Chapter 3

In Fabre in Sachonjanga-4 (3/187)

Family Member 1

- Thud! Thud thud thud!

“Gyaahhhh!”

Startled by my voice of admiration at the eggs and the torch, something about the size of a fist began to fall mercilessly from above my head.

- Whoosh! Whoosh!

- Thud!

Swinging the torch wildly, I slammed a few of them to the ground, only to see long antennae and curved backs.

Centipedes!

- Gulp.

I quickly stomped on the one that had been hit by the torch, trembling, and drove the rest of them into the deeper part of the cave with the torch.

“Get lost! You little brats! What kind of crazy centipedes are as big as fists!”

While I love all other insects, I have a particular aversion to centipedes.

After calming my heart, I thought I should quickly gather the eggs and get out.

Centipedes are very cruel creatures that are also carnivorous.

I didn’t want to become food for fist-sized centipedes.

So, I approached the pile of eggs with the torch in front of me.

- Crackling.

The centipedes, retreating as the flames approached, made me worry about the eggs.

There seemed to be about twenty to thirty centipedes.

“Are the eggs okay?”

I was worried about the eggs not only because they were centipedes but also because scorpions, which lay eggs and guard them until they hatch and become independent, are unique animals.

They even lick the eggs to prevent mold from growing until they hatch.

With the mother already dead, I was worried that the eggs, which had not been cared for in two days, might have grown mold and died.

‘If I had known there were eggs, I would have come earlier...’

As I approached the pile of eggs, the sight under the torch was gruesome.

What I thought were bright yellow eggs mostly had bite marks, likely from the centipedes.

The eggs closer to the ground were covered in white, cotton-candy-like mold.

“Damn. You little centipedes!”

Although the mold wasn’t caused by the centipedes, I scolded them and quickly rummaged through the pile of eggs with the unlit end of the torch.

- Squish.

‘Please, just one must be alive.’

Sticky mucus and fluids clung to the end of the torch, dripping down in a thick, sticky mess.

As I rummaged through the sticky eggs from the top, I found three bright-colored eggs beneath the ones with centipede bite marks.

I quickly reached in and picked up the three eggs.

The sticky mucus on my hands didn’t bother me much, as I was excited to have found the giant scorpion’s eggs.

“I found them!”

Out of about sixty eggs, only three were unharmed and still bright yellow.

They seemed to have been protected in the center of the pile, away from the others.

Although most of the eggs were damaged by the centipedes or had gone bad, finding three was still a relief.

“Damn. Is it a relief to have found three? Anyway, this isn’t the time. I need to take them and clean them quickly!”

I quickly wiped the eggs with my sleeve and put them in a jar, then hurriedly crawled out of the cave.

I ran frantically toward the abandoned duct.

I needed to clean the eggs with boiled and disinfected cloth to prevent the remaining eggs from rotting.

“Wait a bit, my centipedes. I’ll give you a bath right away.”

The eggs seemed slightly oval, but I hurried along, thinking it was because they were a new species.

***

“What... what do I do...?”

The next morning, I found myself in a rather awkward, no, very awkward situation.

- Slurp.

After carefully cleaning the scorpion eggs I found yesterday and placing them in a jar with a slightly damp cloth to maintain humidity, I put the jar by my bedside. When I woke up, all the eggs had hatched.

I didn’t expect them to hatch so quickly.

I hadn’t anticipated the scorpions hatching because of their unique life cycle.

Scorpion hatching is unusual; instead of the larvae breaking out of the eggs, the eggs themselves transform into larvae.

The yellow eggs transform into larvae, which is the scorpion’s metamorphosis.

All three eggs had transformed into larvae.

Since scorpions belong to the class Merostomata, the mother and offspring look the same, differing only in size. Three cute yellow scorpions were clinging to my body.

I was in a bind not because they had hatched, but because they had come out of the jar and wrapped themselves around my body.

Scorpions live attached to their mother’s body until they molt twice, and these little ones seemed to have mistaken me for their mother.

When I tried to remove them, they stuck tightly and wouldn’t budge.

I tried to forcibly remove them, but they escaped to my back, making it impossible to get them off.

They don’t eat until they molt twice, so I didn’t need to feed them, but having them attached was awkward.

With three of them, each as thick as an old sausage, clinging to me, it was definitely uncomfortable.

Then, an idea came to me.

“Oh, right! They’ll fall off if I get in the water!”

I hadn’t bathed in a while, so I grabbed the jar and ran to the water.

***

“Xiaoxie, are you there?”

Dang Cheshan called out toward the inner part of the abandoned hall where Xiaoxie was staying upon arriving at the abandoned duct.

But the hall was silent, with no response.

“Xiaoxie?”

He made more noise toward the inner part several times, but Xiaoxie didn’t respond.

Dang Cheshan stood at the entrance of the hall, pondering.

‘Is he out? Or did he catch a cold from the rain these past few days?’

The reason Dang Cheshan had appeared at the abandoned duct after several days was that he had asked his father, Man Duxinjun, for help yesterday.

“Father, please have the uninjured warriors depart for Sichuan first.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Man Duxinjun asked, puzzled by the request to leave first.

Dang Cheshan smiled and replied.

“Now that we have the inner elixir, Huaien will be saved. I’m injured, so I’ll slow us down. I’ll move with the injured warriors.

Father, please lead the uninjured warriors and hurry on ahead.”

“Do you mean to split into two groups? Wouldn’t it be better to split after we land and board the ship?”

While splitting into two groups might be better after landing, Dang Cheshan had other thoughts.

“Don’t we have something to do here?”

“Something to do?”

When Dang Cheshan mentioned something to do, his father tilted his head.

“Yuan Jue Xue (怨刻血) and Yin Jie Shi (恩刻石).”

The saying to engrave grievances in blood and kindness in stone.

Man Duxinjun was surprised and replied.

“Oh! In my excitement to save Huaien, I had forgotten the great kindness we received. Yes, you’re right! If it weren’t for you, I would have made a big mistake.”

“Yes, Father. Even though Xiaoxie is young, we can’t just pass by after receiving such great kindness. How would the world view our Sichuan Dang family if we did?”

Indeed, they couldn’t just pass by after receiving such great kindness from a young Xiaoxie.

If they did, how would the world view the Sichuan Dang family, who had received significant help in saving their daughter’s life?

Man Duxinjun nodded and said.

“Xiaoxie must find it difficult to live alone in this mountain, catching and eating snakes in Hainan. We should take him in as a guest of our Dang family, so he doesn’t have to worry about making a living. If he has any requests, we should fulfill them.”

“Yes, I agree.”

For that reason, he had left the injured warriors to rest at an inn near the port and come alone to meet Xiaoxie, but Xiaoxie was nowhere to be found.

Dang Cheshan, after pondering, cautiously opened the door of the hall.

He was worried that Xiaoxie might have fallen ill from the rain.

“Xiaoxie, I’m coming in.”

As he stepped into the hall, he saw a peculiar sight.

The walls were lined with numerous medicine cabinets, and various jars filled the hall.

‘Has Xiaoxie learned medicine?’

The sight of the medicine cabinets and jars made him wonder if Xiaoxie had learned medicine.

But since Xiaoxie wasn’t there, he thought it would be rude to enter the empty quarters and was about to close the door when he heard strange sounds.

- Rustle rustle.

- Squeak squeak.

- Slurp slurp.

The strange sounds from the jars and medicine cabinets stopped Dang Cheshan from leaving.

The sounds seemed familiar.

Drawn by the familiar sounds, he forgot about the rudeness and stepped into Xiaoxie’s quarters, hypnotically opening a jar.

‘What could be inside?’

Inside the jar was a large black spider.

A single black spider sat calmly inside the jar.

“This...!”

Dang Cheshan’s eyes widened in surprise.

He then checked the other jars and medicine cabinets with an incredulous expression.

Inside each one were lizards, spiders, snakes, and crickets.

In the jars with lizards and spiders, crickets were left, suggesting they were being raised as food for the other venomous creatures.

The presence of spider and lizard skins in one of the medicine cabinets indicated that Xiaoxie had been raising them for quite some time.

Some spiders were carrying eggs, and near a warm stove, lizard eggs were buried in the sand.

The incredible sight made Dang Cheshan tremble.

Even the Dang family, known for their expertise in poisons, had never imagined raising venomous creatures to the point of breeding them.

While they did raise venomous creatures, it was only to manage them until extracting their venom, not to breed them.

‘I thought saving my daughter’s life was a minor stroke of luck, but the real stroke of luck is Xiaoxie himself!’

Dang Cheshan put the jars back in place and stepped out of the hall.

He sat on the stone steps outside, trying to calm his shocked mind.

Xiaoxie’s ability to raise venomous creatures could potentially elevate the Dang family’s poison skills to a higher level.

As he was organizing the questions he would ask Xiaoxie when he returned, he heard a voice.

“Eh? Elder?”

Xiaoxie, who had apparently washed, entered the abandoned duct with water droplets on his head, calling out happily.

“Oh! Xiaoxie!”

As Dang Cheshan stood up to greet Xiaoxie, he felt a sudden killing intent.

- Boom!

He raised one hand to block the fierce energy coming toward him but was pushed back, slamming into the front of Xiaoxie’s hall.

“Cough! Hack! Hack!”

A significant amount of blood flowed from his mouth.

It was a serious internal injury.

A high-level expert on par with his father.

He should have used both hands to block, but using only one had a significant impact.

“Elder! Cough!”

As Xiaoxie called out, a cold voice came from the old man holding Xiaoxie by the neck.

“I heard the Dang family had entered Hainan, so I came to see. I never forgot the faces of you and your father, whom I saw from a distance ten years ago! Today, I will send your head to your father, Man Duxinjun, as a gift! Hahaha!”

The old man’s left face was melted and disfigured, and his hands were blood-red.

A figure came to mind, but he was supposed to be dead.

Dang Cheshan, getting up, asked.

“Hack! Who are you, elder, to threaten a young child and me?”

The old man laughed maniacally and pointed to his face.

“Hahaha. Don’t you recognize this face and these red hands? I am Xue Shou Luocha, Zhuo Yunyang, the one who was beaten by your father and fell off the cliff! I am your nemesis!”

Indeed, Xue Shou Luocha, Zhuo Yunyang.

A great demon who operated in Guizhou and Guangxi over a decade ago, he was caught by Dang Cheshan’s father, Man Duxinjun, in Qinzhou, hit with a poison palm, and fell off a cliff. It seemed he had survived and hidden in Hainan.

At the time, he was at a similar level, but now his internal strength was terrifying.

Dang Cheshan, realizing he might not see the next morning, pleaded.

“Xiaoxie is not a martial artist and has no connection to us. Please let him go. Your grudge is with our Dang family. If you let him go, I will willingly offer my head.”

He wanted to save Xiaoxie, even if it meant repaying kindness with enmity.

But Xue Shou Luocha laughed cruelly.

“I will slaughter anyone who has even the slightest connection to the Dang family! In Buddhism, even a slight touch means a thousand lifetimes of connection! Hahaha!”

‘This great demon has no intention of letting the young child go!’

Dang Cheshan despaired as Xue Shou Luocha slowly tightened his grip on Xiaoxie’s neck.

“Gah! S, save me...”

- Slurp slurp!

With a strange sound, something yellow sprang from Xiaoxie’s neck and sleeves, attacking Xue Shou Luocha and biting his neck and wrists.

“Cough!”

Xue Shou Luocha’s skin turned black instantly.

With a look of disbelief, his body slowly collapsed.

Xiaoxie, with a very awkward expression, asked.

“Um... Is this person bad? He, he seems to be dead...”

In Dang Cheshan’s mind, the two characters for “guest” (食客) slowly changed to “meal” (食口).