on, one of the three survivors of the Heavenly Poison Sect.
His master, Jang Go-on, had revealed his identity and the grudge with the Tang Clan only in his later years, before leaving to search for his missing senior brother.
Gong Yi-gwan still kept in touch with his two junior disciples, so he had a rough idea of their disciples as well.
‘There haven’t been any new disciples recently… He must be from the third uncle’s line.’
He’d heard that his fourth uncle, the Poison Monster, hadn’t taken any disciples. That meant this must be a disciple of the third uncle, Wu Mun-bi, whom he’d never met.
‘Whoever he is, I must have scared him too much. The Tang Clan business was ages ago…’
The conflict with the Tang Clan had happened before Gong Yi-gwan even joined Jang Go-on.
He’d been cautious when he first heard about it, but over time, he’d stopped worrying.
In Henan, it was rare to even encounter someone from the Tang Clan. To him, it was all ancient history.
But for Won Seung, as the eighteenth leader of the Heavenly Poison Sect, facing the Tang Clan was a different matter.
His master had warned him repeatedly about how ruthless the Tang Clan could be.
“Hm. You don’t seem to know what happened later.”
He thought Gong Yi-gwan might not have heard about the duel between the Poison Monster and the Poison King, but he didn’t mention it.
When Won Seung seemed to dismiss him, Gong Yi-gwan’s expression turned sour.
“My name is real. I have nothing to be ashamed of. You should give your real name as well.”
“As I said, I can’t reveal my real name. Would I have come here wearing a Human Skin Mask otherwise?”
“Wearing a false face isn’t right. I don’t want to talk further with someone who won’t even give their real name.”
Gong Yi-gwan was about to throw him out when Won Seung spoke first.
“I haven’t heard your answer to the code yet.”
Won Seung had given the secret code, but Gong Yi-gwan hadn’t replied.
Still frowning, Gong Yi-gwan said, “I won’t answer someone whose real name I don’t know. Like you said, we have to be careful given our circumstances.”
Won Seung nodded. “Fair enough. We only just met today, so I can’t expect much.”
His refusal to give his real name and his persistent answers made Gong Yi-gwan scowl.
“Can you at least tell me whose disciple you are?”
“I only know that there were three at the beginning, and each of the two took on three disciples, making seven in total. I don’t know how many there are now.”
Won Seung answered vaguely and pulled out the list of herbs he needed.
Gong Yi-gwan snorted, about to ignore him, but when Won Seung waved the list in front of him, he couldn’t help but look.
These were not common herbs. In fact, most were poisonous.
“This is…”
Gong Yi-gwan looked at Won Seung in surprise. The physician’s curiosity was piqued—if someone needed these herbs…
“Do you know what these herbs are used for?”
“There are a few pills that use those ingredients.”
‘Oh? So he knows about the Meridian Cleansing Pill. Maybe… he even has some.’
A thought flashed through Won Seung’s mind. Anyone who knew how to make the Meridian Cleansing Pill would have at least one or two hidden away.
It was a spiritual medicine that could fetch a fortune in an emergency.
“I’d like to buy one of those pills that martial artists love so much.”
Gong Yi-gwan looked incredulous, then suddenly wary.
“So you weren’t here for herbs after all? You had another motive!”
“Not at all. If you’re suspicious, I can show you.”
Won Seung went to the desk, picked up a brush, and quickly wrote out the prescription for the Meridian Cleansing Pill. Gong Yi-gwan watched, his face full of surprise.
It was the exact prescription.
Even his own disciple, Hwang Wu Yun, couldn’t write it out so smoothly without looking at a medical text.
“See for yourself?”