Entomologist in Sichuan Tang Clan Chapter 224

224
What Hwa-eun meant was that the victims may have been poisoned by a poison that had a powerful paralyzing or anesthetic effect that stopped their spontaneous breathing.

‘Then… does that mean I’m poisoned by some kind of neurotoxin?’

If breathing is to stop, it is definitely not a hemorrhagic poison, and the culprit’s poison is probably a neurotoxin.

This was because only neurotoxins that paralyze the central nervous system when poisoned could cause short-term cessation of breathing.

Because if you are poisoned by a neurotoxin, your heart and breathing will stop.

‘It’s a powerful neurotoxin… Among the creatures with neurotoxins, the famous ones are cobras, scorpions, sea snakes, and puffer fish…

‘This is a lake, so maybe it’s a sea snake or a puffer fish-type creature? No. Then it doesn’t fit the current situation, does it?’

When we think of neurotoxins, the poisons that come to mind are cobras, sea snakes, scorpions, and puffer fish.

Excluding scorpions, which cannot live in water, and cobras, the only things left were sea snakes and puffer fish.

However, the poison of both is the same poison, tetrodotoxin.

It was the wrong poison for the situation.

“But Hwa-eun, didn’t you say there was no poison when you checked earlier?”

Seol Nu-ni also felt something strange and asked Hwa-eun with an expression that said she didn’t understand.

Because Hwa-eun clearly said earlier that there was no poison left in the body.

Yes, the tetrodotoxin I was thinking of is a deadly poison, but if it was tetrodotoxin, it should have remained in the body.

Tetrodotoxin is so stable that it does not disappear even after boiling for dozens of hours, so it could never simply disappear from the human body.

“That’s right. There was definitely no poison. So it’s a bit strange. Can you check when these people went out to catch fish and things like that?”

Hwa-eun tilts her head and asks the ajjang who was waiting next to us.

“Okay. I heard that relatives are coming to receive the body, so I’ll go and ask them.”

Hwa-eun, who saw Ajang running towards the government office, directed him inward again.

“Once you’ve checked the closure, check the stomach next.”

“Okay, miss. What should I check for in your stomach?”

“Is there any food left inside, and if so, how much is left?”

“All right.”

The sound of scissors or knives slicing from inside continued, and in the meantime, the chief of the government army who had disappeared towards the government office came running back in a hurry to report.

“Huk, huk… I just checked. The two are cousins ​​who make a living by catching fish with nets. They said they went out at dawn to check the nets they had set the day before. They say that nets are usually taken down at dawn….”

“okay.”

“Yes, it was discovered by people at noon today. Fishermen who went to check their nets saw only the boat floating, so they looked around and found a body floating on the water.”

As I nodded my head at Ajang’s report, a voice was heard from inside.

The Ojaks reported that they had checked the stomach.

“Miss, the food up there is almost intact. It looks like you had some dumplings and stir-fried vegetables for breakfast, but it’s all intact.”

“Then you’re saying he died as soon as he went out at dawn?”

Hwa-eun specifies the time when the food in the stomach remains undigested.

The magpies inside spoke in a voice of admiration at Hwa-eun’s explanation.

“Oh! That, that’s right! Since the food is still there, it must have died at dawn.”

“Oh! Is this really Sacheondangga?”

I shrugged my shoulders in vain at the compliments people gave me, but on the other hand, I also felt a little creeped out because it was about a corpse.

As I looked at Hwa-eun’s face with an awkward expression, Hwa-eun smiled at me.

Then the eerie feeling disappeared and this thought occurred to me.

‘Yeah! Let’s just think of them as nurses or doctors of this era! Hwa-eun somehow seems like she’d suit that kind of thing well…’

It was a little creepy that Hwa-eun knew so much about corpses, but if you think about it, wouldn’t doctors and nurses know this much?

Although it was a bit different in that she learned not to save people but to catch people, I decided to think of Hwa-eun as a doctor or nurse who catches people in this era.

First of all, it’s pretty.

What can I do if I have to get used to this situation since we’re already engaged?

‘It’s just intelligence. Of course.’

While I was using Hwa-eun’s beauty to erase other shortcomings, Hwa-eun’s orders and requests continued.

“Lastly, please check the liver.”

“Yes, Miss!”

“Could you pass this inside? After you mix it with water, cut a piece of soy sauce into it, and tell me what color it comes out to.”

“Okay, miss.”

As Ajang, who had received Hwa-eun’s request, disappeared inside, Hwa-eun came out and explained to Seol-nu.

“If I were to guess, it would be a poison that can paralyze or anesthetize the body in an instant. It also seems like it could be a poison that disappears from the body in about three hours between dawn and noon.

But even if all the toxins are gone from the body, all toxins still flow through the blood, and so there will still be toxins in the liver.

“You’ll soon find out what kind of poison it is.”

The story goes that no matter how much poison disappears from the body, it will still remain in the liver.

Perhaps the reagent that was handed over was to check the liver’s poisoning state, but after a while, the voices of the Ojaks reporting could be heard from inside.

“Miss, it just comes out red. Is this right?”

“It’s red? Can you take it outside?”

“All right.”

The door opened and the old man who had gone inside came out with a bowl of water and a piece of liver in it.

The water was red, perhaps because of the blood, but it didn’t feel like it had any particular color.

Hwa-eun dropped a few more pills and spoke with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t think I’ve ever really been addicted?”

It was a strange thing.

***

We were embarrassed, but the governor of Seo Chang-gun, who heard Hwa-eun’s opinion, was also embarrassed.

It seems like he died from poison, but no poison was found in his body.

“He wasn’t poisoned, but drowned to death? But seeing that his lungs were filled with water, he must have been paralyzed and drowned to death?”

“Yes, Master Jihyun.”

“Heh heh… This is such a strange thing….”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help.”

“Oh, no, my lady. This alone is a great help.”

On the way out after delivering the autopsy results and Hwa-eun’s opinion to the authorities.

Sister Seol looked at me and said.

“Shall we just find out what it is ourselves?”

It was definitely something that could be found out, but Hwa-eun looked worried at those words.

“You can’t just go looking for it without even knowing what it is. If the opponent is using a truly mysterious poison, you won’t be able to prepare for it because you don’t know what kind of poison it is.”

If you know for sure, you can deal with it, but if it’s a poison that you’ve never seen before, then it’s right to be careful like Hwa-eun said.

Because handling poison is something that requires extreme caution.

Even if it is a poison you know well, if you make a mistake in a moment, you can become poisoned, so how much more so if it is a poison you don’t know.

“I agree with what Hwa-eun said.”

“Then should I just ignore it and go back to the party?”

“That, that won’t work.”

Going back? What kind of sudden statement is that?

There is no retreat from this spicy Fabre dictionary of poison.

“No. I will catch you no matter what.”

Seol-nu smiled and asked at my firm words.

It was clear that he was deliberately trying to tease me.

“How? To catch it?”

“There are so many fishermen, so there must be at least one person who has seen it. Since you only need to know the general appearance, let’s ask at the royal court before going to the port.”

“Aha… Okay, I see.”

We quickly walked to the royal palace entrance.

The lake, including the entrance to the palace, had transformed into a truly mystical sight.

As evening came, the sunset in the sky was reflected on the lake, turning the area above our heads and below our feet red, creating a mystical atmosphere.

The three of us arrived at the entrance and stared blankly at the sunset for a moment before splitting up to explore before the sun set.

“Then let’s meet in front of the place where we ate earlier in an hour. We have to eat dinner too. I think the food there was good.”

“Okay, Little Dragon. Okay, then.”

The moment Hwa-eun nodded her head to my suggestion.

The excited voice of Seol’s sister can be heard from the side.

“Okay, then let’s see who can come up with some good information!”

“yes?”

“Start now!”

“Seo, Seol, sister!”

“Sister!”

No, if you want to make a bet, you have to say what you want to bet on. What if you just say “bet” and run away?

I chuckled, thinking that Seol-niu was a bit cute, and Hwa-eun smiled and said, as if she thought the same thing.

“So-ryong, then shall we grant the wish that So-ryong and Xiang-yi made?”

“Really!?”

“yes.”

Was it because Hwa-eun was jealous of the wish that Hyang-i had made?

I wondered what this was.

‘Hoohoo… Hwaeun, can you handle it? Hwaeun, you made a mistake just now!’

My girlfriend, who I promised to marry, wants to grant me her wish. How can I refuse?

He answered quickly.

“All right!”

This is because I benefit whether I win or lose.

If I lose, we’ll probably go on a date alone. If I win… If I win… Ah, just imagining it was exciting.

“Well then, it starts now.”

Hwa-eun, like Seol-nu, quickly flew towards the opposite direction where Seol-nu had disappeared, and I also moved quickly.

I’ll start from right nearby.

I asked in front of the palace right next to it.

“excuse me.”

“Oh my. Come in. Would you like some fish?”

“No, I don’t need fish. I just want to ask you something.”

“Huh? You don’t need fish? Ahem···. No, if you want to ask something, you should buy a fish···.”

Oops.

If you wanted to ask the merchants something, you had to ask while buying something, but since you asked with your mouth open, of course the response couldn’t have been good.

Among us, only Hwa-eun has money.

‘Ha, was this an unfair match?’

I had a feeling that Hwa-eun would be the winner of this bet, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized that Seol-nu was no pushover.

Come to think of it, even though Sister Seol doesn’t have money, she’s a Beast Palace person who gives food to ethnic minorities.

“Ha… Am I in last place?”

I think that the kiss, which is the purpose of my bet, should be achieved by observing the mood during the date.

That’s what I thought.

‘Wait a minute, I’m a Beast Palace person too?’

Come to think of it, I was also a Beast Palace person.

I quickly scanned the area and found the man from the Black Tribe speaking. I asked him.

“Excuse me. My name is Xiaolong of the Beast Palace. The Beast Palace Lady is my father. May I ask you something?”

“Huh! Son of the Beast Princess! Oh, come in quickly.”

‘Is this really the Beast Palace that feeds?’

It was at that time that I thought that the treatment at the Beast Palace was really good.

A sudden shout is heard.

“Did you know how to say that? You idiot! How can a Han Chinese person who doesn’t even wear the clothes of the Beast Palace pretend to be the Beast Palace!”

Oh my.

Unlike my sister Seol, I was not wearing the traditional clothes of the Beast Palace.

‘fu*k···.’

***

“Gasp gasp···.”

I ran away at the man’s chilling scream.

Because without Sister Seol, there was no way to prove that he was a person from the Beast Palace.

‘Should I carry around a family register?’

As I was catching my breath in front of someone’s face, I heard a familiar voice.

“Who is this? Confucius? What are you doing here? Even gasping for breath?”

When I raised my head, the owner of the fish market where I had bought fish in the morning was looking at me with curiosity.

Let’s look around. The place I ran away to was coincidentally the place we were supposed to meet.

It was the mother’s fish shop and restaurant.

“Oh, yeah, I’m supposed to meet someone here.”

I couldn’t say that I ran away panting, so I answered awkwardly. The lady smiled brightly and dragged me into her store.

“It was delicious in the morning, right? Okay, let’s go in and sit down. What’s with all this sweat? I should get you a glass of water.”

It was the moment when I was dragged into a store and was just given a glass of water.

I felt someone’s gaze and turned my head, and the shaman grandmother I had seen at the port inside the store was looking at me.

“huh?”

“why?”

“No, that person···”

“Oh, he’s the chief of our tribe, and today is the day I get to treat him to food. The Black Tribe takes turns treating the chief.”

“ah···.”

I thought it was just the right thing to do.

Something I wanted to ask my grandmother through her arrangement.

Because I thought he would know best what the spirit of the lake was.

How could a shaman not know who she is serving?

“Ah… So you’re the Prince who was with Lady Dangga at the Beast Palace earlier. Why are you curious about the spirit of the lake?”

“I, I was just curious. You’re a spirit, you know…”

“Hmm… Something about those greedy eyes… I can never tell anyone with those eyes.”

But the answer I heard was a firm rejection.

‘No, you’re saying my eyes are greedy? When I’m so innocent?’

But, perhaps because the sales increase in the morning was meaningful, the Black Woman came forward and began to defend me.

“Master, this gentleman bought five Japanese croakers from our store earlier. He even took them all alive. He said he was worried that they would be caught and killed if things continued like this. I don’t think he has bad intentions, but please just tell me.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmm… I guess you like animals?”

There was still a slightly suspicious look in his eyes, but his gaze changed to one of favor after the old woman’s defense.

I quickly pulled out my ultimate skill.

“Even though my clothes look like this now, I am also from the Beast Palace. The young lady of the Beast Palace you saw earlier is my sister, and I am the son of the Beast Palace Lady, Xiaolong.”

But just like the man from the Black Tribe earlier, the grandmother doesn’t seem to be wiping away her suspicious gaze.

“You’re the son of the Beast Princess? Hmm···.”

“Please wait a moment!”

I left my grandmother behind and quickly ran to the boat to pick up Yeondoo, who was playing with other children in the cabin.

Hwayang would be better, but if you carry him on your head, all eyes will be on you.

When I came back and introduced Yeondoo to the manager, her attitude immediately changed.

“Oh. I never thought you would treat a snake like such a gentle animal. Are you really the son of the Beast Princess? Then it is understandable why you would cherish animals so much.”

When I showed her the green dot and told her that I was the son of the Beast Princess, only then did the old lady believe me without any doubt.

The old priestess, who liked beasts and thought it was believable that he was the son of the Beast Princess, took out a crumpled piece of cloth from her bosom and unfolded it to show him.

“Now this is the spirit of the lake.”

The cloth that the grandmother spread out was embroidered with a creature that appeared to be a large yellow salamander.

The black stripes running across the body were clearly visible.

‘Huh!?’

That was definitely Ho-ye.