The Yin Spirit Ice Fox
They stiffened.
Tang Chisam and his companions, who had just turned around, went rigid where they stood.
"Grrrrr!"
A low, beastly snarl rolled through Biwon Forest.
The sound alone made Tang Chisam and his men tremble against their will.
What… what is that?
My body won't listen…
Me? Cowed by a mere beast?
Each of them tried to circulate their internal energy and force their frozen limbs to move.
It did not work as they wished.
Why won't my body move?!
If I don't move right now…
The thought never finished.
"KYAAAAK!"
A roar tore out of the darkness.
"Keheuk!"
"Puhk."
"Uwek!"
They coughed up blood with strangled groans.
It had been nothing more than a threatening cry—yet to them it was nothing short of catastrophe.
"Khuhk… How can a lowly creature like that…?!"
Tang Chisam's pupils shook violently.
A monstrous life-form had appeared out of nowhere, and its mere cry had inflicted severe internal injuries.
"Cough, cough! Just what the hell are you…"
At last the disaster stepped out of the dark.
"Ugh! Why is a Snow Spirit… here…?"
"…How did a Heavenly Spirit Fox that should be on Mount Heaven come all the way to distant Sichuan…?"
"Why is it suddenly attacking us?"
Tang Cheonwi kindly answered their questions for them.
"Why else? You destroyed the Yin Spirit Ice Fox's nest."
Tang Chisam bellowed.
"Bullshit! The Snow Spirit—the Yin Spirit Ice Fox—lives on Mount Heaven! It's a spiritual beast that loathes the heat of Sichuan!"
Tang Cheonwi smiled faintly at the outburst.
"Because the nest you just mentioned was stolen by the Heavenly Spirit Flame Wing."
"You're spouting nonsense."
"You're the one who doesn't understand the Yin Spirit Ice Fox. The Heavenly Spirit Flame Wing is a fire-aspected spiritual beast, but it hates hot places just the same. An injured Yin Spirit Ice Fox had no choice but to pick a warm region if it wanted to survive. Right?"
As if it understood every word, the Yin Spirit Ice Fox stamped the ground hard.
Boom!
Craaack—!
The space that had been filled with fire-fiend energy froze solid in an instant.
A piercing, intense cold flooded the air.
"On top of that, Biwon Forest is packed with poison qi and cold yin energy. Perfect place for a wounded Yin Spirit Ice Fox to recover."
"…Impossible!"
"You should actually thank yourselves. You created such dense poison qi and yin energy that the fox could settle down here."
"You're saying we… drew the Yin Spirit Ice Fox here?"
"You had no idea this epidemic was its favorite food, did you?"
The Yin Spirit Ice Fox loved filthy yin energy and poison qi.
It was a pure-natured spiritual beast that purified the unclean and gained power from it—that was the Snow Spirit, the Yin Spirit Ice Fox.
To the fox, epidemic-shadowed Jamun Village was a paradise.
The polluted air of Jamun Village was far better nourishment than the pristine energy of Mount Heaven.
"Thanks to you exploding the toxicity of the Sabi Herb and Sahwa Herb, the Yin Spirit Ice Fox made its home in Biwon Forest. Without that, you'd never have seen this legendary spiritual beast in your entire lives. Be grateful."
Tang Chisam's face twisted with pure rage at Tang Cheonwi's words.
"I'll kill you!"
"You'll die before you ever get the chance."
The Yin Spirit Ice Fox's eyes gleamed.
Its expression said it would tear them apart and devour them the moment they made a single wrong move.
Caught under that gaze, Tang Chisam and his companions froze all over again.
"Ever wonder why it's called a spiritual beast?"
"…"
"Because it understands human speech. It's even smarter than most humans—that's why it earns the name."
Only then did Tang Chisam grasp the situation.
"Scatter! Survive and return to the sect—tell them a Yin Spirit Ice Fox has appeared in Sichuan!"
At his shout they bolted in every direction.
Paat!
Bodies fled every which way.
"KYAAAAK!"
The Yin Spirit Ice Fox roared in fury and moved like lightning.
Thud!
A sharp swipe of its claw sent one of the Dokma Sect demons flying sideways.
"Keheuk."
His body was simply ripped apart.
The fox was already leaping toward the next target.
"Whoa. Was it always this scary?"
In his previous life the creature had been affectionate with him; now it was terrifyingly vicious.
Is it going to attack me next?
His worry became reality.
Apparently the fox regarded him as just another human who had invaded its nest.
"Whoaak!"
Crash!
As if its temper had completely snapped, the Yin Spirit Ice Fox attacked everything in sight.
"Not me—attack those guys!"
It understood him with uncanny precision.
Just as a Dokma Sect demon whose feet had been frozen tried to flee—
"KYAAAAK!"
A blast of cold breath from the fox's maw froze the demon solid.
"D-damn it!"
In the blink of an eye every demon disguised as a Jamun Village villager was dead.
Only one person remained: Tang Chisam.
"Grrrrr."
"S-spare me…!"
A spiritual beast that could casually shred even a first-class expert—that was the Yin Spirit Ice Fox, an apex predator of the highest order.
"Please…"
Even as Tang Chisam begged, the fox opened its jaws wide.
Then it bit down on the terrified man.
Crunch!
The sight was shocking—brutally cruel.
"Holy shit, that's too disgusting to watch."
"You set this whole board yourself."
Hwancheonjihwan's voice was pure resignation.
It had lost another bet with Tang Cheonwi—whether the Yin Spirit Ice Fox would appear in Sichuan or not.
And the stakes had been the latter half of the Dark Blood True Scripture.
It felt as though it had danced to Tang Cheonwi's design once again.
"I didn't plan for it to turn hostile toward me."
"Grrrrr."
The Yin Spirit Ice Fox turned its body and advanced one step at a time.
"Hey, friend. I'm not your enemy."
The fox refused to listen.
It seemed determined to drive every last human from its nest.
"Don't you want your nest restored? I've got the kind of energy you love."
The fox's ears perked.
They fluttered.
Yet it still did not stop approaching.
Its murderous aura made every hair on his body stand on end.
"If you kill me you'll be in even more trouble. Your nest is already gone—you'll have to find another place to recover."
The fox's crimson eyes flashed.
Killing intent erupted—pure distrust of humans.
"Honestly, just trust me for once."
Immediately he drew out his Tyrant Blood Poison Qi.
Hwaaak—!
A power that swallowed the atmosphere in an instant. A formidable, overwhelming poison qi.
Only then did the threatening fox halt.
"This is the strong yin-aspected poison qi you like, right?"
The creature stared hard at him, as if asking how he intended to revive its ruined nest.
"My poison qi and yours together can make a better nest than before."
Regrowing the burned poisonous herbs would be nothing.
The Yin Spirit Ice Fox was a spiritual beast; with its power, both poisonous and medicinal herbs would flourish in no time.
And not only those—new poisonous and medicinal herbs that had never existed here would appear as well.
Biwon Forest would be reborn as a garden of an entirely different caliber.
"How about it? Join forces with me and restore your nest."
While it stared at him, light suddenly enveloped the fox's body.
Its massive frame shrank steadily.
In the end it revealed itself the size of a human head.
The savage fox was gone; only an adorable silver-furred fox remained.
"Kying-kying!"
Even its cry had changed—from threatening to cute.
It flung tufts of its tail fur in every direction.
Territory marking.
What greed.
It was declaring the entire Biwon Forest its domain.
"I'll revive all of it."
"Kying!"
It barked vigorously—something along the lines of Work hard. This one shall watch over you.
"In return, can I have some of your tail fur?"
"Kying?"
It tilted its head, then promptly offered up the fur.
"If I want the nest rebuilt quickly, I need people. But the ones who wrecked your nest left the workers dying of the epidemic. That's why I need your tail fur."
"Kying-kying!"
Take as much of this one's fur as you please and use it, it seemed to say.
"You're a flexible little guy."
He gathered a thick handful of the tail fur and went to the village chief who had been hiding.
"You saw everything, didn't you?"
Tang Mansong's face was set hard.
He might have been expected to grieve for the loss of his son, yet he was no ordinary village chief.
He was the forest lord of Biwon Forest—the very heart of the Tang Clan's holdings here—and a man of iron resolve.
"Thank you for avenging my son who went before me."
Tang Mansong closed his eyes for a moment, as if mourning the dead.
Only briefly.
When he opened them again, Tang Cheonwi spoke.
"With this Snow Spirit's fur, you will be able to save your grandson."
Tang Mansong bowed his head once more.
"Thank you for saving Jamun Village."
He offered the greeting on behalf of every villager.
"I also gained something from this, so think nothing of it."
"Do you intend to claim that spiritual beast?"
"Yes. It already regards Biwon Forest as its nest."
"If it is the Young Master, you will surely win the Yin Spirit Ice Fox."
Tang Mansong believed it without a shred of doubt.
At first he had thought the Young Master far too young—what could a boy possibly accomplish here? He had only hoped the child would not die of the plague.
Instead the boy had rooted out every spy and even drawn a legendary spiritual beast.
Every action had looked calculated.
This was no ordinary person.
He felt the Young Master's greatness on his very skin.
All the way to the village chief's house, Hwancheonjihwan's voice kept ringing in his ears.
"You—you! How are you handling the Yin Spirit Ice Fox like that?"
"The Yin Spirit Ice Fox is a spiritual beast that distrusts humans. It never trusts them."
"You're an incomprehensible bastard. I really don't understand you at all."
Hwancheonjihwan had essentially declared surrender—closer to giving up entirely.
"Why did a guy like you have to wake me…"
It had even begun lamenting its own fate.
Whether Hwancheonjihwan grumbled or not, Tang Cheonwi simply did what needed doing.
He sat beside the child lying as if dead.
A boy only a year or two younger than himself—the one who would become the Ten Thousand Herb Guest, Tang Saeng, a peak master of a hundred techniques in the future.
A man handsome enough to be called the Herb Young Master as well.
"Place this Yin Soul Ice Thread over his heart."
"Are you truly going to use something so precious on my grandson?"
Yin Soul Ice Thread was an ingredient for extreme poisons—an extremely rare material, a treasure worth a thousand gold.
Hearing that such a material would be used on his grandson left Tang Mansong stunned.
"This child's worth cannot be exchanged even for a thousand gold."
"Young Master…!"
He was deeply moved.
A direct descendant—and the legitimate eldest son at that—valued his grandson so highly.
The grief and pain of his son falling to a demon remained, yet his grandson was being recognized by the true bloodline of the Tang Clan.
"Tang Saeng will become the next herb and poison expert after you, Village Chief. Do you understand what I mean?"
"You mean to raise my grandson as the forest lord of Biwon Forest?"
"Then who else would take the post? In this Jamun Village I see no one but Tang Saeng fit to become forest lord."
Tang Mansong rose from his seat and performed a deep formal bow.
"This Tang Mansong will devote his loyalty to the Young Master from this day forward."
Tang Cheonwi personally corrected the declaration.
"Why support me? Pledge your loyalty to my younger brother Yuhyeon instead. He's the one suited to be the Tang Clan's successor."
Tang Mansong marveled at the detached attitude.
"Already free of the lust for power? This Tang Mansong finds himself astonished by the Young Master yet again."
"It's not detachment—I simply despise a bothersome, hair-pulling seat like that."
"Humility, and even the heart to look after a younger brother… The Clan Head seems to have raised a fine son."
Tang Mansong fell into a great misunderstanding—his loyalty to the Clan Head had simply transferred onto Tang Cheonwi.
"Anyway, loyalty to me is unnecessary. Just make sure you are loyal to Yuhyeon."
"Understood. I shall be loyal to both of you."
"No—leave me out of it."
"Hah, you're embarrassed, so I'll leave it at that."
The man was impossible to talk sense into.
Had he always been like this? Tang Cheonwi had known him as a solemn man who never joked.
Apparently not.
I'll just keep my mouth shut.
He deliberately ignored Tang Mansong and waited for a reaction from the Yin Soul Ice Thread resting on Tang Saeng's heart.
At last the thread began expelling the poison qi that had been lurking inside the boy's body.
"Now the poison must be completely suppressed. Please wait outside, Village Chief."
Suppressing the lurking poison was only the surface of it.
In truth he was using Tyrant Blood Poison Qi to expand his own internal energy.
This entire Jamun Village was one massive spiritual medicine—a second Poison Blood Rite.
To him, the poisons that were deadly to others became pure nourishment for his internal energy.
"Ohhh! Not only did he subdue a first-class demon at such a young age, he is now subduing the epidemic itself—what great fortune for the Tang Clan!"