The name I gave the newly acquired mantis was Sandan.

In the Central Plains, wild red lilies are called sandanhwa, so I borrowed the name from that.

Sandan wasn't exactly red—it was more of a pink—but since I met her in the mountains, I thought the name fit.

It meant "a red child met in the mountains."

Though technically, sandanhwa isn’t quite red either—it leans more toward scarlet—and in this era, the term most often used for pink was yeonhong, so really, nothing about it matched.

‘Well, does the definition matter? What’s important is the meaning.’

“Your name is Sandan from now on. But are you a girl or a boy? Ah, earlier, Hyang called you unni, so... are you a girl?”

– Peep peep.

– Tsss. 『Yeah. Dad.』

“Oh ho. Is that so? Then I guess we can keep the name as is. That means I’ve got another little princess now. Nice to meet you. Let’s get along, okay?”

– Piiiii.

Just as I was about to name the mantis Sandan and gently pat her on the head—

– FLASH!

Suddenly, lightning struck loudly outside the door behind me, and for a brief moment, its light cast a shadow over us.

A shadow that included the silhouettes of two people standing right outside the door.

“Wh-Who’s there!?”

Startled, I spun around and looked toward the door.

I saw two figures—and heard a voice I wasn’t supposed to hear.

“So-ryong. We found you.”

“This is the place.”

Another bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating the two figures and two venomous creatures standing at the threshold.

There stood Hwa-eun and Sister Seol, with Cho and Yeondu beside them.

Soaked through from the rain.

‘Ooh boy...’

When Hwa-eun, her clothes clinging to her body from being drenched, shook her wet hair, the words "ooh boy" escaped my lips on reflex.

It reminded me of that classic movie scene—the female lead walking out of a pool, flicking her hair.

‘No, no. This is not the time to be enjoying this, So-ryong.’

But suddenly, the thought hit me—this wasn’t the time to be getting all giddy.

There had to be a reason why Hwa-eun showed up out of nowhere.

And the atmosphere didn’t feel good.

On top of that, when we last spoke just yesterday, she’d shown no sign of coming to find me.

‘What’s going on? Did I do something wrong? But there’s no way she could’ve found out what happened here... right?’

“Hwa-eun, uh, how did you even find this place? In this thunderstorm?”

I asked, trying to look concerned. Then came a cold, cutting voice in reply.

“So you really didn’t know? Three hours ago, Hyang suddenly screamed in the group chat that So-ryong ran outside in the thunderstorm. And. You. Didn’t. Know? I even called out to you. So. Desperately.”

“Huuurgh!”

Short, staccato-style speech. Each sentence ending in a question.

She was clearly fuming.

“How did we get here? Because we were worried. So Cho, Yeondu, unni, and I came flying over. We ducked low to dodge the lightning, okay?”

‘They low-flew over here?!’

When I had rushed off earlier, thinking I might be able to catch Hwarang, I vaguely remembered Hyang and the others shouting behind me. Turns out, Hyang had told Hwa-eun through the group chat.

That I ran outside in the middle of thunder and lightning...

And upon hearing that, they low-flew over in a flash.

In hindsight, it was lucky they didn’t know the whole story.

Why?

Because they didn’t seem to know about the part where I almost got struck by lightning or nearly crushed by a falling ventilation shaft.

If she’d caught wind of that, the nagging would’ve been off the charts. Thankfully, all they knew was that I ran outside during a storm.

Knowing now that Hwa-eun didn’t have the full picture, I decided to introduce the new companions before she could interrogate Hyang any further.

If I greeted them and started a conversation, maybe I could hide the more sensitive stuff and avoid getting scolded too harshly.

‘Even in a tiger’s den, if you keep your wits about you, you’ll survive.’

“R-Right. Let’s talk about that part a bit later. Hwa-eun, I haven’t introduced them yet, have I? This here is Jeokwol-noona, the Blood-Blossom Dream Illusion Butterfly. And over here—this one, I thought, would suit you quite well...”

“Eh? A l-lily?”

That was when it happened.

The moment I held out Sandan in my hand, Hwa-eun’s cold expression turned into a dazed one.

She looked like a startled deer caught in headlights.

Next to her, Sister Seol made an "Oh~" face.

‘Huh? What’s this weird tension?’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

While I {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} was rolling my eyes around, confused by the strange vibe, I noticed Hwa-eun’s face glowing red in the firelight.

Then Sister Seol, still smiling, gently grabbed Hwa-eun’s shoulders and spoke.

“My little sister’s doing pretty well, huh? But So-ryong? What were you thinking when you gave her that? I mean, as a man, I’m sure it was that meaning, right?”

“?”

I tilted my head, completely lost, and Sister Seol explained with a sly smile.

“The hap (合) in baekhap (lily) means ‘to unite,’ you know? So if a man gives it to a woman, first—it’s a confession of love. Second—if they’re already betrothed, it’s an invitation to the wedding chamber. You two are engaged, so I guess it’s the second one, huh?”

‘Wait, lilies mean that?’

I had no idea lilies carried such erotic connotations.

“The firs—”

The second meaning sounded kind of nice, and I really wanted to say it was that.

But I held myself back and was about to say “the first one” instead—when I saw Hwa-eun’s face darken all of a sudden.

Behind her, Sister Seol subtly shook her head.

‘Wait, it’s not the first?’

I had assumed it had to be the first, but... it was the second?

I quickly revised my words.

“The first meaning, infused in the... s-second one.”

At that, Hwa-eun briefly hid her face in her hands and stammered in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Th-Then... I’ll speak to Father as soon as we return to the Tang Clan about hurrying the wedding...”

What started as sharp staccato had somehow melted into the gentlest dolcissimo.

***

Hwa-eun was so delighted that I missed the timing to say anything.

If I left things as they were, she’d eventually realize it wasn’t a lily, and then she’d also realize I hadn’t meant to give her one in the first place. That would spell nothing but disaster.

‘I should’ve swapped Sandan out for an actual lily!’

– Peep peep.

It didn’t take long to find out that Sandan was a Soft-Pink Twin-Flower Mantis.

Probably because she was so polite—she let out a sound to greet everyone almost immediately.

“Huh? The flower just made a sound.”

“Oh? Wait, this isn’t a flower!”

“What? You’re right!? This is a mantis!?”

“That’s definitely the Soft-Pink Twin-Flower Mantis, one of the Twenty-Four Poisonous Types!”

‘Damn it!’

I shut my eyes tightly for a moment, then opened them again and spoke to Sandan.

“Sandan, uh... that’s your mom. Go ahead and say hi. She’ll be your mom now. And next to her is your aunt.”

“So there was another new little one?”

I was sure I was going to get scolded even more now—first for giving her something that wasn’t a flower, and second for the fact that the lily hadn’t actually been intentional.

But oddly, Hwa-eun only grew happier.

All because of what Sandan did next.

She suddenly jumped and clung to the side of Hwa-eun’s hair.

Her face bloomed like a flower as she looked at Sandan now stuck to her.

“Oh my, she’s such a friendly little one! So your name is Sandan?”

– Piii.

“Do you like it there?”

– Peepee.

Turned out the reason Sandan had latched onto Hwa-eun’s side hair was because of the flower ornament.

Hwa-eun always had at least one flower decoration in her hair, and since Sandan had originally come from a flower field, she must’ve seen the ornament and instinctively flown to it, thinking it was home.

In the end, there were three wild lilies in Hwa-eun’s hair.

Two were actual lilies, and the third was Sandan.

Hwa-eun had plucked one of the real lilies and placed it there instead, so that Sandan would feel more secure.

“It’s beautiful. Really looks like a hair ornament.”

“I like it even more than the real lily. So-ryong, I’ll have to buy a lily-shaped hairpin for Sandan. This one will wilt soon.”

Sandan nestled gently in Hwa-eun’s hair, and Sister Seol looked on with a bit of envy.

Hwa-eun, staring out the window and already thinking about where to buy a new ornament, slipped her arm through mine and said,

“Let’s go back now, So-ryong. Looks like the rain’s easing up.”

Just as she said, the rain outside was finally letting up and dawn was breaking.

***

Commander of the Bloodshade Unit, Binghyeol Nanhwa, had arrived in Beijing, Hebei, disguised as a courtesan.

Her target seemed to be heading toward the Peng Clan, so she followed toward the city where the clan was based.

She’d confirmed the target was moving from Shandong to Hebei, but had lost contact with the local Bloodshade Unit long ago and couldn't pinpoint their exact location.

“Commander Binghyeol! You came in person!?”

“There’s something important I must do, so I came myself. The letter I sent—was it delivered?”

Beijing was the largest city in Hebei, and the Blood Cult's agents had managed to establish a fairly significant presence there.

They operated Huaxiang House, a famous courtesan house in the city.

It was staffed entirely with agents who hadn’t trained in martial arts, so there was little risk of being exposed by government raids. But the Five Venoms Sect had already gotten wind of it and swiftly taken control.

“We’ve reconnected with the northern Bloodshade Unit. They’ve accepted that the only way to survive is to submit for now.”

There were two reasons why she had told the Five Venoms Sect’s master that she would step into the Central Plains.

First, to prove her worth and quickly solidify her position within the sect.

Second, to restore the severed intelligence network of the Bloodshade Unit, which had either gone underground or been scattered after the raids by the sect and government.

The Bloodshade Unit, which once served as the intelligence arm of the Blood Cult, had been left in shambles—apart from a few major branches, it was no longer operational.

“Well done. What about the southern side?”

“But the south...”

The owner of the courtesan house—also a Blood Cultist—hesitated, wearing a troubled expression.

Seeing this, Nanhwa tilted her head slightly and asked,

“You don’t mean to say we’ve lost contact with the south? Ah, right. That area’s handled directly by the subcommander, isn’t it? I suppose I’ll have to try using the secret method of contact myself.”

Southern Hebei was a key position, receiving detailed intelligence from Hwang Bo-se sent from Shandong—regarding the Taesan Sect, the Shandong Ak Clan, as well as reports from Shaolin and the Beggars' Union in Henan.

It was overseen personally by the subcommander.

Which meant it would be difficult even for Nanhwa to reach her using standard methods.

That subcommander’s name was the same as the commander’s—because she was her “shadow.” A double, meant to act as the commander’s extension.

So if the real commander made contact personally, there was a chance it could work.

But at Nanhwa’s words, the courtesan house owner answered with a somber look.

“The southern Bloodshade Unit... appears to have been wiped out.”

“W-Wiped out!?”

“Yes...”

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

The subcommander, her “shadow,” had been in charge of the southern Hebei unit, and now she was hearing they were annihilated?

“What kind of nonsense is this!? Are you sure they didn’t just go underground?”

It had to be nonsense.

That subcommander had even mastered the Soul-Consumption Technique—she was the most talented among the Bloodshade Unit.

She’d never failed a mission before.

“According to the villagers, the government forces captured them all and displayed their heads in the streets. The subcommander’s head was among them.”

“That’s impossible! She had even mastered the Soul-Consumption Technique!”

How could someone who had learned that level of technique be exposed and executed by mere government soldiers!?

Seeing her utter disbelief, the house’s owner explained further.

“The villagers said that someone called the ‘All-Venom Grandpa’ sniffed out all the Blood Cultists and handed them over to the authorities.”

“All-Venom Grandpa? What kind of ridiculous nickname is that? Who the hell is he?”

A nickname she had never even heard before.

Swallowing her fury, she asked—and got an unexpected name in return.

“That would be Wei So-ryong. Son-in-law of the Tang Clan in Sichuan.”

– CRACK.

Fueled by rage and strengthened through the Five Venoms Sect’s techniques, Binghyeol clenched the table.

It shattered.

Veins bulged and throbbed, her blood circulating so violently it seemed to spiral like a storm beneath her skin.

A moment later, after calming her energy, she spoke in a cold, deathly voice.

“Now I have one more reason to make sure he dies.

Gather every Blood Cult agent we can reach in northern Hebei and Beijing!”

“Yes, Commander!”

At her command, agents of the Blood Cult scattered across Hebei, and the remnants who had survived there began to converge on Beijing.