Poison Forest (3)

Dakam continued speaking.

“Anyway, when going outside, you must smear certain herbs on your body. If you don’t, snakes and insects will swarm you.”

Indeed, as long as we stayed close to Dakam, even the bugs wouldn’t approach.

Seeing that, I said to the captain,

“We should learn this as well.”

“You’re right. If we’d come here on our own with no preparation, we’d be in trouble. We only ran about an hour off the patrol route and it’s already like this. I’d heard they set the patrol limit because going deeper meant too many venom-beasts—so that was because of this ‘Poison Forest.’”

It was the first I’d heard of it.

But it wasn’t hard to understand.

The deeper we went, the stronger the coppery, foul stench grew.

And even without Captain Seol Pung’s keen senses, we could hear that constant “suss-suss” sound of things slithering aside to let us pass.

Bi Sayoung swallowed and asked quietly,

“W-what is that sound?”

Captain Seol Pung answered, looking almost disgusted.

“Better not to know. Ugh—there are those here too?”

“Huh? What else is there?”

“Centipedes bigger than a person. One of them is watching us from that grove.”

“B-bigger than a person?!”

The only one pleased by that was Lady Cheong-yeon.

A centipede larger than a human.

Could it be…?

The Flying-Heaven Centipede that “leaps skyward by whipping its tail”?

No, surely not.

That’s a venom-beast of legend.

While I was thinking that, Dakam said brightly,

“Ah, those are not so dangerous. They bounce high by striking with the tail, but they’re smart and recognize people. I shared food a few times, and since then they never attack.”

So it really was the Flying-Heaven Centipede.

Not dangerous, he said?

If a centipede could “recognize people,” that already sounded dangerous enough.

I asked him,

“Then what are the most dangerous things in the Poison Forest?”

He thought a moment, then answered,

“Deeper inside, there are palm-sized hornets. They move in swarms; one sting and you die immediately. And I haven’t seen it myself, but they say there’s a spider with a human face, and in the marsh a swarm of red leeches, and even a horned serpent as big as a tree. All terrifying.”

Giant Yellow Tiger Wasps, a Human-Faced Spider, Blood Leeches, and a Poison-Horned Timber Serpent…?

Those exist?

What was this place? Horrifying.

Bi Sayoung, wearing the same expression as me, muttered,

“What kind of place… Is there at least no dragon here?”

Dakam answered,

“Dragon? No. I never heard of dragons here.”

Bi Sayoung gave a hollow laugh.

“Well that’s comforting. Truly a relief.”

Thankfully, we were skirting the outer rim of the Poison Forest to reach Dakam’s home.

So we likely wouldn’t meet those legendary venom-beasts.

Which was… a relief.

Lady Cheong-yeon looked a little disappointed, though.

Dakam went on.

“And panthers are also dangerous. Small insects too. Ah! Big ones are dangerous. Black panther—ate too much poison, so its teeth and claws turned venomous. It’s tiger-sized and fast; even spears won’t pierce it.”

So… a black panther that overdosed on toxins and became a venom-beast?

Tiger-sized, spear-proof?

I started to doubt him.

Maybe Dakam’s stories were exaggerated—until Captain Seol Pung spoke.

“…That must be one right there.”

“…What?”

Following his gaze, I saw a hulking shape padding toward us through dim moonlight dripping between the leaves.

As large as a tiger, yet black as a shadow even in the moonlight, with eyes casting a witch-green glow—clearly a black panther.

Dakam blurted in a panic,

“It—It never comes outside the Poison Forest! W-wait a moment!”

He pulled a leaf-wrapped lump of meat from a leather pouch and tossed it to the beast.

He must carry offerings for such encounters.

It didn’t help.

The panther sniffed the meat, then lifted its head and padded toward us, green eyes gleaming.

Apparently we smelled tastier than the meat.

Likely because, unlike Dakam, we hadn’t rubbed ourselves with herbs.

Lowering his stance, Bi Sayoung kept wary eyes on it.

“Times like this, I miss your old weight, Jin.”

“Why, so you can throw me as bait and run?”

“Heh heh, you do know me.”

“Hmph! I’ll repay the favor of teaching me the Bijong Body-Lightening Art—by running faster than you.”

Lady Cheong-yeon shouted then,

“It’s coming!”

The panther, which had been padding forward, suddenly streaked at us like a bolt.

Pahbak!

It was so fast that even Bi Sayoung and I flinched instinctively.

But Captain Seol Pung stood before us.

Tatak!

Launching at a speed to match, he collided with the beast midair.

Boom! Thud-thud-BOOM!

Bi Sayoung muttered, rattled,

“If my eyes aren’t wrong—that panther just blocked the Captain’s footwork strike?”

“Yeah. Who’s the beast and who’s the human?”

“It’s… like a peak master.”

Just as Lady Cheong-yeon said.

It looked like a duel between peak masters.

Bothered by those venomous claws, the captain kicked inside its forepaw, then spun with that rebound, unleashing a whirling chain of kicks at its head.

And the panther blocked that chain with its forepaws.

The captain pressed his assault with movements more feral than any beast; the beast blocked with movements unbefitting a mere animal—both were astounding.

They fought on, ping-ponging through the trees.

Overall, the captain had the edge, but he couldn’t land a clean hit; and if those claws truly held venom, a single scratch could turn the tide.

We traded glances and awaited an opening.

When the panther turned its back near us, we launched together.

Pabat!

Lady Cheong-yeon’s sword, my sword, and Bi Sayoung’s saber flashed for its spine.

Shaaa!

Tat-tat-tatak!

“Khk?!”

“Hah?!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

It spun its long tail like a windmill and parried blade and saber alike, then sprang back to a safe distance.

It must have decided we weren’t easy prey.

After sweeping us with those green-lit eyes, it slipped back into the Poison Forest.

A moment later Captain Seol Pung relaxed his guard.

“It’s really gone.”

Only then did we exhale.

“So things like that really exist.”

“Amazing.”

Bi Sayoung answered,

“I don’t mind that they exist—I mind that they exist right next to us.”

Agreed.

Nothing so threatening appeared after that.

We saw many unusual snakes, but they posed little danger; the captain simply snatched them and showed us.

Only Lady Cheong-yeon showed true interest.

As we walked, I tried to extract as much knowledge from Dakam as possible.

Plants good for antidotes; how to concoct monster-repelling incense; which grasses to burn to drive off venom-beasts.

Though his Han speech was shaky, Dakam—who said he learned from Tokno—was surprisingly gifted at explaining.

As we traveled he plucked the actual herbs and demonstrated patiently.

By the time we reached Dakam’s dwelling, dawn was breaking.

Having memorized the path, I told the captain,

“At this pace, we can probably return on our own in about three hours.”

“Yes, that seems right.”

“Even if we take it slow catching venom-beasts, four hours should do.”

Bi Sayoung blinked wide.

“You memorized the route? In the dark? All three of you?”

“Hm? Why not?”

“It wasn’t that complicated.”

“If we’re going back, isn’t it obvious?”

We stared at him like he’d asked why water was wet; he muttered under his breath.

It seemed he found us very annoying.

Dakam’s home was a small hut.

Beaming, he led us inside.

The hut sat on an islet sunk into the marsh within the Poison Forest.

It looked like they’d stacked belts of scent-herbs around it like a wall to keep venom-beasts away.

Throwing the door open, Dakam shouted,

“Tokno! I brought people to help!”

“Dakam! Dakam’s back!”

“Dakam, where did you go!”

Inside were the Miao children he’d called his younger siblings, and an old man with a sickly pallor lying on a bed.

Adorable children—and a white-haired elder with a stubborn, prickly look.

Amusingly, the children’s pronunciation was far more natural than Dakam’s.

So even learning together, the little ones had better mastery.

“Dakam!”

“Dakam!”

As four children crowded him, sniffling and hugging, the old man on the bed scowled and barked,

“Where in blazes did you run off to, leaving the brats alone all night?! And what’s this ‘people to help’ nonsense?!”

As he snapped, Dakam calmed the kids and glanced toward us at the door; Captain Seol Pung stepped in and bowed.

“Greetings, elder. We came at Dakam’s request to assist you.”

The elder’s face hardened at once.

He growled,

“Who are you? Don’t tell me—you’re orthodox dogs from the Flying Dragon Unit?”

At that hostile tone, we faltered.

The next instant, the elder erupted like a volcano.

“Get out. Now!”

He began snatching anything nearby with one hand and hurling it.

“You damn scavengers! What do you think you’ll strip from us here?! Out!”

A wooden bowl smashed against the wall by the door.

Pots, pillows, even spoons flew with terrifying force.

Half-paralyzed, he couldn’t sit up and his aim was poor—but the fury was real.

Startled, Dakam rushed to restrain him.

“Tokno! What are you doing?! They came to help us!”

“Shut it, boy! Didn’t I tell you not to do anything foolish?! Even if I die, I won’t take help from their kind!”

Under that fierce onslaught, we had no choice but to step back outside.

Even then, the elder’s raging curses and Dakam’s pleading continued within.

We looked at one another, bewildered.

Bi Sayoung let out a brittle laugh.

“What kind of cursed situation is this?”

That was exactly how I felt.