Episode 212: Poison in Your Pocket.
Do you think the Poison King is trapped in his own world?
“Isn’t it?”
Of course, I asked my father back. Does my father not think so? What kind of person does my father think the Poison King is?
But my father didn’t bring that up to tell me what kind of person the Poison King was or what the world of the Poison King was like. He brought it up to tell me this.
“How open is your world?”
My father looked at me for a moment, then went back into his room without saying a word.
I stood there and thought about what my father had said. And I knew. What he meant.
My father asks me this.
What’s the difference between you shouting out a new magic and the Poison King? If others see you, aren’t you also trapped in your own world?
Of course, I’m not saying that I’m the same as a loner who hates meeting people and likes 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 his heart.
The Poison King must have felt that I was looking at him as if I was trapped in my own world. That must have been the gaze of countless people up until now. I was no different from them. The memorandum to come out of Cheon Dok Rim was a mistake in the first place.
“Thank you, Father! As expected, you are the wisest and most generous person in the world… … .”
Before he could finish speaking, the lights in the house went out.
“… … Be calm.”
I bowed my head respectfully to my father’s residence and then turned back to his residence.
If you give me a clue, it will be disadvantageous for my father. But my father enlightened me. It was love for a child who asked for his help, leaving the bet aside.
* * *
The next day, when I went to Cheondokrim, the poison king was not in his residence.
I looked around the forest to find him. After searching for a while, I found the Poison King deep in the forest.
He was lying on the floor, staring at the snake.
The Poison King is a person who is good at conversing, but once he gets absorbed in something, he doesn’t even notice if someone dies next to him.
He was still in a state of ecstasy, not even knowing that I was nearby. From this, I thought he was trapped in his own world. I thought he was a weirdo, and I unconsciously thought that I was superior to him.
This is what my father taught me. Don’t do that. He is not trapped, he is living his own life.
When I got closer, I saw that it was no ordinary snake.
It was a snake belonging to the spirit world and was known as the Flower King Seven Step Snake (花王七步蛇), which had the most venomous poison among all poisons. It was called the Flower King because it liked flowers, and it was called the Seven Step Snake because if it bitten, even a warrior with deep internal energy would die before taking seven steps.
Then the Poison King said to the snake.
“Hey, you’ve grown up so much lately, you’re getting cocky. Since when did you start talking back to me so stiffly?”
Then, the Hwawang Chilbo-sa, who had been flicking his tongue, lowered his head. It was impossible, but it really looked like he understood what was being said.
“You and I told you not to eat the berries of the Gwihwacho plant without permission, right? Why didn’t you listen? Do you think you’ll come to your senses if you put it in a fire wine?”
The Hwawang Chilbo-sa coiled up and put his head inside. Does he really understand human speech? Could this be a coincidence?
I’ve seen all sorts of things in my life, but this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.
At that moment, another snake passed by. This time, it was a Yin-Yang Blood Poison Snake, whose venom was just as strong as that of the Hwa-wang-chi-bo-sa. This was also a snake that was hard to see.
“Wol-ah!”
Then the Yin-Yang Blood Viper stopped and looked at the Poison King. Looking at the guy flicking his tongue, the Poison King said:
“Do you know that the King is a womanizer?”
The Yin-Yang Blood Poisoner looked at the Hwa-Wang Chil-Bo Sa and flicked his tongue.
“If the King bothers you, come and tell me. Okay?”
I couldn’t tell if he really understood what I said or not, but as soon as he finished speaking, the Yin-Yang Blood Poisoner disappeared into the bushes.
“You go too!”
Then, the Hwa-wang Chil-bo-sa disappeared into the forest.
It was truly a sight hard to believe.
The Poison King got up from his seat and looked at me in surprise.
“Oh my! This is a surprise!”
“I was more surprised. What kind of person in the world would be so surprised if there was someone next to the king?”
Of course, if someone approached with malicious intent or intent, the Poison King would immediately notice. Those who have ascended to the position of the Demon Lord should never be looked down upon in terms of their martial arts skills. The Demon Lord is still the Demon Lord. When they go wild, no one knows who will defeat whom and how. They are just not revealing their true abilities.
“If you look at the assassins and ask which of the Palmajons you want to kill, they will all line up behind the Poison King’s sign! The first assassin to come out will succeed and leave.”
“If you do that, you’ll get bitten to death by the king.”
“By any chance, did you give the snake a name?”
“Is this your first time seeing a poisonous king who gave a name to a snake?”
The Poison King walked with brisk strides.
Of course it’s my first time seeing him! I said as I followed him.
“Since when have you become friendly with snakes?”
“I was seven years old when I went out to catch snakes. Wang-i and Wol-i were there too.”
“You were young.”
“In our time, everyone started at that age.”
There is sorrow in the eyes of the Poison King as he recalls his childhood. This is a part where you can understand why he hates leaving this place.
“If you’ve been here since you were seven, then this is your world.”
The Poison King stopped walking and glanced at me.
“You want to take me out of this world?”
“No. Now I regret saying that.”
“why?”
“I still want to show you the outside world, but I shouldn’t have said it that way. I sincerely apologize for being so presumptuous.”
When you apologize, you apologize sincerely. You don’t give a reason for why you had to do that in your apology. The reason is something that the person who forgives adds to the forgiveness.
But I don’t know if he heard me or not, but he stopped walking and looked at the poisonous insect on the tree.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the Poison King getting caught up in something again.
What is he thinking right now? Maybe he is trying to have a conversation with that poisonous insect.
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This is his world, this is an open world.
* * *
A few more days passed.
I quietly devoted myself to my work, while the Poison King still enjoyed being lost in his own world.
What had changed over the past few days was my attitude toward the world of the Poison King. Now I was trying to understand his world. It was the world where a seven-year-old child went out to catch poisonous snakes.
Today too, the Poison King was lost in thought, looking at the poisonous mushrooms growing in a wooden box.
Then he turned his head absentmindedly and shouted.
“What a surprise!”
Because I was quietly sitting next to him, looking at the wooden box he was looking at.
“Do you want to keep surprising me?”
“It makes me feel good to see those poisonous mushrooms growing well. Am I also becoming poisonous?”
“How long has it been since you started talking about poison already?”
“I think I’ll just live here. Cheon Dok Rim feels like my home now.”
“If you think that pretending to be friendly like this will make a difference, you’re mistaken.”
“It’s better not to change. I like the way the King looks right now.”
“what?”
The Poison King looked at me and shouted.
“It won’t work! This trick won’t work!”
His voice was getting louder as he denied me. It was proof that I was getting closer to him.
* * *
A ship always guided me from the entrance of Cheondokrim to the residence of the Poison King.
“You can go in alone now.”
“Still, dangerous poisons can come out.”
It may not be the case that he still guided me in many confusing ways and did not let his guard down with me.
I felt that it came from a deep loyalty to the King. The eyes of someone who truly loves and is loyal to someone are bound to show it in some way.
“I have something to ask you, sir.”
“Tell me.”
“When did you first see the Poison King?”
“I’ve seen it since I was little.”
“What was he like as a child?”
The merchant ship stopped moving.
“Why do you ask that?”
“I was curious.”
“He wasn’t much different from now. He was smart, thoughtful, cheerful, and bright. He also had the qualities of a leader.”
I forced myself to swallow the words, ‘Isn’t it so different from now?’
Because I don’t think Sangseon will take my joke as a joke. His affection for the King is not simply loyalty, but is like that of an uncle and a parent.
When I see him, I think of Hyeolcheon Doma.
* * *
I don’t know if the Poison King was smart, thoughtful, cheerful, bright, or had the qualities of a leader, but one thing was certain: he was cute. And not just because of his innocent appearance. For example, this part.
The Poison King had twelve pouches on his waist, each with a picture on it. They were twelve animals representing the twelve zodiac signs, and they were personified in a colorful and cute style that would be drawn on children’s clothes. At first, I passed them by without much thought, but now that I look at them, I can see why.
“Did you choose this yourself?”
“I drew it.”
I was shocked. You drew all of this yourself?
“No one in the world would know that such a cute pouch contains the poison of the Poison King.”
If it were a poison sac of the Poison King, wouldn’t it have to have drawings of evil spirits or inscriptions, or scary words like “ma” (魔), “sal” (殺), “ak” (惡), and “sa” (死)? If all of those sacs were to open, hell would unfold. In fact, that’s why it felt even more strange and scary.
“Which pocket has the most poison? Surely it’s not the one in that cute rabbit pocket?”
“Shall we check it out?”
He tried to put his hand into the rabbit’s pocket.
“I will decline!”
I waved my hand and stepped back quickly. The Poison King smiled at me, but then became serious. It was the first time he had laughed at me. He seemed surprised at himself for laughing. I pretended not to see all of this.
* * *
The next day, there was an important poison mixing.
The Poison King explained today’s poison production with a more serious expression than usual.
“This Heavenly Poison is the ingredient for one of the most deadly poisons I use, the Dark Soul Poison. A single drop of this Heavenly Poison can kill dozens of people. Now, you are far away… … already backed off.”
I stood next to the door so I could jump out at any moment.
The Poison King found something on the desk.
“You were here, where did you go?”
“What are you looking for?”
“My gloves.”
I’m looking for a pair of green leather gloves to use when handling poison.
“Are you talking about this?”
I showed him the gloves I was wearing.
“Why are you wearing that?”
“Because you said it was such a dangerous poison.”
“Then me?”
“Why does the Poison King need gloves?”
“Aren’t you going to bring it right now?”
I quickly took it off and gave it to him.
“What’s in your mouth?”
I took out the poisoned drinks I had been holding on both cheeks and showed them to him. The Poison King shook his head in disbelief at the sight of me biting two poisoned drinks.
“At this point, even I wouldn’t be able to kill you?”
Of course, it was his joke. If the Poison King wanted to kill you, even if you swallowed a hundred poisoned drinks, you wouldn’t be able to stop his poison.
It was also a joke I played on him. It was also my effort to become close to him. If you were really a bright and cheerful person when you were young, there must be something in your heart that is sleeping.
The Poison King put on his gloves and began to make poison in earnest.
“If the amount is even a little off, blue smoke will rise. Then it’s a failure. Be really careful and focus. This is a recipe that only I can make.”
The Poison King showed me how to make the Amheunjeol Poison by mixing the Cheonsim Poison. Since I didn’t know what other mixtures were anyway, it wasn’t so much showing me how to make the Amheunjeol Poison as showing me how carefully the process was carried out.
He could have just sent me out and done it on his own, but it seems he wanted to show off to me.
“Did you see? How careful and cautious it must be handled.”
“yes.”
Then blue smoke rose from behind.
“Your Majesty!”
“You get out!”
I quickly went outside. After the Poison King drank the medicine from my arms, I poured the liquid that was placed next to me onto the smoke.
Cheeeeeeek!
The smoke rose even higher.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
I hesitated whether I should run in and save him since he didn’t come out quickly.
At that moment, the Poison King came out, swirling his poison smoke.
“Are you okay?”
“Okay then.”
He fanned himself with his hand to disperse the handful of poisonous smoke that came out of his mouth.
“The path of solitude is truly not an easy one.”
“I failed on purpose. I was trying to warn you to be careful.”
“… … .”
“… … .”
“Of course you failed on purpose. There’s no way the Poison King, who is the best at handling poison in the martial arts world, would fail to make the poison he always uses… … .”
“stop.”
“yes.”
I smiled brightly at him. The Poison King looked at me with an expression that didn’t know how to react. Poison King, I don’t know yet. Who will stand in the training ground.
Just then, a merchant ship came running to where we were and quickly reported.
“An investigator named Seo Dae-ryong from Hwangcheon-gak has come to see Lee Gong-ja on an urgent matter.”
