Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Secret Cave 4

Was one not enough? Thanks to Hyang’s desire to unleash killing intent upon three bats, three additional creatures lost their lives.

Despite that, it seems they’ve found a thrill in it, constantly begging for more.

– Tsurut!

“Ah, that’s enough now. Three is plenty. You did well, Hyang.”

“Really? Good job!”

– Tsurut…

After finally calming Hyang down, we stepped into the passage.

However, the sounds of their tsurut-ing continued for quite a while.

The little creatures perched on my shoulders seemed to be practicing their killing intent, occasionally targeting the bugs that appeared in the corridor.

Eventually, after giving them a stern warning about recklessly taking lives, their chatter ceased, and we could hasten our steps.

“Whoa there, don’t kill living beings carelessly.”

With that, I encouraged the second one, Hyang, and the third, Bin, as we moved deeper inside.

– Pong. Pong.

In the cave, where only the sound of dripping water from the ceiling and our footsteps echoed in silence, Seol’s voice traveled along the cave walls as she surveyed them.

“But there’s nothing special here? I thought this was where the Five Poisons Sect was sealed, but I expected to find something.”

Indeed, following Seol’s words, the long tunnel stretched on without any notable traces being discovered.

There were no signs of people in the lengthy passage.

All I could see were droplets flowing from the cracks in the rocks, merging into other crevices, and the magnificent stalactites merging with stalagmites above us.

– Tsurut!

Hyang, who had been peering around on my shoulder, got a cold droplet on its head, startled, and shook its antennae.

“Surprised, were you, Hyang? Hang on, I’ll wipe that off.”

As I wiped the droplet off Hyang’s head with my sleeve, I responded to my sister’s earlier comment.

“There could have been something in the first chamber, but it’s collapsed and covered in bat droppings… And this looks just like a passage. Let’s go a bit further.”

“Well, how long do you think this passage is?”

“Not sure?”

After walking for what felt like a good while along the long cave…

“Whoa!? Looks like something’s coming up!”

It felt like the passage widened a bit, revealing quite a large space.

In front of us stood a clear, artificially created rectangular room measuring about a hundred pyeong.

“What is this place?”

“Could it be a martial arts training ground?”

When we entered the entrance, I initially thought it resembled a training pavilion, but as we moved deeper, the glow of our lanterns illuminated the surroundings all at once.

“There are quite a few caves!”

“Look! It’s the Five Poisons!”

As Seol pointed out, several small holes to the left and right of us were slightly smaller than any caves we had walked through, and on the wall straight ahead that Hua Eun was pointing to, the forms of the five venomous creatures were beautifully carved.

Centipede, snake, scorpion, lizard, and toad—these five poisonous creatures were magnificently bas-relief-carved, maintaining their pristine shapes even after a hundred years had passed.

And scattered skulls littered the ground.

Could this be the last bastion of the Five Poisons Sect?

“Could this be the final stronghold of the Five Poisons Sect?”

“It seems so. What should we do? Should we wait here, or take a peek around?”

We decided to first enter and inspect the surroundings, but it certainly felt like the boundaries of our mission had not yet been defined.

I pondered while observing the area.

‘The atmosphere doesn’t suggest any surviving members of the Five Poisons Sect…’

The surroundings were covered in a fine layer of dust, and judging by the fact that the bodies weren’t collected, it didn’t seem anyone had survived.

We hadn’t encountered any dangers thus far, nor did it seem like anything perilous would happen, so I smiled at Seol and responded.

“Hmm. Shall we take a look around? This seems exciting!”

Just moments ago, it had felt a bit boring, but faced with the wall decorated with five poisonous creatures, I felt like an archaeologist exploring ancient ruins, and I couldn’t help but feel enthusiastic.

‘Doesn’t it have the vibe of being a treasure hunter too?’

“Should we? I’m just starting to feel a bit excited.”

“Hey, Long, we didn’t come here to play…”

“We’re not here to mess around. We should check it out a bit more, is what I’m saying. Right, Long?”

“Of course, Seol. Let’s check that cave over there first.”

“Alright, let’s go!”

Were Seol and I perhaps siblings in a past life—or even a previous previous life?

As I noticed Hua Eun shaking her head slightly at our harmonious exchange, I chose to ignore it and headed straight for the right cave first.

Upon entering a passage about a meter tall, we discovered interconnected rooms.

Carved out of stone, our entrance felt just like a dormitory with continuous rooms along the long corridor.

“Looks like the rooms are all connected, huh?”

‘Could this be the living quarters?’

It seemed like they had wiped everything clean, for after searching each room, we found nothing of interest.

Tattered bedding, smashed pillows, and boxes that probably held personal belongings were scattered around, smashed or disarranged.

There appeared to be some sort of vent as the air was surprisingly decent, and the adjacent cave looked like some sort of dining area, where the remaining food had dried up or rotted away.

Next to it was a food storage area, along with other sections for storing clothing and bedding—not much else.

After thoroughly checking the caves on the right, Seol, who had poured oil into the lantern, remarked with a bored expression.

“This seems to just be a place for eating and sleeping, right? How dull.”

“Yeah, it does.”

Just as Seol pointed out, the right side held nothing interesting.

It was just a collection of spaces necessary for living.

However, we still needed to find traces of any surviving members of the Five Poisons sect, so we made our way to the left side of the cave.

“By the way, even though we came to search for traces of the surviving Five Poisons sect, it makes me wonder if those outside just managed to survive.”

“Seems that way, right? If they had survived, they would have collected at least the bodies.”

Observing the skeletons clad in tattered garments, we concluded that it was unlikely those here had escaped.

We began to explore the left section of the cave, where we found a burned library and storerooms, as well as several large rooms filled with broken furniture and spaces that had mostly been burned to the ground.

“The library seems to have burned down completely.”

“Looks like they decimated the Five Poisons Sect and set everything ablaze about a hundred years ago.”

In the end, we hadn’t discovered anything and returned to what resembled a central plaza.

We couldn’t just stand around, so we surveyed the area until we noticed a sort of altar in front of the central wall where the five poisonous creatures were engraved.

“Standing around waiting would be boring; shall we go sit over there?”

“Should we?”

“Sure thing, Long.”

As we approached, I could see the five poisonous creatures carved into the wall more clearly.

There was a round stone bead shaped like the palm of a hand at its center, and it looked as if the snake, centipede, scorpion, lizard, and toad were competing around it.

I took a cloth from the rucksack on my back and laid it over what resembled an altar, then we sat down side by side, gazing at the wall.

“…”

In the silence of this quiet space, I felt awkward just sitting there without saying anything, and my playful spirit kicked in, prompting me to speak to Seol.

“Hey, Seol, did you know about this?”

“About what?”

Upon asking so abruptly, Seol tilted her head.

I stepped closer to the wall decorated with the five poisonous creatures and declared.

“Normally, such walls with beads embedded in them might reveal a hidden door if you press the bead, you know?”

“What?”

“Really?”

It was a classic cliché from escape room games I had played in my past life where these ancient-themed settings often featured hidden passages.

While it was unlikely that anything like that would happen here, I approached the bead and tapped it dramatically, attempting to liven the mood.

“Just like this.”

– Tap tap!

At that moment, Seol jumped from the altar beside me and joined in, repeatedly pressing the bead herself.

“Hey, nothing’s coming out! No hidden door!”

“Haha, well, it could happen, you know? It’s not a guarantee.”

What I meant was the cliché from the games, not that something like that would actually occur.

Seeing my smile response, Seol pouted.

“What’s that…”

“Or maybe we just have to infuse it with energy or something…”

I continued joking with Seol, and at that moment, I genuinely infused my energy into the stone bead.

– Kururur.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from behind the stone wall, and five very distinct eyes gleamed to life.

– Flash.

Centipede, snake, scorpion, lizard, and toad.

What appeared to be five glowing objects in red, blue, green, white, and black emerged from the eyes of the five poisonous creatures.

‘No way, is this really happening!?’

The light emanating from the five poisonous creatures illuminated the altar we were sitting at, and as I stepped back in disbelief, both Seol and Hua Eun complimented me.

“Wow, Long, you’re amazing!”

“I thought you were just joking, but you figured out how to activate the mechanism so quickly!”

– Quarrurur.

And amidst the praises of the two, the bead I infused energy into sunk into the stone, revealing a large passage in the center of the five poisonous creatures.

“Whoa! Long, it really opened a door!”

“Long, it really did what you said; a passage has appeared!”

– Tsurut!

– Kissit!

– Gucku!

The Ogongi and Seokcheongi seemed to cheer for me, overwhelmed with excitement.

I may have stumbled into good luck, but I replied with a demeanor that suggested this was to be expected.

“Haha, well, yes, I predicted it, I suppose?”

Such opportunities to shine as an intellectual didn’t come around often.

*

– Hwiing.

The revealed passage felt remarkably airy, as the first thing to rush in was a gust of wind.

Seol held up the lantern and illuminated the other side.

The light revealed a long corridor leading into darkness, where the light could not reach.

With a look full of curiosity, Seol peered deep into the passage and asked, “What should we do? Should we explore more? Or should we wait?”

We were deciding whether to move on or wait for the others.

I glanced at Hua Eun.

Since she had poured cold water on our excitement just moments before, I was curious how she felt now.

As anticipated, upon meeting my gaze, Hua Eun, surprisingly with sparkling eyes, declared, “Let’s go!”

“Really?”

Seol, obviously expecting an opposition, seemed surprised that Hua Eun suggested we should proceed and awkwardly scratched the chin of the nearby Seokcheongi as if to emphasize her point.

“Well, it’s, um, interesting, this mechanism, right? It’s something the Tang Clan values a lot… So, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check it out and… maybe use it for memorization…”

‘Oh wow, does Hua Eun really like this kind of stuff?’

Hua Eun appeared to have an affinity for machines.

Seol would undoubtedly advocate to explore, and I too was intrigued to go deeper into the passage.

I quickly shouted to them both, “Hold on!”

“Long? Where are you going? Long?”

“Whoa, Long!?”

Since even Hua Eun, who had initially been cautious, had changed her mind due to the mechanism, I hurried back to the burnt left room to grab a piece of the charred wood.

“Huff huff… Typically, these kinds of doors could close behind us. So, we should leave a mark that we’ve entered here.”

“Ah! Right, let’s hurry and make a mark before we go in!”

I quickly removed the cloth I had placed on the altar and wrote on both the altar and the walls surrounding the five poisonous creatures.

That we should infuse the energy into the bead at the center of the five poisonous creatures.

Then, with everyone leading the way, we entered the opening that had revealed itself, greeted by the sound of the mechanism in motion.

– Kururur.

“Are they really closing?!”

“Long, how do you know all this stuff so well?”

“Well, I… just do…”

I awkwardly answered while watching the closing wall.

Upon pondering Hua Eun’s question, it struck me; perhaps the games from my past life were precisely simulations for these mechanisms.

I kept that thought to myself.

Shortly after, the machinery moved, and the wall we had just passed through closed entirely; on the now smooth surface of the wall, a macabre line was inscribed in blood-red.

「The Five Poisons Sect will never forget this grudge.」

It seemed evident that some members of the Five Poisons had indeed escaped through this passage.