Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

—Buzzzzz.

Just as I finished introducing Mama while holding her close, the sound of wings flapping broke the moment.

Everyone who was about to scatter turned their gaze behind me. When I looked back, Ranghu was standing there, tilting her head with a confused look.

It was that classic what are you all doing gathered here without me? face.

‘Crap! I forgot about Ranghu!’

I’d said I was calling everyone, so of course I should have included Ranghu. But it wasn’t just me—everyone had forgotten her.

My mind went blank.

Ranghu had already sulked once on this journey because no one had contacted her. If we excluded her again, she definitely wouldn’t let it slide.

I didn’t know what kind of punishment awaited me, but it terrified me.

‘W-what do I do?’

I was scrambling for an answer when—

From the plank bridging the bank to the ship came Sister Seol’s voice.

“So-ryong, sorry I’m late. Yeoncheon and Yeonji, who were with Bini, told me to come too, but Father called me away for ★ ★ something, so I got held up. You haven’t started yet, right?”

This was technically grown-up family business.

So I hadn’t thought of inviting Sister Seol, but her timing turned out perfect.

I replied casually, acting like nothing was wrong.

“Oh no, we haven’t started yet! In fact, I was just about to call Ranghu, and look—she showed up on her own.”

“Okay, but why did you call us all?”

“Hoja has officially joined the family, and I was introducing her. Come, everyone, please have a seat.”

I winked furiously at the kids who were about to disperse, trying to usher Seol and Ranghu into their places—

When Hyang’s voice chimed in:

—Tsrut. 『Dad, the introduction already... Ow! Why are you pulling my antenna, sis?!』

—Tsr... 『Watch your tone, Hyang.』

—Tst? 『What was that?』

—Tstsrr... 『Mind... ahem. Your words.』

—Tss... 『Ah...』

Cho forcefully cut off Hyang’s tactless blurt before she could finish.

‘Nice job, Cho!’

I praised her silently through our private channel.

Then, before Seol and Ranghu could decipher what Hyang and Cho had just said, I quickly reintroduced Hoja.

“This is Hoja, whose name is now Baekmo. From today forward, she’s my Mama. Please give her a warm welcome.”

—Buzzz?

“M-Mama?”

“That’s right. She’s agreed to become my Mama. Yes, Sister Seol—my Mama.”

Both Seol and Ranghu looked surprised at the announcement.

Their expressions made me pause.

Sister Seol might be stunned hearing that I now had a Mama, but that was probably where it would end.

After all, back in the beast world or among animal lovers in my past life, people often became the “parent” of their pets. So the reverse wasn’t so strange either, right?

And I’d done stranger things than this plenty of times.

The real problem was Ranghu.

Every time a new female spirit beast joined us, she tended to react... strongly.

If she was just hostile toward all females, that would be a real headache.

After all, in the insect and animal worlds, incest isn’t taboo. A female might not distinguish between a mother, sister, or stranger—they’re all just mates or rivals.

I was really hoping she wouldn’t react badly again.

And then—an unfamiliar buzzing sound.

—Buweeeeng.

Alarmed, I turned toward Ranghu, thinking she might be attacking.

But what I saw... was something completely unexpected.

Ranghu was rubbing her forelegs together like a fly and bowing her head submissively to Baekmo.

It was borderline groveling—something she’d never done before.

This was the same Ranghu who once fearlessly sent her kids charging into battle. But wasps were natural enemies of honeybees, so maybe she was scared stiff now.

Baekmo tilted her head and asked with a puzzled tone:

[You say you’re the second?]

Then chaos broke loose as Yoha, Cheong-yu Sojeo, Cheongwol, Sister Jeokwol, and Hwayang instantly closed in around Ranghu and began firing off angry retorts.

—Kissit! 『What are you talking about?!』

—Krrrng! 『Hey! Don’t spout nonsense in front of Mother!』

—Sia. 『Watch yourself. I won’t hold back this time.』

—Bbee! 『You filthy—Baap!』

It looked like an all-out brawl was about to erupt.

I was about to step in when Sister Seol casually slung an arm around my shoulder and pulled me aside.

Was I... not supposed to interfere?

As I stood there, confused, she asked in a quiet voice:

“So-ryong... I get what you’re doing, but did you discuss this with Father?”

“Father?”

“Yeah.”

Why would I need to check with my adoptive father about this?

Sure, I was adopted into the Beast Palace, but I was a grown man just sorting out family stuff.

I tilted my head and asked:

“Should I really discuss this with him?”

“If you’re going to make Hoja your Mama, then yes.”

“...Why, though?”

I stared blankly at her, clearly not understanding why I needed permission for this.

She gave me a look like I knew you’d say that, then explained:

“If she’s your mother, that means she’s also my mother, right?”

“...Right.”

“And that makes her Father’s wife, doesn’t it?”

“...”

‘Oh... crap. She’s right.’

I hadn’t even thought about that.

My mother... would be my foster father’s legal wife.

Sister Seol’s birth mother had passed away, and Hoja wasn’t some concubine—she was the official head lady of the Beast Palace now.

I forced a smile.

Without realizing it, I had just married off my father to a sentient hornet.

Or maybe I’d married off Mama to my father?

“...Hahaha.”

“What are you going to do?”

I looked over at Mama, who was caught awkwardly between the kids and clearly uncomfortable.

Then answered Seol’s question:

“Uh, how about... we just let them both remain unaware? It’d be better if neither of them knew, right?”

Seol gave me a look, thought for a moment, then chuckled.

“True... I guess I don’t know either. Just don’t let them find out.”

“Yes, Sister Seol.”

And that’s how I accidentally became the first martial artist in Murim to unknowingly marry off his adoptive father to a giant magical hornet.

Still, to be honest, the Mama of my spiritual realm had a massive chest and an insanely beautiful face, so technically... Father had hit the jackpot.

But keeping it a secret—from both sides—was for the sake of our Mama.

Because I was pretty sure she’d be more upset than Father if she found out.

‘Father’s not exactly a looker... She’ll see his face, right?’

Yeah. She’d definitely regret it.

I just wanted to make her happy.

And that meant... never letting her know.

***

While the two in question remained unaware, the family induction proceeded.

There were no real issues.

I simply never told Father that I had made Hoja my Mama, and when I introduced Father to Mama, I explained that he was my foster father.

I told her that among humans, there was this foster parent–foster child relationship, which meant someone who wasn’t your real father but took care of you like one.

That he definitely wasn’t my real father.

[Then isn’t that the same as us?]

“No, no! Totally different!”

[Different?]

“Yes! In our case, we weren’t family at all originally, but we decided to become real parent and child, right? But a foster child relationship is more like... a façade. It’s all surface-level, not heartfelt.”

[Still sounds kind of similar to me?]

“What! I always thought of you as my real parent! I even thought of myself as your little Hoja larva! Wait—Mama, were you not serious about it?! Was I the only one taking it seriously? Is that it?!”

[N-no, I... I really do think of you as my child. Yes. Now that I think about it, it is completely different. Right. What matters most is the heart.]

She might’ve had a brief moment of doubt, but in the end, she bought it.

Aside from that, Ranghu had taken to constantly fluttering around Mama with a wag of her wings, which annoyed the other girls to no end.

—Buweeeng.

—Krrrng. 『Tone it down with the familiarity, please.』

—Kissit. 『Yeah, seriously.』

So while the family integration was a success, the real problem came from elsewhere.

“So-ryong, you didn’t use Soul Binding Arts on her, did you?”

“Huh? No, of course not!”

“Then how did she awaken like that?”

“I think... my Beast-Heart Cultivation has some effects similar to soul binding. It must’ve worked.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

A few days later in the evening, Grandpa Yakseon came by, and the moment he saw Baekmo fully awake and conscious, he cornered me.

He suspected I’d used the Soul Binding Technique to revive her.

He said that without something like that, there’s no way to bring her back to consciousness.

I denied it with a bitter look—because I really hadn’t done it.

Hwa-eun came in to back me up.

“Grandpa, honestly. So-ryong doesn’t even know the Soul Binding Arts. How would he use them?”

“No, wait. What about that woman from the Blood Cult he captured before? Didn’t she use those techniques? What if—?”

“That wicked wench would never have taught him anything like that.”

“Hmm... That’s true, I suppose...”

“Anyway, let’s stop talking about that. Grandpa, have some tea.”

“Ahem. Well, I guess I’ll try a cup of Hwa-eun’s tea for the first time in a while.”

Hwa-eun, lying so smoothly you’d think she practiced it, even added a sweet, angelic smile that melted the hearts of the old men on the spot. The two masters—Ui-seon and Yak-seon—let go of their doubts.

‘Seriously, who’s the real demon woman here?’

Just when I was about to start suspecting that my wife was the true wicked sorceress, Hwa-eun asked the two why they had really come.

“By the way, what brings you two here today? Of course, you’re welcome to come anytime if it’s for my tea~”

“Ah, there’s something we wanted to ask you and So-ryong.”

“Us?”

“Yes.”

I tilted my head, wondering what they could want.

Then Grandpa Yakseon asked:

“You two know why we’re here, right?”

“Here...?”

They suddenly asked why they’d come, so I asked the obvious—but it turned out they didn’t mean my quarters, but rather the Beast Palace itself.

“We mean here, to the Beast Palace.”

I nodded.

“Yes. Because of the poison the Five Venoms Sect bastards used, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I heard the elders of the Tang family are cooperating too.”

Initially, the elders of the Tang Clan were supposed to examine the poison used by Five Venoms Sect.

Since the Beast Palace’s current poison experts were from the Tang family.

But the poison was so potent, even they couldn’t analyze it properly.

The Five Venoms Sect guys had used their signature flasks, so the poison was retrieved in matching containers.

But when you so much as uncorked one of those bottles, it would melt your instruments and peel the skin off your fingers from the fumes. The two old masters didn’t have strong enough poison resistance to examine it.

Even with the lids sealed, faint traces of toxic vapor leaked out, forcing them to bury the samples deep underground.

Eventually, Hwa-eun stepped up—but even she couldn’t analyze its components.

Though her poison resistance had reached the Flower Realm, allowing her to withstand the fumes, neither she nor the Tang elders had the kinds of sophisticated reagents necessary to break it down.

The tools they had were just basic field kits, not full-scale analytical equipment.

In the end, the Murim Alliance had called in Grandmaster Mandok Singun—but before he could arrive, Ui-seon and Yak-seon came first and began their research.

And now, Yakseon shared the results.

“We figured out what the base of this poison is.”

“Really?!”

“Yes.”

The reason the Murim Alliance was treating this so seriously was simple: imagine if this poison spread inside the Alliance HQ or the Imperial Palace.

That’s why they launched this full-scale investigation.

And now, these two had results.

Both Hwa-eun and I leaned forward and asked simultaneously:

“So what poison is it?”

“Yes, what kind?”

Yakseon turned to me and said,

“You’ll like this news. It’s the venom of a Poison Beast. One we’ve never seen before.”

“It’s a Poison Beast’s venom?!”

A chill ran through me.

Poison Beasts—monsters born of toxic energies.

“Yes. If a poison is manmade, it usually contains elements from soil, or metal, or other trace materials. This one had none. No trace of anything mineral.”

In other words, it wasn’t a synthetic toxin but an organic one. Biological in origin.

I asked with anticipation:

“Then—what kind of Poison Beast is it?!”

But the two old masters looked baffled and replied:

“Well... that’s what we wanted to ask you.”

“We were hoping you might recognize the venom.”

“Nope, never seen it before...”

Still, I racked my brain.

‘Could it be Jimjo? No... this is fundamentally different.’

I had seen Jimjo’s poison once—but that was chaotic and shapeless, spreading in all directions like a fog.

This one was spherical, like expanding bubbles.

As I puzzled over it, Hwa-eun suddenly cried out:

“Ah! Myeolse?! Why didn’t I think of that?!”

Did she figure something out?

Everyone turned to her, and from Hwa-eun’s mouth came the name of the last of the Ten Great Poison Beasts.

“Myeolse Geumwa! (World-Ender Golden Frog)!”

Even I knew that name well.

It was the legendary golden frog said to bring about the end of the world.