Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

With a tight fist clenched, the sour, sharp liquid pricked at my tongue and smoothly slid down my throat.

The liquid passed down my throat and straight into my stomach, hitting me like a shot of strong whiskey. I could feel the path it took, as if my esophagus and stomach were reminding me of their presence.

In the midst of this chaotic situation, one thought dominated my mind.

More than anything, I had just had my first kiss... stolen by the queen bee.

Yeah, that was the thought that filled my head.

‘I wanted my first kiss to be a meaningful one... one where hearts are shared... but... my romance...’

I couldn’t resist, with the bees attaching themselves to me, tightening their grip with every attempt to struggle.

Finally, when I stopped resisting and let my energy drain, the liquid the queen bee had given me continued to flow down my throat.

Gulp Gulp.

And after a moment, I felt the short yet endless kiss finally come to an end as the queen bee gently tapped my head with her antennae.

Churp

As the queen bee's mouth left mine, a long string of liquid connected us before it finally broke.

Feeling deflated, I collapsed, and the bees dragged me out of the hollow tree. They slipped into their hole as I was left standing there.

‘Did they just have their fun... is this how it is, even for a queen bee...?’

The absurdity of what had just happened left me bewildered, but I managed to walk toward the entrance of the training hall.

Thud Thud.

As I walked, still in a daze, I hadn’t realized the full extent of the queen bee stealing my first kiss, but the sour taste in my mouth began to make sense.

‘What is this...? Wait, could it be... the liquid I just...’

Just before I could fully comprehend what I had ingested, confusion clouded my mind. But as the confusion lifted, an uncomfortable sensation spread through my body.

With each step I took, a strange discomfort overtook me.

A peculiar tingling sensation, something odd.

At first, I thought it might be from my mental state, shattered after the kiss with the golden hornet queen, but it wasn’t nausea—it was more a strange feeling in my lower abdomen, just below my navel.

Thump Thump.

Concentrating, I felt something tiny pulse in my lower abdomen, like a subtle throbbing.

By the time I reached the entrance to the training hall, that small sensation had intensified, and several symptoms began to appear throughout my body.

My vision turned red, and it felt as if heat was rising in my body.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling—my vision was definitely turning red, and the heat in my body was real.

The small pulse in my lower abdomen was now clearly a steady throb.

Thump thump.

The heat surging through my body, paired with the pulsation in my lower abdomen, was making my head spin.

And through my body, I felt something stretch out, moving steadily along a certain path.

‘Wait a minute, this is definitely the lower dantian I felt when practicing the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art! The queen bee’s honey is supposed to raise two months of cultivation... so then, the queen bee eats...’

The thought of my lower abdomen's pulse being tied to the dantian entered my mind, and just as I began to realize why it was acting up...

Through my dimming vision, I saw the blurry figures of Tang Mu-seong and my sister running toward me.

"So-ryong!"

"So-ryong!"

And then, the immense heat began to engulf me.

***

At the news that So-ryong had been dragged off by the golden hornet queens, Tang Mu-seong and Tang Hwa-eun rushed over in a panic.

The two of them, breathing heavily from running, found So-ryong stumbling out of the entrance to the training hall with a dazed look on his face.

Thud.

So-ryong staggered for a moment before suddenly collapsing, like a log.

"So-ryong!"

"So-ryong!"

Before anyone could react, Tang Hwa-eun moved faster than Tang Mu-seong, darting through the air like a swallow, and caught So-ryong in her arms.

She quickly checked So-ryong's condition.

His face was flushed red, and there was a sweet fragrance in his breath.

Moreover, she could feel a strange heat radiating from his body.

Her arms, holding him, were getting uncomfortably hot.

"What is this!? Grandfather, So-ryong is strange. His body is burning up!"

"Step aside!"

Tang Mu-seong rushed over, checked So-ryong’s pulse, and looked at him with wide eyes.

"It seems he’s recently started cultivating, but he’s suddenly ingested a potent elixir!"

"An elixir?"

"Yes, I don’t know what he ate, but it seems like he swallowed something quite powerful. There’s no time to waste. I’ll guide the energy of the elixir; you need to help with the Dharma protection!"

"Yes! Grandfather!"

So-ryong had said that the golden hornet queen's honey took a long time to make, so it was strange to find that he had consumed something unknown.

Tang Mu-seong hurriedly stripped So-ryong’s upper clothes off and began to guide the energy of the elixir.

No one knew how powerful this elixir was, but despite Tang Mu-seong sweating and struggling, So-ryong’s blood vessels and meridians were pulsing with energy.

It felt like they might burst at any moment.

The three centipedes, which had been clinging to Hwa-eun’s body, seemed worried and started crawling up and down her.

"Don’t worry. Daddy will be fine."

The three centipedes, still uneasy, crawled all over Hwa-eun’s body.

When Hwa-eun warned them that it might be even more dangerous for them to go near So-ryong’s body, they finally calmed down.

They were truly mysterious creatures.

***

• Ughhh.

When I regained consciousness, the first thing I noticed was the cool sensation on my forehead.

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw my sister’s concerned face as she gently wiped my forehead with a wet towel, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Then, I heard her voice full of concern.

With a worried expression, my sister asked about my condition.

“So-ryong? Are you awake?”

“W-where am I?”

Since this wasn’t my room, I asked, and my sister, still wiping the sweat from my forehead, explained.

“You’re in the Tang Clan’s medical hall. When we heard that you had been dragged away by the golden hornet queens, we rushed to the training hall, but you came out of the hall and suddenly collapsed. Grandfather and I brought you here. Do you remember what happened?”

Right...

That’s right. I had been dragged away by the bees and... had my first kiss stolen.

I’m sorry, sister!

I wanted to have it with you, but... to have my first kiss taken away by a bee... The sorrow made me lower my head.

“Are you okay, So-ryong? What’s wrong? Is something hurting? Should I call grandfather?”

But knowing that my sister would only worry more, I took a deep breath and replied.

“N-no, it’s just... for a moment...”

My sister, still concerned, kept asking.

“What did you eat? Grandfather says it seems like you swallowed a mid-level or high-level elixir. I don’t know, but it seems like you ate something from the golden hornet queen. Was it neidan (internal energy)?”

Elixir? Right... I felt like I had been fed royal jelly...

My sister’s words reminded me of what I had completely forgotten. The queen bee had fed me royal jelly.

And when I thought about it, what I had experienced with the queen bee wasn’t really a kiss—more like a nutritional exchange between bees.

I had provided the home, and she was just offering me some food.

It was definitely royal jelly, so it wasn’t a kiss... more like a meal.

And moreover, it was an act without any emotional intention.@@novelbin@@

Thank goodness, it doesn't count.

Relieved, I responded to my sister’s question.

“Ah, yes, what I ate... The queen bee fed me the food she eats, but I don’t know its exact name. If I had to call it something, maybe bee queen’s milk?”

“Bee queen’s milk?”

Since I needed to explain a bit about bees to describe royal jelly, I went on, sensing my sister’s curiosity.

“There are three types of bees in a hive.”

“Three types? Didn’t you tell me there are just the queen and worker bees? Is there another one?”

I had already mentioned the queen bee, so I nodded and continued.

“Yes, there are worker bees, drones, and then the queen bee. As I explained before, the queen bee lays eggs her whole life, and the worker bees only work.”

“What about the drones?”

Seeing my sister’s curiosity about the drones, I smiled inwardly, anticipating her reaction.

I knew exactly what kind of response she’d have.

“Well, the drones...”

“The drones?”

“Of course... they share the pleasures of love with the queen bee... That’s all they do. They can’t do anything else.”

“...”

My sister went silent, processing this new knowledge.

After a moment, she spoke, her face slightly flushed.

“Hmm. I see. Well then, tell me more about bee queen’s milk.”

Her face returned to normal as she regained composure, and I couldn’t help but find her cute as she spoke.

“Yes, the worker bees collect nectar and pollen to eat and live, but only the worker bees eat these.”

“Then, what about the queen bee?”

“The queen bee eats only bee queen’s milk, provided by the worker bees, from birth to death.”

Technically, worker bees only feed the larvae royal jelly for a short time, and after that, they switch to honey and pollen. Honey is used as an energy source, and pollen provides protein.

But the queen bee eats only royal jelly her entire life.

In a way, it’s like bee milk.

“Oh, I see. The queen bee eats that her whole life.”

While my sister nodded thoughtfully at my explanation, I emphasized a key point.

“But bee queen’s milk has special properties.”

“Special properties?”

“Normally, a worker bee only lives for about a month and a half, but a queen bee, who eats bee queen’s milk, can live up to sixty times longer. Pretty amazing, right?”

“Ah... So...”

I expected my sister to react with surprise, like, “Wait, the worker bee only lives a month? And the queen bee lives sixty times longer?!” But instead, she calmly nodded.

I was a bit disappointed that she didn’t react the way I thought, but then she smiled brightly and said.

“I get it now. Congratulations, So-ryong. You ate bee queen’s milk, which should have boosted your cultivation by two months, right?”

“Congratulations? Right... You said that, didn’t you?”

I tilted my head, confused by her sudden congratulations, and my sister continued.

“Since the cultivation method you’re using is the Tang Clan’s introductory method, the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art, you couldn’t absorb the full power of the elixir. But since you ate bee queen’s milk, which is supposed to raise two months of cultivation, you’ve gained sixty times that amount. You’ve obtained ten years of cultivation, just as you said.”

“Ten years of cultivation?”

“Congratulations on your special fortune.”

As I focused on my cultivation energy, I felt it clearly now—the small, pea-sized dantian was no longer just tiny. A huge surge of energy pulsed within it.

“This...?”

“Now, So-ryong, you’ve gained cultivation at the level of the Ten-Poison Body. Once you pass the Tang Clan’s tests, you’ll officially be recognized at the Ten-Poison level.”

The joy of gaining such immense power was quickly overshadowed by the overwhelming challenge ahead. I hadn’t expected it to be like suddenly jumping straight into a big exam.

The tests would involve memorizing thousands of poisonous substances, and I began to feel overwhelmed.

‘I never thought studying could be this tough...’

Just as I was getting overwhelmed by the thought of the upcoming challenges, my sister spoke again, in a slightly shy voice.

“By the way... later, look at the silver mirror. The bee queen’s milk... I think it might have other effects too.”

“Silver mirror?”

She mentioned a mirror, and when I looked at her, I noticed her face had turned pink again, just like when I first woke up.