Chapter 18 – Myriad Poison Hall (3)

Tang Cheol-san smiled warmly as he watched Hwa-eun explaining the Tang Sect’s poisons to Xiaolong.

He felt reassured seeing Hwa-eun’s passionate and thorough explanations, and how Xiaolong was completely captivated by her words. Now, there seemed to be nothing to worry about.

Although he had decided to pair Xiaolong with Hwa-eun, Tang Cheol-san had many concerns.

After all, he knew what his daughter thought about everything.

The issue of continuing the family lineage, which he had essentially pushed onto his daughter.

It was no light matter, and he knew she was trying her best to prove herself better than any man in the family because of it.

In Tang Cheol-san’s eyes, Xiaolong was far more valuable than someone from a good family or with exceptional martial talent, but Hwa-eun, who was under the family’s scrutiny and pressure, would surely have a narrower perspective.

“If only she had been born a son…”

“If she were a man, she would have surely reached the Hundred Poisons Realm quickly.”

Having grown up hearing such remarks, she would be unable to ignore the impending gazes and words of the elders from the branch families.

Because of the things she had heard growing up, it was clear she would fear the increased burden of choosing Xiaolong with his lesser talents.

“Haha, the only direct daughter of the family marrying a Ten Poisons Physique? Naturally, there would be concerns about the talent of future offspring.”

“The future of the Tang Family…”

Furthermore, it was only natural for women of martial families to seek out strong martial artists or those with outstanding talents.

That was the duty of a woman in a martial family.

Hence, it was inevitable to worry.

Because there might come a situation where he would have to forcefully break his daughter’s heart.

Although he hadn’t taken a concubine out of consideration for his wife, he couldn’t be cold-hearted towards Hwa-eun.

“I am also a member of the Tang Family. I understand what father means by saying such things. But I will determine for myself whether this young hero is truly worthy of having me!”

Therefore, when Hwa-eun stormed out in anger, declaring that she would herself test the Young Hero, everyone was understandably worried.

“So, how are the Young Hero’s martial arts talents?”

“Hmm… Father would be more accurate in assessing, but from what I have seen, it seems his limit is around the Ten Poisons Realm.”

“If you’ve assessed that, it’s probably correct. But it’s a shame. If only he had reached the Hundred Poisons Realm…”

“Indeed, Hwa-eun wouldn’t approve of him, would she?”

Knowing what Hwa-eun usually thought, both her father and mother expressed their concern and wore dark expressions upon hearing that Xiaolong had the Ten Poisons Physique.

“If it’s as you said, the young hero is a valuable treasure, but it would be hard for him to win Hwa-eun’s heart immediately.”

“That’s right. Father.”

Although the Tang Sect dealt with all poisons, it didn’t mean they used all poisons.

The young hero’s preferred poisons, namely venomous insects and snakes, were rather non-mainstream in the Tang Sect.

The reason being that the poisons from such creatures had many problems.

However, as Xiaolong had said while showing the lizard in Haenam Island.

If one could raise venomous creatures and enhance their toxicity, that would be a different story altogether.

It opened up possibilities.

Man of Ten Thousand Poisons who knew this better than anyone, looked at Cheol-san and spoke.

“So, what will you do? Will you forcefully make that boy your son-in-law? Though Hwa-eun might be hurt, if the boy’s character isn’t bad, he could comfort her and live well.”

Though he loved Hwa-eun more than anyone, he implied there was no choice for the sake of the family.

Tang Cheol-san shared his thoughts with his father.

“For now, let’s see what decision Hwa-eun makes.”

“Wait and see?”

Responding to his father, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, Tang Cheol-san nodded and answered.

“Yes, first, let’s trust Hwa-eun. And second, let’s trust Xiaolong.”

“Hwa-eun, I can understand, but Xiaolong?”

“Yes, Hwa-eun might discover Xiaolong’s potential and take a liking to him. We should intervene only after seeing how things unfold between them.”

“That’s reasonable. Hwa-eun might indeed find him appealing.”

Though Hwa-eun went out in anger to find Xiaolong, things could turn out well.

But despite telling his father to trust Hwa-eun, Cheol-san’s true hope was in Xiaolong.

A child with exceptional knowledge of venomous creatures.

If Xiaolong really was the expert he claimed to be, perhaps he could find solutions with the venomous creatures he raised, just as he had with the Blue-Spotted Centipede’s offspring and the kissing bugs.

Because Tang Hwa-eun was the greatest venomous creature of the Tang Clan.

After all, she was his greatest masterpiece that he had raised.

“And didn’t Xiaolong say it himself?”

“What did he say?”

“He said he is an expert in this field, specifically in venomous creatures. Hwa-eun too harbors the Tang Sect’s venomous creatures. Since he claims to be an expert, let’s trust him once.”

“Hmm… an expert…”

Since his daughter Hwa-eun was also a child carrying the sect’s poison, he suggested trusting the self-proclaimed expert.

Though he wasn’t sure if his daughter would accept this.

***

The next day, in the morning.

Although they didn’t show it, Tang Cheol-san and his family noticed that things clearly hadn’t ended well.

They tried not to show it, but avoiding eye contact was a clear sign that something had gone wrong.

‘It seems being an expert doesn’t work on our daughter.’

Thus, they gathered after breakfast to discuss how to bring the two together.

“Did you see them this morning? Something definitely happened.”

“It seems the young hero was rejected by Hwa-eun, Father.”

“Ahem… It seems we must step in now. Rather than forcing a marriage, we should first try to get them to develop feelings for each other. What do you think is the best way to get them close?”

“How about pretending to respect Hwa-eun’s wishes and then assigning her to oversee Xiaolong’s basic martial arts training? Seeing each other often could lead to attachment.”

“Not a bad idea.”

“Then, let’s go with that. I’ll also check if the Medicine Immortal elder can grant us the grace of ‘Marrow Cleansing’ to cleanse his meridians. If his talent is low, we’ll just raise it.”

“Since that didn’t work for Hwa-eun, we shouldn’t expect too much.”

As the three were discussing in the Family Head’s office about how to make their daughter and the young hero like each other, there came Hwa-eun’s voice from outside.

“Father, it’s Hwa-eun.”

“Hwa-eun?”

“What could bring her here at this hour?”

He was curious about yesterday’s events anyway, and wanted to subtly probe how things were going.

“Come in.”

Hwa-eun entered, looking momentarily surprised to see the three of them gathered.

She hadn’t expected them all to be there.

“Oh? The… the three of you were together?”

But something seemed strange.

He had known his daughter for over twenty years, but today, her demeanor was subtly different.

‘What is it? Something seems different, but what?’

As he pondered this, Hwa-eun sat down, poured tea, and spoke cautiously.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Something to tell us?”

“I, I’ve decided to follow what Father suggested.”

Her ears turned bright red, and her cheeks flushed.

Tang Cheol-san tilted his head in confusion when his daughter suddenly said she would follow his suggestion.

He didn’t know what she was talking about.

“What do you mean by my suggestion?”

His daughter’s face turned bright red as if she were emitting the energy of the sun, and she answered.

“About Young Hero… Young Hero Xiaolong.”

“About Young Hero Xiaolong… Huh!?”

“Oh! You mean you’ve decided to go along with it?”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“Oh my! Hwa-eun, does this mean you’ve taken a liking to the young hero?”

“Rather than liking him…”

If it was the matter with Young Hero Xiaolong, it was about marriage.

If she had decided to follow through with it, it meant she was agreeing to marry him.

Cheol-san had thought it might take months to persuade her, and if that didn’t work, he considered issuing an order as the Family Head, but in just two days?

Tang Cheol-san, visibly pleased, asked his daughter.

“Why… why so suddenly? I thought he wouldn’t be to your liking at all? Surely Xiaolong only has Ten Poisons physique?”

His daughter, looking shy, covered her mouth with one hand and gripped a teacup with the other as she spoke.

“He… he promised to become the Greatest Under Heaven for me. He made that vow.”

“What!? The Greatest Under Heaven!?”

“Oh my, my, my!”

At the sudden mention of becoming number one under heaven.

Curious about the details, Tang Cheol-san jumped up from his seat and approached his daughter, tightly holding her hand.

“Can you tell me exactly what you mean by that?”

Then his daughter, who had transformed from a girl into a shy woman, explained in a careful voice.

“Though he has the Ten Poisons Physique, he promised to fill those ten poisons with the Ten Great Venomous Creatures of the Central Plains for me, Father.”

“What!?”

“Hahaha! He said he’d fill the ten poisons with the Ten Great Venomous Creatures? That boy is quite ambitious!”

The son-in-law was quite an ambitious one.

Not for his own cultivation, not for the family, but making a promise to become number one under heaven for the sake of a woman.

It was a masterful move that instantly melted his daughter’s heart, which was tightly closed due to family pressure.

He claimed to be an expert in venomous creatures, and indeed, he had perfectly captured the heart of the cherished venomous creature raised by the Tang Sect.

As they marveled at the expert son-in-law’s capability, his daughter’s worried voice came from the side.

“But, I’m a bit worried. What if it’s just empty talk…”

“Ah, are you worried that he might be all talk and no action?”

“Yes…”

Seeing his daughter’s concern, Tang Cheol-san smiled.

He felt the need to alleviate her worries.

“Listen well, Hwa-eun. All spiritual medicines and spiritual creatures, and rare encounters in the martial world have their destined master.”

“That’s right. Your father speaks true. All rare and mysterious things have their predetermined owners. That’s why when ordinary people covet them recklessly, they meet with disaster.”

“But why are you telling me this?”

His daughter tilted her head in confusion.

Tang Cheol-san continued his explanation while placing a wooden box containing a Zhen Bird’s feather on the table.

“Think about it. Remember what happened when we went to Haenam Island after you collapsed from qi deviation.

In nearly a hundred years, no one had ever captured the Blue-Spotted Centipede, yet we did. We also discovered the kissing bug, which had never been seen before.

And that’s not all. I even saw the Zhen Bird, the king of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, with my own eyes. Why do you think such miraculous events occurred?”

“I’m not sure.”

“It’s because the destined master of these miraculous events had appeared, don’t you think?”

“The destined master of miraculous events?”

“Someone who understands venomous creatures better than anyone else, someone the venomous creatures follow. Just wait and see. If he made such a vow to you, he will find a way to achieve it.”

His daughter nodded at Tang Cheol-san’s explanation.

Thinking that his explanation made sense, his daughter’s face relaxed and began to blush slightly.

And now their previous discussion of three became four, changing from how to connect their hearts to how to perfectly make the son-in-law a person of the Sichuan’s Tang Family.

“Father, although I have accepted in my heart, I told the Young Hero, um, that we can marry after he becomes an adult. And I will permit the marriage if he succeeds in obtaining the poison of one of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures of the Central Plains in the meantime. Do you think he understood my answer?”

“My, why didn’t you ask for three of them instead? One is not enough to take our daughter away. And he probably understood that you accepted him.”

“No, Family Head. He probably didn’t understand. Men aren’t very perceptive about such things. He likely believes he needs to capture one of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures within three years.”

“Oh? Then… should I explain it to him more clearly?”

“No, dear. Isn’t it better if he doesn’t know you’ve given your approval? So he’ll work harder? For your sake?”

“For… for my sake?”

“What if he becomes lazy in his efforts after winning you? So it’s better that he didn’t notice. Besides, as you said, we can’t hold the wedding until he turns eighteen anyway.”

“Then, we should treat him like a son-in-law while pretending not to know. That way, he’ll work harder to become our son-in-law. And eventually, he’ll become a perfect member of our family.”

The Family Head’s office was bustling.

***

I was only momentarily surprised to learn they used the ricin to kill people.

Big Sister and the Family Head’s family led me deeper into the cave.

We passed through a passage illuminated by night pearls into the deeper part of the cavern where finished poisons were stored.

A wooden door appeared.

“This is where the Tang Sect keeps their venomous creatures.”

“Oh, this is the place.”

Though my heart was still pounding at the thought that Nunim’s family were notorious mass murderers and assassins, the mention of venomous creatures piqued my interest, and I eagerly followed Nunim through the door.

‘I really am troublesome, aren’t I.’

-Creak.

And inside the opened door.

I was shocked.

Unlike what I had expected, this was basically nothing more than a slaughterhouse.

The snakes stored in jars were emaciated from lack of food, and there weren’t many different species to begin with.

It seemed they didn’t raise prey separately, likely just keeping the venomous creatures temporarily to extract poison, rather than having a professional breeding facility.

“This is…”

“It must be disappointing to you, right? Venomous creatures often die, and unlike plants or mushrooms, they are not easy to raise.”

Indeed, it’s easy to cultivate something like castor plants in large quantities, but venomous creatures are difficult to rear without knowing their specific habits and ecology.

Reading the disappointment on my face, the Family Head patted my shoulder and spoke in an understanding tone.

“If you’re willing, how about you take charge of this place? We’ll provide all the support you need from the family. Whether it’s money or venomous creatures, we’ll catch whatever you need.”

“Really?”

The Family Head offering to support my hobby.

The Central Plains’ psycho murder clan, Sichuan’s Tang Family.

They really only made offers that were hard to refuse.

My dizziness from the ricin was momentary.

At the offer of full support for my hobby, I started thinking that maybe this place was just like anywhere else where people lived, and if they were going to fully support my hobby, wouldn’t that be a kind of paradise?

I was having such thoughts.

Just like how a latest computer with a zero-gravity chair, large screen, and daily chicken would be paradise.

****

TL Note: Hi, I’ll be picking this up from where the previous translator left off. I’ll try to post new chapters regularly. Please note that there may be some changes in terms compared to the previous translator’s work.

Thanks!

***

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

Thank you for reading!

[Author – 에르훗]

[Translator – bjgoofy]