Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

With a shout from the woman who appeared to be their leader, more than ten of the attackers charged toward me from all sides.

Strangely enough, every one of them was a woman.

That already made me suspicious—but then I saw their weapons: long, razor-sharp claws or daggers clenched in both hands.

‘Wait a second... this is...’

A memory popped into my head—something my grandfather once said to me. The way these women moved felt eerily familiar.

“Now that the Blood Cult has begun to stir again—and they’re clearly after something—you need to learn how to deal with them.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“They usually use claw techniques and short daggers. Do you know why that is?”

“Ah! To draw blood, right? I remember from the last ambush—they keep attacking even as they drink the blood from their victims.”

Thinking back to the group that invaded to retrieve the Blood-Water Venom Claw, it made sense why they favored claws and daggers.

They got in close, inflicted wounds, and then either drank the blood or kept it flowing. Fighting while feeding let them heal endlessly, while their victims only grew weaker.

“That’s right. The key to fighting them is not getting injured. If they draw blood, they’ll drain you until you lose consciousness—or worse. They absorb blood to heal themselves, too.”

Yeah... no doubt about it now.

“You’re with the Blood Cult, aren’t you!?”

My shout was answered by a mocking voice.

“Oh my, what a bold young master we have here. Hoho... so, tell us, young lord—what branch of the Tang Clan do you belong to?”

But before I could reply, one of them lunged at me.

“If you surrender quietly, we won’t have to hurt you too much!”

CRACK!

She moved fast, thrusting a claw toward my abdomen, clearly aiming to disable me. But instead of dodging, I stepped into her attack.

From within my robes came a muffled crunching sound.

KRUNCH.

“Kyaaagh!”

The woman shrieked. She yanked her hand back, and I saw her fingers—thin and delicate—now twisted at grotesque angles.

It was dusk, so between my red clothes and Hyang’s reddish hue, she probably didn’t realize I was wrapped in her. Or maybe she just assumed, like most martial artists, that I wasn’t wearing armor.

“He’s wearing armor! Be careful!”

The woman jumped back, waving a warning.

The others stopped their charge and began circling me instead, their movements tense and calculated.

Then one attacker suddenly darted in from my blind spot.

Chirrk!

Because she came in from the side, I was a split second too slow. Her hand touched the back of my neck—

But Hyang, who had been wrapped around my arm, darted out and bit her forearm.

CRUNCH.

“Gah!”

She must’ve been aiming for a blood vessel, but Hyang—who had far better reflexes than any human—struck first.

The woman staggered back... then suddenly froze and dropped forward.

“Ugh... KYAAAAAH!”

FWOOSH!

Flames burst from her mouth.

Then her eyes, nose, and ears ignited.

The flickering light pierced the darkened path, and a surge of fear rippled through the other women.

Their steps faltered, eyes wide with terror.

They had just watched one of their own collapse in flames, her body erupting from within.

“Th-that’s—?!”

“It’s an O-gong! He’s got an O-gong wrapped around him!”

“An O-gong!?”

At last, they spotted Hyang—and instantly backed off.

I quickly checked on her.

‘Hyang, are you okay!?’

Even though she could block martial force and had tanked an assassin’s attack before, if my daughter took a blow meant for me, there’s no way I wouldn’t feel it in my soul.

Her voice came back immediately.

Chirrk! 『I’m okay, Daddy!』

And just then, I felt the cries of the others flood my mind.

『Daddy! What happened!?』

『Daddy!?』

『What’s going on!?』

『Baaaah!?』

『Blood Cult freaks—no, bad guys—are ambushing me at the base of Tangga Mountain! Bring Mom and everyone else!』

After calling for help, I turned to Hyang again.

‘Hyang, wrap around my head this time—but don’t cover my eyes.’

Chirrk!

My armor, made from Yo-hwa’s silk, could probably withstand normal blades and claws, even if not reinforced qi. That’s why I asked Hyang to act like a helmet—to protect my head while I pushed forward.

Before the others arrived, I couldn’t afford to get caught.

Chirrrrrk!

Hyang let out a warning cry as she slowly coiled around my head, warding off the cultists.

As my vision dimmed slightly, her cries echoed from the top of my skull.

Chirrk!

Now my leg, torso, neck, and head were fully protected.

I charged toward the cultist nearest the river.

“You asked who I am!? I’m So-ryong! Son of the Beast Palace and son-in-law of the Tang Clan! That’s who I am! Any who stand in my way will burn just like them! Now get out of my way!”

With the river at my back, I’d have at least one safe direction. Escape would be easier that way.

‘Hyang, get anyone who gets too close!’

Chirrk!

As I shot toward the river, cultists scrambled to block me—but two more were reduced to firewood, screaming as flames engulfed them.

No one dared get closer now.

Being bitten by Hyang meant instant incineration.

“Even a tiger cub is still a tiger, huh?”

“What are you fools waiting for!?”

I heard the furious shouts of their leader and another woman echo behind me—but I had already broken through the encirclement and reached the riverside.

Or... almost.

“Ugh!”

CRACK! Ssssshhhhh.

Pain shot up my leg as I stumbled forward, sliding all the way to the riverbank.

I lifted my head—water shimmered inches from my face.

『Daddy!』

Hyang’s panicked voice rang out as I turned to look at my foot.

A dagger was lodged in my sole.

Behind me, a long trail of red marked where I had fallen.

I hadn’t protected my shoes with Yo-hwa’s silk. That woman—she must’ve figured it out and thrown the blade as I ran.

“Now! Bring him in!”

At her order, the Blood Cult’s warriors charged at me.

“Tch...”

I yanked out the dagger, trying to rise—but blood poured from my foot, hot and fast.

I could feel it draining me.

‘Shit!’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

At this rate, I’d either be captured or pass out before the kids arrived.

Just then—like a wounded deer, I lay near the water’s edge, watching the cultists swarm in.

Something dropped from the sky with a scream—

CRACK!

Chirrk!

“KYAAAAAAAGH!”

“AAAUUGHH!”

The mist around me turned bright blue.

And right before my eyes—a dozen cultists melted.

Their skin dripped like jelly, faces sagging as their eyes, mouths, and noses dissolved.

Their agonized screams drowned out the sound of the river.

“Cho!”

I knew that cry. I looked up—

Cho had landed in a thunderclap, wrapping protectively around me, bristling with fury.

Chirrk! 『Who dared hurt our daddy!?』

Once again, Cho’s venom burst forward in a wide arc. The poisonous mist turned a large section of the riverfront an eerie, glowing blue.

The Blood Cult warriors recoiled in horror—but those who had been drenched in Cho’s first blast, along with five or six who were caught in the second, melted on the spot.

Their bodies oozed away like water.

The grotesque sight left the others frozen in fear.From behind, the same voice that had earlier ordered them to capture me now turned to the woman who seemed to be the leader.

“Ma’am! That thing—some kind of spirit beast?! We have to retreat! We—we can’t catch him like this!”

“Damn it! What in the hell is this mess?!”

But that was only the beginning of their nightmare.

Buuuuung. Buuuuung. Bubuuuuung...

At first drowned out by the sound of the river, the heavy thrum of wings began to rise—growing louder as it approached from Tangga Mountain.

I immediately recognized it.

When I lifted my gaze, there—framed by the setting sun—were the golden wings of the Wasp Queens, Nanghu and Ranghu, glowing as they hovered into position at my sides.

“You’re here too!”

Buuuuung. Buuuung.

The thunderous hum of their wings shook my chest.

And then—like a black wave—countless Golden-Furred Wasp Kings swept in and surrounded both me and the Blood Cult forces.

“W-we’re surrounded! Back that way—go!”

The cultists panicked, throwing themselves toward the only side not yet closed off.

But before they could escape, a blood-red body dropped from the sky.

CRUNCH!

“J-ji-ju!”

Two of them were impaled and flattened instantly by Yo-hwa, who landed with her foot driven straight through their skulls.

The Blood Cult warriors froze at the sight of the enormous spider.

And while they hesitated, the wasp swarm finished sealing the circle.

The fuzzy, golden fur on their round, twitching rears glinted in the light. With a synchronized shiver, they raised their long stingers.

Every single one of them pointed at the cultists.

The air was thick with a sweet banana scent—signaling that the swarm had reached a state of frenzied aggression.

With a single command from Nanghu or Ranghu, not one cultist would leave alive.

‘Now this... this is what I call backup.’

The tide had turned.

With Cho, Yo-hwa, and the wasp legion here, it was no longer a question of me getting captured—it was whether they would even survive.

‘A well-raised bug is worth ten sons!’

The way the kids came running the moment their dad was in danger... my heart thumped with pride.

But just as I was starting to relax, one side of the swarm suddenly opened up.

“T-that way! Go!”

A few cultists spotted the gap and made a break for it.

But then—

CRASH!

Massive boulders rained down, flattening them instantly.

That wasn’t a mistake in the formation—Cheongwol had just entered the fray.

Crreeeehhh!

Riding on Cheongwol’s back were Bini, Yeondu, Hongdan, Hwayang, Seol, Bing, Dong, and even Sister Seol and Hwa-eun.

“So-ryong!”

“So-ryong!”

The moment they spotted me collapsed on the ground, both Hwa-eun and Sister Seol leapt down and rushed over.

When Hwa-eun saw my injury, her face lost all color.

With a trembling breath and cold fire in her eyes, she turned to the kids and gave them a chilling command.

“Mom needs to ask you something... it’s not fair, but I need you to listen. Leave those two—those two over there—but kill every other one. Not a single one gets to leave alive.”

Amid the chaos, she picked out the two women who had clearly been giving orders. As she clenched her sleeves, she added:

Snap!

“They’re the ones who hurt your father.”

Chirrk.

Kishiiiii.

Crreeegh.

With a snarl, the children surged forward. The Blood Cult screamed as they were torn apart, their cries swallowed by the roar of the river.

***

Sichuan Martial Alliance – Chengdu Branch

One of the Tang Clan’s warriors burst into the central hall mid-meeting.

BANG!

“Clan Lord!?”

All eyes turned toward the man, drenched in sweat, his hands trembling.

Tang Cheolsan furrowed his brows and stood, recognizing the uniform.

“What’s the meaning of this disturbance?”

The man bowed deeply, gasping for breath.

“I—I’m Jo Cheon, outer hall warrior of the Tang Clan in Chengdu! A message just arrived—you must return to the clan immediately! Lord So-ryong was ambushed right outside Tangga Mountain—by over two hundred Blood Cult warriors!”

“What!?”

CRASH!

Tang Cheolsan leapt to his feet so quickly that his chair tumbled over.

Everyone else in the hall stood up in unison.

“Is that true? Two hundred!?”

“Yes! A carrier bird just arrived at the Tang household here in Chengdu!”

“What about Ryong!? Is he alive?!”

“The message only mentioned the attack...”

“We ride—now!”

Tang Cheolsan turned with a face full of rage. The rest of the martial leaders followed instantly.

“Lord Tang! We’ll go with you!”

“Amitabha... to think they’d dare assault the Tang Clan’s son-in-law in Sichuan! Even the Buddha will help cleanse this sin.”

“Thank you all—let’s move!”

They launched into the sky using lightfoot techniques, reaching the outskirts of the Tang estate within an hour.

And there, expecting to see the aftermath of a massacre—they instead arrived to the scene of a slaughter.

“This... this is?!”

“They said it was an ambush...”

All that remained on the riverbank were twisted corpses and melted flesh.

And beyond that—two broken, half-mad Blood Cultists, kneeling in terror before So-ryong’s venom beasts.

“P-please... please have mercy!”

“Please, spirit beasts... spare us!”

So-ryong sat on the ground, cradled in his wife’s arms, foot bandaged—while his “children” hovered around the remaining enemies, threatening to kill them each time he so much as winced in pain.