Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Coagulation Poison (응고독) 1

-Bzzz. Bzzzz.

A space filled with the sweet scent wafting from all directions alongside the dry, dead smell of an old tree.

Inside the beehive, the sounds of the Golden Hair Bee Kings’ wings filled the air as they flapped to draw in warmth.

As the sun rose, light began to filter through, spreading warmth that started to seep into the dry tree.

Bees of the honey variety have poor visibility at night and struggle to move without warmth, so they don’t fly after dark.

Thus, this morning, when the sun’s warmth illuminated the hive, they busily flapped their wings to disperse that warmth inside.

The Golden Hair Bee Kings had a mixed appearance of both bumblebees and honeybees, making me wonder which traits they possessed; it seemed they leaned more towards honeybee behaviors.

Bumblebees can gather nectar even on bright moonlit nights, so witnessing such a scene in the morning was quite rare.

“Has the queen finally awakened?”

Glancing upward, I asked in between the honeycombs, causing the wing flapping to momentarily stop.

Soon, the fluttering resumed and the queen bee descended to my eye level, hanging upside down.

-Bzzz!

She seemed to answer that she was already awake with a quick flap of her wings.

And just like that, silence enveloped the old tree.

Seizing the moment, I quickly conveyed my message.

“To be honest, the reason I came here this morning is that there’s a centipede, resembling this scent I carry, that I’ve been taking care of called Bin; do you know who I’m talking about? That little one has gone missing. If you happen to find her while the other Golden Hair worker bees are out foraging, could you let me know?”

Showing a glimpse of the scent on my wrist, the queen bee flinched slightly in surprise before nodding in response.

-Whoosh!

“Thank you. I appreciate it. Sorry to bother you this morning, I’ll be on my way.”

Just as I was about to turn and leave, expressing my gratitude while the queen bee flapped her wings as if to say she understood—

-Tap, tap.

I suddenly felt a strange touch on my shoulder.

Turning my head, the queen bee was gently tapping my forehead with her antennae.

-Tap, tap.

And then her mouth suddenly moved closer to my face.

‘No, wait. Not again!? Even for me, this is tough…’

The action of tapping one’s antennae against another’s while bringing one’s mouth close is a prelude to nutrient exchange.

For reasons unknown, the queen bee was suddenly demanding a nutrient exchange.

Just yesterday, other worker bees had asked for one too, and we had agreed that I’d eat some honey from the hive.

‘Do I really look like I’m starving?’

I understood what it meant, but her demand for nutrient exchange caused my body to instinctively flinch.

Once was tough enough; twice would be sheer agony!

‘What to do…’

In the brief moment when the queen bee’s mouth approached, I seriously pondered my options.

I couldn’t just refuse outright, as this was a significantly meaningful gesture.

For social insects like bees and ants, nutrient exchange is the highest form of trust.

It signifies recognition and acceptance as a member of their society, treating me as an equal, and fully accepting me as part of their family through nutrient exchange.

Therefore, for the Golden Hair Bee, this was akin to a hug or handshake.

Since this act demanded that kind of trust, it would be hard to refuse easily.

Moreover, refusing a nutrient exchange from a queen bee—a request from the ruler—could have unpredictable consequences, possibly even afflicting the entire Golden Hair colony as well.

Thus, during that fleeting moment when her mouth approached, countless thoughts raced through my mind.

However, I eventually found myself waving my hand, unable to escape.

“I’m really, really full right now. I had some honey yesterday too. Humans can’t eat that much at once, you know.”

‘Seriously thought long and hard about this, and yet, not like this…’

-Bzzz? Wing! Wing!

The queen bee fluttered her wings furiously in response to my refusal.

‘Surely she’s angry, right?’

Feeling quite uneasy, I fretted a bit when suddenly, a bumblebee appeared with a round egg the size of a watermelon and dropped it into my hands.

-Bzzz.

The moment I held it, it felt heavy, likely full of honey.

Unlike regular honeybees that build round nests hanging in clusters like a bunch of grapes, the Golden Hair Bees constructed hexagonal ones, resulting in a somewhat unique appearance.

Inspecting the unfamiliar object, I noticed a hexagonal frame nested within the round shell.

It looked as if a small beehive shape had been crafted and then covered round with wax.

“You want me to take this and eat it?”

-Bzzz. Bzzz.

It felt like she was trying to say, “Make sure to take good care of yourself while eating,” hinting perhaps that I should be more mindful of my small mealworms.

Undoubtedly grateful to receive lunch boxes from these creatures that either recognized me as part of their family or perhaps simply cared for me while I was growing up, I nodded in agreement.

And it filled me with relief knowing I had skirted that particular crisis.

‘Did I somehow manage to get through this?’

“Really, thank you.”

With that, I accepted the honey offered by the queen while starting my journey back.

I couldn’t entirely grasp their actions, but the more conversations flowed, the more I felt I wanted to register the Golden Hair Bee King under my Beast Heart Technique.

It seemed like they’d be demanding nutrient exchanges every time I visited, and I’d need to understand the reason to avoid discomfort.

While I couldn’t act on it just then, according to my older sister and adoptive father, social beasts exhibit a strong collective consciousness; if I registered one, more would likely follow suit, so I needed to be extremely careful.

Since I was already connected to three spirit-level centipedes, I would have to approach registering other venomous creatures gradually based on their respective realms.

So, registering friends like Yo-hwa, Seol-i, or Bin right away was out of the question.

‘Right, no need to think too hastily. There are upsides, but it’s not all good either.’

Even though the sudden demand for nutrient exchange was a tad vexing, reflecting on Bin’s incident suggested it wasn’t always beneficial to have complete emotional harmony.

They could feel my feelings just as I sensed theirs, resulting in that unfortunate situation with Chao.

Jealousy could spark at any moment.

Leaving the dojo while holding the honey provided by the queen bee, I stepped outside only to find a rather chaotic scene awaiting me.

“This way!”

“The Poison Blood Team is splitting into five groups to ascend!”

The martial warriors of the clan were hurrying in pairs toward the summit of Tang Clan Mountain.

“What on earth is going on…?”

Trying to catch hold of a passing warrior to inquire about the situation, I suddenly heard a loud cough.

“Ahem!”

Turning my head, I saw the Mandok God, my grandfather, approaching with a visibly displeased expression.

Behind him, Hua Eun looked on with a somewhat tense expression.

Though I sensed an atmosphere fraught with mystery, I approached to offer my morning greetings and pay my respects.

“Grandfather, it’s a pleasure to see you.”

However, without acknowledging my greeting, he began to scold me.

“Why, if such a major incident occurred overnight, you should have informed me even in the dead of night! What’s happened to cause such a commotion at this hour?”

“Y-Yes? Ah… That is…”

He seemed to mention stories from the night, indicating that Hua Eun must have informed him about Bin leaving the house, which meant that this uproar stemmed from grandfather instructing the clan’s warriors to search for her.

I hadn’t anticipated that my one little venomous creature would cause such a stir; apparently, it had grown emotionally attached more than I’d realized.

That’s usually the case with adults, I guess.

Even in my previous life, there’d been a time when my parents turned up their nose at the idea of getting a puppy, saying it smelled awful. But months later, I found myself having transformed into the older brother of that very puppy.

‘Guess they got much fonder of that little one than expected?’

“Just how could you have treated her so poorly that she felt the need to leave home! That little one, who has never been outside, is likely trembling somewhere out there.”

Surprisingly, the anger in his voice resembled that of a grandfather scolding for the disappearance of a biological granddaughter.

I thought maybe he had grown attached to Bin, but hearing his outburst just reminded me that he viewed her as his actual family.

“Also, if she disappeared during the night, then shouldn’t we have sent someone out to search? How can parents be so unconcerned!”

“Uh…”

Grandfather was fuming as if Bin were ours and Hua Eun’s real child.

It began to feel as if more and more companions were joining in on our childhood antics.

So it was that Hua Eun and I remained silent, suffering through grandfather’s scolding.

It is said that if a child gets hurt, the parents are guilty; apparently, if a child leaves home, the parents face blame too.

‘Bin, your dad is getting scolded by grandfather! Come back!’

From the standpoint of expanding the Companion Venomous Creature Culture, this might be a good development, yet, on the flip side, it was also quite unfair and disheartening.

*

Three days of searching followed, but ultimately, Bin remained missing.

Where in the world had she been hiding? Not even a hint of her.

Having constantly sent thoughts in grandfather’s direction during this time, she remained completely unresponsive as well.

The warriors of the Tang Clan turned over every stone on Tang Clan Mountain, searching even the owl nests just in case, yet they couldn’t locate her.

“Ahem!”

Once again today, grandfather’s displeasure was blatantly apparent.

In my own frustration, I sent out my thoughts, and Seol-i inquired.

“Absolutely no response?”

“None, Sister Seol.”

“Well, that’s unusual.”

“What do you mean?”

“While spirit creatures might display some differences, beasts like them usually don’t hide their feelings like people. The fact that the beasts connected through the Beast Heart Technique aren’t responding is quite odd.

That’s the kind of response they give when deeply asleep.”

“Asleep?”

“Yeah. Only when they’re in a deep sleep does that kind of thing happen. Usually, it shouldn’t.”

‘Could it be that little one has run away and is just snoozing somewhere, leaving chaos in her wake!?’

The thought that she might be asleep sent my mind spinning.

After all, I had been subjected to countless scolding sessions from Mandok God these past three days!

Hua Eun had even shed a tear or two in response to his loud reprimands.

I could hear grandfather’s worried voice echo behind me.

“The mountains are full of creatures. I hope she hasn’t gotten herself into any trouble!”

“Indeed, if she happens to pass away, the person connected through the Beast Heart Technique will immediately know. The shock would be tremendous emotionally.”

“That is quite a relief, but… Ai!”

Grandfather’s tone suggested clear dissatisfaction.

I flinched like a puppy scared of getting hit upon hearing his words, then sent my thoughts to Chao instead of addressing him directly.

[Chao, do you see Bin anywhere?]

Wondering if Chao, soaring above, might have spotted her.

But, unsurprisingly, no sign of her appeared to be found in Chao’s thought responses.

Just at that moment, grandfather asked me.

“Wei So-ryong, even though we haven’t found her yet, we can’t waste any more time lingering here, can we?”

“Yes, Grandfather. Of course.”

“I’ll instruct the warriors to keep searching for her, but you should also prepare to head to the Martial Forest Alliance.”

“Indeed.”

I needed to report on the positions of those Blood Cult villains to the Martial Forest Alliance and inform them that those same Blood Cult members had formed an alliance with the Five Poisons Sect to acquire antidotes.

Most importantly, I needed to prepare new poisons for use at the Martial Forest Alliance.

After all, the primary reason we had gone to the Tang Clan was to secure samples of bleeding poison to bring back.

“Have you thought about what we need? As you’re aware, the venom of yellow hornets works as well as the poison of Hoban Yusa, but it’s tough to obtain a significant quantity.”

The hornet venom is great for bleeding poison but its quantity is low.

While I had already sent my warriors to gather samples of that, it was also difficult to keep them alive like snakes to continuously extract venom, so mass production of hornet venom posed a challenge.

Of course, I was aware of all this, so I nodded in understanding.

“Yes, I have prepared for the poison battle, so let’s go.”

“Really? You got it ready already?”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“Very well, then let’s go. How I wish that Bin had been more proactive about getting things done before she left home.”

“Ahem…”

Upon reaching the poison chamber with grandfather, we were met with rowdy warriors.

The knights looked tense, peering intently into a jar.

I had instructed them to prepare it, but it seemed they hadn’t caught whatever was inside yet.

-Swish! Swoosh!

“What kind of snake is this one… so ferocious.”

“Be careful! Wei So-ryong has specifically instructed us never to attempt to catch it with our bare hands as one would with any snake.”

To the warriors mesmerized by the jar, I called out.

“Are you all still not ready?”

“Gasp! Wei So-ryong! We pay our respects to the Clan Head!”

“Respect and honor, Clan Head!”

The warriors looked startled at our arrival, and grandfather stepped toward the jar to examine what lay within.

“Is this it?”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“This is the fellow we captured in Yunnan, a Mountain Viper.”

The snake within the jar was slightly short yet quite stout, characterized by repeating oval patterns.

In a swift motion, grandfather reached into the pot and seized the viper by the neck.

Even the most skilled earthworkers or specialists from previous lives wouldn’t dare to touch such a creature.

‘Truly, a great elder of the Tang Clan.’

The Mountain Viper was renowned as an aggressive and extremely bite-prone species, the kind to make experts gasp, Russell’s Viper, no less.

“Quick, bring chicken blood!”

At my request, the warriors of the Tang Clan immediately caught a chicken and filled a bowl with blood.

I then asked grandfather to drop the venom of the Russell’s Viper into that bowl.

“Just one drop into the bowl with the chicken blood.”

-Drop.

As I requested, a single drop of venom fell.

A moment later, I used chopsticks to scoop up the blood, which had thickened like gelatin.

“What’s this?”

The venom of Russell’s Viper is known for being a potent coagulation poison.

I explained to the astonished grandfather.

“Poison that either dilutes or solidifies blood is termed blood poison. While Hoban Yusa’s poison is a bleeding poison that thins blood, this one solidifies it.

Since their martial arts are related to blood, should bloodborne attacks be dealt, they would experience effects similar to having been subjected to Dispersing Power Poison. If they were struck with this, their energy paths would be blocked, rendering them unable to utilize their inner energy, yes?”

‘Make sure to conjure some antidote. I shall serve it to them with a sweet and salty twist!’

A venom that hindered the flow of inner energy was just what I needed as my second gift prepared for the Blood Cult, as I pondered with my own frustrations over Bin’s disappearance.