Chương 42: Chapter 39 - Marmot Mayhem

Dami, Iseul, and Jinu stood at a good distance, while Song inched closer to the marmot hole. His hand trembled as he pulled a small glass orb out from his belt pouch. Within it, a viscous orange gas swirled, promising death and/or a deeply uncomfortable experience for whoever was near it when it broke. Which was just Song, at the moment. And the marmot, in a moment. Assuming this all went to plan. ["Y'know. I wasn't imagining that chemical warfare would be part of my 'kung-fu experience' but live and learn."] Cyrus mused. ["And you say there are whole clans dedicated to doing stuff like this? Like the Tangs, and the what did you call them, Jaegals?"] Song wasn't able to spare his Spirit Guide a moment's attention, so he didn't even acknowledge the question. He took a deep breath as he slowly placed the glass orb down into the marmot entrance. He made sure that it was well and deep, while still within striking range of his staff.

From deep within the burrow, he could hear snuffling chirping as the marmot hiding within voiced its anger at the intrusion.

"Remember, marmots will usually have hidden tunnels to escape from lithe and canny predators like weasels and young foxes," Iseul explained professorily while Song finished his preparations.

"They'll use their main burrow as bait, and while the predator gets lost in the tunnels, they escape from the side. When we smoke them out, we have to fully surround the area and watch for those escape tunnels. Jinu, you go left. Dami, you go right. Song, you head away as soon as you break that… whatever it is."

"Father is calling it 'Aerosolized Grasswolf Extermination Neurotoxin', or AGENT for short," Dami proclaimed proudly, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder in a prideful gesture.

"If it works, it'll be the pride of our Yu family. We'll make our mark as the clan that eliminated grasswolves as a menace on the Nakjo plains."" If it works," Iseul huffed. She crossed her muscled arms and cracked her neck.

"Will it really be safe to eat a marmot killed by it?" Dami hesitated.

"It should. After a good wash. It's only meant to be toxic to Grasswolves. It'll only irritate the marmot enough to drive it from the burrow, not kill it."

"Then I'll let you eat the first bite," Iseul snorted.

"Alright boy, do it!" Song placed his staff in the burrow, then held his breath and smashed downwards. There was a tinkling sound down below the earth that Song didn't have a chance to hear, as he was already sprinting downwind. Instantly, a cloud of orange smoke erupted from the hole, along with frenzied squeaking. It billowed upwards, biting at Song's heels. ["I think you'll just make it,"] Cyrus remarked. ["Duck your head and go a bit faster. Man, that stuff looks nasty. I can see why using it at close range would be a bad idea."] When Cyrus announced he was out of range, Song looked back. The large plume of orange was slowly collapsing to the ground, like some kind of horrible mushroom. His eyes swept the grasses, looking for any orange smoke leaking from other holes in the ground, or the movement of desperately fleeing rodents.

"It's here!!!" Jinu shrieked. He swung his shepherd's staff, and there was a thwack sound followed by a mournful squeak. A moment later he raised an orange-stained, extremely fat marmot aloft with pride.

"Good. Give it here," Iseul called, waving them all over. The three young cultivators trotted over to their teacher, their hearts all full of pride. Iseul took the marmot from Jinu, who bowed awkwardly as he handed it over, his topknot flipping down over his face and causing him to sneeze. Dami let out a titter, and Jinu shot her an angry look.

"Do you see how fat it is? We're getting close to the Monsoon season, so they're fattening up on nuts and berries in preparation for the rains. Those will drive up grubs and worms from the soil, which will help tide them through winter. It'll make for good eating. But…" Iseul scowled, looking over the Marmot with disdain. The chubby rodent had a bright orange tint to it, and smelled horrible even at arms-length.

"Ugh. This pelt is ruined. Will it wash out?"

"Probably not," Dami said. She pulled a notebook and reed pen from inside one of her sleeves, and began scribbling notes.

"And that smell is horrible. I'm not sure anyone will want to eat it even if it's safe." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Iseul snorted, her lip curling in disdain.

"No. There's a good reason hunters don't use poison. And it seems your Yu family won't be the ones to change that." Her scowl slowly turned into a crescent grin, as she dangled the marmot in front of Dami.

"Are you sure you don't want to be the first to try it? Prove the worth of your Yu family?" Dami gagged, scrambling back.

"No, thank you Hunter An, but this Yu Dami begs that her stomach has been aching since this morning."

"Ah," Iseul said, her gaze softening.

"Is it…" Dami reddened and held her hands out and shook them back and forth vigorously in a no gesture. Jinu and Song shared a confused glance. ["Heh. Teenage boys. I remember being that hopelessly naive once."] Cyrus snickered. Song frowned and cycled qi against his dantian. Why was his spirit guide always so cryptic?? ["Don't worry, you'll learn some day. But I'm not having that discussion with you. Hell no."] Cyrus snorted. ["In fact, I'm going to make sure I find a way to block you out before that happens."] Iseul shrugged and held the marmot out to Jinu and Song.

"What about you boys? Either of you young men hungry for a good pot of marmot stew?" Jinu and Song eyed each other.

"Is that an order… teacher?" Song eventually hazarded. Iseul barked a laugh.

"Not even I'm that cruel. I suppose I could just give some to Jimin. I still owe him back for that mouse in my boot. But no," She tossed the marmot at Dami, who scrambled to catch it, her tentacle whipping out of her sleeve to snag the rodent in mid-air.

"You take it to your family Dami. See what they say. For now, I think that was a successful first test. We'll need to come up with some hand-signs for when we're using it, but if it actually works against grasswolves, it may be very useful for clearing out their dens." Dami's smile flashed, and she bowed at Iseul.

"Thank you for your kind words, Teacher."

"Mmm… now, get out of here. I have to make some final preparations before we leave tomorrow." Iseul said, making a shooing gesture. Dami, Jinu, and Song fled. Lessons with Hunter An were always interesting, but they were also hard work. Iseul drove them even harder than Wook, and an early day off was a blessing. Thankfully, their horses were tied up nearby, and it only took a minute before the three friends were trotting off back towards the village.

"Do you want to go play a bit before we leave?" Dami asked, gesturing at the topshur lute hanging from Bongbong's saddle.

"We won't have any time during the move."

"Maybe," Song mused.

"We finished early, and if I go home Juwon will probably just put me to work."

"That's right, aren't you going to be the Lee family's live-in servant for the next week?" Jinu asked, snickering. Song groaned.

"How do you know about that?"

"Jo Doyoon heard it from Lee Taeyang," Jinu grinned. He twirled his scraggly moustache in an attempt at looking debonair.

"Everybody in the village probably knows by now. But they also know that you kicked the butt of everyone in the guanz."

"Really?" Song said, his dour mood instantly lifting. Then he blushed.

"But I didn't do that much! I just tossed some soup bowls!"

"Nobody else in the village has anything similar to the Void Step technique," Dami said, shaking her head.

"People are definitely talking. You know how things are. Soon they'll be saying you were dancing around the guanz, stepping from shadow to shadow like a ghost and defeating your enemies in a single stroke." Song smiled widely, and he even imagined that Bongbong trotted a bit more proudly. So what if he was going to be getting bossed around by everyone for the next week. It would be worth it!

His good mood was instantly dashed by the sight of two horsemen galloping over towards them from the direction of the Lee family horse herds.

"Is that Wook and Taeyang?" Jinu asked, holding his hand up to shade his eyes.

"Yes…" Song scowled, a knot of worry forming.

"I wonder what they want." Wook was waving his arm, and Song breathed easy when he saw the wide grin on his third brother's face.

"Song!" Wook called.

"The Patriarch gave us some time. He and Uncle are watching the herds. Is that Jo Jinu with you? Perfect!" The three friends looked at each other in confusion. What was this all about?

"Come quick," Taeyang crowed.

"Before Father changes his mind!"

"For what?" Song said, hesitant. It couldn't be a good thing if Tae and Wook were both in agreement.

"We were going to go play some songs."

"No time for that," Tae said, circling his gelding around Bongbong, and tapping Song's steed on the flank. Bongbong snorted and reared, giving Tae an angry whinny.

"Seojoon and the others are on their way. Jinu, go get us a goat, then come join us! We're going to play Kokbar!" [" What did he say??"] Cyrus choked.