Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 238

Chapter 238
“Aaaahhh.”
I let out a slightly theatrical groan, playing up the pain a little just because it felt so good to be cradled in Hwa-eun’s embrace.
From behind me, Hwa-eun softly stroked my forehead, her voice laced with worry.
“So-ryong, is it very painful? Shall I put on more Golden Wound Balm? Or perhaps another dose of Paralysis Powder? If the injury is severe, you could develop a fever. Do you feel warm at all?”
Meanwhile, stirred up by my exaggerated moans, the children scurried over to the heads of the Blood Cult’s squad leader and her deputy, menacing them with taps from their antennae and forelegs.
– Tssrrrr!
– Kisha!
Hyang had coiled around the two women like a living rope, its massive jaws parted and ready to clamp down at a moment’s notice.
Yoha rested one of her somber-looking front legs squarely on top of one woman’s skull.
A thin line of blood ran from the deputy’s brow.
“Hiiieeek!”
It seemed the children were angry that I’d been hurt—they were taking turns terrifying the two captives.
“You mustn’t actually bite them just because you’re cross, alright? Not that it would matter much if you did… but we do need them alive, at least until Father-in-law—I mean, your grandfather—arrives.”
‘Just frighten them, don’t injure them. Scare, don’t kill.’
They weren’t actually going to bite, not after our victory was secure. But just to be safe, I repeated the warning to them in my mind, smiling to myself.
– Tssrrt! Understood, Dad!
– Tssrrr. Got it, Dad! Dad! We’ll scare her until she wets herself, right?
– Tssrrt!
– Tssrrrrrr!
The children’s aggressive hissing sent the two women into fresh paroxysms of fear.
“Please! Spare us, mighty beasts!”
“We beg your forgiveness! We were wrong!”
They were supposed to be the commander and second-in-command of the Blood Cult’s Blood Flame Unit, a group renowned for its elite status.
Yet their entire unit had been instantly eradicated by the horde of poisonous insects, and the trauma had shattered their spirits. They had been in this broken state ever since awakening amidst the gruesome, blood-drenched remnants of their fellow cultists.
Completely and utterly terrified.
So much for the Blood Cult’s elite forces. They hadn’t even managed to kill a single Golden-Furred Wasp King before being utterly annihilated. Their shock was understandable.
To be fair, when the very air and earth are filled with swarming venomous creatures, fear is a natural reaction. But these individuals hadn’t offered any meaningful resistance. They simply broke under the assault.
Their defeat was so total that even Sister Seol had been rendered speechless.
“Are these truly members of the Blood Cult?”
Grandfather Tang Mu-seong’s answer to her question was exactly what I had been thinking.
“Their martial arts are effective against humans and animals, but against insects, they are worthless. These creatures have hard shells and do not bleed red blood.”
That is the nature of martial arts—it is founded on the principles of human physiology. Striking pressure points, targeting vitals—these are concepts that apply to people.
All the knowledge martial arts imparts about where to hit is based on the human form.
But what do you do when confronted by a seven-meter-long centipede? Or a spider taller than a man?
Or a five-meter centipede?
How does one even begin to fight such a thing?
A punch would find only empty air, and where would one aim a kick?
Furthermore, the martial arts of the Blood Cult are especially lethal against beings with red blood.
But our children? They are arthropods—protected by hardened exoskeletons, not soft flesh and blood.
Even if one could wound them, there is no red blood to spill, rendering the Blood Cult’s techniques ineffective.
And that’s not all—they are far quicker than humans, equipped with natural armor, and possess venomous stings.
In the end, the enemy simply crumbled, overwhelmed and muttering in dread.
Once I was satisfied that the two were sobbing and pleading for mercy, I turned my head and answered Hwa-eun gently.
“It was just a sharp sting for a moment, but it’s already better.”
“Are you certain you don’t require more Paralysis Powder? I mean, truly… to be wounded so gravely… it distresses me so.”
She had been staying near me a lot recently, and now I understood why—the ambiguity between us had been the problem. Now that she remained by my side without any doubt, everything felt perfectly right.
‘It’s that uncertain middle ground that causes trouble. Just be with me, don’t go away.’
The way she was holding me from behind now felt like a promise that she would never release me.
Even if the ambush had left me with a significant wound through the sole of my foot, it had been worth it.
Because Hwa-eun was holding me close like this.
Besides, there would be no training for some time now.
The benefits of this injury far outweighed the discomfort.
‘Sigh… I really wish we could just have that coming-of-age ceremony already.’
They had child marriages in the Joseon era, didn’t they? This whole coming-of-age ritual seemed to be a significant barrier. Even though I am already grown.
That was my thought as I continued to ham up the pain a little.
Then a disturbance arose from the entrance to the training ground, and before I could respond, my father-in-law rushed in accompanied by martial artists from Sichuan.
“My son-in-law—what has occurred?”
Then he saw Hwa-eun and me together and stopped dead in his tracks.
Given the customs of the time, he was undoubtedly shocked by our physical proximity.
Startled, Hwa-eun jerked backward—and I tumbled over backward.
“Oof…”
“Ah!”
“S-So-ryong, are you alright?!”
I had been perched on a stone step, and the back of my head struck its edge, bringing a slight sting to my eyes.
As I rubbed the back of my head, Hwa-eun did the same and attempted to explain to her father and the Sichuan martial artists.
“S-So-ryong was injured, so I-I was merely tending to him…”
The martial artists, feeling awkward, averted their eyes and pretended they had seen nothing.
This only caused Hwa-eun’s blush to deepen.
Frankly, doing nothing would have been less conspicuous, but regardless…
Noticing the attention, my father-in-law quickly moved to my side, took hold of my leg, and inquired,
“Ah, r-right. But are you well? Is the injury serious? What happened to your foot?”
My foot was slathered in so much Golden Wound Balm it resembled lumpy dough. With that much applied, the actual wound was completely obscured.
So I leaned against him for support and extended my foot with a somewhat dramatic expression.
“A bead went straight through the bottom of my foot. The rest of me is fine. Heh.”
“What! Your foot was pierced by a bead?!”
His eyes went wide with astonishment.
Even the martial artists behind him flinched in sympathy.
“Have you received treatment?”
“Yes, as is evident.”
He glanced at the medicinal aroma rising from my foot, then at the bandaging, and turned to Hwa-eun with a faintly exasperated smile.
“Hwa-eun. Later, please remove some of that. An excessive amount of salve can sometimes impede healing.”
“Yes, Father.”
Then he turned back to me and asked,
“So what in heaven’s name happened here? I received a report that two hundred Blood Cult scoundrels ambushed you, so I rushed over in a panic. How did you drive them off? And those women—are they the ones who assaulted you? Did they fall back to the Tang Clan?”
The martial artists nodded along with his question.
I looked at them, then proposed to my father-in-law,
“Since we have visitors, perhaps we should continue this discussion inside? The story is long, and we cannot have everyone standing about here.”
“Yes, of course. Let’s do that. Please, come inside.”
I instructed Hyang to haul the two prisoners inside, then escorted our guests into the Clan Leader’s Hall.
Once inside, with Hwa-eun’s assistance, I relayed everything we had learned from the two women.
“To begin, they claim to be the squad leader and deputy leader of the Blood Flame Unit, a combat force within the Blood Cult.”
“The Blood Flame Unit?!”
“If it is the Blood Flame Unit, then aren’t they the notorious she-demons who sowed chaos thirty years ago during the old Blood Cult’s reign?”
“They are said to be fiendish women who wandered the martial world, seducing practitioners and draining their blood to enhance their own power!”
The Sichuan martial artists’ eyes widened in shock at the mention of the “Blood Flame Unit.”
No wonder their faces had seemed deceptively elegant.
So that was the sinister secret hidden behind those fair features.
“To think they were such vile women… But you need not concern yourselves any longer. The Blood Flame Unit was here—and now, they are gone.”
“Here and gone?”
“What do you mean by that—?”
The phrase was a trendy saying from my previous life, but it was apparently unknown in this martial world. The bewildered blinking from everyone made that quite clear.
Smiling, I continued.
“According to their testimony, roughly two hundred attacked me today, and that constituted the entire Blood Flame Unit. All except these two are dead. Which means… the Blood Flame Unit of the Blood Cult has ceased to be.”
“Y-you mean to say… you eliminated them all?”
“Ooooh… So that is the meaning of ‘they were here and now they’re gone’? That phrasing is quite catchy, is it not?”
“They were here… and now they are not? That is rather clever!”
It seemed trendy slang from my world had a universal charm. People immediately began repeating it.
Amid the murmuring, my father-in-law’s voice cut through.
“So, was it Father who personally intervened to defeat the attackers, as he did with the wounded here at the Tang Clan? The scene I passed on my way here was… rather horrific. Did Father lose his composure?”
It appeared he assumed that Tang Mu-seong had raced to the scene after receiving the urgent report. I shook my head and corrected him.
“No, Father-in-law. The ones who made the Blood Flame Unit ‘here and gone’… were my children.”
“By children, you mean the spirit beasts?”
“Yes. They sensed I was in peril and all came rushing to my aid.”
“I see. So it was the children… Excellent work, little ones.”
• Tssrrr.
• Kisha.
He came to my side and patted the children’s heads in praise.
Then, while stroking Cho’s head, he asked,
“So, did you discover why they attacked you?”
“Ah, yes. They attempted to kidnap me to acquire the Parasite-Dissolving Pellet.”
“The Parasite-Dissolving Pellet?”
A murmur of surprise passed through the Sichuan martial artists at that name.
“Amitabha… Young hero, the Parasite-Dissolving Pellet—is that not the medicine that eradicates internal parasites? Why would the Blood Cult be after such a thing?”
The question came from the head of the Emei Sect. Naturally, he was puzzled as to why they would target something not even invented by the Tang Clan.
“Well, that is…”
I was just about to explain when—
“It is because of this.”
Grandfather and Sister Seol entered the Clan Leader’s Hall, and I immediately spotted the large, snake-like container Sister Seol carried in her hands.
“Mandok Shingun, it has been too long.”
“It is an honor to receive Master Ja-hee at the Tang Clan.”
• Clatter.
While the two exchanged greetings, Sister Seol set the object she carried in the center of the round table.
Master Ja-hee tilted her head and asked,
“What is that?”
At her question, Sister Seol opened the lid of the container.
What was revealed was a squirming mass of black larvae.
The black, blood-streaked larvae writhed over one another inside the container.
“T-these are—!”
“Blood Parasites.”
“Just as I feared! These repulsive things—where did they come from?”
“Each one was implanted within the skulls of those women.”
At Grandfather’s words, every gaze shifted to the two captured Blood Cult women.
“You are saying they were hosts to Blood Parasites?”
“Yes. Every single one of them, without exception.”
“But how could that be…?”
As everyone stared in shock at the revelation that these cultists carried Blood Parasites, they turned back to Grandfather, awaiting an explanation.
With a solemn expression, he finally spoke.
“It would seem the Blood Cult was… here, and now it is gone.”
Our grandfather didn’t hesitate to use the same “here and gone” phrase he’d shared with me before the Sichuan martial artists arrived.
A man clearly eager to be seen as a modern, trend-following martial artist.
He continued.
“It appears the Five Venoms Sect has assimilated the Blood Cult.”
As the news spread that the Blood Cult and the Five Venoms Sect—previously thought to be allies—had actually merged, the hall erupted into a buzz of excited conversation.
“The Blood Cult… has been absorbed by the Five Venoms Sect?!”
“But the Five Venoms Sect is…”
It seemed the conflict between the Central Plains and the Blood Cult had now transformed into a confrontation between the Central Plains and the Five Venoms Sect.
***
The meeting that had begun in the capital of Sichuan had relocated to the Tang Clan and was continuing there. While our guests and the family elders pursued their discussion, Hwa-eun and I excused ourselves to her living quarters.
I was still unsettled and in pain, so I needed to lie down. But as everyone knew, my own room was little more than a straw mat on the earth.
Hwa-eun had insisted I take her bed, saying she would stay with Sister Seol for the night.
She said she couldn’t stand the idea of me resting on straw while injured.
“Daddy needs to recover today, so you must not disturb him, understood?”
• Tssrrt!
• Kisha!
• Guk guk!
The children each gave my cheek a single lick as if to agree, then marched out the door.
Since Hwa-eun’s room was full of furniture, there was no space for them here. They all went back to my quarters instead.
For once, it was peacefully quiet.
As she delicately applied more Golden Wound Balm to my foot, Hwa-eun spoke, her voice thick with feeling.
“When I saw you were injured earlier, I felt so terrible.”
“I am sorry. I seem to keep getting hurt…”
“No… It is just… all the children heard you call for help—but I did not. That is what pains me the most.”
It wasn’t the wound that troubled her. It was that she had not heard my cry, even though all the others had.
Without thinking, I took her hand in mine.
She tilted her head to the side, as if shyly avoiding my gaze.
I glanced around—no children in sight.
We had shared many breaths mouth-to-mouth, but never a true kiss.
As I drew her gently toward me, she yielded, sinking into my embrace.
Perhaps this was why Ji-ryong had kissed Eunbong until he was poisoned by her flute techniques.
Once you experience it, it becomes a thought you cannot shake.
I held her close again, thinking I might finally understand how one could become enamored with kissing.
• Smack.
Our lips met.
And in that instant, her earlier words echoed in my mind.
“No… All the kids heard So-ryong’s cry, but I didn’t. That’s what hurts the most.”
The fact that she had been anguished at not hearing the call of my heart.
That thought unfolded, one connection leading to another, until it arrived at… Beast Heart Art.
The art was originally devised to share one’s heart with beasts.
And beasts, according to the old texts, meant wild animals, creatures of the forest, and beings of the air—in other words, this included mammals.
And humans are mammals too, are they not?
So… could it possibly function on people as well?
This peculiar notion arrived in my mind from nowhere.
And the moment it did, the Beast Heart Art stirred—and a brilliant white light flooded my vision.
‘What in the—?!’