Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 242

Chapter 242
That night.

After my evening meal, I lay in my room, my mind circling a single, persistent question: why was there no illustration of the Golden-Crowned Four Kings?
‘Why was it the only one omitted?’
‘What’s wrong, So-ryong?’
‘Gyaaah!’
‘S-So-ryong?’
Hwa-eun’s voice broke into my thoughts without warning.
I jolted upright, my heart leaping, and scanned the room—but, as I should have expected, she wasn’t there.
It wasn’t a sound that reached my ears. Her words had been planted directly into my consciousness.
I had grown accustomed to projecting my thoughts to the creatures, but this two-way communication with Hwa-eun was a skill I still hadn’t perfected.
Mistakes were common. I must have been idly pondering to myself and accidentally broadcast those musings straight to her.
‘Ah, it’s nothing. I was just…’
I started to explain that my shock wasn’t from her message, but from my own error in sending one in the first place, when a knock came at the door.
– Knock knock.
‘She isn’t actually coming over, is she? We spent the entire day together!’
“Hwa-eun, is that you?”
I called out, half-expecting it to be her, but the voice that replied was Seol’s.
“It’s not Hwa-eun. It’s me. Oh? You’re still awake?”
“Sister Seol? Ah, yes, I’m up.”
“Then I’m coming in.”
“Of course.”
I pushed myself up from the straw mat as Sister Seol opened the door and entered the shadowy room.
I never kept lanterns burning because of the kids, so the space was enveloped in darkness.
She walked straight over to the straw near me and settled down at an angle, making herself comfortable.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d visit.”
“I see.”
The casual way she entered and reclined showed how familiar she was with my quarters.
This was a regular event; Sister Seol visited me often.
She was easily bored.
Assuming she was just feeling restless again, I lay back down, using Bini as a headrest—
—when a voice, sharp and impatient, suddenly erupted in my mind.
I had been so focused on Sister Seol’s arrival that I’d forgotten all about Hwa-eun.
‘So-ryong? So-ryong? Why did you go quiet?’
‘My apologies. Sister Seol is here; she couldn’t sleep and came to see me.’
I replied as fast as I could.
A delayed response would also earn me a reprimand.
‘Oh, really? Then I’ll come as well!’
‘Wait, we’ve been with each other the whole day alrea—’
‘Yes?’
‘Ah, no, nothing. Please, do come. I’ll be here.’
Damn it. I was truly losing the ability to distinguish between my private thoughts and those I transmitted to Hwa-eun.
If this continued, I was certain to make a grave error one day.
Just as that feeling of dread began to settle in, a real voice spoke clearly from right beside me.
“So-ryong.”
“Y-Yes, Sister Seol?”
“Your foot. How is it?”
“Pardon?”
“Your foot. The one I treated with Gold Salve while you were out. Has it healed properly?”
“Ah, that.”
I presented the sole of my foot in the dark, and her eyes seemed to glint as she inspected the injury.
After a moment, she gave a nod.
“It seems to have mended well. It hasn’t sealed over completely yet, so you must still be cautious.”
“I will, Sister Seol.”
As she said, the cut on my foot had largely recovered.
A pink scar was all that remained, but since only ten days had passed, it could easily split open if I wasn’t careful.
“It feels unusually quiet around the estate with so many people away on the search.”
Right after examining my foot, she changed the subject to the ongoing operation.
I had been so distracted by my mental exchange with Hwa-eun that I knew nothing about it.
So I asked her to fill me in.
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t heard any news. Was the search organized last night? Could you tell me what’s happening?”
“Mm. Certainly. This is what occurred. While you and Hwa-eun were unconscious…”
As Sister Seol explained, during the ten days Hwa-eun and I were out, all the guests had departed quietly with their sects to begin discreet searches.
“Discreetly?”
“Yes. Ji-ryong called it a counter-deception—since they attempted to trick us, we are answering with a trick of our own.”
A few minor sects from Sichuan had sent disciples disguised as Emei nuns or Cheongseong martial artists toward Inhoe, where the Guard Division is stationed.
Meanwhile, the real search parties—spearheaded by Cheongseong and Emei—traveled east under the veil of night.
Cheongseong was gathering martial artists from northern Sichuan to watch the Sichuan-Shaanxi border, while Emei led those from the south to cover the Sichuan-Zhongjing border.
Since Hwa-eun and I were recovering, Father-in-law and Grandfather had not gone personally,
but the Tang Clan elders had taken groups of warriors to join the effort.
The Tang Clan forces were divided in two to support both fronts, Sister Seol told me.
“I see. So the aim was to divert attention toward the Guard Division?”
“Precisely.”
“But if the Blood Cult isn’t acting alone, and the Ottu are involved, we must be especially cautious…”
It was a sound strategy, yet it came with risks.
The Blood Cult could be handled relatively well because of the Response Toxin Team and the Solidified Poison Formula,
but the Ottu Clan presented a greater problem.
They commanded Guemangjo, and their knack for producing spiritual-grade venomous creatures using only their mouths made them a formidable danger.
It was entirely possible something sinister could emerge during the search.
“Don’t fret, So-ryong. Ji-ryong said it was actually a relief—he suspected the Ottu scum might be behind the Blood Cult,
which is exactly why the Tang Clan divided its warriors.
Furthermore, we received aid from Yummong’s sect, Wolgaek. They dispatched experts in poison defense. So there’s no need to worry excessively.”
“Ah, so that’s the reason our clan split its forces?”
“Yes. It was a measure in case any venomous creatures or other strange threats appeared—a sort of specialized division for pest control.”
So the Tang Clan warriors were not only deployed but also equipped to counter Guemangjo.
Just as I began to feel reassured, Hwa-eun’s voice reached me again from outside.
‘So-ryong, I’ve arrived.’
“Come in, Hwa-eun.”
She had come after all.
I was starting to believe it would be simpler to just marry and be together around the clock.
– Creak.
The door opened, and Hwa-eun entered.
She was dressed for bed, wearing lightweight clothes with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
“Unni!”
Hwa-eun noticed Sister Seol in the gloom and her face brightened with delight,
but Sister Seol’s reaction was more subdued, carrying a tone of mild disbelief.
“You came as well, Hwa-eun? Even after you two have been attached at the hip all day.”
‘My thoughts exactly, Sister Seol.’
Her words struck a chord. Sister Seol always gave voice to the things I couldn’t say.
“Honestly, you should just petition the elders to let you share a room. Even if the wedding is postponed, you could at least sort out the sleeping situation.”
“Ah! Unni!”
“S-Sister Seol!”
We both flinched at Sister Seol’s blunt suggestion that we might as well cohabit, though likely for different reasons.
Hwa-eun was probably reacting out of sheer embarrassment.
For my part, I had entertained similar ideas, but there’s a vast difference between choosing to leap from a cliff and being pushed.
Seol continued her teasing.
“I mean, if you still enjoy each other’s company after being together all day, you should just marry now. At this rate, you’ll have a child before the ceremony.”
“U-Unni!”
“Actually, maybe being together all the time wouldn’t be so terrible?”
I stopped at those words.
Now that I considered it… perhaps a married life spent constantly together really wouldn’t be bad.
Just as I began to dwell on that notion, Hwa-eun abruptly waved a hand and steered the conversation elsewhere.
“Ah, th-that’s right. So-ryong. You mentioned something was missing earlier?”
“Missing?”
“That thought you sent. You said, ‘Why was that the only one missing?’ Didn’t you?”
“Oh, that.”
“What was it, So-ryong? What were you referring to?”
Though our earlier talk had been cut short, Seol now seemed curious as well, so I leaned at an angle against Bini and started to explain my earlier contemplation.
“I was pondering why the portrait of the Golden-Crowned Four Kings was the only one absent from behind the Heavenly Flame Venom Wall. It seemed illogical.”
“Is it really that important? Perhaps they simply overlooked it?”
The moment I spoke, Hwa-eun tilted her head, her expression one of confusion.
Seol and I responded in perfect unison.
“That’s not it, Hwa-eun.”
“No, it isn’t like that, Hwa-eun.”
“Huh? It’s not?”
Hwa-eun blinked at us, still not comprehending.
Her reaction was understandable. It wasn’t an easy concept to grasp unless you shared the same passion as Seol and me.
Seol attempted to explain in a patient, gentle tone—as if speaking to someone from an entirely different world.
“Alright, Hwa-eun, think of it this way—among poisonous beasts, there is a famous group called the Ten Great Poisonous Beasts, correct?
Now, imagine creating a book about them… but leaving one out? It would be unbearable. You wouldn’t rest until it was complete. You’d die feeling unsettled.”
“Yes, exactly! That’s the perfect way to put it, Sister Seol!”
I nodded slowly, completely in agreement with her excellent explanation.
When I looked at Hwa-eun, however, she was still blinking rapidly, not quite following.
“Ugh, was that still not clear enough?”
Seol shot a glance my way, her expression slightly exasperated.
She was clearly communicating, *Your turn.*
It was true her explanation had been a little abstract, so I decided to take another shot.
“For people like me and Sister Seol—who raise venomous creatures and poisonous beasts as a hobby—a certain kind of ambition naturally develops.”
“An ambition?”
“Yes. We care for all our creatures, of course, but eventually you think, ‘I want to collect every color,’ or ‘I wonder how many I can breed.’ That sort of thing.”
“Exactly! See? So-ryong understands.”
Seol nodded vigorously, agreeing with my words.
But despite this, Hwa-eun continued to blink, still not persuaded.
Even though I had tried to make it simple enough for an ordinary person to understand, it remained a difficult concept to convey.
So, Hwa-eun asked the inevitable question.
“But… why? What’s the reason for that?”
I wished I could explain further, but this was where a collector’s reasoning became indistinct.
“It’s difficult to describe. It just… occurs naturally when you’re involved in raising them.”
“Yeah. It’s hard to put into words, but it’s a feeling that grows.
For instance, I’m raising three varieties of wolves: black, white, and brown.”
“O-Oh, is that so?”
“Anyway, that’s why the omission from the book makes no sense.
Whoever created that record… if they didn’t finish the collection, they probably never found peace.”
“That does seem odd.”
Hearing this, Seol rested her chin in her hand, falling into thought.
After a short while, her eyes brightened as if she’d recalled something, and she turned to Hwa-eun.
“Hey, that’s right! Hwa-eun, wouldn’t the Tang Clan have any logs or documents kept by past clan leaders?
If you look through the records or chronicles from that period, you might find something about the person who wrote the Heavenly Flame Venom Bestiary.
We have similar archives in our Yaksoo Palace.”
Hwa-eun clapped her hands together and exclaimed.
“Oh! Yes! We do have something like that!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes! The Clan Leader’s Journal. There could be an entry in there. A lot of the older records were lost in a fire,
but enough should remain to look through.”
When she confirmed the Clan Leader’s Journal still existed, Seol and I both sprang to our feet.
“Let’s go!”
“We should go now!”
“R-Right now?”
“Absolutely. I won’t be able to sleep until I’ve seen it.”
“Exactly. There’s no chance of sleeping without finding out.”
With a sigh at our enthusiasm, Hwa-eun found herself guiding us to the Tang Clan’s archives in the middle of the night.
As we entered the dark archive room, the smell of old paper and dust met us.
“Wait, am I permitted to see these documents?”
“These records are very ancient, so it’s alright, unni.
They contain nothing related to martial arts. Ah, here it is.
The compiler of the Heavenly Flame Venom Bestiary was the Third Clan Leader, Elder Tang Hwa-seong. The third generation would be… ah, this one here…”
“Hm…”
“Only this one volume?”
Just one.
It seemed most of the older records had been consumed by fire, and this was the sole survivor.
Even this single book showed its age—its pages were brittle and discolored, looking as if they might disintegrate at a touch.
“We likely shouldn’t handle this directly.”
I voiced my concern about the book’s delicate state,
but then Hwa-eun produced another volume from beneath the charred one.
“This is a transcribed copy. Let’s look through this together and see what we can discover.”
“Ooooh.”
Gathering close under the dim glow of a lantern, we carefully turned the pages.
And near the very end, a solitary line, written in a mournful tone by the third clan leader, captured our attention:
“Yesterday, I left it out for the sake of Hwa-seong, but today, Hwa-seong too is gone.”