Chapter 41 : Siblings (2)

Chapter 41: Siblings (2)

Inside the abandoned mine, not a single ray of light seeped through.

Back when this place had still been used as an iron mine, lanterns for the miners had burned unceasingly along the walls. Now, however, they were extinguished and covered only with dust.

Fwoosh!

At that moment, a spark flared, revealing the silhouettes of two figures.

Tang Serin and Sewoon each held a torch as they walked together.

The outing Sewoon had mentioned turned out to be an exploration of the abandoned mine they had obtained from the Murim Alliance.

Step, step.

Both of them silently made their way deeper inside.

‘Hmm, why would he ask for a place with no use at all?’

Tang Serin could not shake off a lingering doubt about her younger brother.

In truth, she had always been the one who stood most firmly by his side when it came to his decisions within the clan.

Even when everyone else questioned his judgment, the one who had believed in Sewoon the most was his Noona, Tang Serin.

‘But this time, I really can’t understand…’

No matter how much she thought it over, she could not guess why her brother had chosen this abandoned mine as his reward.

It was true that in the days when this place had served as an iron mine, it had been of immense value.

The quality of the ore had been excellent, and the output remarkable.

But that had been a long time ago—long before she had even been born.

The iron deposits had all been depleted, and the place had become a literal abandoned mine.

Time and again, trading companies had bought the place in the hopes of striking fortune by mining again.

‘And without exception, all of them went bankrupt.’

Each attempt had ended with great financial loss, followed only by reselling the mine in tears.

Now, the thought that her own younger brother might become the next victim made Tang Serin’s heart pound with unease.

‘He’s not the kind of boy to be blinded by mere luck…’

Perhaps it was because she had sunk too deeply into such thoughts.

Clatter.

“Ah.”

Her foot struck something.

It was a pickaxe discarded long ago by the miners, lying on the ground. She had not seen it and stumbled over it.

For a moment, her body wavered as though she might fall.

Swish!

“Careful, Noona.”

“Mmm, sorry.”

Like the wind, Sewoon quickly moved forward and caught her.

“From here on, I’ll take the lead. Please follow behind me, Noona.”

“Uh, there’s no need for that…”

Despite her protest, Sewoon walked ahead.

Through the flickering torchlight, Serin saw the broad back of her brother, made stronger and sturdier by constant training.

Though he was her younger brother, at that moment he looked dependable.

The passage of time was truly astonishing.

When had the little boy she once knew grown up so much?

As she followed behind Sewoon, memories from the past began to surface in her mind.

To confess the truth, when Tang Serin was younger…

“Go away.”

“Uwahhh!”

…she had hated Sewoon terribly.

It had not always been that way.

In the beginning, the bond between the siblings had been so deep that even the household servants had watched them with smiles.

But as time passed, her dislike for him grew.

“Sewoon is sick, you know.”

“You’re his older Noona, you should understand.”

In families raising a sick child, the parents’ love and attention inevitably became monopolized by that child.

Sewoon had been born with a Heavenly Punishment, and so all of their mother and father’s attention had been directed toward him.

Whenever Serin spoke up seeking attention and affection for herself, everyone only asked her to be understanding.

But she had only been a child too.

So eventually, she gave up.

She pretended never to care, pushed everyone away, and stopped showing her emotions to anyone.

Yet still…

“Uwahhh, Noona!”

“Noona! Hehe.”

…no matter how much she pushed him away.

No matter how harshly she treated him.

Her brother always came back to her.

Always with the same bright smile.

And that day too…

When he pestered her again from morning, she shut her door and pretended not to be inside.

Only after Sewoon left, exhausted and discouraged, did silence return to her room.

‘…If only I were alone, it would’ve been better.’

Without realizing, such a dreadful thought slipped from her lips.

But then, it happened.

“Kyaah! Young Lord!”

“Ah, ahhh. Wh-what should we do?”

“Call the Heaven’s Medicine Hall Leader right now!”

The entire clan was thrown into chaos.

Sewoon, who had gone to the smithy, had burned his arm badly.

That day had been the very first time he had secretly stepped foot into the smithy.

At the time, his Heavenly Punishment had been at its worst.

The burn could have easily interfered with the flow of qi and endangered his very life.

Lying in bed, his face had gone completely pale.

His small body trembled helplessly.

The thought that her brother might truly leave her side—

Her head turned white, and her heart crumbled to pieces.

Because she had wished for such a cruel thing.

Had she opened the door for him, he would not have been hurt.

It felt as though everything was her fault.

As she trembled with guilt and fear—

Grip.

A tiny, fragile hand.

Her brother’s hand clutched hers tightly.

“T…this, a… gift.”

In his hand was a crude piece of iron he had hammered together.

That day had been her birthday—a fact she herself had forgotten.

The reason Sewoon had gone to the smithy was because he wanted to make her a hidden weapon as a present.

Though his entire body must have been in unbearable pain.

Though he must have been standing at death’s door.

He still smiled at her the same way he always did.

At that sight, tears poured from her eyes.

And in that moment, she made a vow to the heavens.

Even if it cost her life—

She would protect this kind child until the very end.

Step.

Suddenly, Sewoon stopped walking.

‘Hmm?’

Tang Serin’s thoughts came to an end.

She opened her mouth to ask him why he had stopped, but—

She realized the reason without asking.

Hurriedly, she covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve.

From ahead, a terrible poison qi seeped into the air.

Had they stepped in carelessly, they would have collapsed from poisoning on the spot.

Then Sewoon’s telepathic voice reached her.

Following his words, she quickly began operating the Tang Clan’s poison art, the Poison Heart Formula.

The Poison Heart Formula was a mid-tier poison art of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

But since all of the higher-level poison arts had been lost, it was now considered the finest of the clan’s poison techniques.

Poison Phoenix. Poison Rakshasa.

Just as all of her aliases bore the word “poison,” her talent in poison arts was undeniable.

Though the Poison Heart Formula usually required one to be at least forty years of age to master, she had already achieved complete mastery at a young age.

‘…It can’t suppress this?’

Even at her level, the abandoned mine’s poison qi could not be restrained.

That meant the poison was of an extreme level, far beyond what the Poison Heart Formula could handle.

‘This is dangerous.’

Her heart sank.

Sewoon had only just recovered from the Poison Demon’s attack, and now they were facing such a deadly poison.

She was about to urge him to retreat from the mine when—

Tang Serin was bewildered by his sudden words.

It was natural.

As far as she knew, Sewoon’s skill with poison arts had never come close to her own.

Yet now he was suddenly telling her to circulate the Poison Heart Formula through a completely new qi route.

It sounded absurd.

His words continued.

The Bright Eyes Acupoint was located at the corner of the eye.

But the Poison Heart Formula normally began at the Water Channel Acupoint located on the philtrum along the midline of the face.

The starting point itself was completely different.

If she circulated her qi so recklessly, she would surely fall into qi deviation.

What should I do?

As confusion and hesitation filled her mind, Sewoon’s voice pressed firmly again.

At that single phrase—

Tang Serin stopped thinking and tightly closed her eyes.

Ssshh!

She began circulating her qi as instructed.

Whooosh!

And at that moment, a wondrous change began within her body.

‘What?!’

Tang Serin was astonished.

The Poison Heart Formula’s core function had always been to resist poison.

It protected the practitioner from being poisoned, allowing them to freely touch poisonous liquids and venoms without harm.

But when operated according to Sewoon’s instruction, an entirely different power was revealed.

Vwoooom!

With a resonant hum, the poison qi pooling in front of them began to flow slowly into her body.

‘The poison qi is being absorbed into me—!’

Her inner qi began completely taking control of the poison it absorbed.

She had completely subdued the resisting poison qi, making it her own and storing it within her body.

After quite some time had passed in that state, Tang Serin finally opened her eyes.

She slowly clenched and unclenched her fists.

Between her fingers, the poison qi within her body was being freely controlled.

At the unbelievable sight, she turned to her younger brother.

“…Sewoon, just how did you…?”

“It’s nothing much, Noona.”

“How can you say this is nothing?”

“Well, when Lady Geum Hwa Sa-tae performed True Qi Guidance on me to repel the Poison Demon’s poison qi, I simply tried blending that same qi flow into the Poison Heart Formula.”

Her eyes blinked wide in shock.

This was by no means a trivial matter, no matter how casually Sewoon spoke.

He claimed to have merely infused the essence of the Emei Sect’s martial arts into the Poison Heart Formula, but in truth it was something else entirely.

‘This can no longer be called the Poison Heart Formula.’

The circulation of acupoints had been completely altered.

Its effect had become wholly different—far superior, a higher form of power.

This was the creation of an entirely new martial art.

And those who could create martial arts were known in the jianghu by another name.

‘…Could it be that Sewoon has the talent of a Grandmaster?’

To create a martial art was not something that ordinary talent could ever achieve.

Only geniuses among geniuses could possess such ability.

Those who, starting from a single martial art, could one day establish an entire sect were called ‘Grandmasters’ by the martial world.

Tang Serin found herself speechless as she looked at her brother.

And Sewoon, receiving that gaze with an innocent expression as though nothing was unusual, thought to himself—

‘Phew, at least I think I managed to convince her.’

He let out a breath of relief.

Of course, what he had told his Noona was a complete lie.

In the first place, Lady Geum Hwa Sa-tae’s True Qi Guidance had not been focused on detoxification, but on reinforcing the body’s self-healing ability.

‘If she knew it was the Poison Demon’s martial art, she’d be shocked.’

The new method of qi circulation he had shown her was not based on Geum Hwa Sa-tae, but on the martial art of the Poison Demon, Yelü Sheng.

The principle of storing poison within the body was something Sewoon had learned from the Poison Demon in his previous life.

But that did not mean he had taught his Noona the wicked martial art of the Five Poisons Sect as it was.

‘This principle was originally stolen by the Poison Demon from the Tang Clan’s lost art, the Myriad Poisons Formula.’

After becoming the disciple of the Poison Demon, Sewoon had learned the truth.

Among the black markets and the underworld of the jianghu, the one who had plundered and collected the most of the Tang Clan’s lost poison arts was none other than the Poison Demon.

Driven by his inferiority toward Poison Commander Tang Eui-tae, he had begun developing martial arts, adding every Tang Clan poison art he could steal, and even plastering them with techniques from the Five Poisons Sect.

Even the Tang Clan’s supreme poison art, the Myriad Poisons Formula, considered the very essence of the clan’s poison arts, was among them.

But an incomplete martial art crudely stitched together was destined to show its flaws.

In fact, that was one of the greatest reasons why the Poison Demon had met such a miserable end in Sewoon’s previous life.

‘But that’s not what matters now.’

“Sewoon, you are—”

As Tang Serin, having fully mastered the control of the poison qi, began to ask a question, Sewoon quickly cut her off.

“From now on, the poison qi will actually be beneficial to you. If you accumulate just a little more, your cultivation realm may even rise.”

For a moment, her doubtful eyes wavered with a strange light.

Sewoon’s words of ‘rising in realm’ had shaken her heart.

For she, too, was a martial artist.

And so, when Sewoon continued—

“Now then, shall we head deeper inside?”

Tang Serin, as if entranced, could only nod her head.