Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Family 2

I had a serious weakness when it came to my heart.

Given the nature of centipedes, I thought I could separate them if they went into the water, and indeed, when I dipped them in, I saw them scramble away from the water.

So all I had to do was subtly submerge myself and catch the little buggers as they floated back up.

Just as I thought I could relax, however, when my head began to submerge, the little ones started crying out mournfully above me.

– Slither.

– Sluur.

– Slitherrrrr.

“Oppa, what are you doing? Why are you doing this to us? Oppa! Please! We hate water!”

Not that I could actually understand the centipede’s sounds.

It was just a feeling, but their voices somehow sounded that way.

Well, it couldn’t be helped…

“Anyway, they’ll drop off soon enough. Should I just leave them there for a few days?”

I found myself contemplating if it was cruel to separate the little ones from their mother since they had lost her.

After all, centipedes detach from their mother after two molts, and that time isn’t particularly long to wait.

Moreover, it seemed like they thought of me as their mother, and at this stage, they didn’t have any venom, so it wasn’t dangerous.

Besides, it might be a dream for those who love venomous creatures to carry a giant centipede around.

Insects, arthropods, and reptiles aren’t known for recognizing their owners, and the ones that would fall into the category of pets tend to lack the kind of emotional connection.

So, carrying them around like this was akin to having a pet.

“Alright, I’ll let you guys stay for now. But you better not bite or hurt me, okay?”

– Sluur!

– Sluur!

Their sounds as replies rang out, and after finishing my bath, I hurried to the pulmonary duct.

Just as I crossed the threshold of the pulmonary duct entrance, I spotted a middle-aged man sitting on the stone steps of the separate chamber I used.

He seemed to be the clan head of some family I’d heard of called Tang, and he greeted me with a beaming face.

“Oh!? Elder?”

“Oh! Junior Hero!”

He looked delighted, probably feeling grateful for my help in hunting the mother centipede.

He had certainly mentioned that he would repay me for finding her.

‘This probably seems like a wealthy family. Maybe they’ll give me some money? Should I ask for a few deer? Dried meat would be nice; I’m in my growth phase, after all.’

As the man with the bright face approached me, I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine, and a wind seemed to fly toward him. In an instant, he was hurled backward and crashed against the step, coughing up blood.

– Crash!

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

“Elder! Gah!”

I was startled and attempted to rush toward him, but I was grabbed at the nape of my neck.

My legs slowly lifted off the ground, and I began to float in the air.

Then came the old man’s voice.

“I heard the Tang family had entered Hainan Island, and to my surprise, I find the son of Mandok God injured and all alone.

I’ve never forgotten the faces of you and your father, even from a distance, for the past ten years! Today, I shall send your head as a gift to your father, Mandok God! Hahaha!”

I couldn’t discern the details, but it felt like there was a feud with this clan head, given the enmity expressed in his words.

And from the nickname Mandok God, it seemed these people were definitely tied to some organization.

They had nicknames reminiscent of twin blades or axes.

“No, why is this happening to me? This is something for them to settle!”

The middle-aged man, who had just risen, blood spilling from his lips, faced the elder and asked, “Cough! Who is this gentleman to oppress a young junior hero and myself?”

“Hahaha. With this face and this red power, don’t you recognize me? I am the Blood Hand Demon, Tak Woon-yang!”

His voice dripped with rage, and I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach; if things went wrong, this was going to be a big deal today.

It seemed the elder held a profound grudge.

But the clan head, with a serious tone, pleaded for me to be released.

“That junior hero is not even a martial artist and has nothing to do with us! Your grudge concerns our Tang clan, doesn’t it? If you let the boy go, I will willingly offer my head!”

It felt like he was saying not to involve civilians.

I thought he was a decent person for wanting to keep me out of it, and I nodded to myself, agreeing that it’d be best for the grudge between them to be settled among themselves.

But the elder, with the name of Blood Hand Demon or whatever it was, scoffed at these words.

“I’ll slaughter even those who merely brushed against my Tang clan! In Buddhism, they say you must have three thousand destinies from your previous life just to brush sleeves! Hahaha!”

“Ahh! S-save me…”

Then he turned my body to face him and slowly tightened the grip on my nape.

The strength felt frighteningly intense.

And alongside that, an odd sensation began to creep through my body, making it tremble.

– Slither!

– Crack!

The centipedes, hiding in my clothes, suddenly sprang out with fierce sounds, darting from my sleeves and neck to bite at the elder’s grasping hand.

“Cough!”

The elder’s eyes bulged in disbelief.

His gaze, full of incredulity, filled my sight.

And slowly, the strength began to drain from his hand.

I hurriedly freed myself from his grasp and looked at his face. In an instant, he was covered in dark markings, collapsing to the floor.

– Thud.

‘Oh my god! Aren’t they supposed to be venomless at this stage!?’

My pets had killed a person—it was a shocking situation.

Slowly, I turned my head to look at the middle-aged man and asked, “U-uh… This person is bad, right? H-he looks dead…”

He certainly seemed like a bad guy, but I was lost in my thoughts since it was the first time I had seen someone die.

Except for me, of course.

But for some reason, the middle-aged man’s expression appeared pleased despite the death.

‘Is he a psychopath?’

*

The fact that the centipedes had venom, and that it was quite lethal, sent shivers down my spine, but I had to calm down and act fast.

One had already died, and if I didn’t act quickly, another might go too.

Since the middle-aged man had coughed out so much blood, I feared that if I didn’t do something soon, it might turn into a disaster.

But I couldn’t go help him, worried the centipedes might spring out again.

So I guided him into the separate chamber I used.

There was a bed there, and it was the only intact building in this pulmonary duct, the only appropriate place to lay this clan head.

Though he had crashed, slightly damaging the threshold, the inside was still intact.

“P-please lie down here.”

“Cough. Thank you, junior hero.”

“By the way, the village is far away, and I can’t call a doctor. If you could let me know where your companions are, I could go fetch them. No, wait. I can’t just leave you here!”

As I paced anxiously, the man, wearing a gentle smile, spoke up.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine after a few days of rest.”

Coughing up blood meant internal injuries, likely to his intestines or a perforated stomach, yet he casually said he would recover in a few days.

I replied seriously to the man’s nonchalant words, “Please don’t say that! You’ve lost this much blood. You’re in a critical condition!”

But he kept smiling, dismissing my urgings.

“I’m a martial artist, so it’s alright.”

“A martial artist?”

“That’s correct. A martial artist.”

Now that I thought about it, I remembered that in the urgent situation earlier, he had mentioned he wasn’t a martial artist and asked them to let him go, connecting that memory to the world of martial arts movies from my past life.

‘No way?’

My expression was skeptical as I inquired, “Uh… you mean a martial artist that can fly and shoot out energy blows and stuff?”

“Not everyone can do that, but it’s fair to say it’s true.”

Thinking hard, that meant the middle-aged man flying earlier was probably because of an energy strike.

‘Holy crap!’

I finally understood why the giant centipedes were here.

This wasn’t just the past—it felt more like a different world altogether.

As I realized I had fallen into a strange world, the man continued, “Thanks to you, I’ve saved my life. I’m grateful for your rescue. Let me introduce myself formally. I’m Dang Cheolsan, the clan head of the Sichuan Tang clan.”

“Oh, I’m Wei So-ryong.”

I didn’t have a name from this world, but thinking about martial arts reminded me of a famous martial artist from my past life, so I quickly made up a name.

When I introduced myself as Wei So-ryong, the man nodded approvingly.

“Little dragon; a good name.”

“Thank you, elder. But you’re not feeling well. Should I go get some other members of your clan from the village, sir?”

Having exchanged names, I contemplated bringing in more people from his family when he shook his head.

“No need. My father left for Sichuan with other martial artists, and the ones remaining in the village will surely come here in a day or two.”

“Oh, then what should I do? Water… Ah, since you’ve bled, water is no good… soup… No, soup is no good either.”

In a situation where I had nothing useful to offer, I wore a troubled expression, but the man smiled and asked, “If I just rest and meditate here for a few days, I’ll be fine, so don’t worry. If I need food, I’ll let you know then.”

“Understood, elder. Umm… should I dampen a cloth with water and wipe your lips at least?”

“No, but before that, I have many questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Shouldn’t you rest?”

“This is bearable.”

I paused my attempt to prepare a water-dampened cloth, returning to sit beside him.

At that point, he unleashed a torrent of inquiries that seemed hard to hold back.

“Those little venomous creatures crawling on your body—are they centipedes? Where did you get them? How did you train them? And those countless venomous insects inside—are they all raised by you?”

“Umm… well…”

I earnestly started responding to his questions.

The centipedes came from the eggs of the Blue-Spotted Centipede—my pet, and all the insects inside were raised by me.

“Oh! You hatched them!?”

“Well, they were almost at the hatching stage…”

“Can one even know that?”

“Eh? Kind of…”

“Impressive!”

He praised my breeding skills. With no one to boast to until now, I started feeling good about myself with his commendation and was eager to share my years of breeding accomplishments.

“Please wait a moment, elder.”

I quickly approached my stash and pulled out a Bawangling Cave Gecko.

Typically, a normal Bawangling Cave Gecko would showcase a yellow stripe on its body and distinctive white markings on its tail. But this one had a yellow body and a white tail.

Two colors were all it had.

In my past life, such breeds would have cost millions, even billions!

“Ahem. Well, you can raise something like this too.”

As I presented it to the middle-aged man, he blinked, clearly not grasping how significant this was, so I fetched another creature to explain.

‘He really needs me to spell it out for him.’

“Um… this is a typical lizard. I selectively bred the bigger ones from this species, pairing those with the striking yellow stripes and white markings on their bodies several times to create one with these two colors.”

“You… you mean to say you created the colors!?”

His surprised voice indicated he was just now realizing what I had accomplished.

“Then c-could you possibly pair ones with stronger venom to create even more venomous ones!?”

Theoretically possible, but since there was no way to ascertain which had a more potent venom, that was impossible.

I shook my head in response. “As much as I’d like to, identifying which has the stronger venom would make it doable, but that’s difficult…”

“Is that so!? Is that really the case!?”

“Whoa! That surprised me!”

As if he had eaten firecrackers, his sudden shout made me jump, and he grabbed my hand with fervent eyes.

“You! Become part of my family!”

“W-what!?”

Being part of the family meant becoming a member of his clan.

It felt like he was saying I would be raised as his subordinate, but…

If he could fly and shoot energy blasts, that seemed great. But from what I’d seen earlier, being a martial artist felt slightly dangerous.

It felt as if crazy people were coming to kill me, so I hesitated to respond. In contrast, the man began presenting various benefits.

“First, if you become part of my family, I’ll give you all the martial arts techniques of our Tang clan without reservation, along with spirit medicines, spirit herbs, and any venomous creature you desire.

With your abilities, you could even catch or raise the Ten Great Venoms of the Martial World!

And of course, as a brag, my daughter is one of the Three Flowers of the Central Plains…”

“W-wait a sec!”

I hastily interrupted him, for he had just mentioned something incredulous.

“What did you just say!?”

“Huh? Oh, you’re still young, but you’re a man too, right? Yes! My daughter, one of the Three Flowers…”

The clan head kept pushing some flower reference at me.

I had no interest in that; I shook my head and asked again.

“No, not that flower nonsense. I meant before that.”

“Hmm? Martial arts?”

“No, after that.”

“Spirit medicines and spirit herbs?”

“Further back.”

“The Ten Great Venoms?”

I recalled how in my previous life, I had searched for the world’s most venomous snake and got killed, but the mention of the Ten Great Venoms resonated with my heart.

So, I grabbed the Tang clan head and asked, “Are they as impressive as the Blue-Spotted Centipede?!”

With a smirk, the clan head replied, “Of course! The Blue-Spotted Centipede isn’t even included among the low-level venoms. From giant scorpions to golden glittering golden frogs, whatever you imagine will probably exceed that.”

Hearing about the Ten Great Venoms, I started wondering if I wanted to be part of the family.

‘Give it a shot?’

A guy’s dream is to have the Ten Great Venoms, right?

Or is that just me?