Episode 132: The Demonic Sect

As Dang Mujin revealed a side of himself that was unlike anything Mok Wana had seen before, her demeanor shifted entirely.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

Dang Mujin’s grip on Mok Wana’s neck tightened.

“What are you hiding?”

“I’ve never lied!”

“You’d better think carefully before you answer. You only have one life.”

“What do you want? I’ll do whatever you say, just let me go!”

Despite Mok Wana’s pleading, Dang Mujin’s hand remained firm.

In a less dire situation, he might have let it slide. But this was different. A person who could withstand the poison of the Jimswae without any ill effects, someone whose inner strength was laced with malice—anyone would find that suspicious.

Dang Mujin’s suspicions grew. Was Mok Wana secretly watching him with ill intent? And what about the stranger they encountered in front of the cult leader’s hall—could they be connected to Mok Wana?

It would be stranger if they weren’t connected at all. What secrets lay behind that pale face?

Dang Mujin absentmindedly toyed with the hilt of his sword. He knew a few ways to make someone tell the truth.

A thought crossed his mind: perhaps this was the inevitable outcome, a fate of sorts. Just as the strange one killed the demonic one, Dang Mujin would kill the demonic one’s disciple. It seemed only natural.

But Mok Wana was quick-witted. She could easily guess what Dang Mujin was thinking.

“Ask me anything! I’ll tell you everything!”

Dang Mujin nodded.

“Tell me everything. But if your story doesn’t add up, you’ll have to share the rest under less pleasant circumstances.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with the nature of your inner strength. Were you born with it, or did you learn some special technique as the demonic one’s disciple?”

”…Neither.”

“Explain in detail.”

Mok Wana hesitated for a moment before beginning an old tale.

“I’ve lived in this cave since I was a child.”

“Since when?”

“Probably since I was about six. The other kids were the same.”

“Who were these other kids?”

“The demonic one brought children from somewhere. They were as young as five or six, never older than ten.”

Dang Mujin’s interest piqued at something Mok Wana hadn’t intended to reveal. Did she have accomplices?

“Where are the other disciples?”

“They’re all dead except for me.”

“Don’t skip over the details. How did they die? Is it related to your inner strength?”

Mok Wana gently touched the arm that held her neck.

“Before I explain, there’s something I need to show you. Let me go for a moment.”

Her desire to distance herself from the threat to her life was clear.

Dang Mujin knew this but released his grip. Whether he held her neck or not, he could end her life with a mere thought.

Mok Wana rubbed her neck briefly, then moved to the wall and pushed aside a desk, revealing a small cave they had seen before.

She looked at Dang Mujin intently. Was there something inside that small cave she wanted to show him?

Dang Mujin gestured with his chin.

“You go in first.”

Mok Wana obediently crawled into the small cave, and Dang Mujin followed.

The cave was dark and slightly longer than expected, perhaps as deep as the poison pit.

After a short while, the cave widened suddenly. It was just low enough that an adult couldn’t stand upright.

The interior brightened a little as Mok Wana, who had entered first, lit a small torch.

Whatever wood it was made of, it produced almost no smoke.

“It’s still dark even with the light.”

Dang Mujin muttered a simple observation, but Mok Wana, perhaps thinking it was a complaint, hesitated before responding.

“Sorry. If the fire’s too big, it gets hard to breathe.”

“Right.”

Dang Mujin surveyed the small cave. Along the edges were human skulls and bones of indeterminate origin, neatly arranged.

He wasn’t sure how large human bones should be, but some of the skulls seemed too small to belong to adults. These bones were likely the remains of the children Mok Wana had mentioned.

“Why did you collect these bones?”

“Even dead children deserve to leave a trace.”

Mok Wana sat in a corner of the cave, leaning naturally against a protruding rock.

Dang Mujin sat a little distance away, observing Mok Wana’s expression.

She seemed relieved to have the chance to speak, her anxiety and fear somewhat diminished.

“The demonic one taught us inner strength techniques and used us for poison experiments.”

“Why teach you inner strength techniques?”

“People without martial skills can be subdued with ordinary poison. The demonic one aimed to create the ultimate poison capable of subduing martial artists.”

“Did you learn martial arts too?”

“No. We weren’t taught martial arts. We just accumulated inner strength through repeated breathing exercises.”

Dang Mujin reached out and felt Mok Wana’s arm.

It was soft, lacking muscle. The body of someone who hadn’t trained physically.

“Lie down.”

Mok Wana obediently lay down and closed her eyes, though her posture was tense.

“Relax.”

“Okay.”

Dang Mujin placed his hand on Mok Wana’s dantian, assessing the amount of inner strength.

In terms of quantity, it wasn’t as much as Dang Mujin’s, but it far exceeded the average first-rate martial artist.

After all, if one spent all their time accumulating inner strength instead of practicing swordsmanship and other martial arts, this was the expected result. Dang Mujin withdrew his hand and spoke.

“You have quite a lot of inner strength.”

“I had to work hard to accumulate it if I didn’t want to die. Without enough inner strength, I couldn’t repel the poison and would die.”

“You can get up now. Were you chosen as the demonic one’s disciple because you had the most inner strength?”

Mok Wana slowly returned to her original spot, leaning against the wall.

”…No. I became the demonic one’s assistant because I survived the longest. The child who survived the longest among the survivors usually became the assistant. Some kids who weren’t very perceptive weren’t chosen as assistants even if they survived long, but I wasn’t that oblivious.”

Unlike the strange one, the demonic one didn’t seem to nurture disciples with care. No wonder it seemed so haphazard. Mok Wana continued her explanation.

“Being an assistant had its perks. You could volunteer for less dangerous experiments and rotate the order, and you could ensure that kids you were close to were used in less dangerous experiments.”

That meant she pushed kids she wasn’t close to into more dangerous experiments.

But Dang Mujin didn’t want to blame Mok Wana. Anyone would have acted similarly.

At the same time, he had no intention of defending her. Dang Mujin wasn’t in a position to judge, nor was it necessary.

“That’s enough about that. Why is your inner strength the way it is?”

Dang Mujin was intrigued by Mok Wana’s poison-laden inner strength.

If he could obtain that inner strength, he could perform poison techniques even without a poison core. If he could harmonize the poison core’s poison with that inner strength, it would be even more powerful.

However, the answer he received was disappointing.

“I don’t know the exact reason. It could be the technique, or maybe it’s because I’ve been exposed to so much poison. But it’s probably the latter. My inner strength wasn’t like this from the start. After surviving several brushes with death by repelling poison, my inner strength and the poison intertwined and became like this.”

“Your inner strength and the poison intertwined… So encountering the Jimswae’s poison wasn’t your first time.”

“That’s right. I encountered it a few times when I was young.”

Dang Mujin scratched his chin. If the research had progressed that far, there should be records.

“Be honest. There are records left by the demonic one, aren’t there?”

“There used to be. Not anymore.”

Dang Mujin frowned.

“Where are those records now?”

“After the demonic one died, others came and took everything.”

“Who took them?”

“I don’t know. While I was hiding here, people came and took them. I heard them rustling around, but I just stayed hidden.”

“Why? You should have stopped them.”

“It was dangerous. What if they tried to kill me if they saw my face?”

A wry smile escaped him. It wasn’t an unreasonable thought.

“You must have at least read the records, right?”

“No. I can’t read.”

Dang Mujin was taken aback by the unexpected admission of illiteracy.

But on reflection, it made sense.

There was no reason to teach children to read when they were being raised as test subjects. The demonic one needed not smart assistants and disciples, but children with strong bodies and adequate inner strength.

“Then why didn’t you tell anyone you could withstand the Jimswae’s poison? You knew people were searching for a way.”

“You never know how people will react. In my experience, staying quiet and unnoticed increases your chances of survival.”

Indeed, Mok Wana had tried to hide whenever others appeared. She would have reacted the same way even if it wasn’t the Three-Eyed Buddha or the Great Tiger Monk.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

“Do you only eat the fasting pills to avoid being noticed by outsiders?”

“That’s right.”

Dang Mujin pressed his temples.

The motivation behind every story Mok Wana had told, and the reason for all her actions, was singular. She didn’t want to die.

Dang Mujin glanced at Mok Wana. Her expression had relaxed slightly, and the tremor in her voice had ceased. She seemed to believe that Dang Mujin wouldn’t kill her.

‘Quick on the uptake.’

Dang Mujin muttered to himself and spoke.

“So, were you planning to just stay holed up in this cave forever?”

“Of course. I’ve been doing it for over a year now.”

Mok Wana’s expression was devoid of any discontent.

But Dang Mujin found it hard to understand her. Isn’t it normal for people to reach for opportunities, even if it means taking a small risk?

“Don’t you ever feel like living a bit more… humanly? Like staying in the village, enjoying good food?”

“What’s so special about living ‘humanly’? The past year has been perfectly happy by my standards. It’s been the best time of my life.”

Dang Mujin sighed deeply, looking at Mok Wana.

She met his gaze and asked, “Do you think I’m foolish?”

”…I don’t know.”

He couldn’t judge her life so easily.

The cave was littered with countless bones and skulls, a testament to the many brushes with death she must have faced.

Mok Wana asked again, “Do you pity me?”

“A little.”

“In that case, bring me more tanghwana. Unlike you, that’s all it takes for me to be the happiest person in the world.”

With that, Mok Wana curled up in a corner of the small cave, burying her face between her knees.

It was a frustrating conversation, but there was a silver lining.

Whether by using Mok Wana or learning through her, a solution to this situation could be found.

Dang Mujin looked at her intently and said, “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

He stepped out of the cave. The once overpowering poison of the jimsai had faded to the point where it was barely noticeable.

Stretching his arms wide, Dang Mujin began walking back toward the village.

The festive atmosphere of the village, unique to the holiday, didn’t quite reach the cave’s entrance.