Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 504

Chapter 504
Following my cry, the appalled voices of Hwa-eun and Gun Hye-rin reverberated through our shared communication channel.
『“By the heavens… So-ryong, it’s absolutely d-disgusting!”』
『“I can’t believe it. The entire bottom of the cave is a seething black mass! How many of these abominations did those Five Venoms fiends produce!?”』
Initially, much like myself, they hadn’t fully processed the sight within the cavern. My exclamation made them look again, and horror instantly seized them.
The vision of the stickyworms carpeting the sunken cave floor, as thick as seeds in a sprouting tray… that was not a sight described by any ordinary language.
It demanded words of terror, of loathing, of abomination—of every vile and negative sentiment humanity has ever conceived.
Monstrous, nauseating, horrifying—that was the nature of it.
Any person witnessing it would have an identical reaction.
Even I, who holds a fondness for insects, amphibians, and poisonous beings, was trembling. So what must it have been like for them?
From the sound of their voices, they were considerably more disturbed than I was.
Though both were martial artists of the Huagyeong level, they instinctively sought to shelter behind me.
I, having regained my composure a little quicker, swiftly made the decision to soothe them and order a withdrawal.
We needed to pull back—immediately.
Our primary goal had been to ascertain the extent of the creatures’ spread, and that objective was now achieved.
We had located the cave where they were almost certainly bred and nurtured.
And from all appearances, they had never ventured beyond it.
The way they were gathered so densely as a colony indicated that the single stickyworm we discovered earlier must have been an accidental straggler—swept away by the flow and found further down the river.
This meant the circumstances had not yet escalated into a total disaster.
They had not proliferated.
Therefore, we had an opening. We could move back to a secure position, monitor them, and devise a strategy to handle them before they scattered.
『“We should retreat for the moment.”』
『“Why? Can’t we have the youngsters clear them all out in one sweep? Or simply bring down the cave mouth and entomb them inside? Wouldn’t that be the most effective solution, since they’re all concentrated here?”』
Gun Hye-rin promptly proposed either having our creatures eradicate them or blocking the entrance.
However, there was no certainty that our creatures could exterminate every last one—and if there was a single concealed passage, or if the seal wasn’t absolute, they could break free.
If even a small number of those larvae got away, the Lanchang River—no, the entire Mekong River system—would be transformed into a watery graveyard.
There was also another compelling reason to withdraw without delay.
『“We can’t be sure any of that would succeed. And the escape of just a few would be a calamity. It’s wiser to continue our surveillance until we formulate a guaranteed strategy.
Furthermore… their mother may be on her way back. We must pull back quickly.”』
Their mother could be returning at any moment.
『“The mother? But you told us earlier that stickyworms show no parental instinct. Didn’t you say the mother and her young would live apart?”』
『“That’s right, before we departed, you were very specific that the mother lays her eggs and then deserts them.”』
Both Hwa-eun and Gun Hye-rin questioned me with bewilderment, recalling my earlier instructions.
It was true, I had stated that since stickyworms don’t nurture their young, we would need to locate the mother and the offspring independently.
But the situation had evolved.
『“That was my initial understanding as well. However, based on the evidence before us now, the mother is providing for them.”』
I had a specific rationale for believing the artificially created stickyworm mothers were tending to their larvae.
And it was entirely connected to the location of the young.
『“What makes you think that?”
“Yes, So-ryong, what is your reasoning?”
“Because they are inside a cave.”』
Under normal conditions, stickyworms hatch, drift as plankton, and eventually settle into mud or beneath stones to start their true growth stage.
During their plankton phase, they consume smaller plankton. Once they settle, they begin to feed on microorganisms from the riverbed.
In standard marine or freshwater settings, there is an abundance of both phytoplankton, such as algae, and zooplankton. Sustenance is plentiful.
But a cave pool is an entirely different environment.
Algae and other phytoplankton require light for photosynthesis. Devoid of light, they cannot thrive or multiply.
And without them, the zooplankton that depend on them for food also perish—meaning cave water holds a severely limited amount of plankton.
Therefore, if creatures that depend on plankton for survival have managed to grow to such a size within this cave…
It signified that someone must be supplying them with food.
To reach that size, they would need a colossal quantity of plankton—something the cave environment could never offer on its own.
So without the mother’s assistance, they could not possibly have survived.
Additionally, our scouts had reported observing a mother dragging a deer into the water.
I had presumed she was taking her time to eat it. But suppose she was transporting it back to nourish her young?
That made everything fall into place.
『“There is no natural sustenance for them in that cave water. For them to have grown this large, they must have had outside help.”
“Ah… Now I understand.”』
I had just concluded my explanation and was preparing to move when Cho’s alarmed voice cut in.
『-Chrrr. (Father, something approaches!)
“What!?”』
Cho had detected something drawing near. As I peered into the current, her antennae softly pressed against my head, directing my gaze upstream.
There—drifting toward us in the water—was a water buffalo.
A buffalo?
My first thought was that it was swimming—water buffalo are known to enjoy rivers and frequently cross or wallow in them.
But then it listed and turned over, belly up.
Coiled tightly around its middle was a stickyworm.
Damn it all!
The mother was unmistakably coming back from a hunt, delivering food to the cave.
I desperately searched our surroundings.
We had to escape—or find concealment.
A full retreat would undoubtedly get us seen. We required cover.
That’s when I saw it: a large rock submerged a short distance from the cave’s opening.
『“Quickly—behind that stone!”
“Understood!”
“Moving!”』
We rushed to take shelter behind the rock—but upon getting closer, we encountered an issue.
From afar, it had seemed sufficient, but up close, it was more compact than anticipated.
It could only just hide Hwa-eun and Gun Hye-rin.
But sections of my body and Cho’s remained in the open.
The creature was already almost upon us.
We were on the verge of being discovered.
Then, in that pivotal instant—
Heukjeom stretched his body out to its full breadth and pressed himself over Cho and me.
Huh? Oh! Right!
At first, it appeared insignificant. But then it came back to me:
Stingrays disguise themselves using protective coloration.
Everyone is aware that octopuses can merge with their surroundings. But stingrays are also experts in this—often achieving an even more seamless mimicry.
Heukjeom must have altered his pigmentation to imitate the rock, concealing us from sight.
『“But merely covering us with his body can’t possibly—”
“It will work. Rays of Heukjeom’s kind possess the skill to alter their color. He is likely replicating the appearance of this boulder as we speak.”
“Change color?”』
As Gun Hye-rin and Hwa-eun stared in astonishment—
The buffalo drifted directly over us.
Heukjeom’s disguise must have been flawless, for the creature moved past us without a glance and slid directly into the cave.
Whew. That was close.
Just as I began to release a held breath of relief—
A powerful disturbance rippled out from within the cave.
Simultaneously, we exchanged glances.
It was obvious we were all sharing the same thought.
We could picture the scene that was likely taking place inside, and without a word being spoken, we all started swimming back toward the cave entrance.
And what met our eyes there was precisely what we had anticipated.
The stickyworm hatchlings were engulfing the water buffalo their mother had brought in.
The buffalo swayed in the water, covered in hatchlings as densely as spines on a porcupine.
『“Just as we thought…”』
『“Merciful heavens…”』
Those hatchlings unable to find room on the buffalo ruthlessly forced their bodies between their brothers and sisters, struggling to claim a spot.
And since they had all abandoned the cave floor to feed, something previously hidden now became visible—
Bones. Innumerable white bones strewn across the cave bottom.
The skeletal remains of a great many animals. They must have preyed upon a vast number of creatures to sustain that brood.
Raising so many larvae would have demanded a staggering amount of food.
As we gazed in stunned silence at the feeding horde and the bed of bones below them—
Hwa-eun’s voice quivered.
『“So-ryong… there are human bones among them.”』
I looked to where she indicated—and indeed, human skulls were intermixed with the rest.
This region was deep wilderness; no ordinary people resided here. And since the clashes between the Murim Alliance, the Five Venoms, and the Blood Cult had intensified, the borders had been sealed.
Could they be casualties from the Five Venoms?
It seemed logical.
After all, they had executed a full withdrawal from this territory.
They would not have retreated unless they had sustained heavy losses—or dreaded a significant incursion by the Murim Alliance.
Fools. There is no greater folly than humans meddling with the natural world. This was the inevitable outcome.
***
“Puhah.”
“Haaa… haa…”
We held fast to our creatures and made our way back downstream, finally surfacing to gasp in air.
Martial artists at the Huagyeong level can control their breathing for extended durations—holding it for half an hour is a simple feat.
“Just to be certain… they are all contained within that cave, correct?”
Hwa-eun, who recovered her breath swiftly, inquired.
We hadn’t realized it at first. But when the feeding began, we saw clearly that both mothers were inside the cave.
“Yes, Hwa-eun.”
“So all of them—both mothers included—are in there.”
“What’s our next step? Do we continue our investigation, as you mentioned before?”
My initial plan had been to watch them a while longer, hoping to discover some weakness we could exploit for capture or extermination.
But now we had a crucial piece of information: the mothers were proactively feeding their offspring.
That fact alone was sufficient.
This detail—that they are being provisioned—meant they are unlikely to disperse anytime soon.
And that presented us with an ideal chance to eradicate them completely.
“No. I believe we have learned enough.
The purpose of our observation was to gather intelligence to aid in their elimination—and confirming that the mothers are supplying them with food is more than we need.
However, since we cannot know how long they will remain congregated, we must develop a plan to wipe them out at the earliest opportunity.”
That was the crucial point—we had to attack while they were all in one location.
After a moment of contemplation, Hwa-eun proposed a solution that was characteristic of someone from the Tang Clan.
“Could we employ poison? The remote location makes deploying a large contingent or our other creatures quite difficult.”
Even though the Five Venoms had withdrawn, this was still land belonging to the Daewol Nation. We could not send in the youngsters, the Murim Alliance, or forces from the Beast Palace in significant numbers.
Thus, her idea was to poison the cave and eliminate them all in a single strike.
But a significant problem existed.
“Poison is not an option. We cannot predict its effect on the river downstream. From my knowledge, the Lanchang River is as extensive as the Yangtze—and innumerable people make their homes along its shores.”
The river was enormous, with a massive water volume, which would dilute the toxin—but we could not gamble with that.
Who could foresee the damage it might inflict on the ecosystem?
Moreover, pesticides invariably lead to resistance. To even test their effectiveness on these beings, we would need to capture some specimens for experimentation—but with the mothers protecting them, seizing even one was an impossibility.
“Then what is our course of action?”
“I do have a concept in mind… but I will need to journey back to the Tang Clan to acquire it. That is the complication.”
“To the Tang Clan? But you said you wouldn’t use poison—so what reason is there to go?”
Hwa-eun asked, visibly perplexed.
But I had a very, very clear notion.
The Tang Clan happened to be in possession of a certain ‘natural predator’—a tool that could annihilate them all in a single, decisive blow.
Forbidden? Without a doubt.
Potent? Extraordinarily so.
What am I referring to?
Electrofishing. Utilizing Ho-ye—“Tiger Lightning”—to electrify the entire area.
This method could conclude the matter in one fell swoop.
It was the epitome of destructive overfishing—so potent that its use is universally prohibited.
But it might just be the ideal instrument for this particular task.