We had accepted the white pangolin and her baby as part of the family, but we couldn’t bring them onto the ship right away.

If it were any other creature, we would’ve done so immediately—but we needed a freezing setup.

To transport them safely, part of the ship would need to be modified.

The ice cave was meant for the baby, who couldn’t yet survive in warm environments.

The mother had said she didn’t mind, but that her baby needed cold surroundings.

So, we had to adjust the ship.

Once we returned to the Tang Clan estate, I had planned to prepare a space for them inside the Hall of Ten Thousand Poisons before the artisans could catch wind—but we had to solve the transport problem first.

“We need to start by refitting the ship.”

“You mean turning one of the cabins into a cold room, So-ryong?”

“Yes.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I remember seeing one of those tangchahapja—those insulated food containers that keep things warm. I think we can make something similar. Keeping things warm or cold uses the same principle.

And once we set it up, Seol and Bing can fill the space with cold energy. Maybe freeze some of the white pangolin mother’s own ice, too.”

“Ah, the tangchahapja.”

The tangchahapja is a Central Plains food box designed to keep meals warm. It’s a double-layered box, and the space between the walls is filled with cattail, reed, or straw to improve insulation.

It’s used in kitchens sometimes, and based on that, I planned to make a suitable room for the little one.

“Sister Seol, people might come by and cause trouble again, so please stay near the entrance with Hwa-eun and keep watch. I’ll leave Yeondu, Bini, Seol, Bing, and Dong with you. We’ll send food via Cho, and once the ship is ready, we’ll let you know through Seol or Bing. I’m counting on you too, Hwa-eun.”

“Got it, So-ryong.”

“We’ll keep watch, So-ryong. Don’t worry.”

“And please ask Jeokwol to reshape the frozen entrance so it doesn’t look like it’s iced over.”

— Chhhhhh.

Just in case everyone left and an herb gatherer or villager wandered in to bother the white pangolin mother, I asked sister Jeokwol to make the entrance look ordinary instead of frozen.

Even so, I had left sister Seol and Hwa-eun behind, plus Yeondu, Bini, Seol, Bing, and Dong, so we had enough people to handle any unexpected trouble.

Leaving a team to protect the white pangolin, I headed back to the ship with Cho.

“So-ryong-nim is back!”

“The young master has returned!”

As the crew shouted my arrival, I hadn’t even finished stepping off the boat when Gwiseong came rushing out from the cabin.

“You’re back? So—did you find the spirit beast?”

“Yes, brother.”

“What kind this time? So, So.”

His wife followed him out and asked eagerly.

“Do you know pangolins?”

“Oh, pangolins? Of course. They're cute, always curling into a ball.”

“Yes, exactly. The spirit beast we found this time is similar to a pangolin, but it’s snow-white.”

“Oh my, that must be beautiful.”

“A snow-white pangolin? I’m curious to see it.”

Living with us must’ve influenced them—they were now right in line with my Fabre instincts.

When I mentioned there was even a baby, she looked even more excited.

“You won’t believe this—there’s even a baby!”

“Really? I’ve never seen a baby pangolin before. But... why didn’t you bring them?”

“Yes, So-ryong, where are sister Seol and the others?”

They asked why the rest weren’t with me.

I explained.

I would’ve brought them immediately too, but they needed special conditions.

“Oh, the white pangolin—her name is Baek Seolgap—needs a cold space for the baby, so I couldn’t bring them right away. I’ll need to make a cold room on the ship.”

“Ah, now I get it.”

With that, I called for the boatswain nearby.

If we were going to repair the ship, we’d need his help.

“Boatswain.”

“Yes, So-ryong-nim. I’ll bring the shipwright right away.”

He must’ve overheard us, as he immediately went to fetch the shipwright.

The shipwright was a man who used to live in Lee Tae’s village in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze. He now maintained our ship. After a short while, the boatswain returned from the cabin with him.

“You called, So-ryong-nim?”

“Yes, I need your help again—it’s been a while.”

“My help? Say no more. I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.”

He claimed he didn’t have much to do, but that was just modesty.

The shipwright was incredibly diligent.

He was constantly sealing leaks with pine resin or beeswax and managing the stockpiled wood on board.

“I’ve found a new spirit beast, but her baby can only survive in cold environments.”

“Ah, so we need to convert one of the cabins into a cold room.”

“Yes.”

He nodded at first, but then his expression turned doubtful.

“I’ve never built anything like that before, So-ryong...”

“No worries—I’ve already got a plan. Let’s head to the cabin.”

“As you wish.”

I took the shipwright and boatswain into the cabin, sketched the structure I had in mind, and explained it to them.

It was essentially a cold storage room.

“We’ll fill the space between the wood panels with chopped reeds, cattail, and straw—like in a tangchahapja. But instead of retaining heat, we’ll preserve the cold.”

“I see. Then we’ll have to make it as compact as possible and focus on waterproofing the inside.”

“The inside?”

I tilted my head. Then he explained.

“If the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) ice melts and the wood gets soaked, it could rot.”

“Ah, of course.”

Even with good insulation, ice will melt, and if that moisture reaches the wooden floor, it’ll cause damage.

I agreed with his plan.

“We’ll coat the cabin interior with melted beeswax, then add a layer of sand to the floor. On top of that, we’ll lay the cattail, reeds, and straw mixture.

And I’ll coat the wood panels above that with beeswax as well.

Pine resin’s too sticky for interior use, so beeswax is the better option.”

“Yes, shipwright.”

He was thorough and methodical—reassuring, honestly. But as we wrapped up, he added something hesitantly.

“Thing is... this will probably use up the entire stockpile we received when we took the ship. We’ll need to buy more beeswax, and with how much we’ll need, that won’t be cheap...”

Beeswax is one of the best waterproofing materials of this era, alongside pine resin.

But beeswax is far more expensive than resin, which is why the reserves Geum Gi-ryung had prepared might run out.

That didn’t worry me, though.

Beeswax is rare and pricey because it must be harvested from beekeepers. Bees are small, and they don’t produce much wax, so it takes a lot of effort to gather a usable amount.

But the shipwright had never visited the Tang Clan estate—that’s why he said that.

The place with the largest supply of beeswax in all the Central Plains is our Tang Clan.

More precisely—

I am the Central Plains’ beeswax tycoon.

So-ryong, the Lord of Wax.

“We can just ask the Golden-Furred Wasp Kings to share some beeswax, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

They’d never refuse a request like that at home anyway.

“You don’t need to worry about that. The Tang Clan has plenty. We can load some up next time we dock near the estate.”

“Understood. Then I’ll go ahead and renovate the small storage room next to your cabin on the first floor, just as you described. I’ll reposition the door so it opens toward your room.”

The shipwright was referring to the small storeroom beneath the stairs on the first floor—a space about the size of a single room, adjacent to my cabin. It was normally used to store water jugs and deck-cleaning tools, but he was going to convert it.

“Oh right, that place. Perfect. Please proceed. And let’s raise the door frame a little—it’ll help keep the cold in.”

“Understood. We’ll raise the frame and install a double door.”

“Sounds good.”

It took two days to complete the renovations. When it was done, a cold-storage room was now connected to my cabin. I had Seol and Dong come in advance to freeze the space, and then I went back to pick up the others.

I couldn’t move everyone at once, so sister Seol, Bini, Seol, Bing, and Dong were already on board.

As we appeared in the air, Hwa-eun waved at us from in front of the cave below.

“So-ryong!”

“Hwa-eun! Lower the crate!”

“Okay!”

Thunk.

A large crate was placed where Hwa-eun had stepped aside.

It was the tangchahapja—the insulated food box—we brought to transport the white pangolin and her baby.

The journey to the Tang estate via ship was one thing, but even just getting to the ship required strict temperature control.

With the crate secured and ropes held by Yeondu and Cho, we descended. As the lid opened, prepared cold air flowed out in waves.

Seol had filled it with cold energy in advance.

I quickly ran inside and called out,

“All set! You can come out now!”

— Bbaeu.

From behind a thick ice wall—

At my shout, the white pangolin mother suddenly launched forward like a cannonball.

BOOM! CRRRACK.

She slammed into the ice wall and began spinning, sending a blizzard of snowflakes in every direction.

The impact scraped away the ice, carving out an opening.

Even Bini couldn’t break that wall—so I’d been wondering how we’d do it. That method? Impressive.

Once the hole was open, she scooped up her baby from the back of the cave and burst out on two feet.

Well, "burst out" by her standards—it was more of a wobbling toddle.

Man, too cute.

Pangolins use their heavy tails for balance and can walk upright. Since the white pangolin shares the same base physiology, she came trotting out on two legs.

Like a baby learning to walk—an adorable, waddling white pangolin.

“This way. Right here.”

Waiting in front of the crate, Hwa-eun pointed to it, and the creature climbed right in and settled down.

“Don’t worry. Just wait a little longer.”

— Bbaeu.

— Bbaae.

The mother nodded in response, and the baby answered right after her.

Click.

I shut the lid and gave the signal to move immediately.

The box couldn’t hold cold air for long—it was built for short-term containment.

The mother would produce cold energy from inside, but there was no time to waste.

“Yeondu, Cho—let’s go!”

— Tssrr! “Got it, Dad.”

— Shaaa. “Understood, So-ryong-nim.”

Cho wrapped around me, and Yeondu around Hwa-eun, then took to the skies.

The ropes they held lifted the crate with the white pangolins inside.

“Let’s fly!”

Crate in tow, we soared over a lake—our ship, lit faintly in the darkness, came into view.

It was night, and Geumdo was no longer hiding—he had stretched out his head and was yawning.

When we reached the ship, I called out to Cho and Yeondu.

“Slowly now. Lower it gently.”

— Tssrr.

— Shaaaa.

Lowered carefully in the dark, the crate touched down at the center of the deck.

Thump.

Once it landed, Cho and Yeondu released it and dropped to the deck.

People rushed over the moment we landed.

“They’re back!”

“Is So-ryong’s spirit beast in there?”

“Yes, but let’s wait to see them properly inside.”

“Understood.”

With help from Gungbong, sister-in-law, and a few others eager to glimpse the snow-white pangolin, we carried the crate into my room.

“Here, right?”

“Yes.”

They placed it in front of the new door attached to my cabin.

As we opened the double-layered door and cold air drifted out, I lifted the crate lid.

Bathed in lantern light, the white pangolin mother peeked her head out.

The baby was nestled snugly on top of her head.

“Oh my, how adorable.”

“Kyaa—makes you just wanna squish them.”

“I want to touch them.”

Excited squeals echoed around us.

Clearly, they were devastating to the female heart.

“Alright, alright, calm down. This is your home for now—just a temporary stop before we head to your real home, okay?”

— Bbaeu.

— Bbaae.

The mother climbed out of the crate and into the cold room we built for them.

From behind, one of the women asked:

“By the way, what are their names, So-ryong?”

Sister-in-law seemed curious, so I smiled and said,

“The mother’s name is Sunbaek (Pure White). The baby’s name is Baekbaek (White-White).”

I’d thought of naming her Baek Seol (Snow White), but we already had Seol. So the mother became Sunbaek. The baby, Baekbaek.

Also, because of her bbaae cry—it suited the sound too.

Once I gave their names, everyone marveled at my naming sense.

“Sunbaek and Baekbaek. Those fit perfectly.”

“Yeah, they really do.”

“Such good names.”

But really—what did all their admiration matter?

What I needed was the approval of the beasts themselves.

With a gentle tone, I asked,

“If we’re going to live together, I need something to call you. So let’s go with Sunbaek for the mother, and Baekbaek for the baby. Is that alright?”

— Bbaeu.

— Bbaae.

Their responses seemed to show they liked it.

With the frozen mountain now behind us, it was time to search for the vortex.