Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

The woman’s expression changed in a variety of ways in response to my question.

Anger, bewilderment, exhaustion, and frustration flashed across her face like a changing traffic light, giving me a clear message. Her emotions were varied, but the conclusion was simple—she was frustrated and irritated because of me.

Though I had no idea why.

In the end, after getting mad at me with fervor, the woman scratched her head roughly and flopped backward onto the ground.

She then flailed her limbs wildly while making a face that clearly showed how much my reaction irritated her.

Like a five-year-old child throwing a tantrum in a store because their mother refused to buy them something.

‘What the hell is going on?’

I had expected to see my daughter grown up, but instead, I was faced with a strange woman with a bizarre personality.

And on top of that, she was mad at me.

‘That woman must be the Venom Dragon, but where is Hyang? How did this unknown Venom Dragon end up in my mental landscape?’

There was a reason I suspected the woman to be the Venom Dragon.

So far, the only creatures I had registered in Beast Heart Art were Cho, Hyang, Bini, and Hwayang.

Thinking back, when I first registered them as cubs, there were no significant changes or sensations.

When I registered Cho, Hyang, and Bini, nothing like this manifested in my mind.

I could only communicate with them telepathically through an open channel, nothing more.

But if a young Venom Dragon grew into an adult or if I registered an already fully grown one, a mental landscape like this would appear.

It had happened when Cho and Bini reached maturity and when I registered the fully grown Hwayang as well.

So, the woman who had just thrown a tantrum like a five-year-old was undoubtedly the Venom Dragon.

The human form she had taken appeared to be that of a young woman in her early twenties—far older than my other creatures.

That made sense.

Cho and Bini had only recently shed their juvenile forms, and even Hwayang looked to be around that age. But this woman appeared significantly older.

‘But what actually happened?’

The woman was now lying down, covering her face with her arms.

I sat beside her, deep in thought, trying to piece things together.

‘I definitely stabbed that assassin from the Five Venoms Sect in the ear... Wait. Could it be? Was there poison on the blade? Could it have been some kind of spiritual venom?’

For a brief moment, I even considered the possibility that those Five Venoms bastards had devoured the Venom Dragon.

‘No, if that were the case, this woman—no, this Venom Dragon—wouldn’t be looking at me like I’m the cause of all her frustration. She’d be grateful instead.

Right now, she looks utterly exasperated... Why?’

I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ squatted down, retracing my last moments of consciousness.

If there was any clue, I had to find it.

「Sssss. ‘Dad! Dad!’」

Hyang had definitely been calling for me...

「Rumble.」

‘Ah, the ground had been shaking back then! I remember feeling sand and dust enveloping me.’

「Ssss. ‘So bright...!’」

‘Right! Hyang said it was too bright at the end!’

As I recalled my last memories before blacking out, the pieces started coming together. The earth trembled, and Hyang complained about the brightness.

‘The ground shaking means something massive was either approaching or emerging from below... But why would Hyang say it was too bright?’

It was still nighttime when I collapsed.

Hyang had no reason to be blinded by anything.

But if something had surfaced from underground and emitted a dazzling light, then it all made sense.

‘Come to think of it, spiritual beasts don’t usually antagonize one another. Could it have come to help us but gotten caught up in the mess?’

Hyang said it was too bright, so what could possibly shine so brightly at night?

Wait—

‘Scorpions.’

Scorpions naturally glow under the moonlight.

‘Shit. I was unconscious, and a spiritual venomous creature just rolled its way to me?!’

The massive Camel Spider had already shaken the ground with its sheer weight, yet even it had avoided this thing’s territory.

And now, a Scorpion.

I felt my hands tremble with excitement.

That meant... A giant scorpion had appeared.

When I first arrived, I had assumed that the Five Venoms Sect had been raising Deathstalkers—deadly scorpions named after their reputation as ‘Death’s Pursuers.’

But they had no markings or insignias indicating such a thing.

That assumption had been wrong.

This time, however, it wasn’t a knockoff.

It was a real one.

I turned my head slowly toward the woman lying down, arms covering her face as if she had given up on everything.

Gray hair, worn-out clothes.

Her body was covered in scars, telling of her extensive combat experience.

‘Holy shit!’

I was trembling with excitement as I took in her appearance.

Noticing my movement, she slightly raised her arm and peeked at me.

Her expression shifted to confusion when she saw the look on my face.

“?”

I must have been grinning like an idiot again.

I had been called out for it a few times when I streamed videos of venomous creatures I loved.

‘Damn, I must have looked like a pervert.’

I quickly adjusted my expression and cautiously asked,

“...Did you save me?”

Her eyes widened before she immediately sat up and nodded.

“So you saved me, but something happened to you because of it, and now you’re mad, frustrated, and completely fed up with the situation?”

The scorpion placed its hands on my shoulders and nodded.

Seeing its affirmation, I first greeted it out of courtesy.

“Nice to meet you. My name is So-ryong. Thank you so much for saving me.”

Even if it was a spiritual beast, a greeting was necessary.

First impressions were important, after all.

The scorpion looked at me with a slightly surprised expression before slowly nodding again.

I quickly checked on Hyang.

Since a massive scorpion had saved me, she was probably safe, but I still needed to make sure.

“By the way, before you came here, did you see my daughter? A small centipede about this big—there were a lot of bad people around... You did? She’s safe?”

The scorpion nodded repeatedly at my question.

Since it had clearly rescued her, I expressed my gratitude once more.

“Thank you for saving Hyang as well.”

Right after I finished speaking, the scorpion suddenly pointed its red fingers diagonally toward the sky, as if performing some kind of disco dance.

“...Huh?”

It kept pointing upward at an angle.

I had a feeling it was asking how to get out of here, so I smiled and asked for confirmation.

“Oh! You’re asking how to leave this place?”

The scorpion grabbed both of my shoulders again and nodded firmly.

It must have been just as confused about being suddenly dragged into this as I was.

I smiled reassuringly and answered,

“Yeah, so you just have to hold me tight and kiss me on the forehead.”

Thinking back to when I registered Cho, Bini, and Hwayang, that was how our Beast Heart Art contract worked.

The scorpion tilted its head at my words.

‘Why the hesitation?’

Then it hit me—

It was a scorpion.

Had it ever kissed anyone before?

It seemed like I would have to demonstrate.

I gestured for the tall scorpion to lower its head slightly.

Then, I pressed a light kiss to its forehead.

“Like this. That’s how it works.”

At that moment, my vision blurred.

The last thing I saw before everything faded was the scorpion’s startled expression.

‘Oh, it works in reverse too.’

***

“So-ryong!”

“So-ryong!”

As soon as So-ryong disappeared into the darkness, Hwayang and Seolpyo sprinted forward without hesitation.

Following them were the Five Dragon Peaks.

Cho soared in the sky, while Bini and Yo-hwa ran fiercely alongside Hwayang, charging straight into the darkness.

Although the Wind Tunnel left no traces on the grass, the long trail left by So-ryong’s body as he was dragged away was clearly visible, making it easy to follow.

Whenever they grew tired, Cho and Bini would pick them up, leaving the Five Dragon Peaks lagging behind while they rushed forward like madmen.

By the time dawn broke, they arrived at the Barren Lands.

A long trail was etched into the red earth, stretching northwest.

It looked like So-ryong had been dragged quite far.

They stopped briefly upon reaching the wasteland, gasping for breath.

Taehwa, who had followed closely behind, panted heavily as he spoke.

“Huff... Huff... The tracks in the wasteland... will disappear quickly once the wind blows, so we must hurry.”

The traces were clearer than on the grass, but they could vanish at any moment.

Without hesitation, they resumed their pursuit of So-ryong.

“Unni, I’ll follow from the sky with Cho. You take the ground with Bini.”

“Got it! Hwayang!”

Thus, the chase began once more.

Following the long trail through the barren land, they pursued So-ryong’s tracks until evening.

By nightfall, they arrived at the desert’s entrance.

But there, the wind had erased all traces of So-ryong’s path.

Hwayang, who had descended from the sky, looked at the vanished tracks in dismay.

“...The tracks...”

***

The first thing I felt when I woke up was intense pain.

A sharp ache pierced my side.

“Ugh...”

Sssss.

As I curled up from the pain, Hyang slithered toward my face, asking if I was alright.

Checking my side, I noticed something like a stone fragment attached to my wound.

“What is this?”

It seemed to be stopping the bleeding.

Just then, a heavy growl rumbled from below.

— Grrrr.

The low, resonating growl seemed to be saying it had prevented my bleeding.

Startled by the ground-shaking noise, I looked down.

Hyang and I were resting on top of a massive boulder.

Even though it was bright, we were covered in shadows. Looking up, I saw a large stone pillar overhead, bent at an angle.

Feeling something off, I scanned my surroundings—

That’s when I finally noticed the faint tremors.

Now that I thought about it, Hyang and I were perched on a giant rock swaying as it moved across the desert.

The pillar above us even blocked out the sunlight, providing shade despite the heat.

“Holy—! Ugh...!”

Shouting in shock, I clutched my aching side and rolled over slightly.

I had every reason to be startled—

This wasn’t a boulder.

It was a massive scorpion.

A scorpion nearly five meters in size, with a body as solid as stone.

My jaw dropped.

Cho and Bini were long, but they weren’t bulky.

This one, however, had a rounded body, making it look like a giant, perfectly shaped five-meter rock.

‘I expected it to be big... but this is massive.’

Still reeling from the sheer size of it, I turned to Hyang and asked what had happened.

She had been the only one awake when I lost consciousness.

“Hyang, are you okay? What exactly happened?”

Ssss! Sssss!

“Cheongwol unni saved us!”

Hyang was calling the giant scorpion Cheongwol—probably because its eyes shone like moonlight.

Before I could even name it, Hyang had already given it a name.

And from the warmth I felt below, it seemed Cheongwol liked the name.

Well, I supposed I’d let it slide.

Hyang’s naming sense seemed to take after her dad.

Listening to her further, I learned that when I had been wounded by the Five Venoms assassin, Cheongwol had saved both of us.

Somehow, I had ended up with yet another incredible Venom Dragon in my care.

As I thought about the chaos this would cause, a deep growl echoed from Cheongwol.

— Grrrr.

At the same time, I saw Cho hurtling down from the sky toward us.

From within Cho’s coils, Hwayang’s startled voice rang out.

“So-So-ryong! A Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Armored Scorpion—where the hell did you find one?!”

Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Armored Scorpion.

What a badass name.