Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 461

Chapter 461
The leader of the Cheongseong Sect expressed profound thanks to me for rescuing one of their disciples.

“You have preserved the future of Cheongseong! We are in your debt! Truly, thank you! Name any boon, and from today, you shall be known as a sworn friend of Cheongseong…!”

“It was no trouble. I’m simply relieved I could be of assistance.”

Once more, I had hoped to gather some valuable knowledge about spirit beasts, but an extended discussion was not in the cards.

Why?

Before we could even steady our breathing, messengers began arriving with news: demonic cultivators had been sighted everywhere.

“Sect Leader! Two demonic cultivators appeared near Cheongseong Mountain! Our elders took the Wind Surge Unit to engage, but two of them sustained grave injuries!”

“What?!”

“Clan Lord! A group from the Choksan Sect has reached the Nine-Tiered Gates, and they are severely wounded!”

“People from the Choksan Sect?!”

“They fell into an ambush set by demonic cultivators and escaped only by a narrow margin!”

Demonic cultivators were emerging all across the region.

The wedding guests swiftly organized into teams and moved out to confront them, and several days later, our own group was also dispatched to deal with the threat.

***

—Crack!

“Ugh!”

Kwon Ryong took a blow to the chest and was thrown backward into a thicket.

Gwiseong dashed forward to intercept the advancing demonic cultivator, but a sharp, metallic noise followed—

—Changg!

His blade shattered and the pieces skittered across the ground near where Kwon Ryong lay.

“Kwon Ryong!”

But the demonic cultivator did not halt its advance.

I began channeling energy for the Toad Explosive Palm, but a shadow blurred past me just then.

Hwa-eun shot toward the demonic cultivator like a sudden storm.

Her speed was such that the eye could scarcely follow it, and the pressure radiating from her was immense.

More than her attainment of the Flower Realm itself, it was the sheer, dominant advantage that came with it that struck me. Now that she had entered the Flower Realm, Hwa-eun commanded an absolutely crushing power.

—Crunch!

Hwa-eun exploded into the heart of the conflict and, without a single word, seized the man assailing the Dragon Fangs Trio with dark energy, cleanly breaking his neck at the spine.

As a master in the Flower Realm, there were exceedingly few in the entire martial world capable of opposing her. She made it look as effortless as overpowering a child.

“J-Just one move?”
“A single move… really?”

The Dragon Fangs Trio, who had been fighting a desperate battle until Hwa-eun’s arrival, could only stare in stunned silence at the demonic cultivator whose head now lolled at an unnatural angle.

One brother’s sword was destroyed, and Kwon Ryong had suffered internal injuries from the fierce combat. Yet the instant Hwa-eun appeared, the confrontation ended with one decisive action.

‘Isn’t that a little over the top?’

Certainly, demonic cultivators were frenzied and attacked indiscriminately, so showing mercy was unthinkable.

But the manner in which Hwa-eun continued to clutch the corpse’s collar even after ending its life… well, it seemed excessive.

Despite the enemy being deceased, her fury appeared unabated.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Gwiseong began to say something, but faltered when his wife placed a restraining hand on his arm.

“Er…”
“Gwiseong, don’t. She’s in a certain…”
“A mood? Ah—right! I’ll go see to Kwon Ryong.”

And Hwa-eun had every justification for her state.

No one there could possibly criticize her for using excessive force.

Why?

Because the assaults by the demonic cultivators had forced an indefinite postponement of our wedding.

The attacks started just five days before we were to be married.

When word spread that demonic cultivators were emerging throughout Sichuan and assaulting people, the guests who had assembled for the celebration dispersed to address the danger.

Amid the turmoil, our wedding was delayed without a new date being set.

As if that were not enough—

We now also had to venture out and battle these fiends ourselves. Who wouldn’t be furious?

‘I should have remained quiet. Now I feel guilty…’

The depth of a woman’s resentment when her wedding is indefinitely called off on account of monsters—such wrath was said to be capable of summoning frost in the height of summer.

The cold energy swirling around Hwa-eun—who had always carried a distant, cool demeanor—was now glacial.

Merely standing near her made one feel a penetrating chill. Should anyone attempt to address her, she would retort with such piercing sharpness that all quickly learned to keep their distance.

But watching her wordlessly grip the collar of the man whose neck she had broken, I felt someone needed to intervene.

—Tap tap.

A tap came on my shoulder from behind. I turned to find Gwiseong, who had gone to check on Kwon Ryong, nodding his head pointedly in Hwa-eun’s direction.

Evidently, he was nominating me for the task.

‘Ugh. I’m frightened too, you realize…’

Even if I had planned to say something, being volunteered made me reluctant.

It wasn’t directly my doing, but we were on this mission due to a discovery I had made, so I couldn’t exactly shirk the responsibility.

I ventured cautiously.
“Hwa-eun? I believe Moji and Soji are waiting…!”

“What. Did. You. Say? Oh, it’s you, So-ryong.”

The moment I mentioned Moji and Soji—both perched on my shoulders, watching anxiously—Hwa-eun’s reply was razor-edged.

Her tone remained sharp, but upon recognizing it was me, her expression softened almost immediately.

It seemed she wasn’t holding me personally responsible for our deployment.

‘Whew, thank goodness.’

“Y-Yes, it’s me.”
“My apologies. I suppose I am still rather tense from the skirmish. So, Moji and Soji were waiting, you say? They did well, the little dears.”

Mew-mew.
Mew.

The moment Hwa-eun praised them, the two emitted cheerful little cries.
“Such excellent creatures.”

Mew-meww.
Mew.

I gave each of them a pat in turn.

After all, they were the ones who had located the demonic cultivator.

—Thud.

Just as I finished stroking Soji’s fluffy head, a dull thud reached my ears.

I glanced over and saw Hwa-eun had finally released the corpse, letting it slump to the earth.

Simultaneously, a dark miasma began to ooze out from it.

“I had been containing the miasma for a while, but I’ve let it go now.”

No wonder the miasma hadn’t erupted as expected—Hwa-eun had been suppressing it.

Now that it was free, Moji and Soji lightly brushed my cheeks with their antennae.

They were plainly asking for permission to consume it.

“Go on. Help yourselves.”

Mew-mew.
Mew.

With my approval, Moji and Soji launched from my shoulders, flew to the body, and began to draw in the miasma.

They made contented sounds as they fed.

Mew-mew.
Mew.

“Eat all you like.”

Those two had certainly earned a treat.

I hadn’t been aware until that morning, but it turns out Moji and Soji have a unique talent for sensing the miasma emitted by demonic cultivators.

Because of this, they had guided us directly to the Dragon Fangs Trio in their moment of struggle.

Judging by the condition we found them in, had we been any later, the consequences could have been severe.

—Mew.
—Mew-mew.

“Hm? What is it, Moji, Soji?”

—Tsrrr. 『Dad, they’re saying they want to go to another place.』
“Go where?”
—Tssrt. 『They say they can detect that delicious scent again.』
“A delicious scent?”

Earlier, at dawn, Moji and Soji had suddenly begun pleading with me to take them somewhere. These two hardly ever wished to leave the house, so I found it peculiar.

Then it dawned on me—they must be sensing something.

A moth’s antennae possess a remarkable capacity to detect chemical signals.

The feathery structures on their antennae, known as trichoid sensilla, can pick up on the faintest traces of pheromones in the air.

Certain moth species can detect these chemical signals from more than two kilometers away, using them to locate mates or food sources.

This reminded me—a few days prior, it was these two who had found the miasma when the woman from the Cheongseong Sect was in peril. That was when I had informed the elders, and Hwa-eun and I had rushed out together.

Which was also why I had been so mindful of her mood earlier.

Simply being stuck at home with a postponed wedding was maddening enough—but being forced to go out and work on top of it? That was enough to make anyone’s blood boil.

—Mew.
—Mew-mew-mew.

Moji and Soji continued to happily consume the miasma.

Watching them, a thought occurred to me—

I had assumed they subsisted on natural qi like other spirit creatures, but now I began to suspect they might have been starving all this time.

Concerned, I resolved to later examine the Beast Pellet or Spirit Pill they produced before their metamorphosis.

Just then, Ji-ryong approached, helping to support Kwon Ryong, and spoke in a bewildered tone.

“This must be a coordinated assault. But what could possibly be the objective?”

If it were an isolated incident, one might dismiss it as chance. But a series of ambushes?

That pointed to a deliberate plan.

Furthermore, demonic cultivators are martial artists who have succumbed to Qi Deviation after practicing demonic arts.

It is inconceivable for so many to lose their minds simultaneously. Someone must be behind this—it was clearly a manufactured crisis.

Yet the reason for these attacks remained a mystery, and that was what puzzled Ji-ryong so.

As everyone was pondering who could be responsible, a sudden exclamation came—

“Could it be!?”

It was Gungbong’s voice.

Had she deduced something?

Seol tilted her head and asked with a frown.
“Could it be? Did you think of someth—wait, is that Soto speaking, or is it Gungbong?”
“I am Gungbong.”
“Ah, Gungbong. Understood.”
“Gungbong, right.”

The group’s interest was piqued for a second when Gungbong exclaimed, but upon realizing it wasn’t Soto, they all returned to their contemplations.

Visibly irritated, Gungbong shouted.
“Hey! It was Soto who said it first!”
“Oh, in that case, we should hear it.”
“Soto, what is your thought?”

A complete reversal.

Gungbong looked utterly exasperated, but honestly, we’d all endured her ramblings before. She should comprehend our wariness.

Although she sulked, her tone was more measured than angry when she spoke.

She suggested that someone might be attempting to disrupt my wedding to Hwa-eun.

It was unmistakably Soto’s idea, not Gungbong’s.

“Could it be that someone is trying to destroy your wedding?”
“My wedding with Hwa-eun?”
“Yes. If someone is engineering these attacks, they must have a motive. And what other significant event is currently happening in Sichuan besides your wedding?”
“But Soto, as you said, there must be a benefit. Who would profit from ruining our wedding?”
“Perhaps ruining it *is* the benefit.”
“The destruction of the wedding itself?”
“Yes. Simply to enrage you.”

Soto’s hypothesis was that sabotaging the wedding was the sole objective. And if that were true, then I’d say the perpetrator had utterly succeeded.

—Crack!

A sharp, splintering sound came from beside me. I turned to see Hwa-eun digging her fingers into the trunk of the tree she stood near.

Her rage had reached its peak.

I hurriedly waved my hands, trying to placate her.
“Now, hold on, that seems unlikely. If someone wanted to sabotage our wedding, it would be the Five Venoms Sect or the Blood Cult. But these are demonic cultivators. There’s no link…”

If there truly was a mastermind, it would logically be one of our foes—the Five Venoms Sect or the Blood Cult.

But these were mere demonic cultivators.

We’ve had a long-standing feud with the Five Venoms and the Blood Cult. By now, we could trade insults about each other’s forebears and it would be considered routine.

So I would expect such an act from them.

But the demonic cultivators? We’d never had any dealings with them before.

Then Ji-ryong offered an unexpected piece of information.
“Actually, it is not entirely out of the question.”
“You think it’s possible?”
“Yes, young master.”

I had just been trying to calm Hwa-eun by dismissing the idea, but now Ji-ryong was suggesting there might be a connection.

The sound of wood splintering under Hwa-eun’s grip was accompanied by Ji-ryong’s composed explanation.

“The Blood Cult was originally an offshoot of the Demonic Cult. They are not wholly unrelated.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. A senior member of the Demonic Cult broke away and established the Blood Cult. At the peak of its power, the Blood Cult attempted to absorb the Demonic Cult entirely. This weakened the Demonic Cult considerably, leading to its eventual eradication by the alliance of martial sects.”
“Those Five Venoms… scoundrels…!”

It was valuable information, without a doubt. But Hwa-eun’s anger was clearly approaching its limit.

At that moment, Moji and Soji, having finished absorbing the miasma from the corpse, backed away and indicated a new direction.

—Mew!
—Mew-mew!
—Tsrrr. 『Dad, they sense another tasty scent!』

A tasty scent.

Meaning more miasma.

Assuming that some of the guests who had gone to hunt demonic cultivators might be locked in combat, we—Yeondu, Cho, Moji, Soji, and Hwa-eun—hurried deeper into the mountains.

We discovered three more demonic cultivators—but another individual had already arrived.

A woman with golden hair and golden eyes—features uncommon in the Central Plains.

She was confronting the demonic cultivators, radiating a miasma even more potent than their own.

“I told you it would come to this! In mercy, I shall end your lives myself!”

She clearly wielded demonic energy, but unlike the mindless demonic cultivators, she retained her sanity.

I felt a powerful conviction that this woman was the crucial element to understanding everything that was unfolding.