Chapter 225: Qiong Lake (5)
The moment the old woman showed me the cloth embroidered with the image of the creature she believed to be the Ho-ye, the memory of General Maeng, commander of the Iron Cavalry, popped into my head—how he had been served a drink called Royal Jelly Liquor of the Queen Wasp and had given me a gift afterward.
—“It’s something you might only see once in a lifetime, but they say there’s a creature called Ho-ye with venom in its glands.”
“You mean the Ho-ye?”
—“Yes, the Ho-ye. It has patterns like a bee, and they say anyone who gets too close or touches it will lose their life. What’s strange is, there are never any wounds or symptoms of poisoning on the bodies. That’s what I heard.”
Right, I remember. Even then, the general had said the victims died without wounds or signs of poisoning. Thinking back, his words perfectly matched the condition of the bodies found today. There weren’t any injuries or traces of poisoning.
Damn. I didn’t think of it. But hey, dreams or not, even a fool can get lucky sometimes.
I just happened to stop by to resupply, and the Ho-ye showed up?
If there’s anyone in this unit with dumb luck, it’s gotta be me. I quickly turned to the old woman. This was too much of a coincidence to ignore.
“Could this be the Ho-ye? That’s what people in the Central Plains call it. Have you ever heard of it?”
Her face stiffened slightly, even though she was clearly one of the Black-Clad Tribe. It felt like something in my question might have undermined her trust in me—though not enough to turn her completely against me. The shaman elder looked at me with concern and cautiously asked,
“Where did you hear the name Ho-ye?”
“Why do you ask?”