ESTC Chapter 11

Though we rushed to take shelter in the cave with Tang Cheolsan and the warriors, not everyone made it to safety.

The clan warrior who had approached the Zhen Bird and thrown a rock inevitably fell behind.

When being pulled into the cave by Tang Cheolsan’s hand, he stared blankly at the realgar in his hand that had shrunk to the size of a grain before coming to his senses and hurriedly following after us.

Though he survived, his clothes had all corroded away.

He had to struggle for quite a while to expel the poison that had invaded his system.

According to Tang Cheolsan, he only survived because he had trained in the manor’s poison arts – just surviving was fortunate enough.

He said the realgar energy flowing from those of us who ran ahead had luckily helped preserve his life.

Even those of us who made it safely to the cave couldn’t relax.

Though we had all retreated to the deepest part of the cave, white smoke from the realgar continued to curl up from the manor people’s possessions.

While it wasn’t gushing out madly like dry ice dropped in water earlier, the fact that the realgar kept emitting smoke meant poison was present.

It meant we would also be poisoned once the realgar completely dissolved.

“A-a Zhen Bird! Clan Head, are you certain it’s a Zhen Bird!?”

The Deputy Commander asked in an unbelieving voice.

Tang Cheolsan responded by reciting what seemed to be a passage from a book:

“Its wingspan spans five jang. Its beak is copper-colored and sharp, its body covered in purple-vermillion^[1] feathers. When it spreads its wings in anger, everything around turns black with death and transforms into poison. It wears a golden crown on its head, truly bearing the majesty of an emperor. This is called the Zhen^[2] or Zhen Bird^[3]!”

This is insane! This is epic!

My impression after directly encountering the Zhen Bird was just one word:

Epic.

The venomous insects and snakes from my past life were cute in comparison – this was truly a walking catastrophe.

All my pores contracted at its appearance, like some kind of biochemical weapon.

The scene of corpses and venomous insects and snakes melting away played endlessly in my mind.

Such tremendous poison that could completely erase vast areas like an eraser.

“A Zhen Bird in Hainan… It’s known to eat only the heads of poisonous snakes, so it must have been drawn here by snakes bearing death poison.”

I came to my senses at Tang Cheolsan’s words and asked:

“Is, is it common?”

“Of course not, or no one in the Central Plains would be alive. Even living a full lifetime in the Central Plains, seeing a Zhen Bird is no easy matter. I’ve only read about it in books – this is my first time seeing one. The Zhen Bird is so rare it’s said to be sighted only once every hundred or two hundred years.”

Indeed, as he said, if creatures like that were roaming around, people would be dying in droves.

I stared at the cave entrance with a blank expression and said:

“I wonder if we could possibly catch it…”

I wasn’t really expecting an answer – the words just slipped out like talking to myself.

While I wanted to try catching the Emperor of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, it seemed we couldn’t even get near it.

Tang Cheolsan smiled.

“Would you like to try catching it, young hero?”

To me, who died trying to catch one of the Ten Great Poisonous Snakes, the Ten Great Venomous Creatures were both a romance and a goal.

I answered in a dazed voice while staring at the cave entrance.

“Yes. But with poison that strong…”

We’d probably melt away just trying to catch it.

Then came Tang Cheolsan’s voice, sounding somewhat mischievous:

“You showed interest in the Ten Great Venomous Creatures before too. Well, there is a way.”

I widened my eyes and asked about this supposed way:

“There’s a way!?”

“Of course. Our Tang Clan succeeded in catching one three hundred years ago.”

His answer was that they had caught one before.

While three hundred years was ancient history, my mind snapped to attention at Tang Cheolsan’s words about having experience catching a Zhen Bird.

It meant they had experience with and records about the Zhen Bird.

“R-really?”

When I asked again with a disbelieving expression, Tang Cheolsan smiled instead of answering.

Then he spoke while gazing at the cave entrance, as if talking to himself:

“When one masters the Tang Clan’s poison arts, they become immune to ten thousand poisons^[4] and can withstand even the Zhen Bird’s poison. Our Tang Clan’s martial arts are the ‘only’ ones in the world that can block such poison… But what to do… We cannot teach our martial arts to anyone who isn’t family… That’s the manor’s law… Ho ho. Indeed. Though I wish to help the young hero, the law of our manor…”

Certainly, if martial arts could block such a bird’s poison, that would be a family secret and supreme technique.

I carefully confirmed:

“If… if I became a family member of Tang, can I learn it?”

I checked again with the old man because being able to block such poison must be something taught only to core family members.

After all, there are different levels of family – what if they said they’d teach me but then didn’t because I was just a low-ranking member?

That’s why I had to confirm again.

Tang Cheolsan smiled again at my question.

“If you make a clear decision now, I’ll teach you without holding back. Indeed. And I’ll make sure to prepare gifts for you too. However, if you take too long to decide…”

Did this old man reincarnate like me? Why does his line sound like a mobile game push notification?

Tang Cheolsan, who probably would have been good at business if he had been born in my past life where I died.

Knowing I had been agonizing over his offer to join the Tang clan, he tempted me with what seemed like a final benefit.

Just like a mobile game push notification.

Making it impossible to refuse.

As if the benefits would disappear if not taken now.

From what I’ve seen of him, he doesn’t seem like he’d lie about this… Yeah, how long am I going to live alone in the forest? I can pursue my hobby later too…

I was starting to miss being around people.

While hobbies are good, this seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up.

Moreover, living according to my dreams was my way of life.

Zhen Bird, just you wait.

I answered Tang Cheolsan’s offer with a determined voice.

First impressions should be made with spirit.

After all, I learned that’s how new employees should greet.

“Very well! I’ll do it! Become family of the Tang Clan! Please take care of me, Elder. No, Clan Head!”

“Really!? Uahaha! Understood! Then you are ‘forever’ our family now!”

Cheolsan’s joyful laughter echoed through the cave before turning somber again as he realized we still had to survive this situation first.

***

It was a day later before we could finally leave the cave.

That’s when the realgar finally stopped emitting its faint smoke.

If it had continued just two or three more double-hours, we might have run out of realgar.

“Th-this?”

“G-good heavens.”

“The corpses…”

What we encountered outside the cave was black earth.

The area twenty to thirty meters around where the pile of corpses had been had simply transformed into black soil.

Not a single blade of grass or insect could be found.

The thickly growing grass, trees, and piled corpses were all gone.

All that remained was black soil and black stones.

Like yesterday’s scenes had vanished like a dream, only this scene appeared before us.

“But is it safe to walk on this soil?”

“I dropped some remaining realgar as we came out, and strangely, all the poison had disappeared.”

I worried about being poisoned since it was land where toxins had flowed, but Uncle said he had checked and all poison had vanished.

He said all the poison was gone, perhaps due to being volatile.

With safety confirmed, our next task was to pray for the victims’ souls.

The clan warriors searched the houses on the mountainside and found old bottles of alcohol, which we used to briefly pray for the victims’ souls.

“May they achieve rebirth in paradise^[5]…”

After praying for the victims’ souls, I asked the Clan Head:

“So, are we heading to Sichuan now?”

“We must.”

“First I need to stop by the temple to release all my friends. I won’t be able to take them to the manor.”

“Alright. Then let’s head to the temple first. You’ll need to pack your things too.”

“Let’s go.”

“Indeed.”

The Clan Head had already recovered and secured the secret manual of the Blood-Thinning Poison Claw yesterday.

I thought they might burn it since they said it must be recovered, but apparently the Tang Clan values practicality and takes what they can use while discarding the rest.

They say even evil demonic arts can have things worth learning, or something like that.

In the end, it felt like looting drops after killing that Tak Unyang fellow, but now that we’re family, anything they salvage might help me too.

Thinking of it as being frugal, I was about to climb onto the Clan Head’s back to head to the abandoned temple when something caught my eye.

Something glinting in the middle of the black earth-covered ground, so I pointed it out to the Clan Head.

“There’s something over there.”

“Hm? What’s that?”

When we all approached, in the middle of the black earth was a strange feather that showed a blue-green sheen when it caught the light despite being purple-colored.

A single feather had fallen to the ground.

How could I forget this color?

This was definitely a feather from the Zhen Bird.

“Th-this!?”

“It’s a feather from the Zhen Bird!”

Though I wanted to touch it too, I didn’t dare for fear of poison, but the Clan Head carefully picked up the Zhen Bird’s feather with gloves he took from his robes and placed it in something like a medicine box while saying:

“I’ll have this checked at the main house and then give it to you. You seem quite taken with it. Let’s call it your first gift as our family member.”

“Th-thank you, Elder- no, Master!”

Along with the Blue-spotted Centipede’s leg, this would become my second treasure.

As I was thinking I should make it into an ornament to wear at my waist when I receive it, the Clan Head’s somewhat dissatisfied voice came:

“Everything’s good except I don’t like the form of address. But let’s change that after the ceremony, shall we?”

Ceremony?

It seemed there was some kind of initiation ceremony for becoming family, and I was hoping it would be as simple as possible.

***

The entrance of the Sichuan Tang Clan’s manor, which had been like a house of mourning for the past few months, finally regained some vitality.

Tang Hwa-eun, the only heiress^[6] of Sichuan Tang Clan Head.

This was because the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign, Tang Museong, who had gone to find medicine to save her, had arrived at the manor’s entrance.

However, his appearance was far from good.

The haggard face of the manor’s greatest master.

He must have pushed his lightness skill to the limits of his internal energy to hurry back.

“M-my Lord!”

“H-how is Hwa-eun!?”

The Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign’s first words were concern for his granddaughter.

Normally they wouldn’t dare, but a low-ranking clan warrior asked with a trembling voice out of concern for the young miss.

“Sh-she still clings to life! The medicine? Did you obtain it?”

The warriors who had been standing guard together stared at the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign’s mouth at the low-ranking warrior’s question.

The Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign’s mouth spread in a smile as he gave the answer they had been waiting for.

“I obtained the Blue-spotted Centipede’s inner core.”

“””Hurrah!”””

The clan warriors cheered at the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign’s answer.

Their shouts immediately carried into the Sichuan Tang Clan.

And at those shouts, in the manor’s deepest part.

From the hall where the Clan Head’s family quarters were gathered, a middle-aged woman rushed out using lightness skill with an urgent expression.

“What’s all this commotion!? Ah, Father!?”

The woman who had rushed out at the warriors’ shouts and barked a question, then cried out in surprise upon seeing the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign.

“Come, daughter-in-law. I have obtained the Blue-spotted Centipede’s inner core.”

“You, you succeeded! Sob!“

Even tears could be poison – these were the tears of the manor’s mistress Naeng Soryeon^[7].

They immediately headed for the hall where Hwa-eun lay sleeping.

When the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign entered the hall with Naeng Soryeon, what he found was his granddaughter Tang Hwa-eun, her entire body already dyed a dark blue.

He saw the manor elders sweating as they infused internal energy around her, and these exhausted people brightened upon seeing the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign.

“My Lord!”

“You’ve returned!”

Rather than answering their greetings, the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign first examined his granddaughter.

This was because even from outward appearance, his granddaughter Tang Hwa-eun’s condition could not be called good.

Her faint breathing showed the poisoning had progressed much further than the Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign had expected.

“That was close. I did well to hurry.”

“Q-quickly.”

The Ten Thousand Poisons Divine Sovereign swiftly took out a silk pouch from his robes, and from within extracted a green bead about the size of a walnut.

He placed it in his motionless granddaughter’s mouth and began guiding internal energy.

Though exhausted from using lightness skill non-stop to get here, he wanted to quickly pull his granddaughter out of her suffering.

And one double-hour later.

Sigh…

A sigh flowed from his granddaughter’s lips.

Soon after, his granddaughter’s dyed skin began returning to its original jade-white color.

It was truly a miraculous recovery made possible by the inner core they could not have obtained without meeting that mysterious young hero.