Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

-Ssshhh. Ssssshh!
The noise intensified as I landed at the bottom of the cave. A wave of snakes rushed toward me, their hissing cries reverberating off the walls.
-Bite! Crunch!
They started snapping at my ankles, though the bites were not yet deep.
“Quiet down! I won’t be long!” I shouted up to the O-gongs, who were shrieking with alarm from above.
Seeing the squirming tangle of snakes around my feet, I identified them: Rhabdophis tigrinus, the tiger keelback.
These snakes are unusual; they’re known for swallowing their prey tail-first, but that isn’t their only odd feature.
Although long classified as non-venomous, they actually produce two distinct venoms:
1. Neck venom: A toxin gathered from the toads they eat, kept in glands on their necks to ward off enemies.
2. Rear fangs: Small, reversed fangs concealed far back in their mouths.
This unusual fang placement is why they were mistakenly seen as harmless for so long. To deliver venom, a keelback must open its jaw extremely wide, drive its fangs firmly into a vulnerable spot like a finger or wrist, and use significant pressure.
A bite on the ankle, protected by tougher skin, makes venom injection improbable. They also don’t have the strong muscles needed to pump venom efficiently, which makes them even less dangerous.
But here, surrounded by their coiled forms, I felt a knot of dread in my stomach.
I needed to make sure they bit me correctly.
I may have an appreciation for snakes, but I never enjoyed being bitten—a feeling made more intense since a snake’s bite had ended my last life.
Even so, there was no alternative. The clan’s antidotes and the Tang Clan’s martial arts methods for building poison resistance offered a small chance of survival.
The clan was too far away, and rallying our dispersed fighters wouldn’t assure a win. This was my only opportunity to protect my family.
I can manage this. You can do it, Fabre.
I brought to mind the energy flow of the Ten-Poison Core Technique, a pattern my grandfather had drilled into me.
The Tang Clan’s internal energy practices were created to counteract poison and hinder its spread inside the body.
Concentrating on my dantian and the qi moving through me, I quieted my racing mind and fears.
My grandfather had once outlined the ranks of the clan’s internal techniques:
The Five-Poison Returning to the Origin Art was the basic starting form, while the Ten-Poison Core Technique, which I was using now, was a higher-level method.
Initially, I had it wrong. I assumed the Ten-Poison Core Technique was made just for me, a person with a Ten-Poison Physique who could withstand only ten toxins. But my grandfather said it was a method envisioned by the Tang Clan’s founder after studying a two-headed snake.
Other clan martial artists learned styles suited for general poison control, but this one was only for the direct bloodline. It was the essential step to commanding a hundred, or even a thousand, poisons.
However, my grandfather had stressed one point: my innate body was too frail to endure beyond ten poisons.
I needed to master this technique while slowly adding poisons to my system using the clan’s unique mixtures. Each new poison I integrated would boost the technique’s effectiveness and strength. But trying to take on more than ten would shatter my body and end in ruin.
His assurance—that the tiger keelback’s venom wouldn’t be included in the count of ten poisons—helped me ease my tension.
I relaxed my arms at my sides and got ready.
Since the tiger keelback is a rear-fanged snake, it can only get a good grip on slender parts like fingers or wrists.
-Crunch! Snap!
The moment my arms went slack, the snakes seized my fingers and forearms, their jaws straining to pump venom deep into the tissue.
“Go on, bite down properly,” I whispered, feeling their bodies twist around my wrists.
Fortunately, these snakes couldn’t climb trees or scale my body. Their activity was limited to my wrists, their tangled forms only reaching my forearms.
-Hiss… Hiss…
Above, the O-gongs cried out in a frenzy, clearly disturbed by the scene.
“It’s alright,” I told them, hoping to soothe their fears. “I’ll be up soon.”
When I was certain the snakes had injected their venom, I yanked my arms back. My hands and forearms were covered in small bite marks, each one dotted with blood.
It was time to leave the cave and return to the fight.
I grabbed the vine I had tossed down earlier to climb up, but when I tried to step forward, I noticed something wrong.
My legs were stuck.
“…This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
The swarm of snakes had twisted themselves firmly around my legs, holding me in place. To make it worse, a few were starting to slither upward.
“This… was definitely not the plan,” I said, a wave of nervousness washing over me.
-Tap. Tap. Tap.
Something patted softly on my head, then skittered quickly across my face.
The O-gongs had jumped onto me, scrambling down my body.
-Hissssss!
As if answering their arrival, the snakes suddenly pulled back.
All at once, the swarm retreated toward the walls of the pit like a tide going out.
A few lagged behind, but Bini, the boldest of the three O-gongs, leaped from my shoulder and clamped her pincers onto one of the slower snakes. In one sharp movement, she smashed it against the cave floor.
-Hiss! Hissssss!
The remaining snakes hissed and scrambled farther away as Bini stood her ground, shaking her antennae aggressively to show she was in charge.
The snake she had bitten was already blackening, its body going rigid as poison spread through it.
“Bini, that’s enough. Let’s go,” I said.
Only after issuing two more threatening vibrations did Bini finally return to my shoulder.
“My girls, your father is so proud of you!” I cried, my heart full of emotion.
All the effort of raising them had paid off. These three—Cho, Hyang, and Bini—were no ordinary centipedes. They had rescued me, proving themselves better than any cat or dog.
But there was no time to lose. Pushing my feelings aside, I seized the vine and hauled myself out of the pit.
Time was running out.
“Let’s move, girls! Back to the fight!”
Channeling my internal energy into my legs, I launched myself forward, sprinting back toward the battlefield.
In my mind, I played a techno dance song I’d heard in a club long ago. Its driving beat matched the rhythm of my steps.
Fast. Faster. As fast as I could go.
***
The rain kept falling without pause.
After two fierce exchanges, the battlefield was locked in a strained silence.
The enemy had driven his fingers into the chest of another warrior, drinking his blood with unsettling speed.
And no one could intervene.
Tang Hwa-eun was breathing heavily.
“Haah… haah…”
In just two encounters, this enraged beast of a man had left most of the Tang Clan’s warriors and elders wounded and helpless.
All around her, Tang fighters were splayed on the muddy ground, moaning in agony.
With So-ryong gone, there was no one to help the injured.
I wonder… Is So-ryong safe?
Her mind drifted to the young boy she had sent away by himself earlier.
What if the enemy had others lying in wait to attack him? The idea made her blood run cold.
But then she pictured So-ryong dashing through the rain, his determined footsteps carrying him in the direction of the Tang estate.
The memory made her smile faintly for a second.
She vowed that if she lived through this, she would ask him what tune he had been humming to keep his rhythm.
She wiped the blood from her lips with her wet sleeve and turned to the few warriors still standing, yelling,
“Don’t get close to him! Maintain distance and use ranged attacks! The rain will let up soon—once it does, signal for our scattered warriors to return!”
“Yes, Miss!”
Sending So-ryong to call for help had been her choice.
When the elder had struck her and she’d leaned on So-ryong for balance, she knew she couldn’t let him stay.
He was only fifteen—a boy who didn’t even fully understand he belonged to the Tang Clan now.
She couldn’t allow him to be trapped in what looked like a losing battle. That’s why she told him to go, using the pretext of gathering reinforcements.
It was a deception.
Even if help came, the strongest fighters—the ones who might stand against this monster—were gone. Her father was away leading the Poison Extermination Squad, and her grandfather had taken the clan’s best martial artists to help the Governor of Sichuan, who was battling a critical poisoning.
Even if they assembled every warrior left at the estate, victory against this elder of the Blood Cult was far from certain.
As she issued what could be her last commands, one of the wounded elders yelled from under a tree,
“Hwa-eun! Run, like So-ryong did!”
“I won’t! How can a direct descendant of the Tang Clan desert her people in combat?”
Clutching her whip firmly, Tang Hwa-eun stood her ground.
She had used all her hidden weapons, and she knew that approaching the enemy risked being caught and having her life force drained. The whip was her only remaining tool.
“If we can’t protect you, how will we answer to the clan leader? We of the branch family live to shield the main line! You must survive for the Tang Clan—go now!”
The elder’s voice was shaking with urgency.
“I only sent So-ryong because he’s too young to fall here. But if he doesn’t return, what future does the Tang Clan have?”
“Stop this foolishness! The Tang Clan does not leave its people behind!”
Their dispute was interrupted by the scornful laugh of the Blood Cult elder, who pushed back his rain-drenched hair and smirked.
“How entertaining. If my quarry keeps fleeing, the game will be over too soon. Maybe I should just kill everyone here and head straight for your Tang estate. With no clan leader or Mandok Shingun to defend it, reducing it to rubble would be a fine way to proclaim the Blood Cult’s return.”
His jeer was an open threat. He would not permit anyone to get away.
“Damn it!” the elder swore, his teeth gritted.
The options were stark: perish here together, or find a way to slay the monster before them.
If even one person escaped, and the elder was true to his word, the Tang estate would be destroyed.
“Even if we all die, we’ll tear off one of his arms!”
“Yes, Miss!”
The Tang warriors readied themselves for a final, desperate charge.
Then, a voice spoke up from behind them.
“You’re correct. The Tang Clan never abandons its own.”
Everyone went still.
Hwa-eun turned around, stunned.
“So-ryong?”
“So-ryong!”
“Why are you back?!”
For a heartbeat, they thought he might have brought help. But So-ryong was alone, his O-gongs resting on a nearby tree.
“You said the Tang Clan doesn’t abandon its own, right?”
He smiled, pulling off his shirt like a common ruffian and holding a dagger in each hand.
Without another word, he sprinted directly toward the elder.
“No! Don’t!”
“So-ryong, halt!”
Their shouts were too late to stop So-ryong’s wild attack.
With no real training in movement or combat, his assault was hopelessly mismatched.
As predicted, the elder caught him by the throat instantly.
“Urgh…” So-ryong choked, scratching at the hand holding him in the air.
“Well, well. Have you returned to sacrifice yourself to the Blood Cult?” the elder mocked, pleased.
He immediately drove his claws into So-ryong’s stomach.
The gruesome sound of tearing flesh echoed.
“Argh!”
“Oh? You tried to block me?” the elder laughed as So-ryong crossed his arms in a feeble defense.
But the claws tore through his guard, and the elder started thirstily sucking his blood.
Veins swelled horribly on So-ryong’s arms as his life force was stolen.
“Arghhh!”
“So-ryong!”
“Save him! Everyone, charge!”
Frantic, the Tang warriors rushed the elder, trying to free So-ryong.
But their reckless charge only sped up the clan’s defeat.
The elder threw So-ryong aside and struck back, disabling the last of the warriors and elders.
As sunlight finally broke through the clouds, illuminating the battlefield, the Tang Clan’s future seemed bleak.
Hwa-eun held So-ryong’s lifeless form, her face a mask of hopelessness.
She had heard stories of the Blood Cult’s power, but experiencing it was far worse than any tale.
Monsters that gained strength from every life they consumed.
How many people had this elder killed to become so powerful?
“Aah…”
“Hahaha! That irritating rain of hidden needles was starting to annoy me, but that foolish boy fixed it all at once. I’ll give you the gift of a quick death.”
The Blood Cult elder started moving slowly toward Tang Hwa-eun, his gaze locked on her like a hunter closing in on trapped prey.
In answer, Hwa-eun clung tightly to So-ryong’s motionless body.
Then, as the elder took his third step, he suddenly stopped, his face contorting in stunned horror.
“What… what did you do?! You… Urgh! No, this can’t be… Scattered Energy Poison? That’s not possible! The Cult’s internal arts should be immune to—this is insane! Who… what are you?!”
Hearing the words Scattered Energy Poison made Hwa-eun’s eyes go wide as she stared down at So-ryong in amazement.
Neither the Tang warriors nor she had carried poisons powerful enough for this fight, let alone something as potent and uncommon as Scattered Energy Poison.
In fact, So-ryong hadn’t been issued any poisons, and he hadn’t been trained in the Tang Clan’s poison methods.
Yet, cradled in her arms, So-ryong’s ashen face formed a weak grin.
“What am I?” he murmured faintly, his voice tinged with rebellion. “I’m your natural predator.”
His statement made Hwa-eun’s heart pound wildly.