Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 242: King of Serpents (3)

That evening.

After finishing dinner and lying down in my quarters, I found myself lost in thought about why there was no portrait of the Golden-Crowned Four Kings.

‘Why was that the only one missing?’

‘What is it, So-ryong?’

‘Gyaaah!’

‘S-So-ryong?’

I was deep in thought when Hwa-eun’s voice suddenly interrupted me.

Startled, I sat up and checked my surroundings—but as expected, she wasn’t anywhere near me.

It wasn’t something I heard with my ears. It had been conveyed directly to my mind.

I had fully adapted to sending thoughts to the creatures, but communicating with Hwa-eun—sending and receiving—was still something I hadn’t mastered.

That’s why mistakes happened from time to time. I must’ve thought I was just musing to myself but ended up sending those thoughts straight to her.

‘Ah, no. I mean...’

Just as I was about to explain that it wasn’t because I was startled, but rather because I’d accidentally sent her a message in the middle of the night, there came a knock at the door.

– Knock knock.

‘Don’t tell me she’s on her way here? No way, we were together all day today!’

“Is that you, Hwa-eun?”

I called out to confirm, thinking maybe it really was her, but contrary to my guess, the voice that answered belonged to Seol.

“It’s not Hwa-eun. It’s me. Hm? You’re not sleeping, are you?”

“Oh, Sister Seol? Ah, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) no, not at all.”

“Then I’m coming in.”

“Yes, Sister Seol.”

I sat up from the straw mat as Sister Seol opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit room.

Because of the kids, I didn’t keep any lanterns lit inside, so the room was quite dark.

She came all the way over to the straw near me and reclined diagonally as she spoke.

“I just couldn’t sleep, so I came to hang out.”

“Ah, I see.”

From the way she walked in and flopped down on the straw without hesitation, it was clear she was very used to this place.

This wasn’t an unusual occurrence—Sister Seol often dropped by my quarters.

She was always someone easily bored.

Thinking she must’ve just been bored again, I lay back down, using Bini as a pillow—

—and suddenly my mind buzzed with a voice, loud and urgent.

I’d completely forgotten about Hwa-eun in the process of welcoming Sister Seol in.

‘So-ryong? So-ryong? Why did you stop mid-sentence?’

‘Ah, I’m sorry. Sister Seol said she couldn’t sleep and came over to visit.’

I quickly responded.

If I was too slow, I’d get scolded for that too.

‘Oh, really? Then I’m coming too!’

‘Wait, we were literally together all day toda—’

‘Yes?’

‘Ah, no, I mean. Yes, please come. I’ll be waiting.’

Damn it. I really couldn’t tell the difference between my inner thoughts and the ones I was sending to Hwa-eun anymore.

If this keeps up, I’m going to seriously mess up one of these days.

Just as I was feeling that creeping sense of crisis, another voice rang clearly in my ears—this time actually from beside me.

“So-ryong.”

“Y-Yes, S-Sister Seol?”

“Your foot. Is it okay?”

“Sorry?”

“Your foot. The one I kept applying the Gold Salve to while you were unconscious. How well has it healed?”

“Oh, right.”

I showed her the bottom of my foot in the dark, and her eyes gleamed as she examined the wound.

After a moment, she nodded.

“Looks like it’s healed up well. It’s not fully closed yet, though, so be careful for a while.”

“Yes, Sister Seol.”

Just as she said, the wound on my foot was mostly healed.

Only a reddish mark remained, but since it had only been about ten days, if I wasn’t careful, it could reopen.

“Still, with most of the people out searching, the estate’s feeling unusually empty.”

Right after checking my foot, she brought up the search effort.

Since I’d been too caught up in that mental conversation with Hwa-eun, I hadn’t heard anything about it.

So I decided to ask her for more information.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Oh, now that you mention it, I hadn’t heard anything. Was the search decided last night? Could you tell me more about it?”

“Mm. Of course. So here’s what happened. While you and Hwa-eun were passed out...”

According to Sister Seol, during the ten days that Hwa-eun and I were unconscious, all the guests had quietly left with their sects to begin covert searches.

“Covertly?”

“Yeah. Ji-ryong said it’s a counter-move—since they tried to deceive us, we’re deceiving them in turn.”

A few small sects from Sichuan had disguised their disciples as Emei nuns or Cheongseong martial artists and headed toward Inhoe where the Guard Division was located.

Meanwhile, the actual search teams—led by Cheongseong and Emei—headed east under cover of darkness.

Cheongseong was rallying martial artists in the northern part of Sichuan to cover the Sichuan-Shaanxi border, while Emei led southern martial artists to cover the Sichuan-Zhongjing border.

Because Hwa-eun and I were laid up, Father-in-law and Grandfather hadn’t gone themselves,

but the elders of the Tang Clan had taken warriors and joined the search.

The Tang Clan had split its forces in half to support both flanks, as Sister Seol explained.

“Oh, so the whole point was to draw everyone’s attention toward the Guard Division?”

“Exactly.”

“But if it’s not just the Blood Cult, and if the Ottu are behind them, we’ll need to be extra careful...”

It was a good plan, but still, there were things to be worried about.

The Blood Cult could be countered relatively easily thanks to the Response Toxin Team and Solidified Poison Formula,

but the tricky part was the Ottu Clan.

They had Guemangjo on their side, and their ability to produce spiritual-level venomous creatures with just their mouths made them a serious threat.

It wouldn’t be strange for something nasty to pop up during the search.

“Don’t worry, So-ryong. Ji-ryong actually said he was relieved—he figured there might be Ottu bastards behind the Blood Cult,

so that’s why the Tang Clan split its warriors.

Besides, we even got support from Yummong’s sect, Wolgaek. They sent poison defense experts. So don’t stress too much.”

“Oh, so that’s why our clan divided its forces?”

“Yeah. It was a precaution in case some venomous creature or weird stuff showed up—sort of a pest-control split.”

So the Tang Clan warriors were not only sent out, but also prepared to deal with Guemangjo.

Just as I was feeling reassured, I heard Hwa-eun’s voice again from outside.

‘So-ryong, I’m here.’

“Come in, Hwa-eun.”

In the end, she came.

At this point, I was starting to think it might just be easier to get married and stick together 24/7.

– Creak.

The door opened, and Hwa-eun stepped into the room.

She must’ve been ready for bed—she wore something light and had a blanket draped over her shoulders.

“Unni!”

Hwa-eun spotted Sister Seol in the dark and lit up with excitement,

but Sister Seol’s response didn’t match her energy. Instead, it came with a slightly dumbfounded tone.

“You came too, Hwa-eun? Even though you two were stuck together all day.”

‘That’s what I’m saying, Sister Seol.’

That line hit me right in the heart. Sister Seol always said the things I could never say out loud.

“Honestly, just ask the elders if they’ll let you two share a room already. Even if the wedding’s delayed, at least get the sleeping arrangements sorted.”

“Ah! Unni!”

“S-Sister Seol!”

At Sister Seol’s suggestion that we might as well just live together, both Hwa-eun and I flinched.

The meanings behind our reactions were likely different, though.

For Hwa-eun, it was probably out of embarrassment.

For me, I’d actually been thinking something along those lines, but there’s still a difference between jumping off a cliff yourself and someone else pushing you.

Seol kept poking and prodding.

“I mean, if you still like being together after spending the whole day side by side, you should just get married already. At this rate, you’ll end up with a child before the wedding.”

“U-Unni!”

“Actually, being stuck together 24/7 might not be such a bad thing?”

I paused at those words.

Come to think of it... maybe a married life where we were together all day really wouldn’t be that bad.

Just as I started entertaining that thought, Hwa-eun abruptly waved her hand and shifted the conversation in another direction.

“Ah, r-right. So-ryong. You said something was missing earlier?”

“Missing?”

“That message you sent with your thoughts. You said, ‘Why was that the only one missing?’ Didn’t you?”

“Oh, that.”

“What was it, So-ryong? What were you talking about?”

Though the conversation had been interrupted earlier, Seol seemed curious too, so I leaned diagonally on Bini and began to explain what I had been thinking about.

“Actually, I was wondering why only the portrait of the Golden-Crowned Four Kings was missing behind the Heavenly Flame Venom Wall. It didn’t make sense.”

“Is that really such a big deal? Maybe they just forgot to include it?”

As soon as I said it, Hwa-eun tilted her head with a confused expression.

Seol and I answered at the exact same time.

“That’s not it, Hwa-eun.”

“No, not at all, Hwa-eun.”

“Huh? It’s not?”

Hwa-eun blinked at us, still not quite following.

That reaction was to be expected. It wasn’t something easy to understand unless you were a fellow enthusiast like Seol or me.

Seol gently tried to explain in a warm, understanding tone—like she was lowering herself to a regular person’s level.

“Okay, Hwa-eun, imagine this—even among poisonous beasts, there’s a group known as the Ten Great Poisonous Beasts, right?

Now imagine documenting them in a book... but one of them is missing? You wouldn’t be able to stand it. No, you'd die and still not be able to close your eyes in peace.”

“Yes, exactly! That’s it, Sister Seol!”

I nodded slowly, deeply agreeing with that perfect explanation.

When I looked at Hwa-eun, though, she was still blinking rapidly, not quite grasping it.

“Ugh, even that wasn’t clear enough?”

Seol glanced over at me with a slightly frustrated expression.

She was clearly saying, You explain it.

True, her explanation had been a bit abstract, so I decided to give it another try.

“For people like me and Sister Seol—who raise venomous creatures or poisonous beasts for fun—how should I put it? There’s something like a goal that naturally forms.”

“A goal?”

“Yes. I mean, of course we care about all our creatures, but eventually you start thinking, ‘I’ll collect them in all colors,’ or ‘Let’s see how many offspring I can breed.’ That kind of thing.”

“Exactly! See? So-ryong gets it.”

Seol nodded enthusiastically, agreeing with my words.

But even so, Hwa-eun was still blinking, clearly not convinced.

Even though I tried to simplify it so a regular person could grasp the idea, it still felt hard to understand.

So, Hwa-eun asked the obvious question.

“But... why? Why would you do that?”

I wanted to explain more, but this was where the logic of a collector became blurry.

“It’s hard to explain. It just... happens naturally when you raise them.”

“Yeah. It’s not easy to put into words, but it just happens.

Like me—I’m raising three types of wolves: black, white, and brown.”

“O-Oh, I see?”

“Anyway, that’s why it just doesn’t make sense that it was missing from the book.

Whoever made that record... if they didn’t complete the set, they probably couldn’t rest in peace.”

“That is pretty strange.”

At that, Seol rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.

After a while, her eyes lit up like she’d remembered something, and she turned to Hwa-eun.

“Hey, that’s right! Hwa-eun, doesn’t the Tang Clan have any records or documents left behind by the previous clan leaders?

If you check the logs or the records of the clan’s affairs from that time, there might be something about the person who wrote the Heavenly Flame Venom Bestiary.

We have stuff like that in our Yaksoo Palace.”

Hwa-eun clapped her hands and exclaimed.

“Oh! Yes! We do have something like that!”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes! The Clan Leader’s Journal. There might be something written in there. Most of the older records were burned at some point,

but there should still be enough left to check.”

When she mentioned that the Clan Leader’s Journal was still around, Seol and I both jumped to our feet.

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s go now!”

“R-Right now?”

“Of course. If I don’t check this, I won’t be able to sleep.”

“Exactly. There’s no way I can sleep without checking this out.”

Sighing at us, Hwa-eun ended up leading us to the Tang Clan’s archives in the dead of night.

As we stepped into the dark archive chamber, a musty smell greeted us.

“Wait, am I even allowed to look at this stuff?”

“These records are super old, so it’s fine, unni.

There’s nothing about martial arts written in them. Ah, here it is.

The person who compiled the Heavenly Flame Venom Bestiary was the Third Clan Leader, Elder Tang Hwa-seong. Third generation, that would be... ah, this one here...”

“Hm...”

“Only one book?”

Just one.

Apparently, most of the older records had been lost to fire, and this was all that remained.

Even that one surviving book showed signs of damage—its brittle, aged pages looked like they might crumble at the slightest touch.

“We probably can’t touch this directly.”

I spoke hesitantly at the fragile condition of the book,

but then Hwa-eun pulled out another one from beneath the scorched volume.

“This is the rewritten copy. Let’s go through it together and see what we can find.”

“Ooooh.”

Huddling together in the dim light of a lantern, we slowly turned the pages.

And near the very end, a single line written in a sorrowful tone by the third clan leader caught our eyes:

“Yesterday, I left it out for the sake of Hwa-seong, but today, Hwa-seong too is gone.”