Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Just because the bees had poured into the hollow of the ancient tree didn’t mean the job was done.

Letting my guard down now would be a mistake.

Now the real work was about to begin.

So, what should I do now?

The bees, having consumed plenty of honey, had made their way here over several days. Normally, bees don't travel far without dying if they don't eat for a day. But these bees were clearly exhausted, and even though they were high-level venomous creatures, they were clearly tired and hungry.

Looking at the bees guarding the entrance, I noticed their bellies were thin, and they were visibly sluggish. Their bodies expanded and contracted quickly—signs of exhaustion.

It’s said that food can change a person's attitude. If I fed them now, they’d likely become less wary of me, perhaps even recognize me as their master—or at least, it would reduce their wariness toward me.

"This is all part of my plan," I thought. "I’ll provide them with food and a place to rest when they’re at their most vulnerable."

I quickly rushed to my father-in-law to explain what was needed.

"Father-in-law, I need something urgently. Can you get it for me?"

"What do you need?" he asked, curious.

"Feed for the exhausted bees... honey, or... something like honey. It’s a sweet liquid made by squeezing large herbs, a sugar-like substance..." I tried to explain, struggling to find the right words.

Hearing this, my grandfather asked, "Do you mean white sugar or brown sugar?"

"White sugar and brown sugar? What are they?"

"White sugar is what you know as granulated sugar, and brown sugar is like the red-colored one, almost like sand."

"Oh, so you mean white sugar."

White sugar, not brown sugar, was necessary. Brown sugar might seem like a better choice for bees, as it contains more minerals, but it's actually dangerous for them. Sugars like molasses or brown sugar contain undigested carbohydrates like dextrin, which can cause diarrhea in bees. Diarrhea in bees is deadly because they’re already struggling with low energy.

"Go to the storage and bring out all the white sugar we have!" my father-in-law commanded.

"Yes, master!"

The warriors quickly headed to the storage to fetch the sugar, while I prepared the water containers and waited for the sugar.

As I stood there, I suddenly remembered my sister.

"Oh no! Hwa-eun!" I exclaimed.

I turned to ask my father-in-law where she was, but he just looked at me, puzzled.

"Now you remember? I told you to take her to your mother and have her rest. What exactly happened to that girl? Did she run with those bees behind her all the way to here, using light-body techniques?"@@novelbin@@

I nodded sheepishly. "Yes, she only rested for about two hours last night... the rest of the time, she just kept running."

"Ha..." my father-in-law muttered in disbelief.

Just then, my grandfather seemed to remember something and asked with concern.

"Where are the Deputy Commander and the rest of the warriors? Didn’t they come with you? Are they all... done in by the Golden-Fur Bees?"

His tone rose in worry as he spoke, clearly fearing the worst.

"Ah...," I muttered, embarrassed.

At least I had remembered about my sister, but the others had completely slipped my mind. I scratched my head awkwardly and answered.

"Uh, they’re probably lying down somewhere along the road... I think we should go pick them up..."

"Ha..."

Both my grandfather and father-in-law laughed in disbelief at my forgetfulness.

Soon, my father-in-law ordered the warriors to go and retrieve the fallen soldiers.

"Send the Poison Fog Squad down the path to find the fallen warriors from the Venom Blood Squad!"

"Yes, master!"

The warriors took off down the mountain path to search for the fallen soldiers, and soon returned with sugar, water, and sacks filled with supplies.

After explaining how to prepare the feeding solution, I showed them how to mix the sugar.

"Mix sixteen pounds of white sugar into two buckets of water to make the solution."

"Understood, So-ryong! Everyone, listen up!" one of the warriors shouted.

"Yes!" they all replied.

As they mixed the solution, I thought about how in my previous life, this kind of feeding liquid was used when bees couldn’t collect nectar during the rainy season or after the last honey harvest in the fall. It helped them survive through the winter, and if they processed it into honey, it was often called fake honey, though it was almost identical to real honey in composition.

The only difference was that in real honey, maltose and sucrose aren’t present, while they appear in feeding honey in small amounts.

"Everything is almost ready, what should we do next?" one of the warriors asked, now that the solution had been prepared.

"Let’s move it all to the training grounds," I said.

Once we arrived in front of the training grounds, where only the direct descendants of the Tang family could enter, I carefully peeked inside to see the state of the bees.

They were still sluggish, exhausted from the long journey.

"Looks like they’re still exhausted," I muttered to myself.

I took one of the containers with the feeding solution and made my way into the training grounds, where I could hear the faint buzzing of the bees inside. They were staying near the walls of the training grounds, probably too tired to fly.

As I approached, I smiled softly and said in a soothing tone, "Here, have some food."

I gently placed the feeding solution in front of them.

Despite their wariness, one bee couldn't resist and came out to taste the solution, only to be quickly pulled back by its companions.

Smiling again, I said in a friendly voice, "It’s okay. It’s for you. Try it. Mmm... sweet."

One bee came forward, cautiously sniffed the solution, and then eagerly drank it.

"Now, they’ll relax," I thought, as I watched the bees lower their guard and eagerly drink the solution.

I quickly moved away and began delivering the remaining solution to other warriors.

Soon, more and more bees came out to drink, and the number quickly swelled from three to ten, then thirty, and eventually, a hundred.

As the bees gathered outside and drank the solution, I couldn’t help but feel satisfied.

"Alright, drink up and make plenty of honey."

‘Maybe I could sell honey as a side business?’

If this went well, selling honey could be a profitable venture.

***

The bees recovered quickly after consuming the syrup.

From the following day, the sight of them collecting honey from the various poisonous flowers blooming in the Tang Clan’s mountains became common.

Perhaps because they were relatively gentle honeybees by nature, even when they encountered people while collecting honey, they didn’t immediately attack.

Unless, of course, direct threats were made.

As a result, seeing the golden hornet queen buzzing around the mountains became a regular occurrence in the Tang Clan.

“We met members of the Amipa in the middle?”

Meanwhile, completely unrelated to the golden hornet queen, the sister who woke up after three days couldn’t recall meeting Amipa members during our journey.

The deadly race to the finish must have been too harsh a memory for her to retain.

“Yes, her Buddhist name was Yeonsu? Something like that. She seemed to know Lady Hwa-eun...”

“Yeonsu?”

“Yes, when Lady Hwa-eun asked for water, she handed her a bottle. Does that ring a bell?”

“...”

My sister’s eyes widened in disbelief.

As I was trying to jog her memory, a voice from outside calling for me interrupted.

“Master So-ryong, you must come out. The golden hornet queens are acting strange.”

“Strange?”

Now that my sister had woken up, I placed O-gong and the others back into her care and quickly headed for the door.

I needed to see for myself what was going on.

Once I stepped outside, I saw the warriors pointing toward the sky.

Looking up, I saw several golden hornet queens swirling in the air.

It looked as though they were searching for something.

“What’s going on?”

To investigate their strange behavior, I hurried toward the training grounds where the hornet queens were.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of wings flapping behind me.

-Whoooosh.

Turning around to check the source of the sound, one of the hornet queens landed right in front of me.

The wing flapping continued.

-Whoosh.

-Whoooosh.

‘What is this?’

In an instant, I was surrounded by at least ten hornet queens.

Panicked, I raised my arms in surrender.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s me. I’m not a threat.”

But the hornets seemed to be looking for me, and one by one, they latched onto my body and began flying upward.

My body slowly began to lift, and before I knew it, I was being pulled along.

“W-wait!”

“Master So-ryong! Inform the clan leader! We must warn the leader!”

The warriors were stunned, and as they rushed to the clan leader’s chamber, I was dragged straight to the hornet queen's nest.

The hornets pushed me into the hollow tree at the entrance.

“Alright, alright. I’m going in, I’m going in.”

Inside, a small beehive I had previously made came into view. From it, a slightly larger bee flew out and hovered in front of me.

-Whoosh. Whooosh.

The bee hovered, inspecting me closely.

As it looked left and right, it seemed to signal to the others, and soon, the other bees began swarming around me, attaching themselves to my arms and legs.

One even landed on the back of my head.

Unable to move, I found the queen bee climbing onto my chest and slowly crawling upward.

“Calm down, everyone. What’s going on...?”

The queen bee crawled all the way up to my face, and its mouth slowly came closer to mine.

“Huh? Huh? What’s going on?”

The queen’s compound eyes filled my vision, reflecting my startled expression.

Before I could react, her mouth pressed against mine.

Her tongue slipped into my mouth, and at the same time, something sour began sliding down my throat.

It was my first kiss.