Translator: bjgoofy
An investigation into the Five Poisons Sect was definitely necessary.
Even the Tang Family and the Beast Palace had believed them to have been wiped out a hundred years ago, yet now their traces had been clearly discovered.
Moreover, those guys had even launched a preemptive attack.
Since their last known stronghold was said to be in the jungles of Yunnan, it seemed that Grandfather Man of Ten Thousand Poisons and my foster father intended to conduct a joint investigation before the Tang Family members returned to the family estate.
“We couldn’t leave your side since we had to monitor your condition, but now that you’re awake, it’s about time we check things out.”
“Yes, Soryong. We already sent word to the Family Head and got his permission. Since we’re here in Yunnan anyway, we thought it would be best to look into it now.
If they attacked the Beast Palace, then we might be next. Instead of sitting and waiting, we should go find them and settle the grudge we couldn’t resolve a hundred years ago.”
In short, both the Beast Palace and the Tang Family were not ones to be taken lightly, they intended to hunt them down and crush them.
It was such an obvious conclusion that I nodded inwardly.
‘If you avoided annihilation, you should’ve just stayed hidden. Why rush your own death?’
I nodded at the words of the two elders and responded.
“Ah, so that’s what happened. Then, I must definitely come along, right?”
My belief is that a person must know how to read the room.
I am the adopted son of the Beast Palace and the son-in-law of the Tang Family.
In a situation like this, it was only right that I go along.
So when I spoke firmly while looking at the two of them, they asked back with surprised expressions.
“You? You just woke up and want to come with us?”
“Soryong, are you saying that? You’ve barely just regained consciousness.”
“I’m the son of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and the son-in-law of Sichuan’s Tang Family, am I not? If our two families have a common enemy, then to me, it’s an enemy I cannot coexist with under the same sky. How could I possibly miss such an occasion?”
If this were a matter of killing people or something similar, I might’ve hesitated, but this was just a trip to investigate ruins left by a group that had already been wiped out a hundred years ago. This was the perfect opportunity to earn some points.
One side resided in a place crawling with venomous creatures that suited my hobby and could provide various information. The other side supported my hobby. I had to seize this chance to earn their favor.
“Hoho. So that’s what you were thinking?”
“To think Soryong had such thoughts, he’s already one of us, from both families. Hahaha.”
Grandfather Man of Ten Thousand Poisons and my foster father smiled warmly with delight, and Seol noona and Hwa-eun also looked touched by my words.
‘In life, the most important thing is reading the room.’
***
“Ah, my body feels sluggish.”
A few days later, Grandfather Man of Ten Thousand Poisons and my foster father set out to investigate the site where the Five Poisons Sect had been destroyed a hundred years ago.
Leaving behind Grandfather Man of Ten Thousand Poisons and my foster father, who were discussing detailed schedules and plans, I stretched my stiff body and walked out of the Beast Palace’s main hall.
Maybe because it was the first time I was moving my body in fifteen days, it felt like all the lubrication in my joints was gone.
As I moved my body, which felt like it was screaming in pain through its joints and muscles, pretending to exaggerate a bit, I heard concerned voices from behind, Hwa-eun and Seol noona.
“Would you like to go rest in your room, Soryong?”
“Yes, want to go lie down?”
-Tsurut?
Hwa-eun and Seol noona followed me with worried expressions, asking questions, and Cho, who had followed behind, added her voice too.
Though Grandfather and my adoptive father had said there was nothing wrong with my body, it seemed they were still worried.
It seemed to be because of the talk about consciousness being devoured, but I shook my head and said.
“No. I’ve been asleep for fifteen days; I need to move around a bit. And more importantly, I need to check on the kids.”
"Kids?"
“The venomous creatures we captured.”
Despite being unconscious for fifteen days, what concerned me more than my own body was, of course, the other kids.
I needed to check on them quickly.
'Ha, for a caretaker to be unconscious for half a month, I'm disqualified as a caretaker.'
Someone who raises pets shouldn’t be sick or lazy. Having been unconscious for fifteen days, it was absolutely necessary to check on them.
Then, I heard sharp sounds.
-Tsurut!
-Tsurutsurut!
Hyang and Bin, who had climbed back onto Hwa-eun’s shoulders, hissed in anger with sulking expressions once again.
And though they were still angry, thoughts like “Why are you worrying about the other kids first when we haven’t even calmed down yet?” began to flood my mind.
“Guys, Dad didn’t know either, so…”
-Tsut!
-Tsut tsut!
Because Grandfather Man of Ten Thousand Poisons and my foster father had barged in, I hadn’t yet had a chance to ease Hyang and Bin’s hurt feelings.
Nunim had tried to soothe them by reaching out to stroke them with her hand, but both of them dodged her touch and stared straight at me.
It really felt like I needed to calm Hyang and Bin down first.
Next to me, Seol noona held back her laughter at the sight of the kids and spoke in a reassuring tone.
“You’d better start by making up with them first. And don’t worry about the other venomous creatures. They were all sent to the Tang Family ten days ago.”
“To the Tang Family?”
“Yes, Soryong. We sent most of them when we contacted my father at the Tang Family.”
“Ah, so when you said you contacted Father-in-law… they must have departed together then?”
“Yes, Soryong.”
Most of them had already been given detailed instructions on how to be raised, so there was no issue in sending them to the Tang Family.
So I had assumed they were sent properly, but suddenly one individual I had completely forgotten about popped into my head.
I looked at Seol noona and Hwa-eun and asked,
“Then what about the Flying Celestial Serpent?”
We hadn’t learned much about the Flying Celestial Serpent, so I felt uneasy about just shipping it off.
I had figured out what it ate, but after spitting out its inner core, its size had suddenly diminished.
“Ah, right. I totally forgot about that one.”
“Now that you mention it, we did forget about that child. A few days ago, even Squad leader Gu Pae was worried because it wasn’t eating.”
Their answers made it clear they had forgotten too.
Just as I was thinking that I needed to calm Hyang and Bin down first and then go check on the serpent, a brilliant idea came to me.
I’d check on it and use the opportunity to cheer Hyang and Bin up too.
“Guys, I know you’re mad... but what if Dad gets two more inner cores?”
“You’re going to get more inner cores?”
“You’re going to get more inner cores?”
-Tsurut?
-Tsu?
Seol noona, Hwa-eun, and Hyang and Bin all tilted their heads at my words.
Without delay, I led the four of them to where the Flying Celestial Serpent was.
I didn’t know whether I could actually get more inner cores, but I could at least pretend to try.
We arrived at the sharp rock in the first circular field where Yohwa lived.
As I approached the sharp rock, Yohwa quickly came over, having taken the form of nunim, with a concerned expression on her face.
-Kisit! Kishishishi! Kishisit!
“Yohwa was really worried.”
“Sorry, Yohwa. You were really worried, weren’t you? Oppa’s fine now.”
Since she wasn’t angry like Hyang and Bin, I gently comforted her and patted her head, and her mood quickly brightened.
After easing Yohwa’s worries, I checked the area next to the sharp rock where the Flying Celestial Serpent was supposed to be. Inside a large water container were lots of baby Fire Carp, and next to it was a breeding facility I had never seen before.
It was a structure like a tent, made from Yohwa’s semi-transparent silk and framed with bamboo poles on four sides.
Inside it, the Flying Celestial Serpent was coiled up.
I approached and crouched down to speak to it.
“Have you been well?”
-Shaaa?
Upon hearing my voice, it lifted its head sluggishly and looked around.
It seemed to have trouble pinpointing my location because of the spider silk, and since it had forgotten how to fly, I asked Yohwa to open the top.
I figured it’d be better to talk face-to-face.
“Yohwa, could you open the top for me?”
-Kisit!
At my request, the top of the square-shaped breeding facility opened right away. I looked inside and spoke to the creature again.
“Hmm… this is our first time seeing each other face-to-face, huh? Nice to meet you, I’m Soryong. The reason I’m talking to you like this is because I think there may have been a bit of a misunderstanding between us…”
-?
The creature tilted its head in confusion.
I began to explain what kind of misunderstanding there had been between us.
“No, I didn’t mean to do anything bad to you. It’s just that you looked so cool and beautiful that I wanted to bring you to my place and take good care of you… but then you went wild, and things ended up like this. I’d like to give you your inner core back, but… my daughter ate it…”
-Shaa!?
At the creature’s expression that clearly said, “What do you mean by that?” I gestured to Cho, who had followed us, to come over, and showed her to the creature. The reptile’s vertical pupils widened instantly.
Its jaw dropped wide open.
It looked like it had realized what had happened.
-Sha, sha… shaa...
Then its body began to tremble all over.
Though it had given it up to save its life, now that it was witnessing its 120-year-old internal energy being transferred to another venomous creature, it wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Wouldn’t any martial artist react the same way if their inner energy were stolen by someone else?
To the shocked creature, I spoke in the gentlest voice I could muster.
“I’m sure being suddenly captured was frightening, and it must’ve been upsetting and confusing, but… how about you consider this?
I’d feel bad just letting you go like this. You’ve shrunk so much, you could be eaten by other venomous creatures, right?
So... um… we’re thinking of looking after you until you can return to your original form. How about that?”
“Sha?”
“No, I mean we’ll feed you and protect you in a safe place so other venomous creatures or beasts can’t eat you.
You haven’t eaten anything since you were captured, right?”
I used a net-like scoop next to the water container to catch one of the plump, glossy baby Fire Carp and held it out to the creature as I continued speaking.
"Let's eat first while thinking about it. You're hungry, right?"
-Gulp.
As I held out the Fire Carp, the creature swallowed its saliva, clearly hungry.
“If you’re okay with it, we’d like to help you recover your strength. I’m not such a bad person, you know. We’ve got our daughters here too. And also… Hwa-eun, Ice, and Snow?”
"Ah, they're eating in the room."
If they were eating in the room, it probably meant they were absorbing energy from the Ice Jade Hwa-eun and I had brought.
I nodded and continued.
“We also have two lizards called Snow-ice Lizards, and you know Yohwa, right? I’m taking care of all of them. Ah, you must be hungry. Let’s eat and talk.”
I introduced all the residents and brought the baby Fire Carp even closer to the creature, but it suddenly snapped its head to the side and hissed in warning.
-Shaaa! Shaa!
(Do you think I’m stupid!? You think I’ll fall for that nonsense!?)
That’s what it seemed to be expressing.
Just then, Cho, who had been watching the creature all along, stuck her head into the breeding facility and scolded it.
-Tsururur!
(What did you just say to our Dad?)
With the savage tone and aura of a flying girl, Cho’s atmosphere turned sharp, and the creature flinched and retreated to a corner of the breeding facility, trembling.
It didn’t feel right to scare the creature in the middle of a conversation, so I used my other hand, the one not holding the Fire Carp, to gently pull Cho back as I spoke.
“Cho, don’t do that. You’re scaring your friend.”
-Tsurut!
I asked her not to scare the creature, but Cho didn’t back down. Even as I pulled her back, she kept jerking her chin toward the creature.
A moment later, the creature began to shed thick tears and approached me, starting to eat the Fire Carp I held out.
‘Was she threatening it to just eat if it didn’t want to get hit?’
-Sha, shaa...
-Gulp.
“Ohh, right. You’ve got to eat.”
Watching the creature accept the food, I realized it was more timid than I had thought.
It seemed like threats worked better than kind words with this one.
Anyway, even though the creature clearly wasn’t happy being scolded by the one who had eaten its inner core, it looked like the Fire Carp tasted sweet after more than fifteen days of fasting.
A little while later, the creature, having eaten until its belly was round, curled up in a corner of the breeding facility and buried its head into its own body in a pitiful posture.
It looked like it was feeling ashamed.
Still, since it had started eating, there wouldn’t be any problems going forward.
“Seems like it needs some alone time, shall we head back?”
Leaving the creature behind, I turned to Hyang and Bin and said,
“Daddy will try to nurse that one back to health and get it to spit out more inner core. Just wait a bit, okay?”
The creature was a bit pitiful, but what could I do? I had to ask it to sacrifice a little for the sake of the family.
‘Sorry about this. I don’t know how long it takes to produce another inner core, but I’ll just make it spit out two more.’
At that, Hyang and Bin looked at each other, and perhaps deciding that my plan didn’t sound too bad, they crossed over from nunim’s shoulder to mine and began to rub their cheeks against me.
***
We had arrived at Nannuo Mountain, where the Five Poisons Sect was said to have been annihilated a hundred years ago, and searched for two full days, but as expected, it wasn’t easy to find any precise traces after such a long time.
The Beast Palace’s records only said, “The Five Poisons Sect was destroyed on Nannuo Mountain,” without any detailed location specified.
So, on the third day, I climbed to the mountain peak and made a request to Cho.
“Cho, do you think you can carry Dad too?”
-Tsurut!
At my words, Cho quickly wrapped herself around my body.
As Cho lifted off the ground while coiled around me, my body was also lifted into the air.
Then, as Cho’s legs moved swiftly through the air, it felt as if she were crawling through the sky, and her body began to fly forward.
“Ooh! Wa-wait, stop for a second, Cho.”
Maybe because we were flying together, Cho was excited, but I stopped her and checked the surroundings.
I’d asked her because I thought we might be able to spot something from a high vantage point, but even from above, nothing stood out.
In a subtropical jungle, even just a few days of overgrowth was enough to completely conceal the ground, so it was only natural that the site of a sect’s destruction from a hundred years ago wouldn’t be visible.
As I looked around for quite a while and began to think we might need to descend, a voice called out from below, my foster father’s.
“Ryong, check the northern side.”
“The north side?”
“In hot jungles like this, people tend to build homes on the shaded northern side. Go check there.”
“Understood.”
I usually thought homes faced east or west, but in a hot jungle, it made sense to check the shaded northern side.
Just as I turned my head and scanned the northern area.
Through the thick forest where the sun was setting, something was flying up in a swarm.
I focused my eyes and confirmed, it was a swarm of bats.
‘Just bats?’
Eventually, I descended to the ground without finding anything else.
My foster father asked,
“You didn’t find anything?”
“No, I did see a swarm of bats flying up in the north, but… other than that…”
“Bats! Then we must head there!”
He was visibly delighted even though I hadn’t found much and had only mentioned a swarm of bats.
I wondered why he looked so pleased, but then he explained with a bright face.
“If there’s a swarm of bats, that means there must be a large cave. Of course we have to go check it out, don’t we?”
As expected of people who are deeply passionate about beasts, their way of thinking was something else.