Chrrrp. Chrrr...

A wet sensation washed over me as my mind began to clear.

At the same time, I could hear the children’s voices fussing loudly near my ears.

Squelch!

Squee!

Kiik...

It seemed that when I passed out, they had all started licking me in a panic, trying to wake me up.

That wet feeling on my cheeks was probably from Seol, Bing, and Dong’s tongues.

To them, licking was the ultimate show of affection and concern. They must’ve been worried sick.

‘These little guys really were scared for me.’

I wanted to tell them not to worry, but my body wouldn’t move at all.

Just like before, it seemed it would take a while for my senses other than hearing to come back. And just before I opened my eyes, I heard Hyang’s sobbing voice.

Chrrrp! Chrrrp!

And with that, the wet sensation stopped.

Seol, Bing, and Dong must have been frantically licking my face until Hyang came to her senses and cried out.

Then my eyes finally opened.

Hyang had probably come to a little before me, and it seemed she had explained something to the others—because the kids clinging to my chest and shoulders looked slightly relieved now.

“Sorry, guys. You were scared, huh?”

Kiik!

Squee!

I calmed them down and checked my body and surroundings.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I was still standing in the same position as when I lost consciousness.

Around me, the two men claiming to be the village chief’s sons were sprawled on the ground, and the woman who was the Blood Cult’s spy was foaming at the mouth, her leg twitching like a bug that had just been sprayed with pesticide.

It looked like Cheongwol’s physical therapy had worked perfectly. Hongdan was on top of the woman, pincers spread over her throat.

“Hongdan, come here. Daddy’s fine now.”

Kiieee!

At my words, Hongdan retracted his pincers and jumped toward me.

But not before smacking the woman’s face with his folded pincers in a final act of spite.

Since both Hyang and I had lost consciousness, I needed to figure out what had happened during that time. So I asked Hyang to check with Hongdan.

He was the only one who fully understood what had happened.

“Hyang, can you ask Hongdan what happened after you and I passed out?”

Chrrrp! Chrr chrr chrrr.

Kiiee. Ki. Ki.

After a short exchange, Hyang translated for me.

Chrrrp. 『So after Daddy and I passed out...』

According to Hyang, once she fainted, Seol, Bing, and Dong immediately moved to protect me, and Hongdan rushed the woman, threatening her.

Apparently, if Daddy didn’t wake up soon, Hongdan had been ready to snap his pincers shut on her.

I had been trying to figure out how to escape from the inner world, and if I had taken any longer, it wouldn’t have been Cheongwol’s therapy that solved the problem—it would’ve been Hongdan’s execution that ended it all.

‘Honestly, the “mindless fool” outcome would've been way better.’

The thought that I might’ve opened my eyes to a headless corpse made me shudder involuntarily.

At that moment, Hwa-eun’s voice came through the group communication channel.

『“So-ryong, are you conscious now?”』

She seemed to be checking if everything was okay on our end.

Hwa-eun was thorough, so she asked whether the Blood Cult spy had actually become a mindless fool.

『“Yes, Hwa-eun.”

“How’s the Blood Cult spy?”

“I’m not sure if she’s a fool now, but she was foaming at the mouth and passed out.”

“That’s a relief. Oh, if the caster of the Soul-Stealing Technique dies or can no longer maintain it, those under the spell will briefly lose consciousness. Please explain this to the elders—they’re probably panicking. Most of the villagers would’ve collapsed.”

“Understood.”』

I thought only two people around me had collapsed, but apparently, everyone under the Soul-Stealing Technique was knocked out for a short while.

I was about to head back to explain things to the elders, but Hwa-eun’s voice came again.

『“So-ryong, if there’s anything you don’t remember, ask me. We have to hurry. That spy had been preparing to leave.”

“Got it!”』

I’d intended to return and explain to the elders why the villagers had collapsed, but after Hwa-eun’s next message, I decided to head straight outside.

The elders could handle the fainting villagers just fine. What mattered now was informing the Dragon Fangs of the situation and getting help quickly.

If the Blood Cult spy had been preparing to flee, the others might’ve been getting ready to leave too.

We had to catch them before they got away.

‘The elders can handle the passed-out folks, right?’

Without delay, I ran toward the village entrance.

As I made my way through the narrow forest path and approached the entrance, the government soldiers spotted me and quickly crossed their spears to block my path.

“S-Stop right there!”

But as they saw me clearly and shouted, the officer resting under a nearby tent rushed out and scolded them.

“You fools! Do you know who you’re yelling at? This is a companion of the Immortal of Medicine and the Immortal of Herbs! Young hero, what happened? Is treatment possible?”

They say prestige is everything in life.

Those titles—Immortal of Medicine and Immortal of Herbs—really carried weight.

‘Someday “Venomous Beasts Papa of the World” should be like that too.’

I answered, feeling a twinge of envy.

“Could you call the people who came with me? I’d like to explain together.”

“Understood. You there! Go call this young hero’s companions!”

“Yes, sir!”

The Dragon Fangs must’ve been setting up camp nearby—they showed up almost immediately.

They were even licking their fingers, as if they’d been roasting something.

“So-ryong, what happened?”

“Young hero, how did things go in there?”

“Come this way for a moment. We should speak privately.”

“Privately? Got it.”

The officer and the Dragon Fangs followed me a bit toward the village.

They were careful not to get too close, probably worried about contagion, but I quietly explained everything I’d found out so far.

“This wasn’t some kind of illness.”

“Not an illness?”

“Not an illness, young hero?”

“Yes, elders. The remnants of the Blood Cult infiltrated the village and used a Soul-Stealing Technique to harvest the villagers’ blood.”

“The Blood Cult!?”

“It was the Blood Cult?!”

At the mention of the Blood Cult, the officer’s expression twisted in rage as he drew his sword.

That made sense—after all, the Blood Cult bastards had once tried to assassinate a princess, a direct descendant of the imperial bloodline. They were truly despicable.

And the large-scale purge of the Blood Cult was still ongoing across the Central Plains in real time.

Srrrng.

“Where are they!? Those bastards!”

The officer drew his sword and shouted—clearly weaker than me, yet making a scene since the actual suspects weren't here.

I calmed him down and continued speaking.

“Please, calm down, Officer. We've subdued the woman who had infiltrated this village. However, it turns out she isn’t the only one—other Blood Cult members are hiding in nearby villages as well.”

“What!?”

“Is that true, young hero?”

As expected, the news that the Blood Cult was hiding in other villages shocked them.

I immediately requested a search and arrest operation.

“Yes, I got the information from interrogating the woman. I’m certain of it. Since the Blood Cult members have learned martial arts, I ask that the five of you assist the officer in capturing them.”

“Understood, young hero.”

“Understood!”

And just like that, the operation to capture the Blood Cult members began.

“Where do we start!?”

“Ah, before that—we’ll need someone to deliver medicine into the village and inform the elders. Also, the woman collapsed in the middle of the road is one of them, so she must be taken in as well.”

Of course, I didn’t forget to mention the medicine, the message, and the unconscious woman.

『“So-ryong, doing good, right?”』

Hwa-eun was still coaching me mentally.

***

We moved quickly—like the German army during World War II’s blitzkrieg.

First, we rushed to the closest village, the one said to harbor not one but two Blood Cult agents.

After running for about a quarter of an hour, we arrived.

Soon, the Dragon Fangs and the government troops stormed the village.

Rustling came from the bushes, followed by someone panting and sprinting using light footwork.

Shhhhaaa.

Huff, huff, huff...

Then came my senior’s shout.

“So-ryong, one of them is escaping your way!”

It seemed that, because there were two agents in this village, one tried to flee as soon as the other got caught.

Ji-ryong had said the opposite side of the village had a river, so this was the only way out—and sure enough, the runner was headed right toward us.

It had been a good move to place us on the escape route, just in case.

It was a quick plan we came up with after asking Ji-ryong and the officer about the terrain, and as expected—Ji-ryong was spot on.

“Just as Ji-ryong said.”

“Let’s get ready, young hero.”

Beside me stood Eunbong and Geom-pung.

The three of us spread out—me in the center, Eunbong to my right, Geom-pung to my left.

After a brief wait, a man burst out from the bushes.

Rather than a cultist, he looked more like a petty cattle thief. As he ran, he scanned us, then charged straight at me—just as Ji-ryong had predicted.

He’d said that since I was young and wearing armor, I’d be the obvious target—and he was right.

In Murim, martial artists didn’t wear armor. Wearing it marked you as someone weak.

In short, I looked like the easiest one to take down.

‘Pissing me off... All right, come at me.’

As I deliberately took a sloppy stance, the agent smirked and rushed toward me.

He was planning to break through me.

Eunbong and Geom-pung had spread out far on purpose.

The man lunged at me and, in a flash, grabbed my left wrist.

According to what Hwa-eun had gotten from the woman, Blood Cult agents specialized in blood-sealing techniques—so their main martial art was Golden Bind Technique.

Sure enough, just like the intel said.

But the moment he grabbed my wrist and smirked faintly...

Just before he struck the pressure point, a slicing sound came from my left hand.

Ssshrk.

“Gkhh!”

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief.

That was because while Hyang was wrapped around my torso, right /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ arm, and right leg—my left arm was left bare.

So what was on my left arm?

Hongdan.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

From behind my elbow, Hongdan leapt out and swiftly sliced off the man’s wrist.

An insect’s reaction speed is something no human can match. He probably hadn’t even realized what hit him.

This is how the Venomous Beasts Papa fights!

From the back of my right hand, Hyang’s head emerged, emitting blood-fire poison. On the back of my left hand, Hongdan’s shears made a slicing sound as they slashed through flesh.

And then, three projectile blasts fired from behind me.

BOOM! BOOM! BAM!

“Gahhhkk!”

The man took headbutts from Seol, Bing, and Dong square to the chest and chin, and collapsed.

So I returned to him the same line that had once been shouted when the Blood Cult attacked our Sacheon Tang Clan.

“When you stand before King Yeomra, tell him it was So-ryong, the Venomous Beasts Papa, who sent you.”

***

The operation to capture the Blood Cult agents didn’t stop—it continued relentlessly for two days straight.

“This guy’s the last one, right?”

“Yes. We've captured everyone the woman mentioned.”

Though we said we “captured” them, there was really only one.

The rest all bit down on poison capsules hidden in their teeth and took their own lives.

Five killed themselves, and one remained.

While we were taking a short rest back in the first village, dragging back another corpse who’d died biting his capsule, an officer came galloping on horseback and leapt down to report to the commander.

“Sir! A strange illness has broken out in another nearby village!”

“Another outbreak!?”

The officer hadn’t reported to higher-ups that Blood Cult agents were hiding in the area, thinking there might still be one the woman hadn’t mentioned.

And it did seem there might be another one, just like he said.

But the next part of the report felt different.

“Yes, sir. But the symptoms are a little different from this village.”

“How so?”

“No one in the village wakes up until the sun is high in the sky, and they all say... they’re dreaming.”

“What do you mean by that!?”

It was certainly a different set of symptoms than what we’d seen before.