Chapter 83: Valley of Venomous Creatures (6)
Translator: bjgoofy
"Companion Venomous Creature?"
In the newly friendly atmosphere.
That single word I uttered seemed to cause a great stir within Beast Palace.
The Beast Palace Head and elders nodded with expressions blending admiration and regret, each speaking in turn.
"Does it mean a venomous creature who becomes a lifelong companion? Even in our Beast Palace, where we treasure beasts, none use the term 'companion'... How could a person from the Central Plains..."
"Is that not a truly admirable mindset? I wish our disciples would emulate that. Recently, some disciples have been treating beasts like mere servants, and it’s been troubling. How could such a talent belong to the Tang Family..."
"I heard he is the Tang Family's son-in-law, what a shame. He would be a perfect fit for our Beast Palace."
"Black Wolf said that the Young Hero had a leash held by a woman, and I thought it was some strange behavior. But if the one holding the leash was a spider and a companion, then it means they are each other's masters!? Such profound meaning?"
'No, sir, that last part is a misunderstanding, actually.'
It felt like there were some misunderstandings, but in any case, the result was good.
Once I proved my hidden affection for creatures, the animal-loving folks acknowledged me as one of their own.
Reptiles and insects may have been my specialty, but they all fall under the grand category of animals, don’t they?
'Hey hey, so you were into venomous creatures? Brother. If it's venomous creatures, I totally acknowledge it. We're the same after all.'
It felt like I could hear their inner voices.
And perhaps because I proved to be of their kind?
The Palace Lord made a decision faster than expected.
Perhaps he realized there was no need to fight and risk injury or death when we could just avoid it as I suggested. An order was immediately issued.
“If the Young Hero refers to the creatures he raises as companions, then his love for venomous creatures must be extraordinary. If the advice he gave us stems from such a heart, then it is clearly with our best interest in mind. I shall make my decision.
You said the ants would move at daybreak? Even if we could surely wipe them out as you say, if the damage can be avoided, then we should.
Buildings can always be rebuilt, but people and beasts cannot be brought back.
Gather everyone in the palace before the Palace Lord’s Pavilion! We will begin evacuation preparations!”
Even the elders, who had previously expressed dissenting opinions, nodded in agreement at the Palace Lord’s words.
Even the woman who had opposed me most sent me a voice transmission.
[Young Hero, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were such a sincere person. I apologize for my careless words.]
She even had a hint of respectful gaze.
Then followed the resonant voices of the elders.
“We shall obey, Palace Lord!”
“Yes! Palace Lord!”
As the order was given, the large entrance to the Beast Palace Lord’s Pavilion, through which we had entered, swung open widely to both sides, and an elder ran out carrying a ram’s horn hanging on the pavilion wall.
And from the entrance of the Palace Lord’s Pavilion, a deep horn sound began to echo out.
-Buuuuuuuuung.
A deep ram’s horn sound that seemed to vibrate the chest and the entire interior of the Beast Valley.
As the sound of the horn flowed through the valley, it seemed the outside brightened, and all the people and beasts in the valley, holding lanterns, gathered densely at the entrance of the Pavilion.
From leopards to eagles, owls, bears, wolves, monkeys, wild boars, and even deer and roe deer.
A wide variety of beasts mingled among the people, and as people and beasts crowded the entrance, the Beast Palace Head stepped forward in front of the pavilion and shouted to the crowd with a voice imbued with internal energy.
“All members and beasts of the Beast Palace shall prepare for evacuation! It is only a temporary retreat until the ants withdraw, so prepare food and simple clothes and gather back here in one hour!”
A concise message containing all the key points.
The people gathered in front responded in unison, as if in a chorus.
“““Understood, Palace Lord!”””
And then they quickly dispersed to the village to begin evacuation preparations.
As the people's evacuation preparations began like that, and the Palace Head turned around and returned inside the Beast Palace Lord’s Pavilion, questions poured out simultaneously.
"Centipedes, lizards, even spiders, yes, how did you come to raise those venomous creatures, no, those children?"
"I heard insects are different from beasts and can't understand human speech. Then how do these children understand the Young Hero's words?"
"Lizards, we’ve tried raising them in our palace several times before, but always failed. That’s truly remarkable!"
Because this place was full of people who were sincere about animals, they naturally showed interest upon seeing new kinds of children.
However, before I could respond to anything, the Palace Lord stepped in and calmed the noisy atmosphere.
“This is urgent, so for now everyone go help with the evacuation. I will speak with the Young Hero separately later.”
“Ahem… Understood, Palace Lord.”
“Yes, understood.”
The elders, although appearing slightly disappointed, immediately rushed outside the Pavilion to assist with the evacuation.
***
Since we had informed the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace of the approaching threat, the palace offered to present us with a gift of thanks.
However, since they were all currently busy with the evacuation, the Palace Lord said he would later send a separate delegation to the Tang Family.
“It would be proper to bestow a grand reward and generous hospitality right away. But given the situation, I will send someone directly to the Tang Family later to express my gratitude. I’m truly sorry.”
"We just did what people should naturally do...."
“Hey now, even beasts repay kindness. Are you trying to say our Beast Palace is worse than a beast!?”
‘That was just a polite refusal on my part...’
"Then, we will gratefully accept."
"Yes, that's how it should be."
Well, if they're offering a reward, there’s no reason not to accept it gratefully.
Feigning reluctance, I agreed and began heading toward the entrance of Beast Valley.
It was about time for us to make our exit, after all.
“Then, we will take our leave now.”
“We shall escort you to the entrance of the valley.”
Though the Beast Palace was in utter chaos with the evacuation preparations, the Palace Lord and a few elders insisted on seeing us off at the valley entrance.
We set out for the entrance of Beast Valley, accompanied by them.
“Ah, so this is a Blue-Spotted Centipede?”
“Yes, as for the lizards, there’s no specific name for them in the Central Plains, so I’ve named them Snow-Ice Lizards. They emit cold energy.”
“If they emit cold energy, then they must be spiritual creatures!? I’m envious. Their name sounds so similar to mine, I’m tempted.”
The woman who walked with us asking questions as we approached the entrance was the same one who had been most combative earlier.
As it turned out, her name was Seolpyo, meaning “Snow Leopard” in our language. She was both an elder and the Palace Lord’s daughter.
Though her skin was dark, making her more suited to “Black Leopard” than “Snow Leopard”.
The reason for the different surnames was because they didn’t use real names here, just animal nicknames.
They were really people who were serious about animals.
I could understand it since I had directly given myself the nickname Maewoon Fabre in my previous life too.
“Yes, and the spider is a Human-Faced Spider. The reason it has Hwa-eun’s appearance is because it takes the form of what the person whose yang energy it absorbed thinks is most beautiful."
“Oh my! Then? Young Miss Hwa-eun, you must be very pleased!”
“Well, yes…”
Nunim blushed under Seolpyo’s envious gaze.
It was understandable for Nunim to feel embarrassed.
Every time Yohwa sucked up yang energy from me, it was as if I was expressing that I thought Nunim was the most beautiful. Indirectly, it meant I was confessing daily that I considered her the most beautiful woman.
As I chatted with Seolpyo and we nearly reached the entrance of Beast Valley...
Just as we were about to exchange final goodbyes, the cry of a beast rang out, something I had only ever heard in my past life at a zoo.
-Puuuuuh! Puuuuuh!
“Young Hero, if it gives birth, may I have the baby, wait, is that an Xiang!?”
If it's "Xiang" then in the Central Plains that refers to an elephant.
'Elephant hyung is here?'
It was said that Asian elephants originally lived in the Central Plains too, and that even in this southern Nanman region, wild elephants would occasionally appear in my past life, so it wasn’t exactly surprising. What was surprising, however, was that the first to react to the sound of the elephant’s cry was Seolpyo.
She darted forward, leaving us behind.
But for some reason, Seolpyo stopped in her tracks after just a few steps.
And when she, who had rushed ahead, stared blankly toward the hill, soon after, two elephants poked their heads out from the top of the hill.
-Thud... thud... thud...
Two massive elephants revealed themselves under the moonlight.
The overwhelming presence of the animal kingdom’s monarchs, the mighty elephant hyungs.
But upon closer look, something was clearly wrong with the two elephants.
Bathed in moonlight, their backs and hindquarters were completely swarming with bright red ants.
-Ssssshhh!
“Th-the elephants!”
The elephants’ bodies were already covered in ants, their jaws sunk in deep.
And more ants were swarming behind the elephants.
Seolpyo, who just a moment ago was charging ahead, now stumbled back in shock at the horrifying sight.
The elephants cried out as if begging for help and charged toward us, but they collapsed just before reaching the entrance of Beast Valley.
-Thud!
-Puuuu!
One of the elephants extended its trunk toward us as if to ask for help one last time.
But it was instantly torn apart and turned into minced meat.
We watched the elephant’s bones become exposed in real time.
The people of the Beast Palace widened their eyes in shock, clearly not expecting the mighty elephant hyungs to be turned into meatballs so easily.
“Th-the elephants!”
“The elephants went down like that in a single blow!”
“Young Hero’s warning was true...”
But there was no time to just be stunned.
“This isn’t the time for that. You must hurry! We don’t know how the ants will move, so even now, at once-”
The creatures following behind the elephants were likely only a hunting unit and not many in number, which meant the entrance hadn’t yet been completely blocked.
Therefore, I was trying to say we should hurry with the evacuation before the main force arrived, but the Beast Palace Head pointed toward the hill with a suppressed groan.
“It seems we’re already too late...”
-Ssssshhh!
At the tip of the Palace Lord’s pointing finger.
From the top of the hill, a massive army of ants surged down, following the path of the hunting party that had pursued the elephants, completely blocking the entrance to Beast Valley.
***
“This is bad...”
“Does this mean we’ll have to fight...?”
“But the elephants were taken out in one go...”
With the entrance completely sealed off, even the elders who had earlier insisted on fighting now wore stunned expressions.
Seeing the mighty elephant hyungs, kings of the animal world, vanish before their eyes seemed to have struck fear into their hearts.
The Beast Palace was a place where people mimicked animals or fought in tandem with them using martial arts.
But now, seeing the strongest among those animals fall in such a futile way, their morale clearly faltered.
Beside me, Nunim spoke in a grave voice.
“What do we do, Soryong? Outside, the Venomous Creature Squad...”
“Knowing how terrifying the ants are, they must have crossed the river to safety.”
“Right, they must have...”
Nunim looked toward the entrance with a troubled expression.
She was worried about the Venomous Creature Squad, but since I had instructed Gu Pae and the others to stay by the riverside, if danger had come their way, they would have crossed the river to escape. So, there was no need to worry about them.
The problem was us.
“How do we get out of here...?”
As I pondered this.
-Kisit!
Yohwa’s voice echoed.
Turning my head, I saw Yohwa rapidly scaling the cliff, looking in our direction.
‘That’s right! We have Yohwa! There really is no such thing as certain death for people, huh?’
If Yohwa could anchor some spider silk or carry us on her back, Nunim and I could still survive.
Just as I was feeling relieved, thinking that even if the sky falls, there's always a hole to crawl out of, Nunim's troubled expression caught my eye.
‘What’s this?’
Even though a path to survival had appeared, Nunim looked even more flustered than before. Turning my head in the direction opposite from where she was looking, I saw the Beast Palace Head and the elders wearing awkward expressions.
And as soon as our eyes met, they quickly looked away.
Come to think of it, this really was a very uncomfortable situation.
We were in a position where Nunim and I might escape, leaving all of them behind.
Even if we offered goodwill and asked Yohwa to anchor spider silk to help climb the cliff, it was unclear how many from the Beast Palace, including their beasts and children, could be saved before the ants moved again...
There wouldn’t be a single person who would happily agree to abandon their animals and flee to save just themselves.
‘Even if we survive, this is the kind of thing that’ll haunt us for the rest of our lives. What do we do?’
At the end of the long corridor, a hundred meters or more, the ants were still gnawing at the elephant’s bones.
Staring at them absentmindedly, I searched my past life memories for anything useful.
Then, as the moon was briefly covered by clouds and darkness enveloped the surroundings, a single piece of knowledge from Fabre’s Encyclopedia in my mind suddenly surfaced.
‘That’s right! There is... a way to save everyone!’
I walked over to the first group of kindred spirits I met in the Central Plains and asked,
“Excuse me, Palace Head.”
A calm response came immediately.
“Young Hero, do not worry about us and just go. You have already fulfilled your duty of righteousness.”
“That’s right, Young Hero. In the world of beasts, to eat and be eaten is only natural. Our Beast Palace is also a part of this world, if we cannot overcome them, then we will simply be devoured.”
They say there are no bad people among those who love animals, right?
Smiling, I asked,
“Well, what if there’s a way for everyone to survive? Would you like to hear it?”
Because I truly believed there was a chance to save everyone.
Though it seemed I’d have to suffer like hell to make it happen.
*****
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