Ten li (4km).

It was a short distance that could be reached in half a sichen even on foot.

For Cheonyeong, who was running using his lightness skill, the road to Yeoktaek was not very far.

But the person he was about to meet might be a distinguished guest to be invited to the Tang Family's estate. Of course, there had to be a gift.

The merchant had said he was a drunkard. If he was selling things to cover his drinking expenses, he should naturally buy a few bottles of wine to win his favor.

Cheonyeong smirks, looking at the bundle of wine bottles in his hand.

Before long, he arrived at Yeoktaek, a small village located on the mountainside. The scenery of about ten houses and the terraced fields cultivated in layers below them calmed his mind.

Since it was early, there were not many people in the village.

A few children playing house, and a few dogs running around excitedly, were all.

Well, at this time, the adults would all be out working.

Cheonyeong, who had slowed down at the entrance of the village, approached the old men who were gathered under the shade of a large tree, enjoying a nap and dozing off.

"Sir."

An old man raises his head with a sleepy expression at Cheonyeong's call.

The old man, who was looking Cheonyeong up and down as he smiled brightly, asked.

"Who are you?"

Was it because he had woken him up?

It was a voice that felt somewhat blunt.

In times like this.

Thud.

Cheonyeong, who had smiled brightly, approached and sat down with a good-natured plop, and the blunt old man tilts his head.

"Your clothes... look expensive..."

"I can just wash them."

Cheonyeong, who had smirked, suddenly takes out a bottle of wine and holds it out in front of the old man.

"Huh? What's this?"

"As you can see, it's wine."

"Wine? Why this?"

Although the old man was puzzled, he sniffed at the fragrant smell coming out of the wine bottle.

Seeing his wrinkled neck move, it seemed he was swallowing his saliva. Before he knew it, the old men who were around also showed interest and got up to peek.

Cheonyeong, who had smiled brightly at their reaction, holds out the wine bottle to the old men.

"Would you like a drink?"

"You're asking us to drink?"

"Yes."

The old men look at Cheonyeong suspiciously as he offers them wine.

The kindness of a stranger who doesn't look like a person from Yunnan.

Anyone would have shown the same reaction. But their gaze was occasionally on the wine bottle.

"Actually, I came from the Central Plains, and I'm wandering around Yunnan."

"So you were from the Central Plains?"

"Yes."

"But why the wine?"

"It's a kind of bribe."

"A bribe?"

"Yes. How would a wanderer know a place he's visiting for the first time? Shouldn't he ask for help from those who are no different from the local masters?"

"Local masters?"

"Of course. Since you've lived here all your life, you must know better than anyone else, right?"

"Well, that's true. I was born in Yeoktaek and have lived here ever since."

The old man nods his head, agreeing with Cheonyeong's words.

Since the smell of wine had spread strongly, his cautious expression had also softened a lot.

"So it's a bribe."

"Keuk keuk, the young man is very good-natured, isn't he?"

"Please drink up. It won't taste good if all the fragrance escapes."

"Of course, that's right. You know a thing or two about wine."

The old man grabs the wine bottle as he is offered it again.

"Ahem, you punk! I'm a local master too. Are you going to drink it all by yourself?"

"What a greedy punk! Don't put your mouth on the bottle, pour it into a cup! A cup!"

The old men who were around made a fuss and gathered to forcibly take the wine bottle he was holding.

In the end, the wine was evenly distributed in the cups they had brought, and the old men, who were sitting in a circle, emptied their cups with a gulp.

"Keeu, good!"

"This seems to be expensive wine."

"The young man from the Central Plains knows how to treat people."

As the wine tasted good, praises for Cheonyeong followed one after another.

After a few more bottles of wine were emptied, one of the old men, who was quite drunk, asked Cheonyeong.

"You're wandering?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, but there's nothing much to see in Yeoktaek. Where should I introduce you to..."

The old man pondered as if to pay for the wine.

"Actually, I have something to ask."

"What is it? Tell me. I'll tell you everything I know."

"By any chance, is there a person named Danya here?"

"Danya?"

"Yes."

"Danya... hmm, was there a punk with that name in Yeoktaek?"

The old man frowned and tilted his head.

The other old men were the same.

Could it be that the merchant had told him a different place?

There was no way that the old men who had lived in a village for a long time would not know the name of a villager.

That's how old people are.

Should I say they are interested in the news of other people's houses?

That house's son did this this time, or the daughter-in-law is like that...

The stories they share whenever they gather are all like that.

Those who know the ins and outs of other people's houses better than anyone else might be the old people of that neighborhood.

Especially since Yeoktaek was a small neighborhood with just over ten houses.

"I know him as a blacksmith who makes farm tools."

"A blacksmith?"

"Yes."

"...Ah!"

An old man exclaims as if something had come to his mind at Cheonyeong's words.

"By any chance, is it that punk?"

"Who?"

"You know, that drunkard who lives in Jeolgol."

"That punk was a blacksmith?"

"I think so. My son said so. He said he sometimes comes out and repairs farm tools in return for getting wine."

"Then it must be him. He came and went last time too, right?"

"Of course."

"He's a gloomy punk. To live in Jeolgol where no one lives. There are more than one or two snakes there."

"I know... it's amazing that he's living there without dying, where no one can enter because of the snakes. Last time, I mean."

The conversation strays.

Before he knew it, the old men's conversation had turned from snakes to bragging about their sons, and it had turned into gossiping about the villagers and pointless complaints.

But.

"It seems I've come to the right place."

Cheonyeong smiles brightly.

A drunkard. A gloomy person who repairs farm tools.

He must be Danya.

"Sir."

"These days, the snakes are full of poison... huh? Why is that?"

The old man, who had been engrossed in their conversation, looks at Cheonyeong's call.

"Where is that place called Jeolgol?"

"Jeolgol?"

"Yes."

The old man points with his finger as Cheonyeong asks.

"You see the place where the mountain bends over there?"

"Yes."

"That's Jeolgol. A long time ago, a crazy monk built a temple inside, so it got that name. It's a ruin now..."

"Then what about the person named Danya?"

"I heard he lives in a hut near the ruins... I don't know if he's still there. Because it's a place where many snakes come out, the villagers never go there."

"I see. Thank you for your help."

"What help? We're the ones who are grateful. But are you going? To that rough place?"

"Yes."

"You punk, what are you going to do if you get into trouble? That's not a place for people to go."

Cheonyeong wore a smile at the old man's words.

What's so scary about snakes... unless the snakes are scared of him.

"You're running out of wine, right? I'll leave one more bottle."

"Will you? This is so... thank you."

The old men's worries soon turn into greed for the wine as Cheonyeong takes out a bottle of wine and holds it out.

"I'll be going now."

"Yes, yes. Don't go to Jeolgol."

"Yes."

The old men wave their hands at Cheonyeong's greeting. Their interest was only on the newly taken out wine bottle.

Cheonyeong, who had parted with the old men, walked towards Jeolgol with a leisurely pace as if he were looking around the village.

A valley that began where the mountain bent.

Cheonyeong, who had entered the entrance, stops for a moment and looks at the valley called Jeolgol.

"Snakes..."

It seems so.

Because the trees, which had not been touched by human hands for a long time, were so dense that it was impossible to guess what was inside.

Surely, Danya would be there.

In a temple that had turned into a ruin. In a place where people did not dare to visit because there were many snakes.

Cheonyeong mutters, looking at the valley with narrowed eyes. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"In the end, it means he's living in seclusion in a deserted place... a blacksmith, I mean. He's an interesting person."

Those who have blacksmithing skills should live near people.

Because they have to sell their skills to make a living.

But Danya had settled in a deserted place.

If he had been hammering diligently, the sound would have echoed through the valley and spread far.

But besides the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, no other sound could be heard.

It meant he wasn't working.

There must be a reason, and that reason is.

"I'll know when I meet him."

Cheonyeong moves his steps towards the inside of the valley.

* * *

Swish!

Cheonyeong, who had perked up his ears at the noise coming from between the trees, throws his head back.

Teob!

The identity of the thing that was forcefully closing its mouth towards the empty space where Cheonyeong's neck had been until just now was a snake.

Seu-geok!

Cheonyeong swings his sword short and cuts off the snake's neck.

Tu-tuk.

The body of the snake, which had lost its head, twitches for a while and then goes limp.

"A flying snake species?"

A snake that lives on trees and has a habit of throwing its body as if flying when it finds prey.

Aren't they punks that are not commonly seen in the Central Plains?

But.

Swish, swish-swish.

Cheonyeong looks around at the sounds coming from all directions.

"Well, I'll be. As expected of Yunnan. A punk I've only seen in books... is so common here."

Cheonyeong let out a hollow laugh at the sight of the snakes, which were coiled around the branches of every tree in sight, revealing their poisonous fangs.

But Cheonyeong's face, which had been looking intently at the flying snake species, soon loses its smile.

Snakes are very cautious creatures.

So, they do not recklessly reveal themselves except for the moment they fly towards their prey.

Especially since it is common for them to avoid prey that is several times larger than their own body, like humans.

But these punks are different.

Regardless of size, whether it's a big punk or a small punk, aren't they showing aggression as if they consider him an enemy?

That means.

"It's a snake formation, isn't it?"

A formation intentionally created by someone to prepare for an unexpected visitor.

It's certain.

In the places that Cheonyeong scanned with his eyes, there were many natural objects that formed the axis of the formation.

It was a place that someone had intentionally made.

And he had walked into this place on his own, without noticing it.

With this, it became certain.

Danya, he was not an ordinary blacksmith.

"Danya, I'm really curious about what you do. It's strange enough that a blacksmith is hiding, but you even know a high-level formation like a snake formation."

The poison that the snakes emit is an unrefined, primitive poison. If you inhale a large amount, you can't avoid being poisoned.

Cheonyeong takes out the antidote he had bought from the merchant from his pocket and pours it into his mouth.

Kka-deuk, kka-deuk.

The energy of the antidote spreads through his body and pushes out the poison energy that had accumulated.

"With this, the preparation is complete."

Cheonyeong grips his sword in reverse with a smile.

"Alright. Since I've received such a grand welcome, it's only right that I respond."

Magnificently.

Ku-u-u...

Samyang Divine Art, Body Transformation.

The internal energy generated from his dantian spreads to his four limbs and hundred bones.

Now that he was not far from the next stage, the Filled Body.

U-u-ung!

The sword, imbued with energy, emits a bluish light and lets out a cry.

Swii-i-ik!

The snakes, instinctively feeling threatened by Cheonyeong's energy, emit a strong poisonous energy and flick their tongues.

But no punk runs away.

The snakes trapped in the snake formation originally have nothing but aggression.

"You ill-mannered snake bastards, you're baring your teeth at a person?"

Ku-u-ung!

Cheonyeong's foot stomps the ground forcefully.

Pa-a-ang!

The internal energy that filled his body erupts towards the Yongcheon point and shakes the forest violently.

Kya-a-a-ak!

The snakes, with their mouths wide open, throw their bodies at once towards the advancing Cheonyeong like an arrow.

The moment he puts strength into his gripped hand, the bluish energy that was on the sword stretches out long.

Samyang Divine Art, Whip Sword Qi!

Hwa-a-ak!

What's so great about a technique?

Since it's a martial art that only he knows in the world, he can just make it up and use it!

Following Cheonyeong's hand, the sword qi bends in all directions and fills the forest with a dense trajectory.

Kwa-deuk! Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!

"Keu-heu-heu, I'll slice you all up!"

Cheonyeong, as if possessed, swings his sword and advances towards the deep part of the valley.

The blue sword qi cut down not only the flying snakes but also the cumbersome trees.

A large path that had never existed before was being opened in the dense forest of Jeolgol.

The Tang Family's Departure from the World