Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 189: Fur (2)

We were supposed to travel directly from Yunnan to Qinghai through Xizang, but that route was impossible.

To the north of the Tengchong Volcano, where we had been, lay towering mountain ranges and high-altitude terrain stretching endlessly. Some peaks remained snow-capped even in summer. That mountain, called Yulong Snow Mountain in my past life—some referred to it as the “Alps of the East”—was also located somewhere in this vicinity.

Though my children were indeed mystical beings, they would likely struggle to endure such extreme cold, so we had no choice but to alter our course. Even the reinforcements from the Beast Palace hadn’t considered this route. The mountains were far too treacherous, making passage impossible.

For this reason, we boarded our ship once more and followed the Yangtze River upstream, then turned onto one of its tributaries, the Yalong River. Since the Yalong River originated in Qinghai, traveling upstream along it would eventually bring us to our destination.

Thus, ten days passed as we traveled along the Yangtze and its largest tributary, the Yalong River. As we ascended the river, approaching the border between Qinghai and Sichuan, something occurred.

—Rumble.

The water from the upper reaches, thick with mud and foam, crashed against the side of the boat, its current growing increasingly fierce. Yet, miraculously, the boat continued to advance, even if only little by little.

However, not long after, the slow but steady progress came to an abrupt halt.

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The water flowing from upstream was far too violent. No matter what we tried, the boat refused to move forward any further.

The boatman, who had been observing the upper reaches beyond the deck, suddenly shouted.

“So-ryong! Could you check on the tow crew?”

“Understood!”

The "tow crew" referred to those who pulled boats upstream along the Yangtze’s fast-moving currents. They typically used small boats to row ahead and pull the larger vessel, or they would drag it along the riverbanks using ropes.

Ordinarily, this was a job performed by the locals living along the river.

But in our case, the ones acting as the tow crew were rather unique—because it wasn’t people doing the pulling, but rather Cho, Bini, and Yo-hwa.

‘Are those guys okay? Why on earth did they insist on doing this?’

I had never intended for them to take on this task. My precious children—pulling an actual boat, not a mere toy? If they got hurt or exhausted, that would be an absolute disaster.

I had outright refused at first.

But after the human tow workers collapsed from exhaustion, the kids had volunteered, saying they wanted to give it a try.

And, to my surprise, they were far better than dozens of people combined.

Thus, they had been pulling the boat for several days now.

But the river current here must have been too strong—this seemed to be their limit.

I turned my gaze toward where Cho, Bini, and Yo-hwa were struggling.

Cho floated in the sky, while Bini and Yo-hwa clung to the cliffs, straining with all their might.

The three of them had bound themselves with Yo-hwa’s silk thread, desperately trying to pull the boat forward. But no matter how hard they tried, the vessel remained motionless against the roaring current.

Even with their help, this was as far as we could go.

I turned toward the boatman and shouted.

“Does it look like we can’t go any further?”

“That’s right! From here on, you’ll have to disembark and continue on foot! You can tell the tow crew to stop now!”

“Understood! Prepare to dock!”

Since the riverbank here was entirely made of rock, we couldn’t dock the boat immediately. We had to descend slightly downstream to find a suitable place.

I quickly sent a mental message to my children.

‘Cho, Bini, move a little downstream and find a good spot to dock. Let Yo-hwa know as well.’

Following my request, the three of them gradually shifted downstream, searching for a suitable landing site.

After a short while, they found a small patch of riverbank where the boat could finally be anchored.

—Splash!

A jet of water shot up at the stern as the anchor dropped.

As soon as the boat stopped, the three of them leaped through the air, landing swiftly on the shore.

—Rustle!

—Rustle, rustle...

—Kishaaa!

As soon as they touched the ground, they gestured hurriedly, urging us to cross over quickly.

Watching them still brimming with energy, I waved from the deck and called out.

“Alright! Good job, all of you! Wait just a moment, we’ll be right over!”

It felt like just yesterday that Yo-hwa was still a tiny hatchling, barely able to move. Now, she had grown strong enough to tow a boat. The sight filled me with emotion.

I waited as the gangplank was lowered.

“Prepare to disembark!”

“Yes, sir!”

The warriors busily set up the planks for us to step onto the riverbank.

The moment I stepped onto solid ground, I patted my hard-working children.

“You did great. Was it tough? You’re not hurt, are you? I was worried about you.”

—Rustle.

—Rustle...

—Kishaa.

Cho, Bini, and Yo-hwa sent me feelings of reassurance, as if to say, ‘This was nothing.’

Before long, the others began disembarking one by one.

The first to step onto the shore after me was Hwa-eun.

“So-ryong, kids, you all worked so hard. Was it tough?”

At her concern, Cho and Bini wiggled their antennae in a lively manner, as if to say, “Not at all!”

Right behind her came Seol, who had suffered from motion sickness throughout the journey. She stepped off the boat with a face filled with relief.

“Ugh! Finally, solid ground!”

She had struggled with seasickness the entire time. Clearly, she had yet to overcome it.

As the rest of the group descended one by one, Ji-ryong approached and began explaining our current location.

“This should be somewhere near Seokjin.”

Ji-ryong, despite his young age, was the one briefing me about our surroundings.

The reason for this was simple: I was the one in charge of this operation.

Originally, the responsibility had belonged to the deputy lord of the Beast Palace. But since Seol and I were here, he had been pushed aside.

Naturally, I had assumed Seol would take command.

However, she had insisted that I needed to gain more experience in leadership. So, she had handed the responsibility to me, leaving me no choice.

As a result, despite being an adopted son of the Beast Palace, I ended up as the leader.

But having never commanded an expedition before, I had enlisted Ji-ryong as my aide.

Thus, it was only natural for him to report to me now.

‘Having someone from the Zhuge family as my strategist... I feel like Liu Bei from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.’

“So, we’re close to the Qinghai border now?”

“Yes.”

If this was Seokjin, then it had to be the location that the governor of Sichuan had speculated was the alternate transformation site of the Black-Marked Dragon Tortoise.

Had we not found Hongdan, we might have stopped here.

But since we had already retrieved Hongdan, there was no longer a reason to visit Seokjin.

Judging from the nature of the creatures, they would have scattered once their transformation was complete.

Before laying eggs, the Black-Marked Dragon Tortoise consumed vast amounts of live prey. If the village had been in turmoil a few years ago, it likely meant the transformation had already finished, and the offspring had been taken away.

With that in mind, I made my decision.

“We’ll rest here for the night and then head straight for Qinghai.”

“Yes. As discussed, we’ll dock the boat securely here.”

“Alright.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Ji-ryong began instructing people to prepare a meal.

A large fire was lit near the riverbank, and the group started gathering around it.

***

The best part about traveling with martial artists was that we didn’t have to carry much food.

Of course, those who had mastered martial arts could survive on very little sustenance, but that wasn’t the point.

It was more about the fact that their reflexes had far surpassed those of ordinary humans.

Even if we only gathered a few river mussels along the shore, we could still easily hunt down rabbits scurrying through the caves, or geese, ducks, and pheasants in plain sight, turning them into food.

Even the fish in the water had no way of escaping the hands of martial artists.

Even someone like Hwa-eun, wielding nothing but a hastily broken wooden spear, could easily catch fish.

With throwing weapons, they could even take down birds in flight.

That was why, once again, today’s hunt had begun cooking over the fire.

—Sizzle.

The meat of the argali that Geum-cheong had caught was sizzling over the campfire, dripping with oil.

In the Central Plains, this animal was called a liu-niu.

Geum-cheong had gone hunting and returned after two days with not one, but two of them.

The scattered martial artists had been busy gathering rabbits, pheasants, and fish, but the moment they saw the two massive carcasses, they knew their food problem was instantly solved.

No—rather than just "solved," the journey itself had turned into a feast.

With nearly a hundred people in our group, one argali alone would have been more than enough.

From the heart to the liver to the intestines—nothing went to waste.

As expected of the people of the Central Plains, who prided themselves on eating every part of an animal except the table it was served on.

Once the meat was fully cooked, glistening with rich, golden fat, the meal began.

—Crunch.

The meat of the argali wasn’t all that different from beef.

In my past life, I’d heard that some Chinese-made packaged galbitang meals used argali meat instead of beef.

As I chewed, savoring the familiar taste, I heard disappointed murmurs from the warriors nearby.

“Damn, if only we had some liquor...”

“Hey! Do you think we’re here on vacation?”

“I know, I know... but still, the thought crossed my mind.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

It seemed that, no matter where you went, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) if there was meat, people would crave alcohol.

Apparently, this was a universal truth, whether in Korea or the Central Plains.

The boatmen, hearing the grumbling warriors, exchanged glances before one of them spoke up, cracking his knuckles.

“Boatmaster, I believe there are a few barrels of wine stored on the ship. Shall we bring out a couple? The warriors seem to be longing for a drink.”

“Understood, So-ryong.”

At that moment, the leader of the Beast Palace’s response team looked at me in surprise.

“So-ryong, are you sure about this?”

Seeing his concerned expression, I nodded.

“We haven’t even entered Qinghai yet. We’re still in Sichuan, so let’s allow this as a final indulgence.

Once we cross into Qinghai, there truly won’t be another chance to drink.”

Had we already reached Qinghai, it would have been different.

But we were still in Sichuan.

If they wanted to drink, now was the time.

Before the Beast Palace leader could object further, the warriors erupted in cheers.

“Thank you, So-ryong!”

“Haha! Much appreciated!”

“I can’t remember the last time I had a drink—thank you!”

Before long, the boatmen carried over the barrels of wine.

The night passed with the warriors enjoying their roasted argali and celebratory drinks, the air filled with laughter.

***

“This is a problem...”

“How should we report this?”

The next morning, I woke up to a commotion outside.

We had planned to depart early, yet for some reason, the camp was unusually busy.

Rubbing my eyes, I stepped out and followed the noise to the riverbank.

There, I found a group of warriors gathered in a circle, looking troubled as they examined something in the middle.

‘That spot...’

“What’s going on?”

“Ah! S-So-ryong!”

“So-ryong, you’re awake!”

As I approached and questioned them, the warriors quickly stepped aside.

At the center of their attention was, unsurprisingly, the remains of the argali we had eaten last night.

One had been completely consumed, while the second had been roasted and stored away for later.

But during the night, it seemed some kind of wild animal had passed through, tearing into the leftover meat.

Scraps were scattered about, with clear signs that something had gnawed at them.

One of the warriors, scratching his head in embarrassment, stepped forward to report.

“It appears a wild animal must have come by last night and taken some of our food... We apologize.”

If food shortages had been an issue, we would have checked who was on night watch and given them a warning.

But martial artists hardly worried about lacking food.

So, I responded casually.

“There’s a risk of disease from whatever ate this. Throw out any contaminated portions and let’s move on.”

“Yes, So-ryong.”

After issuing my order, I washed up by the river, ate a bit of the remaining meat, and then we resumed our journey toward Qinghai.

However, the very next morning, we encountered the exact same situation.

“S-So-ryong! We apologize!”

Once again, some of our food had been taken or ruined.

“This was an animal again?”

“It seems so.”

It was strange.

There had been warriors standing guard all night.

Yet somehow, our food was still being stolen.

When I inspected the scene, I found that, just like before, the woven bamboo basket storing the food had been torn open, with clear bite marks left behind.

The way the food had been eaten, the manner in which it had been taken—it all felt eerily similar.

Even though we had traveled quite a distance since yesterday, it seemed like the same creature had struck again.

‘What the hell is going on? Are there that many scavengers in this region?’

I searched the area for any further signs, but there was no conclusive evidence.

After a brief moment of thought, I addressed the warriors.

“As before, discard anything that has been damaged.

I don’t know what kind of animal is behind this, but we don’t need to worry about it.

We’ll be moving far away from here soon enough.”

“Yes, So-ryong!”

As we continued traveling, the distance should naturally separate us from the culprit.

That’s what I thought—until the next morning, when we woke up to the exact same problem once again.

‘No way. What the hell is this?’

We had been using light footwork techniques to travel swiftly.

There was no way the same animal could be following us.

And yet, something was still stealing our food.