I rushed back into the hall.
The body of the Jade Armored Water Beetle on the large table gleamed under the moonlight streaming in through the open window.
Its carapace, reflecting the cold blue light, shimmered with an icy brilliance.
I quickly approached and unfolded the bundle I had placed beside its corpse earlier.
The bundle was the captive's upper garment, which I had used to wrap its internal organs.
Just then, Hwa-eun, who had followed me into the hall, spoke.
“So-ryong! What’s going on?”
Since I’d suddenly bolted out of the interrogation chamber and dashed in here, she must have come to see what was happening.
“Ah, it’s just...”
I was about to answer her question when the children popped into my mind. After raising kids who think and speak like humans, I might have really become a proper dad.
I’d asked Hwa-eun earlier to make sure the kids didn’t witness anything gruesome—was she bringing them in here now?
“What about the kids?”
I turned my head and asked her. Hwa-eun glanced behind her and answered,
“I left the little ones with Cho.”
“Ah, good. You did well, Hwa-eun.”
I had briefly worried she might have forgotten my earlier request, but it seemed that worry had been entirely unfounded.
Just as I was the children’s dad, Hwa-eun had already become a wonderful mom in her own right.
“But So-ryong, why did you suddenly run in here like that? What are you doing?”
As I hurriedly fumbled with the squishy, dripping bundle, trying to untie the knot, Hwa-eun looked confused—why was I unwrapping something I’d already packed up?
Still tugging at the stubborn knot, I explained.
“I’m not sure if this one laid eggs.”
“Eggs?”
“Yeah. That guy outside from the Female Venom Sect said he picked up a dying spirit creature, right?”
“Yes... though I’m not sure how true that is.”
It seemed Hwa-eun didn’t fully trust the man’s words, but I believed they were telling the truth.
And I had a reason for thinking so.
“It’s probably true.”
“What makes you say that?”
“That old guy—the sect leader or whatever—he seemed to be only at peak master level. If he’s the strongest guy in the Female Venom Sect, how would they have possibly captured a spirit creature like this?
Without Inner Qi, it’s nearly impossible to injure a spirit creature. And this one’s a beetle. It’s definitely tougher than Hwayang, Seol, Bing, or Dong.”
Not all spirit creatures were the same, but most of them couldn’t be wounded without Inner Qi.
Even our soft-looking Hwayang was like that. So how would a sect with just one peak-level master take down a creature like this?
“Ah, that... makes sense.”
“Who tied this thing? Why won’t it come undone?”
“...So-ryong.”
“Yeah?”
“You tied it yourself. I saw you from a distance...”
“Ah. Right... that was me.”
In my rush, I got frustrated trying to undo the knot, cursing the poor bastard who tied it so tightly—only to realize that bastard was me.
Grumbling at my earlier self, I ended up drawing my dagger and slicing the knot open. I spread the organs out beside me.
—Squelch.
“These look different from human intestines.”
“Yeah, they’re insect guts. Insects usually have their digestive tract arranged in a straight line like this.”
“Is this the stomach?”
“In insects, food travels through this long tract, so technically the whole thing is the stomach.”
“That’s fascinating.”
Geombong had been revolted earlier at the sight of these intestines, but Hwa-eun seemed genuinely intrigued. What kind of education did she receive to be so curious about something like this?
If I were an ordinary man, I might have felt pity or sadness at this sight. But seeing her interest made me think, my father-in-law really raised her well.
To have a wife who can talk about your hobbies naturally? That alone makes her a ten-thousand-point partner.
As expected from my father-in-law... but it’s not here.
While silently praising my father-in-law, I examined the organs, but what I was looking for wasn’t in sight.
I had glanced earlier, but it was clear now—nothing was attached in this area.
It seemed I’d have to cut open the abdomen to be sure. I pressed my palms together and spoke to the already-dead creature.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to have to open your body.
But it’s just to check whether you laid eggs. If you did, I’ll find them and make sure they hatch safely.”
Just in case, like Hwayang, Cho, or Bini’s mother, there was a lingering spirit—so I apologized before starting.
I disassembled the body I had loosely reassembled earlier: set the head aside, removed the wings I had attached, and stacked the legs in one spot.
Then Hwa-eun asked again.
“So-ryong, what exactly are you looking for?”
I drew my dagger from my sleeve and replied,
“An egg sac.”
“An egg sac?”
“Yeah. Inside female insects, there’s a sac where the eggs develop. But the intestines only handle digestion and excretion. To confirm whether what that guy said was true, we need to check for the egg sac.”
“Oh, so... like a womb in humans?”
“Exactly.”
As I answered her, I flipped the ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) belly of the Jade Armored Water Beetle and examined it more closely. Now I noticed parts I had overlooked earlier.
Even with the intestines removed, the abdomen and thorax were completely intact.
To remove the intestines, they would’ve had to cut open the abdomen, right?
Seemed Hwa-eun noticed too, because she said,
“But the intestines are gone, and the body’s still intact?”
“Looks like they pulled the organs out through the opening where the head was.”
“Oh, there’s a mark here near the rear. Like they tried slicing it open with a blade, but only left a scratch. Probably tried cutting with Inner Qi and failed.”
So they must’ve pulled the guts out through the neck.
Which meant, aside from the digestive tract, the rest of the internal organs were likely still intact.
I instinctively began to channel energy into the dagger to draw out Inner Qi.
Ah. Right. I don’t know how to coat weapons with Inner Qi, do I?
Then it hit me—I’d never actually tried to infuse a weapon with Inner Qi before.
I looked up at Hwa-eun and gave her a sheepish smile.
“Ahaha. Hwa-eun, mind helping me?”
“Of course. I just need to slice the belly with Inner Qi, right?”
“Yeah.”
Rolling up her sleeves, Hwa-eun took the dagger, then asked as she pressed the blade to the beetle’s belly,
“Should I cut vertically?”
“No. Please cut along here and here on both sides.”
“Got it.”
She thought slicing it vertically would be enough, but I asked her to carve the belly into an oval shape.
When opening a human abdomen, you need an abdominal retractor.
Because the abdominal wall naturally tries to close again, you need a tool to hold it open.
If that’s true for soft, fleshy humans, imagine how much worse it would be for an insect with an exoskeleton.
That’s why I asked her to just take off the "lid."
“Alright, here I go.”
“Yes, Hwa-eun.”
As Hwa-eun began, the dagger sparkled.
Inner Qi coated the blade, and starting from the tip of the rear, she sliced smoothly along the side of the abdomen—like cutting pudding.
Her motion was smooth and precise, just like a surgeon wielding a scalpel.
She repeated the same action on the opposite side, and when she was done, the abdomen sank slightly.
It looked just like a lid being removed.
Quickly moving my hands, I flipped the detached "lid"—and there it was.
“Ah, here it is!”
“This is the egg sac? There are two?”
Female insects have two egg sacs inside their reproductive system. That’s where the eggs are generated and nurtured.
Just like how a woman’s ovaries produce eggs.
“Yes, from these two spots, the eggs are produced. And this here is the oviduct, where the eggs pass through to exit the body. You know what’s fascinating, Hwa-eun?”
“What is?”
“You see this part right here?”
“Yes, So-ryong.”
I pointed to the two sacs attached to the oviduct—
one was fused to the abdominal shell, and the other dangled like a pouch.
“This part here produces the scent that lures males. They can smell it from dozens of li away and come searching.”
“This part?”
“Yes, it’s connected to the abdomen. The scent gets released through a small pore here.”
I was explaining the pheromone gland.
Then I pointed to the dangling pouch.
“This is where the male’s seed is stored. After mating, it keeps the sperm here until egg-laying, when fertilization occurs.”
Most people assume insect eggs are fertilized inside the body—but that’s not true.
Unless they give live birth, fertilization typically happens during egg-laying.
As the egg passes through the oviduct, it passes the pouch that stores the male’s sperm, and that’s when it’s fertilized.
“I... I see. The... baby seed...”
It was practically a biology lesson at this point, so Hwa-eun grew a little flustered.
Having done the “practical” part already but blushing at the explanation was cute.
Smiling at her, I took the dagger back.
Then I sliced open the two egg sacs.
What appeared inside was a single, still-immature egg.
The sacs were mostly empty, meaning it had clearly laid eggs.
“So this is an egg.”
It was small and slightly yellow—like a grain of Thai rice.
About the length of two segments of my index finger.
Regular Qinggaroes and Southern garoes lay eggs that are bright yellow, so this pale coloration confirmed it was immature.
At that moment, a voice called out from the doorway.
“So-ryong-nim?”
It was the Venom Extermination Squad Leader. Since neither Hwa-eun nor I had come out yet, he must’ve come looking.
“Ah, yes, good timing, Squad Leader. Let’s go.”
I’d found what I needed, so I headed out at once.
Outside, the prisoners were still kneeling, awaiting interrogation.
The sun was just beginning to rise.
I approached the man who claimed to have found the spirit creature and spoke in a stern voice.
“These people are in very serious trouble. If you want to live, you’d better tell me exactly where and when you found that spirit creature!”
“R-Really?!”
“Of course.”
His expression brightened instantly at the mention of being spared. He answered quickly.
“Y-Yes! I found it not far from here, in a—”
As he started explaining, a voice reached me through sound transmission.
[So-ryong-nim, did you say you’d spare them!?]
It was the Venom Extermination Squad Leader, sounding disappointed.
I replied, slightly scolding:
[What, are you going to kill fifty people just because they didn’t kill a spirit creature? The sect leader’s already dead. Isn’t it enough to give the underlings a fitting punishment? Besides... we do need manpower.]
[Manpower?]
[The frontlines are just ahead—where the Martial Alliance and the Beast Palace are locked in a standoff against the Five Venoms Sect and the Blood Cult. Don’t we need soldiers there?]
These days, things had calmed down. But just a few months ago, it had been chaos at the border. People dying on both sides daily.
I absolutely intended to spare them.
Of course, survival was up to their own ability.
***
“Haah... why hasn’t anything appeared yet?”
I slumped over the table on the boat’s deck and let out a long sigh.
Though I was glad the spirit creature hadn’t been murdered, there was something else gnawing at me—like a curse.
Whenever a collection goes wrong, it becomes nearly impossible to retrieve what you're after.
In this case, neither the babies, the eggs, nor even the shed exoskeletons had been found.
And it had already been three days.
“Maybe they haven’t hatched yet?”
“Hard to say.”
Three days ago, we’d arrived at the valley where the Jade Armored Water Beetle had supposedly been found in a dying state.
It was near the abandoned pipeline, not too far from here.
I’d heard the creature had been discovered three months ago.
While the Tang Clan considers venomous creatures relatively niche, the Female Venom Sect lacks the skills to craft refined poisons, so they often just extract toxins directly from wild creatures.
That’s why they’d come to Yunnan on a collection trip—to gather and harvest local toxins. That’s when they stumbled across the beetle.
Since it was a spirit creature, it didn’t die right away. Instead, it survived in a weakened state for three months, occasionally releasing venom.
That venom was studied by the Female Venom Sect leader, who then attempted to recreate the famed Ji-dam Pill—which led to this entire mess.
Most people, upon hearing Ji-dam Pill, don’t realize the name comes from Ji-dam, the Central Plains word for Garoes.
But the Female Venom Sect, being in the same field, figured it out. After testing the venom on a dog—which promptly turned into obsidian jade—they realized they might profit from it.
But we searched every inch of this valley. So why can’t we find anything...?
Three months had passed, so it might’ve been too late. But I’d held on to hope.
Normally, garoes and Qinggaroes hatch three weeks after laying their eggs. But since this one was a spirit creature, I figured hatching might take longer—so I’d ordered a full-scale search.
Back when we dealt with Moji and Soji, it had taken far longer than normal silkworms too.
But this time, there was no sign—not even a trace—of eggs or hatching.
We’d mobilized not just the Three Peaks of the Five Dragons and Dianchang Sect, but even the kids.
We couldn’t just keep combing this place endlessly. I was starting to feel stuck.
—Bzzzzzzzz.
Suddenly, Ranghu flew in from the bow and grabbed me.
“What is it?”
—Bzzzzzz.
“Back to your place? No, that’s... I’ve been going back and forth too often already.”
She pulled insistently, clearly trying to drag me back to her hive.
I resisted—going inside would probably mean seeing something I wasn’t ready for.
But Ranghu called over the worker bees and forcibly dragged me to the bow.
—Bzzzzzz.
“H-Hey, hold on! Guys, wait!”
I was hauled into the hive.
Inside, it had become a full-on bee kingdom.
Ranghu led me toward one specific section and pointed to a hive cell.
“What? You want me to eat some honey? It’s morning—I’m not really in the mood for sweets...”
—Bzz.
“No? Then what... you want me to look?”
I thought she was offering me honey at first, but she shook her head.
Confused, I looked at the hive.
And then I saw them—four tiny, yellowish rice-like shapes in a single hive cell.
Why would she lay them all in one spot?
At first, I thought Ranghu had resumed laying eggs due to the warmer weather, but something didn’t feel right.
Bees usually lay one egg per cell.
Just as I was thinking that, one of the rice grains twitched.
“Whoa!?”
Startled, I grabbed onto the hive opening.
Then I saw them clearly—those “grains of rice” were feeding on nectar and pollen.
They weren’t rice grains at all.
They were larvae—already hatched—and they weren’t bee larvae either.
“What the hell? Why are they here?”
So what were they?
They were the baby Qing Ji-dams.
The Qinggaroe larvae I’d been so desperately searching for—they were here all along.
