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Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Chapter 98: Secret Cave (4) · Oct 13, 2026

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51 Chapter 51 2026-10-13
52 Chapter 52 2026-10-13
53 Chapter 53 2026-10-13
54 Chapter 54 2026-10-13
55 Chapter 55 2026-10-13
56 Chapter 56 2026-10-13
57 Chapter 57 2026-10-13
58 Chapter 58 2026-10-13
59 Chapter 59 2026-10-13
60 Chapter 60 2026-10-13
61 Chapter 61 2026-10-13
62 Chapter 62 2026-10-13
63 Chapter 63 2026-10-13
64 Chapter 64 2026-10-13
65 Chapter 65 2026-10-13
66 Chapter 66 2026-10-13
67 Chapter 67 2026-10-13
68 Chapter 68 2026-10-13
69 Chapter 69 2026-10-13
70 Chapter 70 2026-10-13
71 Chapter 71 2026-10-13
72 Chapter 72 2026-10-13
73 Chapter 73 2026-10-13
74 Chapter 74 2026-10-13
75 Chapter 75 2026-10-13
76 Chapter 76 2026-10-13
77 Chapter 77 2026-10-13
78 Chapter 78 2026-10-13
79 Chapter 79 2026-10-13
80 Chapter 80 2026-10-13
81 Chapter 81: Venomous Creatures Valley (6) 2026-10-13
82 Chapter 82: Venomous Creatures Valley (7) 2026-10-13
83 Chapter 83: Five Poison Clan 2026-10-13
84 Chapter 84: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (1) 2026-10-13
85 Chapter 85: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (2) 2026-10-13
86 Chapter 86: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (3) 2026-10-13
87 Chapter 87: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (4) 2026-10-13
88 Chapter 88: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (5) 2026-10-13
89 Chapter 89: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (6) 2026-10-13
90 Chapter 90: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (7) 2026-10-13
91 Chapter 91: Evolution (1) 2026-10-13
92 Chapter 92: Evolution (2) 2026-10-13
93 Chapter 93: Evolution (3) 2026-10-13
94 Chapter 94: Evolution (4) 2026-10-13
95 Chapter 95: Secret Cave (1) 2026-10-13
96 Chapter 96: Secret Cave (2) 2026-10-13
97 Chapter 97: Secret Cave (3) 2026-10-13
98 Chapter 98: Secret Cave (4) 2026-10-13
99 Chapter 99: Secret Cave (5) 2026-10-13
100 Chapter 100: Roar (1) 2026-10-13

Apparently, one bat wasn’t enough for Hyang.

She wanted to show off by taking down three.

And so, three more unfortunate bats met their demise.

Yet even after that, she was still having fun and kept begging for more.

Chrrrrt!

”Aigoo, that’s enough now. Three is plenty. Hyang, you did great.”

”Yes, very well done.”

Chrrr...

Barely managing to appease her, we finally stepped into the tunnel.

But their soft chrrrt noises continued for quite a while.

Perched on my shoulders, Hyang and Bin seemed to be practicing their killing intent—chittering at the occasional bug that crossed our path.

In the end, I had to firmly scold them about not killing living creatures recklessly.

”Listen here, we do not kill indiscriminately.”

Only after my strict warning did they quiet down, allowing us to move forward.

For a while, the only sounds were our footsteps and the occasional drip, drip of water falling from the ceiling.

Then, Sister Seol’s voice echoed through the cave.

”You know, I expected something more considering this place was supposedly sealed away by the Five Poison Clan. But there’s nothing here.”

She had a point.

The tunnel stretched endlessly, and we had yet to find anything remarkable.

There were no traces of human activity.

All we saw were streams of water trickling from the rock crevices and stalactites merging with stalagmites to form stone pillars.

Chrrrk!

Hyang, perched on my shoulder, flinched as a cold droplet of water hit her head, shaking her antennae in surprise.

”Did that scare you, Hyang? Hold on, Daddy will dry it for you.”

As I wiped her head with my sleeve, I answered Sister Seol.

”There might have been something in the first chamber, but the entrance collapsed and got buried under guano... This tunnel, though, looks like a passageway. Let’s keep going.”

”Yeah, but how long is this tunnel?”

”No idea.”

We continued walking.

About a quarter of an hour later—

”Oh! Something’s coming up!”

Just as Sister Seol had said, the tunnel widened, revealing a massive space.

A rectangular chamber, clearly man-made, spanning over a hundred pyeong.

”What is this place?”

”Could it be a training ground?”

At first glance, it looked like a martial arts training hall.

But as we moved further in, the light from our lanterns illuminated more details.

”There are so many tunnels here.”

”Look!” Hwa-eun suddenly pointed straight ahead. ”The Five Poisons!”

Just as she said, on the wall in front of us were magnificent carvings of the five great venomous creatures.

A centipede, a snake, a scorpion, a lizard, and a toad.

The engravings had remained perfectly intact for a hundred years, still as sharp and vivid as the day they were carved.

And scattered across the ground—

Bones.

Countless skeletal remains littered the floor.

This was probably the site of the final battle.

”This must’ve been the Five Poison Clan’s last stronghold.”

”It looks like it. Should we wait here? Or explore a bit?”

Our mission was to investigate the remnants of the Five Poison Clan, but we hadn’t set clear boundaries on how far we were supposed to go.

So, I considered our options while scanning the area.

‘Doesn’t seem like any survivors from the Five Poison Clan have ever returned here...’

Dust covered everything.

The skeletons remained untouched.

There were no signs of anyone having come back.

There hadn’t been any dangers so far, and I doubted we’d run into any.

I smiled at Sister Seol.

”Let’s explore a bit more. Looks fun, doesn’t it?”

Until now, the cave had been a little dull, but this?

A chamber filled with ancient carvings, like something straight out of an archaeological site?

It was exciting.

Almost like we were tomb raiders.

”Yeah, this is finally getting interesting.”

”Guys... we’re not here for fun.”

”Oh, come on, we’re not playing—just doing a thorough search. Right, So-ryong?”

”Of course! Sister Seol, let’s check out that tunnel first.”

”Alright, let’s go!”

Sister Seol and I were too in sync.

Honestly, if we had been siblings in our past lives, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Hwa-eun just sighed and shook her head but didn’t stop us as we moved toward the tunnel on the right.

Inside, we found a long corridor lined with rooms.

Carved into the rock, the place resembled a dormitory.

”This area seems... connected rooms?”

‘A residential section?’

It had already been thoroughly looted—everywhere we looked, the place was ransacked.

Torn bedding, shattered storage chests, and broken furniture were all that remained.

Yet, the ventilation was surprisingly decent.

The adjacent tunnel led to what looked like a dining hall.

The stored food had long since rotted or dried up, leaving only crumbling debris.

Beyond that were storage rooms for food, clothes, and bedding.

After combing through every room on the right side, Sister Seol refilled her lantern with oil and let out a disappointed sigh.

”This side was just a living area. Boring.”

”Yeah.”

As she had said, the right side was nothing special—just a section meant for daily life.

Still, if we wanted to find traces of survivors, we had to keep searching.

So, we moved to the left.

”You know, if there were any survivors from the Five Poison Clan, wouldn’t they be people who had already left before the clan was wiped out?”

”Probably. If anyone had survived inside, they’d have at least collected the corpses.”

The remains, still clad in their tattered robes, suggested that the people inside this stronghold hadn’t escaped.

Now, we had to check the left section.

There, we found a burned-out archive and several wrecked storerooms.

The bookshelves were completely charred, reduced to ash.

”This was probably the archives. But it’s all burned.”

”The Tang Clan must’ve torched everything when they wiped out the Five Poison Clan.”

In the end, we found nothing.

Returning to the main hall, we stood around, thinking about our next move.

I glanced around.

On the central wall, where the Five Poison carvings were displayed, I noticed something else—

A pedestal.

”Rather than just standing here, why don’t we go sit over there?”

”Good idea.”

”Yeah, So-ryong.”

As we approached, I got a better look at the carvings.

The snake, centipede, scorpion, lizard, and toad were all reaching for something—

A round stone orb at the center.

It almost looked like they were competing for it.

Curious, I took out a cloth from my pack, spread it over the pedestal, and sat down.

Sister Seol and Hwa-eun sat beside me, all of us facing the ancient carvings.

And then—

We fell silent.

“···.”

A silent, eerie space where nothing but stillness remained.

It felt a bit awkward to just sit there quietly, so my playful side kicked in. I turned to Sister Seol.

”Sister Seol, did you know this?”

”Know what?”

She tilted her head, confused.

I walked up to the wall with the Five Venomous Creatures carved into it and tapped the round stone at the center.

”You see, in places like these, if you press on the orb in the middle, sometimes a hidden passage opens.”

”What?”

”Seriously?”

In every escape-room-style game I played in my previous life, ancient-looking walls like this always had a secret mechanism behind them.

Pressing a gemstone, rotating a carved symbol, or inserting a missing piece—those were the classic tropes.

Of course, this was real life, not a game.

Still, to lighten the mood, I casually rapped my knuckles against the orb, grinning like a mischievous child.

”Like this.”

Tap, tap!

Sister Seol, intrigued, leapt down from the platform and rushed over to press the orb herself.

”Hmph. No hidden door.”

”Well, it’s just a theory, not a guarantee.”

I smirked.

These kinds of tricks worked in games, but no way something like that would happen here.

Sister Seol pouted.

”Hmph, what a letdown...”

”Maybe... if you infuse Qi into it or something—”

The moment I said that, I actually did infuse Qi into the stone.

RUMBLE...

A deep grinding sound echoed from behind the stone wall.

And then—

The eyes of the five venomous creatures lit up.

FLASH.

The centipede, snake, scorpion, lizard, and toad—

Each of their eyes began to glow in red, blue, green, white, and black.

‘No way. That actually worked?!’

Light from the Five Venomous Creatures shone onto the platform where we sat.

Startled, we jumped back in disbelief.

Hwa-eun and Sister Seol gasped.

”S-So-ryong, that was amazing!”

”Wow, I thought you were just messing around, but you actually figured out how to activate the mechanism!”

RUMBLE!

And then—

The stone orb I had pressed sank inward.

At the center of the Five Venomous Creatures, a massive passageway slowly revealed itself.

”Ohhh! So-ryong, you really did it!”

”Just like you said, a hidden door opened!”

Chrrrk!

Ksshh!

Grruk!

Even Cho, Yo-hwa, and the centipedes were making sounds as if praising me.

This was definitely just a lucky accident, but I put on a smug face and said,

”Haha, well, I did expect this.”

Gotta make the most of moments where I look smart.

***

A gust of wind swept through the newly revealed passage.

Sister Seol raised her lantern and held it up.

Beyond the faint light, the corridor stretched deep into absolute darkness.

She peered into it, excitement flashing in her eyes.

”What do you think? Should we go further? Or wait for the others?”

A decision had to be made.

I turned to Hwa-eun.

Earlier, when we got carried away talking about fun, she had been the one to bring us back to reality.

To my surprise, she wasn’t against it this time.

Her eyes were glinting.

”Let’s go!”

”Wait, really?”

Even Sister Seol seemed shocked.

Clearly, she had expected Hwa-eun to oppose the idea.

Hwa-eun, a bit flustered, scratched one of the centipedes’ jaws and muttered,

”I-It’s... I mean, the mechanism was really... interesting... And, well, mechanisms are important in the Tang Clan... and, uh, they can be used for throwing weapons, too...”

‘Hold up. Does Hwa-eun actually love stuff like this?!’

She seemed like the type who’d get excited about traps, hidden doors, and mechanical devices.

Sister Seol would obviously want to explore.

I definitely wanted to go further.

And now that Hwa-eun was also on board?

I immediately shouted,

”Wait just a second!”

”So-ryong? Where are you going?”

”Where are you running off to, So-ryong?!”

With Hwa-eun now completely invested, I sprinted back toward the burned section of the ruins.

I needed something—

A charred piece of wood.

Panting, I hurried back to them.

”Hahh... Normally, in games, when you pass through a hidden door, it closes behind you... So we need to leave a message in case that happens.”

”Aha! That makes sense! Hurry and write it down!”

I quickly wiped the dust off the platform and wrote in large, clear letters:

”Infuse Qi into the orb at the center of the Five Venomous Creatures.”

Then, just to be safe, I repeated the message on the stone wall beside the carvings.

With our trail marked, we stepped into the hidden passage.

And right as we did—

RUMBLE...

”IT’S CLOSING?!”

”So-ryong, how did you know?!”

”W-Well... I just had a feeling...”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly, watching as the stone wall sealed shut behind us.

Hwa-eun’s question made me realize something—

In a way, video games in my past life were like training simulators for these ancient martial world mechanisms.

As that thought crossed my mind, I turned my gaze back to the now-closed entrance.

Something stood out—

A message written in dark, dried stains.

Deep crimson letters—almost like dried blood.

”The Five Poison Clan will never forget this vengeance.”

Reading that, I had a sudden realization.

This passage—

Some members of the Five Poison Clan had escaped through it when their sect was destroyed.

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