Chapter 101
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Beast Palace (1)
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A person's status isn't determined by their affiliation with some group—it's decided by how much individual effort they put in. That was my longstanding creed.
So what if a beggar was just a beggar?
What did it matter if Sister Seol and Yongtaek were born into a scholarly clan?
Even in the Nangong Family, there were good-for-nothings like Nangong Baek, idiots like Nangong Sang, and decent folks like Brother Nangong Hwi.
But.
"...The Beast Palace was wiped out?"
This fact hit a little differently.
The Beast Palace didn't even have its own entry on the Murim Wiki.
Of course, the Murim Wiki generally avoided covering unorthodox sects, focusing instead on prestigious orthodox groups or major demonic ones, and even then, it glossed over their dirty laundry.
Probably because the world was too brutal for so-called 'historians' to operate safely.
I offered a silent prayer for Sima Qian's nether regions.
"Ahem, well, it's an old tale, but it caused quite a stir around the time of the Western Shu double tribute mess..."
His tone, subtly fishing for more coin, rubbed me the wrong way a bit, but I was the desperate one here.
I slipped him another silver piece, and only then did the herbalist's tale start spilling out.
"Five years... no, a bit more than that ago. The Beast Palace was quite the power in these parts' Beast Forest. They didn't have many disciples, but they revered the Divine Beasts, so even common folk like us respected and followed them."
"Divine... Beasts?"
"Two Divine Beasts there were. Lady Flower Rat and Lord Black Python. I'd caught glimpses from afar a few times—sometimes in animal form, sometimes human. Utterly mysterious."
Flower Rat... Miao...
Something tickled the tip of my nose with a strange familiarity.
"The weather was always fickle, but there was nigh on fifty days of thunder, lightning, and storms raging. It was impossible to go outside, so we all trembled in fear, wondering if the Divine Beasts were angry."
The herbalist sighed and continued.
"After that, we heard nothing more from the Beast Palace. That's why I say they were wiped out. Something big must've happened..."
"So, after that, the Beast Palace vanished completely, without a trace?"
"I wouldn't know. Couldn't go check. The Beast Forest nearby always had top-quality herbs, so I'd visit often, but these days, whenever I try, I invariably get lost."
This was some next-level ghost story.
Come to think of it, aside from me and the pup, I'd never heard anyone else even mention the Beast Palace...
Even light questions about masters or parents got brushed off with an 'ahaha...'
"By chance, Elder, do you know any former Beast Palace disciples?"
The herbalist furrowed his brow.
"I know one, but... getting a proper answer out of him won't be easy."
* * *
A short while later.
The moment I found the house of the former Beast Palace disciple the herbalist had pointed me to, I fully grasped what he meant.
"Hello, Elder?"
"..., ...."
He was mute.
Not just speechless—his left shoulder, where an arm should be, was empty, and he limped along on legs that weren't whole.
"I-I'm here to ask a few things about the Beast Palace..."
"—!"
The moment I uttered "Beast Palace," his face twisted viciously, and he waved me away as if to say get lost.
Not even tempted by money—he didn't so much as blink at my universal truth serum silver.
BAM!
He slammed the door and retreated inside.
The silver lining was.
"Meowr."
"Kyau!"
A beast that was too small for a tiger but too big for a cat—clearly long-time companions with the man—was eye-balling the pup in the front yard.
Its tail flicking irritably at the clingy pup.
I circulated the Heavenly Beast Heart-Returning Art and attempted communication.
"Kitty. Got a few questions."
- Hmm? Human? How?
"Do you remember anything about the Beast Palace?"
- Beast Palace? That place where I spent a long time with my old slave?
Calling its master a slave, no less.
I marveled at the cat's typical temperament.
"Probably."
- Hmph, problems arise when they take in rootless riffraff. First, can you shoo away this runt? Such a nuisance.
"Kyauung..."
I grabbed the pup by the scruff, tucked it into my arms, and fed it a strip of jerky. The cat purred contentedly.
- A human with some manners, at least.
Neither the master nor the cat held any important position in the Beast Palace.
Still, from the cat's story, I could piece together a rough picture of events.
The Beast Palace site, the Beast Forest, was a place brimming with spiritual energy. Protected by the divine beast Flower Rat, it was an ideal haven for animals.
Naturally, beasts close to spirit creatures gathered around it, and people wanting to live alongside them formed a sect—that was the origin of the Beast Palace.
- That snake, the Black Python, showed up about ten years ago.
A dongyi from the east, cultivating for ascension, heard rumors of Flower Rat and came drifting in, it said.
Truly a spirit among spirits, on the cusp of ascension, so the resident Flower Rat accommodated it, and they got along fine.
- But for some reason, one day that snake went berserk. Luckily, the idiot slave was stupidly out on the forest edge, so I poured out all my energy and barely escaped... really...
The cat shuddered, squeezing its eyes shut.
No desire to continue, so.
I quietly added more jerky, left some silver by the door, and departed.
I'd assembled some puzzle pieces.
But questions remained unanswered.
To resolve them, I'd have to enter the Beast Forest where the Beast Palace once stood.
* * *
The Beast Forest wasn't far from Western Shu Double Tribute.
"Kiiing, kiing..."
There was one minor issue.
Faint poison qi wafting in from near the Beast Forest.
I hurriedly popped a poison-resisting pill into the pup's mouth and stepped toward the forest, tinged with a sacred yet ominous aura.
As I drew nearer, instinct told me the herbalist and cat hadn't been exaggerating.
A powerful spiritual force repelled outsiders, while a disorienting toxic scent clouded human senses across the land.
Anyone without poison resistance couldn't approach easily.
A bit further in.
Thung—
Now I encountered a barrier severing inside from outside.
Surprisingly.
The usual formation-breaking method—
didn't work when checked via smartphone camera spell.
Not so much deliberate distortion of human perception, but more like a mighty being had spread its aura widely, isolating the space itself.
"Hmm..."
As I set down the pup to ponder.
"Kyau!"
"Eh?"
The pup, utterly unbothered by the barrier, hopped about freely, then tilted its head at me from inside.
Blocks humans, allows beasts.
In that case, my inner beast, Geum Sihyeon!
"Grrr, can't hold back!"
Thung—
"Hm."
Not the right way.
Usually, you'd need some token or proof for entry gimmicks like this...
"Ah!"
I rummaged through my satchel and pulled out the most beastly, sacred item I had, aside from pup supplies.
Vermilion Bird feather.
Souvenir from the Black Tiger Sect Lord during my last Central Plains visit.
This should qualify.
Holding the feather, I extended my arm inside first.
Squish.
It passed through cleanly.
"A person must be prepared. As expected of me."
"Kyau?"
The pup shot me a look like 'he's at it again' as I patted myself on the back aloud.
Resolving today's jerky would go into my mouth instead of the pup's, I shoved the rest of my body through.
And then.
"Ho."
The overflowing poison qi from outside vanished, replaced by crisp, refreshing air filling my lungs.
Is this why people do forest bathing? I swallowed the thought and pressed deeper into the Beast Forest.
How long had I walked?
"Eh? A person? How? No, you can't come in here—it's dangerous! Get out quick!"
As I wandered the woods.
A very familiar voice suddenly called from behind.
I turned.
A woman with a strikingly familiar face.
In outrageously wild, revealing attire, staring this way before her face lit up in shock.
"Uh, u-uh, wha— Y-Young Master...?"
My face—and Sojeo's—started burning bright red.
"Y-You, Narang and Sojeo, your outfits are... really stunning... Have you been well?"
Narang and Sojeo flapped their mouths open and shut.
"Uwoooo..."
Before clutching their cheeks and plopping to the ground.