Mae So-yeong, commander of the Blood Fla Unit, and her subordinates moved secretly by mountain paths under the cover of night, and after seven days, they had finally crossed into the northern region of Sichuan.
Using the darkness as their veil, they slipped into hiding near Guando, just a short distance from Tangga Mountain, where the Tang Clan was located.
Because this was deep within the Central Plains, security was relatively lax. And to avoid detection, they ate raw at from hunted animals, pushing forward without rest, day and night.
“We’ll lie in wait here! That map of the Tang Clan's grounds we obtained for retrieving the Blood-Water Venom Claw was useful.”
“Yes, Commander!”
Although the Tang Clan guarded Tangga Mountain tightly, they didn’t extend their patrols across the river, so settling near Guando wasn’t difficult.
Over the next two days, while hiding in ambush, they observed the area.
The only people Mae So-yeong saw entering and exiting the Tang residence were servants, maids, and what seed like guards, carrying goods and supplies—none of them important.
Not a single key figure appeared.
But on the third day of their ambush, just before sunset, after sending out a few subordinates to hunt for dinner—
A group of horses rode out from the Tang residence.
Among them was a middle-aged man, a young boy dressed in white, and a number of attendants and maids—all heading toward Chengdu.
Mae So-yeong’s eyes narrowed. These were undoubtedly significant individuals.
“What should we do?” the vice commander asked, watching the party ride off.
Mae So-yeong shook her head without hesitation.
She could feel the overwhelming martial pressure radiating from the middle-aged man—this wasn’t soone to approach lightly.
“He’s likely the Tang Clan’s patriarch. The aura coming off him isn’t sothing to take lightly. We let this one go.”
“Understood, Commander!”
It was a tempting opportunity, but this wasn’t just so other faction’s leader—this was the head of the Tang Clan.
Even if their two hundred Blood Fla troops launched a full-force attack, capturing him would still be difficult. And if he used poison in retaliation, the losses would outweigh any gain.
Right now, detoxifying their own ranks was urgent, but saving as many subordinates as possible was just as important—after all, they needed manpower to rescue the Blood Cult mbers currently enslaved under the Five Venoms Clan’s control.
Losing too many in an attack on the Tang patriarch would be pointless and counterproductive.
So, with so regret, Mae So-yeong let the party pass toward Chengdu.
But the very next evening, while chewing raw venison in the underbrush, she and the Blood Fla Unit heard the sound of hooves in the distance.
Clack. Clack.
“Soone’s coming!”
Wiping blood from her lips, Mae So-yeong retreated to her post. The others did the sa.
Soon, a single horse ca into view from afar.
When she focused her sight, she recognized the rider—it was the sa red-robed boy who had ridden beside the Tang patriarch just a few days ago.
Now, he was approaching alone.
If he’d been riding alongside the patriarch, he was either a direct descendant or soone equally important.
And he was just a boy—easy to capture.
This was a once-in-a-lifeti chance.
Mae So-yeong’s eyes glead as she sent a sound transmission to her waiting troops.
[Get ready! We must capture him! Do not harm him!]
[Yes, Commander!]
The boy’s red robe glowed like a target in her vision.
The heavens hadn’t forsaken the Blood Cult just yet.
Capture this boy, and the Tang Clan’s Parasite-Dissolving Pellet would soon be in Mae So-yeong’s hands.
***
In my past life, the only horses I ever saw were on TV, and the only ti I rode one was on a short pony ride in Jeju Island as a tourist.
So riding a full-sized warhorse here in this life wasn’t sothing I took lightly.
These things were massive.
At first, I was scared stiff, terrified of falling off—but after I trained in internal energy, light footwork, and body movent techniques, I had nothing to worry about.
Now, it was just fun.
Clack. Clack.
The sound of hooves echoed along the Guando path.
Above the mountains, the sunset cast golden-orange rays, painting the road in fiery hues.
Cool wind swept past my face, brushing through my hair.
Chirrk.
Hyang, perched on my head, leaned into the breeze like a dog with its head out the window.
Her antennae waved in the wind like ribboned braids.
“Having fun, Hyang?”
I smiled down at her, and she chirped happily in return.
Chirrk!
As we continued galloping along the road, a river gradually ca into view ahead.
It was the one that curved around Tangga Mountain.
Then, turning a bend in the trail, the mountain itself appeared.
Smoke drifted from the peaks, giving the place a mystical aura like sothing out of a celestial realm.
The flickering lights scattered across its slope made it look like an enormous Christmas tree.
And as I looked up at Tangga Mountain, I thought of Hwa-eun.
We’d been stuck together so much lately that I’d felt suffocated... and yet, even after just a single day apart, I already missed her.
I smiled to myself, realizing I was hopeless.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Then I thought of the kids.
I rarely called them when “coming ho from work,” but maybe this ti I could ask for a little welco party.
It’s about ti I called them out, isn’t it?
Just as I was ntally composing a ssage—
Kids, I’m almost ho. Who wants to co et outside Tangga Mountain? First one there gets—
Whinny!
Suddenly, the horse scread and lurched forward violently.
I felt my body tilt as I lost balance—
Chirrk!
Hyang instantly wrapped around to cushion the fall.
At the sa ti, I twisted sideways and launched myself diagonally, using my inner energy.
Thud! Clatter! Crash!
The horse went down hard, sliding across the ground.
I tumbled, rolled, and landed with a jolt.
As I raised my head, figures began to erge from all around.
In seconds, I was surrounded by dozens of people.
A cold female voice rang out:
“Judging by your fine clothing, you must be a direct descendant of the Tang Clan—or soone equally important. Seize him!”
Damn it—Yo-hwa really wasn’t joking when she said this outfit would attract attention...
Surrounded and under attack.
I cried out in my mind:
Kids! Help !
Whether it was Cho or Bini or anyone else—
I needed them. Now.
***
After So-ryong departed for Chengdu, Hwa-eun's heart was filled with unease.
Did he speak well in front of those high-ranking martial figures in Sichuan?
Was he eating properly?
Was he changing into the right outfits?
Her head was crowded with these thoughts.
And, of course... she missed him.
After the recent close call—when So-ryong nearly died handling Hoye—and after realizing just how much she loved him, the longing had only grown stronger.
Even when they were together, she missed him. When they were apart, her heart ached.
Hwa-eun had never known it was possible to love soone so much.
“Hwa-eun? Hwa-eun?”
She blinked at the sudden voice and turned her head.
It was Sister Seol, staring at her with a mixture of pity and exasperation.
And honestly, it made sense. This wasn’t the first ti Hwa-eun had spaced out while chatting with her in the pavilion.
“Yes, sister...”
“What’s with you? You were thinking about So-ryong again, weren’t you? This is starting to look like an illness.”
She hadn’t ant to, but it had happened more than a few tis already, and she felt both embarrassed and guilty.
“Well, I was just... wondering how he’s doing in Chengdu...”
“Ugh, even our brilliant and mysterious Hwa-eun has fallen. Without Tong, everyone’s gone soft. It’s bad—seriously bad.”
At Sister Seol’s words, Hwa-eun glanced around the pavilion.
She was right. It wasn’t just her.
Though she didn’t whine and insist on going along this ti, it was clear the absence of So-ryong had affected more than just her.
Even the venomous creatures had changed.
Cho and Bini were curled up in sleep atop the pavilion—ever since So-ryong left, they hadn’t stirred once.
Seol, Seol, Tong, and even Hyang and Dong were all unusually quiet and subdued.
They were normally so wild and chaotic.
Even Yo-hwa, who had co by the pavilion for a rare visit, looked sullen and dejected.
Clearly, she too was affected by So-ryong’s absence.
As Hwa-eun looked around at the others, a thought ca to her:
They were all feeling the sa, dazed and downhearted...
But she was their mom.
And if the mom moped around like this, the kids would only grow more despondent.
So, she gave her own cheeks a slap and stood up, thinking it was ti to play with the kids and shake off this gloom.
But that’s when it happened.
Grrrr!?
Chirrk!
Chirrrrk!
Piiiii!
Cheongwol, Cho, Bini, and Hwayang all suddenly jumped to their feet, staring down the slope of Tangga Mountain.
Cheongwol, who had been lying still like a rock, now surged to her feet, legs and waist rising and trembling.
Her massive body cast a shadow over Hwa-eun’s face.
“What is it? What’s going on, you guys?”
“What? Why are they acting like this?”
The kids all seed shocked—startled, as if they had sensed sothing.
While Hwa-eun and Seol-hwa scrambled in confusion, Cheongwol pointed her massive claw down the mountain...
And in a flash, Cho shot forward like an arrow.
Grrrr!
Chirrk!
Cho launched herself straight downhill like a living missile.
Yo-hwa, following right behind her, sprayed silk and soared into the air.
Heeheehee!
“Hey! Where are you going!?”
“What’s gotten into them!?”
Hwa-eun and sister Seol cried out in confusion, watching Cho and Yo-hwa rapidly disappear from view.
They barely had ti to process it when Cheongwol—who had never once moved from this garden—suddenly reared up and smashed one of her claws into the nearby five-story pavilion.
BOOM!
The pillars of the structure trembled, the whole building quaking.
“Cheongwol! You can’t just—!”
Hwa-eun clung to Cheongwol in a panic, but the damage was already done.
From inside the five-story tower, a swarm of Golden-Furred Wasp Kings erupted, buzzing wildly.
WREEEEEEEEE!
In an instant, the surrounding air darkened.
The sweet scent of honey and banana flowers filled the air—
the sa scent So-ryong had warned them ant the wasps were about to attack.
Through the cloud of wasps, Nanghu flew straight up to Cheongwol and buzzed her antennae in fury.
It looked like the two were about to start a serious fight.
“Guys, calm down! What’s going on!?”
Grrrr!
Buzz-buzz!?
Grrrrrk!
So-ryong had told her before: Cheongwol and the Golden-Furred Wasp Kings didn’t get along.
Now she was afraid a battle might break out.
But then Cheongwol said sothing in her guttural language and pointed again down the mountain.
Nanghu’s wings trembled, clearly startled.
And then—
From Nanghu’s wings ca a booming sound the likes of which they had never heard before.
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The vibration shook Tangga Mountain itself.
As Nanghu rose into the air, dark clouds began to swirl over the Tang Clan’s territory.
From the training field and the five-story pavilion, hundreds of Golden-Furred Wasp Kings surged into the sky,
darkening it like a plague.
Just like Cho and Yo-hwa, they began rushing down the mountain all at once.
Bwooooom.
Bwoo—woo—wooooom.
A black tide of wasps surged forward.
Hwa-eun and sister Seol stared up, dumbfounded by the terrifying scene.
And then—
CRASHHHH!
Cheongwol’s claws gripped boulders and # Nоvеlight # smashed through the garden’s back wall, moving straight toward the mountain’s entrance.
On her massive back rode Bini and Hwayang, Yeondu, Hongdan, Seol, Bing, and Dong.
“Wait—hey! What’s going on!?”
“What happened!? Just look at this!”
Hwa-eun and Sister Seol’s frantic voices echoed through Tangga Mountain as the creatures surged forward,
and the startled Tang Clan warriors scrambled after them in panic.
Clearly, with So-ryong gone, the venom beasts were now on the rampage.
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