Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Chapter 130

"So-ryong! So-ryong!"

"Ryo!? Wake up! Why is he suddenly like this again?"

Just as So-ryong was about to fall into the campfire, his arms and neck shot forward, caught by two outstretched hands and spider silk.

Hwa-eun and Seol, on either side, grabbed So-ryong's arms, while Yo-hwa, who was behind him, shot spider silk to stop his body.

Kishi!

Just before crashing into the fire, So-ryong was gently pulled back, and as he lay on the ground, as if he had fallen asleep, Hwa-eun and Seol quickly checked on him.

The first thing Hwa-eun checked was So-ryong's eyes.

Before So-ryong ate the white ants, Hwa-eun had checked his condition twice, unsure whether he had beco unconscious due to so other reason, or whether he had been paralyzed by poison.

Thus, she quickly opened his eyelids and checked his eyes, which appeared hazy and unfocused.

If he had fainted, his sclera would have been visible, and if he had been paralyzed, his eyes should have shown so life. But So-ryong’s eyes behind his closed eyelids were clouded, as though his soul had left him.

"Why?"

"Could it be poison?"

"No, I don't think it's poison. I checked twice before he ate, and he doesn’t seem to be showing signs of poisoning now either."

Shintu, sounding anxious, asked, but Hwa-eun had already checked the white ants for poison earlier, and So-ryong himself had confird there was no poison. Even now, it didn’t seem like the symptoms of poisoning or paralysis.

Then, it was Seol, who had been checking So-ryong's pulse, who grabbed Hwa-eun's hand.

With a dazed look, Seol murmured the words she had heard once before.

"Beast Heart Technique..."

"Beast Heart Technique? What about it?"

The Beast Heart Technique was one of the roots of the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art, which So-ryong had learned, and it was connected to the Beast Palace’s inner technique.

The event when Cho, who was becoming a Heavenly Sovereign, had once caused So-ryong to fall asleep ca to mind.

That ti, when So-ryong had been asleep for nearly fifteen days.

"Cho! Cho! Co down here!"

Hwa-eun quickly called Cho, who had been hovering in the sky, to check if the sa thing had happened again because of Cho’s recent growth.

Since Cho had recently shed its skin, and there was no one else to suspect, she worried it might be related to Cho.

Seol, as well as the Beast Palace's leader, had warned that if one were to connect with potent poisons like the Ten Deadly Poisons, their mind could beco unhinged, which made her worried.

As soon as Hwa-eun called Cho down, the confused Cho flew down without knowing what was going on.

Hwa-eun urgently asked Cho, "Cho, Daddy collapsed. Do you know anything about it?"

Tsrut?

Cho, finally noticing So-ryong lying behind Hwa-eun, let out a surprised cry.

Though we couldn’t understand exactly what Cho was saying, it was clear that Cho was alard, and it didn’t seem like Cho was the cause.

Seol also confird it wasn’t Cho.

"It doesn’t seem to be Cho. The Beast Heart Technique energy doesn’t feel like last ti. And if Cho was the cause, it would have fallen asleep just like last ti."

Hwa-eun realized Seol was right. Cho had also fallen asleep with So-ryong last ti, so if Cho were the cause, it would have fallen asleep too.

"Then, could it be? Hyang!?"

"Hyang? Oh, wait a second!"

Hyang, who had been scolded earlier for not listening to Daddy, was now asleep on Hwa-eun’s shoulder.

Could it be that he wasn’t just sleeping?

Seeing that he didn’t wake up during all the chaos, Hwa-eun quietly called out to Hyang.

If both So-ryong and Hyang were affected by the Beast Heart Technique, it might not be good to force them awake, but she needed to check if So-ryong’s ntal state had truly been lost.

"Hyang? Hyang, are you sleeping?"

With tense looks from Hwa-eun and Seol, Hyang didn’t respond at first, and they wondered if it was the Beast Heart Technique, but soon Hyang, feeling itchy, began to brush his antennae with his forelegs.

And then he made the sa sound he usually did when sleeping.

Tsuru... Tsuru...

It seed clear now that Hyang was definitely just sleeping.

In the midst of this chaos, Hyang was calmly scratching his antennae and sleeping soundly.

It seed like he had fallen deeply asleep, unaware of what was going on.

Seol, confirming once again that it wasn’t Cho, quickly touched Hyang’s body and then shook her head.

"I don’t think it’s Hyang either. I don’t sense any Beast Heart Technique energy from Hyang."

"Then, what’s going on? Could it be what you ntioned earlier, that the beasts’ hearts might have consud his mind?"

Hwa-eun asked anxiously, worried that So-ryong’s mind might have been consud by the poisonous creatures through the Beast Heart Technique, but Seol shook her head.

"No, that’s not it. If his mind had been consud, he would be rampaging like a beast, but right now, it’s as though he’s just asleep."

"Then... why...?"

If it wasn’t that, it was sothing even stranger.

As Hwa-eun looked at So-ryong with a worried expression, Seol suddenly clapped her hands as if she had figured sothing out.

"Ah! So-ryong’s Beast Heart Technique doesn’t only connect to Cho and Hyang, does it?"

"Not just Cho and Hyang... Ah! How could I forget that?"

In my montary shock over So-ryong’s collapse, I had forgotten that So-ryong’s Beast Heart Technique had also connected with soone else.

"Bini?"

"Yes, Bini is still here."

The youngest daughter, who had left ho recently.

It was Bini.

***

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a space filled with pitch-black fog, like smoke.

Looking around, all I could see was the sa black fog.

There wasn’t a single point of light, yet sohow I could clearly sense the presence of the black smoke.

"What... what is this?"

For a brief mont, I was taken aback.

In this situation, the first thought that ca to mind was:

'Could it be? Am I trapped in my inner world or sothing like that!?'

When they taught the Beast Heart Technique, Seol and my adoptive father had warned that my mind could be consud by Cho’s mind because the spirit of the beast was far stronger than a human’s.

Because of that, I had always been cautious.

Now, seeing this dark, pitch-black place, where I could remain relatively lucid, I began to think that perhaps my mind was trapped here, and Cho’s spirit had taken over my body.

I wondered if this was sothing like in cartoons, where the protagonist’s body is taken for so reason, and the protagonist ends up trapped in a dark, gloomy space until soone cos to rescue them.

"Damn it, am I really doing sothing strange? No, if Cho took over, that wouldn’t make sense, right?"

It felt more certain.

I decided to call for help from Cho.

There was no way Cho would intentionally take over my body, and this must have happened because Cho’s spirit, being of a spirit beast, was far stronger than mine.

If Cho and I were connected ntally, she would definitely help .

'My daughter wouldn’t intentionally do this to her father. Not my sweet daughter.'

"Cho! Cho! I’m here! Help out!"

As I shouted, the black fog, almost like a living entity, began to swirl.

It seed like Cho was responding to .

'Oh! Definitely a reaction!'

I could feel the black fog moving every ti I called out to Cho.

It was like Cho was panicking too.

I decided to speak calmly to reassure Cho and ask for help, so she wouldn’t be scared.

"This wasn’t intentional, right? It’s probably just a mistake or sothing that happened without Cho aning to. Our Cho is so sweet, and she’s the daughter who loves her dad the most. Let’s think of a way to get out of here."

As I continued calling out, sothing happened.

The black fog seed to beco even more ominous, almost like a storm, and one side of it cleared, revealing a narrow path.

A path with light shining through it.

It felt as though the light was beckoning , so I hurried down that path.

It seed like Cho was showing the way.

"That’s my girl! My beautiful daughter!"

It seed like Cho had found a solution.

While praising Cho, I began walking along the light.

After a mont, I reached the end of the light and saw a figure.

At a glance, it looked similar to Cho, whom I had seen once before.

"Cho!"

I quickly called out and ran toward the figure.

However, as I reached the woman, it beca clear that this wasn’t Cho.

"Who, who are you?"

The Cho in my mory was a beautiful woman with blue hair and blue eyes, exuding a strange aura. But the woman in front of had black hair and black eyes.

She had the sa strange aura as Cho, but she was soone I had never seen before.

‘What, what is this?’

Moreover, her expression seed to be one of clear anger.

I blinked in surprise, and the woman seed to sigh in frustration.

The thought that ca to mind was ‘darkening.’

‘Could it be? Has Cho darkened!?’

The blackness certainly suggested a darkening.

If Cho, who was once blue, had turned black, then it could only be described as a darkening.

I cautiously asked in a careful voice, "Cho?"

Imdiately, the woman’s eyes changed to a fierce glare.

No matter how much Cho may have darkened, there was no way she would look at her father with such malice. I began to wonder if I was mistaken.

"Ah, is it not you? Then, who are you?"

‘Could she be the queen ant? But no, I didn’t use the Beast Heart Technique to register her, did I?’

As I thought about it, I realized that before this happened, I had eaten roasted white ants.

Could it be that the queen of the white ants, being a spiritual creature, had exchanged nutrients with the worker ants before they died, and I had eaten those fluids, unintentionally registering her as a spiritual entity?

However, the strange part was that in order to register a poison creature, one would need to use the special incantation of the Beast Heart Technique and consu the creature’s bodily fluids. It couldn’t be the case that I had registered her unwillingly.

I took a step back, feeling the intense gaze of the woman.

Then, sothing unexpected happened.

The woman’s expression suddenly changed to one of confusion, and she turned her head, not looking at , but instead grabbing my shirt collar.

Looking at where she grabbed, I asked with a dazed expression, "Could it be Bini?"

The spot she grabbed was exactly where our daughter Bini, who had the tsundere trait, used to grab when she didn’t want to show affection but couldn’t resist doing so. When she was angry, she would grab my collar to stop from leaving.

The woman’s face lit up with surprise and joy, and she imdiately jumped into my arms.

Once again, the feeling of "Daddy’s the best" filled my heart.

‘I’m sure Daddy knows exactly what this is.’

Although there had been a mistake earlier, I didn’t feel like I had failed as a father, and I felt my mind becoming hazy.

"Bini!"

When I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar ceiling.

I quickly sat up, calling for Bini, and I heard the surprised voices of the two won.

"So-ryong, are you awake?"

"Ryo!? Are you awake?"

I turned my head to see Hwa-eun and Seol looking at with wide eyes.

"Where am I? How did I end up here?"

I was lying in my own quarters in the Tang clan house, on my bed.

Though I had seen Bini in my mind, my last mory was of going to find the blue caterpillar, discovering the white ants, and eating them.

Confused, I asked how I had ended up here. Hwa-eun approached and gently wiped my forehead.

"I thought it would be best to leave you alone, but Seol unni thought it would be better to move Bini to a family closer to us, so we brought you here."

It seed that after I collapsed, they had moved to a different part of the clan.

"So, Bini? Has Bini returned?"

I asked about Bini upon hearing her na from Hwa-eun, but she shook her head.

"No, she hasn’t returned yet. Could it be because of Bini that you collapsed this ti?"

"Maybe..."

She hesitated as she answered, and just then, I heard commotion coming from outside.

Thud, thud, thud.

There was a low rumbling sound, followed by the voices of the warriors outside.

"Block them!"

"They’re over there!"

"They’re heading toward the Saheowon!"

I tried to get up from my bed, but my body was sluggish from lying down for so long.

I asked Hwa-eun and Seol to help .

"Quickly, outside."

Both Hwa-eun and Seol seed to sense sothing from the commotion and didn’t refuse my request. They helped walk outside.

The ground of the courtyard suddenly started rising in mounds, like a mole tunneling through the earth, and it reached up toward the front of my quarters.

Poo-wak!

Then, a massive black, glossy centipede, the likes of which I had never seen, shot up from the ground.

Its body was smooth and shiny, almost like an abyss, and it was certainly larger than Cho in her Heavenly Sovereign form.

Tsuru-ru.

I let out a scream involuntarily, srized by the real, black beauty of the creature.

‘Oh my god!’

"Ahhh!"

It was definitely Bini, upgraded and returned!