Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Fabre in the Four Heavenly Houses Chapter 161

“It seems more chaotic than I imagined.”

A book stamped with the insignia of the Five Poisons Sect provided clear proof that they were deeply involved in this matter, or perhaps more than that.

Turning my gaze toward Hua Eun, I thought, “Hua…”

‘Ah, she looks busy.’

I was about to call out to her when I noticed Hua Eun was focused, checking some piled-up pills and herbs.

While she wrapped up her tasks, I decided to take a look at the book first.

Although it reeked of the Five Poisons Sect from the cover, the book wouldn’t escape; that content could just as easily be empty.

Calling her over for something trivial might make me feel bad if it turned out to be nothing.

While the mere fact that it bore the sect’s seal held some significance, its value would ultimately depend on the content.

‘Let’s see…’

– Flip.

“Diary of Sub Commander Cheon-jok of the Centipede Division.”

As I flipped to the first page adorned with sketches of five venomous creatures, a name caught my eye.

This appeared to be the diary of someone affiliated with the Centipede Division, which took its name from the centipede, one of the five great poisons that I had encountered before.

‘Oh, I thought this was some monumental book… Maybe it was good I didn’t call Hua Eun.’

I was excited to see the Five Poisons’ seal, but it turned out to be someone’s diary.

I pondered why there was a seal on a diary but realized it was probably like discovering a company-branded notebook from a prior life.

‘Well, it’s a bit disappointing… But nothing’s as interesting as someone else’s diary. Hehehe… But calling the Centipede Division so arrogantly?’

Even though discovering the diary was somewhat underwhelming in terms of information, the fact that it belonged to another person sparked my curiosity.

Based on the name, it seemed to be a woman’s diary.

There’s something to be said about diaries being the most entertaining, especially if they belong to a sister or an older female relative, right?

While she wasn’t my sister or older sibling, I figured it was reasonable to expect comparable fun.

However, I felt a begrudging resentment toward the owner for being part of the Centipede Division.

‘How dare they use the name Centipede without even a mascot!’

This was particularly infuriating because I possessed both the Ten Great Venoms such as the Flying Heavenly Centipede and the Twenty-Four Poisons, including the Blue-Spotted Centipede, yet I didn’t name myself Centipede Division.

The sheer audacity of the Five Poisons Sect shamelessly adopting the name Centipede Division irked me, especially since I held the rights to the original concept by possessing real centipedes!

They had no permission to be named Centipede Division!

I felt a surge of frustration at the thought of meeting them; I had to make sure to put them in their place!

After all, it was a sort of copyright infringement.

While I may not technically own copyright, it must surely be recognized since I had the actual centipedes!

‘Surely, I have some copyright over this, right?’

As I flipped the pages, the date written on the first page caught my attention: late spring.

The diary started with the owner’s records.

“Spring Equinox. Accompanied by the Deputy Commander, I visited the Lord, but upon arrival, I was given a different command.

We have continuously failed to locate the first Poison Master, so that will be put aside for now, and we need to assist the Blood Cult in finding ways to create chaos in the Central Plains.”

The text explained how they were steadily gathering strength while it would be impossible to defeat the Tang Clan alone.

After all, the Tang Clan was tied to the Martial Forest Alliance and the Seven Great Families, meaning diverting the attention of others was crucial to contend with them.

Thus, we decided to search for another solution, much like how the Scorpion Division transformed the army’s ants into substantial threats using the Great Method.

‘Hmm, surprisingly useful information, huh?’

I’d assumed the informational value would be low, but it turned out that the diary began with genuinely useful tidbits.

If the owner was meticulous, the diary would be filled with noteworthy content for us.

The contents recorded that the army ants were indeed related to the Five Poisons Sect, allowing us to confirm the names of their armed factions.

Excited about what other nuggets of information might be tucked inside, I flipped the page again.

– Flip.

“Two days before the Spring Equinox.

For a month, I’ve been pondering which faction to utilize, and a visit from Lady Cheong Yu prompted her to recommend the Insect Type.

Hearing her words felt like a thunderclap struck my brain.

Insect Type would undoubtedly torment the folks in the Central Plains with relentless persistence.

If they were that vicious as children, imagine how formidable they’d become as adults? My heart raced.”

“After the Qingming Festival.

We succeeded in using the Great Method to enlarge the Insect Type, but there was a problem. The eggs they first laid hatched, but the hatchlings weren’t turning into adults. What could be the reason? Even after providing qi through the Great Method, why aren’t they growing?

If I provided qi through the Great Method, they should become adults without needing to eat! What’s going wrong?”

“Grain Rain.

One foolish subordinate mishandled the Insect Type and collapsed after being drained of blood. Foolish individual. They evidently needed Blood Pills to recover.”

“Two days after Grain Rain.

A few were found shedding their skins. Just like that? Why would they suddenly shed skins? We may have to stay up all night with the Deputy Commander to find the cause.”

“Five days after Grain Rain.

Finally, I uncovered the secret! They must consume blood to shed their skin! I had people from the border capture someone to feed the Insect Types.”

“Grain Rain…

We discovered that these creatures require five instances of bloodsucking to become adults! However, finding out they need to suck blood six times to lay eggs makes it a big problem.

To raise these creatures to adulthood, I had to capture over a hundred people from two nearby border towns! How many more people would we need to breed these creatures?”

“Grain Rain…

That Lady Cheong Yu. When the Deputy Commander sought advice, she suggested using Blood Pills. Indeed, it’s more efficient to suck just a little blood and then feed them Blood Pills, allowing them to keep feeding again and again.

I can’t believe I didn’t think to use Blood Pills while having my subordinate take them! She’s truly an asset to the Five Poisons Sect.”

Having read this far, I paused for a moment to process the gathered information in my head.

The contents were so bizarre I figured I needed to summarize.

What I understood from what I read was the identity of Lady Cheong Yu and how they managed to raise the Bedbugs.

The continuous references to Cheong Yu must point to that crazy girl who tried to sell me out while infiltrating my side!

Now considering how they were able to grow the Bedbugs, I realized once more that the folks in the Five Poisons Sect were quite insane.

‘Feeding people to them with relish, huh?’

People were being fed as if it were nothing strange?

At that moment, I heard Hua Eun’s voice nearby.

“Is all of this Blood Pill? Why are there so many Blood Pills?”

Turning my head, I noticed Hua Eun surrounded by boxes, with large chests filled to the brim with pills open around her.

She seemed puzzled looking at all the pills nearby, likely realizing their identities.

“Looks like all the pills you’ve been checking are the Blood Pills mentioned in the book.”

‘Maybe I should suggest we look at the book together.’

I thought it would probably be good to check the book together, as I could clear up her curiosity in one go.

So I proposed to Hua Eun directly.

“Hua Eun, would you like to look at this with me?”

“Did you find something?”

“It’s a diary from the leader of the Centipede Division, one of the armed factions of the Five Poisons Sect.”

“Five Poisons Sect!? And it’s a diary?”

Upon hearing that I had found the diary, Hua Eun rushed over, her eyes widening as she scanned the pages I had read.

“This… this is…”

As it seemed like she had realized the identity of the Blood Pills she was examining, she quickly flipped to the next page of what I had been reading with a startled expression.

“In the beginning of summer.

I’ve turned those born in the first batch into adults, so now I need to find a suitable location. I’m planning on asking the Blood Cult to scout out a spot.”

“A few days before the Grain Rain.

We successfully raided the woodland hideout near the Yangtze River Three Gorges with the Blood Cult’s help. The Yangtze River Three Gorges is an ideal place to spread the Insect Type because nobody would come searching for the missing people among the Green Forest faction.”

“Grain Rain.

Now that we’re settled in the hideout, we’ve begun the serious business of breeding. After immobilizing some bandits with poison, I ordered an appropriate number of Insect Types to suck their blood, making sure to feed the bandits both Blood Pills and regular feed. The numbers seem to be increasing rapidly, and I believe the task assigned to us will be a success.”

“Minor Heat.

In just a month, the Insect Type numbers exploded! The growth rate is becoming unmanageable! To control them, I’ve decided to kill off some.”

“Grain Rain…

We lost a few bandits while cleaning up several breeding facilities. Surviving that poison! I had to strike down those who had been using different poisons to stay alive.”

“Minor Heat.

Just when we were almost done with our mission, the door of the facility where we wedged in the males was opened by one of the bandit’s hands.

They managed to create havoc despite having their limbs cut off. Could they have some residual strength?

Most of my subordinates who were there for the mission ended up dead. When this occurred, the Deputy Commander was away. If I fail this mission, can we even survive?”

That was the end of the contents.

The woman who had fallen dead in this log cabin seemed to have taken her own life.

I decided to stand up, close the book, and check the nearby breeding facilities.

I needed to see how extensive they were and how many Bedbugs were left.

More importantly, I had to ensure that the remaining females were eliminated.

“Let’s first check the place where they were raising the Insect Types.”

“Understood, So-ryong.”

As we stepped outside, I asked Chao to go fetch Older Sister Seol.

“Chao, could you go get Older Sister Seol? It seems like Aunt will be a big help here.”

– Swoosh!

This affair was definitely tied to the Five Poisons Sect, and the resources and medicine left behind in the hideout were considerable.

Even though Hua Eun was a daughter of the Tang Clan, Older Sister Seol, who held a senior position as an Elder, would definitely be able to assist us more efficiently, so I requested Chao to bring her.

As I pulled the book close, I stepped outside. Chao vanished into the sky on a mission to the mountains below.

“Since they mentioned a cave, it should be that way.”

“Alright, let’s head that way.”

As Chao disappeared, Hua Eun pointed toward the slope of the mountain.

After walking a little while towards the direction Hua Eun indicated, a cave appeared, concealed beneath the trees on the mountain slope.

Approaching the entrance, I could smell a familiar scent of Bedbugs wafting from within.

It seemed some Bedbugs still lingered inside.

“What should we do?”

Hua Eun asked me, eyes wide, unsure of what action to undertake in response to the scent wafting toward us.

“Let’s prepare some torches and head inside. The males that escaped will likely die off before the year ends, but just in case, we absolutely need to eliminate any females that remain. As confirmed in the Five Poisons’ diary, letting just one slip away could lead to great trouble.”

“Will that be okay?”

Even if we didn’t manage to eliminate every single one, the males that had escaped couldn’t breed on their own, so they would disappear within a year.

However, if any females remained trapped, it was uncertain what would happen, so we had to ensure one was dealt with directly.

Convincing Hua Eun, I lit the torches stored in the hideout and cautiously stepped inside.

– Crunch, crunch.

As I carefully moved into the dark cave, I could feel Bedbugs lurking in the shadows.

The Bedbugs were hindered by the light from the torches, unable to approach easily, and after walking a little further, I spotted several decaying, dried-up corpses scattered around the cave floor, along with four large wooden doors installed on the cave’s ground.

“It looks like they dug a pit and covered it with wooden doors for raising them.”

The breeding facility of the Five Poisons Sect took form in the cave, featuring a large pit covered with wooden shutters.

But all the doors were wide open, and I could not see where the females were hidden.

‘Where on Earth are the females?’

The cave wasn’t very deep, yet now we reached the final point without spotting the females.

While Hua Eun and I were scanning around for the missing females, a large cluster of Bedbugs caught my attention in the corner of the breeding facility.

“Oh, what’s that!?”

When I approached with my torch, the mass of Bedbugs dispersed quickly.

“It seems they’re gathered inside here?”

“Here?”

At that moment—

“Who the hell are you?!”

As I reached toward a chest likely harboring the elusive female Bedbugs, a sharp male voice echoed from the entrance of the cave.

Startled by the unfamiliar voice, I turned around to find a man with a torch glaring at us.

‘Could it be… The person mentioned in the earlier diary, the leader of the Centipede Division is away, and could that be him?’

What horrendous timing indeed!