Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 525

Chapter 525
While we may not have definitively eliminated the Leader of the Five Venoms Sect, the injury we dealt him was so severe that his survival remains in question. Furthermore, we managed to annihilate over a third of the combined armies of the Five Venoms Sect and the Blood Cult.
Consequently, the atmosphere at the Beast Palace, the headquarters for the united forces of the Murim Alliance and the Beast Palace, should have been one of jubilant celebration.
This was, without a doubt, the most significant triumph since the outbreak of what has been termed the Twin Evils Uprising.
This label—the Twin Evils Uprising—was invented by the Murim world to describe the recent chaos unleashed by the re-emergence of the Blood Cult and the Five Venoms Sect. It follows the tradition of naming such crises, much like the Blood Cult’s rampage three decades prior was called the Blood Cult Blood Rebellion.
I was previously unaware, but the term “uprising” or *jun-dong* literally describes the squirming motion of insects or similar small creatures. Therefore, the name was chosen to suggest that these two malevolent forces—the Blood Cult and the Five Venoms Sect—were writhing like disgusting bugs.
This was particularly fitting since the Five Venoms Sect specializes in breeding poisonous insects and venomous beasts.
‘The way bugs wriggle is actually quite cute and endearing! To use it as an insult is so unfair!’
I truly don’t understand why they would use such an adorable, wiggling motion in such a negative context. Nevertheless, despite the scale of this victory, the overall mood was somber.
And for a very good reason—the Myeolse Poison had claimed a number of lives.
Three members of the Beast Palace and approximately twenty warriors from the Murim Alliance were killed by the poison’s spread, their bodies dissolved beyond any hope of recovery.
The people of the Central Plains hold a belief that the soul of the departed journeys between our world and the next by way of the physical body.
This is why such immense care and ritual are devoted to preparing the deceased for burial; it is thought to grant peace to the dead and blessings to the living. The fact that these individuals were utterly dissolved, denied these rites, made the loss especially painful.
This profound sorrow was precisely why a lift in spirits was desperately needed.
And as if on cue, my wedding ceremony was convened.
Father announced it to everyone, beginning his speech by referencing the Twin Evils Uprising:
“In the wake of the Twin Evils Uprising, from devising the Mountain-Airing Poison to combat the scum of the Blood Cult, to eradicating every Blood Cult rat that infiltrated Sichuan, to wounding the Leader of the Five Venoms Sect so grievously that his fate is unknown… my son has secured the greatest martial achievement of this conflict. It is with immense pride that I host his wedding today.
Let us all feast and drink to celebrate this young hero, who once stood alone, finally gaining a family.”
Even though I am adopted, for him to call me his son and shower me with such radiant praise…
My cheeks burned with embarrassment, but it seems people here are simply built differently—upon hearing his words, the assembled crowd broke into a frenzy of cheers.
“Waaah! Long live Young Master So!”
“Long live the Hero So!”
“Long live! Long live!”
Despite the pall cast by the loss of those whose remains were gone, the crowd roared with joyful celebration at Father’s proclamation.
The ensuing festival of feasting and drinking carried on for three full days.
Then, on the morning of the third day…
—Chirp, chirp. Chirp.
The sound of birds singing drifted through the window as I met with Ji-ryong in the early hours.
This meeting followed a three-day-long encore of my “Wedding Night” with Hwa-eun.
“Whoa… what’s wrong with your face?”
Ji-ryong’s astonished voice came from the guest room adjoining my quarters.
He was visibly taken aback by my thoroughly exhausted appearance.
And who could fault him? I had spent three consecutive days with Hwa-eun, and the previous night I had also provided for Yo-hwa.
Ji-ryong’s reaction brought back memories of the night before.
I had been ready to sleep when Hwa-eun appeared wearing a traditional Beast Palace garment—I have no idea where she found it.
It looked quite similar to the type of miniskirt that Sister Seol sometimes wore.
Flustered, I had asked her,
“A-are we doing this again tonight?”
“Naturally. The three-day wedding celebration is not yet concluded, which means our first night together is still ongoing.”
At that time, I still possessed enough yang energy to feed Yo-hwa, but since the wedding festivities were technically continuing, Hwa-eun declared our first night was also still in progress.
So, after providing for Yo-hwa, I was immediately drawn back in—resulting in my current dreadful state.
When I washed my face this morning and glimpsed myself in the copper mirror, I resembled a corpse.
I gazed out the open window at the distant mountains and spoke to Ji-ryong—my tone heavy with the unspoken question of whether he could ever comprehend the effort required to satisfy a wife.
“Hoho… You will understand why my face looks like this once you are married, Ji-ryong.”
“Gasp! Seriously!? Just the thought of it is making my lips go dry… I’m genuinely concerned for my future now.”
As expected of someone so perceptive, Ji-ryong grasped my implication instantly.
I poured us both some warm tea to improve our mood and then asked,
“So, is the plan prepared?”
“Absolutely. Here, have a look.”
Ji-ryong retrieved a large sheet of paper from his robe and unfolded it on the table before me.
It was a map of the Central Plains.
Seven red dots were marked upon it.
Connected by lines.
What was this?
The red dots indicated the locations Ji-ryong had identified as potential habitats for the Myeolse Golden Frog.
The lines traced a route designed to visit all seven spots in the most efficient path starting from the Beast Palace.
We couldn’t possibly charge through all seven locations in a single journey.
That’s why I had enlisted Ji-ryong’s help to devise a strategy.
Even in my previous life, when planning a collecting expedition, I always aimed to cover multiple sites in one trip.
Since I cannot leave my venomous creatures for extended periods, I must maximize efficiency by targeting several areas each time I travel.
I would normally factor in local transport and accommodations to optimize my route—but being unfamiliar with the geography here, I entrusted the task to Ji-ryong.
“Hmm. It seems doing this all in one journey is impossible—we’ll need to make two separate trips?”
“That is correct, Young Master So—ah, my apologies. The habit is hard to break. I’ve grown accustomed to addressing you that way after our long travels together.”
He interrupted his own explanation to apologize for a simple slip in honorifics.
I responded offhandedly.
“Really, what difference does it make between Young Master or Great Master? Address me in whatever way you find comfortable. You could even use my given name by now.”
Whether it’s Young Master or Great Master, does it matter? If one is great where it counts, does that not make one a great master?
Your heart, for example.
So I told him he could use my name, but Ji-ryong looked back at me apologetically.
“In that case… perhaps I could use a nickname? I would feel too presumptuous to call you by your real name so casually.”
“Hmm, that’s not a bad notion, though my nickname is rather lengthy…”
“Could you not simply shorten it?”
“What, to ‘Papa,’ from ‘King of Venoms Papa’?”
My nickname was King of Venoms Papa.
When I asked if he meant to shorten it to Papa, Ji-ryong winced before answering,
“Ahaha… that does sound somewhat peculiar. What about Cheon-dok? It means Heavenly Poison. The members of the Tang Clan frequently use nicknames related to poison anyway…”
Cheon-dok, huh.
I didn’t love it, but I didn’t dislike it either.
It had a decent ring to it—Heavenly Poison—and it vaguely reminded me of Grandpa Mandok Shingun.
I nodded and returned to the subject.
“Very well, that is acceptable. So, examining this map, it appears we must divide the expedition into two parts, correct?”
“Yes. We should first cover the areas south of the Yangtze River. The remaining sites are to the north, so that is the most logical division.”
The route Ji-ryong presented was separated into two sections.
Three locations lay south of the Yangtze River.
Four were located to the north.
He seemed to have clustered the destinations based on their proximity to one side of the river or the other.
“Let me see… could you specify the exact places? It was quite late when we spoke the other night, and I missed the finer details.”
The previous discussion had occurred too late for a thorough review.
Hwa-eun had sensed the conversation was stretching out and had given me a look that promised consequences.
That is why I asked Ji-ryong for a complete explanation now, and he started pointing at the map, saying:
“Of course. First, the three southern locations are relatively close to one another. The first is the Ten Thousand Great Mountains—Sipmandae-san.”
“Sipmandae-san?”
I started at the name Sipmandae-san.
For a very specific reason—that was the name of the sacred land of the Demonic Cult.
It may lie in ruins now, but it was once their heartland.
I thought I must have misheard.
He had said south of the Yangtze, but the Sipmandae-san I knew of was north of the river—and in foreign lands, no less.
Sensing my reaction, Ji-ryong shook his head and clarified:
“Ah, your surprise is understandable. However, despite sharing the name, this is an entirely different mountain range.”
“A different mountain?”
“Yes. The Sipmandae-san I refer to is located in Guangxi Province.”
“Whew… what a relief.”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Apparently, there were regions with identical names, and just as my tension eased, Ji-ryong continued his briefing.
“That Sipmandae-san, along with Daeyosan and Wolseong Ridge, constitute the three southern points.”
It seemed all our target sites were nestled within significant mountain ranges. One name stood out slightly from the others, prompting me to ask:
“But isn’t one of these named a bit differently?”
“Young Master So—ah, Cheon-dok, are you familiar with the Yeongnam region?”
“I’ve heard it denotes the southern territories of the Central Plains.”
“Correct. The term Yeongnam refers to the lands south of the Five Ridges mountain range. This encompasses Wolseong Ridge, Dobang Ridge, Maengjeo Ridge, Gijeon Ridge, and Daeyu Ridge. The location we are discussing is a mountain situated at the northern extreme of Guangxi Province.”
“Ah, I understand.”
I was studying the marked spots on the map to gauge their distance from the Murim Alliance when Ji-ryong inquired with a careful expression:
“Cheon-dok, our original plan was to depart tomorrow, was it not?”
“Yes, that’s correct?”
“Should we perhaps delay our departure for another three days?”
I turned my head and saw Ji-ryong looking me over from head to toe.
We had initially intended to leave the day after finalizing our travel plan.
But judging by my current condition, he evidently thought setting out tomorrow would be too strenuous.
Not wanting to seem incapable, I straightened up and answered with forced vigor:
“Really now! What kind of man do you take me for?”
“M-my apologies. It’s merely that… you truly do not look well…”
Ji-ryong offered a swift apology.
I stared out the open window and murmured faintly,
“L-let’s just take two more days of rest.”
Truthfully, my legs still felt so unsteady that the thought of traveling tomorrow was daunting.
***
Two days later, at dawn, we set off according to our revised schedule.
Officially, our mission was not to hunt for the Myeolse Golden Frog, but to capture a different venomous creature.
We had previously obtained a map from the Five Venoms Sect that was said to mark the location of one of the Twenty-Four Venoms, and that served as our public objective.
“I will take my leave, Father.”
“Very well. Reports indicate the Five Venoms Sect villains have fled deeper into Daewol Nation and the region is safer now, but remain vigilant.”
“Yes, I will.”
Had we sought permission just a short while ago, it might have been denied.
After all, until recently, Guangxi Province was deemed a hazardous area.
Like Yunnan, Guangxi shares a border with Daewol Nation, making it a potential infiltration route for the Five Venoms Sect and the Blood Cult.
There was, in fact, a history of such infiltrations.
The Blood Cult forces that assaulted Sichuan had sneaked into the Central Plains through this very route.
The mountain we were heading toward, Sipmandae-san, is situated directly on the border between Daewol and Guangxi.
So under ordinary circumstances, gaining approval would have been challenging—but due to recent events, the perceived risk had diminished, and we received the elders’ permission more readily than anticipated.
In the aftermath of the border clash, the Murim Alliance had finally sent scouting parties across the frontier.
They sought to discover what had transpired after the battle.
And what had become of that Five Venoms Sect Leader.
What they found was that the sect had deserted their base and disappeared.
Normally, patrols would have been challenged near the outer boundaries, but this time, there was no response whatsoever. As the scouts advanced cautiously, they reached a vantage point overlooking the Five Venoms headquarters—and found it utterly abandoned.
According to Ji-ryong, they had probably withdrawn further into Daewol territory.
He theorized that my capture of Hoja was the cause—that they feared relentless assaults from spiritual beasts and had fled.
Even if they were unaware I had healed Hoja, the sole method to counter attacks from Cho and Yeondu would have been with a spiritual beast of their own.
And since spiritual beasts represent an asymmetrical power, one cannot defend against them without one.
Now that they had lost Hoja, they could no longer maintain their position due to this imbalance in power.
Now that I think of it, once I had formed a bond with Mama, I could have conducted nightly raids on their camp… but the idea hadn’t occurred to me then.
‘Had I known this would be the outcome, I should have just kept ambushing them every single night.’
I departed with a trace of regret evident on my face.
Our first destination: Daeyosan in Guangxi Province.
It is a major mountain visible from a waterway that forks off from the Zhu River, one of the three great rivers of the Central Plains.
I was particularly eager to visit this place.
Because, much like Yunnan, Guangxi is largely inhabited by minority tribes—and according to Sister Seol, who hails from such a tribe and knows the area well, Daeyosan is an ideal environment for frogs.
A great mountain, bordered by a large, meandering river.
—Splash!
Just as I pictured the tales Sister Seol had shared with me, my expression brightened with expectation, and Hwanji and Hwana slid into a tributary of the Zhu River that branches from the Lancang River.
They carried me on their heads and began to glide downstream with the current.
‘It would be wonderful if we found it on our very first attempt.’
As we moved downstream, I harbored a hope that by some fortunate twist of fate, we would discover the frog immediately.
It’s like buying a lottery ticket—checking each number can be entertaining, but nothing compares to the thrill of winning the grand prize on the very first try, does it?