Chapter 103 : Operation (3)
"So..."
Namgung Il muttered and turned his gaze to the two men lying on the floor.
"You're the one who made those brats like that?"
"Yes."
"..."
Hearing Tang Wol-yeong's answer, Namgung Il thought that his plan had been considerably twisted.
According to the original plan, Tang Wol-yeong should have been bound and trembling in fear... But far from trembling in fear, she had defeated the enemy with her own hands and had even untied herself.
"...How did you untie yourself and defeat those brats?"
"If you use poison arts, untying yourself is simple. After that, I just waited for the enemy's opening and ambushed them."
Probably, she had ambushed them in time with the commotion at the entrance.
Since the sound was quite loud, wouldn't the guards who were here also have heard that sound?
At that time, she had ambushed the guard's back with a poison hand when his gaze was momentarily distracted... Namgung Il was now understanding Tang Wol-yeong's words like that.
'In the first place, there was no need to come and save her.'
He hadn't known that Tang Wol-yeong had this much skill.
Since she had shown poor hidden weapon skills in the Hidden Weapon Techniques class, he had surely thought that she was weak.
Recalling the way she had attacked him just now, it seemed she was quite proficient in poison arts.
"Those brats, you didn't kill them, did you?"
"No, I just paralyzed their bodies, so they'll return to normal after some time."
"But there's one thing I'm curious about. Why didn't you use poison arts when you had a spar with me in the entrance exam?"
In fact, he couldn't properly remember how he had fought with Tang Wol-yeong.
But if Tang Wol-yeong had taken out her poison arts like she had just now, wouldn't it have surely remained in his memory?
On the contrary, the fact that Tang Wol-yeong did not properly remain in his memory meant that Tang Wol-yeong had not used poison arts in the past spar.
"That's... I can't use poison arts in front of many people."
"...?"
"So I'm refraining from using poison arts as much as possible unless it's absolutely necessary like now."
Tang Wol-yeong's poison art was probably the Life-Saving Ten Thousand Poison Hand.
As it was Tang Cheol-go's unique martial art, it was at a level that could be called a secret art among poison arts without any shame.
But why on earth was she not using it in front of people? Namgung Il could not understand that part at all.
"Why?"
"..."
"If you had used poison arts like you did just now, you might have been able to beat me."
It was not an empty word.
Because at that time, he had been quite tired from numerous spars.
Besides, since poison arts could create a variable even if there was a difference in skill with the opponent, he would probably have thought of Tang Wol-yeong as a more difficult opponent than Jong Seo-eon.
"..."
When Namgung Il asked, Tang Wol-yeong silently raised her right hand.
Swoosh—
A green energy flowed out from her raised right hand as before.
In that state, Tang Wol-yeong asked Namgung Il with a bitter smile.
"What do you think of this poison hand?"
"...?"
"Don't you think it's vile and ugly?"
"What...?"
Why was she talking about her poison art like that?
Hearing Tang Wol-yeong's subsequent words, Namgung Il could understand the reason.
"In the world, what has a worse perception than hidden weapons is poison."
"..."
"Especially after the Righteous-Demonic War, that perception became even stronger."
There were almost no sects in the righteous faction that used poison arts.
Although the Sichuan Tang Clan was barely continuing the lineage, the main place was the demonic faction.
Because of that, the perception of poison was bound to be bad in the righteous faction, and after a lot of damage had occurred from the demonic faction's poison arts in the Righteous-Demonic War, that perception had become much worse.
"If I had used poison arts in that spar, what would people think of me?"
"..."
"Perhaps they would have said that I had used a vile martial art and would have disqualified me."
Seeing that bitter expression, it seemed that Tang Wol-yeong had some experience of being told such things.
A vile and dirty martial art.
If one had been told such things continuously from a young age, it was understandable that one would be reluctant to use poison arts in front of people, even if it wasn't Tang Wol-yeong.
"...Does this answer your question now?"
Tang Wol-yeong asked Namgung Il, withdrawing the energy from her right hand.
Smirk—
Just then, a laugh flowed from Namgung Il's mouth.
Since it sounded as if he were laughing at her, Tang Wol-yeong's impression was slightly wrinkled.
"What's so funny?"
"No... it's just that it was a completely unexpected reason."
"..."
"To be disqualified from a spar for using poison arts... isn't that just your delusion?"
When Namgung Il said that, Tang Wol-yeong's gaze became sharp.
Even though he had surely noticed that, Namgung Il continued to speak.
"If it were me, I wouldn't have done that. On the contrary, I would have thought that the one who hid their strength and lost because of a useless worry was more unsightly."
"...You can think that because it's someone else's business."
"..."
"I respect the person who passed down this poison art to me. But... do you know how I feel every time someone else criticizes the poison art that he passed down?"
Tang Wol-yeong's voice was quite agitated.
For Tang Wol-yeong, who did not usually show her emotions well, to raise her voice to that extent.
Just by her reaction so far, one could tell how seriously Tang Wol-yeong thought about her poison art.
Hoo—
After shouting once, Tang Wol-yeong took a deep breath and calmed her breathing.
'What on earth am I hoping for?'
Tang Wol-yeong herself did not know why she had gotten angry at Namgung Il.
She had seen countless people who did not understand her like that.
Although she had tried to persuade that person at first, after thinking that it was meaningless, she had not said anything more.
She just had to understand and continue her grandfather's poison art by herself. Thinking that, Tang Wol-yeong was able to control her agitated emotions.
"A long time ago."
"...?"
"I had my life saved once. Do you know how I was saved?"
As Namgung Il suddenly asked, Tang Wol-yeong's face became puzzled.
But soon, her gaze became indifferent.
No matter who had saved Namgung Il's life in what way in the past, it was none of her business.
"Is that any of my business?"
"It was a poison art."
"...?"
"The enemy's movement was slowed down by my comrade's poison art. Thanks to that, I was able to defeat the enemy without dying."
A completely different expression from before.
As completely unexpected words came out of Namgung Il's mouth, Tang Wol-yeong was now listening to those words.
"In the world, as you said, poison arts may be thought of as a vile and ugly killing technique."
"..."
"But I don't think so. At least, my life was saved by a poison art."
"Saved..."
"Depending on who uses it and how, I think that a poison art can also be a martial art that saves people."
At that moment, Tang Wol-yeong felt as if she had been hit on the head with a blunt weapon.
"Yeong-ah, can you see why the name of this martial art is the Life-Saving Ten Thousand Poison Hand?"
"Uh... I don't know."
"Normally, poison is used to kill people. But I didn't want to use poison like that."
"..."
"I wanted to prove that poison can also save people's lives. That's why I named it the Life-Saving Ten Thousand Poison Hand."
Poison can also save people.
Tang Wol-yeong had inherited that will along with the Life-Saving Ten Thousand Poison Hand from her grandfather.
So she had vowed to change the world's perception of poison someday, but as she faced reality, that vow had disappeared, and she had now hidden the poison art with her own hands.
'There was... someone who said the same thing as my grandfather.'
Tang Wol-yeong could not believe that.
To think that the person who had been the first to say what she had almost given up on was in front of her.
Tang Wol-yeong wanted to let her grandfather hear those words at least once.
Drip—
Just then, tears flowed from Tang Wol-yeong's two eyes.
'I'm sorry, grandfather...'
Although she had decided to change the world's perception of poison with the Life-Saving Ten Thousand Poison Hand, Tang Wol-yeong felt so pathetic for now naturally hiding the Life-Saving Ten Thousand Poison Hand in front of people.
At the same time, the apology she felt towards her grandfather.
The tears that Tang Wol-yeong was shedding were a mixture of such emotions.
"...!"
As Tang Wol-yeong suddenly shed tears, Namgung Il couldn't help but be flustered.
'Why is she suddenly crying?'
The reason why Namgung Il had spoken like this was solely because he had wanted Tang Wol-yeong to use Tang Cheol-go's unique martial art proudly.
How sad would Tang Cheol-go be if his descendant hid his comrade's martial art, speaking of it in such a way?
So he had just tried to tell her that the Life-Saving Ten Thousand Poison Hand was a great martial art... but as Tang Wol-yeong showed an unexpected reaction, Namgung Il was momentarily at a loss for words.
Swoosh—
Fortunately, Tang Wol-yeong did not cry for long.
After wiping the flowing tears with her sleeve, Tang Wol-yeong looked at Namgung Il again.
"Thank you."
"...?"
"Thanks to you, I was able to remember something I had forgotten."
Tang Wol-yeong said and smiled.
A smile that was clearly different from the bitter smile of before.
It seemed that this was the first time Namgung Il had seen Tang Wol-yeong smile so sincerely.
'...Did it go well?'
Since she had suddenly cried, he had thought for a while that he had made a mistake, but seeing her smile like that, it seemed that there was no big problem.
Although it was unavoidable that they had fallen on the floor together earlier, if Jong Seo-eon were to find out that he had made Tang Wol-yeong cry, he would surely be furious.
Fortunately, since it seemed there was no problem, it seemed that the news that he had made Tang Wol-yeong cry would not reach Jong Seo-eon's ears.
"...Huh?"
Just then, Namgung Il suddenly felt a sense of unease.
'It seems I'm forgetting something...'
What on earth was it?
Although it seemed he was about to remember, he couldn't quite recall what it was, even as he crossed his arms and pondered.
"...!"
Just then, Namgung Il's expression was colored with astonishment.
Come to think of it, wasn't this a time when he couldn't be leisurely dawdling in a place like this?
As he belatedly recalled the image of Jong Seo-eon, who would be struggling alone in the middle of the enemy camp by now, Namgung Il couldn't help but become anxious.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, no, that's..."
To be sure, the plan had failed for now.
Tang Wol-yeong should have been scared and had a crack in her heart, but who would have thought that she would defeat the enemy on her own?
So even if he took Tang Wol-yeong to Jong Seo-eon now, it didn't seem like it would have much effect... but since there might be a slight possibility, Namgung Il decided to carry out the plan for now.
Grab—
As soon as he made his decision, Namgung Il grabbed Tang Wol-yeong's hand.
"Tang Wol-yeong! Follow me right now!"
"Pardon?"
"It's an emergency! There's no time to explain!"
Namgung Il said rather roughly, forcibly leading Tang Wol-yeong.
At that moment, a slight blush appeared in her flustered expression.
As she obediently followed Namgung Il, Tang Wol-yeong answered as if she were muttering.
"Yes... Young Master Il."
Although Namgung Il didn't know, in fact, the plan was going smoothly.
Although the problem was that the direction was flowing a little differently...
Namgung Il did not notice at all that the way Tang Wol-yeong called him had subtly changed.
(End of Chapter)