Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Spider Web 3

– Swoosh!

– Crunch!

At my command, Chao swiftly emerged from my sleeve and bit down hard on the back of the Nangong Seol-mimicking pedipalps.

Simultaneously, Nangong Seol’s wide eyes stared at me in utter disbelief.

The eyes of that pedipalps, resembling Nangong Seol, were filled with a clear expression of betrayal.

The face that said, “I cannot believe this,” soon turned to one of deep sorrow.

The originally beautiful face of Nangong Seol now wore a pitiful expression, blending hints of decadence and seduction—an unusual mood for a slightly spring-flower-like fresh beauty.

But even as a transformation—no, a spider mimicry—was still undeniably innocent.

Despite merely being a simple mimic, its heartfelt reaction seemed so real, it left me in awe.

‘That expression looks so genuine!’

There’s an adder called a spider-tailed viper, with its tail end fashioned to resemble a spider, using it to lure its feathered prey by waving it like a real spider.

So, this behavior must be part of its strategy to attract meals.

It appeared that it had evolved this way—coaxing men to lure their Yang Energy as food, surely mimicking the ideal expressions necessary.

Lending its appearance to Nangong Seol was, in that regard, the best choice.

After all, she’s praised as the most beautiful woman in the Central Plains, so using that visage must be far more alluring to men.

For now, I detached Chao, still biting into the creature’s back, cradling her to my chest, and released the creature’s body that I had been holding, stepping back.

It trembled softly, persistently pursuing me.

As it chased after me, its body started to slowly ease out of the brush, ultimately revealing its beautiful form under the moonlight.

A bright red body.

Four large spots on its back.

Velvety soft and dense fur.

It felt like looking at a red spider painted all the way down to its legs as if dipped in crimson.

“Beautiful…”

My awestruck words evoked another bright glare from its spider-like eyes.

It tried to step closer to me but couldn’t follow beyond three steps and abruptly halted.

It felt like a wave of venom was rolling off.

Finally, that creature, resembling Nangong Seol, reached out an arm in an attempt to grab me, but it fell short, its arm slumping down.

– Thud!

It toppled over sideways.

Its body rolled over awkwardly.

And like something sprayed with pesticide, its spider legs twitched in a confused frenzy.

“Let’s see if it’s paralyzed properly…”

It looked as though it was dying from the pesticide, but surely it wasn’t truly dead.

The creature’s abdomen steadily moved, indicating it was still breathing.

‘Well… how can I handle this?’

Feeling confirmed of its paralysis, I gazed at it but found myself unable to resist.

I felt like I had captured a truly remarkable new spider, sparking my curiosity to inspect every inch of it.

Thus, knowing it wouldn’t move for a while, I decided to take a closer look in the meantime.

What on earth does it look like?

Spiders have such varied head shapes, so I started with the face.

‘What shape could it be? Fangs like a tarantula perhaps?’

To see its true face, I grasped the legs of the pedipalps disguised as Nangong Seol, pulling them apart.

While intently observing the area that I suspected to be its face…

“Let’s see. Just how pretty are you?”

Suddenly, I heard a shocked voice from behind.

“Do, So-ryong, no!”

Turning quickly in surprise, I saw my older sister, with Bin and Hyang perched on her shoulders, rushing toward me.

Upon reaching me, she embraced me tightly and spoke.

“Try to breathe using the Tang Clan’s internal breathing technique. Hah… Hah… You can do it, So-ryong.”

“Uh? All of a sudden?”

As I blinked at her unexpected command to breathe, my sister’s eyes widened in shock as she scrutinized mine.

Staring deep into my eyes, she wore a look of disbelief.

“Are you under the influence of the mist? Then, what!?”

With an expression of even more surprise, she pressed.

“So-ryong, what exactly were you doing right now?”

My sister’s face flushed bright red.

Turning to check my actions, I realized I must have looked suspicious; I had indeed been pulling apart the legs of the Nangong Seol imitation.

“Uh, that’s not it! I can explain everything! Really! I was just trying to see how pretty it is!”

“Whaat!? You were trying to see if it’s pretty!? Where!?”

It felt like misunderstandings were piling up, getting increasingly awkward.

*

“So you were simply trying to see how pretty it is? This isn’t a person, but merely a mimicry of a person’s body?”

With her arms crossed, my sister gazed at me inquisitively.

She seemed to think I was showing some unusual tendencies toward what I assumed to be a mere spider.

So I gently stroked the belly of the downed mimic that I had captured and quickly responded.

“Yes! I was just curious about how beautiful the mimic looks! Just look at that red color, it’s so striking! And the fur is so smooth and soft!”

“Okay, alright! Just stop touching the mimic!”

As I stroked its soft belly, my sister jumped back in shock.

I swiftly pulled my hand away, and only then did she seem to feel some relief.

Her intense reaction was somewhat odd, considering my interest was purely admiration, not love.

With the misunderstandings mostly cleared up, I felt it was a bit regrettable but decided to inspect it later.

I didn’t know just how strong it was, but I wanted to bind its legs with the web scattered on the floor, just in case it might wake.

Spider silk is incredibly elastic and strong, so it could definitely withstand whatever strength it possessed.

Once I secured it, my sister asked a question.

“By the way, So-ryong, why were you here? It doesn’t seem like you were lured by this creature.”

That reminded me; I had completely forgotten that I had come chasing after a scream.

“Oh! That’s right! I heard a scream!”

“A scream!?”

“Yes, I followed someone’s scream…”

“Then let’s check the surroundings. Someone might’ve been attacked by this creature.”

Caught up with the spider, I had completely forgotten about our safety.

My sister and I scanned the area for a moment, but there were no traces of Nangong Eun or Nangong Seol.

“There’s nothing around?”

“Indeed, odd. It was definitely a scream! Could this creature really let out a sound?”

I crouched in front of the spider, pondering whether it could actually produce a sound.

– Drip.

A droplet fell onto my head.

Looking up expecting rain, I saw something dangling from the top of the trees.

“Could it be!?”

My exclamation attracted my sister’s astonished voice.

“Eun!”

Before long, the Flying Dagger swooped down, and my sister quickly caught Nangong Eun as she fell from her cocoon.

“Eun, are you okay?”

Nangong Eun, unable to respond but shedding tears freely, seemed to have been bitten by the spider, her eyes darting around indicating she too was probably affected by a paralyzing venom.

It didn’t seem life-threatening, so I carefully laid her down on the floor.

“Now, the only one left is Nangong Seol, but she still hasn’t managed to find us.”

As I mentioned the final remaining Nangong Seol, my sister began surveying the dissipating mist around us and said.

“She probably won’t be able to enter easily until the fog is completely cleared. I know because I hesitated to step into the mist at first. Are you alright, So-ryong? Ah, you are fine… right?”

“Nothing more than visibility issues?”

I shook my head, as there was nothing else wrong, prompting my sister to shudder slightly as she said.

It sounded as though she had a rather unpleasant experience.

“This mist appears to have been conjured by the mimic; inhaling it feels like being intoxicated like a ‘spring medicine’—it’s strong enough to believe that’s what it is, even though it’s not quite as potent.”

“Is it the mist?”

“Yes, I barely inhaled some and was so startled that I fled to the edge of the mist to purge the energy. I doubt Nangong Seol can come in until it fully clears; few internal cultivation techniques can withstand poisons or drugs as well as those of the Tang Clan.”

“Oh, so the townsfolk who seemed to be entranced may have been affected by this mist…”

Her explanation pieced together clues.

So, the townsfolk assumed they were seeing similar things after becoming enchanted by the mist and then by the spider.

I finally understood my sister’s earlier reaction to me as well.

I must’ve appeared to be under the intoxication of the mist, ready to do something strange with the spider.

‘As if! Is the essence of the mist some sort of pheromone that puts people in a frenzy?’

What an intriguing creature this was.

I found myself curious about its name.

“So, do you happen to know the name of this creature?”

With a specimen this remarkable, I felt like my sister would know its name.

So, I inquired about it, only to see her face quickly flush with panic, her expression turning awkward as she replied.

“Uh, well… I think I should check with the clan. I feel like I might remember it, but it isn’t clear right now.”

“Even Hua Eun doesn’t know something? I thought everyone from the Tang Clan memorized the names of all venomous creatures.”

“Not every single one of them, alright?”

She seemed to know something but was clearly hiding it.

But what could I do about it? If my sister was in the dark, then so be it.

While we were chatting, Nangong Seol appeared in the small clearing we occupied.

Upon seeing her collapsed younger sister and the spider, Nangong Seol drew her sword in a fit of rage.

– Swoosh.

“This beast has tarnished my honor, and now even Eun’s!”

With a single swing, she aimed to slay it with all her might.

I quickly rushed in front of her, arms wide.

“Wait! Nangong Eun is alive, and the mimic is mine! I caught it!”

“What?”

Nangong Seol looked startled by my words.

Seemingly, the Nangong family lacked the basic principles of decency.

Even if they had gone out collectively for insect collection, the one who caught it retains rightful ownership; that’s an unspoken rule of collective insect hunting.

‘The ethics of that family must have been crushed along with the lizard they gutted.’