Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 233

Chapter 233
After taking my pulse within the Clan Leader’s Hall, my father-in-law gave me a slow, deliberate nod.
This signified that my month-long period of treatment had reached its conclusion.
He informed me that the erratic pulse resulting from the electrocution, along with my broken ribs, were now completely mended.
His final pronouncement was that I was entirely healed.
“Your pulse is steady. You may return to your training regimen starting tomorrow.”
The stabilization of my pulse was due to the acupuncture, moxibustion, and a Qi therapy reminiscent of the internal arts I had learned in Gonryun. My ribs, meanwhile, had knit together far quicker than anticipated thanks to the Bone-Fusing Ointment, a substance famed for its bone-repairing properties.
The children absolutely despised its foul odor, but it did the job.
I bowed my head to express my thanks to my father-in-law for his diligent care over the past month.
“I am grateful for all your hard work this month, Father-in-law.”
“Hard work? Don’t be foolish. Use today to rest properly. Be at the training grounds at first light tomorrow.”
“Pardon me?”
For a second, I questioned if I had heard him correctly.
My father-in-law simply repeated himself, smiling.
“Why so shocked? I said training. Training. Your father will be expecting you at the training field at dawn.”
This man, honestly… How can anyone be so unforgiving and strict?
Even with a clean bill of health, shouldn’t I get a few days of grace?
It wasn’t as if the last month was a holiday; I was convalescing. And now I’m to start again tomorrow?
“Ah. Of course. Training. Understood, Father-in-law. I will take my leave now.”
“Very well. Until later.”
I bowed and exited the Clan Leader’s Hall, my spirit sinking at the prospect of resuming training so soon.
“Ah… It really begins tomorrow.”
I had given my word to Hwa-eun that I would train again, so I couldn’t refuse, but in truth… I just wanted to spend time with the children.
I walked heavily toward the enormous new gate that stood before the pond.
Over the last month, the old gate had been rebuilt into a massive structure, large enough for even Cheongwol to pass through without issue.
Once inside, I saw sister Seol, Hwa-eun, and the children relaxing in the gazebo.
Yeondu was stretched out in a sunbeam, and Bini was fast asleep with her head on Hwa-eun’s lap.
Cho was resting with his head on sister Seol’s knees.
“Ryong!”
Likely alerted by the sound of the gate, sister Seol noticed me immediately and waved.
Hearing her, the children, who had been dozing, raised their heads to look my way.
Under their collective gaze, I walked to the gazebo, and Seol was the first to speak.
“What was the verdict from your father-in-law?”
“He said I have fully recovered.”
“Really? Wonderful!”
Her face immediately brightened with happiness.
Seeing her so pleased, I couldn’t help but think:
‘She truly is the best sister.’
Her genuine delight at her younger brother’s recovery made me feel incredibly fortunate. Just as this warm thought settled, sister Seol smiled and declared,
“Excellent. Then we should begin immediately!”
“Begin? Begin what?”
I was confused by her eager response, which seemed to suggest she’d been anticipating this moment.
She answered with a radiant smile.
“What else could it be? Your training, of course. You haven’t been able to practice at all due to your unstable pulse, remember? From what Father-in-law and Grandpa have said, you’ve only just reached the foundational stage and unlocked a single syllable of the Mantra of Fire Harmonization. Let’s put it to the test!”
“What?!”
My feeling of luck instantly evaporated into regret.
It appeared sister Seol was even more demanding than my father-in-law.
Starting training the very instant I’m declared fit?
‘This can’t be right. Sister Seol is supposed to be caring, gentle, and considerate! She isn’t normally this severe and inflexible, is she?!’
As I was silently reeling, sister Seol tilted her head and inquired,
“Why that expression? Don’t tell me… you have no desire to train?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to…”
The unspoken weight of her question was immense—how could I admit to disliking training?
I wanted to explain that I had just been medically cleared and that perhaps starting tomorrow would be better, but then sister Seol turned to Hwa-eun and said,
“Hwa-eun, I believe So-ryong is reluctant to train. Didn’t he make a promise to you?”
“A promise?”
“Indeed. He stated his wish to become someone deserving of you—someone who, like you, had entered the Three Poison Realm. He said that was why he fell for you.”
“Ah, yes. He did say that.”
“So he should be dedicating himself, yet it seems his heart isn’t in it at all? When collecting venomous creatures, a little agony never deterred him. This time, however, he seems to have lost his nerve because you were too assertive. I even heard you shared a kiss recently. Perhaps he feels he has already succeeded and can stop trying?”
What kind of absurd conclusion is that?
Flustered, Hwa-eun was the first to react.
“S-Sister! What are you talking about?!”
“Unnie! W-We didn’t kiss! It was… it was life-saving resuscitation! That was all, wasn’t it, So-ryong?”
It was purely clinical.
Whatever sister Seol imagined had occurred, it was definitively a medical intervention.
She revived me from cardiac arrest using her technique—nothing more.
I nodded vigorously next to Hwa-eun to corroborate her story.
“Furthermore, So-ryong would never do such a thing! R-Right, So-ryong? However much he adores venomous creatures, he couldn’t possibly love them more than me!”
I was so stunned by this abrupt declaration that I failed to reply immediately.
Hwa-eun’s eyes widened slightly.
Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she asked,
“S-So… that isn’t true…?”
Under her intense gaze and with her voice trembling… I had no option but to agree.
“What kind of answer is that?! Absolutely! Of course I will train diligently, Hwa-eun!”
Finally, she appeared reassured.
Sister Seol then grinned like a mischievous child and announced,
“Good! Then let’s commence right now, So-ryong. Sit on the edge of the leather mat and begin circulating your Beast Heart Technique. Do it for Hwa-eun’s sake.”
And so, my warm, kind, and beloved sister Seol plunged the dagger of betrayal deep into my heart.
Defeated, I sat cross-legged on the mat, closed my eyes, and started to summon the energy of the Beast Heart Technique as directed.
I began the process of methodically clearing my mind of all distractions.
The Beast Heart Technique is an art of the heart.
Its foremost requirement is mental clarity.
But as I attempted this, I heard the faint, embarrassed whispers of the children in my thoughts.
—「Choruruu? Do you truly love Mother more than us?」
—「Chorurut! 『You love Mother more』」
—「Chorurut? 『Aren’t we your most favorite?』」
The voices of Cho, Bini, and Hyang resonated in my mind, and I desperately wished for a bolt of lightning to strike nearby and shatter this unbearable mood.
If it meant this training session would be called off—so be it.
“Sigh. Why can’t something enormous happen, right at this moment…?”
***

It was an unnatural night, dominated by a vast, crimson moon.
In Inhui, a town straddling the border of Guizhou and Sichuan,
Within the headquarters of the Tiger Fist Gate, a minor sect commanding over two hundred disciples, the sect’s Gate Master—Jang Hu-seong, known also as the Great Tiger of Inhui—stood before the main hall window, contemplating the blood-red moon.
“A red moon… How inauspicious.”
A brief shiver passed through him at the sight of the sanguine moon. Just as he prepared to return to his book, a faint noise cut through the night’s silence and reached his ears.
*Thump—crunch.*
The sound of something distant giving way. A noise that had no place in the deep night.
Jang Hu-seong stood up and went directly to the window, a frown etching onto his face.
What was that?
The instant he reached the window, a scream tore through the night from the direction of the Tiger Fist Gate’s entrance.
“Aaaaghhh!”
Jang Hu-seong sprinted from the hall. Around the main building, disciples on guard duty were already stirring, looking about in alarm and confusion.
He yelled immediately to one of the enforcers.
“Go! See what has happened!”
“Yes, Gate Master!”
He dispatched two night-watch disciples toward the source of the scream—but the commotion only intensified.
As lamps were lit throughout the Tiger Fist Gate compound and more disciples assembled before the main hall, the scouts began shouting back:
“W-We are being attacked!”
“Gahk—!”
“Enemies! All of you, with me!”
“Yes, Gate Master!”
With the assembled disciples following, Jang Hu-seong surged toward the sect’s entrance.
Yet before they could move past the main hall, they were met by a flood of warriors in crimson martial uniforms pouring through the gate—precisely from where the screams had originated.
“Who are you?!”
His eyes found one of his disciples, now held aloft by a man in red. The young disciple was lifeless, pallid, and collapsing like a marionette whose strings had been severed.
***

Grandfather observed me with a look of mild astonishment.
“I was concerned you might have grown rusty after such a long break, but that is clearly not the case. Your forms have become more precise. Have you been practicing in secret?”
I am just as surprised, Grandfather.
For good reason—even without practice, I could remember every single movement of the Centipede Poison Fang Claw and the Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand techniques he had taught me.
I had assumed I would be forgetful, having not used martial arts for some time, and I hadn’t drilled the forms. Yet, inexplicably, I remembered everything with perfect clarity, as if I possessed a natural gift for it.
He even inquired if I had been training on the sly.
“I haven’t practiced separately, but I suppose I made a concerted effort to mentally review everything to avoid forgetting?”
I couldn’t lie, so I answered with an awkward smile. Grandfather gave a low chuckle.
“Haha. I understand. Well then, now that your internal energy is stable, you are prepared to learn the Toad Explosive Palm.”
“Oh, we’re moving to Toad Explosive Palm now?”
“Correct.”
“Haha! Let’s begin immediately!”
I was thrilled because the Toad Explosive Palm comprised only three forms, all derivatives of a single principle: projecting energy from the hands akin to a toad expelling fire. It seemed refreshingly straightforward.
When the concept was first explained to me by the Seonnyeo tribe, it was described as a martial art where energy pooled in the dantian is violently expelled through the hands—like a toad spewing flames. The sole differences lay in the method of projection: using one hand, two hands, or both hands clasped together.
“Yes, we must get you proficient in Toad Explosive Palm quickly, so you can move on to Groundowner’s Dog Fang.”
“Wait, wh-what? It’s already completed?”
I recoiled at the mention of Groundowner’s Dog Fang and instinctively scanned our surroundings.
Merely hearing the name put me on edge—as if something horrifying might leap out at any moment.
Groundowner’s Dog Fang was a martial art developed in response to a special request found in the appendix of the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Manual. It demanded techniques that captured the core concepts of Toad Explosive Palm, like Parasite Pain Poison Hand, Swallowtail Swift Retreat, and Stone Wall Cicada Step. Grandfather had promised to devise a demonstration version for me, and apparently, he had finalized it.
“It is far more than a simple mock-up. It is now a fully realized martial art. You will be astonished.”
“I mean, was such thoroughness really necessary…”
But Grandfather’s expression grew grave.
“Hmph. This is a martial art created under the banner of the Ten Thousand Poison Divine Cult. How could I treat it with anything less than utmost seriousness? Honoring the legacy of our past cult leaders, I have developed it to encompass two hundred and twenty-eight variations!”
“Haa… I believed you were a rational man, Grandfather… Two hundred and twenty-eight?”
The fervent gleam in his eyes as he described it made me realize: I have my venomous creatures, and Grandfather has his martial arts. Our obsessions might differ, but we are cut from the same cloth.
That was not the look of a sane individual. It was the look of a man who had discovered his calling and committed to it utterly, beyond any return.
And really, did it need to be so elaborate? Two hundred and twenty-eight variations? The mere thought of mastering it made my head spin.
*BEEP! BEEEEEP!*
Though dawn had not yet broken, a piercing whistle shrilled through the air. Both Grandfather and I turned our attention toward the Nine-Tiered Gates.
“Something is occurring.”
“It seems we must investigate personally.”
“Agreed.”
As the whistle continued, a messenger from the Tang Clan, utilizing lightness techniques, arrived at the gates and presented himself formally before Grandfather.
He offered a deep bow.
“This one is Gu Sa Gu Baektong, an agent of the Sichuan Branch of the Martial Alliance. I pay my respects to the elder of the Ten Thousand Poison Divine Cult!”
“Yes, what news do you bring?”
Grandfather asked, his hands clasped behind his back, nodding calmly.
The man did not mince words.
“A minor sect known as the Tiger Fist Gate, situated in Inhui on the border of Guizhou and Sichuan, has been utterly wiped out!”
“What? Annihilated?”
Grandfather’s eyes widened in shock, as did those of the guards stationed at the Nine-Tiered Gates.
The agent continued.
“The perpetrator’s identity remains unknown, but the recovered corpses were reported to be entirely drained—not a single drop of blood remained!”
“Blood extraction…?”
The words escaped my lips before I could restrain them.
Every gaze shifted toward me in silent, unanimous understanding.