Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 426

Chapter 426
Of course. Here is the paraphrased chapter, crafted to meet all your specifications.

***

“What in the world!? Why is everything identical!?”
My initial thought was that I had completely failed to enter the mental ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) realm.
I had come to this conclusion because I found myself waking up under the enormous Bodhi tree once more.
Not just any location—I was inside the sealed temple.
The exact spot I had been in to initiate the connection to my inner world.
The instant my eyes adjusted, my surroundings appeared completely unchanged—with the sole exception that Hwa-eun, Sister Seol, and the children were nowhere to be seen.
“Ah—hold on. Maybe it’s not the same? Wow, that really got me.”
Understanding I was by myself, I moved the hanging branches of the Bodhi tree that had been obscuring my sight. It was then that I finally saw what was different.
The temple was not in ruins anymore.
The partially fallen stone wall nearest the tree was completely whole again. When I turned, I saw the heavy vines that had once consumed the grounds had also vanished.
The stone paving showed no wear, with no random plants forcing their way through the gaps.
It gave the impression that the stones had been set down just yesterday or were cared for with incredible diligence.
The structures of the temple still possessed the magnificent scale they must have commanded before their destruction.
Could this be the temple’s appearance from a time long past?
Mental realms typically mirror locations where a person has resided for extended periods or that are core to their sense of self… and yet, I had arrived here.
Filled with wonder and astonishment, like a rustic villager seeing a grand capital for the first time, I roamed through the temple’s magnificently renewed form.
“Did Hwanji and Hwana reside in this temple for ages? Wow, so that hall was originally that huge?”
Lured by the splendor, I instinctively moved towards the pond—the site where the shattered statue had once been.
It was the location of my first encounter with Hwanji and Hwana.
The aroma of unknown flowers blossoming along the path’s edges brushed against my nose, and the temple’s majestic atmosphere planted a peculiar calm within my heart.
If the temple had previously seemed like a decaying artifact—as if concealing some age-old secret—then now it radiated a dignified, holy power.
Step. Step.
Moving along the temple’s walkways, I reached the curved stone gateway that opened onto the pond.
I crossed through.
And immediately, the entire area seemed to light up—as if my very sight had been sharpened.
The pond was filled with clean, clear water, and its surface was almost entirely covered by a blanket of deep red lotus flowers.
Even outside this mental space, a handful of lotuses had grown in the pond.
But they were mixed colors, the water was shadowy and cloudy, and the area had been neglected—it never seemed attractive to me.
Now, however, the pond’s pure brilliance completely captured my gaze.
The statue of the deity, once missing its head, now rose to its full height, looking out over the flowering pond in perfect condition.
This flawless depiction had four arms, two legs, and a belt resembling a serpent wrapped around its middle.
In the real world, the statue only possessed two arms—I suppose it originally had four.
Here, two additional arms had grown from behind its shoulders.
“Oh, so that was its true form. Perhaps the other two arms snapped off and sank into the pond in the physical world?”
I gazed up at the immense, Shiva-like statue, captivated, and without realizing it, I had walked directly up to its base.
Shaking off my trance, I scanned the area—but there was no indication of Hwanji or Hwana.
“I expected them to be here… is this not the right spot?”
I had presumed they would be at the place where we all rested. But the pair was absent.
Just as I prepared to turn and search elsewhere—
Snrk. Hehe.
I caught the sound of light laughter behind me.
“Keekeek.”
I spun around.
And there she stood.
A woman who had absolutely not been present a second ago was now positioned before the deity.
She was dressed in a sari—traditional Indian clothing—colored in white and red.
Her piercing eyes and subtly curved lips gave her an appearance many would describe as foxy.
But for an enthusiast of reptiles like myself, a fuzzy fox doesn’t really evoke much.
So, to put it in my own words—yes, she seemed more ophidian.
She possessed a sleek, graceful beauty, reminiscent of a snake, with a smirk playing on her lips.
“Hwanji? Hwana?”
I said both names simultaneously, uncertain of who she was.
But then a question occurred to me.
‘Why is there only one?’
Hwanji and Hwana were a serpent with two heads.
I had imagined they would look similar to the Hindu god Shiva in their dual nature… yet here was a solitary woman.
No second head, no hint of another individual.
If there’s only one head… then what happened to the other consciousness—no, the other Sage-Serpent Self (Sagek)?
Wait… it can’t be? Similar to Cheong-yu Sojeo, are they two identities sharing one physical form?
Right as that thought formed—
Chaaa-ring.
A bell rang out softly.
Then from behind the woman—who held her hands together in prayer—two additional arms ascended.
As her palms opened, more women materialized in a row behind her, imitating the dance of the Thousand-Armed Goddess.
I recalled seeing a performance like it once on YouTube.
Then, during the dance, the woman shifted her head stiffly to the side—and a second face emerged from the other shoulder.
“WHAA!?”
I gaped, my eyes wide with astonishment.
Both faces now grinned at me and spoke in flawless unison:
“Were you surprised?”
“Were you surprised?”
And with that, the woman stepped to her left—unveiling another woman standing next to her, her exact duplicate.
Two identical copies of the same woman, both smiling at me.
‘Ah… so they manifest as twins after all.’
Naturally—they are conjoined twins.
Dicephalic parapagus twins happen when identical twins do not fully split during early development.
“Uh, yeah. You really fooled me.”
“Hehe, we knew it. Objective achieved!”
“Completely worth the effort.”
It appeared they had practiced the entire Thousand-Armed Goddess act simply to shock me.
The two slapped each other’s hands, visibly delighted.
In contrast to their real-world dynamic—where they frequently squabbled—they seemed remarkably harmonious here.
As I approached them, I inquired:
“You two are getting along wonderfully here?”
The twins exchanged a look and smiled.
“That’s because we have individual bodies here.”
“There’s nothing to argue about when we aren’t attached.”
“A sigh… I wish I could stay like this permanently.”
“So this is what accessing a mental world entails. We get to use So-ryong’s shape and take human form. If we had known it would feel this wonderful, you ought to have brought us here earlier!”
They seemed truly overjoyed to have been separated into two.
To be honest, I had been concerned they might begin quarreling even here. I was relieved to be mistaken.
In truth, these two have generally followed my instructions, but I never sensed any deep-seated loyalty or fondness from them.
It frequently felt as though they were merely complying because Cheong-yu Sojeo had instructed them to.
The previous time I attempted to recline on their huge serpent body, they were unmistakably irritated.
But now, despite not having finalized their full contract, their sense of allegiance seemed to have increased.
Usually, that level of increase only happens after the final registration is complete.
Perhaps it’s because they are truly relishing this mental world—both of them even approached and took hold of my arms.
“I did intend to do it earlier, but life is complicated. All things unfold when they are meant to…”
They were obviously making fun of me for the delay in bringing them here, so I ventured into a brief, philosophical digression.
I mean, doesn’t everything in existence have its own sequence? Even still water has a top and a bottom.
Even goat droppings arrange themselves in lines.
“…What?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Ah—it’s just an expression, forget it.”
Feeling self-conscious, I swiftly shifted the topic—recalling how I had once pleaded with Yo-hwa.
“Anyway, you two are really skilled with your hands, aren’t you? Yeondu and Orange can’t use theirs at all.”
Their manual agility was notable—completely unlike Yeondu and Orange—so I asked out of real interest.
The twins replied with looks that said it was self-evident.
“Well, that’s because they are still juveniles. You could say they’ve only just become adults? But we have existed for centuries—we’ve even practiced dream-walking into human dreams before. This is somewhat comparable.”
“Precisely. It’s akin to dream-walking. It feels as if we are utilizing pieces from So-ryong’s memories.”
“Oh? You two are capable of dream-walking as well?”
Dream-walking—meaning, like when Cheon Pan O-Gong’s mother appeared in my dream that one time?
When they mentioned it so offhandedly, as if it were trivial, my interest surged. They both nodded.
“Naturally, we can.”
“Without a doubt, So-ryong.”
Tsk. As one would expect given their size. The larger they are, the greater their capabilities, huh?
Not that power is exclusively determined by size, but still—larger is generally preferable, correct?
Believing I had just discovered something extremely valuable, I smiled.
“Oh, then visit me in my dreams sometime.”
“Should we?”
“Absolutely!”
“Understood, So-ryong!”
The greatest advantage of dream-walking was that I could see them in human form even at night—and they could transform back into their spirit beast shapes whenever they wished.
The mere thought of that made me feel truly eager.
“Anyway, let’s conclude this and finalize your registration.”
Not that a huge amount of time had elapsed in the mental world, but still—it had to have been a full day by now.
Just as I proposed we finish the procedure and depart—
The two who were holding my arms stared at me with large, shocked eyes.
“We’re going already?”
“This is the very first time we’ve ever been separated like this.”
Clearly, having individual bodies was such a delight that the simple notion of leaving made them look truly heartbroken.
“I’m sorry, but if we remain here too long, multiple days may pass in the outside world.”
“So-ryong, can’t we extend our stay just a bit?”
“We beg you, So-ryong.”
“No, if we delay, days will slip away. Others are expecting us out there.”
Even as they appealed to me, I denied them firmly, like a man carved from rock. So they altered their strategy—and deployed their allure.
“You haven’t taken a tour of the temple with us yet, correct? Come stroll with us. An opportunity like this won’t come again.”
“Yes! Let’s discover it together. We’ll be your guides.”
Still holding my arms, they wound their serpentine allure around their words, sulking as they pleaded for a short extension.
But I, So-ryong, am not so readily influenced.
‘I am the man known as Iron Bamboo—firm and resolute!’
…Nevertheless, I couldn’t be overly harsh.
I recalled how that woman from the Blood Cult had once invaded my mind using soul-drawing methods, and I softly comforted them by saying I would investigate ways to return to this place.
In fact, Hwa-eun and Sister Seol had already begun studying soul-binding methods together.
“There is a method—it’s named Soul-Binding Art, resembling a type of spell or martial art. I believe we can employ it to re-enter the mental world. I will research its mechanics. But for the present, we must exit, alright?”
“So-ryong~…”
“So-ryong, we pleaaase…”
Now they were coiled around my legs.
“Ah-ah. That still isn’t going to work.”
When my coaxing failed to be effective, I had to adopt a sterner tone.
They shared a look below me—still attached to my legs—and then glanced up at me with cunning, provocative smiles.
“Oh, that’s right… Didn’t a certain someone mention that So-ryong prefers spirit beasts far more than people?”
“Yes… a certain someone did say that.”
‘Who on earth has been gossiping—though it’s not incorrect…’
As I pondered who might have revealed that, the twins murmured their proposition like a confidential offer.
“So-ryong… if you agree to stay just a short while longer, we will grant you a desire.”
“A desire? What desire?”
I blinked, curious and genuinely unaware of what they meant.
The two grinned playfully.
“You mentioned wanting to lounge on our backs. We will permit it.”
“Yes! No more complaints about it being bothersome. You can recline on us whenever you wish. We give our word.”
They had always been reluctant about that—and now they were offering it without reservation.
As a person with steadfast determination, I felt… just a little tempted.
I was on the verge of refusing again, mindful of how valuable time is—
But then came the decisive finishing move.
“Not solely our backs…”
“You may lie on our stomachs, as well.”
“…Stomachs?”
“Yes. Our stomachs. The scales there are exceptionally delicate and sleek. You often grumbled that the heat prevented sleep—our stomachs are refreshingly cool and gentle. You will slumber soundly.”
“This is not an offer we make to just anyone. In truth… you would be the inaugural one.”
None may touch the belly of a creature of the wild.
Be it reptiles, amphibians, insects, or mammals, an animal’s stomach is its most defenseless area—where all its essential organs are located.
This is why, when a canine exposes its belly, it signifies total submission.
Even Cho, Hyang, and Bini seldom allow me to contact their bellies—and now these two desired me to lie upon theirs?
It implied absolute trust.
It meant I could slumber curled up against the plush stomachs of two gigantic serpents.
Who could possibly refuse that!?
Furthermore, “Iron Bamboo” merely signifies stiff and unyielding… perhaps being termed a reed would not be so terrible.
That would imply I am adaptable. And isn’t that what my parents consistently advised me in my previous life?
‘You must learn to sway with the breeze, son.’
Therefore, with a somewhat severe expression, I delivered my decision.
“Alright. But we only extend our stay a little—and then we leave.”
***
“Uunngh…”
My eyes opened to the sound of Hwa-eun’s voice.
“So-ryong, are you awake? Why was the duration so extended this time? Ten days have passed.”
I usually inquire about the elapsed time upon waking, but this instance, she asked first.
Ten days.
I suppose yielding to Hwanji and Hwana’s “just a bit more” overextended our stay somewhat.
“Ah… perhaps because their size has increased now. It likely required more time, I suppose.”
I couldn’t very well admit “I was occupied being indulged,” so I provided a non-specific explanation.
She assisted me to my feet and offered me water.
“Is your condition alright? No unusual sensations in your body?”
“I feel well, Hwa-eun.”
“Very well, since we have replenished our provisions, if you are feeling fit, we can set out tomorrow.”
“Y-yes, let’s proceed with that.”
Registration complete.
Now was the moment to uncover what mysteries Podarlap Palace contained.
“Wait for my arrival, Podarlap Palace! So-ryong is on his way!”