Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

On the way moving to the First Heaven, while I was flying through the sky, I also contacted Bulsiho.

Because on the way back after subduing the Venomous Water Crab, there was an issue I absolutely had to address at least once before moving on.

I meant the relationship between Yubing and the Venomous Water Crab, and the circumstances of that body.

I steadied myself a little, took out the communication talisman, and immediately started the conversation.

”Bulsiho.”

[”Yes, Elder?”]

A quiet reply.

As always, the fox’s voice, sounding a little excited, tickled my ears.

”That... about Yubing.”

I hesitated for a moment, then decided to just say it directly in the end.

[”Ah, Yubing? Did something happen?”]

There was a slight note of concern in the voice.

Since what I was about to say could be pretty shocking, my own voice stiffened without my realizing it.

”Things got a bit... complicated.”

[”What do you mean, complicated?”]

I swallowed a sigh and explained it as simply as possible.

”It’s Yubing and the Venomous Water Crab. The two of them... ended up getting together quite well.”

[”Yes, yes. So it seems you achieved what you intended in the end?”]

”Yes. But that Venomous Water Crab... is four.”

[”Yes, four?”]

”Yes...”

At the end of my long explanation, Bulsiho was flustered by the word four.

After a brief silence, a question came back.

[”For now, you mean it’s still one body, right?”]

The fact that the question was headed in a fairly constructive direction gave me a bit of hope.

At least it was not a completely disgusted reaction.

”Yes, it seems during a fight it can split its energy the way one splits a Primordial Infant and overlay its consciousness there, but the original body is one. Though the head, body, limbs, and reproductive organs are all separate.”

”...”

Once I finished speaking, even I thought it was a pretty bizarre explanation after hearing myself say it out loud.

If it were a person, it would be like roughly four individuals sitting inside one body, the head thinking separately as a head, the arms separately as arms, and the reproductive organs separately as reproductive organs.

I was getting anxious because no answer came for a moment, but what I heard next was not what I had expected.

[”Hmm...? Then when dual cultivating, if you join gates, does that mean you’re dual cultivating with two at the same time?”]

”Y-you could say that.”

What a fascinating approach.

Still, it was not wrong.

The body was one, but if you got technical about it, wasn’t it with four at the same time?

Then came another curious remark.

[”That might be a little interesting...”]

The ending trailed off ever so slightly.

It really sounded like a fox who had found an interesting new toy.

I hurriedly asked.

I needed to confirm whether interest and being fine with it meant the same thing.

”W-would that be all right?”

[”Yes, I think it sounds fun?”]

”F-fun?”

When I asked back in confusion, Bulsiho laughed and added an explanation.

[”Well, among cultivators there are some who go mad and have two personalities in one body, so it’s not that unusual. Sometimes there are even three. Four is a bit much, though. And when dual cultivating, the four of them can enjoy it together with the Primordial Infant too, you know? Dual cultivation is more enjoyable when several take part together.”]

Maybe because Bulsiho was a lewd fox, the way that one thought was on a different level.

I had been seriously worried, but all that worrying was made to look ridiculous by the response that it might be interesting.

Then again, hadn’t Bulsiho said there were partners besides Yubing too?

Only then did I finally put a hand to my chest in relief.

”Then I can be relieved.”

[”Relieved?”]

”I was worried you might dislike it...”

At my words, Bulsiho laughed loudly and said,

[”Ahaha. Elder, you’re a kind person, aren’t you? You don’t need to worry.”]

At Bulsiho’s reply telling me not to worry, all my tension finally drained away.

How much had I worried that Bulsiho might say that Yubing had been entrusted to me and that this was not what had been expected?

Feeling grateful, I spoke.

”Whew, only now can I relax. Yubing is not hurt, and I won’t make Yubing do anything dangerous again, so please rest easy.”

[”Yes, Elder. I trust you. And... if the chance comes, let’s enjoy ourselves together sometime.”]

”Excuse me?”

[”I mean let’s share the Dao of dual cultivation together. You, Elder, me, Yubing, and even that new child you just got?”]

”!”

[”Then let’s talk later.”]

As if it were nothing at all, Bulsiho left a light farewell and cut off the communication.

The moment the connection was fully severed, I let out a sigh toward empty air for no reason.

It felt like my energy had been drained.

Should I say that conversation a moment ago had been more exhausting than watching the Venomous Water Crab and Yubing fight?

”Haa...”

***

[”Is everyone there? Hwa-eun, Hye-rin, Senior Sister.”]

So-ryong’s voice rang clearly through the group chatroom.

No matter when one heard it, it had that same distinctive bright, mischievous tone.

But today, there was a faint tension and anticipation nestled inside it as well.

The three whose names had been called—Hwa-eun, Gun Hye-rin, and Cheongcheong—responded almost at the same time.

[”Yes, we’re here, Husband.”

”We’re here, Master.”

”Junior Brother, I’m here too.”]

The three of them had all happened to be drinking the same tea together in So-ryong’s office.

The master of the place was absent, but work was always handled here, so they had naturally gathered together.

As Hwa-eun set down her teacup, she asked,

[”Yes, what is it?”]

Hwa-eun was asking why he had called them, but the three already had an idea.

What So-ryong was going to say, what kind of news he would bring.

Because by now, it was about time for him to be bringing back the results of heading to the Sixth Heaven.

-Clink, clatter.

A light metallic sound suddenly rang through the room.

It was Senior Sister Cheongcheong’s teacup, trembling in her hand and striking against the saucer.

”Ah...”

Senior Sister’s hand was shaking violently.

Her slender fingers could not stop trembling, and the tea in the cup spilled over the rim.

Warm tea dampened the back of her white hand, but she seemed not even to feel that properly.

Gun Hye-rin shifted slightly from her seat and tightly took hold of Cheongcheong’s hand.

”It’s all right, Senior Sister.”

Hwa-eun also warmly took the hand of her ancestor, Cheongcheong, in one of her own.

Hwa-eun’s touch was not to send energy into it, but simply seemed to be trying to share warmth.

Cheongcheong trembled faintly.

It was only natural that she would not be able to control her emotions at the news that the illness she had suffered from for such a long time could be healed.

Because it was because of this that she had been separated from her parents, and she had suffered without end throughout her life, so if word had come that it could be healed, of course she would not be able to control her emotions.

That much of a reaction was only natural.

And indeed, just as expected, So-ryong’s voice rang out.

[”We caught it! It’s the Venomous Water Crab we were looking for! And since it’s a Water Crab that feeds on spirit creatures, which was Senior Sister’s original form, it might even act like a spirit medicine for Senior Sister!”]

A ringing filled Cheongcheong’s ears.

With that sharp whine, her mind seemed to fly away.

Her trembling hand spread into her arm, and her arm into her legs, and her legs into her whole body.

Cheongcheong’s body shook uncontrollably.

”K-khhup...”

Cheongcheong had thought that if word came this time that Junior Brother had obtained the medicine for her, she would accept it calmly.

But when that moment actually came, she was not calm in the slightest.

Her tightly bitten lips trembled, and tears streamed endlessly from both eyes.

The tears that had fallen like dew did not stop and instead became a rainy season, and the weeping soon became a cry.

”Huaaah.”

Cheongcheong had always thought so.

That since she had been born bearing this heavenly punishment, she would eventually waste away little by little and die like that one day, and as the time she could not go outside gradually increased, that thought had only become clearer.

Her body had withered away little by little as if a plant were drying up, and she had believed she would become like a tree that dried out and died standing.

Moreover, once a problem arose with her father’s magic treasure and she was forced into a situation where she had no choice but to keep pouring her energy into it, she became someone who waited for death day by day.

She had to keep pouring energy into the magic treasure because she could not simply abandon those who believed in and followed her, but the more she did so, the more she could feel herself drying up faster.

Every time she poured energy into the magic treasure, lay down on the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling, she thought to herself.

That before she died, she wanted to fly freely through the skies of the Nine Heavens at least once.

It was her small final wish.

Thus Cheongcheong had quietly endured days mixed with despair and resignation.

And then one day, a Junior Brother suddenly appeared before her.

A man who had merely inherited her father’s martial arts, yet called her Senior Sister, treated her with the utmost respect, and did not hesitate to throw himself into dangerous places to cure her illness.

The feelings that came over her whenever she looked at Junior Brother were a tangled mixture of guilt, gratitude, thankfulness, and more.

Because though he was all but a stranger, he was still a Junior Brother who did not hesitate to step even into a pit of fire for her sake.

And as he absorbed those countless emotions like nourishment, the first feeling she had ever experienced began to sprout.

It was love.

She had come to feel love for the Junior Brother who devoted himself to her.

How could she not love a man who would stake his life for her sake?

But when she realized that feeling, the very first thing she felt was self-loathing.

Because Junior Brother and Junior Brother’s wives regarded her as family and treated her warmly, while she herself wanted Junior Brother as if she were some thieving alley cat.

The very flesh that had driven her toward death now wanted to steal Junior Brother away.

Like a shabby thief peeping at someone else’s happy home through the window and coveting the warmth inside.

Love and self-loathing became tangled together inside her.

The more she loved, the deeper it grew, and the deeper the loathing grew, the more it gnawed at her.

And then at last, Junior Brother had spoken.

That he had found the Venomous Water Crab.

That he had finally obtained the medicine that could cure Senior Sister’s illness.

At this very moment, hearing those words, Cheongcheong made a decision regarding the dilemma she had been unable to set down in her heart.

’Yes, I have to do that.’

Her whole body was trembling so badly that it was hard even to stand properly, but her mind, at least, was clear.

Cheongcheong forced her mouth open and conveyed her feelings to Junior Brother.

[”J-Junior Brother, thank you. Thank you so much. Hhk.”]

At those words, Junior Brother’s mischievous voice rang out.

[”Senior Sister, why are you crying on such a good day? Smile. It’s a happy day.”

”Mm. Hhk.”]

When Cheongcheong barely answered in a voice mixed with weeping and laughter, Junior Brother’s bright voice continued.

[”Just wait a little. I’ll take the medicine there and treat you myself, Senior Sister. I’ll arrive in a few days. I’ll see you all in a few days.”

”All right. Husband, come back carefully.”

”Understood. Master, you worked hard. See you later.”]

Once the contact with Junior Brother ended, Cheongcheong burst into tears again.

”Hh-hhk. Th-thank you. All of you.”

”Ancestor, you’ve worked hard. From now on, only good things will happen.”

”Don’t cry, Senior Sister.”

Junior Brother’s two wives comforted Cheongcheong as they patted her shoulders.

Though the hands and limbs of the Cheongcheong receiving that comfort were trembling like mad, Cheongcheong clenched her fist hard and rose from her seat.

Because she felt there was no more room to hesitate.

Before Junior Brother—no, before her benefactor—returned, she had to put her resolve into action.

-Thud!

Cheongcheong slammed her head straight against the floor and spoke.

”This Cheongcheong has received a great kindness from Benefactor and from his wives. Yet even so, I came to harbor wicked feelings and fell in love with Benefactor.

I cannot forgive myself for trying to repay kindness with enmity. Therefore, with a heart of atonement, from now on I will become a servant and attend upon all of you.”

Cheongcheong’s decision was to cast aside the treatment of being called Senior Sister and cherished by them when all she had really done was inherit martial arts, and instead, with gratitude and a heart seeking atonement, become a servant and attend upon them all.

For a hundred years, for a thousand years.

That was the path she chose as she wavered between love and guilt.