Chapter 114: Coagulating Poison (2)

Translator: bjgoofy

There are several advantages to using the venom of the Russell's viper.

First of all, their venom is incredibly potent.

The LD50, the median lethal dose indicating the toxicity of the venom, is only 0.16 milligrams when injected intravenously.

This is the amount required to kill half of the test animals; based on this, the lethal dose for humans is approximately 40 to 70 milligrams.

For adult specimens, it is known that they carry around 250 milligrams of venom in dry weight, and considering that snake venom contains about 90 percent moisture, the liquid volume reaches approximately 2,500 milligrams.

If we take the average lethal dose of 55 milligrams, then the amount of venom carried by one Russell's viper is enough to kill about 45 people.

That is why, even in my previous life, the Indian cobra, saw-scaled viper, Russell's viper, and common krait were called the four most venomous snakes of India.

Russell's viper is the culprit behind 40 percent of venomous snake fatalities in Southeast Asia each year, making it a particularly vicious one.

And in other words, this also means that with even a small amount, one can send chills down the spines of those Blood Cult bastards.

If it's applied to a flying needle for a surprise attack, it’s not just internal energy that matters, even if they run, there’s no guarantee they’ll survive.

“I guess I’ll have to go capture more from Yunnan.”

Grandfather, who saw the ink made of blood, smiled as if he had forgotten about how he had been scolding me harshly for days.

Because, really, this is a fine poison.

If you land a hit, it offers our side a soda-like refreshing satisfaction, and to the enemy, a stifling pain like swallowing sweet potatoes, it’s truly a good poison.

“Yes, it would be good to send some martial artists to capture more. These creatures don’t prefer forests, but rather wide open plains or areas near residences, so checking those places should suffice.”

“Oh-ho, wide grassy fields near residences? Got it.”

“Ah, and we probably don’t need to capture that many. They can multiply quickly.”

“Is that so?”

And what else is good?

These creatures are easy to capture since they prefer wide grassy fields instead of forests.

Their main prey includes mice and lizards, and they make their habitat near human settlements where such animals are commonly found.

Which means they do cause significant harm to people, but that also makes collection easy.

Is that all?

One of their traits is that they are ovoviviparous.

Yes, unlike other snakes that lay eggs, Russell's vipers give birth to live young, which is one of their advantages.

They even give birth to a lot at once, around 20 to 40 per batch. In this era where breeding is not easy due to the lack of incubators and thermometers, they hatch the babies themselves, making it ideal for increasing their numbers.

Since they hatch inside the mother’s body and come out already born.

Well, once they are born, isn’t it like a walk in the park from there?

After the babies are born, they can be raised easily using the pinkies produced at our ever-running pinky production factory in Wuhan.

So, one could say that they are one of the most useful venomous creatures for our Tang Family.

The only drawback is that they are extremely aggressive, so great care must be taken when raising them.

“Yes, since they give birth to live young rather than laying eggs, it's easy to increase their numbers.”

“Oh! Really? They give birth to live young? That’s great. Good. Then, we should send the martial artists and the head of the Venomous Creature Squad who went to Yunnan back again to capture as many as possible.”

“Please do so.”

My grandfather, who had been in a bad mood for several days due to Bin’s disappearance, was finally in a good mood again.

***

Hwa-eun, who had been scolded by her grandfather for several days, gathered all the children at the pavilion while Soryong had gone with her grandfather to the Venomous Creatures Garden to talk.

She felt that today she needed to give the children a bit of guidance.

It might have sounded like nagging, but after what happened with Bin, she was now firmly convinced that showing only unconditional love wasn’t always the best way.

After a few days of reflection, she realized that if she had not indulged Bin’s petulance so much, she might have prevented her from leaving home.

If she had been a bit firmer when the girl got upset, and scolded her saying, “You shouldn’t treat your father that way” this incident might have been prevented.

So she had the communication mirror bounce the signal to summon Yohwa, and dragged Cho, who had been sleeping deeply at Soryong’s place ever since she became a Flying Celestial Centipede, out into the open.

Of course, that included Yeondu, the Flying Celestial Serpent, who was curled up next to Cho.

The creature barely moved except for once every two or three days when it ate one of Fire Carp’s offspring, so it usually remained coiled up in Soryong’s quarters.

Before Soryong departed for the Venomous Creatures Garden, Hyang, Snow, and Ice had already been gathered, so with the exception of Bin, who had left home, all the venomous creatures were now assembled at the pavilion.

“Everyone's here.”

Hwa-eun looked at each of the children she had gathered.

Cho, who had become a beautiful, large blue centipede, and Yeondu, the wonderful new family member who had joined recently.

Then there were the adorable Ice and Snow, and the still-small and cute Hyang, with its yellow and blue spots.

Even Yohwa, who had taken on Hwa-eun’s appearance, was there.

As she moved her gaze across the children gathered below the pavilion, the sight of the little ones tilting their heads in curiosity and looking at her made her heart flutter.

Especially Ice and Snow, blinking and tilting their heads, it made Hwa-eun almost leap forward to embrace them.

They were so cute that she nearly forgot she was here to give advice, which might even come off as nagging.

Seeing their sparkling eyes filled with curiosity, just like a clear liquor poured into a glass, she couldn't resist stroking them.

‘Kk... Ugh, I have to hold back.’

But she barely held onto her patience, suppressing her emotions and taking a deep breath.

She recalled the moment that led her to make up her mind.

Hwa-eun had done a lot of reflecting after being scolded by her grandfather this time.

"How can parents be so carefree!"

That one remark Grandfather had made.

And hearing them made her realize that, even though she kept saying “I’m their mother” deep down she may have been thinking, “But they’re not my real children.”

Her mother and father loved her dearly too, but they had also scolded her when necessary.

A mother who only dotes is no proper mother.

All this probably stemmed from the fact that everything had started as a kind of game with Soryong.

Originally, it had all begun just to let Soryong know that she had truly accepted him in her heart, but as things went on, it had become fun, and she felt like she was truly Soryong’s wife, and before she knew it, she had fallen into it completely.

But treating these cute children as part of a game, such a thing could no longer be justified.

How much had her heart ached when Bin disappeared?

After taking a deep breath, Hwa-eun looked at the six children and spoke.

“The reason I gathered you all here is to give you a few important reminders. You…”

-Kku-kku?

-Tsurur?

-Kissi?

Her words faltered for a moment because of the ones tilting their heads again and making her heart ache.

But she bit her lower lip and continued.

“…You must never, ever leave home like Bin did. Do you understand?”

-Kkukku!

-Tsururu!

-Kissit!

-Shaaaa!

“You saw Mom and Dad get scolded by Grandpa, right? Especially your dad got scolded really badly. If you feel upset, you should talk to Mom and Dad. Leaving home like that…”

She had never scolded the children before, so she just began to speak whatever came to mind.

-Kku!

Suddenly, Snow let out a cry.

When she turned her head toward Snow, she saw Ice touching its nose gently to Snow’s cheek as if sniffing or playing.

Most likely teasing.

“Focus, please.”

After all, they weren’t humans, so asking them to concentrate was a tall order.

She gave a gentle warning and was about to continue.

-Kkukku!

Once again, Snow cried out.

At that annoying sound, all the other venomous creatures turned to look at Snow.

Then it was revealed that Ice was lightly biting Snow’s neck. Hwa-eun reached out to separate them, but suddenly the play turned into a scuffle.

“Ice, let go. Why are you…”

-Kuuu!

-Kkuk! Kkuk! Kkuk! Kkuk!

What started off as a small playful bite turned into a fierce clamp on Snow’s neck that looked painful even from afar.

A startled Snow bolted out of the pavilion.

“S-Snow! Ice, that’s not okay! When Mom is trying to talk seriously, you bother your friend and start a fight?! Ice!”

But even with Hwa-eun's scolding, Ice didn’t stop.

Chasing after the fleeing Snow, Ice climbed onto the pavilion and then continued the chase through the backyard, weaving between trees and rocks.

Two lizards now played cat and mouse across the backyard without stopping.

-Hudadadak.

-Kuuuuuuu!

-Kkuk! Kkuk! Kkuk!

Snow's cries as it was chased, and Ice’s sharp and determined hisses following closely behind.

“S-Someone stop them, please!”

She asked the other children for help, but they just blinked their eyes in silence.

Realizing it was no use, Hwa-eun thought she needed to bring Soryong.

It seemed like if this kept up, Snow might get seriously hurt.

“U-Um, Mom will go get Dad, so e-everyone wait right here, okay?”

After telling the children, Hwa-eun quickly leapt toward the Venomous Creatures Garden.

All the while feeling a sense of helplessness over her inability to stop the children from fighting.

***

It happened just as they finished extracting venom from all the captured Russell's vipers into their storage bottles.

“Soryong! It’s an emergency!”

Hwa-eun’s voice rang out with an eerie sense of deja vu.

Once again, she came bursting in, exclaiming that there was a big problem.

There always seemed to be some big emergency with Hwa-eun.

“An emergency?”

As I blinked, wondering what it could be this time, Hwa-eun grabbed my hand and pulled him along.

“I-It’s bad. Ice and Snow are fighting. Even though Snow is screaming and running away, Ice isn’t stopping, he’s chasing Snow! If this goes on, Snow might really get hurt!”

“They’re fighting!?”

The usually gentle Ice and Snow, fighting with each other?

That was definitely serious.

Ice, who had always tenderly looked after the ailing Snow, had no reason to fight with him.

So the news that the two had clashed shocked me, and I hurriedly ran with Hwa-eun back to the pavilion.

The samples had been completed, and my conversation with grandfather was over, so there was no particular reason for me to remain behind.

“Yes, I had gathered the children at the pavilion in the backyard and was... t-talking to them when it suddenly happened.”

“How did they end up fighting?”

“I’m not sure. They were just playing at the pavilion, and then suddenly Ice bit Snow’s neck…”

“The neck?”

Since lizards can fight for various reasons, I asked Hwa-eun about the cause and how the fight happened as they ran, and she began explaining.

As I listened to her, I began to consider why the two might be fighting.

I could guess the cause based on which lizard habits Seol and Bing showed more strongly, starting with establishing hierarchy.

Though they were close, Snow had grown weaker after being injured and losing its tail, so they could be settling the hierarchy.

This wasn’t a big deal for humans, but for animals, determining who was dominant could be extremely important.

“Yes, it bit his neck while making strange noises. Like, ‘Kkuk! Kkuk! Kkuk!’”

Hwa-eun mimicked Ice’s cry in an adorable way.

Trying to suppress a laugh, I asked again.

“Kkuk! Kkuk! Kkuk! Like that?”

“Yes, making that same sound while biting Snow’s neck and chasing it.”

“Chased Snow while biting its neck…”

Leopard geckos and crested geckos often bite their opponent’s neck or cheeks when fighting, so it sounded like a normal scuffle.

But as I entered the backyard following Hwa-eun, a sudden thought struck me.

I had checked the genital area of Ice and Snow before, but their appearances were so identical that I couldn’t be sure.

Normally, there would be physical differences, but their forms were nearly the same.

Still, they were clearly a pair.

'If Snow is female and Ice is male, then this is probably....'

As we stopped in front of the pavilion, Hwa-eun urgently asked the children.

“Where are Ice and Snow?”

Yohwa pointed to a nearby patch of grass.

-Kissi!

At Yohwa’s gesture, Hwa-eun began to run toward the grass, but I grabbed her wrist and said,

“Hwa-eun, I don’t think that fight was really a fight.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean… how should I put this…”

As I was struggling to find a way to explain, Hwa-eun brushed his hand away and moved toward the bushes.

“I have to check if Snow is okay. And figure out why Ice bit him…”

Even as I tried to stop her, Hwa-eun pushed through the foliage, and then her scolding voice was heard.

“Ice, why did you bite Snow and now why are you on top of Snow’s body… Hic...!”

Startled, the sound of her hiccup came out.

And soon after, Hwa-eun stumbled back out of the bushes, face beet-red like she’d been poisoned by some crimson poison, staring blankly at me and muttering,

“W-We’re going to be g-grandpa and g-grandma soon…”