Chapter 50

No wonder he hadn't seen it during dinner earlier...

"Young Master Neung, step back. This is a venomous snake..."

Before the warning could even finish, the frightened Neung Jeong-dong backed away from the chair and ran away for his life.

Cheong-ra couldn't move with not just a snake, but a spirit beast with deadly venom perched on his shoulder. He had no idea how this creature, which had clearly been in Dang Ran-yeong's chaotic room, had managed to climb onto his body. The snake, as stealthy as its owner, flicked its tongue.

"Rin-rin?"

Hoping that as a spirit beast, it might understand human speech to some extent, Cheong-ra carefully addressed it.

"...Good boy. Won't you get down?"

He didn't like snakes. Not only because of the characteristics of snakes as creatures, but also because their appearance had aspects that reminded him of something he disliked. Unable to bring himself to touch it, Cheong-ra carefully broke off a twig and held it out in front of the Venomous Horned Serpent's head.

The Venomous Horned Serpent seemed about to climb onto the twig, but then immediately hid between the folds of his collar. The sensation of scales sliding against his skin was so chilling that not only his hair but every body hair seemed to stand on end.

He wanted to immediately take off his clothes and throw them away, but this was the back garden. Even in a life-or-death situation, appearances were more important to Cheong-ra, who took a deep breath and stood up.

He returned to the fourth-floor guest room with difficulty, carrying the cool snake roaming inside his clothes. When he went to Dang Ran-yeong's room, the owner was nowhere to be found, and it was completely empty. Cheong-ra had no choice but to return to his own room and carefully remove his clothes.

However, even after he had almost completely undressed, the snake clung tightly to his skin with no intention of letting go. With no other option, he was putting his clothes back on when he heard Yeo-jin's urgent voice from outside.

"Young Master Baek Ri, are you alright? May I come in?"

"Miss Yeo-jin, please come in."

Thinking this was fortunate timing, Cheong-ra answered brightly. Yeo-jin, who opened the door and entered, smiled seeing that Cheong-ra was fine.

"Young Master Neung came with a pale face saying Young Master Baek Ri had been bitten by a venomous snake, but it was Rin-rin. What a relief."

Cheong-ra, who was struggling with the Venomous Horned Serpent crawling on his back, asked Yeo-jin.

"Doesn't Rin-rin bite people?"

"Oh my, no. It does bite. But it's still a baby, so its venom is weak and won't kill immediately. Besides, it's been handled by people since birth, so unless Lord Owner Dang orders it, it usually doesn't bite."

Hearing that it usually doesn't bite rather than not biting at all, Cheong-ra couldn't feel completely at ease. So when he asked Yeo-jin to call Dang Ran-yeong or Hwan-hong, he received the troublesome answer that she didn't know where they were. Why on earth didn't she know the whereabouts of people who had been dining together just moments ago?

When he asked if she could remove the snake for him, she said that would be difficult too, almost making him ask what exactly she could do. Taking another deep breath, he instead requested food for the baby Venomous Horned Serpent.

"Rin-rin... aren't you hungry?"

He called its name and carefully tempted it by waving raw meat with chopsticks, but the baby Venomous Horned Serpent pretended not to notice. After trying for a long time, Cheong-ra took a deep breath and tried to calm his mind by polishing the furniture in the room with a handkerchief until it shone.

"There's a warmer nest here..."

Cheong-ra took out a drawer from the furniture, thoroughly dusted it, and opened the window for ventilation. While he was at it, he carefully swept and cleaned every corner of the window frame, trying to maintain his composure. Rin-rin kept flicking its tongue near his ear.

"Look at this. It's a carving that looks like a mouse, right? It might be a good toy for you. Oh, what's this?"

Now he noticed that a cute pig had somehow been added next to the mouse...

Cheong-ra polished and repolished the expensive decorative items adorning the guest room until they sparkled. Not satisfied with just sweeping the floor, he even swept the ceiling this time. No matter how diligently Yeo-jin cleaned, she wouldn't have cleaned the ceiling. Even during this thorough cleaning, the Venomous Horned Serpent showed no intention of leaving his body.

"No, don't go there...! Ah! Not there!"

Straightening the seams of the blanket, unpacking and repacking his luggage, sword maintenance, combing his hair, trimming his nails and eyebrows, bathing...

After all his efforts to remove the source of anxiety and fear from his body, Cheong-ra finally gave up. For some reason, the baby Venomous Horned Serpent had no intention of leaving Cheong-ra's body. After sleeping, bathing, and eating together like this, Cheong-ra became accustomed to the baby snake in just a few days.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, the baby Venomous Horned Serpent had its cute aspects. Its eyes were black and bright, and its scales shimmered with a soft glow, making it look like a bracelet when wrapped around his arm.

Furthermore, Rin-rin knew how to be affectionate. While Cheong-ra was playing the zither, the baby snake would sway its body and then gently bump its head, giving kisses to his mouth.

"Come to think of it, I heard there's a method in the Western Regions to control snakes with a flute..."

Cheong-ra smiled as he gently stroked the snake's chin. The tiny snake tilted its head and softly rubbed its head against the back of his hand.

"Do you like listening to the music too, Rin-rin?"

Cheong-ra, who had grown fond of the snake in just a few days and was doting on it, suddenly fell into doubt. By the way, he said he'd take me to Mount Heng, but when exactly does he plan to go there...

"Mount Heng... it sounds strangely familiar. Where did I hear about it recently?"

It was while Cheong-ra was trying to recall his hazy memory. Rin-rin, who had been smoothly rubbing against his hand, affectionately bit the back of his hand lightly. Cheong-ra's face, which had been smiling without much thought, hardened.

"Rin-rin...? Did you just..."

You just bit my hand...? Before he could even finish asking, a hot sensation spread across the back of his hand. Then, in the rapidly fading vision, what came to mind were Yeo-jin's words that it was a baby, so its venom wasn't strong enough to kill immediately.

***

'Mother, it hurts so much...'

Feeling as if his limbs were being torn apart, Cheong-ra pleaded with tears. Although he was someone who would comply with anything his mother said, maintaining a difficult posture tied up all day was too hard. He pleaded in his young voice, but what came back was a cold rejection.

'This is all to become beautiful. You must endure.'

'Hic, sob...'

'My son, you can endure it, can't you?'

He wanted to beg to be let down, but he couldn't. It wasn't because of the hand that gently stroked him, saying "Good boy, good boy."

Cheong-ra's pale gaze turned to one side. Insects were crawling in a small box. Just looking at it made his skin crawl and he felt like he would faint from fear. When an immediate answer didn't come, the delicate hand grabbed a handful of insects from the box.

'If you don't do it properly, you'll have to eat the insects!'

The voice that had been gentle suddenly turned harsh and scolded Cheong-ra. Eat the insects! Eat them! The wriggling insects fell from the hand and crawled on the floor. As the insects approached close to his face, Cheong-ra screamed and answered.

"Please don't... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

As he muttered, feeling nauseous, he suddenly realized that this was a dream of a terrible past.

While he was still not fully out of the aftermath of the nightmare, what fully woke him up was the clattering noise and movement. His body was lethargic, so he couldn't wake up immediately and remained limp, but gradually the sensation in his body returned. Something was crawling on his neck.

'No, not crawling...'

For a moment, he got goosebumps thinking it might be insects because of the nightmare. But as he carefully felt it, the sensation was too large and warm to be insects.

'A human hand...?'

Someone is touching my neck...? His consciousness was barely hanging on, and it took a long time just to come to his senses and open his eyes. As he finally managed to lift his heavy eyelids, something was swaying in front of his eyes.

"Rin-rin...?"

As he mumbled, the tiny snake gave little kisses as if pecking at his mouth. As he unconsciously smiled and doted on it, a familiar voice was heard.

"Snakes like dark holes."

His mind suddenly cleared. As he managed to turn his head, he saw a huge, dark figure in his blurry vision. After blinking a few times, his vision finally cleared and he could see that it was Dang Ran-yeong. As always, he was dressed splendidly. His dark green eyes, looking down at Cheong-ra with his chin resting on his hand, shone with a glossy light.

"Maybe because it's a baby, it especially likes to crawl into human body holes. It's perfect for snakes because it's humid, warm, and moist."

What? Cheong-ra's complexion, which had been receiving kisses from the Venomous Horned Serpent, turned pale.