NOVEL NEXT Chapter 160
Chapter 160: The Mountain Hideout
“Just like I thought, it’s all off.”
Usually, frogs come out with their back legs first, followed by their front legs. The back legs start as small bulges and slowly take shape, growing in size, while the front legs develop inside the belly behind the gills, bursting out through the sides when they’re ready.
However, just when the front legs burst out, they’re still short and not even usable for swimming—more like decorative appendages flopping around.
But the front limbs that sprouted from Hwa-yang’s body were clearly functional. The way they tightly gripped the water container was something to behold.
“Gyaaaah!”
I knew they grew by eating fire, but I didn’t expect them to undergo such a sudden growth spurt after guzzling a lot of it!
As I reached out to confirm the limbs—partly out of curiosity—I was reminded how much information amphibians carry in their limbs.
If it had suction cups, it could climb up somewhere; if it had webbed feet, it could swim; and if it had claws, I could deduce it could dig in the dirt. Even if I couldn’t immediately tell if it was a frog or a toad, I could at least suspect if it was a land-dwelling type with grown claws, or perhaps a tree frog.
“Wei So-ryong! I’m getting poisoned!”
“Ah, ahaha.”
But my attempt failed as Hwa-eun and Older Sister Seol stopped me just in time. I could’ve been poisoned again, remembering not too long ago how miserable that was.
“Did you forget about that incident?”
“Yeah, So-ryong! You need to be careful. What if you forget again?”
“Wha-what? Am I some kind of fish?!”
I said that, yet I had totally forgotten the moment I saw Hwa-yang’s front limb.
“How can I remain calm seeing that?”
Even if words like ‘molting’ or ‘transformation’ applied to Hwa-eun, I could keep my composure; but if the kids transformed or molted, I’d definitely lose my sanity.
Hwa-eun and Older Sister Seol seemed to catch on that my excuse was just flimsy.
“I-I didn’t mean to…”
I apologized with a sheepish look and turned back to Hwa-yang. Reflecting on how quickly it grew, I regretted not just freely feeding it rather than controlling its portions.
“I should’ve just fed it generously. I unnecessarily restricted it!”
Some amphibians are known for their gluttony, so I limited its intake thinking it might burst. Clearly, I was mistaken in this case.
Hwa-yang seemed to grow according to how much it ate.
If it was regular food, it could get stored in the stomach first, but with fire, that’s most likely nurturing its Yang Energy.
There wouldn’t be a risk of it bursting from that, right?
Chao and Bin absorbed nature’s energy, while Bing-i, Seol-i, and Dong-i fed on the cold chill wafting from Ice Orbs.
Yo-hwa fed on my Yang Energy too.
Of course, there are creatures like the Golden Hair Bee King that feed on honey, but that’s a different story—they’re mostly spirit creatures that grow by consuming energy, so eating a lot doesn’t seem to generate a problem.
Perhaps if you eat a lot, you either undergo transformation, or evolve?
That sounded very plausible given my experiences raising venomous insects thus far.
“Then I should keep feeding it well to make it into an adult quickly!”
Now that I knew it grew according to its intake, what was left to do?
Stuff it so it grows into an adult, that was the protector’s duty!
Lowering myself to Hwa-yang’s eye level, I asked, “Hwa-yang, want some more food?”
At that, the little one bubbled with joy.
-Bloop!
Looks like it can breathe through lungs now, not just gills.
*
I assigned the Water Bandits to cut down more reeds and set a massive fire in the village clearing.
Now that it had front limbs, I felt hopeful that I might see Hwa-yang reach its final stage today.
With front limbs, all that was left was shortening the tail, and then the entire transformation would conclude, so it seemed plausible.
“Hwa-yang’s final stage, here we go!”
I felt a bit guilty using the Water Bandits for personal matters, but if Hwa-yang ate well and produced a lot of venom, it would contribute to village defense and bedbug extermination, so it wasn’t just a good situation for me.
Therefore, I collected as much firewood and dry branches as possible to feed Hwa-yang, and while I could make plenty of venom, unfortunately, Hwa-yang’s tail didn’t shorten right away.
It felt like some sort of step-wise growth, as if a certain amount needed to be consumed first.
If only I had the time to keep feeding it all night.
The sun was setting, and the bedbugs were coming!
As night fell, the bedbugs began to swarm out from everywhere. There were hardly any in the village thanks to Hwa-eun’s earlier pest control, but across the waterway we’d prepared, it was a different story; they were swarming like a dark tide.
People often think cockroaches breed infinitely, but honestly, cockroaches can’t compare to bedbugs.
A single bedbug lays around 500 eggs in its lifetime, hiding in corners and multiplying exponentially.
“Long! Just as you said, they’re completely swarming!”
“Wei So-ryong, is it really going to be okay?”
“They probably can’t cross the water.”
As I said that, the townsfolk anxiously watched the water, and as the wave of bedbugs reached the shoreline, they abruptly froze right by the water’s edge.
The reason they halted is that, being so light, they struggle with the water’s surface tension; they tend to stick right to the surface if they get too close.
“They stopped! They’ve frozen in place!”
“The insect type has stopped moving!”
“We…we’re safe!”
With the bedbug wave halted at the water’s edge, the townsfolk breathed sighs of relief.
From the opposite side, I began tossing stones at the bedbugs to taunt them.
“Want to eat? Want to eat? You little pests!”
And continued this standoff until dawn.
Half-asleep by the campfire, I was approached by Lee Tae and a few Water Bandits on patrol reporting the situation.
“Wei So-ryong, just as you said, the insect types have become a bit more active!”
“Slurp. Then prepare the water!”
“Understood!”
Wiping drool from my mouth and rubbing my eyes, Yo-hwa approached and lifted me onto her back.
It seemed she wanted me to stay curled up like this and continue growing.
Though the soft fur was making me doze off, I quickly regained focus and said, “Yo-hwa, no! I still have things to do.”
-Kishi.
It felt like she was saying ‘stay longer’ but there were things to be done.
Missing this moment would mean waiting until tomorrow, so I shook off my lethargy and rubbed my eyes awake.
People think bedbugs bite at night, but they’re actually most active right at dawn.
So when we moved, it’d be just before sunrise.
Replacing the water in Hwa-yang’s container, I carefully scraped it clean and prepared to sprinkle that close to the waterway while beginning the application of pesticides.
“Wei So-ryong, everything’s ready. Shall we begin?”
“Ah, what about the bamboo water bottle?”
“Right here.”
Wearing the woolen gloves made of Yo-hwa’s thread on both hands, I drew water into the bamboo water gun.
Then, I sprayed the water containing Hwa-yang’s venom vigorously toward the bedbugs crowded over on the other side.
-Splash!
From the tip of the bamboo water gun, a stream shot out upon the bedbugs’ heads.
As I carefully moved about the waterway, delivering the pesticides, the dawn began to creep in, almost like the day had turned over, causing the bedbugs to scatter in every direction, just like before.
“They’re retreating!”
“They’re scattering!”
Just like that, after the bedbugs had dispersed, a few hours later, in the now foggy village clearing, we all gathered to have breakfast.
“Long! Look over there!”
Suddenly, Older Sister Seol jumped to her feet, pointing at the mountain.
Turning to look where she was pointing, I saw white fog covering the mountain, sparkling like a snowy Christmas tree—flashes of blue flames appearing and disappearing all over the slopes.
It certainly felt like Hwa-yang’s venom was effectively doing its job.
The flames even ignited the woods near the village, as Hwa-eun and Older Sister Seol observed the spectacle in awe.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Really beautiful.”
A death so vibrant and lovely, completely mismatched for bedbugs.
*
After repeating these actions for about two days, it was certain that the bedbug population had decreased significantly.
Now, no more than a few would swarm toward the village.
Checking the incoming crowd and the dead ones revealed something rather troubling.
“It’s definitely strange.”
“What is it this time?”
Seol-i frowned, sensing another bad omen as she inquired.
I smiled at her, “It’s about the insect types. Among all that swarmed into the village, there were oddly no females at all.”
“Not a single one?”
“Not a single one.”
Identifying the gender of bedbugs can be tricky since they look nearly identical. Their sizes are quite similar, and there’s hardly any distinguishing characteristic between them.
Only noticeable is that males tend to be slightly slimmer while females are rounder.
Yet unless seen side by side, the differences are negligible.
“That’s odd.”
“Well, if they were bred under human control, that might make sense, considering how many they could reproduce in nature.”
It seemed they were deliberately omitting the females to keep the bedbugs from becoming unmanageable should they breed naturally.
Looking toward the larger mountains behind the village, I concluded, “I think we should check that out.”
With the village nearly secured and our bellies rumbling, it was time to pay a visit to the bandit hideout.