Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Fabre in the Four Heavenly Houses @ Erhut

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A reincarnated poison expert and venomous insect YouTuber from the Martial Forest, Spicy Fabre.

The Four Heavenly Houses wants him.

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#MartialArts #Genius #Other_Professionals #Insects #Animals

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Blue-Spotted Centipede 1

– Swish.

In the evening, as the gentle rain fell, at the entrance of a dilapidated abandoned conduit.

Around thirty people strangely descended upon this mountain-clad abandoned site, partially covered by indiscriminately grown tropical trees.

Among them, a man who seemed to be their leader politely cupped his fists and asked, “Junior Hero, may I shelter from the rain for just one night?”

He spoke to me, who was now taken aback by the sudden appearance of these men.

I wondered if they might be bad folks, but despite my youthful age, his respectful demeanor and polite speech indicated otherwise.

He presumably thought I was just a young Taoist guarding this abandoned conduit.

“I also just settled here a few years ago. You are welcome to stay wherever you wish, though please use other areas as I occupy that separate chamber.”

“Thank you. This young hero is quite courteous. We’ll do as you say. Everyone, if you heard that, move. Don’t go near the junior hero’s chamber; let’s find another spot to shelter from the rain. Understood?”

“Understood, Clan Head!”

Seeing the character “Tang” on the men’s chests along with the term Clan Head, it gave the impression that they belonged to the same clan.

I was curious about what they were doing but bowed my head slightly toward the middle-aged man and swiftly headed toward the chamber I used.

Dinner time for the children had come.

“Almost missed it. Were you all hungry?”

Upon entering the room, I lit the lamp and hurriedly prepared dinner.

I opened the lid of a large ceramic jar, cleared away some leaves inside, and grabbed a handful of crickets.

The feeling of the squirming crickets in my hand.

With that in tow, I opened a nearby large jar to peek inside.

A hefty body, with fluffy hairy legs.

The slightly yellow-toned body also made my heart race.

As I tossed a few adult crickets into the jar, they rapidly snatched them up.

Being the aggressive creatures they were, they greedily stuffed crickets into their mouths.

“Black, eat a lot. If it weren’t for you guys, what would I do?”

The one in the jar is named Black Earth Tiger.

A tarantula species that inhabits Hainan Island in the Central Plains, it grows up to 20 cm.

I had caught it and it had already molted twice, growing close to 15 cm.

Now that I confirmed it was eating, it was time to feed the others as well.

Watching it snatch the remaining crickets, I quickly made my way to the old medicine cabinet.

Opening the cabinet, I was greeted by the Bawangling Cave Gecko.

It stood out with yellow stripes on the body and white stripes on the tail, a native lizard species from Hainan.

“It was so hard to obtain you back in my previous life, but here you are in abundance. I really live for the joy of seeing you.”

I waved a cricket’s leg before them, and they quickly dashed forward to snatch it.

“Ouch, ouch!”

I pulled away the lizard that bit my finger while trying to grab the cricket, and after feeding everyone inside the jars, I heard someone’s voice from outside.

“Junior Hero. Are you inside?”

It felt like the Clan Head from earlier.

I quickly wiped my hands and closed the cabinet.

As I stepped out of the chamber, the middle-aged man was standing with a smile.

“I wanted to thank you for letting me shelter from the rain; would you like to have dinner together? I brought back some deer.”

“D-deer, you say?”

“Indeed. I caught two on my way back for dinner; would you join me?”

I had never caught deer in my life.

Tempted by the allure of meat, I eagerly nodded.

In a previous life, the thought of eating snakes and lizards would have never crossed my mind, but here, the only prey I could catch were snakes and lizards.

To survive, one needs protein, and I had no choice but to eat them. They were my only source of protein.

So when he mentioned four-legged game like venison, I couldn’t refuse.

“Sorry, guys… I had to live…”

After silently apologizing to the snakes and lizards buried away, I followed the man through the half-collapsed roof and arrived at the largest chamber in the conduit.

As I entered, the enticing aroma of roasted venison wafted through the air, mingled with the flames rising from the holes in the building.

– gulp.

My mouth watered at the sight of the drooling oil and meat.

As I stared, mesmerized, I noticed the man’s gaze on me, and turning my head, I saw him smiling and pointing to a seat beside him.

“Oh dear.”

My face flushed in embarrassment as I made my way to the indicated spot.

Then I heard the man’s voice mixed with laughter.

“The meat should take a little longer to cook. In the meantime, I have a few questions I’m curious about; may I ask?”

“Yes, please do, elder.”

He seemed to have something on his mind.

Nodding in agreement since I owed the meat, the man began his inquiry.

It’s pretty standard to start with a background check, after all.

“By the way, do you live alone in these mountains on Hainan Island? How old are you?”

“I’m about fourteen or fifteen, I believe.”

“Fourteen or fifteen?”

The middle-aged man’s expression seemed to question what “fourteen-fifteen” meant.

Scratching my head, I explained, “I… I lost my memory…”

“Oh dear, how unfortunate.”

The man looked at me sympathetically, but claiming I had lost my memory was a lie. I hadn’t lost it; I had the feeling of being reincarnated.

Should I say it was a previous life? Before I died, I was a streamer.

On YouTube, America TV, and Switch, I was a renowned streamer boasting a million subscribers famous for introducing and raising reptiles and venomous creatures.

My nickname was Spicy Fabre.

Since I broadcasted specialized content on venomous insects and snakes, I had that name.

However, the reason I ended up in this world, in such a young body, was that I met my end doing something risky.

While streaming an exploration of the world’s ten most venomous snakes, I was bitten by a Black Mamba and died.

“I probably ended up as one of those foolish streamers who died in dangerous acts… but seriously, how does a Black Mamba pop out from behind the fridge at a rundown hotel in Africa when I’m just trying to rest after my adventures?!”

When introducing the creatures to the audience, they didn’t show up, but when I returned to a shabby hotel in Africa, that Black Mamba sprang out!

At that moment, I thought, “I’m really in trouble.”

The venom of a Black Mamba is infamous for being fatal within 20 minutes.

And now, here I was.

“Oh. So then, do you live here alone continuously?”

“Yes, I have no skills. I catch snakes here and live off selling their skins.”

“Ah, such a young junior hero is catching snakes dangerously…”

The man looked at me with a pitying gaze.

I too felt pity for myself, but how much worse would it seem to others?

While we were chatting for a bit, two big pieces of meat were handed before me.

Eyes wide in surprise, the man who brought the meat smiled and said, “Clan Head, I brought the well-cooked parts first. You looked quite hungry earlier.”

My face turned red with embarrassment again, but since embarrassment doesn’t give me meat, I quickly looked down and took the meat.

“It’s been ages since I’ve eaten four-legged game. Thank you.”

As soon as I received the meat, I devoured it hungrily.

– Chew.

How long has it been since I had meat?

While snake meat was tasty, it simply couldn’t compare to four-legged animals.

As the savory juices dripped and the delicious fat flowed into my mouth, bliss washed over me.

Yes, this is happiness.

The grease I would’ve thought was greasy in a past life was now incredibly rich.

Quickly tearing off every bite of meat and happily sucking off the bones, the elderly man brought over a large cut of deer ribs and said, “This young junior hero really eats well. Do have this too.”

“Thank you, elder.”

“Haha, reminds me of my granddaughter, who I left back home.”

Just then, as I chewed with both hands covered in meat juices, the voice of the Clan Head man who brought me here rang out again.

“Junior Hero, while you eat, listen up. We came looking for something; have you noticed anything strange in the vicinity?”

I quickly licked the grease off my hand and responded to the man’s inquiry.

“Um, something strange, you say?”

“Hmm… How should I put this…”

The man was deep in thought over my question.

As the elderly man who had given me the ribs chimed in with a smile, “Clan Head, the young junior hero has graciously sheltered us from the rain, so shouldn’t we tell him? After all, he wouldn’t be likely to speak of it to anyone else, given that he lives here alone.”

“Indeed, you’re right, Father.”

It turned out the elderly man was the father of the Clan Head.

Following the old man’s suggestion, the Clan Head lowered his voice and asked again.

“We are looking for a centipede with blue spots; have you perhaps seen one? We’ve been searching the area for days without luck.”

“A centipede with blue spots, you say?”

“Correct. The centipede is called the Blue-Spotted Centipede. It’s quite large; you might have seen it…”

At the mention of centipedes, my ears perked up, forgetting the “seeing” part.

Centipedes are beautiful creatures.

With numerous legs, a sleek body, and no other arthropod compares to its unique beauty.

Especially since centipedes aren’t insects, but arthropods with maternal instincts.

A truly remarkable creature!

And it has large blue spots! It must be a new species!

A new species? This Spicy Fabre could not simply let that pass.

I decided to gather some information. “How large are we talking?”

“Well, if it’s fully grown, I suppose it could easily swallow someone your size?”

“Whaaaaaat!”

‘A mad centipede that could swallow a person? I thought I’d traveled back a few hundred years but maybe that’s not the case? Is this another world altogether? I absolutely must go find it!’

A new species of giant centipede.

I trembled with joy at the words of the two men.

Seeing my excitement, the elderly man patted my shoulder and reassured me, “This young junior hero seems frightened. Don’t worry; we’ve come to catch it.”

‘Came to catch it? Are there actually people in this era with hobbies similar to mine?’

They seemed to misunderstand my excitement for fear, and though I felt joyful to meet like-minded individuals, I quickly asked.

If they share similar interests, perhaps we could form a community.

We could exchange breeding info and share collecting maps.

Nothing is lonelier than doing hobby activities alone…

A huge part of the joy in hobbies is showing off, and since I was deprived of that, I needed to explore this possibility.

“So you came to catch it; are you planning to keep it?”

Their faces brightened at my question.

“Haha, to keep the Blue-Spotted Centipede? That’s an interesting thought.”

“Young junior hero, that’s amusing.”

“But we’re not planning to keep it; we’re looking to use it for medicine.”

The joy that had surged within me deflated.

It turns out they were just ignorant folks.

In my previous life, there were countless centipedes that had suffered due to rumors claiming they were good for the waist, so they must be somewhat similar to those guys.

Saying that a centipede can be used for medicine sounded like scientifically groundless nonsense; another centipede was about to lose its life needlessly.

I had a hunch about where to find one, though.

“Oh, I thought you shared the same interests as me, but they turned out to be ignorant folks instead?”

Disappointment swelled within me, but I decided to enlight them, worried that an innocent new species might lose its life.

“Centipedes won’t be effective as medicine, though?”

At my query, the two men’s expressions turned slightly grim, and the elderly man replied in a heavy-hearted voice.

“That might be so. But my granddaughter is currently very ill and bedridden. Only the centipede’s Inner Dan can save her.”

The elderly man’s granddaughter must be the middle-aged man’s daughter.

Surprised, I looked at the middle-aged man, who forced a smile while his expression darkened.

“Oh dear. The child is in a critical condition, so they seem to be trying to fetch whatever they can.”

While centipedes wouldn’t be a cure, how can parents possibly bear to see their child suffer?

The feelings of wanting to bring something back to feed a child in distress are natural for any parent.

I, too, had spent 500,000 won at the vet to save a sick lizard.

So while I felt sorry for the new species…

Having already received meat, I figured I should lend a hand.

“I can’t say I’ve seen the centipede, but I have a guess on where it might be located.”

As for centipedes, it’s likely that this Spicy Fabre’s palm is right where it’ll be!