Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Something that has venom.

A venomous sea crab refers mainly to crabs that live in tropical or subtropical coral reef regions.

Because among freshwater crabs, there are no crabs that carry venom.

They are crabs of the Xanthidae family, and in English they are called poisonous reef crabs or toxic crabs.

In Korean, they are called fan crabs, and their characteristic feature is their beautiful and flashy body colors.

They do not produce venom directly, but like pufferfish, they take in tetrodotoxin or saxitoxin from algae or bacteria and store it in their bodies, and since it is not destroyed even by heat, these are exactly those venomous crabs that people eat while saying how damn delicious crab is and then end up foaming at the mouth and dying.

In the life before my previous life, I had wanted to keep them, but the breeding equipment was expensive and they were hard to manage, so I had not been able to keep them.

More than anything, breeding them in a tank environment was difficult too.

The real fun of keeping animals is breeding them, but with crabs, that is truly difficult.

With fish, no matter how small the fry are, if they breed, you can at least recognize them, but crabs are practically at the plankton level, so an ordinary person cannot manage them.

As I was looking forward to just how pretty a crab it would be, Maecho-ryeong said with a bright face,

“Y-you can do it!”

It felt like she needed something right away, urgently.

For an information broker, it was an innocent expression.

People who buy and sell information are not supposed to show emotion on their faces in the first place.

I decided to teach a real-life lesson from So-ryong’s life experience across both modern times and the Central Plains.

‘Once you’ve gone through modern Korea and ancient Central Plains merchants, it’s only natural to end up a perfected being like me.’

I don’t really like stuff like free sponsorships, but I can’t resist a tidy deal like this.

“Of course. But as I said, the fee... Healing a spirit-creature is not such an easy thing.”

I said it again while putting on airs for no reason.

That I was high-grade manpower, so I was expensive.

“That will not matter.”

“Well then, that should be fine.”

The moment my words ended, Maecho-ryeong asked her favor.

“The truth is, I have already accepted a large transaction, and if you would only resolve this one thing, I can tell you as much information as you like.”

She made an anxious expression, so it really did seem to be something big.

She was saying she would provide as much information as I wanted in the future, so please just solve this one thing.

If she flattened herself this much, it did not look like there was anything more to squeeze out.

Even if I squeezed more out here, it would only be spirit stones, and the place where we had settled was more efficient than a few spirit stones, so there was no need to create an uncomfortable relationship.

Whether I knew it or not, it felt like I would probably have to rely on these people more in the future.

Even if I found the sects or societies that served Immortal Haichan, there would still be more than one or two things to ask, like what kind of bastards they were and information on what they were gathering.

I nodded and said,

“All right, then let’s at least hear what kind of sickness it is.”

It seemed better to leave it at about this point and squeeze out additional compensation from their side later.

What I heard then was something a little absurd.

“I don’t know the details either.”

“No, you are asking me to look at someone who is sick, and yet they didn’t tell you where it hurts?”

“Yes, Elder. Since it is a woman who is ill... they first asked me to find someone skillful who could look at a woman’s illness.”

“Hm... I understand what you mean.”

Well, yes, if a woman was sick, that could happen.

If the place that hurt was somewhere hard to show, then it would be difficult to talk about.

This was ancient society. If it was some gynecological disease, or if maybe a place like the chest hurt, wouldn’t it be embarrassing to easily tell a physician the symptoms?

I said it with an expression that showed I understood.

“In that case, if you just handle the things I requested well, and later, when I need information, you look into it as quickly as possible, then I will go have a look at that person.”

“As expected, you are a great person! You truly are different from that Tang Hwa-seong fellow.”

“Ahem.”

“I-I’m sorry. I suppose it must be uncomfortable for you.”

“That’s enough of that. Right, there should be some time before my information arrives, so then let’s look at the patient first. I should heal the sick spirit-creature first.”

It got a little awkward when she suddenly brought up my master, but I smoothed it over roughly and said we should look at the patient.

Because I was curious what kind of poisonous reef crab it was.

At my words, Maecho-ryeong explained with a bright face,

“It is a request from Bulsiho of the Ten-Thousand Demon Forest, so if you head to Icheon, that will do.”

At those words, I flinched slightly.

If it was Bulsiho of the Ten-Thousand Demon Forest, then my wife—no, should I call her a partner?

She was the fox spirit-creature who, after losing her same-sex partner, had launched the fiercest attack at me.

It was even a place said to have only women.

For some reason, it reminded me of the territory of the Nine Heavens spirit-creatures.

***

I flew for several days toward the place where the organization called the Ten-Thousand Demon Forest in Icheon was located.

In the meantime, Yo-hwa and I also held a simple wedding.

Well, it was nothing much. We just set out a bowl of water and bowed to each other once.

It was that kind of rite, letting heaven and earth and the divine spirits know that we had become husband and wife.

I looked at Yo-hwa in front of the bowl of water and said,

“Yo-hwa, I knew how you felt, but I’m sorry I couldn’t accept you all this time. But from now on, I’ll accept you as my companion and make you happy.”

“Kishishi. I-I’m happy, Oppa.”

To think my companion venomous creature would become my real companion.

This wasn’t the kind of hobby life I had dreamed of, but it couldn’t be helped.

I had to adapt.

If I said something like, It’s a spider, so it doesn’t count as fidelity, my wives wouldn’t even treat me like a human being.

No matter the reason, since I had done it once, I had to take responsibility.

Come to think of it, I’d done it with Zihwa, who was a bird, and with Hwa-eun, who had become a mantis spirit-creature, so what was the big deal about a spider?

Having tried it, in terms of feeling there really wasn’t much difference.

No, to be honest, it was actually better.

A spider’s rear has things called spinnerets attached to it in order to spin silk.

If you observe them under a microscope, they look like countless tiny feelers sticking up, and the characteristic of those is that each and every feeler moves delicately on its own.

Since they could move freely at will, it was a new world.

‘Oh wow. Yo-hwa, Oppa’s g-gonna die.’

Also, I wanted to see pretty babies that looked like Yo-hwa, but I decided I should be satisfied that I no longer had to worry about finding a male.

Spirit-creatures based on living things like snakes or insects would have mating seasons, so it would not be easy to match their breeding times.

Even ordinary animals were seasonal, and spirit-creatures lived far longer than that, so obviously their mating seasons would come at intervals much longer than the seasons.

So if you wanted to breed them, it would not be easy to match the timing of the male and female, but So-ryong was a person.

Humans were animals in heat year-round, so as long as Yo-hwa was ready, reproduction was possible at any time.

‘Yeah, well, there isn’t much difference anyway. And I don’t have to worry about finding a male anymore, right?’

It was while I was switching positions with my Primordial Infant after spending a proper wedding night with Yo-hwa.

My Primordial Infant looked at me with somewhat pathetic eyes and said,

“What the hell are you even planning to do?”

“What, you bastard. What do you want me to do?”

It seemed like he was saying it because the situation kept piling up with more wives, but I reminded him of reality.

“You think it’s someone else’s business? You’re me, you bastard.”

“Huuurk!”

My Primordial Infant was only split off from me, but we could share what we saw, what we felt, the words we heard, and our thoughts.

So in the end, both of us were me.

Not someone else.

At that fact, my Primordial Infant made a face like he had just been hit in the head with a hammer.

So, traveling leisurely for a few days like a honeymoon with Yo-hwa, we arrived in Icheon.

What we arrived at was a forest where coniferous trees had grown tall.

The sky was covered with ash-gray and silver clouds, and even the sunlight only seeped through faintly there.

Gigantic conifers that looked thousands of years old soared up as if they would pierce the sky, and spirit ice hung from every branch, glittering, making crystal-clear sounds whenever the wind blew.

Spirit ice was spiritual energy that had frozen cold and crystallized.

I had heard that that too had the same effect as spirit stones.

That they had monopolized it, since before I appeared, they had been the strongest sect.

The bark of the trees was dark blue-black, and mist infused with spiritual energy rose up between the roots, making the whole forest look dreamy and hazy, and inside it, lights were flickering.

I slowly approached that way with Yo-hwa.

Then it soon came into view that buildings made of ice had been built here and there throughout the forest.

Apparently this was the base of the Ten-Thousand Demon Forest.

I was going to find the entrance first, but a sharp voice was heard right away.

“Who goes there!? Halt!”

At the same time, an arrow flew in and stuck into the ground at my feet.

Chwak!

Thud!

At almost the same moment, Yo-hwa’s silk shot out.

Soon, the two spirit-creatures that had been in the tree were dragged down to Yo-hwa’s feet.

“Urk.”

One was a wolf, one was a raccoon dog.

Their realms did not seem high, but they had human appearances.

But the moment they were dragged over and collapsed in front of us, they changed back into a wolf and a raccoon dog with a pop.

Apparently they had learned something like transformation arts.

“Ugh. H-how dare you do something like this in the Ten-Thousand Demon Forest!”

The bastards were extremely furious, but in that instant, I realized my mistake.

If I had been openly releasing my energy, that would be one thing, but I was currently hiding my energy.

Since these kids didn’t know my realm, it looked like they had acted the way they normally did when they saw someone approaching.

An unknown low-realm cultivator was coming toward their base, so they had given a warning the way they usually did.

I said to Yo-hwa as if soothing her,

“Yo-hwa, we came here as guests, so we must not do violent things.”

“Kishishi. I understand, Oppa.”

And I released my energy.

“Hiiiiik!”

At that, the two of them were horrified and pissed themselves.

Canine animals piss themselves when terrified, and it seemed the two of them were the same.

Keeping my energy raised, I said to the two of them,

“I came to meet Bulsiho, so report it inside. Yo-hwa, let the two of them go.”

“Kisit. Yes, Oppa.”

And I told Yo-hwa to release the two of them, but maybe because of the energy I had released, before my words had even finished, three high-realm cultivators appeared.

One was a fox like Bulsiho, but a brown fox.

Another looked similar to a human, but judging by the tail, it was a monkey spirit-creature.

And one looked to be a red crab.

How did I know it was a crab? Because its hands were like crab claws.

It looked like a very modest woman, but the atmosphere was extremely similar to Gungbong when his mouth was shut.

That crab was probably the patient I had come to see.

My heart pounded at the glittering crab shell.

Because the color was really beautiful.

But at the same time, I also felt puzzled.

‘It doesn’t look sick anywhere, though?’

They had said the poisonous reef crab spirit-creature was the patient I was to see, so that crab was probably the patient I was supposed to examine, but it didn’t seem to look sick anywhere in particular, so I tilted my head.

Outwardly, it did not seem to have any place that looked ill at all.

There did not seem to be any lesion anywhere, and its appearance was neat too.

Even my junior sister, when she was sick, had looked like she might be blown away if the wind blew.

As the three appeared, the two spirit-creatures hurriedly backed away in front of us and hid behind them.

The two said to the high-realm spirit-creatures,

“H-he said he came to meet Lady Bulsiho.”

Shifting her gaze away from the two, the crab beastfolk clasped her hands toward me.

It seemed she had guessed my identity.

“It is my first time meeting you. I am Yubing. Might you be the disciple of Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo?”

“Not quite. I’m the husband of her disciple, but everyone seems to call me that, so yes.”

To be exact, I was the husband of her disciple, but everyone was calling me a disciple.

As I nodded roughly to say that was close enough, the crab called Yubing asked carefully,

“You said you came to meet Lady Siho, but may I ask the reason? I do not mean to offend you. It is only that Lady Siho is currently in closed-door seclusion...”

Did she tell them that if I came looking for her, they should say she was in closed-door seclusion?

That was the first thought that came to mind.

The disciple of the bastard who had stolen away your former partner had shown up, and she attacked immediately, only for him to turn out to be something like the landlord’s son-in-law, after all.

If you were the avoidant type, it was normal not to want to see that face.

“Ah, it’s not because of the unfortunate incident a few days ago. I came because I heard there was a patient here.”

“A patient?”

The crab spirit-creature tilted her head, even though I was clearly talking about her.

When I jerked my chin slightly, she became greatly flustered.

“I-I understand what this is about! P-please wait just a moment.”

Then she ran off in a hurry, returned, and guided me.

“This way, Elder.”

“All right.”

Following her, I entered the great palace made of ice.

At the end of a long corridor, Bulsiho was sitting on something like an ice throne.

When I entered, she rose from her seat and said with an expression that said she couldn’t believe it,

“I never imagined that for the matter I asked Ink Shadow Altar about, Elder himself would come.”

“I also had a matter to ask Ink Shadow Altar about on my side.”

“Well, anyway, I’m sorry about what happened before. I simply couldn’t endure it because it brought back old thoughts.”

“I understand. I would have done the same.”

“It’s a relief that you are such an understanding person.”

We started the conversation somewhat prickly.

I looked at the crab spirit-creature standing behind us in attendance and asked,

“So, is this the patient?”

At that, Bulsiho nodded.

“Yes, Elder. But is treatment really possible?”

“Well, I would have to examine the symptoms and the body first, but while I was in the lower world, I did learn healing arts from people called Uiseon and Yakseon, and besides, when it comes to spirit-creatures—especially venomous creatures—I am an expert, so you may trust me.”

“An expert... In that case, then, let me show you the body first. That way you can know the symptoms accurately.”

“Yes, do so.”

Bulsiho motioned to Yubing.

But Yubing, who had stopped in place, shook her head with a flushed face.

“Lady Siho, I do not think this is right... To show my body to another man, not even to Lady Siho. I would rather just die.”

At that, Bulsiho shook her head and pulled Yubing in.

When Yubing was drawn into Bulsiho’s embrace by powerful strength, Bulsiho kissed Yubing’s ear and said,

“Chu. I cannot just sit by and watch while you are sick, so endure it. It will be over before you know it.”

“B-but. Haang.”

“If you are sick, then I am sick °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° too.”

Judging by the way this was going, that crab seemed to be Bulsiho’s new wife.

That made me think, This was good and then suddenly it wasn’t.

My master had stolen away her ex-wife, and if I said I wanted her current wife because I wanted a venomous crab spirit-creature, what would she say?

Instead of an answer, it was obvious flames would come flying at me.

‘Man, it was going so well.’

Just when I was thinking it was completely ruined, Bulsiho, after covering Yubing’s eyes, lifted Yubing’s skirt.

“Waaaah! Wh-what are you doing!?”

When I shouted in surprise, Bulsiho said,

“I am only showing you the affected area.”

At those words, I looked beneath the lifted skirt.

No problem above the ankle.

No problem above the calf.

No problem above the thigh.

A problem between the legs!

That crab spirit-creature was clearly female, but two eggs were hanging between her legs.

‘Gyaaaaaah!’

Please, I wanted my eyes back from before I saw that.