Chapter 75: Savory Death (6)
Translator: bjgoofy
“Savory death?”
“Savory death?”
At my words about killing him with "Savory death", Nunim and Beggar Emperor both asked back with puzzled expressions, as if they couldn’t understand.
When I suddenly talked about killing someone in a savory way, how many people would understand this?
Everyone wore expressions of confusion, but I was certain that using mealworms would allow for a safe assassination without the need to poison only his food.
If I were to add mealworms to everyone’s food on the day he came to the gambling den, he would be the only one to die while everyone else remained fine.
It was a perfect method to kill him without arousing suspicion.
‘It’ll be so savory and delicious that he’ll eat and just die.’
That was the reason I could confidently say that feeding him mealworms would guarantee his death.
If he developed symptoms after eating crab or shrimp, it meant he had a shellfish allergy. And the root cause of a shellfish allergy lies in a protein that makes up muscle fibers, tropomyosin.
Tropomyosin can be found not only in most animals, crabs, and shrimp, but also in spiders, mollusks, and even insects. However, the tropomyosin of vertebrates is non-allergenic, whereas that of invertebrates is allergenic.
That’s why allergic symptoms appear when people eat things like crabs and shrimp.
Even allergies caused by dust mites are due to the tropomyosin contained within them.
And since mealworms, which are also insects, contain an abundance of tropomyosin, if he were to eat mealworms, anaphylactic shock, the very thing that nearly killed Yingying, would surely kill him.
In fact, mealworms contain a far higher amount of tropomyosin per equivalent weight than crustaceans do.
“Let’s bring the mealworms first and then continue the discussion. Squad Leader Gu Pae, if you would.”
Smiling to myself, I asked Squad Leader Gu Pae to hurry.
Things seemed to be progressing well, and that naturally brought a smile to my face.
“Ah, understood, Young master Soryong.”
With that, Squad Leader Gu Pae left to fetch the mealworms from the Tang Family, and although I had clearly said we’d talk once he returned with them, Nunim and Beggar Emperor continued with their questions.
"Soryong, seeing that you asked for mealworms, it seems you'll be using them. Are you saying you can kill someone with mealworms?"
"What are mealworms that you're making such a fuss? I'm dying of curiosity. From what I've heard, they don't seem to be poisonous insects."
The one destined to die was someone else, yet those two were dying from curiosity, and Na-ok kept looking puzzled, unable to understand what was being discussed.
However, without a tasting session, a full explanation was impossible, so I once again asked them to wait a little longer.
How could one speak of mealworms without having tasted them?
"I can only give a proper explanation once the mealworms arrive, so could you wait just a moment longer? Hwa-eun, please be patient as well.”
"Ahem. A-alright, I understand."
“Okay, Soryong.”
And so, we spent one awkward hour sipping tea.
Perhaps he had ridden a horse back, Squad Leader Gu Pae rushed into the guest hall with a squirming cloth pouch in hand.
“Yound master Soryong, as instructed, I brought them...”
At my request, Squad Leader Gu Pae had brought a full pouch of the mealworms he had been breeding.
The pouch he handed over squirmed because of the movement of the mealworms inside.
“Let’s see... they’ve grown quite well.”
When I peeked inside the pouch, I found plump and well-fed worms.
Though I could eat them as is, to make the mealworms more palatable, I asked Nunim.
“Where’s the kitchen?”
“The kitchen? It’s over there...”
Following Nunim, who wore a reluctant expression, I arrived at the kitchen, quickly boiled some water, and blanched half of the mealworms Squad Leader Gu Pae had brought. Then I stir-fried them in a Chinese-style pan.
The most typical method of preparing edible insects is drying.
Whether by steaming or boiling briefly, and then drying under hot air or sunlight, that’s the most basic method of consuming insects.
Before long, the mealworms had transformed into shiny, delicious-looking treats. I brought the finished dried mealworms to the guest hall and offered them to the curious onlookers.
“Here, these are the mealworms. Everyone, please try one.”
"E-eat them?"
“Y-you want us to eat this?”
“This thing right here?”
Nunim might be flustered since she’s a woman, but I gestured with my chin at Squad Leader Gu Pae, who was making a fuss despite having subordinates who would eat rats.
I was telling him to be the first to try it.
Of course, it was only natural that I gave a demonstration.
I put one of the savory stir-fried mealworms into my mouth.
Then came the delicious crunching sound.
-Crunch.
“Prepared like this, they're very savory. Ah, so nutty and delicious.”
When eaten raw while alive, mealworms taste like peanuts and beans, but when dried and prepared like this, they take on a flavor reminiscent of shrimp snacks, becoming even more savory.
That’s why in my past life, in Korea, they were named ‘Gosoe’ (TL: Savory Bugs).
Squad Leader Gu Pae, looking reluctant, put one into his mouth at my urging. His eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly brought another one to his mouth.
“How can this actually be tasty? It’s even savory?”
And then came the chain reaction of tasting.
Beggar Emperor, Nunim, and even Na-ok each put a stir-fried mealworm into their mouths and wore slightly surprised expressions.
“It’s... really savory and delicious?”
"No, how can an insect be this tasty?"
“Truly fascinating.”
Everyone grabbed a handful and kept putting mealworms into their mouths.
Watching the three of them, I asked a question.
“So? Isn’t it very savory?”
Everyone nodded at the same time.
“Yes, it is very savory. Are you saying you’ll mix poison into this?”
“Soryong, as you said, it’s definitely savory, but…”
“Yes, young master Soryong. Very savory, but...”
Now that I had shown them the flavor of mealworms, it was time for an explanation.
I looked around the group and spoke.
“Since Beggar Emperor-nim is here, I’ll explain in more detail. There are things that are harmless to some people but poisonous to others.”
“Like Young Miss Yingying being sensitive to bee venom?”
“Ah, exactly, Hwa-eun. And as Beggar Emperor-nim explained earlier, didn’t he say that the man breaks out in rashes when he eats things like crab and shrimp?”
“That’s right. That’s what our people found out for sure.”
“Yes. That means to him, crab and shrimp are poison. And that’s why I’ve prepared these mealworms. Although harmless to ordinary people, they contain something poisonous to him.”
Explaining it in a way that matched the understanding level of people of this era, they all nodded.
“Even these mealworms?”
“They look completely different from crabs and shrimp. Fascinating.”
“So what you’re saying is, crab and shrimp are poisonous to him, and this insect will have the same effect if he eats it?”
“Yes, that’s correct, elder.”
Everyone seemed intrigued by my explanation, but then Beggar Emperor picked up a mealworm and asked,
“But how do you intend to feed this to him? Just look at it. It looks so off-putting. This will be harder to feed him than crab or shrimp.”
Certainly, as he said, mealworms look far more off-putting than crab or shrimp. Feeding them as-is would be difficult.
So I told someone to borrow a medicine mortar from the pharmacy, then ground up the mealworms and showed it to Beggar Emperor again.
“There’s no need to feed them whole. If we grind them up like this and mix them into food, the dish will simply taste more savory. And the more we feed him, the more certain his death will be, so we’ll add a generous amount.”
"Oho. Grind them up and feed him? That would definitely work."
The amount that causes an allergic reaction can vary from person to person, so our goal is simply to feed him a large quantity.
That’s why, when I explained that we’d mix a generous amount of the powder into the food he eats, I suddenly heard Nunim’s voice from beside me.
“Ah! I have a good idea, Soryong!”
At her words about having a good idea, I looked at Nunim, and she called outside.
“Is anyone out there!?”
Then came the voice of a servant.
“Yes, Young Miss, I’ve been waiting outside.”
“Ah, perfect. Go out and buy both types of ludagun, with and without soybean flour coating.”
“Ludagun?”
At her sudden request to buy something called ‘rolling donkey’, I tilted my head, confused. Then Na-ok explained. (T/N: Ludagun when translated literally means rolling donkey. )
“It’s a banquet dish. Made of glutinous rice, with sweet red bean paste filling inside.”
“Ah, I see.”
'Glutinous rice cake?'
The explanation definitely sounded like glutinous rice cake.
As expected, not long after, the servant brought in two types of glutinous rice cakes filled with sweet red bean paste.
One was coated in yellow soybean flour.
The other was plain glutinous rice cake.
As soon as they arrived, Nunim rolled the plain ones in the powdered mealworm I had ground earlier and began speaking.
“Ludagun is a glutinous rice cake rolled in soybean flour, named because it resembles the dust rising when a donkey rolls around. No one really dislikes it, it’s simple and filling, so it’s well-suited for places like gambling dens.
Sometimes syrup is applied before rolling it in soybean flour, and if we mix this soybean flour with the yellow powder insect powder and roll it, wouldn’t it be completely unnoticeable?”
“Oho...”
I had been considering sprinkling the powder into soup or another dish, but who would have thought such a perfect food existed?
This was truly an assassination dish.
Glutinous rice cake richly coated with yellow powder insect powder.
And with syrup to make it sticky?
The cake would cling to the esophagus as it went down. And then what would happen to the nearby airway?
One of the causes of death from anaphylactic shock is suffocation due to blocked airways.
Looking at Nunim with affectionate eyes, I thought to myself,
‘Is this what they mean by harmony between husband and wife?’
Then came the amused voice of Beggar Emperor from beside me.
“The final meal of a martial artist is ludagun dusted with insect powder? Isn’t that a death truly befitting of a bug-like bastard? To roll in the dust and die, it suits his pathetic end perfectly.
Kukuku. I’m glad I came to witness this.”
Listening to Beggar Emperor’s gleeful exclamation, I remembered, this is a place where doing a rolling breakfall is despised, mocked as “a lazy donkey rolling around”.
Nunim once said that if you fall during a fight and survive by using rolling breakfall, it’s considered disgraceful. From that point of view, if a martial artist were to die from eating ludagun, it would indeed be dishonorable.
‘Hey, did you hear how the third son of Taehwa Sect died?’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘He dropped dead while eating ludagun.’
‘A martial artist eating ludagun? Pfft!’
Wouldn’t such rumors start spreading?
And just as the dish was finalized, the woman named Na-ok, who had been relatively quiet until now, suddenly made a request.
“I-I know how to make ludagun! Please let me make it!”
She meant she wanted to take revenge with her own hands.
Since the entire plan had been set up for revenge, everyone in the guest hall nodded in agreement to her wish.
“Of course. Revenge should be done with one’s own hands.”
“Let her do it.”
“Th-thank you!”
And so, the detailed plan began to take shape.
“Then let’s ask the owner of the gambling den to let her work in the kitchen for a day, in exchange for us taking the woman with us. If we say she was half out of her mind and agreed to come with us after working in the kitchen for a day, it should make sense, right?”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“And just in case, let’s be at the gambling den on the day he comes and gamble with him. So when he collapses...”
“Kukuku. Just hearing about it is thrilling and hilarious! Ah! It’s truly a shame that this old man can’t go into the gambling den!”
This was a plan that ensured that bastard could never escape death.
***
When Jin Dae-seung, the third son of Taehwa Sect, arrived at the top floor of the gambling den, which catered only to high rollers, the people waiting for him were unexpected.
"Young Miss H-Hwa-eun?"
“Who might you be?”
“Ah, I am Jin Dae-seung, the third son of Taehwa Sect.”
“Ah, so you are Master Jin of Taehwa Sect?”
A boy who didn't belong in a gambling house and Tang Hwa-eun from the direct line of the Tang Family.
The two were gambling at a dice table called Tobo, the very game Jin Dae-seung always played whenever he came to the gambling den.
He had heard she visited a few days ago, but didn’t expect her to be there again today.
“Oh! I got it right!”
"My, Soryong, that's impressive!"
"Haha, is it?"
The sight of Tang Hwa-eun, one of the Three Beauties of the Central Plains, flirting next to the young boy.
When he asked the warrior accompanying him who the boy was, the warrior whispered quietly.
[I heard the Poison Flower has a fiance. I think that might be him.]
[A fiance? That little brat?]
[Yes, Young Master.]
The thought that such a scrawny kid had claimed a beauty like Tang Hwa-eun made Jin Dae-seung's blood boil.
After all, he had never embraced such a beautiful woman.
And likely never would.
The only woman Jin Dae-seung could count as memorable was that girl from Song Family Village a few years ago.
But after getting caught by his eldest brother with bloodstained clothes that day, he was forbidden from going out alone, and the gambling den became the only place he could visit accompanied by guards. As a result, the only women now permitted to him were the prostitutes of the gambling den.
‘Damn it.’
He sighed, regretting that the older sister, rumored to be even prettier than her younger sister, hadn’t been there that day. For now, Jin Dae-seung took a seat.
However, with Tang Hwa-eun, who was seated beside the young boy and gazing at him with infatuation, he had no chance of focusing on gambling.
He was paying more attention to Tang Hwa-eun than to the game, so naturally, his gambling wasn't going well.
And thus, for an entire hour, Jin Dae-seung did nothing but lose.
After losing about half of the money he had brought with him, he thought it was time to get a grip.
Just then, he heard the voices of people nearby.
“Why is this so savory?”
“This ludagun is really good today.”
“It tastes way better than the ones sold in the market.”
Next to the gambling table, where drinks and food were laid out, people were enjoying something delicious.
“That good, huh?”
“Yes, Young Master, please try it. Strangely savory and delicious.”
Feeling a bit hungry, and knowing that he didn’t dislike rice cakes, Jin Dae-seung took one of the ludagun offered by his guard and took a large bite.
And at that moment, he felt the savory flavor.
Just as people had said, the ludagun was truly tasty, and impressed by its chewy and nutty flavor, he quickly chewed and swallowed it, taking a second one for another big bite.
“Keuk… keuk. Kael-reuk. Kael-reuk.”
Suddenly there was a foreign sensation in his throat.
A fit of coughing burst out.
His limbs started to tingle, and soon he began to have trouble breathing.
It was a situation very similar to what had happened in his childhood when he had a bad reaction to eating crab.
"Heuk.... S-save me."
"Y-Young Master! Young Master!"
As his legs gave out and he collapsed, his guards rushed to him. Seeing his struggle to breathe, they tried to help by infusing him with internal energy.
Then came a woman's voice.
“What’s happening here?”
"The Y-Young Master has collapsed."
“Oh my, since I’m from the Tang Family, I will take a look.”
Through his blurring vision, Jin Dae-seung saw the figures of Tang Hwa-eun and the young boy.
The Tang Family was renowned for their skills, including medicine.
Tang Hwa-eun placed her hand on Jin Dae-seung’s chest where he had collapsed.
Then she spoke.
“I will infuse internal energy to clear his airway.”
“Y-yes, thank you!”
The guards expressed gratitude for her help, hoping he’d regain his breath, but no internal energy flowed into his body.
Soon, instead of internal energy, a chilling voice transmission entered Jin Dae-seung's ear.
[Did you think you’d live? Today, you were destined to eat ludagun and die rolling on the ground like a donkey.]
At these unexpected words filled with killing intent, Jin Dae-seung opened his eyes wide, but the last thing he heard was one phrase.
[Song Family Village.]
“Gggghhh!”
Though he didn't know exactly what was happening, he felt like they knew everything he had done.
Jin Dae-seung now believed the Tang Family was targeting his life. With his last ounce of strength, he thrashed about, trying to signal the truth to the guards nearby.
But then, the young boy’s voice rang out.
“If the patient struggles like that, I can’t infuse internal energy. Please, hold him down!”
In the end, what he had hoped would be helping hands became restraining hands at the young boy's words, and shortly after, Jin Dae-seung's vision turned completely dark.
The lingering savory taste in his mouth became the final memory of his life.
*****
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