Chapter 111: Running Away (4) With Illustration

Translator: bjgoofy

-Tsururut! Tsurururut!

“Our Bin must have felt really hurt by daddy, huh? I get it now, so stop it and come with mommy. Sleep with mommy tonight. It’s already getting dark.”

[Soryong, let me try calming her down. I don’t think she’ll forgive you no matter what you say right now.]

Eventually, Bin, who was jumping around furiously, was taken away by Hwa-eun, who had come after hearing from Spear Dragon.

She was so angry with me that she seemed to have forgotten she had also been mad at Hwa-eun.

-Tsk!

As if saying, “Hmph!” she let out a ‘tsk!’ sound, then climbed up onto her mother’s shoulder, sharply turned her head, and disappeared just like that.

The aftermath of the storm called Bin.

In its wake, only one mentally broken man remained.

No. Six venomous creatures were also left behind.

Cho and Hyang, who were shedding their skin and drying their bodies, Snow and Ice, who had followed Hwa-eun, and Yohwa and the Flying Celestial Serpent were all still there.

Staring blankly at the rising moon, I cautiously asked the Flying Celestial Serpent beside me.

“So... Flying Celestial Serpent, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but... you’re not hiding anything else again, are you?”

-Shaaa?

“I’m talking about your inner core.”

-SHAAAA!

The Flying Celestial Serpent jerked its head violently with a startled face.

I could feel from the creature that it didn’t have an inner core and couldn’t possibly have one.

And I hadn’t even registered it yet.

“No, I believe you, I really do... It’s just that I’m in a desperate situation right now. You saw how mad Bin got. I’m just trying to cling to anything I can.”

-Shaa. Shaa.

Despite having its inner core stolen twice, which should’ve made it angrier than Bin, perhaps because it had witnessed everything from beginning to end, the creature looked at me with pitiful eyes and then nodded as if understanding what I meant.

‘Maybe this guy doesn’t have such a bad personality after all?’

Just as I thought this guy’s personality might not be so bad, I suddenly realized I hadn’t given it a name.

And also hadn’t confirmed whether it wanted to live with us or not.

“Oh, right. Come to think of it, have you decided?”

-Shaa?

When I asked if it had decided, it tilted its head in confusion.

“I mean living with us. Like I said before, there are lots of predators in the mountains that eat creatures like you, hedgehogs and such. It hasn’t been the best so far, but I won’t treat you badly. You’ve heard from the others, too, right? It’s not so bad.”

As I said this, the creature glanced at the other venomous creatures watching it from beyond the open lid, and those creatures began talking to it as if trying to recruit it.

-Kissit! Kishishishi. Kishi.

-Kkukkukku! Kkukku!

As if it actually understood what they were saying, the Flying Celestial Serpent showed a surprised expression and widened its eyes.

A moment later, it cautiously nodded.

-Shaa....

If we’ve come to an agreement to live together, there’s no need to keep it confined.

Yohwa and the Lizards were nearby, so where could it even run off to if it tried?

Trying to appear generous, I opened the pouch and reached toward the creature.

After all, nothing builds trust better than granting freedom.

-SHAA!?

But the creature flinched and backed away.

“You said you’d live with us. I’m just trying to let you out.”

-SHAAAA!?

It felt like it was asking whether I could really trust the words of venomous creatures that easily, so I nodded and answered.

“We can’t keep you locked up in a container anymore, right? This is how we all live together.”

After gently placing the trembling creature on the ground, it finally took a proper look at the others.

When I smiled, it coiled up and bowed its head, almost like a greeting.

‘Is that its way of saying let’s get along?’

I bowed back and spoke to it.

“Yeah, I’m counting on you too. Let’s get along well. Flying Celestial Serpent. Ah, come to think of it, I should give you a name first, right? I can’t just keep calling you Flying Celestial Serpent forever. You need a proper name. What should it be?”

My head was still full of thoughts about Bin, but I decided to comfort her later and focus on naming the Flying Celestial Serpent first.

Just as Hwa-eun had said, trying to approach Bin now probably wouldn’t resolve anything, and I couldn’t keep leaving the Flying Celestial Serpent nameless.

Now that she’s fully become part of our family, shouldn’t she have a proper name?

“Since she’s said to be the first of the Twenty-Four Venomous Branches, and she’s called ‘Heaven’, we definitely need to include ‘Cheon’ (Heaven) in her name... If it were a male, maybe Ilcheon, meaning ‘First Heaven’? Oh, wait. Are you female or male? Do I need to check your reproductive organs?”

While thinking about a name for her, I realized I didn’t even know her gender.

As I hesitated, wondering whether I should check her reproductive organs, the creature shouted with a startled expression.

-SHAYAAAAA!

“You’re a female?”

She seemed embarrassed, so it felt like she was indeed a female.

At my question, she nodded her head.

I had considered naming her Ilcheon since she was the first of the Twenty-Four Venomous Branches and had the position of ‘Heaven’, but that wouldn’t suit now.

If she was female, I needed to choose a slightly cuter name.

I gave it some thought.

‘She has a beautiful emerald mane, so if I convert the color emerald to Classical Chinese, it becomes “Yeondu” (soft bean)... Yeondu? Oh, right, this name actually works!’

While thinking, the name Yeondu came to me.

I asked her for her opinion.

“What do you think about the name Yeondu? Your mane has such a lovely green hue, so Yeondu. What do you think? I think it’s really beautiful. It goes so well with your blue scales.”

If I pronounce “Yeondu” in the Central Plains’ style, it becomes “Randou”.

When she heard me say it, she twisted her body shyly, seemed to think about it for a moment, and then quickly nodded.

-SHAAAA!

She seemed to like it.

“Alright then, from now on, your name is Yeondu.”

Just like that, the Flying Celestial Serpent was named Yeondu, and as I briefly thought about it, I realized I had forgotten to include the character ‘Cheon’ (Heaven).

She’s the number one of the Twenty-Four Venomous Branches, and is associated with the “Heaven” from “Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow”, so I couldn’t leave out “Cheon”.

She’s supposed to be the head of the Twenty-Four Venomous Branches, the sky, so if I skipped that part, it’d be disappointing.

“Oh, right, I forgot to include the ‘Cheon’ character in your name. Should I just add it like a surname? Let’s see, then your name would be... Cheon Yeondu.... Huh?”

I thought I had crafted it with great care, but as I named her, I realized I had accidentally named her “Cheon Yeon-du”. (TL Note: Cheon Yeon-du means smallpox.)

Not knowing any better, Yeondu nodded her head, pleased.

-SHAAAA!

In the Central Plains, that terrifying infectious disease smallpox is called “Cheonhwa” (Heavenly Flower).

‘W-well, this is the Central Plains, after all. I’m the only one thinking weird things. E-everyone else will think it’s a beautiful name.’

“R-right, Yeondu. Let’s just call you Yeondu normally.”

And so, the Flying Celestial Serpent’s name became Yeondu no, Cheon Yeon-du.

***

The next day, I tried to cheer up Bin, but I couldn’t even attempt it.

Because something big was waiting for us.

As soon as Hwa-eun and Seol noona were able to move around, a trip was scheduled.

Although their internal injuries hadn’t fully healed, they absolutely had to go, so there was no choice.

“This was our mission, and we’re sorry to leave it to you. Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, Elder.”

Sword Phoenix offered a piece of blood-dried paper from her bed to the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, bowing her head with an apologetic look.

Sword Phoenix and Spear Dragon would be out of commission for at least three months.

Hyung-nim wouldn’t be able to move from Beast Palace for at least two months.

On top of that, Sword Phoenix moved around yesterday, causing her wounds to reopen and a fever to rise during the night.

So delivering the information passed on by the Vice Pavilion Master of Flying Dragon Pavilion of the Murim Alliance, to the Alliance had become our Tang Family’s duty.

Initially, we had planned to bring along at least one of the three, even if they were badly injured.

No matter how trustworthy we were, if none of the people originally assigned to the mission were there, it would make discussions difficult.

But since that wasn’t possible, and we were departing without them, Sword Phoenix was feeling apologetic.

“Since we’re also members of the Alliance, it’s only right we take over an important mission, so don’t say such things. You two should focus on recovering. I’ll take care of this.

I also had business with the Murim Alliance anyway. I need to report that the Blood Cult has formed an alliance with the Five Poisons Sect. And if they’ve really created an antidote, we need countermeasures.”

“Thank you, Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, Elder.”

“Thank you, Elder.”

At Grandfather’s words, Hyung-nim and Sword Phoenix bowed their heads deeply.

But there was no need for her to feel that way, because as Grandfather had said, we had to visit the Murim Alliance anyway.

During the battle with Wu Qingyu, we had overheard information that the Blood Cult had formed an alliance with the Five Poisons Sect.

The Blood Cult bastards were the ones who infiltrated our Tang Family and murdered our warriors, so they were unforgivable. And the Five Poisons Sect had been our sworn enemy for over a hundred years.

On top of that, with what happened this time, our feud with those forces had become one of irreconcilable enmity, meaning we now desperately needed the active support of the Murim Alliance.

From what we observed during the recent chase, their power was by no means small, and it seemed unlikely that just our Tang Family and the Beast Palace could handle them alone.

And that wasn’t all.

It also seemed the Five Poisons Sect had created and passed along the antidote to the poison of the Tiger Keelback, so we had to report that to the Murim Alliance and prepare countermeasures.

Although we had already confirmed that the venom of the hornet, a different hemorrhagic poison, worked well, it was hard to mass-produce, so we needed other options.

And although it had already been settled among ourselves, we had also decided to use this opportunity to officially bring the somewhat outsider Beast Palace into the Murim Alliance, so we were heading that way regardless.

“Please take your time to recover properly at the Beast Palace. Well then, we’ll see you later.”

“Yes, take care, Soryong.”

“Understood, Hyung-nim. Please be sure to stop by the Tang Family once you’re fully recovered.”

“Of course I will. I must see my younger sister Yingying too, so I’ll definitely come by.”

After finishing farewells with Hyung-nim first, Sword Phoenix, who was lying next to him, once again expressed her gratitude.

“Y-Young Hero, thank you once more. I truly received so much help. I don’t know what would have happened without you…”

She seemed sincerely grateful.

I couldn’t resist teasing a little, so I put on a slightly guilty expression and said,

"Your body will recover soon, but I wonder if I only added more pain to your heart unnecessarily..."

At that, she glanced at Spear Dragon and blushed.

"Well, this, this is a path I chose, so I must bear it myself."

I patted Spear Dragon's shoulder, who looked puzzled at our conversation, and reminded him of the debt once more in his ear.

[Spear Dragon, don’t forget that I saved you three times.]

After saying our goodbyes to the three of them, we stepped outside to find Hwa-eun and Seol noona waiting.

Seol noona was going to accompany us as a special envoy from the Beast Palace to the Murim Alliance.

“Alright, let’s go, Ryong.”

“Yes, Seol noona. Let’s go. Grandfather.”

“Very well. First, let’s head to Sichuan. We need to check if anything’s happened to the family while we’ve been away, and if we’re going to prepare other poisons, we’ll need to hurry.”

There is a route that goes directly from Yunnan to Wuhan, where the Murim Alliance is located.

We could have stopped by Panzhihua, on the Yunnan-Sichuan border where the Yangtze River flows, and taken a boat all the way to Wuhan.

The Yangtze River is so long that it originates in Tibet and flows through Yunnan all the way to the Western Sea in my previous life, it’s a truly vast river.

However, we chose not to take that route and decided to visit the Tang Family first, since we had decided to bring poison samples when visiting the Murim Alliance this time.

Even if we went there just to inform them that the venom of the Tiger Keelback was no longer viable and tell them what poisons would work instead.

Since it would be our Tang Family making the poisons anyway, Grandfather the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons said we should take the time to prepare them, even if it delayed our schedule slightly.

So we hurried our steps and managed to arrive in Sichuan in about a month.

And as soon as we arrived, Seol noona looked around with wide, surprised eyes and said,

“So this is the Tang Family of Sichuan!? The whole mountain belongs to the Tang Family?”

She really was a country girl from Yunnan.

This must have been her first time seeing such a successful and prominent household.

-Buuung. Buung.

But before she could even finish expressing her surprise, the sound of the Golden-Furred King Bees echoed above our heads.

Among those who arrived at the entrance of Tang Family Mountain, in front of the Nine Progress Gate, it seemed they had noticed I was among them and had come out to greet me.

“Th-those are the Golden-Furred King Bees!?”

“They’re the ones I’ve been raising.”

“You had more you were raising!?”

"This is all of them. Have you all been well?"

-Buuung! Buuung!

They buzzed as if complaining, asking where I had been all this time since it had been so long.

I was immediately dragged to the hive for a meeting with the queen bee, and only after eating a mouthful of honey was I finally released by the bees.

And that night.

What should have been a rare, peaceful evening at the Tang Family turned into a noisy commotion due to an unexpected incident.

Bin, who hadn’t so much as come near me during the entire journey back, had caused a huge incident by running away from home.

“Is... is she already going through puberty!?”

“Puberty?”

“No, it’s... it’s a thing. Anyway, where in the world could she have gone?”

“Hurry up and reach out with your mind!”

I desperately called out to Bin with my thoughts, but all I got back was her firm resolve that she wouldn’t return home until she grew taller than her sister.

“S-she says she won’t come home until she’s taller than her sister?”

“Ah...”

At the youngest daughter's running away from home, Hwa-eun grabbed her temples and staggered.