Episode 212: Poison in a pocket.
Do you think the Poison King is trapped in his own world?
“Isn’t it?”
I asked my father back, thinking that of course it was. Does your father not think so? What kind of person does your father think the Poison King is?
But my father didn’t say those words to tell me what kind of person the Poison King was or what the Poison King’s world was like. This is exactly what I wanted to say.
“How open is your world?”
My father looked at me for a moment and then went into his home without saying a word.
I stood there and thought about what my father said. And I could tell. The meaning behind what my father said.
My father asks me this.
What is the difference between you calling out for a new magic and the Poison King? If other people see it, aren’t you also trapped in your own world?
Of course, I am not saying that I am the same as the poison king who does not like to meet people and prefers to be alone.
It meant that the approach to the poison king was wrong. If you approach it from that perspective, the poison king will never open the door to his heart.
The Poison King must have felt it. That I was looking at him like he was trapped in his own world. That’s probably how many people have looked at it so far. I was no different from them. The memorandum to come out of Cheondogrim was a mistake.
“Thank you father! After all, my father is the wisest and most magnanimous in the world…”
Before he could finish speaking, the lights went out in the house.
“… Be cool.”
I bowed my head politely to my father’s residence and then returned to my father’s residence.
If you give me a clue, it will be at a disadvantage to your father. But my father enlightened me. Beyond the bet, it was affection for the child who sought help from him.
* * *
When I went to Cheondokgrim the next day, Dokwang was not there.
I looked around the surrounding forest for him. After searching for a while, I found the poison king deep in the forest.
He was lying face down on the floor, having a snowball fight with a snake.
The Poison King was good at conversing, but once he was immersed in something, he became a person who wouldn’t even know if someone died next to him.
Even now, he was in a trance, not even knowing that I was nearby. From this perspective, I thought he was trapped in his own world. I thought he was a weirdo, and without even realizing it, I implicitly thought I was superior to him.
This is what my father taught me. Don’t do that. He is not trapped; he is living his life.
When I got closer, I saw that it was no ordinary snake.
It was a snake belonging to spirit creatures called the Hwawangchilbosa (花王七步蛇), which was extremely poisonous among poisons. He was a flower king because he loved flowers, and it was said that if bitten, even a warrior with deep inner strength would die before he could walk seven steps.
Then the poison king said to the snake.
“Hey, you’ve grown up and become cocky these days. “Since when have you been so stiff in your head against me?”
Then the Fire King Chilbosa, who was wagging his tongue, lowered his head. It may not be possible, but it seemed like he really understood what I was saying.
“You and I, I don’t know anything else, but we told you not to eat the berries of the wildflower plant carelessly, right? Why don’t you listen? Will you come to your senses if you drink fire wine?”
The Fire King Seven Treasures made a coil and put its head into it. Do you really understand what people are saying? It must be a coincidence, right?
I’ve seen all kinds of things in my life, but this was my first time seeing something like this.
Then another snake passed by. The snake this time was a yin-yang blood poisonous snake with poison just as strong as the Fire King’s Seven Treasures. This was also a snake that was difficult to see.
“Wol!”
Then the Yin-Yang Blood Venomous Snake stopped and looked at the Poison King. The Poison King said while looking at the guy licking his tongue.
“You know the king is a playboy, right?”
The Yin-Yang Blood Viper flicked his tongue as he looked at the Fire King Seven Treasures.
“If Wang is bothering you, come and tell me. Understand?”
I couldn’t tell if he really understood what he was saying, but as soon as he finished speaking, the Yin-Yang Blood Viper disappeared into the bushes.
“You too, go now!”
Then the Fire King Seven Treasures disappeared into the forest.
It was truly a sight that was hard to believe even after seeing it.
The Poison King stood up and looked at me in surprise.
“Oh my! It’s a surprise!”
“I was more surprised. “What kind of poisonous king in the world would you be so surprised to find next to you?”
Of course, if someone approaches with murderous or malicious intent, the Poison King will notice right away. People who have reached the position of Majon should never be ignored for their military merits. Mazon is still Mazon. If they go crazy, no one can tell who will win who and how. They are just not revealing their true abilities.
“If you look at the assassins and ask which of the Palmazons you want to kill, they will all line up behind the Poison King sign! The first assassin will also be successful.”
“If you do that, you will be bitten by the king and die.”
“Did you even give the snake a name?”
“Is this your first time seeing the poison king who gave a name to a snake?”
The Poison King walked away with long strides.
Of course it’s my first time seeing it! I said as I followed him.
“When did you become friends with snakes?”
“I was seven years old when I started going around catching snakes. “Wang and Wol were there back then too.”
“You’re young.”
“In our time, everyone started at that age.”
There was joy and sorrow in the Poison King’s eyes as he recalled his childhood. This is a point where you can understand why he hates leaving this place.
“If you’ve been here since you were seven, this is the Poison King’s world.”
The Poison King stopped and glanced at me.
“You said you wanted to take me out of this world?”
“no. “Now I regret saying that.”
“why?”
“I still want to show you around the outside world, but I shouldn’t have said it that way. “I’m truly sorry for being arrogant.”
When you’re sorry, you apologize sincerely. In my apology, I did not give a reason as to why I had to do that. The reason is that the person who forgives is attached to forgiveness.
But whether he heard me or not, he suddenly stopped and was looking at the poisonous insect on the tree.
I smiled involuntarily as I saw the Poison King getting caught up in something again.
What else are you thinking about now? Maybe he’s trying to have a conversation with that poisonous insect.
This is his world, this is an open world.
* * *
Several days passed again.
I was quietly absorbed in my work, and the Poison King still liked to be lost in his own world.
What changed over the next few days was my attitude towards the poisonous world. Now I tried to understand his world. A world where a seven-year-old child went around catching poisonous snakes.
Today again, the Poison King was lost in thought as he looked at the poisonous mushrooms growing in the wooden box.
Then he inadvertently turned his head and shouted.
“It’s a surprise!”
Because I was quietly next to him, looking at the wooden box he was looking at.
“Do you want to keep surprising me?”
“Seeing those poisonous mushrooms growing well makes me feel at ease. Doesn’t this mean I’ve become a poisoner too?”
“How long has it been since you’re already a German?”
“I think I’ll just live here. “Cheondogrim feels like home now.”
“It would be a mistake to think that pretending to be this friendly will make any difference.”
“It’s better not to change. “I really like how the Poison King looks right now.”
“what?”
The Poison King looked at me and shouted.
“It doesn’t work! “This trick doesn’t work!”
His voice in denying me is getting louder little by little. It was proof that I was getting closer to him.
* * * A
merchant ship always guided me from the entrance to Cheondogrim to the residence of the Poison King.
“You can go in alone now.”
“Still, dangerous poison can come out.”
That may not necessarily be the case. He still guided me along several confusing paths and kept his guard up for me.
I felt that it came from a deep loyalty to the Dog King. The look in the eyes of someone who truly likes and is loyal to someone is bound to show in some way.
“I have something to ask the old man.”
“Say it.”
“Since when have you seen the Poison King?”
“I’ve seen it since I was young.”
“What was he like as a child?”
The merchant ship stopped.
“Why are you asking that?”
“I’m curious.”
“It wasn’t much different from now. Intelligent, thoughtful, cheerful and bright. “He also had the qualities to be a leader.”
I forced myself to swallow the words, ‘It’s so different from now, isn’t it?’
Because I don’t think the merchant marine will take my joke as a joke. His affection for the Poison King is not simple loyalty, but is more like an uncle and a parent.
When I look at him, I think of Hyeolcheon Doma.
* * *
I don’t know if the Poison King was intelligent, thoughtful, cheerful, bright, and had the qualities to be a leader, but one thing was certain. he was cute It’s not just because of its fresh appearance. For example, this part.
The Poison King wore twelve pockets on his waist, each of which had a picture drawn on it. It was an anthropomorphic drawing of twelve animals representing the zodiac signs, in a colorful and cute style that would be drawn on children’s clothes. At first I passed it by without notice, but now I can see it.
“Did you choose this yourself?”
“I drew it.”
I was surprised. You drew this all yourself?
“No one in the world will know. “I wouldn’t have guessed that such a cute pouch would contain the poison king’s poison.”
When it comes to the poison king’s poison bag, even if it has evil spirits drawn on it or words engraved on it, wouldn’t it be appropriate to have scary letters such as demon, murder, evil, and death? If all those pockets were opened, hell would break out. In fact, it felt even more bizarre and scary.
“Which poison is the most dangerous? Surely it’s not in that cute rabbit’s bag?”
“Would you like to check it out?”
He tried to put his hand into the rabbit’s pocket.
“I decline!”
I waved my hand and stepped back. The Poison King smiled at that sight, but then turned his face to face him. It was the first time he smiled broadly when he saw me. It looks like he was surprised himself when he smiled. Even though I saw it all, I pretended not to see it.
* * *
The next day there was an important mixing of poisons.
The Poison King explained today’s poison making with an unusually serious expression.
“This Heavenly Heart Poison here is the poison that is used as an ingredient for Dark Soul Poison, one of the extreme poisons I use. A single drop of this heavenly poison can kill dozens of people. “Now you’re far away… already back away.”
I was standing next to the door so I could pop out at any time.
The Poison King found something on his desk.
“I was here, but where did I go?”
“What are you looking for?”
“My gloves.”
The goal is to find deerskin gloves used when handling poison.
“Are you talking about this?”
I held up the gloves I was wearing.
“Why are you wearing that?”
“You said it was a very dangerous poison.”
“Then what about me?”
“Why do you need gloves, Poison King?”
“Why don’t you bring it right now?”
I quickly took it off and brought it to him.
“What’s in your mouth?”
I took out the poisonous wine I was holding on both cheeks and showed it to him. The Poison King shook his head in bewilderment at the sight of two poisoned blood drinks in his mouth.
“Is this not enough to kill me?”
Of course he was joking. If the poison king decides to kill you, you will not be able to stop his poison even if you have a hundred blood poisonous drinks in your mouth.
I was also playing a prank on him. It was also my effort to become closer to him. If you were really a bright and cheerful person when you were young, those things would be sleeping somewhere in your heart.
The Poison King put on his gloves and began manufacturing poison in earnest.
“If the amount is even slightly wrong, blue smoke will rise. Then it’s a failure. Be really careful and focused. “This is a recipe that only I can make.”
The Poison King showed me how to make Amheunjeoldok by combining Cheonsimdok. Since I didn’t know what the different combinations were anyway, it was more of a show of how carefully this process is carried out rather than showing how to make a black scarf.
He could send me out and do it alone, but he seemed to want to show off to me.
“Did you see it well? “How carefully and carefully it must be handled.”
“yes.”
At that time, blue smoke rose from behind.
“Poison King!”
“You get out!”
I quickly went out. After drinking the medicinal herb from the Poison King’s arms, he poured the liquid that was lying next to where the smoke was coming from.
Cheeeeeeeek!
The smoke rose even more.
“Poison King! “Poison King!”
He didn’t come out quickly so I hesitated whether I should jump in and save him.
At that time, the Poison King came out, stirring the poisonous smoke.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s okay then.”
He blew away a handful of poisonous smoke that came out of his mouth with his hand fan.
“The path of self-mastery is not an easy path.”
“I failed on purpose. “To warn you that you need to be careful.”
“….”
“….”
“Of course you failed on purpose. Could it be that the Poison King, who is the best at using poison in the martial arts world, failed to make the poison he always uses…”
“Stop.”
“yes.”
I smiled brightly at him. The Poison King looked at me with an expression that did not know how to react. Poison King, I don’t know yet. Who will be standing in the training hall?
It was at that moment. A merchant ship rushed to where we were and quickly reported.
“An investigator named Seo Dae-ryong from Hwangcheon Pavilion came to see Gongja Lee as an urgent matter.”