Chapter 235: The Gomodo Thief
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 235: The Gomodo Thief
I’ll have to be more careful when I bite my Master’s finger next time.
…But no matter how I think about it, there’s no way my Master is like that, right?
Look at me.
I’ve bitten her several times, but my teeth are perfectly fine.
Considering the Master I know, she was probably given the alias ‘Blood Jade Hand’ by mistake.
She must have made a minor error in controlling her strength.
Or did she learn to control her strength by beating up spirit beasts?
Now that would be a little scary.
“Anyway, Blood Jade Hand is dangerous. I’ve heard she’s been quiet lately, but it’s best to avoid her if at all possible.”
“Gek…”
“You never know what will happen if you run into her. Even if she picks a fight, the best course of action is to just run away. …The absolute best thing is to not even see her face. How did a human like that end up in the 100,000 Great Mountains?”
…That’s my Master he’s talking about.
“Still, for this reason, you probably don’t have to worry about Jin-ryong attacking right away. However, that doesn’t mean there are no variables.”
If Chodo is saying this, just how strong is my Master?
Was it meddlesome of me not to tell her last time?
If I’d purred and wagged my tail, she would have doted on me.
…No, it’s not good to be too dependent.
But a variable?
What kind of variable is he being so hesitant about?
“The most concerning one is the one called Al-Yu.”
Al-Yu!
In other words, Namgung Yeon.
“There’s a story that he was a god of the sky… but I don’t know if that’s really true.”
Hearing Chodo say that, the rumor might have been exaggerated.
“Still, it’s clear he has very impure motives. After all, he tried to lure my brother and attack you, Hero.”
Gongbok knew Al-Yu to some extent.
Of course, it wasn’t a deep relationship—just enough that he wouldn’t kill him on sight if he came to the nest and would at least hear him out.
On the other hand, it seemed Chodo had never met him.
He must have approached Gongbok because he could be used after his mind collapsed from the Heart Demon, while he didn’t dare approach the sane Chodo for fear of being killed instantly.
I disliked everything about that guy.
“It will depend on what actions he takes.”
We had also prepared ways to stop Namgung Yeon’s schemes.
But he was a guy who had both a human and a spirit beast identity.
Even if Red Dragon completed her task, he could scurry off to Kunlun and make some kind of deal with Jin-ryong.
“He probably can’t go to Kunlun directly… but it won’t hurt to be on guard beforehand. And there is one most effective countermeasure.”
The most effective countermeasure?
That’s Chodo for you.
She’s incredibly wise, unlike how she looks.
“For you to become stronger, Hero. To become strong enough to defeat Jin-ryong even if he really does attack.”
I take it back, I take it back.
Who couldn’t think of a plan like that?
But he wasn’t wrong.
To protect my followers, I must become stronger than anyone else.
“Are you ready?”
Chodo asked in a gentle voice.
He just escaped from his Heart Demon, and he wants to spar right away.
“Gegegek!”
Of course I’m ready.
*
“Guwoong!”
The giant frog swung dozens of vines.
Paaang!
Kwajijijijik!
It was as if the entire forest was rushing toward a single lizard.
The lizard’s blue eyes stared intently at the attack, then it launched itself forward at high speed.
At this rate, it was obvious it would be crushed by the swarming plants.
But that didn’t happen.
Kwaaaaaak!
A raging gale continuously pushed back the vine whips.
“Excellent!”
Chodo, riding on Choa’s back, exclaimed in admiration.
To think he could already handle the Power of Wood to this extent.
Chodo could wield the Power of Wood so well because she had handled the Dragon Gate for over hundreds of years.
In contrast, it had been less than a month since she started teaching the Power of Wood to this lizard.
It was an abnormal growth rate, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.
Because he was a descendant of Gomodo.
Kwarururung!
At Chodo’s gesture, dozens of bolts of thunder fell.
Pajijijik.
Blue lightning gathered in Gomodo’s hand.
Kwagagagak!
After continuous sparring, he had figured out how to counter the thunder.
To envelop his body in lightning and strike down Chodo’s thunder.
At first glance, it might have seemed like a brutish method, but the harmony between Gomodo’s body and his power to wield Wood made it a perfect counter.
Pajijijijik!
Rather, the striking thunder seeped into Gomodo’s body, amplifying his power even further.
Thunder in his left hand, a storm in his right.
He crossed his hands and slashed at a single point.
Kwarurururung!
Enduring the countless oncoming attacks, he finally reached Chodo.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
Their final spar ended just like that.
Chodo, with a bit of soot on her face, smiled with satisfaction.
“It seems there’s nothing more I can teach you. Your proficiency is a little lacking, but it’s amazing that you’ve achieved this much in such a short time. To be honest, it makes me a little jealous.”
Though she said that, she didn’t feel any jealousy.
The black lizard bowed its head slightly.
It was expressing its gratitude for the training.
“This one truly dislikes going out, but if you truly need me, Hero, I can go to your territory just once.”
At her words, Gongbok, trapped in the fox marble, flew into a rage.
It was an expression he had never seen and words he had never heard.
Chodo liked to close things.
The humans who worshiped her drew her image on their doorknobs.
Because Chodo was extremely reluctant to step outside her territory, they believed she would help them close their doors properly.
And yet, she was the one to offer to go outside at least once.
Of course, the slightly clueless lizard had no idea what that meant.
“Gekek!”
“Of course, I will exact a suitable price for it, so please tell me only when it’s truly necessary.”
“Gek…”
“And as for speaking… hmm, well. You’re now at a level where you can speak basic words, so I look forward to having a deeper conversation next time we meet.”
Moreover, Chodo had succeeded in what seemed like an impossible task.
Teaching a lizard how to speak!
Of course, he could only manage a few words and couldn’t even do that freely, but compared to the days when he just went ‘gegek,’ it was a huge leap forward.
After bowing several times, the black lizard left Chodo’s territory.
Chodo stood there, gazing for a long time in the direction he had disappeared.
“Choa.”
“Guwow…”
She gently stroked the giant frog’s chin.
“It felt like I was seeing Him again. I was so happy.”
As if moved by her emotions, the surrounding plants grew rapidly.
Buds sprouted and flowers bloomed.
“How strange. I only saw him for a short while, yet I feel so empty now that he’s gone.”
It felt so hollow.
Just as she was thinking, I’ve lived a long time, and all sorts of things happen.
“Guwong…”
Choa carefully spoke to her.
Hearing Choa, Chodo checked inside her robes.
“Wait a minute.”
The Plumpness Pill she had carefully stored was gone.
Of course, thanks to Gomodo, she had escaped from that shackle.
But that didn’t mean she would leave such a precious divine object just anywhere.
She kept it in her robes, preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.
And now, her Plumpness Pill had vanished.
Thinking she might have made a mistake, she expanded her senses, but she couldn’t find a trace of it anywhere.
“No way.”
With that thought, she expanded her senses even further, tracking the lizard’s trail.
She saw the detestable lizard, gekek-ing as it scurried away breathlessly on two feet.
For some reason, it had shrunk in size, holding the Plumpness Pill with both hands.
“This… this… lizard!”
Seeing that he had even used miniaturization to avoid being tracked, it was undoubtedly a premeditated crime.
*
The Patriarch of the Tang Clan, Tang Seong-ik, had woken up.
After hearing Tang Muyeong’s report, he was overcome with shock.
To think the reason he had been bedridden was none other than the Tang Clan’s elders.
An elder of a noble family meant they were of the same generation as the patriarch.
In other words, Tang Seong-ik’s own brothers had committed such an act.
Moreover, they had tried to restore the forbidden Gu-poison technique and had even used it, creating a situation where the clan could be annihilated overnight without any room for complaint.
On top of that, the one who helped them was none other than a figure from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Tang Seong-ik fell into deep thought.
Of course, it wasn’t just any member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but the Cult Leader herself who had come, but Tang Seong-ik hadn’t heard that part.
Tang Muyeong had deliberately hidden it.
He was already so shocked; telling him that fact as well would have obviously made him collapse on the spot.
Fortunately, Tang Seong-ik recovered quickly and was well enough to return to the front lines as before.
Now that the patriarch had recovered, Tang Muyeong thought there was something he had to do.
Visit the 100,000 Great Mountains.
To be precise, to find his younger sister.
A strange current had begun to flow in the Central Plains.
The Sect Leader of Mount Hua had disappeared, and suddenly a red-haired Dragon Person was said to be acting as the interim leader. Furthermore, she had exposed every one of Ak Bulhwi’s evil deeds, which was bound to cause a stir.
On top of that, the Mount Hua elders were also strangely taking her side.
Tang Muyeong firmly believed that the Gu-poison Baek Yeon-yeong took from the Tang Clan and the information about the Mount Hua elders had nothing to do with this incident.
No matter how he looked at it, it was suspicious, but it was a situation where he couldn’t afford to be suspicious.
Leaving his sister in the 100,000 Great Mountains in such a chaotic situation?
There was no telling what might happen.
The power of the radical faction had weakened considerably, so bringing back Tang Soyeong, a key figure of the moderate faction, could be the final nail in their coffin.
And if he didn’t go find her, the recovered patriarch would move himself.
He himself had seen Baek Yeon-yeong in person, but if the patriarch went, things were likely to get complicated.
Therefore, he personally devised a plan to rescue Tang Soyeong.
Moreover, unusual stories were being heard in the marketplace.
That a spirit beast called Gomodo had appeared.
This added another reason why he had to go to the 100,000 Great Mountains.
Gomodo was a spirit beast and divine beast revered by the Tang Clan.
Such a being appeared in the 100,000 Great Mountains?
This meant only one thing.
A being daring to impersonate Gomodo had appeared.
What if the fake Gomodo and Tang Soyeong met?
His naive younger sister would undoubtedly be completely fooled.
As the young master of the Tang Clan and as Tang Soyeong’s older brother, it was something he could not tolerate.
The rescue of Tang Soyeong.
Forging a secret alliance with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
And the punishment of the Gomodo impersonator.
With these three goals in mind, he headed to the 100,000 Great Mountains alone.
The reason he went alone was simple.
As a martial artist of the Tang Clan who had reached the very peak, it was more convenient to travel alone.
Because he could use poisons that even masters of the Transformation Realm were reluctant to face, without having to worry about others.
As long as the fake Gomodo or other spirit beasts hadn’t reached the state of Myriad Poisons Immunity, they wouldn’t be able to harm him.
Filled with a kind of confidence, Tang Muyeong spurred himself onward.