The Poison King’s expression showed he wasn’t pleased with my request.
Given that I had shown up at dawn with this request, it would naturally seem rude from the clan leader’s perspective.
However, I judged that he wasn’t the type to refuse just because he was in a bad mood.
And, as expected, I was right.
“You’ll need to be cautious of the poison from here on,” he warned.
I drew upon my internal energy in response. In this life, I had no real resistance to poison, so I had to be careful.
I was now being guided toward Dokri Lake (독리호수 / Poison Lake).
A mysterious lake that constantly produced toxic substances, it was created during the reign of Tang Jemoon, a former leader of the Tang Clan.
Dokri Lake.
It wasn’t deadly poison, but the fact that it generated an endless supply of toxins made it valuable. The Tang Clan had used it to enhance their poisons.
In the past, the clan made considerable profits selling these poisons, but due to a treaty with the Martial Alliance, the production and sale of these toxins had been restricted.
And now...
‘This is where the Baekmaseok lies.’
The sacred stone that the Heavenly Demon had given me in my past life was hidden beneath this lake.
‘I never thought I’d end up here willingly.’
I had always thought I’d come here one day to sneak the stone, but I hadn’t expected to attempt it before even reaching my prime.
The speed of my growth was a good thing, but…
‘It might kill me.’
I hadn’t expected the rapid increase in power to damage my vessel.
On top of that, most of the energy I had absorbed wasn’t something I had willingly consumed, which only added to the injustice.
‘That’s just how my life is.’
Nothing had ever gone as planned, and this time was no different.
As I continued walking, I asked the person guiding me.
“Is the clan leader not coming with us?”
“The master said he had an urgent matter.”
“I see.”
The one speaking was a woman. I had seen her before.
Back when I went to meet the Poison King in Hanam for a meal, she had been one of the assassins scattered throughout the inn to test me. Among them, she had appeared to be the most skilled.
Though I hadn’t heard her name from the Poison King, I knew she was Nahi.
“Is it safe for just you to be guiding me?”
“…If you’re dissatisfied, I can call for someone else.”
“That’s not it. I just thought it was strange that only one person would be assigned to watch over such a valuable relic.”
Though Dokri Lake was now considered just an interesting relic, it was still one of the Tang Clan’s most significant treasures, and it seemed odd to have only one person watching over it.
Calling it trust felt like a stretch.
‘And the Poison King didn’t come either.’
Normally, for a favor like this, the clan leader would at least make an appearance for the sake of formality. Yet, the Poison King had claimed to have a busy schedule and didn’t show up.
‘Hmm.’
Not even the young master or Tang So-yeol had been sent to accompany me. None of the clan’s direct descendants were present.
‘Something’s up.’
It seemed like something was happening.
Maybe it had something to do with the captured criminals, but I also had other thoughts crossing my mind.
‘Has the Tang Clan’s plan really ended?’
The Heavenly Demon's plan to create the Perfect Martial Body using Tang Deok was still fresh in my mind.
On top of that, thoughts of the future Poison Queen had me frequently pondering these issues.
‘The Heavenly Demon’s actions also bother me.’
Back when he had destroyed Sichuan and made sure to check the underground of this region, it had puzzled me.
At the time, I thought Je Gal-hyuk had some grand scheme, but now...
‘Did the Heavenly Demon know something?’
The thought occurred to me that there might have been things I hadn’t fully understood.
“This is the place.”
Nahi’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.
After following her for several minutes, I found myself standing in front of a small lake.
My eyes widened slightly as I gazed at it.
‘…So this is the place.’
A pale green glow emanated from the lake.
It wasn’t large, and the soft glow and gentle ripples made it appear to be a beautiful lake.
Considering I had been expecting a bubbling, foul-smelling cesspool of toxic water, this was far from what I imagined.
‘Was it always this beautiful?’
When the Heavenly Demon and I had arrived in my past life, it had no longer been a lake.
The water had dried up, leaving only a deep pit.
The entire area had been either melted or rotting due to the poisonous fumes spread by the Poison Queen.
Seeing such a serene landscape now was rather surprising.
As I stepped closer to the lake, Nahi spoke up.
“…You shouldn’t get any closer.”
“Is all that water really poison?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t look like it.”
It was so clear.
I could see the bottom from here.
Was that really all poison?
‘There’s no smell.’
Curious, I relaxed my internal seal slightly and let my energy circulate through my body.
‘…Hmm.’
I felt something enter my body.
It was very faint, but it was definitely poison.
Sensing that, I resealed my energy, expelled the poison from my body, and gazed back at the lake.
If just breathing in the air from this distance had filled me with poison...
How long could I survive if I actually entered the water?
‘With my current condition…’
At best, I could manage a fraction of a minute.
‘That’s tight.’
It was an even shorter amount of time than I had expected.
‘So I have to find the entrance to the treasure within that time.’
Back then, I had simply followed the Heavenly Demon’s lead, so all I remembered was a vague sense of the location.
The fact that the treasure hadn’t been found yet, despite how clear the lake was, meant it was likely concealed by an array or formation.
‘Hmm…’
I was still contemplating how to proceed when Nahi approached me.
“Master,” she said, bowing her head slightly.
“The time the clan leader allotted has passed. It’s time to return.”
“Already?”
“Yes.”
Haha.
Look at this guy. Was he really just planning to give me a brief tour?
I hadn’t even been here for half a minute, and now they were telling me to leave.
‘This is because I showed up early in the morning, isn’t it?’
It was obvious he was holding a grudge.
He was pettier than I expected.
Then again, my sudden request to see such a place was suspicious. It made sense that they wouldn’t let me stay long.
Still…
‘Even with restrictions, it doesn’t matter.’
I had expected as much.
Turning slowly toward Nahi, I spoke.
“You know…”
“…Yes?”
“How about we make a deal?”
Nahi looked at me with a confused expression.
I examined her face.
She was an ordinary woman with light green hair and black eyes.
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, nothing much.”
I smiled brightly as I continued speaking.
“I need to take a quick dip in that lake. Could you pretend you didn’t see that?”
“…?! What are you talking about!”
Nahi exclaimed in shock, but I cut her off mid-sentence.
“In return.”
There was something I had once asked Tang Deok about.
Even if Tang Deok was smarter than expected, it would have been difficult for him to figure out all of the Poison King’s movements and plan his strategy accordingly.
Yet, somehow, he had seemed to know exactly when and how the Poison King would act.
It was strange.
How could he have done that?
There was no need to think long about it.
It was obvious.
He had a spy. Without eyes and ears within the Poison King’s inner circle, it wouldn’t have been possible.
So, I had asked Tang Deok.
Who were his eyes and ears?
And he had told me about the spy.
“I won’t tell the Poison King that you’re a traitor. How about that?”
“…!”
The spy was none other than the woman standing in front of me—Nahi.
Nahi flinched at my words and immediately tried to draw upon her energy.
I struck.
Whap-!
“Ugh!!”
Her head whipped to the side as I slapped her, disrupting her energy.
I grabbed her by the neck and pulled her close, meeting her gaze.
“I’ll ask again.”
I didn’t express any killing intent.
“Will you make a deal? Or not?”
“…How… How do you know…?”
“How do you think?”
“How did you know?”
“Tang Deok told me. Quite kindly, I might add.”
This was the truth. I really had heard it from Tang Deok.
Hearing the truth, Nahi suddenly shouted in disbelief.
“That’s impossible! My brother would never…! He would never say such a thing…!”
Whap-!
She was getting noisy, so I slapped her again, knocking her to the ground.
I stomped on her chest as she lay there and spoke.
“Urgh…!”
“If you don’t believe me, what will you do?”
“Gghhh…”
“Don’t shout. I might lose my temper and snap your neck without realizing it.”
Her cheeks were swollen red, and blood dripped from her lips.
It was a pitiful sight, but I didn’t care.
“Even if you refuse, it doesn’t matter. I’ll kill you, retrieve what I need, and tell the Poison King that his spy pushed me into the lake.”
I knew that Nahi would be the one sent to guide me.
While I didn’t expect her to come alone, I assumed that since Tang Deok was held captive by me, Nahi, unaware of the full situation, would follow me instead.
This made the situation much easier for me.
'Turning her into a demon (ma-in) would be the quickest option, but...'
Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough energy for that.
At this point, I needed to head to the lake, and if I corrupted Nahi, who appeared to be at the peak of her abilities, into a demon, it would cause complications later.
I wouldn’t have enough energy left to survive in the lake.
So I chose to take this approach instead.
If I had more energy to spare, I might have corrupted her, but for now, this was a more considerate solution.
I pressed my foot harder into her chest.
“Urgh…!”
Smiling brightly, I asked her again.
“What will it be? Will you do it or not?”
I hoped for a quick answer.
Even though there was only one possible choice, after all.