EP.34
The man with the red hair kicked the bun-haired girl, knocking her over.
They seemed to be part of the same group, so why did he do that?
Honestly, it’s infuriating, but there must be some reason behind it.
That girl might have told them to leave me behind and take care of themselves.
…Still, kicking someone is a bit too much, isn’t it?
The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it seems.
But, well, she was crying and shouting for me to run away, so I’ll let it slide just this once.
Let’s forget the details.
Their circumstances are not important to me.
What I need to know is simply that the girl fell.
And unlike others, she didn’t run away from me; she just sat still in that spot.
She doesn’t seem to be badly injured; I think she just twisted her leg.
If not, she might be an exceptionally ordinary person who is frightened by a gentle creature like me.
It’s a hassle to move twice, so let’s gather what I need quickly.
Shlick.
I flicked my tongue and began to rummage through the ground.
Was it around here?
I found a particularly damp patch of earth.
Crocodile King Lizard-type Technique No. 8.
Digging up the ground.
Like a puppy digging up a bone, I clawed through the dirt wildly.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Among the things underground were various plants and objects.
I gathered a few items that looked rare, like a lightning-shaped stone.
So, it’s not something I’ll use immediately, but it’s too precious to throw away—let’s call it a storage for items I might need later.
What I need right now….
Oh, here it is.
I gently lifted something that looked like a plant’s root.
What was it called again? Huasuo, right?
When I got injured, applying Huasuo juice to a wound would often heal it quickly.
For me, it’s not necessary since title grants me rapid recovery with just a few splashes in the water.
I was saving it just in case I needed it for Toothpus later, but who would have thought I’d use it this way?
I also grabbed the spider silk that I had placed beside me for Tooth’s use.
If I wrap the well-preserved Huasuo in a leaf and cover it with spider silk, she should be able to recover quickly.
If I just toss her the materials, she’ll take care of the healing on her own.
Alright, let’s go.
It took a bit of effort to find the medicinal ingredients, but the best scenario would be for the girl who fell to escape on her own.
I still think it’s too early for me to involve myself with humans.
It’s a sad reality, but unless they’re eccentric like Baek Yeon-Young, they seem to find me frightening.
If I’m going to meet someone, I should make a good impression. Maybe making some clothes to wear will help.
I’m still not ready.
Just now, encountering a human wasn’t part of my plans.
I could dismiss it since I drove them away from my territory and try to sleep, but I really don’t want to see a human dying nearby.
It might be a bit selfish, but I hope she recovers quickly and moves to a place where I won’t be seen again.
Tadadot.
To make myself look smaller, I crawled on all fours.
I wondered if the sword I held in my mouth was the issue, so I shifted it to my tail.
Now, I feel like I’m almost there.
Yes, there she is.
The girl I had seen was still in the same spot.
…She’s not dead, right?
Upon closer inspection, I noticed her chest, smaller than Baek Yeon-Young’s, rising and falling.
Looks like she’s not moving because she twisted her leg.
I carefully moved around to her back.
Not wanting to startle her, I tapped the ground a couple of times politely.
Excuse me.
“Hi, h-help!”
The girl was startled.
She looked at me with teary eyes and trembled.
“P-please don’t eat me…”
No.
That’s a misunderstanding.
I don’t eat humans.
*
Tang So-young had no talent for martial arts.
However, she didn’t care about that.
The Tang family primarily relied on memorization and poison rather than upright martial skills.
Although she lacked martial talent, she had an outstanding ability in handling poisons.
I can’t say her poison was exceptionally strong, but surprisingly, even those much stronger than her could fall victim to her skills. Because of this, the members of the Tang family sought to make good use of her.
Yes, “usage” is the right term.
Just as they used poison and memorization, the creators of the Tang family, of course, used their bloodline as well.
Being a poison master wasn’t merely a mythological achievement.
Those who had become puppets of the family, simply reduced to being just another poison, often referred to themselves with this self-deprecating term.
Tang So-young refused to use her own poison.
That was the meaning of her existence, so saying such things within the Tang family would have made it hard for her to maintain her composure.
Even if they shared the same blood, preserving one’s life might not be easy; one could become trapped in a cave and turn into another puppet of poison, losing their identity.
Yet, Tang So-young did not follow that path.
She secretly grew her strength.
The name of that strength was knowledge.
Instead of gathering internal power, she amassed vast amounts of knowledge.
Building knowledge that even the elders of the Tang family did not know, they decided to use her for other purposes.
Among the knowledge she accumulated, the most significant was related to spirit creatures.
Before the sudden surge of spirit creatures, the Tang family had shown the greatest interest in them. Strong spirit creatures could spit out powerful poison.
It was thanks to her past actions that she could represent the Tang family in this expedition, being one of the few talents capable of handling a juvenile Dilophosaurus.
Of course, sending her to Shiman Mountain was akin to gambling.
With her meager strength, losing both the knowledge of Tang So-young and the rare juvenile spirit creature at once was possible.
In that regard, the elders paid attention to a man named Namgung Yeon.
They received various pieces of information regarding Namgung Yeon through a spy named Cheong Murin. He was known as a second-rate martial artist, but that was information intentionally controlled.
Upon learning his true identity, the elders made the decision to send Tang So-young along with the juvenile spirit creature.
There was more to gain than to lose.
As long as Namgung Yeon was around, she wouldn’t easily die.
Provided she could control the Dilophosaurus.
However, she ended up losing the Dilophosaurus.
She almost lost her life due to a sudden attack from beasts.
If she hadn’t used the smoke bombs she had, she would have certainly drawn blood.
Now, all that remained in her possession were a bit of food, several memorized items, and a blanket.
In such circumstances, she encountered an entity that was like a miraculous force.
At first, she was scared.
She realized there was an enormous amount of internal power within it.
Moreover, it wasn’t ordinary internal power.
At least four identifiable layers of power were present, and she could even sense the aura of Gongcheong Seongyu.
How could she not be afraid when she had collapsed, defenseless before such a spirit creature?
As if everything wasn’t bad enough, she injured her leg.
She was unable to move.
Until that spirit creature returned.
“P-please don’t eat me…”
She spoke with a trembling voice.
My heart raced.
Flick.
I could see the spirit creature’s tongue flickering as it stared at her.
The moment Tang So-young sensed death and closed her eyes, an object fell in front of her.
With her eyes partially open, she noticed the roots of a plant.
Huasuo.
And it was at least a hundred years old.
The spirit creature stomped on it several times with its foot before offering her silky threads and leaves.
That precious Huasuo!
Under normal circumstances, Tang So-young would have exclaimed such words.
But given the situation, she could only tremble in fear.
Could it be asking her to apply it?
“Grrrr….”
“I-I’ll apply it!”
It was terrifying.
With her shaking hands, she applied the Huasuo juice to her injured area.
As time passed, the pain gradually subsided.
Tang So-young had one question lingering in her mind.
Why was it healing her?
Could it be that, like using tea leaves to make pork tastier, it intended to make her more delicious for consumption?
No, Tang So-young decided to entertain a more hopeful thought.
This spirit creature had no intention of harming her.
Even though the tail holding a blade was whipping about anxiously, if it meant to eat her, it would have done so long ago.
Even if this was just a whim, it was better than being devoured without being able to do anything.
At least she could do something.
Slowly, Tang So-young lifted her head.
She faced the entity before her.
A massive body.
Sharp claws.
She didn’t understand why it bore such an expression, but it seemed to convey a chilling smile, albeit not quite.
While eyeing the creature, a piece of information flashed through Tang So-young’s mind.
It was a tale related to a legend in the Tang family.
There exists a particular spirit creature. It is the strongest toxin, unmatched even by the Jimjo.
It is called by various names.
Old Being, Tail of Death, Ancient Death.
It symbolizes overwhelming death and violence, and it was the being that the Sichuan Tang Sect yearned for so desperately.
Armor so tough it could laugh off blades. Twenty claws sharper than a sword honed from a meteorite. Teeth that can easily pierce through even the strongest protective techniques. Toxicity deadlier than that of the Jimjo.
Gomo Do (古氂屠).
The being before her resembled Gomo Do.
Of course, there were differences compared to the descriptions in the legends.
Its size was slightly smaller, and its skin color was different.
She could let it pass quietly as it was.
Perhaps parting ways would be the best end for them both.
But Tang So-young did not do so.
Was it because of her academic mindset, or because she thought this spirit creature might be the one she had been seeking?
“Excuse me!”
Tang So-young called out to the spirit creature, which was trying to return to where it had come from.
“Are you perhaps the Grand Master Gomo Do?”
*
Wheeing, wheeing.
Somewhere deep in my heart, a siren sounded.
A human stopping me in this situation.
My sharp mind raced.
What a crazy person!
Ugh, I gotta run quickly!
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