Chapter 46
Radiating Charm (3)
Why on earth is she here to see me?
Kang Yongwoon immediately stood up, opened the door, and greeted Tang Soso.
“What brings you here, young miss?”
There was a firm edge to Kang Yongwoon’s voice as he asked.
Could something have happened?
Perhaps Tang Sohwi, who was out searching for the heretical sect with the Tang clan’s masters, had discovered something?
“My grandfather wishes to see you.”
“Ah, grandfather?!”
“Yes, hero.”
The tension drained from Kang Yongwoon’s voice, his strength slipping away.
“Should I meet him right now?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
What more needed to be said?
Kang Yongwoon followed Tang Soso without hesitation.
But then…
‘Hm? She’s not using lightness arts?’
It didn’t seem like an urgent matter.
Tang Soso was simply walking calmly beside him.
‘Well, this is…!’
It felt strange.
Here in the Tang household, where everyone was tense and busily performing their duties during such a major crisis, he alone was strolling leisurely alongside Tang Soso like this?!
Step. Step.
They walked on in awkward silence.
Perhaps because she disliked the silence, Tang Soso spoke first.
“Thank you for being such a reliable friend to Little White Brother, hero.”
“Ah!”
That broke the ice.
This time, Kang Yongwoon explained the situation himself.
“…Anyway, that’s how I became friends with Jin Jo-yeon. So really, it’s me who should be thankful. He saved me, and despite being four years younger, he still accepted me as a friend. Hahaha.”
“Ah, I see.”
Her short reply carried noticeable disappointment. What exactly had disappointed her?
‘Four years younger?! Then… I’m actually two years older than him?’
That was what bothered Tang Soso—her being older than Kang Yongwoon.
“I’m sorry for troubling you to come fetch me, young miss. Next time, you may simply pass the message through a servant. Better yet, through Little White Brother.”
“Ah…”
Tang Soso almost shouted, ‘No, I wanted to do it myself!’
“Bring Hero Kang Yongwoon here. It would be troublesome for me to go myself, so just tell one of the maids as soon as he returns to his quarters.”
“I’ll tell him myself, grandfather. He’s the benefactor of our clan—it’s only right I invite him personally.”
“Hmm?! Well… fine then.”
Though Dokjon had asked that the message be relayed through servants, she had insisted on bringing him personally.
‘Why on earth did I do that?!’
Tang Soso was confused.
Ever since the thought “He’s just so handsome!” suddenly struck her in the training hall, Kang Yongwoon’s face hadn’t left her mind.
Thump-thump-thump.
Her heart pounded oddly fast, and her cheeks kept heating up.
‘I don’t know. I really don’t know.’
Without realizing it, Tang Soso shook her head.
“Young miss?!”
“Ah!”
Startled by Kang Yongwoon’s curious voice, Tang Soso widened her eyes, then quickly nodded.
“Yes, I’ll do that. Next time, I’ll definitely use the servants.”
“Ah, good.”
Seeing Kang Yongwoon smile in relief, Tang Soso’s heart grew strangely heavy.
So she shut her mouth again.
In renewed silence, the two walked toward the Poison Well.
That was the end of it.
The moment they arrived, Tang Soso turned back.
Whoosh!
Unlike before, she unfolded her lightness arts and vanished quickly.
“Does she dislike me that much?”
Watching Tang Soso hurry away, Kang Yongwoon tilted his head.
“I don’t think I said anything wrong… so why did she run off, even using lightness arts, unlike before?”
Knowing nothing about women, Kang Yongwoon could only remain baffled.
“Eh, whatever.”
He crossed the bridge.
At the center of the island where Dokjonggak stood, he saw them both—the Poison Lord and Tang Sehuang, who should have been resting to recover from internal injuries after taking medicine.
“You called for me?”
“Yes. Come, have a seat.”
At Dokjon’s invitation, Kang Yongwoon sat across the tea table.
Silence fell.
No one touched the tea—it simply grew cold.
Perhaps after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Dokjon finally spoke candidly.
“Dokjeongji. As you know, this place is so named because for hundreds of years, the Tang clan discarded failed poisons here along with the tools used in their making.”
He gestured.
“Look at it. Doesn’t it seem the perfect place for safe disposal of poison?”
“Yes, elder.”
Kang Yongwoon nodded firmly.
Indeed, as Dokjon said, it was the ideal place—an isolated island in a lake no one could easily enter, with a deep cavern underground serving as a disposal site.
“But after so many centuries, with so much poison accumulating, problems began to arise. The poison started seeping out of the island and into the lake.”
“Ah!”
Gazing into the lake, Kang Yongwoon understood.
‘Not a single fish…’
None could approach the island. Only far away did a few fish survive.
“Before long, the poison would spread across the whole lake. Which meant the poison of Dokjeongji would eventually consume the Tang clan itself.”
“That’s why, after passing down the position of clan head, I came here.”
Kang Yongwoon didn’t need Tang Sehuang to finish—he understood.
“To restrain Dokjeongji’s poison, right?!”
“Exactly.”
Dokjon’s expression turned bitter.
“For fifteen years, I’ve devoted myself to it, night and day. But…”
He trailed off, staring intently at Kang Yongwoon.
“That poison, which all my efforts couldn’t suppress for fifteen years, suddenly changed overnight. The violent toxicity became gentle.”
The reason was you, wasn’t it?
Dokjon’s eyes demanded an answer, sharp and uncompromising.
“Was this truly your doing?!”
What was the point of lying?
Kang Yongwoon admitted frankly.
“Yes, elder.”
“Hah—!”
Dokjon let out a short exclamation, struck speechless.
After some time he sighed.
“So it’s true. What I failed to accomplish in fifteen years, you pacified in barely a few hours.”
His voice was full of bitterness.
“I…”
After a pause, Tang Sehuang suddenly spoke.
“I need an explanation…”
“An explanation?”
“Yes. Something remains within me. The Poison Lord said you didn’t simply expel the poison, but left it there deliberately.”
“Indeed. I felt it clearly. You gathered the poison from Dokjeongji that had lodged in the clan head’s body. You could have expelled it entirely, but you left some behind. Tell us why.”
A bright smile crossed Kang Yongwoon’s face.
“It’s for you to use, clan head. That’s why I left it.”
“Hah—!”
“Truly…”
Dokjon and Tang Sehuang exchanged astonished glances.
Kang Yongwoon recalled his experiences with the Poison Spirit, both when he first gained it and when he suppressed the poison in Tang Sehuang’s body. Then he offered his tailored advice.
“You must have already examined your dantian carefully, clan head. You must have felt how the condensed poison—ah, I call it Dokjeong, the Poison Essence—”
“Dokjeong!”
“That’s right. I sensed the same.”
Both Dokjon and Tang Sehuang nodded in agreement.
“You must have noticed that after breaking its shell, the Poison Essence is starting to transform into something new.”
“Yes, exactly!”
Tang Sehuang grew excited, hearing his own condition described perfectly.
“But it doesn’t listen to me well. It doesn’t obey the Tang clan’s Daoist arts.”
“Then what kind of poison art did you train in, to subdue Dokjeongji’s poison, the poison of poisons?”
“Indeed, it’s astonishing. Dokjeongji’s poison is a mass formed from centuries of the Tang clan’s discarded poisons—there isn’t even an antidote for it…”
“Surely, this must be your clan’s secret art. Don’t worry, we’re not asking for the formula. We just hoped for a small clue.”
Their voices were earnest.
Kang Yongwoon hesitated.
‘Even if I tell them what I felt, will they believe me?’
Would they accept that Dokjeong was no longer mere poison, but a spirit with awareness?
‘And since it’s newly born, like a blank slate, it must be coaxed like a child. Could the clan head do that?’
The image of the stern-faced Tang clan head fussing over and coaxing like a parent made Kang Yongwoon chuckle bitterly.
“Ah, I understand now.”
Tang Sehuang mistook the bitter smile for reluctance, and spoke self-deprecatingly.
“I didn’t consider your position. Of course, if someone asked me to reveal the Tang clan’s secret art, I’d want to poison them instantly.”
Even Dokjon misinterpreted.
“No, that’s not it.”
Kang Yongwoon quickly explained.
“I only worry you might misunderstand what I say.”
“A misunderstanding? What do you mean?!”
“I’d believe you even if you said you brewed soy sauce from red beans!” Tang Sehuang’s eyes blazed.
Dokjon looked ready to lash out at anyone who doubted him.
‘Ah, whatever.’
Resolute, Kang Yongwoon spoke sincerely.
“Get close to it, clan head.”
“Hm? What?”
“C-close to it?!”
Dokjon and Tang Sehuang stared wide-eyed.
What kind of nonsense was that?!
‘Forget it. Whether they believe me or not…’
It was their choice—accept it and things would be easier, or refuse and struggle endlessly.
“So… what I mean is…”
Kang Yongwoon shared his experience in detail.
“What?! Treat it like a child?!”
“You expect me, the Poison Lord, to say things like, ‘Good boy, well done?!’”
Horrified, they trembled violently as if hearing unspeakable words.
But Kang Yongwoon insisted firmly.
“Yes! Even saying ‘Good boy, so lovely!’—I believe that would be quite effective, elder.”
Both Dokjon and Tang Sehuang shuddered as if the heavens had collapsed.
Kang Yongwoon continued passionately.
“It’s like the Three Kings—centuries of poison imbued with the Tang clan elders’ will to control it. That became a seed, which has only just begun to awaken with spirit. Naturally, it should be treated as a child, elders.”
Surely now they understood?
Oh! They did.
Dokjon and Tang Sehuang nodded heavily.
“If it’s a child… then of course it must be taught properly.”
“A beating is the best medicine, father, don’t you agree?”
“Yes. For any child who won’t listen, the cane has always been the cure.”
“Then I’ll pour all my internal energy, including Daoist Return-to-Origin Arts, into attacking that seed—”
“No—!”
That’s not it at all!
