After Cheong-yu Sojeo arrived—

We passed through the basin where we had searched for Changcheon and arrived at a densely wooded forest. Ahead of us, the mountains began to converge, forming a full-fledged range.

Yes, we had finally come face to face with the Himalayas.

Snow still blanketed the towering peaks.

Clouds drifted past, grazing about two-thirds of the way up the distant mountain flanks.

This area was supposedly just the tail end of the range, so it wasn’t considered “that high,” but standing in front of it, the snow piled atop the ridges told a different story.

Though we stood far below the snowline, the air already felt noticeably colder.

—Chwarrrrk.

As I paused at the sight of the snow-covered peaks, the soft flutter of Changcheon’s wings reached my ears.

When I turned, I saw him pointing with an antenna toward the mountain peak, just as {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the sun was about to dip behind it. He was making music with his wings.

Hyang, coiled around me, looked up at me, then pointed her tail the same way as Changcheon—toward the mountaintop—and translated.

—Tssrik. 『That way, Dad. He says he sensed something along that ridge. It looks like they crossed the mountains.』

“That direction, Changcheon?”

—Chwarrrk.

—Tssrik. 『Yes, that’s what he says, Dad.』

I asked again for confirmation, and Changcheon quickly nodded. With Hyang translating for him, it seemed certain—we needed to go that way.

‘Still, it might be too dangerous to climb that... We’ll need to circle around.’

Just as I thought that it’d be impossible to cross those snowy peaks with the kids in tow, Hwa-eun echoed my thoughts.

“We can’t lead the children through that cold. We’ll have to pass through a valley or a mountain pass between the peaks.”

“Most likely, yes.”

“It looks freezing, Ryong,” Sister Seol said, suddenly clinging to me for warmth.

She’d insisted on seeing snow up close and had gone with Yeondu earlier, but now she was shivering.

Noona had spent her life in warm places, after all.

While I was discussing the route with Hwa-eun, Changcheon’s wings began to stir again.

—Chwarrrrk.

—Tssrik. 『Dad, he says the sense is gone now.』

Through Hyang’s translation, Changcheon informed us that he could no longer feel the presence of the locusts ahead.

“Already? Well, it makes sense. A place this high would be too harsh for swarming locusts...”

From the perked antennae, I could tell he was worried about the sudden loss of connection.

But I’d been expecting it—so I reassured him.

“It’s okay. We expected the signal would drop eventually. Let’s follow Cheong-yu Sojeo’s advice and continue heading west.”

—Chwarrrrk.

That’s the thing—there’s a reason Changcheon was able to sense the ordinary locusts and call them his kin.

Though his range was limited, if there were enough nearby, he could roughly pinpoint their location.

So we’d been following the trail of straggler locusts left behind during their long journey. But now, up here in the highlands, the trail had come to an end—as expected.

These mountains weren’t their natural habitat, and any locusts that got this far likely didn’t survive long.

We’d already assumed that those left behind were probably defective or sick individuals. And with the cold up here, they’d likely have perished quickly.

—Tssrik. 『He understands, Dad.』

Still, there was no need to worry about the dead ones.

Didn’t Cheong-yu Sojeo explain the needle's function?

The silver needle didn’t create spirit beasts or control them outright—it simply marked one insect as the leader and used it to guide the others in a specific direction.

And this time, the direction was likely eastward, toward the rising sun—since they had come from the west.

So all we had to do was head west, the direction the locusts had come from.

But that could wait until morning.

We needed to camp for the night.

At this elevation, the temperature dropped rapidly after sunset.

Back in the basin, things were tolerable—but here, closer to the mountains, nightfall brought a biting chill.

The kids were already feeling the cold, and travel after dark was out of the question.

“All right. Let’s camp here for tonight and head out in the morning.”

“Understood, So Sohyeop.”

“Got it, So-ryong.”

As soon as I said we’d camp, both hyung-nim and Ji-ryong quickly got to work.

Everyone had grown used to these impromptu campsites and naturally fell into their roles.

Hyung-nim went off with Hugae to cut dry grass, while Ji-ryong dropped the bamboo basket from his back onto the ground. Monk Jaheo stepped in to help pull out a roll of white cloth.

It was the tent Yo-hwa had made for us. We couldn’t set it up fresh every time, so we carried it rolled up.

“Yo-hwa, can you help with the tent? We just need to run thread between a few trees.”

—Kssit.

We were surrounded by trees, so it wouldn’t be too hard. As Yo-hwa got to work, I heard Sister Seol calling out to Gungbong.

“Gungbong, let’s go hunt something before it gets too dark.”

“Understood, Lady Seol.”

Sister Seol and Gungbong made a good team.

Noona was sharp and could keep Gungbong focused—plus, she understood animal behavior well.

Once she spotted traces of prey, Gungbong could shoot it with his bow. Their division of labor made for efficient hunting.

“I’ll come too, Sister Seol.”

“Sure, let’s go together, Hwa-eun. You’re better at close-range strikes anyway.”

With that, Sister Seol, Hwa-eun, and Gungbong disappeared into the forest.

A moment later, hyung-nim’s wife came up to me, offering a sheepish smile.

She clearly wanted to help, but aside from swinging a spear, she didn’t know how to do much—especially outdoors.

She was probably even less familiar with this kind of work than Hwa-eun.

Once again, it was just me and her collecting firewood.

“Then... shall we go gather some branches?”

“Shall we, Elder Brother’s wife?”

—Tssrrrk. 『I’ll help too, Dad.』

—Tssrik! 『Hyang wants to help too!』

—Kkyuit! 『Me too, Grandpa!』

First, we built a small fire using some stones and branches we had already gathered.

Then, with the kids and Sister-in-law helping, we went to gather more firewood and returned to the campsite.

By then, the tent was already set up, and Sister Seol and Gungbong had just come back carrying something.

“Ryong!”

“You’re back, Sister Seol! What’s that?”

“Oh, we found a marmot.”

“A marmot?”

In Seol’s hands was a ball of fur with a long tail.

I walked over to get a better look—yep, I recognized this animal.

You know the one from that viral NutView meme? The video where the animal shrieks “AAAH!”?

A marmot, wasn’t it?

Those cute-looking creatures... turned out to be tonight’s dinner.

In the Central Plains, people eat everything except the table itself.

“Man, I’ve eaten all kinds of things since I got to the Central Plains.”

The thought did cross my mind—but I’d also heard that marmot meat was tasty, so I was kind of looking forward to it.

“Ah, so this is a marmot.”

“Yep. Here you go—please cook it for us.”

“Understood, Lady Seol. I’ll prepare dinner right away.”

She handed the marmot to the translator, who promptly set down an iron pot and got to work.

As it turned out, he’d taken over cooking duties because... he was actually pretty good at it.

I used to think beggars just shoved whatever scraps they could find into their mouths, but this guy had developed skills through sheer necessity. With only sparse ingredients, he’d become something of a culinary wizard.

In my past life, in the Busan region, we used to call that “scrap cooking”—mixing anything and everything into a decent dish. He was like a scrap-food magician.

It looked like slop, but the result tasted surprisingly good—like gourmet pig slop.

Hence, he became our dedicated camp chef.

“Hey... where did the kids go?”

While watching him skillfully prep the marmot, I looked around—and realized the kids were nowhere to be seen.

The ones who had been waiting in the camp, and even those who’d helped me gather firewood, had vanished.

At my question, my elder brother, resting off to the side, replied:

“They went into the tent a while ago. Seemed like they were getting cold.”

“Ah, so they snuck back into the tent again. Can’t blame them... it’s getting pretty chilly this close to the snowy peaks.”

Now that I thought about it, the kids hadn’t been very active while gathering wood earlier either.

My kids are insects and reptiles—cold-blooded creatures, after all.

Once the sun goes down, the cold really gets to them.

So, I grabbed the stones we’d left heating in the campfire and put them into a pouch made of Yo-hwa’s cloth, then headed toward the tent.

The kids liked firelight, sure—but more than that, they loved the warmth inside the tent. And more than anything, they adored the warm stone pouch I brought them.

Lifting the flap and stepping inside, I saw a Night Pearl, probably Ji-ryong’s, hanging from the ceiling and casting a gentle glow.

Under its soft light, the kids were huddled up together—curled around furry Yo-hwa.

They were also wrapped in a white blanket, which must’ve been another of Yo-hwa’s creations.

“I brought warm stones, kids.”

—Tssrrrk. 『Stones!』

—Kssit!

—Sia. 『We’re saved.』

As I placed the pouch in the middle, they eagerly pressed their bodies against it one by one.

Cheong-yu Sojeo, under the blanket with her tail draped across the pouch, gave a half-complaining sigh that sounded more like relief.

—Siaa. 『I used to think my only weakness was low stamina, but apparently I get too sluggish in the cold too. That’s another flaw of this body.』

Traveling wasn’t too bad for her since she was usually wrapped around Yeondu, but clearly, the cold was a challenge.

“Your body still feeling okay?”

—Sia. 『Yes, So-ryong. Thanks for worrying.』

“Don’t mention it. Oh, by the way—our connection to the locusts has been cut. We’ll need to keep heading west.”

—Siii. 『Yeah... I heard that earlier.』

Just as I was speaking with her about our next move, a sharp male voice called out from outside.

“Ah, you're from the Central Plains. Ahem. Pardon the intrusion—but one of our companions is ill. Could we warm ourselves by your fire—? Hmm? Martial artists!? What are Central Plains martial artists doing here in Tibet!? Are you here to interfere with us!?”

I exchanged a look with Cheong-yu Sojeo, then quickly stepped outside.

There, in front of our blazing campfire, I saw more than a dozen monks in red robes, facing off with our group.

Each carried a large pack on their back, and one among them was injured, being helped along.

Judging by their appearance, these were likely monks from Podalap Palace, a martial sect in the Tibetan region.

Monk Jaheo stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

“Amitabha. This humble monk is Jaheo of Shaolin. It appears you are monks of Podalap Palace? There seems to be a misunderstanding. We are merely passing through on our way west.”

“Shaolin?”

Since they were fellow Buddhists, I thought things might go smoothly—but then came a sharp cry:

“Silence! Who would believe such a lie!?”

I had heard Podalap monks were aggressive, but this was excessive.

I glanced at Ji-ryong, and his voice reached me through silent transmission, having caught my signal.

[Relations between Podalap Palace and Central Plains martial artists are poor. After the fall of the northern nomadic dynasty that once ruled both the Central Plains and Tibet, both sides laid claim to this land. Podalap Palace saw themselves as the successor to the fallen Tubo Kingdom, while the Central Plains claimed it as their own.]

[And the Central Plains won, right?]

[Yes. But when a rebellion broke out over it, it was martial artists from the Central Plains who suppressed it...]

[Wait, you’re saying martial artists put down the Tibetan rebellion?]

[Yes. Since Podalap is also a martial sect, the Central Plains sects were sent to quell the uprising.]

So it made sense that they were angry. From their perspective, we were historical enemies.

Just as the tension reached a boiling point, Cheong-yu Sojeo’s voice rang out behind me.

—Siaa. 『Is this going to be a fight?』

I turned my head to see her stepping out of the tent, standing right behind me with Yeondu and Orange by her side.

And the moment she appeared, cries of shock erupted from the monks.

“Th-That’s... the Nagaraja!”

Then, all at once, they dropped to their knees and bowed deeply toward her.

What... the hell?