Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 246: King of Serpents (7)

“Guhhk!”

One of the Tang Clan warriors, who had been holding the line with his back to the wall, was struck by a spiked mace from a Five Venoms Sect disciple and went flying backward.

The other Tang warrior had already been pulled back into the semicircle formation.

“Ma warrior! Are you all right!?”

“D-damn it... Don’t mind me, just focus on the f-formation... If it breaks, we all die.”

Do-ryong looked toward the fallen Tang warrior, then turned and shouted at Gungbong with a furious voice.

“Goddammit! What’s taking so long!? Gungbong, fire another Guardian Shot!”

“We already used all three!”

Inside the half-destroyed inn, the Tang warriors defending against the Five Venoms Sect had nearly reached their limit.

Do-ryong’s face was burned, with a long sword wound reaching his lips. Yang Seong-hu’s left arm looked stiff—likely broken. Seon-hwa’s long hair had been partially cut.

No one looked to be in good shape.

“Kh...”

“The one in the center went down! They put up a fight, but it’s over!”

Just as Do-ryong’s left knee touched the blood-slicked floor, having taken the brunt of the enemy’s assault from the center—

Suddenly, someone appeared from beyond the shattered wall of the inn, face fully exposed, and shouted urgently.

“Fall back! The martial artists of Sichuan are swarming in! Scatter in all directions!”

And at the same time, the sound of drums and distant shouting echoed in.

–Doom doom doom!

“Drive them out! Wipe out the Five Venoms bastards!”

“What the hell!?”

The Five Venoms Sect fighters scattered like a receding tide, and the martial artists of Sichuan surged in to take their place.

Eight collapsed on the spot.

***

The battle at Mount Paltae came to an end when the martial artists of Sichuan arrived just as the Tang warriors were on the brink of collapse from severe injuries and exhaustion.

However, as the Sichuan forces scattered, the Tang warriors split up and pursued the fleeing Five Venoms Sect members.

A little later, those who had remained in the village to treat their wounds resumed the pursuit—only to run into an unexpected group.

The daughter of the Five Venoms Sect Master and her entourage.

Though they hadn’t passed directly through the battlefield, they couldn’t risk provoking a fight or alerting the martial artists of Sichuan. So, Do-ryong made a decision to follow them covertly.

With Gungbong—an expert tracker—in the group, they decided to quietly trail behind and wait to strike when the enemy crossed paths with the Sichuan forces.

But the group with the Sect Master’s daughter slipped past the Sichuan region entirely and was already nearing Tang territory.

“How is it?”

“Looks like they stopped to rest in a cave...”

In the rainy forest, the Five Dragon Fangs huddled beneath a tree, unable to light a fire, speaking in hushed voices.

「Ji-ryong, what now? We thought this would be simple, but I didn’t expect them to pass the martial artists of Sichuan so easily.」

「Well, once the fighting broke out during the search, things turned chaotic. We couldn’t help that. But don’t worry, Do-ryong. It looks like they’re trying to pass near the Tang base to avoid pursuit—but that only works if we’re not chasing them.」

「Eunbong, you’re the fastest among us. Head to the Tang base and request a messenger hawk. We’ll surround them. If the young hero acts, we can set up a net ahead of their route while exchanging signals.」

「Got it!」

「Now, go!」

「Yes!」

Eunbong answered, but didn’t move right away.

Ji-ryong gave her a questioning look, wondering why she hadn’t left. Then she darted toward him, kissed him quickly, and mumbled as if making an excuse.

「Just in case.」

As Eunbong took off, Kwon-ryong and Geom-ryong began grumbling.

「Seriously, we need to make her return her Five Dragon Fangs badge.」

「Right? The elders are going to start calling us the Four Dragons and the Cloud at this rate. One of us is even Gungbong.」

「What’s that supposed to mean?!」

「Ah—no offense, Gungbong.」

The ones without partners sulked, saying they didn’t even want to be in the Five Dragon Fangs anymore. While that went on, Do-ryong glanced toward Yang Seong-hu’s arm, concerned.

The bamboo splint tied to support his arm was dangling loose.

「Yang Seong-hu, is your arm okay?」

「It’s all right. Doesn’t seem fully broken.」

「Still, we should re-wrap it.」

「Yeah... maybe.」

「I’ll do it.」

While Seon-hwa stepped forward to rewrap his arm, Do-ryong sat to circulate his internal energy.

Who knows how much time passed?

The rainwater trickled into the burn on his mouth, sending a stinging pain through it.

Do-ryong winced and opened his eyes, snapping out of meditation.

His circulation was complete; he had recovered somewhat. Judging by the rain and the feeling in the air, about two shijin had passed.

Looking around, the others were curled up asleep. Only Gungbong remained standing, watching the direction of the cave.

–Ssshhhhh.

Just then.

Even after two days of downpour, the rain had gotten heavier.

Do-ryong looked up at the sky, wiped a droplet from his face—and at that moment, Gungbong jumped down and called out in a hurried voice.

“Because of the rain, I couldn’t hear or see clearly, but that woman just ran out of the cave by herself and started sprinting through the jungle! What’s going on?”

“Could it be she’s trying to distract us, make them look elsewhere while she escapes on her own?”

“Either way, we go after her!”

There was only a brief hesitation in the sudden shift.

The seven who had awakened launched into lightfoot pursuit, chasing after the daughter of the Five Venoms Sect Master.

As soon as they moved, she came into sight—but she was astonishingly fast.

She was racing down the valley, the gap not closing. Ji-ryong shouted, urgent.

“If this keeps up, we’ll lose the most important target. We have no choice.

Gungbong, can you shoot her to make her stop? With this rain, she won’t even notice your arrow.”

“Understood!”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“She’s the Sect Master’s daughter—we have to capture her! And didn’t the young hero say she was a pitiful woman who had been through something awful...?”

–Sssiiing!

Before Ji-ryong even finished speaking, an arrow pierced straight into the woman’s back, and she was swept away by the swollen valley stream, disappearing instantly.

“...”

Everyone turned toward Gungbong with blank, speechless stares.

***

–Ssshhh.

The Five Dragon Fangs rushed down the swollen valley stream, the rain still pouring relentlessly into its second day.

–Splash. Splash. Splash.

As Do-ryong moved, he heard the grumbling voices of the others beside him.

“She’s the Five Venoms Sect Master’s daughter, and before we even finished saying we needed to capture her, you shot her in the—”

“If you’re gonna shoot, you have to aim to kill, don’t you?”

“Weren’t you supposed to shoot her in the leg to slow her down!?”

“A-ah, no! I aimed just below the chest—beneath the Shan Zhong point. That makes it hard to breathe, so she’d slow down. If we find her and treat it, sh-she won’t die.”

Gungbong, clearly flustered, shouted out his explanation under the scrutiny of Do-ryong and Ji-ryong, who were questioning why she had been hit in the chest.

Everyone sighed at the sight.

They realized it was their own fault—they should’ve told Gungbong clearly to aim for the ankle and passed along specific orders.

Eventually, they arrived at «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the rock where the Five Venoms woman had last been seen.

Paeng Gyu-seong looked downstream from the stone—now stained red and slick from the rain—and muttered,

“Looks like she got swept downstream... You don’t think she died, right?”

“She’s no weakling. If her martial arts are as strong as we heard, she won’t die from just that.”

“The Tang Clan should be sending reinforcements soon. For now, we should search downstream ourselves. Let’s go!”

With that, Do-ryong and Paeng Gyu-seong sprang down along the flooding valley, the other six following closely behind.

***

“Haah... haah...”

In a small cave wedged between rocks along the valley.

The faint scent of wolves hung in the air—it had probably once been used as a den. Now it was unoccupied, and Cheongyu sat inside, gasping for breath.

–Snap.

Not wanting to cause more bleeding, Cheongyu snapped off just the fletching and arrowhead, leaving the shaft embedded.

Struggling to calm her breathing, possibly from a pierced lung, Cheongyu reached into her pouch and pulled out Sayang.

“A-a-are you okay?”

–Shiah.

She’d asked because Sayang had been swept along with her in the stream. The insect gave a soft chirp, as if to say it was fine.

Though Sayang still seemed unable to move fully due to paralysis, being swept away hadn’t harmed it too badly.

It looked up at her with what seemed to be concern.

Cheongyu gazed back and said softly,

“...Don’t worry. I won’t die—not before I take you to the Tang Clan. I want to repay a kindness at least once before I die.

Let’s just rest a bit. I think I’ll adjust to it soon.”

After setting Sayang down, Cheongyu took a moment to examine her condition.

As expected, it wasn’t a fatal wound.

But it wasn’t good either.

If she pulled the arrow out, the bleeding would become severe and she’d have to block her meridians. But since it was so close to her dantian, that would cut off her internal energy. On the other hand, if she left it in, she could still use internal energy—but her breathing would remain strained and her flow would be unstable.

She was still trying to decide.

That’s when the patter of raindrops at the cave entrance changed—followed by the unmistakable presence of someone approaching.

Cheongyu and Sayang turned to look.

If the person approaching was one of the Central Plains martial artists who had shot the arrow, there was still hope.

She could name the Tang Clan and negotiate—send Sayang with them in exchange for cooperation.

But if it was someone from the Blood Talon—

Cheongyu began to pray. To the ancient deity she’d once worshiped as a child with her mother.

Please... let it not be him.

But maybe it was karma for all the evil she’d done under brainwashing—

Because the one who appeared was the very person she’d wished never to see again.

A shadow leaned through the mouth of the cave.

“Hahahaha. So you ran off and ended up like this?”

–Clang!

Cheongyu flung her inner energy with a burst—but the Blood Talon ducked his head and laughed from outside the cave.

“Now you’re a rat in a trap. If you surrender quietly, nothing will happen. You’ll return to the Sect Master as his loyal daughter.”

At his words, Cheongyu’s vision went black.

If she was dragged back and brainwashed again, she’d be forced to kill—once again harvesting the blood and flesh of the innocent.

The slaughter.

It was unbearable. She would rather die here than live like that again.

“No!”

She screamed and looked at Sayang with wild eyes.

Then grabbed the arrow stuck in her chest—and yanked it out.

–Snap!

Dark red blood spilled from the open wound.

–Shiah!

Sayang squealed, panicked, biting her collar.

But Cheongyu shoved her fingers into the bloody hole with a trembling smile.

“I won’t let them have either of us.”

When her hand emerged from the wound—it held a glowing orb.

“If... if you eat this, you’ll recover your energy. Then you can escape... to So-ryong of the Tang Clan. Without me, they won’t be able to catch you...”

–Shiaaah!

Sayang violently refused—but Cheongyu, despite the pain, forced the orb into its mouth.

And then came the light.

–BOOM BOOM!

The small cave burst apart in a deafening explosion.

***

Soaked to the bone and barely conscious, Eunbong arrived at the Tang base with the hawk—and the place exploded in commotion.

–Crash!

“What!? The Five Venoms bastards passed through here!?”

“Summon all Tang warriors! We will catch them no matter what!”

The entire Tang Clan was mobilized: every warrior, the Heavenly Poison Deity grandfather, Jangil, Hwa-eun, and even Sister Seol—all of them charged through the rain, following Gungbong’s lead.

I soared through the rain, wrapped in Cho’s scent.

For some reason, Yeondu insisted on coming along despite the rain.

–Shhhhhhh.

As I flew in the direction Eunbong had pointed out, I heard something from inside my robe.

Yeondu was turning her head—pointing with her nose.

“Hm? That way? Are you sensing something?”

The direction was slightly off from what Eunbong had said, but Yeondu never acted like this unless something was wrong.

–Cho, head that way.

–Trrrp!

The moment I told Cho to turn—

–BOOM! BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted from the direction Yeondu had pointed, and a brilliant light shot up into the sky from the epicenter.