Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 6: The Unlikely Adversary

Startled by Gu Cheon-ak’s shout, the boy in the woman’s arms, pale as a ghost, smiled and called out, “What’s going on? I am your Demon Blood Enemy!”

“Demon Blood Enemy?”

A term meaning ‘an enemy sent from the heavens.’

I took another step forward, but a wave of helplessness washed over me.

It felt as if my blood was shattering into pieces throughout my body.

“Cough…”

The martial art cultivated by Blood Cult Elder Blood Eagle Claw Gu Cheon-ak was the Demon Blood Explosive Flow Divine Art.

Arguably, it was the most powerful martial art that anyone besides the Blood Demon could learn.

As the supreme enhancement technique of the Blood Cult, it could accelerate blood flow, unleashing explosive power instantaneously, or replenish one’s internal energy and stamina from another’s vital blood—truly a remarkable martial art.

The Demon Blood Explosive Flow Divine Art allowed for endless combat as long as one could continuously absorb vital blood, even fighting until limbs were worn away—but…

After making one round with the boy’s vital blood, I completely lost control over my blood.

The Blood Cult’s internal technique operates through blood vessels, utilizing energy by mixing it with blood flow to swiftly disseminate it throughout the body, which necessitated a powerful dominion over blood—but mine was completely beyond control.

It was bizarre.

Ordinary Dispersing Power Poison should not affect the Demon Blood Explosive Flow Divine Art.

Though named after Dispersing Power Poison, it was toxic that impeded the flow of energy through acupoints, and since the Blood Cult utilized blood vessels as the conduit for energy, it should have had no effect.

This was why the martial artists of the Martial Forest could unleash devastating power during the Blood Cult Resurrection attempt thirty years ago, just by spreading Dispersing Power Poison and having those disguised as criminals mopped up by the Blood Cult’s masters.

But whatever the childish trick the boy had pulled, it felt as if my blood was scattering throughout my body, just as it was said to do with Dispersing Power Poison.

The fact that something like this could happen was utterly unbelievable.

“What did you do!? You brat!”

“Sis! Something’s off with that guy! Attack him!”

“Si…sis?”

The tone in his voice left the woman from the Tang Clan suddenly flustered, but she soon steadied herself, sending the Dragon Whip flying towards Gu Cheon-ak.

The whip bore thin, sharp ends made of iron that would cleave limbs with a single pull.

– Whoosh!

The Dragon Whip flew swiftly towards Gu Cheon-ak’s neck.

Under normal circumstances, the woman’s lack of skill would not have allowed for an evasion, but in his current state, Gu Cheon-ak was helpless against the encircling Dragon Whip.

“Cough!”

Ultimately, the Tang Clan woman’s Dragon Whip coiled around Gu Cheon-ak’s neck.

Gu Cheon-ak, aghast, clutched the Dragon Whip with his hand, which soon began to seep with dark red blood.

I met the Tang Clan woman’s icy expression.

“Such… nonsense! Blood Cult Resurrection…”

“Shut up and just die!”

Gu Cheon-ak, sensing his demise, uttered his last words, but before he could finish, the Dragon Whip swiftly withdrew from his grip and neck.

– Whoosh!

As his internal energy dissipated, Gu Cheon-ak’s vision spun.

It was a hollow death for the Blood Cult Elder Blood Eagle Claw Gu Cheon-ak.

*

Honestly, I wondered if this would work out.

Yet, given the circumstances, this was the only thing I could rely on, so I put my head down, and to my surprise, it worked.

I thought I might be able to cause death or retreat through poisoning, but the effect was far more certain than I anticipated.

As his head fell, crimson blood erupted from his corpse.

– Thud.

Then his body collapsed backward, as if extinguished.

The dark red blood flowing from him began to saturate the ground, coloring it a deep crimson.

Then came the stillness.

Incredible reality left no one capable of uttering a single word.

The one who had charged in like a savagely throwing wolf suddenly fell to the ground in utter defeat.

But soon, a shout of triumph rang out.

“Got him! The lady has captured the Blood Cult Elder!”

“““Wowww!”””

With that shout as a start, cheers erupted from all around.

“The lady has severed the blood of the Blood Cult Elder!”

“Long live the Four Heavenly Houses!”

“Wowww!”

– Whoosh!

Immediately, the brightening sky saw the flying Flying Dagger signal from the Tang Clan, and the scattered warriors of the clan began to converge on the battleground.

In the midst of it all, my sister, with a dazed expression, held me close and asked, “So-ryong, what exactly did you do? How did you… defeat the Blood Cult Elder?”

Drops of water from her hair fell onto my forehead.

And despite being drenched, her embrace felt warm.

Perhaps it was because of the overwhelming warmth of my sister’s hold, but my vision started to blur oddly.

It seemed the poison from the Hoban Yusa was now starting to kick in after having lost so much blood.

Looking at her, I said, “Sister, I think I need the antidote for the Hoban Yusa’s poison…”

“H-Hoban Yusa? But that one is definitely toxic…”

Hearing my words, my sister’s eyes widened, and her urgent voice echoed in my ears as it began to fade, “Someone bring the Antidote Pearl! So-ryong is poisoned by the Hoban Yusa!”

“So-ryong! So-ryong!”

The last sight that entered my view was my sister’s trembling shoulder as Chao, Hyang, and Bin scrambled up toward her.

*

Familiar ground.

‘Ground?!’

Opening my eyes, the first thing that captured my attention was the floor, causing me to blink in surprise.

Normally, when you wake up after collapsing, you would see a familiar ceiling rather than the ground.

But surely, I was lying in what looked like a stockade from a historical drama.

As I tried to move, urgent voices reached my ears.

“Don’t move, So-ryong!”

“Don’t move, So-ryong!”

“Hold on, So-ryong.”

All three voices were familiar to me.

One was the voice of the clan elder overseeing the Medicine Hall, another was my sister, and the final voice was that of my grandfather, Mandok God.

“Where is this?”

“You’re coming to? So-ryong, it’s already been ten days since you collapsed.”

“Ten days?!”

In response to my question, my sister, crouching beside me, looked into my face and answered.

“Yes, it’s been ten days since you collapsed. Do you remember anything?”

“Yes, I remember the Blood Cult Elder collapsing…”

As I replied with the last thing I recalled, my sister nodded and continued, “Thanks to you, we severed that guy’s blood and hastily transported collapsed So-ryong back to the clan. If grandfather hadn’t returned in time due to the severe poisoning, it would have been a serious situation.”

“What on earth happened? I heard that I was poisoned by the Hoban Yusa, but does the Hoban Yusa even have poison?”

In response to my grandfather’s inquiry, I answered while still flat on my stomach.

“Yes, the Hoban Yusa has two kinds of poison.”

“Two kinds?!”

“There are two kinds? But the Hoban Yusa is supposed to be non-toxic…”

As my sister mentioned, the Hoban Yusa found distribution across Korea, China, and Japan, but even up to the 1980s, it had been reported to have no venom in any of the three countries.

These creatures were indeed snakes, but they usually opted to flee rather than bite when caught by humans.

It seemed the Tang Clan hadn’t closely observed those non-aggressive snakes to note whether they had poison or not.

“No, they’re gentle, but they do have two kinds.”

“Right, besides that, you mentioned using Dispersing Power Poison against the Blood Cult Elder. What does that mean? From what I gather, you were in a state of poisoning by the Hoban Yusa while also leading the Blood Cult Elder to drain your blood. So, is the Hoban Yusa’s venom actually Dispersing Power Poison?”

As expected of Mandok God, the top master of the Tang Clan—he grasped the situation quickly.

I answered as best I could while still flat.

“It seems that way. Though it appears only the Blood Cult figures can hear that, I did not foresee it would be this effective.”

“Oh! Incredible! Do you know how many martial artists have perished during the Blood Cult Incident thirty years ago? If we had known this just a bit sooner…”

My grandfather’s voice was laced with disappointment.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he wanted to know why the Hoban Yusa’s poison affected the Blood Cult members like this.

“Could you explain why the Hoban Yusa’s poison transformed the Blood Cult members in such a manner?”

“I can only guess, but….”

The venom of a snake broadly divides into neurotoxic and hemotoxic categories based on their mechanisms of action.

Neurotoxins affect nerve cells or neurotransmitters, paralyzing sensory and central nervous systems, leading to heart and respiratory failure and eventual death.

Heart attacks or asphyxiation are the typical conclusions of neurotoxic exposure.

Then, what about hemotoxins?

These poisons damage capillaries and muscles, primarily targeting cell walls. Thus, when bitten by a snake with hemotoxic venom, the outcome is often multiple organ failure, rhabdomyolysis, or cerebral hemorrhage.

Blood hemorrhages out of body organs, toxic substances resulting from muscle necrosis enter the circulatory system, or bleeding occurs in the brain, causing death.

However, someone with even a minor medical background might sense something odd here.

Blood contains platelets which produce fibrin, a protein that forms blood clots to prevent bleeding from occurring when venom enters and dissolves cell walls.

So, the snake’s venom should not spread throughout the body quickly enough to cause death.

The reason why hemotoxic venom can circulate rapidly leading to death lies in one of the numerous proteins present in snake venom.

This is called an anticoagulant, which inhibits the activity of clotting factors in blood and prevents the formation of clots.

Thus, when hemotoxic venom is introduced into the body, it destroys the walls of red blood cells and hampers blood clotting, leading to multiple organ failure or cerebral hemorrhage.

“It prevents the blood from clotting?”

“Yes, grandfather, this means…”

That was why that thought had crossed my mind in the urgent situation.

From the name ‘Blood Cult,’ they seemed to venerate all things related to blood.

They must have chosen this name for a reason.

Moreover, it seemed they could directly sink their hands into a person’s body to drain blood or even suck the blood of a corpse that was slightly distanced from them, so what would happen if they were fed hemotoxic venom?

What on earth would transpire?

This inquiry had started it all, but the results were astonishingly effective.

Noticing that the blood he had referred to as Dispersing Power Poison inflicted pain made me thankful that my gamble succeeded.

Had I failed, it would have been a third life wasted.

“From what I gather, it seems that the influence of the venom on their blood, which is the root of their martial arts, could be the reason.”

As I completed my explanation, Mandok God burst into hearty laughter.

With a voice brimming with cheer, he asked, “Hahaha, I’ve heard from Hua Eun that you called the Blood Cult Elder your adversary sent from the heavens?”

“Yes? Yes, grandfather.”

I cautiously responded, worrying it wouldn’t sound too juvenile, and his laughter erupted again.

“Hahaha! Yes, you’re right. If you can inhibit their martial arts so perfectly, you indeed deserve to be called an adversary. They’ve been dormant for thirty years, trying to rise again, but this time we will surely uproot them!

Those bastards dared harm my family while I was away, but as you said, our Four Heavenly Houses will become their adversary!

Isn’t that correct?”

Now that we understood their weaknesses, if we harvested the Hoban Yusa’s venom in bulk to use, those Blood Cult pests would be done for.

Thus, according to grandfather’s words, our Four Heavenly Houses, which employs toxins, would become their nemesis.

“Yes, we cannot possibly overlook those who dared harm our Four Heavenly Houses. We must exact full retribution!”

‘They picked the wrong person to mess with. Those bloodsucking pests.’

I’d vow to squeeze them dry with Fabre’s poisons and take back every drop.