Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

When I told my sister about naming the building “Venomous Creatures’ Garden,” she tilted her head in curiosity, so I explained the meaning behind it.

I wanted her to understand just how grand and impressive the name truly was.

“‘Venom’ from the word poison, ‘Creatures’ representing all living things, and ‘Garden’ as in a sanctuary. It symbolizes a haven where all the venomous creatures of the Central Plains gather. The name reflects my ambition to collect every venomous creature under heaven. What do you think? A dreamlike sanctuary where every venomous creature roams freely.”

“A sanctuary for venomous creatures… A place to gather them all…”

My sister responded with a distant, thoughtful tone, her expression almost poetic.

I couldn’t help but smile smugly. If nothing else, this proved I wasn’t some lazy fool coming up with names like Oil, Cucumber, or O-Sam just for convenience. When I actually put in the effort, this was what I could achieve.

Repeating the name softly, my sister seemed to approve.

“Venomous Creatures’ Garden… Venomous Creatures’ Garden…”

With that, we decided to head to the Venomous Creatures’ Garden first, rather than the breeding facilities inside the Mandok Pavilion.

I had specifically requested a separate building because the cave-like environment of the Mandok Pavilion wasn’t suitable for raising living creatures.

At best, it might serve as a winter shelter, but as a permanent habitat, it was far from ideal.

The cave did offer a stable temperature, but its specific conditions presented problems. For instance, it contained an ice chamber where frost formed even in the height of summer, making the environment too cool and damp.

Although the pavilion had ventilation systems to control humidity, the lack of direct sunlight was the biggest issue.

Raising venomous creatures inevitably meant including reptiles and amphibians, and these vertebrates required ultraviolet light from the sun to synthesize vitamin D. Without it, they couldn’t absorb calcium properly, leading to diseases like metabolic bone disorder.

In my past life, I used UV lamps when raising reptiles, but that wasn’t an option here. Without sunlight, the cave was simply unsuitable for housing venomous creatures.

As we walked, chatting about these matters, we soon arrived at the entrance of the Venomous Creatures’ Garden.

“There are people waiting for you, So-ryong,” my sister said.

Turning my head, I noticed a group of warriors lined up in front of the building, waiting for me.

These were likely the people my sister had mentioned earlier—those assigned to assist me in managing the Venomous Creatures’ Garden.

Among the group, one familiar face immediately caught my attention.

Blinking in surprise, I called out to him.

“Deputy Gu?”

Standing at the front of the group with a cheerful grin was none other than Gu Pae.

“Yes, Sir So-ryong! Gu Pae, Captain of the Venom Squad, reporting for duty!”

Hearing his enthusiastic response, I tilted my head in confusion.

“The Venom Squad?”

“Yes, Sir! The Venom Squad! We’re here to collect and manage venomous creatures with you. This is your personal team, Sir So-ryong!”

I had heard they were sending people to help with the care and management of venomous creatures, but I hadn’t expected them to assign an actual squad, similar to the Tang Clan’s Venom Blood Squad or Extinction Squad.

Looking over at my sister, I found her smiling like a proud mother.

“Father made the decision just before we left. He said it was time for you to learn how to lead and command people. Surprisingly, all the elders of the clan agreed unanimously. I’m not sure what got into them.” She continued, “This squad is directly under your command, So-ryong. Treat them as your hands and feet.”

So, these warriors were my personal subordinates.

“Wow, they’re really giving me full support here.”

I’d always dreamed of running my own venom-focused shop in my previous life.

While it was a hobby I loved, raising creatures on my own had its limits. Selling offspring or managing breeding was challenging without help, which was why I had dreamed of hiring staff, paying them, and enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Now, it felt like that dream was coming to life here in this new world.

Resolving to realize my unfulfilled aspirations from my past life, I looked at the twenty warriors lined up in front of me with a sense of pride.

My sister gently nudged my back and whispered, “Since they’re your Venom Squad, you should say a few words to them.”

“Wait, a speech?!”

I’d always wanted to give a motivational speech at least once in my life.

Brimming with a sense of purpose, I began pacing in front of the warriors and addressed them. It felt like the perfect occasion for an inaugural speech.

“Ahem! I am Wei Su Long, and from today forward, we will share life and death together.

You are tasked with managing and overseeing the Venomous Creatures’ Garden with me.

Some of you might be thinking, ‘Why should I be cleaning up after tiny creatures, feeding them, or dealing with their waste?’”

As expected, the warriors—proud martial artists of the Tang Clan—stiffened slightly at the mention of such menial tasks.

I had learned during my time here that these warriors took great pride in their martial arts training. Asking them to do what they might consider grunt work wasn’t going to sit well with them, so I addressed it head-on.

“But let me tell you this: the work you do here is invaluable. Didn’t you see how I defeated the Blood Cult’s elder?

That victory was made possible by venomous creatures. The work you do here will be no less significant!”

I gestured dramatically for effect.

“Think about it! Today, we may be raising snakes, lizards, and spiders. But the experience we gain here will prepare us to handle the Ten Great Venoms. And with that, we’ll be able to defeat not just the Blood Cult but anyone who dares to challenge us!

Our Tang Clan will rise to even greater heights, thanks to your contributions!”

The warriors, already aware of my victory over the Blood Cult elder, erupted in cheers at my words.

“Hurrah for Sir So-ryong! Hurrah for the Tang Clan!”

Even my sister and Captain Gu joined in, clapping enthusiastically.

“Excellent speech, Sir So-ryong!”

“You were amazing, So-ryong! My heart is pounding!”

With my sister and Captain Gu riling them up, the warriors cheered even louder.

“Hurrah!”

“Woohoo!”

“This is getting out of hand…”

Their enthusiasm made it impossible to end my speech without a proper reward. After all, motivation should always be followed by recognition.

“I’m basically a squad leader now. I should at least offer some kind of incentive, right?”

Realizing I couldn’t end my first speech empty-handed, I decided to throw in a reward they’d love.

“Oh, and I’ve already spoken to the Clan Leader. Those who perform exceptionally well will have the first chance to consume the venom from the Golden Centipede King.”

“Hurrah!”

“Woohoo!”

I hadn’t even finished my sentence before the cheers erupted.

As expected, nothing got people more excited than the promise of a reward.

***

After the motivational speech, I gathered the warriors inside the Venomous Creatures’ Garden to explain what we needed to do next.

The warriors who had previously worked at the Mandok Pavilion only handled tasks like butchering, transporting, or basic maintenance. It was clear that I needed to explain everything from the ground up.

“Sir So-ryong, so what’s the first thing we’re going to do?”

The most enthusiastic among them, as expected, was none other than Captain Gu Pae.

Apparently, he had volunteered to lead the Venom Squad. His zeal was unmatched, possibly because he chose this position willingly.

Since the Golden Centipede King incident, the captain of the Venom Blood Squad had started avoiding me like the plague, likely afraid of getting roped into another grueling ordeal.

Gu Pae, on the other hand, seemed to have developed a sort of admiration—or maybe he just enjoyed hardship. Ever since that incident, he looked at me with almost reverent eyes. When my father-in-law announced he was forming the Venom Squad, Gu Pae personally stepped forward and volunteered for the role.

Whether he had fallen for the allure of venomous creatures or was a glutton for punishment, I wasn’t entirely sure. Either way, I intended to make good use of him.

“First, we need to go out and catch some creatures,” I said.

Gu Pae’s face lit up with excitement.

“Oh! Excellent! What are we catching first? Tiger-striped pit vipers? Lizards? Or maybe spiders?”

“Tiger-striped pit vipers, right? Grandfather mentioned them specifically, and snakes are the most venomous, aren’t they?” my sister added, just as excited.

Smiling at their enthusiasm, I delivered an answer that didn’t quite match their expectations.

“First, we’re going to catch mice.”

“Mice!?”

“Mice? Did you say mice?”

Yes, not snakes, but mice. In the Central Plains, the word seo refers to rats or mice.

For the Venomous Creatures’ Garden to succeed, we first needed mice.

When it comes to raising reptiles, nothing is more essential than a steady supply of mice—especially pinkies, the newborns.

“Whatever you’re raising, the most important thing is always food,” I explained with a grin.

***

If someone were to ask why venomous creatures evolved their venom, the answer could be divided into two main purposes: hunting and defense.

The first, hunting, involves quickly subduing prey, while the second, defense, compensates for a creature’s physical vulnerabilities. These two distinct purposes also influence the diet of venomous creatures.

In general, creatures that developed venom for hunting are carnivorous, while those that use venom for defense are often herbivorous. Of course, there are exceptions, like poison dart frogs, but this pattern holds true for the most part.

Because of this, raising herbivorous venomous creatures—those that evolved venom for defense—doesn’t pose much of a challenge. Simply grow a large quantity of plants to use as feed.

The real challenge lies with the majority of venomous creatures, which developed venom for hunting. These creatures require animal-based food, making it essential to raise animal feed as a preparatory step before their breeding begins.

When I worked on Hainan Island, where snakes weren’t commonly raised, small feeders like crickets were bred to feed lizards and spiders. But here, in the Tang Clan of Sichuan, things were different.

For venomous creatures, snakes were the crown jewels.

Since we were already planning to breed tiger-striped pit vipers and likely other venomous snakes later, ensuring a steady supply of pinkies was a top priority.

Pinkies are newborn baby mice, so named for their lack of fur and pinkish color. As they grow, they develop sparse fur and are called fuzzies. When fully grown, they’re referred to as hoppers, and all stages serve as excellent feed for reptiles, providing essential protein and calcium.

Squeak! Squeak!

“Sir So-ryong, is this the right one?”

One of the warriors held up the tail of a large sewer rat he had caught near a paddy field, shaking it as he asked.

This was the umpteenth time, despite my earlier explanations.

I shook my head and replied, “No, not that big. I said smaller, with a shorter tail.”

“But this one’s small!”

“Smaller than that.”

“Hmm… I guess I’ll just toss it, then.”

The warrior casually flung the sewer rat back into the field and ran over to the others, who were digging through the embankments with hoes.

“He says it needs to be smaller than that one!”

“Smaller than that?”

In this era, there might very well be outbreaks of the plague, so raising sewer rats as reptile feed was a hard pass. Even if any wild rodents could carry germs, the sheer size and unsettling appearance of sewer rats were off-putting.

We were looking for something smaller and less repulsive. Specifically, what I knew as the Chinese hamster in my past life.

Before laboratory-bred mice became the standard for experiments, Chinese hamsters were often used in research. They were also less objectionable as feeder animals compared to sewer rats and ideal for producing pinkies.

Although we were out catching ”mice,” what we were really looking for were Chinese hamsters.

“So-ryong…”

After sending the warrior back to his task, I heard my sister’s hesitant voice.

Turning to her, I saw her conflicted expression.

“Do we really have to raise mice? Can’t we use something else?”

“No, we can’t. If snakes don’t eat those, they’ll get sick or die,” I explained matter-of-factly.

“I see…”

Though she was no stranger to life-and-death matters, mice seemed to push her limits.

Eventually, the warriors brought back several Chinese hamsters from the paddy fields and nearby homes. My sister stared at them in disbelief.

“We’re feeding these little things to snakes? They don’t even look like mice…”

Her reaction was understandable—they were unexpectedly cute. But in reality, these hamsters were rodent-like enough to make you question whether they truly qualified as hamsters.

Even in my past life, some people argued that Chinese hamsters were only called hamsters because China insisted on it. It was the kind of place where calling a cat a mouse would supposedly make it a mouse.

Some even classified Chinese hamsters as non-hamsters.

I nodded and said, “Yes, they’re still mice.”

With the mice secured, it was time to begin the actual pinky production process.