Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 187: Fabre in the Four Heavenly Houses

“Eeeeeek!”

With the little Black-Clawed Red Insect in tow, I dashed into the Lava Cave, but the relentless cries of the creature echoed around me.

The squirming bundle in my arms continued to wriggle.

If I continued up to the village, it would be surrounded by other friends before it even had a chance to catch its breath!

I took a seat against the corridor wall and spoke soothingly to it.

“Um… Hello? I’m Wei So-ryong. How about we talk for a moment? What should I start with…?”

Starting with my introduction, I tried to explain why the Black-Clawed Red Insect’s mother made such a decision. Unlike this little one, who had received immense love from its mother, its siblings might not be so lucky.

Of course, I also mentioned that I was entrusted by its mother to look after it while it grew up.

As my words began to calm it down, the little creature looked up at me.

I gently patted its head and asked, “Feeling a bit calmer now?”

It was still soft despite just being born, but there was a certain moistness in its eyes that was oddly cute.

“We need to live together from now on… which means you need a name. Hmm… what should we call you?”

When a new family member arrives, the first thing to find is a name.

As I tried to come up with something that suited it, a particularly adorable name popped into my head.

“Hong-dan!”

In a previous life, it might evoke the card from Hwatu, but wasn’t this the Central Plains?

I explained my thoughts to the little one, “Ah! Since you received great love from your mother all alone, let’s include ‘Dan’ (단) in your name and call you Hong-dan. What do you think, Hong-dan?”

I attached a lot of meaning to its name.

It was the one that had received the most love from its mother, and the one to awaken consciousness all alone. Hence, ‘Dan’ (단).

The little one seemed to ponder my words for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“Eeeee!”

Since it had eaten the Inner Dan of its mother, there was a sharpness to its intellect.

I again stroked its head and said, “Once we go up, the older sisters will welcome you. Let’s go!”

“Eeeee?”

Hong-dan tilted its head at the mention of older sisters welcoming it.

My words implied that it was a female, after all. If it had been male, it would have definitely been a clawed one, but to prove its femininity, it sported two very sharp blades on its tail.

Since the Tang Clan used only poisons and were adept at human assassination, I had to wonder if the increasing venomous insects were also female.

‘Come to think of it, the only male is Bin…’

But all of that was merely coincidental.

Mo-ji and So-ji were still yet to be confirmed, so they were out of the equation, but Chao, Hyang, and Bin were just lucky eggs that turned out to be female as well. Yo-hwa was given away by chance too.

Just like Yeon-du and Hwa-yang.

This situation was almost entirely the mother of the Black-Clawed Red Insect’s choice.

From the perspective of the Black-Clawed Red Insect’s mother, passing the Inner Dan to a female was a more beneficial choice for continuity.

To introduce her to her sisters, I tucked the little one in my arms, who looked bewildered by the mention of being introduced.

As I stepped outside, the vines hanging above me acted as a guide to climb to the well, and I was greeted by the people waiting for me.

Sure enough, the first to grab my hand climbing out was Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol, who looked at me with concern.

“Wei So-ryong, are you alright?”

“Long, what happened?”

Having seen Hong-dan peeking from my collar, their questions continued, and as I glanced down, it seemed scared, only sticking out its antennae from the folds of my clothing.

I whispered to them, pointing a finger to my chest, [I’ll tell you all the details in a moment. We have a new family member!]

I couldn’t recount the story of the mother’s death or the details about Hong-dan’s siblings eating her in front of the little one.

So I decided to introduce Hong-dan first, and as my sisters’ eyes widened upon discovering her nestled in my arms, it was simply adorable.

“Oh my!?”

“What’s this?”

“This is Hong-dan.”

“Hong-dan?”

“Hong-dan is such a pretty name. It’s cute and lovely just like its name.”

As I slightly nudged my collar open to reveal Hong-dan’s head, her big eyes sparkled with excitement at the light and new faces, as I introduced her to my sisters.

“Hong-dan, you should greet them! These will be your new mother with Father, and this is your aunt. You can just think of them as people who will take care of you alongside me.”

“Eeeee.”

“Oh my, even the crying sounds cute!”

“Seriously! Such a tiny little sound!”

My sisters were delighted by the little one’s chirp as we headed towards our living quarters.

Upon entering, the first thing I noticed were Chao floating on the ceiling and Bin, who peeked up from the floor as we walked in.

At the dining table, I saw Seol, Bin, and Dong-i munching on their food, while Yeon-du was wrapped around a pillar, and Mo-ji and So-ji were quietly sitting near the Ice Orb.

Hwa-yang was there too, sitting with a dazed expression below the bed.

Finally, as Yo-hwa stepped in behind us, our family was complete.

I gathered the kids to the center and placed Hong-dan down on the floor to introduce her.

“Alright, this is the new family member, Hong-dan! She’s the youngest, so you all need to take good care of her.”

For now, Hong-dan was only about the size of a small puppy.

She wasn’t big by any means, just a cute little bundle that fit like two fists together.

As I set her down among the kids, the sound of her chirps filled the air.

– Tsuru?

– Kkukku?

– Kiyyss?

What’s with this newcomer?

That seemed to be the general reaction.

But the moment the firstborn daughter, Chao, stepped forward, she greeted Hong-dan fittingly.

– Tsuru!

As Chao’s antenna brushed over Hong-dan’s head, the little one twitched in surprise.

Then, greetings flowed from Bin, Yo-hwa, and the others, each with their unique ways of saying hello.

If Chao and Bin greeted her with their antennae, Seol, Bing, and Dong-i did so with their chirps.

Yo-hwa waved its arms transformed into Hwa-eun’s pedipalps, while Yeon-du gave a slight bow.

Hwa-yang simply wore a blank expression.

Just as everyone finished greeting, Hua Eun seemed to suddenly remember something and clapped her hands.

– Clap.

“Oh right, I forgot about Hyang.”

With that, Hua Eun began searching her skirt and found the sleeping Hyang, setting her gently down in front of Hong-dan.

I had almost left her behind the last time we descended to the cave, so she must have fallen asleep in Hua Eun’s folds.

“Hyang, you should greet your little sister!”

Awoken abruptly, she stared blankly for a moment before looking at Hong-dan and then twisting around, slightly taken aback.

– Tsuru?

“She’s your new little sister.”

– Tsur???

Seemed a bit surprised, Hyang confirmed Hong-dan’s size and circled around her, puffing up with pride at finding something smaller than herself.

Then, with happy little steps, she approached Hong-dan and lightly tapped her forehead.

– Tsuru.

‘Does that mean she’s telling Hong-dan to rely on me from now on?’

Hyang seemed to be thoroughly pleased at welcoming a newcomer who seemed a bit smaller than her.

*

Three days passed, and I needed to return to the cave.

There were still tasks left to do inside.

I needed to bury the remains of Hong-dan’s mother, retrieve the Poison Flower, and check on Hong-dan’s siblings.

I planned to tackle all of that and seal away the tunnel we had promised to the village chief.

– Tsuru.

Leading Bin into the cave and arriving at the spot where the Black-Clawed Red Insect had been, I noted that her siblings were either scattered or crawled off in search of light, leaving no sign of them.

And at the spot where Hong-dan’s nest had been was now a dark pile lying beneath the remains of the Black-Clawed Red Insect.

All the soft parts had decayed, and only the wings, shell, and tail remained.

‘Seems like only those parts have survived?’

When the earwig mother allows her young to feed on her, only these remnants survive.

Thinking it would be nice to give her a final send-off, I noticed Hong-dan starting to emit a poignant cry at the sight of her mother.

“Eeeee!”

“Just wait a moment.”

I set her aside and gathered the remnants, placing them near the spot where the Poison Flower lay buried so I could cover them up.

I meticulously arranged what was left against the wall and asked Bin, “Bin, can you bring it out?”

– Tsuru!

Obeying my request, Bin crawled up the wall to fetch the Poison Flower, causing a collapse around us.

– Kaboom!

I quickly stepped back to evade the dust as Bin emerged with a crystal bigger than my head in her mouth.

– Tsuru!

‘Wait, that wasn’t all!?’

When I visually confirmed it last time, it looked no bigger than a fist, but it seemed there was much more to uncover!

While I was thrilled, I decided to stifle my joy for now since this was Hong-dan’s mother’s funeral.

Once the dust settled, underneath the fallen rubble lay the remains of Hong-dan’s mother as I intended.

I gave Hong-dan a chance to say goodbye.

“Alright, Hong-dan, let’s say our final farewells.”

– Eeeee…

Hong-dan hopped out of my arms, approached the mound of rocks, and after a moment of hesitation, covered the tail sticking out with a stone before bouncing back to my side.

It was a tender and brief memorial.

*

– Eeeee!

As I struggled to bring the hefty Poison Flower into our living quarters, Hwa-yang flapped into the air.

She really did!

From her tiny legs emerged an unexpected strength; she leaped and soared right into my arms while holding the Poison Flower.

– Thud!

With her little head bumping against me while I embraced the flower, I immediately heard the slurping sounds following it.

– Slurp, slurp.

Rather than a frog, it seemed like a lizard, as Hwa-yang clung to the Poison Flower and kept licking it.

Every time her tongue passed over it, the flower changed color, only to be filled up almost instantly again, as if energy was being absorbed right into it.

Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol, sitting and sipping tea, looked utterly shocked by her reaction.

It was the first time witnessing such an emotional expression on Hwa-yang’s face.

Hwa-yang wore a blissful expression while licking the Poison Flower.

“Wait, was she always this expressive?”

“Probably not.”

They both shook their heads vigorously.

Their surprise seemed less about the giant Poison Flower and more about Hwa-yang’s antics.

Nevertheless, it appeared that both Hwa-yang and I were happy, and no one seemed to come off negatively from this whole journey.

Thinking that it was nice to end on such a positive note, I began discussing our return journey just as some commotion grew outside.

“Did you come from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace?”

“Indeed, we came after receiving a call for help from you. What is the situation?”

From the sounds, it seemed as though someone in the village had requested assistance from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, and they had responded promptly.

By the way they sounded, Older Sister Seol bolted up and rushed outside.

“Deputy Commander!?”

“A lady!? What brings you, a lady from the Tang Clan, here?”

Seeing Hua Eun and me follow suit outside, I noticed that the number of people present were more than I anticipated.

Some of them didn’t even seem to belong to the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace!

From the emblem on their chest, they appeared to belong to the Martial Forest Alliance.

As soon as we arrived, someone called the Deputy Commander shouted in surprise.

“Lord Wei So-ryong and the fiancée, Lady Hua Eun!?”

“Hua Eun?”

“If it’s Hua Eun, then she’s the Poison Flower of the Moonlit Valley?”

“The Tang Clan is here?”

“Lord Dae Ran, is that you?”

“Wait? Earth Dragon? Even the Five Dragon Triad has come!?”

Surprised by such a sudden gathering, I silently watched as they chattered loudly while gathering around Lady Seol, and I recognized the Deputy Commander as someone I knew.

I had only exchanged greetings with him a few times at the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace during my search for Yeon-du.

‘They are gathering more people than necessary just to handle the village’s matters? And those from the Martial Forest Alliance too?’

Considering the unexpected number of people, while scanning the crowd behind the Deputy Commander, Older Sister Seol asked, “What’s this all about? We just came to help, but we don’t need to worry about any trouble in the village. Why are there so many people, including those we don’t recognize?”

“Ah, of course. Thank goodness for your presence, Miss! We can act swiftly now. The reason for so many here is to address the situation in the village and go to Qinghai as well.”

“Qinghai?”

I perked up at the mention of Qinghai, as that was one of our destinations, straining to listen as unbelievable news unfolded.

“Yes, just recently we captured a member of the Blood Cult who was lurking near the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, and upon interrogation, he revealed that the Blood Cult and the Five Poisons Sect are up to something in Qinghai.”

“It seems to be related to some massive poisonous incident,” someone added.

“A massive poison?!”

“Yes.”

“According to him, it’s said to be the size of a house?”

I hurriedly approached the Deputy Commander, gripping his shoulder as I said, “That’s something we can’t just let slide as a member of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.”