Elixir 4
“Isn’t there some other way? So-ryong? There has to be, right?”
“Young Master So-ryong, is there truly no other method?”
With no solution in sight, every gaze swung toward me. Elder Sister, the unit commander, and Deputy Commander Gu Pae all looked at me with the same expectant eyes. I was the one in charge, and after the few times I’d pulled off a miracle, they clearly assumed I’d just handle this too. It was a bug problem, after all, and I’d spent the entire trip here loudly advertising myself as the “expert.”
“By the way, will we be all right on our own?”
“Do not worry, Young Lady. Young Hero So-ryong is with us. This Gu Pae trusts him completely. You should have seen how I trembled with awe back on Hainan Island.”
“Ahem. You’re embarrassing me, Warrior Gu. And Young Lady Hwa-eun, please don’t fret so much. I’m here, aren’t I? I’m the expert, after all.”
Damn it. I never saw this kind of trouble coming…
But even a poison-insect specialist like me was stuck. They wanted to harvest the honey, and the only method I’d prepared from the start was smoke. The best way to take honey has always been the Tang Family’s own technique—burning mugwort to smoke the bees into docility. People might think the bees just calm down because of the acrid smoke, but it’s actually a thoroughly scientific trick that exploits their own evolution.
According to the biologists, bees that nest inside trees or rock crevices are especially vulnerable to wildfires. Living through those fires forced one particular adaptation: the moment they smell smoke, every single bee clings to the comb and starts gorging on honey. The first thing a smoke-struck bee does isn’t flee or fight—it’s eat. Why? Because they’re preparing to move house. To escape the fire they need to store as much honey as possible inside their own bodies. That’s the evolutionary result. So once the smoke hits, they drop everything and cling quietly to the nest. That was exactly the method I’d planned to use.
“I think I’d better give this a little more thought.”
But the situation had already gone beyond anything I’d imagined. All I could do was smile awkwardly and say I needed time to think. The others nodded, saying they understood for now.
“Well, coming up with a proper method would take a full two-hour watch, wouldn’t it?”
“Haha, we were far too impatient. Young Master So-ryong will surely solve it for us.”
“I left for the Tang Family first and never got to see it on Hainan, but this time I’ll finally witness that miraculous method Gu Pae keeps talking about, won’t I?”
Still, I had the sinking feeling I needed a solution sooner rather than later. The pressure was mounting like a pack of wild dogs.
Why the hell did those bastards have to show up!
Using the excuse that I needed to think of a method, I continued observing the Golden-Haired Bee King from the next day on. I had to understand the creatures thoroughly if I wanted another approach, but there was also a private motive: while I was here, I intended to collect a few dead Golden-Haired Bee Kings if any turned up. A honeybee’s life lasts only five to seven weeks. Most die outside the hive, but the ones that die inside are carried out by the others. So I planned to wait and snatch a corpse or two for specimens. I had no idea how long a Golden-Haired Bee King lived, but if I waited long enough I could surely get one or two. They were a newly discovered mid-grade poisonous creature; I absolutely had to take at least one home.
I’m not doing this just for myself—it’s for the family, okay? Stick a specimen up in the Hall of Myriad Poisons and see how magnificent it looks. Guests will be floored.
I was lying flat on the usual boulder, covered by a huge tropical leaf, watching the bees come and go, when something landed lightly beside me with a soft tak and a whispered voice.
“So-ryong, the children seem to have finished eating. They kept crawling around, so I brought them.”
I sat up through the tropical leaves. Elder Sister was pressed flat beside me, looking my way. The Ohgongis crawled off her body and onto mine. I’d left them with her earlier so they could eat; now that they were full they wanted to come back to me and had been wandering all over her.
They slipped into my sleeves and coiled smoothly around my arms and waist. Once they settled, Elder Sister’s voice came again.
“Any progress?”
The moment the Ohgongis finished crossing, she asked whether I’d come up with anything good.
“I… I still need a little more time to organize my thoughts.”
“All right. I’m sorry if I’ve been pushing. Take your time, So-ryong. Don’t feel pressured.”
“Of course not. Pressure? Never, Young Lady Hwa-eun.”
The situation was already dog-level stressful, yet she told me not to feel pressured. I was still trying to decide how to interpret that when she suddenly pointed.
“Ah! Look over there!”
She indicated the cliff where the Golden-Haired Bee King’s nest was. Following her fingertip, I saw several living shapes climbing down the face.
“Monkeys.”
Monkeys?
My inner energy was still too weak for eyesight like hers, so I couldn’t make out clear details—only a few lumps descending the cliff. Their cries soon echoed across the rock face.
Ukki-kki-kki!
The noisy monkey family reached the edge. Loose stones dislodged by their passage tumbled down—tak, tak-tak. One larger rock struck the dead tree.
Thung!
Instantly a sweet fragrance rode the wind from the hollow tree.
“Hmm? This fragrant scent…!”
“Ah, that smell? Where have I…?”
The sudden sweetness made me forget to keep my voice down; I shouted to Elder Sister. A bright-red warning light was already flashing inside my skull.
“Young Lady Hwa-eun, we have to run! The bees will swarm like mad any second!”
“What!? Run!? Understood!”
At my warning she reacted like a true heroine of the martial world—tucking me under one arm and launching into lightfoot technique. The instant we moved, a furious propeller roar erupted from the hollow of the dead tree behind us.
Buzzzzzzz! Buuuuuzzz! Buzzz!
We dove into the tall grass beyond the clearing. The sky darkened. The monkey family froze like mice before a cat while a black cloud of Golden-Haired Bee Kings filled the air above them. The bees plunged straight down.
“Good heavens!”
Moments later the monkeys’ long screams cut off. Stung into swollen, ball-shaped corpses, they were flung far away. What remained was the aftermath of pure insect frenzy.
I checked Elder Sister while still catching my breath in the grass, making sure she was unhurt and not too shocked. Of course I was the more startled of the two.
“That was close. Are you all right?”
She wiped cold sweat from her temple and exhaled deeply, still shaken by the mid-grade poisonous creatures’ fury.
“Haa… The monkeys must have angered them. But you knew they would attack that savagely beforehand, didn’t you?”
“Huh? Yes. Of course.”
“How did you know? You told me to run before we even heard them. My own senses picked up nothing.”
I pointed to my nose.
“The scent.”
“The scent?”
“Yes. In other words…”
I was about to explain when she tilted her head and cut in.
“Ah, you mean the scent of the banana-shrub flower? I thought some were blooming nearby, but that wasn’t it?”
“Banana-shrub flower?”
“Or was it plantain? The two scents are so similar I must have mixed them up.”
She had smelled it before—that meant she knew the plants. I seized both her arms.
“Young Lady Hwa-eun, where exactly have you smelled that fragrance before!?”
“W-wait, Young Hero. Let go for a moment. Calm down and I’ll tell you. Ugh… Still, I am older than you…”
Huh? What did she just—oh crap!
I snapped back to my senses, released her arms at once, and apologized.
“I-I’m so sorry. I got carried away.”
“Carried away!?”
“Not that kind of carried away…”
After we both calmed down, Elder Sister rubbed her still-flushed cheeks with the back of her hand.
“There’s a flower called the banana shrub that gives off exactly the same scent. A friend of mine loves it, so I know it well. Plantain fruit has the same fragrance too.”
Two different plants, both familiar to her. I brightened and pressed on.
“Plantain and banana shrub? Can we find them near here?”
“Of course. Plantains are common in the Yunnan jungles, so they shouldn’t be hard. Banana shrubs should turn up if we look. Why?”
I smiled.
“If we find those, I think we might be able to do something Young Lady Hwa-eun enjoys.”
“Something I enjoy?”
She tilted her head, puzzled.
“Yes, Young Lady.”
“What is it that I enjoy?”
“Cleaning.”
“Cleaning?”
That’s right, Elder Sister. Human cleaning.
If we could locate the plants she mentioned, human cleaning might just be possible.
Five days had passed since the Tang Family party arrived in the jungle near Muli in search of Golden-Haired Bee King honey. That evening, as the sun sank, the masters of the Wind Origin Gate, Primordial Marquis Gate, Hegemon Dragon Pavilion, and White Jade Ghost-Killing Sect sat around a fire roasting a deer their men had caught, washing it down with wine. The Tang people had not moved for days, so the four masters had simply sent someone to Muli for liquor.
“Khhh… This is the life. When do you think the Tang Family will make their move?”
“Hard to say. Three days ago they were wandering all over, then suddenly went quiet. They’ll try soon enough, won’t they?”
“Is it really true a single hive is worth a fortune?”
“Come now, have you lived your whole life being cheated? Candles made from Golden-Haired Bee King beeswax are so rare only the imperial palace uses them. The four of us just split it evenly. The Tang people will probably take only the honey and leave. And if they fail and die… ahem…”
The White Jade Ghost-Killing Sect master’s final words made the other three exchange glances. At the end of those glances, all four burst out laughing. If the Tang Family were wiped out, even delivering the corpses would bring a handsome reward.
“Kehehehe.”
“Hahaha.”
“Khuhuhu.”
“That would be ideal. And that Poison Flower is with them. We should keep an eye out and snatch her if we can. Who knows—one of us might become a Tang Family son-in-law. Hehe.”
“Not a bad idea at all. That girl’s figure… uhhuhu.”
Instead of side dishes they drank to the imagined beauty of the Poison Flower. Just as they sliced off chunks of roasted venison and stuffed their mouths, one of them sniffed the air.
“Sniff sniff. Where’s that fine fragrance coming from?”
“You’re right. A sweet scent on the wind. The Poison Flower’s body scent must be just like this. Hehe.”
As if blessing their dreams, a floral perfume drifted in. The four masters breathed in the growing sweetness and raised their cups again. They had almost finished the first mouthful of meat when a strange sound reached them.
Buzzzz. Buzzz. Buzz.
The sky had darkened without their noticing. Looking up in a daze, they saw the air above them packed solid with Golden-Haired Bee Kings.
Clatter. Splash-splash-splash.
The four unorthodox masters dropped their bowls and stared in horror.
“Wh-what in the—!”
Wiiiiing!
As if their shock were the signal, the black swarm that filled the heavens plunged earthward. A hail of bees fell from the sky. The unorthodox martial artists scattered in every direction, screaming for their lives.
“Aaaaaargh!”