Chapter 28 – Elixir (6)

– Buzzzzzzzzzz!

“Stay still for a moment. You’ve been through a lot, always having your honey stolen, being chased around by people, and living such a hard life, haven’t you? I’m telling you, I’ll take you somewhere safe where people won’t bother you anymore. A place where you can raise your little ones in peace.”

Perhaps it was the lingering scent of the Michelia Flower that had kept the queen bee calm during the dark night. For the time being, it remained still.

However, as soon as daylight broke, it started to thrash around.

Its strength was no joke, so I had no choice but to bind it up like a caterpillar using ropes.

I was careful not to hurt its wings, of course.

“Do you think it understands what you’re saying?”

The voice of Nunim came from a few steps back, as though she was still trying to adjust to the idea of centipedes, but dealing with a bee seemed to be a step too far for her.

The queen bee’s tongue was remarkably long, normally extending to the length of its own head, and it kept flicking it in and out, which seemed to make Nunim feel creeped out and disgusted.

To me, though, it was rather cute.

“For something as low-grade as centipedes, they understand speech, don’t they? So, of course, something mid-grade like the Golden-Furred King Bee would understand. Moreover, bees live in swarms and exhibit social behavior, so they might even understand better than centipedes.”

Although I assured Nunim that it could understand, the truth is, centipedes and bees cannot hear sounds made by human vocal cords.

After all, they don’t have ears.

It’s a well-known fact that centipedes detect vibrations through special organs, and bees sense sound through the hairs on their bodies. That’s about all we know.

Still, if a lower-grade centipedes can understand human speech, wouldn’t it be possible for a mid-grade queen bee to understand as well?

In my past life, it was already known that even ordinary bees could feel pain, remember patterns and smells, and even recognize human faces. They’re intelligent animals.

Bees have such sharp senses of smell and impressive intelligence that they’re used to detect cancer, drugs, and even bombs. So, I was sure it could understand me.

And honestly, even if it couldn’t understand, I couldn’t resist trying to tame such a bee.

It was the size of a small dog.

Moreover, its body was plump, like a mix between a honeybee and a bumblebee.

Its golden, fluffy fur made it irresistibly adorable.

“Social behavior?”

“Yes. It refers to how they live in groups and communicate using the scent of Michelia Flowers, among other things.”

“Ah… I see. Oh, by the way, Soryong, let me take care of Cho, Hyang, and Bin. It would be too much for you to look after them as well.”

“Really? Alright then. kids, go to Mom.”

– Tsurur.

Just as I was about to hand the centipedes over to Nunim, as they were becoming a bit burdensome.

It was then that something unexpected happened. The queen bee, which had been thrashing around even while tied up, suddenly froze when it saw the centipedes.

It stopped completely, like a toy with its batteries drained.

“Young Master Soryong, this suddenly calmed down.”

Even Gu Pae-ajussi, our vice commander, found it curious enough to point it out to me.

At first, I wondered if it had gone still because it was hungry. But bees usually fill on honey before leaving their hive, and judging by the queen bee’s plump abdomen, it was definitely full.

“You’re right. Did it lose its energy?”

I leaned in to take a closer look at the queen bee, trying to figure out what had happened. Its compound eyes reflected the image of the centipedes moving from my body to Nunim’s.

It looked just like a high-definition mosaic camera.

‘Huh? Could it be because of the centipedes?’

Just in case, I picked up one of the centipedes and brought it closer to the queen bee. Sure enough, the queen bee flinched.

As I got even closer, the centipedes and the Golden-Furred King Bee touched antennae.

Then, they began exchanging a series of strange sounds, almost as if they were having a conversation.

– Tsurur!

– Buzzzzz!

After their little exchange, the centipedes pulled back its antennae, turned its head sharply, and looked toward Nunim.

The conversation seemed to be over.

I couldn’t tell what they had discussed, but after handing over the last centipedes to Nunim, I decided to take a break.

After all, we’d spent the entire night running to get away from the Golden-Furred King Bee’s swarm.

Of course, I wasn’t the one who did the actual running.

I couldn’t use qinggong, so I had to alternate between being carried on the backs of the vice commander and the commander.

‘I need to ask Grandpa to teach me qinggong when I return. Throwing daggers is completely useless…’

I resolved to insist on learning qinggong once we were back and suggested to the still-tense commander that we take a break.

“Let’s rest for now.”

“Understood, Young Master Soryong.”

“I’ll instruct the warriors to stay vigilant in the direction we came from, just in case.”

“That’s a good idea.”

I fetched some water from the nearby stream to give the queen bee a drink, and before I knew it, I dozed off while keeping watch.

“Young Master Soryong! Wake up!”

The urgent voice of Gu Pae-ajussi pierced my ears.

Judging by the lingering fatigue in my body, I hadn’t been asleep for long, but Gu Pae-ajussi wasted no time picking me up onto his back.

“W-what’s going on?”

“Look to the sky over there!”

As I rubbed my eyes and groggily asked what was happening, Gu Pae-ajussi pointed far into the sky.

Blinking, I followed the direction of his finger and saw a yellow swarm steadily approaching through the hazy sky.

“They’re already here!?”

A flash of realization struck my mind like lightning.

The drowsiness vanished in an instant.

Looking up at the sun in the sky, it seemed that only a short while had passed since midday, yet the Golden-Furred King Bee swarm had already caught up to us.

We scrambled to gather our belongings and bolted, running as if our lives depended on it.

The only small relief was that the bees weren’t particularly fast.

While honeybees are capable of remarkable bursts of speed, their average long-distance flying speed is only about 20 kilometers per hour.

Considering their stomachs were full of honey, they were bound to be even slower now.

“Everyone, use qinggong and run!”

“Don’t stop using qinggong until we’ve completely shaken them off! Tang Family warriors wouldn’t fall behind, would they!?”

“Yes, Commander!”

The warriors resolutely answered the calls of Nunim and the commander, setting off at a sprint in the direction of Tang Family Mountain.

‘Wait, does the commander actually think we’re going to shake them off?’

Clinging to the vice commander’s back as we raced through the forest, I looked back at the bees flying in the distance and gently pressed the queen bee’s antennae against my forehead, whispering softly.

[It’s okay. I’ll bring all of them with us.]

The commander seemed to think I was planning to shake them off by taking only the queen bee, but I had no intention of doing so, nor did I see any reason to.

The pheromones released by the queen bee would linger for about a day, meaning that even if we tried, it would be nearly impossible to lose them.

Bees can detect the scent of pheromones from several kilometers away, so they were bound to follow us no matter what.

Even during swarming, when bees split their forces to follow a new queen, worker bees always stay with the queen to the very end.

‘We’ll make it, right?’

Perhaps sensing my unease, the vice commander, who was sprinting ahead, turned his head to ask.

“Young Master Soryong, we’ll be able to escape, right?”

“Probably?”

The vice commander’s back, carrying me, grew damp with cold sweat at my answer.

***

At the fork in the road – straight ahead lay Mount Emei where the Emei Sect was located, while the path to the left led to a public road heading toward Yunnan.

At the fork in the road between Mount Emei and Mount Leshan, Lianshui, the senior disciple of the Emei Sect, stopped for a moment.

She had been carrying the donations she received in Zigong and paused because the younger disciples, with their weaker martial arts skills, began to complain about being tired from the long journey on foot.

“Phew. We’re almost at Mount Emei. It’s already been exhausting, but thinking about climbing Golden Summit Peak feels overwhelming.”

“Didn’t I tell you all to focus on improving your qinggong techniques?”

“But, Senior Sister, we didn’t have enough time because of all the errands from the Senior Masters.”

“Exactly. We had laundry, tea, and so many chores. When were we even supposed to practice martial arts?”

“And that’s not all, is it? We also had to participate in the rituals.”

The young junior sisters grumbled childishly.

Although it had been quite a while since they had received their vows, the junior sisters still bore traces of worldly attachments. Watching their grumbling, Lianshui thought to herself that she had been just like them not long ago. She smiled inwardly and began to preach.

“Other sects and clans endure much harsher conditions than us and still devote themselves to cultivating their martial arts. As disciples under the boundless mercy of the Buddha, shouldn’t we work even harder?”

But the junior disciples immediately retorted with pointed arguments.

“They say that the other sects and clans have servants to do everything for them, don’t they? And how much effort can they really put in anyway? Most of them are from noble families, Young Misses and Young Masters…”

As the grumbling continued, a plume of dust began to rise in the distance, coming from the direction of Yunnan.

Soon, figures, five or six of them, appeared on the road at the fork leading to Yunnan.

They were sprinting madly, using qinggong.

Among them was a single woman, while the rest were men.

“Why are those people running like mad?”

“Could they be fleeing from something?”

The disciples of the Emei Sect blinked in confusion as they stared at the approaching group. Then, Lianshui noticed the woman’s face.

It was a face she recognized from somewhere. Tilting her head in thought, she suddenly gasped in shock and cried out.

“Is that… Poisonous Flower Hwa-eun? Miss Hwa-eun?”

“What? If it’s Miss Hwa-eun, you mean Tang Hwa-eun?”

The woman had disheveled hair, dust-covered shoulders, clothes stained with dirt, and even hair clinging to her lips. She looked as if she were fleeing from some calamity.

Alarmed, Lianshui quickly ran forward to block Hwa-eun’s path.

“Miss Hwa-eun! What happened!?”

“Lianshui… Monk?”

“What’s going on? Are you being chased by something? Is there some kind of trouble?”

But instead of a clear answer, Tang Hwa-eun replied with unfocused eyes.

“W-water… Please…”

“Water?”

When Lianshui offered her water flask, Tang Hwa-eun snatched it and began guzzling it down as if her life depended on it.

Then, she moved on to the water flasks of the junior sisters and even passed them to the men with her, emptying every last one.

Once all the flasks were emptied, a young hero dismounted from the back of a man she recognized as the commander of the Tang Family’s Poison Blood Squad. Smiling, the young hero spoke.

“Thank you, Monk. It’s nothing serious, really. Ah, yes. We’re just in the middle of training our qinggong.”

“Training qinggong?”

“Yes, with all our might. As you can see… we’ve ended up looking a bit ridiculous.”

“And that thing in your hands?”

Lianshui’s eyes widened as she noticed the strange creature, bound in ropes with only its head sticking out. But the young hero quickly hid it behind his back and laughed mischievously.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Monk. Ah, thanks for the water, but we should get going. You should hurry along as well. Everyone, let’s go! Miss Hwa-eun, let’s pick up the pace. If we run just a little longer, the sun will set, and we’ll be able to rest.”

With that, the mischievous young hero and the people from the Tang Sect resumed their qinggong and disappeared into the distance.

The junior sisters, still wide-eyed, turned to Lianshui and apologized.

“So… the Tang Sect practices qinggong this harshly? To think they would push Young Miss Hwa-eun, one of the Three Beauties of the Central Plains, to such a miserable state…”

“I thought you were lying to us, Senior Sister. I’m sorry for doubting you.”

It was the first time Lianshui had seen such intense training herself. However, seeing Tang Hwa-eun, one of the Three Beauties of the Central Plains, in such a state was like a teaching from the boundless mercy of the Buddha.

With that thought, Lianshui clasped her hands together and bowed in the direction where the Tang Sect people and the young hero had disappeared.

“Amitabha.”

As Lianshui and her disciples left, golden clouds began to approach from the direction of Yunnan, continuing their relentless pursuit of the Tang Sect group.

***

“I… I’m sorry, Young Ma-Master So-Soryong… I… I think this is as far as I can go… Kuhh… Kuhh…”

The commander collapsed face-first into the bushes.

Soon after, he fell into a deep, unconscious slumber.

The vice commander had already collapsed somewhere along the path behind us. The suffocating chase between the Golden-Furred King Bees and us was nearing its final stage.

We were almost at Tang Family Mountain.

“Young Miss, perhaps I should just run on my own…”

“I-I can do it!”

Even though the commander had collapsed, and I offered to run on my own, Nunim shook her head blankly, her eyes vacant.

For the past two days, Nunim had been half out of it, barely holding on mentally. My words didn’t seem to reach her.

Still, she had managed to run all the way here on her own, and thanks to consuming an Inner Core, she had just enough energy left to hold me at her waist and push herself to the very limit.

However, after crossing the river and finally reaching the gates of Nine Progress Gate, she, too, collapsed just like the other warriors of the Tang Family who had fallen before her.

– Thud.

“Young Miss!”

– Beeep! Beeep! Beeep!

The warriors guarding Nine Progress Gate were alarmed at Nunim’s state and quickly shot signaling daggers toward the direction of the Tang Family. Soon after, two figures rushed forward with movements as swift as the wind, my father-in-law and Grandpa, Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, arrived at the gate.

A triple signal was an emergency reserved for direct descendants of the Tang Family.

“Hwa-eun! What on earth happened!?”

“Hwa-eun! Soryong! What is all this!?”

My father-in-law cradled the unconscious Nunim in his arms, clearly shaken, while Grandpa grabbed me and gave me a thorough shake.

Dangling in Grandpa’s grip, I managed to answer.

“Young Miss Hwa-eun barely got any sleep and ran for ten days straight using qinggong. She’s simply exhausted. But now’s not the time for explanations. We need to head to the training grounds immediately!”

“The training grounds? Why the training grounds?”

“What’s happening at the training grounds?”

Instead of answering their questions, I pulled out the queen bee, still tied up in ropes, and presented it to them.

“This is the queen of the Golden-Furred King Bees. The rest of the swarm will arrive soon, so we need to head to the training grounds now!”

“What?! I asked you to gather honey, and you captured the queen of the Golden-Furred King Bees instead!?”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Soryong, you rascal, you’re destined for greatness! Let’s go!”

While my father-in-law stared at me in disbelief, Grandpa burst into a hearty laugh, overjoyed. Without hesitation, he dragged me toward the training grounds where I had practiced the dagger shooting.

My destination was an ancient tree that had stood for hundreds of years but had long since withered and died.

Standing before the hollow of the dead tree, I untied the queen bee and said,

“This will be your home from now on.”

The queen bee, clearly uncomfortable from being bound, quivered its body a few times to stretch. Then, as if inspecting its new home, it moved in and out of the tree hollow. Apparently satisfied, it lightly tapped my head with its antennae.

With that, the queen bee disappeared into the hollow.

At the same moment, the sound of countless wings buzzing came from above us.

Grandpa and I quickly ducked out of the way as the golden storm that had chased us all the way from the borders of Yunnan began to pour into the hollow of the old tree.

– Buzzz. Buzz.

– Whoooosh!

The swarm was sucked into the hollow like a golden whirlwind.

The capture of the Golden-Furred King Bee was a success.

‘Sweet.’

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – 에르훗]

[Translator – bjgoofy]