Chapter 109
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Honored Elders, Please Follow Me Here. (3)
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Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
The toxic fumes and despair that had seemed ready to swallow the Beast Palace, and indeed the entire Beast Forest, had now completely dissipated. Only the withered trees from that time remained as grim scars of the brutal battle.
"Honored Elder, how are you feeling today?"
Geum Sihyeon stepped into the room where Dang Wuryang was staying, having borrowed one of the Beast Palace's halls.
Dang Wuryang repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hand, a faint smile on his lips.
"It feels like I've been reborn."
It wasn't an exaggeration at all.
The vicious poison he'd harbored in his body had been eating away at him from within, leaving him in such poor condition that death could have come at any moment.
Though he'd lost his poison arts in exchange, a refreshing sensation washed over his entire body, as if he'd undergone the shedding of hair and cleansing of marrow.
He could no longer use poison techniques, but Dang Wuryang didn't mind.
His gaze had always been fixed on hidden weapons rather than poison to begin with, and the moment he laid eyes on his daughter alive, the last remnants of his singular obsession vanished completely.
"So, when will you tell Narang and me...?"
"...Who knows."
Dang Wuryang still hadn't revealed his identity to Myo Narang.
With complex emotions swirling inside, he habitually reached for a Mangwoo grass stem to chew on.
"Honored Elder, you need to take care of your health from now on."
Geum Sihyeon, desperate to score points with his prospective father-in-law, meddled just enough to force a grumbling Dang Wuryang to set it aside.
"Narang and I can see you're still looking at her with uneasy eyes. Wouldn't it be better to just tell her the truth...?"
Dang Wuryang sighed at Geum Sihyeon's question—he already knew the full story from the elder's mutterings during treatment.
"What meaning is there in playing the father now? Besides, I can't drag her back into the cycle of grudges and debts. ...This is something I need to sever on my own."
But.
"Honored Elder, there's a saying in the world."
"What is it?"
Geum Sihyeon wore an oddly obnoxious smile.
"If someone's hating on you for no reason, you might as well give them a reason to hate you."
Dang Wuryang was taken aback.
What kind of unorthodox, fiendish way of thinking was this?
But deep down, he could understand it.
Return favors twofold, grudges tenfold.
Without strength, you can't prove a thing.
Phrases he'd heard endlessly during his time with the Tang Family.
"Look, things have come to this. We're hardly strangers anymore. And I've got my own debts to settle with the Sichuan Tang Family, so why not handle it together while we're at it?"
Dang Wuryang let out a hollow laugh at Geum Sihyeon's mad suggestion.
If they were that easy to deal with, he would've ended them with his own hands long ago.
But the name of the Poison King was no light title.
"Forget it. Even if you've reached the transcendent peak, he's not someone you can take on."
But Dang Wuryang's warning failed to leave even a scratch on Geum Sihyeon's ears.
"Anyway, join us for a meal later. Narang's cooking skills are seriously, seriously top-notch."
"Hah."
As if that would be hard.
Whose daughter was she, after all?
Myo Hwaseo was enjoying a rare moment of peaceful rest after a very long time.
It would take quite a while for her lost spiritual power to fully return, but as one who had ascended to the ranks of divine beasts, the flow of time didn't feel all that frightening to her.
If her heart had its way, she'd curl up for a hundred years of deep winter hibernation.
Of course.
"Darama! Hehe, getting some good rest?"
With children to protect, she couldn't rest just yet.
Myo Hwaseo sat up, noting how Myo Narang's beaming smile seemed just a touch subdued.
"Kyau...!"
She'd been rolling around in her true form as a colossal squirrel.
Neukdaeng-i, the wolf pup clutching its tail and dozing off with a satisfied rumble, let out a grumpy whine.
She took in the adorable sight of Neukdaeng-i toddling off toward its owner as if declaring its territory.
"Narang."
"Hm?"
"Come sit here for a moment."
"Yes."
As a note of solemnity entered Myo Hwaseo's voice, Myo Narang responded with formal respect out of deference to the divine beast's authority.
"What would you have me do?"
Geum Sihyeon had come to see Myo Hwaseo three days prior.
- The poison won't spread anymore, but the entire forest is already diseased and will take a long time to recover. Why not relocate while you have the chance?
He wasn't wrong.
She'd done her utmost to block it, but how could one cover the entire sky with a single palm?
Even if no more leaked out from now on, the poison had already scarred the land deeply.
It would recover in time over long ages, but for the short-lived beasts who lived in the moment, it was still a dangerous place.
"Th-that's..."
Myo Hwaseo read the anguish rising in Myo Narang's eyes.
Not just the conflict of upholding the palace's traditions as its lord and a human.
"Geum Sihyeon—you don't want to share him, do you?"
Spotting the woman's inner turmoil as well, Myo Hwaseo teased with a mischievous chuckle.
"...Yes."
Myo Hwaseo gently wrapped her tail around Myo Narang's body at her bitten-lip response.
"Narang. That's not possible."
"...Why?"
"He's not a vessel one person can handle alone. You might dry up and wither away in a few months."
"...?"
As Myo Narang tilted her head in confusion.
"You'll need at least four—no, more than that—to take turns pouring in vital energy. Didn't you dream of living a long life with a family?"
"..."
Finally grasping Myo Hwaseo's meaning, Myo Narang's cheeks flushed red.
Myo Hwaseo watched her with an odd glint in her eyes, her own thoughts drifting elsewhere for a moment.
Even she, a divine beast attuned to the laws of nature, hadn't fully gauged the depths of Geum Sihyeon until now.
Of course, she couldn't deny his inherently kind nature.
But she had insight into the beastly desires lurking in one corner of that nature.
And at the same time.
"It's fine. Geum Sihyeon is a man with an enormous vessel—excessively so. Even if he loves many women, he'll share his love fairly. So you'd better steel your heart starting now."
"Y-yes..."
Gazing at the slightly downcast Myo Narang, Myo Hwaseo perked up her tail and patted her head.
"But everyone has a first. And if you're the first—the principal wife—won't you have more say in who comes after?"
"...!"
Myo Hwaseo twitched her ears and let out a gleeful snicker at Myo Narang's enlightened expression.
And she resolved herself.
For this lovable child's present and future.
She would lead the beasts to Shaanxi.
The Geum Sihyeon she'd seen wasn't one to speak empty words—he would surely take good care of them.
The time had come to put a period on their stay at the Beast Palace.
"Oink oink!"
"Woof woof!"
"Meee!"
Geum Sihyeon checked the procession before departure, ears filled with the chorus from his beastly companions that oddly reminded him of the black ox-pig-dog.
"More than I expected...?"
"Hehe. I couldn't just leave them behind."
He took in Narang Sojeo's sheepish smile and twirling hair, her voluptuous figure, before glancing at Myo Hwaseo herding the animals from afar with grunts of effort.
"You were reluctant last time, but you've made your decision."
"Yeah. Shaanxi seems like a nice place to live."
"It is."
Come to think of it.
"What about Heukmangseng?"
"Ah..."
From what Narang Sojeo said.
The grown beast was throwing a tantrum, insisting on staying to atone for its sins here.
"I'll go check on him."
Arrogant for a patient.
At the entrance to a cave that had somehow survived the chaos unscathed.
"Heukmangseng. Coming in?"
He announced his presence and slipped inside.
Soon.
"...Why are you here?"
Heukmangseng, half its body bleached white from Geum Sihyeon's treatment, hissed as it coiled up.
It was a bit smaller than before, but a giant serpent still carried an intimidating presence.
"Isn't it a young man's duty to visit an elder planning to die alone?"
"..."
He approached without hesitation, stroking its chest and infusing true energy.
The inner core=implant, crafted by heaven's own divine healer Geum Sihyeon, still writhed alive and compatible within Heukmangseng's body.
"You've adapted by now, so come with us. I won't let you in if you show up late with a sheepish face."
"Ah."
Heukmangseng's gaze dropped slightly.
Hmm.
Just as I thought.
Deep down, it must have wanted to go along.
It seemed too guilty over the trouble it'd caused to speak up.
"You can transform into a human anyway, right? Change your name, and start a new life as one. Wouldn't be bad."
"My name...?"
Honestly, Heukmangseng was a bit much.
It sounded like a snake demon ready to spam 5,700 characters of resentment.
"You're not an imugi anymore."
"...True."
Heukmangseng had already shed its imugi form.
Not quite a true dragon, but it had successfully terra-evolved into a proper divine beast.
The sacred aura flowing from the pair of horns on its forehead proved it.
"Myo Hwaseo—er, Darama—is struggling to herd the kids alone right now. If you really want to atone, shouldn't you lighten her load?"
"I suppose..."
Heukmangseng's eyes softened calmly.
Good.
Persuasion complete.
The more available manpower, the better.
"Then you name me. If I like it, I'll follow you."
At Heukmangseng's sudden quest, he gave the answer without thinking.
"Kkamyong-i."
"...Want to die?"
"Hm."
What was wrong with Kkamyong-i?
Dodging Heukmangseng's glaring, racism-fueled stare, he pondered briefly.
"Mirinae—how about that?"
Heukmangseng looked surprised.
"...You know Joseon words?"
"I find the language intriguing, so I picked up a bit."
His native tongue, actually.
"Mirinae, Mirinae..."
"Combining 'manage' (理) and 'endure' (耐)—it means wisely managing all you've endured thus far. Nice meaning."
Heukmangseng nodded, impressed by the true energy naming's hanja breakdown.
You're no longer Snake Chunshik... You're Mirinae now.
"Fine. We'll go with that."
At last, the menhera hikikomori serpent stepped out into the world.
Heukmangseng—no, now Mirinae's body was enveloped in a glow, and soon.
"Good. Take good care of this body from now on. Skip my offerings, and I'll eat you."
Similar to her serpent form, she transformed into a woman with hair split black and white, each side asserting itself.
What.
Female?
"Can you... hide the handles—no, horns?"
"That much is easy."
With a snap of her fingers, the horns protruding from Mirinae's head vanished seamlessly.
"Alright, let's go. Shaanxi land is great for living."
"Yeah."
Successfully adding one Pokémon to the prospective party, the Yun'nam trip's gains were plenty.
He'd gathered all the herbs the Divine One requested, plus various rare spiritual plants—She'd be pleased.
And.
Preparations to punk that crazy Poison King geezer were roughly done.
Wait for me.
Prospective mother-in-law's enemy.
"...Wiped out?"
In the topmost floor of Gyerim's Lijiang Heavenly Tower.
Il-sal muttered in disbelief upon receiving the report.
What in the world was this?
Assassins failing and dying one after another could be chalked up to battlefield losses—par for the course.
By sending them in waves, he could gauge the target's strength accurately and even raise the fee accordingly. Compared to sacrificing a few orphans, it was practically profitable.
But.
"Not only was the entire branch annihilated, but even O-sal is dead? To a single guy?"
"Th-there are traces of the Ghost Execution Squad's involvement..."
Shrieeeek!
A burst of qi, too fast to follow with the eyes, instantly severed the ear of the kneeling assassin giving the report.
"You call that a report, you worthless shit?!"
Once ignited, his rage didn't subside easily.
"The Ghost Execution Squad? Those idiots who've been rotting away in some hole without a single kill in years! Not only did we lose to them, but to a mere peak expert—peak! Against a twenty-year-old at early peak at best—do you know how many morons have died so far?!"
Under that blazing fury, the reporting assassin could only tremble, not even daring to staunch the bleeding.
His mind raced in turmoil.
They could accept the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress's demand right now—cancel the contract and take several times the posted bounty.
But if word reached the Heaven Killer?
His corpse would be diced into 17 pieces and displayed around the Lijiang Heavenly Tower, with I-sal taking his seat.
Crunch—
"I'll handle it myself."
I'll kill him with my own hands, for sure.
Il-sal burned with fury.