"〈Can you do a spin for me?〉"

When I asked with my mind, the centipede perched on my finger crawled across my hand in a circle.

Then it climbed back onto my palm and twitched its antennae, as if to ask, "Was that okay?"

I patted its head and gently placed it on the ground, smiling as I spoke to it mentally again.

〈You can all go back now. Thanks for coming.〉

And with that, the centipedes that had gathered around me began to scatter in all directions.

They quickly disappeared back into their homes—between cracks in walls, beneath fences, into crevices where they'd originally come from.

“Ugh, the whole place smells like centipedes.”

As they dispersed, that distinct centipede scent filled the air.

My spirit beasts didn’t emit it, but now that the wild ones had left, the lingering centipede odor remained strong.

Seol sister wrinkled her nose at the smell, clearly sensitive to it, but to me—it felt like perfume.

Because I could feel the pheromones of happiness in it.

‘Wait, I can read pheromones now!?’

The Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Divine Art, its realm known as the Poisonous Five Realm.

It wasn’t just about sensing their presence, being loved by them, or even communicating telepathically.

The most special thing about this new ability was that I could now understand their pheromones.

My sense of smell had become capable of reading them.

The realization sent a shiver down my spine.

My heart raced. My blood surged. My face flushed with excitement.

This was truly a technique worthy of the one destined to become the father of all venomous creatures.

If I was going to be their dad, being able to sense and understand their feelings was only natural, right?

Even if it was only with centipedes for now.

‘Damn. This is insane. I can literally read their emotions through pheromones.’

As I marveled at my new ability, Cheongyu Sojeo spoke up with a bright smile in her voice.

『–Shiiiyaa? (So-ryong, do you like it?)』

『‘Like it? I love it!’』

Of course I loved it.

Now I understood why Cheongyu Sojeo never told me what would happen after achieving the Five Poisons.

If I had known about this incredible ability in advance, it might’ve spoiled the surprise.

Sure, it would’ve been fun to anticipate—but I wouldn’t have experienced this overwhelming tsunami of emotion.

‘Seriously, if I’d known ahead of time, it would’ve been like flat soda.’

Cheongyu Sojeo turned out to be much more thoughtful—and cool—than I expected. Or rather, I should say she’s a venomous creature now.

Her explanation continued.

『–Shiiyaa. (But you shouldn’t celebrate too soon. Reaching the Poisonous Five Realm is not the end—it’s only the beginning.)』

『‘The beginning?’』

—Shii. (Now you have to open the Five Gates. We call them Five Gates.)

『‘Five Gates?’』

—Shiaa. (Yes. By choosing the centipede, So-ryong has now opened the First Gate.)

『‘Wait—don’t tell me!’』

—Shiishi. (Yes, once you reach a certain level, you’ll be able to open the gates for other venomous creatures too.)

『“Gyaaaaah!”』

Now I understood why she had mentioned “next time” earlier.

My grandfather and I had assumed that achieving the Five Poisons meant completing the technique.

But according to Cheongyu Sojeo, it wasn’t the end—it was the start.

Once you register all five venomous creatures, you open the First Gate.

To master the technique fully, you need to open all Five Gates.

In other words, if a creature belongs to one of the five venom categories, I’d eventually be able to communicate and bond with them too.

The realm where you achieve perfect harmony with all five venomous beasts—

That was what the Five Gates of the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Divine Art meant.

‘This is crazy.’

After my excitement calmed down a little, Cheongyu Sojeo began explaining in more detail the abilities I had gained from reaching the Poisonous Five Realm.

『–Shia. Shiia. You can now give orders telepathically to your venomous creatures, understand what they say, and they’ll all adore you. That’s the ability you gain from collecting all five venomous types.

But only if they’re spirit beasts—it doesn’t work with ordinary ones.』

Everything I’d guessed was spot-on.

What came next, though, surprised me a little.

『–Shiia. (That’s why Cho, Hyang, and Bini’s bond with you will grow even deeper.)』

『‘Deeper?’』

—Shiishi. (Yes. Even centipedes with no existing bond will follow and love So-ryong like a friend, so for the ones who already have a father-daughter relationship with you... their affection will deepen even more.)

『‘Ah...’』

Well, it’s good when a dad and his daughters get along, isn’t it?

I nodded in agreement.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Then Hwa-eun, who had been quietly listening the whole time, finally spoke up.

『“I still don’t get it. This doesn’t feel like something a sect like O-dok would create. Instead of turning creatures into puppets, you’re telling me they love you? That feels... strange.”』

‘Now that you mention it...’

She had a point.

The Five Venoms Sect was infamous for controlling venomous creatures or grinding them into medicinal powder.

This martial art—based on being loved by those creatures—felt totally out of character.

Their whole thing was inhumane manipulation.

I nodded again, and Cheongyu Sojeo followed up with confirmation.

『–Shii. Shiia. (Yes, Hwa-eun’s right. It is strange, isn’t it? That’s because the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Divine Art is actually considered a failed technique.)』

『‘A failed technique?’』

『‘Failed?’』

Hwa-eun tilted her head in confusion.

Even I thought that was odd—how could such a perfect technique be called a failure?

But thinking from the Five Venoms Sect’s perspective, I could guess why.

They probably wanted complete control and domination over venomous creatures.

What they expected was a technique to turn venomous beasts into obedient limbs—tools to be wielded without question.

Cheongyu Sojeo confirmed my assumption.

『–Shiishi. (The technique was originally designed to completely subjugate venomous beasts. If the creatures feel friendship instead of absolute obedience, then yes—it would be considered a failure by their standards.)』

『‘I see... so that’s why it’s called a failure.’』

—Shiaa. (It’s probably because the original base was Beast Heart Art, which was designed for bonding with animals. The technique never fully broke away from that foundation.)

True, the Beast Heart Art of the Beast Palace is all about forming friendships with animals.

That’s its core ability.

And if this technique used that as its root, it’s only natural it couldn’t shake that off.

It’s like trying to make sweet red bean paste without beans—you can’t.

As I nodded, Cheongyu Sojeo added something that made me even happier.

『–Shii. (Oh, and now that you’ve reached the Poisonous Five Realm, you should be able to use all the Five Poison Techniques: Centipede Poison Fang Claw, Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand, Scorpion Tail Swift Kick, Lizard Gecko Movement, and Toad Explosive Palm. Try checking them tomorrow morning.

Your internal energy has also increased, so you should now be able to infuse Hwayang’s venom into the Toad Explosive Palm.)』

『‘Ooooh!’』

『‘Ah, right. We haven’t checked So-ryong’s martial arts progress lately, have we?’』

So much had happened since the Poisonous Three Realm—I’d been neglecting my techniques.

As my grandfather predicted, I could now use Centipede Poison Fang Claw, unleashing Cho’s poison through my fingertips.

And I could also inject Hwayang’s venom into the Toad Explosive Palm.

‘Is that... mana burn?’

A palm strike that burns the opponent’s internal energy!

Who knows what other powers I might’ve awakened—

I couldn’t wait to find out.

***

It was already dawn.

Even after finishing our discussion about martial arts, I couldn't bring myself to sleep with Cheongyu Sojeo finally out and walking around for the first time in fifteen days. We kept talking, and before I knew it, morning had come.

—Chirp chirp.

The faintly brightening sky was filled with the sounds of mountain birds waking and chirping.

『–Shiaa. (Thank you for staying with me until dawn. I think it’s about time for me to go. See you in fifteen days.)』

‘Sleep well, Cheongyu Sojeo.’

‘Good night.’

After seeing Cheongyu Sojeo off, I headed to the barn to finally sleep with the kids for the first time in a while. But just as I lay down, I heard Sister Seol’s voice from outside.

“So-ryong, did you bathe?”

“Bathe?”

I sniffed myself.

Yeah, there was definitely a bit of a smell.

Well, I had been sitting cross-legged in the same clothes for over ten days.

“Oh. Now that you mention it...”

“I boiled some water and got everything ready. Go bathe before you sleep.”

“Really? Thank you, Sister Seol!”

A warm bath—especially with heated water—wasn’t easy to come by unless you were from the Tang Clan. I was thrilled and hurried off.

“I even washed your clothes.”

“As expected of you, sister. Kids, Daddy’s gonna go take a bath. You can go to sleep first.”

—Skrrr.

—Squeeze!

—Peep.

Sister Seol handed me freshly laundered clothes.

Telling the kids to rest first, I rushed to the well.

Cradling the clothes Sister Seol gave me, I reached the well, where a large tub was waiting behind a screen of bamboo blinds.

Steam rose from the water in soft, warm clouds.

I hung the clean clothes over the blinds and tested the water with my hand.

“Ahhh. That’s good.”

The warmth clung to my skin just right.

I quickly undressed and soaked myself in the tub, scrubbing diligently with a cloth.

After thoroughly bathing, I started heading back to the barn.

As I passed Hwa-eun’s room—the same place where I’d trained in the Poisonous Five Realm—I heard a door creak open.

—Creeeak.

Turning my head, I saw Hwa-eun peeking out through the slightly opened door.

“So-ryong.”

“Oh, you’re still awake?”

She’d said earlier she was heading straight to bed after saying goodbye to Cheongyu Sojeo. I guess she hadn’t fallen asleep yet.

Considering we’d just escaped an ambush from the Five Venoms Sect, she must’ve been exhausted.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep... So-ryong, do you... want to come in for a bit?”

“Come in?”

“Yeah... I mean...”

When she suddenly asked me to come in for a moment, I wasn’t sure what she meant.

She couldn’t meet my eyes and stared down at her feet.

And in that moment, I realized how thoughtless I’d been.

‘Ah! Of course—she must’ve been so scared alone.’

After being chased by those Five Venoms bastards, she was probably terrified.

Lying down to sleep, the memories must have come rushing back, making it impossible to rest.

After all, she’d just been through a brush with death.

What she really meant was: “Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

I’d been insensitive. So I stepped closer to her door and spoke gently.

“You don’t need to say anything. I was being careless, wasn’t I? Let’s go in.”

“Th-thank you, So-ryong.”

“No need to thank me.”

Hwa-eun was a martial artist—saying she couldn’t sleep because she was scared would’ve been embarrassing.

I figured I’d sit by her side, maybe hold her hand until she dozed off, even sing her a lullaby if I had to.

When I stepped inside, a fragrant scent wafted through the room.

It didn’t smell like this when I had ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) used it for training, which surprised me.

I followed Hwa-eun to the bed and sat beside her.

She looked like she was about to say something.

“Well, I was thinking that...”

She was probably going to ask me to hold her hand or something because she was scared, so I smiled and gently cut her off.

“It’s okay. Just lie down, Hwa-eun.”

“Lie down? Oh, r-right. Okay...”

Clearly embarrassed, her face flushed red as she lay down on the inside of the bed, turning slightly to face me.

Now that I looked more closely, her bedtime clothes were rather light.

Lying on her side like that, her shoulder and calves were exposed as her skirt rode up.

Maybe because I’m used to focusing on insect chitin and snake scales, but bare skin caught my attention instantly.

‘Wow.’

I nearly blurted it out loud.

Hwa-eun was already beautiful, but I’d never seen her like this before.

It gave me that same rush I felt when discovering a new species.

Still, now wasn’t the time for those kinds of thoughts.

I grabbed the crumpled blanket in front of her and pulled it up to her neck.

She couldn’t sleep because she was scared. This was no time to think like that.

As I reached for the blanket and moved toward her, she gently closed her eyes.

“You have to stay warm when you sleep.”

I tucked the blanket around her carefully, covering her legs and all the way up to her neck.

It was chilly in the mountains after all.

I silently praised myself: Good job, So-ryong.

But just then, I noticed Hwa-eun’s eyebrow twitch.

She must’ve been so exhausted that her facial muscles were twitching.

Then came her cold, sharp voice.

“So-ryong, do you know why I asked you in here?”

Suddenly, the mood had shifted.

Flustered, I replied with a puzzled face.

“Uh, because of today’s Five Venoms attack? You were scared and couldn’t sleep, so you wanted me to stay by your side until you dozed off?”

At that, Hwa-eun suddenly threw off the blanket, climbed on top of me, and pinned me down on the bed with a furious expression.

Holding both of my shoulders, she glared down at me and said,

“So-ryong, you drive people crazy. Why do you think I called you? I can’t take this anymore. I’m going to give you my answer about the lily right now. After getting chased by the Five Venoms scum today, I realized there’s no point in putting this off.”

Then, without warning, she kissed me.

As her scent filled my nose—I didn’t need centipede pheromones to tell what this one was.

Excitement.

‘Gyaaaaah! Is today the day Wei So-ryong becomes a man!?’

She was older than me, and I’d always liked older women.

If this was my fate, I was going to embrace it wholeheartedly.

So, as I responded to her kiss and wrapped my arm around her waist—

—Creeeak.

Suddenly, the door opened and I heard the kids’ voices.

—Skrrrk. 『Daddy, what are you doing in here?』

—Skrit. 『Didn’t you say you were going to take a bath? Why are you here?』

Startled, Hwa-eun sprang back like she’d been burned.

She quickly wiped her mouth and stared as the kids approached.

It was Hyang and Bini.

I scrambled to explain.

“U-uhh... well, Mommy had a really rough day today, right? She was scared and said she couldn’t sleep alone, so Daddy was just—just holding her hand until she fell asleep!”

—Skrit. 『Scared?』

—Skrrrk? 『Mommy’s scared?』

Bini’s comment spread through the others like wildfire, and soon all the kids came rushing into the room.

They surrounded us where we lay on the bed.

Cho looked at both of us and spoke sweetly.

—Skrrrk. 『Mommy, if we all sleep together like this, you won’t be scared, right?』

At that, Hwa-eun pinched my side.

Becoming a man, it seemed... wasn’t going to be so easy.