Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 453

Chapter 453
Hwa-eun blinked, clearly not grasping my implication.
But from beside us, an appalled voice interrupted.
“W-Wait… So-ryong, you can’t be serious? No, surely not… right?”
I turned to see Sister Seol with a hand clamped over her mouth, gazing at me as if I’d committed some terrible offense.
Evidently, the others were still in the dark—she was the sole person who had realized what I was suggesting.
It seemed like a rather excessive response to me.
‘Really, Sister Seol, it’s not as dramatic as all that.’
I thought she was being unnecessarily theatrical.
Truthfully, sucking on an ant’s abdomen would be far less uncomfortable than making direct eye contact while sharing from its mouth. Avoiding that gaze would mean less psychological strain.
It was similar to when I received royal jelly from Ranghu—if it hadn’t been a mouth-to-mouth transfer, it would have been considerably simpler.
Some may argue the rear is more unsavory, but that’s simply ignorance.
Consider fish—many people refuse to eat the head because of the eyes, yet they happily consume the tail.
The principle is the same.
Furthermore, mouths can evoke associations with kissing, which carries a sense of intimacy. But a mouth and a rear end? There’s no connection there.
Besides, there was that old childhood tale about ant rears tasting sweet.
Didn’t every kid try it at least once?
Sure, these ants were much larger, but if you channeled those nostalgic feelings, it really wouldn’t be so strange.
So I gave a firm nod.
“No, Sister Seol. You understood correctly.”
The moment I confirmed it, her eyes widened further and she seized my arm, her voice pleading.
“S-So-ryong, reconsider this, I beg you. That’s just… Hwa-eun is a young woman, isn’t she?”
“It’s the only method. Sister Seol, it will be swift and effective. And I don’t believe her gender is relevant.”
“Wait, what are you both discussing?” Hwa-eun asked, blinking. “Is it truly so shocking if it isn’t through the mouth?”
She evidently still hadn’t pieced it together.
Behind her, the Five Venoms, Jaheo, and even Hu-gae were exchanging bewildered glances.
Sister Seol, her eyes fixed on Hwa-eun, swallowed hard and began to elaborate.
“Hwa-eun, listen closely—and try to stay calm.”
“A-Alright…?”
“How many natural openings does a human body possess?”
“That would be… seven. The seven orifices.”
“Correct. Now consider which of those are typically used for consumption and… expulsion…”
She didn’t need to finish her sentence before shocked exclamations broke out from the group.
“Eeek!”
“H-Hold on—!”
“So, So-hyeop! You can’t be serious!?”
Their horrified cries were met with my utterly composed expression.
“Why is everyone so alarmed? Didn’t every child try sucking on an ant’s rear at least once when they were young? Was I truly the only one?”
“Who would ever do that!?”
“You sucked an ant’s behind!?”
“So-ryong, I don’t believe that is a common childhood experience…”
Was I truly the only one?
Scanning their stunned faces, I frowned in puzzlement. Then Hu-gae scratched his head and mumbled,
“I… well, I might have done it, actually…”
Abruptly, every head swiveled to look at Hu-gae.
He let out an embarrassed chuckle.
“Heh… There was a story that ant rears were sweet… I was desperate for sugar as a kid… though it mostly just tasted sour…”
Then it all made sense.
Hu-gae had grown up on the streets. I had been extremely poor myself.
But the others? They were all born into prestigious clans or major sects—they’d had silver spoons in their mouths.
No wonder they couldn’t comprehend.
‘Those raised with privilege simply don’t understand.’
As I was internally lamenting the disconnect of the noble-born, I noticed Hwa-eun staring at me in utter horror, her eyes wide and her throat moving as she swallowed nervously.
“S-So-ryong… You aren’t actually serious, are you? I-I must have heard wrong, right?”
I turned to her. Hwa-eun was in a state of complete refusal.
I sighed.
Now I remembered—that’s right. She was from a noble family, too.
A silver spoon. No childhood memories of tasting ants’ abdomens.
Naturally, she would be reluctant.
But this was the only way. We had no alternative.
I shook my head.
“There is no other method.”
Hwa-eun began shaking her head in return, rapidly voicing her concerns.
“C-Can you be certain, So-ryong?”
“Certain of what?”
“T-That… it will actually flow properly from that end? I mean, from the mouth it only comes in drops. Simply turning it around—how can you guarantee more will come out?”
It was a fair point. But I could state this with total assurance:
It would all be released in one go.
“That isn’t something you need to fret over, Hwa-eun. It will all come out at once.”
“H-How can you possibly know that!? What if it doesn’t!?”
Her worry was valid; if we tried the rear and it yielded no more than the mouth, it would be a complete failure.
But there was a fact she was unaware of.
When humans harvest nectar from honeypot ants, they don’t take it from the mouth.
No. The conventional method is to take it from the rear.
If you recall videos from my previous life—of biologists in deserts gathering from honeypot ants? They all collect from the abdomen.
So she needn’t worry about the quantity—it always emerges rapidly and completely from that end.
There’s a biological basis for this.
I decided to explain it using martial arts concepts she would grasp.
“To use a Murim analogy… consider the ant vomiting the nectar as employing the Reverse-Heaven Technique.”
“R-Reverse Heaven!?”
As a martial artist, Hwa-eun recoiled at the very name.
I offered a reassuring smile.
“Yes. Normally, all sustenance enters through the mouth and exits from the rear, correct? That is the natural order. Humans, insects, animals—we all process and eliminate this way.
This is what we call the Flow of Heaven.
But vomiting? That defies nature. That is Reverse-Heaven.
This is why ants can only bring up a tiny amount. They are working against the natural flow.
However, when release happens from the intended direction—as anyone who has suffered food poisoning can attest—it all surges out in a single, powerful rush.”
“Alright, alright, I understand! Please, no more details!”
Nutrient sharing among ants involves regurgitating stored food.
So they are reversing the process—naturally, the quantity is restricted.
But releasing it from the other terminus follows the natural path. There is no cause for concern.
It is anatomically sound.
Everyone has experienced a severe case of food poisoning at least once, haven’t they?
The kind where everything exits in one overwhelming wave?
Precisely. That.
As I finished my explanation, Hwa-eun stared vacantly, looking utterly defeated.
Intellectually she understood, but emotionally? She was not convinced.
Then she deployed her final defense.
“I-I see… But still, So-ryong. I am your woman. How can a woman… offer herself to… an ant, a male one, no less…”
“That isn’t an issue either!”
Even concerning an ant—yes, an ant—Hwa-eun had begun arguing that sucking a male ant’s rear would violate a pure maiden’s virtue.
Suppressing a laugh, I stated plainly,
“Hwa-eun, set your mind at ease. Ants are all female.”
With the exception of the males used for mating flights, every ant is female.
An ant colony is a sisterhood.
“Th-That’s impossible…”
Flustered, Hwa-eun’s eyes searched the room desperately, hoping for an ally. Naturally, they landed on Sister Seol.
I decided it was time for a final persuasive push.
“Hwa-eun, with this immense energy… it could even lead to that.”
“Huh? Lead to what?”
“Do you recall what your grandfather, Mandok Shingun, said? That you originally had the potential to reach the Thousand-Poison Realm, but lacked the necessary insight? Yet after you accepted Sandan’s venom, you achieved a breakthrough to Trifold Flower Purification, correct?”
He had explained that while enlightenment was crucial, an overwhelming amount of internal energy could itself trigger a breakthrough. If she consumed this, the next path might open for her naturally.
Grandfather had once told me that enlightenment was typically required to reach the highest realms because there is a natural limit to how much internal energy a human body can hold.
Thus, enlightenment allows for more efficient use of that limited energy.
But if one somehow accumulated enough energy to surpass human limits, the body itself would transform—and that transformation would guide the way to enlightenment.
He mentioned terms like “post-infusion” and “pre-infusion,” though the specifics escaped me now.
“Hnnng…”
It was the first time I had ever heard Hwa-eun make a sound like a distressed whimper.
Her ambition in martial arts was too powerful—she clearly couldn’t dismiss what I’d said.
And yet… she looked completely torn.
‘Hwa-eun is rather endearing today.’
I concealed a smile and moved closer, sensing she was on the verge of agreeing. I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and coaxed her further.
“It will be over in a moment, Hwa-eun. I consumed the Golden-Furred Wasp King’s honey directly from the source, remember? You can manage this.”
“B-But… hngh… ah… ah? Ah!”
Then, suddenly, her face brightened with an idea.
She grabbed my arm and shook it enthusiastically.
“That’s it! The mouth!”
“…The mouth?”
She shouted “the mouth” as if she’d had a brilliant revelation.
Was she proposing… just drinking a large amount straight from the Azure Steel Immortal Ant?
Was she willing to settle for only half?
But before I could argue that we couldn’t waste a single drop, she looked up at me, beaming.
“So-ryong! You can take the Azure Steel Immortal Ant’s secretion into your mouth, hold it, and then pass it to me!
Then you can get the remainder, and after I swallow the first portion, you give me the second! That way, we won’t lose anything!”
“Ah… so you want me to extract it from the ant’s rear and then transfer it to you mouth-to-mouth…”
“Yes! You’ll do that for me, won’t you? Please?”
So she wanted me to serve as her intermediary… in the most direct sense imaginable.
Now that the task had fallen to me, I felt a wave of hesitation.
“Uhh… well…”
‘How did we end up with this solution…?’
***
Refusing your bride’s request on the eve of your wedding? That was practically a declaration of separation.
Ultimately, I had no choice but to take on the role of her intermediary.
But more than mere duty, it was the manner of Hwa-eun’s persuasion that truly swayed me. I had to confess—it was effective.
“Well… I suppose even half would still be beneficial—”
“No. We cannot waste a single drop. Consider it! Azure Steel Immortal Ant nectar is a legendary elixir by itself. But combined with its venom? That is a double blessing for me. It might even bring about a complete physical transformation!”
“Transformation…? You mean that state…”
“Yes! The Recasting of the Bones—Hwagyeong. When one’s body reshapes itself to perfectly align with their mastered martial arts. If I attain that stage, I will cease to age. My body will remain as it is in its prime.”
“You’ll stop aging?”
“Yes. My skin will stay smooth, my waist will remain slender… and if there is any part of me you find lacking, it may even be enhanced.
I will be beautiful forever, at your side.”
Now tell me—how is any man supposed to refuse that?
His wife, preserving her perfect youthful form for eternity?
Even if it killed me, I had to see this through.
‘First it was the lips of a magical bee. Now it’s the rear of a magical ant. My life is certainly… unusual.’
Everyone vacated the stone chamber to give us privacy, leaving only me, Hwa-eun, and a single Azure Steel Immortal Ant.
“Ready, Hwa-eun?”
“Yes!”
Her voice was clear and resolute.
I shut my eyes tightly and pressed my mouth to the ant’s abdomen.
A warm stream immediately flooded out.
The nectar, likely infused with the ant’s venom, had the fiery, potent taste of a strong liquor. It burned within my mouth.
The instant I had a full mouthful, I drew back and leaned toward Hwa-eun.
Her soft lips met mine, her subtle scent washing over me as I passed the liquid into her mouth.
There was no time to linger. With the venom mixed in, holding it for too long could be risky.
The moment the transfer was done, I immediately turned back to the ant and drew out the remaining fluid.
Once I had it, I glanced at Hwa-eun.
Gulp. Gulp.
She nodded after swallowing.
Just as she finished, I passed her the second mouthful without a pause.
As the final drop entered her, she sat down and began circulating her internal energy.
A soft radiance started to glow around her.
…But then a singular, curious thought popped into my head.
‘She mentioned “any part that’s lacking.” So does that mean… her chest…?’
I hadn’t ever gotten a particularly clear look—women in this world tended to wear looser garments. Not that I had any complaints, of course.
I was perfectly content.
But still—purely out of curiosity.
If her body transformed to ideally suit her martial arts… would that area become more ample?
Well, I’m just a man. It’s natural to wonder.