Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

The sudden opening of a group chat inside my mind left everyone stunned.

It was chaos—every beast I’d registered through the Beast Mind Art started talking at once. No wonder we were overwhelmed.

But aside from me, the shock didn’t last long.

Sure, the fact that everyone’s thoughts were being transmitted simultaneously was a bit chaotic, but it also meant they could finally talk to each other. That alone made them all ecstatic.

Especially Hwa-eun, Cho, Hyang, and Bini—they cheered and jumped right into the conversation.

『—So that’s how it was. My little Cho, Hyang, Bini... Mommy had no idea. I’m so touched.

I never knew how happy it could feel to understand my children’s voices...

—Trrrt! (Mommy can understand us now! I love it!)

—Trrt! (Yeah!)』

Why were they so overjoyed?

Well, although the kids were all different species, they were still spirit beasts and could communicate with each other. But Hwa-eun had never been able to understand them—until now.

She had always felt frustrated, unable to understand her children. And they, in turn, had been sad that their mom didn’t understand their words.

But now, thanks to me acting as a relay, they could finally communicate.

And since unlike Cheongwol or Hwayang, these four were actually mother and daughters, their conversation turned into a full-on mother-daughter heart-to-heart.

『—Trrrrrr. (Mom, isn’t it nice to talk to us like this?)

—Of course, sweethearts. Mommy loves this.』

At first, the whole situation had me completely flustered, but as I listened to their exchanges, a smile naturally formed on my face.

It was the first real conversation between a mother and her daughters—and it was heart-meltingly sweet, like cotton candy.

The longer they talked, the more the walls between them crumbled. Feelings that had piled up found their way out, and they became all the more affectionate with one another.

『—I think I finally understand why Daddy always adored you girls so much. Your voices are just too cute.

—Trrrt... (Mom...)

—And Bini, you really do sound like the baby of the family. So adorable.

—Trrt! (I’m—I’m not cute! I’m pretty, okay!)

—You’re both.

—Trrrrt. (Mom, but about Dad and—)』

It really started to feel like we were becoming a proper family.

“This is really nice to see.”

Their conversation continued all through dinner and late into the night.

There was so much to catch up on, so many things left unsaid. Even when everyone had lain down for bed, Hwa-eun kept cuddling the girls in the dark, petting them and whispering as they drifted off.

“Okay... this is getting kinda long though...”

What had started out as a sweet little bedtime chat now felt like a marathon mom-and-kids session.

I wanted to sleep, too, but with all the talking echoing through my mind, it was impossible to shut it out.

“Well, it’s their first night. I guess it’s fine.”

I held on until almost dawn and barely managed to fall asleep.

***

The next morning, their chatter picked up right where it left off.

Even before sunrise, Hwa-eun and the girls’ voices echoed in my mind.

『—Trrr. (Mom, where should we go today?)

—Hmm... How about over by the swamp?

—Trrt! (Sounds fun!)

—Trrrrt! (Me too!)

—Trrt! (I’m coming!)』

It felt like my heart had become their public chatroom.

And what happens when that kind of chatter sets up shop in a man’s mind?

Your brain short-circuits.

It was like trying to study multiplication tables while someone keeps shouting random numbers in your ear. My focus was shot.

You’d think the other venom beasts would be overwhelmed too, but nope—it seemed I was the only one suffering. Apparently, I was acting as the server, the relay point for everyone else.

They were all connected to me. And that meant I was the only one who couldn’t unplug.

No matter how hard I tried to tune them out, their voices still rang out in my head.

Right now, I felt like a male student teacher assigned to an all-girls middle school. First day, standing in front of a sea of teenage girls—my soul just... left my body.

I couldn’t even make sense of half the things they were saying. I was completely overwhelmed.

『—Ugh... my head...

—What was that, So-ryong?

—Ah, nothing. I meant to send that to someone else. Keep talking, Hwa-eun. Sorry.

—Trrt. (Mom, about what I said earlier—)』

I’d been muttering to myself internally, then panicked and tried to take it back.

I couldn’t exactly crash a sweet moment between my wife and daughters, right?

As their chatter continued inside my head, I heard Sister Seol’s voice nearby. She had been checking my pulse to examine the state of my Beast Mind Art and now spoke with a faint shake of her head.

“There’s no known record of someone reaching this level, so I can’t offer much advice. A shared mental space for conversation? I can’t even imagine what that’s like.

If you ever get the chance to talk to Cheongyu again, maybe ask her about it. You’ve trained in the Beast Mind Art, sure, but we don’t know what effect the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art might’ve had on you.”

I’d told Sister Seol about the group chat ability, hoping she could help me figure it out. But she had no answers either.

She said my best shot would be asking human Cheongyu... but who knows when I’d see her again?

“Guess I’ll have to find another way to deal with this.”

Still, I wasn’t entirely without hope.

Right now everything was new and exciting. They were just excited to talk. Give it a few days, I figured, and they’d run out of things to say. Things might calm down then.

They were just letting out everything that had built up over time. Once they were caught up, surely there wouldn’t be much left.

I could endure for a few more days.

“Yeah... this won’t last forever. It’s not like people have endless things to say every single day...”

『—Trrrr. (Mom, should I go catch fish again today?)

—Oh, Cho, would you? Mommy loves the fish you bring home. They taste the best.

—Trrt... (I wanna catch fish too...)

—Just your thought makes Mommy happy, Hyang.』

Despite a little creeping doubt, the mother-daughter chatter continued without end.

“It’ll pass in a few days. Right?”

***

There were two big misconceptions I had about women:

First — that they eventually run out of things to talk about.

Second — that women don’t obsess over relationships.

What does that mean?

It means I’d expected things to quiet down after a few days... and instead, it got louder.

Why? Because apparently, there is always something to talk about.

『—Trrt? (Mom, what kind of flower is this?)

—Oh, that’s a Rosa rugosa.

—Trrrrt? (Rosa rugosa?)

—Yep! Isn’t it beautiful? Smells wonderful too. Go ahead, try it.

—Trrt! (Wow, it really does smell nice!)

—Trrr. (I like this flower. What’s this one called?)

—Ah, that one? Well, let me tell you...』

When I realized they had been talking about a single flower for two straight hours, I genuinely thought I was going to lose my mind.

It started with one flower. Then it spiraled into favorite flowers. Then to favorite colors, then flower meanings, and before I knew it, the grand finale was:

”Has Dad ever given Mom flowers?”

Two. Hours. From one flower.

I had severely underestimated Hwa-eun and the girls.

“Dear god...”

To make matters worse, even the creatures who hadn’t joined the chat on Day 1 were now fully involved.

『—Trrr. (Daddy’s arms are the warmest place, right?)

—Yeah. I think so too.

—Shiaa? (Uhm... may I join in, maybe?)

—Trrt! (Oh! It’s Sister Cheongyu!)

—Cheongyu, come join us! Speaking of which, we don’t really know much about you yet. Did you live alone in the mountains before you met us?

—Shiaaa... (Ah... well, you see...)』

The moment anyone popped in out of curiosity, the girls would kindly include them, and boom—another member joined the group chat.

“Why does EVERYONE need to be part of this?!”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

『—Piii! (Foooood?)

—Why is Hwayang only ever talking about food?

—Trrrrt. (That’s just how she is, Mom.)

—Grrrng. (But Hwa-eun, I never heard how you and So-ryong first met. I’m curious.)

—Shiaa! (Me too!)

—Well, shall I tell you the story then?』

“GYAAAAAH!”

I couldn’t take it anymore.

I couldn’t exactly barge in and tell them to shut up when they were clearly enjoying themselves. So I decided to look for another solution.

I went to the Dragon Fangs—my trusted martial hyungs.

I needed second opinions. Advice. Help.

“You mean you’ve been freezing up mid-sentence because you’ve got Tang Lady and a bunch of venom beasts constantly talking in your head?!”

“There are seven women in your brain, talking nonstop?!”

“This... this is like one of those Buddhist hells! But inside your soul!”

The hyungs were visibly horrified by my suffering. Their empathy levels shot through the roof.

『—Yes! Hyungs, this is hell!

—Trrrt? (Hell?)

—What do you mean, So-ryong?

—Ah—nothing! Ignore that!』

My brain was so overloaded, even thinking to myself started blending into the group chat.

As I sat there, frozen mid-conversation again, the hyungs glanced at each other with concern. That’s when Ji-ryong’s eyes lit up like he’d had an epiphany.

“Ah! What about this, Young Master?”

“What about what?”

“You have an idea, Ji-ryong? We need to pull our little brother out of this nightmare.”

“You’ve heard of martial arts that split the mind, right?”

“Split the mind?”

“Ah! That’s right! Splitting the mind! Of course!”

Gwiseong hyung slapped his palm with his fist, face lighting up with excitement.

He started explaining:

“There are two such arts in the Central Plains, So-ryong. One is from the Wudang Sect—Twin Intent Mind Technique. It lets you use two internal energies and martial arts at the same time.

You know—sword in one hand, palm strike in the other. That kind of thing.”

“Don’t you already do that normally, hyung?”

I tilted my head, puzzled. I’d seen him do that on multiple occasions.

Ji-ryong chuckled and clarified.

“I think he explained it a bit wrong. Imagine using a sword technique with your right hand and a palm technique with your left—simultaneously, but aimed at two different enemies. That’s the idea.”

“Ah... like drawing a ★ ★ circle with your right hand and a triangle with your left?”

It reminded me of those warm-up drills from grade school retreats.

Still, I had my doubts.

“Would that really help?”

“Well, the Twin Intent Technique probably wouldn’t do you much good,” Ji-ryong admitted. “One side of your brain would still suffer the noise, and all that stress would hit you like a truck once the technique ends.

But there’s still one more.”

Right. They had said there were two.

As Ji-ryong looked to Hyung-nim, I followed suit. He nodded slowly and continued.

“The other one is Hunwon Mind Technique. You split your consciousness in two—one half is wiped blank, leaving only raw aggression, while the other half remains fully lucid.

It was designed to summon primal combat instinct in one part, while the other part stays calm and composed.”

In other words, one part goes full battle mode, the other remains sharp and focused.

This... this might actually work for me.

I could send the noisy group chat to the blank side of my mind, and keep the clean side for my normal life.

I lit up.

“This is amazing! Jackpot!”

“Hyung, where’s that technique from?!”

Hyung-nim smiled.

“It’s a Peng Clan technique.

I can’t teach you the whole thing myself, but since you saved both Yeong-yeong and me, my father won’t refuse. Even if you don’t learn the entire art, he’ll at least teach you the mind-splitting part.

We’ll be visiting the Ak Clan soon anyway—let’s stop by the Peng Clan afterward.”

Turns out we’d already planned to head near his family’s place. Visiting the Peng Clan was practically on the itinerary.

And honestly, hyung had been telling me to come with him for a while now anyway.