Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 240: King of Serpents (1)

"Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?"

At my cautious question, Grandfather, who had just finished his internal observation, pulled his hand away from my lower abdomen.

Then, with a calm nod, he gave his assessment with a smile.

“It seems Hwa-eun isn’t a venomous creature, so there’s no interference with the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art. Most likely because she carries no poison... If we asked Sister Seol, we could be more certain, but from what I can tell, she’s simply connected to your inner world through the Beast Heart Art. And since she doesn’t have any poison, she hasn’t claimed a single Poison Slot either—so you have nothing to worry about.”

Only then did I feel a weight lift from my chest.

“Whew... Thank goodness.”

“You reckless brat...”

Now that I’d calmed down and thought about it—yeah, that could’ve been a serious problem.

But apparently, it wasn’t. Not physically or mentally, anyway.

The real issue was martial arts.

To be specific, the slots for poisons that form the foundation of poison-based cultivation.

As everyone knows, my body is a bit pathetic—I can only hold ten poisons at max.

So far, I’ve filled three:

The combined poison from Cho and Hyang, taking up one slot.

Hwa-eun’s own venom took another.

And the last was the Azure Flame’s.

It’s not like I just casually accepted these poisons—each one had to be from the five venomous creatures that form the basis of the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art: the scorpion, toad, lizard, centipede, and snake.

If I want to fully master that art, I have to collect poison from each of the five.

That leaves two of the Five Poisons left to fill.

So, I’d planned to move in that order. Even if I couldn’t fill all ten slots with true venomous creatures, at least I had to complete the Five.

But thanks to that unexpected kiss... Hwa-eun took up one of the slots.

And since she isn’t even a venomous creature, I was now stuck—unable to receive the next key poison for the Five Poisons or for the Twin Origins of Ten Poisons technique that follows it.

Why do you think I’ve resisted getting intoxicated by Hwa-eun’s “poison” for so long, gritting my teeth and holding back?

All for the sake of preserving those precious poison slots—so I could complete the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art, and eventually master the Twin Origins of Ten Poisons.

But now? That entire system had shattered.

I only had ten slots to begin with. And with Hwa-eun claiming one, the sequence was thrown off. The Ten Poisons couldn’t be completed.

Gathering the Ten Ultimate Venoms of the world had been my dream. My driving force. My identity.

Capturing all ten of the renowned Supreme Venomous Beasts and mastering their toxins as the core of my poison cultivation was who I was.

And now that identity was broken.

That’s why, the moment I realized what had happened, I rushed to ask Grandfather to check my body.

If I couldn’t complete the Five Poisons or the Ten, I’d basically become a useless side character.

But Grandfather, after examining me, said Hwa-eun wasn’t a venomous creature—so she hadn’t claimed a slot.

How could I not feel relieved?

It was truly a blessing.

“And there’s good news too.”

Just as I was still savoring the relief that the Ten Poisons was still achievable, Grandfather added something unexpected.

“Good news?”

I tilted my head, and Grandfather nodded.

“It’s hard to say whether it’s because of Hwa-eun, or one of the Supreme Venomous Beasts or spirit beasts you’ve bound... but your capacity for holding poisons seems to have increased ‘a little.’”

“...Excuse me? My capacity increased?”

I blinked, wide-eyed.

See, even within the concept of Ten Poisons, there are slight variations—some can hold up to eleven, even nineteen poisons. But in Tang Clan terms, even someone who can accept eleven or nineteen is still considered a Ten Poison body.

Since the martial arts you can learn don’t differ much.

But I was the textbook definition of Ten Poisons.

Not one more. Not one less.

I could only absorb ten toxins. That was the hard limit of my body.

And now he was saying that limit had risen?

I knew that adding new venomous beasts into the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art caused slight physical adaptations and brought side effects... But I never imagined it could raise the total poison slot count.

Was it thanks to Hwa-eun, or the beasts?

Eyes wide, I asked,

“H-how many can I accept now?”

“Well...” Grandfather rubbed his chin. “Excluding Hwa-eun, I’d say you’re up to about twelve.”

“Twelve?!”

A shiver ran through me.

Twelve... a number of perfection.

Twelve apostles of Jesus.

Twelve months in a year.

Twelve hours in a day cycle.

Twelve zodiac signs in this era’s timekeeping.

Twelve houses in the celestial zodiac.

Even Olympus had twelve gods!

No longer was I a lowly Ten Poison body.

I was now a man of Twelve Poisons.

A monumental evolution.

Gyaaaaah!

***

But when you gain something, you always lose something in return.

What I traded for the Twelve Poisons... was freedom.

Specifically, mental freedom.

No sooner had Grandfather Mandok Shingun finished his observation of my body than my soon-to-be-officially-confirmed wife’s voice rang clearly in my head.

‘So-ryong, did your talk with Grandfather go well? Did he say everything’s fine?’

...

Her voice startled me, and because I paused for just one second too long, her follow-up message came immediately, laced with urgency.

‘So-ryong? Are you listening?’

“Y-yeah, Hwa-Hwa-eun.”

I stammered as I answered, caught off guard—and at once, a faint feeling of hurt drifted in.

I wasn’t sure if my emotions were reaching Hwa-eun yet, but like with the other kids registered under the Beast Heart Art, I could feel Hwa-eun’s feelings flooding in—

and they carried a hint of disappointment.

‘Your reply was slow. I thought maybe Father-in-law overheard.’

‘N-no, not at all. Grandfather and I were just... having a bit of a talk...’

‘Oh, I see. I’m with my mother right now too. We’re doing some embroidery together. But being able to talk to you like this without anyone knowing... I really love it. Don’t you, So-ryong?’

‘Y-yeah. Of course.’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

I wondered if my feelings were being transmitted to her too—and just a few seconds later, I was sure.

They definitely were.

‘That’s odd... why do I get the feeling you hesitated just now?’

I quickly masked my panic and answered in a calm, firm voice.

“N-no way! Absolutely not!”

‘Hmm... maybe it’s just because this is our first time sending and receiving thoughts. Anyway—did Grandfather say your body’s okay?’

“Yes. He said everything’s fine.”

‘Whew... I’m so relieved. I was afraid I might’ve hurt your martial progress...’

And then her concern came pouring in for real—deep and sincere. Feeling suddenly guilty, I answered with a warm heart.

‘Not at all. In fact... he had some good news.’

‘Good news?’

‘Yeah. He said that ever since we connected through the Beast Heart Art, my poison-holding capacity has increased by about two slots.’

‘Oh my gosh! Really!?’

‘Yep.’

‘Congratulations, So-ryong! That’s amazing! I have to go tell Sister right now—and Mother too! We should all celebrate!’

‘N-no, really, that’s not—’

Hwa-eun’s reaction was so full of joy, I had a brief thought—that when it came to romance, the most important thing is understanding a woman’s heart.

And in that regard, I probably had nothing to worry about.

At this point, I figured I might as well embrace it all positively.

After all, even among slaves, being the personal slave of the Tang Clan’s only daughter... didn’t seem so bad.

***

After finishing my talk with Hwa-eun, I took a talisman from Cho and headed to the most secluded part of the Tang estate.

It was the Tang Clan, after all—of course we had our own prison facility. I was headed there now.

The underground prison.

“That must be it, Cho.”

– Chororok.

With Cho coiled around me, I made my way through the remote corner of Tang Mountain, asking directions as I went. At the far edge of a courtyard guarded by warriors, a cave entrance came into view.

As soon as they spotted me, the warriors snapped into formal bows.

“You’ve arrived, Master So-ryong.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“It is our duty.”

My legs still ached, so I let Cho carry me midair like a coil-bound recliner. As I floated into the cave on Cho’s back, the flickering lanterns revealed the dim, oppressive stone interior.

Moving deeper, a few empty cells passed by on either side.

“You’ve arrived, Master So-ryong!”

At the end of the passage, more guards stood and bowed sharply as they spotted me.

“Yes, Grandfather said Father-in-law requested I come check in.”

“Of course.”

The guards gestured, and my gaze followed to the two women crouched in a cell.

These were the ones captured before—commanders of the Blood Flower Unit from the Blood Cult.

Their faces were hidden as they hunched forward, but despite their torn clothes, their bodies were unharmed. They hadn’t been tortured.

Not because our martial sect was especially humane or anything...

But because these two had been oddly cooperative.

The Blood Cult is said to be fiercely loyal to thеir cause—especially when it comes to secrets of the central altar. But the leader of this squad had completely broken down—probably because of my creatures. She’d been so mentally shattered that she answered every question without needing to be pressed.

To be exact, it wasn’t cooperation.

She’d been scared witless.

Apparently, while Hwa-eun and I were unconscious, the kids had gotten bored—or maybe just curious—and took turns visiting the prison. Every time they showed up, the women had panic attacks, and when questioned, they spilled everything like water through a sieve.

They gave up the Blood Cult’s headquarters, revealed the locations of their hidden altars scattered across Murim, everything.

It could be that their total collapse was helped along by the fact that the Blood Cult had just been absorbed into the Five Venoms Sect and was no longer a sovereign power...

“Stand up!”

At the guard’s command, the women lifted their heads.

The moment they saw my face wrapped in Cho’s coils, they shrieked and prostrated themselves flat on the floor.

“L-Lord of Venoms!”

“...Lord of Venoms?”

Is that... like ‘Master of Venomous Beasts’?

The title sounded more like something a cult leader would get than a proper martial rank, so I tilted my head in confusion.

The woman who seemed to be of higher rank explained quickly.

“Y-you’re the master of both venomous beasts and spirit creatures... that makes you our L-Lord of Venoms!”

The reason my father-in-law had asked me to come was to make sure they weren’t hiding anything.

They’d been interrogated over the past ten days, but just to be sure, I was to bring the kids and scare out anything still buried.

I reached out and patted Cho’s head.

“Is there anything else you might be hiding from us?”

The woman peeked up—and locked eyes with Cho. Her body instantly began to tremble violently.

The two women bowed lower, voices shaking.

“N-no! We’ve told your people everything we know. The location of the cult’s headquarters. The hidden prison under the central altar. Every last name of our members. We held nothing back. We’re already as good as dead. There’s no point lying.”

“Y-yes, that’s right, Lord of Venoms.”

“Hm...”

Cho—give them a little scare.

– Chorororok!

“Kyaaah!”

“P-please! At least let us die painlessly! We swear there’s nothing left to tell! Really!”

Father-in-law had only ordered me to check—

and truthfully, I’d never interrogated anyone myself, so I had no idea if they were lying or not.

But then a thought occurred to me.

If they believed they were going to die, wouldn’t they just hold everything back?

They said they’d already let everything go, but wasn’t that because they thought they were doomed?

Maybe... if I gave them a little hope, they’d hand over something even more valuable.

“Hwa-eun?”

‘Yes, So-ryong?’

“Whoa! Don’t scare me like that!”

‘Why are you surprised? You called me, didn’t you?’

She answered immediately. I flinched from how fast it came.

Trying to regain composure, I asked:

“Are you with Father-in-law right now?”

‘Yes, So-ryong. Why?’

“Perfect. I’m at the prison, on his orders. Could you ask him what’s to be done with the women we captured from the Blood Cult?”

‘Okay, give me a moment.’

After a short pause, her voice returned.

‘So-ryong, Father says a final decision hasn’t been made, but most likely we’ll be handling them ourselves. Since we’ve extracted all the information, and you were the one who captured them...’

So in other words, their ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) fate would be decided by the Tang Clan.

“Then, could you bring two Parasite-Dissolving Pellets over here?”

‘The Mugoyonghwadan?’

“Yes. Since Father-in-law said they’re still under interrogation... I don’t think someone resigned to death would reveal anything more. But if we offer a sliver of hope...”

‘Hmm... I’m not sure it’ll work, but I get your meaning. I’ll be right there.’

A few minutes later, Hwa-eun arrived.

“So-ryong, here.”

“Thank you.”

I held up the two Parasite-Dissolving Pellets and addressed the prisoners.

“If you recall anything—anything truly valuable—you might not regain your martial arts, but you could be spared. These here are the Parasite-Dissolving Pellets you two were so desperate for.”

“Anything about the Blood Cult. Even rumors from the Five Venoms Sect will do...”

Before I could even finish, one of the women’s eyes widened, and the supposed leader burst out, panicked:

“King of Serpents! I-I definitely heard one of the Five Venoms men mention that name in passing!”

“...King of Serpents? You don’t mean—Golden-Crowned Serpent King?”

From beside me, Hwa-eun whispered a name that carried serious weight.