Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 198

Chapter 198
The lantern flame shuddered wildly within the tent, echoing the stunned disbelief of everyone inside.
A rapid barrage of questions erupted immediately after.
“What… what is this? This doesn’t look like the blood creature you described!”
“So-ryong, what is this thing? Can such a strange insect truly exist?”
“It appears utterly monstrous!”
Elder Tang Mu-seong, Tang Cheolsan, and Taeheo all gaped at me, their eyes wide with shock as they studied the sketch I had drawn.
Their faces all communicated the exact same thought—Could something like this possibly exist in our world?
To be fair, I understood their reaction. The camel spider’s form was genuinely horrifying.
It resembled a creature ripped straight from a nightmare about aliens.
It had two sets of pincers jutting from the sides of its head, a long, oval-shaped body, and thin, spindly legs, making it look like the kind of parasitic alien monster you would see in a fantastical story.
If someone had tried to convince me it was from another planet, I might have been persuaded.
However, that was not the main concern.
The true problem was that my expert prediction had been slightly incorrect, leaving me in a somewhat embarrassing position.
Dodging their intense gazes, I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my neck.
“Ahem… well, you see…”
I had stated with full confidence that it was a scorpion, only to discover it was actually a spider.
Those fools from the Five Venoms Clan had truly set me up this time. They possessed Deathstalkers, so what possible reason did they have for sending a camel spider?!
When you consider famous desert venomous creatures, the Deathstalker scorpion is the classic example! These people had no respect for tradition.
And to add to the problem, the camel spider wasn’t even poisonous!
My irritation surged.
Forget everything else—this was a direct threat to my standing as a recognized expert.
Right then, I heard Tang Hwa-eun’s voice from behind me.
“Is it a Wind Venom?”
She stepped into the tent, giving Bini a brief, sharp look.
It appeared Bini had slipped away and brought something back with her.
But my attention was caught by the term Tang Hwa-eun had just used—the name for the camel spider here in the Central Plains.
That was intriguing.
After all, this was a spider that wasn’t truly a spider, yet they were referring to it as a scorpion.
“Wind Venom?” I asked, repeating her words.
“Yes. It’s named Wind Venom for its speed, which is as swift as the wind. In some western regions, it’s called the ‘Sun-Avoiding Spider’ because it hides within rock crevices and under the sand during daylight hours.”
Ah-ha!
Since scientific classification wasn’t fully developed in this world, the Tang Clan had apparently grouped the camel spider into the scorpion category.
Truthfully, given its similarity to desert scorpions, it was understandable how people of this time might confuse them.
At first glance, its shape was different, but its hard shell and color were close enough to a scorpion’s to cause mistaken identity.
Thanks to Tang Hwa-eun’s comment, my expert status was rescued just in time.
Adopting a fully confident demeanor, I gave a nod.
From this moment forward, the camel spider would always be known as Wind Venom—all for the sake of my professional pride.
“Yes, that’s correct. Wind Venom. Swift as the wind. Absolutely, incredibly fast. Without a doubt.”
The Tang Clan had a very good reason for calling the camel spider Wind Venom.
It was among the fastest of all arachnids—no, of all insects.
Despite making its home in the desert, the camel spider was capable of remarkable velocity.
A camel spider measuring five centimeters long could dash twelve to fifteen times its own body length in a single second.
That meant a small, five-centimeter spider could move 60 to 75 centimeters in one second.
With that level of speed, it was only fitting for it to be named Wind Venom.
In fact, an average camel spider can move at roughly 16 kilometers per hour across the desert.
Naturally, this doesn’t scale up directly, but in theory, if the creature were to grow to a meter long, it could potentially reach speeds of 320 kilometers per hour.
It was essentially a race car among joint-legged creatures—that was the camel spider.
Wait a moment… that sound I heard earlier—!?
As this realization hit me, I suddenly recognized what that odd noise had been when I first arrived.
I had thought it was just the sound of wind moving through the grass, but in truth, that peculiar rustling—
It must have been the noise of a camel spider sprinting.
Because of seasonal winds that change direction suddenly, gusts often blow hard for a short time before stopping completely.
A breeze from the west had cut off abruptly…
Now, the puzzle of the vanishing camels and missing people was beginning to become clear.
The reason no clues were left behind started to make sense.
Ah-ha. Now I understand…
This wasn’t merely an attack—it was a kidnapping.
The creature must have charged in at high velocity, bit its target, and then fled immediately.
During the night, camel spiders move with very little sound.
Their bodies are covered with tiny hairs, and when they run, these hairs touch the ground before their legs make contact.
Because of this, they leave nearly no footprints and can race across any surface, whether it is sand, small stones, or even shallow water.
Therefore, in the middle of the night, if a camel spider had rushed in and grabbed a person or a camel, it would have occurred in a flash, leaving no sign behind.
Moreover, camel spiders do not leave corpses behind.
They use their sharp, powerful pincers to crush their prey, then break down the flesh with digestive fluids—leaving nothing remaining.
Just as I finished connecting all the pieces—
Voices full of admiration filled the air.
“Oh! So it truly was a blood creature! Astonishing.”
“Remarkable, So-ryong!”
“Incredible, So-ryong.”
“Haha… well, I am an expert, after all.”
I replied to their compliments with some awkwardness, but then I observed something…
The feeling inside the tent had shifted.
Everyone was looking at me with hopeful expressions.
It was as if they believed the issue would be resolved right away.
“Well, now that we know what it is and understand how to locate it at night, we should be able to capture it very soon.”
“Exactly! We spent months following false leads, but in just one day… Just as you would expect from an expert!”
“Just as I would expect from my brother!”
But… the camel spider was not a scorpion.
It would not be an easy creature to find at night.
I gave a slightly uncomfortable cough and clarified,
“Ahem. We’ve identified it, but… capturing it could require several days.”
“Hm? Why is that?”
“Is there some difficulty?”
Their hopeful smiles diminished a little.
I nodded.
“Most blood creatures give off a glow in the darkness, which makes them simple to follow at night. However, Wind Venom does not produce any light, meaning… it will take significantly more time to locate it.”
“So… Wind Venom does not glow?”
“No, at least not in any way visible to human eyes.”
The group paused for a moment, considering this.
But Tang Mu-seong’s followers were practical and hopeful, so they adjusted to the new circumstances quickly.
“Well, there must be a solution, correct?”
“So-ryong is an expert. Certainly, he has a strategy!”
Wait… is my reputation growing this quickly?!
This was becoming a genuine test.
I needed to devise a plan without delay—
My professional image was on the line.
***
After the night’s excitement had passed, I rose early and walked by myself to the open land outside the village.
I had to determine a way to catch the camel spider that raced across the wide fields like a high-speed train.
If it were a smaller specimen, I might have been able to create a net and trap it. But to capture a giant spider that moved like a performance vehicle, I needed a different tactic.
First, I assessed my environment.
Alright, this is a high-altitude plateau. Grass everywhere, reaching up to the knees. The air is dry, but there are scattered ponds and small lakes. A broad, open space.
It seemed Qinghai was situated at a much higher elevation than I had originally believed.
Some members of the Kunlun Sect had even asked if I was experiencing any dizziness.
Of course, since we were martial artists, we were less susceptible to it, but regular inhabitants here often suffered from altitude sickness.
Unfortunately, that information was not helpful for capturing the camel spider.
Altitude sickness is a sudden reaction caused by entering an environment with lower oxygen levels.
But camel spiders are extremely efficient with oxygen, meaning this had no impact on them.
Their frightening speed stemmed from their highly effective breathing system.
Humans inhale through their noses, carrying oxygen through the airway into the lungs, where oxygen is traded for carbon dioxide in the blood cells before being carried all through the body.
It is a complicated and roundabout procedure.
However, camel spiders possess three breathing openings on the bottom of their abdomens, which pump oxygen directly into their muscles.
By drawing air in through these openings and sending oxygen straight to their muscles, they can use oxygen far more effectively than humans, allowing for their tremendous speed.
So high elevation only impacts us, not them…
If the landscape had included a gorge or some other natural narrow point, I might have attempted to guide it into a snare.
But this was an open field, covered with knee-high grass—which offered very little help for trapping such a fast-moving creature.
As I stood by myself, gazing out at the enormous plains, lost in thought, I heard Tang Hwa-eun’s voice call to me from behind.
“So-ryong, are you considering how to capture it?”
After being together for so long, she could read from my expression that I had not yet formed a definite plan.
But she offered a reassuring smile.
“Well, we will simply have to find a way.”
I looked around and noticed something.
The children were not in sight.
I had left quietly, and no one else had come after me.
“Where are the children?” I asked.
“Oh, Sister Seol is looking after them.”
In that moment, a thought occurred to me.
Now is my opportunity!
The camel spider was important, without question.
But was I not also a man experiencing a new romance?
I mean, surely I could focus on something else briefly, right?
We were not yet married, and with the children always nearby, we never had a chance to behave like a real couple.
Gradually, I moved nearer to Tang Hwa-eun.
“W-why? S-So-ryong, your f-face looks unusual….”
What did she mean by unusual?
This was the face of a man desperate for affection!
As I moved closer, attempting to take her hand—
Abruptly, my foot became tangled in something.
And I fell forward directly on top of her.
“Ugh.”
“Kyaa!”
When I recovered my awareness, I found I was lying on top of her, holding her down.
She was beneath me, her face flushed as she turned her head away.
“So-ryong… y-you are so hasty…”
No!
It was a complete misunderstanding!
I had only been trying to take her hand, but my foot had caught on something!
Yet from her flustered appearance, it seemed she was anticipating something more.
As I was debating whether young men ought to proceed more slowly—
–Sluuurp?!
A sound suddenly came from behind me.
Startled, I glanced up.
Cho had appeared, his eyes shining with inquisitiveness.
He was watching Tang Hwa-eun and me as though he had discovered us in a compromising situation.
His bright, curious look seemed to shout, What are you two doing?
“N-no, it’s nothing! Ah, um… Daddy stumbled, and Mommy stopped him from falling!”
“Y-yes, Cho, that is precisely what occurred!”
Tang Hwa-eun nodded rapidly, getting to her feet quickly.
Still feeling embarrassed, I turned to see what had caused me to trip.
Something was unusual about the grass.
I bent down to look at it more closely.
The tips of the grass blades were knotted together.
“What in the world…?”
“Oh! U-uh, nomadic people sometimes do this to secure their horses temporarily. It is only a short-term technique.”
Tang Hwa-eun also seemed embarrassed, speaking a bit too quickly to hide her discomfort.
And in that instant—
A fantastic idea came to me.
I just need to make the damned thing trip!
If I knotted the grass together in a location where the camel spider was likely to run, and then strengthened it with Yo-hwa’s silk, I could create an ideal trap.
What would happen if it tripped while moving at top speed?
That would be extremely painful.
Yes, that sounded like a very severe fall.