Chapter 7 – Torong and Yongyong

Chapter 7 – Torong and Yongyong

“Keep this.”

Just as I was about to collapse after finishing my usual brutal training, Tang Hae-soo handed me something.

A small wooden box about the size of a palm.

“What is this?”

“It is a spiritual pill made from the Earth Dragon's inner dan. It is distributed to the warriors of the Tang Clan, but you must not consume it until you have absorbed the energy of the spiritual medicine previously accumulated.”

“Ugh…”

Earth Dragon. Just hearing those two words made me shudder.

The terror I had felt in the cave vividly came to mind. Although my constitution had changed to the Heavenly Martial Body thanks to using my strength in a life-or-death crisis, I could not forget that massive size and those eyes.

“Then, did you search for the Earth Dragon to make this?”

I asked after shoving the wooden box into my bosom, not daring to open it.

“It was not the original purpose, but since it became unnecessary, we made it into spiritual pills and distributed them.”

“What was the original use for it then?”

Tang Hae-soo stared at me quietly before opening his mouth.

“It was because of you. Does it not say that the inner dan of the Earth Dragon opens the blood pathways and strengthens the vessels?”

“……?”

I only blinked my eyes at the unexpected answer.

So, the reason they went through all that trouble and risked their lives was… to save me?

‘So that was all for… Ha, now I finally understand.’

I was just wondering about the hostility I had felt from the Red Shadow Squad, the search party that had been with us on the Yangtze River. Even if I was a piece of trash who could not properly learn martial arts, it was an incomprehensible treatment. It was not simply a matter of disliking me, but it felt like they did not acknowledge my existence.

‘Making them suffer like that just because of me, I would have hated me too.’

As I was lost in thought without responding, Tang Hae-soo added a word.

“…You do not need to worry too much. Everyone was rather pleased to receive the spiritual pills. And in the end, did you not catch the Earth Dragon?”

That would be true. I thought they had only risked their lives without compensation, but it turned out there was a great gift. As expected, proper compensation is important.

“With the poison of the Earth Dragon brought back together, we are making poison pills and antidotes. When I told them it was a poison that neutralized the Essence-Absorbing Fluid, the elders of the Poison Depository showed great interest. Once they use up all the poison they have now, we might have to search for it again…”

“No!”

The Earth Dragon's poison was indeed toxic. It was so potent that they almost died, leaving only me behind, and they were going to look for it again?

When I shouted as if screaming, Tang Hae-soo frowned and continued.

“…we might, but for now, we brought back the Earth Dragon's eggs, so we are waiting to see.”

“Eggs?”

I had thought it wasn't the spawning season right now.

…Sigh, no. That was not the only thing I did not know. I did not know it would be that size either.

“Yes. The Earth Dragon's poison only manifests in females, so the decision for future searches will depend on the gender of the hatchlings.”

As I listened to Tang Hae-soo's words, something flashed in my mind.

“Oh? Then it just needs to be born female?”

“…Is that so? But we cannot know that yet, which is why I said we should wait and see.”

“So, you are saying we just have to make sure females hatch from those eggs.”

When I repeated the same words, Tang Hae-soo knitted his brows and tilted his head.

“I will make it happen. Where are the eggs?”

“……Huh?”

Tang Hae-soo stared at me as if dumbfounded.

It was only natural that it sounded strange for a mere human, not a god, to determine the gender of a living creature.

However, there was a reason I stepped forward like this.

‘I was feeling bothered that they were in danger because of me, but this will do!’

It was because crocodile eggs had a very unique characteristic.

It was none other than TSD, called 'Temperature-dependent sex determination,' where the gender is determined by the temperature when the eggs hatch.

Males are born at 34 degrees Celsius or higher, and females are born at 30 degrees Celsius or lower.

In other words, if the temperature when the Earth Dragon's eggs hatch was set below 30 degrees, they would be born female.

‘If it works out like this, I will not be in danger, and I will earn some points with the Red Shadow Squad and the elders, right?’

Long live documentaries.

I walked into the Poison Depository with Tang Hae-soo, who still had a puzzled expression.

‘As expected, here they are.’

There were two Earth Dragon eggs.

The eggs, which were large enough to fill a palm, looked like ostrich eggs and were wrapped in cotton cloth soaked in warm water.

When I gently touched them, I felt a faint warmth, around 36 degrees, which was human body temperature.

“I will take them. I will take responsibility and hatch female Earth Dragons. Fufu.”

Leaving behind Tang Hae-soo, who looked at me as if I were a madman, I brought the eggs to the annex.

I placed the eggs in the shade and wrapped them with cotton cloth soaked in a mixture of cold and warm water.

‘Please be born female. Only then will I be safe.’

***

The next morning, I faced a very difficult situation.

When I opened my eyes at a strange sound, I met two pairs of pupils staring at me right in front of my nose.

“Aaack!”

As I jumped up in surprise, the things that were on my chest began to roam around the room, making squeaking noises.

“……Uh, could this be…”

Just in case, I looked at the spot where I had placed the Earth Dragon eggs, and broken eggshells came into view.

‘They hatched!’

The baby crocodiles hatched from the palm-sized eggs were a size slightly smaller than a forearm. Squeaking in a high-pitched voice, they were quite cute.

As expected, any animal is lovely when it is a baby.

‘Phew, if I had been even a day late, we might have had to go look for an Earth Dragon again.’

The baby crocodiles that were roaming around the room ran over to my feet when I sat still.

‘Heh… What, they seem kind of cute?’

Seeing them tilt their heads and look at me felt quite cute. To think I found crocodiles cute, I must have gone crazy too. Or had I adapted to the Jianghu martial world, where everything transcended imagination?

Anyway, although I did not expect them to hatch this quickly, it was a relief that both of them looked healthy.

However, the sigh of relief was short-lived.

“Young Master, are you awake— Aaack! What is this!”

Because of Sawol, who entered the room holding clothes, the room became a complete mess.

“Sawol, close the door!”

“Aaack! What is this! Ouch, this thing bit me! Young Master!”

Squeak! Squeak!

“Sawol, it's heading your way!”

“What, what is this, aaack!”

“No, stop!”

Thud!

At the same time Sawol fell flat on his buttocks, both of them stopped.

“Ouch… No, what is this?”

Looking at Sawol, who frowned as if his buttocks hurt, something suddenly came to mind.

“Oh? Sawol. Don't move. Could they…”

When I tapped the bed with my finger, the two hatchlings that had stopped in front of Sawol looked at me.

“…Come here?”

Tapping the bed once more, I called out softly, just in case.

Squeak, squeak!

Then, just like well-behaved puppies, did both of them not run over to me?

“Wow.”

Crocodiles that come when called.

“……Are you raising them?”

“…No?”

It was my first time seeing them too.

“But didn't they come just now when you called?”

“Right? It looks that way to you too, doesn't it? Fascinating. They seem to follow the sound.”

Pointing at the baby crocodiles one by one, I said,

“Let's make you Torong, and you Yongyong.”

“………”

“Bite!”

Squeak, squeak!

Doesn't everyone play this kind of joke once? Just as Torong and Yongyong squeaked and I was about to say it was a joke,

Chomp.

“Aaack! Young Master! Ah, seriously!”

Hanging from the ankles of Sawol, who had a crying face, were Torong and Yongyong, one on each side.

“……Eh?”

‘Do they understand human speech even if they are the offspring of a spiritual creature? Is it just a coincidence?’

“You are doing it again! I told you to stop playing this kind of joke, didn't I? Do you know how startled I was in the past too!”

When Sawol shouted with a frown, I responded out of a slight sense of unfairness.

“Back then, you started it first, Sawol. You teased Kong too, didn't you?”

“If anyone heard you, they'd think I… Huh?”

“It's the truth… Eh?”

However, due to the conversation flowing in a strange direction, Sawol and I stopped talking at the same time.

“C-Could it be that your memories have returned?”

“Oh?”

There was no way that could be?

When I searched my memories for a moment, a marten that I used to feed occasionally came to mind.

The apricot-colored marten, whom I called Kong, used to visit the annex frequently, and every time, Sawol and I would give it dried jerky or fruit pieces.

‘What kind of memory is this?’

The fragments of memory were shattered, like remembering a scene from a movie or drama. However, it was as vivid as if I had experienced it myself, and it did not feel unfamiliar.

It felt like remembering things I already knew but had temporarily forgotten.

“Thank goodness, it's really a relief. Sob, I thought you had forgotten everything, Young Master…”

Sawol tightly held my hand with tears welling up in his eyes.

“It's not that I remember everything, just… that scene suddenly came to mind.”

“We can just remember them one by one like this, since the other memories will return as time passes. It is truly a relief…”

“……”

‘There is no way I could know about the past memories, though.’

Although I did not know how it happened, seeing Sawol rejoice as if it were his own affair made me think it was fortunate to have remembered even this much.

At that moment, the door burst open and Tang Hae-soo, with a frown on his face, entered.

“Tang San-ho, are you late again!”

“Gasp, Brother. It's not that…”

Squeak, squeak!

Just as I was about to explain the reason in response to his angry voice, Torong and Yongyong squeaked.

Chomp.

And before I could even stop them, they bit Tang Hae-soo's ankles one by one.

“Argh, guys! Why are you biting just anyone, huh?!”

“What in the… Could these be the ones that came from the Earth Dragon's eggs?”

Tang Hae-soo stared with an disbelieving expression at the baby crocodiles hanging onto his ankles.

Then, shaking his ankles to fling both of them off, he asked.

“I didn't expect them to hatch this quickly either, but anyway, I've been distracted because of these guys. Haha…”

As I tried to catch the baby crocodiles with an awkward laugh,

“You did well.”

“Clean up and hur— Yes?”

“I said you did well. Seeing that a very faint toxicity is felt from both of them, it seems they were born female, just as you confidently asserted.”

“……”

I had lived long enough to see everything. To think I would hear praise directly from Tang Hae-soo's mouth.

Feeling proud for no reason, I asked while cradling Torong and Yongyong in my arms,

“Then, should I take them to the Poison Depository now?”

“No?”

In my experience, nothing good had ever happened after the word 'No' came out of Tang Hae-soo's mouth. My head was already throbbing.

“Raise them well.”

“………Pardon?”

I knew it would be like this.

“Looking at them, they seem to follow you like a mother, since you were the first person they saw after breaking out of their shells. We cannot separate newborn hatchlings from their mother, can we?”

“What do you mean, they aren't ducks… How is that even a thing?”

“Then what else would you call it when they are gentle only in your arms?”

Looking down at my arms at those words, Torong and Yongyong were staring at me with eyes full of curiosity.

Squeak, squeak?

Tilting their heads, they were completely like young children.

Come to think of it, they came when called, bit when told to bite, and attacked those who were angry at me… It seemed they absolutely considered me their guardian.

“…Even if that's the case, how am I supposed to raise crocodiles? They are extremely dangerous. Don't you remember?”

Did you forget that you and I were almost eaten side by side?

“The dangerous one was the Earth Dragon. It devoured commoners and ruined farming. But what sin do those hatchlings have? Since it has come to this, try raising them in the inner courtyard of the annex. Since their toxicity is still weak, there should be no problem.”

“………”

One month after falling into the Jianghu martial world.

It seems…

…I had gotten pet crocodiles.

Squeak?