Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Just like I thought, Spirit Creature Land was a total honey pot.

With Cheong-yu Sojeo, I could sweep up the snake spirit creatures, and with Yo-hwa, I could scoop up the spider spirit creatures.

Cheong-yu Sojeo was the king of snakes, so of course they’d follow if she just said the word, and even if Yo-hwa didn’t have some absolute king-like status, she still had the power to control spiders.

I figured that kind of power might let her give orders to ordinary spider spirit creatures, too.

Just imagining it made my chest swell.

Snake spirit creatures, Cheong-yu Sojeo.

Spider spirit creatures, Yo-hwa.

I didn’t know about other spirit creatures, but those two were basically a sure thing, weren’t they?

‘No, why do my lips keep curling up?’

I forced my face to calm down, since my expression wouldn’t behave.

Only those furry bastards had been popping out and ruining my mood, but now that I could see this light and hope, that was why.

I wanted to go sweep up spirit creatures right away, but I decided to open the honey pot a little later and clean up the situation here first.

If any of Myoran’s other subordinates barged in, it felt like things would get complicated.

I could deal with a rat snake using Cheong-yu Sojeo, but what about the other ones? I wouldn’t be able to handle them so easily, would I?

If some squirrel or rabbit spirit creature jumped out, it’d be a huge problem.

Smiling faintly, I said,

“This is Cheong-yu Sojeo, the Gold-Crowned Snake King—king of all snakes. First time you’ve seen her?”

-Shiiik. 『King of all snakes!?』

Was its name Mongyeong?

Once I told it who Cheong-yu Sojeo was, its round eyes turned to shock as it stared at her.

The jolt in that gaze came through to me exactly as it was.

It looked like the worldview it had believed in its entire life had just collapsed in an instant.

When I nodded, it spoke in a trembling voice like it couldn’t believe it.

-Shii. 『Th-th-that’s impossible...』

But its voice was shaking, and its eyes still wouldn’t leave Cheong-yu Sojeo.

Its head couldn’t believe it at all, but its body had already reacted.

Its instincts were clearly sensing Cheong-yu Sojeo’s aura.

It was a would-be immortal that had even ascended, so if an absolute being that would rule over it appeared, of course it would panic.

It was like living your whole life as a free person and then suddenly being told you were a slave and you had an owner.

A story I’d seen online in my life before my last came to mind.

A grandson took a document his grandfather treasured to get it appraised, and instead of some other document, it turned out to be a slave document—a sad story.

I figured this rat snake’s feelings right now were probably similar.

At its words, Cheong-yu Sojeo flicked her tongue and asked,

-Shia. 『What is your name?』

It was a soft, gentle voice that tugged at you.

I hadn’t known Cheong-yu Sojeo could make a voice like that, but it was a tone so alluring it could completely enchant someone.

Right now she was enchanting a snake, but just from that resonance alone, it felt like the air around us warmed slightly.

Then Mongyeong stammered out a reply.

-Shii. 『A-are you speaking to me?』

-Shia. 『Yes. You.』

-Shiih. 『I-I am called Mongyeong.』

After it answered politely, Cheong-yu Sojeo looked at me and made a request.

-Shiaa. 『So-ryong, could you release his pressure points?』

Just like with Sister Seol, Cheong-yu Sojeo asking me to release his pressure points gave me a sense of deja vu, but I didn’t say anything else.

With Sister Seol, there’d been a process of forcing her to submit, but even if I didn’t know everything, looking at this situation, that thing already seemed completely submitted.

In its eyes and its trembling motions, there wasn’t any will to resist left.

“Yes, understood.”

When I sent a gust of qi and released its pressure points, it slowly gathered itself.

But it kept its head pressed flat down.

It was a posture of total obedience, like it was saying how could it dare lift its head proudly.

Its whole body was stiff with tension, and I could see it trembling faintly all the way to the tip of its tail.

While it stared at Cheong-yu Sojeo in that taut, nervous state—

Cheong-yu Sojeo stepped closer and spoke in a gentle voice.

-Shiaa. 『Stay just like that. Haaah...』

Holding it in place, Cheong-yu Sojeo breathed out a white mist from her mouth. I’d seen that before.

It was definitely the same mist she’d used when she helped Yeondu and Orange grow.

That special mist that had something in it that grew snakes—or triggered some kind of change.

The mist slowly spread, softly seeping into the surroundings.

-Shiih! 『Th-this is!?』

Its eyes shook wildly, startled by the sudden mist.

But it couldn’t move even an inch—only panic.

It was like Cheong-yu Sojeo’s words had become a wedge.

It looked like it was nailed into the ground.

Well, if the Emperor had spoken and you moved, that made you a traitor.

Its instincts already seemed to recognize Cheong-yu Sojeo as an absolute higher being.

-Shia. 『It’s fine, so be quiet.』

Cheong-yu Sojeo brought a finger up and touched it to its mouth.

As she soothed it, the mist that had flowed out started getting sucked into its nose.

Soon, when every last bit of mist had been drawn into it and vanished cleanly from the air, its trembling body—

It collapsed straight onto the ground.

-Thud.

-Ya-aong. 『M-Mongyeong!』

Myoran rushed over like it thought the rat snake had drunk poison and tried to shake it.

At that, Cheong-yu Sojeo shouted sharply.

-Shiaa. 『Leave him alone! You can’t touch him right now.』

“It’s not something bad, so don’t touch him.”

I quickly grabbed the back of Myoran’s neck and tried to pull it away from the rat snake.

A growth was probably about to follow, and I didn’t want it touching the body.

Reptile shedding wasn’t like insect molting, so touching it wouldn’t necessarily matter, but Cheong-yu Sojeo said not to, so it felt like there had to be a reason.

With its neck caught in my hand, Myoran said through tears,

-Yaong. 『Sob... If I’d just pretended I didn’t know and walked past, this wouldn’t have happened. You’ll end up submitting to something like Myobakha (catnip) too. Just fall with me into ruin in these people’s arms. Close your eyes and accept the pleasure.』

It looked like it thought that rat snake was also going to get “done” by something like Myobakha (catnip) and end up submitting.

Because of it.

It felt like the kind of development from some weird, adult comic I’d secretly read in my life before my last.

I scratched my head and said,

“No, it’s not that...”

Because it definitely wasn’t going to be that.

Soon, the body that had been trembling started to look slightly whitish, and the skin on the rat snake lying on the ground began to lift.

A snake’s growth was shedding.

Shedding was starting.

I asked Cheong-yu Sojeo,

“Cheong-yu Sojeo, it’s fine if I peel its skin, right? I think it’ll be better than it rubbing itself around.”

A rat snake usually presses its body against a rock or a tree to shed.

It rubs itself against something rough to help the shedding along.

There was a well nearby, but the wall around the well was smooth stone, so I figured it would be better if I helped peel it instead.

-Shiaaa. 『Yes, So-ryong. Help him.』

The moment I got her permission and stepped close—

A flash of light burst from its body.

When the light faded, its shed skin began peeling off slowly from its mouth.

As it looked around, I grabbed the shed skin that had lifted slightly above its head and pulled it straight back.

-Shraaaak.

‘Damn, that’s refreshing. It’s been a while since I’ve felt that hand feel.’

With that satisfying sound, the black rat snake’s skin started peeling back slowly.

And then a red pattern was revealed.

The black rat snake’s pattern had somehow turned red.

But aside from that, there wasn’t a big change.

‘Huh? I thought it would get bigger.’

Its length was about five meters.

But it wasn’t that thick.

It had that feel of something that was just long—about the thickness of a forearm—and it had only changed color without any other obvious change in shape.

Yeondu and Orange had grown horns or their bodies had gotten bigger, and things like that, so—

It felt a little disappointing.

I wondered if it was because it wasn’t a natural-born spirit creature but one that had become a spirit creature from an ordinary snake, but then it spoke in a moved voice.

-Shiik. 『Th-thank you. I’ve received a great kindness.』

It felt like it had only changed color, so why was it this moved?

But when I cautiously reached out and lightly touched its body, I understood why.

The flow of energy in its body had become extremely good.

I’d already examined its body when I grabbed its pressure points, so I clearly knew what the old flow had been like.

It had been an energy flow like a calm stream.

But now, unlike before, that energy flow had gone from a stream to a river.

‘Ohhh. Did it change like it got its fur shaved and its marrow cleansed?’

If you’d already become an ascended cultivator, your body’s energy flow was already far better than an ordinary person’s.

When you became a would-be immortal, you kept changing into a body that lived by energy, escaping flesh.

But fully turning into energy was only possible at a high realm, so as your realm rose, bit by bit your flesh changed into an energy body, and the foundation for that was your body’s efficiency.

That was why you learned inner methods and Law Arts to fix what was low.

No matter how good your inner methods and Law Arts were, if your body’s efficiency itself was low, it was all pointless.

Even if you ate spirit stones or spirit pills, if your body’s efficiency was bad, then even with great Law Arts or inner methods that could refine them well, the efficiency still dropped.

But that energy flow had clearly improved.

Like all the dregs inside its body had been washed away, the energy was circulating more cleanly and faster.

For something in the Qi Refining Stage like a rat snake, that would be the biggest help.

With just this one change, it was obvious its future growth would accelerate.

So that color change probably wasn’t just color—it looked like a fundamental constitution improvement.

As its eyes filled with overwhelming gratitude, Cheong-yu Sojeo looked at me and opened her mouth.

-Shii-a. 『From here, my...』

Cheong-yu Sojeo’s voice flowed out softly.

Maybe because she’d shown this much strength, there was absolute dignity in the way she spoke.

So the rat snake wouldn’t say anything else.

Cheong-yu Sojeo probably meant to say it should help me live here, but the rat snake with its head pressed flat down answered right away—

Before she even finished.

-Shii. 『O-of course. I won’t be negligent in serving the great one and her husband while you stay here.』

-Shii? 『H-husband?』

The rat snake seemed to think Cheong-yu Sojeo and I were a pair, and Cheong-yu Sojeo panicked at the word husband.

When Cheong-yu Sojeo went blank, the rat snake tilted its head and asked,

-Shiih? 『Aren’t you?』

At that question, Cheong-yu Sojeo turned her head away from me and looked back at it.

Then, in a voice she forced to sound calm, she said,

-Shiashii. 『N-no. I mean... y-yes. Husband. Then make sure there’s no negligence in my husband staying here. I can stay inside the Peach Garden Map, but he can’t.』

-Shiit! 『Of course!』

At Cheong-yu Sojeo’s request, it answered with a quick, snappy expression, like it was basically already a household servant.

Then I called out to Cheong-yu Sojeo in a steady voice.

“Um, Cheong-yu Sojeo?”

-Shia. 『Ah, I’m kind of tired.』

Cheong-yu Sojeo pressed a hand to her forehead for no reason, acting tired.

I called her again, but I got the answer that we’d talk later.

“Cheong-yu Sojeo?”

-Shii. 『L-let’s talk later.』

“No, Cheong-yu Sojeo, this isn’t something we can talk about later—”

-Shiaa. 『So-ryong-nim, Cheong-yu Sojeo said she’s tired and to talk later.』

In the end, Gold-Crowned Snake King Cheong-yu appeared instead of Cheong-yu Sojeo.

Cheong-yu Sojeo, turning into smoke, quickly vanished into my mind.