Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 135

Chapter 135
A cocoon of an entirely unique nature.
It shone with a brilliant silver radiance, completely distinct from the immaculate white cocoons that neighbored it.
Approximately 25 centimeters and oval in form, it matched the celestial silkworm cocoons in dimension, yet the character of its silk was wholly unfamiliar.
Light from the Night Pearl glanced off its surface, causing it to sparkle like a burnished treasure.
No, it was more than an impression—the cocoon was genuinely reflecting the light.
‘What… is this? An entirely different kind?’
Even though its proportions were nearly the same as a celestial silkworm’s, its unique color instantly suggested it might be a separate species.
The fact that I had discovered celestial silkworms living alongside the termites did not eliminate the chance of another species sharing the same mound.
Termite colonies, after all, were infamous for hosting a multitude of other creatures.
In the wild, common termites are prey to more than eighty varieties of birds and mammals, and inside their mounds, dozens of insect species survive on their direct or indirect support.
Some pilfer termite eggs, fungi, or processed wood matter, while others merely use the robust structure of the mound for protection.
In essence, termite colonies are vibrant centers for opportunistic guests—somewhat like the Tang Clan’s compound, though with significantly less discrimination in their choice of residents.
Where the Tang Clan only accepts those who offer utility, termites are, to be blunt, easily exploited.
This led me to believe the silver cocoon might be from a scarce type of moth that lived a life comparable to the celestial silkworm.
Eager, I extended a hand and softly pressed on the cocoon.
If a larva was inside, I needed to be cautious not to injure it.
Yet, when I applied pressure gently… the cocoon remained firm.
It was as rigid as if spun from threads of iron.
Wondering if all celestial silkworm cocoons were this stout, I tested a normal one next to it.
It proved to be equally resistant.
Upon reflection, if they were to endure in a termite mound filled with soldier termites, it was logical for their cocoons to possess such toughness.
Resolved to inspect it more thoroughly, I lifted it.
“Please, let it be unhatched… Please…”
But the instant it rested in my palm, I realized something—it was weightless.
I inverted it, and there it was: a tiny, perfect hole at the cocoon’s apex.
An undeniable indication that the mature moth had already emerged and departed.
“Damn it.”
I had clung to the hope it was still sealed, but I was merely clutching a vacant husk.
My enthusiasm drained away at once.
Just as I was grappling with this letdown, Xintu’s voice resonated from the tunnel’s mouth.
He must have been anxious to know if I had located the celestial silkworms.
“Well, did you succeed in finding the celestial silkworm silk?”
I pivoted toward the entrance, where Xintu’s outline was just visible in the faint glow.
Since the opening Bini had excavated was rather small, Xintu, with his large build, was unable to enter.
Concluding it was wiser to bring the cocoons out first, I began placing them into the pouch I had carried with me.
“Yes, I discovered around thirty.”
“What!? Thirty!?”
Xintu’s voice exploded in astonishment.
Given the substantial size of the cocoons, I would have to make two journeys.
After bringing the first load out, I witnessed Xintu and his disciple, Yeong-ryeon, gasping in wonder.
“Ohh! It is true! To imagine there are so many! The elders of the past only ever collected about ten in their entire efforts!”
“Master, are these truly the cocoons that yield celestial silk?”
As they looked over the celestial silkworm cocoons, I went back inside to get the remainder, which included the puzzling silver one.
Then, presenting the unusual cocoon, I inquired of Xintu, “Have you ever encountered something like this?”
His eyes grew wide at the sight.
“This…!?”
“Oh, so you recognize it!?”
I held my breath, expecting his answer.
But Xintu simply gave a negative shake of his head.
“No, this is my first time witnessing such an object. Could it be a celestial silkworm as well?”
‘Oh, for goodness sake, really?!’
His reply was a total disappointment.
At that moment, I heard Bini issue another call from further within the mound.
— Tssrrr!
Along with her cry, a billow of dust burst from the tunnel.
— CRACK!
— Rumble!
“Bini! Are you alright?!”
Worried about a collapse, I rushed toward the dust cloud and shouted.
Through our connection, I sensed confirmation—Bini was unharmed.
A second later, she came through the dust, clutching something in her jaws.
A huge, flattened, oval-shaped red stone—approximately the size of two human chests combined.
— Tssssrrr!
It was sleek and shone with a polish.
There was no question.
She had located the queen’s chamber.
“Oh! You found it!”
— Tssr!
Bini indicated that there was content inside.
I examined the stone, looking for a way in.
Termite queen chambers differ in their exit points by species, so I had to locate the correct one.
Scanning the edges, I found a solitary opening.
Minute, alarmed termite faces appeared briefly, then vanished back inside.
“Bini, clamp down here—precisely along this line.”
The secret to accessing a termite queen’s chamber is to fracture it along its horizontal axis.
Despite being exceedingly durable, its structure is far weaker along its sides.
As the chamber was oval and flat, cracking it along its natural seam would split it open.
At my instruction, Bini bit down on the opening.
A crisp snapping sound reverberated in the tunnel.
“Good, let’s get it open.”
Termite mounds are formed from solidified saliva and earth, but they are not especially weighty.
With Xintu’s assistance, we levered open the top section of the chamber.
Inside, we encountered a seething multitude of termites.
And at the very core, stretched out upon the ground—a massive termite queen.
While army ants are considerably larger than standard termites, in terms of relative size disparity, termite queens are far more immense.
Unlike their workers, a termite queen’s posterior is horribly distended, much like an enormous larva.
Certain termite queens can survive for more than five decades, spending their entire existence confined to their chambers, engaged in nothing but egg production.
To enable this perpetual reproduction, their reproductive organs evolve in a nearly abominable way.
Although they possess just two ovaries, these hold in excess of 2,000 egg tubes, resulting in their swollen, maggot-like appearance.
Next to her, I also identified a termite king—more compact but clearly defined.
Unlike worker termites, it had a pallid white body, but its form was reminiscent of a cockroach.
Which was logical.
Termites are not actually ants—their closer relatives are cockroaches.
“H-Hiiieeek! W-What is that?!”
Yeong-ryeon shrank back in terror.
Even Seol scrunched up her face in revulsion.
“T-That is revolting. So-ryong, is that another queen, similar to before?”
“Yes, these are the White-Clad Empress and Emperor.”
After permitting everyone a clear view, I promptly resealed the chamber and addressed Yo-hwa.
“Yo-hwa, bind this securely with your silk. We must transport it to the Tang Clan. Bini, our next task is to locate the larvae.”
— Kishi!
— Tssrrr!
While Yo-hwa fastened the chamber, I turned to Bini and Yeong-ryeon.
Now, we needed to find the celestial silkworm larvae.
As they were not in the queen’s chamber, they had to be in the fungus cultivation area.
We needed to find them.
Their feeding habits would dictate how we managed them.
I had presumed they either ate sustenance supplied by the termites or consumed termite larvae, but if they actually fed on fungi, I would have to modify my approach.
Just as I prepared to move—
Yeong-ryeon went pale.
“H-Hiiiek! M-Me as well?!”
“Then… should we bring Elder Xintu inside instead?”
“No, that won’t be needed…”
“But even if he wished to enter, Elder Xintu is too large to fit through, so you will have to accompany me, Miss Yeong-ryeon. It’s safe, I assure you. Bini has already cleared out the White-Clad Termites, so there is no immediate danger.”
“But the other women…?”
I motioned toward Hwa-eun and Seol.
Yeong-ryeon’s face instantly darkened.
Among our group, only she wore a snug nightwalking suit—ideal for covert movement. In contrast, Seol was attired in a traditional short skirt common among Yunnan minority women, and Hwa-eun was clothed in the elaborate, long gowns of Central Plains nobility. Navigating the tight passages of a termite mound was impossible for them.
And so, with a reluctant Yeong-ryeon accompanying me, we commenced our search of the termite fungus farm.
We collected a number of mushrooms to guarantee the termites could regenerate their food source, as we meticulously combed the chamber.
Then, on the walls blanketed in fungi, we finally saw our target.
A celestial silkworm larva—perched on a mushroom, devouring termite larvae.
“There! Look there!”
Yeong-ryeon spotted it first and called out with exhilaration.
I gazed up at the ceiling where she indicated.
The larva had already advanced to its second growth stage, now about the size of my hand.
And, exactly as we had guessed, it was switching between consuming termite larvae and grazing on the fungi.
“So, it does consume mushrooms as well?”
The marks from its bites on the fungi were clear.
Hearing my comment, Yeong-ryeon cocked her head.
“But it’s eating larvae at this moment…”
“It will likely start on the mushrooms once those are gone.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, the patterns on the fungi perfectly match the shape of its jaws.”
Sure enough, after finishing the last of the termite larvae, it rotated and started to eat the mushrooms.
“Oh! You were correct!”
Yeong-ryeon’s eyes opened wide in astonishment.
But while she was impressed by the accuracy of my forecast, I was already wrestling with a separate problem.
This meant I could not take it back to the Tang Clan immediately.
It appeared to depend on mushrooms as a primary food source, while using termite larvae for protein.
‘Damn… this means I cannot take it back yet.’
The Celestial Blue butterflies from my previous life began by feeding on nutritious secretions from ants. But upon maturing, they preyed on the ant larvae for extra nourishment.
This was expected behavior.
But for this larva, being only at its second instar and already consuming both mushrooms and termite larvae indicated one thing—removing it now was not feasible.
My original scheme was to leave it with the initial termite colony for them to raise.
However, doing so would mean it would consume both the fungi and the larvae essential for the colony’s development.
The mushrooms were not a concern—the Tang Clan was already proficient in growing poisonous varieties.
If we brought back the fungal strains the termites used, establishing a mushroom farm would be straightforward.
I even remembered that termite mushrooms were marketed as edible fungi in China in my past life, so cultivation should be possible.
But the termite larvae presented a different challenge.
The only larvae on hand were those in the queen’s chamber we had gathered.
Even though the termite queen would produce more eggs, fostering a healthy colony required sustaining their population by supplying dead wood for food.
If we began feeding these larvae to the celestial silkworm immediately, the termite colony would not endure—it would fail and perish.
Normally, predatory butterflies only start eating larvae at their fourth instar, shortly before becoming pupae.
But this one?
It was already consuming them at the second instar.
To raise celestial silkworms correctly, we first had to stabilize the termite colony.
And if this larva continued to consume their resources at this pace, the entire colony would disintegrate before it could become established.
With a sense of resignation, I made a choice.
“It seems we have no alternative.”
“We are leaving it here.”
“What? Why?”
Yeong-ryeon gaped at me, incredulous.
“It eats both mushrooms and termite larvae. Taking it back now would mean our termites cannot support themselves before their numbers increase.”
“Oh…”
‘Well, returning one to the wild is not a disaster.’
Still, one concern troubled me.
I possessed two remaining celestial silkworm eggs.
If those did not hatch as a pair, male and female, the situation would become difficult…
But there was nothing I could currently do about that.
I released a sigh and crawled back out of the tunnel.
The moment we exited, termites flooded the breached area, swiftly mending the opening and repairing their nest.
***
After moving the termites to the Tang Clan, we interred them in a remote part of Tang Mountain, where decaying timber was abundant.
Most individuals regard termites as nuisances.
But in reality, they are advantageous insects.
They decompose dead wood that would otherwise remain, thereby enhancing the soil quality.
I was confident that using their processed soil for farming would result in bountiful harvests due to its rich nutrient profile.
Once the termites were in place, they instantly started building a mound.
By the following day, a small termite nest had already taken shape.
To prevent the colony from experiencing a lack of food, I requested the Tang Clan to grow fungi.
I also directed them to utilize some mushrooms gathered from the Venomous Creatures Squad’s plots as supplementary nourishment.
Meanwhile, Xintu appeared content with the quantity of cocoons we had retrieved.
He started collaborating with the Tang Clan’s silk experts to prepare the silk threads.
Since spinning the silk demanded internal energy, both Xintu and the artisans would have to participate.
And while they were occupied with that…
I focused on solving the enigma of the silver cocoon.
— Splash.
“It is ready, So-ryong.”
“My thanks. Now, let us see…”
In a sizable basin filled with tepid water, I submerged both the silver cocoon—which I had dubbed Silver Silkworm—and a standard celestial silkworm cocoon.
This was not for silk extraction.
It was to study the interior remains.
Cocoons are protective shells created by insects prior to pupation.
Even after the adult leaves, fragments of the pupal skin remain inside.
By reconstructing the shed pupal casing, I could gain a general idea of the creature’s pre-emergence appearance.
I used lukewarm water to soften the desiccated, shrunken pupal skin for careful removal.
As the silver and white cocoons drifted in the water, I waited.
Soon, the pupal shells slackened and came apart.
I retrieved them with care, let the extra water run off, and started rebuilding them.
Employing delicate pins, I tenderly expanded the remnants into their original form.
I used adhesive to strengthen any fractured or separated sections.
Once the intricate restoration was finished, two large pupal casings rested before me.
One was a clear, translucent white.
The other was silver.
“Ohhh! Remarkable, So-ryong! I have never observed a method like this before!”
The warriors observing my work were amazed by my ability.
I wiped perspiration from my brow and minimized it.
“Hmph. It is of little consequence.”
In my former life, those who bred poisonous animals or insects frequently preserved their dead specimens through taxidermy.
I had acquired this skill then, and it appeared I had retained it.
Now, I contrasted the two reassembled pupae.
I scrutinized every feature.
Then, I arrived at a perplexing verdict.
‘Wait… other than the color, they are the same?’
Every detail—from the breathing pores to the body sections, the eyes, mouthparts, and rear—was precisely identical.
The sole variation was the color.
Just as I was digesting this odd discovery, Hwa-eun suddenly rushed in.
She had been reviewing archives at my behest.
“So-ryong! You asked me to consult the Chronicle of Heavenly Venomous Beasts, correct? Observe this!”
She opened the book, and on one of the initial pages, I saw something that arrested my attention.
One of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures…
Silver Silkworm Moth.