Secret Cave 1
An investigation into the Five Poison Sect was definitely necessary.
Both the Tang Family and the Beast Palace had believed the sect wiped out a hundred years ago, yet clear traces of them had turned up. On top of that, the bastards had already struck first. Their last known stronghold was said to lie somewhere in these jungles of Yunnan, so Grandfather Mandokshingun and my foster father clearly meant to launch a joint search before the Tang Family members headed home.
“We couldn’t leave while we still had to check on your body, but now that you’re awake, we figured it was time to look into it.”
“That’s right, So-ryong. We’ve already sent word to the family head and received permission. Since we’re here in Yunnan anyway, it seems best to confirm things. If they attacked the Beast Palace, we might be next. Better to go looking for them than sit and wait—settle the grudge we never finished a century ago.”
In short, neither the Beast Palace nor the Tang Family were the sort of people you trifled with, so they intended to hunt the remnants down and thrash them properly. It was the natural conclusion, and I nodded inwardly.
Well, if you managed to dodge annihilation, you should’ve stayed quietly hidden. Why go rushing toward death?
I nodded at their words and answered.
“Ah, so that’s what happened. Then I suppose I absolutely have to come along?”
My personal philosophy was that a man needed to read the room. I was the adopted son of the Beast Palace and the son-in-law of the Tang Family. In a situation like this, of course I had to go with them.
I looked at the two of them with a resolute expression, and both of them stared back in surprise.
“You? You’re coming with us when you only just woke up?”
“Ryong, you? It’s barely been any time since you came to!”
“Am I not the son of the Southern Savage Beast Palace and the son-in-law of the Sichuan Tang Family? An enemy of both houses is an irreconcilable foe to me as well. How could I possibly stay behind?”
If it had involved actual killing I might have hesitated, but this was just an expedition to the ruins of a sect destroyed a century ago. Moments like these were when you earned points. One side lived in a place teeming with poisonous creatures that perfectly suited my hobbies and could supply all sorts of information; the other side funded those hobbies. I had to score points with both.
“Hahaha. So that’s how you were thinking?”
“To think So-ryong had such thoughts already—he’s become a true member of both our families. Hahaha!”
Grandfather Mandokshingun and my foster father beamed with pride. Seol and Hwa-eun looked moved by my words as well.
When it comes to living among people, reading the room is the most important thing.
“Aigoo, my body’s so heavy…”
A few days later, Grandfather Mandokshingun and my foster father announced they would search the place where the Five Poison Sect had fallen a century ago. Leaving them behind to discuss the finer details of the schedule and plan, I stretched my stiff body and walked out of the Beast Palace lord’s residence.
After two weeks without moving, my body felt like all the oil had drained out of the joints. Every muscle and joint seemed to scream as I moved, and I made a show of it. From behind came the worried voices of Hwa-eun and Seol.
“Would you like to go rest in your room, So-ryong?”
“Yeah, want to go lie down for a bit?”
*Chirrr?*
Hwa-eun and Seol followed with concerned faces, and Cho, trailing after them, added her own little interjection. Grandfather and my foster father had already declared there was nothing wrong with my body, but they still seemed worried—probably because of that talk about my consciousness being swallowed. I shook my head.
“No. I’ve slept for two whole weeks; I need to move around. And more importantly, I have to check on the kids.”
“The kids?”
“The poisonous creatures I caught.”
I’d been out cold for half a month; what worried me more than my own body was the rest of my little ones. I needed to check on them right away.
Ha, a keeper who collapses for two weeks… automatic disqualification as a caretaker.
Anyone who kept pets wasn’t supposed to get sick or lazy, yet I’d been down for fifteen days. I absolutely had to check. Then came the sharp little sounds.
*Chirrr!*
*Chirr-chirr!*
Hyang-i and Bin-i, who had climbed back onto Hwa-eun’s shoulders, flared with renewed sulkiness. The feeling flooded into my head: Our anger isn’t even settled yet and you’re already fretting over the other kids?
“Kids, Daddy didn’t know either, so…”
*Tsk!*
*Tsk-tsk!*
Grandfather Mandokshingun and my foster father barging in had left Hyang-i and Bin-i’s hurt feelings still unresolved. Seol tried to soothe them with a gentle stroke of her hand, but both of them twisted away from her touch and fixed their eyes on me. It looked like I would have to ease Hyang-i and Bin-i’s hearts first.
Beside me, Seol bit back a laugh at the children’s display and spoke in a reassuring tone.
“You’ll need to settle those little ones’ feelings first. And don’t worry about the other poisonous creatures. We shipped them all off to the Tang Family ten days ago.”
“To the Tang Family?”
“Yes, So-ryong. When we sent word to Father at the Tang Family, most of them went along.”
“Ah, so when you said you’d contacted Father-in-law… they left at the same time?”
“That’s right.”
I’d already given detailed instructions on how to raise most of them, so sending them to the Tang Family hadn’t been a problem. I figured they had arrived safely—then a creature I’d completely forgotten about until now popped into my head. I turned to Seol and Hwa-eun.
“Then what about the Flying Divine Snake?”
We still knew too little about the Flying Divine Snake; simply shipping it off had felt too risky. I’d figured out what it ate, but after it spat out its inner core it had suddenly shrunk.
“Ah, right. I completely forgot about that one.”
“Now that you mention it, we did forget that child. Just a few days ago Commander Gu Pae was fretting that it still wouldn’t eat.”
Both of them answered as if they had only just remembered. I was about to soothe Hyang-i and Bin-i first and then head over when a brilliant idea struck me—one that would let me check on the snake and settle the children’s hearts at the same time.
“Kids, I get that you’re angry… so how about Daddy goes and finds two more inner cores for you?”
“You’re going to find more inner cores?”
“Find more cores?”
*Chirrr?*
*Chir?*
Seol, Hwa-eun, Hyang-i, and Bin-i all tilted their heads. I quickly led the four of them toward the place where the Flying Divine Snake was kept. Whether I could actually get the cores or not was uncertain, but I could at least go through the motions.
We arrived at the pointed rock in the first circular meadow that Yo-hwa used as her nest. The moment I approached, Yo-hwa hurried over in the form of my sister, her expression full of worry.
*Kishit! Kishishishishi! Kishishit!*
“Yo-hwa was really worried about you.”
“Sorry, Yo-hwa. You worried a lot, didn’t you? Oppa’s fine.”
Unlike Hyang-i and Bin-i she wasn’t angry, so a little soothing and a stroke of her head settled her mood. Once Yo-hwa’s heart was at ease, I checked the side of the pointed rock where the Flying Divine Snake was kept. A large water tub was packed with baby hwari, and right beside it stood a brand-new rearing enclosure I’d never seen before.
Four bamboo posts formed a frame, and inside hung a tent-like structure woven from Yo-hwa’s translucent silk. The Flying Divine Snake lay coiled within.
I crouched down and spoke to it.
“You doing okay?”
*Shaaa?*
At the sound of my voice the snake, which had been slumped, lifted its head and looked around. The spider silk made it hard for the creature to pinpoint me. Since I’d supposedly lost my techniques, I asked Yo-hwa to open the top.
Talking face-to-face seemed better.
“Yo-hwa, could you open the top for me?”
*Kishit!*
At my request the top of the square enclosure immediately opened. I peered inside and spoke again.
“Mm… this is the first time we’ve actually seen each other’s faces, isn’t it? Nice to meet you. I’m So-ryong. The reason I’m talking to you like this is because I think there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding between us…”
*?*
The snake tilted its head. I explained exactly what the misunderstanding had been.
“Look, I never meant to do anything bad to you. You were just so cool and beautiful that I wanted to bring you home and take good care of you… but then you went wild and things ended up like this. I’d love to give the inner core back, but my daughter already ate it…”
*Shaaa!?*
At the snake’s “what are you talking about” expression I beckoned Cho over and showed her to the creature. The Flying Divine Snake’s vertical reptilian pupils flew wide open. Its mouth dropped open in pure shock. It had clearly realized what had happened.
*Sha… sha… sha…*
Then its whole body began to tremble. It had given the core up to save its life, yet seeing a hundred and twenty years of inner energy pass to another poisonous creature right before its eyes was still too much to believe. Even martial artists would react the same way if their internal energy were stolen.
I spoke to the stunned snake in the gentlest voice I could manage.
“You must have been startled when you got captured so suddenly, and of course you’re shocked and angry… but won’t you think about it for a second? Just turning you loose like this would feel too cruel. You’re that small now—other poisonous creatures could eat you. So… how about we look after you until you get your old form back?”
*Sha?*
“I mean we’ll feed you and keep you safe so no other creatures or beasts can snatch you up. You haven’t eaten a thing since you were caught, right?”
I scooped up one of the plump, glossy baby hwari with a net-like tool from beside the water tub and held it out.
“Let’s think about it while you eat. You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
*Gulp.*
The snake swallowed hard at the sight of the hwari.
“If you’re willing, we’d like to help you recover your strength. I’m not that bad a person, you know. I’ve got my daughters here too. And… Hwa-eun, where are Bing-i and Seol-i?”
“They’re eating in the room right now.”
If they were “eating” in the room, they were almost certainly drawing energy from the ice jade Hwa-eun and I had brought. I nodded and continued.
“There are even two Snow Ice Lizards, and you already know Yo-hwa, right? I’m looking after all of them. Ah, you must be starving. Eat first, then we’ll talk.”
I introduced the whole family one after another and pushed the baby hwari even closer. The snake whipped its head away and spat a warning hiss.
*Shaaa! Shaaa! (Do I look like an idiot?! You think I’ll fall for such ridiculous nonsense?!)
That was the vibe I got. Cho, who had been watching the entire exchange, thrust her head into the enclosure and barked at the snake.
*Chirrrr! (What did you just say to our dad?!)
The murderous aura of a flying girl and the sharp sound made the snake flinch and retreat trembling into a corner of the enclosure. Intimidating it mid-conversation didn’t seem right, so I pulled Cho back with my free arm.
“Cho, that’s not okay. You’ll scare our friend.”
*Chirrr!*
I asked her not to frighten the snake, but Cho refused to back down; even while being pulled by my arm she jerked her chin toward the creature. A moment later the Flying Divine Snake came crawling toward me with thick tears rolling down, and began accepting the hwari.
If you don’t want to get hit, just eat, I guess?
*Sha… shaa…*
*Gulp.*
“There we go. You’ve got to eat.”
Watching it accept the food, I realized the snake was more timid than I’d expected. Soft persuasion hadn’t worked nearly as well as a little intimidation. Of course it couldn’t be happy about being scolded by Cho, who had eaten the stolen core, but after more than two weeks of fasting the hwari must have tasted like pure honey.
A short while later, after stuffing itself until its belly bulged, the snake buried its head in its own coils in a corner of the enclosure, looking utterly miserable. Pure self-loathing. Still, now that it had started eating, there shouldn’t be any further problems.
“Looks like it needs some time alone. Shall we head back?”
Leaving the snake behind, I spoke to Hyang-i and Bin-i on the way.
“Daddy will get that one healthy again and make it spit out more cores. Just wait a little.”
I did feel a bit sorry for the creature, but what else could I do? A little sacrifice for the sake of the family was in order.
Sorry about this, but however long it takes for a new core to form, I’ll just have it spit them out two more times.
Hyang-i and Bin-i looked at each other, decided my idea wasn’t half bad, then crossed from Seol’s shoulders onto mine and began nuzzling my cheeks.
We reached Mt. Namna, where the Five Poison Sect was said to have been destroyed a hundred years ago, and spent two full days searching. A century was a long time; finding exact traces was never going to be easy. The Beast Palace records only stated that “the Five Poison Sect fell on Mt. Namna,” with no precise location.
So on the third day we climbed to the summit first, and I made a request of Cho.
“Cho, can you carry Daddy too?”
*Chirrr!*
Cho immediately coiled around me. When she lifted her body into the air, I rose with her. Her legs scissored rapidly through empty space, and her body glided forward as if she were crawling across solid ground.
“Whoa! H-hold on a second, Cho.”
Riding the wind together had clearly excited her; I made her stop and surveyed the surroundings. I’d asked for the ride thinking a high vantage point would help, yet even from the sky nothing stood out. In a subtropical jungle the undergrowth swallowed everything after only a few days; the ruins of a sect destroyed a hundred years ago were not about to reveal themselves so easily.
I was just about to decide we should head down when my foster father’s voice floated up from below.
“Ryong, check the northern face.”
“The northern face?”
“In the jungle it’s hot, so people often build their houses on the shady northern slopes. Take a look.”
“Understood.”
I’d always thought houses faced east or west, but in a hot jungle the northern face made sense. I turned my gaze northward—and that was when I saw it. Between the dense trees of the sunset-lit forest, something rose in a swirling flock. Focusing my eyes, I realized it was a swarm of bats.
Just ordinary bats?
In the end I found nothing else and landed. My foster father immediately asked,
“Didn’t find anything?”
“No, sir. I did see a flock of bats taking off on the northern side… but nothing else.”
“Bats! Then we must go there at once!”
He brightened at the mere mention of the bat swarm. I wondered why he was so pleased until he explained with a shining face.
“If bats are flying in a swarm, it means there’s a large cave. Of course we have to check it!”
People who lived and breathed beasts truly thought differently.