Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 121: Poisoning 1

“Hehehe… I heard you love venomous insects. Truly fitting for you.”

Shin Tu, who had been confused by Geolhwang’s laughter, finally seemed to understand the situation and suddenly widened his eyes.

Then he shouted at me, “You can’t be asking for the Heavenly Silkworm eggs, right!?”

Shin Tu looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

As he demanded confirmation, I nodded my head clearly and replied, “Yes, elder. All three of them. What a splendid name too, Heavenly Silkworm. Heavenly Silkworm…”

‘A silkworm sent from the heavens… It feels like it’s just dropped from the sky for me, so the name fits perfectly!’

After my response, Shin Tu turned to Geolhwang with a dazed expression.

It seemed he wanted help, but upon seeing that expression, Geolhwang burst into laughter, rolling on the ground holding his belly.

Despite being one of the most revered figures in the Martial Forest, he clearly didn’t care about appearances.

But then again, as a beggar, that seemed to be part of his charm, right?

“Hehehe… Look at that guy’s face. The best thief in the Central Plains, caught by a bandit! Hehehe…”

“Bandit” in the Central Plains’ language means a robber.

So Geolhwang’s remark implied that I was robbing Shin Tu right now.

Isn’t that like saying I’m a daylight robber?

‘No, how can it be daylight robbery? That’s just harsh! Already, several have died without getting enough food from me! To be precise, it’s a case of animal, no, venomous insect rescue!’

But to call it robbery is an unjust accusation.

I’m merely practicing humanitarian aid for the poor venomous insects.

Was it not true that many of them had already died because I couldn’t feed the larva?

Given that, it was only right to seize them; it was a case of rescuing the venomous creatures from abuse!

‘Of course. A master who can’t even feed his own creatures is unqualified as a master!’

I gazed at Shin Tu, expecting an egg to be presented, my expression urging him to hurry up.

Then came the voice of Mandok God, my grandfather.

[To think I could see such a face on that old man. Well done, So-ryong! Just take it all away! Hahaha.]

I was grinning at the prospect of obtaining the Heavenly Silkworm eggs.

Geolhwang was snickering at me and Shin Tu.

Mandok God was also smiling at Shin Tu’s plight.

A scene of joy for everyone except Shin Tu.

Surprised, Shin Tu stammered, “Did, did you really hear me? I said I need the silk made by the Heavenly Silkworm! If you give that to me, what will I do?! That’s my spiritual material!”

“Is that so? I was sure capturing you meant granting any wish… Didn’t you just capture your disciple? So wouldn’t you get any wish granted?”

“N-no, that…!”

It seemed he didn’t take in the part about giving the cocoons, and now he was flustered by my question, having said something he couldn’t retract in front of Geolhwang, who chimed in with an excited expression.

“Don’t worry, So-ryong. I heard him say that myself. This Geolhwang guarantees it.”

“Brother! Whose side are you on!?”

Shin Tu looked wronged, but Geolhwang shouted back to support me.

“Hey! You! The issue is… As an elder of the Martial Forest, I must remain impartial. Surely, you said you’d grant any request?”

“Cough…!”

I thought Shin Tu was on the verge of tears, so I decided to take it slow and explain carefully.

He looked like he was about to cry at any moment.

‘For a grown man to cry over just a few eggs…’

“Elder Shin Tu, please listen to my explanation carefully. I’m not intending to steal it from you. You mentioned clearly that to procure the Heavenly Silkworms for making the silk, you must extract the silk from the Heavenly Silkworm eggs, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. That’s why I was wondering how I can give them to you.”

“Yes, but I don’t know how much you know about silkworms. Did you know that if you extract silk from a silkworm, it must die?”

Silkworm farming is an ancient industry.

From the information I collected regarding one of the venomous creatures in my past life, it seems the practice dates back to around 2500 BC.

It started with the wild silk moth, the Bombyx Mandarina Butler, and it has likely evolved to where we are today.

The issue is that while silkworms have become tamer and their appearance cuter over 2500 years, the method of extracting silk hasn’t changed.

The reason I want to obtain the eggs from Shin Tu is not out of mere greed for venomous insects but primarily for the sake of species conservation, if I’m being honest.

‘My true ulterior motive is quite minimal…’

As I said, the process of obtaining silk inevitably results in the death of silkworms.

When a fully grown silkworm begins to metamorphose, it extracts silk through a gland under its mouth to create an oval cocoon. The silk extracted from this cocoon is materials for making silk.

However, to collect silk, the cocoon must be boiled in hot water and stirred with something like chopsticks.

This way, the end of the silk the silkworm initially produced catches on the chopsticks. This traditional method has been practiced for generations.

The problem is, this is essentially boiling the cocoon, meaning the silkworm larva cannot metamorphose into a moth and ultimately dies within the cocoon.

Of course, since the Heavenly Silkworm is a spirit creature, the essence of the silk should differ significantly, but the proteins maintaining the cocoon’s shape shouldn’t be very different, so the method shouldn’t vary too much.

Judging by how cleverly exchangeable this situation is, Shin Tu nodded at my query.

“Right, I heard that from the artisans dealing with silkworms.”

“Yes, typically silkworms are boiled in water to extract silk.”

There’s a reason this method has been perpetuated; the silk produced by silkworms is purely 100% protein.

Consisting of fibroin and sericin, fibroin is the silk itself, while sericin acts like the glue keeping the cocoon’s form intact.

The sericin, which maintains the cocoon’s round shape, dissolves well in hot water, hence the use of this method.

You could ask if the moth could simply break the cocoon and then extract the silk afterward, but that would mean the silk on the side the moth broke out will definitely break, so to obtain the longest possible silk, this method has become standard practice.

Thus, the pupae sold in Korea during my previous life are indeed the remains of silkworms after boiling for silk extraction, a tragic testament to the unfortunate deaths of silkworms.

“Then, wouldn’t the precious spirit creature die?”

“No, if I don’t kill it, I can’t extract the silk. So what am I to do?”

‘Isn’t this person essentially cooking the silkworms alive…’

This is no different from the ancient punishment of boiling people alive, but Shin Tu doesn’t seem to realize the gravity of this.

And aside from that, I decided to help him see through his shortsighted thinking.

“Ah, but you seem to be at quite a critical juncture without realizing it?”

“Critical juncture?”

“Yes, it seems you only have three eggs left. I’m not sure how much silk you need, but what you may obtain from three cocoons would be barely enough for necessity. What are you planning for the long term?”

“For the long term?”

Shin Tu blinked at my question.

I continued, smiling.

“Fortunately, the amount of silk produced by three cocoons is not small, so let’s assume you pass it on to your disciple. What about your disciple’s disciple? And your disciple’s disciple’s disciple? Your disciple will likely become a Shin Tu without any spiritual material.”

“Ah! You’re right!”

Only then did Shin Tu appear startled, his eyes wide like a rabbit.

Though he seemed unaware, he had responsibilities as a master to secure the Heavenly Silkworms while also gathering eggs from the Heavenly Silkworms.

For the sake of his descendants, it had to be done.

I’m not sure of their durability, but otherwise, the next generation’s Shin Tu could easily end up being a Shin Tu without any spiritual material.

“What, what will we do now!?”

Finally grasping the situation, his voice grew desperate.

‘We’re almost through. Why do I feel like my IQ spikes whenever venomous insects are involved?’

Strangely, when connected to venomous creatures, my IQ surges like a cockroach facing a survival crisis.

I promptly explained to Shin Tu.

“That’s why I’m asking for the eggs! I want to capture a pair of Heavenly Silkworms, receive the eggs, and breed them to help next generations of Shin Tu!”

Listening intently, it became clear that he was a wanderer, not tied down, traveling through the Central Plains. Did he have a secret place to breed the Heavenly Silkworms? That could take years, if not longer!

Even if he wanted to leave it to someone else, could he trust them?

What about the success of it?

To keep it a secret, strength was required, and such power resides in our Tang Clan.

Sure, we’d use the Heavenly Silkworms cooperatively, but Shin Tu would have access to them when needed, and our Tang Clan would benefit from securing the Heavenly Silkworms, resulting in a win-win trade.

‘Honestly, this shouldn’t be counted as a wish, but I’m really being generous here.’

As Shin Tu took a deep breath, seemingly contemplating, he looked at me with a serious expression unlike before.

“Do you really think you can succeed?”

He appeared slightly worried, but the expected line to say at this moment was obvious.

“Elder, have you ever heard the term ‘expert’?”

“Expert?”

“Expert (專門家) refers to someone who is dedicated to one specific thing, mastering it within their clan or among people.

For instance, our Tang Clan could be considered experts in poison.”

“Oh…”

“And from the moment I became the son-in-law of the Tang Clan, we became not just experts in poison, but also experts in venomous creatures. It would be impossible to obtain the Heavenly Silkworms without me.”

The elders of the clan nodded sagely, wearing satisfied smiles at my confident words, while Geolhwang also appeared pleased.

Conversely, Hua Eun was staring at me with her mouth half-open, unable to close it.

‘Whoa. She’s showing that protectiveness inside her, but with this expert air about me, it’s amazing!’

While feeling the gaze of what seemed to be infatuation from Hua Eun, I turned my head and saw Shin Tu wearing a similar expression.

‘Oh no, d-don’t look at me like that, Elder!’

Such a burdening gaze, indeed.

*

“Here, it is.”

-The sound of a click.

To my surprise, Shin Tu seemed to be quite bold. Once he’d made his decision, he quietly pulled out a rather large vial from his robe and placed it on the table.

-Slide.

Was that his martial arts? The vial smoothly slid over to me.

With trembling hands, I opened the lid, revealing three eggs, each the size of a ping pong ball.

“Ooo, this is!”

‘Wow! How can they be this big!’

From the size of the eggs, it felt like we’re dealing with adult-sized creatures.

Just from a rough calculation, the size of an adult moth must be greater than just a human head!

[So-ryong!?]

Suddenly jolted by Hua Eun’s telepathic shout, I snapped back to reality, only to find myself inadvertently rubbing the eggs against my cheek.

Startled, I hastily set them down, returning to my serious facade.

“Ahem. The eggs are too beautiful; I momentarily lost my focus… Ah, could you also provide the remains of those that died? It’d help me determine what they’re made of.”

“Uh, really? You can figure that out from the remains? H-here it is.”

As I emptied a small pouch pushed towards me, out tumbled seven pitiful silkworms.

Their pure white bodies had likely dried out, but they were still quite cute and delicate.

‘Let’s see. Oh? An osmeterium is present?’

An osmeterium is a horn found in the larvae of certain butterflies that emits a foul smell when provoked.

While I was impressed to find a caterpillar with that, suddenly—

[So-ryong, I just remembered; I need to make use of that old man. But right now, I don’t have the capacity to assist you.]

Mandok God instructed me to say I couldn’t help right now while I pretended to stare at the deceased Heavenly Silkworm.

Moving my eyes toward my grandfather, he added, [I have to head to the Martial Forest Alliance now, which I’ve been delayed for three days because of this! You must take responsibility for that. Talk to Geolhwang about it; he will surely help since it’s vital to the Martial Forest.]

Despite my decision not to show up, it was true that others’ journey had been delayed.

Nodding, I stuffed the vial and the remains of the Heavenly Silkworm into my pouch.

“Ahem… Indeed.”

“What have you figured out!?”

Seeing me as if I’d discovered something, Shin Tu anxiously asked.

Following Mandok God’s words, I replied somberly.

“No, it’ll take time to understand everything; I just can’t provide my assistance immediately.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that, you! I already gave you the Heavenly Silkworms you asked for!”

Being scolded by Shin Tu, I explained the circumstances, adhering to my grandfather’s advice.

“You see, elder, I need to go to the Martial Forest Alliance because of a letter sent from Mandok God. However, I have been delayed for three days.”

“Martial Forest Alliance?”

At the mention of the Martial Forest Alliance, even Geolhwang was now intently focused on my words.

As I explained to them about our experiences in Yunnan and why we needed to go to Martial Forest Alliance, Geolhwang jumped up from his seat.

“Such a thing happened!”

“Yes, we must urgently inform them regarding the Blood Cult’s activities; however, we’re several days late because of you, dear Elder Shin Tu…”

“This is no time to waste! I know that the personnel and warriors from the Martial Forest Alliance are crossing the borders of Yunnan to find the Blood Cult’s base. If they’re all killed, what a tragedy!”

Geolhwang smacked Shin Tu’s back.

-Smack!

“Cough! Why are you hitting my back out of the blue!?”

“You caused this delay, didn’t you?! Once your disciple is recovered, take So-ryong and the daughter of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and head to Wuhuan! You can make the trip in three days, can’t you!”

“Ugh, since it’s the Martial Forest, I suppose there’s no choice but to assist! Understood. Well, I’ll ensure that ten days will be sufficient for going and returning. I will handle the journey to Wuhuan, so you focus on that Heavenly Silkworm!”

‘What?! You say it’ll take only three days to Wuhuan?!’

I had ended up securing a Martial Forest express ticket along with the three Heavenly Silkworm eggs.