Absolute Regression

Chapter 649: Sparing a Life Isn’t Easy

Want to talk, do you?

It should have been a better choice of words than if he had asked ‘How should I kill you?’, but So Jeongrak felt no joy at all.

He could talk with anyone in the world—except for the one next to him, Geom Mugeuk. The more he spoke with that man, the more he felt driven into a corner, the more he felt like he was losing something.

“Do we still have anything left to discuss?”

His tone toward Geom Mugeuk had become courteous. No, it had to. After witnessing that earlier battle, who could dare act rashly?

“When the situation changes, so too must the conversation.”

At that, So Jeongrak responded as if testing him.

“If you’re going to kill me anyway, just get it over with.”

Of course, he didn’t mean it. So Jeongrak was determined to find a way out of this no matter what.

But Geom Mugeuk’s reaction wasn’t what he had hoped for.

“Right, you’re someone with honor too, aren’t you? I suppose, I can at least grant you that much.”

Still seated, Geom Mugeuk drew the Black Demon Sword. Without hesitation, he aimed to stab So Jeongrak in the neck.

“Wait!”

At So Jeongrak’s desperate cry, Geom Mugeuk’s blade halted just before his throat.

Geom Mugeuk turned his sword sideways and tapped him lightly on the forehead. The look on his face said, Don’t mess around.

Who was he trying to fool? If he truly weren’t afraid of death, then when those two old men died earlier, he would’ve used the remaining poison in a reckless assault.

For someone unafraid of death, he had clung too tightly to the wall.

So Jeongrak glared at Geom Mugeuk with eyes full of resentment.

“Even now, you’re still toying with me.”

To that, Geom Mugeuk quietly called his name.

“So Jeongrak.”

He had merely spoken his name, but it made So Jeongrak’s spirit falter, and his body shrank back.

“Do you really want to know what it feels like to be truly toyed with?”

So Jeongrak couldn’t bring himself to say a word.

If the poison didn’t work, he’d have to cajole, flatter, provoke, and threaten—whatever it took to survive.

He glanced at Geom Mugeuk. Would those tricks even work on this man?

Had he ever felt so helpless in his life?

Then came Geom Mugeuk’s calm voice from the side.

“I don’t care what kind of life you’ve lived or what your story is. You tried to kill me, and you tried to kill my friend. That alone is enough reason for you to die.”

To that, So Jeongrak blurted out,

“But he didn’t die, did he?”

Faced with that feeble defense, Geom Mugeuk chuckled.

“True. He didn’t.”

So Jeongrak clung to that reaction like a thread of hope.

Even Geom Mugeuk had a weakness—he wasn’t completely merciless. He had to exploit that soft heart. That was how he would walk out of this sealed room alive.

He had something he absolutely had to do once he got out.

“And what about the people you killed conducting poison experiments here? What about trying to start the Grand Demon War and getting countless others killed?”

There were excuses for those crimes, too.

“I saved countless patients throughout my life.”

“To conceal your true identity.”

“Still, weren’t the patients saved? You people didn’t die, the patients lived, and the war hasn’t broken out yet. Doesn’t that make up for the crimes, even a little?”

Before the deaths caused by the poison experiments could be held against him, So Jeongrak quickly continued.

“I always thought I’d be calm and dignified in my final moment. But I never imagined I’d be saying things like this.”

So Jeongrak let out a sigh and added,

“I don’t want to die.”

To that, Geom Mugeuk answered honestly.

“Sorry, but sparing you isn’t easy.”

Even in that response, So Jeongrak saw hope. If he were truly ruthless, he wouldn’t have said such a thing. He would have cut off limbs, gouged out eyes, and forced out the words he wanted to hear.

“Thank you for being honest. That’s better than promising to spare me and killing me at the end anyway.”

So Jeongrak silently stared at the now-empty space. The bed, the desk, the cabinet, the poisonous herbs, and the two masters who had once protected him—all of it was gone.

His gaze looked as miserable as his current situation, but his heart was still filled with one goal: getting out of here alive.

“Young Cult Leader, are you really immune to all poisons?”

“Are you that curious?”

Truthfully, the moment he saw him chew the Heavenly Yin Ten Thousand Poison Herb, there was no longer any need to ask. Still, he wanted to hear it from Geom Mugeuk himself. It was just that unbelievable.

“Do you eat other things too?”

So Jeongrak sighed.

“Heaven truly is indifferent.”

To think a once-in-a-lifetime poison immunity had crossed paths with someone like him who practiced poison arts.

“To you, I must seem less dangerous than a gatekeeping martial artist from the Martial Alliance.”

And he wasn’t just a typical immune body. He was a calamity-level, all-poison-immune warrior who had killed both the Demon Flame Lord and the White-Bone Soul Demon in a single move.

“If you kill me, you’ll have serious trouble. Many people saw you visit this clinic today. If I die, it’ll eventually come to light that you were the one who did it. The orthodox martial artists of Wuhan won’t let that slide.”

Physician So Jeongrak.

He had believed that title to be his greatest chance of survival.

But Geom Mugeuk gave a cold response.

“I think nothing will happen even if you die.”

Those words struck straight at the heart of a man’s pride.

At that moment, So Jeongrak’s eyes flared with determination.

"You said it yourself, didn't you? That I’ve saved far fewer people than I haven’t? But that’s something only someone who doesn’t understand how deep a martial artist’s debt of life runs would say. There’ll be plenty of people willing to step forward for me."

Acknowledging that much, Geom Mugeuk gave a slight nod. But his reasoning lay elsewhere.

“It’s not because I underestimate you. It’s because of the Hermit of Heaven and Earth.”

Because of the Hermit of Heaven and Earth? So Jeongrak stared at Geom Mugeuk with a look that said he didn’t understand.

Then Geom Mugeuk posed an unexpected question.

“How many people have you killed for the Hermit of Heaven and Earth so far?”

The Young Cult Leader was indeed a master at catching people off guard. So Jeongrak hadn’t expected a question like that.

Had he never killed anyone, he could have answered easily. But he had killed many. The years he’d spent protecting that man weren’t short.

Caught off guard, So Jeongrak couldn’t respond.

He should have denied it right away.

Maybe it was Geom Mugeuk’s overwhelming presence, but his thoughts weren’t moving fast enough.

“You’ve killed many, haven’t you.”

Just as he was about to give a belated excuse, a thought passed through So Jeongrak’s mind.

‘No… maybe this is better.’

He assumed that if Geom Mugeuk wanted to uncover the Hermit of Heaven and Earth’s identity, he might see him as necessary.

“Then tell me, what makes it okay to kill me because of the Hermit of Heaven and Earth!”

But Geom Mugeuk revealed an unexpected reason.

“Your death will be buried beneath the matter of the Hermit of Heaven and Earth.”

“!”

“Soon enough, the truth about him will come out. Once it's revealed that he’s a two-faced villain, the martial world will be consumed by that tale. If that part comes to light, you’ll just be a side note. Oh? Physician So was helping the Hermit of Heaven and Earth? No one will be angry about you. With something that shocking involving him, no one will find it strange that you supported him.”

Rage surged within So Jeongrak. His entire life was being denied outright.

But he knew that getting angry now wouldn’t help in the slightest.

“Maybe you’re right.”

He stood up abruptly, seemingly suffocated, and began pacing across the secret room. Eventually, leaning against the far wall, he asked,

“But can you really uncover the other side of the Hermit of Heaven and Earth? He’s a completely different man from me.”

He meant it.

Was it because he’d mastered poison arts? Or was it simply his nature? No matter how much he lived the life of a kind-hearted physician, he couldn’t suppress the temperament that sometimes flared up without warning.

Maybe that was exactly why everything had been exposed to this Geom Mugeuk, he thought.

But the Hermit of Heaven and Earth was different from him. Sometimes, he even wondered—

Is that man really on my side?

That was how thoroughly he had lived a life devoted to the identity of the Hermit of Heaven and Earth.

Geom Mugeuk answered without a hint of worry.

“Everyone carries their own dark hole inside. If he’s managed to hide his that well, then the Hermit of Heaven and Earth’s hole is probably even deeper than yours.”

What if he could no longer live on as Physician So Jeongrak?

Then this question would be the only thing that could possibly save his life.

“What is it that you want to ask me?”

For the first time, it was a question he had expected.

“Where is the one who will perform the Great Technique with you?”

Yes, Geom Mugeuk was bound to be curious about that. Even after arriving here, So Jeongrak had tried to summon that person somehow.

At this point, that man was the only lifeline that could save him.

But Geom Mugeuk already knew what he hadn't been told.

“It was that man who persuaded the Demon Flame Lord and the White-Bone Soul Demon, wasn’t it?”

So Jeongrak's eyes widened in shock.

“You really—!”

He had wondered why Geom Mugeuk hadn’t asked about who tried to persuade the Demon Flame Lord and the White-Bone Soul Demon before killing them. Now it was clear—he already knew that man was the one meant to perform the Great Technique with him.

“How did you know?”

“Because I don’t believe those two, who are so full of suspicion, were swayed by words alone.”

Even after coming all the way here, the Demon Flame Lord and the White-Bone Soul Demon hadn’t completely trusted So Jeongrak. That was why they had been shaken by Geom Mugeuk’s words. They weren’t the type to trust others easily. If they had broken the Forbidden Demon Order…

“They’re both masters with profound internal energy. So even if he couldn’t fully control them with the Soul Reaping Art, he could’ve used it enough to draw them into this.”

That man must be a master of the Soul Reaping Art. Those who had committed suicide with forged, hidden weapons earlier were likely also under his spell.

So Jeongrak silently stared at Geom Mugeuk. The admiration in his expression was already an answer in itself.

“You’ll never be able to find him.”

“What do you mean?”

So Jeongrak said something Geom Mugeuk couldn’t understand.

“Because he’s always someone you’re meeting for the first time.”

Geom Mugeuk looked at him, puzzled.

“Every time I met him, he was a different person.”

“You mean he’s good at disguises?”

So Jeongrak shook his head, and from his lips came a truly shocking confession.

“He’s the same person—but every time I recalled him, the memory was different. Sometimes he was fat, sometimes he was thin. There were even days when I wondered… was he a woman?”

Geom Mugeuk understood, that man had distorted memories using the Soul Reaping Art. He was no ordinary foe.

The reason So Jeongrak had so readily revealed information was precisely because of this.

“You can only make contact with him through me.”

Geom Mugeuk wouldn’t kill him—because he would absolutely want to catch that man.

“We were going to release the Forbidden Demon Order from the two old men. You didn’t trust us, but that was the plan.”

Geom Mugeuk stared at him and said flatly,

“Were you really gonna stop at just releasing the seal?”

So Jeongrak flinched.

“You were probably gonna embed Parasite Poison in them as well, to make them obedient.”

It had taken a tremendous amount of money to undo the Forbidden Demon Order—there was no way they would stop at just that. They likely intended to use the two old men as subordinates for life.

So Jeongrak shook his head. Truly, what did this Young Cult Leader not know? To think he had made this kind of man his enemy.

Geom Mugeuk slung the poison pouch, which had been lying on the ground, over his back.

So Jeongrak grew tense. This was the moment that would decide whether he lived or died.

“You need me alive if you want to meet him. I'm not someone who poses any threat to you, am I?”

After a brief moment of thought, Geom Mugeuk made an offer.

“If you arrange a meeting with him, I’ll spare you.”

“I’ll arrange it.”

But Geom Mugeuk added one more condition.

“Can you live the rest of your life solely as a physician?”

“I can.”

“You’ll have to completely stop using poison arts.”

So Jeongrak nodded.

“The life of a physician wasn’t so bad.”

Geom Mugeuk’s eyes softened.

“Physician, your patients must be waiting. You should be on your way.”

So Jeongrak was truly overjoyed—not merely because his life had been spared.

‘Now, the second plan will begin.’

He had prepared a second plan in case things went wrong with the Demon Flame Lord and the White-Bone Soul Demon.

It was a plan with him at the center.

A mass poisoning would be unleashed in Wuhan, killing thousands. And the one to take the blame would be the Poison King, currently staying here.

'You wretched Demonic Cult bastards! You’ll pay for looking down on me!'

When the time came, he would smile and gladly embrace death.

So Jeongrak smiled brightly, and Geom Mugeuk returned it with a smile of his own.

As they walked side by side toward the corridor, Geom Mugeuk pulled something from his robe, as if suddenly remembering it.

“Ah, this.”

He took out a small pouch from his chest.

Psss!

As the pouch opened, a plume of smoke erupted around them.

“A gift from the Poison King.”

The moment he heard those words, So Jeongrak froze in horror.

He didn’t even have time to speak. The poison was already racing through his bloodstream.

So Jeongrak hurriedly pulled out an antidote and swallowed it. It wasn’t enough—he grabbed another powder and scattered it into the air, then took out another vial and drank it down.

“Grahk!”

Blood spurted from his mouth.

The antidote didn’t work. He swallowed another. And then another.

Amidst the thick blend of poison and antidote, Geom Mugeuk casually stirred the air with his hand and spoke.

“The Poison King said it himself. The true flower of poison arts… is detoxification.”

But So Jeongrak couldn’t neutralize the Poison King’s poison.

Thud.

He collapsed in place, blood streaming from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears—every orifice of the human body.

So Jeongrak looked up at Geom Mugeuk with eyes full of resentment.

The cold, indifferent gaze staring down at him resembled the eyes of that fiend he had seen earlier. So his weakness was that he wasn’t merciless? He had misjudged Geom Mugeuk to the very end.

“This time, it was the Poison King’s turn.”

Earlier, So Jeongrak had used poison on Geom Mugeuk, not knowing he was immune to all poisons. If you can neutralize it, go ahead and try—that had been a direct challenge to the Poison King himself.

And now, Geom Mugeuk had shown the undeniable difference between their skills.

Even if it hadn’t been the Poison King’s poison, Geom Mugeuk had intended to kill him. Just as the Poison King was a terrifying existence, so too was So Jeongrak—far too dangerous to let live. Geom Mugeuk was not the kind of man who would release such a threat back into the world, claiming he posed no harm.

So Jeongrak had never even dreamed he would die like this.

“…You can only find him through me.”

As the light vanished from his eyes, the last thing So Jeongrak saw was Geom Mugeuk’s poison pouch swinging on his back as he strode confidently toward the corridor. The poisonous herbs protruding from it swayed like they were waving goodbye.

“I’ll handle it myself.”