Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

”Keh-heh-heh-heh... I knew you liked venomous creatures, but this is just so you.”

Geolhwang burst into laughter, while Xintu, who had initially looked puzzled, suddenly widened his eyes in realization.

He turned to me and shouted,

”Wait, you’re asking for the Heavenly Silkworm eggs!?”

Xintu stared at me in complete disbelief.

Since he was demanding confirmation, I made sure to nod clearly and responded,

”Yes, Elder. All three of them. The name sounds impressive too—Heavenly Silkworm, huh? Heavenly Silkworm... what a fitting name.”

A silkworm bestowed from the heavens... Considering how it’s basically fallen right into my lap, the name couldn’t be more appropriate.

At my response, Xintu turned to Geolhwang with a dumbfounded look, as if pleading for help.

But upon seeing that face, Geolhwang completely lost it, clutching his stomach and rolling on the ground in hysterics.

One of the most revered elders of the martial world, utterly disregarding dignity.

Then again, he was a beggar, so maybe that was part of his charm.

”Keh-heh-heh... Look at that face. The greatest thief in the Central Plains getting robbed like a roadside bandit! Keh-heh-heh...”

The term ”bandit” meant highway robber in the Central Plains.

In other words, Geolhwang was saying that I was outright robbing Xintu at this moment.

Like some kind of... mugger.

”Hey now, that’s uncalled for. I’m not a common bandit—I’m rescuing venomous creatures! A full-fledged humanitarian effort!”

I had already heard that several of the larvae had died from malnutrition.

If the owner couldn’t even feed them, he wasn’t qualified to keep them.

That wasn’t just neglect—it was outright abuse.

”An owner who can’t even feed his pets properly has failed his responsibility, so it’s only right that they be confiscated.”

With eager anticipation of what kind of larvae I’d get, I stared at Xintu expectantly.

At that moment, my grandfather’s voice rang in my head through transmitted sound.

[To think I’d ever see that old man make such a face... Well done, So-ryong! Take everything from him! Hahaha!]

I grinned at the thought of obtaining the Heavenly Silkworm eggs.

Geolhwang grinned at the sight of both me and Xintu.

My grandfather grinned at Xintu’s predicament.

Everyone was having a great time—except Xintu.

Flustered, Xintu stammered as he shouted,

”Y-you! Did you even listen properly when I said I needed the silk produced by the Heavenly Silkworms!? What am I supposed to do if I give them to you!? This is my sacred relic!”

”Is that so? But didn’t you just say that if I captured Xintu’s disciple, you’d grant me any wish? Just moments ago, you promised to fulfill any request I made, didn’t you?”

”Ah, well, that’s...”

It seemed like he hadn’t even registered my earlier mention of giving him cocoons.

But now, with his own words thrown back at him, he was completely at a loss.

Seeing this, Geolhwang looked even more amused and chimed in.

”I heard him say it loud and clear, So-ryong. Don’t worry—I’ll vouch for you!”

”Brother! Whose side are you on!?”

Xintu turned to him with a look of utter betrayal.

Geolhwang simply laughed and clapped him on the back.

”Side? Ha! A martial world elder like myself must remain neutral and fair. Didn’t you just say with your own mouth that you’d grant any request?”

”Khrrrgh...!”

At this rate, it looked like Xintu might actually cry, so I decided to be merciful and explain things calmly.

He was a grown man, yet he was on the verge of tears over three measly eggs.

”Come on, man, pull yourself together.”

”Elder Xintu, please listen carefully to what I’m saying. I’m not trying to steal them from you. Didn’t you say you needed the silk from the Heavenly Silkworms to obtain the Heavenly Silkworm Thread?”

”That... that’s right. That’s why I can’t just hand them over!”

”Yes, but... do you actually know much about silkworms?”

I paused and let the words sink in before continuing.

”Do you know that when you harvest silk from a silkworm, the silkworm always dies?”

Silk farming was an ancient practice, one that had existed for over 2,500 years in my past life.

It was believed to have originated from the wild mulberry silkworm moth (Bombyx Mandarina Butler), which people had gradually domesticated.

Though silkworms had since become tame and adorable, the method of silk harvesting had never changed.

The real reason I wanted the eggs wasn’t just because they were venomous creatures I found interesting.

It was because of something far more important—species preservation.

”I swear, my personal motives are only a tiny part of this... mostly.”

Silkworms, once they had fully matured into larvae, would begin the process of metamorphosis, forming cocoons using silk produced from their spinneret glands beneath their mouths.

The problem was that to extract silk from these cocoons, they had to be boiled alive.

Traditional silk harvesting required placing the cocoons in hot water, then stirring them with chopsticks to find the end of the silk thread.

Once the thread was hooked, the silk could be unwound from the cocoon.

But since the larvae inside were still alive, this effectively meant they were being boiled to death.

Of course, since the Heavenly Silkworms were spirit creatures, their silk likely had unique properties.

However, the structure of their cocoons was unlikely to be fundamentally different.

Xintu’s reaction suggested he already knew this to some extent, as he nodded.

”Yes, I’ve heard that from master silk artisans.”

”Exactly. Normally, silkworms are boiled to extract their silk.”

There was a scientific reason for this practice.

Silk fibers were made up of 100% protein, primarily fibroin and sericin.

Fibroin formed the structural component of silk, while sericin acted as a binding agent, holding the silk threads together into a cocoon shape.

Sericin dissolved in hot water, which is why boiling was the standard method for silk extraction.

One might wonder, why not just wait for the moth to hatch naturally?

Well, that wasn’t an option.

If the moth emerged on its own, it would tear through the cocoon, breaking the silk strands and making them useless for weaving.

This was why, even in the modern era, the traditional boiling method persisted.

In my past life, silkworm pupae were even sold as a common snack in Korea—those were simply the leftover larvae that had been boiled after silk extraction.

”So if you boil them, aren’t you just wasting a precious spirit creature?”

”But if I don’t kill them, I can’t get the silk! What am I supposed to do, then!?”

”This man is out here committing silkworm execution like it’s no big deal...”

To him, this was just standard practice, but to me, it was sheer ignorance.

He needed a new perspective.

”Oh dear... You’re standing at a major crossroad, and you don’t even realize it?”

”A crossroad?”

”Yes. You said you only have three eggs left. I don’t know how much silk you need, but at most, you’ll get three cocoons. What then?”

”...What do you mean, what then?”

Xintu blinked in confusion.

I gave him a knowing smile.

”Say you manage to extract a decent amount of silk and pass it down to your disciple.

But what about your disciple’s disciple?

And their disciple?

Sooner or later, there will be a Xintu without a sacred relic.”

”Hah...! Y-you’re right!”

Xintu finally seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation, his eyes widening like a startled rabbit.

Up until now, he hadn’t considered the long-term implications. As a master, it was his responsibility not just to acquire Heavenly Silkworm Thread for the present, but also to ensure the continuation of the Heavenly Silkworm lineage.

Without proper planning, the next Xintu would undoubtedly be a Xintu without a sacred relic.

”T-Then what should I do!?”

His voice became frantic now that he fully understood the stakes.

”He’s almost there. Why do I feel like my IQ skyrockets whenever venomous creatures are involved?”

It was bizarre, but when it came to venomous beasts, my survival instincts and reasoning seemed to sharpen like a cockroach in mortal danger.

Calmly, I laid out the final push to seal the deal.

”That’s precisely why I’m asking for the eggs. We need to raise a breeding pair of Heavenly Silkworms, secure a steady supply of eggs, and increase their numbers so that future generations of Xintu can benefit from them.”

From what I had learned, Xintu was a wanderer, drifting through the martial world without a permanent home.

”Do you even have a safe, secret location where you can breed them in peace? This could take years, perhaps even longer.”

”Even if you entrust this to someone else, can you truly trust them to handle it correctly?”

”Are you certain they will succeed?”

If secrecy was a priority, it required power to protect it—and there was no safer place than Sacheon Tang Clan.

Of course, we would share the Heavenly Silkworm Thread, but Xintu would always have a steady supply whenever he needed it, while Sacheon Tang Clan gained access to venomous silkworms.

A win-win deal.

”Honestly, this shouldn’t even count as a wish—I’m being incredibly generous here.”

Xintu let out a deep sigh, deliberating. When he looked at me again, his expression was completely serious.

”...Can you really succeed?”

There was a slight trace of concern in his voice.

By now, my signature line was inevitable.

”Elder, have you ever heard of the term ‘expert’?”

”Expert?”

”Yes. Expert—‘Zhuan Men Jia.’

Zhuan: Focused.Men: Field.Jia: Practitioner.It refers to a person or a family specializing in a single discipline.” ”For example, the Sacheon Tang Clan could be considered experts in poisons.”

”Oho... And?”

He was hooked.

”The moment I became the Sacheon Tang Clan’s son-in-law, the clan not only became experts in poisons—but also in venomous creatures.

Without me, securing Heavenly Silkworms would be impossible.”

My confident declaration made the elders of the clan nod in satisfaction, while Geolhwang grinned approvingly.

Meanwhile, Hwa-eun’s jaw had dropped halfway open, unable to close it.

”Damn. My naturally endearing younger-man appeal, mixed with these sudden expert moments? I really outdid myself today.”

I must have impressed her again.

But then I felt another stare.

Turning my head, I saw Xintu wearing the exact same expression as Hwa-eun.

”No, old man. You are NOT allowed to fall for me too.”

His gaze was honestly uncomfortable.

***

”Fine. Here they are.”

—Clack.

Surprisingly, Xintu wasn’t the type to drag things out.

Once he made up his mind, he didn’t hesitate.

Without another word, he pulled out a rather large medicine box from his robes and placed it on the table.

—Ssk.

Using some form of internal energy, he pushed the box towards me.

With trembling hands, I lifted the lid.

Inside were three eggs, each the size of a ping-pong ball.

”Oho... This is it!”

”Holy shit. These are huge!”

Judging by the size of the eggs, the adult moths would be massive—probably larger than a human head.

[So-ryong!?]

Hwa-eun’s urgent transmitted voice snapped me out of my daze.

Somehow, without realizing it, I had been rubbing one of the eggs against my cheek.

Startled, I hastily put it down and returned to my dignified, serious expression.

”Ahem. The eggs were so beautiful that I momentarily lost myself... Ah, would you also mind giving me the dead ones?

They would provide valuable information in assessing what kind of creatures we’re dealing with.”

”Huh? You can learn something just from their corpses? W-well, here.”

He pushed forward a small pouch.

When I emptied it onto the table, seven small, dried silkworm larvae tumbled out.

They were snow-white, slightly shriveled, but undeniably adorable.

”Let’s see... Hm? Wait a minute—”

These larvae had Osmeterium glands.

The Osmeterium was a horn-like organ found in some butterfly caterpillars. When threatened, it popped out, releasing a foul-smelling defensive chemical.

The fact that a moth caterpillar had this feature was fascinating.

At that moment, my grandfather’s transmitted voice reached me again.

[So-ryong, now that I think about it, we should put that old man to work. Tell him you can’t help him immediately.]

”Huh?”

Still examining the dead Heavenly Silkworm larvae, I shifted my gaze slightly toward my grandfather.

[We’re already three days behind schedule because of him. We need to leave for the Martial Alliance soon, so he should be responsible for the delay.]

[If you mention this in front of Geolhwang, he will definitely force Xintu to help. The Martial Alliance is too important for him to ignore.]

Technically, I wasn’t going to Martial Alliance headquarters myself, but the others were.

And it was true that Xintu’s letter had delayed them.

As I stored the medicine box and the silkworm corpses in my pouch, I nodded.

”...I see.”

”You discovered something!?”

Xintu immediately perked up at my change in tone.

Following my grandfather’s advice, I spoke in a regretful voice.

”Not yet. I will continue investigating... but I can’t help you right now.”

”W-what!? But I already gave you the eggs! Now you’re backing out!?”

Xintu’s outrage was immediate.

But before he could explode further, I calmly explained.

”The truth is, because of your letter, we delayed our journey to the Martial Alliance by three days.”

”The Martial Alliance?”

Even Geolhwang now turned to focus on me.

As I explained what had happened in Yunnan, why we needed to reach the Martial Alliance, and the importance of the Blood Cult’s movements, Geolhwang shot up from his seat.

”You mean to tell me... THAT happened!?”

”Yes. Which is why we must urgently report this to the Martial Alliance.

But due to Elder Xintu’s request, we’ve lost valuable time—”

”Then this is no time to waste!”

Geolhwang suddenly slapped Xintu on the back.

—Smack!

”Krgh! W-why are you hitting me!?”

”You caused this delay, so you need to fix it!”

He then jabbed a finger at Xintu’s chest.

”As soon as your disciple recovers, take So-ryong and the Beast Palace girl and head for Wuchang! You can get there in three days, can’t you!?”

”Ugh, Martial Alliance business, huh? Fine, I can’t ignore that... Alright. I’ll handle the trip to Wuchang. It’ll take ten days, round-trip, but I’ll make it work.”

”Wait... Wuchang in three days!?”

Along with three Heavenly Silkworm eggs, I had just secured a high-speed Martial World taxi service.

Jackpot.