NOVEL NEXT Chapter 158
Chapter 158: Fabre in the Four Heavenly Houses
“Hmph!”
Hua Eun was initially agreeing with my suspicion about the Five Poisons Sect, albeit due to geographical reasons.
Thinking under the assumption that it really was the Five Poisons Sect’s doing, I considered how tossing a few bedbugs into countless boats passing through the Yangtze River Three Gorges on a dark night would enable them to spread bedbugs quickly throughout the Central Plains.
‘Delivering bedbugs via boat throughout the Central Plains… sounds plausible. After all, boats have always been one of the main means of spreading epidemics or pests.’
Considering my previous life, boats were indeed one of the best ways for pests or diseases to proliferate, making the idea sound reasonable.
However, my thoughts about the involvement of the Five Poisons Sect stemmed from a completely different angle.
When I started to clarify the thoughts swirling in my mind, I heard Seol, who agreed with me, gasp in surprise.
“Wait, really!? Then we need to inform the Tang Clan or the Martial Forest Alliance immediately!
No, wait, Hua, we need solid proof first.
It’s fine that Hua Eun agrees, but why does Long think so? Hurry and explain!”
Seol, wanting to know what made me suspicious, demanded an explanation.
Calming her down, I began relaying my thoughts.
“Seol, please calm down, and let me explain why I think that. The small insects we know about are pests that parasitize flying squirrels and suck their blood.”
“Flying squirrel? The one that flits around? The one we saw in that cave?”
“Yes, but as people began to live in caves or eat flying squirrels, these pests migrated to humans and started sucking the blood of much larger creatures.”
Bedbugs refer to the bloodsucking insects from the Cimicidae family, but when people usually refer to them, they mean Cimex lectularius by its scientific name.
These bedbugs originated as parasites in bats, and scientists speculate, just like the explanation I gave Seol, that they transferred from bats to humans.
They don’t eat anything else and exclusively suck blood, making humans a much better food source than bats.
“Hmm… that makes sense. Living among larger, blood-rich humans surely would be better than staying with bats.”
“Indeed, that’s the reason, Seol. For creatures that can only feed on blood, humans are far more attractive than small bats. Those that migrated from bats to humans may occasionally suck the blood of other animals, but primarily they settled for human blood.”
“So, these pests mainly feed on human blood? Due to their small size and lack of venom, our clan hasn’t looked into them too deeply, but I’ll need to listen carefully and take notes for the clan.”
Unlike when she was panicking earlier, Seol listened to my explanation with an amused expression.
I shifted my gaze from Hua Eun to Seol and then to the large bedbugs lying dead in the village to continue explaining.
“And right now, these large pests differ very little from the small ones we usually find in our homes. In fact, they are practically the same.”
“Huh? You can’t be serious? Are they the same creatures?”
“Yes, most likely. Hua Eun.”
“No way, Long! There’s such a huge difference in size!”
Hua Eun and Seol blinked with surprise at my claim that the two were the same.
It seemed unbelievable that creatures of such different sizes could be the same.
But it was certain that they were indeed the same.
I carefully examined them, and there was nearly no difference at all.
The only distinctions lay in the length of their antennae, body size, and the shape of their proboscis; nothing was different in terms of proportions or morphology.
“They just grew larger but are the exact same pests. And that means their food is also blood—specifically, human blood.”
“That, well, I confirmed when I spotted them crawling up to suck blood at night…”
Although I had revealed this much, Seol still hadn’t caught on to the strange aspect.
I posed another question to them.
“Think about it. Have you ever seen or heard of such large pests before?”
“No, never seen or heard of them.”
“Me neither. Wei So-ryong.”
They shook their heads while looking at each other.
Smiling, I threw out my final question.
“I said these fellows mainly feed on the blood of humans or animals, right? But if such large creatures existed from the start in the Central Plains, how have they managed to survive until now?
That they feed on human blood and are this enormous—why is it that we are only seeing them for the first time?”
“Ah!”
“Oh! I see now!”
It seemed they finally understood my point, as they nodded in agreement while exchanging glances.
I elaborated further.
“To put it in detail…”
The only reasonable conclusion is that these creatures did not arise naturally, as I’d explained to them: bedbugs are parasites that feed exclusively on blood.
While they may sometimes feast on animal blood depending on the situation, since bedbugs predominantly consume human blood, if they were to be this large, surely people would have known about them.
If such parasites posed a threat to human lives, it would only be natural for the people to be aware of them.
Well, perhaps not everyone would know.
In a time like this, where general individuals lack knowledge about insects, it could happen.
But still, at least one among the three of us should have been aware.
Who are we gathered here?
Me, the Spicy Fabre, a walking encyclopedia of venom; alongside Seol, the Snow Leopard of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace; and Hua Eun from the Four Heavenly Houses.
Perhaps we are the dream team when it comes to animals, insects, and venom in this era, right?
‘This team could very well be the best expert squad of the era. Why not.’
While I might be a newbie in this martial world and uncertain of many things, how could Seol, who has the most encounters with wild beasts in the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, and Hua Eun, who is unparalleled when it comes to poison in the Four Heavenly Houses, not know?
That simply doesn’t add up.
If they’ve grown this large, they would surely require more than just human blood, meaning they would have to attack beasts too, so Seol should know about it. Similarly, if they possess that kind of paralyzing toxin, Hua Eun should also know.
Was that all?
There were also strange aspects.
Even if large bedbugs existed, that size was beyond comprehension.
It wasn’t just a question of simply being too big.
Setting aside the genetic aspects, bedbugs are blood-sucking parasites.
But if a parasite became large enough to kill its host, what title would that deserve?
From an evolutionary standpoint, parasites need to stealthily attach themselves to their hosts to absorb nutrients and reproduce, so why would they kill their hosts?
Usually, if a virus were harmful to humans, the toxicity would decrease over time while the infection rate would increase, but those giant bedbugs could not have appeared without human intervention.
“…It’s only reasonable to think that humans must have intervened, and in the Central Plains, only the Five Poisons Sect could pull off such a stunt…”
Just as I hinted at the conclusion, the answer flowed out.
“It’s the Five Poisons Sect.”
“Indeed, it must be those Five Poisons scoundrels.”
Hua Eun and Seol’s eyes sparkled as they listened to my scientifically grounded deductions.
They praised me, exclaiming just how great I was.
“Just like Wei So-ryong!”
“Long, you’re amazing! Sometimes I can’t help but think you’re a prodigy!”
‘No, I’m not a prodigy… although with my combined age, I’m a 40-year-old prodigy in physical years… does that even fit? And I’m still in my growth phase, but right now I’m fifteen… Wait a second. Growth? Gasp!’
At that moment, while awkwardly smiling at their compliments, a certain serious notion surfaced in my mind.
It seemed like unimaginable events were unfolding, so I stated with a serious expression.
“However, if it really was the work of the Five Poisons Sect, what has occurred might be even more terrible than what we have speculated.”
“Something terrible, Wei So-ryong?”
“Something dreadful? What’s that? Is it just the pests coming en masse?”
At my mention of something terrible, Seol and Hua Eun’s eyes widened in surprise.
I nodded in response to their inquiries.
“Weren’t all the pests that flooded in yesterday mature insects?”
“Those were all adult bugs? But how does that relate to something terrible?”
“Adult bugs, yes. Wei So-ryong?”
Seol’s follow-up question about how adult bugs relate to something dreadful was soon answered by my reasoning.
“The adult form of pests is…”
Bedbugs can suck blood right after hatching, but just because they can’t suck blood doesn’t mean they die immediately.
The young stages of insects that undergo incomplete metamorphosis are called nymphs, and nymphs can survive for two to three months even without feeding on blood. Adult bedbugs, however, can live for up to a year without feeding.
However, bedbugs need to feed on blood five times to reach adulthood after molting. If they don’t feed on blood each time they molt, they can never grow from nymphs to adults—this is precisely the nature of bedbugs.
For that reason, if all the creatures that came yesterday were adults, then that means they must have fed on blood five times somewhere, which could mean that there was a mass slaughter of either beasts or humans.
Considering how much the creatures consumed and the number that flooded in, it meant that they would need more than just a few people or animals.
“…Thus, if those creatures need quite a bit of blood to mature to adulthood, then it means…”
I trailed off, unable to finish the dreadful thought, causing the expressions of Hua Eun and Seol to twist in concern.
Both of them nodded in affirmation of my theory.
“If it’s those scoundrels from the Five Poisons Sect, then it’s only natural.”
“Given everything so far, it makes sense they would need even more.”
Then came Hua Eun’s question.
“By the way, where did those pests come from? They don’t seem like they would have cultivated them and released them around here.”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. There are mountains behind us and a river in front, so there don’t seem to be any nearby settlements.”
As we began to exchange queries about where they had come from and where the blood might have come from, a cautious voice calling my name interrupted us.
“Excuse me, Wei So-ryong?”
Turning to look, I saw Lee Tae approaching with a cautious expression.
“What’s up? Do you have something to say?”
“Well, um… I didn’t intend to listen in, but…”
Lee Tae hesitated, struggling to find his words.
Seol, seemingly impatient, burst out.
“Aah! Just say it! It’s annoying!”
Startled, Lee Tae finally answered with a stutter.
“W-Well, didn’t we mention that we belong to Zhang River Waterway Village?”
“Oh, I heard that part.”
“Yes, well, the heroes of the Central Plains…”
“Heroes? More like thieves…”
Seol shot back at the label Lee Tae gave himself as ‘heroes.’
With a face resembling someone who had just bitten into something sour, Lee Tae continued.
“Y-Yes… um… we can categorize the thieves into three main groups: one based in Dongjing, the Dongjing Eighteen Villages, and ourselves from Zhang River Waterway Village, along with the Green Forest Seventy-two Villages.”
‘What? Are there genuinely that many thieves? Is that due to the vast land?’
I was shocked to hear that there were ninety bandit leaders even excluding Zhang River Waterway Village.
The security in the Central Plains seemed to be in shambles.
“B-But…”
“There’s a mountain visible over there beyond our back mountain, right? Hah… is this really okay?”
Lee Tae pointed at a large mountain beyond a small mountain where the bedbugs had descended.
Nodding, I noticed Lee Tae mumbling about a sense of loyalty that seemed out of place, causing Seol’s eyes to flare again.
“Tch!”
Seol clicked her tongue at Lee Tae’s words, and he quickly proceeded with his explanation.
“Yes, that mountain is called Shihuang Mountain, and there’s a bandit group from the Green Forest Seventy-two Villages over there! If you climb over another mountain and cross a narrow river, you would reach Guandao. That’s where those rascals operate.”
He mentioned there were around three hundred bandits in a rather sizable hideout, but considering the volume of bedbugs that had arrived, that didn’t seem nearly enough, indicating there at least were some people living in nearby homes.
“Regardless, it seems we need to investigate…”
Muttering that it would be necessary to look into the situation, Seol replied with a gloomy expression.
“Where would we even go? We need to block those bugs that will come tonight first… Ugh… I don’t want to.”
It seemed she was worried about the creatures arriving tonight, but I was prepared for a calmer situation.
“Don’t worry about tonight. Seol.”
“Why!? What good idea do you have?”
At my words, Seol’s spirits lifted.
I smiled and replied, “Being mere bedbugs and not spirits, they can’t swim, nor can they cross rivers.”
The terrain we were situated on was elevated.
When Bin returned, she was supposed to help with dredging the waterway across the protruding landscape.
And upon thinking further, we had a natural insect repellent.
What would happen if we sprayed that messy water that Hwa-yang had been drooling on at those bedbugs?