Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

My father-in-law immediately pressed a few acupoints on my body to slow the spread of the poison before beginning detoxification.

Although I was poisoned, the silver lining was that one of the Tang Clan’s greatest masters was right beside me.

‘That’s reassuring.’

Having the greatest poison specialist in the Central Plains as my personal physician was definitely a relief.

”Don’t worry too much. I’ll attempt an antidote first.”

His calm confidence helped settle my nerves.

Meanwhile, Hwa-eun and Seol, who had been watching Huali’s water tank, turned to my father-in-law and asked,

”Father, we both touched Huali too, so why was only So-ryong poisoned? It’s strange. If all three of us touched it, shouldn’t we all have been poisoned?”

”That’s right, Elder. Both Hwa-eun and I handled Huali, but only So-ryong was affected... Could this poison only target men?”

In this situation, the prime suspect was obviously Huali—the newest addition to our ship.

None of us had explicitly said it, but it was clear that everyone was thinking the same thing.

After all, before Huali arrived, nothing like this had ever happened.

And given that I had just breathed out blue flames, mirroring Huali’s fire-eating habits, it was only natural to be suspicious.

However, as Seol pointed out, both she and Hwa-eun had also touched Huali, yet they were completely fine.

Could it be a poison that only affected men?

The thought made me pause.

But then I realized—while we had all touched Huali, the timing was different.

I was the only one who had touched it recently.

Hwa-eun and Seol had only touched Huali twice—once when we first found it at Moonlit Spring, and again when we moved it onto the ship.

After that, neither of them had touched it again.

Since amphibians have sensitive skin, I had told them not to handle it too much.

But I had touched Huali multiple times since then.

I had even checked for the growth of its hind legs just a short while ago.

That was it. That was the reason.

‘Damn it. I made such a rookie mistake... Did I get too excited about handling an amphibian?’

As soon as I realized the cause, my first emotion was frustration with myself.

I should have been much more careful.

Some venomous frogs and toads don’t actually produce their own poison.

Instead, they store toxins from the insects they eat, such as spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and ants.

Essentially, these creatures recycle the venom of their prey and use it as their own.

That’s why, when kept in captivity and fed a non-toxic diet, these frogs and toads lose their venomous properties.

However, if they start eating wild-caught prey, they immediately regain their toxicity.

And now, Huali had eaten fire—and somehow, it had turned that fire into poison.

‘But who the hell would expect something to eat fire and generate poison?!’

It wasn’t like it had eaten live prey—it had consumed flames.

I had been so focused on the strange fire-eating habit that I failed to consider the possibility of it producing a secondary effect—a lethal toxin.

Despite everything I had learned about venomous creatures in this world, I still let my guard down.

‘The path of Spicy Fabre, the Poison Expert of the Martial World, is truly unforgiving.’

At least I was the only one who got poisoned.

Now that I had stopped coughing up flames, I turned to Hwa-eun and Seol, explaining what I had realized.

Since my father-in-law was too focused on treating me, he wouldn’t be able to answer their questions.

”Cough... Cough... Listen. Poisonous frogs and toads don’t generate venom on their own. They absorb it from their food and store it in their bodies.”

”So you think Huali absorbs poison... from the fire it eats?”

”Yes. That would explain why I was the only one affected.”

”But... why now?”

”Because it probably didn’t have poison before. It only started producing it after eating fire for the first time. And by the time it °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° kicked in... its hind legs started growing.”

If Huali had never eaten fire before, then before arriving on the ship, it had no venom.

That would explain why nobody was poisoned earlier.

But now, the first flames I fed it had triggered poison production, and the effects had just begun.

Both Hwa-eun and Seol’s eyes widened in shock.

A venomous creature that eats fire and converts it into poison—it was something neither of them had ever heard of before.

”So-ryong, are you feeling okay? But... a creature that makes poison out of fire?”

”It creates poison by consuming fire?”

Before I could respond, my father-in-law let out a frustrated grunt.

”Tsk. Why isn’t this working...?”

His voice was filled with concern, and an uneasy feeling rose in my chest.

‘Wait... something’s wrong.’

A sense of dread crept over me.

And then—I felt something wet trickling down my nose.

— Drip... Drip...

I raised a hand and wiped at it.

Nosebleed.

At first, I thought it was just a result of my body overheating or an injury from breathing fire earlier.

But then—

The moment my blood hit the wooden floor...

— Whoosh!

Flames erupted from the spot where my blood had fallen.

”What the—?!”

My father-in-law quickly swung his sleeve, extinguishing the flames.

But the black scorch marks left on the floor remained.

And more than the damage to the new ship’s wooden floor, what shocked me was—

My blood had ignited.

”What kind of poison turns human blood into gasoline?!”

My eyes widened in horror.

This wasn’t just poison.

This was something completely unnatural.

Hwa-eun’s voice trembled as she urgently asked my father-in-law,

”Father! What about the antidote?! Can you neutralize the poison?!”

She was clearly panicking after witnessing my blood combusting.

After a long silence, my father-in-law finally shook his head.

”If it were your grandfather, maybe... But I cannot neutralize it.”

”What?!”

”I have never encountered a poison like this before. I tried separating it from his body, but it’s... impossible.”

He exhaled sharply, his face grim.

”At first, I thought it was a type of Flame Blood Poison, but this is something else entirely.”

The Flame Blood Poison was a notorious Tang Clan toxin.

It caused excruciating burning sensations in the victim’s body, making them feel like their own blood was on fire.

But what I had... was far worse.

Because my blood was literally bursting into flames.

A specialist in poisons had just given up on my treatment.

At those words, Hwa-eun and Seol’s faces turned pale.

”Th-This can’t be happening...”

”You can’t cure it?!”

I knew that expelling poison with internal energy was an incredibly delicate process. Since I had learned some poison arts, I understood exactly what my father-in-law was saying.

To remove poison, one had to channel their internal energy, isolate the toxin, guide it to one area of the body, and then expel it through an open wound or with antidotes.

But since this was an entirely new type of poison, he couldn’t even identify it properly—making it impossible to extract.

”T-Then, what do we do?”

”D-Does this mean So-ryong is going to die?!”

Hearing that, Seol’s eyes welled up with tears.

But, thankfully, my father-in-law shook his head.

‘Oh... at least it’s not a deadly toxin.’

”Fortunately, this poison won’t stop your breathing or clot your blood. You won’t die...”

At least it wasn’t a neurotoxin or a hemotoxin—the two deadliest categories of poisons.

But just as I sighed in relief, his voice trailed off ominously.

‘Why the hell are you hesitating like that?!’

My relief barely lasted a moment before I felt my frustration boil over—

And at that exact moment...

— Drip.

— Whoosh!

My nosebleed dripped onto the floor, and flames erupted once again.

— Fwooooosh!

Immediately, my father-in-law extinguished the fire, trying to calm me down.

”Calm yourself, So-ryong. After examining this poison, I’ve found that while it won’t kill you, it has... a volatile nature. If you use internal energy, move too much, or experience strong emotions... it will ignite.”

”Ignite?”

”Or... worse.”

He repeated the phrase ”or worse” multiple times, his expression darkening.

As we all stared at him, waiting for an answer, he gulped and finally spoke a single word.

”Explosion.”

”Explosion?”

”Explosion?!”

Both Seol and Hwa-eun tilted their heads in confusion.

It was such a ridiculous statement that it didn’t even seem real.

But as I processed his words, a terrifying thought flashed through my mind.

‘Wait... No way... He doesn’t mean... If I get too emotional or use too much internal energy... I could... explode?!’

I nervously looked at my father-in-law, praying that I had misunderstood.

But upon meeting my questioning gaze, he simply closed his eyes tightly.

‘Damn it!’

***

Inside the creaking wooden cabin, I lay completely still in a hammock, suspended by Yo-hwa’s expert ropework.

Since Huali’s poison required absolute stability, I had no choice but to remain motionless, avoiding any sudden movement or emotional outbursts.

We were currently traveling upriver, having passed through Akyang, where I had met the princess.

Once we reached Sichuan, I could bring my grandfather and seek his treatment.

If things got worse before that, I had one last resort.

The Five Venoms Divine Art (O-dok Shin-gong).

”So-ryong, just accept it already. I told you it doesn’t matter anymore.”

”Yeah, So-ryong. Just do as Hwa-eun says.”

Both Hwa-eun and Seol had been nagging me endlessly.

The easiest solution was to simply absorb Huali’s poison into my Five Venoms Divine Art and make it one of my mastered poisons.

If Huali turned out to be a low-grade toad, I’d become a crippled character.

If it was a frog, I’d be a mediocre character.

But absorbing it would instantly solve my poisoning problem.

The Five Venoms Divine Art granted absolute resistance to any poison incorporated into its system.

But... my pride as Spicy Fabre refused to accept it.

To me, the Ten Great Venomous Beasts and the Ten Great Poisons were the core of my existence in this world.

Giving up on the Five Venoms and Ten Poisons? That was unacceptable.

Would a man spend his time debating between being a mediocre character or a crippled character, or would he strive for greatness?

So, despite their nagging, I simply smiled and replied,

”A man sets his ambitions. How could I back down because of a little danger?”

”Once we reach Sichuan, I’ll have my grandfather treat me. So, don’t worry. Nothing will happen in the meantime.”

With the journey almost over, I was confident that nothing major would occur.

Hearing that, both of them looked utterly exasperated.

”So-ryong, if you mess up and die, I swear I’ll haunt you!”

”Yeah, and you’ll get an earful from me too!”

It was obvious that they were worried, but I simply smirked from my hammock.

And then—

— Creak.

The ship suddenly lurched.

”What the—?!”

Seol stormed toward the door, furious.

”I told them to steer carefully! What the hell are they doing?!”

She flung open the cabin door just as one of the boatmen rushed over, his voice filled with panic.

”Hold on tight, everyone! Heavy rain hit the upper stream! A flash flood is coming!”

”What?! A flash flood?!”

”What do you mean?!”

The Yangtze River was massive, and the Central Plains were vast.

Because of this, it wasn’t uncommon for heavy rain upstream to cause floods downstream, even if the lower region was dry.

But why now?!

My mind screamed in frustration.

‘Stop messing with me, universe! Enough already!’

It was as if fate itself was jealous of my Five Venoms and Ten Poisons.