『“You two be careful.”』
After dropping Gun Hye-rin off, I quickly moved to place Hwa-eun in a spot where all four watchtowers near the river could be seen.
Her hiding place was behind a pile of large boulders.
The spirit creature stationed with her was Cho.
There was a reason I assigned Yeondu and Cho to Hye-rin and Hwa-eun respectively.
I was stationed in the center, with Hwa-eun on the right and Hye-rin on the left. Being in the middle meant I could easily reach either side. But that wasn’t the case for them.
If something happened on one of the outer flanks, they’d have to cross the entire length to help—and they’d be too late.
So Cho and Yeondu were positioned with them to help them regroup faster if needed.
And no, I wasn’t in the center because I was the strongest.
Quite the opposite.
The center was safest—it let me rush in to assist them.
『“Yes. You too, So-ryong. You still haven’t fully adjusted to the Flower Realm yet. If the enemy appears, say something before engaging, okay?”』
“Got it. Don’t worry too much. Hyang’s with me. And there’s Heukhwa and Baekhwa, too.”
Even Heukhwa and Baekhwa, who Gun Hye-rin herself couldn't defeat, were with me—but Hwa-eun still had more to say.
『“Still, you never know. So-ryong, you always manage to do the most unexpected things. Hyang, girls—I’m counting on you to look after him.”』
“Well, I’m off then. Oh, wait—”
Maybe I was being a little overprotective, but as I turned to leave, I finally understood how Hwa-eun felt.
When I looked at Cho, I couldn't help but fuss over her too.
『“Cho, remember what I told you? If a fight breaks out and your mom gets involved, you must not join in. Understand?”』
Cho was powerful, but even her defense wasn’t strong enough to withstand the destructive force of a Flower Realm expert’s inner strength.
Her mother—the Azure-Striped Centipede—had died from such a blow. Only spirit beasts like Hyang, Cheongwol, or those who wield inner strength like Heukhwa or Baekhwa could handle that level of force.
So I couldn’t help but worry.
Cho nodded gently at my warning.
“Good. If /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ you get hurt, Dad hurts even more. So you absolutely must not get injured.”
I patted Cho’s head before taking off toward my assigned spot with Sister Jeokwol.
She rode on my back, with Moji and Soji clinging to her shoulders. The three of them together could lift me for short-distance flight.
Our ambush site was a very tall tree overlooking the central watchtowers.
They landed me gently on the branch, their wings clearly exhausted.
Moji and Soji let out soft cries—no translation needed. They were saying I was heavy.
I patted them both in thanks, leaned against the tree, and fixed my eyes toward the towers.
Now it was time to keep watch.
The night was calm—filled with the soft sounds of insects and the occasional owl hoot.
***
Suddenly, an owl flew onto a nearby branch and started hooting loudly.
The sound was enough to make every cricket and frog in the area fall silent.
Cho hesitated for a moment before asking her mother,
『-Tsureureu. (Mom, should I chase it away?)』
The owl’s cries were so loud it was hard to hear the nearby stream.
Mom turned to Cho, but Dad’s voice reached them first through the mental group chat.
『“What’s going on over there, Cho?”』
“Oh, just an owl flew in and started hooting like crazy. Cho was wondering if she should chase it off.”
“Ah, I see. Other than that, all quiet?”
“Yes.”
“How about Gun Hye-rin?”
“Same here. So boring I’m nodding off.”
Mom responded before Cho could.
While Mom, Dad, and Gun Hye-rin were chatting, Cho kept staring at the owl on the branch.
It was still hooting.
“Don’t let your guard down.”
“Me? I never slack off. I, Gun Hye-rin the Successor of the Heavenly Demon Cult, would never perform my duties lazily. So-ryong, how little do you think of me?”
“Well?”
“Well!? Are you mocking me? You tell me not to slack off and now say ‘well’? Sigh. My man is so unserious sometimes.”
“My man!?”
“I meant... the man I’m connected to!”
“Both of you, calm down.”
“What kind of delusion are you having!? So-ryong, don’t tell me...”
Cho, realizing that the conversation wasn’t ending any time soon, decided to take matters into her own hands.
She silently crept away from Mom, heading toward the tree with the owl.
Flying was out of the question—she didn’t want to risk alerting any enemies nearby.
So she slipped out from behind the rocks and glided low through the reeds, careful not to disturb the grass.
Once she reached the base of the tree, she clung to the opposite side of the trunk and began slowly climbing.
As she moved, a few insects startled by her presence scattered in all directions.
Eventually, she reached a branch near the owl and peeked around it.
There it was—still hooting.
『-Tsureu... (What do I do?)』
She didn’t want to scare it too much—it might shriek and cause a commotion.
Dad had said to stay quiet until the bad guy appeared.
After a moment of thought, she decided to try shaking the branch.
Not enough to panic the owl—just a gentle rustle.
She placed her head gently against the branch...
It worked.
The branch quivered slightly, and the startled owl took off into the air with a soft flutter.
Back in the group chat, Mom had managed to calm the others down.
Cho poked her head out and called softly to her mother.
『-Tsuret! (Mom, I chased the owl away!)』
“Really? How’d you do that? Weren’t you—”
Mom started to look in the direction where Cho had just spoken from—but she was still focused on the spot Cho had previously been hiding.
She hadn’t realized Cho had moved.
Just then—
From that very spot where Cho had been...
Something about the same size as Cho emerged silently.
Mom hadn’t noticed the switch.
Cho cried out in alarm.
And at that very instant—
The creature’s mouth opened—and something shot out straight at Mom, expanding in a whip-like snap.
Just as the situation calmed down—thanks to Hwa-eun’s intervention after a joke to Gun Hye-rin nearly got me ripped apart—Cho's shout tore through the quiet night.
The jungle stirred with her cry.
Birds scattered in every direction, and almost simultaneously, Hwa-eun's scream rang out through the group link.
『“Kyaaah!”』
“What’s going on!?”
“Hwa-eun!”
At the same time as Gun Hye-rin shouted, I called Hwa-eun’s name and hurled myself toward the riverside where she’d been hiding.
Kicking off the side of the tree, I launched into the air. From far off, I spotted Cho diving down toward where Hwa-eun was.
She must’ve seen Hwa-eun in danger and leapt into the fray.
Even though Dad had told her to stay back, if Mom was in danger, there was no way our Cho would listen.
『“Cho, be careful!”』
I didn’t know what was going on yet, but if Hwa-eun had been subdued that fast, then even Cho charging in would be in serious danger.
I shouted the warning through the group link—and heard an unexpected reply.
『-Tsuret! (Dad, it’s okay! That thing—it's not human!)』
“What!?”
A deafening crash followed as Cho was slammed into a pile of boulders.
Rocks exploded outward, and dust rose in a thick cloud.
‘Not human?’
I barely had time to process what she meant before gravity began pulling me down.
“Ugh!”
I instinctively searched for something to land on, but I had launched from the tallest tree nearby—there was nothing.
And the terrain sloped down from Gun Hye-rin’s mountain toward the river. The drop was significant.
Even with Flower Realm cultivation, I’d be in serious danger if I fell like this.
I needed a foothold—fast.
“Guys! I need a platform!”
Because I had leapt off so suddenly, Moji and Soji had stuck to my body. The moment I called out, Moji unfolded her wings beneath me.
I kicked off her back and shot forward again toward the river.
Next, I stepped on Soji—but even with both their help, I still hadn’t cleared the distance. My body started sinking again.
Sister Jeokwol had stayed behind on the tree and couldn’t catch up.
‘Damn. What do I step on next?’
As I panicked about my next landing point, something caught my waist and bent me like a bow.
“Khgh!”
“You—idiot! Even in an emergency, this height would break both your legs, Flower Realm or not! And to think Hwa-eun was right—you really do cause insane situations!”
It was Gun Hye-rin. Judging by her shout, Yeondu must’ve arrived with her.
“Y-yeah. I’m fine.”
I could feel the ache in my lower back—man's most treasured asset—but it didn’t feel like anything was broken.
That’s when Gun Hye-rin slipped free and lunged forward.
“You check on Hwa-eun! I’ll handle this thing!”
Yeondu had probably gotten here first, given her speed. I turned to see Gun Hye-rin dive headlong into the dust cloud.
I leapt off Yeondu’s back and rushed toward the cloud of dispersing dust, yelling,
“Hwa-eun! Hwa-eun!”
I frantically searched—and finally, Hwa-eun’s voice reached me, faintly from within the haze.
“So-ryong... please help me.”
She was asking for help, which meant she likely wasn’t seriously wounded.
Relieved, I followed her voice and found her collapsed within the dust cloud.
Something had wrapped itself around her, and she was struggling to peel it off.
“So-ryong, be careful. It’s venomous.”
As I lunged forward to grab the thing wrapped around her, she warned me.
I quickly pulled on the gloves made from Yo-hwa’s silk—and the moment I tore it away, I felt it crawl along my hand like a living vein.
That’s when I realized what it was.
It was something from my past life’s memories.
‘A proboscis!?’
The thing spreading across my hand like a web of blood vessels was a feeding organ—also known as a proboscis.
At that moment, I understood what that pale noodle in the corpse’s mouth had been.
“Hwa-eun! Use Sammae Flame Bloom!”
“Got it.”
Once you’ve reached the Flower Realm, you can ignite your entire body in flames. That should let her burn it off quickly.
I shouted to Gun Hye-rin as well.
“Gun Hye-rin! Don’t cut it!”
But it was too late. I heard the unmistakable sound of something being sliced.
A moment later, Gun Hye-rin emerged and reported the situation.
“So-ryong, I don’t know what it was, but it ran off. I nearly split it in half—no way it survives that. But why did you say not to cut it?”
“Nearly split it?”
“Didn’t get it clean through, but its lower half was nearly dangling off. It fled like that.”
She thought it was dead or dying—but I knew better.
There was a reason I’d told her not to cut it.
Why?
Because when you cut it—it becomes two.
“If you cut it, it splits into two.”
“What!?”
Gun Hye-rin's eyes widened in disbelief.
