Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

As I stared blankly at the artificial Neidan that had appeared before my eyes again, the leader of Gunryong looked at me and asked once more.

”Is that what you spoke of back then?”

I had informed Gunryong about what the Five Venoms Sect was doing, explaining that the Wind Cavern had been consuming people and creating artificial Neidans within their bodies.

So, this question was undoubtedly about whether this was the very object from that story.

”I’ll take another look.”

To be certain, I examined the Neidan once more.

It seemed unlikely that I was mistaken, but I had to be absolutely sure.

Since I had first confirmed it in the darkness, I couldn’t say my memory was flawless, but I distinctly recalled that it was a large bead, big enough to fit in the palm of my hand.

The color was different from a regular Neidan—it had a somewhat murky hue.

—Chorurung!

As I reached out my hand, the scent let out a warning sound.

Cho and Bini immediately rushed over to block my hand.

Judging by the scent’s reaction and the way Cho and Bini acted, it seemed certain.

For some reason, the scent had disliked it from the moment it first saw it.

”Yes, Leader. I believe this is indeed the one.”

I nodded toward the leader of Gunryong, then asked how it had ended up in their possession.

Last time, the Wind Cavern had been handed over to the Five Venoms Sect after having its tendons cut.

Or should I say it had returned to its original owner?

”How did this end up with Gunryong? This is clearly...”

”Ah, it was found on the bodies of the intruders this time. If so, it seemed like it belonged to you, so I brought it along. You were the one who caught them, after all.”

”Ah...”

”That’s right, loot belongs to the one who takes down the target.”

It seemed like Murim followed a rule where the person who defeated an enemy got to keep the loot.

As for how it had ended up in Gunryong’s hands—it turned out that the assassin had been carrying it in his possession.

When the assassin died, his face burned like a matchstick, and his whole body sizzled, releasing a pungent stench.

I had been so startled by the sight that I had stepped back, unaware that he had been holding onto this.

Gunryong must have discovered it when they cleared away the body.

Since the incident had taken place right in the middle of the road near the Nine-Tiered Gates, they probably had no choice but to remove the corpse.

‘I ended up causing a mess right in front of someone else’s house again... and even made them clean it up.’

Feeling a bit guilty, I inspected the Neidan once more.

”Huh? What is this?”

A thin line ran across the murky-colored core.

As I brought my eyes closer, I noticed a crack that hadn’t been there before.

—Chorurung.

The scent gave another warning as I tried to examine it.

However, since there had been no reaction last time when I touched it, I sent a reassuring thought and gently tapped it with the tip of my finger.

—Clatter. Crack.

At that moment, the Neidan split in half.

”Gasp!”

I widened my eyes in shock, wondering if I had accidentally broken it, but after thinking it over, I realized it wasn’t my fault.

Just as I was feeling relieved, the leader of Gunryong smiled and explained.

”If we take it to an expert, they might be able to confirm it more thoroughly, but as you said, it is indeed a Neidan from a mystical beast. However, it contains a large amount of impure energy, making it unsuitable for immediate human use.

Ah, and the reason it split—I’m not sure if it was because it was exposed to fire or some other reason, but my disciples found it already broken into two pieces when they discovered the body.”

’So it wasn’t me? In my past life, everything I touched seemed to break, so I thought it was my fault again...’

Back then, aside from being known as ”Spicy,” another nickname of mine was ”Destroyer of Civilization.”

Not because I destroyed nature, but because whenever I interacted with civilization, things tended to break.

For some strange reason, anything alive would mutate or behave erratically when I touched it, and valuable objects would break just from my touch.

So I had assumed the Neidan had split because of me.

But it turned out it had been inside a corpse for quite some time, which explained the damage.

”I appreciate you personally bringing this to me.”

I bowed slightly, thanking the leader of Gunryong.

He could have ignored it or kept it, but instead, he had retrieved it for me, treating it as a drop item from the enemy I had defeated.

Showing gratitude was the least I could do.

The leader of Gunryong merely smiled, as if it was no big deal.

”It’s nothing. It was yours to begin with. But you seem to be holding on for too long despite being unwell. Get some rest. Stay here comfortably until you fully recover. No need to worry.”

”Thank you, Leader.”

”Training right after getting out of bed, I see.”

At the remark from one of the elders, I scratched my head awkwardly and laughed.

It seemed that was the end of their business, as the leader of Gunryong stood up.

I felt relieved.

Not because of anything else—but because now, I could finally rest!

It was a well-earned relief, considering how utterly exhausted I was.

”Phew, I’m wiped out.”

As soon as Taeheo and the elders left, I collapsed onto the bed.

I could feel Bini, the scent, and Cho wriggling into my arms, and soon, my vision darkened like ink spreading in water.

The last thing I saw was Hwa-eun pressing her lips together as if about to say something, and the faint voices of the little ones echoing.

—Chorururur.

—Kisak!

—Pii!

Mental training really was the best sleeping pill.

***

—Clack.

A subtle noise.

A faint, unpleasant sensation suddenly seized the scent.

—Choru!?

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Startled by the strange feeling, the scent quickly raised its antennae in the darkness and scanned the surroundings.

Even when everyone else was sleeping, it was the scent’s duty to protect its father.

—Chorururu 『?』

The first thing it checked was the corner of the room.

That was where Hwayang was sleeping, the one who made the most noise.

Shifting its gaze toward the wall, it saw that, as expected, Hwayang was clinging to the bed, fast asleep.

But there was a slight furrow in her brows.

Was she having a bad dream again?

She never seemed to get tired of them...

The scent shook its head and turned its gaze elsewhere.

Since it didn’t eat food like the others, it couldn’t understand the obsession with eating, and it was unlikely that Hwayang had made the noise this time.

Not even a single rustle could be heard from her.

Next, it looked toward the table by the window, where Seol, Bing, and Dong were tangled together in their sleep.

They seemed to be in a deep slumber.

It didn’t seem like any of them had made the sound.

They weren’t even moving.

Shifting its gaze downward, the scent spotted Moji and Soji curled up in a bamboo basket beneath the table.

Since neither of them ever made a sound, they were definitely not the source of the noise.

Thinking that the cause might be nearby, the scent turned toward the bed.

At the head of the bed, its father was sleeping soundly.

Beside him, Yeondu was curled up near his head, wearing a pained expression as if she were having a nightmare.

Feeling sorry for Yeondu, the scent ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) gently coiled around its father’s hair and pulled Yeondu’s tail out from beneath him.

Yeondu’s face immediately relaxed into a peaceful expression.

As I scanned the surroundings once more, I noticed that on both sides of the bed, Cho and Bini had only rested their heads on top of my father’s bed, sleeping soundly.

Seeing them like that, the scent shuddered its antennae, relieved that they hadn’t grown any larger.

After one final glance around, there didn’t seem to be anything out of place or anything that could have made a noise.

—Choru. 『Did I mishear it?』

The scent carefully examined its surroundings but couldn’t pinpoint the source of the unsettling feeling.

It convinced itself that the noise had just been a mistake and that the strange energy it felt was just lingering frustration from being ignored by its father, who had spent too much time doting on the older siblings.

Just as it was about to bury its head back into its father’s embrace—

A sharp sensation and an unpleasant feeling struck the moment its head made contact.

Startled by the feeling pressing down on its head, the scent lifted the fabric of its father’s clothing and found a small wooden box resting there—the very same one that its father had received from someone earlier.

It was slightly ajar.

That must have been the source of the sound.

An eerie energy seeped out from the box, trickling into the air.

There was no doubt that this unpleasant sensation was coming from whatever was inside.

—Chorururu.

Worried that the sharp corner of the box might poke its father’s chest or that the strange energy might be harmful to him, the scent carefully bit down on the box and pulled it out.

Holding the box in its mouth, it moved away and cautiously placed it on a nearby table.

—Clatter.

Though the scent had set it on the table, the box must have been tilted incorrectly, as it shifted slightly and opened further.

A strange energy continued to seep out through the cracks.

The scent considered setting the box upright, but since it didn’t seem to contain anything that could spill, it hesitated.

The wisps of ominous energy lingered around the box instead of spreading.

Not wanting to make unnecessary movements and risk waking its father, the scent decided to leave the box alone for now.

Just as it turned to crawl back into its father’s embrace—

A faint noise reached its ears.

—Scratch. Scratch.

It wasn’t the same clattering sound from before, but to the scent’s ears, it was sharp and clear.

Halfway buried under its father’s clothes, the scent raised its antennae straight up.

It quickly scanned the room.

Only one thing had changed.

Moji and Soji, who had been curled up in the bamboo basket, were now wriggling around.

All the other creatures remained as they were, but those two—who normally never moved from their spots—were shifting.

Slowly, they crawled along the edge of the basket’s lid, heading toward one side.

Seeing this, the scent’s antennae shot up in alarm.

And before it could process what was happening, its body leapt forward.

—Chorut!

The two wriggling creatures had nearly reached the rim of the bamboo lid and were about to tumble off onto the floor.

’Even if we look different, we’re all family, so we have to listen to Mom and Dad and take care of our younger siblings.’

Its father’s words echoed through the scent’s mind.

Even if they looked different, the ones Dad brought home were all family, so they had to be cared for.

In that instant—

The scent’s long body stretched past Cho’s head and reached the bamboo basket.

At the very moment its fangs clamped down on the edge of the lid—

—Tap. Tap.

A double tap on its head.

Moji and Soji had leaped onto its head.

It had barely caught them in time.

Realizing how close it had been, the scent’s antennae shot up before slowly settling again.

Its body, stretched out over Cho’s head, finally dropped to the ground.

Cho, however, was in such a deep sleep that it merely flicked an antenna and didn’t stir.

—Chorurur!

The scent let out a quiet warning to Moji and Soji.

They had almost fallen.

But whether they understood or not, they simply kept crawling across its body.

Getting angry wouldn’t help—they showed no signs of reacting.

And since it was clear that they couldn’t be left alone, the scent twisted its body around.

—Chorut?

Where exactly were they trying to go in the middle of the night?

At that moment, the tiny yellow antennae atop their heads twitched, pointing toward the table.

—Chorurut?

The scent asked again, confirming if that was really their destination.

In response, the two creatures bobbed their heads up and down.

It had no idea why they wanted to go there at this hour, but the scent figured it was best to take them.

If left alone, they might try to climb on their own and fall again.

And so, with both of them perched on its head, the scent made its way to the table.

After carefully setting them down, it asked,

—Chut. 『Satisfied?』

The two of them wiggled their antennae and nodded.

As if to say thank you, they shook their little antennae.

Satisfied that it had done its part, the scent turned back toward its father’s bed.

It was time to return to its rightful spot.

But just as it turned its head, a strange tingling sensation ran through its antennae.

Before it realized it, its antennae moved on their own—toward Moji and Soji.

—Chorururu...

In the end, its worries about the two wouldn’t let it leave.

It didn’t know why they had wanted to climb onto the table, but something felt off.

Abandoning the idea of returning to its father, the scent clung to the edge of the table, watching them closely.

As it observed their tiny, squirming forms, its eyes caught sight of something brown beneath them.

At that moment, the scent realized both the source of its unease and the destination the two were crawling toward.

It was none other than the small box it had pulled from its father’s embrace.

Just to be sure, the scent nudged the box to the side.

Sure enough, Moji and Soji adjusted their direction and kept crawling toward it.

—Clatter.

Just as the scent nudged the box one more time, something rolled out.

A bead.

And as soon as it hit the surface, it split cleanly in half.

The moment that happened, the two tiny creatures’ yellow antennae flickered.

And with renewed determination, they crawled even faster toward the split bead.

—Churut?

The scent alternated its gaze between Moji and Soji, the unsettling energy oozing from the bead’s halves, and the strange sensation prickling through its antennae.

Something was very wrong.