I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 101

Chapter 101 Like Master, Like Disciple

Baek Seolhwa wasn’t the type to listen to Baek Yeonyeong.

She didn’t get along well with her, much like the other sisters.

However, it was unthinkable for the Shrine Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult not to follow the orders of the Cult Leader.

There was a command, not from Baek Yeonyeong, but from the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Do not touch that handsome lizard.

Even if Baek Yeonyeong was not present, it was impossible to disobey that order.

Woo Jinwoon, the Left Guardian assigned by Baek Yeonyeong, was currently hidden in the shadows.

If she were to do something foolish, the Cult Leader would be notified directly.

Of course, even without that, Baek Seolhwa, who was aware of her position as the Shrine Maiden, would never defy the Cult Leader’s order.

Yet, she still mentioned the word “Sugungsa.”

It wasn’t a thoughtless or casual statement.

The reason she brought up that word was to gauge the lizard in front of her.

Let’s organize the information Baek Seolhwa had gathered so far.

First of all, the lizard seemed to like being touched.

Considering how it remained still when its soft belly was petted, it was clear that it was different from other lizards.

A lizard that enjoyed human contact.

It was not an ordinary lizard.

From the start, it possessed internal energy that was almost at the pinnacle, or perhaps even beyond that, so it couldn’t be considered an ordinary lizard.

This lizard didn’t dislike humans.

On the contrary, it could be seen as having some level of goodwill.

A spiritual creature, even if it could communicate, was a life form that could not fully align with human understanding.

Especially the spiritual creatures of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains were even more so.

This was a place where thousands upon thousands of spiritual creatures gathered.

They hunted each other, coveting each other’s cores.

Naturally, their temperament would be bound to become violent.

Of course, it wasn’t that there were no spiritual creatures friendly to humans, but they were extremely rare.

Moreover, this lizard understood the word “Sugungsa.”

There were indeed spiritual creatures that could speak human language.

However, even such creatures wouldn’t know words that only humans used. Unless they learned it from another human.

And there was no human who would have taught a lizard about Sugungsa.

Even Baek Yeonyeong wouldn’t have explained the meaning of Sugungsa.

Yet, this lizard knew exactly what Sugungsa was.

Judging by how it was reacting so violently, it knew that Sugungsa was made from lizards.

A lizard that was friendly to humans and possessed human knowledge.

Moreover, it was a lizard that had already caught the eye of the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Baek Seolhwa thought she needed to learn more about this lizard.

—

This was an emergency.

I had run into the wrong person.

No, who in their right mind would mention Sugungsa in front of a lizard?

…Well, Baek Yeonyeong did.

But even Baek Yeonyeong had only mentioned it in passing.

She hadn’t addressed me by name or spoken to me in polite language.

She was asking me directly if she could poison me with mercury and grind me up.

Should I just fire a Gecko Death Beam at her?

Running away seemed to be the first priority.

I was deep in thought.

“It’s just a joke.”

Baek Seolhwa, who had loosened her grip slightly, said such words.

Thanks to that, I could breathe a little easier.

It felt like I could escape if I tried hard enough, but now wasn’t the time.

Seeing that she had loosened her grip, it meant there was still room for negotiation.

If I made an uncertain escape attempt, I might incur further wrath.

But it was just a joke?

“Geck-geck!”

What a terrifying joke.

The chances of it being a lie were slim.

She knew my name was Hui, so how could she be thinking of turning me into Sugungsa?

It was a name given to me personally by Baek Yeonyeong.

If she messed with me, my master wouldn’t stand by idly.

But it was too early to feel relieved.

My long experience was telling me.

This was an opponent I could never let my guard down around.

“My name is Baek Seolhwa. I’ve heard a lot about you, Hui.”

Baek Seolhwa gracefully bowed her upper body.

I almost got distracted by the pouch of internal energy swaying before my eyes.

Is she planning to turn me into Sugungsa while I’m off guard?

It won’t work.

“Geck-geck-geck!”

I slapped her wrist with my tail.

I wanted to express that I was in a very bad mood.

I was someone who was somewhat favored by Baek Yeonyeong.

I didn’t know her exact status, but if we were talking about pure combat power, she would definitely rank among the top five in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Although Baek Seolhwa was her blood relative, her practical rank was lower than hers.

“Oh my, did I upset you?”

It was hard to adjust when she had the same face as Baek Yeonyeong but acted like that.

But I couldn’t back down.

Escaping from this woman’s clutches wasn’t my only goal.

My goal was to take the unicorn horn that had fallen over there.

To do that, I had to try negotiating.

I glared at her with my triangular face.

Her face seemed perfect for the word “scheming.”

“…Did I really upset you that much?”

Baek Seolhwa, deep in thought.

Suddenly, she reached into the gap of her internal energy pouch.

Such shameless behavior!

Is she planning to use her body to attack me now?

She covered my eyes with her small hand.

Of course, I didn’t miss her movements.

…it wasn’t out of personal desire, but to prepare for any unexpected situations.

Baek Seolhwa took out a long tube from her pouch.

The capacity of her pouch was large, so something like that could fit inside.

As she opened the lid of the tube, a sweet smell wafted out.

It was a familiar scent.

It was the same smell as the rice cake balls I had smelled in the Silver Dragon Cave.

“This is something I don’t get to eat often, but I brought it just in case.”

Drool dripped from my mouth.

How long had it been since I last tasted something sweet?

I had been eating fairly high-quality meals every day, but that was strictly by the standards of a carnivore.

It wasn’t that I missed plants. But sweet things were always welcome.

And those rice cake balls weren’t just ordinarily sweet.

“Uh? You seem to know what this is? Yes, it’s rice cake made with the honey of Okbong.”

Okbong’s honey!

I remembered what Tang So-yeong had said.

It was the honey of Okbong that was suppressing the conflicting energies of the elixirs within my body.

No wonder it tasted so good, it was made with such ingredients.

Baek Seolhwa took out a rice cake ball and handed it to me.

“Geck-geck!”

I accepted the rice cake ball she offered with both hands.

It would have been nice to share it with the Snake Mother and Daughter, but there wasn’t enough.

I had no choice but to eat it myself.

Chomp.

Munch.

The mildly sweet taste filled my mouth.

If it was just that, I wouldn’t have drooled.

Soon, a storm of various types of sweetness surged in waves.

“Ge-ge-geck!”

I couldn’t help but let out an exclamation.

Baek Seolhwa watched me with satisfaction.

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

It was impossible not to feel better.

I couldn’t even pretend to be angry anymore.

But I couldn’t open up completely either.

Seeing how she gave me such a precious treat, she must want something from me.

“Geck.”

Go ahead, speak.

I’ll listen.

“Hui, would you like to come with me?”

Are you seeing me as a materialist?

“You could eat such delicious food every day.”

I shook my head.

I was the one who had refused even when Baek Yeonyeong offered to take care of me.

There was no way I could go under someone else’s wing now.

And even if I followed this woman, it would create an awkward situation.

If I ran into Baek Yeonyeong and the four sisters of the Tang Clan in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, I’d be in a tough spot.

I could only imagine the screeching sounds and the darkness before my eyes.

“…You’re definitely different from other spiritual creatures.”

Baek Seolhwa gently patted my head.

“Okbong’s honey is a kind of elixir. For a spiritual creature, it’s something to crave, yet you restrained yourself with your own will.”

Hmm.

Is it really that impressive?

Of course, it was incredibly tasty, but it wasn’t to the point where I lost my mind.

Besides, I had eaten it once before.

Baek Seolhwa gazed at me for a long time.

It felt like she was examining me to see if there were any side effects.

After observing me for a while, Baek Seolhwa nodded.

“You’re truly amazing. It wouldn’t be right to keep such a remarkable spiritual creature trapped.”

Baek Seolhwa seemed to be trying to put me down.

…Am I really going to get away like this?

“Geck.”

Hold on a second.

“What’s the matter?”

“Geck

-geck.”

I tapped her wrist with my tail.

It wasn’t a hit.

It was a tap.

Which meant that I was pointing at something.

My sharp claws were pointing at the unicorn horn placed over there.

Give me that.

It was a shameless lizard’s posture.

“Ge-ge-geck.”

“…Are you asking for the unicorn horn?”

“Geck.”

“No matter what, I can’t give you the unicorn horn… Ah!”

Baek Seolhwa exclaimed as if she had a good idea.

Yes, you’ve thought well.

“If I give you the unicorn horn, how about you become Sugungsa?”

You thought wrong.

“Ge-geck!”

Why is the conversation going in this direction?

“Then there’s nothing I can do. If I don’t get the unicorn horn, I’ll have to find a lizard to use as an ingredient for Sugungsa, but I can’t miss out on both.”

…Didn’t you say it was a joke about Sugungsa?

Could this be a sophisticated strategy to make me let my guard down?

It seemed like she still hadn’t given up on making me into Sugungsa.

“If I were to give you the unicorn horn….”

Baek Seolhwa continued her earnest explanation.

A unicorn horn.

Or Sugungsa was needed.

She said she couldn’t give me the unicorn horn because she had to return with one of the two.

If she wanted to give it up, she’d have to grind me up first.

…If she grinds me up, what’s the point of giving it up?

If it were an ordinary lizard, it wouldn’t be able to escape from this situation.

At best, it would return to the Snake Queen and let out a sad geck sound, saying it failed its mission.

But who am I?

The Master of the Silver Dragon Cave.

The Master of the Lower Marshlands.

The One Loved by Spiders.

The Snake Queen’s Companion.

The Snake Princess’s Companion.

…There seem to be some strange titles mixed in.

Anyway, it meant that I wasn’t an ordinary lizard.

I knew the best way to get out of this situation.

Gecko Species, First Technique.

Tail Cutting.

—

Baek Seolhwa looked at her hand.

All that remained was the lizard’s tail.

A long, plump tail.

It was the tail Hui had left behind.

At first, she was shocked.

Even though it was a self-severed tail, she had ended up touching the lizard that the Cult Leader had declared untouchable.

However, as time passed, she was relieved when she saw the lizard’s tail growing back.

It was an unexpected method.

Of course, you couldn’t make Sugungsa with just a tail.

Sugungsa was made by grinding up a mercury-fed lizard.

But in exchange for receiving the tail, she handed over the unicorn horn to him.

It wasn’t an ordinary lizard’s tail.

It was a tail brimming with a sacred energy that could be called divine power.

It was clear that this tail was worth several times more than the unicorn horn.

She watched as he ran off, carrying the unicorn horn with all his might.

She felt a little disappointed that he ran off without looking back the moment he received the unicorn horn, but she didn’t show it.

It was a lizard that had caught Baek Yeonyeong’s eye.

She knew they would meet again soon enough.

“…Even on second thought, it’s impressive.”

There was no comparison to any other spiritual creature she had seen.

It was hard to explain, but there were many things about him that were different.

Especially when it came to the honey of Okbong, what he did shattered Baek Seolhwa’s common sense.

Inside the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, there were indeed many kinds of elixirs and spiritual creatures, but Okbong’s honey was something that couldn’t be found here. If a spiritual creature encountered Okbong’s honey, it wouldn’t be able to resist.

Even the most mystical of spiritual creatures might lose their reason if they tasted Okbong’s honey for the first time.

But he had held back as if to show off.

He didn’t wiggle his tail or attack to steal Okbong’s honey.

Unless he had some sort of resistance, it would have been impossible.

There was no way that lizard had resistance.

Baek Seolhwa sighed.

If she had known it would be like this, she would have just eaten it herself.

Thinking that, she looked down at her chest.

One of her concerns was that a certain part of her body grew bigger every time she ate something sweet.

That was the reason she had refrained from eating Okbong’s honey. Besides, it was so expensive that even she, as the Shrine Maiden, couldn’t eat it freely.

…But after moving her body for the first time in a while, maybe just one wouldn’t be so bad?

With such a wicked thought, Baek Seolhwa reached into the gap of her internal energy pouch.

But the tube that should have been there was nowhere to be found.

No matter how much she fumbled around, the result didn’t change.

What on earth could have happened?

She was sure she had given the rice cake ball to that lizard.

“…Could it be?”

She finally realized.

The reason why that lizard had run off immediately after receiving the unicorn horn.

“That… that rascal…!”

He had stolen all of her precious rice cake balls.

As expected of a lizard that had caught Baek Yeonyeong’s eye.