Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 112

Chapter 112
Bini’s final message to me was unmistakable:
“I won’t return until I’m larger and more beautiful than Cho.”
She must have believed I was showing favoritism toward Cho now that Cho had increased in size.

[Bini! Bini! Do you have any idea how many hunters are out there? Come home this instant! It isn’t safe! Your father made a mistake, all right!?]

I tried reaching out with my thoughts again and again, but there was no reply.

Our relationship had been strained recently, but I never imagined she would go this far.

Hua-eun, overwhelmed by Bini’s absence, lost her balance. I steadied her and guided her to a seat.

“Take a breath and sit down for a minute, Hua-eun.”

My next step was to determine precisely when Bini had gone missing.
If she hadn’t ventured too far, there was still a chance to find her.

“What time did you first notice she was gone?”

“She was right beside me just before I fell asleep. But I had a sudden bad feeling, I woke up, and she wasn’t there. I called for her, but there was nothing…
Then I saw the door was left ajar. I questioned the guards posted outside, and they told me they spotted her crawling from my room—moving in the direction of yours.”

“My room?”

“Yes, So-ryong.”

Hearing this, I addressed the other creatures.
“Did any of you see Bini come this way?”

-Guukgu?
-Tsrrrr.
-Shaaah.

Seol, Bing, Cho, Hyang, and even Yeondu—all active during the night.
They were always alert while I slept, so if Bini had entered my room, they would have known.

Yet they all gave negative responses.
If she had truly arrived here, they would have seen her.
This meant she never reached my chamber.

I turned back to Hua-eun.
“When did you go to sleep?”

She paused, calculating silently.
“Sometime between 9 and 11 PM.”

“9 to 11 PM…”

It was now a little after 3 AM.
She had been missing for a minimum of four hours.
Possibly as long as six.

Despite her short legs, she was still a centipede.
With the increased speed she gained after her recent molt, she could have covered significant ground.

“Damn… she’s long gone by now.”

“S-Shall I alert the whole clan!?”

Hua-eun, acting like any distraught mother, proposed raising the alarm.
If we had discovered her absence sooner, perhaps.
But after four to six hours?
And in the dead of night?
We couldn’t possibly disturb the entire household for a pet that had wandered off—especially when she might return on her own.

So we agreed to begin the search ourselves.

“It’s too late to wake everyone. Let’s look on our own first. She’s likely already a great distance away, so causing a commotion won’t achieve much.”

We needed to establish her direction of travel first.
In the morning, we could enlist faster help.
Like the Golden-Furred Peak Wasps.

Ordinary bees typically search for food within three kilometers.
At the very most, they can travel up to twelve kilometers.
But these wasps are hundreds of times larger.
Their range is considerably greater.

First, we inquired with the Tang Clan guards posted at the gates and along the walkways.
Since Bini is an arthropod, she would probably stick to roads and paths instead of venturing into wet, concealed areas.

“Have any of you seen Bini?”

“Bini?”

I added more detail,
“The centipede I care for.”

At that, one guard nodded and gestured toward the mountain summit.
“Ah, yes. I saw one crawling up that trail, heading for the mountain.”

“The mountain?”

I was taken aback.
Before I could say anything, Hua-eun confronted him.

“Why didn’t you stop her!? Why didn’t you report it!?”

“H-Huh? Well… All the creatures raised by So-ryong understand human language… I thought she was simply going for a stroll and would return on her own… My apologies, Miss.”

“Easy, Hua-eun. The guards couldn’t have known whether she was escaping or just exploring.”

She was even more distressed than I was.
But now we had a clue.

Since Bini had gone toward the mountain, I hurried back to my room and pulled a single thread from the windowsill.
—Ting.

If anyone knew her path, it was Yo-hwa.
She had woven her webs throughout the Tang Clan grounds.
If Bini had passed by, Yo-hwa would have detected it.

—Thud.

Right on cue, Yo-hwa appeared almost immediately, springing through the air to land in front of us.
She cocked her head.
-Kisit?
(Yo-hwa tilted her head, asking what the matter was.)

“Yo-hwa, Bini is lost. Can you show us which direction she took?”
-Kisi!
(Yo-hwa answered with a confident sound, indicating she knew.)

“She knows, Hua-eun!”
“Where is she, Yo-hwa!?”

Yo-hwa promptly lifted me and sped off.
She knew exactly where Bini had traveled.
“Let’s go, So-ryong!”

Hua-eun mounted Cho and followed close behind.
We reached the courtyard of Yeong-yeong’s residence—where the trail leads up the mountain.
-Kisit!
(Yo-hwa let out a sharp, certain noise to stress her point.)

Yo-hwa pointed upward, toward the mountain.
This was the limit of her web’s coverage.
Her silk threads only went this far.

“It seems she went up.”

We traveled on Cho and Yo-hwa all the way to the summit.
And there, at the very top…
…was a deceased owl.
Froth covered its beak.
Its injuries were dissolving.
unmistakably Bini’s work.

“She was here.”

I poked the owl with a stick and looked at Hua-eun.
She hid her face in my shoulder, her voice shaking.
“What… do we do now, So-ryong…?”

‘Usually, when someone runs off, they come back once hardship sets in.’
If she were human, I would advise waiting.
Hunger and longing for home would draw her back.
That’s typically how it goes.

But she wasn’t merely a runaway.
She was a young spirit beast.
A centipede.
I couldn’t predict what she might do.

[Bini.]
I continued sending my thoughts out into emptiness.
But there was no reply.

***
At the peak of Mount Danga, home to the Sichuan Danga Clan.
A single centipede climbed the highest rock under the moonlight. But this was no ordinary centipede—it was much larger, as thick as a man’s forearm, its yellow body marked with vivid blue spots.

It was Bin.

Having reached the top, Bin settled on the highest stone and gazed down at the distant, shimmering lights below.
That was where her father and mother were.

Seeing the faraway glow, Bin’s antennae sagged without her conscious intent. She hadn’t gone far, yet she already ached for her mother’s warm embrace and her father’s voice.

She had never been separated from her father before. Perhaps that was why her antennae drooped, and a weary, sorrowful sound came from her.
-Tsrrr…

「”My beautiful little Bin.”」

But the instant her father’s voice echoed in her mind, the homesickness was swallowed by simmering anger, and her antennae twitched.
-Tsrrt!

She had not yet forgiven him.

Trying to fortify her resolve, Bin made herself remember every injustice she had endured.

She had sworn not to go home until she was larger and lovelier than Cho, yet she was already weakening shortly after leaving. She needed to recall her reasons for being upset.

He only ever referred to Cho as her “big sister.”
He allowed Cho to consume the Bicheon Divine Centipede’s neidan, which made Cho grow larger and more attractive.
He constantly told Cho she was beautiful.
He commended Cho for being able to project killing intent.
In times of danger, he depended on Cho.
He flew with Cho and proclaimed her the finest.

But for Bin, there were only false promises.

Bin had distinctly felt the killing intent emanating from her father. Naturally, she assumed she could emit it as well.

Of course, she didn’t expect to daunt an entire bat swarm like Cho could.
She was smaller, after all.

So she began modestly—first, a single bat. Then, that foolish man.
And when she finally felt sure of herself, she embarrassed herself. She had been certain she could assist at a crucial moment, that she could paralyze the woman assaulting her father with killing intent. She had desired praise.

But instead, she had nearly caused her father harm.

And it all originated from their struggle over the neidan. If her father had just allowed her and Hyang to have it, none of this would have occurred.

She could have been the one receiving all his admiration.

And to make matters worse, he had even given her Cho’s old shell to eat.

As her list of grievances grew, the sorrow that had lowered Bin’s antennae was replaced by keen outrage.
-Tsrrr!

Fortified by her refreshed resolve, Bin jumped from the rock and hurried downward.
She was making for a place she had been to before with her father.

Her trek was difficult.
A foolish owl had thought her prey and required a lesson.
A hedgehog had attempted to bite her, resulting in a fierce fight.
Neither had been a match for her.

After battling through the night, guided by faint impressions and hazy memories, Bin finally arrived at her goal.
-Tsrrrrr!

She rose up, hissing at the shadowy chasm below.
Snakes fled, slithering swiftly up the trees to escape.
The dark energy churning in the depths below came into view.

Yes, this was the pit she had visited twice with her father.
She had come here because she remembered something.

That peculiar feeling she had while eating Cho’s shell, the surge of power within—it had been akin to when she had leaped into this pit to chastise the snakes attacking her father.

After that, her shell had darkened, alarming both her parents.

If consuming Cho’s shell had enhanced her power, maybe this place could do the same.

Gazing into the blackness, Bin prepared herself.
Just as she was about to jump, her father’s voice filled her mind.

[Bin, where are you? I was mistaken. Your mother is anxious. Please come home.]

He must have just discovered she was missing.
His worried voice, the reference to her mother’s fear—her body shook with the emotions rushing through her.

But returning now would change nothing.
Cho would always be bigger and more beautiful.
Father would always favor Cho more.

He had vowed to find her a neidan, but it didn’t seem easily acquired.

So she sent back a resolute answer.
She would not return until she was bigger and prettier than Cho.
-Tsrrrr!

With that, she dove into the darkness.
She could only hope this pit would make her wish come true.
-Tak.

The instant her feet met the bottom, a tremendous energy shot through her antennae.
It was exactly as she had hoped—a colossal force was flowing into her.

A prickling feeling spread throughout her body.
Dark energy invaded, saturating her through every one of her numerous legs.

Thrill swelled in her heart, even as her body blackened and her awareness started to dim.

In her last moments of clarity, Bin wished for one thing.
That when she awoke, she would be the largest, most beautiful being her father had ever seen.

Because she loved her father most of all.
And she wanted to be loved the most in return.