ALL NOVEL Chapter 5
Reverse Interview 1
After nursing an older man named Dang Cheolsan for about two days, as he put it, the warriors from the Four Heavenly Houses came looking for him.
I had assumed it would take weeks for them to treat his injuries from catching centipedes, but they showed up in just two days.
Upon arriving, the warriors startled at the sight of a corpse covered with a mat near the entrance, fearing it to be Cheolsan, before finding their clan head lying in the separate chamber with me.
“C-Clan Head! What has happened here!?”
“Your injuries are gravely serious!”
The warriors gasped in shock at the sight of Cheolsan’s pale face and dark circles under his eyes.
As I helped him sit up, he began explaining what had transpired a few days prior to his men.
“The Blood Hand Demon Tak Woon-yang appeared.”
“Y-Yes!? That Tak Woon-yang, the one who fell off the coastal cliff in Qinzhu after receiving Mandok God’s blow over a decade ago!?”
“Indeed.”
“Gasp! Then, is that corpse at the entrance…?”
“Truly a close call. He seemed to have secluded himself and mastered his skills; he had reached a level close to my father’s.”
“W-Wait…”
Upon hearing Cheolsan’s explanation, the three warriors initially wore expressions of disbelief, then suddenly lit up and hurriedly congratulated him.
“T-Then!? Clan Head! If you’ve dispatched such a being to the afterlife, that means you have reached the realm of Mandok! Congratulations!”
“Congratulations!”
If he managed to catch such a formidable foe, it must mean that Cheolsan’s abilities were even greater.
It felt like a congratulation, reflecting that sentiment.
‘But it was actually my pet’s punch…’
As I thought that, Cheolsan shook his head.
With a smile, he pointed at me.
“No, it wasn’t me but this junior hero here… I owe my life to my junior hero’s grace.”
“E-Eh!?”
“T-This junior hero did it!?”
To be precise, it wasn’t me but the Ogong who eliminated him, but it wasn’t a falsehood since they were my pets.
After all, a pet’s mishap is a master’s responsibility.
However, the warriors seemed to misunderstand something and bowed politely, performing the Dong-style greeting.
“Thank you for saving our Clan Head.”
“Thank you!”
“Uh, did the departed perhaps become young again?”
Then they asked if I had somehow turned youthful or something like that.
‘What the heck? I should’ve watched more martial arts novels or movies in my past life to understand what they’re saying…’
Seeing the warriors act oddly made Cheolsan struggle to hold back laughter.
As he wiggled his eyebrows, a shiver crawled down my spine and a sound began to emit from my embrace.
‘No, don’t do that all of a sudden…’
-Swish!
That sound was a warning signal indicating that the Ogong were angry.
Immediately, the Ogong sprang out from my bosom, shaking their heads like snakes, glaring at Cheolsan.
“Gasp! Wh-What’s this!”
“O-Ogong!?”
The warriors widened their eyes in surprise at the sight of the three yellow centipedes.
A moment later, as the shivers subsided, the Ogong slowly retreated back into my clothing.
“W-What is that!?”
Startled by the Ogong, the warriors involuntarily stepped back.
Cheolsan answered for me in response to their queries.
“They are the young of the Blue-Spotted Centipede. We found eggs in the hole where we caught the Blue-Spotted Centipede. Our junior here hatched them, and they took down Tak Woon-yang.”
“Is that so!? I-Is the venom okay?”
“Y-You tamed the Blue-Spotted Centipede!?”
Cheolsan showcasing how to make the Ogong jump out was due to the information we had gathered over the past few days, specifically about how the Ogong attack humans.
We had discovered under what circumstances they would attack people.
‘It’s impressive that they react to murderous intent. How fascinating!’
The day after taking down the madman Tak Woon-yang, the Ogong completely stopped moving in my embrace.
Well, it was only natural since the baby centipedes hardly moved from their mother’s body until they molt twice, but it seemed Cheolsan was curious about why they weren’t moving after killing someone.
That’s why he had inquired from his resting position with a contemplative expression.
“Why are they so quiet and docile? Do you perhaps know how they managed to attack Tak Woon-yang?”
“Well… not really.”
“Perhaps do you remember anything?”
I indeed knew they had venom, and to avoid any potential bites since I might also die if they did, I reflected on that time.
‘Surely, I had washed myself and… When they grabbed my neck… They hadn’t reacted then; so if that’s the case…’
“Um… I had washed myself with cold water to separate them; that didn’t seem to be the reason… Ah! Now that I think about it, as that scoundrel Tak Woon-yang tightened his grip on my neck, I felt a chill down my back and began to sweat profusely… Could it be because of the sweat?”
It’s common for insects or animals to respond to human sweat.
I wondered if they responded to the scent of my sweat, but Cheolsan seemed to think differently.
“Hmm? You felt cold down your back? Then could it be…?”
Cheolsan wore an expression as if he had thought of something.
He immediately shivered as when Tak Woon-yang was choking me.
-Swishhhh!
Interestingly, the Ogong reacted with a warning sound, popping out from my garment, glaring at Cheolsan once again.
Cheolsan was astonished.
“They react to murderous intent!”
“Y-Yes? Murderous intent?”
Cheolsan became excited as if he had stumbled upon an incredible fact after witnessing the Ogong.
Later, I would learn that typically, murderous intent refers to the energy reflecting one’s expression or demeanor indicating an intention to kill or harm others. However, for martial artists, it was a bit different.
It was somewhat reminiscent of the feeling of murderous intent from a past life, but the martial artist’s murderous intent could genuinely intimidate or kill a person with its formless energy.
Thus it was Cheolsan’s explanation that the Ogong seemed to respond to that murderous intent.
The energy that had sent shivers down my back earlier was murderous intent?
‘No, doesn’t that make it dangerous? I feel a bit stinky, like getting hit by blank fire!’
No matter how curious I was, I still felt slightly disconcerted hearing that I was shot with murderous intent. Yet, hearing Cheolsan say it was a very weak shot helped ease my lingering discomfort.
Through some experiments, we could discover the Ogong’s precise attack mechanism.
According to Cheolsan, killing intent could be used in two ways: to spread it around or to target a specific individual. The Ogong didn’t spread their killing intent; they reacted only to the direct killing intent aimed at me.
Like an automatic turret.
While I feared whether I’d get bitten, at the same time, they were like my guardians.
For now, we decided to keep the secret of this mechanism between Cheolsan and me.
Feeling somewhat like secret friends with the uncle was kind of nice yet odd.
While I was pondering about the Ogong’s attack mechanisms, I overheard a conversation.
“…So, I intend to take him into our family.”
“Gasp! Family? Then the Young Miss known as the Moon Flower…”
“Correct. Our junior hasn’t made up their mind yet, however.”
“““Ooooh!”””
The conversation among the Tang Clan warriors and Cheolsan had transitioned to Cheolsan’s intention to recruit me, while I had asked for a few days to think about his proposal.
I needed to be cautious as well since I had to organize things here and it felt like stepping into a lifetime job.
Yet, I couldn’t hold back my curiosity about the term “Moon Flower,” a word I had never heard before.
It gave off a feeling that it would somehow be related to me if I became part of the Tang Clan.
“What is this Moon Flower you speak of?”
All eyes turned to me.
Cheolsan and the warriors looked at me with baffled expressions, then the oldest-looking warrior smiled mischievously and answered.
“Is this your first time hearing about the Moon Flower, junior hero?”
“Y-Yes? Is it also one of the Ten Great Venoms?”
My consecutive questions transformed their faces into cheerful smiles.
The warrior continued his explanation.
“No, the Moon Flower is a flower. While it has thorns, it is a beautiful red flower. Have you perhaps never seen it?”
“Oh! I know what it is now.”
The Moon Flower likely refers to a rose in Central Plains speech.
If it’s red and thorny, it must be a rose.
“Exactly! So you do know! People call the peony the ‘King of Flowers’ and also the ‘National Beauty,’ but they don’t know what they’re talking about. No flower is more beautiful than the Moon Flower, hands down!
A peony blooms for only a season, but the Moon Flower flowers all year round to bring joy to people. Hence, it’s duly called the number one flower! And oh, how vibrant is its red color!”
The warrior, apparently a rose fanatic, lectured on passionately, which was somewhat perplexing.
However, who was I to judge; after all, I was mad about venoms.
I decided to respect the preference and smiled as I replied.
“I also love the Moon Flower the most.”
Suddenly, the Tang Clan’s members became noisy.
“Really!?”
“You really love the Moon Flower!?”
“Y-Yes? Well… I learned that the thorns of the Moon Flower are noble and proud, meant to make it so no one dares to pluck it carelessly.”
“Ah! You actually do know something!”
Probably being sincere about the roses, a warrior tried reaching for my hand while flinching at the thought of the Ogong.
He then looked at Cheolsan, the clan head.
“Well, this is quite fortuitous. I heard you haven’t made your mind up yet, but if you do, the clan head just might gift you the most beautifully bloomed Moon Flower from our Tang Clan.”
“Y-For me?”
‘Ah, is this a gesture of welcome or something?’
I knew that the people from the Central Plains love the color red and think it’s auspicious.
It seemed they were using red flowers as a proxy for welcome.
However, even if I became part of the Tang Clan, there was no need to pluck a flower.
“Sir, if I decide to join the Tang Clan, please don’t feel the need to pluck the Moon Flower for me. Flowers are living things too; we shouldn’t handle them carelessly, should we?”
But, oddly, the Tang Clan members were giggling at my response.
Among them, Cheolsan wiped the smile off his face and gave me a serious look.
“No, junior hero. You’re saying something outrageous. I only wish to gift you the Moon Flower. You can pluck it yourself. And though it may be okay now, I imagine you’ll feel the urge to pluck it as soon as you visit Sichuan, so don’t worry. Oh, but be careful of the thorns!”
“Y-Yes?”
The people were saying rather perplexing things.
‘Is there a meaning with the roses that I don’t know?’
*
Following the talk with the Tang Clan members, what I heard afterward was somewhat unexpected.
“Are you saying we are searching Hainan Island?”
“Yes. As soon as I recover, I must move right away. I think we cannot afford to be late.”
“Why? Is there still something you must find?”
I had thought Cheolsan would head straight to Sichuan as soon as he felt better, but he instead intended to search Hainan Island.
When I asked for the reason, Cheolsan replied with a grave expression.
“It concerns the Blood Hand Demon Tak Woon-yang. He’s rumored to have secluded himself here and augmented his martial prowess. I intend to find his hiding place.”
“Are we looking for the hideout of a dead man?”
As I made a puzzled face, wondering why we needed to search a corpse’s home, Cheolsan went on to explain.
“The martial arts he learned are known as Blood Water Poison Claw, an abhorrent evil skill. If he has improved his skills, he must have needed human blood and marrow.”
“Human blood and marrow?”
“Yes, it’s a malevolent skill that requires soaking one’s hands in blood and marrow to absorb it…”
‘What kind of deranged martial arts is that?’
“And?”
If a guy who has learned a skill that necessitates soaking his hands in human blood and marrow had enhanced his martial arts, it likely meant he had committed mass murder.
Looking at Cheolsan with an expression of disbelief, he nodded thoughtfully.
“Yes. If he left behind secret manuals or has disciples, they must be dealt with to eliminate future troubles. We cannot allow that cruel evil skill to reemerge in the Martial World again. And if there are those trapped, shouldn’t we rescue them?”
It would be right to eradicate such a dangerous martial art that could inadvertently turn someone into a serial killer, just as Cheolsan said.
I nodded in agreement, thinking Cheolsan must be a more righteous person than I imagined, as he then requested my help.
“Thus, can you assist us? You’re likely more familiar with this area than I am.”
Indeed, it was true that I knew Hainan jungle better than Cheolsan.
Without hesitation, I nodded at his proposal.
“Understood. I will assist you as soon as you’ve rested.”
The reason I accepted Cheolsan’s suggestion immediately was that choosing a lifetime job made me think of it as an internship, so I decided to tag along to see how things went.
In a company, it’s common sense to observe the workplace atmosphere and who the boss is during an internship.
Moreover, isn’t it said that people reveal their true selves when times are tough?
I would be assessing the Tang Clan thoroughly during this journey.
‘Just wait and see. I’ll evaluate you thoroughly.’
As capable people often participate in reverse interviews.