Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 5: The Secret Cave

The first thing that caught my eye was the phrase about not forgetting one’s grudge, but it seemed like that wasn’t what caught the attention of Older Sister Seol and Hua Eun.

The stone wall was inscribed with the techniques of a martial art as well as other words.

“What is this!?”

“This is the formula for the Five Poisons Return to Origin Divine Skill, So-ryong!”

“Why is this here?”

“Is this the martial art that So-ryong has mastered?”

Indeed, as Hua Eun said, this was the formula for the Five Poisons Return to Origin Divine Skill along with the necessary tips for mastering it.

Surprised, I examined the words, thinking they could be helpful to me, when I noticed an unbelievable phrase at the end.

“When you accumulate the five poisons and reach the eleventh level, strike the throats of the five venomous insects you have accepted and drink their essence. Then combine ginseng, angelica, and poria, and after boiling for three days, shape it into a pill and consume it. Only then can you truly achieve the mastery of the Five Poisons Return to Origin Divine Skill.”

‘No, are these guys really insane!?’

It was clear that the Beast Heart Technique connected to the poisons, and reaching the eleventh level meant striking the throats of those connected to your mind, drinking their blood, and consuming the concocted essence. What madness was this!?

I had heard that they recklessly handled beasts and were then annihilated, but they truly were horrible beings.

“Hua Eun, can I borrow your lantern?”

“Your lantern?”

I borrowed the lantern from Hua Eun, took out oil and other items, and immediately obscured those words.

So that no one could read them again.

The words quickly turned black from the flames and smoke.

Sure, during my time in Hainan Island, I was so hungry that I had to eat snakes, but those were wild snakes. To catch a pet that shared a mind connection, boil its body, and consume it… such wicked things needed to vanish.

‘Things like this need to disappear. Telling daughters to drink blood and consume bodies, what kind of unfilial martial art is this!?’

Since I had mastered the Beast Heart Technique myself, I thought I could find another method, so I had no lingering regrets.

After making sure no one could read the words anymore, Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol tapped my shoulder, looking proud.

“Well done, So-ryong.”

“Yeah, that’s my brother.”

And now, finally noticing the first phrase I had seen, they gazed at the letters that appeared to be written in blood, their expressions serious as they rested their chins on their hands.

“Ah, and it seems there are survivors from the Five Poisons Sect.”

“Right. Hua Eun, this seems to be written in blood…”

This was definitive evidence.

Perhaps those left behind were vowing revenge, as they couldn’t return.

“We must proceed with caution from here on.”

“Yes. And we should confirm, but from this writing, it seems we won’t be able to return unless someone opens the way from the other side.”

“Indeed…”

After a moment, Hua Eun, who was meticulously checking the mechanisms around, expressed regret.

“There’s no sign of any way to enter from this side at all. I should have checked the other side more carefully. It’s a shame.”

Hua Eun appeared quite curious about how the mechanisms worked, but feeling disappointed when she couldn’t confirm the principles from the other side.

Having examined the closed stone wall and the surroundings thoroughly, we found no traces of any mechanism that could open a door.

As Hua Eun said, it felt like it could only be opened from the inside.

The devices capable of revealing the operating principles felt well-hidden.

“I guess the only option is to keep going forward? It seems there won’t be any signs of human life ahead, but let’s proceed cautiously.”

“Yes, Older Sister. Then let’s go.”

At Older Sister’s words, I nodded along with Hua Eun, who had a disappointed expression, and we moved forward.

However, after taking a few steps, we had no choice but to stop.

What appeared before us was a vertical pit dropping more than ten meters down.

I wondered why such valuable martial art formulas were inscribed on the passage door, and it seemed this space was akin to a confinement since one couldn’t go up from the other side.

Initially, with the help of Yo-hwa and Chao, I tried to descend into the pit below, but once we got down, Hua Eun grabbed my shoulder and said,

“But So-ryong, this cave feels strange.”

“It’s definitely different from the natural caves we’ve encountered so far.”

As I looked around again, I realized that the long cave running down was indeed peculiar.

It didn’t have the natural feel we had thus far, but it also didn’t feel entirely artificial, which was odd.

Excavation technology in this era couldn’t have been that advanced, yet there was this circular cave about three meters wide that seemed to stretch continuously.

Moreover, the walls didn’t feel like dirt; they felt solid as rock.

The surface rippled in one direction, giving the impression that it had been melted rather than cut.

“It feels like the rock has been melted, doesn’t it?”

Just like Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol sensed the strange atmosphere from the cave walls.

Yet, somewhere in my mind, this scene felt familiar.

I had a vague feeling that I had seen this somewhere before.

Trying to recall when I had seen this, a memory that I had pushed aside in my mind resurfaced softly.

“I feel like I’ve definitely seen this somewhere… Ah! Could it be!?”

I quickly checked the floor.

Touching the solid ground beneath my feet, oddly enough, when I scraped the surface with the Flying Dagger I had, the rock scratched easily.

A rock that was harder than most but had that slight softness to it?

With that, I realized where I had seen this before.

This was definitely reminiscent of the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam, which I visited while collecting samples in my past life!

“I remember the guide saying that Vietnam has a lot of clay mixed with limestone, which makes it easy to dig, and when it’s dug up and the surface hardens, it becomes incredibly solid without any need for supports.”

The Cu Chi Tunnels, a long 250-kilometer stretching tunnel constructed by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, were one of Vietnam’s most famous tourist sites, and the cave walls felt like those hardened clay mixed with limestone I had seen there.

The earthy composition made me think of that place.

Moreover, considering that Namna Mountain is near the border between Yunnan and Vietnam.

I turned to Hua Eun and said, “This was definitely dug through a clay soil mixed with limestone.”

“Did humans really do this?”

At my words, Older Sister’s face showed shock, but thinking carefully, martial artists were the masters of manual labor.

They were like human cranes; it was understandable if those who had mastered martial arts could dig this out.

In my past life, the Viet Cong had hundreds, if not thousands, digging, but I thought just a few dozen martial artists could achieve that kind of efficiency.

“It sounds like this cave could be longer than we expect?”

“Longer?”

“If it was dug by humans, how long could it possibly be?”

At my words, everyone took it lightly, but after walking until we were tired, they whispered with exhausted expressions.

[It seems the words of the ancestors are true; the guys from the Five Poisons Sect are really insane.]

[It’s definitely not normal for sure. Older Sister.]

It felt as though we had already traveled dozens of kilometers, and it truly felt like we were on track to reach two hundred kilometers.

*

-Ping.

The thread of Yo-hwa I was holding suddenly made a sharp noise and was pulled back from behind.

Soon after, I heard Hua Eun’s startled voice following Older Sister.

[Ugh. Older Sister, what’s wrong?]

Hua Eun was at the back, but when Older Sister suddenly stopped, she bumped into her.

Then, from the quietness that followed due to the crazed digging of the Five Poisons Sect, a voice from the shadow spoke softly, as if she had been trying to hold back from speaking.

Just speaking loudly would reverberate against the cave walls, so she whispered as quietly as possible.

[Long, how long has it been since we entered here?]

Then came Hua Eun’s response from behind us to Older Sister’s shocked voice.

[Older Sister, it definitely feels like it’s been over two days.]

[With the darkness and the same path repeating, I feel like I’m going insane.]

Just as Hua Eun said, it had definitely been over two days.

And Older Sister seemed to be feeling the mental fatigue setting in, which made me think we should rest a little.

I cautiously suggested we take a break.

[Let’s take a rest. Maybe we should sleep a bit.]

[That sounds like a good idea.]

[Yes. Sounds good, So-ryong.]

In the darkness, the voices of agreement came from the two.

I also turned to Chao, who had stopped in the front.

[Chao, let’s take a break and have some sleep.]

-Tsurr!

The reason we were moving along the silk tied to Chao’s body while extinguishing all the lanterns was that we didn’t know what was ahead or remaining distance, so we couldn’t use Lightness Skill or make loud noises.

With the possibility of a fight upon arrival, I had to manage the flow of my inner energy wisely. Since we had no idea how long this cave would continue and nobody knew if the Five Poisons Sect might suddenly appear, we had to proceed with caution.

Thus, our exploration of this cave was proceeding extremely slowly.

Unlike the bold entry, it was becoming evident we had to be careful as it seemed the cave was leading to the outside.

I had seen the ominous texts left by the Five Poisons Sect.

Thus, I extinguished all the lanterns and slowly began advancing under Chao’s guidance.

-Hwa-ruk.

As I leaned against the cave wall in the darkness, I heard the sound of the lantern being lit.

Soon the surroundings brightened, and having only been in the dark for a while, I squinted at the sharpness of the lantern light that hurt my eyes.

[Ugh, my eyes hurt.]

[Right? Maybe because we’ve been in the dark for too long.]

As we grew accustomed to the light of the lantern, we pulled out our food from our respective bags.

The only things Older Sister, Hua Eun, and I had were a little dried meat and some Dried Rice Cake.

Nevertheless, we had to eat something.

While eating, we began discussing how much longer this cursed cave might be.

[But how long will this damn cave go on?]

[Who knows? Older Sister, I wish it would end quickly…]

[I hope we start seeing the exit soon.]

[Ah, by the way, everything is great but I want to eat something else. This is too hard. And more than anything, I want to eat some roasted meat!]

Seemingly tired of the dried meat and rice cake, Older Sister complained with a sad face about wanting to eat something else while putting Dried Rice Cake in her mouth.

In the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, we ate a lot of hunted meat, so she was probably thinking about roasted meat.

I was also feeling distressed from the dried meat and rice cake, nodding in agreement when Hua Eun glanced in the direction we were heading.

[When we get out, we’ll eat something delicious, okay? But don’t you think I smell something savory?]

[Something savory?]

[I think it’s the smell of roasted rabbit meat…]

Hua Eun, with good senses, perked up her nose, and shortly after, Older Sister nodded in agreement.

[Right! It’s definitely the smell of roasted rabbit meat!]

Sure enough, I could smell the fragrant meat too.

At this, we exchanged glances and quickly moved toward the source of the aroma.

If there was the smell of roasting meat, that meant there were traces of people.

That indicated we might be nearing an exit.

Wanting to escape this tiresome place and having human traces in front of us, we needed to check it out.

Thus, we hurriedly advanced towards the light appearing in the distance.

The faint glow began to become noticeable ahead.

I instinctively extinguished the lantern I had been holding and moved forward carefully.

[From now on, let’s proceed cautiously.]

[Right. Got it.]

[Understood, So-ryong.]

Arriving at the spot where we carefully reached, there was indeed a dead-end with a three-meter hole in the ground. As we approached it carefully to look down, there was light coming up from below along with smoke wafting up.

All three of us cautiously hung over the hole, looking below.

What entered our eyes were six rabbits positioned over a fire and several people sitting around.

When Hua Eun recognized their faces, her eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed,

[What, how are those people…?]

Upon glancing down and realizing which familiar faces we were seeing, I understood why Hua Eun was so astonished.

Those people were ones we knew!

‘No way, why are they here?’