Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Of course. Here is the paraphrased chapter:

Normally, a colony of Army Ants would relocate after resting for just one night.
During the dark hours, they would gather into a tight cluster for warmth and safety, and at first light, as the air grew warmer, they would continue their journey.
However, this particular group… was breaking from that routine.
They had stayed in their makeshift camp for three full days.
It was impossible to tell if they were consuming their stored provisions or if the Queen was producing eggs, but one fact was undeniable—this was their dormant phase.
This implied their standard pattern was probably as follows:
A brutal migration, consuming all resources in their way.
A period of rest, staying in one place for multiple days.
Although they weren’t totally motionless, they also weren’t leaving to forage.
For our purposes, this was advantageous.
It allowed my sister’s party the necessary time to reach us.
Because they were transporting bamboo cages for gathering samples, in addition to our provisions, we had to reunite before initiating my clever strategy.
And when my sister got there…
I finally realized why the majority of the warriors—aside from Grandfather and a handful of the Venom Blood Squad members—had looked at me that way.
“Good grief…”
Hwa-eun’s face was a mask of pure astonishment as she stared at the immense swarm of ants on the far side of the river.
But that wasn’t the limit of her shock.
After I detailed my plan—that we would be sprinting ahead of the ants to capture the poisonous creatures they flushed from hiding—her eyes grew even wider.
“You’re telling me we have to run in front of *that*?”
“Correct. When they march forward, insects, reptiles, and other animals hiding in the grass, beneath stones, and within cracks will be thrown into a panic and try to escape.
That is the moment we seize them.
Terrified creatures that are solely intent on fleeing are much simpler to capture.”
She gazed at me, utterly speechless, for a long time before finally murmuring quietly:
“…First it was bees, and now it’s ants? We only just finished racing ahead of the Golden Wasp Kings…”
It was then that I comprehended everything.
The reason Gu Pae, the Venom Blood Squad warriors, and so many members of the Tang Clan had looked at me as if I were mad.
Because they… were seasoned veterans.
They had lived through this before.
Hwa-eun’s statement made it clear—Gu Pae, the leader of the Venom Blood Squad, and several of the warriors had all been part of the team that ran for their lives when we moved the Golden Wasp Kings to the Tang Clan.
They had already endured one harrowing race.
And now I was suggesting… another.
“Well, you have to admit, the results were excellent last time, weren’t they?”
“…I suppose… they were… but…”
To be honest, I had felt somewhat sorry for Hwa-eun during that ordeal.
She had been completely drained—soaked in sweat, running for days on end without adequate rest or meals.
Furthermore, since I was unable to use lightfoot techniques, she was forced to carry me the whole distance.
However, I felt a little less remorseful due to a comment Grandfather had made.
‘Well, at least she gained a fortuitous opportunity from it.’
She couldn’t really dispute that.
As Grandfather explained, ingesting the Neidan of the Azure-Spotted Centipede had been a significant boon for her.
But the true benefit had come from the race itself.
Ordinarily, digesting a Neidan or a powerful elixir requires a long period of quiet meditation to fully integrate the energy into one’s system.
Yet, because she had expended all her internal energy while running for her life, she had quickly refined and assimilated the new power she had acquired.
In essence—
That desperate sprint had actually served as a tremendous aid to her cultivation.
I grasped my sister’s hand firmly and stated:
“Well, now that O-Gong doesn’t require the energy from the Neidan anymore, you can absorb all of it properly this time.”
It may have sounded a bit impudent… but it was the truth.
I wasn’t doing this solely for my own benefit.
It was entirely for her.
For her power, her development, her internal energy—
This was a present.
Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to retort.
And then—
Grandfather interjected.
“Now that I consider it, So-ryong, you should be running too.”
“…Pardon?”
My initial plan had been for Grandfather to carry me while using his lightfoot skill to maintain pace.
But now, he was saying…
I had to run as well?
I stared at him in bewilderment, and Grandfather simply pointed toward my chest.
“You did ingest an elixir, correct?”
“…Oh.”
That was right.
I had forgotten completely.
I had also consumed the Royal Jelly gifted to me by the Golden Wasp Kings.
Which meant…
I also needed to refine that energy.
A sly smile spread across Hwa-eun’s lips.
Before I could even object, she gripped my hand tightly and grinned.
“So-ryong, we’ll run together tomorrow.
I’m really looking forward to running beside you. Hehehe.”
For some inexplicable reason…
Her smile reminded me of someone who had just savored a delightful treat.
A sense of foreboding washed over me.
‘…Surely, that was just my imagination.’

***
The previous night, we had stealthily moved ahead of the ants and taken our positions.
We couldn’t know how much longer they would remain in their temporary camp, but it was wiser to be ready early.
We established our camp about 200 meters away—roughly sixty zhang.
Once the ants began their advance, we intended to reduce the gap to 100 meters and keep that distance while running parallel to them.
Meanwhile, the main group—commanded by my sister—would be trailing from the other side of the river, gathering the poisonous creatures and insects we managed to catch along the route.
Since we couldn’t possibly carry everything ourselves, we had coordinated to toss the captured samples into cages and leave them on the opposite bank for the others to collect.
With all arrangements made, I fell into a fitful sleep, my mind buzzing with anticipation for the next day’s hunt.
And then—
A sound that made my blood run cold.
— Swaaaaah!
When my eyes snapped open, the sun was already climbing.
As its light filled the valley, the sea of ants began to shift.
The rustling noise that had once sounded like wind moving through bamboo was now clearly identifiable—
It was the thunderous roar of a living, advancing tide.
There had been no requirement for nighttime sentries.
Because this sound was our alarm.
“They’re… on the move…”
Next to me, my sister stirred, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she reached over to shake me awake.
“So-ryong, get up.”
“I’m awake, Hwa-eun.”
I sat up instantly, forgoing any morning rituals and immediately fastening the headband around my forehead.
Every Tang warrior—particularly those who had endured the first race—was doing the same.
Even my sister swiftly tied hers on.
Initially, I had been curious about the reason for this.
Then I recalled—
‘Ah, that’s right. If sweat gets in your eyes while you’re running, it burns terribly.’
It turns out people don’t wear headbands merely for appearance.
They serve an actual function.
Once we were prepared, the O-Gongs settled on my shoulders, the Rock Geckos climbed onto my sister, and Yohwa—when questioned about her ability to keep pace—had assured us confidently that she could.
She would be fine.
If not, she could always leap across the river.
And then—
The crimson tide began its march.
— Swaaaaaah!
The wave of ants pushed forward like a tsunami.
At the very front of the horde were the Giant Worker Ants—
The equivalent of soldiers leading the assault.
Their job was to clear the way, guaranteeing an unobstructed march for the rest of the colony.
Behind them came the Secondary Giant Workers and the Medium Workers, advancing in flawless formation.
This was the Army Ant migration.
“The ones leading the charge are called the hunting unit—they assault anything in their path mercilessly. We must stay cautious.”
“U-understood, So-ryong.”
The hunting unit was made up of the most belligerent ants in the colony.
They attack anything that moves—without any exception.
Watching the wave approach, I drew a deep breath, ready to move.
And then—
A scream ripped through the air.
— Kyeeeeh!
A deer—or perhaps a roe deer—had exploded from the undergrowth between us and the ants.
It had charged toward us in sheer terror—
But then it saw us and stopped dead.
The unfortunate animal was trapped between two horrors.
Behind it—the swarming mass.
Ahead of it—humans.
And in its last instant of blind panic—
It chose incorrectly.
— Kyeeeeh! Kyeeh!
One of the Giant Workers seized the deer’s hind leg with its enormous, scythe-like mandibles.
The deer shrieked, kicking wildly in a desperate attempt to dislodge the ant.
But Army Ants never release their grip.
Even in my previous life, tribes from the Amazon and Southeast Asia used Army Ants as natural sutures—because once they bite down, they do not let go.
The deer thrashed violently, trying to break free.
But the instant it lost its footing—
The red tide engulfed it entirely.
In mere seconds, it had vanished.
Only the memory of its final cries lingered.
That was all the motivation the Tang warriors needed to spring into action.
No one wanted to share that deer’s fate.
“So-ryong, let’s go!”
Hwa-eun’s voice jolted me from my thoughts.
I turned to see her already in a runner’s starting stance.
Her arms were raised, prepared to sprint.
Her focus was already surging ahead.
The ants were getting closer.
I took a final look ahead and gave a nod.
“Let’s move out!”
And with that—
The pursuit commenced.

***
Army ants possess virtually no vision, so they weren’t chasing us by sight.
But their speed—quick enough to match a human’s brisk jogging pace—was not something to underestimate.
And if they located prey, a struggle would erupt, immediately attracting more ants from the rear.
After we had been running for nearly half an hour, we had already seen multiple animals consumed right before our eyes—
One bear, three wild boars, and two deer.
It appeared the ants were tracking the riverbank to surprise creatures coming for a drink.
Leaving the doomed animals behind, I concentrated on gathering the venomous creatures fleeing ahead of us.
And then—
A shout came from the opposite bank.
“So-ryong! Straight ahead, a huge snake! It looks like a mangsa!”
—A huge snake!?
I spun around at Gu Pae’s yell and saw an enormous serpent slithering toward us with all its might.
Shiny scales. A powerful, thick body.
It was a Burmese python—one of the five largest snake species on earth!
“A Crimson Python! We must capture that one!”
Burmese pythons are not poisonous, but they are calm, simple to raise, and among the finest large snakes to keep.
‘It isn’t venomous, but it’s valuable to have.’
Gu Pae stared at me with a look of pure disbelief.
His frustrated voice followed immediately.
“So-ryong, you said the exact same thing when that Whip Scorpion showed up! And before that, the Toad! At this rate, we should just catch anything that moves!”
Well—he had a point.
I had stated we should only take the most precious specimens…
But every single thing we had come across so far was precious!
‘Is it truly my fault that every one of these is an exceptional find?’
Gu Pae released a long, weary sigh, but I paid no attention and dashed toward the snake.
That was when the others cried out in warning—
“So-ryong, you’re getting too near the ants!”
“So-ryong!”
Ignoring their shouts, I swiftly seized the python and coiled it around my shoulders.
“Damn, this is heavy.”
The Burmese python can reach lengths of six meters, but this one was about three meters long—still enormous.
The moment I secured its head and draped it over me, an ominous sound came from behind.
—Sssk!
I glanced back to see Giant Worker Ants had already narrowed the gap.
And among them—
A Sub-Giant Worker, armed with razor-sharp jaws, was swinging its scythe-like mandibles directly at me.
—Much too close.
—Far too close.
And then, as if to chastise my greed—
—Sssssk!
My foot slid on the wet grass.
—Thud!
“Damn it—!”
The eyes of Gu Pae and my sister widened in sheer terror.
In that same instant, both of them shot forward using qinggong—
“So-ryong!”
“So-ryong!”
Their voices were nearly swallowed by the roaring tide of ants.
And just as I thought, damn, I shouldn’t have been so greedy—
—Chwaaaah!
My body was suddenly pulled forward.
I slid across the grass, hauled to safety just before the ants could reach me.
When I finally stopped, I found myself lying before Yohwa.
Evidently, without my knowledge, she had attached a strand of spider silk to me earlier.
—Kisit! Kisisit!
Yohwa hissed, reprimanding me for my foolishness.
And right next to her, my sister added her own rebuke—
“Yohwa, excellent work! Make certain he remembers this! So-ryong! From now on, I am forbidding you from getting that near the ants again!”
“I-I apologize…”
I had nearly been turned into minced meat.
With a heavy sigh of relief, I reluctantly accepted my sentence.
From that moment on, I was prohibited from personally collecting any specimens.
Instead, I was made to direct the Tang warriors from a position behind Yohwa—
Because, as it turned out, she had tied a silk leash around my neck and would not remove it.
‘This is humiliating… I’m not a dog.’
I tugged at the silk thread binding me and asked—
“Yohwa, would you please release me?”
—Kisit!
An absolute refusal.
Even after several pleas, she would not yield.
And so, until the sun started to descend, I had no option but to follow behind her in silence.
And then—
Just as the ant colony halted at a hill, I noticed something unforeseen.
At the bottom of the hill stood a enormous gate.
And before I could process this, a party of martial artists suddenly rushed out, blocking our way.
“Stop! Beyond this point is the domain of the Beast Palace! Identify yourselves!”
The leader—a man with a rugged, authoritative demeanor—had a leash fastened around the neck of a wolf-like creature.
His stare moved from his own restrained beast to me, who was still being pulled along by Yohwa.
For a brief moment, his face froze in utter bewilderment.
“…Uh.”
And in that instant, I knew precisely what was going through his mind.
—”No. No, it is absolutely NOT what it looks like. It is NOT that.”