Since we had to sneak into the village first, we were trying to come up with a new plan.

If we searched the village one by one, someone might get hurt or killed, and the person hiding might sense something was off and run away.

But then Ji-ryong suggested using the same method as last time.

“I believe it’s best if we proceed just as we did before.”

“Just as before?”

Elder Physician tilted his head and asked with a curious expression.

Ji-ryong looked at me, then at Elder Physician and Elder Herbalist, and explained.

“The government soldiers can seal off the village using the excuse of a plague outbreak, and the three of you can head back into the village.”

“Ah, you mean we enter the village the same way we came in before?”

“Yes. It’s the method least likely to raise suspicion. Not only that, but once inside, we’ll behave exactly as we did last time.”

“All of us?”

“Yes.”

Ji-ryong was suggesting we recreate the exact same scenario—government soldiers surrounding the village, and Elder Herbalist, Elder Physician, and myself entering for treatment purposes.

“‘Beat the grass to startle the snake.’ Though it wasn’t intentional the first time, that’s exactly what our previous method was.”

“Beat the grass to startle the snake?”

“It means, ‘beat the grass to startle the snake,’ Sir So.”

Apparently, it hadn’t been intentional at first, but according to Ji-ryong, it was an excellent way to make a hidden enemy move.

Startling a snake by rustling the grass, huh?

Depending on the snake, you might just get bitten doing that. Whoever came up with that saying might’ve been good at tactics, but they clearly had no understanding of biology.

‘People really have the wrong idea about snakes.’

As I was thinking about how unfairly misunderstood our snakes were, Ji-ryong continued.

“Martial artists may not fear government soldiers, but they certainly find them bothersome. They try to avoid entanglements with them if possible.

To a martial artist on the run, a government soldier is like a magpie revealing a tiger’s location.

What’s more, the Blood Cult has been declared heretical and is being actively purged by the authorities. So even if they’re not afraid, they’ll feel psychological pressure if surrounded by government troops. Their location being exposed could lead to other righteous martial experts tracking them down.”

Just as Ji-ryong said, I’d already heard in the mental realm that the woman who tried to use the Soul-Stealing Technique on me got flustered by the movements of the government soldiers and made her move.

“She did say she got anxious when the government troops surrounded the area and made her attempt to use the technique on me.”

As I nodded, agreeing with Ji-ryong’s reasoning, he continued.

“Yes. So imagine this—government soldiers surround the village, and then you three appear?

If there really is a Blood Cult expert in the village, they’ll see it as an opportunity.

They’re going to be exposed either way if they try to escape, so if they take a small risk, it might be a chance to obtain the refined blood of a powerful master.”

“Ah... so that’s why that woman...”

“Yes. She must’ve thought that if she could capture you, Sir So, she could endanger one of the elders and maybe even handle one of them on her own.

When someone is backed into a corner, they’ll take a risk if there’s a chance to offset the loss with potential gain.”

Hearing Ji-ryong lay it out like that, I understood why that woman attacked me.

Following his logic, with government soldiers already drawing attention and risking exposure, the appearance of Elder Physician and Elder Herbalist alongside me presented a tempting way to balance that risk—by harvesting their vital essence.

“Then what exactly should we do?”

“As I mentioned, just repeat the actions we took inside the village last time. Sir So, you said you’re resistant to the Soul-Stealing Technique, correct?”

“Yes, Ji-ryong...”

Well, not a hundred percent, but if I have Hwa-eun and the kids standing by in the group chat, we can probably block it again this time.

Hearing my answer, Ji-ryong nodded.

“Then please send Sir So alone again on the errand. If someone tries to accompany him, it might even be better to just let it happen.

If there’s a spy, they’ll move the moment Sir So is alone.”

It was really the same method as before, but Elder Herbalist looked concerned.

He was probably worried I might be in danger.

“Won’t So-ryong be in danger?”

“They won’t be able to kill or harm Sir So. He has to be taken hostage if they want to face the elders.

And he’s got the kids hidden on his body. Even in the worst-case scenario, they won’t be able to do anything to him. You know this, right? Sir So’s daughters.”

Trill!

Peeekuu!

Hearing themselves mentioned, the kids let out affirmative little cries.

Ji-ryong smiled at the sound and their appearance.

“They seem to agree.”

“Hoho. Is that so?”

“My apologies, little ones, for underestimating you.”

Hearing their cries, the elders nodded with kind smiles. And so, the infiltration plan into the village of the sleeping people was decided: repeat the previous method exactly.

“Then let’s do it that way.”

“Agreed.”

“Understood. Let’s work out the finer details.”

***

The next day at noon.

The sun was high and the heat was beating down when we arrived in front of the target village.

The village was nestled right in the middle of a vast bamboo forest, with gentle hills behind it that stretched into a mountain range far to the north.

“Halt!”

As soon as we reached the village entrance, a government soldier crossed his spear to block us.

He had a sharp tone, but as he glanced at me, he winked.

[Sir So, you’ve arrived?]

Well, to be precise, it was Yang Seong-hu disguised as a government soldier.

Next to him, looking awkward, was Gwiseong hyung.

The reason they were dressed as government soldiers was because the real ones were too clumsy to trust with our plan—and just in case we needed someone inside the village to act quickly.

So all the men from the Dragon Fangs disguised themselves as soldiers. It seemed that after some practice runs, it was decided that Yang Seong-hu and Gwiseong would be the ones greeting us.

“Stand back! The plague is spreading! No one may enter this village!”

As we stepped closer, Yang Seong-hu shouted again.

He was acting his heart out, trying to cover for Gwiseong hyung’s awkwardness with a near-perfect performance.

‘He’s really working hard.’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

As Yang Seong-hu yelled, Elder Herbalist stopped and asked,

“Seems we’ve come to the right place. Sorry, but could you let us in?”

“M-move back!”

When Gwiseong hyung tried to copy him and bit his own tongue saying “move back,” Yang Seong-hu squeezed his eyes shut.

Honestly, it would’ve been more helpful if he’d just stayed quiet.

At that moment, the commanding officer emerged from a tent and asked,

“What’s going on here?”

“Sir, these elders are asking to be let inside.”

Ji-ryong quickly responded with a relieved look on his face.

Hearing Ji-ryong’s report, the commander turned to Elder Physician and bellowed,

“What’s this nonsense!? Are you so eager to die, old man!? There’s a plague spreading!”

“I have some skill in medicine. Please, let us in.”

“Bah! Unless you’re the legendary physicians of the martial world, Elder Physician and Elder Herbalist themselves, turn back!”

“How did you know? We are, in fact, Elder Physician and Elder Herbalist.”

“Whaaaat!? You're really Elder Physician and Elder Herbalist!?”

That definitely wasn’t in the original script—both the commander and Elder Physician were improvising lines now.

The elders were doing such a good job, it honestly made me feel a bit embarrassed for Gwiseong hyung.

‘Hyung, I’m embarrassed for you.’

After a few more exchanges between Elder Herbalist and the commander, the commander turned to Yang Seong-hu and gave the order.

“Let them in.”

“Yes, sir!”

The entrance opened, and we stepped into the village.

After walking a bit down the bamboo path, we entered the village proper, just as people were stretching and stepping out of their homes.

They said even perilla seeds sleep at noon, and it really looked like the whole village was just now waking up from slumber.

‘So they really do wake up only when the sun’s at its highest?’

“Is it noon again?”

“No, seriously, what the hell is going on here?”

Criiing.

The villagers looked confused to see each other awake.

Even the dogs were waking up and yawning.

‘Even the dogs?’

Just as I was feeling a bit of unease seeing even the dogs waking from sleep, a middle-aged man stepped out of his house and spotted us.

Tilting his head, the man asked,

“Who might you be?”

In the yard of his house, there were dozens of lanterns hanging. Elder Physician stepped forward and replied to his question.

“Ah, I’m someone known in the martial world by the nickname ‘Elder Physician.’ I came because I heard a strange illness was spreading in this village.”

“E-Elder Physician!? Are you really Elder Physician!?”

“That’s right. This here is my disciple, Elder Herbalist. And this is our grandson.”

I added the “grandson” part to make myself seem more valuable as a hostage to them. The man’s eyes went wide as he shouted.

“Everyone! Elder Physician and Elder Herbalist are here! They’ve come to cure the strange illness in our village!”

“Elder Physician!? Elder Herbalist!?”

“Thank heavens!”

People, now fully awake, came rushing toward us.

This bamboo village wasn’t that large—maybe fifty houses or so—but in no time, people came pouring out of them and gathered all around us.

“Welcome!”

“Welcome, esteemed elders!”

Hearing their cheers, I couldn’t help but think:

‘The road to becoming Papa of All Venomous Creatures is still long...’

***

We entered the house of the young man who had first greeted us.

He was quite young to be a village chief, but apparently, he was.

Whenever someone comes to a village for treatment, it’s customary to stay at the village chief’s home, so he had offered us a room.

“You may use this room.”

He cleared out the bamboo and paper materials that filled the room and told us to make ourselves at home.

“Thank you. We’ll be in your care until we’ve treated the patients.”

“In your care? No, it’s us who are indebted to you.”

“By the way, why are there so many lanterns hanging?”

Seeing all the ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) lanterns even inside the room, Elder Herbalist tilted his head, and the village chief scratched his head as he answered.

“Ah, our village makes lanterns from materials we gather in this bamboo forest.”

“Ahh, so that’s why there are so many of them.”

“Yes, sir. Our lanterns are actually quite famous.”

Now that he mentioned it, the other houses in the village had plenty of lanterns too. It seemed the village’s main source of income was selling these lanterns.

“Well then, shall we see the patients?”

“Understood. I’ll line them up.”

“No, bring in your family first.”

“Is that really okay!?”

“Well, since we’re staying in your home, it’s the least we can do.”

“Th-thank you, Elder!”

The village chief’s face brightened at the offer to treat his family first.

We’d been told in advance that this was the custom—borrowing the chief’s home and treating his family first—so I addressed him accordingly.

“Please send them in one at a time.”

“Yes, Sir So.”

Soon after, the village chief’s wife and children entered the room, and the elders began examining them.

“What are the symptoms?” they asked.

“Well... aside from not waking up easily from sleep, there’s really nothing else.”

“Are others like this too?”

“Some people say they feel tired, but aside from them, it’s the same for everyone else.”

There were no other particular symptoms.

After checking their pulses, the two elders shook their heads. Elder Herbalist pulled down the cloth covering his mouth and said,

“This isn’t a disease.”

“So, it’s just as we thought?”

“Indeed, we need to be cautious. The people with no symptoms aren’t sick. Their blood isn’t lacking either. If we check those who feel fatigue, we’ll know more for sure.”

About two hours later, after checking the pulses of all the other villagers, the two nodded.

“The ones feeling fatigue definitely had less blood. It wasn’t to the point of anemia, but there was a noticeable drop. Not enough to cause serious harm, but still.”

Only two people reported feeling fatigue, and both were found to be short on blood.

It was time to move to phase two of the plan.

The operation where I go alone to retrieve medicine.

We already had enough Blood-Tonic Pills prepared, but the goal was to lure out the enemy.

“Oh no, the medicine is heavy, and I have to go fetch it all by myself?”

I made a hint that the medicine was too heavy to carry alone, but no one offered to help.

Even when I said I had to go alone to get medicine, they just told me to be careful, saying they couldn’t leave the village since it was under quarantine.

“Please be careful, young lord. We’d help if we could, but with the government troops out there... we’d get in trouble, even if you wouldn’t.”

‘Uh... this isn’t how it’s supposed to go? Could it be? Is the spy just overly cautious?’

In any case, I fetched the medicine and gave the pre-made Blood-Tonic Pills to the two villagers who were short on blood.

And that night.

Elder Physician and Elder Herbalist took turns standing watch...

Smack! Smack!

A sharp slap to the cheek woke me up to see Yang Seong-hu staring at me with a worried expression.

[Sir So, are you awake?]

[What happened?]

[You said you'd send a signal this morning, but when I didn’t hear anything, I snuck in. Both the elders are fast asleep.]

I had closed my eyes in the evening, and now the sun hadn’t yet reached its peak, but everyone in the room was fast asleep, as if dead.

Hyang, Hongdan, Seol, Bing, Dong—all of them.

‘What kind of sorcery is this?’