Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 463

Chapter 463
At my response, Gun Hye-rin froze, her face a mask of stunned incredulity.

There’s an old proverb: “A clever man can find meat even in a temple.” It’s a creed I live by, so I instantly pivoted to my next maneuver.

Naturally, it had nothing to do with soothing Gun Hye-rin’s temper.

What was it, then?

She was visibly shaken by my supposed skill in speaking to snakes and commanding spirit beasts, and I could tell she was probing to verify its authenticity—which meant she required something from me that was connected to this ability.

I resolved to provoke her further by putting on an even greater display.

Feigning distraction to escape her confused stare, I concentrated, reaching out with my senses to detect any other serpents in the vicinity.

‘Are any of your kin nearby?’

It being winter, I was concerned none would be active. I swept the area for energy, casting my awareness outward.

Shortly, I detected a concentration of serpentine auras from one direction.

A hibernaculum close by? Perfect!

When autumn yields to winter’s chill, snakes seek out refuges like fissures that lead to subterranean passages or dens to wait out the cold—preferring the earth’s relative warmth to the freezing air above.

Since such spots are scarce, numerous snakes often congregate together. These gatherings are termed hibernating colonies, and the locations themselves are hibernation sites.

So, sensing a knot of these energies in one place during winter could only mean a hibernaculum was near.

Following the energy’s source, I spotted a displaced stone near the area where Hwa-eun and Gun Hye-rin had fought.

Just then, faint serpentine thoughts began to brush my mind.

—Sss. 『So cold.』
—Ssssss. 『Who calls? It is cold…』

Evidently, the rock sheltering their winter den had been dislodged during the clash between Hwa-eun and Gun Hye-rin, leaving them exposed. Their discomfort made sense.

Hearing their trembling grievances, I projected a soothing, warm intention toward them.

‘Come to me. I will prepare a new, warm place for you to sleep.’

—Shhii. 『Truth? But it is dark.』
—Ssss. 『We agree. Where is the opening?』

Their voices brightened with relief at my offer to construct a new den.

Moments later, the earth near the overturned stone shifted, and several snakes emerged, moving slowly toward me.

Still drowsy from their interrupted slumber, their motions were lethargic.

“You must have been frightened. Let’s go to that sunlit area. Yeondu, excavate a burrow for them. Cho, right that stone and use it for their cover.”

—Shaaa. 『As you command, Master So-ryong.』
—Trrr. 『Yes, Father.』

I led the snakes to a patch of sunlight in the clearing created by the fight. As we started work on their new shelter, an astonished voice rose from nearby.

“He-He truly does converse with snakes and spirit beasts! Who is this man!?”

Gun Hye-rin appeared to have given up on questioning me directly and was now asking Hwa-eun.

Hwa-eun grinned as she made the introduction.

“My betrothed, So-ryong of the Beast Palace. He also bears the epithet ‘Venom Papa of the World.’ Are you unfamiliar with it?”

Heavens, even her way of introducing me is utterly charming.

She even used my preferred title.

Gun Hye-rin rubbed her head and answered in a mumble.

“N-No, I haven’t. Ah, but that is solely because our sect has waned and we’ve lost touch with the happenings of the Central Plains.”

Perhaps she feared that admitting ignorance would suggest my fame was insufficient, so she clarified that her people were simply isolated from worldly news.

I could sense her learning some manners.

She was beginning to observe her surroundings rather than acting as if everyone was inferior.

‘I will extract a genuine apology from her, whatever it takes.’

I vowed to myself that I would eventually compel that haughty woman to offer a true apology, when Hwa-eun’s voice resonated in my mind once more.

『So-ryong, why do you suppose she is so fixated on your power to command snakes and spirit beasts?』
『Not sure. I suspect if we play with her a little longer, she’ll reveal it.』
『Ah! I see. You believe she will return to ask me, and then I can refuse to answer without your consent!』
『Excellent. We’ll do that.』

Just as we finished our silent conspiracy to heighten her desperation—

Exactly as Hwa-eun foresaw, Gun Hye-rin inquired again.

“You are absolutely certain that man can command spirit beasts and speak the tongue of snakes?”

Though she had all but confirmed it herself earlier, she now seemed to desire a more definitive assurance.

Hwa-eun replied with a smile.

“I would be delighted to tell you, however… had demons not appeared in Sichuan, we would have been married just yesterday. Therefore, he is practically my husband. And I cannot provide specifics without his approval.”

“Grr…”

*‘My Hwa-eun is so brilliantly articulate. She’s correct—the ceremony is pending, but I am unquestionably her man. We may not yet be joined in body, but we share a connection far deeper—a bond of the soul.’*

Gun Hye-rin began to grumble, clearly frustrated by Hwa-eun’s statement that she needed her husband’s permission.

Then, a familiar signal tone pierced the air again.

—Beeeeep.

The previous time I’d heard it, it seemed a summons for Gun Hye-rin. This one carried a greater urgency.

Gun Hye-rin frowned, hesitated briefly, then produced a small flute-like instrument from her robe and replicated the sound.

—Beep. Beep. Beep.

Three sharp notes.

She then turned to me and stated:

“A-hem. It appears I have been discourteous. I behaved as if you were beneath my notice… I-I offer my apologies. Might we converse?”

Finally, it seemed she was prepared for an honest discussion, so I answered with feigned trepidation:

“As the inferior party addressing someone of your immense strength, I am quaking… but I shall endeavor to be brave.”

Gun Hye-rin then looked to Hwa-eun and asked,

“Will this marriage suffice?”

She likely meant: “Is this man truly worthy of being your husband?”

Hearing that, a sudden thought struck me—

‘Damn. I conceded too quickly. I should have made her sweat more.’

***

I had already confirmed my ability to speak with snakes.

Inevitably, Gun Hye-rin asked once more, as if she needed to hear the affirmation from me directly.

“You can truly speak with snakes?”

“I can. It is true—I speak with snakes.”

“Oh! I knew it! Then… is there any possibility you might assist me?”

“We may speak once I have finished building a suitable shelter for these little ones.”

“Very well. Understood.”

I requested a brief delay—we could talk after. I couldn’t abandon the snakes to the cold.

We hollowed out the den and tamped down the soil, and just as Cho was set to move the rock into position—

Five masked individuals erupted into the clearing and yelled in alarm.

“We were recalled during our pursuit, bewildered as to why—but Central Plains filth?!”

They instantly unsheathed their blades, leveling them at us. A horrified Gun Hye-rin leaped in front of them and snapped,

“Why draw your swords immediately?! Sheathe them! I-I apologize. I should have provided an explanation.”

Cold sweat beaded on her forehead—likely terrified I would take offense again.

The masked fighters seemed utterly confused.

“L-Lady Gun Hye-rin… apologized?”
“What is happening…”

—Thud.

They appeared dumbfounded that she had actually apologized. But then, as Cho finished positioning the rock, the full sizes of Yeondu and Cho were revealed.

The masked warriors recoiled in shock.

“By the—?! How is that serpent so enormous?! A spirit beast?!”
“What—There’s another one?!”

Gun Hye-rin, as if summarizing the entire situation in one sentence, simply gestured toward me and stated,

“That man can communicate with spirit beasts and snakes.”

“!”

I could almost visualize the exclamation points flashing above their heads.

All five stood motionless, wearing identical expressions of stunned silence.

With the hibernation site finished and Gun Hye-rin’s words having magnified the group’s awe, I decided it was time for answers.

“So, why this intense interest in my capacity to speak with snakes and command spirit beasts?”

One of the masked men shot a glance at Gun Hye-rin, then gave a slight nod—likely after a brief sound transmission. Gun Hye-rin then stepped forward and asked, her tone almost imploring,

“What we intend to share is a most secret matter of our sect. Can you vow that only the two of you will hear it and never speak of it to another soul?”

“A vow?”

Her choice of words was rather extreme, and I was hesitant. Hwa-eun was the one who responded.

“If this involves hostile intentions toward the Central Plains or would bring it harm, we cannot make such a vow.”

Gun Hye-rin rapidly waved her hands in denial.

“No, not at all. It is nothing like that.”

“Then we agree.”

Hwa-eun glanced at me, and I nodded. Only then did Gun Hye-rin begin her tale.

“Then I must start at the end of the Heavenly Demon Cult—fifty years past…”

***

Gun Hye-rin was the rightful heir of the Heavenly Demon Cult, which was eradicated by Central Plains martial artists five decades ago.

On the cult’s final day, as endless waves of Central Plains forces stormed in, the stronghold was put to the torch and its adherents massacred.

Amid the turmoil, the remaining members just managed to spirit away the cult’s Young Master.

Yet, during the flight, the Young Master’s dantian was pierced, rendering him a cripple. That man was Gun Hye-rin’s grandfather.

She is the great-granddaughter of Gun Ja-gyeong, the final leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult, who fell fifty years ago battling the Three Sovereigns of the martial world.

But now, she faced a profound crisis of identity.

“What if I am not the true heir?”

The surviving cultists fled ceaselessly through the Central Plains with their crippled Young Master, perpetually barely ahead of those who hunted them.

Rather than fleeing toward Xinjiang, the cult’s ancestral land, they made the unexpected choice to conceal themselves within the Central Plains itself—defying their enemies’ assumptions.

They established themselves in a secluded mountain village on the border of Shanxi Province, beneath the slopes of Mount Halan.

Gun Hye-rin sat in the place of honor in the village elder’s home, her voice laden with uncertainty. The elders reacted with vehement denial.

“That is inconceivable, Young Mistress! The annals left by our ancestors definitively mark those others as frauds!”
“Indeed, the so-called heir they follow cultivates a corrupted version of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts!”
“No! It cannot be true!”
“But how do I prove I am not the Shadow?”

Gun Hye-rin had been raised from birth for the cult’s restoration, and now her very identity was in doubt.

Recently, while scouting Xinjiang, they encountered other survivors.
Two factions.
A cause for celebration—until it was discovered that both factions were led by their own “Young Heavenly Demon” claimants.

She had believed herself the sole descendant of the Heavenly Demon… but now, there were others asserting the same lineage.

Ancient records provided context.
On the day the cult fell, the Heavenly Demon, in a desperate bid to preserve his line, had his son and his son’s shadow flee separately.
They were even subjected to a soul-binding art to prevent either from revealing who was real and who was the shadow, even under duress.

But both the Young Master and the Shadow had survived—resulting in this strange predicament.

Only one elder, the one who performed the soul-binding and escaped with the true heir, knew the entire truth. The other survivors were ignorant. They had raised the Shadow as the genuine Heavenly Demon successor all this time.

Initially, they attempted to use force—adhering to the cult’s doctrine that strength dictates truth.

But those survivors, convinced they served the true heir, viewed Gun Hye-rin’s group as deceivers masquerading as the cult and swore to resist unto death.

She could not simply slaughter the only other remaining members of her sect.

As everyone deliberated, Elder Ye Go-pung—a descendant of the truth-knowing elder and the present village chief—suddenly had an inspiration.

“Ah! Yes! Young Mistress, there is a method to prove you are the legitimate successor!”
“There is?”
“Yes! The Sacred Fire Bell!”

The Sacred Fire Bell.
A holy artifact said to chime only for those of the Heavenly Demon’s blood.
If she could locate it and cause it to ring, her identity would be incontestable.

“But the Sacred Fire Bell…”

Legend held that only the direct bloodline of the Heavenly Demon could make it sound. If she could ring it, the others would have no choice but to acknowledge her.

However, Gun Hye-rin wavered.
Because of her great-grandfather’s dying decree.

There was a reason the heirs called themselves Young Heavenly Demon and not Heavenly Demon.
On the day the cult fell, the great-grandfather—his dantian ruined, living out his years as a cripple—left a final testament:
“Let no descendant claim the title of Heavenly Demon frivolously. Only when your martial cultivation attains the Profound Realm, and the Central Plains no longer dares to scorn us, may you seek the Sacred Fire Bell and ascend as the true Heavenly Demon.”

Therefore, she could not decide impulsively.

“If we unite the others, the cult will regain its strength swiftly. That would mean true revival. The previous Young Master would certainly comprehend given these extraordinary conditions!”

Swayed by the elder’s reasoning, Gun Hye-rin finally reached her decision.
“…Very well. I will retrieve the Sacred Fire Bell.”

But as she and her followers neared the cave where the bell was rumored to be concealed, they were met by a daunting presence blocking the entrance.

—Kiii-shaaa!
—Sha-kkii!

Guarding their path was a duo of snake spirit beasts—one black, one white.