Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 489

Chapter 489
Upon hearing Hwa-eun’s offer, a wave of eager expectation washed over me.
I wasn’t entirely sure of her methods, but she had promised to draw the poison out.
Even so, it would have been far too obvious to open my eyes immediately, as if I’d been anticipating nothing else.
‘Wouldn’t that seem a little too eager?’
So, I feigned circulating my qi for a short while, then pretended the effort was futile and manufactured a show of mild distress—just enough to gracefully accept Hwa-eun’s assistance without appearing overzealous.
However, because I had continued to practice the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art, the venom inside me suddenly vaporized and vanished at an astonishing rate.
In the blink of an eye, Big Dragon shrunk to Great Dragon, and then diminished to Little Dragon—my physique swiftly returning to its usual state.
‘No! Damn it all! Is this a result of breaking through to the Fire Realm?’
Or was it because, as Hwa-eun had mentioned, I had already assimilated the toxins from six of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures?
An instant later, when I opened my eyes in letdown, Hwa-eun had vanished.
Hyang and Hongdan were also missing.
They had retreated from my body when I began my qi circulation—presumably to latch onto Hwa-eun instead—and Cho was draped loosely around me a short distance away, keeping watch.
I asked Cho where Hwa-eun had gone.
I hadn’t even heard her depart.
“Cho, where is your mother?”
—Tsk. 『Mother was observing you, then she clicked her tongue and left to collect the fallen men.』
“I… I understand.”
No wonder the last two we had captured were also missing.
It appeared Hwa-eun had noticed my condition had stabilized and went to gather the ones we had incapacitated.
But from Cho’s tone, it seemed I wasn’t the only one feeling thwarted. Still clicking my tongue in frustration, I turned towards the interior of the derelict pipeline.
We were deep within the jungle.
Although only a brief time had passed, the three assailants had fled for their lives, and I had pursued them well past the pipeline’s collapsing wall—several hundred meters away.
“Come, Cho, let us go as well.”
—Slither. 『Father, are you well now?』
“I am.”
—Tsk. 『Earlier, when Mother left with Hyang, she suddenly questioned why you hadn’t taken the snake out… What did she mean?』
“Haha… Hyang must have misinterpreted something.”
I was taken aback by Cho’s abrupt reference to a snake, but I dismissed it ambiguously and moved into the abandoned pipeline. There, in a clearing to one side, I saw bodies scattered about.
They remained unconscious, with fine needles protruding from various points on their forms.
As Cho had indicated, Hwa-eun had apparently gathered all the dispersed foes who had been subdued while attempting to escape.
I approached her and inquired,
“Hwa-eun, is this all of them? You should have waited for me. I would have assisted.”
“Yes, So-ryong. But it was no trouble. I simply slung them over my shoulder. More importantly… it seems your… body… has recovered…”
As she uttered the word “body,” her gaze dipped downward for a fleeting moment before she offered an awkward smile.
I was quick to shake my head.
“Ah, no. The immediate effects have passed, but the—ahem—the poisonous energy. I cannot be certain it is entirely purged. Hwa-eun, might you examine me again tonight?
You understand how certain toxins can appear gone, only to linger and induce a sudden relapse, correct?”
I knew full well no such poison existed, but Hwa-eun seemed to grasp my implication. She gave me a look that said “Very well, I understand,” and took my hand.
“So-ryong, truly… This is the consequence of neglecting your martial practice. You have reached the Fire Realm yet still cannot purify yourself properly. I shall perform a thorough extraction for you tonight. The poison, naturally.”
An exchange laden with subtext, intimate enough only for a couple.
But Cho, appearing worried, turned to Hwa-eun and asked:
—Slither. 『Mother, is Father still unwell? You said he was fine a moment ago.』
Hwa-eun replied in an exceedingly sweet tone, perfectly masking her underlying intention.
『No, Cho. Merely as a precaution, I will be conducting an examination tonight. So you must all retire early, understood?』
—Tsk. 『Why?』
“Because Mother and Father need to verify your Father’s physical condition in a private room. We will be circulating our qi, and we cannot tolerate any noise or movement nearby.”
—Sssslither. 『Understood, Mother. Have no concern. I will explain it clearly to the others and my sisters.』
Cho had been thoroughly instructed by Hwa-eun that no one should interrupt me during qi circulation—no loud sounds or physical contact. Thus, he accepted her fabrication without a second thought.
Yet it wasn’t a complete falsehood.
Even if the poisonous energy was expelled, having been affected at all made it prudent to verify all bodily functions were operating correctly.
After all, I had momentarily transformed into a Great Dragon under the venom’s influence. Operational capacity required confirmation.
‘At times, the exterior may seem sound, while the interior decays, does it not?’
Just as we clasped hands and were relishing this uncommon moment—
A voice echoed from above the pipeline.
“What is this? I believed I would at last have a chance to exercise my skills, yet you two have resolved everything? I was about to ask when to commence the assault once our forces were in position…”
Glancing up, I saw Geombong descending swiftly astride Yeondu, her expression one of keen disappointment.
From her words, she had brought additional forces and established a perimeter around the area, awaiting our signal to attack—but the conflict had already concluded.
I offered an apologetic smile.
Martial artists thrive on such confrontations. I had likely deprived her of a valued engagement.
Would the Commander of the Venom Elimination Unit feel similarly disappointed?
“Ah, my apologies for that.”
“It is of no consequence. It was your mission to complete, Young Hero. I shall retrieve the others now.”
Geombong dismissed the apology, stating it was unnecessary as the task was ultimately mine.
She seemed to be enjoying her travels with Yeondu, for she made a request of her.
“Yeondu, let us make one more trip.”
—Shaah. 『Understood.』
Geombong disappeared with Yeondu once more, and roughly fifteen minutes later, she returned to the pipeline clearing with the rest of the group.
“So the Young Hero and Hwa-eun managed everything?”
“By the heavens… That tremendous impact at the center—was that your doing, So-ryong?”
“Yes, Commander.”
I expected the Commander of the Venom Elimination Unit to be disappointed that I had handled it alone, but upon inspecting the scene, he instead looked immensely satisfied.
Was it because his Tang Clan’s son-in-law had personally taken charge?
“Nevertheless, why did you not wait for us?”
“I was enraged…”
“Enraged? Young Master?”
“So-ryong?”
Geombong and the others regarded me with looks of sheer disbelief, as if they found the notion of me acting in anger utterly inconceivable.
It was understandable.
I was the very image of a placid individual—someone who wouldn’t transgress even if no laws existed.
For me to have become furious? They could scarcely believe it.
Acknowledging their skepticism, I elaborated.
“I mean, these wretches were slaughtering a spirit beast! The instant I witnessed it, I saw red. I swear, reducing them to pulp would be an insufficient punishment.”
“I… I see. I assumed it must have been something extraordinary to provoke the Young Hero’s anger. And this is indeed far from ordinary…”
“But wait—did you say spirit beast?”
“Ah! Correct, the spirit beast!”
We had been discussing the attackers, and it suddenly struck me—what had become of the spirit beast?
I swiftly scanned our surroundings.
The final individual to emerge from the most intact structure within the pipeline had been carrying its decapitated head…
“Where did it go?”
“What are you searching for, Young Hero?”
“Ah, earlier, when I was observing from above, I saw those villains bearing the severed head of a spirit beast.”
“Its h-head?”
“Indeed. They are truly despicable, are they not?”
“…They truly are. I will assist. Seonhak, instruct the juniors to search the vicinity.”
“Yes, Senior Sister.”
—Sssslither. 『Let us go as well, Elder Sister Yeondu.』
—Shaah. 『Very well.』
“Wait!”
Just as Geombong’s order prompted the Dianchang Sect disciples to begin fanning out, and Cho and Yeondu prepared to join them, I halted them and turned to Hwa-eun.
“Hwa-eun, please ensure the children do not come over here.”
“Very well, So-ryong.”
Even if they were accustomed to seeing the deceased, the sight of a slain spirit beast, one of their own kind, would be too distressing for them.
I made certain the young ones could not approach and began my search. Near the crater formed by my impact with the earth, I discovered what appeared to be the creature’s internal organs.
“Found them.”
They looked somewhat crushed from the force of the impact.
Geombong approached and inspected the organs, her face contorting in distaste.
“Ugh. How repulsive… Yet also rather peculiar.”
“I thought the same. This is the gut of an insect.”
“An insect?”
“Yes.”
It was unmistakably insect viscera.
More precisely, it resembled the digestive system—foregut, midgut, and hindgut—typical of insects.
Insects generally possess digestive tracts divided into three sections: the foregut for storing and initial digestion, the midgut for nutrient absorption, and the hindgut for waste expulsion.
The organs I found were elongated and coiled, precisely matching that description.
“But the head must be nearby as well.”
I wrapped the intestines in the shirt of one of the unconscious villains and continued searching for the head. But it was nowhere to be found.
It must have been flung away by the violence of my collision with the ground. As the search widened, one of the Venom Elimination Unit warriors gestured towards a rooftop.
“Young Hero So-ryong! Over there!”
“Hm?”
Looking where he indicated, I saw a pair of antennae protruding from a roof tile.
“How in the world—how did it get up there?”
I employed my lightfoot technique to ascend to the roof and extracted the embedded head.
What instantly captured my attention was the enamel-like carapace, glimmering with hues of blue and green under the moonlight.
‘Ah… Had it been alive, it would have been a glorious sight.’
The head was formed of six fused segments, much like common beetles. The mouth was aligned straight with the digestive tract—a hallmark of beetle-type insects.
This specific head structure is termed orthognathous—where the mouth aligns directly with the esophagus—and this specimen matched it perfectly.
‘A venomous beetle, then?’
Carrying the head, I descended and entered the building from which the three attackers had initially emerged.
“Y-Young Hero, what manner of spirit beast is this? Ugh…”
Geombong had followed me inside and recoiled at the sight.
Within, the insect spirit beast had been completely dismembered.
Two outer wings, inner wings, the abdomen, and legs.
I offered a silent tribute to the creature’s spirit, then turned its body over on the table, placed its wings atop it, and closed them with the outer shell. I roughly positioned the legs around it and finally set the head in place.
And there it was—the stunning shimmer of green and blue radiated forth.
So this was why So-ryong had briefly become a Great Dragon.
“There is no question. This was a Blue Blister Beetle.”
“A Blue Blister Beetle?”
This was a spirit beast of the Blue Blister Beetle variety.
There are numerous types of blister beetles, but the Blue Blister Beetle is recognized by its distinctive green and blue enamel-like gleam.
Much like a jewel beetle—utterly breathtaking.
‘Wait a moment…’
Abruptly, I recalled one of the Twenty-Four Venoms.
The Exploding Jade Water Beetle.
Its name incorporated the character for “water” and concluded with “beetle,” leading the clan to presume it was an aquatic beetle species.
But curiously, its full entry and depiction had been entirely obscured with ink in the Secret Compendium of Venomous Creatures.
Now it made sense—if this being possessed that “watery coloration,” then the name fits. Murky pond water and deep river water exhibit that bluish-green shade.
And then there is the “Exploding Jade” component.
I never fully comprehended what that referred to, but now, considering its venom—it aligns perfectly.
In the Central Plains, refined terms for a man’s private parts include “Jade Stem” or “Jade Root,” though the more anatomical term is “yin stem.”
On the internet in my previous life, people employed playful euphemisms like “treasure” for their genitalia. This is analogous.
To state it bluntly, it is akin to calling it one’s “precious object” or “valuable rod.”
Thus, the name “Exploding Jade” within the beetle’s title—
If its venom causes that to detonate, then the name is perfectly logical.
An explosion… of one’s treasured anatomy.
That is the name’s significance.
And perhaps this is why the original record in the Secret Compendium was censored—some Tang Clan ancestor must have recognized the horrifying threat this creature posed to men and elected to erase it entirely.
To perish because one’s “precious rod” exploded—that is the stuff of pure nightmares.
‘Yes, that follows. And damn it all, the fury is rising within me now…’
The more I understood what had been lost, the more intense my anger grew.
Particularly since assembling the Five Elements—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—was a nearly insurmountable task.
This creature was likely the sole surviving specimen of the Water element among spirit beasts. And now it was dead.
How, by all that is holy, was I supposed to locate another living one?
The scum subdued by Hwa-eun… their crimes were beyond forgiveness.