Even After It Ends, There's Always More - 6
While the poisonous herbs were disappearing into Samshik's belly, I gained a new companion. It looked like a white heron, but with red eyes and a copper-colored beak—a flying disaster, somewhere between a spirit beast and a vicious monster. The poison bird. They say if you spot one flying from afar, it's easier to just give up on life. That vicious thing had become my ally.
Ppiae was a gentleman by comparison. Thanks to this absurd situation, I found myself reevaluating Ppiae. At least Ppiae only spat acid—the poison bird was a weapon in its very existence. Just staring at me silently was threat enough. Fortunately, it had no poison right now, but that was only because it was voluntarily suppressing itself into a non-toxic state.
If it wanted to, it could turn back into a poison-spewing monster in an instant. A self-imposed detox state could be shed just as easily. If I upset it even a little, it might devour Samshik and revert to poison-bird mode. The mere thought was horrifying. A time bomb I didn't know when it might explode, right by my side. Honestly, even facing Koke Temur hadn't filled me with this much dread. That bastard Koke Temur... he was just a loser from a bygone era. But the poison bird? It was an ill omen of this age.
"Let's get along from now on."
- Kki-eek!
With mixed feelings, I stroked the poison bird's head, and it flapped its wings more gently than before, accepting my touch. Strange. Even touching its head directly, even with it flapping its wings right in front of my face—no poisoning. Had there ever been a case like this in Central Plains history?
It seems safe, at least. My mind gradually calmed, but in contrast, a small doubt began to grow.
Is a poisonless poison bird even a poison bird? Without poison, wasn't it just a red-eyed white heron? This wasn't like kimbap without seaweed—it was kimbap without rice. ...Doesn't matter. I briefly pondered the value of a detoxed poison bird but gave up and kept petting it. When had I ever picked up spirit beasts because they were useful? They attached themselves to me on their own. Kki-ing-i, Kki-ong-i, Samshik, Buong, Ppiae—not a single one had been my deliberate choice.
"Even that vicious poison bird follows you. Truly astonishing."
I let out a snort at the Baekryeon Cult Leader's words. Follows me? Or stuck to me? I wasn't sure.
Returning with the poison bird elicited a fierce reaction.
"Gaga! Get out of the way! If Gaga blocks it, I can't stab that bird!"
"No, I'm blocking it precisely so you don't stab it..."
- Kki-eek...
I did my best to soothe Ak I-yeon, who was in a frenzy, and put some distance between her and the poison bird. At first, she'd welcomed it with open arms. After the turtle, now a bird spirit beast—covering land, sea, and sky, she'd smiled. But that gentle, merciful smile crumbled the moment she realized, "That's a poison bird."
"They say a poison bird's blood is made of poison! I'll handle it, so Gaga, please move!"
She was ready to risk poisoning herself just to kill the bird clinging to me. No matter how I looked at it, she was prepared for mutual destruction.
"I-yeon. It's─"
"Poison birds kill everything below them just by flying! We have to deal with it before Gaga gets hurt!"
"No need. Look, I'm fine right here."
Ak I-yeon, who had been swinging her sword wildly, froze.
"...You're right? Why are you fine?"
Her reason seemed to return belatedly, and she muttered in a softer voice. I sighed inwardly in relief. It was touching that she worried for my safety and went berserk, but I was afraid she'd actually stab a poisonless poison bird. If a companion who followed me died by my fiancée's hand, nothing could be more awkward.
"It is a poison bird, but it has no poison."
"Pardon?"
"Look, neither I nor the Cult Leader are affected. If a poison bird had flown around Baekryeon, the whole place would've been in chaos."
"W-well, that's true, but..."
Ak I-yeon lowered her sword slightly and eyed the poison bird with a complicated gaze. Poison birds were dangerous. In the past, entire mountains were burned upon sighting one. But that terror stemmed from their poison. A poisonless one was no different from an ordinary bird—nothing for her to fear.
"Can you even call it a poison bird without poison?"
The exact doubt I'd had. I quietly turned my head. Regrettably, I hadn't resolved it myself. I'd simply concluded that it didn't matter if it didn't live up to its name.
"It's not a poison bird—just a bird."
- Kki-ee-eek!
Jo Wi-cheo, who had been silent, spoke up, and the poison bird grew agitated. It had chosen the path of detox itself, but apparently hated having its identity denied.
"Don't be too harsh. By shedding its poison, hasn't the poison bird chosen the world? No longer a lone ill omen roaming the earth, but a good omen choosing to live alongside it."
- Kki-e-eak!
The Baekryeon Cult Leader soothed it, and the poison bird nodded vigorously.
Choosing a world without poison. His words stirred something in my chest. Abandoning its very identity, everything it was, to choose the world. Quite moving.
The Cult Leader's right. I'd always seen him as an old man tucked away in the outskirts, but he truly deserved the title of cult leader. He knew how to touch hearts.
"So, Lady Ak, don't resent this one. Imagine how hurt it would be if we shunned it after such a great resolve."
"Ah, um... Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
"Hm. I'm grateful if this old man can sway you."
The Baekryeon Cult Leader chuckled softly and patted the poison bird's head. Sensing he'd defended it, the bird meekly bowed its head to his touch.
"By the way, Han Un. Is this one's name Kkieak?"
"Pardon?"
- Kkieak?
"All the others are Kki-ing-i, Kki-ong-i, Buong, Ppiae. So this one's Kkieak."
The poison bird's body began to tremble. If it still had poison, everyone here would've died.
Two days later, Samshik returned, massively enlarged once more.
- Shiiik! Shii-iik!
- Sie-e-eak!
- Shiuu-uk!
Samshik was now about five meters long. Its scales gleamed, eyes sparkling—it had clearly feasted on poisonous herbs to its heart's content.
"Did you sort them properly?"
- Shiiik!
I almost said, "Did you eat well?" but caught myself. Officially, Samshik was classifying herbs and poisons. Treating it as mere meals would dismiss its efforts.
- Ptooey.
Ah.
As I reached to pet it with that thought, Samshik spat out another black orb. It shrank back to normal size in an instant. The second time seeing it, but still unbelievable.
What principle is that? Hard to grasp. Compressing ingested poisons into orbs? I could understand that. Even expelling the concentrated poison. But shrinking immediately after? Did that make sense?
No wonder Nang-jung Wang searched far and wide. A king scouring the Central Plains for Samshik made sense. It grew rapidly on poison, condensed it internally, and expelled it. How wondrous and mysterious.
Good thing I'm his grandson. I was truly grateful for my bloodline. Being Giwangga's crown prince had kept me alive after taking Samshik from Nang-jung Wang. Had I been just another bureaucrat, who knows what misfortune I'd have faced. When he'd gone to Yunnam seeking a poison replacement, I'd been terrified—now, it seemed that was the least of it.
"Looks like it's all done."
As I reflected alone on the preciousness of bloodlines, the Baekryeon Cult Leader approached from behind.
"Sorting all those poisonous herbs in just three days. I was right to ask you."
"I'm glad I could help, Cult Leader."
"None of that. I already feel guilty with nothing proper to give you—don't make it worse, or I won't be able to show my face."
With that, he handed me a pouch he'd been holding.
"I prepared it in a hurry, so it might not suit you. But it's usable enough."
"Thank you. I'll treasure it."
I didn't know what it was, but if the Cult Leader called it "usable," it wasn't a joke. No way he'd lie.
"I still regret it, no matter how I think. If only Kkieak hadn't bolted, I'd have caught it for you. What gift could top a poison bird?"
"Think of my position if you'd suddenly gifted me a poison bird..."
"Pfft, fair point?"
I mentally comforted the poison bird—now solidly named Kkieak—while ignoring the Cult Leader's odd regret. Truth be told, I'd offered Kkieak three name candidates in admiration of its resolve to abandon poison. It picked one.
Poison Boy for the male with venom. Jimgap from 'poison bird' plus 'armor.' Fierce, bizarre names. No wonder it chose Kkieak, trembling though it was. Three choices, but really just one.
Han Un and Lady Ak departed eastward. They'd stayed in Baekryeon only a few days, but those days offered rare sights. The three-headed snake ballooning after eating poisons, and the 'detoxed poison bird.'
I smiled faintly, recalling the poison bird circling Han Un's head. I'd been skeptical at first, but now I was certain. An ill omen friendly to humans? Undeniable.
A poison bird that lived with Cheongseung. Cheongseung, the junior brother of Hyun-seung, current Shaolin abbot. Fallen in the founding war, yet his spirit and devotion lived on in hearts. Few knew, but Cheongseung had traveled with a poison bird.
Together, they'd terrorized the Mongols.
After Cheongseung's death, it vanished. Who'd have thought I'd see it again after decades?
Of course, it might be coincidence. That one with Cheongseung could be elsewhere; this a different specimen. But poison birds fond of humans? Unlikely. The odds favored my guess.
A founding merit has returned.
I chuckled. It had fought Mongols alongside Cheongseung—a true gongsin. Blessings upon the gongsin and his grandson. May the millennium crane's herb I gave aid them, even a little.