Translator: bjgoofy

-Zzzziiiiiii....

A maddening noise and a nauseating stench.

That was my impression when looking down from the top of the cave.

If hundreds of thousands of bats lived here, that meant the screeching noise of those hundreds of thousands of bats and their immense excrement were all accumulating below the cave.

[Ugh.... the smell.... Soryong, are you okay?]

[Ryong, aren’t you bothered at all?]

Tang Hwa-eun and Seol noona, who had covered their mouths and noses with cloth, approached with expressions of disgust, asking with faces that showed they couldn’t understand.

They must have noticed my eyes were smiling.

In a situation where anyone would instinctively pinch their nose and cover their ears, the fact that I was smiling alone must have been incomprehensible to them.

[Yes, I’m fine.]

I answered them while laughing to myself inwardly.

‘Mwahaha. Rather than fine, I could say I’m in a good mood.’

Not only Tang Hwa-eun and Seol noona, but most of the people accompanying us were grimacing while looking down into the cave. Of course, my ears were also stinging and the smell was disgusting, but unlike the others who were recoiling, I was grinning alone because an important realization had come to me.

‘If there are lots of bats, doesn’t that mean there’s a huge amount of cave guano accumulated?’

The reason a smile crept onto my lips was because I realized that a lot of guano had piled up in the cave.

The excrement of bats accumulated in caves is called cave guano. That guano contains high concentrations of minerals like nitrogen and phosphorus, so it’s used as material for fertilizers or explosives.

Also, cave guano is a vital nutritional source for the cave ecosystem, so a cave inhabited by many bats is likely to harbor a wide variety of creatures.

In other words, there was a high probability of discovering new species.

‘Where there are new species, there’s Fabre. And where Fabre is, there are new species.’

That’s why I couldn’t help feeling this good.

But as Seol noona and Tang Hwa-eun said, it really was too loud.

‘Still, it’s so noisy... I wish I could shut them up a bit.’

I was wondering whether I should cover my ears or find a way to shut those things up when I looked down into the cave.

-Tsurut!

Next to me, Cho, who had also been looking down into the cave, suddenly let out a sound as if she understood something, then shook her antennae and shot out a loud noise down toward the cave.

-Tsurururururu....

Cho’s warning cry struck the cave walls relentlessly.

Her cry echoed along the cave walls, and a sound like hail began to fall.

-Thud thud thud.

And then, as if someone had pressed a mute button, the sound within the cave fell completely silent.

“Huh.”

As I looked more closely down below, what I saw was:

Among the hundreds of thousands of bats, the weaker ones had rolled their eyes and were dropping to the cave floor like raindrops, while the ones that remained were trembling in fear, holding their breath within the crevices of the cave.

In the suddenly silent cave entrance, the voices of Seol noona, Hwa-eun, my foster father, and Grandpa Man of Ten Thousand Poisons echoed.

Judging by everyone’s wide eyes, they were clearly shocked.

"This is!?"

“Th-this is killing intent!?”

“To think it could emit killing intent... Not just similar in name, is it truly one of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures?”

“Hoho, isn’t this enough killing intent to make even a person’s legs go weak?”

From what the two elders said, it meant that Cho could use the killing intent that martial artists use.

‘Even I haven’t mastered killing intent yet. Don’t tell me... is our daughter a martial arts prodigy? No, Cho must be considered a kind of skill-user. Gasp! Then is this her second skill!?’

When a child shows talent, it’s a parent’s duty to guide them toward a path where they can grow into capable individuals, is it not?

So, at first, when I sensed killing intent from Cho, I wondered if she might actually be a martial arts prodigy, but then I remembered, Cho isn’t human, so this must be a skill.

I quickly organized Cho’s second skill in my head.

The first skill was Controlling Qi to Soar Upward, which allowed her to fly.

The second skill: Mild Killing Intent.

The third would likely be Poison.

I mean, I’ve always wanted to yell in battle: ‘Cho! Second skill, Mild Killing Intent!’ Something like that.

‘Back in day, that kind of thing was all the rage in comics.’

“Cho, well done. Our daughter really has so many talents.”

When I praised Cho and vigorously patted her head for showing off her second skill in such a cool way, a sound suddenly came from my left wrist.

-Tsurut!

If it was the left hand, it was definitely Bin, and the sound she made gave the clear impression of telling me not to overdo the compliments just for her unnie, because it made her jealous.

I thought we had resolved all that last time, but it seemed like Bin's tsundere personality couldn’t accept it.

Flinching, I pulled my hand away from Cho’s head and asked my foster father.

“Shall I go down first and scout the area a bit?”

“Will you be alright?”

“I’ll be going with Cho and Yohwa, so you don’t need to worry. Also, if Yohwa descends using her web, we can later use it as a rope so the others can come down faster, don’t you think?”

Foster Father asked with a worried expression, but really, what was there to worry about when I’d be going down with two of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures?

At my words, Foster Father looked at Cho and Yohwa, then nodded.

“Ah, that’s a good idea. And you’re right, with those two, there’s no need to worry. But still, be careful. Make sure neither you nor those precious kids get hurt.”

“Of course.”

As expected from the highest figure of the Beast Palace who sincerely cares for animals, even worried about the kids.

Though he gave me permission to go first, perhaps he still wasn’t reassured, as he instructed Seol noona and Hwa-eun to go with me.

“And just in case, take your sister and Hwa-eun with you.”

“Understood.”

While the warriors at the cave entrance made ropes out of cut vines now that the bat noise was gone, I took Seol noona and Hwa-eun to the edge of the hole in the collapsed ceiling.

Then I made a request to Cho and Yohwa.

“Cho, we need to go down below. Do you think you can carry two people?”

-Tsurut!

“Yohwa, can you carry Seol noona down with you?”

-Kisit!

Seol noona entrusted herself to Yohwa, and Hwa-eun to Cho, and we all wrapped ourselves up and began descending slowly together.

“Yo... Yohwa, I’m counting on you.”

She seemed a bit flustered by the idea of being carried on Yohwa, but maybe because it was the pedipalp disguised as Hwa-eun, she surprisingly adapted quickly.

And so, we slowly descended into the large hole, which was about twenty to thirty meters deep. As the light from the lanterns held by Seol noona and Hwa-eun gradually pointed downward, the cave walls and ceiling began to reveal themselves.

Countless bats were trembling in hiding among the stalactites on the ceiling, and the floor between the stone pillars was covered in black mud-like substances.

Naturally, the stench grew even stronger as we approached the bottom.

And as we neared the ground, what became visible were the corpses of bats scattered across the floor, along with cave crickets, cockroaches, and a horde of cave-dwelling centipedes and millipedes.

Those creatures were having a feast with the countless bat corpses scattered on the ground.

I wanted to rush in and start looking for new species among them right away, but it was only right to begin any hobby work after the search was complete.

‘Hold it in, Soryong, hold it in. Act with some sense.’

Enduring with superhuman patience, I spoke to Yohwa.

“Yohwa, don’t land on the ground.”

-Kisit!

Bat excrement is called guano and is indeed used as fertilizer or in the production of explosives, but that didn’t change the fact that it was filthy.

Moreover, bats carry numerous viruses.

That black mud on the ground was surely all guano, and along with the bat corpses and swarming insects, it was definitely not something I wanted the kids to come into direct contact with. That’s why I told Yohwa to hang from her web and wait for a moment while we checked the surroundings.

Then, I gave Cho directions and had her explore the area where we descended.

“Cho, that way.”

As we descended through the hole in the collapsed ceiling and the lantern light illuminated the surroundings, it became clear that this was a natural cave.

The place we arrived at was a large chamber.

On one side of the cave wall was a pile of collapsed rocks and stones.

On the opposite side, leading Yohwa further ahead, we saw stalactites and stalagmites densely packed and beyond them, a long passage came into view.

The passage was a circular tunnel about three meters wide.

The bats didn’t seem to go that far, as the floor was clean.

First, I set Hwa-eun down and went back to get Seol noona and Yohwa.

When I told Yohwa to move toward the passage, she swung her web like a swing, which made Seol noona freak out a bit.

“Whew... that was scary. But it doesn’t smell down here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, strangely enough, there’s no smell at all?”

The stench of decaying excrement contained methane, and maybe because it only rose upward, the smell completely disappeared once we entered the passageway.

At Seol noona’s comment, Hwa-eun shuddered and finally took off the cloth she had used to cover her mouth and nose.

“I thought I was going to die. That was such a horrible smell.”

I wondered why Hwa-eun was so overwhelmed, but then I remembered, the Tang Family were, in a way, poison perfumers.

Since they also trained their sense of smell, the stench of decomposing bat droppings must’ve been particularly unbearable for them.

I turned to the two and spoke.

“The opposite side was the real entrance, blocked off by collapsed rocks, so I think we should go deeper through this passage.”

“Shall we go a bit further in, then?”

“Yes. If the only entrance is that one up above, no one would have come through here.”

From the ceiling to here was easily tens of meters, and there hadn’t been any trace of human activity at the ceiling entrance, meaning no one had been here in quite a while.

So just as I felt a bit relieved and was about to take a step forward.

-Squeak. Squeak.

I heard squeaking sounds and looked down to see a bat crawling around at the entrance of the passage.

It must’ve been one of the ones that fell from the ceiling, and it was still barely alive.

It looked like it would die soon, so I didn’t think much of it and was about to pass it by when.

-Tsurut!

From my left arm, Bin suddenly crawled up to my shoulder, then, upon spotting the creature, quickly scurried down toward it.

“Bin?”

I wondered what was going on as she crawled to the floor, and then she turned to look at us while standing in front of the trembling, squeaking bat.

The message in her gaze seemed to say “Watch closely” and I was curious what she was about to do. Bin, having approached the bat, began shaking her antennae and making a sound.

-Tsurururur....

But something didn’t seem to be working as she tried again and again.

-Tsurur....

-Tsururur....

I was wondering what she was trying to do when I heard Hwa-eun’s cautious voice in a transmission.

[Maybe she’s trying to show us that she can emit killing intent too, just like her sister?]

‘What!? Oh... my... that’s insanely cute!’

If what Hwa-eun said was true, this was a precious moment.

It was Bin showing jealousy, trying to prove that she too could emit killing intent just like her unnie.

But how could Bin, still just a baby Blue-Spotted Centipede, emit killing intent?

If this went poorly, our youngest daughter might end up disappointed.

‘W-What do I do!? Why won’t that bat just die already!? Why is it hanging on so long!?’

I was silently cursing the bat for having such a stubborn life when I heard Hwa-eun’s voice in my head again.

[Get ready. I already let unnie know.]

As I tilted my head in confusion at the sudden call to prepare, a flying needle discreetly shot from Hwa-eun’s hand.

It was the smallest of the flying needles used by the Tang Family.

The silent needle flew straight through the bat’s head.

As the bat went limp, praise immediately followed from Hwa-eun and Seol noona.

“Oh my! Bin, the bat just dropped dead! So our little Bin can emit killing intent too? Oh my, how amazing. Even though she’s so small, she can already release killing intent. Bin, you’re mommy’s pride and joy.”

“Auntie knew Bin could do it too. Her sister did it, so of course she could.”

[Well!?]

Then came Hwa-eun’s urgent voice and Bin’s eyes turning toward me.

The moment our eyes met, I began gushing theatrically.

“Oh my goodness! My daughter! So proud! Amazing, my little Bin!”

-Tsurut! Tsurut!

As the three of us showered Bin with praise, she finally puffed up proudly and returned to my body.

“Now, let’s head out again.”

Having satisfied Bin’s feelings, it was time to resume the search.

Just as I took a step toward the passage again.

-Tsururut!

This time, from my right arm, Hyang crawled up and tapped my cheek, then pointed toward the ceiling.

It seemed she wanted to show off too.

‘Oh lord, raising three daughters is no easy task!’

Holding back tears inside, I turned to Hwa-eun and asked.

"Hwa-eun, could you drop one bat from the ceiling? Hyang also wants to show off."

At my request, Hwa-eun and Seol noona let out awkward laughs.

“Ahaha. S-Sure.”

“Oh dear, Hyang wants to show Auntie too?”

At this rate, I wondered when we’d actually start the search.