Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

• Thud! Thud, thud!

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

My voice, filled with admiration for the appearance of the egg and the torchlight, was suddenly interrupted as something the size of a fist fell relentlessly from above.

• Whoooosh! Whoooosh!

• Thud!

I swung the torch madly, smashing one of them into the ground, and the sight before me was long antennae and a curved back.

A centipede!

• Squish.

I quickly crushed the one trembling from the torch’s impact with my foot and swung the torch to herd the remaining ones deeper into the joint.

“Get away! You bastards! What kind of centipede is the size of a fist?!”

Although I liked all insects, I couldn’t stand centipedes…

After calming my racing heart, I quickly realized that I needed to grab the eggs and get outside.

Centipedes are cruel creatures that also prey on meat.

I definitely didn’t want to become the meal of a fist-sized centipede here.

So, I quickly led the way with the torch and headed toward the cluster of eggs.

• Rustle.

As the flame approached, the centipedes recoiled.

There seemed to be around thirty of them, and I was more concerned about the eggs than the centipedes.

“Will the eggs be okay?”

What worried me about the eggs wasn’t just the centipedes, but the fact that centipedes, like millipedes, lay eggs and guard them until they hatch and become independent.

They even lick the eggs to prevent mold from growing while guarding them.

Since the mother had already died, I was worried that the eggs, left for two days without any care, might have developed mold and died.

‘If I had known about the eggs, I would’ve come earlier…’

As I approached the pile of eggs, I shone the torch on them, only to be greeted by a devastating sight.

The eggs, which I had thought were a brilliant yellow, were mostly gnawed on, probably by the baby centipedes.

And the eggs closest to the ground had white, cotton-like mold growing on them.

“Damn it. These little centipedes!”

The mold wasn’t the work of the centipedes, but after scolding the little centipedes, I quickly picked through the pile of eggs with the torch that wasn’t lit.

• Squish.

‘Please let at least one of them be alive.’

The slimy mucus and liquids stuck to the end of the torch, dripping down in sticky, soupy messes.

Just as I was rummaging through the sticky eggs from the top, I saw three eggs with a beautiful, glowing color beneath one of the eggs that had centipede bite marks.

I quickly grabbed the three eggs with my hand.

Though some slimy substance made my hand sticky, the fact that I had found the eggs of a giant centipede made it less disgusting.

“Got it! Found them!”

Out of about fifty eggs, only three remained without damage and still maintained their glowing yellow color.

It seemed that they hadn’t been harmed, probably because they were in the middle of the pile of eggs.

While most of the pile had been ruined or damaged by the fist-sized centipedes, I was still glad I managed to save three.

“Damn it. At least I saved three... But it’s not time to celebrate. I need to hurry and take the eggs out and clean them!”

I quickly wiped the eggs with my sleeve and placed them in a jar before crawling out of the cave.

Then, I ran like mad toward the pulmonary ducts.

It would be troublesome if the eggs I had saved spoiled, so I needed to quickly return and clean them with a disinfected cloth.

“Wait a bit, my centipedes. I’ll give you a bath soon.”

The eggs seemed slightly oval-shaped, but I thought it was probably just a new species as I hurried my steps.

***

“What, what should I do...?”

The next morning, I found myself in a slightly—no, extremely awkward situation.

• Slither.

After carefully cleaning the centipede eggs I had found yesterday to maintain humidity, I placed them in a jar lined with a slightly damp cloth and set it beside my pillow. But when I woke up in the morning, all of them had hatched.

I never expected them to hatch so quickly.

The reason I hadn’t anticipated the centipede eggs hatching was due to the centipedes’ unique biology.

Centipedes have a peculiar hatching process: instead of the larvae emerging from the eggs, the eggs themselves transform into larvae.

The yellow eggs changing into larvae is the centipedes' form of metamorphosis.

So, all three eggs had turned into larvae.

Centipedes belong to the suborder Geophilomorpha, meaning the mother and offspring look identical, only differing in size. The three adorable yellow centipedes were now clinging to my body.

The reason I was in a predicament wasn’t just that they had hatched, but rather, that they had crawled out of the jar and wrapped themselves around me.

Before they molt twice, centipedes stay attached to their mother’s body, and it seemed these little ones had mistaken me for their mother.

When I tried to remove them, they stuck firmly and wouldn’t budge.

I attempted to forcibly separate them, but they scurried to my back, making it impossible to take them off.

Although they wouldn’t need food until after their second molt, just having them cling to me was, well, uncomfortable.

Three little centipedes, about the size of old sausages, clinging to me felt more than a bit awkward.

Then, an idea suddenly struck me.

“Ah, right! If I get into the water, they’ll fall off on their own!”

Taking the chance to bathe after a long time, I quickly grabbed the jar and dashed toward the water.

***

“Little brother, are you there?”

Tang Cheolsan arrived at the pulmonary ducts and called out towards the inner chambers where Little Brother was staying.

However, there was no response, and the chamber remained eerily quiet.

“Little brother?”@@novelbin@@

He called out several more times, but there was still no answer.

Tang Cheolsan stood at the entrance, deep in thought.

‘Has he left? Or maybe he caught a cold from the days of continuous rain?’

The reason Tang Cheolsan had come to this pulmonary duct after several days was because he had asked his father, Mandok Shingun, for a favor after arriving at the port in Haenamdo the previous day.

“Father, please depart for Sacheon with the uninjured warriors first,” Tang Cheolsan had requested.

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?” his father had responded, confused by the request.

When Tang Cheolsan smiled and explained, his father seemed to realize something.

“If I take the Neidan now, Hwa-eun will surely be saved. But with my injuries, I would slow our progress if I travel with the wounded warriors. You, father, should lead the uninjured warriors and hurry ahead,” Tang Cheolsan had said.

“You mean to split us into two groups? But wouldn’t it be better to divide after getting to shore, on the ship?” Mandok Shingun had inquired.

Though Mandok Shingun suggested splitting after reaching land, Tang Cheolsan had a different plan.

“Isn’t there still something we must do here?” Tang Cheolsan had responded.

“Something we must do?” his father had asked, puzzled.

When Tang Cheolsan mentioned they had something left to do, his father tilted his head in confusion. But Tang Cheolsan had smiled and explained further.

“The words of the sages: ‘Enemies should be engraved in blood, while favors should be carved in stone.’”

Tang Cheolsan’s words caused Mandok Shingun to be shocked.

“Ah! I had completely forgotten how deeply I owed Hwa-eun’s life! Yes, you’re right. If it weren’t for you, I would have made a great mistake!” Mandok Shingun exclaimed.

“Yes, father. Even though Little Brother is young, he has done us a great favor. How can the Tang family let this pass unnoticed?” Tang Cheolsan had added.

Indeed, Tang Cheolsan’s point was that they couldn’t simply let such a great favor go unacknowledged.

Having saved the life of his daughter, if they ignored this, how would people think of the Tang family?

Mandok Shingun nodded in agreement.

“Little Brother, living alone in the mountains of Haenamdo, catching snakes for food, must be struggling. We should take him into our family as a guest and make sure he has no worries about his livelihood. If he has any requests, we should honor them.”

“Yes, I agree,” Tang Cheolsan had replied.

This was why he had left the injured family warriors at a nearby inn by the port to rest while he had come alone to meet Little Brother. But now, Little Brother was nowhere to be found.

Tang Cheolsan hesitated for a moment and carefully opened the door to the chamber.

He had been worried that Little Brother might have caught a cold from the rain over the past few days.

“Little Brother, I’m coming in,” he called as he stepped inside.

What greeted him inside was a bizarre scene.

The walls were lined with shelves full of herbs, and there were jars of various shapes and sizes all over the room.

‘Could Little Brother have learned medicine?’ Tang Cheolsan wondered as he surveyed the room.

However, as Little Brother was nowhere to be seen, Tang Cheolsan hesitated to enter the empty chamber further, thinking it would be rude to intrude.

• Scritch, scritch.

• Zzzzzt. Zzzzzt.

• Screech!

Suddenly, strange sounds came from within the jars and the herb containers.

The sounds stopped Tang Cheolsan in his tracks as he was about to leave.

There was something strangely familiar about the noise.

Drawn by the familiar sounds, Tang Cheolsan forgot his hesitation and stepped deeper into the room, opening one of the jars with an almost entranced look.

‘What’s inside?’ he thought.

As the lid came off, a large black spider appeared inside the jar.

“A, a black widow!” Tang Cheolsan exclaimed, wide-eyed.

He quickly checked the other jars and containers, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Every time he opened a jar or container, he found creatures like lizards, spiders, snakes, and crickets.

It seemed like the crickets were being raised as food for the other poisonous creatures.

Tang Cheolsan found shells of lizards and spiders in some of the jars, indicating that Little Brother had likely been raising them for quite some time.

Moreover, some of the spiders were holding eggs, and the warm furnace area had centipede eggs buried in the sand.

The sight was simply unbelievable.

Tang Cheolsan trembled in awe.

Even the Tang family, skilled in poisons and toxins, had never imagined breeding poisonous creatures this way, let alone raising their offspring.

It wasn’t like the Tang family’s poison cultivation methods, where they simply extracted venom from the creatures. What Little Brother was doing was raising these creatures and nurturing them to increase their numbers.

‘I thought a small twist of fate had saved my daughter’s life, but was Little Brother the real twist of fate?’

After placing the jars back in their proper places, Tang Cheolsan stepped outside the chamber to compose himself.

He had been deeply shaken by what he had seen. If Little Brother truly possessed the ability to raise poisonous creatures, this skill could take the Tang family’s poison expertise to a whole new level.

As Tang Cheolsan sat outside, preparing his questions for Little Brother when he returned, he suddenly heard a voice.

“Ah!? Elder?”

Little Brother, his hair dripping with water as if he had just bathed, entered the chamber with a cheerful greeting.

“Oh! Little Brother!” Tang Cheolsan exclaimed as he quickly stood up, relieved to see him.

But then, an ominous feeling suddenly washed over him.

• Crash!

A fierce force suddenly flew at Tang Cheolsan. He raised one hand to block it, but he was still knocked back and slammed into the stone steps outside the chamber.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!” Blood poured from his mouth as he lay there.

It was clear he had suffered serious injuries.

‘A master like my father?’

Tang Cheolsan had tried to block with only one hand instead of using both, and the impact was overwhelming.

“Elder! Cough!” Little Brother cried, and Tang Cheolsan could hear the faint, chilling voice of an old man gripping Little Brother’s neck.

“I heard the Tang family’s people had come to Haenamdo. When I saw your son, Mandok Shingun’s son, alone and injured, I had to come. I’ve never forgotten your face and that of your father for the past ten years! Today, I’ll send your neck as a gift to Mandok Shingun! Hahaha!”

The man’s face was hideously scarred, with a bloody hand reaching for him.

Tang Cheolsan’s thoughts flashed to someone he barely remembered, but that person was already dead.

As Tang Cheolsan struggled to rise, he asked, “Cough! Who is this elder, to be tormenting Little Brother and me?”

The old man laughed maniacally, pointing at his own scarred face.

“Hahaha. Can’t you tell from this face and the bloody hand? I am the one who became like this because of your father, Mandok Shingun. I am the Blood-Handed Rakshasa, Tak Wonyang!”

It was indeed Tak Wonyang, the notorious demon lord who had been active in the regions of Guizhou and Guangxi over a decade ago. He had been defeated by Tang Cheolsan’s father, Mandok Shingun, and had fallen off a cliff. Now, it seemed he had survived and been hiding in Haenamdo.

Despite having been on the same level as Tang Cheolsan’s father at the time, the power radiating from Tak Wonyang now was truly terrifying.

Tang Cheolsan, realizing he might not survive the night, spoke quickly, “Please, let Little Brother go! He’s not a martial artist and has nothing to do with our family’s matters. If you want revenge, take me instead.”

His intent was to save Little Brother, but Tak Wonyang only sneered.

“I’ll slaughter everyone who’s brushed against my family’s robes! In Buddhism, they say even brushing the sleeve means there’s a karmic bond of three thousand lifetimes! Hahaha!”

‘This great demon will never let Little Brother go!’

Tang Cheolsan despaired as Tak Wonyang slowly tightened his grip on Little Brother’s neck.

“Gah! P-please... Save me...”

• Screech!

Suddenly, a strange sound came from Little Brother’s neck and sleeves, and yellow tendrils shot out, biting into Tak Wonyang’s neck and wrists.

“Cough!”

Tak Wonyang’s skin turned black in an instant as he shrieked in disbelief. His body slowly crumbled to the ground.

And Little Brother, with a terribly awkward expression, asked, “Uh... Is he a bad guy? I think he’s dead?”

In Tang Cheolsan’s mind, the words guest slowly began to transform into family.