Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 6: Twenty-Four Poisons Branch

“Are you okay? Hua Eun?”

“It’s just a light brush. Once it stops bleeding, we can apply the golden healing ointment, so don’t worry, So-ryong.”

Hua Eun, wrapping her hand with cloth, replied reassuringly as if to calm my concerns.

But to ease her worries, I held her wrist to check the injury.

“Let me see for a moment.”

“So, So-ryong.”

Having shared a bed with Older Sister Seol for several days, Hua Eun seemed slightly embarrassed by my grip on her wrist.

Gently peeling back the cloth, I examined the wound, and true to her word, it was merely a light scrape on the back of her hand.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“I told you so…”

As her blood had nearly stopped flowing, I smiled awkwardly and then checked to see if the other kids were hurt.

“Are you all alright?”

-Thunk!

-Crack!

-Swish!

The kids answered me robustly.

Among our family, only Hua Eun was injured, but beyond her, quite a few had sustained injuries, and nearby, Mandok God Grandfather was tending to the wounded.

“Ugh…”

“We’ll set the broken arm in wooden splints.”

“I’m sorry. Showing such disgrace as the clan head.”

“No need to apologize; it’s not like you could avoid the attack. Who could have guessed the stone would bounce like that? Just take care of your health.”

“Thank you.”

One warrior from the Tang Clan had his arm broken by a large stone that came crashing down, while a warrior from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace sustained a deep gash on his leg, rendering him completely out of the fight.

As I turned to look at Grandfather’s voice, I noticed the injured were tending to each other’s wounds.

Then, Older Sister Seol, after assessing the situation with the Southern Barbarian warriors, approached us, her expression one of disbelief.

“I never imagined it would be this strong… So, they say the head of the Twenty-Four Poisons Branch from the Tang Clan is strong for this very reason? Long, is Hua Eun alright?”

“Yes, Older Sister Seol. It’s just a light brush.”

Our first attempt at the Flying Heavenly Snake couldn’t have gone more wrong when the thing dove into the water to attack Hua Ri.

Though the valley was long, there were only about three deep points where Hua Ri could survive.

We had set one trap and waited for it to show itself.

By creating a web from jungle vines and Yo-hwa’s thread, we prevented it from escaping the water before letting down our guard to catch it.

However, I never imagined it would rise up with the weight of the stone web still on it.

I assumed that creatures would usually lose their ability to fly when tangled in nets, but this one operated on an entirely different mechanism.

It resembled something out of a psychic fantasy.

“What?! You can fly like that?!”

“Just like that, it flew up!”

And I thought it would run away from the weight of the web, but instead, it smashed right into the ground.

-Bang!

Suddenly, the creature, high in the air, plummeted down, startling everyone as they dove for cover, but the real problem was the shower of stone fragments flying in all directions when its massive body hit the ground.

Its charge was certainly something I could evade, but the shrapnel that exploded outward was a different story.

Even for quick-thinking warriors from the Tang Clan, those pieces flying at breakneck speeds were an experience none had faced before.

Thus, when its charge collided for the third time, Grandfather ordered a swift retreat.

“Everyone fall back!”

From the third charge onward, most members managed to evade the debris, but already after two collisions, our formation was shattered, and there were numerous injuries, making it clear capturing the creature was impossible under these circumstances.

Had we aimed at killing it, with Mandok God Grandfather present, it might have been feasible, but causing unnecessary casualties was fundamentally flawed.

Though the Venomous Insects could provide some assistance to the Tang Clan, the loss of invaluable warriors in pursuit of a mere hobby was out of the question.

After a while, once treatment for the injured was handled, Grandfather approached us.

With a voice tinged with regret, he addressed us.

“It seems we underestimated the creature, having seen what it could do over the last few days without proper preparations. Considering the Blue-Spotted Centipede incident, we should have been more careful, especially with a creature of this caliber.”

I nodded instinctively at Grandfather’s words.

As I registered my agreement, someone directed a question at me.

“Then what now? So-ryong, do you have any good ideas?”

Probably needing my expertise as a specialist after such an initial failure.

However, what was needed right now wasn’t a Venomous Insect specialist but rather a different approach entirely.

This creature was unlike any I had encountered before.

The professional knowledge I had previously acquired wouldn’t apply to it.

So something other than the usual methods was necessary.

“I’ll think it over for a bit.”

‘We need a thought that surpasses our previous understandings.’

Flying in the air, diving like a missile, scattering fragments around—all things no known creature from my past life could do. Now was the time for a fresh perspective.

“Hmm…”

Just as I momentarily pondered Grandfather’s question, my thoughts halted at one point.

‘I have to catch an unknown creature I’ve never grappled with before… The only known pattern is its dive and then it crashes… Wait? Pattern? Oh! Suddenly this feels like a new boss raid from a game!’

Lost in thought, I began to view our current situation as a raid against a new game boss, and if this was indeed a boss raid, we had only one task.

Suddenly snapping out of my thoughts, I said to Grandfather, “We definitely need to analyze that creature more closely.”

“Analyze? Break it down? What do you mean by that?”

It seemed this was a term unfamiliar to the current era, and my explanation was needed.

“What I mean is, we need to observe how it behaves during combat, how it attacks, things like that. If we understand its principles and behavior, we can find ways to counter it.”

“I see. Know your enemy and know yourself. Is that what you mean?”

“That’s part of it, but think about how that creature flew up while wrapped in the net today?”

“That is true.”

Sure enough, as Hua Eun mentioned, the technique I had learned about the Lightness Skill involved employing my foot’s contact to push myself upward.

“Exactly?”

Indeed, as Hua Eun said, the technique felt very rhythmic, much like a rhythm game where you impact your energy with precision.

“But what sets the Flying Heavenly Snake apart is that it seems to utilize all its internal energy to lift itself off the ground. In a way, it’s as if it grabs its own collar with its strength and yanks itself up.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Which is why you can only do it with an immense amount of internal energy.”

Hua Eun depicted a scenario where one remains stationary, utilizing their energy to manifest a force that could hoist them skyward, and even as someone like me, a novice in martial arts understood how astonishing that was, I couldn’t help but ask incredulously, “So that means it has incredible internal energy?”

At my query, Mandok God Grandfather, Older Sister Seol, and Hua Eun all shook their heads in unison.

“No, it’s not internal energy, but Inner Dan, So-ryong.”

“It must be Inner Dan.”

“Definitely Inner Dan, Long.”

“Inner Dan?”

If it’s Inner Dan, then it relates to the elixir filled with that wondrous energy, the very essence that Hua Eun consumed and advanced her martial skills dramatically.

‘If Hua Eun broke through by ingesting a lower-grade elixir, then just think what it would mean to consume the Inner Dan of such a creature…’

As the notion of Inner Dan spread through everyone’s awareness, their glances swung eagerly toward the rugged area where the creature retreated earlier.

“Well… It seems we’ve found yet another compelling reason we must capture it.”

“So-ryong, we absolutely have to catch that thing.”

While I struggled to comprehend why everyone was so thrilled by the notion of Inner Dan, as building internal energy is achievable through practice, why so desperately dissect a creature for its valuable essence?

‘That seems quite wasteful.’

But when it came to making a case against capturing it, I knew convincing the others would be a tough task.

In an atmosphere quickly heading toward kill mode, I cautiously spoke up.

“However, we need to capture it alive.”

“Why’s that, Long?”

“Why? So-ryong?”

“Because there is still very little known about spirit creatures, right? If we intend to find out how it produces Inner Dan, we must keep it alive. Who knows? We might discover a method to extract the Inner Dan safely!”

The mention of it being a potential source of golden eggs sparked recognition in their expressions.

At my statement, Grandfather nodded, “So, So-ryong, what’s the plan now?”

With the topic of Inner Dan arising, we veered slightly off course here, but what we really needed to focus on was quite simple.

‘When tackling a new boss, the one official strategy for a raid was to relentlessly hit the head.’

“We need to continue the search for its attack mannerisms and reactions to ensure we can dissect its every move.”

Nothing more, nothing less.

After all, when a new boss appears, the first course of action is to slam against it head-on until its patterns become clear.

*

Our twenty-first attempt at the Flying Heavenly Snake.

‘Confirming collision patterns.’

“Dodge!”

-Whoosh!

-Bang!

As the creature emitted a warning noise and dove into the rocky terrain, the surrounding stones exploded outward.

As we quickly spread out to evade the flying debris, the being shook itself and prepared to rise back into the air.

We couldn’t let it ascend like that, so I quickly yelled toward Gu Pae.

“Gu Pae!”

As I shouted beneath the rocky alcove, he dashed towards the creature as agreed.

As Gu Pae entered its striking range, the beast halted its ascent and instantly lunged toward him.

-Slash!

Its body soared like a spring, narrowly crossing paths with Gu Pae.

‘Next should be the squeezing attack pattern, right?’

“Dive away!”

Having managed to hold it down briefly and prevent its ascent, the real challenge lay ahead. Quickly dodging was critical; otherwise, the creature could twist mid-air and lash out at anyone nearby.

Through 20 tries, we learned one key distinction: this creature was more akin to a python than a viper.

Unlike the latter, this snake type would constrict its prey rather than strike to kill.

So, when it brushed past, that was clearly the most dangerous moment of all.

Initially, I didn’t recognize this and nearly put Gu Pae in jeopardy.

“Blood Poison Deputy Commander!”

“Yes!”

Gu Pae swiftly dodged as I signaled, now it was the Blood Poison Deputy Commander’s turn.

As the creature’s head chased Gu Pae, the Blood Poison Deputy Commander rushed in from behind and delivered a sharp kick.

-Thunk!

-Whoosh!

Then it immediately twisted its body.

The creature’s gaze shifted from Gu Pae to the Blood Poison Deputy Commander.

Next up was an aggro exchange between Grandfather, Hua Eun, and Older Sister Seol.

As the party leader, I stood atop a high rock, orchestrating our raid strategy.

Though it may seem selfish of me, there was a pressing reason.

Our raid party had no tankers, healers, buffers, or debuffers; it consisted solely of dealers.

‘Who organized this party anyway?’

In a situation like this, anger could easily arise at the one who had called us all together.

Yet I was that very party leader, and thus the responsibility fell on me.

‘This party’s luck is horrendous.’

Mandok God Grandfather, Hua Eun, Gu Pae, and the Blood Poison Deputy Commander were all damage dealers of the poison type, while Older Sister Seol and the two top warriors from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace had the damage-dealer style of hunters.

When it comes to party types, it was like a rogue giving away damage while others acted like close-range hunters.

Even in an eight-member party, it felt like a high-stakes, adrenaline-filled encounter as the dealers remained locked in a ridiculously dangerous aggro ping pong back and forth.

That summed up the Flying Heavenly Snake raid and our pattern analysis.