Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 181: Tengchong Volcano (4)

When the village chief asked, Seol responded.

"You said you requested help from the Beast Palace? I’d like to hear more about that. I was on my way back from an errand in the Central Plains, so I don’t know the details.

I had some business at Tengchong Volcano, so I planned to stay here for a few days."

Hearing her response, the villagers’ faces darkened.

The village chief, looking somewhat flustered, replied.

"Ah... I see. In that case, please come inside."

Following the village chief into the village, we saw that it was built on volcanic rock. Here and there, protruding black basalt stood out.

The village reminded me of Jeju Island. As I was looking around, recalling old memories, Seol’s voice reached me through telepathic transmission.

[So-ryong, while we’re looking for Hyang, we should also help this village. As someone from the Beast Palace, I can’t just ignore it. Listen to their story for a bit, then step in and offer to help. This will also help introduce you to the tribe.]

We weren’t the reinforcements sent from the Beast Palace, but since we planned to stay in the village for a while, we couldn’t just turn a blind eye.

The situation felt oddly familiar, and given that both Seol and I were from the Beast Palace, it was only natural for us to offer assistance.

In Yunnan, the Beast Palace was like the elder sibling to the various ethnic minorities scattered across the subtropical jungle.

Moreover, in this era, being a guest meant the hosts provided lodging, food, and even laundry services. At the very least, we had to repay their hospitality.

I nodded at Seol’s words.

"Okay, I get what you mean."

Following the village chief into his house, we sat down as he served tea and a few snacks. Then, he began to speak.

"Where should I start? Ah, right. It was about a month or two ago. At first, some villagers reported seeing packs of Seo (鼠) leaving the village at night."

"Seo were leaving?"

"Yes, as if they were fleeing from something."

Seo—rats—running away meant that something had frightened them enough to make them abandon the village.

It was exactly as I had expected when I heard the story from the Lord of Sichuan.

"So, the rats really did flee, huh?"

When the Lord of Sichuan mentioned that the rats had vanished, I had assumed they had run away. But here, there were actual witnesses who had seen it happen.

As I nodded, the village chief continued.

"And after that, livestock started disappearing—one by one, every night. Our village mainly raises pigs, but when nearly half of them vanished, we hurriedly sent someone to the Beast Palace for help."

"Hmm... I see."

"Yes. Because of the nearby volcano, we can’t do much farming aside from small-scale cultivation. That’s why we primarily rely on pigs for food, but now half of them are gone..."

As the village chief finished speaking, Hwa-eun’s telepathic voice reached me.

[So-ryong, doesn’t this sound a lot like what the Lord of Sichuan told you?]

Hwa-eun seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion as me.

I gave a small nod in response before cutting into the conversation between Seol and the village chief.

"Since we’ll be staying in the village for a few days anyway, we’ll help out. Right, Seol?"

The village chief turned to look at me, tilting his head in curiosity.

"And this young man is...?"

"Oh, my younger brother. His name is So-ryong."

"Gasp! You mean he’s the heir of the Beast Palace?!"

The village chief was so shocked that he almost jumped.

I mean, I was just an adopted son, so technically, I wasn’t the heir. But I simply bowed politely and reassured him.

It didn’t matter what kind of giant insect was behind this—I, Spicy Fabre, would take care of it in no time.

"This village chief is really lucky, huh?"

"You can leave this matter to us, so don’t worry too much. We’ve heard of something similar before."

"Gasp! Really?!"

The village chief’s eyes widened in shock at my words.

I smiled at him.

"We’ll have to check to be sure, but I suspect it’s the work of a giant insect."

"A-a giant insect?!"

To reassure him, I gave him a bit more information, but the mere mention of a giant insect left the village chief looking pale.

I nodded and continued.

"Yes. In another place, they found traces of its footprints. Ah, also, if we’re going to help, I should bring in my children who are waiting outside. They’ll help guard the village."

Before entering the village, I had told my "kids" to wait outside, just in case the villagers got scared. Now, I asked if I could bring them in.

The village chief readily agreed.

"Ah, you mean the beasts of the Beast Palace? Of course! That’s perfectly fine. The beasts of the Beast Palace are known for being well-behaved.

If they are here to protect us, we would feel much safer."

Well, they weren’t exactly "beasts of the Beast Palace"—they were venomous creatures and spiritual beasts under my care—but since we had permission, everything was fine.

I immediately sent a signal to Cho, who was waiting outside.

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"Cho, bring the kids in. Daddy’s coming to greet you."

"Chrrr."

It seemed Cho had been waiting for my signal because I got an immediate response.

"Alright then, I’ll go outside and bring them in."

"Please do. I’d love to see the beasts of the Beast Palace again."

With the village chief in tow, I headed toward the village entrance. Soon, from the distance, I saw Yo-hwa, who had taken the form of Hwa-eun, with Hyang perched on her head. Beside her, Bini and Cho strode forward, their glossy black and emerald-colored shells gleaming under the sunlight.

Even from afar, they shone brilliantly.

"Damn... whose daughters are these? They grew up so well."

Seeing their sleek, polished forms, I felt a surge of pride. I had always made sure to wipe them down thoroughly with a dry cloth, and it showed.

Just as I was admiring them, the village chief’s trembling voice reached my ears.

"Th-those two... surely not...?"

He was probably asking if those were my "kids." As they quickly approached, I patted all three on the head and answered.

"Yes, these are my daughters. Beautiful, aren’t they? Girls, say hello."

—"Chrrr."

—"Chrrt."

—"Kiiish."

At my instruction, all three bowed their heads in greeting.

Seeing them act so well-mannered, my fatherly heart swelled with pride.

After all, greeting elders properly was the mark of good upbringing.

The village chief stared at me blankly, his voice trembling.

"Y-you said a giant insect was behind this incident...?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"..."

The village chief’s eyes trembled violently.

Now that I thought about it, it must seem strange that we were bringing in giant insects to deal with a giant insect problem.

I quickly clarified before he misunderstood.

My "kids" were different from the wild, uncivilized creatures that stole livestock.

My girls were educated.

"You don’t have to worry. My children don’t eat pigs or livestock. They were raised among humans since they were young and wouldn’t harm people either. They’re well-trained."

At last, the village chief’s stiff lips loosened, and he hesitantly spoke.

"W-welcome."

***

"Let’s stop by the hot spring first."

"That sounds good. I really need a bath."

"Me too."

The women, having sweated profusely while traveling through the jungle, were eager to wash up.

We decided to settle in first and then head to the hot spring to clean up.

At the same time, we could also search for Hyang.

"Let’s do that."

With that plan in mind, we walked for about fifteen minutes and arrived at the base of a mountain.

A breathtaking valley unfolded before us, with white steam rising and flowing along the stream.

Leading us a bit further upstream, Yang Seong-hu gestured ahead.

"This way."

As we followed him, I dipped my hand into the stream—sure enough, it was warm.

Not boiling hot, but just the right temperature to soak in.

"When we came here last time, we found that the spots where the water surges up are hotter, while the flowing water is milder."

Looking in the direction Yang Seong-hu pointed, I saw several bubbling hot springs.

Passing by a few of them, we eventually heard the sound of falling water, and soon, a shallow waterfall appeared before us.

It wasn’t very high—perhaps around three meters.

—Chaaaa.

The sound of flowing water filled the air as Yang Seong-hu explained.

"This is the place. Seon-hwa and I found it while looking for a quiet spot to hide from Do-ryong."

Why exactly he had been hiding from Gyu-seong, I decided to ask later—privately.

For now, I guided Hwa-eun and the other women to a more secluded area upstream so they could bathe first.

Then, I returned immediately to search the bottom of the waterfall.

Since the water was only about a meter deep, I figured it would be easy enough to investigate.

"Alright, let’s start by checking the bottom."

"Shall we take a dip, then?"

"I’ve been looking forward to this."

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In this era, when men bathed together, they simply stripped off their outer robes and entered the water wearing only their pants.

Eager for a proper soak, we jumped in and started feeling around the rocky bottom.

Because of the bubbles from the falling water, visibility was poor, so the only way to check was to search by hand.

"Pfft..."

We took turns diving, retrieving stones, and inspecting them.

Gyu-seong, Ji-ryong, Kwon-ryong, and Geom-ryong—all of us who had come for a bath—ended up laboring like workers, thoroughly examining rocks.

But Hyang was nowhere to be found.

"Haa... It won’t be that easy, huh?"

"Of course not. It’s a treasure—it’s not just going to appear out of nowhere."

"I’m getting hungry. Let’s wrap this up and head back. By the way, since the village is worried about the missing pigs, we’ll probably have to hunt our own food."

"Shall we, then?"

"Sounds good. Also, So So-hyeop, I’m very curious about how Yang Seong-hu managed to sneak here so secretly with Seon-hwa."

At Ji-ryong’s words, the other brothers nodded in agreement.

Men really did think alike.

***

"So-ryong, wake up. It’s your turn."

"Ugh... Already?"

"Yeah."

I had just been drifting off when Gyu-seong woke me up.

Since animals had been disappearing from the village, we had decided to take turns standing guard.

"If you’re too sleepy, I can take your shift."

"No, hyung. It’s my turn. I ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) also need to check on Cho and Bini."

Seeing me yawn, Gyu-seong looked concerned and offered to take my shift, but that wasn’t an option.

My two daughters were out there, standing guard at my request—I couldn’t be the only one sleeping.

First, I called down Cho, who was patrolling the village from the sky.

"Cho, Daddy’s awake. Come down for a bit."

"Chrrr."

A short while after my call, I heard a familiar sound from above.

"Chrrr."

Rubbing my eyes, I looked up to see nothing but darkness.

Tonight, the moon was hidden behind thick clouds—no moonlight at all.

Soon, Cho silently appeared near the lantern hanging in front of the house.

"Chrrr."

"Alright, Cho. Let’s go up for a bit."

I wanted to fully wake up and also get a better view of the village from above, so I asked Cho to carry me up.

Wrapping around me, Cho lifted me into the air.

With no moonlight, the only visible lights were the scattered lanterns around the village.

"Bini, everything alright?"

"Chrrt!"

I checked in with Bini, who quickly responded that everything was fine.

Just then, while floating in the air, Cho suddenly rubbed her head against my cheek.

"Chrrt."

"Hah... my first daughter is such a sweetheart."

The night wind and Cho’s slightly chilled shell gradually cleared my mind.

Just as I was about to fully wake up, Cho’s fangs nudged my cheek into a ridiculous expression.

And then, something strange caught my eye below.

"What... is that?"

At the center of the village, starting from the well, the lanterns were going out—one by one.

It was as if someone was flipping a switch, extinguishing them in perfect sequence.

Since there weren’t many lanterns to begin with, the entire village was quickly swallowed in darkness.

—Screech!

A faint, short death cry echoed through the night, barely audible.

Almost immediately after, Bini’s urgent warning filled my mind.

『Here, Dad! Here!』

She had found something.

I told Cho to take us down and shouted loudly for Gyu-seong, who was likely still awake.

"Gyu-seong!"

—Crash! Bang!

As expected, he came tumbling out of his bamboo house, startled by my yell.

"W-what’s going on?!"

"Something just appeared!"

"What about the fire?!"

As soon as I landed, I used Fire Shards to quickly relight a lantern and sent a mental message to Bini.

"Bini, where are you!? Stay back—it’s dangerous!"

The only response I got was a single word.

Water.

There were no streams nearby, so the only source of water had to be... the well.

Holding up the lantern, I ran to the well.

There, I found Bini with her head plunged into the well, hissing sharply.

—Chrrrrt! Chrrrt!

"Bini, back up."

I had her move aside and lowered the lantern into the well.

There, I saw something—figures scattering rapidly along the cave walls.

And at the bottom of the well, on one side, there was a massive hole.

"What the hell is that...?"

The fading remnants of whatever had disappeared below still lingered faintly in my vision.