Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Hwa-eun and Sister Seol dashed toward me with their light footwork, but soon their figures grew smaller and smaller until they became mere dots.
“So-ryong!”
“Ryong!”
“So-ryong!”

Only the voices calling my name lingered over the vast plains, fading into the wind, leaving behind nothing but the sound of my back scraping against the grass and the rhythmic thudding of the camel spider’s strides.

• Zwaaaaah!
• Zwaaaah!

In the midst of the chaos, when my mind momentarily went blank, a sharp voice echoed in my head.

• Tsrrr! 「Dad, just wait a little! Hyang will cut it!」

Barely managing to lift my head, I looked down toward my leg.
Hyang was desperately clinging to it, struggling to sever Yoha’s silk thread.

Antennae flailing wildly, her tiny legs gripped the thread tightly.
She was gnawing at Yoha’s silk, trying to free me with her small body, just so her dad could live.

• 「Gyaaaah! My daughter!」

Such overwhelming cuteness—my heart melted into liquid.

But Yoha’s silk was only weak to fire. It was tougher than tempered steel.
Hyang’s small, dull venomous fangs and a centipede’s jaws wouldn’t be enough.
Even a Ten-Poison Body expert or a Twenty-Four Venom Master couldn’t easily cut it.
Hyang had yet to learn information sharing, so she had no way of knowing.

• Zwaaaaah!

The speed was incredible, much faster than when I used to slide down fertilizer sacks in the fields as a kid.
The wind carried me forward like I was weightless.
The sheer speed made it difficult to breathe properly, but I knew I had to act fast.

Right now, I was being dragged across a grassland, so it wasn’t too bad.
But the region of Qinghai was a mix of grasslands, barren lands, and desert.
The grass here was knee-high, and if I were dragged across the desert sands, I might survive.
But if I hit the solid, rocky ground of the barren lands at this speed, my clothes, skin—everything would be shredded.

• 「I’ll turn into an eraser at this rate…」

And more importantly, this spider belonged to the Five Venoms Sect.
Even if I survived, getting dragged straight into their territory meant one thing—
A direct confrontation with those lunatics.

Which meant I could fall right into that crazy woman Oh Cheong-yu’s hands.
Just thinking about her eerie gaze made me swallow hard.

• 「I need to do something, fast.」

I forced myself to focus, straightening my body and reaching for my leg.
I needed to grab onto Yoha’s silk and climb onto the spider’s back.

• 「Hyang, come up to my chest! Hold on tight!」

Hyang, who was still clinging to my leg, trying to bite through the thread, scurried up to my chest.
Once I made sure she was securely in my embrace, I tucked my knees in tightly.

Fighting against the speed took insane strength, but I poured all my inner energy into resisting.
Then, I bent my knees inward.

I curled up like a ball, grabbing at the silk wrapped around my legs.

“Khhhaaaah!”

With a loud battle cry, I gritted my teeth and slowly pulled my knees to my chest.

• Zwaaaak!

Just as I was about to grab the silk—
Thud!

Something hard was hidden in the grass. A rock?
My body suddenly caught on it and launched into the air.

‘Damn it!’

If I hit the ground like this, I’d be no different from a frog that burst open after a high fall.

Quickly, I recalled the martial arts technique gifted to me by the Murim Lord.

Iron Fist Art.

If I hardened my body in an instant, I might be able to survive the impact.

Focusing all my inner energy throughout my body—
The moment my airborne body crashed into the ground, a dull explosion-like sound rang out.

• Thud! Zwaaaaaah!

“Khrrrgh….”