Absolute Regression Chapter 218

Episode 218: You call people over and tell them to drink cheap alcohol.

The hot liquid flowed down the tiger’s throat.

The first taste he had ever experienced since he was born, the moment he swallowed it, Daeho felt that he had eaten something he absolutely should not have eaten.

The Poison King approached and handed me a black pill.

“Chew it thoroughly and swallow it. Otherwise, your insides will all melt.”

The surprised tiger quickly took the pill. He felt a refreshing feeling inside as the medicine took effect.

“You must take this remedy once a day until I completely detoxify you. For every hour you are late, one of your internal organs will melt. The last one to melt is your heart.”

Daeho’s eyes darkened. But on the other hand, there was a glimmer of hope. He must have some use for it, so they kept him alive.

“What should I do now?”

“We should take you to Ji-saeng. That guy over there is Lee-ho, I am Sam-ho, and that guy over there is Sa-ho.”

According to Daeho’s words, the first person Geommugeuk pointed to was Seo Daeryong, and the last person he pointed to was Dokwang.

The Poison King asked me with a surprised expression.

“Why me?”

“We need three people, but as you can see, they are wearing masks so they cannot come forward.”

I deliberately did not call him Soma in front of Daeho.

The eyes of the Poison King and the Evil Soma met again.

“Because of these circumstances, I beg you.”

Although it was not something that the evil Soma should have asked for, he spoke politely to the Poison King.

Just as the evil Soma had willingly stepped down earlier, the Poison King also willingly accepted the request.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Then Daeho spoke carefully.

“They all look so young, I can’t believe it.”

Then Geommugeuk said something meaningful.

“The key to this is to make people believe you.”

Daeho couldn’t understand what that meant. However, he asked one thing he had been wondering all along.

“Now that you’ve been poisoned, let me ask you one thing. Who the hell are you?”

“Who are they? They are the younger siblings that our big brother cherishes.”

As the swordmaster pressed down on his blood transfusion, Daeho collapsed and fell asleep.

After putting him to sleep, Geommugeuk spoke to the two demon lords.

“The military is working on the project, so you should hear from Jisaeng within a few days. He’s thrown a shiny, dazzling bait that he absolutely can’t refuse.”

This event was proceeding completely according to Go-wol’s plan. Geommu-geuk told Go-wol not to worry and to make plans comfortably.

The enemy of Gowol was not the Apostles or the local people. It was the burden of trying to do things properly as a soldier and thus look good to Geommu-geuk.

Seo Dae-ryong carried the dead body of the Iron Inspector on his sides.

“I will dispose of the body.”

“I’ll help you.”

The swordsman followed them outside, carrying the remaining corpse under his arm.

Together with Seo Dae-ryong, he dug a deep hole in the backyard and buried the three of them. Considering the evil they had done, he should have thrown them into the mountains and left them to be fed to the beasts, but now that he had to act like them, he couldn’t do that.

“As expected, when I come out with the lord, corpses start pouring out.”

“It might be because of you.”

“It’s because of me?”

“When I first met you, you said that our school would not change. That’s why I made up my mind. I will definitely make it change.”

Seo Dae-ryong looked at the sword dance without saying anything and then spoke softly.

“I only gave you one, but you paid me back with ten.”

It meant that those were grateful and encouraging words.

A person who knows this much gratitude would give not ten, but even a hundred. This was the heart of Geommugeuk.

Seo Dae-ryong said while looking at the corpse in the pit.

“I’m sorry. It’s because of me that you died.”

After Seo Dae-ryong covered the ground with dirt, he tamped the ground with his feet. After making sure it was not visible, Seo Dae-ryong spoke to me.

“Aren’t you going in?”

“Let’s go in. Give us some time to get to know each other.”

Seo Dae-ryong said while looking at the building.

“Come to think of it, there are two people in our school who are the scariest.”

Seo Dae-ryong was curious. What kind of two people would be portrayed to Geommu-geuk?

* * *

The evil Soma was looking out the window, and the Poison King was organizing the poison in his bag for no reason.

Then both of them opened their mouths at the same time.

“Your Majesty the Poison King… … .”

“Soma-sama… … .”

“Oh, go ahead.”

“No, you speak first.”

Then there was silence until the Poison King spoke first.

“I never thought I would find myself in a place like this with you.”

“Me too.”

“Do you know that? When the Duke of Igong talks about the Demon Lords, when he mentions you, Soma, his eyes light up the most. He gets excited, you know? That’s the feeling I get.”

Was it because he heard nice words? The eyes in the sockets of the evil Soma smiled pleasantly.

“Me too. I feel like I’m getting excited when I’m with a scholar. I don’t know why.”

He will never know. That in his life before the return of Geommu-geuk, he had wanted Geommu-geuk as his friend. That he was the only person who had shown his face to Geommu-geuk and died by his sword. He will never know that the deep bond between the two had continued even before the return.

On the other hand, the Poison King felt differently.

“I feel uneasy when I see a scientist. It’s like a poison that has no cure.”

It meant that once you get addicted, there is no solution. It also meant that you don’t want to get into that kind of relationship.

“When we make poison, we consider a poison that has no cure a failure.”

The evil soma’s gaze turned back to the window. In the distance, in the yard, the poison without cure was walking towards him, talking to the dragon.

The evil soma spoke in a small voice that was barely audible.

“I don’t care.”

* * *

A few days later, Ji-saeng received a report from his subordinate.

“I’ve heard some strange rumors about the Iron Inspector.”

“What rumor?”

“About a month before coming here, they say they robbed a merchant and got three bottles of the highest quality night wine.”

Ji-saeng was shocked by the words, “top-grade night liquor.” Not only was it incredibly expensive, but it was also so rare that it was hard to obtain even if you had the money. This was because the wealthy people of the martial arts world would buy it as soon as it appeared. But he got three of them?

“There are even rumors that several of the Iron Inspectors died in the process.”

“When we investigated them beforehand, that didn’t happen, did it?”

There were several candidates to take charge of the fresh vegetables. We thoroughly investigated them, and the one we ultimately chose was Cheolgeomsaho.

“I think it was probably because it happened recently.”

But Daeho didn’t show any sign of it. When I asked to see his brothers’ faces, didn’t he say he would show them to me anytime? If several out of the four died, it would mean that everyone except Daeho died.

“It’s not hard to confirm. We had to meet at least once anyway. Go and tell the Iron Inspector to meet.”

Half an hour later, Ji-saeng met Cheol-geom-ho again at the garden where they had met last time.

This time too, a foot was lowered in front of Ji-saeng, the face of which could only be recognized from that side.

“Hello, sir. These are my brothers. Come, greet them.”

At Daeho’s words, three people took off their bamboo hats. The moment he saw them, Ji-saeng was startled.

The young man on the left of Daeho was a handsome young man. His eyes were clear and deep, so it was hard to believe that he was the Iron Inspector who had lived a life of evil deeds. The other man was small in stature, and he also did not fit the Iron Inspector. The last man looked so young that he seemed to have just entered the world of martial arts, let alone being the Iron Inspector.

“You’re younger than I thought.”

“When you’re young, shouldn’t you work more passionately?”

The Sword Dancer, the Poison King, and the Western Dragon did not even wear the usual disguises. If they had worn fake beards, they would have avoided suspicion, but they did not do so on purpose. This was all part of Go-wol’s plan.

Ji-saeng asked Geommu-geuk.

“Since when did you become an iron inspector?”

Geommugeuk glanced at Daeho’s face and spoke in a trembling voice.

“It’s been quite some time.”

The corners of Ji-saeng’s mouth went up at the sight of him slurring his words and not speaking clearly.

‘The rumors might be true.’

I had the thought that my brothers had died while I was cleaning up the mess and that I had saved new people.

Daeho spoke confidently, as if he had nothing to hide.

“Recently, my younger siblings got hurt or left, so I took in new ones. They are all trustworthy, so you don’t have to worry about Shinsunchae.”

Ji-saeng hid his fierce feelings and spoke in a good tone.

“I see young and strong tigers, and I believe in them. Please devote yourself to the cause. I will reward you with wealth and honor.”

“I will be loyal.”

That’s how the first meeting between Ji-saeng and Cheol-geom-ho ended.

* * *

Three days later, in a moving carriage, Ji-saeng sent a message to the real Ji-saeng.

―Among the Iron Inspectorate, there is a person called Daehoran who has the best night liquor.

The real Ji-saeng stopped the carriage. He used to drive the carriage and exchange messages, no matter how important the story was, but now he had stopped the carriage altogether.

-Really?

-yes.

Real Ji-saeng couldn’t hide his excitement. The best night liquor was Ji-saeng’s favorite treasure, and he was collecting it at all costs.

Among the treasures, there were two treasures whose prices never fell, but rose. They were the night liquor and the poison liquor.

As soon as he had enough money, Ji-saeng bought Yamyeongju. He didn’t buy cheap Yamyeongju. He only bought the best Yamyeongju.

He didn’t put money into the battlefield. Because one day, Yalulhan or Sadomin could search his battlefield and take all the money he had saved. They had the power to do so, and they were fully capable of doing so.

So, only some of the money was kept in the battlefield, and the rest was exchanged for night liquor. The reason for using night liquor instead of gold, paintings, or works of art was that it was small and light, making it easy to store and transport.

-Is there anyone trying to trick you?

The fake Ji-saeng answered the suspicious question confidently.

– So I checked again with the information dealer. It’s true. They attacked the target, and three of the Iron Inspectors were killed in the process.

He didn’t know that it was Gowol who spread the rumors and controlled the information in this area.

―The only strange thing is that even though you earned so much money, you took on this job.

– When have you ever seen greed satisfied?

That’s what Ji-saeng feels every time he sees the real Ji-saeng.

-Maybe he was trying to hide in the old man’s shadow.

-How many do you have?

-There are three.

Not one, but three. No need to hesitate.

– Get rid of them as quickly as possible and retrieve the night liquor. Find other people to take care of the fresh vegetables.

―There is a lot of trash like the Iron Inspectorate in the Central Plains. We will get rid of it soon.

No one could stop him from his greed for wealth.

―You went for deer meat and ended up with a tiger skin!

Ji-saeng laughed heartily and started the carriage again.

There was only one thing that made him laugh so heartily.

* * *

The Iron Inspector received an invitation from the local people.

When I arrived, the room was filled with food and drinks. The food was poor and the drinks were so cheap that I could hardly drink them.

Geommugeuk smiled and said, guessing what this table meant.

“Now that we are a family, how about you remove your feet that are blocking our path? I want to see your face, elder.”

The man beyond the feet laughed.

“As expected, you’re young and full of energy. That’s good.”

The foot between Jisaeng and the iron inspector was removed. Jisaeng had planned to kill everyone anyway, so he showed his face comfortably.

Geommugeuk raised his glass high.

“Come, let’s have a drink together!”

But Ji-saeng didn’t raise his glass. He showed his cold emotions and naturally the atmosphere cooled down.

“Daeho, there’s a rumor going around about you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said you caught a big one?”

“I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“We’re from the same family. Let’s go and take a look.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The tiger caught it right away.

Ji-saeng nodded.

“Yes, that would be natural. I would have done the same. I understand.”

As soon as those words were spoken, four unmanned personnel entered the place. They were full of life and had martial arts skills superior to those of the Iron Inspector.

They were Ji-saeng’s most treasured limbs. He mainly used them when he had to kill people secretly.

“I don’t know the three new guys anyway, so kill them first.”

Then Geommugeuk said to Daeho.

“Our poor brother is going to lose all his brothers again.”

At the end of Geommugeuk, Daeho sighed and looked at Ji-saeng. His eyes looked like this.

‘You’re in big trouble now.’

A strange sense of unease made Ji-saeng’s heart shiver. He shouted at his subordinates.

“Kill him quickly!”

The moment those words left your mouth, all four men fell down at once as if they were collapsing.

Ji-saeng was so shocked that his face turned pale. All of your subordinates died without you being able to swing your sword even once. The order was not ‘die’ but ‘kill’, so why did you do that?

“poison!”

The Poison King was already waving his fan around. It was his poison weapon, the Mu-gan-seon.

Even though four people were poisoned at the same time, the others in the same space were fine. This was truly an admirable move, a poison attack that only the Poison King could pull off. There was no cuteness or innocence to be found in him when he used poison. He was cold and ruthless, and he felt like a completely different person.

Jisaeng suddenly got up from his seat and drew his sword.

At that moment, when he was about to shout to alert the real Ji-saeng and his other subordinates who were outside, Geommu-geuk put his index finger to his lips.

fizzle!

I just pretended to be quiet, but before I knew it, Ji-saeng’s blood pressure was under control.

“You call people over and serve them cheap alcohol. This is better.”

Looking at the small bottle of poison pointed at him, Ji-saeng felt that a once-in-a-lifetime crisis had come upon his life, which he had been living happily with the Apostle on his back.

A crisis too great to come has come.