“You smell a spirit beast? Ryong, you’re usually really thorough—are you sure you’re not jumping the gun this time?”

Sister Seol looked puzzled when I said I sensed the scent of a spirit beast.

Up until now, I’d never been so quick to assume anything. I always waited until I had solid evidence. But this time, I just heard the story and immediately suspected a spirit beast—that's what threw her off.

“I’ve got my reasons, Sister Seol.

Whirlpools usually form where fast-moving currents meet each other. But forming in a still lake? And flipping boats over on top of that? That’s far too strange.

And if they’re popping up in multiple spots instead of a single location, that doesn’t happen naturally.”

Whirlpools appear where water flows meet or twist—like # Nоvеlight # where a river joins a lake. But in a calm, flat lake? That’s unheard of.

If whirlpools are forming in such a place, it's either because of a massive fish school stirring the water... or maybe a sinkhole under the lakebed.

But multiple whirlpools? All over the place?

That could only mean one thing: a spirit beast.

Still, even if I was right, I couldn’t exactly celebrate.

Because if the whirlpools were underwater, the creature was almost certainly aquatic.

The likeliest suspect? Huali—the Fire Carp.

The freshwater spirit fish, known in legends as Golden Huali, Centennial Huali, Millennial Huali, and even Ten-Thousand-Year Huali.

This was a lake, not the ocean. So odds were, it was something like a carp or a goldfish-type spirit.

Best-case scenario? A water snake.

“It being underwater kinda kills the hype, huh...”

Before Jaheo finished his conversation, I whispered a quick request to him.

[Master Jaheo, could you ask them why they believe this is the Dragon King's doing? Did someone see something, or are they just assuming because it happened underwater?]

[Understood.]

People were insisting this was the Dragon King's wrath. But was it really because someone had seen something? Or was it just the usual sentiment of the era—"weird lake thing = Dragon King"?

I needed to know. Even a sliver of a clue could help guess what we were really dealing with.

“...Seriously, what’s the governor thinking?”

Then Jaheo asked the men, just as I’d requested:

“So, we understand there were whirlpools and capsized boats. But why exactly do you think it’s the Dragon King’s doing?”

A pause, then a few glances exchanged.

One of the men finally replied:

“Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“Obvious?”

“Ah, right. You're new here.”

“Obvious? What kind of answer is that?”

The man nodded knowingly and pointed off toward a part of Akyang.

“If you go over there, you’ll find a place called Yoo Uijeong Well.”

“Yoo Uijeong?”

“It’s a well on the eastern side of Yongok Mountain. Anyone visiting Akyang goes there. It’s quite a sight, you should see it sometime.”

“I see. But what does that well have to do with the Dragon King?”

“Oh, that’s the story. It’s a legend.

Back during the Tang Dynasty, there was a scholar named Yoo Ui. He failed the imperial exam in Chang’an and was heading home when he passed through Gyeongyang.

There, he saw a woman being abused by a man. Moved by her situation, he stepped in to help.

Turns out, the man was her husband—and the woman was the third princess of the Dongting Lake Dragon King.

Yoo Ui helped her escape, but knew she’d just be abused again once he left. So he decided to notify her family.

He went to a spring at the current location of Yoo Uijeong Well and knocked on the tangerine tree beside it. That let him enter the Dragon King’s palace beneath the lake, where he revealed that the third princess was being mistreated.

She was rescued, and eventually fell in love with Yoo Ui. They lived happily ever after.

Because of that, us boatmen say that whenever storms or whirlpools strike Dongting Lake, it’s the Dragon King’s wrath.”

“Ahh, I see now.”

“...Seriously? That’s it?”

I thought someone had seen something. Or that there was some major clue.

But it was just local folklore.

Since fishermen regularly offer rites to the Dragon King, the moment boats started going under, they simply assumed it was him.

The legend of a Dragon Palace beneath Dongting Lake fed into it.

I figured we’d have to wait for more solid intel from the Dragon Fangs who headed toward the city’s core and administrative offices.

That’s when someone from another table nearby suddenly cut in.

“Not trying to interrupt, but I heard it was because of a big snake.”

“Wait, what!? A snake?!”

My ears perked up instantly.

I remembered what Lady Cheongyu had said—there were guardian snakes protecting the Golden Wasp Queen.

Besides Bi-cheon Shin-sa and the Ji-yeong Snake, there were three more.

Could one of them be here?

Excitement surged through me like wildfire. My palms started sweating, my head went light with anticipation.

I sent Jaheo a whisper immediately.

[Master Jaheo, please ask for more details!]

[Of course, Little Sir.]

And just like that, Jaheo turned to the man who mentioned the snake and fired off questions—sharp and quick, like he was my game avatar.

“A snake, you say? Could you explain more, benefactor?”

“Yes, Master.

This place, Akyang, was once called Parung. In ancient times—back during Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun’s era—there was a massive snake called Ba-sa that lived in the gorges of the Three Gorges along the Yangtze River.

It was so enormous it could swallow elephants whole.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of that. Emperor Yao sent Hou Yi to shoot it down with his bow, right?”

“Exactly, Master.

Legend says the corpse of Ba-sa became eight hills that now surround Dongting Lake.

Some people believe that the recent chaos is due to a snake being born beneath the lake—born from the lingering energy of Ba-sa’s corpse.

That snake is what’s causing the whirlpools and flipping the boats.”

Jaheo clearly knew more than he was letting on—he started filling in parts of the story.

“Yao and Shun? That’s... ancient. Like pre-Xia Dynasty ancient.”

“That’s it? That’s the whole explanation?”

All my excitement just... fizzled out.

I mean, seriously? We’re going back to myths older than Ungnyeo and her mugwort-eating bear days?

I wanted to at least identify the hotspot where the whirlpools kept forming, but...

The area was way too big.

[Master Jaheo, could you please ask if there's a specific place where the whirlpools appear most frequently?]

[Certainly, Little Sir.]

“Do you know where the whirlpools tend to appear most often?”

“Often? Hard to say. They pop up all over the place.”

“We’ve only seen them around Eastern Dongting, near Akyang.”

“We don’t really know about Southern or Western Dongting.”

“Are those areas blocked too?”

“Have you heard anything?”

“Hmm, I doubt they’ve blocked that far out.”

It was clear Dongting Lake was vast. Outside of the Akyang region, the boatmen didn’t know much.

At this point, it was best to wait for the Dragon Fangs to return from inside the city and the government office.  We needed real intel. Not legends.

***

“Wait, where did everyone go?”

“Yeah, where is everyone? Did we miss each other?”

“Oh? So-ryong, over there!”

We were still wandering around the market, trying to track down the Dragon Fangs who had gone deeper inside... when we spotted them.

There they were, casually enjoying roasted duck at a street stall like it was no big deal.

“Brother?”

“Ah, So-ryong. Come join us. You found us, good.”

“Little Sir So, please—come sit.”

The Dragon Fangs were seated around a full spread of roasted duck and side dishes, feasting like kings.

“Are you serious? We were running around the city looking for you...”

We’d been all over the place trying to find them, and they were here enjoying a culinary adventure?

I must have looked annoyed, because Brother Gwiseong raised an eyebrow and asked:

“I told the crew to let you know we’d be waiting here. Did you not hear?”

“No, we were searching further inside the market.”

“It got late and people stopped talking, so we couldn’t learn much. We figured we’d grab a bite and return, but it looks like we crossed paths.”

Fair enough. That was forgivable.

So I sat between them, grabbed a duck leg, and tore into it as I asked:

“Brother, did you learn anything useful? We talked to some boatmen over drinks. They said the whirlpools are the reason ships can’t go out onto Dongting Lake.”

“Yes, that’s what I heard too. The whirlpools have been flipping boats, so the Governor of Akyang ordered a ban on all lake departures.”

I wasn’t sure who had told him, but it sounded identical to what we’d heard.

Then Ji-ryong chimed in:

“I heard the same. The Governor apparently declared that anyone who dares set sail on Dongting Lake will lose their head.”

“Lose their head?!”

My neck tingled just hearing that.

But then Ji-ryong added with a grin:

“Ah, but that’s only for Eastern Dongting Lake.”

“Only Eastern Dongting?”

“Yes. Dongting Lake is so vast it’s divided into East, West, and South. The ban only applies to Eastern Dongting—around Akyang. They couldn’t block the entire lake. If they tried to cut off access to Changde or Yiyang, the governors of those cities would’ve raised hell.”

As Ji-ryong explained, Dongting Lake resembled a crooked “V” shape, with the left side much narrower than the right.

Only Eastern Dongting Lake—the part connected to Akyang—was closed off.

“But so what? If the entrance is blocked, we can’t get in.”

Right. What difference does it make?

If the main access point is sealed, we can’t get inside to investigate the lake.

Sure, I could send Cho and Yeondu in to scout... but this thing was probably a massive aquatic spirit beast. If I was right, Geumdo would need to go in too.

And sending Cho in alone worried me. He’s a great swimmer, but what if he got caught in a whirlpool?

That’s when Hwa-eun spoke up:

“So-ryong, there’s more than one way into Dongting Lake.”

“More than one?”

“Yes.”

Wait—if that’s true, why didn’t she mention it earlier?

I gave her a confused look. Then Ji-ryong nodded and added:

“There’s Songzi Estuary, Ouchi Estuary, and Taepyeong Estuary. They’re smaller rivers that flow into the lake. You’d have to pass through reed fields and marshlands, but it’s doable.”

Three more routes?!

I stood up with my half-eaten duck leg still in hand and shouted:

“You should’ve told me that earlier! What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Ji-ryong looked awkward.

I tilted my head, and he explained why.

“There’s a problem. Those areas are controlled by the Eighteen Forts of Dongting.”

“The Eighteen Forts?”

That name rang a bell.

I frowned, and Hwa-eun helped jog my memory.

“So-ryong, Lee Tae mentioned them once. They’re river bandits—like the gangs that control the Yangtze River crossings.”

“He did?”

“Yes.”

To be honest, if I had extra mental capacity, I’d memorize the names of poisonous creatures or spirit beasts. But random bandit groups? Nah.

What even are the Eighteen Forts of Dongting?

“Is this some macho club of Dongting bros?”

Anyway, it meant we’d have to go through bandit territory.

So, two options.

Either smash through them like last time... or pay a toll.

“So, it’s either we flatten them or pay a bribe.”

If we went with the first option, we’d stir up trouble again. I’d have to unleash the creatures.

“Should we just pay and get it over with?”

That was Hwa-eun’s gentle suggestion.

Everyone nodded in agreement—but I felt uneasy.

Back in my previous life, I lived in a law-abiding country. Here, people pay bandits like it’s nothing. It annoyed the hell out of me.

Especially when they were nobodies demanding tribute. I was just about to consider putting the Eighteen Forts in their place when—

“Excuse me... are you Sir So-ryong of the Sacheon Tang Clan?”

Everyone turned.

Two rough-looking men emerged cautiously from a shadowed alley and bowed toward me.

“I am. And who are you?”

They looked like thugs, but they knew who I was. I’d never seen them before.

Аs I tilted my head in confusion, one of them answered respectfully:

“We serve Fort Chief Lee Tae. We’ve heard so much about you!”

“Lee Tae’s subordinates? I’ve never seen you. How did you even recognize me?”

They claimed to serve Lee Tae, but their faces were unfamiliar.

One of them scratched his head.

“We’re new recruits. We overheard someone mention Lee Tae and Sir So-ryong, so we took a chance and asked.”

“Ahh, that explains it. Nice to meet you. But what are you two doing here?”

I asked because I was surprised river bandits were walking around such a proper city.

But their answer caught me off guard.

“Fort Chief Lee Tae sent us to investigate the whirlpools on Dongting Lake.”

“The whirlpools?”

“Yes, sir. Last time, you criticized us for not doing our jobs. This area’s close to the Three Gorges, so he ordered us to go investigate directly. Since our faces aren’t well known, we were sent in.”

“Ahh...”

Yeah. I did chew him out before. I called him lazy and said all he did was collect money and submit reports late.

“Well, looks like he finally pulled himself together.”

Sending men personally to confirm things was a step up.

Then the two men asked cautiously:

“Um... we weren’t eavesdropping, but... it sounded like you’re heading into Dongting Lake?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And you were talking about paying? You don’t need to, Sir So-ryong. The chief of the Eighteen Forts is Lee Tae’s sworn brother.”

“Really?”

Even crap can be useful if you save it for the right moment. I guess even these bandits had their perks.

If he’s Lee Tae’s sworn brother, and Lee Tae works for me... Then he works for me, too.

I smiled and said:

“Well then, how about you show us the way?”