Chapter 434: Please pass on the message.

Tang Jemun of the Poisonless Heaven (毒絶天).

One of the five heroes who blocked the Blood Demon’s Blood Calamity.

A great figure who transformed the Tang Clan, then treated as an unorthodox sect, into a righteous sect, and later helped found the Murim Alliance.

A figure I’d heard mentioned a few times even from Old Man Shin.

I heard he was one of the crazy ones.

‘…It’s not a guy. You old geezer.’

I examined Tang Jemun’s appearance with surprised eyes.

Long, straight hair reaching down to her waist.

A subtle, lingering green hair color, specifically a light green hue incomparably more beautiful than Tang Soyeol’s or the Poison King’s.

I wondered where I’d seen that hair color before.

‘It’s similar to the color of a lake.’

It gave the illusion of shining.

Her gaze, which seemed slightly closed, evoked a dreamlike feeling, and the pupils within held a jewel-like radiance.

At first glance, she resembled Tang Soyeol, but she exuded a much more feminine and mature aura.

Especially her chest…

‘…’

Even if not as much as Namgung Bi-ah, it seemed to be at a level that would make using martial arts quite inconvenient.

Could that woman really be Tang Jemun?

Perhaps she was Tang Jemun’s younger sister or older sister?

If not…

‘Was Tang Jemun really a woman?’

It wasn’t strange for there to be women among heroes, but no, how could a woman’s name end up being…

As I watched the self-proclaimed Tang Jemun with a bewildered expression, he… no, she approached me.

Sha-aaaaah-!

Jeoksu-sa showed intense hostility upon seeing her.

Why is this guy acting up again?

Seeing Jeoksu-sa like that, Tang Jemun tilted her head and spoke.

[How fascinating. To be accompanied by a spirit beast.]

“A spirit beast… you mean.”

That sounds like something I’ve heard somewhere.

I couldn’t quite recall.

[Who exactly are you?]

“…”

[You are definitely not Shincheol… but I can feel Shincheol’s energy.]

I gave a wry smile at Tang Jemun’s words.

Hearing her words, I felt I could understand the nature of this place a little better.

‘So this place too…’

Arrangements prepared for Old Man Shin.

Things Bulyeong had mentioned and Yeon Ilcheon had confirmed.

Does the Tang Clan’s Poisonous Lake of Immortality also mean it was an arrangement prepared for Old Man Shin?

If Tang Jemun is here, it’s probably certain.

“Old Man Shin… no, I have a bit of a connection with Taoist Shincheol.”

[Are you Shincheol’s descendant?]

A descendant.

I wondered if I could dare call myself a descendant, with the Mount Hua Sect perfectly fine and existing in Mount Hua.

“Yes.”

I knew it.

If I hesitated here, Old Man Shin would scold me later.

He’d probably spout continuous harsh words, asking if I’d forget him after he raised me while changing my dirty diapers.

“I am his descendant.”

So I no longer hesitated.

[…]

Upon hearing my answer, Tang Jemun’s expression darkened slightly.

Why? Why would she make such a face?

[…So Shincheol ultimately couldn’t revive.]

“Ah.”

Is that regret about it?

Whenever I met past heroes, they all invariably expressed regret or despair about this.

That Old Man Shin couldn’t revive.

This was an important matter to them.

[I have something I want to ask the descendant.]

“Do you believe I’m your descendant?”

I was more taken aback by her casually calling me a descendant.

Hearing my words, Tang Jemun asked me with a puzzled expression.

[Aren’t you?]

“No… I mean, yes, but… that.”

Swooosh.

As I hesitated, Tang Jemun suddenly came right up close and pointed her finger at my chest.

[You are ominous.]

“…”

I swallowed a gasp at her sudden words.

Furthermore, a chilling sensation brushed past my neck.

I remembered hearing similar words from Yeon Ilcheon in the Secret Vault of the Dragon Shrine in the past.

-You are a calamity.

He had definitely said that to me.

Regarding this, by now, I harbored a growing anxiety that perhaps it was indeed true deep down.

[I sense too much unknown presence, and your unstable appearance is overwhelming in many ways.]

“…”

[However.]

Tang Jemun’s fingertip grew closer and closer, finally poking my chest.

I didn’t feel any actual contact.

[I feel Shincheol within you.]

“…!”

[That is enough for me. You are indeed his descendant.]

“What if I… obtained this through nefarious means?”

[If you had, he would have gotten angry. Shincheol is that kind of person.]

It was such unwavering faith.

I looked into her eyes.

Her luminous green eyes held an unusually deep emotion.

The emotion was so firm and profound that even I could tell how Tang Jemun viewed Old Man Shin.

‘This old geezer said he never even dated.’

After being so grumpy with me, it was baffling what this situation was.

Just you wait until you wake up. I’ll settle every single score.

While I was thinking that, Tang Jemun called me again.

[Descendant.]

“Yes. Senior.”

[…Have you, descendant, ever seen Shincheol?]

“…”

Her tone was somehow cautious.

I could tell that anxiety and anticipation were mixed in her words.

“I have.”

Joy flashed in Tang Jemun’s eyes.

“…And I’m with him right now.”

[Th-that?]

Tang Jemun, wearing the brightest expression I’d seen so far, made me feel an inexplicable sense of guilt.

‘Aren’t you going to wake up even now?’

I felt resentment towards Old Man Shin.

Last time, when I met Yeon Ilcheon, he woke up even if just for a moment.

Why are you silent this time?

Seeing Tang Jemun brimming with anticipation, I sighed and briefly explained the past, around the time I met Old Man Shin.

[…]

After the explanation.

All that remained in Tang Jemun’s eyes was regret.

When she heard that I had absorbed Old Man Shin along with the energy of a demonic creature, and consequently had been together for several years.

She seemed elated at the fact that Old Man Shin was present, but…

Upon learning that he was asleep and hadn’t woken up for nearly a year, Tang Jemun appeared greatly disappointed.

[So that’s why… the descendant wasn’t surprised when seeing me.]

“…Yes.”

I guess I’d met him so many times that I could roughly guess now.

‘The most surprising thing is that Tang Jemun was a woman.’

I had absolutely no idea she would be such a delicate and frail figure.

Tang Jemun’s eyes still looked half-dead, as if disappointed.

I wondered if it would be better to leave her alone for now, but…

I didn’t have time, so I had to ask what I needed to ask first.

“The Golden Iron Fist King called me a calamity.”

A spark lit up in Tang Jemun’s eyes at my words.

[Are you talking about Yeon Ilcheon?]

‘Huh.’

It might be my imagination, but I thought I saw a subtle hostility flash in Tang Jemun’s eyes as she mentioned Yeon Ilcheon.

“Yes, he called me a calamity.”

And I almost died.

Just thinking about it made me dizzy. If it weren’t for Old Man Shin’s intervention, I might have really died.

“Senior, do you perhaps think so too?”

I had to think quite a bit to ask this.

It would be problematic if Tang Jemun tried to kill me like Yeon Ilcheon did.

The reason I asked despite such thoughts was because I trusted the feelings she held for Old Man Shin.

I thought she might at least spare me if I was his descendant.

In response to my question, Tang Jemun told me this.

[What did Shincheol answer regarding that?]

What answer did Shincheol give?

What Old Man Shin had told me back then…

Clearly.

“…He told me to believe in myself, not in others.”

That’s what he said.

He asked how a martial artist could possibly succeed if they couldn’t believe in themselves.

Upon hearing those words, Tang Jemun gave a faint smile.

[That’s just like Shincheol.]

It seemed the answer pleased her.

[That’s right… If it were him, he would definitely have answered that way.]

“What do you think, Senior?”

[Well…]

Even if Shin Old Man’s answer was like that, what was Tang Jemun’s answer?

In response to the question, Tang Jemun looked at me with somewhat chilling eyes.

And then she spoke.

[If it were me, I probably would have given the same answer as Yeon Ilcheon.]

“…!”

I flinched involuntarily at the chilling aura in her voice.

It was supposed to be a ‘lingering thought’ (사념), but how could both Yeon Ilcheon and Tang Jemun possess such an aura?

Just as I was about to look around, fearing something might happen.

[However…]

Tang Jemun immediately wiped away the chill and continued her sentence.

[If Shincheol said so, then that must be the right thing.]

While feeling relieved by her words, I also felt a mix of emotions.

Old Man Shin was contained in all her words.

How much emotion must be contained to be like that?

“You seem to trust Old Man Shin a lot.”

[…]

No answer came to this statement.

Tang Jemun simply kept watching my chest intently.

Her eyes looked as if she were searching for Old Man Shin.

“Senior…?”

Hearing my call, Tang Jemun turned around and headed somewhere.

It was the darkness from which Tang Jemun had appeared, but now that darkness had completely cleared, revealing a small pedestal.

‘That…’

A fist-sized stone sitting on the pedestal caught my eye.

A stone of pure white, emitting a faint light.

Seeing it, my eyes widened.

‘White Demon Stone.’

The White Demon Stone (白魔石) that a Rank 100 demonic creature would possess.

The item I had desired so much was right there.

[As the descendant must know, I am the lingering thought (死念) left behind by Tang Jemun.]

While my eyes were captivated by the demonic stone, Tang Jemun slowly continued speaking.

[I am one of the arrangements prepared for Shincheol… the lingering attachment and regret left for him. That’s me.]

“Lingering attachment… and regret.”

Hearing those words, an unknown question crossed my mind.

Setting aside lingering attachment and regret for a moment.

I understood that this was the secret vault Tang Jemun had prepared, but…

‘Why prepare a White Demon Stone?’

Demonic stones are generally not very useful to ordinary people.

No matter how much energy was inside.

It wasn’t something that could be absorbed like a spirit pill or inner core, so preparing a White Demon Stone for Old Man Shin seemed rather strange.

I was about to ask Tang Jemun about it, but…

[Descendant.]

Tang Jemun called me before I could.

“Yes.”

[To obtain this Poison Heaven Pill Cluster (毒天團), you must pass a trial.]

“What?”

[This too was prepared for Shincheol… but if you are his descendant…]

“Wait, wait a moment.”

[What is it?]

I think I misheard something from Tang Jemun’s mouth just now.

“…Poison Heaven Pill Cluster?”

She definitely said that. Poison Heaven Pill Cluster.

Tang Jemun tilted her head at my question.

[Yes. Didn’t you already know?]

Tang Jemun pointed somewhere with her fingertip. My head turned.

As my gaze shifted slightly, it finally came into view.

Next to the White Demon Stone was a bowl, and I saw round inner cores piled on top of it.

…Why didn’t I see that until now?

‘Could that possibly be all…’

Does she mean the Poison Heaven Pill Cluster?

Gulp…

I unconsciously swallowed dryly.

What is the Poison Heaven Pill Cluster?

It was the Tang Clan’s divine pill (神團) whose manufacturing method was lost, making it impossible to create anymore.

An item known to be superior to Shaolin’s Great Replenishing Pill, which is said to be the most famous in the Central Plains right now…

‘It’s piled up like that…?’

It looked like more than ten, not just one.

Perhaps sensing my strange reaction, Tang Jemun asked.

[Perhaps, the descendant doesn’t need inner cores…]

“No. I absolutely need them. I came for that.”

[I see.]

With my unhesitating declaration, Tang Jemun nodded as if she had expected it.

Right, I came all this way to get that.

I have to get it somehow.

White Demon Stone? What’s that?

Is it edible?

“I’ll take the trial immediately.”

I came to obtain the Poison Heaven Pill Cluster, risking my life.

I wasn’t afraid of any trial.

Sha-ah…

Jeoksu-sa, lacking tact, whimpered while looking at me, but I glared at it once and tucked it into my sleeve.