Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Secret Cave 3

– Chiiiii…

What a crazy noise and a nauseating smell.

Looking down from the cave, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

Having hundreds of thousands of bats living here meant that the cave was filled with their screeching noise and heaps of their massive droppings piling up below.

[Ugh… the smell… Is Wei So-ryong okay?]

[Long, are you not feeling anything?]

Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol approached, covering their mouths and noses with cloths, making disgusted expressions as if they couldn’t understand my lack of reaction.

It seemed they noticed that I was smiling.

In a situation where one would naturally pinch their nose and cover their ears, they couldn’t grasp why I was grinning for myself.

[Yeah, it’s… fine.]

I replied to both while secretly laughing inside.

‘Muhaha. Rather than fine, I’d say I’m feeling quite good.’

Not just Seol and Hua Eun, but most of the group traveling with us looked horrified while gazing down into the cave. Sure, my ears were ringing and the smell was repulsive, but the reason I was grinning all by myself was due to a significant realization.

‘The fact that there are so many bats means there must be a ton of guano piled up!’

The smile on my lips came from the recognition that the cave was filled with bat droppings.

What we call cave guano (Guano) is bat excrement rich in minerals like nitrogen and phosphorus, used to make fertilizer or explosives.

Also, this cave guano is an incredibly important nutrient source for the cave ecosystem, which means a cave abundant in bats is likely to harbor various creatures.

That simply translates to a higher probability of discovering new species.

‘Where there are new species, there’s Fabre, and where there’s Fabre, there are new species.’

That’s precisely why I felt so good.

But as Seol and Hua Eun pointed out, it was indeed very noisy.

‘However, I do want to quiet it down a bit.’

Considering whether I should block my ears from the horrendous noise or find a way to silence those creatures, just then—

– Tsut!

Chao, who had been looking down alongside me, suddenly made a sound as if they realized something and sent out a loud noise towards the immense group of bats below.

– Tsururururur…

Chao’s warning noise struck the cave walls mercilessly, echoing, and followed by the sound of something like hail falling.

– Thud thud thud.

Then, as if someone had pressed the mute button, the entire cave went silent.

“Huh?”

Upon closely inspecting the bottom of the cave, I noticed—

Among the hundreds of thousands of bats, the spineless ones had flipped their eyes and were falling like raindrops to the cave floor, and the survivors were trembling in fear, holding their breath in the crevices.

The voices of Older Sister Seol, Hua Eun, my adoptive father, and Mandok God echoed through the quiet cave.

With their wide eyes, it seemed all were taken aback.

“Wha—!?”

“Is this… murderous intent!?”

“To think it could spray murderous intent. Though their names are similar, they’re truly the Ten Great Venoms, aren’t they?”

“Haha, this level of intent could scare the knees of any man!?”

From what they were saying, it seemed chi masters could unleash this murderous intent too.

‘I, too, haven’t grasped that level of chi yet; could it be that our daughter is a martial arts genius? No, rather I should see Chao as some kind of skill. Gasp! Then this means it’s her second skill!?’

As a parent, isn’t it our duty to discover our child’s talents and guide them to flourish?

At first, I thought maybe Chao’s murderous intent signified she was a martial arts prodigy, but it dawned on me that since Chao is not human, this must be a skill.

I quickly organized Chao’s second skill in my mind.

First skill, “Regulating Chi Flow”; Second skill, “Weak Murderous Intent”; And the third would likely be “Poison.”

I too wanted to shout something like “Chao, second skill: Weak Murderous Intent!” when encountering enemies.

‘That anime was popular back in my time.’

“Chao, well done! Our daughter can do so much!”

As I rubbed Chao’s head, praising her for showcasing her second skill, I suddenly heard a sound from my left wrist.

– Tsut!

With my left hand being definitely Bin, it seemed she felt jealous whenever I praised just one sister, so her voice shot out saying to tone it down.

I thought I had settled things the last time, but it seems Bin’s tsundere nature didn’t allow her to overlook anything.

Reacting, I pulled my hand away from Chao’s head and asked my adoptive father.

“Should I go down first and check the surroundings?”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“I’ll be going with Chao and Yo-hwa, so I think there’s no need to worry. Plus, if Yo-hwa climbs down on her web, she can later use it as a rope, allowing others to descend faster, right?”

My adoptive father, looking worried, asked, but what was there to worry about when I’d be going with two members of the Ten Great Venoms?

After hearing my words, my adoptive father nodded, glancing at Chao and Yo-hwa.

“Oh, that’s also a good idea. And indeed, if those two are with you, I shouldn’t worry. Still, be cautious. Make sure not to let anything happen to you or the precious children.”

“Of course.”

As expected, being the head of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace who genuinely cares for animals, he was concerned even for the kids.

Though he granted me permission to go first, he still didn’t seem assured and instructed that Older Sister Seol and Hua Eun accompany me.

“And just in case, take your sister and Hua Eun with you.”

“Understood.”

As the noise of the bats disappeared at the cave entrance, I approached the collapsed ceiling hole with Older Sister Seol and Hua Eun while the soldiers were making a rope from vines.

I then turned to Chao and Yo-hwa for help.

“Chao, we need to go down; can you carry them both?”

– Tsut!

“Yo-hwa, can you lead Older Sister Seol down?”

– Kisit!

With Older Sister Seol requesting Yo-hwa’s assistance and Hua Eun asking Chao to help her, we decided to slowly lower ourselves with their help.

“Yo-Yo-hwa, please take good care of me.”

Though she was slightly taken aback by the fact that her sister would be carried by Yo-hwa, perhaps because it was the pedipalps disguised as Hua Eun, she quickly adjusted to it.

So we slowly descended the great hole, approximately thirty meters deep, and as the light from the lanterns in Older Sister Seol and Hua Eun’s hands gradually illuminated below, the cave walls and ceiling became visible.

Countless bats were shuddering between the stalactites above me, and the floor was packed with what resembled black mud.

And as we got closer to the floor, the stench intensified.

Moreover, as we approached the ground, what became visible were plenty of bat corpses, millipedes, cockroaches, and the centipedes inhabiting the cave scattered about.

Those creatures were having a party among the immense piles of bat corpses.

While I wanted to rush over and search for new species among them, I figured my hobby should wait until after the search was completed.

‘Hold on, Wei So-ryong. Be patient. Act wisely.’

With superhuman patience, I spoke to Yo-hwa.

“Yo-hwa, don’t touch the ground.”

– Kisit!

Though bat droppings can be used to create fertilizer or explosives, they are nevertheless filthy.

Besides, bats carry numerous viruses.

The black mud on the floor was probably all guano, mixed with bat corpses and numerous insects.

I hesitated letting the kids touch any of it, so I asked Yo-hwa to hang onto her web and wait while we scoped out the area.

I then pointed the direction to Chao and let her explore where we descended.

“Chao, over there.”

Coming down through the hole in the collapsed ceiling, as the lantern’s light shone everywhere, it revealed this was indeed a natural cave.

We had arrived at a massive chamber.

On one side of the cave wall were piles of fallen rocks and stones.

On the opposite side, as I guided Yo-hwa, a long passage came into view filled with stalagmites and columns.

The passage appeared to be a circular tunnel about three meters wide.

It seemed the bats hadn’t ventured this far yet as the floor was clean.

I dropped Hua Eun off, then returned to Older Sister Seol and brought her and Yo-hwa along.

As we were told to jump toward the passage, Yo-hwa swung on her web, which startled Older Sister Seol a bit.

“Whoa… that was scary. But why does it not smell here?”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s oddly completely odorless here.”

The stench of decaying droppings containing methane seems to rise only upwards, for upon entering the passage, the smell vanished completely.

As Older Sister Seol spoke, Hua Eun finally removed the cloth from her mouth and nose, having found relief.

“I thought I was going to die. That smell was horrendous.”

I had wondered why Hua Eun was so horrified, but I realized the Tang Clan consisted of poison perfumers.

These individuals must have undergone olfactory training, thus the scent of bat droppings would have been particularly torturous for them.

Turning to the two, I said, “The opposite side was the real entrance blocked by rocks, so it seems we can follow this passage deeper inside.”

“Then should we check a bit further inside?”

“Yes. If that’s the only entrance up there, no one should be wandering in or out.”

The ceiling must be dozens of meters high to reach here, and there were clearly no traces of any tales of people visiting, meaning this place hadn’t been disturbed for a while.

Feeling somewhat relieved, just as I was about to take my first step—

– Chiiik. Chik.

As I heard chirping sounds when looking down, what caught my eye was a single bat crawling at the entrance of the passage.

It seemed to be one that had fallen from above, barely clinging to life.

Though it seemed likely to die soon, I thought little of it and brushed past towards the inside.

– Tsut!

Suddenly, Bin crawled up onto my left arm, checked the creature, and quickly crawled back down.

“Bin?”

I wondered why she was crawling down so suddenly, and with her gaze fixed back at the shivering bat in front of us, it seemed she was trying to show us something.

As if to say, “Look closely,” I felt a certain message being conveyed, but just then, Bin advanced towards the bat, waving her antennae and making sounds.

– Tsururur…

However, it seemed she was struggling to make it happen as she kept trying repeatedly.

– Tsurur…

– Tsururur…

What in the world was she doing? Just then, I heard Hua Eun’s cautious telepathic voice.

[Is she trying to show that she can spray murderous intent too?]

‘What!? Ugh… that’s too cute!’

If Hua Eun’s words were true, this was an invaluable scene.

Bin, still a young Blue-Spotted Centipede, was claiming she could show us her own brand of murderous intent, getting all jealous.

But how could our little Bin even be capable of spraying murderous intent at this age?

It was quite possible we could disappoint our youngest daughter if she wasn’t careful.

‘What to do!? Why is this bat still hanging on for dear life!?’

Just as I found myself inwardly irritated at the stubborn bat, the telepathic voice of Hua Eun came through again.

[Get ready. I informed your sister.]

Confused by the command to prepare, I tilted my head, and just then, a stealthy Flying Needle shot from Hua Eun’s hand.

The smallest needle used by the Tang Clan.

The silent needle flew swiftly and pierced the bat’s head.

As the bat slumped over, praises erupted from Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol.

“Oh my! Bin just killed that bat? Our Bin can spray murderous intent too? Wow, our Bin is quite impressive despite her size! She makes her mother proud.”

“Aunt believed Bin could spray murderous intent. Since Big Sister did it, it was only natural.”

[What are you doing!?]

The moment the sound of urgency from Hua Eun and Bin’s gaze met, the next moment I exclaimed in excitement.

“Oh my! Our little girl! Well done! Our Bin is amazing!”

– Tsut! Tsut!

As the three of us showered Bin with overwhelming praise, she finally returned to my body, puffed up with pride.

“Now, let’s set off again.”

With Bin’s spirit uplifted, it was now time to resume our search.

Just as I took another step towards the passage—

– Tsururutt!

This time, Hyang, who rose from my right arm, playfully tapped my cheek and pointed toward the ceiling.

It seemed she wanted to show me something too.

‘Oh my, raising three daughters isn’t going to be easy!’

Stifling a tear in my heart, I requested Hua Eun.

“Hua Eun, could you drop just one bat from the ceiling? Hyang wants to show something too.”

Receiving my request, Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol wore awkward smiles.

“Hahaha. Oh, sure.”

“Oh my, Hyang wants to show it to her aunt, huh?”

I was left wondering when we’d actually get to searching.