The Bird That Drinks Poison
A damp, gloomy cave.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling, water droplets falling from their tips with a slow, rhythmic plop... plop...
Immediately after opening his eyes, Dang Sobaek could not fully grasp his situation.
Wings instead of arms, thin and spindly legs. Downy feathers densely covering his body, and a small, protruding beak.
Indeed.
Dang Sobaek had begun a new life not as a human, but as a mere beast.
To be precise, he had reincarnated while retaining the memories of his past life. And into the body of a bird, no less.
I must have committed many sins in my past life.
Did the Buddhists not say that one cycles through the six realms of rebirth according to their karma?
Born as a mere beast, it seemed his accumulated karma was heavy indeed. That had to be why he was reborn with his memories intact.
To live in the body of a beast while possessing the mind of a human was, in itself, a punishment.
Sobaek tried spreading his wings and moving his legs.
Even moving my body is no simple task.
Every sense was vastly different from when he was human.
His field of vision was bizarrely wide, yet his ability to distinguish colors was dull. The noises flooding his ears were amplified, and the pungent smell of earth mixed with the fishy odor of wet feathers assaulted his beak, making his head spin.
He felt as if his limbs were bound. Nothing obeyed his will.
Turning his head slowly, he saw other chicks that had opened their eyes alongside him.
Six in total, including myself?
Cheep! Chirp! Cheep!
Creatures barely the size of a palm squawked noisily for what felt like an eternity. He wanted to cover his ears, but—
Ah... I have no hands.
It was impossible.
He tried wrapping his wings around his head, but the noise leaked through the gaps.
Flap, flap!
Just then, a bird with deep green feathers flew in from the cave entrance. Clutched in its beak was a massive centipede.
Is that the mother?
The sight was strangely familiar.
The bird, presumably their mother, dropped the centipede in front of Sobaek and the other chicks.
However,
This is a poison centipede.
It was not something edible.
It looked remarkably similar to the venomous centipedes native to the western regions of the Central Plains. In particular, judging by its three antennae, it had to be highly toxic.
Even though Sobaek had been the patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Clan, he had no confidence in controlling poison with a body like this.
Sobaek hesitated. Should he stop them or not?
But before he could reach a conclusion, the other chicks rushed toward the centipede. In an instant, they tore it apart with their beaks and swallowed the pieces.
Ten seconds left.
In that time, foam would bubble from their mouths, their skin would turn purple, and they would draw their last breaths.
Yet, no matter how much time passed, there was no reaction.
It wasn't simply a matter of having a high resistance to poison. If that were the case, there should have been at least some physical reaction.
There was, perhaps, a slight twitching. However, rather than a symptom of poisoning, it seemed more like a tremor of strange pleasure.
The conclusion was one of two possibilities.
Either the creature only looked venomous but was actually harmless, or these birds possessed the ability to neutralize or filter out poison.
At the very least, it is confirmed that eating it is safe.
Sobaek stared at the centipede and focused on his sense of smell. Instantly, a sweet, fragrant aroma wafted from it. It was incredibly difficult to resist.
How... how can a mere centipede smell so utterly divine?
His body twitched. Instinct whipped him, urging him to rush forward and devour the centipede immediately.
Moreover, he was currently starving.
Unable to endure any longer, Sobaek waddled toward the centipede.
But then—
Squaaawk!
One of the chicks glared at him and shoved Sobaek aside. It was utterly absurd.
How dare you—
Sobaek was not patient enough to let someone who dared lay a hand on him go unpunished.
He raised his hand to deliver a swift, punishing blow, but—
"!!!!"
He had no hands. Only his wings flapped awkwardly.
The price of his rebellion was brutal.
Three of the chicks that had finished eating surrounded Sobaek. They immediately began pecking at him in retaliation.
Aaargh!
Sobaek screamed, but only a pitiful, high-pitched chirping escaped his beak.
I... I will kill you all.
Yet, unlike Sobaek, who could barely control his own body, the other chicks moved with dazzling agility.
It was almost like the state of oneness between self and object.
This was the difference between humans and beasts.
Furthermore, Sobaek was significantly smaller than his siblings.
S-Stop this at once!
But no matter how much he screamed internally, there was no way they could understand. Sobaek desperately cast his gaze toward the mother bird.
But a shadow fell over him. It was one of the larger chicks in the brood.
Its beak clacked menacingly.
Sobaek tried to deflect the force using the principles of Diverting the Plum Blossom, but—
As if that would work.
Setting aside the fact that he didn't possess a single shred of internal energy,
he couldn't even control his physical body properly.
Curling his body as tightly as possible to minimize the impact was his only option.
"Cheep?"
Perhaps sensing something unusual, the chicks tilted their heads. Then, they began to torment Sobaek with even greater force.
I will never, ever forget this humiliation.
Enduring the pain, Sobaek swore an oath. One day, he would show these bastards what he was truly capable of.
That night, a major problem arose.
One of the chicks showed symptoms of poisoning. White foam bubbled from its beak as its body convulsed.
Pitiful cries echoed through the cave.
The mother bird merely watched in silence, while the other chicks stared with slightly frightened expressions.
Had Sobaek possessed his past body, he could have administered some form of emergency treatment, but it was impossible now.
He crept closer and pressed his wing against the chick's body; it was burning hot.
Tonight will be the crisis.
Without an antidote, the chick had to rely solely on its natural resistance to survive.
Sobaek watched the chick's feathers fall out in clumps and turned his gaze away.
This was the "wild."
A place where death lurked around every corner.
Unlike humans, who had remedies, a tiny scratch from a branch could fester and kill,
and one could drop dead from a sudden illness for no reason at all.
Looking at the dying chick, Sobaek finally realized the gravity of his situation.
The night was agonizingly long.
Sobaek stayed awake all night,
watching a life crumble away right beside him.
Its breathing gradually weakened.
The convulsions subsided, and the cries fell silent.
At last, the morning sun rose at the entrance of the cave.
In the end, the poisoned chick drew its last breath.
The other chicks rushed forward to tear at the corpse, but the mother stopped them.
She picked up the dead chick in her beak and carried it out of the cave.
Even then, the mother bird's eyes remained entirely devoid of emotion.
A month passed.
During that time, Sobaek endured and trained.
He hadn't done anything grand.
He could now spread his wings freely and move his legs and beak exactly as he wished.
He had finally adapted to his avian body.
And there was another discovery.
He had been uncertain from the start, as beasts with such incredible resistance to poison were rare.
But to think I would be a Jimjo.
The scroll hanging in the patriarch's office of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Not only did he look almost identical to the Jimjo depicted in that scroll, but he also shared the exact characteristics described in ancient texts.
For there was no other bird that consumed, refined, and blended poison.
Living in the cave had taught him a few more things.
First, a strict hierarchy existed among his siblings. The mother bird never intervened.
They strictly followed the law of the jungle.
He had also figured out the traits of his siblings.
First in the hierarchy was the one with silver feathers. For the sake of distinction, Sobaek personally named him Jim-il.
He was quite large and greedy, though he hid his greed well.
A viper-like bastard.
Sobaek had seen many like him. The Leader of the Wulin Alliance possessed this exact personality.
Second in the hierarchy was a female with deep purple feathers. Sobaek named her Jim-i.
She was always the most active in tormenting Sobaek. Even when it wasn't feeding time, she would peck and snap at him whenever she got the chance.
She was truly like an unorthodox martial artist.
There was also one who had absolutely no interest in the power struggles, maintaining an attitude as if he had transcended worldly affairs.
Sobaek disliked this one the most.
That relaxed, detached attitude reminded Sobaek of his old friend.
He resembled Namgung Danwu.
He was even larger than the leader, Jim-il, and occasionally looked after the ostracized Sobaek. This was Jim-sam.
When Sobaek stared at him, Jim-sam tilted his head and looked back with innocent eyes.
"Cheep? Chirp—"
Then, he tore his portion in half and offered it. Sobaek frowned, but silently accepted and ate it.
He was far too hungry to let pride get in the way. Without this guy, Sobaek might have starved to death long ago.
Annoying as it is, I will surely repay this debt one day.
Sobaek swallowed the venomous centipede, savoring its exquisite flavor.
A sharp, refreshing tang and a numbing sensation.
It felt as if he were tasting the very essence of Sichuan cuisine.
Sobaek guided the poison within the centipede according to the mnemonic of the Mandok-gwigong.
Unlike ordinary beasts, the Jimjo possessed an extra organ.
A fourth organ known as the poison sac.
While the others blindly stored poison by instinct, Sobaek was different.
Although a Jimjo's body naturally refined poison over time, Sobaek added the profound principles of the Mandok-gwigong.
Cold sweat dripped from Sobaek's brow. Since his physical form was different, his meridians were also entirely distinct.
In fact, he had nearly suffered qi deviation during his first few attempts.
That was terrifying.
He had convulsed and coughed up blood. But now, he had grown somewhat accustomed to it.
Sobaek removed as many impurities from the centipede's venom as possible, mixed it with the qi drawn from the outside, and stored it in his poison sac.
Only by doing so could he minimize any adverse reactions when blending poisons in the future.
Whew...
Having successfully completed the process, Sobaek raised a wing and wiped his brow.
"Chirp?"
Finding the gesture strange, Jim-sam tilted his head.
A moment later, he mimicked Sobaek's action. Sobaek let out a soft chuckle at the sight.
Though he couldn't fully understand their language yet, he could grasp the general meaning.
In other words,
the fellow was asking, What is this?
Sobaek didn't bother to answer. Expressing complex thoughts was still too difficult.
And finally, Jim-o.
This one had no notable characteristics. He had light green feathers and simply went with the flow.
While he didn't actively participate in tormenting Sobaek like the leader and Jim-i, he still stood by and watched.
He had the face of someone who would live the longest.
As Sobaek was lost in thought, the purple-feathered chick waddled toward him. It was Jim-i.
Her gaze was fierce.
It seemed something had displeased her again.
But this time will be different.
He had studied his movements through grueling practice and had refined his poison, even if it was only a microscopic amount.
Without hesitation, Sobaek charged straight at her.
"Squaaaaawk!"
Startled by this unexpected reaction, Jim-i instinctively took a step back.
In a duel, seventy percent of the battle is momentum.
Sobaek's left wing sliced through the air like a hand blade, aiming straight for her head.
Let's see how you like getting your skull cracked!
Infusing the principle of a One-Strike Kill into a simple flap of his wing, he struck downward at a sharp angle.
Thwack!
Tears welled up in Jim-i's eyes.
"Squaaaaawk! Cheep!"
She wailed in sheer shock. At that, the leader finally moved.
Hmph. Bring it on!
However, Sobaek's bravado did not last long.
As the saying goes, there is no match for numbers. No matter how skillfully he applied martial arts principles, it was difficult to handle multiple opponents at once.
His movements quickly grew chaotic. He cast a desperate look at Jim-sam for help, but Jim-sam merely watched with complete indifference.
Ugh!
In the end, today's revolution failed as well.
Even so, Sobaek let out a wild laugh.
The other chicks stared at him with bewildered expressions.
But only for a moment.
His siblings' kicks and pecks grew even harsher.
But it was fine.
It stung and ached, but the day he would usurp the leader's throne was not far off.
After all, hadn't he managed to land a blow on the leader as well?
It was a massive leap forward.
Just then, the mother bird flew back in, flapping her wings.
Clutched in her beak was a massive frog.
"!!!!"
Its body was a riot of mottled colors, dotted with black spots like constellations in the night sky.
Croak... croak...
It was ominous.
It was undoubtedly a poison frog.
Moreover, it was still alive.
And its size was formidable.
It was larger than the leader, Jim-il. The frog flicked its tongue, warily eyeing the mother bird.
I see. She wants us to hunt this thing ourselves?
Just as lions were said to throw their cubs off cliffs to raise them, the Jimjo seemed to have a similar method.
Survival of the fittest.
They were faithfully adhering to that law.
We briefly exchanged glances.
And to face the poison frog, we cooperated for the very first time.
A manor situated at the eastern edge of the continent. In its deepest chamber, a meeting was underway.
An old man with a long white beard took a sip of his tea and spoke.
"Is it not about time we conduct a 'harvest' on Gwisu Island?"
The one who answered the elder was a young man clad in blue robes. He carried the aura of a sharp sword.
"Hmm... I do not believe the time is ripe. It has been less than a hundred years since the last harvest."
It was a staggering span of time, nearly equivalent to a mortal's entire lifespan.
The elder tapped the table in frustration.
But the young man continued, unbothered.
"Even if we go now, it will be difficult to obtain proper beast cores. We swept them clean during the last harvest."
"Still, we must at least make an appearance. It is an order directly from the Alliance."
"The master of the island may grow furious."
"Hmph. A mere beast. Why not just eliminate him as well?"
"Denied. That would be burning down the house to catch a flea. Besides, he is a spiritual beast who has reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. He is by no means an opponent to be taken lightly. For now, go on a scouting mission to assess the situation. If there are no worthy beasts, then so be it. I shall report the findings myself."
"Understood."
With that, the meeting concluded.
Stepping out of the meeting room, the young man sighed as he walked through the manor grounds.
They, too, are living souls... How utterly heartless.
Yet, the young man had no choice. It was an order from the Alliance, above all else.
I must form the scouting party with moderate individuals. If only to minimize needless bloodshed.
The young man muttered to himself, looking up at the vast blue sky.