"Male?"

"Are you saying they’re all males?"

"All of them are males?"

"Wait, all of them? But how can you even tell, So-ryong? No matter how hard I look, I can't tell them apart. They're not like animals—it's impossible to see."

Everyone kept asking if all the dead millipedes were truly males.

And Sister Seol, curious how I could even tell the difference, also asked.

I turned to Ji-ryong.

"Ji-ryong, could you make a fire, please? I’ll show everyone how to tell males and females apart."

Since we were all martial artists, we could enhance our vision slightly in the dark, so we hadn’t bothered with a fire until now.

But enhancing vision only helped with seeing shapes—it didn’t make things crystal clear—so I asked Ji-ryong to make a fire to demonstrate properly.

Sister Seol and I could see clearly with our Myoaham Night Arts, but the others couldn’t.

If I was going to teach them, we needed a proper light.

"You’re teaching us how to tell them apart?"

Ji-ryong asked back, puzzled.

Seeing his expression, I smiled and explained,

"The ones I checked were all males, but there could still be females mixed in. So I thought it would be good for us to spread out and check properly. And to do that, we need to learn how to distinguish them. We’ll need a bright light to check. If it turns out all the ones in the village are males, that will tell us a lot."

"Got it."

Nodding, Ji-ryong turned to Eum-bong.

"Eum-bong, let’s gather some branches."

"All right."

"I'll help too, Ji-ryong."

"Thank you, Sister Seol."

At my request, Ji-ryong, Sister Seol, and Eum-bong went to gather branches.

Once they had collected enough, Ji-ryong pulled a fire starter from his sleeve and quickly lit a fire.

-Fwoosh.

As the fire flared up again over the ashes, brightening the surroundings, I picked up a millipede I had flipped onto a leaf and began to explain.

"The way to tell male and female millipedes apart is very simple. You just check the belly. Watch closely."

I flipped the one I held onto its back.

Its cute, round body and countless tiny legs became visible, and the distinctive structure of the legs stood out.

"They kind of look like our kids," Hwa-eun said.

"Yeah, they're a little more round, but I can see the resemblance," Sister Seol added.

Hwa-eun and Sister Seol were comparing the millipedes to Cho, Hyang, and Bini—but honestly, that felt a bit unfair.

Centipede and millipede.

They sound somewhat similar, and biologically they’re placed next to each other—but they are fundamentally different.

Centipedes are all carnivorous, vicious hunters.

Millipedes, on the other hand, are herbivores, mainly feeding on decaying plants.

Some millipedes do nibble on dead animal carcasses, but their main diet is plant matter.

And their personalities differ too.

Millipedes are timid, gentle, and easily frightened, unlike their fierce cousins.

Even their physical structure is different.

Centipede legs stick out from the sides of their body.

Millipede legs sprout from the middle of their underside, arranged in an X-shaped pattern—four legs grouped together like a bundle.

So other than having "many legs," the two are completely different creatures.

"No, they’re not the same at all. Anyway, look here carefully at the belly. See these lined-up legs?"

"Yeah... it’s like four legs bundled together," said Hwa-eun.

"You're right, Sister," Eum-bong nodded.

"It’s creepy but fascinating," Sister Seol added.

As everyone studied the legs, Hwa-eun tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? But here, there are no legs?"

"You're right. There’s a gap here, only two legs instead of four," Sister Seol said.

Hwa-eun had noticed the missing legs before I even explained.

Both she and Eum-bong looked amazed.

"Why are the legs missing there?"

"Did they fall off?"

It was understandable to think so, because normally the legs were arranged like XXXXXXXXXX.

But right after the head, they were arranged more like XXXX＊〈XXXXX.

In other words, in one spot, only two legs instead of four.

I pointed again at the gap.

"See the little round bump in front of where the legs are missing?"

"Ah... that little round thing?"

"I see it, So-ryong. What is it?"

"What is that?"

Sister Seol, Hwa-eun, and Eum-bong huddled together, studying the millipede’s belly intently, without even letting Ji-ryong get a good look.

Grinning slyly, I continued. I could already predict how at least two of them would react.

"That little bump... is the symbol of the male."

"Symbol of the male?"

"The symbol of the male?"

Hwa-eun and Eum-bong blinked, not quite getting it yet.

Meanwhile, Sister Seol caught on and leaned in to whisper to them.

And immediately, the reaction I had expected popped out.

"Eek!"

"T-that’s it!?"

Startled, Hwa-eun and Eum-bong turned red and fanned their cheeks while staring off awkwardly into the distance.

Yes, in most millipede species, males have a gap in the legs between the fourth and tenth body segments.

It’s not that the legs broke off—it’s that the structure is like that by nature.

Because something else very important is attached there.

Their reproductive organs.

In millipedes, the male’s reproductive organs are located close to the head, in the abdomen.

If humans were built that way, it would be like having your reproductive organs on your neck or chest.

Centipedes have theirs near the tail, but millipedes are built differently.

With the awkward mood broken, I asked everyone,

"Alright then. Could you all spread out and check the remaining corpses? Make sure to check the village thoroughly."

"Got it, So-ryong."

"Understood, So-ryong."

Everyone nodded and scattered. I stayed behind to check more of the bodies myself.

And as I kept examining, something became clearer with each specimen.

Things I hadn’t noticed before were starting to click into place now that I considered they were all males.

"This is getting very interesting."

A smile formed on my lips as the pieces began fitting together.

***

About one hour passed, and the people who had scattered into the village began returning one by one, bringing me the answer I had been waiting for.

"S-Senior, the ones I checked were all males."

"So-ryong, the ones I saw were all... all males too."

"So-ryong, same here. They were all males."

"M-me too."

Maybe it was because they had spent the whole time inspecting millipede reproductive organs, but Hwa-eun and Eum-bong looked terribly embarrassed.

Smiling at their answers, I said,

"Just as I thought. I expected this."

Hearing my response, Ji-ryong asked with a curious expression,

"But earlier you said if they were all males, it would reveal a lot. What exactly does that mean, So So-hyup?"

"Ah, that?"

Of course, I had figured out quite a lot.

But before answering that, I decided to explain the basic information we had uncovered from these dead creatures.

Not just the fact that they were all male, but also something else I had discovered.

What was it?

Not only were they all males, but every single one of them was an adult.

"Before I answer your question, let me share something else I figured out from these corpses."

"Oh? And what’s that?"

"What is it, So-ryong?"

"These ones are all male, and at the same time, they’re all fully mature adults. They’re all capable of breeding."

"Fully grown?"

"Yes, fully matured, able to perform their duties as males, if you will."

"I-I see..."

Ji-ryong looked flustered at my blunt phrasing, even though he had been fine just a moment ago.

Given his reaction, it felt like he was in the same situation as me.

‘Still a comrade!’

As I said—every single one of these millipedes was male.

And fully grown.

So, what did that tell us?

First, it meant these creatures weren’t born from a local population explosion.

"Let me explain using these two facts: they are males, and they are adults. Normally, millipedes lay their eggs in compost or rotting vegetation near villages. The ones that hatch would naturally be a random mix of males and females."

"Right, that makes sense. Just like you can't tell if a human baby will be a boy or girl before it’s born."

"Exactly. But if they’re all male? That would mean they weren’t born here in the village. If they had been, there would have been a natural mix of males and females. Since they’re all fully grown males, it means they were brought here."

Why could I conclude this?

Because if they had truly hatched here through normal mass-breeding, it would be impossible for only males to exist.

Millipedes thrive by laying eggs in compost or piles of dead leaves.

Even just a single mated female or a mating pair can cause a rapid population explosion.

Normally, a random mix of males and females would be born.

For there to only be males among the dead ones?

It would be an impossible phenomenon—unless someone deliberately gathered only males.

At the very least, among dead millipedes, there should have been a natural mix of genders.

In reptiles like turtles and crocodiles, gender is determined by the temperature during egg incubation—higher temperatures producing females, lower temperatures producing males.

So, in those species, it’s possible to have all males or all females.

But millipedes hatch with a natural gender distribution.

All males being born?

Impossible.

Thus, someone had deliberately lured only the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) males into the village.

And the method? Most likely pheromones.

Why?

Because there were no juveniles or sub-adults among them—only fully mature males.

Humans might confess their feelings based on emotions regardless of gender. But among millipedes, once they mature, males instinctively seek females by following pheromones.

So the only way to gather only mature males would be to use female pheromones.

"And when it comes to insects, when females reach maturity, they release a specific scent to attract males. I suspect that’s exactly the method that Taoist used."

"Ah, so he used a female's scent to lure in the adult males?"

"Exactly."

"Then..."

Ji-ryong’s eyes sparkled, as if he had caught on to something.

Nodding, I continued.

"Yes, there are a few possibilities. First, the Taoist could be someone capable of extracting and using the pheromones from female millipedes. But based on the village chief's earlier story, I doubt that's the case."

"Why?"

"If he had used pheromones, he would have needed to lead from the front. But according to the chief, he was trailing behind the millipedes. And the talismans he used didn’t seem to have any special effects either. He wasn’t doing anything specific with the talismans."

"Then what’s left?"

"I considered whether he might be using a martial art that mimics a female’s scent... but that also doesn’t fit. He moved too slowly for that."

At one point, I wondered if he had learned a technique similar to Beast-Heart Arts, but based on what the village chief said about the rotten smell in the area, my suspicions leaned elsewhere.

"He might have learned a martial art similar to mine, but there’s something even more suspicious."

"What is it, So-ryong?"

"What could it be?"

While everyone waited for my answer—

-Tsrrrrr!

-Kissit!

From beyond the now mostly burned-out campfire, the children who had been hiding in the woods started reappearing.

I had whispered to Cho to bring them over.

Among them, I turned to Bini and made a request.

"Bini, could you help dig around the area near the fire?"

Because I had a strong feeling there might be something like a 'queen millipede' hidden nearby.