The Leech Room was exactly what it sounded like.
Located in the dampest, darkest corner of the basement, it housed four massive glass tanks filled with murky, greenish water. Inside the tanks swam the Spirit Blood Leeches.
These weren't the tiny worms found in a rice paddy. These were monsters. Each one was the size of a man's forearm, black and bloated, with circular mouths filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. They were used by the Medicine Hall to drain "bad blood" from patients suffering from poisoning or Qi deviation.
"Clean the tanks," Han had said. "Scrub the glass. Don't fall in."
Jin Ryeong stood before Tank 3. The water rippled as a dozen leeches sensed his body heat. They slammed against the glass, their sucker-mouths opening and closing hungrily.
'Nasty creatures,' Jin Ryeong thought. 'But efficient.'
He wasn't going to scrub the glass with a rag. That was suicide. If he dipped his hand in there, even for a second, a leech would latch on and drain his blood—and his Qi—within seconds.
But Jin Ryeong had a hunger of his own.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Queen Beetle Larva. The golden grub was wriggling, hungry after its slumber.
"Feeding time," Jin Ryeong whispered.
He grabbed a long iron pair of tongs used for handling the leeches. He didn't use them to clean. He reached into the tank and clamped down on a particularly fat leech.
Splash. The leech thrashed, spraying water, but Jin Ryeong's grip was firm (Agility: 9). He hauled the writhing black tube out of the tank and dropped it onto the stone floor.
Flop. Flop.
The leech tried to crawl toward him. Jin Ryeong placed the Queen Larva on top of the leech.
The size difference was comical. The leech was a python; the larva was a thumb. But in the hierarchy of insects, size didn't matter. Type mattered. The Corpse-Eating Beetle was an apex scavenger. The leech was a soft-bodied bag of blood.
Crunch.
The larva bit into the leech's skin. The leech convulsed, trying to shake the parasite off. But the larva burrowed. It dug straight into the flesh, eating its way inside. Within seconds, the leech stopped moving. It deflated rapidly as the larva consumed it from the inside out.
[System Notification] [Your Pet 'Queen Larva' has consumed a Spirit Blood Leech.] [Growth Progress: 10/100] [Attribute Gained: Blood Sensitivity.]
Jin Ryeong watched with fascination. The larva crawled out of the husk, slightly larger, its golden shell now pulsing with a faint red hue.
"Good girl," Jin Ryeong scooped the larva up. It was warm.
He looked at the tank. There were hundreds of leeches. Han wanted the tank cleaned? No. Jin Ryeong saw a Data Archive.
These leeches had fed on the Inner Disciples. They contained the blood of elites. Blood carried secrets. It carried traces of pills, cultivation techniques, and... poisons.
Creak.
The heavy wooden door to the Leech Room opened slowly.
Jin Ryeong froze. He quickly hid the larva in his sash and kicked the dried leech husk under the tank. He grabbed a scrub brush and pretended to work.
A figure stepped into the room. They wore a dark cloak with the hood pulled up, obscuring their face. But the robes underneath were the unmistakable azure of the Inner Sect.
The figure paused, looking around the dank room, then locked eyes with Jin Ryeong.
"You," a female voice hissed. "Are you the night assistant?"
Jin Ryeong bowed low. "I am Jin Ryeong. How can I serve the Senior Sister?"
The figure hesitated. She walked to the door and locked it. Then she turned to him, pulling back her hood.
She was beautiful, in a sharp, icy way. High cheekbones, dark eyes. But her skin was pale—too pale. And she was clutching her right arm as if it were burning.
"I need a leech," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "A fresh one. Now."
Jin Ryeong straightened. "The leeches are sect property, Senior Sister. I cannot dispense them without a prescription from an Elder."
"I don't have a prescription!" she snapped, stepping forward. A wave of Qi Pressure hit Jin Ryeong. It was weak, unstable, but undeniably Level 10 or higher. "Just give it to me, or I will cut your tongue out."
Jin Ryeong didn't flinch. He activated his eyes.
[System Activation: Diagnosis Eye]
The red grid swept over her.
[Target: Disciple Mei] [Rank: Inner Sect (Rank 45)] [Status: Poisoned / Panicked] [Affliction: 'Rotting Orchid' Poison.] [Cause: Failed attempt to practice the Forbidden Art: 'Thousand Venom Hand'.]
Jin Ryeong smiled internally. 'Got you.'
The Thousand Venom Hand was a wicked technique. It required the user to soak their hands in poison to make their touch lethal. But it was banned in the Orthodox Sects because it often backfired, turning the user into a melting puddle of goo. If she went to the Elders, she wouldn't be treated. She would be expelled or executed for practicing demonic arts.
"Rotting Orchid Poison," Jin Ryeong said calmly. "It starts at the fingertips. It smells like sweet perfume, but it eats the bone. If you don't stop it within an hour, you'll lose the arm."
Mei froze. The aggression vanished from her face, replaced by pure terror. "How... how do you know that?"
"I have a good nose," Jin Ryeong lied. "You want a leech to suck the poison out. Smart. But a normal leech will die the moment it touches Rotting Orchid. The poison is too potent."
Mei slumped against a tank. She pulled her sleeve up. Her hand was a nightmare. The skin was turning purple and black. The veins were bulging, pumping the toxin up toward her elbow.
"I tried everything," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "Antidotes. Qi flushing. Nothing works. If my Master sees this..."
"He will kill you," Jin Ryeong finished for her.
He walked over to her. He looked at the arm. "I can save the arm. But it will cost you."
Mei looked at him. "You're a servant. You want money? I have gold. I have—"
"I don't want gold," Jin Ryeong said. Gold was useful, but he had enough silver for now. He needed Information and Access. "I want the manual."
Mei blinked. "What?"
"The manual for the Thousand Venom Hand," Jin Ryeong said. "The one you stole. The one you failed to learn."
"You... that's forbidden! If you learn it—"
"I'm not going to learn it," Jin Ryeong lied. "I collect rare medical texts. Give me the manual, and I will extract the poison before it hits your shoulder."
Mei hesitated. The pain in her arm flared, sending a spasm through her body. "Fine! Fine! Just do it!"
She reached into her robes with her good hand and threw a small, black-bound book at him.
[Item Acquired: Thousand Venom Hand (Fragment - Grade D)] [Type: Poison Art / Hand Technique]
Jin Ryeong caught it and tucked it away. "Sit."
Mei sat on a stool. Jin Ryeong turned to the tank. He grabbed the tongs. "You said the leeches would die," Mei said.
"One leech will die," Jin Ryeong corrected. "Ten leeches will die. But if I cycle them fast enough... we can drain the volume before the toxicity kills the suction."
He pulled out a leech. "This will hurt."
He placed the leech on the blackest part of her hand. Squish. The leech latched on. It began to swell instantly, sucking the poisoned blood. Within three seconds, the leech turned purple. It convulsed and died, falling off.
"Next," Jin Ryeong grabbed another. Squish. Suck. Die.
"Next." Squish. Suck. Die.
He worked with mechanical efficiency. He was sacrificing the sect's inventory to save a criminal. The floor became littered with dead, poisoned leeches.
Mei gritted her teeth, watching the black line of infection recede from her forearm down to her wrist, then to her hand.
"It's working," she gasped.
"Almost done," Jin Ryeong said. He grabbed one final leech—the biggest one in the tank. "This one needs to get the core."
He placed it directly on her palm. The leech sucked. It grew to the size of a cucumber. Mei screamed as the last dregs of the deep-set poison were ripped from her marrow.
The leech fell off, twitching. Mei's hand was pale, wrinkled, and covered in bite marks. But it was pink. The black rot was gone.
"Stabilized," Jin Ryeong said, wiping his hands on a rag. "You'll be weak for a few days. Wear gloves. Tell your Master you burned your hand on a cauldron."
Mei stood up. She cradled her hand, looking at Jin Ryeong with a mix of relief and fear. She realized what had just happened. She hadn't just been healed. She had been compromised. This servant knew her secret. He had the manual.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Just a scavenger," Jin Ryeong said, kicking the dead leeches into a drain. "Go. Before Han comes down for inspection."
Mei nodded. She pulled her hood up. "I owe you nothing. We traded. The manual for the arm."
"Of course, Senior Sister," Jin Ryeong smiled. "But if you ever decide to try the Five Venom Leg technique... come see me first."
Mei shuddered and fled the room.
Jin Ryeong waited until she was gone. Then, he knelt down. He picked up the final, massive dead leech. The one that had sucked the core of the poison.
[Item: Poison-Engorged Leech] [Contains: Concentrated Rotting Orchid Toxin]
He pulled out the Queen Larva again. The larva chirped excitedly. It smelled the poison.
"Dessert," Jin Ryeong whispered.
He fed the toxic leech to his pet. The larva ate it greedily. As it consumed the poison, its shell began to harden. A metallic sheen appeared on its back.
[System Notification] [Your Pet 'Queen Larva' has consumed High-Grade Poison.] [Growth Progress: 35/100] [Evolution Imminent: The Iron-Eater Scarab.]
Jin Ryeong stood up. He had a forbidden manual. He had a rapidly evolving pet. And he had an Inner Disciple who was terrified of him.
He looked at the murky tank. "Cleaning is done," he muttered.