Chapter 75
"Did you know?"
When the fifth prince asked again as if he couldn't believe it, Ya Socheong bowed his head and said.
"Yes, Your Highness. That's why I was admiring your willpower. You have been poisoned by a tricky poison. It's hard to know how long it has been going on, but you must have been taking it for a long time. You would have gradually felt pain, and your body's functions would have slowly stopped."
"How do you know so much?"
"My master was an assassin, and I was also raised as an assassin. I have been close to numerous poisonous creatures and poisonous insects and know their characteristics well. The one used on you is among them."
"Do you also know how to detoxify it?"
"I have the antidote, but it will be more effective to give you acupuncture. You should say that you want to have another drink with me. And you should say that you want to draw the martial artists of Cheonbong Mountain to your side. Then everyone will understand the reason why you want to talk alone. They will want to be with you, but I will be difficult."
"Yes. Thank you, Faction Leader Ya."
The fifth prince, unexpectedly relieved of his worries, returned to the people with Ya Socheong.
Then, after speaking in a lively voice, he said what Ya Socheong had told him to.
"Faction Leader Ya, if the martial artists of Cheonbong Mountain are to the extent that you are afraid of them, it seems that they will be helpful to me. Is there a way to draw them to my side?"
"How can I tell you that for free? If you give me good alcohol, I will think about it."
"Faction Leader Ya, it seems that you don't know how scary I am because you've only been in the Heavenly Demon Sect. Good. I have plenty of good alcohol, so I will give you alcohol, but I will surely fix your bad habits someday."
Then the fifth prince ordered a drinking table to be set up in the small garden where Ya Socheong was staying.
"It is enough to have Faction Leader Ya, so no one else should come. Since I have met Faction Leader Ya after a long time, I will relieve my feelings."
"But, Your Highness."
Soon his guard called the fifth prince with concern, and a few people pleaded that they should be by his side.
Ya Socheong carefully observed each of them.
No one knew that when Ya Socheong left that place with the fifth prince, several poisonous creatures from his bosom had entered their sleeves.
* * *
The fifth prince, who had entered Ya Socheong's small garden, waited quietly as he saw Ya Socheong staring into the empty air without saying anything.
He couldn't hear anything, but it seemed that Ya Socheong could hear something.
After a long time, when a smile appeared on Ya Socheong's lips, the fifth prince asked with a tense face.
"Did you find out who it is, Faction Leader Ya?"
"Yes, Your Highness. It is your strategist."
"How did you know?"
"Seeing that he has been adjusting the amount while making you take the poison for a long time, he is a person with extraordinary knowledge of poison. Even if the lethal dose of the poison can be easily known, it is difficult to accurately maintain the limit while inflicting just the right amount of harm according to a person's constitution on a daily basis. To become so familiar with poison, he must have been close to it and learned it for a long time, and in the process, he would have developed a tolerance without even knowing it."
"Is that really so? But how do you know that my strategist is that person?"
At those words, Ya Socheong hesitated for a moment and then answered.
"This is a secret among secrets that I rarely tell even to the person I trust the most."
"If it is such a thing, you don't have to say it. I will just believe you."
At that, Ya Socheong smiled.
If he said he would do that, he also did not want to take the risk.
Although his main weapon was the sword, what he handled as well as the sword was the poisonous creatures, and he wanted to keep it a secret until the end that if he used poison arts at the same time, there were almost no opponents to be afraid of.
The others had been stung by the poisonous creatures he had sent and had collapsed, but the fifth prince's strategist had not.
"For now, please wait here for a moment, Your Highness."
Ya Socheong said and went outside, looking around, and one of the guards of the junior lords who was outside approached him.
"Faction Leader Ya, if there is anything you want me to do, please give the order. It is the master's order."
He was the guard of Dan Mok-hwawun.
Ya Socheong gave him a medicine bottle containing an antidote and said.
"Please take this to the people I will tell you about now. Say that His Highness told you to give it to them, and come back after seeing them take it. If there is anyone who does not believe it and does not want to eat it, you must come and tell me. If they do not eat this within the next half a moment, they will die."
The guard was surprised, and his eyes widened, and he disappeared, trying not to forget the people Ya Socheong had mentioned.
Ya Socheong, after returning to the fifth prince, laid him down.
Since they would be in severe pain from being stung by the poisonous creatures anyway, and if they heard that it was an antidote sent by the fifth prince, there was a high possibility that they would accept it without suspicion.
If there was anyone who still did not eat it, he would have to go with the fifth prince and make them eat it.
The fifth prince's strategist had not collapsed because of the tolerance in his body, and because of that, he would not yet know that his identity had been revealed.
But since he would be curious about what the fifth prince and Ya Socheong would be talking about, there was a high possibility that he would come to the fifth prince soon for some reason.
That was the reason why Ya Socheong had intended to detoxify him with acupuncture.
"Please hold this cloth, Your Highness. Then, if blood comes up, spit it out. It is rotten blood, so you must spit it all out."
After speaking, when Ya Socheong quickly performed acupuncture, the fifth prince felt the feeling that Ya Socheong had mentioned.
Soon, black blood gushed out, and the fifth prince spat it out.
Ya Socheong watched the scene without being surprised.
When the vomiting that seemed to continue stopped, Ya Socheong took the blood-stained cloth from the fifth prince and threw it into the brazier.
Then he made a fire with the Samadhi True Fire, made the flames even fiercer, and burned the blood-stained cloth in one go.
It was then that the strategist's voice was heard from outside.
"Your Highness, an urgent report has come from the person who was monitoring the movements of His Highness the Third Prince."
Hearing those words, a bitter expression appeared on the fifth prince's face as he looked at Ya Socheong.
Although he had already been told that it would be so, he could not express his sense of betrayal.
When Ya Socheong shook his head, the fifth prince said to the outside.
"Will it be a big deal if I hear it a moment later? Are you saying that I can't even have this time? I will hear it in a little while, so know that."
At that, the strategist urged with an even more urgent voice.
"I have heard it first, and it is an urgent matter."
The fifth prince looked at the empty air.
"What should I do, Faction Leader Ya?"
"How about you have the strategist manage the work there himself? And if you have him monitored without any gaps, you will know to what extent he was involved. Please do not forget that you have the Nether Shadow Faction, Your Highness. They will be able to do that without a single mistake. You can completely trust Pae Maseong."
Surprise appeared in the fifth prince's eyes, and he nodded greatly.
"That would be right. I intended to use the Nether Shadow Faction heavily from the beginning. But whenever I revealed that intention, the strategist stubbornly blocked it."
Realizing belatedly that that was the intention, he said.
"Since you will be going to Cheonbong Mountain with us now, you can fill that position with a trustworthy person in the meantime. It would also be good to try using the guards of the junior lords at this opportunity. Since they will be depressed at the thought of being abandoned by the Sect Leader anyway, wouldn't they be happy to think that they were helpful to the prince?"
"Faction Leader Ya, how many things do you think of at once?"
"Since there are many people who are aiming for me, it seems that thinking quickly has become a habit. I didn't want to be like this either."
Seeing Ya Socheong speaking as if he were also very pitiful, the fifth prince laughed briefly and then went outside.
Ya Socheong waited in the room and enhanced his internal energy to listen to the sound.
The fifth prince's strategist, still not knowing how things were going, tried to move the fifth prince according to his own will, and when the fifth prince came out firmly, he was greatly flustered.
The fifth prince said what Ya Socheong had told him to, and the strategist seemed to reluctantly accept his words.
Ya Socheong said to the fifth prince who had returned.
"The strategist will probably entrust the poison he has been making you take to someone else. Since we have to see who he will meet from now on, please stay here for a while. Or it would be good to be with the junior lords."
"Then I will be with them. Please return safely, Faction Leader Ya."
"Yes, Your Highness. I will send the junior lords here on my way, so please stay here."
When Ya Socheong finished speaking and used his stealth technique, the fifth prince's eyes widened.
Ya Socheong soon left the small garden and went to where Dan Mok-hwawun was.
Dan Mok-hwawun, before Ya Socheong's appearance was revealed, noticed his presence and was about to draw his sword.
"Junior lord, it is Ya Socheong."
When Ya Socheong, who had revealed himself, said that, Dan Mok-hwawun was surprised and looked at him.
"Please go to my small garden with the others now and protect His Highness. There is a spy inside."
Ya Socheong could not explain at length and finished his words, then used his stealth technique again.
Although he did not look back, he could see that Dan Mok-hwawun was moving his body quickly.
Urgent things continued to happen.
If it weren't for Pae Maseong and the junior brothers of the Nether Shadow Faction at a time like this, Ya Socheong would not have been able to act so boldly, but thanks to them, he saw hope.
When Ya Socheong went to the strategist, he was secretly meeting with one of the fifth prince's guards.
They were talking quietly, avoiding the eyes of others.
"It is time for the symptoms to appear in His Highness. But things suddenly went wrong. Seeing His Highness talking alone with Ya Socheong, I was in a hurry and I think I made a mistake. As I was hastily making up words, I feel like I fell into a trap. That is already spilled water, so it can't be helped, and now you have to take care of the remaining work."
Then he handed the guard something in an envelope.
"The exact amount is divided. You must put it in without any mistake every time he has his breakfast. It is not filtered by a silver needle, so do not be afraid. If you are anxious, it will show on your face."
"Why did that brat Ya Socheong have to appear now of all times?"
"How would I know that!"
After that, there was no particular story, but Ya Socheong waited to take one of them.
The guard did not check what was in the envelope on the spot, nor did he check the quantity.
So later, when he followed the guard and took one of the things inside, he was less worried.
When Ya Socheong returned, the junior lords were standing guard by the fifth prince's side with tense faces.
They seemed to have been waiting for Ya Socheong to come, and when he appeared, they let out a sigh of relief as if they had made a promise.
(End of Chapter)