Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Before I could even finish screaming internally for the heavens to stop tormenting me, the boat lurched violently up and down. A heavy impact struck the hull.

– Thud!

– Kiiiiiii...

And then came the shockwave.

– Splash!

“Kyah...!”

“Kh...! Hwa-eun, be careful!”

The water in the bucket where Wolyeong was kept sloshed over the sides. Hwa-eun and Seol staggered, barely managing to regain their balance.

The impact itself wasn’t overwhelming, but the sheer frustration inside me exploded like a geyser, surging toward the heavens.

‘Why does the sky even begrudge this small wish of mine?! I didn’t even ask for much! Not the Hundred Poison Body, not the Thousand Poison Realm—just the mere Ten Poison Body, maybe even Five Poison Body!’

But I couldn’t even afford to continue my grumbling. Instead, I forced myself into the mindset of a magnanimous sage, hypnotizing myself into believing this was nothing.

That was because, suddenly, my nose felt uncomfortably warm.

‘N-no, this is fine. These things... can happen, right? Even the heavens make mistakes sometimes! Haha... This shock isn’t that bad. It’s just a twig, after all...’

I needed to control my mind before I ended up with another nosebleed.

The heavens might have been unfair, blocking even my ability to properly curse them, but at least I had one saving grace—I was lying on a hammock woven from Yo-hwa’s elastic silk. The silk, acting like a suspension system, absorbed the impact, protecting me. I decided to take comfort in that.

– Kshhhh!

Moreover, Yo-hwa, looking flustered, hurriedly shot more threads around me, securing me even tighter for safety.

“Yo-hwa...”

– Kshhhk!

At my touched expression, Yo-hwa thumped her chest, as if telling me to trust her.

A surge of emotion welled up in my eyes.

How could I not be moved, seeing Yo-hwa so determined to protect me?

“Alright then. Let the damn twigs come—I don’t care as long as Yo-hwa is with me—”

Just as I was about to finish my brave proclamation, it happened.

– Screeeeech!

The ship suddenly lurched violently to the left.

From the passageway, the panicked voice of the captain, Do Sagong, rang out.

”Port side! Hold the ship steady! Uprooted trees are coming in!”

‘Gyaaaaaah! Stop it already!’

As if the heavens had heard my earlier words and decided to up the ante, an entire uprooted tree was now drifting toward us.

Seol rushed over, grabbing onto my hammock, trying to lessen the shock as much as possible.

– Screeeeech!

– Crrrrrk!

The sound of twisting wood followed by something scraping along the side of the ship.

And then...

“We... we made it! It passed!”

“We’re alive!”

Fortunately, the uprooted tree drifted past us without causing any real harm.

‘Damn... At this rate, even if I had multiple lives, I’d still die...’

Twice now, I’d come close to losing my life in mere moments. My body slumped, drained of energy.

It’s over now, right?

As I lay sprawled in my hammock, finally allowing myself to relax, I heard the captain shout once more.

“More uprooted trees are coming!”

My frustration toward the heavens turned into an outright scream.

And then I heard Seol’s urgent voice next to me.

“Ryun, hurry! Just accept it! You need to survive to master martial arts!”

That meant one thing—she was telling me to take in Wolyeong’s venom.

I wanted to. I really did.

But how the hell was I supposed to circulate my inner energy in the middle of a violently shaking ship?!

I wasn’t skilled enough to circulate Qi under such conditions. In a calm and stable setting, maybe I could manage with the help of a proper breathing pattern and internal mantra, but not like this.

Not to mention, my mind had completely gone blank in this chaotic situation.

“I... I want to... but I can’t think of anything, Seol...”

“What?!”

She looked at me in shock just as—

– Bang! Crack!

– Splash! Crash!

“Elder, be careful! Hah! The tree just split?!”

“The Elder split the tree! Whoa!”

“Whoaaaaa!”

From the deck, a bizarre sound echoed, followed by the excited cheers of the sailors.

‘Father-in-law, I knew I could count on you! Damn it!’

– Thunk! Thud!

A smaller impact rocked the bow, but it wasn’t too strong.

Not long after, drenched in sweat, my father-in-law stormed into the cabin, his voice urgent.

“Son-in-law! Just take it in! I’m running out of energy!”

‘I don’t care anymore...’

High-level techniques like air blasts were something only Mandok Shingun, my grandfather-in-law, could use indefinitely.

At this point, with heaven playing puppet master with my life, I figured I might as well surrender to fate.

Then, startled by the commotion, something stirred.

From within Hwa-eun’s embrace, a tiny head suddenly peeked out.

The little one, who had stubbornly refused to emerge from the safety of her clothes, climbed up onto Hwa-eun’s shoulder. After scanning the surroundings, it suddenly leaped toward me.

– Plop!

Landing on my forehead, it then started moving with purpose.

– Kyut! Kyuuuung.

‘W-what is it doing?!’

Was the great, fiery Fabre’s last moment going to be... getting crapped on by a baby lizard?

Just as I despaired at the absurdity of it all—

A cool, mist-like sensation spread across my forehead.

The raging heat from Wolyeong’s venom, which had been burning me up from the inside, suddenly cooled down.

My father-in-law’s shocked voice rang out.

“This... This is! Curing poison with poison!”

The term referred to neutralizing one venom by using another.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Thinking about it, Wolyeong’s venom contained yang energy, whereas Seol and Bini’s venom carried yin energy.

“That’s right! Wolyeong’s venom is infused with fierce yang energy! But Seol and Bini’s venom has yin energy! We’re saved, son-in-law!”

As Seol and Bini, following their tiny companion, added their own energy to the mix, my body temperature gradually returned to normal.

Did... did I survive?

Not only had I survived, but I had even discovered the antidote to Wolyeong’s venom, which required careful handling.

I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh or cry at this absurdity, but before I could decide, another urgent voice rang out.

“Do Sagong! We can’t dodge them at this rate! There are too many trees being pushed our way!”

“Kh...! Everyone, brace for impact! Hold onto the ship and don’t fall off!”

I still needed time to fully recover from the venom, and if I got hit in this state, even if I didn’t die, I’d end up seriously injured.

At the sound of Do Sagong’s desperate warning that avoiding the trees was impossible, Seol met my eyes with a look of alarm.

Hwa-eun glanced between Seol and Bini before suddenly shouting toward Cho and Bini, who were clinging to the floor of the cabin.

“Cho! Bini! You have to protect Dad! Go out and help the sailors!”

Amid the frantic situation, it hadn’t even crossed my mind to rely on the children. But seeing Seol, Bini, and the little one, it seemed that Hwa-eun had suddenly thought of Cho and Bini.

– Sssk!

– Sssshk!

Like lightning, Cho and Bini skittered toward the exit and disappeared outside.

Moments later, instead of an impact, the excited shouts of the sailors echoed from outside.

“O-Ogong! Ogong is pushing back the trees!”

“Ohhh! Young Master So-ryong’s venomous creatures are pushing them away!”

“Another Ogong is wrapping around the bow!”

‘Gyaaah! My daughters!’

Tears welled up in my eyes.

It felt as if a waterfall—no, Niagara Falls—was cascading from my eyes.

Not only had I survived, but I had also managed to preserve my dignity in the face of the relentless injustice [N O V E L I G H T] thrown my way.

***

Once the chaos subsided, we finally arrived in Xiangyang and had to inspect the ship.

I hadn’t expected any major issues, but it seemed that one of the drifting trees had impacted the hull, causing water to start seeping in.

It wasn’t much—just enough to make my hands damp when I touched the surface—but we couldn’t risk it getting worse while traveling. A proper inspection was necessary.

While the sailors were examining the ship at the docks of Xiangyang, my father-in-law returned from gathering supplies with a troubled expression.

“The princess must have moved quickly. I heard that the Martial Alliance in Akyang mobilized a few days ago. Even the imperial forces seem to be on the move.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. I heard it directly from the Martial Alliance’s Xiangyang branch. We need to hurry back.”

“Agreed. I’ll check with Do Sagong to see if the ship is ready to sail.”

We had intentionally skipped stopping in Wuchang to save time, but in that short span, things had already started shifting.

I quickly found Do Sagong and asked,

“Do Sagong, can we depart today? The Martial Alliance has mobilized, and we need to return as soon as possible.”

“It will take about three days to properly treat the hull with pine resin...”

“Is there no other way?”

Do Sagong hesitated before reluctantly nodding.

“Hmm... I’ll do my best to speed things up, Young Master.”

However, by the time we reached Yichang, trouble arose.

We had only done a temporary fix instead of a thorough repair, and now the leaking water had worsened.

– Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.

“I’m sorry, Young Master.”

“No, I should have insisted on a proper inspection instead of rushing you.”

In the end, the ship had to remain in Yichang for repairs, which would take several days even for a temporary fix.

Realizing the urgency of the situation, my father-in-law took half of the Venom Blood Squad and boarded another vessel to head back to the Tang Clan first.

The Martial Alliance had clearly sent some sort of message to the Tang Clan, and while Mandok Shingun was still there, the presence of the clan head was necessary.

As for us, since we had the children with us, we had no choice but to stay and wait for the ship’s repairs.

A few days later, when the ship was finally fixed, we continued sailing up the Yangtze River through the Three Gorges.

The Three Gorges had the strongest currents on the Yangtze River.

We carefully ascended the river to avoid putting too much strain on the temporarily repaired vessel.

Then, suddenly, a voice rang out from outside the boat.

“Halt your vessel! Who dares to pass through the waters of the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold without paying the toll?!”

Stepping onto the deck, I saw small boats surrounding us.

Seeing the situation, Hwa-eun turned to Do Sagong with a bewildered expression.

“What’s going on, Do Sagong? Our clan’s flag should be raised, right? The flag—wait, where’s the flag?!”

Do Sagong paled as he replied,

“I-I didn’t notice before, but it must have been lost when the floodwaters hit a few days ago.”

“Damn it...”

“Who are they, Hwa-eun?”

“They’re... well...”

According to Hwa-eun, they were river bandits—the freshwater version of pirates.

Normally, they wouldn’t dare approach a ship bearing the Tang Clan’s flag, but since our flag had vanished during the flood, they had gathered like vultures.

“So, you’re saying these are just a bunch of thieves?”

“Yes, So-ryong. But... they’re not just any thieves. They’re martial artists.”

“Who is the owner of this vessel?! Answer me immediately!”

The bandits’ voices rang out again.

Hwa-eun, looking exasperated, adjusted her expression before stepping forward and clasping her hands in greeting.

“Heroes of the Yangtze, I am Tang Hwa-eun of the Sichuan Tang Clan. It seems that my clan’s flag was lost in the recent flood, leading to this misunderstanding. May we pass freely?”

One of the smaller boats parted from the group, and a man who seemed to be the leader spoke up.

“Well, well. You’re saying you’re from the Tang Clan? But with no clan flag, who’s going to believe that? Even if you really are from the Tang Clan, without your flag, you still have to pay the toll. That’s the unspoken rule of the Three Gorges. No toll, no passage.”

“Tsk...”

Then, with an unpleasant smirk, he added,

“Of course, you’re quite the beauty. If you can’t pay, there’s always another way to compensate... Kehaha.”

‘Excuse me, what did you just say?’

I had been holding back, figuring that this was just how things worked around here.

But now, this little bandit bastard had just crossed the line.

I turned my head slightly to look at Cho, who was pressed flat against the railing, peering outside.

“Cho?”

– Sssk?

“Flip them.”

First, we’d flip over their pathetic little boats. Then, we’d talk.