Chapter 17 – Myriad Poison Hall (2)

I was about to head to the Myriad Poison Hall with Grandfather, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, from my quarters.

To go anywhere from the quarters, we had to pass through the inner backyard, where three people sitting in a pavilion chatting came into view.

They were… the Family Head’s family.

Well, to be precise, my father-in-law, mother-in-law, and nunim. (TL: Numin is used by male to address older sister or older females and it is used in place of Noona to show respect)

“Have you understood everything you learned from Father on the first day?”

My father-in-law asked about today’s lesson with a smile.

Since today felt like an orientation, I answered politely.

“Yes, Eld… I mean, Father-in-law.”

Then suddenly, the three of them stood up and smiled at me.

“Well, then, let’s go together.”

“To the Myriad Poison Hall?”

“Yes, since it’s your first time entering the Myriad Poison Hall as a member of the Tang Family, we were all waiting for you. It’s customary for the whole family to accompany a new member entering the Myriad Poison Hall for the first time.”

I didn’t know, but it seemed that entering the Myriad Poison Hall held some great significance.

Following my father-in-law’s words, Grandfather took the lead, followed by my father-in-law and mother-in-law, with nunim and me quietly trailing behind.

‘She really is beautiful.’

They say a beauty’s charm is best seen from the side.

As I was walking behind, I inadvertently admired nunim’s side profile.

I couldn’t help but silently marvel.

It was then, while I was once again admiring nunim’s beauty, that laughter came from the front.

“Haha, you’ll wear out my daughter’s face at this rate. Now that she’s yours, you can look at her all you want. How can you walk so absentmindedly? You’ll end up tripping if you keep spacing out like that.”

“Our son-in-law has only been here for a few days, but it seems he’s already fallen head over heels for Hwa-eun. I suppose that’s how it is for young couples; they bond quickly.”

“Why are you teasing the kids and making them embarrassed?”

With eyes seemingly on the back of his head, my father-in-law teased me, knowing I was staring blankly at nunim.

Startled, I apologized to my father-in-law and looked at nunim.

“I, I’m sorry, Father-in-law.”

With a blush on her face, nunim spoke in a quiet voice.

“You should watch where you’re going.”

“Ah, yes, I understand.”

With a flushed face, we arrived at the back of the inner courtyard used by the direct lineage of the Tang Family.

It was a mountain ridge that formed part of the Tang Family’s main area.

Surrounded by numerous courtyards and halls, a cave blocked by a massive iron gate appeared, seemingly the center of the Tang Family’s operations.

“Have you arrived, Family Head?”

“Yes, I’m here to show my son-in-law the Myriad Poison Hall, so open the gate.”

“Understood, Family Head! Let’s go!”

“””Yes!”””

With a resounding reply, the guards ran towards the gate.

About ten guards were standing watch in front of the Myriad Poison Hall, and all ten of them rushed to the gate.

As the guards exerted their strength simultaneously, the gate began to open slowly with a strange sound.

-Kugugugung.

Judging by the thickness of the gate, it seemed to be about a hand’s breadth thick.

I wondered how thorough security could be in this era, but this level of security was quite impressive for this time period.

‘Impressive. The security is unexpectedly thorough.’

While marveling at the magnificence of the iron gate, the guards guided us inside once it was fully opened.

“Please, enter. Elder, Man of Ten Thousand Poisons.”

“Then, let’s go in.”

With Grandfather leading the way, we entered the cave, greeted by its cool atmosphere.

-Tap tap.

The smooth stone-paved floor and the cool air were noticeable.

After walking about twenty to thirty meters into the cave, a vast cavity appeared.

It was filled with numerous medicine cabinets, jars, and sealed porcelain bottles.

This seemed to be the place where the completed poisons were stored, as a smell similar to herbal medicine slowly wafted out.

“This is the Myriad Poison Hall’s Myriad Poison Chamber. It’s where the finished poisons are stored. Be careful not to touch anything carelessly.”

“I understand. So this is the Myriad Poison Chamber?”

“That’s right. From over there, various poisons such as paralytic poisons and sleeping poisons are categorized and stored. There are also liquid, powder, and pill forms.”

Though it was called the Myriad Poison Chamber, there weren’t literally ten thousand types of poisons, but there were around thousands of them stored. (TL: Myriad = Ten Thousand)

I was a bit amazed by the sheer scale and was looking around at various things when I felt a gaze on me. Turning my head, I saw that all the elders were looking at me.

‘What is it?’

Since they were all looking at me, so I checked myself and even looked behind me, wondering if they were looking at something else.

It was then that my father-in-law’s question reached my ears.

“Do you have anything you’re curious about?”

“Huh? Well…”

Not knowing anything, I couldn’t ask any questions, so I awkwardly answered, causing the elders to look disappointed.

It felt like I had made a mistake.

As I showed a flustered expression, nunim’s voice whispered in my ear.

[Ask what the strongest poison here is.]

I quickly asked as nunim instructed, pretending as if I had suddenly thought of something.

“Ah! There is one thing I’m curious about.”

“Of course! There must be something, right? So, what is it?”

They looked and sounded as if they expected this.

Giving nunim a glance, I asked as she had instructed.

“Among these, what is the strongest poison?”

With that question, the elders exchanged glances and nodded, looking satisfied.

The elders finally smiled, looking content.

“Indeed, he is worthy to be part of our Tang Family.”

“Of course, of course. If you’re part of the Tang Family, you must ask what the strongest poison is when you visit the Myriad Poison Hall for the first time. Naturally.”

“It seems we’ve gained a good son-in-law.”

‘So, that’s what it was?’

It seemed they were disappointed that I hadn’t asked about such an important matter in such a significant place.

“Well then, let me show you the strongest poison…”

My father-in-law began to approach the medicine cabinets, but then he paused and looked at nunim with a smile.

“Hwa-eun, could you explain it instead?”

“Me?”

“I think Xiaolong would prefer you explaining it rather than me. Haha.”

Really, my father-in-law was mischievous enough to make me want to pinch him.

With a slightly embarrassed expression, nunim nodded at her father’s words.

“Alright, Father.”

Following my father-in-law’s instructions, nunim walked over to the medicine cabinets.

She picked up a thin, whip-like stick and tapped on a jar as she began to explain.

-Ting!

“I will now explain the strongest poison in the Tang Family. It’s very important, so you mustn’t forget it.”

How could I forget what nunim was saying?

Seeing me nod automatically, nunim continued.

“The poison here is something that martial artists must be most cautious of. It’s called the Qi Dispersing Poison. Inhaling it will immediately prevent you from using your inner energy, so be very careful.”

From what I’d heard, inner energy is the fuel necessary for using qinggong and flying around.

I’d heard that it’s gathered through seated meditation and a type of breathing practice similar to meditation.

So this poison essentially depletes martial artists’ fuel.

Nodding, I asked again.

Even in games, there’s a technique called Mana Burn that drains the mana of wizards, and it’s the most frightening thing for them.

“So this is the strongest poison?”

However, nunim shook her head and tapped on other jars in turn.

-Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

“Intestine-Breaking Poison. A poison that dissolves your intestines, causing you to die in agony. Soul-Extinguishing Poison. A poison so painful it causes your soul to perish. Seven-Steps Soul-Severing Poison. A poison that kills you within seven steps. Blood-Burning Poison. A poison that makes you feel like your blood is burning.

But none of these are the strongest poison.”

“Even these horrifying poisons aren’t the strongest?”

Despite the dreadful explanations continuing, nunim claimed they weren’t the strongest poisons. I started to worry about what she would say next, but she approached with a bright smile and took something out of a cabinet, handing it directly to me.

‘So, so soft.’

Feeling nunim’s gentle touch, I opened my hand to see what she had given me.

What I saw was a fruit, no, a seed? A bean?

“Excluding the poisons of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, this is the strongest poison currently known. It is the fruit of the castor bean, which symbolizes the Tang Family. Doesn’t it look like a bean?”

The fruit in nunim’s hand looked just like a tiger beans I used to love to eat in my previous life.

It looked so appetizing that I almost wanted to eat it, but the mention of ‘castor’ sent chills down my spine.

‘Insane! They specialize in poisons, but this is truly insane! I thought the embroidery on their chests was a maple leaf, but it was a castor leaf!’

When I first met nunim and now the members of the Tang Family, I thought the leaf embroidered on their chests was a maple leaf. It seemed to be a castor leaf instead.

The reason I was so startled was because of the castor bean nunim had placed in my hand.

As a YouTuber who dealt with poisonous insects and snakes, one might think I knew nothing about plants. However, I did know a few extremely toxic plants.

I had dealt with the world’s most venomous snakes, so I had some knowledge of the world’s most poisonous substances.

Dealing with poisons, I naturally wondered how potent these poisons were. It was one of the intriguing topics.

It’s natural to be curious about where our insect and snake friends’ poisons ranked in the world.

When discussing the potency of toxins, it’s common to mention them. Plus, men tend to enjoy ranking things.

That’s why I knew this information…

The reason I was so shocked was because the castor bean nunim handed me ranked third among the world’s most toxic substances.

Excluding the microbial toxins like botulinum toxin and tetanus toxin, the strongest natural poison was castor bean!

Botulinum toxin, known as botox, a deadly toxin found in spoiled canned food, and tetanus toxin, from the tetanus bacteria, were the only toxins ranked higher.

In my previous life, I often got questions during broadcasts like, “Castor bean, isn’t that used in hair products? How can it be a poison?”

Castor oil, also known as castor bean oil, is used in hair care, industrial applications, brake fluids, antioxidants, and various other areas.

However, the truly toxic substance is ricin, which is found inside the castor bean.

In my previous life, when warning about the toxicity of poisons, the standard was cyanide, also known as potassium cyanide. Ricin is a hundred thousand times more toxic than cyanide.

Ricin is also 150 times more powerful than VX nerve gas, which is considered the worst man-made substance.

“This poison from the castor bean can kill a person with very little amount and leaves almost no trace. Therefore, if someone harbors a grudge against our Tang Family, they will inevitably experience this castor bean poison. Remember, gratitude is engraved in stone, resentment is engraved in blood.”

Nunim continued her explanation with a bright smile.

Yes, while it would take about seven castor beans to kill someone by eating them, if processed and refined to extract ricin, and then turned into powder or aerosol form, it would take only 0.5 milligrams to kill a 70kg person.

After about eight hours, it starts with symptoms resembling a cold, like coughing and fever, and leads to respiratory failure, resulting in a 99% fatality rate.

Ricin is a substance with no antidote.

In this era, it means you could kill someone almost without leaving any evidence.

“Currently, this poison is the closest to achieving colorless, odorless, tasteless, and formless characteristics, which the Tang Family strives for. Therefore, we call this the most precious poison among poisons, Golden Poison, and killing someone with this poison is called Golden Kill.”

‘Go, Golden Kill…’

This situation oddly reminded me of terms from my previous life.

“Remember, the strongest poison doesn’t kill painfully or miserably. It kills silently and certainly.

And that’s what our Sachuan Tang Family’s poison techniques aim for. Silent and certain. Colorless, odorless, tasteless, and formless.”

As nunim’s explanation ended, the elders continued their lecture with very satisfied expressions.

The elders spoke with very pleased faces.

“Xiaolong, did you hear that? You must also engrave the spirit of our Tang Family deep in your bones. You are now a member of our family.”

“Of course, I will.”

“How well he fits in!”

Nunim’s angelic yet deadly explanation and the smiles of the Tang Family’s direct line felt extremely dangerous.

I also thought, yes, this Tang Family is truly a notorious assassination clan from Sachuan.

‘Damn. If I try to run away from being a son-in-law, I might end up as a golden kill too, right? Can I really be a good son-in-law to this family?’

In my heart, I endlessly scolded myself for being captivated by nunim’s beauty yesterday and not thinking things through more carefully.

They say a father-in-law has thorns, but not only nunim, the whole family seemed to be like a minefield, not just thorns.

-Gulp.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – 에르훗]

[Translator – Soulx]