Chapter 90: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (5)
Translator: bjgoofy
The sight of a cobalt-colored snake flying through the sky in a rippling motion like a wave felt truly alien.
It was as if a sea serpent was swimming through the blue ocean, except it was flying through the sky.
As it swam through the air and exposed its side, two emerald-colored horns on its head and something running along its back from head to tail caught the sunlight and sparkled.
‘Is that a dorsal fin?’
With a dorsal fin-like shape protruding from its back and it floating between the valley ridges, the exact size was hard to gauge, but it seemed about the size of the snakes I had caught not long ago.
Its size, appearance, and the fact that it could fly, there was nothing about it that I didn’t like.
It looked amazing, but catching a creature that is fast, that glides, jumps, and charges, I could handle those to some degree, but a snake that flies in the sky?
I had never experienced such a thing before, so I could only stare up at it blankly.
After all, I specialize in collecting ground-crawling creatures.
‘But seriously, how on earth do you catch that?’
I had been watching it for a while, and it had just completely vanished from sight.
"Well then, we should retreat a bit. Let's fall back about a three hundred meters."
Due to the creature’s appearance, we had scattered and hidden, and now came Grandfather’s voice commanding us to retreat about three hundred meters.
Everyone quickly obeyed Grandfather’s command and followed behind.
But even though I heard Grandfather’s words, my mind was filled with thoughts of how to catch that thing, and I kept turning to look back. That’s when Seol noona came over and urged me.
“Ryong-ah, what are you doing? Let’s go.”
"Ah, Nunim. Yes, I understand."
Prompted by Seol noona, I snapped out of it, turned my body, and started following after Grandfather.
After all, just staring at it wouldn’t make a method appear.
Then, as if reading something from my expression, Seol noona asked with a smile on her face.
“Your face is full of worry, unlike the excited look you had before. Why? Think you can’t catch it? Or does it look too hard to catch?”
“Well, it’s not like I lack experience, but this is my first time seeing a flying snake. How in the world do I bring that thing down?”
Just as she said, I had no idea how to even approach that creature.
At my words, Seol noona grabbed my cheek and shook it, speaking as if I was cute.
“Since you go around with a bunch of spiritual creatures, I thought you’d obviously know, but little Ryong doesn’t even know the basics? Is it because you’ve only caught spiritual creatures?”
“What do you mean I don’t know? Don’t know what?”
How could she say such a thing about this Maewoon Fabre? Talking about basics to me?
I was about to feel a little hurt by Seol noona, but upon hearing her explanation, I realized I really was someone who didn’t even know the basics.
“I don’t know how it flies, but it can’t fly endlessly. So, it’ll have to come down eventually. It’s a living creature after all, it has to eat and sleep, right?
In our Beast Palace, we tame beasts like that. No matter how fierce they are, they always let their guard down when eating or sleeping, and that’s when they’re easiest to catch.
It seems the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons told us to retreat so he could observe the creature for a few days, to find out what it eats, when it sleeps, and where it sleeps.”
‘Hooh... why didn’t I think of that?’
Come to think of it, what she said really was the most basic approach.
Even when I caught Snow and Ice, didn’t I watch them for several days just to find out what they ate?
So this was a method that targeted a single moment in that process.
Just like Seol noona said, it’s a living being, so it would sleep and eat.
Even if it lived on energy like the centipedes, it would surely come down to the ground to sleep.
Even thinking back to games I played in my past life, the moment of hunting is always when the opponent is most vulnerable, isn’t it?
‘Yeah, the moment they go for CS is definitely the weakest.’
Seeing the flying creature now made me understand why Grandfather wasn’t flustered and calmly ordered everyone to retreat to the valley entrance.
“So there was a method like that!?”
“Yes, so just trust your Seol noona. I’ll catch it and hang it right on our Ryong’s shoulder. Didn’t I say your noona would catch it for you?”
Somehow, I felt reassured by Seol noona’s confident words.
‘Wait, then what were all those things my friends said in my past life about noonas being a nuisance?’
It made me think that the things my friends with noonas used to say and the things I read on the internet back then couldn't be trusted after all.
***
Just as Seol noona had predicted, once we retreated about three hundred meters, Grandfather immediately began searching for a new campsite.
Until now, we had simply wandered nearby and spent the nights under trees, but now that we knew the location where the creature appeared, we needed to establish a base and move accordingly.
“For now, we’ll probably need to make a place to stay for a few days. Is there somewhere nearby where we can take shelter from rain, like a cave? Or perhaps a large rock formation in the valley?
Since we need to follow that creature for a few days to figure out when it eats, what it eats, where its home is, it seems we’ll have to stay around here for the time being.
It would be good if we could avoid the night dew, too.”
Man of Ten Thousand Poisons asked Seol noona, who had brought along the martial artists of Beast Palace to assist us, if there might be somewhere nearby where we could stay for a few days.
To that question, she asked him in return.
“Then, would it be alright to build something here?”
“Build?”
“Yes, we can put something together quickly.”
“This place is nice, but... building something?”
It was the entrance of the valley, with flowing water, making it easy to secure drinking water, and there were even a fair number of fish swimming around in the stream.
Since it wasn’t a bad location for a campsite and Grandfather nodded his approval after surveying the area, Seol noona gave a sharp nod to the martial artists of Beast Palace.
“Get ready.”
“Yes, Elder!”
Seol noona, being the daughter of the Beast Palace Head, also held the title of Elder.
I had heard that since her father was the Palace Head, she had taken on the role of Elder to gain experience before eventually becoming Palace Head herself. At her command, the people of Beast Palace swiftly shot off into the jungle.
-Thump. Thud.
-Thud.
A short while later, large bamboo stalks and banana plant leaves were moved over to the edge of the valley where we were.
And also the tropical jungle vines.
The machetes they had at their waists, used to cut through the jungle to get here, proved to be extremely useful in many ways.
With only bamboo, banana leaves, vines, and machetes, the martial artists of Beast Palace began constructing a temporary residence in no time at all.
They were quite experienced, showing skilled hands. It reminded me of YouTubers from my past life who built temporary shelters in Vietnam.
To block the moisture rising from the ground, they cut bamboo to make raised platforms and then set up pillars on all four sides, covering them with banana leaves to make a roof, completing a temporary residence in an instant.
‘As expected from people who live in the jungle? Damn, if I brought these folks onto a channel, the views would be insane.’
As the campsite was completed in just a few hours, orders were given.
Grandfather immediately deployed the martial artists for surveillance.
He, too, was deeply serious about venomous creatures.
Just like me, it seemed he was eager to catch the creature as soon as possible.
“Hoho, to have a resting place prepared this quickly. Then we can start the next step without worry. First, let’s discreetly climb to the upper valley and begin observing the creature. Could Beast Palace take charge of the night watch?”
“Yes, Elder. We’ll take care of the night. It’s probably better that way.”
“Then during daylight, the Tang Family will take over, and at night, we’ll leave it to Beast Palace. Gu Pae, take two people with you and follow the creature to confirm its location and report back.”
“Yes, sir!”
It was decided that the Tang Family would handle the day and Beast Palace would handle the night when it came to watching the Flying Serpent. Following Grandfather’s command, Gu Pae led members from the Poison Blood Squad, where he had once served, up the valley in the direction where the creature had vanished, moving in stealth.
Then came Seol noona’s next command.
“Then, the Beast Palace people rest until nightfall, and some should prepare dinner.”
“Understood, Elder!”
At Seol noona’s command, about half of the Beast Palace people disappeared into the temporary bamboo shelters, while the rest left the valley to go hunting.
At that moment, Seol noona quietly beckoned to me.
“Ryong, come over here.”
“You called for me?”
Thinking she had something to say, I went over and checked why she called, and she nodded her head.
“Yes. Soryong, later tonight when the warriors are out tracking the Flying Serpent, shall we go check on it too? Let’s take Hwa-eun with us and go as a group of three.”
“Tonight, together?”
“Yes.”
It seemed like Seol noona was suggesting we go on patrol later at night to see if the martial artists were properly watching the Flying Serpent. But when I hesitated for a moment and didn’t answer right away, she blinked and asked.
“You don’t want to?”
She asked if I didn’t want to, but her expression clearly showed that she didn’t really believe I would say no.
I quickly waved my hand and answered.
As if I would ever refuse an invitation to go see the Flying Serpent?
Even if it were someone I hated, I would still go along. And if it’s someone I like, then what does it matter who else is there?
Just ignore everyone and focus entirely on the one I like.
The only reason I didn’t answer Seol noona’s proposal immediately was because of something else.
“N-no, not at all. It’s just that... I did learn how to enhance my eyesight, but I'm not skilled at it at night."
At that, she clapped her palm and recalled what she had said earlier about me not even knowing the basics.
“Ah, right. Ryong, you haven’t been a martial artist for long, didn’t you?”
“Yes, noona.”
“Then, until night falls, Ryong, you should learn how to enhance eyesight with me."
“But I already know how, Seol noona.”
I had already learned the method to enhance eyesight. I just wasn’t used to it yet. I said there was no need to learn it again, but Seol noona wiggled her finger and said,
“Do you know why the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons asked our Beast Palace to handle the night watch earlier?”
"Well?"
As I scratched my head at her question, she smiled and pointed to her eyes.
“Watch closely.”
She told me to look into her eyes, so I awkwardly made eye contact. Then I watched as her pupils slowly widened.
Soon her irises completely disappeared, leaving only her pupils, making her eyes look completely blank, like she was spacing out.
“This is!?”
As far as I knew, pupils only adjusted automatically depending on the amount of light, but she was adjusting them at will.
With her pupils that enlarged, it was obvious she’d take in more light even at night, making it easier to distinguish objects under moonlight or starlight, and everything would appear brighter.
“Amazing, right? One of the techniques our Beast Palace ancestors created after observing owls. If you continuously concentrate your internal energy into your eyes, you tire out quickly, but this method lets you see better at night using only a small amount of internal energy. We call it the Cat's Dark Night Technique.”
‘What an incredible technique!’
The venomous creatures I wanted to catch were mostly nocturnal.
Centipedes, scorpions, snakes, toads, frogs, they were mostly active at night.
So if such a miraculous technique existed, I had to learn it immediately.
It was basically like gaining night vision goggles.
“You want to learn it, don’t you?”
At her question, with a wide smile, I nodded my head about three hundred times per second.
***
-Splashhhh!
The fin-like structure that had been spread between the green horns on its head folded, and the Flying Serpent dove headfirst into the moonlit valley stream, sending up a spray of water.
A moment later, it rose again with a carp in its mouth.
As it began to slowly swallow the large carp flapping in the air, Seol noona and Hwa-eun admired the sight and whispered in awe.
[As expected, it’s a Fire Carp!]
[It was the same three days ago. So it’s certain now, the creature eats Fire Carps that live in this valley.]
[But why does it only go after Fire Carps? It’s not even like they’re Hundred-Year Fire Carps or anything.]
[Who knows? Maybe they just taste better?]
What it had in its mouth wasn’t just any carp but a red koi.
I checked just in case, but it wasn’t a spiritual-level carp.
Seol noona and Hwa-eun found it fascinating that the creature only ate Fire Carps, but the first thought that popped into my head was,
‘Damn, this guys’s food expenses will be no joke.'
‘Not just any carp, it's actually picking out red kois to eat...’
In my previous life, I definitely couldn't have afforded to keep it, but since it wouldn't be me paying for the food but my father-in-law.
So I decided to focus on catching the creature first.
So for now, I decided to organize everything we had learned so far.
[Then, what we know up to this point is that this creature eats Fire Carp once every three days, and that it sleeps on sun-warmed rocks during the day instead of having a nest?]
[And that it can only fly for about thirty minutes at a time.]
[Ah, there was that too.]
As Hwa-eun said, the creature’s flight had a limit.
Its maximum was about thirty minutes of flight.
Its speed wasn’t particularly fast, and after each flight, it needed to rest for roughly the same amount of time.
Watching how it hunted the Fire Carp, it seemed, just as Grandfather said, its venom wasn’t very strong.
Seeing the Fire Carp stiffen up, it seemed to be some kind of paralysis poison.
We had figured out most of what we needed to know, so the next day, we compiled all the information we had and immediately launched into the hunt, targeting the creature when it attacked the Fire Carp.
The information we’d gathered so far was surprisingly underwhelming, it made me question why this thing was even the top of the Twenty-Four Poison Branches, but once the fight began, the creature’s true nature was revealed.
-Shaaaa!
-Bang!
“Aaaargh!”
A massive body nearly six meters long.
A skin unnaturally tough and firm.
On top of that, the physical impact generated by the energy of its descent.
Its venom might not be strong enough to make it one of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, but just like when it hunted the Fire Carp, when it smashed into the rocky ground, shattering stones and sending fragments flying in all directions, it caused a slew of injuries.
‘What is this, a missile!?’
"Everyone retreat!"
Our first attempt at the Flying Serpent ended in a spectacular failure.
*****
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