–KANG!

A sound like a baseball bat striking a ball echoed across the deck, and everyone froze, eyes wide.

It was as if time itself had stopped.

–Thud.

Right after that, Allok, who had been flung, slipped off the edge of Brother’s blade and dropped onto the deck.

Brother gasped and covered his mouth, while a shout burst out of mine in panic.

“Huhhh! Allok, are you okay!?”

Allok was one of the silver ring snakes I’d brought back from Yizhou.

I rushed over to check his condition, but the little guy was sticking his tongue out, barely conscious.

Dallok stood nearby, staring worriedly.

–Ssssss...

Allok weakly sent the thought that he was okay, but judging from the pain twisted across his face, this looked seriously bad.

And just as I feared...

He said he was fine, but right after that, Allok stuck his tongue out and passed out cold.

“Allok! Allok!”

Blood dripped from his nose and mouth.

I frantically called his name, but he didn’t come to.

Brother, the very one who’d caused this, looked completely at a loss and asked in disbelief,

“C-Could he be dead?”

Angrily, I turned to him and snapped.

“You said you wouldn’t block! But you deflected it with the flat of your blade!”

“I-I’m sorry. I saw the snake flying toward me and reacted without thinking... Could he really be dead?”

“He’s not dead. Looks like he fainted from the shock... huh—! His tooth!”

Just as I said it was only a faint, I saw it—his mouth slightly open, with a front tooth and a molar broken and hanging.

Brother’s face went pale.

“I-I’m sorry, So-ryong.”

I let out a sigh and said,

“Sigh... It’s fine. Snake teeth grow back. I just hope he didn’t hit his head...”

Honestly, I was startled, but broken teeth didn’t matter.

Snakes grow new teeth all throughout their lives.

They lose and regrow them over and over until the day they die, so a snapped tooth is no big deal.

But what worried me was the head.

If there was even a hairline fracture there, that would be serious.

I checked his head, and nothing felt broken... but if there was a crack inside, that’d be a severe injury.

I figured I’d ask about any symptoms once he woke up and carried him into the cabin.

I needed to lay him down, at least on some straw.

“I’ll get him inside and let him rest for now.”

‘He’ll be fine, right? Dallok managed to dodge, so if only Allok had just turned his head...’

This whole thing happened because Brother said he wanted to try taking one of my techniques.

We’d just arrived at Lake Poyang, and I was dying to start scouting Mount Lu immediately. But since I couldn’t fly the kids in broad daylight, I had to wait for sundown.

While waiting, bored out of my mind, I remembered the technique Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand.

The moment I opened the Snake Gate, the snakes could communicate with me.

Just like with the centipedes, if I willed it hard enough, they could understand my thoughts, and that meant I could finally train the long-awaited final three forms of the Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand—Venom Fang, Flying Serpent, and Twin Fangs.

These weren’t simple throwing weapons but techniques using actual snakes, designed specifically for me by Cheongyu Sojeo.

While I was practicing those three moves using two silver ring snakes I’d brought from Yizhou, Brother happened to pass by and asked if he could watch. Then, before I knew it, he wanted to try taking the technique himself... and now we were here.

「“So-ryong, do you mind if I try receiving that technique?”

“You, Brother?”

“Yes. Good friends sometimes exchange moves in friendly sparring. And I’ve never taken a technique using a snake before. Wouldn’t it help you more to try it on a person instead of just throwing it into the air? Martial arts are for real combat. Trying it on a person is always best.”

“That’s true... but Brother, the kids might get hurt, so you can only dodge, okay? Even if it hits, the snakes won’t bite, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Can’t I block it?”

“If it hits the blade, they might get hurt.”

“Got it.”」

I was just starting to regret giving permission.

Then I heard Hwa-eun’s voice from behind.

“So-ryong, is he okay?”

“He fainted, so I’m going to lie him down for now.”

I entered the cabin with Hwa-eun and gently placed Allok beside the other silver ring snakes that were resting in a box.

The Gold-Crowned Sand King, who had been asleep, opened his eyes and blinked at me.

–Ssshaa. 『What’s wrong, So-ryong?』

Looking out the window, I saw the sun had gone down, and the voice I heard—that was Cheongyu Sojeo.

Perfect timing.

I turned to her with a dead-serious expression.

“It’s about the latter three forms of the Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand you designed for me using real snakes.”

–Ssshaa. 『Yes. Is the training not going well?』

“No, training’s going fine, but there’s a serious issue.”

–Ssshaa!? 『An issue? Are the qi flows off or something? That didn’t happen to me!』

She asked again, startled, when I said there was a problem with the martial art.

With the same deadly serious look, I pointed out the real issue.

“No. I’m worried the kids might get hurt. I don’t think I can use it in a real fight.”

“...”

I can even see the expressions on the snakes now.

And after seeing Allok get hit by Brother’s blade earlier, there’s no way I could use this in real combat.

Just imagine launching a snake and having some bastard cut it up with his sword.

The snake dies, and I’d probably kill the guy too.

Getting a snake sliced ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ to pieces?

Absolutely not.

***

Allok came to his senses thanks to Cheongyu Sojeo.

Cheongyu Sojeo, after all, was the Gold-Crowned Sand King, king of snakes.

Just like she helped grow Yeondu and Orange, she could imbue snakes with energy—and once she did, Allok regained consciousness.

–Ssshaaah.

She blew softly on Allok while holding him, and from Cheongyu Sojeo’s mouth flowed a stream of black energy.

As it entered Allok, he regained his senses, and his broken tooth began to regrow as if by magic.

–Sss...

“Thank goodness, Allok.”

Allok sent the thought that he was fine and healthy now, not to worry.

I couldn’t help but admire it and praised Cheongyu Sojeo.

『“Oooh. You can even do this?”』

–Ssshaa. (If it’s a snake spirit beast, I can help it grow. As long as it’s not dead, I can usually bring it back.)

She nodded as she answered, but I couldn’t help gasping in surprise.

She said she could help snake spirit beasts grow.

Which sounded like... there were more snake spirit beasts.

Come to think of it, even in the Twenty-Four Venoms, there were definitely more snake spirits.

“You’re saying you can help snake spirit beasts grow?”

–Ssshia. (Yes. The phrase ‘Twin Emperors of Heaven and Earth’ is just what people came up with. In Gold-Crowned Sand King Cheongyu’s memories, there are still several snakes that protect me.)

“H-How many?”

Unbelievable.

I thought the Twin Emperors were the end of it—but there were more?

With eager eyes, I asked again.

『“H-How many?”』

At my question, Cheongyu Sojeo made a thoughtful face and started folding her fingers one by one.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

With each finger she folded, my smile grew wider, and by the fifth, I was practically grinning ear to ear.

『–Ssshaa. (Including Yeondu and Orange, that makes five. Ah, five...)』

“Five!”

Damn it, Hwa-eun’s ancestors, someone needs to do a full investigation on this.

The retainers of the Gold-Crowned Sand King weren’t just a pair—they were more like the Five Tiger Generals.

Which meant there were still three more snake spirit beasts on the level of Bi-cheon Shin-sa and Ji-yeong Snake.

While I was shivering from the thrill of this new info, Cheongyu Sojeo continued.

『–Ssshaa. (And among them, two are long, but roughly the size of normal snakes—and they seem able to wrap their bodies in Qi Force. Ah! If we find them, I think they could really help you in battle. What do you think?)』

“Qi Force!”

Snakes that can wrap themselves in Qi Force!?

That meant they were immune to regular swords—and might even withstand other Qi-infused weapons.

‘If I’m going to use martial arts seriously, I have to find those two.’

Just as I made that mental note, I heard the door open behind me—then Cho and Yeondu’s voices.

–Sssrrr. 『Dad, the sun’s down!』

–Shaaah. 『So-ryong-nim, the sun has set.』

They’d been waiting outside, just like we agreed—to go on a night search once the sun was down.

–Ssshaa. 『Where are you going?』

At the sight of Yeondu and Cho, Cheongyu Sojeo tilted her head and asked.

This time, Yeondu answered in my place.

–Shaa. 『Ah, Cheongyu-nim. We’re heading out for a search.』

–Ssshaaah? 『A search?』

–Shaaah. 『Yes. One of the peaks froze over, and we think a spirit beast might be there.』

–Ssshaa. 『Ah...』

As Yeondu explained, Cheongyu Sojeo nodded in understanding, and I apologized quickly.

Her information was important, of course, but the search couldn’t wait.

We could talk more later—for now, the field came first.

“Cheongyu Sojeo, I’m sorry. I’ll hear the rest after the search.”

–Ssshaa. 『Got it, So-ryong.』

As I said that and stepped out onto the deck, I realized it wasn’t just Cho and Yeondu waiting for me.

There stood Hwa-eun and Sister Seol as well.

“You two are coming too?”

“Of course. Every time you go out looking for spirit beasts, you cause trouble.”

“She’s right.”

“I-I do?”

“You do.”

“She said you do.”

In the end, Hwa-eun and I flew up into the sky with Yeondu coiled around us, while Sister Seol took flight wrapped by Cho.

Honestly, they weren’t wrong—I did always end up causing chaos.

Usually the massive kind.

“Let’s go!”

With a shout, we soared into the sky.

High above, I called to Yeondu softly.

“Yeondu.”

–Shaa? 『Yes?』

Such a delicate, feminine voice.

Hard to believe I threatened her when we first met.

‘Humanity owes you an apology.’

With a bit of guilt, I asked,

“Did Orange confess and ask to become a pair with you?”

Usually, it would’ve been Cho, Hwa-eun, and I together—but this time we chose Yeondu instead of Cho for one reason.

Hwa-eun was my watchdog, as always.

And I wanted to ask Yeondu directly if Orange had proposed.

A few days ago, Orange had begged me to find out.

Why hadn’t Yeondu accepted him?

Her answer was simple: because Orange hadn’t asked.

I’d told him that—and figured he must have proposed by now. But since they weren’t sleeping curled up together, clearly something had gone wrong.

That talk I had with Orange probably didn’t go too well.

「–Skrr? 『Huh? Because I didn’t say anything?』

“You never asked to be a pair—that’s what she said.”

–Skrrrk!? 『J-Just for that!? But isn’t it normal for a male to just wrap himself around the female’s body and then the female goes, ‘Ah... I’ve become this male’s now’?

And then after that... you know... like... ahem... Brother, you do know what I mean, right? At night... that... ahem?』」

‘That damn Orange... pretending to be all macho. What did he even say?’

While I was making a worried face, I heard Yeondu’s answer.

–Shaa. 『He just calls me out at night and babbles nonsense. “Yeondu... I... well, you see... the moon sure is bright tonight. No, wait, that’s not it. Let’s be a pa... pa...” That’s all he ever says. It’s been three nights already.』

So much for macho.

He was just an awkward virgin.

‘Ah jeez. Pathetic guy.’

Just as I sighed at Orange’s pitiful efforts, I heard Hwa-eun speak beside me.

“So-ryong, I think I see the peak up ahead...”

I looked where she pointed—and finally saw Mount Lu in full.

Beyond the spot we’d been standing, countless peaks came into view.

“Which one is it?”

Mount Lu was a mass of rocky mountains, and the peaks rose like spears.

Finding the right one would be like finding a needle in a haystack.