Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 4: The Search for the Ice Orb

“I know someone who has the Ice Orb,” my older sister said, and I was about to ask who in the world it could be when—

—Kookku!

A lizard’s cry echoed beneath my feet.

Glancing down, I saw its yellow, vertical slit eyes staring up at me, as if pleading for immediate treatment.

It struck me that in our conversation, we had forgotten about the patient we were supposed to be caring for.

I quickly apologized to the creature looking up at me and resolved to hurry with the treatment first.

“Sorry for being late. Did I keep you waiting? Let’s take care of this little guy first. They’re looking anxious.”

“How curious. This lizard understands human speech so well.”

“Understood, Wei So-ryong. Let’s treat this one first. It’s really worried.”

I crouched down and showed the little one a seed to explain.

“I’m going to plant this seed for now, okay?”

—Kkukk!

Even if it couldn’t grow much here, at least if a little energy flowed from it, planting it again would be the right thing to do.

Before we could bring back the Ice Orb, the two of them could somehow make do with this.

So, I quickly planted the Seol-sam seed under a rock and decided to check on the sick one more thoroughly.

Earlier, I couldn’t give it my full attention due to other distractions.

At first glance, it had seemed like a lizard that could easily lose its tail, but I hadn’t checked properly.

I wasn’t going to cut off its tail myself, but rather coax it into severing it voluntarily.

What I meant by that is I planned to guide the lizard to induce ja-jeol (self-amputation) rather than cutting its tail with a knife.

Some species can ja-jeol, while others cannot, and while most lizards can regenerate their tails, some can’t at all.

There are various characteristics among lizards: those that can’t do ja-jeol and cannot regenerate, and those that can do both.

While we often think that all lizards can sever their tails at will, that isn’t the case in reality.

Hence, I was diligently checking the tail.

With the tail tip rotting, I definitely had to cut it, but if it couldn’t ja-jeol, I would have to do it manually, which could be dangerous.

Ja-jeol is less stressful since it involves self-severing, but cutting the tail forcibly could potentially kill the creature.

As I gently examined the sick lizard’s tail, my sister asked.

“What are you doing, Wei So-ryong?”

“Oh, I’m checking where its tail would be cut.”

“Where it would be cut?”

“Yes, it’s called a talijul (point of detachment). There’s a predetermined spot where the tail would sever, so I need to see if that’s there.”

“Talijul? As in the nodal point of detachment, right?”

Lizards that can self-amputate have a common feature: there’s a specific point on their tails where cutting is programmed, known as the talijul.

You can think of the talijul as a particular area predetermined to be severed, where irritation causes the muscles to contract in a special way, allowing them to detach.

With a membrane that prevents bleeding and vessels that constrict rapidly, they bleed little, making separation easier.

“Yes, while it may seem like a lizard’s tail can be cut anywhere, it’s not true. There’s a designated area for cutting on a lizard’s tail.”

“Ah… So it doesn’t just break off anywhere.”

I smiled at her response and examined the tail to see where the cutting point lay.

Moments later, I identified three potential cutting points on its tail.

‘Looks like about three spots.’

“Have you found it, Wei So-ryong?”

“Yes, it seems to be about three spots. Thankfully.”

“I didn’t know lizards were this knowledgeable, but you seem to know so much about them. It’s quite amazing.”

If the tail had been slightly rotten, I would try to salvage it, but it was nearly half decayed, so I planned to cut it as close to the body as possible, just in case the rot spread further.

‘Better to cut it a little too early than to have it die because I tried to save too much of the tail.’

“Alright, let’s begin.”

—Kkuk!

With the patient caretaker’s consent, I informed the little one that the operation was starting and began the procedure.

Though claiming it’s an operation was a tad of an exaggeration—it was just pinching with my thumb and index finger.

I pressed on the supposed talijul, applying gentle pressure.

By doing so, I could induce the lizard to self-amputate its tail.

This normally happens almost reflexively, and it’s why you need to be careful when handling lizards.

If you accidentally grab their tail, it may snap off, or if they’re mating, the male might inadvertently cause its tail to detach.

It’s known that lizard tails can regenerate, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely restored.

The regrown tail usually lacks bones and tends to be smaller than the original.

Some might not even regenerate at all.

Thus, focusing on the sensation at my fingertips, I began to sense a peculiar feeling beneath the lizard’s skin.

It felt like it had a pulse, almost as if something was throbbing inside its tail.

Just when I thought there was some sort of pulse beneath the tail skin, I heard a tearing sound.

—Chiiik!

Then, it began to detach cleanly as if its tail was being pulled out from the inside out.

Slowly, through the fissures in the lizard’s skin, I could see its muscles.

Eventually, its skin fully detached.

There was hardly any blood; it had come off very cleanly.

The operation was successful.

The little guy, seemingly unfazed by the pain, briefly opened its eyes before closing them again.

—Patadak!

As soon as it fell to the ground, the severed tail began to wriggle.

Its muscles were raised at the cut end, resembling a bouncing club.

If it had been healthy, it would have thrushed around frantically for a while, but since it was half rotten, it merely twitched weakly.

I lifted the wriggling tail to inspect the cut surface.

I wanted to check how far the rot had progressed.

If it advanced further in, it could spell disaster.

Typically, when a surface is about half rotted, it often extends much deeper into the bone.

Inspecting the cut surface revealed gray muscle already near the last nodal root.

The cross-section of a severed tail should be translucent pink with vitality, but it had already turned gray.

If I had been a moment slower, it would have invaded its body.

“Alright, it’s done. It wasn’t hard, right? Just make sure to lick it clean so it doesn’t rot. We’ll head over there, so if anything happens, call for us.”

—Kkuk!

I told Bin, still unable to call it by its new name, to look after Seol-i, and we quickly turned back to our camp.

Having removed the inflammation from its eyes and tail, it should gradually regain its energy soon, but we needed to fetch that Ice Orb for sufficient nutrition when it began to regenerate its tail.

“Hua Eun, so who exactly has the Ice Orb?” I asked my sister as we reached the campfire.

Before we had even settled in, her response left me flabbergasted.

“Well… how should I put this? Hmm, maybe it could be classified as another type of herb?”

“Huh!?”

“The Ice Orb belongs to Nangong Seol, the daughter of the esteemed Nangong Clan, one of the Three Blossoms of the Martial Forest Alliance.”

“Hmm…”

My sister seemed to carry a surprising amount of grudges.

What on earth was the artisan thinking telling her about that…

*

Two days later, the lizard that had been out cold finally regained consciousness.

It appeared that the inflammation causing its unconsciousness had been resolved, restoring its condition.

—Kkukk!

—Kkuk!

As we approached the lizard’s rocky home, it greeted us warmly with excited chirps.

It seemed to have grown accustomed to us over the past few days, one even sprinting towards us like a puppy.

‘What the heck, a lizard puppy? If this were my past life, it would’ve exploded in views!’

This creature resembled a scaled-tailed lizard mixed with a gecko but was quite large, looking similar to a pine cone lizard.

The sick one still hadn’t fully recovered, so I reached out to the healthy one.

It then responded with the prickly, cool texture of its ridged head.

‘Ah, this is the charm of lizards, no doubt.’

Delighted to feel the lizard’s texture after so long, I asked it, “How have you been?”

Now, it sat still as I scratched its head.

Seeing me, my sister carefully extended her hand, but oddly enough, the lizard flinched and scrutinized her.

—Kkuk!?

“Why… why is it avoiding my hand?”

My sister said, somewhat hurt, but Bin seemed to be searching for something with its eyes.

It was mostly watching around my sister’s shoulder, which made me think about showing off the Ogong I had seen her with a few days prior, rolling up my sleeve to show it.

—Kyaak!

At that, Bin startled and quickly backed away from my hand.

It really recoiled at the sight of the Ogong.

“Looks like it thought the Ogong was with Hua Eun.”

“I don’t have it. It originally belonged to Wei So-ryong.”

How sly of my sister to sell me out just to pet it.

When she showed her arm again and reached out, the lizard rested its head against her palm.

And when she gently scratched its chin, it closed its eyes, seemingly pleased.

Now it was somewhat comfortable around humans, having lost its wariness of us.

Knowing we needed to get the Ice Orb without delay, I directed them, “We have to head back now.”

—Kkuk!?

—Kkuk!?

The lizards’ eyes widened in surprise.

The sick one looked just as astonished, but I smiled while explaining, “Of course we aren’t leaving completely; we’re just going to fetch some food for you guys. Since the Seol-sam won’t grow anymore.

So, I’m saying, it seems you can’t continue living here like this. How about we bring back some food for you and then go together with us?”

Upon hearing my question, the two azure lizards exchanged glances.

*

With Bin and Seol-i left behind, we returned to the Four Heavenly Houses.

News had arrived while we were gone, and it seemed there was quite a bit happening.

The biggest of which revolved around the Blood Cult.

The reports indicated that we had captured a servant of the Blood Cult infiltrated within the Martial Forest Alliance and that we had raided a hideout they had set up near the Martial Forest Alliance’s base.

In spite of harsh torture, the servant wouldn’t speak, but we discovered the hideout by following the owl it had raised.

Additionally, included in the news was information about the Hoban Yusa I had extracted venom from earlier.

The venom we had collected from the captured yulhyeongmuk had contributed significantly to our success during the raid.

Also, there was news that a proclamation had been dispatched throughout the Central Plains addressing all Blood Cult members.

“The head of the alliance personally sent a handwritten letter of gratitude. Wei So-ryong, you should take immense pride in this.”

And among the correspondence waiting for us at the Four Heavenly Houses was the leader’s letter of thanks.

I figured the promised rewards from the military had also arrived, but that would take time before they could gather the materials.

Once the backlog of messages had been cleared, the artisan inquired, “So, did you catch the lizard? I suppose I need to see how it looks for the venom collection.”

“As it turns out, I sort of caught it, or maybe I should say we only caught half of it?”

“Half?”

“Yes, so what happened was…”

I explained the story of Bin and Seol-i and the Ice Orb to the artisan.

True to his resourceful nature, he was determined to find it somehow.

“The Ice Orb, huh? That’s not something you can easily acquire, but I’ll see what I can find. Don’t worry.”

At that, my sister spoke cautiously.

“Father, there’s something I need to discuss regarding the Ice Orb. I actually know someone who has it.”

“You do?”

“Yes, Father. I was thinking of going with Wei So-ryong to visit her, is that alright?”

“It’s not the best time; where do you plan to go?”

In response to the artisan’s question, my sister replied, her voice laced with charm, “To the Nangong Clan located in Anhui Province.”

“The Nangong Clan?”

“Yes, I saw that Nangong Seol has the Ice Orb.”

After a moment’s contemplation, the artisan proposed something to us.

“Hmm… Would you mind doing me a favor on your way? I happen to have something to pass on while you’re going.”

While it seemed like a good arrangement, a thought crossed my mind about the artisan’s errand.

‘Is he going to pay for that favor?’

After all, I was still young enough to be expecting a reward for running errands!