Absolute Regression

In the middle of the 210th Great Banquet Hall.

An old man with white hair was sitting at the entrance to Cheondogrim. At first glance, his stamina was unusual, and he had several poison pouches on his waist. This pouch was the symbol of the Cheondokgrim Germans.

When I counted the number of pockets the old man had, there were nine in total.

When you first learn poison, you carry one pouch. The Poison King has twelve pouches. So, it was possible to guess from those numbers how great an expert this old man was here with nine kicks.

“It’s a sword dance. “I came to see the Poison King.”

When I greeted him politely, the old man revealed himself.

“This old man is called Sangseon.”

He was the right hand man of the Poison King and one of the Four Great Poisoners of Cheondokgrim.

“A noble person has come.”

“Since an important guest has arrived, this old man should personally greet him.”

I had already sent word that I was going, but I had no idea that a merchant ship would come out in person like this.

“Follow me carefully.”

I followed the merchant ship into the forest. The forest was really dense.

“Among the areas of Palmazon, this forest is the largest.”

It was truly wide enough for him to boast about.

Ssssss.

The shape of the snake I saw while walking was unusual.

“It’s white blood death. “Unusually, it is a snake with white blood. If you are bitten by that snake and do not take the antidote, you will die before even surviving a single bit.”

It is said that a thousand poisons exist here. Cheondokrim is a place full of all kinds of poisonous plants and venomous snakes, and if you step into it by mistake, you won’t even find a corpse.

On the way, I also met a poisonous man collecting poisonous plants. The Germans here were called poisonous animals, and the number of pouches hanging from their waists varied.

After passing through the dense forest, we arrived at the poison king’s residence. It was a circular building, low but very spacious.

“I’ll wait here. “Let’s talk and come out.”

“thank you.”

I went into the building.

The interior was not divided but consisted of one large space.

Everything was there. Dozens of bookshelves, desks, all kinds of devices whose purpose is unknown, beds, tables, closets, dressers, and even a wooden tub for bathing. Literally everything a person needs to live was in this space. This is the Poison King’s room.

The Poison King was crouching down in the middle of the room, laying out all kinds of things, reading something.

This was my first meeting with the Dog King.

Before his return, when I was young, I only saw him once or twice from afar, but when I got older and came back to get Dafa materials, he was already dead, so today was the first time I saw him up close and personal.

A short way to express my first impression of him is that he looks young and studious.

When people think of a poison king, they often imagine an old man with a bent back, or a face and body with swells, inflammation, and peeling skin due to the side effects of poison, but the poison king of the time was very neat.

Even though he was middle-aged, he looked really young. If our school holds a competition to select baby-faced students, I am sure that Dokwang will come in first place.

He looked so young that I would have thought he would be my friend if he hung out with me, and he also gave off a very intelligent aura. Just looking at his appearance, he seemed smarter than General Sima Ming.

If it weren’t for the dark green robe and twelve pockets on his waist, anyone would have thought he was a bachelor. No, he had the appearance of a handsome boy who could be said to be a student learning to read and write from a bachelor’s degree.

‘Ah, the poison king was so young.’

Maybe growth stopped at some point because of the poison? Because I had this thought.

‘You did something like that with such an innocent face? ‘You dreamed of becoming the greatest ruler in the world and ruling the martial arts world?’

He was a poisonous king who lived a life that did not match his appearance.

When I approached him, the Poison King spoke with his eyes on the book.

“Get the blue bottle that’s on the desk over there.”

The Poison King’s voice was as young as his appearance.

I walked up to him, holding the blue bottle he had mentioned.

“be careful. “If even a single drop of blue poison gets splashed, you die.”

You won’t die! Even if you pour all the poison in this room, you won’t die!

The Poison King mixed the poison I gave him with the other poison in front of him.

The moment you mix it up!

pop! With the sound, poisonous smoke rose up. I stepped back and waved my hands quickly. The welcome ceremony is loud.

Phew.

I unleashed my inner power and trapped the poisonous smoke that had risen between my hands.

I was going to just drive it and throw it out the window.

“no! wait!”

The Poison King ran and brought a large sack.

“Put them in here.”

I threw the poisonous smoke I had gathered in front of me into a sack.

The Poison King tied the mouth of the bag tightly with string and threw the bag containing the poisoned smoke next to the table.

And then I started looking through the book again.

“What on earth is wrong?”

He was deep in thought. He still didn’t give me a glance. I wasn’t intentionally pretending not to see it. He was now immersed in his own world.

I slowly looked inside. There were numerous bottles on the cabinets surrounding the walls on all four sides, and I could tell that they were all either poison or medicine. It looks like there is a poison in the study instead of books.

“ah! Is this wrong? Hey, bring some poisonous weeds from there.”

I brought him a poisonous plant among the poisonous plants lying around the desk. Even when he saw that I had taken the right one among the numerous herbs, he showed no reaction.

“Just leave it here and go over there and get a glass of water.”

He kept running errands for me. Bring this, bring that. It was really busy. Meanwhile, he pounded and ground the herbs.

When we mixed green poison with the newly prepared poison again, it did not explode this time.

“done! it’s okay! “Sad poison weed was the problem!”

The Poison King was very happy that the mixture was done correctly this time.

Then he found me next to him.

“But who?”

Our Dog King is asking this question very early.

“Did you order him to run that many errands without knowing who he was?”

“I knew it was our kids. “Who are you?”

“It’s a sword dance.”

“Oh. You said you would come today. It’s you. A sword dance drama that is a hot topic on campus. “What’s going on here?”

Even though he knew my identity, his tone or attitude did not change at all.

He acted like a crazy eccentric, but the green glow in his eyes had been constant ever since I entered the room. It means that emotions are consistently regulated. Just looking at this, we must never forget that Mazon is still Mazon.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

“What please?”

“Please convince my father.”

The Poison King suddenly thrust his face towards me. The skin was also nice and white. How can someone who handles poison have such good skin?

“no.”

The King of Poison flatly refused without even listening to the contents.

“Is it okay to refuse? “Isn’t this the pressure of the cult leader’s son?”

“no.”

“Yeah, a young guy shouldn’t learn such bad things. “I’m done with my business, so why aren’t you going?”

Even though the Poison King was completely distracted, he was not easy.

“No, I’m going. See you then.”

I said hello politely and walked out. The merchant ship that guided me earlier was waiting for me at the entrance. He never asked what happened inside.

“Please tell me I will see you again tomorrow.”

“I guess so.”

I followed him out of Cheondokgrim and memorized the route.

* * *

I went to Cheondogrim again the next day.

Today too, a merchant ship guided me to the King of Poison’s residence, but it was a different route than yesterday. I could tell his intentions. This is to prevent people from knowing the way to the poison king’s residence.

But that was an unnecessary attempt without knowing how good my memory and vision were. Today I learned one more way to the Poison King’s abode.

When we arrived at the poison king’s residence, he was digging the ground near the house.

“It was definitely here?”

The ground was dug up here and there. It seemed like he had buried something but couldn’t find it.

He looked cute with dirt on his face and body like a child. The cuter he looked, the more strange I felt because of the discrepancy between him and what he had done in the future.

The number of warriors who later died from his poison was in the thousands. He literally caused a massacre.

The poison king pretended not to pay attention to my greetings and was only focused on digging the ground.

I also borrowed a shovel from a merchant ship and started digging.

A strange look appeared in the merchant’s eyes as he looked at me like that.

On the other hand, the Poison King was only concerned about whether or not the land he was digging yielded what he was looking for. I was really focused on that, not acting. Then I just laughed to myself. Just looking at him, he was clearly a crazy person.

I now clearly understand why Ma Yi said that getting the poison king out of the lab was the key. I could also understand why everyone said it would be difficult to persuade the Poison King. This man lived completely in his own world.

I also dug a few places on the side. If something came out of there, I put it all aside. All kinds of things came out. A box came out, and so did bugs and larvae. Snakes, trash, and strange tools also appeared.

At that time, we were digging in several places.

“oh! “Why is it there?”

The Poison King shouted and came to the place where I was digging. It seems like there was what he was looking for among the things I had collected.

The box he picked up contained a sticky liquid that gave off a terrible smell.

“Kya! “It’s aged well!”

“Is this what you were looking for?”

The Poison King looked at me and was astonished.

“When did you come?”

This is both acting and not acting. Because they recognized me and also forgot me.

“I came here earlier. “I thought you were looking for something, so I dug.”

“Well done, well done.”

He smiled cheerfully, but then looked down.

“I definitely would have refused yesterday.”

“Today, I came purely to help the Poison King. “I saw yesterday that you need someone to help you.”

“Are you planning to learn by stealing my poison skills?”

“Can you learn it so easily by stealing the Poison King’s poison technique?”

“No problem.”

“Then I guess it’ll be okay.”

The Poison King stared at me. It felt like the green glow in his eyes was piercing into mine. Of course, that light had no effect on me, who had learned Shinanjutsu.

Rather, that’s how I felt about him. At this moment, an image came to mind.

The sight of the Poison King trotting out of his own world and standing at the border with the outside world.

At this moment he was not a freak.

I could tell. That this person in front of me right now is someone who wants to become the sole ruler of the martial arts world. He crossed that border only once, and thousands of people died that time.

“Shall we see how good you are at your job?”

He showed emotion on his face. Even just one day is hard so I won’t let you come again!

The poison king ordered the work. He made me do my job properly with the intention of kicking me out.

“Release the poisonous plants over here and sort them out.”

As he told me, I brought in the poisonous plants piled up in a sack and sorted them.

I gave up my intention of persuading the Poison King. I gave up my desire to impress him. All I wanted to do was stay together and find out what his world was like. If you don’t understand his world, you’ll never be able to convince him.

“Now, let’s clean up the new poisonous plants over there.”

Poisonous substances brought in from the central plains by Dokson were brought here once a day. It was fortunate that there were only poisonous plants, but there were also all kinds of disgusting poisons.

I handled poisonous plants and poisons skillfully. As soon as I became invincible to poison, my aversion to poison completely disappeared. Before, when I was poisoned, I frowned and didn’t want to get close to it, but I don’t have that feeling anymore.

He seemed surprised at how well I did what I was told.

“I thought you were going to show off that you grew up well, but you’re doing some work, aren’t you?”

Actually, I am a person who is good at poisonous plants. So, even at the old Socheon-dong gate, the gate related to poisonous plants was easily passed.

Of course, the poisonous plants handled here were so vast that they far exceeded my knowledge. Every time a poisonous plant I didn’t know about came in, I asked the poison king. What is this? What is that? Stop asking! Until the words come out.

When I finished work that day, the Poison King asked about the poisonous plant he had told me about. Since I couldn’t catch the pod with work, it attacked my memory.

“What did I say this poisonous plant was called?”

“It’s Yarancho (野蘭草). It is a poison that is mainly ground and added to spicy foods. Then there are no votes at all.”

He explained exactly what he explained.

“Then what about this poisonous plant?”

“It’s Heuksan zinnia (黑山百日草). “If you poison it, the effect will last for 100 days, but it can cause you to suffer and eventually die.”

I explained exactly what he said.

“You bastard! “Why are you so smart?”

His eyes were burning, as if he would definitely have to find out the flaws tomorrow. At this moment, he looks like an immature child of my age.

“see you tommorow!”

* * *

I went to see him the next day.

It was the poison king’s big mistake to think that he would come for a few days. He won’t know. When I set a goal, what kind of effort do I make to achieve it?

Today too, I finished the day by doing what the poison king told me to do.

I didn’t make any effort to become friends with him. I didn’t talk to him or try to make a good impression. He didn’t even use the skill of flattery. I only did what I was told to do in silence.

That must have been why. The poison king said this first.

“This doesn’t change my mind. I never take back what I say once I say it. “If you overturn that, I will shout ‘I am a dog’ and bark five times in the middle of the grand exercise hall, with everyone watching.”

It was a moment when I made up my mind to never give up. So, I meant to tell you not to come anymore, but I also made up my mind.

“Since the King of Poisons has set such a condition, I must also do so. If I fail, I will also call everyone to the main training hall and shout. “I will shout, ‘You’re a good dog,’ and bark five times.”

Poison King laughed out loud, probably because it was something he had never thought of.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what the leader’s expression will look like then.”

The Poison King seemed excited when I placed a bet and brought paper and a brush.

“Well then, since you have to come often, let’s write a memorandum first! You came to Cheondogrim of your own accord, and you promised that you will not be held responsible if you get poisoned due to an accident while working. How do you feel? Are you confident in writing it?”

Looking at his excited eyes, I provoked him too.

“If only the Poison King could use one too.”