Chapter 52: Snow, Ice (3)
Translator: bjgoofy
Words were useless.
In response to my explanation, the lizard affectionately answered with a scream plus a headbutt.
Even from my own perspective, it was difficult to sum up this situation as just a misunderstanding.
From the lizard's point of view, I must have appeared to be an incredibly bad person.
I needed quite a bit of time to explain, but in a situation like this, few would be willing to give me that much time, let alone a lizard.
-Kyaaaah!
The lizard let out a screech and shot toward my head like a blue meteor.
It reminded me of the blue Halley’s Comet I had seen when I was a child.
As the lizard flew toward me, its form grew larger, filling my vision entirely with blue.
"Soryong! Watch out!"
With nunim’s shout, she pushed me aside, sending my body in the opposite direction.
-Ssshing.
It was truly a close call.
The meteor-like lizard barely grazed my sideburns, missing me by a hair’s breadth. Pushed by nunim’s hand, I tumbled to the ground while holding the lizard in my arms.
Then came the deafening crash from where I had just been standing.
-Bang!
-Crumble.
Small pieces of rock rained down on my face with a pattering sound.
Startled, I turned my head toward the source of the fragments. The lizard that had hurled itself at me was now embedded in a rock. Shaking its head vigorously, it stood up.
Cracks ran through the rock. If that impact had landed on my head, it would have been a skull-shattering ending.
A chill ran down my spine, and cold sweat drenched my entire body.
While I was frozen in shock, the lizard regained its senses and began to coil its body.
It was clearly preparing to launch itself at me again.
"W-Wait!? I-I really didn’t mean it like that! Let’s just talk for a moment…!"
I hastily shouted at the lizard to calm down, but it refused to stop.
Its short hind legs, coiled like a spring, were just about to extend once more.
-Guukku…
A tiny, adorable sound came from my chest.
Startled, I looked down to see the lizard in my arms making another cute noise.
-Guuk…
At that moment, the aggressive lizard that had been hunched toward me relaxed its short legs, and instead of its sharp, threatening cries, it responded with a small, endearing sound.
-Guuk?
It was a sound similar to the ones gecko-type lizards sometimes made in my past life.
They used it to call for a mate or to express anger, and now the two seemed to be conversing in that manner.
-Guukkuuk…
-Guukgugu!
The exchange between them felt like an actual conversation.
Then, the lizard in my arms slowly closed its eyes again.
The tension noticeably eased.
The lizard, which had been on high alert, now cautiously lifted a foot toward me.
At that moment, frantic voices rang out from behind us as Peng Family Head and the Venomous Creature Squad hurriedly appeared.
"Are you alright!? That tiny thing is ferociously fast! I can’t believe it slipped between my legs!"
"Are you alright, Young Master Soryong?"
Peng Family Head and the warriors, who had run over breathlessly after losing sight of the lizard, approached the rock.
Immediately, the lizard began hissing like an agitated cat.
Particularly toward Peng Family Head, it seemed utterly repulsed.
-Kyahak!
A sharp, tense reaction.
I quickly asked everyone except for nunim to step back.
It felt like the situation was about to be resolved, but one wrong move could reset everything.
"We’re fine, so please step back a little. It’s making the lizard anxious. Let me try talking to it for a moment."
"Will you be alright? And talking? Does that thing even understand words?"
"Yes, Peng Family Head. I don’t think it will attack us again, and I believe it can understand at least a little."
Then, I spoke to the wary lizard watching us with anxious eyes.
"I’ll lay this friend back down over there. Just wait a moment. I’m not going to do anything bad, so don’t worry."
At my words, Peng Family Head led the warriors further back.
The lizard seemed to hesitate momentarily before leaping down from the rock and moving slightly to the side.
Though it still watched me warily, it clearly understood what I was saying.
"Young Miss, could you cut some of the dried grass over there?"
"Leaving you alone, Soryong?"
It was clear she was hesitant to leave just me and the lizard alone, but I looked at the lizard watching us and spoke.
“I think it knows that I helped its friend. So it probably won’t attack me. Right?”
-Kyahak!
In response to my question, the lizard sharply turned its head with a warning cry.
Remaining cautious, I carefully approached the rock.
I swept away the broken pieces of stone.
It seemed that the area beneath the rock had originally been lined with a soft, moss-like substance, but only a portion of it remained now.
Soon, nunim brought over some dried grass, which I spread out to make the surface softer. Then, I gently placed the lizards in my arms onto it.
“There, all done.”
As soon as I stepped back, the lizard quickly slipped into the crevice of the rock.
It began licking the face of the unmoving lizard.
I wasn’t sure if they were mates or siblings, but the way it tended to the other was touching.
Watching the two, I carefully began speaking again.
“I’ve removed the stuck shed and cleared away what was covering its eyes. For now, make sure to keep licking its eyes. That way, the remaining infection won’t spread. Do you understand?”
-Guuguuk!
The creature responded with a softer, more obedient cry as it began licking the other’s eyelids.
I watched the two of them and pondered before speaking again.
I debated whether to say it or not, but in the end, I had to.
While I had treated the eye infection and removed the stuck shed, the treatment wasn’t over yet.
I wasn’t a veterinarian, so I couldn’t be sure of all the details, but from my experience, eye infections caused by shedding usually heal naturally if they haven’t hardened into something like stone. At this stage, it was still possible for the lizard to recover on its own.
The reason I was confident about this was due to my experience raising various types of lizards. Even in worse conditions, animals with strong natural healing abilities often managed to recover.
However, the biggest problem was the lizard’s tail, which was rotting.
If left as it was, the infection would spread up its body, ultimately leading to its death.
In the end, the tail had to be amputated.
I spoke to the lizard, the one tending to its injured companion, the one I had named Ice.
“I think its eyes will heal….”
-Guuruk.
The lizard let out another adorable sound.
It felt as if it was responding to my words, almost like a thank you.
But I felt guilty, knowing I had bad news to share.
“But there’s a problem. Its tail is far too decayed.”
As soon as I said this, the lizard’s eyes widened in shock, and it quickly checked the other lizard’s tail.
It licked the tail just as it had done with the eyes, but applying saliva wasn’t going to be enough to disinfect and heal it.
“Half of the tail is already rotten. Licking it won’t be enough to fix it.”
The lizard then let out a desperate, almost wailing cry toward me.
-Kyahak!
Its yellow eyes seemed to shimmer, almost as if filled with tears.
If it were human, it would probably be shouting, ‘How do you know that?! How can you be sure if you don’t even try?!’
-Guuk. Guukku.
Then, it kept making small crying sounds, as if speaking to the injured lizard.
It was clearly heartbroken, but I wasn’t finished speaking yet.
I gently continued.
“But the tail can be fixed, too.”
-Kahak!
As soon as I finished my sentence, the lizard’s expression seemed to say, ‘Then why didn’t you say that earlier?! You scared me!’
Even in my past life, lizards were known for their expressive, adorable faces, and this one had an astonishingly rich range of expressions.
Hearing that the tail could be healed, the lizard immediately stepped aside, making space as if urging me to hurry up and treat it.
It was likely granting me permission to proceed, but I couldn’t help looking at it apologetically as I spoke.
“But… I have to cut the tail off.”
-Guuk?
The lizard blinked its round eyes at me, seemingly processing what I had just said.
The vertical slit pupils in the lizard’s yellow eyes repeatedly appeared and disappeared.
“I’m saying I have to cut off the tail.”
It didn’t seem to fully understand, so I mimicked a scissor-cutting motion with my fingers. Only then did it stop blinking.
-Kyahaak!
The lizard suddenly launched itself at my face.
***
The sunlight streaming through the ceiling was losing its brightness, signaling the approaching evening.
“Aaagh… You ungrateful little thing.”
Scratches from its claws marked my face, and bite marks stung on my nose.
As I exaggerated my pain, nunim spoke with a concerned expression.
“Soryong, hold still. I’ll apply some Wound Medicine, but if we’re not careful, it might leave a scar.”
She took out an ointment that resembled tiger balm from her belongings and carefully applied it to my wounds.
Meanwhile, oblivious to the mood, Peng Family Head started chuckling to himself.
“Khehehe. Now you’re finally looking a bit more manly. You’ve always seemed a little too delicate before. Consider it an honorable battle scar. Not that it was from a fight with a person, but still. Kheheh.”
As he joked about me becoming manlier now that I'd have a scar, he caught Nunim's cold gaze and turned to look at the distant mountains.
I smirked at Peng Family Head before turning to look at the lizards.
I couldn’t suppress the smile creeping onto my lips.
Even though I had whined to nunim, I couldn’t help but feel happy. The reason?
Though the lizard had scratched and bitten me when I mentioned cutting off its injured friend’s tail, it hadn’t inflicted a serious wound.
Considering it had enough strength to crack a rock, it had clearly been holding back.
The fact that the centipedes in my arms hadn’t reacted meant that it hadn’t harbored any killing intent either.
So, while it stung a little, I couldn’t help but smile.
‘At this point, it’s basically half mine already.’
I was enjoying the warmth of nunim’s hand as she applied the medicine when,
“Young Master Soryong?”
“Yes?”
It was Gu Pae’s voice calling me.
When I turned in response, Gu Pae was pointing toward a patch of grass.
Curious about what he had spotted, I followed his gaze and saw a glimpse of blue, like a gemstone, peeking out from the grass.
It seemed the lizard had finally made up its mind.
Slowly, it crawled toward me and tugged at my pant leg.
Earlier, I had told it to think carefully, as leaving the tail untreated would only cause more pain. Now, it seemed to have made its decision.
“Alright, I understand.”
I quickly followed the lizard back to the rock, where the injured one was still lying exactly as I had left it.
Approaching them, I asked,
“I’m going to cut the tail now. But can you tell me what you eat? After the tail is removed, it’ll need to eat well to recover. I haven’t seen what you eat yet.”
Hearing my words, the lizard scurried ahead, dug into the ground next to the injured one, and pulled out a small sprouting seed that looked like a bean. Then, it ran back and placed it in front of me.
“What’s this? Do you eat this?”
Just then, nunim spoke from behind.
She was stroking the heads of Cho, Hyang, and Bin, who had been sitting quietly with her.
“May I check that for a moment?”
“Yes, Young Miss.”
Nunim took the seed and examined it closely.
After a brief moment, she handed it back to me and said,
“It’s faint, but there’s a subtle energy flowing from it. I’m sure this is the seed of a spirit herb that grew here. Could these creatures, like the centipedes, be feeding on this energy?”
I had been thinking based on my past-life knowledge, but if these creatures absorbed energy like the centipedes did, it made sense.
Peng Family Head, who had followed us, nodded in agreement.
“I’ve heard something similar before. They say that valuable spirit herbs often have spirit creatures living nearby that feed on their energy.”
I turned to stare at him with an expression that clearly said, ‘And you’re just now mentioning this?’
Scratching his head awkwardly, Peng Family Head chuckled.
“Hehe, well… it just came to mind now.”
‘Honestly, it’s a miracle he even remembers his own daughter’s name.’
After spending a few days with the Peng family, I had realized, they were a carefree, absentminded bunch.
At least it was better that he remembered it now, just as I was nodding in agreement, a sudden thought struck me.
“Wait! Isn’t this a huge problem since we just dug this up?!”
We had just uprooted the lizards’ food, shouldn’t we quickly replant it? I looked alarmed at the thought, but Peng Family Head shook his head.
“That won’t grow anymore.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“They say that once a spirit herb has been touched by human hands, it never grows back in the same spot. That lizard must have known that too, which is why it dug it up and showed it to us. That seed won’t grow any further.”
Ah… Hearing that explanation, I suddenly felt like our little blue lizards were as pitiful as squirrels losing their acorns in autumn.
It seemed they had been barely surviving by feeding off the lingering energy from the remaining sprouted seeds after the strategist had stolen the spirit herbs.
‘Little ones… I apologize on behalf of my kind!’
I gave the lizard a look of sincere apology, as if representing all of humanity.
Then, Peng Family Head asked,
“By the way, what was the name of the spirit herb that used to grow here?”
“I remember the strategist called it Snow Ginseng.”
“Snow Ginseng, huh… That means it contains cold yin energy. In that case, we’ll need to find something with the same type of energy as a substitute.”
“Oh! There’s something like that?”
Apparently, there was a replacement, so fate wasn’t completely against us.
When I asked excitedly, Peng Family Head nodded and answered,
“There is. It’s called Ice Jade.”
“Oh! Then all we need to do is find that, right?!”
It seemed like we had found a perfect solution, if we could get our hands on this Ice Jade, everything would be resolved.
But Peng Family Head stroked his chin and replied with a serious expression,
“It’s not that simple. Ice Jade is extremely rare and incredibly expensive. Even if you have money, it’s not something you can easily obtain.”
As expected from a rare species, even their food was ridiculously expensive.
I was racking my brain over what to do when nunim’s voice came from beside me.
“I know someone who has Ice Jade.”
As expected of Nunim.
*****
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