"I knew this would happen!"
That was the first reaction from Grandpa Yakseon upon seeing the patient.
He had said earlier that something felt oddly familiar as he followed along—and now he shouted as if it all made sense.
Unlike Grandpa Uiseon, who hadn’t sensed a thing, Grandpa Yakseon had sharper instincts and picked up on something vague.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Uiseon was clearly caught completely off guard.
Standing on the sunlit deck, the radiant Hoja shimmered with beautiful light.
I had polished him until he gleamed, and now Grandpa Uiseon was staring at him as if entranced.
We’d brought him here to examine a patient who had mentally shut down from trauma, and yet now he looked like the one who had lost his mind.
‘Wait, that’s not how this was supposed to go...’
Was the shock too much for someone his age?
I felt a twinge of regret for not giving him some warning beforehand, but after a moment, Grandpa Yakseon laughed heartily and said:
“Keh keh. Well, if it's someone that So-ryong is asking us to examine, of course it wasn’t going to be human. Feels like I get fooled by you every time.”
“I told you I had a hunch, hyung.”
Scratching my head, I added sheepishly, “Ahaha... It was urgent...”
“No matter how urgent, you always show up with something that stuns people, don’t you?”
“Seriously. Anyway, if he suffered that much shock, it must be because of...”
“He’s called Hoja.”
I worried they might get upset that I hadn’t warned them, but both elders simply nodded as if they had expected it and moved to examine the patient.
“Well, if we agreed to examine the patient, then let’s take a look.”
“Yeah, we even treated a turtle (Geumdo), so we’re not about to back down from a hornet (Hoja).”
But as soon as they tried to assess him, both of them frowned in confusion.
“But hyung, how exactly are we supposed to examine this?”
“Right? He’s got no eyelids so we can’t open his eyes. And we can’t feel a pulse either...”
They seemed to be planning to check for pupil response or take a pulse, but the patient’s entire body was encased in a hard shell.
So there was no way to examine him using normal means—no pulse, no pupils.
At least with Geumdo, they could still check pupil reflexes, but Hoja was far too non-human for any such comparison.
“And we don’t exactly know the layout of his internal organs, right?”
“Well, that too...”
Now even the structure of his internal systems was unfamiliar.
It looked like even these two couldn’t figure out how to treat him, and I started to worry.
But then Grandpa Uiseon said, “Let’s start with a verbal diagnosis.”
“Shall we?”
Of course—these two really were doctors through and through.
A verbal diagnosis, that meant beginning with a verbal interview to understand the condition first.
I was touched they hadn’t given up yet. Grandpa Uiseon turned to me and asked:
“Alright, do you know how this patient ended up like this?”
“Yes, Grandpa. He was captured by the Five Venoms Sect and had golden needles implanted in his head to carry out their technique. He obeyed their orders for twenty years. I rescued him recently and treated him to remove the needles. He’s been in this state ever since.”
“Good heavens... A forbidden art to control spirit beasts? The Five Venoms Sect really is vile.”
“So he had those golden needles in his head for twenty years... And you were the one who removed them?”
“Yes, Grandpa Yakseon.”
“Are you sure his head wasn’t injured? We’ll need to be careful. It could be that his mind shut down, or it might be due to head trauma. Could you explain the treatment process in detail?”
“Of course, sir.”
His words made me worry that I might have done something wrong during the procedure, so I recounted every step carefully.
Even though I’d thought we did a good job, it was still possible we missed something.
Besides, these two were far more experienced in surgical matters. If something had gone wrong, they’d be the ones to spot it.
“There were seven needles in his head. One in the center, surrounded by six others. They were embedded so deeply and had been there for so long they didn’t budge.”
“Even after just a few months, muscle and bone will cling to anything implanted—twenty years would make it nearly impossible to remove. So, how did you do it?”
“I channeled internal energy into the needles to generate force and then used absorption techniques to slowly draw them out.”
“That’s an advanced maneuver. I heard Hwa-eun has reached the Flower Realm, but her understanding must be deeper than expected.”
...Though it was actually Gun Hye-rin who performed the treatment. But I couldn’t exactly say the successor of the Demonic Cult did it.
I just nodded awkwardly at their mistaken assumption.
“Yeah, well... something like that.”
“The delicacy of energy use is what determines whether the brain gets hurt or not...”
“I’m sure Hwa-eun handled it well, hyung.”
“True enough. Then the treatment itself likely wasn’t the problem—it does seem more likely that he’s mentally shut down.”
Their conclusion: not physical brain injury, but a closed-off mind.
The two of them turned to Hoja and began pondering deeply.
“A closed mind, huh... Still, how are we supposed to treat him? No acupuncture, no herbs, no moxibustion...”
“Hyung, what if we try sending in energy...”
“But you’d have to know the internal structure for that, right?”
“I do know it!”
“It needs to be the person channeling the energy who knows it. Even if you do, it won’t help. And what you know is just a normal hornet’s body. If even a little is different, especially in the head, the risk is huge.”
True—what I knew was based on regular hornets.
While the internal structure likely wasn’t too different, this one had a Neidan inside, which meant it couldn’t be exactly the same.
In short, I wouldn’t be much help here.
Even with the three of us wracking our brains, no solution came to mind.
Were even these two elders out of ideas?
Just then, Grandpa Uiseon suddenly clapped his hands as if something struck him.
“This patient isn’t human, so normal treatments won’t work... But if we consider techniques for humans, we might find something that applies...
A spirit beast, one that thinks and speaks like a human... Oh! Of course!”
His voice lit up with realization.
I asked eagerly, “Did something come to mind?”
He nodded and asked back, “Spirit beasts can think and speak like people, right?”
“Correct.”
“Then that means their minds are just like humans’. There’s one technique—though it’s not a medical method—that can reach someone who has shut themselves off.”
“Ooh! What is it!?”
Grandpa Uiseon grinned.
“Soul-Calling Technique.”
“Soul-Calling Technique?”
“Yes. It’s a method to stir a spirit hiding within itself and bring it back.”
At that, Grandpa Yakseon snapped, scandalized:
“Hyung! What kind of thing are you teaching the boy?! How can you suggest such a shady technique to someone from the righteous Murim!?”
“Oh come on, it’s not being used on a person, just a spirit beast. It’s not harming anyone.”
“There you go again! So-ryong, pretend you didn’t hear that. Your grand-uncle here has a history of researching weird treatments and getting chewed out by Master for it. He used to get lectured endlessly for straying from what’s right!”
“Well, Master has passed away...”
“Watch your mouth!”
I’d always thought Grandpa Uiseon was the more dignified one, but apparently he had quite a history of reckless methods.
I quickly nodded along with Grandpa Yakseon.
“Of course. A righteous martial artist must not abandon ethics and turn to such corrupt techniques.”
Grandpa Yakseon beamed at my words.
“Right, that’s the spirit. You really are So-ryong.”
He added, “Still, we haven’t figured out how to treat this one yet. But since we’ll be staying here for a day or two, we’ll keep thinking on it. Let’s rest for now.”
“You’ve come a long way. I’m sorry for pushing my agenda so quickly. Please rest in your quarters.”
“Let us know if anything occurs to us.”
“Yes, Grandpa Yakseon. I’ll take you to your room.”
“Alright, lead the way.”
As I escorted them, I thought to myself—
If the Soul-Calling Technique could be used as treatment, that would be fantastic.
After all, both I and Hwa-eun, and even Sister Seol, had learned it from that Blood Cult woman.
‘Looks like it’s time to begin treatment.’
But I had no intention of using the Soul-Calling Technique.
Not because I’m a “righteous Murim” person or anything like that.
It’s because I had something far more effective than the Soul-Calling Technique.
What is it, you ask?
The Beast-Heart Mind Art registration.
After all, that woman from the Blood Cult had been pulled into my mental realm when she used the Soul-Calling Technique on me.
Compared to that, registering a spirit beast with the Beast-Heart Mind Art was a far superior ability.
I would enter my inner world directly, meet Hoja, and bring him out through registration.
‘Sorry, Sister Jeokwol, Moji, and Soji... but this is for healing. I hope you’ll understand.’
They had joined my family first, but saving a life takes priority.
And with that, I ran toward Hwa-eun.
***
“So-ryong, what if it takes too long? And... you haven’t even been in the Flower Realm for that long.”
“My body is stable enough, so it’ll be fine. I’ll try to finish as quickly as I can. As my martial realm rises, time feels slower to me—so it probably won’t take that long.”
Hwa-eun had only just reached the Flower Realm, and with the wedding just days away, she wanted to wait until after it was over. But I couldn’t.
So I persuaded her and came to the deck to face Hoja.
The plan was to enter his inner world, register him, and awaken his consciousness.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t worry, Hwa-eun.”
“Be careful.”
“Of course.”
After reassuring her, I brought a drop of Hoja’s venom to my lips and activated the Beast-Heart Mind Art.
My vision blinked.
Everything grew blurry, and then a strange new landscape appeared.
A giant rocky mountain stretched before me, the same deep hue as the Grand Canyon. Hornets build nests in trees—but also in rock crevices. That must’ve been the basis for this inner world.
“So, the summit then?”
The top of the rocky peak—surely that’s where Hoja was.
I soared upward with light footwork, ascending higher and higher, until I finally reached the summit.
I looked around, scanning for him.
At the peak, crude slabs of stone were jumbled together.
There, on top of one large boulder, lying down and gazing up at the sky, was Hoja.
He appeared in the form of a woman in her late thirties to early forties, with long jet-black hair cascading down. Her expression was blank, her eyes full of defeat, as if she had given up on the world.
“Hey. Hello?”
I approached cautiously and greeted him.
His head slowly turned toward me.
Then, without a word, he looked back up at the sky and spoke.
[Just let me die.]
‘What!?’
I flinched. No other spirit beast had ever spoken directly inside their inner world—except Hwa-eun.
‘Just like Yeoncheon and Yeonji, huh... must be able to project thoughts directly.’
It seemed he had the same ability. I carefully responded.
“I don’t know what happened, but—”
I was about to say that whatever happened, he should still try to live... when suddenly, the sky flashed.
I looked up—and a scene unfolded above like a giant screen.
Maybe he was trying to show me what had happened?
I’d never seen a spirit beast use a skill like this, so I was a bit flustered, but quickly lay down a short distance away and looked up.
What appeared was a warm crevice in the rocks.
High above human reach, inside a wooden hornet’s nest made of chewed wood, were Hoja’s eggs.
Three eggs.
‘Oh... there were eggs?’
Just as I started imagining the possibility of a hornet army, the sky shifted again.
The next scene showed those bastards from the Five Venoms Sect.
They had invaded Hoja’s domain.
A battle erupted.
And just when I wondered how they’d managed to capture such a powerful creature... it became clear.
They were utterly despicable.
They had attacked Hoja’s nest—some distracting him, while others snatched the eggs and used them as hostages.
He was an intelligent spirit beast... a mother who cherished her young.
He had no way to escape such a trap.
Captured, his fate spiraled into tragedy.
Even while forced to obey under their mind-control technique, Hoja had to watch—helpless—as his babies died one by one.
Not from illness.
Not from neglect.
But because they were turned into pills and swallowed by the sect master of the Five Venoms.
Yes.
When the brainwashing was lifted, all that grief crashed down at once, and Hoja’s mind shut itself off.
Damn those Five Venoms bastards.
After watching it all, I couldn’t stop my tears.
“Sob... sob... I’m so sorry, on behalf of humanity...”
I felt ashamed to be human.
And then, channeling something I must’ve heard in a sad video clip back in my past life, I muttered a familiar line.
That’s when a voice came from beside me.
[I know you’ve been caring for and ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) polishing my body these past few days. I wanted to say thank you. But now, please... let me die. I’ll push you out of my inner world.]
As the master of this mental space, he apparently had the power to eject me.
My surroundings began to blur.
Was this... it?
Was I supposed to let him die?
‘No! I can’t!’
I couldn’t let that happen.
Not for any grand, noble reason.
But because I—the Spicy Fabre—could never allow a venomous creature to die like this.
In my world, venomous beasts die only after a full, happy life.
Any other kind of death? That’s unacceptable under the name of Spicy Fabre.
I shot to my feet and shouted toward Hoja:
“No! I can’t imagine how much it hurts, but I won’t let you die!”
He looked at me, puzzled.
[...Why?]
“Because—there’s no deeper reason! I simply won’t allow it!”
[...What?]
He blinked, clearly expecting some kind of sugar-coated sympathy or moral appeal. But instead, I gave him the only answer that mattered:
“I am the one who loves every venomous creature in the world! A venomous beast in my presence only dies when it has lived a complete and joyful life! So live! No, I will bring you back!
Even if you throw me out a hundred times or a thousand—I’ll return every time. So live!”
The fading world suddenly snapped back into focus.
And Hoja’s eyes filled with tears.
