Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 4: The Bitter Death

When Na-ok and the village women and men arrived at the village entrance slightly later than Na-ok, a massive flame was blazing in the distance.

It was the time when those who slept early had already fallen into slumber.

People shouted and rushed towards the house on fire.

“F-fire!”

“Fire!”

Since Song Village was a kinship village, a fire at someone’s home meant it was a family affair.

“Is it really a fire!?”

“Whose house could that be!?”

“It seems to be Na-ok’s house!”

“What!? Na-ok! Na-eun!”

When they reached the flaming house, they found Na-ok cold and lifeless, embracing her younger sister who was burnt and covered in ashes, right in the middle of the yard.

Smoke was rising from her body, and her eyes were vacant.

Even though it looked like she was in immense pain, Na-ok was completely unresponsive and in a daze.

“What in the world happened here!?”

“Na-ok!? What on earth is happening!?”

Uncle Song Ho-jung’s frantic question echoed.

Na-ok, with her dazed eyes, looked up at her uncle and spoke.

“Uncle, Na-eun… Na-eun…”

In the glaring flames, her clothing was half-burnt and her face was bruised.

When Uncle Ho-jung realized the horrible state of Na-eun, his face twisted in fury as he asked.

“Was she already dead when you arrived!? Or did you see who did this!?”

“Uncle, I-I saw a stranger leaving the village entrance….”

Upon hearing Na-ok, Uncle Ho-jung shouted to the gathered villagers.

“Elders, take half the men and ladies to prevent the fire from spreading! The other half, follow me! How dare they come into our Song Village and harm my cousin’s daughter! They can’t have gone far! Let’s go!”

As people rushed to douse the flames engulfing the house, the men brandishing torches began searching around Song Village.

And just like the flames, Na-ok’s consciousness began to fade away.

-Thud.

“Na-ok! Na-ok!”

The desperate voice of a woman echoed distantly, and Na-ok wished this was all just a dream like that burning flame.

*

When Na-ok regained consciousness, a fortnight had already passed.

Days had passed between life and death from the burns on her body, and the shock of her sister being brutally murdered kept her in a stupor.

“Na-Na-eun!”

Her body was covered in herbal ointments, and bandages wrapped around her.

The horrific pain coursed through her whole being.

This was the reality that met Na-ok when she came back to herself.

But what hurt more than that physical pain was the reality that her sister was no longer in this world.

The fact that her sister, whom she had raised like a daughter, was no longer a person in this world.

“Cough! Auntie, have they… caught that guy?”

As soon as she woke up, Na-ok bit her teeth in pain and asked, but the woman shook her head with a sad expression.

“Your uncle is asking those at the postal office to send out skilled trackers, but they have yet to find anything… I can’t imagine it getting any easier…”

“Waaah… Na-eun…”

In the end, the search dragged on for several more days, but as Auntie said, it ended without any results.

The only person who saw the man was Na-ok, but in the darkness, she couldn’t see his face, and so much time had passed while she was unconscious.

Even the skilled tracker Uncle brought couldn’t find any trace of the man among the scattered marks left from putting out the fire.

“I’m so sorry. How can I face my cousin later…”

Uncle Ho-jung apologized, but Na-ok couldn’t respond at all.

It wasn’t Uncle Ho-jung’s fault, nor could she blame him for missing the man; she just wished they could catch him and avenge her sister’s death, but hearing he was eternally lost made her feel half out of her mind.

Na-ok hung her head low, unresponsive, from the guestroom bed in Uncle Ho-jung’s house.

As all life rests in late autumn, so did Na-ok’s heart.

Sometimes, the only communication with the world was a soft moan made while grinding herbs to treat her burns.

And thus, time floated by like flowing water.

-Cricket, cricket.

Na-ok came back to herself when spring came after winter had passed and the Crickets awoke again.

The sound of Crickets chirping outside seemed like her sister’s voice, awakening her mind as if the flickering lamp had been lit anew.

‘Sister, please catch that man. Avenge my death. Waaah….’

In Na-eun’s ears, the sound of Crickets sounded like her sister’s desperate scream.

“Na-eun?”

-Cricket, cricket.

The deep-seated grudge.

Yes, she had raised her sister, and she believed it was also her duty to avenge her sister’s death, so Na-ok decided to recover her strength first.

As soon as she regained her health, she visited Uncle Ho-jung and Auntie to bow deeply.

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re leaving? You haven’t rebuilt your house yet!”

Hearing she was leaving, Uncle thought she meant to return home and asked again.

Na-ok shook her head and replied.

“No. I’m leaving Song Village.”

“What!? Where do you think you’re going? Your health isn’t even fully restored yet!”

“Indeed, Na-ok, you wouldn’t be burdened by that, right? Don’t think like that. How will I face your parents in the afterlife? Take care of yourself a little longer. I’ll have someone repair your house, I promise.”

Despite Uncle and Auntie’s pleas, Na-ok shook her head once more.

“No. My sister screams every night in pain; how can I, her older sister, live in comfort? I will repay her grudge.”

“How can you, as a woman, seek revenge!? You don’t even know who that man is!”

Though Auntie and Uncle tried to keep Na-ok from leaving, her resolve grew stronger with each night the Crickets cried, and she believed if she didn’t avenge her sister, she would starve to death.

On the day she set out to find her sister’s grave, Auntie handed her a pouch filled with dried herbs and said.

“Please, come back alive.”

*

The first place Na-ok headed after leaving Song Village was the capital city.

She thought the man had collided with Na-eun and fled toward the city.

She harbored no worries about how she could find a man whose face she hadn’t even seen.

Just like the horrible burn scars left on Na-ok’s face and body, that man’s voice, his unforgettable voice, was indelibly marked in Na-eun’s memory.

‘Be careful now!’

That’s why Na-ok unwarrantedly approached men in the streets of the capital.

“Excuse me…”

“Ugh… What?”

“Excuse me…”

“Whoa! You startled me!”

The face that had once drawn favorable impressions from people became marred by burn scars, making her a pitiful sight indeed.

And so, one year, then another passed.

Whenever the season returned with the sound of Crickets chirping, Na-ok wandered aimlessly along the streets of the capital half out of her mind, only regaining her senses when the Crickets fell silent.

And in the streets filled with gambling places.

Upon colliding with men entering and exiting a gambling den, Na-ok heard their voices.

“Hey! Be careful!”

“Whoa, you should be the one to watch out!”

Hiding under the awning from the rain, where the Crickets’ songs had vanished, she finally found the owner of that unforgettable voice.

-Thunder!

The thunder that rumbled from the sky, pouring rain down on her, felt like it was striking Na-ok directly.

It had been three long years.

*

“My god…”

The incredulous voice of the older sister rang out.

The emotions we felt upon hearing the woman’s tale were indescribable.

Even Gu Pae, the deputy commander who had shared with us how he lost his parents to bandits while riding in a carriage, was left with an expression of disbelief, not knowing that the woman’s suffering was this profound.

This wasn’t just a level of tragedy; it was something far beyond that.

The woman’s words temporarily halted.

The older sister urged her, “So what happened next?”

“While I was half-conscious, a beggar I befriended told me that the man came to the gambling den I worked at almost every three days.”

“Aha, so that’s why you wanted a job at the gambling den!”

The older sister’s question prompted a nod from the woman.

“Yes, that’s right. Miss, at first, I thought about secretly following him and stabbing him with a knife.

But the old beggar seemed to know everything. He said that, since he’s a martial artist, I couldn’t take revenge with my feminine body…

So, I begged the owner of the gambling den to let me work without pay. The beggar suggested that poisoning the food or drinks the man consumed was the best method.”

Realizing the owner’s earlier words, I understood what the woman meant.

“Oh, so that’s why the owner mentioned that the food tasted strange?”

“I bought poison with the money I begged for, but it didn’t seem to be poison.”

To seek revenge, she bought poison and attempted to lace it in the man’s food, but it seemed they sold her a counterfeit in the Central Plains.

Eventually, due to that incident, the woman was chased to where they raised underground Crickets, and it nearly drove her mad listening to their incessant chirping. When we rescued her from there, she seemed to regain her senses for just a moment.

-Cricket, cricket.

“So that led to this… Ah, I understand now. Na-eun. I—I’ll hurry… I’m sorry for being late…”

Hearing the sound of Crickets outside, the woman curled up again, muttering to herself.

Despite her desperate situation and our willingness to help, I wondered if bringing this woman into the Tang Clan was the right decision.

After all, she wasn’t in her right mind, and we had to raise Crickets, which would drive her mad whenever the sounds of Crickets filled the air.

[But is that really okay?]

Given her unstable state of mind, I had my doubts if we could truly make use of her, and I quietly voiced my concerns to Gu Pae and the older sister, who nodded as if it were the most natural thing.

[Such a situation can only be resolved by quelling the grudge. It’s deep-seated because of that. Moreover, those who help resolve a grudge never betray you, so they are a great asset to the Tang Clan.]

[That’s right. So-ryong. Before I got revenge for my parents, I’d often talk to the Flying Dagger alone. But once the Tang Clan helped me avenge my parents’ deaths, I felt completely healed.

And like the young lady said, those who aid in avenging grudges will never betray you.]

Though I wondered if this was psychologically plausible, it seemed there was little I could do, as Auntie and Gu Pae firmly believed it.

For now, as long as she was in her right mind, it would seem advantageous, and I thought that even if we only taught her how to raise Crickets, that would be a significant help.

[Understood. Then.]

Helping this woman would likely mean we would kill the one who harmed her, but even I, who had never killed anyone, felt a surge of rage within me after hearing her harrowing tale.

The more I felt horror from the woman’s story, the more that rage against the man bubbled up.

After all, he was equivalent to a murderer of two women.

He was a criminal worthy of death.

Such a villain could not possibly stop at one or two crimes, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he probably had even more hidden malice.

For now, to ensure the Crickets were quiet, I asked the Ogong.

“Hey, can you quiet the Crickets down a bit?”

The little Crickets were cowards who would hush up in the presence of a predator.

-Swish!

The Ogong perched on the window made a sound like a scare, and the surroundings fell into an eerie silence.

Then, after a moment, the woman’s voice came back clearly.

“Umm, can you really help me? My mind keeps drifting, and I feel like I can’t handle this alone anymore… If you just help me, I will devote my life to serving you until my soul leaves this body!”

Having already come to an agreement with the older sister and Gu Pae, I asked with a nod.

“So, who exactly is that bastard… I mean, who is he?”

Should I ask the Ogong to bite him?

Or should I have Yo-hwa drag him somewhere up a tree to hang him?

Or maybe a direct execution?

I felt I had to choose the best method among many suitable options to deal with him.