“What should we do here, Sandan?”

—Pipip!

At Hwa-eun’s question, Sandan jabbed her two front legs down as if stamping them, then looked at Hwa-eun like a teacher.

As if asking, can you follow this?

Hwa-eun mimicked Sandan’s movements with her pointed hands.

Someone might wonder what on earth they were doing—but this was martial arts training.

No, to be precise, Hwa-eun was creating her own poison-style martial art.

After having a brush with death, she said that watching Sandan’s movements had sparked some inspiration in her—and she wanted to turn that into martial arts.

So that’s what she was practicing now.

Apparently, she wanted to create a style based on the praying mantis.

It was a good idea.

Among insect predators, the praying mantis ranks at the top.

If she could mimic its movements, the resulting martial art would ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ be quite powerful.

It could become a technique marked by explosive speed, precision, and cruelty.

Sandan opened the flower-like crest on her rear end and moved gracefully for Hwa-eun to observe. As she moved, Hwa-eun’s sleeves fluttered like large petals.

In the yard, it looked like two blossoms were dancing in full bloom.

“It really looks like a dance.”

“Doesn’t it?”

While I watched Sister Seol and Hwa-eun’s training with a pleased expression, Cheongyu—resting with her head on my lap—suddenly lifted her head and stared toward the gate.

“What is it, Cheongyu?”

—Ssshhh. 『So-ryong, someone’s coming.』

She meant people were approaching. The snakes she’d scattered sensed them climbing up the mountain.

Cheongyu could not only control snakes—she could also tap into what they saw. It seemed the people climbing were now within the field of vision of the snakes spread throughout the mountain.

—Sshaa! 『They’re lined up with spears and swords!』

I flinched at the thought of people coming—but when I heard they were armed and climbing in formation, I patted Cheongyu on the head and gently laid her back down.

Because I had a good guess who it was.

“It’s okay. I think I know who it is.”

—Sshaa?

Even though I said it was fine, Cheongyu kept glancing toward the gate.

She was probably still hung up on her mistake a few days ago.

Back then, she had detected the presence of Blood Cult assassins early on—but she hadn’t been able to tell whether they were good or bad.

Wild beasts that have never encountered humans don’t naturally harbor hostility toward them.

Just like the extinct Falkland wolves or the dodo birds.

Cheongyu had lived alone in the mountains before joining us.

So her hostility toward humans was weak. Even though the Blood Cult assassins had been moving in and out of the area for days, she hadn’t been able to tell they were dangerous.

Although she did go through something terrible because of that, now that she was with me, maybe she still believed most humans weren’t bad.

Or maybe, the Golden-Crowned Spirit Snakes were just naturally friendly toward humans.

In that case, maybe they instinctively absorbed part of a human soul to gain knowledge about them and assess potential threats.

Either way, protecting her innocence was also my job.

“I said it’s okay.”

After reassuring Cheongyu and waiting a bit, we started to hear signs of people outside the gate.

Along with the clatter of weapons, a man’s voice shouted from outside.

“Who’s in there?”

“See? Bad people try to sneak in. They don’t announce themselves like that.”

—Sshaaa.

At my words, Cheongyu finally looked relieved and nodded.

“You may come in!”

I called out, got up, and walked toward the gate.

Soon, the government officer entered through the main gate, followed by a familiar face.

“Soho-hyeop, I’ve come. To think you’d call me so specifically—what an honor.

Wow... you really do have a lot of children here. This is amazing.”

He greeted me warmly as he stepped over the threshold and into the yard—but then flinched when he saw the kids playing there.

Still, he began walking toward me again.

I had already shown him Hyang and Hongdan before, so even though there were more kids around now, he didn’t seem too surprised.

Meanwhile, the officer who’d come in before him stayed far behind and didn’t dare come closer.

“Welcome, sir. I hope we didn’t trouble you.”

This commander had helped us during the incident with the Blood Cult vice commander and Sister Jeokwol.

Three days ago, I had gone to the local magistrate’s office and asked that he be summoned so I could hand over the Blood Cultists. It seemed he’d come running as soon as he heard.

“Trouble? Don’t be ridiculous—it’s a favor. You could call me in the middle of the night for something like this.

Thanks to the guys you handed over last time, I might get promoted. And if you hand over the rest down there, my promotion’s guaranteed.

Shouldn’t I run here even if it’s a thousand leagues away?”

“Haha, is that so?”

“Of course. Hm? Are these children greeting me?”

As he was speaking, Cho and Bini approached and bowed their heads in greeting. The commander’s eyes widened.

“Yes, sir.”

“Haha, well then, nice to meet you.”

After greeting him, the children ran back to play with the others.

“Amazing... truly amazing.”

Watching the kids run off, the commander murmured in awe.

“Sir, shall we head over to the pavilion? We can have some tea and talk.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

The reason I’d called him was simple.

To strike the Five Venoms Sect.

More precisely, to attack the strongholds of the Blood Cult that had been absorbed into the Five Venoms Sect.

Thanks to Cheongyu Sojeo being freed from the Golden-Crowned Spirit Snake and defecting to our side, we had valuable intel—along with what we learned from the Bloodshade vice commander, and now the unit commander.

From all that, three things had become clear:

The Blood Cult and the Five Venoms Sect’s precise location, the network of Blood Cult strongholds spread across the Central Plains, and a list of their agents.

Which meant we now had the option to go on the offensive—by eliminating their eyes and ears within the Central Plains.

Since the Blood Cult and the Five Venoms Sect were beyond the border and couldn’t be struck directly, the strategy was to wipe out their base networks and spies here.

And the first step was here, in Hebei.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

According to the Blood Cult unit commander Nanhwa, most of their forces had been brought out, and only a few remained at the Hebei base—but we were going to wipe them out completely anyway.

“This is Tang Hwa-eun, my official betrothed from the Sichuan Tang Clan. And this is my sister, Seol Pyo of the Beast Palace.”

Once we arrived at the pavilion, I began with introductions.

I hadn’t introduced them earlier because of the kids.

“Ohhh, so I finally meet the Flower of Murim and someone from the famous Beast Palace. A pleasure.”

“Welcome, Commander.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“This way!”

The mistress of Hua Hyang Pavilion quickly crawled through the dark, leading the Five Venoms Sect martial artists behind her.

They were heading toward the riverside through a secret tunnel beneath the building.

Not long ago, the unit commander of the Bloodshade Unit had arrived and asked for help in catching someone—so they had helped. But then the authorities suddenly raided the place.

“Hua Hyang Pavilion is suspected of ties to the Blood Cult. Arrest everyone—courtesans, servants, no one is to be spared!”

It looked like the operation had failed, and now even their base had been exposed.

“How the hell did this happen!?”

“The operation must’ve failed, and this place got exposed!”

“Damn it all. This was our stronghold in Beijing, and now it’s collapsing just like that... We escape for now!”

As shouts rang out from outside, courtesans blocked the entrance with their bodies.

Meanwhile, the mistress, the Five Venoms Sect warriors assigned for surveillance, and the core Blood Cult agents of Hua Hyang Pavilion moved through the secret passage.

They planned to escape by reaching the boat prepared by the riverside at the end of the tunnel.

They always kept a boat ready just in case, so luckily, they had a way out. Things could’ve gone very badly otherwise.

“The boat is ready right past the underground exit?”

“Yes.”

After crawling for some time, drenched in sweat, a voice called out from behind.

“What’s with all the centipedes?”

As the Five Venoms Sect martial artist said, several centipedes clung to the ceiling just above head height.

“Looks like the place was abandoned for a while, and the centipedes settled in. Be careful.”

“We’re Five Venoms Sect warriors. You think we’re afraid of a few centipedes?”

I warned them, but got a cold reply in return.

The mistress pursed her lips and kept crawling forward.

Eventually, they reached a wooden door ahead.

When they pushed it open, a dim space appeared.

It was the inside of a small house connected to the riverside exit.

“Now we just get on the boat waiting outside and escape!”

They ran out, but what they saw was a sunken boat.

“Wh-what is this!?”

Then a voice followed.

“Well, well, Blood Cult—welcome.”

A casual, almost playful tone.

Startled, the mistress and the Five Venoms Sect warriors looked toward the source.

A boy was hanging upside down from the cliff behind the house.

Just like a gecko.

“There’s a person hanging upside down from the cliff!?”

One of the Five Venoms Sect warriors shouted with eyes wide, and the smiling boy responded:

“Ah, judging by your stance, you’ve practiced Five Venoms martial arts. But this here? This is the real Lizard Wall Gecko Step. And this—this is the real Exploding Toad Palm.”

—Boom!

As the boy launched a palm strike from both hands, one of the Five Venoms Sect warriors was hit and blasted away.

And then, above the head of the fallen warrior, a small burst of blue flame rose.