Chapter 51: Snow, Ice (2)
Translator: bjgoofy
Peng Family Head immediately rolled up his sleeves at the request to lure it in.
Since he was so impatient, I first called him over to the bonfire.
Shouldn't we at least come up with a plan before doing anything?
"Then, let's first plan how to lure the creature."
"I've thought about it, but is there really a need to lure it? Wouldn't it be enough to just hit it once and knock it out? That way, we can catch this one and another one as well, right?"
It was said that the Peng Family tended to solve everything with brute force, and here was the Peng Family Head suggesting to skip the planning and just knock the creature out with one hit.
I smiled awkwardly at his proposal and asked again.
He was no joke when it came to strength, and if he swung the large sword he always carried at the cute lizard, it would probably end up in an instant "bang", a roadkill ending.
‘Just thinking about it is horrifying.’
"If Peng Family Head strikes it, wouldn't the lizard, which even forced the strategist to retreat a step, die instantly? And in a rather gruesome manner?"
At that, Peng Family Head responded with an excited expression.
"Khaha! You do know a thing or two, don't you? The strategist must have been pushed back by such a lizard because he only ever sat at his desk. As you said, if I hit it once, it might just die. Ah, being strong is such a sad thing."
"Y-yes. Keh-huk. Keh-huk."
With a delighted expression, Peng Family Head patted my back vigorously.
I had no idea what exactly made him so happy, which left me flustered, and then I heard Nunim’s voice transmission.
[The Peng Family and the Zhuge Family have never really gotten along. The Zhuge Family sees the Peng Family as a bunch of muscle-headed brutes who try to solve everything with force... ahem. Something like that. Meanwhile, the Peng Family thinks of the Zhuge Family as a bunch of scholars who only use their brains and... well, that's how it is.]
‘So that's the history between them, huh? A scholarly, long-academic Zhuge Family versus a musclehead Peng Family?’
When we met the strategist, I didn’t notice this dynamic, maybe because of Yingying, but now I learned about this behind-the-scenes story.
Anyway, I led the now-pleased Peng Family Head to the bonfire and explained the plan.
"First, if Peng Family Head lures the creature out, Young Miss Hwa-eun and our Venomous Creature Squad will block its path. Meanwhile, I'll check on the other creature."
"Will you be alright? What if, as you suspect, it isn't actually sick? Your martial arts skills aren’t that high, are they?"
Now that I thought about it, that was a valid point.
As the Peng Family Head expressed his concern, Nunim stepped in and said she would help me.
"Then, I will stay by Soryong’s side. Peng Family Head can lure the creature, and our Venomous Creature Squad will block its path. How about that?"
"That sounds like the best approach. Is there anything else we should be cautious of?"
"Oh! You just need to make sure the creature doesn’t reach my side. Most importantly, it must not go toward the wall. It can climb walls, and if it does, it could come straight toward me."
"Understood. I will approach the creature and lure it while the rest of you block its path so it can't reach you."
Now that the plan was set, we decided to move quickly.
If it really was sick, there might not be much time.
With the formation set again, we arrived near the roof-shaped rock.
As expected, the creature’s warning cry began to echo.
-Kyaaaah!
Maintaining the same ten-meter distance as during our first encounter, I saw the creature in front of the rock, raising its tail and swaying side to side.
At that moment, I called out to Peng Family Head.
"Peng Family Head, let’s begin!"
"Got it! Everyone, move as we discussed earlier."
As Peng Family Head took one step closer to the creature from ten meters away,
-Kyaaaah!
It reacted sharply, advancing forward by the length of its own body, looking rather feisty.
"Khaha! Come on, let's see what you've got!"
-Thump!
Peng Family Head smacked the side of his large blade and shouted, taking another step forward.
Like a spring, the creature bounced up and launched itself at him, as if it had reached the limit of its patience after all the warnings.
-Thud!
"Ooh! That’s some weight! This thing has the strength of at least a first-class warrior from our Peng Family! This is getting exciting!"
A heavy impact resounded as he struck the blade’s surface.
With his spirits high, Peng Family Head’s blade was now radiating an icy aura.
And then, the face of the ice lizard, which had charged at Peng Family Head with an aggressive and fierce stance, changed to one of surprise after the first clash.
It was understandable. The lizard had assumed that Peng Family Head was just a brute who relied solely on strength. However, with the first charge, he subtly redirected its path, swapping their positions.
Now, the massive figure of Peng Family Head stood between the rock and the lizard, blocking its retreat.
As the lizard hesitated, unable to move forward or backward in its confusion, Peng Family Head thrust his blade toward it and charged.
-Kyaaah!
The lizard let out a warning cry and was forced backward to avoid him.
"Now!"
At Peng Family Head’s signal, the warriors swiftly scattered and surrounded the lizard.
With that, the path between the lizard and the rock was completely blocked by Peng Family Head.
Now was the moment for us to act.
Since the tall grass obstructed the view, I called out to Nunim and rushed toward the rock.
"Let's go, Young Miss!"
"Yes, Soryong!"
-Kyaaah!
-Thud!
The sound of the lizard crashing against the blade and its anguished cries echoed throughout the area.
At last, we reached the rock.
There, lying in the rock’s shadow, was a single motionless lizard.
Even as Nunim and I approached, it didn’t budge an inch.
"Is it really sick?"
At Nunim’s cautious question, I knelt in front of the lizard and nodded.
It was suffering from an incomplete shedding. Its vision was impaired, and the tip of its tail was rotting.
When we approached, it seemed to sense something suspicious and tried to look around, but it couldn't see at all due to the white membrane and pus covering its eyes, and the unshed skin accumulated at its feet and tail was causing the tail tip to rot halfway.
On top of that, I realized why its color was duller than the other, it was in the middle of another shedding process.
-Thud!
"Ugh!"
"Be careful! The little one is quite fierce!"
A loud commotion erupted behind us.
Glancing back briefly, Nunim turned to me and asked,
"Soryong, what should we do now?"
There was only one best course of action in this situation.
We had to peel off the dead skin.
"It needs urgent treatment."
"Treatment?!"
"Yes."
"But we don’t have any medicine or supplies here!"
Nunim questioned how we could treat it with nothing on hand.
I smiled and replied,
"It’s fine. We just need to peel it off."
"You’re going to peel off its skin?"
"Yes. Completely."
As I thought about how I had been using the word ‘peel’ quite often lately, I quickly reached out to the motionless lizard.
Its cool skin was the first thing I felt upon contact.
The lizard flinched at the warmth of my hand, but it was too weak to struggle.
"If you stay still, I’ll help you."
Reptiles like this usually understood such soothing words, and as expected, it stopped moving.
After gently stroking its head once, I grabbed hold of its dead skin and pulled.
Immediately, a translucent layer stretched outward.
"Oh!?"
Nunim’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s, and she blinked rapidly.
It seemed like this was her first time seeing a lizard shed its skin.
Unlike snakes, lizards often ate their shed skin, making it rare to find shed skin in the wild.
"Like snakes, these creatures also shed their skin."
"Oh! I didn’t know that!"
As I explained, I continued pulling, but I encountered an issue.
The skin was much tougher than expected and didn’t tear at all.
Normally, it should rip easily when pulled, but this lizard’s skin was exceptionally tough.
When peeling lizard skin, it often tears in irregular places, making it difficult to remove, but in this case, it was the opposite, it was too resilient.
But who was I?
Was I not Maewoon Fabre, the expert in all venomous creatures and insects, the father of reptiles?
Without hesitation, I took out a hooked flying dagger from my sleeve and pressed it against the lizard’s skin.
Even with significant pressure, the dagger barely managed to cut through its tough scales.
Finally, after exerting some force, the back skin peeled away cleanly, revealing the lizard’s shimmering blue scales underneath.
"It looks just like a gemstone, Soryong."
Just as Nunim said, its skin resembled a galaxy of blue stars.
I carefully pulled the rest of the skin down toward its hind legs.
Like rolling down a sock, the shed skin peeled away in one smooth motion.
Since the shed skin had accumulated, the last part got stuck on its claws, making it difficult to remove. But with one final pull, a "pop" sound echoed, and a perfectly formed rubber glove-like skin was created.
"This is fascinating. It looks just like a suit."
Nunim’s impression was that it resembled a glove.
In my past life, whenever my pet lizards had molting issues, I would personally peel off their skin. These rubber gloves always made for great streaming content.
Surprisingly, people found the process satisfying to watch, and many enjoyed the cute final result of the peeled-off skin.
It seemed to be the same here, my only female viewer was absolutely delighted.
If this were my past life, she might have even sent a donation.
"Soryong, can I try doing it too?"
"Of course. You just need to hold this part and pull slowly. If you tug too hard at once, it might hurt its feet."
Behind us, the sound of things breaking and crashing continued, but that wasn’t my concern.
After our bumblebee date, now we were on a lizard-skin-peeling date.
It felt so perfectly fitting for Fabre’s ideal date that my heart was racing.
'A streamer I used to watch once said his dream date was raiding a dungeon in a game with his girlfriend. If I die today, I have no regrets.'
Starting with the left hind leg, then the right hind leg, followed by both front legs,
Nunim and I worked together to peel the lizard’s skin, forming four rubber-glove-like pieces. Now, only the head and tail remained.
"I’ll handle the head part myself. If done incorrectly, it could lead to blindness."
Nunim looked disappointed, but there was no helping it.
The eyes were the most delicate area and required the utmost care.
Gently rubbing around the lizard’s mouth, I lifted the edge of its head skin.
As it peeled back, the lizard looked as if it were wearing a raincoat, which made Nunim exclaim, unable to hold back,
"Soryong, can I raise these? You already have the centipedes."
Crash!
I had thought this was an ideal date, but Nunim had crossed the line.
This was the equivalent of a girlfriend playing a game for the first time and then demanding a gaming PC.
I let out an awkward laugh and answered,
"Uh… Since there are two, why don’t we each take one?"
"One for each of us?"
Nunim seemed to ponder for a moment before quickly nodding.
"Y-Yes. That sounds even more meaningful."
'That was a close one.'
It was like barely avoiding giving away my main gaming rig by offering a spare computer instead.
Calming my heart, I peeled off the last of the head skin.
Finally, only the thin layer covering the eyes remained.
Peeling a lizard’s molt requires extreme caution, especially around the eyes.
If any of the old skin is left, it can cause inflammation, leading to serious complications.
To prevent any sudden movement that might damage its eyes, I held the lizard gently in my arms.
Normally, I would use tweezers, but remembering how tough its skin was, I carefully used the tip of my flying dagger to lift the delicate film from the edges of its eyes.
A sticky layer of pus came away along with the translucent membrane.
Once it was completely removed, the lizard’s bright yellow eyes stared at Nunim and me.
I had been worried, but since the issue hadn't persisted for long, recovery wouldn’t be difficult as long as it ate properly.
"How do you feel? Better?"
In response to my question, the lizard licked its own eye, as if to show its relief.
After cleaning the other eye as well, only the tail remained.
At that moment, I hesitated.
"Soryong, what’s wrong?"
Nunim noticed my pause and asked.
What concerned me was that half of the lizard’s tail was already rotting.
To save it, most of the tail had to be cut off.
Its difficulty in moving wasn’t just because of eye inflammation, its tail’s deterioration was a major issue.
The problem was that a lizard’s tail functions as a nutrient storage organ.
I didn’t even know what this lizard ate. If I cut off its tail, it could starve to death before I had a chance to feed it properly.
And then,
A desperate shout rang out!
"S-Soryong-nim, be careful! We lost it!"
Squad leader Gu Pae shouted urgently, his voice reaching both Nunim and me.
Holding the lizard in my arms, I turned around, just as the grass rustled.
Emerging from the foliage, the other lizard, now enraged, glared at us, panting heavily.
Upon seeing us, its expression twisted in even greater fury, and it let out a deafening cry.
-Kyaaah!
"I was just trying to help! Calm down!"
-Kyaaah!
I held up the lizard in my arms to show it, trying to explain, but the furious lizard only howled louder, its eyes burning red.
Even my centipedes understood words, and most venomous creatures weren’t completely incapable of communication, so I couldn’t understand why it was this angry.
Then, I looked down at myself,
In my right hand, I was still gripping the flying dagger.
And in my arms, I was holding its fellow lizard.
It must have looked exactly like a hostage situation.
Startled, I quickly reached out toward the lizard and shouted,
"N-No, you’ve got it all wrong! I can explain! I-I was just trying to treat it!"
*****
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