Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

“Can you explain everything you know about the spirit beasts you saw here in Yizhou? Tell us what they looked like and where you saw them.”

I urged the man to start explaining quickly.

It seemed pretty clear there wasn’t just one spirit beast they knew of.

He hesitated, then cautiously asked,

“If I tell you... you’ll spare me, right?”

“Oh, well...”

That was the commander’s promise.

I was about to reply that of course he’d keep it—but before I could even open my mouth, a kick came crashing down.

–Thwack!

“Guhaahhh!”

The pirate was struck square in the chest and rolled backward, crashing into the pile of his fellow scum.

The commander barked furiously.

“You dare try to bargain with us, wretch!?”

“Aaagh, I’m dying!”

The pirate chief rolled around pretending to be mortally wounded, but the commander thundered again, voice blazing with fury.

“Fine, I’ll kill you now! What are you all waiting for!? Drag this bastard over and chop his head off! If anyone else knows about the spirit beasts, someone else can speak!”

He glanced at me and gave a sly smile—clearly playing a role.

The pirate, clueless about what was going on, crawled forward on his knees and elbows, pleading.

“I-I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything!”

‘Ah, this is the ”good cop, bad cop” routine, huh?’

Judging by the commander’s tone and behavior, it was exactly that.

Trying to match the mood, I put on a concerned look and spoke.

“Perhaps we should hear him out first.”

“Oh? Well, if you say so, then...”

“Sniff... sob...”

As the pirate smeared tears and snot all over my foot,

the commander glared and shouted.

“Consider yourself lucky! You get one more chance! But you’d better make it worth it!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

He could’ve just answered calmly from the start. Instead, he ran his mouth and got kicked.

But the commander’s threat seemed to work—he started speaking quickly.

“Two years ago, maybe? The number of pirates suddenly grew, and Baek Cheong-u and Jin-gyu—both dead now—kept fighting down at the southern harbor. So small groups like ours started setting up hideouts elsewhere, away from all that mess.”

Apparently, things were so tense at the southern harbor due to constant clashes between Baek Cheong-u and Jin-gyu, and the pressure to choose a side made it too risky to stay there.

“We tried to build a camp in the forest near the southern harbor...but whether we disturbed a spirit beast’s nest or trespassed on its land, the creature attacked and wounded our men.”

‘If it had a territory, it’s likely a snake.’

From the story, it sounded like the creature had territorial instincts.

And that meant it could easily be a snake—since snakes are known to be territorial.

‘If this is the male mate for Yeondu, this could be promising.’

I nodded and let him continue.

“Normally, if a spirit beast appears, you just relocate...but the camp was already half-built, and we didn’t want to abandon it, so we made an offer.”

“Offer?”

“Yes. We sent word to the two who were fighting—whichever of them killed the beast, we’d side with them.”

“And then?”

“They came running the moment they heard...but it didn’t go well. The spirit beast was vicious. It only came out at night, hiding in the dark and attacking people. Even a couple of skilled men were killed.”

So the creature had poison...

And if it had venom, that increased the chances it was a snake—which meant it might just be exactly the kind of beast I was looking for.

“Oh! Poison?”

The pirate brightened slightly when I reacted.

He must’ve thought giving good information would increase his chance of survival.

“We swore we’d kill the damn thing, but its poison was so bad we had to abandon the whole camp. Anyway, that was the first spirit beast I ever saw.”

“That doesn’t sound like you drove it out. More like you were the ones chased off.”

They were obviously deluding themselves to save face—but that didn’t matter. I needed the intel.

“Did you see what it looked like? Was it a snake? Or something else?”

“How should I put this... It only appeared at night, so I never got a clear look, but...Ah! It kind of looked like a giant watermelon...”

“Watermelon?”

“Yes, young master. Since it only came at night, those who saw it all just called it a watermelon...”

Watermelon was the term used in the Central Plains for watermelon.

This was definitely not a snake.

There’s no such thing as a watermelon-shaped snake.

I scratched my head, trying to figure out what kind of creature they were talking about.

‘So it’s round, has striped patterns... could it be something like Hwayang? A frog or a toad?’

If it was round with patterns, the first thing that came to mind was a colorful frog or toad—something like Hwayang.

If that were the case, maybe Hwayang was about to gain a new friend.

I decided to try narrowing it down with a question that could help identify the creature.

“Can you describe the venom? What kind of poison was it?”

By observing how people reacted to venom, I could usually figure out the type of creature involved—and for someone like me, that was more than enough to identify it.

“Oh, the poison? It had this incredibly foul smell...”

“Foul?”

“You mean the poison smelled bad?”

Bini’s venom was also pungent, like tear gas. I pushed for more details.

“What symptoms did the poisoned victims show?”

“Um... oh! Their skin turned red, like they’d been burned. After about a day, they developed massive blisters all over. And in the end, they didn’t survive.”

“Blisters?”

“Yes. Some of them coughed up blood too... they were in terrible pain.”

Blisters usually meant inflammation—caused by friction, infection, or chemical burns. The upper layer of the skin would swell, filled with lymphatic fluid...

Even though it might’ve been just a common reaction, that kind of poisoning could definitely result in blistering—especially if it came from venom.

If it was a natural toxin, then the skin’s reaction—similar to sunburn or rash—would make sense, as most of what we # Nоvеlight # call burns or insect bites come from that kind of cause:

glandular secretions that irritate the skin.

Even certain caterpillars could cause blistering just from brushing against the skin.

If it was chemical, then the cause would likely be a blister agent.

‘A poison that mimics blister agent effects? That’s actually kind of great.’

“So that camp you abandoned—does that mean the spirit beast is still there?”

“Yes, young master.”

“And of course, you can tell me where that is?”

“Of course!”

“Ji-ryong!”

“Right here, young master.”

Ji-ryong brought out a map of Taiwan I’d been updating throughout our travels.

He spread it open in front of the pirate chief.

“You said it was near the south. Which side?”

“Oh, there’s a river in the southeast. If you follow that river upstream, it’s on the right.”

“This river here?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“So somewhere around here?”

“It takes about half a day to reach... I’m not great with maps...”

“Half a day. Then it’s probably around here. That’s enough for now, young master.”

From what I gathered, the area where the spirit beast was likely hiding was a little further upstream from where we’d docked.

For now, I categorized it as a venomous creature with chemical effects—something similar to Hwayang.

Having sorted that info, I moved on to ask about another one. As fun as blister agent-type venom was, our main objective was still to find Yeondu’s mate.

“That’s enough about that one. Can you tell us about the second spirit beast?”

“Yes, young master. The second one’s in the mountains.

Here in Yizhou, there’s a kind of leopard called a clouded panther—unlike regular leopards, their markings look like clouds.”

“Clouded panther?”

“Oh, come on...”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The moment he started talking about a furry mammal, the whole mood collapsed.

Still, I figured I might be able to gift it to Sister Seol, so I decided to listen a little longer. It would match her vibe pretty well.

“So? Go on.”

“Only a few of us saw it, and even then, only from afar. But please don’t be shocked: Among those clouded panthers... there were white ones! White as snow—and not just one, but three of them!  And their eyes were blood-red... they looked terrifying and fierce...”

He was rambling about these “clouded panthers,” but it was obvious they were just albino leopards.

In ancient times, white leopards and white crows were considered spirit beasts—so I guess he was applying that same logic here.

People used to believe that when disasters struck, strange animals would be born.

[So-ryong, that’s not a spirit beast. Sometimes, those kinds of animals are just born that way. If its eyes are red, it probably can’t even see well.]

Even Sister Seol was privately messaging me to say this thing definitely wasn’t a spirit beast. She said it wasn’t an omen—it was just... something you feel bad leaving behind.

“Hmm... is there anything else?”

“T-That’s everything...”

I asked with a voice full of clear disappointment, and the pirate made a frustrated face.

He’d clearly expected me to be pleased, and now he knew he was screwed.

The commander’s eyes narrowed again.

“Try harder. Dig through your memory!”

But what’s not there doesn’t suddenly appear just because someone yells at you.

The commander shot me a grin and asked:

“Sounds like the intel wasn’t very useful, was it?”

“Not really, no...”

A spirit beast with a blister-agent effect would’ve been nice.

But instead, this guy tried to offer me a furry mammal—a basic animal, not even a proper spirit beast.

He had already committed enough crimes to warrant execution, but now I felt like he’d committed a new one:

‘How dare you present a furry mammal to me, the Venomous Fabre.’

The commander turned to the guards and ordered:

“Drag this one off and hand him to the women!”

“Yes, sir!”

“P-Please! Have mercy, sir! Sir!!”

The pirate was dragged away screaming.

The women, who lived by the coast and knew how to handle things, swarmed him like ants and began slicing him apart.

“Aaaaagh! Aaaghhh!”

His screams echoed through the beach as crimson blood soaked the sand.

***

Aside from the watermelon-like spirit beast, there was nothing useful.

We offered the rest of the pirates the same deal—share spirit beast intel and live—but none of them gave anything worthwhile.

Which meant: all of them were executed.

Right before leaving, the princess approached and gave me her final thanks, standing near the bloodstained waves.

“Young master So, thank you again. Yizhou has never been cleared of pirates like this before. Even His Majesty will be relieved.”

“I’m just glad I could help.”

“Honestly, I thought if we sank a few pirate ships, that’d be enough. But now we’ve got terrifying creatures to deal with on top of everything. If you ever need help, just say the word. I’ll support you however I can.”

The princess might’ve been a bit of a handful sometimes, but she had a straightforwardness I liked.

At least she spoke with real conviction.

“Thank you. I truly appreciate it. Then if you’ll excuse us—we’ll stay behind and look for more venomous creatures here in Yizhou.”

“Understood, young master So. If I weren’t rushing back to submit a report to court, I’d join you myself. Until next time.”

With a bright smile, the princess boarded her ship and sailed away.

Behind her, the pirate harbor burned violently.

We’d decided to burn it completely to the ground so that no pirates could ever take root there again.

Watching the flames rise, I turned to the others.

“Well, now that we’ve taken care of the pirates...shall we go find out exactly what that ‘watermelon’ thing is?”

Between the Ji-yeong Snake and the watermelon creature, I was sure we’d catch at least two of them.