Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 328

Chapter 328
“What in the—!?”
The martial artists from the Blood Cult and the Five Venoms Sect recoiled in shock as flames erupted from the top of their companion’s head.
It appeared most of them weren’t high-ranking members within the Five Venoms Sect.
They likely hadn’t sensed that my palm strike carried the toxic essence of the Azure Fire Magma Toad.
Before they could even process what was happening—
I leaped from the cliff edge, hurling a rapid volley of Exploding Toad Palms at the group with both hands.
—Boom! Boom!
They scrambled to evade, but as the dust from the near impacts settled, another burst of fire ignited on a second man’s head.
The first man who’d been struck then clutched his stomach and cried out in alarm:
“Watch out! Your internal energy—it’s fading rapidly!”
“What!?”
He had only just noticed his inner strength was being swiftly consumed.
His warning sent a wave of terror through the others.
None of them had ever faced a palm technique that inflicted lingering damage by incinerating one’s vital energy.
“We’re finished! Everyone else—fall back!”
Two of those I had struck charged at me, while the rest sprinted toward the opposite side of the house.
But the instant they rounded the corner—
—Whack!
“Guh-heuk!”
A lime-green tail slammed into the lead man’s stomach, hurling him onto the sandy riverbank.
Then, from behind Yeondu, Hwa-eun sprang forward, releasing a flurry of concealed projectiles.
“You’re not getting through here!”
As the remaining enemies turned in stunned disbelief, I was already engaged with the two who had rushed me.
—Boom!
One managed to block the Exploding Toad Palm, but the fire blazing on his head flared more intensely.
The accumulating damage from the burning internal energy seemed to be growing stronger.
The man managed only a few steps before his face went ashen and he dropped, unconscious.
The other stumbled, struggling for air.
Then the rest of the enemies surged toward me.
Just before they could reach me, Cho descended from above, swiftly wrapping herself around one of them.
—Chrrrrrr!
“Hrrrghh!”
I had instructed her not to kill, so she merely immobilized him.
“Well done, Cho!”
At the front, it was Cho and me holding the line.
At the rear, Yeondu and Hwa-eun.
With their movements hampered, Hwa-eun’s needles and my palms found their marks among the foes.
Soon, only a single opponent was left standing.
He seemed to be the most skilled and seasoned of the group.
“Grrrk…”
Finally, under our combined pressure, Hwa-eun’s thrown dagger nicked his ankle.
The Five Venoms Sect martial artist immediately sealed his own pressure point.
As a senior member who had prepared to confront the Sichuan Tang Clan, he undoubtedly knew how to neutralize their poisons.
“Tch. Did you really believe our Five Venoms Sect would be defeated by simple Tang Clan toxins—huh!?”
But his face then contorted in alarm.
His right leg, where the blade had cut him, began to shake—and then he crumpled to the earth.
“H-how can a mere paralysis poison—!”
He looked completely bewildered, but that confusion was short-lived.
Soon, even his mouth and eyes grew still.
His whole body locked up and he fell to the ground, leaving only a final question in his gaze:
—Thud.
That lingering question in his eyes was: How could a Five Venoms Sect expert be defeated by a simple paralysis poison?
The answer was straightforward—it wasn’t a standard Tang Clan poison.
It was Yo-hwa’s poison.
At the commander’s suggestion, I had coated all of Hwa-eun’s hidden weapons with Yo-hwa’s venom for this mission.
Ordinarily, Hwa-eun employed poisons from the Tang Clan.
Even experts who refine poison arts and saturate their inner energy with toxins cannot wield every poison in combat.
Such mastery is only possible after achieving the mythical Ten-Poison Body.
Using a poison you haven’t built a resistance to risks poisoning yourself during a fight.
This is why martial artists typically depend on toxins they have conditioned their bodies against.
That way, even if an opponent deflects your projectiles back at you, you remain unharmed.
But this time, anticipating a clash with Five Venoms Sect scum, we prepared Yo-hwa’s venom—a unique toxin from one of our creatures, chosen because it wouldn’t be fatal if one of the kids were accidentally exposed.
Truthfully, venom from poisonous beasts isn’t very effective when ingested or used as a powder—its applications are limited. But when delivered through a wound, it is extraordinarily potent.
And Yo-hwa’s venom ranks among the Ten Great Venomous Beasts of the Central Plains.
It induces paralysis—not overwhelmingly deadly, but utterly immune to pressure-point sealing or venom extraction techniques.
The Tang Clan conducted extensive tests and studies on it—even Grandfather Mandok Shingun could only endure it for a short time.
“So you thought the Tang Clan’s poisons were a joke?” Hwa-eun gazed down coldly at the fallen man.
It was Yo-hwa’s venom, but Yo-hwa belonged to me, and I belonged to Hwa-eun—and Hwa-eun was of the Tang Clan.
So, in a way, calling it a Tang Clan poison wasn’t incorrect.
Still, that look of contempt on her face—
Impressive.
I carefully collected the men I had defeated and dropped them next to the ones Hwa-eun had subdued.
“Hey kids, bring over the ones you caught too.”
—Chrrrr.
—Shhhhaa!
The commander figure taken down by Hwa-eun.
Two men restrained by Yeondu and Cho.
Four that I had overcome.
Soon, all the enemies we had captured were arranged neatly beside the river.
—Fweeee!
As we finished positioning the captives, Hwa-eun launched a signal needle to notify the commander.
Then she approached me and inquired:
“So-ryong, how did it feel to use the Exploding Toad Palm and Lizard Wall Gecko Step in a real fight?”
“Uh… the Exploding Toad Palm doesn’t feel as powerful as when Hwayang uses it himself. The Lizard Wall Gecko Step allows me to stick to walls, but it consumes a great deal of internal energy.”
I hadn’t had a chance to test these techniques’ capabilities since breaking through to the Third Venom.
But now I had.
The Exploding Toad Palm could now channel Hwayang’s venom.
The Lizard Wall Gecko Step enabled me to cling to cliff faces.
I hadn’t uncovered any new aspects of Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand yet, and I hadn’t fully mastered Scorpion Tail Swift Kick, so the benefits of the Fifth Venom remained unclear.
The enhancements from the Palm and the Step seemed to be bonus traits acquired after reaching the Third and Fourth Venom stages.
Each gate had unlocked sequentially.
Still, there was one minor disappointment.
While it was excellent that I could imbue my strikes with Hwayang’s venom—
The effect was somewhat feeble.
Much like when I first fused Cho’s venom into my Centipede Poison Fang Claw—
The venom’s impact felt a little lacking.
If I could wield Hwayang’s venomous energy directly, a single palm strike ought to ignite a torch-like flame over an opponent’s head and cause them to detonate on the spot.
But when I executed the Exploding Toad Palm, it only produced a fist-sized flare that rapidly drained the foe’s internal energy.
Naturally, landing a second strike made the flames grow larger and the energy depletion seem faster—but no one exploded.
They simply fainted from exhaustion as their inner energy vanished.
“But even that is quite remarkable.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And Grandfather mentioned he would attempt to find a method to intensify the venom’s power using the Blood-Water Venom Claw. So its effectiveness should get better over time. Oh! Should we also consult Miss Cheong-yu? Perhaps she knows a way.”
Hwa-eun smiled as she linked her arm with mine.
Lately, she had become much more physically affectionate. It began after I promised her that I would be the one to seek her out next time.
Her earlier icy demeanor had its own charm, but this warm, tender version of Hwa-eun was also delightful, and I was smiling happily when—
Abruptly, she pulled away from me.
There was no one else around except us and the kids, and they were largely indifferent to this level of contact, so I wondered what was wrong.
But then I heard the clanking of armor coming from the slope leading down to the riverbank where Hwa-eun was looking.
—Clank. Clatter.
And from over the rise emerged a familiar figure.
It was the commander.
“Ah! There you are! Are you both unharmed?”
He had initially seemed irritated, but the moment he saw us, his face lit up.
Sliding down the slope with his troops, the commander hurried to where we had laid out the captured Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect fighters—
And promptly began kicking them like a football.
—Wham! Wham!
“So there was a back way out! You scoundrels actually tried to flee?”
He must have been furious about having to chase down escaping enemies.
Swe streamed down his forehead.
“Tie them all up!”
“Yes, sir! Commander! What are you standing around for? I’ll seal their meridians—make sure they’re secured tightly!”
“Understood, sir!”
A lieutenant, who seemed to be a martial artist himself, moved among the captured Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect members, sealing their pressure points.
Then came the bindings.
Once they were restrained, the commander ordered them roused.
“Wake them up!”
“Yes, sir!”
—Splash!
Two soldiers removed their helmets, scooped water from the river, and threw it onto the faces of the Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect martial artists.
The prisoners regained consciousness.
The commander grilled them immediately.
“Is everyone here!? Did any get away? Tell me now if there were any messengers or those not present at the pavilion!”
They claimed to have watched the place for days before the raid, but he was being cautious—just in case they had missed someone.
To be honest, while I’d received his aid before, I didn’t truly know his character.
But evidently, he was unexpectedly thorough.
Nevertheless, the awakened Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect martial artists turned their heads away and stayed silent.
“You dare stay quiet, you bastards!”
—Wham! Wham!
The commander began kicking them again, but one of the Five Venoms Sect warriors sneered and said:
“If you believe a few kicks will make us talk, you’re deeply mistaken. Just execute us.”
“You—bastard!”
The commander landed several more kicks, but none of the prisoners spoke.
Eventually, breathless and enraged, the commander ceased his kicking.
“Stubborn bastards, huh? Fine—let’s see how long you can remain silent. Beat them!”
“Yes, sir!”
At his command, the soldiers reversed their spears, spat on their palms, and stepped forward.
They corralled the prisoners together and began a vicious assault.
Like the drumming of a heavy summer downpour, blows rained down on heads, arms, bodies—nothing was spared.
But the prisoners bore it without a sound.
Their martial arts training and internal energy likely allowed them to withstand the punishment.
Except for the man in the most ornate robes—he lost consciousness immediately, perhaps because he lacked martial skills.
“Huff… huff… Tough sons of bitches.”
“Stubborn scum.”
Soon, the soldiers tired quickly.
Smiling, I stepped forward.
It seemed time for a specialist.
“Sir, would you like my assistance?”
“Huh? You? No, no… this is too brutal for you to handle…”
As the commander looked at me with apology, several centipedes emerged from the house the prisoners had come from and began climbing my leg.
“Hmph! You think you can make us talk with these pathetic insects you’ve collected? Do you truly believe we’ll speak because of your amateurish kicks?”
As one prisoner jeered at me, I lifted the centipede now crawling on my finger and said:
“Everyone says something like that at first, but we’ll see.”
It wasn’t long before the martial artists began divulging everything they knew.
***
As the interrogation proceeded, the riverbank was filled with trembling people—though not from urinating themselves.
They were likely picturing what would happen if it were them in that situation.
After all, they had witnessed centipedes crawling into people’s ears.
It was only natural they’d be terrified.
“Bro, brother… y-you’re amazing. What was it again… Heaven… poison… no, bug… Ah, my apologies…”
The commander shuddered once, scratched his head, and looked at me.
My eye twitched at his failure to recall my nickname, but I replied with a smile.
“You mean my nickname: Hea. Ven. Ven. O. Mous. Fa. Fa?”
“Ah! That’s it, Heavenly Venomous Fa-fa! You truly deserve the title.”
I wasn’t delighted, but I maintained my smile.
“It’s merely a minor skill.”
And just then, figures burst into the area with loud cries.
“So-ryong!”
“Brother!”
It was Gwiseong and Cheong-ryong.
Behind them, Ji-ryong and Gung-bong appeared on the riverbank, along with the other Dragon Fangs—
Dragging captured martial artists behind them.
Hyung-nim asked with an astonished expression:
“I thought I heard a Tang Clan signal, so I rushed over—but what’s happening here? And you’re both together?”
“Oh, that’s right. Beijing is your hometown, isn’t it, hyung-nim?”
“Good to see you, Peng brother.”
Now that I considered it, this was hyung-nim’s home city.
Had I known, I could have requested his assistance with this.
I explained the entire situation and asked him:
“…And that’s how everything unfolded. You could say we’re making life difficult for the Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect. Care to join us?”
It had been nearly a month since I last saw hyung-nim—
Now was the moment for his return.
And since we intended to cause a stir throughout the Central Plains, I extended the invitation.
Hyung-nim responded with a look of interest:
“Making trouble for the Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect? That does sound entertaining. So—where are we headed next?”
“Yeongcheon Prefecture.”
Our next destination: the nation’s capital city.