Episode 17: Instructor Agu Ascends to the Heavens
Instructor Agu frowned.
"Find a way. If the Poison Master has been up to something in that place, our lives could be in danger too, don't you think?"
Won Seung was startled and spoke up.
"That's possible. I've heard there are poisons that ignite late... But would the Poison Master really do that? He had a grudge against Instructor Jang, but he didn't intend to kill all of us."
The reason for the mutual destruction of the Poison Master and Instructor Jang was revealed through the testimony of a surviving assassin.
The assassin overheard the conversation between the Poison Master and Instructor Jang and reported it directly to the inspector from the main sect.
Won Seung was also questioned but had nothing to say as he knew nothing. Naturally, the inspector did not suspect him. They thought it unlikely that someone like the Poison Master would reveal his plans to a child.
The inspector from the main sect reported that the Poison Master, seeking revenge for the harm done to his disciple, was instead outsmarted by Instructor Jang, who had prepared in advance. Unfortunately, Instructor Jang died after being covered in the Poison Master's blood.
Of course, Won Seung did not see the report.
However, later, when he opened the handle of the small sword given by the Poison Master, he could guess the reason.
Inside the handle was a small note.
-Your records will disappear. The rest is up to you.
Only then did Won Seung realize that his records as a promising talent of the Ten Assassins had vanished along with Instructor Jang's jade pendant.
And he understood what the Poison Master expected of him. He had paved the way for Won Seung to become the head of the Heavenly Poison Sect, not the Ten Assassins of the Red Blood Mountain, at the cost of his own death.
When Won Seung hesitated, Instructor Agu spoke firmly.
"He is a poison monster. Who can understand the mind of such a person? Go and inspect the poison array. There must be a passage somewhere."
With a cold gaze urging him, Won Seung could no longer argue.
*
'What on earth is he planning?'
Won Seung sighed in front of the Poison Master's residence. Should he go in or not?
He needed to know Instructor Agu's intentions to respond appropriately, but being told to just go in left him with no choice but to worry.
Looking at the jade pendant, memories of the time spent with the Poison Master came flooding back.
Won Seung never imagined that a relationship formed without much meaning would develop into a bond of master and disciple. But in the isolated mountains, it was perhaps natural for a lonely and struggling child and a dying old man to rely on each other.
After reminiscing about the days with the Poison Master, Won Seung made up his mind.
'Let's buy some time for now.'
There wasn't much left in the Poison Master's residence. The precious herbs given by the master were buried by Won Seung in the ground behind the house.
Won Seung spent the whole day wandering around the house and reported to Instructor Agu in the evening.
"I can't dismantle the poison array, but I think I can go in myself."
"Really?"
Instructor Agu's face lit up.
"Can you bring out everything inside?"
"There shouldn't be much. Most of it was burned before he left. I watched over the hearth and burned it myself. What's left are just common herbs."
"Anyway, bring out everything that's there."
Won Seung pretended to enter the poison array a few steps at a time each day. It was about twenty paces from the courtyard gate to the jade pendant, so it took about five days.
On the third day, a trainer following Instructor Agu's orders felt dizzy from the poison powder Won Seung subtly scattered and fled, and after that, no one dared to follow.
On the sixth day, Won Seung entered the jade pendant and looked around the empty interior. Afraid that staying longer would remind him of the Poison Master, he quickly gathered the remaining herbs from the medicine room and left.
Most of them were common herbs.
Won Seung handed the bundle of herbs to the person guarding them and staggered slightly.
"The poison seems too strong; I feel dizzy."
Then he returned to his quarters and lay down.
He pondered deeply. Why did Instructor Agu need the herbs? Obviously, to make medicine. But why would Instructor Agu need medicine? Surely, someone as ruthless as him wouldn't be thinking of saving an injured person. Then it must be poison...
In this mountain, Instructor Agu is the most skilled. Why would he need to use poison?
Even with his vivid imagination, Won Seung couldn't fathom Instructor Agu's intentions.
A few days later.
On the day of taking the Bright Vitality Pill, Won Seung realized Instructor Agu's scheme.
Instructor Agu personally distributed the Bright Vitality Pill from the platform, but when it was Won Seung's turn to receive it, the trainer next to him stopped him.
"Hold on..."
When the trainer mentioned last year's incident, the corners of Instructor Agu's mouth curled up.
'I can get one more. I can wait for the right moment to use the Blood Drying Powder.'
Instructor Agu feigned seriousness and spoke.
"Is that so? Then you shouldn't take it."
Instructor Agu pocketed Won Seung's Bright Vitality Pill and handed a different batch's Bright Vitality Pill to the next child.
'Why is he doing that?'
He could just give me what I'm supposed to eat. Suspicious, Won Seung watched closely and was shocked. Already a master of poisons, Won Seung could tell at a glance that it wasn't Bright Vitality Pill.
'Did he switch the medicine?'
He hid mine? Why?
Then he realized that Instructor Agu was scheming to steal the Bright Vitality Pill. Won Seung knew well the value of Bright Vitality Pill.
'What a vile person!'
Yet he watched the child who took the fake Bright Vitality Pill. The child, unaware of anything, began to meditate.
'Isn't it better if the poison of the Blood Drying Powder doesn't manifest?'
Thinking it fortunate that they didn't consume the Blood Drying Powder, he observed how many took the fake Bright Vitality Pill. Then a horrifying thought occurred to him.
The children who took the fake Bright Vitality Pill were all among the weaker ones.
'Could it be?'
Won Seung looked at Instructor Agu on the platform. He realized Instructor Agu's true intention.
'He's planning to kill the children who took the fake Bright Vitality Pill!'
Watching Instructor Agu distribute the Bright Vitality Pill with a satisfied expression, he was convinced.
He's definitely capable of such a thing.
Won Seung already harbored deep resentment towards Instructor Agu for the harsh training during the past winter. But to think he would go this far.
'I will kill you for sure.'
Won Seung resolved firmly.
That night, Won Seung sneaked out of his quarters and went to the Poison Master's jade pendant. Since no one approached the Poison Master's residence, he entered without difficulty.
Digging the ground behind the house, he found a large wooden chest. Won Seung opened it and chose one item.
A poison that hardens upon contact with air but dissolves immediately when mixed with a fiery substance like strong liquor.
It was the Heartbreak Water.
*
A few days later, Won Seung requested a meeting with Instructor Agu.
Instructor Agu told him to come to his office.
"What is it?"
Instructor Agu doesn't treat trainees as people. If another child had requested a meeting, he would have beaten them for being insolent. He accepted Won Seung's request because he was in charge of the poison techniques class in place of the Poison Master.
Won Seung requested the meeting also because of the poison techniques class.
"We're missing a few ingredients for the final poison techniques class. I think I saw them among the herbs brought from the jade pendant last time."
Instructor Agu frowned.
"Are you saying you need those insignificant herbs?"
"They're necessary for the mixture."
"I don't have them. They were insignificant, so I threw them all away. They've probably rotted and disappeared by now."
Though the answer was blatantly shameless, Won Seung held back his anger.
"Understood. I've taught all the poisons I know, and without the ingredients for the last one, I guess we'll have to stop the poison techniques class."
Won Seung bowed his head and left the office.
That afternoon.
After lunch, Instructor Agu, as usual, went to his bedroom for a nap. He woke up earlier than usual because it was strangely quiet.
Rising from his bed, Instructor Agu went to the window and looked out towards the lower courtyard. It was too quiet when there should have been the sound of training. Leaning out the window, he called out to the guard at the boundary between the upper and lower courtyards.
"Why is it so quiet?"
"There's an outdoor training session today, so they've gone outside."
When they go for outdoor training, the upper courtyard guards also go out to supervise.
'Hmm. This mountain life is so tedious. I just can't get used to it.'
On his way from the bedroom to the office, Instructor Agu stopped by the room where he kept his liquor and snacks.
On the shelf were bottles of bamboo leaf liquor he liked.
He picked up a bottle of bamboo leaf liquor and some simple snacks, then noticed an unfamiliar bottle lying between the shelf and the wall. He picked it up absentmindedly and found it was empty. As he was about to place it on the shelf, the poem and picture on the bottle caught his eye.
'After a sip of liquor, I'll climb that mountain, and with two sips, I'll reach the heavens.'
Muttering to himself as he read the poem on the bottle, Instructor Agu thought.
"Hmm. Doesn't it feel just like my heart?"
The phrase seemed somehow meaningful.
After Elder Bi's visit, Instructor Agu became ambitious. If he managed well, he could have the Ten Assassins and four top-tier members. Then he would become a meritorious figure who doubled the Red Blood Mountain's power and could rise to a key position in the main sect.
Instructor Agu harbored the same dream that Instructor Jang once had.
The words on the bottle resonated with him. The bold man in the bottle's picture even seemed to resemble him.
Opening the bottle's mouth, he sniffed it and found it was a new, unused bottle. Instructor Agu poured a little of the bamboo leaf liquor he held into the empty bottle with the picture and swirled it around to rinse it. Then he poured the rest of the liquor into the bottle with the picture, filling it.
Entering his office with the filled bottle, Instructor Agu sat down, admired the picture and words on the bottle once more, and poured himself a drink.
As he drank, the turquoise, potent bamboo leaf liquor dissolved the Heartbreak Water stuck to the bottom of the bottle.
The Heartbreak Water dissolved, and combined with the poison of the fire stone and dragon blood wood.
The liquor became a deadly poison.
Instructor Agu drank a full glass of the lethal poison that could kill with just a few drops.
He clutched his throat, gasping, unable to speak, and collapsed.
Cherry blossoms bloomed beautifully outside the office window, but Instructor Agu died without ever truly appreciating them.
*
An inspector from the main sect came again. Furious at having to visit the remote mountain twice in a few months, the inspector was livid.
"Why on earth was this fool drinking during work hours?"
The enraged inspector rounded up the trainers like catching rats.
Everyone in the upper courtyard was dragged in, and they inspected not only the instructor's snack room but also the kitchen's liquor. They searched the upper and lower dormitories, and everyone underwent a strip search. Naturally, no poison was found anywhere.
At the time, all the trainees were outside, and most of the upper courtyard guards had gone out to supervise, so there were few people left. A guard reported seeing Instructor Agu leaning out the bedroom window around noon. No one entered or exited until evening. Therefore, the poison in the bottle must have been added beforehand, making everyone in the upper courtyard a suspect.
There were too many. They couldn't torture them all...
The inspector was at his wit's end. Time passed, and someone mentioned that Won Seung had visited Instructor Agu that day.
Won Seung was summoned.
Waiting in a dark room for questioning, Won Seung grumbled to himself.
'How was I supposed to know he'd die so quickly?'