Spirit Medicine 3

Gu Pae, our deputy commander, surveyed the faces of the men standing out in the open and continued his explanation.

"Those are the great unorthodox sects of Chengdu—the Wind Origin Gate, the Primordial Marquis Gate, the Hegemon Dragon Pavilion—and even the White Jade Ghost-Slaying Sect from Mianyang. That damn bastard really sold the information every which way."

The situation was no longer a double-booking. It was a penta-booking.

The same people who had sold us the tip had already peddled it to four of Sichuan’s major unorthodox powers. That was why five different factions now stood near the massive dead tree that looked to be the Golden-Haired Bee King’s nest, staring at one another with equally dumbfounded expressions.

"Th-the Sichuan Tang Family? Why are they here…?"

"D-don’t tell me those lunatics sold it to the Tang Family too!?"

"Those absolute madmen—of all people, they had to sell it to the Tang Family…"

My sister’s lips trembled with pure rage at their reactions. Those two bastards we met last time are definitely going to die horribly… Judging by her face, those two would never enjoy a peaceful retirement.

While I silently offered them my condolences, my sister strode forward in fury until she stood before the unit commander and spoke.

"I don’t know who he is, but the man has some serious guts. Selling the same information he sold to our Sichuan Tang Family to everyone else."

Her words seemed meant to plant the idea that we had bought it first. The other side, however, was far more terrified by the simple fact of her appearance.

"Hiiiik! The Poison Flower of the Moon!"

"A direct-line Poison Flower of the Tang Clan has come in person!?"

"Th-this is bad!"

I hadn’t realized my sister had that kind of reputation. The leaders of the four factions looked at one another with faces that screamed we’re completely screwed. So this is the Central Plains’ assassin clan after all? What exactly has she done to scare them this badly? I was curious why her entrance alone made them jump out of their skins, but I was even more curious about how we were supposed to sort this traffic jam out.

It felt exactly like five different tenants who had all been scammed into renting the same house. Like showing up on moving day and finding everyone else standing at the door of the same one-room apartment.

So I quietly asked Deputy Commander Gu Pae how we should handle the mess. Even though my sister had stepped forward, I asked him for a solution because I was the official leader of this group.

Right. Because I was her betrothed, I had been designated the head of the party. Of course I was only the nominal leader; my sister would handle everything for real.

So what are we supposed to do here? We don’t even know how much honey there is—do we have to split it?

I asked whether the five of us were supposed to divide the honey like good friends. Gu Pae gave me a look that said what kind of nonsense is that? and shook his head. Then, with clear irritation, he answered.

That seller created one hell of an annoying situation. Split it? Who would dare try to split anything with our Sichuan Tang Family?

Thankfully they’re all unorthodox sects, so they’ll back off without a fuss. If any orthodox sects had been mixed in, we’d be stuck in tedious negotiations. Still… our backs might get a little itchy.

I nodded at the part about them withdrawing, but the bit about itchy backs made me tilt my head in confusion. Gu Pae continued.

Itchy backs?

They’ll say they don’t want to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠make an enemy of us and pull out, but they won’t leave completely. Unorthodox types gather like rats whenever someone strong appears. They’ll hide nearby and watch in case we fail.

Unorthodox bastards are like maggots that swarm a corpse.

While I was still blinking at the pure disgust in Gu Pae’s voice, my sister began the traffic control exactly as he had predicted.

"Well then, what do you all intend to do? Will you compete with our Tang Family for the Golden-Haired Bee King’s honey?"

Her voice was ice-cold, carrying the clear subtext of you wouldn’t dare, would you?

The four leaders exchanged glances, then answered one after another as if they had rehearsed it.

"If the Sichuan Tang Family is involved, our Wind Origin Gate will withdraw."

"Ahem. What a disaster. We cannot afford to offend the Tang Family, so the Primordial Marquis Gate will also withdraw."

"Poison Flower, our Hegemon Dragon Pavilion will step aside as well. There’s no reason to fight the Tang Family over a low-grade spirit medicine."

"Damn it! That bastard who sold my information—I’ll skin him alive when I catch him. The White Jade Ghost-Slaying Sect is pulling out too."

Looking thoroughly defeated and muttering curses, they melted away in the direction we had come from.

Once every unorthodox dog had vanished, our party claimed the empty clearing. We needed to examine the Golden-Haired Bee King’s nest and figure out how to take it.

"Two of you start preparing dinner. Two more take watch. Those unorthodox rats won’t just leave. Gu Pae, go confirm where they’ve settled."

"Understood, Commander."

Gu Pae shot off with lightness skill in the direction the others had fled. While the warriors set up camp, I walked over to my sister, who was resting on a rock, and asked the question that had been bothering me.

"Um, Lady Hwa-eun. May I ask something that’s been on my mind?"

"Of course, So-ryong. What is it?"

She had been watching the direction the others disappeared with an irritated expression, but the moment she heard my voice she smiled.

"What exactly is the Black Path? Unorthodox sects? From the way the deputy commander talked, they sound like bad news."

"Ah… Grandfather must have forgotten the most important part while he was busy saying real combat is everything. Come sit here. I’ll explain. This is important—you mustn’t forget it."

As if I could forget anything she taught me. I sat beside her, vowing to give her my full concentration.

"To explain the unorthodox path, you first need to understand chivalry, righteousness, and benevolence."

"Chivalry, righteousness, and benevolence?"

"Righteousness is the proper way a person ought to act. Benevolence is a kind heart. And chivalry—the character is formed by adding the radical for ‘to hold under the arm’ to the character for ‘person’—means protecting the weak…"

Her explanation went on at length, but the summary was simple: if you refrained from taking lives carelessly and upheld chivalry, righteousness, and benevolence, you were of the Orthodox Path. Otherwise you were of the Unorthodox Path. She also stressed that while the Sichuan Tang Family belonged to the Orthodox Path, we valued practicality. We kept the virtues, but we did not become slaves to them.

Thinking it over, I got the idea. Ah, so it’s like moral alignment. Orthodox is good, Unorthodox is evil, and the Tang Family is more true-neutral?

And the part about holding someone under your arm to protect them… that didn’t sound bad at all. For the time being my sister was stronger than me, so she would be the one holding me under her arm and keeping me safe.

Held under my sister’s arm…

I swore in my heart that I would become a true ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠man of chivalry and righteousness from this day forward.

So that’s the Golden-Haired Bee King!

We crouched behind a small boulder about twenty meters from the cliff where the hive sat in the giant dead tree. Camp had been set up, and the commander, my sister, and I had come out on reconnaissance.

The Tang Clan did have a traditional method for harvesting the Golden-Haired Bee King’s honey, but I had insisted on examining the hive myself so I could form a proper plan.

Enormous bees drifted in and out of the hollow tree. I had been hoping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for rock honey, but this looked like tree honey.

I’ve never seen one either. They’re huge.

My sister’s voice held genuine wonder. Just as she had described before, the Golden-Haired Bee King was a giant honeybee roughly the size of a small dog, and its appearance was peculiar. The body shape was that of an ordinary honeybee, yet the fur was as fluffy as a bumblebee’s. Now I understood the name—its golden fur was extraordinarily thick and soft.

They’re adorable.

Adorable?

All round and fluffy. Aren’t they cute?

If you say so…

She didn’t seem fully convinced, but honestly, what insect is cuter than a honeybee? The stinger is the only problem; without it they would be pure fluffballs of charm.

The colony isn’t that large, though. A few hundred at most? Given their size, that makes sense.

Colony?

The size of the bee group. Ordinary small honeybees usually number five to seven thousand.

You can tell without going inside?

She looked astonished, but estimating a hive’s numbers is possible because honeybees run an extremely sophisticated society. Newly emerged workers spend about two weeks inside doing housework—cleaning, tending the queen. Once their wax glands fully develop they switch to building and repairs, and only after that do they forage outside for nectar and pollen. That is a bee’s entire life.

Their wariness kept us from getting closer, but by counting the returning foragers against the sunset I could roughly gauge the situation inside.

More or less.

Someone’s coming, young lady.

The commander’s warning snapped us both alert. We watched the approach—then recognized Deputy Commander Gu Pae hurrying from the direction of camp.

Send him a sound transmission, quick! If he just walks up here we’re finished!

At my urgent whisper the commander flicked a transmission. Gu Pae, who had been about to step into the open, froze, then used lightness skill to land softly on our boulder.

So this is where you all were.

The commander immediately checked the situation.

Well? How did it go?

Those bastards set up camp on the far side after all. They took a long detour so we wouldn’t notice.

Damn rats!

—Tap.

In his anger the commander dislodged a small pebble from the rock. It tumbled down the face.

What followed was the bone-chilling sound we had feared.

—Bzzzzzzzz!

We were still a good thirty meters from the hive, yet the single pebble the commander had kicked free set the entire dead tree roaring like a propeller engine.

Bees poked their heads from the entrance; a few began flying our way.

Fall back!

We scrambled back to camp and sat on the rocks catching our breath.

"Whew. That was close. I noticed it earlier too—they’re extremely sensitive to ground vibrations."

"Ground vibrations?"

They called it a Bee King, and the Golden-Haired Bee King really did seem to combine traits of every kind of bee. Ground-nesting bumblebees and wasps are famously vibration-sensitive, yet these were tree bees—and they still reacted violently from thirty meters away. That was exactly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠why we had been forced onto the rocks in the first place.

"Yes. The moment anyone steps into that open ground, they react."

The commander nodded.

"You’re right—it was the same last time. Then let’s just use the Tang Clan method tonight and finish this quickly."

He was the veteran here. The Tang method meant gathering armfuls of mugwort, lighting it, and driving smoke toward the hive to drive the bees out. Mugwort contains compounds that repel or calm insects; beekeepers use it for the same reason. It was a solid plan.

"All right. Let’s do that."

With the unorthodox sects still lurking and everyone agreeing we should hit hard and get out fast, the consensus settled on harvesting the honey that very night—until Gu Pae spoke up with a troubled face.

"Commander… the wind…"

"The wind?"

The commander’s expression collapsed the moment he heard the word.

"Of all the luck…"

I didn’t understand at first. Then he explained: to push smoke toward the bees, the wind had to blow from our side toward the hive. Right now it was blowing the opposite way—from the hive straight at us.

"Can’t we just light it from the other side?"

"Then we’d be sandwiched between the unorthodox rats and the Golden-Haired Bee King. They probably won’t attack us outright, but who wants an itchy back?"

The unorthodox sects would have to be suicidal to assault us, yet no one liked the idea of working with them at our backs. And as an Orthodox clan the Tang Family could hardly attack them openly either.

Someone suggested going over and glaring until they left, but if they noticed us they would simply use their classic slippery tactics.

Haha, we just happened to gather here for a hunt. Carry on.

That’s right. Just a little hunting while we were in the area.

If they then scattered in every direction, things would only get messier. At that, my sister’s voice rose in pure fury.

"Honestly, I just want to wipe them all out!"

Listening to her angry tone, a thought struck me. After she gets married, she’s probably going to be very good at cleaning…

Human cleaning, that is.