Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Bini’s last thought to me was clear:

”I won’t come back until I’m bigger and prettier than Cho.”

She must have thought I was favoring Cho over her now that Cho had grown larger.

[Bini! Bini! Do you know how many dangerous trappers are out there? Come back right now! It’s dangerous outside! Daddy was wrong, okay!?]

I sent my thoughts several more times, but there was no answer.

Things between us had been tense, but I never thought she would actually run away.

Hua-eun, shocked by Bini’s disappearance, stumbled. I quickly helped her to a chair.

”Calm down and sit for a moment, Hua-eun.”

Then, I had to figure out exactly when Bini had disappeared.

If she hadn’t gone too far, we could still catch up to her.

”When exactly did she vanish?”

”She was with me until right before bed. But then I got a strange feeling, woke up, and she was gone. I called for her, but she didn’t respond...

Then, I noticed the door was slightly open. I asked the guards outside if they had seen anything, and they said they saw her crawling out of my room—heading toward yours.”

”My room?”

”Yes, So-ryong.”

Hearing that, I turned to the other children.

”Did any of you see Bini come by?”

-Guukgu?

-Tsrrrr.

-Shaaah.

Seol, Bing, Cho, Hyang, and even Yeondu—all nocturnal creatures.

They were always awake while I was sleeping, so if Bini had come to my room, they would have noticed.

But they all shook their heads.

If she had really come here, they wouldn’t have missed it.

Which meant she never actually made it.

I turned back to Hua-eun.

”When did you fall asleep?”

She thought for a moment, counting on her fingers.

”Around 9 to 11 PM.”

”9 to 11 PM...”

It was currently just past 3 AM.

Meaning she had been missing for at least four hours.

At worst, she could have been gone for six.

Even though she had short legs, she was still a centipede.

With her post-molt speed boost, she could be anywhere by now.

”Shit... she’s already gotten far.”

”S-Should I wake up the entire clan!?”

Hua-eun, frantic as any mother with a missing child, suggested waking everyone.

If we had noticed earlier, maybe.

But four to six hours later?

And in the middle of the night?

We couldn’t just wake up the entire household for a runaway pet—especially since she might come back on her own.

So, instead, we decided to search by ourselves first.

”It’s too late at night. Let’s check ourselves first. She’s probably already far away, so waking everyone up won’t help.”

We needed to confirm her direction first.

Once it was morning, we could use someone faster.

Like the Golden-Furred Peak Wasps.

Regular bees usually foraged within a three-kilometer radius.

At most, they could fly up to 12 kilometers.

But these wasps were hundreds of times bigger.

They could cover a far greater range.

First, we checked with the Tang Clan guards stationed at the gates and along the pathways.

Since Bini was an arthropod, she was likely to stay near roads and paths rather than wandering into damp, hidden spaces.

”Did any of you see Bini?”

”Bini?”

Clarifying further, I explained,

”The centipede I’m raising.”

At that, one of the guards nodded and pointed toward the mountain peak.

”Ah, yes. I saw one crawling up that path toward the mountain.”

”The mountain?”

I blinked, confused.

And before I could react, Hua-eun snapped at him.

”Why didn’t you stop her!? Why didn’t you inform us!?”

”H-Huh? Well... The creatures So-ryong raises all understand human speech... I assumed she was just going out for a bit and would come back on her own... I apologize, Miss.”

”Calm down, Hua-eun. The guards wouldn’t know if she was running away or just taking a walk.”

She was even more panicked than I was.

But at least we had a lead.

Since Bini had headed toward the mountain, I rushed back to my room and plucked a thread from the windowsill.

—Ting.

If anyone would know where she went, it was Yo-hwa.

She had spun webs all over the Tang Clan.

If Bini passed through, she would have felt it.

—Thud.

Sure enough, Yo-hwa arrived almost instantly, leaping into the air and landing before us.

She tilted her head.

-Kisit?

(Yo-hwa tilted her head, questioning what was going on.)

”Yo-hwa, Bini is missing. Can you tell us which way she went?”

-Kisi!

(Yo-hwa responded affirmatively, as if she understood.)

”Oh! She knows, Hua-eun!”

”Where, Yo-hwa!?”

Yo-hwa immediately picked me up and darted forward.

She knew exactly where Bini had gone.

”Let’s go, So-ryong!”

Hua-eun jumped onto Cho and followed.

We arrived at the courtyard of Yeong-yeong’s residence—where the path led up to the mountain.

-Kisit!

(Yo-hwa made a sharp, affirmative sound, emphasizing her point.)

Yo-hwa pointed up the mountain.

This was as far as her web could track.

Her silk threads only extended to this point.

”Looks like she went up.”

We rode Cho and Yo-hwa all the way to the peak.

And at the very top...

...we found a dead owl.

Its beak covered in foam.

Its wounds dissolving.

Clearly, Bini’s doing.

”She was here.”

I prodded the owl with a stick, glancing at Hua-eun.

She buried her face into my shoulder, her voice trembling.

”What... do we do, So-ryong...?”

‘Normally, when someone runs away, they come back once they start suffering.’

If she were a person, I would say just wait.

Hunger and homesickness would bring her back.

That’s how runaways worked.

But she wasn’t just a runaway.

She was a young spirit beast.

A centipede.

I had no idea what to expect.

[Bini.]

I kept sending thoughts into the void.

But no answer came.

***

The peak of Mount Danga, where the Sichuan Danga Clan resided.

A single centipede wriggled its way up the highest rock on the mountain, illuminated by the moonlight. But it was no ordinary centipede—it was far larger, its thickness comparable to a human’s forearm, its yellow body speckled with striking blue spots.

It was Bin.

Having climbed all the way up, Bin perched on the highest rock and stared down at the lights flickering far below.

That was where her father and mother were.

At the sight of the distant glow, Bin’s antennae drooped without her even realizing it. She hadn’t gone far, yet she already missed the warmth of her mother’s embrace and the sound of her father’s voice.

She had never been apart from her father before. Maybe that was why her antennae slumped down, and an exhausted, pitiful sound escaped her mouth.

-Tsrrr...

「”My beautiful little Bin.”」

But the moment her father’s voice surfaced in her mind, the longing was overpowered by the lingering resentment, and her antennae quivered.

-Tsrrt!

She still hadn’t forgiven him.

Determined to steady herself, Bin forced herself to recall all the grievances she had suffered.

She had vowed not to return home until she was bigger and prettier than Cho, yet she was already faltering so soon after leaving. She needed to remind herself why she was upset.

He only ever called Cho her ”big sister.”

He let Cho eat the Bicheon Divine Centipede’s neidan, so Cho grew bigger and prettier.

He kept saying Cho was beautiful.

He praised Cho for being able to release killing intent.

When danger came, he relied on Cho.

He flew with Cho and declared that she was the best.

But when it came to Bin, all she got were lies.

Bin had clearly sensed the killing intent coming from her father. Naturally, she thought that meant she could release it too.

Of course, she hadn’t expected to be able to intimidate an entire swarm of bats like Cho could.

She was smaller, after all.

So she started small—first, a single bat. Then, that foolish man.

And when she finally gained confidence, she made a fool of herself. She had been so sure she could help in a critical moment, that she could freeze the woman attacking her father with killing intent. She had wanted to be praised.

But instead, she had almost gotten her father hurt.

And it had all started when they fought over the neidan. If her father had just let her and Hyang go for it, none of this would have happened.

She could have been the one getting all his praise.

And to top it off, he had even given her Cho’s discarded shell to eat.

As more and more grievances piled up, the sadness that had weighed down Bin’s antennae was replaced with sharp indignation.

-Tsrrr!

Strengthened by her renewed determination, Bin leaped off the rock and scurried down.

She was heading for a place she had visited before with her father.

Her journey was not easy.

A foolish owl had mistaken her for prey and needed to be taught a lesson.

A hedgehog had tried to bite her, leading to a vicious battle.

Neither had been any match for her.

After fighting her way through the night, relying on distant sensations and vague memories, Bin finally reached her destination.

-Tsrrrrr!

She reared up, hissing at the dark pit below.

Snakes slithered away, racing up the branches to flee.

The black energy writhing in the abyss below entered her vision.

Yes, this was the pit she had visited twice with her father.

She had come here because she remembered something.

That strange sensation she had felt while eating Cho’s shell, the feeling of something surging inside her—it had been similar to the time she had jumped into this pit to punish the snakes attacking her father.

After that, her shell had turned black, worrying both her parents.

If eating Cho’s shell had given her a power boost, perhaps this place could do the same.

Staring down into the darkness, Bin steeled herself.

Just as she was about to jump in, her father’s voice entered her mind.

[Bin, where are you? I was wrong. Your mother is worried. Please come back.]

He must have just realized she was gone.

His anxious tone, the mention of her mother’s concern—her body trembled at the emotions surging through her.

But nothing would change if she returned now.

Cho would always be bigger and prettier.

Father would always dote on Cho more.

He had promised to find her a neidan, but it didn’t seem like something easy to obtain.

So she sent back a firm response.

She would not return until she was bigger and prettier than Cho.

-Tsrrrr!

And with that, she plunged into the darkness.

She could only hope that this pit would grant her wish.

-Tak.

The moment her feet touched the bottom, a powerful energy surged through her antennae.

It was just as she had expected—an overwhelming force was pouring into her.

A tingling sensation ran through her entire body.

Dark energy rushed in, flooding her from every one of her many legs.

Excitement filled her chest, even as her body turned black and her consciousness began to fade.

In her final moments of awareness, Bin wished for one thing.

That when she woke up, she would be the biggest, prettiest creature her father had ever seen.

Because she loved her father the most.

And she wanted to be loved the most in return.