Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Twenty-Four Poisons Branch 5

The sight of a cobalt-blue snake gliding through the sky, writhing like a wave, felt incredibly out of place.

It was as if it were a sea serpent swimming in a blue ocean, soaring high above the ground.

As it swam and revealed its side, I couldn’t help but notice its two emerald horns protruding from its head and something running from its head down to its back, glinting in the sunlight.

‘Is that a dorsal fin?’

With a fin-like appendage sprouting and floating between the valleys, I couldn’t determine its exact size, but it appeared to be about the same size as the silk python I had caught recently.

Everything about it—the size, the appearance, and the fact that it could fly—was simply remarkable.

But while it looked cool, catching something so fast, gliding, jumping, and diving wasn’t something I had experience with. How was I supposed to catch a flying snake?

Having never encountered something like that before, I could only stand there, dumbfounded, gazing up at it.

I was an expert in collecting crawling creatures, after all.

‘How on earth am I supposed to catch that?’

It was while I watched it for a while that it completely vanished from sight.

“Well then, I suppose we need to move back a bit. Let’s pull back about a hundred paces.”

After it appeared, we scattered and hid, hearing the voice of Grandfather Mandok commanding us to retreat about three hundred meters.

The others quickly followed his orders.

However, even though I heard what Grandfather said, my head was filled with worries about how I could catch that thing, and I kept turning back to look. Beside me, Older Sister Seol urged me on.

“Long, what are you doing? Let’s go.”

“Oh, Sister. Yes, understood.”

I snapped back to reality at Seol’s urging and began to turn my body to follow Grandfather.

Staring at it wouldn’t give me any answers, after all.

Suddenly, as Seol noticed something in my expression, she smiled and asked.

“Your face looks so full of concern, quite different from the anticipation before. Why? Do you think you can’t catch it? Or that it’ll be hard to do so?”

“Ah, it’s not that I lack experience, but I’ve never caught a snake that flies before. How on earth do I draw it down?”

With no thought on how to approach it springing to mind, I voiced my concerns, and Seol playfully pinched my cheek.

“I thought you’d know something since you’ve been hanging out with spirit creatures. It seems you still don’t know the basics, huh? Have you only been catching spirit creatures?”

“How can you say I don’t know? What do you mean?”

Wait a minute, did she just bring up basics with this spicy Fabre?

I felt a twinge of disappointment towards Seol, but after hearing her explanation, it was clear I really didn’t know the fundamentals.

“Whatever its flying style, it can’t fly infinitely, so it will come down at some point. It’s a living being, so it must eat and sleep, right?

In our Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, we tame ferocious beasts this way. No matter how wild they are, they tend to relax when they’re eating or sleeping, which makes them easier to catch.

It looks like the Mandok God wants us to observe it for a few days to see what it eats, when it sleeps, and where its home is.”

‘Oh… Why didn’t I think of that?’

Thinking back on what Seol had said, it was indeed a basic approach.

When I caught Seol and Bin, hadn’t I watched them for several days to see what they ate?

This was all about seizing a moment in that process.

As Seol said, it was a living creature; it had to eat and sleep.

Even if it was feeding on energy like the Ogong, it surely would come down to sleep on the ground.

From my past games, I remembered that the moment right after hunting was when the prey was most vulnerable, right?

‘That’s true, the time when you’re tending to your catch is indeed the most vulnerable moment.’

Now, I understood why Grandfather had remained calm and sent us to pull back to the valley’s entrance.

“So that’s how it is!?”

“That’s right, so just trust me, Long. I’ll catch it and place it right on your shoulder. I promised I’d catch it.”

Seol’s bold declaration made me feel strangely reassured.

‘Wait, what happened to all my friends from my previous life who said older sisters were a hassle?’

I began to doubt what my friends had told me and what I had read online.

*

Just as Seol predicted, after retreating about a hundred paces, Grandfather immediately began scouting for a new campsite.

Until now, we had merely wandered around and spent nights beneath the trees, but now that we knew where the creature appeared, we needed to set up a base and move.

“First, we need to create a place to stay for a few days. Is there a nearby cave or a large rock in the valley that can shelter us from the rain?

We need to follow it for a few days to find out when it eats, what it eats, and where it resides, so we’ll need to camp here for a while.

It would be nice if we could find a place to avoid the night dew.”

Grandfather Mandok asked Seol, who had brought the warriors from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace to help us if there was a place where we could stay for a few days.

Seol asked him back.

“How about making one here?”

“Make one?”

“Yes, it can be done quickly.”

“This place is good, but… are you serious about making it?”

Since the valley’s entrance was flowing with water, it would be easy to find drinking water, and there were plenty of fish in the water, making it a decent camping site. As Grandfather looked around and nodded in agreement, Seol immediately signaled her warriors from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.

“Get ready.”

“Yes, Elder!”

Seol was the daughter of the Beast Palace Lord and held the title of Elder.

From what I heard, her father was the chairman, and until she became the palace lord, she had been taking on various roles to gain experience, so when Seol gave her commands, the warriors sprung into action.

– Thud. Crash.

After a short while, large bamboo and banana leaves were being moved to the edge of our valley.

And the tropical vines.

The warriors from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace used their large blades to clear through the jungle, proving to be incredibly useful.

With just bamboo, banana leaves, and vines, they quickly began constructing a temporary shelter.

They seemed fairly skilled, almost like the YouTubers I recalled from my past life who made temporary homes in Vietnam.

To prevent moisture from rising from the ground, they cut the bamboo to create a platform and erected pillars around it to cover it with banana leaves, completing their temporary dwelling in no time.

‘So this is what people living in the jungle can do? Wow, they’d get tons of views if I took them with me.’

After just a few hours, the campsite was ready, and the next order came down.

Grandfather had the warriors begin their watch.

He was sincerely invested in the venomous creatures like me.

He seemed eager to catch that creature as quickly as possible.

“Wow, it’s amazing how quickly a resting place was prepared. Now we can start our next task without worry. Let’s quietly monitor the creature by moving up the valley. Will the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace take care of the night watch?”

“Yes, Elder. We’ll handle it at night. We should be the best fit for that.”

“Then during the day, we’ll handle it, and at night, we’ll leave it to the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. Gu Pae, take two people with you and follow it to confirm its location and report back.”

“Yes! Deputy Commander Mandok!”

During the day, the Tang Clan would monitor, and at night, it would be the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace keeping watch over the Flying Heavenly Snake as commanded by Grandfather. Deputy Commander Gu Pae led members of the Poison Blood Team, which he had previously served with, up the valley to move stealthily in the direction where the creature had disappeared.

Following this, Seol gave her command.

“Alright, the warriors from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace should rest until nightfall, and a few should prepare dinner.”

“Understood, Elder!”

About half of the warriors from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace disappeared into the temporary bamboo hut, while the remainder set off to hunt outside the valley.

At that moment, Seol gestured for me to come closer.

“Long, come here.”

“Did you call for me?”

I approached her to find out why she called, and she nodded.

“Yes. So Ryong, how about we go check on the watchmen tonight when they’re keeping an eye on the Flying Heavenly Snake? Let’s take Hua Eun with us, just the three of us.”

“Together at night?”

“Yep.”

It seemed she wanted to patrol and see if the warriors from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace were effectively observing the Flying Heavenly Snake, but as I hesitated to answer, Seol blinked her eyes at me.

“Don’t you want to?”

Although she asked if I didn’t want to, she looked as if it was impossible for me to dislike the idea.

I quickly waved my hands and responded.

There was no way I would refuse an invitation to see the Flying Heavenly Snake!

No matter who else was there, I’d definitely follow along, right?

How could I ignore the one I liked just because someone else was with me?

I’d only need to focus on the one I admired.

However, the reason I couldn’t immediately respond to Seol’s suggestion was due to another concern.

“N-No, not that. I’ve learned how to use Eye Technique, but I’m not proficient at it during the night.”

She then slapped her palm, recalling that I had mentioned being a newbie in the Martial World.

“Oh, right. You said you haven’t been a part of the Martial World for long.”

“Yes, Sister.”

“Then before nightfall, So Ryong should practice raising your Eye Technique with me.”

“I already know how to do it, Older Sister.”

It wasn’t that I was unaccustomed; I had learned how to utilize Eye Technique, but there was no need to learn it again. Seol wiggled her finger and spoke.

“Do you understand why Grandfather positioned the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace to watch during the night?”

“Well, I’m not sure?”

As I scratched my head in confusion, Seol covered her eyes with her hands while smiling.

“Just watch.”

When she told me to look at her eyes, I uneasily matched her gaze, and her pupils slowly expanded.

Soon, her irises vanished, leaving only her pupils behind, giving her a vacant stare.

“What the!?”

As far as I knew, pupils adjust automatically based on the amount of light entering, but Seol was manually adjusting her pupils.

With her pupils wide open like that, she could take in more light at night, allowing her to distinguish objects easily or perceive them much brighter using moonlight or starlight.

“Isn’t it amazing? This is one of the techniques developed from observing owls from ancient times. By concentrating your inner energy strongly into your eyes, you can become fatigued easily, but this method allows you to see things at night with less inner energy. It’s called Cat’s Night Vision Technique.”

‘What a fantastic skill!’

The venomous creatures I wanted to catch were predominantly nocturnal.

Centipedes, scorpions, snakes, toads, and frogs were mostly nocturnal beings.

If I had such a sweet ability, I needed to learn it right away.

It’s like having night vision goggles.

“Want to learn?”

With a beaming smile, Seol asked me, and I nodded vigorously, shaking my head as if doing it three hundred times a second.

*

– Whooosh!

The fin-like structure that had spread between the green horns on its head folded as the Flying Heavenly Snake dove into the moonlit river of the valley, sending up a spray of water.

Moments later, it soared back up with a carp in its mouth.

As it slowly began to swallow the flapping, oversized carp, Seol and Hua Eun couldn’t help but exclaim in hushed voices.

[As expected, it’s a Fire Carp!]

[It was the same three days ago. So that means it definitely hunts Fire Carps living in this valley.]

[But why does it only eat Fire Carps? It wasn’t even a hundred-year-old Fire Carp, right?]

[Who knows? Is it particularly tasty?]

The fish it had caught wasn’t just any carp; it was a red silk carp.

I had checked, and it wasn’t a spirit-grade fish.

Seol and Hua Eun were fascinated by how it was eating Fire Carps, but the first thought that popped into my head was, ‘That little brat’s meal costs an arm and a leg.’

‘What’s this? Not just a carp, but it goes for the fancy red silk carp instead…’

In my previous life, there was no way I could have raised something like that, but since the cost was on the artisan, I decided to focus on catching it instead.

Therefore, I decided to summarize everything I had learned up to this point.

[So, what we’ve deduced so far is that it eats Fire Carps every three days, and it sleeps on warm rocks during the day after eating, right?]

[And that its limit is to fly for about one meal’s worth of time?]

[Oh, that too.]

According to Hua Eun, the creature’s flying time was limited.

It could fly for about thirty minutes at most.

It wasn’t particularly fast, either, and it required a similar time to rest after each flight.

Watching it eat the Fire Carp made it clear that its poison wasn’t that strong, as Grandfather had mentioned.

Seeing the Fire Carp stiffen, it felt like a paralysis toxin.

Having gathered most of the information, the following day, I would compile what we had observed thus far and set my trap when the creature went to hunt the Fire Carps.

The information I had gathered felt rather underwhelming, leaving me quite curious why this creature was the head of the Twenty-Four Poisons Branch. However, as soon as the fight began, its true prowess was revealed.

– Whoosh!

– Bang!

“Kyaak!”

With a body nearing six meters long.

A remarkably tough hide.

And the physical shock generated by its diving energy.

While it might not be in the category of Ten Great Venoms in terms of toxin, when it slammed into the rocky ground while catching a Fire Carp, the shards of stone flying in all directions caused quite a few injuries.

‘Is this a missile or something!?’

“Everyone, fall back!”

The first attempt at capturing the Flying Heavenly Snake ended in utter failure.