Chapter 88: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (3)

Translator: bjgoofy

“Centipede Chain Formation!”

-Tsururur!

At my shout, Cho, Hyang, and Bin let out warning sounds as they squirmed along the floor and clung to the bamboo ahead as if hugging it.

And then, they adorably bit into the bamboo.

-Crunch.

-Crack.

Then came the exclamations.

“Oh my, how cute!”

“Aww, so adorable.”

Hwa-eun and Seol noona wore expressions like they couldn’t handle how cute the centipedes looked.

Using the Beast Heart Technique learned from my adoptive father and the Beast Chain Formation learned from Seolpyo noona, I deployed the Centipede Chain Formation.

Originally, the Beast Heart Technique used a beast connected to the user to launch continuous attacks on the opponent, but when our centipedes executed it, it just looked... cute.

The moment they sprang from my body to bite a person, the speed was fast, but since they were crawling on the floor, or maybe due to lack of proficiency in the Centipede Chain Formation, causing delays in command transmission, their slow, wriggling crawl and nibbling action looked incredibly adorable.

While Hwa-eun and Seol noona were melting from the cuteness, as their dad, I was a little disappointed.

I had been hoping for a cool display from the centipedes.

I had imagined a series of fierce, chained attacks like noona’s Fierce Wolf Chain Formation, but why did this end up being so cute…

So I muttered without thinking.

“This isn’t it…”

-Tsrit?

-Tsuru?

-Ts?

Right away, the centipedes sent the feeling of “Did we do something wrong?” so I quickly waved my hands and answered.

“No, no. You did great. Aw, my little ones did so well.”

I had imagined them moving coolly and fiercely biting into the target, but it felt like our centipedes still needed time to grow.

I did feel a little disappointed, but I called them back into my arms.

Come to think of it, they hadn’t even reached a year old yet.

‘Someday, you’ll grow big. Dad believes you’ll become giant centipedes like your mom.’

“Alright, let’s come back now. Good job.”

-Tsuru!

-Tsururu!

Then, proud of themselves for fulfilling their dad’s request, the little ones wriggled back toward me.

I gently patted the heads of the ones crawling up.

What I was doing now wasn’t anything special.

It had been fifteen days since I received the Beast Heart Technique from my adoptive father and registered the centipedes.

Since the core mystery of the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Technique branched from the Beast Heart Technique, I separated the poison arts from it and accepted the original form of the Beast Heart Technique. It didn't require much time to take root.

Furthermore, I was able to continue the level I had already trained to, so my proficiency rose quickly.

So, to confirm the connection with the three centipedes registered on the first day, I tried operating the Beast Chain Formation that Seolpyo noona had taught me.

Of course, when registering the centipedes, I didn’t do the whole lying down and letting them spit out the saliva as my adoptive father had instructed.

No matter what, I couldn't do that in my right mind.

It somehow felt like I was becoming less than human.

So instead, I had them suck on my pinky and completed the registration that way.

'No matter how I think about it, that really wasn't right.'

Recalling that day made me shudder, and I asked Seol noona.

“Seol noona, by the way, has there still been no word?”

“Mm, the martial artists went to check a place that’s about three days from here, so there should be word soon. Just wait a little longer. Still, you sure ask every single day.”

“Ha, haha. I’m just curious…”

Seolpyo noona gave me a sharp look, noticing I asked every day.

What I had asked about was news of the Flying Celestial Serpent, but Seolpyo noona spoke with a slightly sulky expression.

“Still, Soryong, I feel a little disappointed.”

“Huh? Disappointed?”

“I mean, I know you love venomous creatures, but it kind of feels like if that Flying Celestial Serpent hadn’t existed, you never would’ve become my brother?”

“Th-that can’t be! There’s no way that’s true!”

“Hmm… I don’t think that’s quite right.”

She’d spent a few days with me and seemed to have me all figured out.

I quickly shook my head and answered.

“No, it’s not like that. What I was worried about at the time was whether someone like me, lacking in so many ways, could really become Seol noona’s brother. That’s all.”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

‘Sigh, I never knew having a sweet noona could be this scary. Rather, it would be less burdensome to have a sister who just says “you punk” or “hey you” like in my previous life.'

Since I never had an older sister, I didn't know, but the current Seol noona feels vastly different from the ideal noonas I saw in my previous life.

I wondered if all noonas in the Central Plains were like this, but based on what Hwa-eun said, that didn’t seem to be the case either.

“Well, anyway. Ah, Hwa-eun, should we take the lizards today and visit that flower field? Lots of mushrooms grow there, and they taste great when stir-fried.”

“Shall we? Then?”

As Hwa-eun and Seol noona’s attention turned elsewhere, I watched for an opening and quickly slipped out of the training grounds, heading toward where the Tang Family’s warriors were stationed.

I figured if I stuck around, I’d probably be dragged all the way to the flower field, so I made an early escape.

Seol noona was the type to drag someone around the entire day if left unchecked.

But it wasn’t like I was just ditching outright.

While I had spent the past fifteen days adjusting to the original form of the Beast Heart Technique mixed into the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Technique, the warriors of Sichuan’s Tang Family had been using this Beast Palace as their base to capture venomous creatures in the area, so I was going to check on that.

Since I checked on it daily, I had an excuse, so to speak.

“Alright, we’ve been told to keep it clean, so this needs to be cleared out by today.”

“Understood, Squad Leader!”

“By the way, where did you put the scorpions caught yesterday by the Poison Blood Squad?”

“Over here, Squad Leader.”

When I reached the guest quarters inside Beast Valley, I heard the voices of Squad Leader Gu Pae and the warriors coming from the courtyard.

As I stepped inside, Squad Leader Gu Pae welcomed me with a cheerful voice.

“You’ve come, Young Master Soryong?”

“Thank you for your hard work, Squad Leader Gu Pae.”

Then I asked how the issues I raised yesterday had been addressed.

“No problem, Young Master Soryong. As you instructed, we did the cleaning, and we’ve been catching rats and locusts outside to use as feed.”

“Are they eating well?”

“There are a few snakes that haven’t eaten yet, but the spiders are eating fine.”

“It’s not a big problem. Snakes often go without food for several days.”

I was receiving a few status reports and inspecting the bamboo cages when.

“Soryong, are you here?”

At the sound of a voice, I turned my head and saw Grandfather Man of Ten Thousand Poisons entering the courtyard.

Following behind him were the Poison Blood Squad Leader and a few Poison Blood Squad members.

They had gone out five days ago, and it seemed they had just returned from their expedition.

“Welcome back, Grandfather. You’ve worked hard.”

“Yes. Any progress with the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Technique?”

“Yes, I’ve been making steady progress.”

“Good, that’s how it should be. Ah, and take a look at this for me. Poison Blood Squad Leader, bring it over.”

Grandfather, looking like he had caught something fascinating, instructed the squad leader to bring it.

As I rubbed my hands together and waited with anticipation to see what kind of creature it might be, the squad leader brought over a small bamboo basket and opened the lid.

Inside was a spider.

But it wasn’t just any spider.

Its abdomen looked as if it had been sliced with a blade, and the cross-section revealed a coin-like pattern.

“This is! Coin Trapdoor Spider!”

“Coin Trapdoor Spider?”

At the name, Grandfather looked at me with curiosity.

Pointing to the spider with a surprised expression, I said,

“Yes, this creature is called the Coin Trapdoor Spider.”

The Coin Trapdoor Spider is a type of ancient spider known in the West as the Chinese Hourglass Spider.

Its scientific name is Cyclocosmia ricketti.

Its distinctive feature is its oddly shaped abdomen, which looks like it has been cut cleanly, revealing a flat, circular pattern resembling a coin.

That coin-like appearance earned it the name Coin Trapdoor Spider in China.

In the West, because the abdomen resembles an hourglass, it’s also called the Hourglass Spider.

It’s an incredibly rare species.

In my past life, it wasn’t even available in Korea.

There’s also a saying that it blocks the entrance of its burrow with its rear end, but that’s not quite accurate. This species of spider is a type of trapdoor spider, which lives in underground burrows. It is presumed that the flatness of its abdomen comes from living in vertical tunnels.

“It looked unusual, so I thought Soryong would like it, was I right?”

“Hehe…”

At Grandfather’s comment, I scratched my head sheepishly. Then he asked,

Clearly, he had been curious too.

“So, has Beast Palace located the Flying Celestial Serpent yet?”

“No, not yet. The martial artists sent to confirm the previously discovered location haven’t returned yet.”

“Is that so? Still, those people know the jungles of Yunnan better than anyone, so I’m sure they’ll find him soon. When I went out this time, I took people from Beast Palace with me, they were a big help.”

“Is that so?”

Well, Yunnan is practically their front yard, so it would be strange if they didn’t know.

As I nodded, Grandfather continued speaking.

“I’ve only seen the Twenty-Four Poison Branches once myself when I was young. It’s been so long, I’m looking forward to it too.”

The words Twenty-Four Poison Branches I heard again.

Since I hadn’t gotten a detailed explanation last time, I hurriedly asked,

“Grandfather, what exactly are the Twenty-Four Poison Branches?”

They’re supposedly selected from among the high-grade venomous creatures just below the Ten Great Venomous Creatures. It felt like a subquest had appeared alongside the main quest, so I had to confirm.

‘It must refer to twenty-four venomous creatures, collecting them sounds like fun.’

To be honest, I only got Yohwa because she had been raised by humans, so she wasn’t very hostile toward people, and I’d stumbled upon her by chance. The other Ten Great Venomous Creatures were surely final bosses.

Even Yohwa had mist that induced hallucinations in humans, powerful physical abilities, and even the ability to transform her body.

If I had tried to catch her in a normal way, it would never have been easy.

So it was certain that finding and capturing the other Ten Great Venomous Creatures wouldn’t be easy either.

After all, they were the main quest.

For that reason, instead of sitting around waiting for news like a fruit falling from a tree, I thought maybe I should target the Twenty-Four Poison Branches, one step below the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, as subquests in between.

That was the idea behind my question.

Then came Grandfather’s answer.

“Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t explained the Twenty-Four Poison Branches yet. Listen carefully.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“First, I should explain what the term means. Just like the Twelve Earthly Branches are attached to the Twelve Hours that divide the day, in our Tang Family, we divide the day into twenty-four hours, and each hour is associated with a venomous creature. That’s the Twenty-Four Poison Branches.” (TL Note: More about 12 earthly branches can be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthly_Branches))

‘Oh, like Tang Family’s unique time system or something?’

He was saying they divided the day into twenty-four parts and assigned one venomous creature to each, similar to the twelve earthly branches.

As I nodded thinking it made sense, Grandfather continued.

“Also, the Twenty-Four Poison Branches refer to venomous creatures classified by the Tang Family as stronger than high-grade venomous creatures but not quite on the level of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures.”

“Oooh. So they’re stronger than high-grade ones but fall just short of the Ten Great ones. Impressive.”

“Yes, it’s said that the our predecessors, after identifying the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, created the Twenty-Four Poison Branches out of regret for those that didn’t make the cut.”

Hearing that the creatures who narrowly missed the ranking were gathered separately made my anticipation explode.

Seeing my eyes sparkling, Grandfather chuckled and continued.

“And if we’re talking about a flying snake, then that’s the Flying Celestial Serpent, corresponding to the midnight hour of ‘zi’ in the Twelve Hours. It’s the first of six divisions of the Twenty-Four Poison Branches. That beginning is Heaven and Earth are dark and yellow, this one is the first.

It signifies ‘Heaven’.”

“Heaven!”

‘Damn, that’s awesome. The first one is “Heaven” and the venomous creature is named Flying Celestial Serpent.’ (TL Note: It could also be translated as Flying Heavenly Divine Serpent)

The first of the Twenty-Four Poison Branches, ‘Heaven’.

I shuddered at the name, the meaning, and the explanation.

And just as Grandfather finished his explanation.

“Ah, there’s Soryong! I knew you’d be here!”

Came the voice of Seol noona.

Did she really chase me all the way here? But after greeting Grandfather with a smile, she spoke.

“Rong, we finally got word.”

“Word?”

“The news you’ve been waiting for most. The Flying Snake. Oh, the Tang Family calls it the Flying Celestial Serpent, right? The martial artists who went into the jungle spotted a flying one in Gorge Water Valley. When Father heard how anxious you were, he said we’d go right away tomorrow. Hehe.”

“Ooooohhh!”

At last, news had arrived confirming the Flying Celestial Serpent I had long awaited.

Now the time had come to capture the first of the Twenty-Four Poison Branches, ‘Heaven’.