Longevity - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 56: A Desperate Rescue
The official barge and smaller boats vanished into the northern tributary.
Jangseong surfaced, gasping. No sign of the Gaebang men, but his body refused to obey—each stroke of his arm sent the current shove him sideways, dragging him downstream.
Splash! Splash!
Sodden cloth and his pack pulled at him like anchors. His bruised chest ached with every breath he drew.
Jangseong’s eyes fixed on the water ahead, and his expression hardened.
Three li downstream, the mountains on both sides were closing in fast. Where the split current converged between black cliffs, the water churned white and violent.
Roar!
If the current swept him that far, there would be no shore to climb out on.
The southern bank was close—he could reach it with half the effort if he rode the current. The northern way meant fighting upstream toward the tributary where the official barge had disappeared.

“Go south. I’d live.”

Jangseong stilled his ragged breath and looked north.

“But who would find Jo?”

If he turned back now, he’d never know where the Gaebang had taken her. Jangseong clenched his teeth and wrenched his body northward.
He pulled the water with his left arm, Paulownia Branch gripped in his right hand, legs pumping in succession. For every stride forward, the current shoved him back half a step.

“Just a little further.”

Water forced its way into his mouth and nose. His left hand’s fingers curled and cramped; each kick sent his thighs rigid. Jangseong fixed his eyes not on the distant shore but on the ripples directly ahead.

“Ten more. Just ten more strokes.”

When ten didn’t bring the branch within reach, he counted again. He swallowed water more than once, and each time his strength wavered, the roar of the Gorge drew closer.
On his last desperate reach, his fingers found a low-hanging branch near the water’s surface. Wet roots and soil crumbled away, but Jangseong seized a stone with his other hand and hauled himself up.
Splash!
As his legs cleared the water, he nearly fell face-forward onto the bank. He planted both hands in the mud and coughed violently.

“Hack! Hack!”

River water poured from his mouth and nose. Behind him, the current continued its assault on the rocks, indifferent, rushing onward toward the Gorge as if it had never held him at all.

“If I’d been just a moment slower…”

The thought died unfinished as Jangseong gripped the wet soil. Only when he felt the earth solid in his palm did his body’s trembling begin to ease.
He’d climbed out at the end of a gentle earthen slope. Below five zhang, the cliff face—slick with moss—dropped straight into the water.
Still breathing hard, Jangseong lifted the Paulownia Branch and examined it. He ran his fingernail along the sealed end of the wood.

“Not a leak.”

Before relief could fully settle, he patted his chest.

“The letter—?”

The letter Dojang Im had entrusted to him before dying. Jangseong peeled open his wet outer robe and pulled free the oil-paper envelope from the inner lining. He pressed every edge, but the contents remained dry.

“Thank the heavens.”

Jangseong held the envelope against his chest for a moment, then tucked it deep into the lining again. In the water, only survival had mattered—but now, standing on solid ground, Dojang Im’s face as he’d handed over the letter grew vivid and clear.

“I’m not dead yet. Not until I’ve delivered this.”

The Paulownia Branch and the letter—both safe. The medicinal pill inside the branch was his last lifeline; the letter was Dojang Im’s final request.
Jangseong returned the letter to its place and pushed himself up.
The moment he turned his head, cold sweat broke across his back.
An Azure-Marked Viper, more than five hand-spans long, hung coiled on a branch three steps ahead. Its blue markings blended with the leaf shadows—invisible until now.
Sssss.
A forked tongue flicked in and out rapidly.
Jangseong moved only his eyes, scanning his surroundings. In the grass to his left, two venomous snakes lay coiled; at the water’s edge to his right, a dark rat snake had wound itself into a tight knot. Even curled up that way, it was larger than a millstone from any village.
Seven snakes within his field of vision alone.

“This is…… far too many.”

Each time the wind rustled the leaves, the snakes’ scales glinted in response. Grass blades and serpent tails blurred together, writhing throughout the underbrush. Until moments ago, he’d thought avoiding the river would suffice, but there was no guarantee the bank was any safer.
More snakes could lurk unseen among the grass and stones ahead.
The south was warm and damp. Between a great river and its tributaries, with water on all sides, the conditions were perfect for snakes to gather. He understood the reason well enough, but understanding didn’t stop his knees from shaking.
Move slowly, and he’d give any hidden viper time to strike. Run, and he might slip past before a startled snake even raised its head.
Jangseong slapped his rigid leg once with his palm.

“Going slow means more bites. Run.”

Inside the Paulownia Branch, a single Detoxification Pill waited. Even if bitten, he wouldn’t die immediately.
He’d focus only on the thick branches blocking his path and the largest snakes. The small ones—he’d step on them if necessary and keep moving.

“One, two…… three.”

Jangseong bolted forward.
Whoosh!
Before he’d gone three paces, a stabbing pain erupted in his left calf—like an awl driving deep.

“Ugh!”

Bitten.
His heart seized, but Jangseong didn’t slow his pace.

“Don’t stop.”

He ran while flipping the Paulownia Branch upside down. To get the pill out, he had to tear open the wooden stopper.
Then, between the grass ahead, he glimpsed points of red. A single upright stem with seven leaves arranged in a whorl, and at its center, a crimson fruit.

“Seven-Leaf One-Fruit Flower!”

A poison-antidote herb recorded in the Qianjin Yifang. It grew near places thick with vipers, and its roots and stems were especially effective at neutralizing snake venom.
Jangseong threw himself toward the plant. He swept a handful of the crimson fruit into his mouth.
The moment he bit down, a bitter, acrid taste stabbed his tongue and throat.

“Bitter……”

His stomach lurched, but he forced it down. He tore several plants up by the roots and ran on, shredding leaves between his teeth and gnawing the soil-caked roots down with his molars.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sharp pain struck his ankle, shin, and the back of his hand in rapid succession. He’d lost count of how many times he’d been bitten.
The large rat snakes at the water’s edge fled in alarm, sliding into the grass, but the smaller vipers attacked viciously. One bright-red snake, after striking once, pursued him relentlessly.
Soon his lips swelled until they no longer felt like his own flesh. The bitter taste faded from his tongue, and sensation in his hands and feet grew muzzy.
When he tried to chew another root, his jaw wouldn’t obey.
Jangseong snatched a handful of pink blossoms as he ran past.

“Hibiscus…… I need to eat this too.”

Though less potent than the Seven-Leaf One-Fruit Flower, it could still combat snake venom. He shoved the petals into his mouth and ran toward higher ground.
At some point, the bite wounds stopped hurting.
Jangseong’s face had grown even paler.

“Numbness isn’t a good sign.”

The poison could be spreading, deadening pain itself as it progressed through his body.
He stopped and looked around. The ground here rose above the water line and was dry. No snakes visible in the nearby grass or branches.
Far to the northeast, an Official Barge moved slowly through the tributary, its pace sluggish in the shallow water.

“I can still catch up.”

The Official Barge’s sail flickered between the trees, appearing and vanishing with each bend in the waterway. As the hull drifted steadily northeast, Jangseong knew that if he collapsed now, there would be no way to find where the Gaebang had gone.

“Rest only enough that you don’t fall. Not a moment more.”

Jangseong sank beneath a tree and forced down the last of the Hibiscus. His hand moved toward the Paulownia Branch but he didn’t open it yet.
He had only one Detoxification Pill left.
He’d already consumed far too much of the Seven-Leaf One-Fruit Flower and Hibiscus. If he could endure with herbs alone, he had to preserve the Medicinal Pill for a more dire moment.

“Not yet…….”

He pressed each bite mark in turn.
Dark red blood seeped from the wounds. His trousers and sleeves were stained with venom and blood. Jangseong began wiping the wounds with his outer robe, then stopped.

“This blood……?”

Without Martial Arts or Spiritual Energy, he could never face the masters of Gaebang directly. But this blood carried the venom of many snakes mingled together.
Jangseong pressed the wound with his lower garment, collecting the Poison Blood—the portion where snake venom had clung at the moment of the bite.

“Don’t discard it. There may be a use for it.”

He folded the venom-soaked fabric inward several times and knotted it carefully.
But his body would not wait for him to finish the thought.
His chest constricted from within. Even as he drew breath, only half the air reached his lungs, and the trees and ground swayed left and right.
The edges of his vision darkened.
Jangseong seized the Paulownia Branch.

“No. I have to take it now.”
He started to crack it open with a stone, then stopped. Inside lay not just the Detoxification Pill but other Medicinal Pills as well. He drew a small Dagger and worked its tip into the seam of the wooden stopper.

His fingers had no strength; the blade slipped several times.

“Just a little……just a little longer.”

Click.
At last the stopper came free.
The Medicinal Pills that Yi Jung-yong had given him, wrapped in wax and sealed, tumbled into his palm. Jangseong took a pale green pill, broke the seal, and swallowed it whole.
The moment the Medicinal Pill touched his stomach, the dark clouds that had pressed down on his mind lifted at once. His labored breathing gradually eased, and sensation returned to his face and fingertips.
Jangseong leaned his back against the tree and closed his eyes.

“I’m alive…….”

Only after the words left his lips did he truly understand: he had been terrified of death. Jangseong placed his trembling hand over his heart and counted his breaths. At first he coughed every three beats, but soon he could breathe for five without interruption.

“Now, get up.”

He wanted to rest until he was fully recovered, but the Official Barge continued to move.
He placed the remaining Medicinal Pills and the sealed case back into the Branch, then rose unsteadily in his damp clothes and climbed toward higher ground.
* * *
From the Mountain Ridge, the northern tributary came into full view.
The Official Barge was advancing slowly toward the northeast. Prisoners still crowded the three-deck gallery, but the distance was too great to find Lady Jo among them.

“Please. She has to still be there.”

Jangseong ran along the mountainside, keeping pace with the vessel.
If the Gaebang had seized the grain supplies, they wouldn’t haul the barge for long. Moving a thousand bushels of grain required a smaller vessel and many hands. Somewhere ahead, there was likely a force waiting to meet them.
Once they joined forces, rescue would become far more difficult. The men visible on the deck had already overwhelmed the imperial guards and escort warriors in a short span of time.

“I have to do this now.”

But he couldn’t attack head-on.
Midday had already passed. Waiting until mealtime to poison the food or water would take too long—the sun would have set by then. Before that, the Gaebang thugs could kill everyone.
Two Gaebang disciples climbed onto the deck.

“Surely not…”

Jangseong held his breath and watched them. Fortunately, the two men searched the prisoners’ bodies and belongings again, then descended to the lower deck. Each time the prisoners moved, spear tips followed. The fallen soldiers lay scattered along the deck’s edge.

“If I wait too long, they’ll die too.”

Jangseong ran again. With each labored breath, the snakebite on his leg grew heavier, but this time he didn’t slow his pace.

“I can’t wait until mealtime. But how do I make them eat it?”

Entries from the Qianjin Yifang flashed through his mind. On the mountainside ahead, aconite grew in thick clusters—a root and stem both laden with deadly toxin.

He could obtain poison. The problem was finding a way to reach the Official Barge and introduce it into their food or water.
Jangseong stared at the barge’s chimney.
If they started a fire inside the vessel, the Gaebang crew would have to come out to extinguish it. And if the grain burned, so would the military provisions they’d seized.
His pace slowed gradually.

“I don’t need them to eat it.”

If he stacked aconite and toxic plants near the fire, they would produce toxic smoke. Even a master of the Gaebang couldn’t escape it if he rushed into the flames without knowing the smoke was poisoned.
The prisoners couldn’t breathe that smoke. The fire had to be set not on the third deck where people gathered, but near the grain stores—where the Gaebang disciples would rush first. He would need to watch the wind direction too.
Jangseong stopped before the aconite cluster.

“Yes. Smoke.”

There was no need to fight face-to-face, no need to wait for mealtime.
He descended the mountainside and began uprooting the aconite.
The method was decided.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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