Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 192: Fur (5)

As the creature trapped beneath Yo-hwa’s web struggled, its piercing shriek echoed through the darkness.

The two pairs of glowing red eyes in the mist flickered toward each other.

—Chit!?

—Chii!

It was as if they were exchanging signals.

Then, without hesitation, they disappeared into the darkness and mist, launching themselves toward me at full speed.

Yo-hwa must have deemed them too troublesome to handle herself, as the cunning creatures focused solely on attacking me.

They were already fast, but with the cover of darkness and mist, they became even harder to detect. Their movements blurred, and in the blink of an eye, they were nearly upon me.

I instinctively tried to retreat, but—

—Thunk.

‘Damn! I’m blocked! How are they this fast?’

I had barely managed to dodge the first attack by following Yo-hwa’s signal, and the second by rolling backward. But now, for even a split second, I had stopped moving—meaning dodging again was nearly impossible.

The obstruction behind me had cut off my last escape route, leaving me completely vulnerable.

There was nowhere to evade, and they were far quicker than I had anticipated. At this rate, I was bound to get bitten somewhere.

—Kishi!

—Chaaak!

Just as Yo-hwa let out a sharp cry, my body was suddenly yanked upward.

—"Kuhuhk!"

My waist lurched skyward as I was swiftly pulled into the trees.

Branches and leaves whipped against my face, hitting me repeatedly as I was dragged through them.

By the time I finished getting smacked by what felt like twenty twigs, the two pairs of red eyes that had been targeting me crossed paths at the spot where I had just been standing.

—Shhhk.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

It was a matter of mere inches.

Judging by the feeling around my waist, Yo-hwa had secretly tied her silk around me again.

It had strained her strength a bit, but thanks to her, I had narrowly avoided their attack.

As the creatures sped past the empty spot where I had been, Yo-hwa let out a furious hiss.

—Kishiiiiiiii!

Her enraged cry, piercing through the fog and darkness, sent a chill down my spine.

Yo-hwa had never made such an angry sound before, and even Hyang and Hongdan, who were clinging to me, flinched in surprise.

—Tssrr...

—Kii...

Just as a predator’s growl contains low-frequency waves that paralyze prey with fear, Yo-hwa’s cry carried a similar power.

And at that moment, a commotion erupted from the campsite.

“What was that sound?!”

“Something’s happening near So-ryong! So-ryong!”

“That was Yo-hwa’s cry! So-ryong!”

The light of flames flickered in the distance.

Ji-ryong must have grabbed a night pearl or picked up a burning log from the campfire, and now a group was rushing toward us.

I had expected only one of these creatures, but instead, there were three.

However, with people approaching, the creatures would either have to flee or be captured.

"Yo-hwa, be careful until they get here!"

I warned her, worried that she might get hurt in the meantime.

She let out a sound as if telling me not to worry.

—Kishi!

Yo-hwa, still securing the web with one leg, casually curled her fingers at the red-eyed creatures in the darkness.

‘Is she taunting them? Like, “Come at me” or something?’

With her posture and expression, she looked strikingly similar to Hwa-eun.

The red eyes flickered uncertainly, shifting as if they realized they were in a tight spot.

If they made the wrong move, they would be trapped between Yo-hwa and the incoming warriors.

—Chiii!

And then—

Suddenly, the web sagged.

Just moments ago, the creature had been struggling within it, but now—

—Kishi?

Even Yo-hwa, with her heightened senses for vibrations in her silk, seemed caught off guard.

Then, the ground suddenly bulged.

A mound of earth swelled upward before bursting open, and in an instant, one of the red-eyed creatures shot out from beneath it.

It had tunneled underground to escape.

—Chiiii!

With a sharp cry, the three pairs of eyes darted away, vanishing into the darkness.

‘Are they... running away?’

Yo-hwa started to pursue them, but their speed was unexpectedly high.

By the time the group from the campsite arrived, they had already disappeared.

We had failed to capture them.

***

As soon as the three creatures vanished, people rushed to the base of the tree.

Seol and Hwa-eun, seeing me still suspended from a branch, gasped in shock.

"So-ryong! Are you okay?!"

"So-ryong, are you alright?!"

"So-hyeop, what happened?!"

"Something appeared, but we lost them. Yo-hwa, can you let me down?"

—Kishi!

I needed to calm everyone down, so with Yo-hwa’s help, I descended from the tree, landing with a slight ache in my back.

Seeing me rub my waist, both Hwa-eun and Seol frowned in concern.

"Did you hurt your back, So-ryong?"

"Are you okay, So-ryong?"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"I’m fine. Yo-hwa pulled me up into the tree so quickly that my back just got a little stiff, that’s all."

Hwa-eun and Seol nodded, reassured by my explanation.

Seol pressed her hands against my waist, checking for any injuries, before looking up at me.

"So-ryong, does this spot hurt? And what were those things? Did you see them clearly?"

I understood what she was asking.

Unfortunately, it was a moonless night, and the mist rising from the river had obscured my vision.

They were incredibly fast as well.

My martial art, which enhanced my night vision, worked by amplifying ambient light.

But in conditions like this—moonless darkness combined with thick fog—it was nearly useless.

"No, I couldn’t identify them. It was too dark with all the fog. All I saw were their glowing red eyes."

"Yeah..."

Seol sighed, disappointed.

I was just as frustrated.

I was dying to know what those creatures were, but this might be the end of it.

They had already fought wolves yesterday, but now that they had encountered Yo-hwa, they likely wouldn’t return.

Even creatures that weren’t afraid of wolves would think twice about messing with one of the Ten Great Venoms.

The way they had deliberately avoided Yo-hwa and targeted me instead suggested that they feared her.

Seol tilted her head.

"What do you think they were?"

"I’m not sure. But since they saw Yo-hwa, they probably won’t come back."

"Yeah, if they were scared of Yo-hwa, that makes sense."

"Exactly."

Seol and Hwa-eun nodded in agreement.

Still, I couldn’t shake my curiosity.

Had they left behind any traces?

Hoping for something—fur, feathers, anything—I crouched down to examine Yo-hwa’s discarded web.

As I reached out to touch it—

A faint vibration ran through the silk.

Yo-hwa’s web was trembling slightly.

Yo-hwa’s legs had already detached from the web.

I quickly called out to her, asking her to check the silk.

"Yo-hwa! Over here! The web is shaking!"

—Kishi!

At my call, Yo-hwa looked at the web in surprise and placed her front legs on it.

As she carefully adjusted part of the web, we noticed a single thread extending downward, disappearing into a hole in the ground.

I immediately grabbed Ji-ryong’s night pearl and illuminated the thread.

The silk strand trembled slightly, leading toward the hole where the creature had escaped.

To enhance the web’s effectiveness, we had attached sticky orbs to the silk, and one of them must have latched onto the fleeing creature’s body.

Now, the silk strand was slowly being pulled along.

I had assumed the hunt was over since they had been terrified of Yo-hwa, but it seemed we weren’t done yet.

Smirking, I turned to Seol.

"Hmm. Looks like the hunt isn’t over after all."

Without hesitation, we formed a pursuit team.

Leaving behind Hyang and Hongdan, who had secretly followed me earlier, I called for Cho, Seol, and Bingi.

"Cho! Seol, Bingi! Let’s go! Yo-hwa!"

—Chorut?

—Gukgu?

—Kishi!

With Yo-hwa leading the way, we quickly followed the silk thread.

‘Just wait—I’m going to catch you and see exactly what you are.’

***

The night pearl’s glow reflected off the silk, which unraveled at an alarming speed.

Yo-hwa, noticing the tension in the thread, swiftly severed it and reattached it to her spinnerets.

This way, even if the creatures moved farther away, she could continue generating silk and prevent us from losing them.

"Good work, Yo-hwa!"

—Kishi!

Without needing any orders, Yo-hwa was already burning with determination to track them down.

She was still furious about my earlier attack.

As we chased them through the darkness, I heard Seol and Hwa-eun calling out behind me.

"So-ryong, wait for us!"

"I’m coming too, So-ryong! I can’t just sit back and worry!"

"Seol? Hwa-eun too?"

The two had caught up to us without me noticing.

One look at their faces made it clear—they had rushed over out of concern.

Since they had already made it this far, I couldn’t send them back. I nodded.

"Alright."

With them joining us, we resumed our pursuit—me, Seol, Hwa-eun, Cho, and Yo-hwa.

The creatures had backtracked along the river, moving along the same path we had come.

But not long into our chase, we heard a commotion up ahead.

—Kyahhng!

A sharp cry, somewhere between a screech and an animal’s wail.

The tall grass by the riverbank rustled chaotically.

"Wait, they got so scared of Yo-hwa, but now they’re out hunting again?"

It seemed Seol had been right—they really were hunting something.

But the situation made no sense.

It had been less than an hour since we started tracking them, and they were already preying on something else.

Did they have no fear, or were they just as forgetful as a goldfish?

Feeling something was off, I decided to surround them first.

"Let’s encircle them from the riverbank."

"Got it!"

—Kishi!

—Chorur!

Dawn was breaking, casting enough light for us to make out our surroundings.

We had nearly completed our encirclement when something poked its head out of the grass.

A creature we had never seen before.

Green fur.

Red eyes.

It was about thirty centimeters long.

And with an absurdly cute face, it stared directly at us.

"Huh, what’s that?"

"Huh?"

As soon as we saw the creatures clearly, Seol and I locked eyes.

We had both recognized them instantly.

Seol’s voice rang out in disbelief.

"Wait... they were shrews?!"

‘So, they’re called gujeong here in the central plains?’

The creatures that had caused all this commotion had a very specific name.

They were one of the few venomous mammals.

Their teeth carried paralytic venom, and they could emit a foul odor to deter predators.

‘Why didn’t I think of this sooner?’

The name "gujeong" wasn’t commonly used for shrews, but...

Their front teeth weren’t like a mouse’s.

Their heads were pointed, their ears small.

And the smell—

That sharp, musky odor combined with their venom made it obvious.

They were venomous shrews.

Strangely enough, they were green.

Realizing what they were, I sighed in disappointment.

Turning to Seol, I asked,

"Seol, do /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ you want one if we catch it?"

"What?! Really?! That thing looks like a mystical creature! Are you serious?!"

Seol, who had been tightening the encirclement, suddenly stopped in shock.

Up until now, I had always kept the creatures we caught.

So she was right to be surprised that I was offering one to her without even analyzing its venom first.

"Really? You mean it?"

She kept asking, but I really did plan on giving one to her if we caught it.

It wasn’t that I had any other reason.

It’s just...

"Of course."

"Then why are you giving it to me?"

"...I don’t like fur."

Mammals with fur weren’t really my thing.