Chapter 84: Valley of Venomous Creatures (7)
Translator: bjgoofy
The Palace Head and Elders of the Beast Palace froze as they stared at the blocked entrance of the Beast Valley.
It wasn’t just that the escape route had been sealed off, but the fact that they had witnessed an elephant vanishing that left them in shock.
An elephant, which did not even fear tigers, cried out in madness for help.
The way it vanished into the ground, like snow melting into the earth, was a horrifying sight they had never seen before.
And something they had never even imagined.
That’s why the elders and the Beast Palace Head gathered at the entrance could only stand dumbfounded as they faced the swarm of ants that had blocked the way.
Amid such a situation, they saw a spider climbing the cliff, and noticed the startled expressions of the Young Hero and the young miss of Sichuan’s Tang Family.
Just for a moment.
At the sight of the spider climbing the cliff, a flicker of hope seemed to appear, but even if they received the spider's help, all the beasts would have to be abandoned.
If they had to abandon beasts as dear to them as their own children or siblings, not many in the Beast Palace would choose that path.
Moreover, the Young Hero and the Tang Family’s young miss were complete strangers who had come to warn them of danger; it would not be right to ask them for more.
If the number of people increased, evacuation would inevitably be delayed, and if their benefactors were put in danger, it seemed better to let them go with peace of mind.
That was when the Young Hero, who had approached cautiously, spoke something unexpected.
Not words of departure, but something completely unexpected.
“Well, what if there’s a way for everyone to survive? Would you like to hear it?”
“There’s a way for everyone to survive!?”
“Of course.”
After hearing the Young Hero’s idea, the Beast Palace Head quickly summoned all the elders back to the main palace hall to gather their opinions.
"...is what he says. What do the Elders think?"
Tap tap tap.
Beast Palace Head Meng Hu tapped the armrest of his chair as he finished speaking.
The tapping, stemming from his anxiety, echoed loudly through the quiet main hall.
“It’s true that he is a righteous person, but since he’s still a young hero, I am worried whether we should really follow his idea. If it were any other matter, perhaps, but if the palace might face annihilation....”
At the Palace Head’s inquiry, the Grand Elder Cheong Woong (TL: Blue Bear) trailed off.
Thinking about the ants they had seen under the moonlight, the Beast Palace was indeed in danger of annihilation.
To follow the opinion of a young hero in such a situation, it was, as he said, a gamble.
The Young Hero was simply too young to follow his suggestion outright.
And they only knew that he was the son-in-law of the Tang Family; they knew nothing else about him.
At that moment, his daughter Seolpyo spoke up.
“Palace Head, no, Father, when it comes to beasts, I admit we might know better, but regarding venomous creatures, isn’t it already widely known that the Tang Family of Sichuan knows far more than us?”
“That’s true.”
“On my way back, I asked Tang Hwa-eun, the daughter of the Tang Family Head, and she said something hard to believe. That the Tang Family acknowledged his talent in handling venomous creatures and accepted him as a son-in-law because of that.”
Though she had been more suspicious of the Young Hero than anyone at first, Seolpyo now spoke as if she supported him more than anyone.
“The Tang Family acknowledged his talent with venomous creatures?”
He had seemed like a strange person because he carried around mysterious venomous creatures, but now they were saying that the Tang Family had recognized him for that very talent.
As Beast Palace Head Meng Hu expressed his surprise, his daughter looked as though recalling something and said,
“Yes, according to Young Miss Hwa-eun, he’s kind of expert? Something like that, anyway.”
“An expert?”
“Yes, someone who is exceptionally skilled in a certain field. She said he handled quite a few things related to venomous creatures, and even if we can’t believe everything, just looking at the venomous creatures he carries, it’s clear he knows things we don’t. So I think trusting him once might not be a bad idea.
He probably knows more about venomous creatures than anyone else here.”
It was indeed a believable story if the Tang Family of Sichuan had accepted him as a son-in-law solely for his talent with venomous creatures.
And then came the daughter's further explanation.
“And though I don’t know about anything else, the Young Hero could have escaped on his own, yet he insisted on risking his life personally. To doubt that is simply not the right thing to do.
Surely you haven’t all forgotten the words you told us Beast Palace members to always keep close to our hearts, have you?”
“Are you referring to the saying ‘Even a crow repays its parents’ kindness’?”
“Yes. Even crows bring food back to the parents that raised them. How could we doubt the Young Hero's resolve when he says he will risk his life? The Young Hero has shown us kindness, it is now time for the Beast Palace to respond.”
“But what will we do if he fails....”
Though the Grand Elder ended with a worried remark, Beast Palace Head Meng Hu rose from his seat and shouted to the elders.
“If the Young Hero fails, the Beast Palace shall be buried together with him in the Beast Valley. But if he succeeds, then the Beast Palace will gain both a benefactor who saved us from annihilation and a hero. Prepare according to the Young Hero’s command!”
“We shall obey!”
“We shall obey!”
As soon as the order from the Palace Head was given, the elders rushed toward the entrance, taking the Beast Palace warriors with them, to where the Young Hero was waiting.
***
“Soryong, are you confident?”
Nunim asked me with an anxious look, staring at the brightening sky.
I scratched my head as I replied.
Honestly, if she asked whether I was confident... I wasn’t sure.
I knew it was possible in theory and remembered the information, but Korea didn’t have army ants, so I had never actually tried it before.
“Well, I’m not so sure....”
Then Nunim grabbed both of my shoulders, pushed me up against a rock, and pleaded.
“Soryong, please don’t joke, just tell me you’re confident.”
‘W-Wall slam? Oh my.'
Nunim's forceful appearance.
But since her face showed a desperate expression, I answered as Nunim requested.
“Yes, I’m confident. And don’t worry. Yohwa will protect me.”
It seemed Nunim was scared because her future husband had to risk his life.
It was my duty to reassure her, wasn’t it?
Once I comforted her, Yohwa’s voice echoed from above my head.
Yohwa must have responded because I mentioned her name.
-Ki-sit!
-Tsururur!
-Gguk-ggu!
Even the centipedes and lizards on Nunim’s shoulder let out lively sounds, as if cheering me on.
Then Nunim looked at me with a troubled expression and spoke.
“I thought having an outstanding husband would be nice... but it’s not! To have to wait with my heart pounding like this....”
She seemed upset at the fact that there was nothing she could do to help.
I hugged Nunim tightly, and she whispered in my arms.
[Soryong, don’t get hurt. If you do, I’ll scold you, so remember that....]
If Nunim scolded me, it wouldn’t be a punishment but a reward, but I nodded at her words. Then, from the entrance, the sound of a two-horned trumpet began to ring.
-Bwooooooo.
And as if the ants were starting to move, the sound of their gathering began to echo.
-Tsurururur!
It was the beginning of the army ant suppression operation.
***
-Tsururur.
Two days after the elephant had collapsed, on a morning that had just dawned, the wave of ants surged forward with a chilling sound.
As the Young Hero had said, the large-jawed ones at the front clicked and surged forward.
Looking to the side, he saw Beast Palace disciples looking ahead with fearful expressions.
The disciples looked around anxiously, fear plain on their face.
‘Are they afraid?’
It was a battle they had never experienced before, and word had spread how the elephants had collapsed two days ago, so it was only natural for the Beast Palace disciples to be afraid.
They had believed the strongest beast was the elephant, so it wasn’t something they could be blamed for.
But since they might break formation due to fear, Meng Hu infused his voice with internal energy and shouted in a powerful tone.
“Disciples of the Beast Palace, hold your ground like Mount Tai!”
"""Yes!"""
As Meng Hu kept the disciples in check and turned to watch the opposite side to confirm the signal from the Young Hero.
He caught sight of the Young Hero calmly watching the front.
Though clearly much younger than the disciples he'd just seen earlier, he kept his eyes firmly on the enemy without looking away.
He was truly a Young Hero worth coveting.
Even without knowing his full capabilities, that posture alone made him a talent desirable enough.
Just as Meng Hu began to understand why the Tang Family Head of Sichuan would offer his daughter to such a person, the sound of the ants swarming in filled his ears.
-Swaaahhh.
Soon, the tide of ants surging in from the entrance of the Beast Valley reached about 11 meters ahead, and it felt as though they were about to pour through the bottleneck opening.
At that moment, the signal they had been waiting for burst out from the Young Hero's lips as he fixed his gaze ahead.
"Now!"
"Now!"
-Fwhooooosh.
With the Young Hero’s shout and Meng Hu echoing it with internal energy, the fire ignited.
Flames that started at the edge of the entrance spread along the canyon wall, and soon the entrance to the Beast Valley, where the tide of ants had surged in, was completely blocked off by fire.
-Fwhoooosh.
-Kyiiii! Kyii!
The ants at the entrance of the Beast Valley screamed as they burned.
But the mass of ants advancing from the long entrance of the valley did not stop.
That’s when the Young Hero shouted again.
"Water buffaloes!"
“Send in the water buffaloes!”
-Thud thud thud thud.
-Crunch! Crack!
At the Young Hero’s command, the water buffaloes charged into the canyon’s entrance. Following the path where ants were trampled and crushed beneath them, the beasts and disciples of the Beast Palace stormed the entrance together.
“Just as the Young Hero said, don’t leave a single one alive!”
“Uwoooooh!”
They couldn’t completely block the ants with fire alone.
The Beast Palace didn’t have an abundance of oil, and it had only just stopped raining recently, so it wasn’t the ideal season for flames to take hold.
That was why the Young Hero had only asked the Beast Palace for one thing.
The ants used a hunting unit at the front, and the plan was to cut through it with fire and wipe them out before the flames died down.
Charging in with water buffaloes and cleaning up the scattered ones behind, it was, just as the Young Hero had said, not a difficult task.
Each ant was not particularly strong.
So they crushed the heads of the large, hook-mandibled ones underfoot or bashed them with clubs as they advanced, until fire once again appeared in sight.
Their bodies were drenched in the bodily fluids and acrid stench of the ants, and beyond the fading flames atop the hill stretched an endless wave of crimson ants.
“P-Palace Head.”
The disciples, having arrived at the wall of fire and seeing the red swarm of ants, turned toward him with fearful expressions.
Meng Hu gave the order to the disciples.
“Retreat to the second entrance as the Young Hero instructed. Tend to the injured and wounded beasts. Toss as many ants as you can into the flames!”
“Yes, Palace Head!”
Meng Hu, the disciples, and the elders swiftly gathered the injured beasts and disciples, flung crushed ants into the fire, and began retreating.
Then, in stark contrast to the retreating disciples of the Beast Palace, the young Young Hero approached the flames.
As they moved back, Meng Hu sharpened his vision to look back at the Young Hero, who, wearing a calm expression, began throwing rocks at the ants from the now extinguished entrance.
“Come on! Over here! I’m right here!”
He taunted the ants, throwing stones at them to lure them in.
The ants that had hesitated at the extinguished flames seemed enraged after being hit by the stones, and soon began chasing the Young Hero. What followed was a bizarre scene of a tiny Young Hero being chased by thousands, tens of thousands of red ants.
He ran just ahead of the red tide, seemingly about to be swallowed whole at any moment, in a precarious chase that continued on.
“T-That’s insane!”
“He’s going to get caught at this rate!”
The voices of the Beast Palace people watching the Young Hero were full of worry.
Beside them, the young miss of the Tang Family had her hands clenched tightly, anxiety written all over her face.
-Swaaahh!
As the Young Hero completed about half of the first circular route, the Grand Elder, wiping off ant fluids, asked,
“Do you think it will go as the Young Hero said?”
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
Just as the Young Hero precariously completed the full circle around the first bottleneck, the ants swarming in from the entrance began to merge with the ones he had lured while running.
Then, mingling with the ant swarm, he leapt several times using Qinggong, and in a flash, the Young Hero disappeared.
He was completely swallowed by the swarm of ants.
From beside them, the cry of the Tang Family's young miss burst forth, as if in a wail.
“Soryong! S-Soryong!”
“Young Hero!”
Forgetting even the Young Hero’s warning not to rush to him, Meng Hu nearly leapt out after him.
It was at that moment.
-Fwoosh!
Something shot up from the ant swarm and was pulled onto the sharp rock in the center of the grassland.
What came into view was the Young Hero’s face, brushing off ants with a mischievous expression.
Tied at the waist to the spider’s thread, the Young Hero was being hoisted onto the rock.
And just as he had described, the ants entering the first circle of the bottleneck began to bite each other, slowly rotating inside the bottleneck and gradually increasing their speed.
-Swaaaahh.
***
“Ow ow ow....”
-Crunch.
I crushed the head of a medium-sized ant that had bitten me and threw it down.
-Ki-sit!
Yohwa, annoyed even though I was the one in pain, growled at the ant that had bitten me.
With a frustrated expression, I said to Yohwa,
“You don’t have to say it, I already know Nunim is going to scold me again.”
Nunim had said she would scold me if I got hurt, and just as I had completed one lap of the first bottleneck ring and was merging into the ant swarm, I slipped on ant fluids and was instantly overwhelmed.
Thankfully, I had anticipated something like this and tied Yohwa’s spider thread to my waist and left Cho on Yohwa’s shoulder, so they managed to pull me up just in time. Otherwise, I could have ended up a squashed meatball.
Cho must have signaled Yohwa after hearing my voice, and I was immediately hoisted up, thank goodness, or it could have ended very badly.
Thanks to the Iron Chest Technique, I wasn’t seriously injured, but I was still stinging all over.
Lying limp on the rock, I looked down.
Army ants were spiraling madly in the massive circular grassy area, forming a vortex.
Ants were still flooding in from the entrance, but the swarm kept rotating in a circle.
A bizarre phenomenon that occurs when nearly blind army ants are separated from their hunting party.
This was the ant mill.
In martial arts terms, Ant Ring!
Army ants can't see, so they rely solely on the pheromones of their hunting party to run forward.
So, if the guiding hunting party disappears and only mid- to small-sized worker ants issuing forward signals remain, they sometimes fall into that state.
This one was artificially created by eliminating the hunting party.
Those ants will now run until they drop dead.
That is the deadly ant vortex, ant mill.
'Farewell, guys.'
I silently offered a prayer for the souls of those running toward death.
*****
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