Chapter 4 – Family Member (1)

-Thud! Thud thud thud!

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Amazed by the appearance of the egg, my voice, and the torchlight startled something fist-sized, which began to fall helplessly from above my head.

-Woosh! Woosh!

-Thwack!

I frantically swung the torch, slamming those creatures onto the ground, revealing long antennae and curved backs.

Cave cricketes!

-Ugh.

Quickly stomping on one that was twitching its legs after being hit by the torch, I used the flame to herd the rest deeper into the cave.

“Get lost, you bastards! Crazy, how can Cave cricketes be as big as a fist!”

Even though I like other insects, I have a bit of a… problem with Cave cricketes.

I calmed my startled heart and thought it was time to quickly collect the eggs and get out.

Cave cricketes are cruel creatures that even eat meat.

I didn’t want to end up as food for fist-sized Cave cricketes.

So, I advanced towards the pile of eggs, leading with the torch.

-Whoosh.

The Cave cricketes retreated as the flames approached.

Seeing about twenty or thirty Cave cricketes, I became more worried about the eggs.

“Are the eggs alright?”

My concern for the eggs was not just about the Cave cricketes, but also because centipedes are unique animals that lay eggs and guard them until they hatch and become independent.

They even lick the eggs to prevent mold until they hatch.

I was worried that the eggs, left unattended for two days after their mother had died, might have all perished from mold.

‘If I had known there were eggs, I would have come earlier…’

As I approached the pile of eggs, a tragic sight met my eyes under the torchlight.

Most of the eggs, which I thought would be a shining yellow, showed signs of being nibbled by the Cave cricketes offspring.

And the eggs near the bottom were covered with white, cotton-candy-like mold.

“Damn it. These cricketes brats!”

Though the mold wasn’t the Cave cricket’ doing, I cursed them anyway and hurriedly rummaged through the pile of eggs with an unlit torch.

-Squelch.

‘Please let there be at least one alive.’

Sticky slime and oozing fluids clung to the end of the torch, dripping thick broth.

It was then, amidst the sticky eggs, that I found three eggs untouched by the Cave cricket’s teeth, shining brightly.

I quickly reached in and picked up the three eggs.

Although something slimy made my hand sticky, I was excited to have found the eggs of a giant centipede, and it didn’t feel disgusting.

“Yes, found them!”

Out of about fifty eggs, only three were undamaged and still maintained their bright yellow sheen.

They were in the middle of the pile, unharmed by the other eggs.

Though most of the eggs were damaged or attacked by the fist-sized Cave cricketes, saving three was still something.

“Damn it. Is it good that I at least saved three? But this isn’t the time. I need to quickly take them and clean them!”

I quickly wiped the eggs with my sleeve, put them in a jar, and crawled out of the cave.

Then, I ran like mad towards the abandoned conduit.

I had to return quickly and clean the eggs with a cloth boiled and sterilized, so they wouldn’t rot.

“Just wait a little, my centipedes. I’ll give you a bath soon.”

The eggs seemed slightly oval, but I hurried on, thinking it was normal for a new species.

***

“What should I do with this…”

The next morning, I found myself in a rather, no, very difficult situation.

-Slither.

To maintain humidity, I had carefully cleaned the centipede eggs I found yesterday, placed them in a jar lined with a slightly damp cotton cloth by my bedside, but when I woke up in the morning, all of them had hatched.

I had not expected them to hatch so quickly.

My failure to anticipate the hatching of the centipedes was due to their unique ecological characteristics.

The hatching of the centipedes is a bit unique; the eggs themselves transform into larvae, instead of the larvae breaking out of the eggs.

The transformation of the yellow eggs into larvae is the metamorphosis of the centipedes.

Thus, all three eggs had transformed into larvae.

Centipedes belong to the subclass Diplopoda, meaning the young are born looking exactly like the adults, only smaller in size. Therefore, three cute yellow centipedes were clinging to my body.

Yes, what made me uncomfortable wasn’t the fact that they had hatched, but rather that these creatures had come out of the jar and wrapped themselves around my body.

Centipedes stay attached to their mother’s body until they molt twice, and these ones seemed to have mistaken me for their mother.

When I tried to remove them, they clung on tightly and refused to let go.

I attempted to force them off, but they just scurried to my back, making it impossible to detach them.

It’s okay not to feed them until they molt twice, but having them stuck to me is a bit of an issue.

Having three creatures the size of sausages clinging to me was somewhat uncomfortable.

Then an idea struck me.

“Ah, right! If I go into the water, they’ll detach themselves!”

I grabbed the jar and ran to the water, looking forward to a long-overdue bath.

***

“Young Hero, are you there?”

Tang Cheol-san arrived at the abandoned conduit and called out towards the inner part of the dilapidated hall where the Young Hero was staying.

However, the hall remained silent with no response.

“Young Hero?”

He called out several times more, but there was still no answer from the Young Hero.

Tang Cheol-san pondered for a long time at the entrance of the hall.

‘Is he not here? Or perhaps, did he catch a cold from the rain in the last few days?’

The reason Tang Cheol-san appeared at this abandoned conduit after a few days.

Yesterday, having raced through the rainy streets to the port of Haenam Island, Tang Cheol-san had asked his father, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons.

“Father, please take the uninjured warriors and head to Sichuan first.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

His father, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, looked puzzled by the request to leave first.

In response to his father’s question, Tang Cheol-san smiled and replied.

“Now that we have the Inner Core, Hwa-eun can be saved. I’ve been injured, so if I move with you, it will slow us down. I will move with the injured warriors.

You lead the uninjured warriors and hurry ahead.”

“Are you suggesting we split into two groups? Even so, wouldn’t it be better to split after arriving on land by boat?”

His father suggested that it might be better to split into two groups once they reach land, but Tang Cheol-san had a different plan.

“Isn’t there something left for us to do here?”

“Something left to do?”

At Tang Cheol-san’s hint of unfinished business, his father looked puzzled, to which Tang Cheol-san smiled again and replied.

“Grudges are carved in blood, kindness is engraved in stone.”

An ancient saying that advises recording grudges in blood and graces in stone.

Hearing Tang Cheol-san’s answer, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons responded with a surprised expression.

“Ah! In the joy of being able to save my Hwa-eun, I completely forgot the great favor we received. Yes, that’s right! If it wasn’t for you, I would have made a big mistake.”

“Yes, father. Even though the Young Hero is young, our Sichuan Tang Family cannot simply overlook the great favor we have received.”

Indeed, they could not overlook the great favor received from the Young Hero.

Their daughter’s life had been saved, and if they were to just pass it by, what would people think of Sichuan Tang Family?

Hearing Tang Cheol-san’s words, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons nodded in agreement.

“The Young Hero living alone in the mountains of Haenam Island, catching and eating snakes, must be difficult. Let’s welcome him as a guest of our Tang family, ensuring he no longer worries about his livelihood. And if he desires anything, we should fulfill it.”

“Yes, I agree with that.”

For this reason, after arranging for the injured warriors of his clan to rest at an inn near the harbor, Tang Cheol-san had come alone to meet the Young Hero, but the latter was nowhere to be seen.

Tang Cheol-san, after some thought, cautiously opened the door of the hall.

He was concerned that the Young Hero might be seriously ill due to the rain over the past few days.

“Young Hero, I’m coming in.”

As he stepped into the hall, he was greeted by an odd interior.

Numerous medicine cabinets adorned the walls, and various jars filled the hall.

‘Is the Young Hero skilled in medicine?’

His first thought, upon seeing the medicine cabinets and jars, was whether the Young Hero had learned medical skills.

However, with no sign of the Young Hero and not wanting to intrude on the empty dwelling, Tang Cheol-san was about to close the door when he heard strange sounds.

-Scritch-scritch.

-Chirr-chirr.

-Slither-slither.

Suddenly, odd noises came from within the jars and medicine chests.

Curious about the familiar sounds, Tang Cheol-san, forgetting it was impolite, stepped further into the Young Hero’s dwelling and opened the lid of a jar.

‘What could possibly be inside?’

Inside the jar, he found a large black spider.

A pitch-black spider sat calmly inside the jar.

“This, this is!”

Tang Cheol-san’s eyes widened in shock.

Then, with an expression of disbelief, he checked the other jars and medicine chests.

Each time he opened a jar or chest, he found lizards (석척), spiders (지주), snakes (사), and crickets (실솔).

Seeing the remaining crickets in jars with lizards and spiders, it seemed they were being used as food for other venomous creatures and poisons.

The exoskeletons of spiders and lizards in one of the medicine chests suggested they had been raised for a considerable time.

Moreover, some spiders were carrying eggs, and near a seemingly warm brazier, lizard eggs were buried in the sand.

An incredible and unbelievable sight.

Tang Cheol-san shivered at the sight inside the hall.

It was something even the Tang family, known for their expertise in poisons and venomous creatures, had never imagined doing – breeding these creatures to the point of laying eggs.

Indeed, the Tang family raised venomous creatures, but only to extract their venom, not to breed them and increase their numbers.

‘I thought saving my daughter’s life was a small twist of fate, but could the real twist of fate be the Young Hero himself?’

Tang Cheol-san put the jars back in their places and stepped out of the hall.

He sat on the stone steps outside the hall, calming his startled mind.

The secret method the Young Hero had for raising venomous creatures.

With that ability, he thought he might elevate the Tang family’s poison skills to a higher level.

As he was organizing his thoughts on what to ask when the Young Hero returned, he heard a voice.

“Eh!? Elder?”

The Young Hero, his hair still dripping with water as if he had just bathed, entered the abandoned conduit with a cheerful voice.

“Oh! Young Hero!”

Tang Cheol-san, delighted, rose from his seat and quickly approached the Young Hero.

‘What is this!?’

Suddenly, he sensed a murderous intent.

-Boom!

Despite raising one hand to block the sudden fierce energy flying towards him, Tang Cheol-san was pushed back and slammed in front of the Young Hero’s hall.

“Ugh! Cough! Cough!”

A significant amount of blood spilled from his mouth.

The internal injury was far from minor.

A master similar to his father.

He should have used both hands to block; using just one hand had a significant impact.

“Elder, Elder! Cough!”

And with the Young Hero’s cry, the chilling voice of an old man gripping his neck began to resonate.

“The Tang family has entered Haenam Island, so I came to see. I never expected to find the son of the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons injured and alone.

I have not forgotten the faces of you and your father, even from a distance, in the past ten years! Today, I will send your head as a gift to your father, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons! Hahaha!”

A hideous face with the left side melted away and hands stained blood-red.

A vaguely familiar figure emerged in Tang Cheol-san’s mind, but that person was supposedly dead.

Tang Cheol-san, rising to his feet, asked in disbelief.

“Cough! Who are you, senior, to harass the Young Hero and myself?”

The old man laughed maniacally and pointed to his face with his finger.

“Hahaha. Do you not recognize this face and these red fists? I am the Blood-Hand Rakshasa, Tak Wun-yang, the very person before you!”

Indeed, it was Blood-Hand Rakshasa, Tak Wun-yang.

About ten years ago, he was a notorious villain active around the regions of Guizhou and Guangxi. He was caught by Tang Cheol-san’s father, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, in Qinzhou and hit in the head with a poison jar, falling off a cliff into the sea. It seemed he had survived and had been hiding in Haenam Island.

Back then, he was said to be at a similar level to Tang Cheol-san, but now his internal energy felt terrifyingly strong.

Fearing he wouldn’t live to see another morning, Tang Cheol-san pleaded.

“If you let the Young Hero go, who is neither a martial artist nor related to us, I will willingly offer my life. Your grudge is with our Tang family, isn’t it? If you release the Young Hero, I’ll surrender myself.”

He had intended to repay a favor but was now in a situation where he might repay kindness with enmity, trying to save the Young Hero at least.

However, Blood-Hand Rakshasa sneered and replied.

“I will slaughter anyone who has even brushed against the Tang family! Don’t they say in Buddhism that even a brush of the sleeves in this life means three thousand encounters in past lives? Hahaha!”

‘So, this villain has no intention of letting the Young Hero go!’

Upon hearing Blood-Hand Rakshasa’s response, Tang Cheol-san despaired. Just as Blood-Hand Rakshasa was slowly tightening his grip on the Young Hero’s neck…

“Aah! Sa, save…”

-Slither-slither!

With a strange noise, something yellow burst from the Young Hero’s neck and sleeves, attacking Blood-Hand Rakshasa, biting his neck and wrists.

“Ugh!”

Blood-Hand Rakshasa’s skin turned pitch black in an instant.

His figure, filled with disbelief and despair, slowly collapsed to the ground.

And the Young Hero, with a very troubled face, asked.

“Uh… This person was bad, right? He, he seems to be dead?”

In Tang Cheol-san’s mind, the word ‘식객’ (guest) slowly transformed into ‘식구’ (family member).

***

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

Thank you for reading!

[Author – 에르훗]

[Translator – Roshi]