Entomologist in Sichuan Tang Clan Chapter 310

310
-Shoot.

Before Jeokwol left the village where his older sister had put him to sleep, the weather had been cloudy and clear for several days.

Because the humidity was high, frogs croaked day and night.

But it didn’t rain.

Since the central region is a large landmass, it was quite common for it not to rain where I was even though it rained in the neighboring villages.

So I thought maybe it was raining somewhere nearby.

But after about two days of setting out with the kids, clouds began to pour down rain overhead.

No, it seemed like I had entered a place where it was raining.

-Whooah.

“It was fine when I set out in the morning.”

When I set out after eating breakfast at the inn, it didn’t seem like it was going to rain, but at first it seemed like a light drizzle, but then the rain started to fall in heavier drops.

Fortunately, I was able to buy a raincoat made of bamboo and reed leaves from an old man who happened to be passing by, otherwise I would have ended up walking all the way to the next village in the rain.

Well, even if you turn this over, it won’t completely block the rain.

Raindrops were flowing in one or two at a time between the cracks in the bamboo grove and the reed leaves.

-Tsur. “That’s right. Dad. Ugh!”

As she was swaying along in response to my words from inside her reed-woven raincoat, a drop of water splashed onto her antennae, and her antennae quickly shook and tickled my chin.

When I lowered my head, the guy was pressing his head against my chest, probably because he didn’t like the rain.

He put his hand into the reed leaves and hurried his steps while tickling Hyang-i’s chin as she praised her father.

‘Still, it has a certain charm because it feels like the journey of a strong man that my grandfather used to tell me about.’

It was raining and my body was wet, but it felt quite special to walk in the rain with the kids wearing raincoats and rain boots.

I heard that in the martial arts world, there is a culture called Ganghohang, where you go around beating up bad guys and gaining fame, and I felt like I was doing that.

He wanders around the martial arts world to gain the nickname of Cheonhwa Dokmul Papa.

I asked Hyang-i, looking at my dim reflection in the puddle of water.

“Hyang-ah, isn’t your dad cool?”

-Tsurut! 『Awesome!』

Thinking that she was indeed my daughter, I quickly moved my feet.

Because of the rain, the road was delayed, so we had to hurry to get to the next village before the sun set.

-Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

It was when I was going back down the road, recalling my memories of when I came.

Suddenly, the sound of raindrops falling heavier began to be heard.

“No, why is it raining so much all of a sudden?”

It was about halfway between the previous and next villages, so it was difficult to turn back, but the rain started pouring down.

As large raindrops hit the bamboo shoots, the sound of soybeans roasting comes to my ears.

The raincoat made of bamboo and reed was only good for directly exposing itself to rain, so when there was a lot of rain, rainwater started to seep into the bamboo and flow out.

It’s not the water droplets inside the raincoat, but the scent of rainwater flowing in that cries out.

-Tsurut! 『Ouch. It’s cold.』

-Beep!

-Kkuu!

Hongdan, Seol, Bing, and Dongi also let out sharp screams from inside.

Guys moving around to avoid the rain.

I had a feeling I’d have to take shelter under a big tree for a while until the rain let up a bit.

“I need to take shelter from the rain for a bit. Is there a big tree or something?”

It was a moment when I was looking around in the rain and looking for a place to avoid the rain.

-Food addict.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of something flying and my head was hit hard by a bamboo stick.

“Sister?”

And then the sound of soybeans roasting coming from the bamboo grove suddenly became quiet.

Let’s look around, only the area around me is not raining.

Above my head, as expected, I could hear the sound of my older sister’s crying.

-Chee!

Unable to raise my head, I lowered my gaze, and saw my sister’s figure spreading her wings wide in the puddle of water at my feet.

‘Are you going to block the rain?’

Perhaps because we were still awkward with each other, Jeokwol only showed her face briefly when I called her, but it seemed like she was trying to block my view because she thought I looked bad.

My sister accepted the favor because it was a fairly large butterfly but it was light and didn’t feel too heavy.

Because it seemed like a rare opportunity to become close friends.

“Thank you, Sister Jeokwol.”

-Cheeee.

When I said thank you, my older sister answered in a chic manner.

Raindrops rolled down onto my sister’s wings and fell from the tips of her wings to the ground.

‘As expected, the waterproof performance is good.’

Ordinary butterflies take shelter behind leaves when it rains.

Because if the raindrops get bigger, they can hurt the little butterflies.

But it’s not like butterflies couldn’t fly in the rain.

Because butterfly wings are waterproof.

It’s because of the feces covering the butterfly’s body.

Human feces create a contact angle of over 150 degrees between butterfly wings and water droplets, and a strange phenomenon occurs on the butterfly wings.

If you drop a water drop on a lotus leaf, the water drop will not wet the lotus leaf and will just hang out on the leaf.

This phenomenon also occurs in butterfly wings.

A phenomenon called superhydrophobicity also occurs on butterfly wings, preventing them from flapping.

Superhydrophobicity is the property of not getting wet with water, which has several advantages at the same time: it is resistant to contamination, microorganisms cannot grow, and even if it gets contaminated, it can be easily removed by dropping a drop of water on it.

So, what I’m saying is that Sister Jeokwol is basically a very neat person when it comes to waterproofing.

“But, Sister, how have you been living alone all this time? Have you been living alone in the mountains?”

It was hard to talk to him since he doesn’t usually show himself, but since I was nearby, I decided to ask him a few questions.

Things like how I’ve lived so far.

Because Hyang-i can do the interpretation.

-Cheese.

-Tsurut. “‘I just···’ That’s what I said. Dad.”

But what I heard was Kim Sae’s reply.

Maybe because I’ve been living alone for a long time, it was difficult to carry on a conversation.

I asked a few more questions, but the answer was ‘just.’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Really?’

As I was wondering what else to say, the swollen riverbank ahead caught my eye.

The river had risen considerably, as if it had been raining for a while.

And then I remembered that I had to cross that river.

Because I crossed there on my way here too.

Instead of taking a boat, we had to cross a stone bridge, and at the end of the road, in front of the river, there were a few people gathered.

The condition of the bridge was not yet apparent, but since people were gathered and making a fuss, Jeokwol asked her older sister.

“Sister, hide for a moment. Or else, fly away and come back.”

-Cheese.

He answered, but he didn’t fly away because he still felt a weight on his head. He probably folded his wings and hid his body.

The sound of beans roasting continued, and raindrops began to wet the bamboo again.

As I quickly approached and stood among the crowd of people, the first thing that caught my eye was a bridge.

No, where the bridge was.

The stone bridge was nowhere to be found.

It had been raining here for a long time, and the stone bridge was completely submerged due to the rain.

“Is this a big deal?”

The rain doesn’t let up, but the roads are blocked.

I quickly distanced myself from the crowd and asked Hyang-i in my mind.

Even though the road was blocked, there was a red moon sister who could fly.

‘Hyang-ah, can you ask Sister Jeokwol if she can carry us and fly to the other side?’

-Tsurut. Tsurur. Tsur?

-Cheeee.

-Tsururut. “No, Dad. It’s too heavy. It can’t fly.”

Come to think of it, it might be possible if it could flap its wings quickly like a bee, but it seemed impossible for it to fly up to us with its large wings.

Bees have the strength to fly with something to collect honey, but butterflies have nothing more than their own bodies.

I felt like I had to wait until the rain stopped and the water level went down.

But there was no village nearby.

To get to the nearest town, we had to cross a bridge, but we couldn’t because of the rain.

Half a day to go back.

I was already halfway there and I felt like I had to go back.

As I was wondering what to do, I heard people murmuring.

“This road is blocked. This is a big problem. Should I go back?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“I guess I’ll have to take another route.”

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet as a man spoke amidst the commotion of people.

After listening to the story, it seemed like there might be another way.

‘Oh, is there another way?’

Let’s listen, his words continued as someone asked a question.

“Director, you seem to know this area well. Is there another way?”

“You see that mountain down there?”

“Where? Oh, is that the mountain you see in the distance?”

“Yes. There is a village beyond that mountain, and there is a bridge over that village. It should not be flooded.”

“But if I climb the mountain now, won’t I end up spending the night in the mountain?”

“There’s an old abandoned pipe at the top of the mountain. We can spend the night there.”

“Then should we move quickly?”

“There’s an abandoned house nearby, so I’m going to wait there until the rain lets up a bit before I go. It’s hard to move in this rain.”

“Right. I see. Could you please show me the way to the execution ground?”

“I see.”

“Can we follow you?”

“Let’s do that. Where can we go in this rain? They say the sea is in the East Sea, and the ruins are quite large. We can all fit in and there will be some left.”

“Thank you.”

“thank you.”

The people, most of whom were merchants, gathered and headed toward the abandoned house the man had mentioned.

As the merchant said, it was a bit hesitant to set out in this rain.

Then one of the women who was following the men turned around and asked.

“Hey kid, you should come with me.”

“No, I have to hurry, so thank you for your advice.”

I guess everyone was following the man, but I was the only one who looked young, so he seemed to be trying to take care of me.

But the woman asked with a worried expression at my answer.

“In this rain? Are you going to take a rest?”

“Okay, listen to your elders.”

“Yeah, where are you going in this rain?”

Other men nearby also chimed in on what the woman was saying.

The people of Jungwon speak politely to the people of Murim, regardless of whether they are children or adults, in case something happens to them.

And I am very cautious.

But when I was wearing a reed raincoat and a bamboo hat, people thought I was an ordinary person and treated me kindly.

But I couldn’t be with them.

The children’s bodies also need to be dried, but it’s difficult to take them out among people.

Since there was an abandoned duct in the mountains, I thought it would be best to spend time there alone.

I had to live alone, but in reality, I wasn’t alone because I had the kids and my older sister Jeokwol, and the place I used to live was also an abandoned Confucian school, so I felt more drawn to that place than an abandoned house.

“Thank you for your kind words, but I’m in a hurry. Okay, that’s all for now.”

“Hey?”

“Let’s just leave it at that. You’re being so stubborn.”

“all right.”

After saying hello, I walked towards the mountain that could be seen in the distance.

After walking for a while, we arrived at the entrance of the mountain.

As we reached the top of the mountain along the path made by people passing by, an abandoned pipe came into view.

It reminded me of the abandoned duct I used to live in.

The surroundings are dark, as if the sun has already set.

Let’s go inside through the half-broken door of the conduit. Even though it was an abandoned conduit, the main hall was still quite intact.

Inside, there were reeds and branches roughly piled on one side, as if people had been coming and going, taking shelter from the rain or resting like me, and there were also traces of a fire.

“Thank goodness there are some dry trees.”

I felt like I needed to quickly light a fire and dry off.

As the sun set, it started to get a little chilly.

“Then, shall we indulge in some nostalgia for the first time in a while?”

He piled up the branches, pricked his fingertips with a dagger, drew a drop of blood, and then dropped a drop of Hyang-i’s poison.

-Wow.

Then a flame rose and soon the surroundings began to warm up.

***

The merchants sat around a fire in the middle of the ruins and began to take out various snacks and share them around the fire.

Some people heated stones to cook beef jerky or boiled rainwater in a small pot to make porridge.

While they were sharing food like that for a while, the woman who had earlier invited the boy to join them spoke with a worried expression.

“By the way, I wonder if it’ll be okay for a boy to set out on a journey alone?”

The rain outside was getting heavier.

“The mountain path is a bit slippery, but it’s not rough, so it should be okay, right?”

“Yeah, I advised you to do it, but what can I do if something urgent comes up?”

“That’s true.”

It was a time when everyone nodded their heads to someone’s words.

The man who led the people here clapped his hands as if remembering something and let out a sigh.

-match.

“Oh my… I forgot about that.”

“What’s going on, Commander?”

As everyone tilted their heads at the man’s somnambulism, the man answered with an uneasy expression.

“No, I just remembered that there was talk about seeing ghosts in the abandoned duct on the mountain for the past month or two. What is it?”

“Ghost!?”

“Are you talking about a ghost?”

At the man’s words, everyone’s heads turned out the window.