Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

"Cho, are you planning to eat this?"

I asked Cho, who was sprawled out on the grass in a sluggish state after molting. He didn't even have the energy to respond, but the feeling I got from him was a definite no.

Centipedes normally eat their own shed exoskeleton after molting to absorb the calcium, protein, chitosan, and minerals contained within, which helps them regenerate their outer shell.

But since Cho had consumed a small Neidan before molting, it seemed he didn’t need to eat his shed skin.

With all the nutrients he had gained from the Neidan, the exoskeleton was unnecessary.

I had planned to cut off a few legs if he wanted to eat it, but since he didn’t, that worked out even better for me. I spread out Cho's discarded shell.

The exoskeleton had been bunched up like an accordion, but when I stretched it out, its full six-meter length was revealed.

The blue-tinted, glossy, and transparent shell sparkled under the sunlight.

It was big enough that I could probably turn it into a pair of pants, but one thing about it made me frown.

"Damn… this looks amazing. But no matter how many times I see it, this is such an eyesore."@@novelbin@@

When I spread out Cho's shell, the spots where his two legs had been torn off stood out prominently.

Like missing teeth in an otherwise perfect row, the gaps on either side of his body irritated my sense of aesthetics.

‘I’ll remember you, damn wasp. The next time I see that lunatic woman, I’m definitely going to give her hell. But… I also kind of want that wasp… No, wait, hold on.’

At first, I was just pissed off that the wasp had hurt Cho, but as I kept fuming, I suddenly remembered something.

The golden needles flashing from the heads of Oh Cheong-yu and Maecho-gwi when they fled.

‘Could it be… that the real ones being brainwashed are actually Oh Cheong-yu and Maecho-gwi?’

Oh Cheong-yu had claimed that I was brainwashed, but now I was wondering if she and Maecho-gwi were the ones being controlled.

The Beast Palace’s Explosive Beast Subjugation Technique was supposed to be a method that forcibly stimulated a beast’s instincts to drive it into a frenzy.

But when I thought back to the soldier ant incident, it felt like O-dok-mun had done some kind of additional modifications.

‘The chances of them being brainwashed are high.’

At the end of my thought process, I was convinced that those two had been brainwashed. And if that were the case, wouldn't it be up to the Spicy Fabre to rescue them?

Oh Cheong-yu, being from O-dok-mun, had allied with the Blood Cult, which made her an enemy.

Even if she had been brainwashed, she still needed to be punished for her crimes.

I would eventually hand her over to the Martial Alliance.

But Maecho-gwi, who had been pitifully brainwashed and exploited by O-dok-mun, needed to be freed and brought into my warm embrace.

‘When people do wrong, they need to be punished. But what crime has a venomous creature committed? I have to save Maecho-gwi.’

With my thoughts sorted, I took out a dagger and prepared to cut off Cho’s leg joints.