Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Gungbong clung to the trees, leaping from one to another like a monkey or flying squirrel, starting to flee the campsite.

He sprang and darted forward, propelling his body toward the branches ahead.

It didn’t seem like Gungbong was using any inner energy, but his arms alone were moving him from branch to branch in motions like crossing a jungle gym.

As Gungbong rapidly distanced himself, Ji-ryong, who had launched himself in pursuit, shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear.

”Judging from the fact that he’s possessing Gungbong’s body, this must be a soul-seizing technique!”

It sounded like Ji-ryong had gotten some kind of hint from Gungbong’s shout, so I chased after him and asked,

“A soul-seizing technique?”

“There are many types of soul-seizing arts—not just those that make people follow your words like puppets. Some allow one to control another person’s body as if it were their own.”

“That’s... actually possible?”

“Yes. It’s not impossible. Normally, it doesn’t work on someone stronger than yourself or someone with high insight. But as you know, Gungbong is...”

“Ah...”

Ji-ryong explained that Gungbong had likely fallen prey to a type of soul-seizing art—one that took over the body itself.

“Insight” referred to intelligence or discernment in the Central Plains dialect.

In other words, since Gungbong was lacking in intellect, he was vulnerable to soul-seizing techniques and got taken over easily.

As everyone nodded in understanding of the situation, someone suggested that a practitioner of a different type of soul-seizing art—like the woman from the Blood Cult we encountered last time—might be nearby.

“However, this doesn’t seem to be a full possession, but more like suppressing one’s reason to move between their own body and the victim’s. Which means the practitioner is probably close by!”

“Could it be someone from the Blood Cult or the Five Venoms Sect?!”

Was it someone who had been monitoring the sealed temple and followed us, then took the opportunity to seize Gungbong when he was alone?

Or maybe someone we’d spared earlier, who had forgotten the gratitude of being let go?

‘In that case... wouldn’t it be better to have half the group follow Gungbong and the other half search the area for the practitioner?’

If Ji-ryong was right and the practitioner was hiding nearby, then it would be more effective to split the group—some continuing the chase, and others searching for the culprit.

And I was the best person to lead the latter.

Just as I was about to call the children, Ji-ryong spoke up first and made a request.

“So Young Master, if your creatures step in, Gungbong might get hurt. Please, while we retrieve Gungbong’s body, take a few people and your children to search the area. The practitioner shouldn’t be far!”

At this point, if we wanted to chase Gungbong, only Cho or Yeondu could keep up, but if the two of them had to subdue him, Gungbong would definitely get hurt.

Since neither of them had capture abilities, they’d have to tackle him head-on to stop him—meaning at least a few of his ribs would probably break.

“Understood! Then Sister Seol, Hwa-eun, and Hu-gae, I’ll go with you to search for the practitioner.”

“Please do!”

“Yes!”

“Return Gungbong’s body!”

“Stop right there!”

Aside from Ji-ryong, Elder Brother, Sister-in-law, Eunbong, and Monk Jaheo, I stopped the others who had been chasing after Gungbong.

“Hwa-eun, Sister Seol, Hu-gae—we’re searching for the practitioner!”

“Got it, So-ryong.”

“Alright, So-ryong!”

“Understood, Young Master!”

And then I called out mentally to the children who would assist in the search.

『Cho, even though it’s chilly, could you ask the others who can move around to come out? We need to search for some bad people who might be nearby!』

– Tsrrr!? (Got it, Dad!)

Cho would bring the others soon. I flew back to the campsite using light movement.

When we arrived, Tenzin and the translator—who had stayed behind—quickly approached and asked,

“What happened?”

“According to Ji-ryong, Gungbong might be under a type of soul-seizing art. Since the practitioner could be nearby, we decided to search for them first. Tenzin and Interpreter, please stay here and keep this area secure. I’ll leave some of the children with you.”

“O-Of course! Understood, So-ryong! Just in case, I’ll make the fire bigger!”

At my words, Tenzin and the interpreter quickly gathered more branches and tossed them into the fire.

It seemed they wanted to make the fire big enough to be seen from afar—helping anyone searching to find the site again.

And just as the fire flared back up from the added branches—

The tent flap burst open and the little ones came tumbling out, bundled in their winter gear.

– Tsrrr. 『Dad, we’re here.』

Alongside Cho, the ones who popped out of the tent in winter coats were Yeondu and Orange, Yo-hwa, Bini, Moji, and Soji.

I sent up the fliers first—Cho and Yeondu, Moji and Soji—to begin an aerial clockwise search for the practitioner.

“Starting from here, fly up and circle to the left. See if anyone is hiding nearby! Cho, you pair with Moji. Yeondu, pair with Soji.”

I paired Moji and Soji with Cho and Yeondu because in this cold weather, Cho’s temperature detection and Yeondu’s infrared vision would give them the highest chance of spotting something.

Moji and Soji, with moth-based vision, had eyes that maximized light absorption—perfect for night searches.

Moth eyes absorb light without reflecting it, giving them optimal night vision.

But in slightly cooler temperatures like this, Cho and Yeondu were the most reliable—anything warm would stand out distinctly in their vision.

– Tsrrr. 『Got it, Dad!』

– Shaaa. 『Understood, So-ryong-nim.』

– Myu myu.

– Myuu.

After confirming the four had taken off into the sky, I called the rest of the group together.

“Everyone, gather!”

We lined up at a slight distance and planned to follow the children in the air, rotating along with them to sweep the area.

The idea was to thoroughly search from both the air and the ground.

“We’ll follow the aerial group and search around this area. It could be dangerous, so Hwa-eun, go with Bini. Sister Seol, with Yo-hwa. Hu-gae, with Orange. I’m counting on you all.”

– Kishit!

– Skaaa. 『Don’t worry, Hyung-nim.』

“Got it, So-ryong.”

“Got it, So-ryong!”

And with that, our coordinated aerial and ground search began.

In the sky, Cho, Yeondu, Moji, and Soji scanned the ground below with sharp eyes, while on the ground, Yo-hwa, Bini, and Orange carefully tracked every living creature that moved.

***

On her second full sweep, Hwa-eun shook her head and reported back.

They hadn’t found a single person—or anything remotely suspicious.

“So-ryong, we didn’t find anything. Bini even checked for vibrations in the ground, but she said there was nothing.”

“Yo-hwa checked too, but she couldn’t feel anything either.”

Sister Seol, who had followed behind, also shook her head.

It meant even Bini and Yo-hwa, both highly sensitive to ground vibrations, had found nothing unusual despite their careful inspection.

It had been nearly half a si-jin since the search began, yet they had found no sign of the practitioner.

We had combed a 1.5-kilometer radius around the campsite—about 50 jang in Central Plains measurement—yet turned up nothing.

From above, Cho, Yeondu, Moji, and Soji had scoured the ground with sharp eyes, while below, Hwa-eun, Sister Seol, Bini, Orange, and Yo-hwa searched thoroughly. And still, nothing. It was baffling.

We needed to find the practitioner before the Dragon Fangs brought back Gungbong. The pressure was mounting.

No—if the Dragon Fangs hadn’t captured Gungbong yet, maybe we were the ones who needed to catch the practitioner first.

Perhaps they couldn’t use force for fear of hurting Gungbong, which was why they hadn’t subdued him yet.

“...Should we expand the search radius?”

Ji-ryong had said the practitioner should be nearby, but since we hadn’t found anyone, maybe it was time to widen the area.

Just as I was considering that, the flap of the tent the children were using lifted, and Cheong-yu Sojeo poked her head out.

– Shiaa. 『Young Master, what’s going on?』

She had likely woken from the noise outside.

Cheong-yu Sojeo looked tired and even yawned—unsurprising, since she needed to be asleep now in order for her alternate persona, the Golden-Crowned Queen Cheong-yu, to be awake during the day.

They took turns being active and resting. If one stayed awake too long, the other had to sleep to recover.

Normally, I’d have urged her to go back to sleep—but this was perfect timing. I decided to ask for her help.

If Cheong-yu Sojeo summoned her snakes, we could search more thoroughly.

“Ah, perfect timing. The truth is... something’s happened with Gungbong... and Ji-ryong requested help...”

Once I explained the situation, Cheong-yu Sojeo tilted her head in confusion.

– Shia. 『Soul-seizing art?』

“Yes.”

– Shiiiii. 『But that’s strange. As far as I know, neither the Five Venoms Sect nor the Blood Cult practices that kind of soul-seizing technique. I know such techniques exist, of course.』

“Really?”

If Cheong-yu Sojeo said so, then the practitioner probably wasn’t from the Blood Cult or the Five Venoms Sect.

So who was it that had stolen Gungbong’s body?

Just as I was pondering that, Cheong-yu Sojeo’s snakes began hissing warning signals in response to her next words.

– Shiiiii. 『Either way, we have to find the practitioner to get Gungbong’s body back. Let’s start searching.』

– Ssshhk. Sssk.

– Shaaaak.

Despite the cold, the snakes suited to this environment responded to her call and began to gather. But only two types appeared.

Gloydius himalayanus—the Himalayan Pit Viper,

And Anguiculus dicaprioi—a new species discovered in 2024, named after the American actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Gyaaah. No, no—this isn’t the time to geek out.

I was momentarily excited at seeing a new species in person, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) but quickly composed myself. The snakes began spreading out to search the area.

Yet even after searching for a full si-gyeong, the practitioner was still nowhere to be found.

– Shiaa. 『Young Master, there’s nothing within fifty jang of this area.』

“So they’re farther out after all...”

Despite Ji-ryong’s belief that the practitioner was nearby, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Since the snakes couldn’t go beyond 1.5 kilometers, I was wondering what to do next when Eunbong came rushing toward us out of the darkness.

Huff, huff. “Young Master, the practitioner?”

“We searched the entire fifty jang radius thoroughly. We couldn’t find anything.”

She had come to ask if we’d captured the practitioner—but we hadn’t.

As I replied with a regretful look, Eunbong made a request.

“Then please help us. We’ve cornered Gungbong, but we can’t subdue him. We need Lady Yo-hwa’s help.”

“Understood.”

For now, it seemed best to prioritize subduing Gungbong and worry about the practitioner later, so I followed Eunbong down the mountain trail under cover of night.

We arrived at the forest’s edge.

Several trees had been toppled nearby, and under a large standing tree, Elder Brother and Sister-in-law stood ready with their spears.

Ji-ryong and Monk Jaheo were nearby as well.

They looked like they’d had a rough time chasing Gungbong—Monk Jaheo’s robe was torn, and he had scratches on his face.

Gungbong had climbed the tall tree, and judging by the scene, Elder Brother had probably cut down all the surrounding trees so Gungbong couldn’t jump to them.

A necessary tactic against someone who moved like a monkey or flying squirrel.

Just then, Gungbong’s sharp voice rang out from the top of the tree.

“Let me go!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Give the body back and then go!”

As Eunbong and Gungbong argued, I approached the tree and called out to Elder Brother. He turned and greeted me with a relieved expression.

“Elder Brother!”

“You’re here! What about the practitioner?”

“We searched about fifty jang in every direction, but found nothing.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes, Ji-ryong.”

At my words, Ji-ryong looked momentarily dismayed, but quickly collected himself and said,

“Then we have no choice. We must subdue Gungbong. He’s extremely aggressive right now... can we ask for Lady Yo-hwa’s help?”

“Of course.”

I immediately called for Yo-hwa, Yeondu, and Cho to begin the capture operation.

The plan?

Yo-hwa would craft a square net out of threads. The others would hold it open below, while Yeondu would knock the tree to drop Gungbong into it.

We couldn’t ask Yo-hwa to climb the tree and grab him herself—Gungbong was far too violent at the moment. We needed to catch him safely.

We couldn’t risk Yo-hwa getting hurt.

“Then here’s what we’ll do.”

After explaining the plan, we moved into action. Gungbong, watching from above, called down with a nervous voice.

“W-What are you doing!?”

But no matter what he said, Yo-hwa’s web-like net was stretched wide beneath the tree.

Without a word, Yeondu rammed the tree.

Gungbong wobbled at the top, lost his grip, and plummeted straight into the net.

– Thud!

– Fwump.

“Gyaaah!”

Just as we were about to restrain him—

A foul stench exploded outward.

“Ugh! What the hell?!”

“What’s that awful smell?!”

Everyone dropped the net and scrambled back in horror, but Gungbong, tangled in Yo-hwa’s web, couldn’t escape.

“Damn! The spiderweb!”

He seemed thoroughly trapped.

After struggling for some time, thrashing inside the net, Gungbong finally stopped moving and slumped over, panting heavily.

“Did he give up?”

Just as someone voiced that question, seeing Gungbong lying limp like a dead man...

Suddenly, his black-and-yellow headband began to squirm.

No—that wasn’t a feeling. It was really moving.

Like a living thing, the ribbon wriggled, and then—

A long, thin leg suddenly sprouted from it.

Ohhh!

They were legs I knew well—legs I loved.

And just like that, the creature wriggled out of the spiderweb and bolted.