Chapter 132
Chapter 132: Fabre in the Four Heavenly Houses
“W-Wait, So-ryong! So-ryong!”
“R-Long!? Come to your senses! Why is the kid acting up again all of a sudden?”
So-ryong’s arms and neck threatened to tumble into the campfire, pulled by two swift hands entangled in spider silk.
Hua Eun and Seol-pyo grasped So-ryong’s arms on either side, while Yo-hwa, from behind, shot out a web to hold him steady.
Hiss!
Just before he crashed into the fire, So-ryong’s body was pulled back smoothly.
As soon as he was laid out on the ground like he’d fallen asleep, Hua Eun and Seol-pyo stared at him in shock.
Hua Eun quickly checked So-ryong’s eyes.
She’d double-checked before he ate the white ant, but now she wondered if his consciousness had faded for some other reason or if he’d been paralyzed by poison.
She quickly opened his eyelids, seeing his eyes blank and fuzzy.
If he’d fainted, his sclera would be visible, and if he were paralyzed, there should be some glimmer in his eyes. Instead, his closed eyelids concealed eyes that looked like all spirit had left them.
“What’s going on?”
“Could there be poison in it?”
“No, it doesn’t seem like poison. I checked twice before he ate, and he doesn’t show signs of poisoning now either.”
Shin Tu asked frantically, but definitely, Hua Eun had confirmed that the white ant had no poison prior to So-ryong eating it, and the seasoned So-ryong had said the same.
Even now, it looked strange as well; his eyes didn’t indicate any poisoning or paralysis.
Then, Seol-pyo, already keeping a pulse, grasped Hua Eun’s hand.
With a dazed expression, Seol-pyo uttered words she’d heard once before.
“Hey, the Beast Heart Technique…”
“The Beast Heart Technique? What about it?”
If it’s the Beast Heart Technique, it links back to the original source of the Five Poisons Return to Origin Divine Skill, a fundamental doctrine of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace that So-ryong had mastered.
It reminded them of how Chao had put So-ryong to sleep once before.
The incident that had put So-ryong to sleep for a fortnight.
“Chao! Chao! Come down now!”
Hua Eun quickly called out to Chao, who was perhaps floating somewhere in the sky, asking for help.
She was worried that if Chao had grown too much, So-ryong might be in trouble again, just like last time.
Chao had recently shed its skin, so Chao was the only suspect.
Memories of Seol-pyo and the Beast Palace Lord warning about how interacting with great venoms like the Ten Great Venoms could twist one’s mind floated back.
Frantically calling down Chao, the bewildered creature descended.
Hua Eun anxiously asked Chao.
“Chao, Daddy collapsed! Do you know anything?”
Chirp!? Chirp!
But Chao, upon seeing So-ryong collapsed behind Hua Eun, made a startled cry.
Though she couldn’t understand exactly what it was saying, it was evident that Chao was confused and likely wasn’t the cause.
Seol-pyo regained her senses and suggested that Chao was not to blame.
“I don’t think it was Chao. The energy of the Beast Heart Technique doesn’t feel the same as last time. If Chao were the cause, wouldn’t it have gone to sleep like last time?”
Hua Eun reflected, realizing Seol-pyo was correct.
After all, Chao had also gone to sleep alongside So-ryong last time, if Chao were to be the cause, Chao would surely be asleep too.
“Then, perhaps? Hyang!”
“Hyang? Now that you mention it!”
Hyang, who had just been scolded by their father for not listening, seemed to be sleeping on Hua Eun’s shoulder.
Could it be that this slumber wasn’t just sleep?
With all this confusion around them, the next suspicious candidate was Hyang, and Hua Eun quietly called out to Hyang.
If both were put to sleep because of the energy of the Beast Heart Technique, it would be unwise to wake them forcefully, but she had to confirm if Hyang had truly lost consciousness like So-ryong.
“Hya, Hyang? Are you sleeping?”
Under the tense gazes of Hua Eun and Seol-pyo, there was no response, making them wonder if it was indeed the Beast Heart Technique, but soon Hyang, scratching its antennae with its front legs, made a sound it typically made while sleeping.
Chirp… Chirp…
It was clear Hyang was definitely asleep.
In the middle of this chaotic situation, the creature serenely scratched its antennae as if deeply lost in slumber, utterly unaware of the commotion.
Seol-pyo double-checked, placing a hand on Hyang’s body before shaking her head quickly.
“I don’t think it’s Hyang either. I don’t sense the energy of the Beast Heart Technique from Hyang.”
“Then, why all of a sudden? Wouldn’t this be that thing you mentioned before, where the hearts of the beasts consume someone?”
As Hua Eun worriedly asked if So-ryong’s heart was being consumed by poisonous creatures due to the Beast Heart Technique, Seol-pyo shook her head and replied.
“That’s not it. If that were the case, he’d be thrashing around like a beast; instead, he appears to be sound asleep.”
“Then… what on earth…”
If it wasn’t that, it was truly strange.
With a concerned expression, as she looked at So-ryong, Seol-pyo clapped her hands, as if having figured something out.
“Ah! So-ryong’s connection to the Beast Heart Technique isn’t just with Chao and Hyang!”
“It’s not just Chao and Hyang… Ah! Why did I forget about that?”
Feeling momentarily surprised at So-ryong’s collapse, it suddenly dawned on her that his connection with the Beast Heart Technique wasn’t only through Chao and Hyang, there was something else as well.
“Bin Ah?”
“Bin Ah is left out.”
Their youngest daughter, who had now left home.
Bin Ah, indeed.
*
As I opened my eyes, I was greeted by a space filled with black smoke-like fog.
No matter how I looked around, all I could see was the black fog.
Though there wasn’t a spark of light, I could somehow perceive this dark fog clearly.
“What… what is this?”
I was momentarily bewildered.
In such a situation, that was my first thought.
‘Could it be? Am I trapped in some inner world!?’
When Seol, my older sister, and my adoptive father taught me the Beast Heart Technique, they had warned me that my consciousness might be consumed by Chao’s spirit, so caution was needed.
The spirits of those creatures were far stronger than those of humans, and my adoptive father worried I might get swallowed whole.
For that reason, being able to maintain a relatively lucid state in such a dark and gloomy place made me ponder if my mind had become trapped and that Chao’s spirit had taken over my body.
Isn’t it what happens in those anime where, for some reason, the protagonist’s body gets taken over, and they find themselves squatting in some dark, gloomy space, wallowing in despair until someone comes to rescue them?
“Damn it! I’m not doing something weird, am I? No, if Chao had taken over, she wouldn’t do that, would she?”
That felt certain.
I decided to call out for Chao for help.
There’s no way my daughter would intentionally put me in this situation. It must have been due to a mishap or an unintended consequence of having Chao’s spirit, as she’s an ethereal being, so powerful that this happened.
If our spirits are connected, she would definitely help me out.
‘There’s no way my daughter would maliciously do this. Never!’
“Chao! Chao! Daddy’s here! Help me out!”
Raising my voice to call for Chao, the black fog began to swirl as if alive.
This was definitely a reaction from Chao.
‘Oh! There’s definitely a response!’
With the black fog undulating with each call, it felt certain that Chao was startled.
Deciding to praise Chao to keep her from panicking, I decided to ask for her help.
“This must be something Chao didn’t intend to do, right? It’s probably an accident or something that happened without your notice, correct? Our Chao is kind-hearted, my Chao loves Daddy the most, so let’s think of a way to get me out of here.”
As I kept calling for Chao in confusion, suddenly the black fog thickened, transforming into a stormy cloud, and then one side cleared to reveal a narrow path.
A path illuminated by light.
It felt like the light was beckoning me over, so I hurried towards it.
It looked as if Chao was pointing the way.
“Of course, our daughter! My beautiful daughter!”
It felt like Chao had concocted a solution.
As I praised Chao while moving toward the light, at the end of the glow, I caught sight of a figure.
And just by glancing, she seemed to exude a similar aura to Chao.
“Chao!”
I rushed towards her, but the closer I got, the more I realized that the figure before me was not Chao.
“W-Who…?”
She was indeed a beautiful woman emanating an ethereal vibe with black hair and dark eyes, quite the opposite of the blue-haired and blue-eyed Chao I remembered.
Though she radiated a unique aura like Chao, this woman was someone I’d never seen before.
‘W-What’s this?’
Moreover, her expression seemed quite angry.
Startled, I blinked and saw her sigh in exasperation.
A thought sprang back to my mind: ‘Is this a dark transformation?’
‘Could it be that Chao has… turned dark!?’
Blackness would imply a dark transformation.
The shift from Chao’s blue to black could only mean one thing: a transformation into darkness.
So I tentatively asked in a cautious voice.
“Chao?”
But the woman’s eyes sharpened dangerously.
No matter how transformed Chao was, she would never gaze at me with such malice; immediately, I felt that I had misjudged.
“A-Are you not? Then who are you?”
‘Could it be the Queen Ant? No, I didn’t use the Beast Heart Technique to register…’
Thinking back, just before this happened, the last thing I ate was grilled white ants.
Could it be that the Queen Ant, being an ethereal creature, and having exchanged essence with the worker ant before it died, registered in me after I consumed the fluid?
But still, it was odd; to register the venomous creature, I would have needed to operate the special incantations of the Beast Heart Technique and consume the fluid intentionally.
I unconsciously took a step back from her fierce glare.
At that moment, her expression shifted to one of disbelief as she grabbed my shirt collar without looking at me.
Her grip landed where our Little Bin, who had a slightly coy personality, would always tug when trying to get my attention.
Bin would chew on this part if she wanted to indicate she was upset and didn’t want me to go.
Her astonished expression shifted into joy as she leapt into my arms.
And just like that, I felt her affection, the warmth of her love for her daddy wash over me.
‘There’s no way this daddy doesn’t know such things.’
My past blunders seemed minor now, and I could feel my consciousness begin to fade.
*
“Bin Ah!”
As I opened my eyes, the familiar ceiling greeted me.
I shot up, calling for Bin, and was met with startled questions from two women.
“So-ryong, are you alright?”
“Long! You’re back to your senses?”
Turning my head, I found Hua Eun and Seol, my older sister, staring at me wide-eyed.
“Where am I? What happened?”
I was lying in the Tang Clan’s quarters.
On my bed.
Though I had seen Bin in my mind, the last thing I remembered was searching for heavenly silkworms, discovering the white ants, and eating them.
As I asked how I ended up here, Hua Eun approached, gently brushing my forehead.
“It would have been best to leave you be, but Seol said it’d be better to transfer Bin to a more suitable clan, so we brought you here.”
It seemed I’d been moved after collapsing.
“Okay, b-Bin? Is Bin back?”
As I asked about Bin, Hua Eun shook her head.
“No, she hasn’t returned yet. So, was this all because of Bin?”
“Perhaps…”
As she trailed off, suddenly, an uproar erupted from outside.
Drum, drum, drum.
Heavy tremors rattled the ground, followed by the startled voices of soldiers outside.
“Stop them!”
“That way!”
“They’re heading towards the Four Harmonies Courtyard!”
I tried to rise from the bed, but after lying down for so long, my body felt stiff.
I pleaded with Hua Eun and Seol.
“Quick, let’s go outside.”
Seemingly sensing something was off, neither of them refused my request, and with their support, I stepped out just then.
The ground of the courtyard erupted like a gopher on the move, swelling up as if on cue towards my quarters.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a massive, glossy, pitch-black centipede emerged from beneath the earth.
Though it had come from underground, its body was shiny and black like an abyss, larger than Chao after having transformed into the Flying Heavenly Centipede.
Chirp!
Unconsciously, I screamed at the sight of its terrifying beauty.
‘This is insane!’
“Gyaaaaaah!”
Sure enough, Bin had come back, upgraded and all!