Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

At the old woman’s mention of “spirit poison,” sounding almost like a religious mystic, Hwa-eun asked again,

“But spirit poison? What exactly is a spirit?”

In my past life, I’d encountered the word plenty in fantasy settings, but to Hwa-eun, it was clearly a foreign concept.

Then I heard Sister Seol’s voice explaining from behind.

It seemed she knew quite a bit about the Black-Clad Tribe, which was said to be abundant in Yunnan.

“Over here, they worship spirits and ancestors. They treat things like trees, the sun, the moon, and animals as spirits and venerate them. That old woman is probably saying these people were poisoned by one of the spirits they revere.”

“That old lady is what they call a sangmu—basically a shamaness of the Black-Clad Tribe.”

As I’d suspected, this all reeked of ancient belief systems—shamanism, animism, totemism, all rolled into one. The sangmu, or “mourning shaman,” of the Black-Clad Tribe was essentially a type of priestess.

Without saying a word, Hwa-eun gave a small nod, then calmly walked to the edge of the dock, expressionless. And then, without hesitation, she grabbed one of the corpses by the ankle and hauled it out of the water in one fluid motion.

One. Then another.

Maybe it was that ”Tang Clan says so, so don’t argue” kind of attitude?

No—thinking about it, she was clearly trying to let her actions speak louder than words.

After all, when it comes to religious believers, logic is meaningless. You can present all the reason and evidence in the world, but they’ll counter with “I believe” or “a vision came to me,” and that’s where the conversation dies.

So Hwa-eun was doing the right thing—just showing them.

“See? No poison. What now?”

The crowd recoiled all at once.

“W-whoa! Stay back!”

“Th-the spirit’s venom...”

Even though Hwa-eun had guaranteed there was no poison and had handled the bodies herself, the locals—especially those from the Black-Clad Tribe—still looked terrified to be near the corpses.

The old woman kept mumbling warnings about the spirit’s venom, so it was clear this belief in lake spirits was deeply rooted and held serious influence.

Even the Han Chinese among the group, perhaps feeling the contagious nature of fear, had begun to back away.

Or maybe it was just the weight of the old woman’s ominous tone.

“Miss of the Tang Clan, please beware the venom of the spirit. Its poison infects the heart and brings sickness...”

When belief and logic clash, things like this are bound to happen. Even in my past life, in an age of science and technology, religion still produced illogical outcomes. So it was no surprise that in this ancient world, people hadn’t yet escaped the grip of primitive superstitions.

Now the pier was nearly empty—just us standing there while everyone else retreated.

Sister Seol, herself from a minority lineage, leaned toward Hwa-eun and whispered,

[“Hwa-eun... are you absolutely sure there’s no poison?”]

[“Yes. Even if it’s a toxin I don’t recognize, poisons that kill humans act in certain consistent ways on the body. But these bodies don’t show any such signs.”]

[“The eyes and lips are normal, the skin’s fine. There’s no blood discoloration or hemorrhaging, no eye bleeding, nothing like that. The silver needle and reagent tests from the Tang Clan also showed nothing.”]

[“You saw me touch them—if there were any trace of poison, my own venom arts would have reacted.”]

[“Then that’s a relief...”]

Just then—

“Make way!”

“Clear the path!”

Commotion erupted at the entrance to the port. People were parting again as a group of patrol soldiers approached with an officer at the front.

The officer eyed us up and down—two beautiful women and a young man standing near two corpses. He seemed unsure what to make of it.

“I am Tang Hwa-eun of the Sichuan Tang Clan. The clan lord is my father. And you are...?”

Her introduction was brief and authoritative.

The officer flinched in surprise and quickly saluted.

“Ah! A daughter of the Tang Clan! I am Ye Masahun, officer of this local garrison here in Seochang.”

“Oh, I see. We were just retrieving the bodies because people kept saying they were poisoned, so I confirmed they weren’t and brought them out.”

“Really!?”

He glanced at the water and blinked in astonishment.

“To think you’d go to such lengths... Thank you! We were actually on our way to fetch the wujak.”

“Wujak?”

“That’s a forensic examiner, So-ryong.”

Ah, so like the coroner of this era. They must’ve planned to check for poison through an autopsy, but Hwa-eun had already confirmed everything.

Then Hwa-eun tilted her head slightly and asked the officer,

“You said ‘this time again’—does this sort of thing happen often?”

The officer nodded gravely. “Yes. Once or twice a year, we find a body like this in the lake. Usually people who went out fishing at night.”

“And every time, the Black-Clad Tribe crowds around, claiming the lake spirit is angry, that its poison is to blame. So we always bring a forensic examiner with us.”

Putting all that together: sometimes people end up dead in the lake. The locals—especially the Black-Clad Tribe—show up and say it was the lake spirit’s wrath, its poison. So the garrison brings in coroners to check.

“The locals insist it’s poison, and it spooks the soldiers so badly they won’t even touch the bodies.”

“I see...”

“But now ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) that a direct descendant of the Tang Clan has personally confirmed it, no one will dare say otherwise. You’ve done us a great service!”

The officer turned to shout over his shoulder.

“You heard the young lady from the Tang Clan! Same as before—no poison! Get moving and load the bodies onto the cart!”

“Yes, sir!”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Maybe because they were Han Chinese, not tribal, or maybe because it was a Tang Clan heir who declared—but the patrol soldiers quickly and efficiently gathered the bodies and loaded them.

Then the officer turned back to us and bowed once again.

“Our deepest thanks to the Sichuan Tang Clan.”

“No need. We’ll be on our way.”

“Let’s go.”

They departed, carting the bodies toward the local government office.

“...Excuse me, madam. But what exactly is this lake spirit?”

Thinking there might be a spirit beast involved, I approached the old woman from the Black-Clad Tribe and asked—but she didn’t answer my question.

She simply left behind a chilling warning:

“The deaths by the lake spirit’s poison... they were a warning. If you show no fear in the face of its wrath, the spirit will grow angry again...”

***

Once the patrol soldiers and the crowd at the dock had all dispersed, we carried the giant salamanders into the ship.

After settling all five of them into the large tank Hwa-eun used before, I finally felt at ease. Now, at least, there was no risk of their heads being bashed in.

Watching the creatures move lazily in the water, I turned to Sister Seol and asked casually,

“By the way, Sister Seol, what do you think the ‘lake spirit’ is supposed to be?”

“Who knows? The Black-Clad Tribe worships all sorts of things. Why?”

“Well... they said the lake spirit releases poison. I was wondering if maybe it’s a spirit beast or a venomous creature.”

“But Hwa-eun said there’s no poison, right?”

“That’s true... but even if it’s not poison, someone still died. I just keep thinking... what if something really is living in that lake?”

There was no sign of venom, so it likely wasn’t a venomous creature. But the fact that people had died was undeniable. Something had to be there.

At my words, Hwa-eun nodded thoughtfully.

“So-ryong has a point. Even if it wasn’t poison, people did die. If we could examine the bodies more closely, we might find some kind of clue...”

But the corpses were already taken away by the patrols. We’d need another approach.

“Tomorrow, I’ll ask around the Black-Clad Tribe—figure out exactly what they’re referring to when they say ‘lake spirit.’ Someone may have seen it. If it’s a beast or something the Han gatherers have caught a glimpse of, we might get an outline.”

“I’ll help! So-ryong, sounds fun, right?”

With ancient faiths, people usually deify real animals or phenomena rather than purely imaginary ones. Since this had the stench of a spirit beast about it, it seemed worth investigating the tribe directly.

Just then, a voice called from outside the boat—it was the boatswain.

“Miss Hwa-eun, you have a visitor.”

“A visitor?”

“Someone came to see us?”

There was no one we were expecting in this area. All three of us tilted our heads and stepped outside—and there, standing by the ship, was a familiar face.

It was Officer Ye Masahun, the garrison commander of Seochang, whom we’d seen earlier with the corpses. He stood there with several patrol soldiers.

“Good to see you again.”

Hwa-eun greeted him politely, then asked,

“What brings you here?”

The officer bowed deeply and replied,

“The Seochang Magistrate requests an audience with you.”

“The Seochang Magistrate? Why me?”

The Seochang Magistrate was the local official overseeing this area. Hwa-eun seemed puzzled by the request.

The officer quickly explained,

“Although you confirmed the absence of poison earlier, according to the law, any unnatural death must undergo an official autopsy.”

“Yes, I understand that, but...”

“And since a direct heir of the Tang Clan happened to be in Seochang, the Magistrate wished to ask for your insight personally. We’ve been trying to get to the bottom of these deaths for years, but no cause has ever been found. Now, with the Tang Clan here...”

He trailed off, clearly hesitant to impose. In essence, they were asking Hwa-eun to supervise the autopsy of the corpses.

We were hoping to gain information anyway, so when I looked at Hwa-eun, she smiled.

“It’s been a while since something gave me goosebumps from excitement.”

That bewitching smile made my heart jolt, but Hwa-eun was wrong about one thing—just seeing her was already exciting enough.

Ahem...

***

We arrived at the government office, greeted the Magistrate, and were soon led to the autopsy chamber.

Several wujak—forensic examiners—were already waiting for us and bowed respectfully.

“A pleasure to meet you, Lady of the Tang Clan.”

“A pleasure to meet you.”

Hwa-eun glanced over them once and gave a nod.

“Just follow my instructions like you’re my own hands and feet.”

“Of course, my lady.”

“Understood.”

With that, the examiners entered the hall. The corpses had already been brought in.

Since the victims were all male, Hwa-eun opted to stay outside and direct things instead of going in herself.

“Then let’s begin. Strip the bodies completely and examine them for any unusual marks.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As she sat in the chair the officer had brought, we waited while voices came from within.

“No unusual signs. He has a few scratches on the arms and legs—probably from fishing—but otherwise, nothing.”

“Be thorough. Check the scalp, the genitals, everywhere.”

“...Understood.”

Hwa-eun’s cheeks flushed slightly, probably from how specific that sounded.

Soon after, the voices came again.

“Still no unusual marks, my lady.”

“Then proceed to open the abdomen. Begin with the lungs.”

“Yes!”

Sounds of knives clinking, and then sawing. A ripping noise.

“Um... w-wait. Water?”

“Careful. What do you mean, water...?”

The confusion grew.

Hwa-eun called out,

“What’s going on?”

“The lungs... they’re full of water.”

“What? Full of water?”

“Yes. So much that it’s leaking into the other organs—”

We remembered the bodies had been left in the lake. Maybe water had seeped in through the airways.

But Hwa-eun stood abruptly.

“Check the second one right away!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

I asked her why she was suddenly so agitated.

“Is something strange?”

She nodded firmly.

“Yes. If the second body also has water-filled lungs...”

“If it does?”

“That would mean they drowned.”

“Drowned...?”

Meaning they died by suffocating underwater.

Then came the voices from inside—

“The second one’s lungs are full of water too!”

And Hwa-eun added,

“But when people drown, water rarely enters the lungs like this. Usually, when water enters the airway, the epiglottis closes reflexively, cutting off the breath and causing dry drowning.”

Oh, right—I remembered reading about this while researching amphibian respiration for a broadcast.

Most drownings are dry. Water hits the windpipe, the airway seals shut, and people suffocate before much water gets in.

“Wait, but they were fishermen, right? They drowned?”

Exactly. And they were fishermen.

Something was clearly off.

Then Hwa-eun finished quietly,

“...To drown with this much water in the lungs...their bodies would’ve had to be completely paralyzed or anesthetized beforehand...”