Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 155: Absorption (3)

Following the guidance of Lee Tae, the leader of the river bandits, we set sail toward their base, a floating village, to repair the ship.

While keeping an eye on our direction from the bow, Seol stepped out of the cabin and asked,

“So-ryong, now that its hind legs have grown in, can’t you tell if it’s a frog or a toad?”

She must have been watching Hua-yang’s transformation alongside Hwa-eun. Now that it had hind legs, she was expecting to finally determine what it really was.

But that was still too early to tell.

Shaking my head, I answered,

“Not yet.”

“Why!? Even with its hind legs, you still can’t tell if it’s a frog or a toad?”

‘Why!? Oh, no...’

I flinched at her abrupt question, suddenly wondering if she had caught Cho’s ‘Why?’ disease.

But then I remembered—Seol was way past that age.

Calming myself, I replied,

“Yes. Once its front legs grow in and its tail shortens, we’ll be able to check its skin texture. But just because it’s a toad doesn’t mean its skin will automatically be bumpy. We’ll have to raise it a bit longer to be sure.”

“I’m dying of curiosity...”

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Seol, who had been eagerly expecting to solve the mystery of Hua-yang’s identity by looking at its tiny hind legs, now wore a disappointed expression after hearing my explanation.

Just then, the boatman’s voice called out from behind.

“So-ryong, judging by the presence of these reeds, our ship won’t be able to go any further. The water must be quite shallow.

Should we tell the river bandits to find another route?”

Hearing this, I peered over the boat’s railing.

What lay ahead was an expanse of reeds, towering as tall as a grown man.

A thick reed forest stretched far into the distance, blocking the path of the small boat leading us.

I quickly called out to Lee Tae, who was guiding us from the front.

“Lee Tae, our ship is too big to go this way!”

“It’s fine! Just wait a moment, So-ryong!”

As I looked down at his boat, he retrieved a small bamboo flute from his robes and blew a long note, signaling someone.

— Bweeeek!

The call, resembling the cry of a duck, echoed far into the reed forest.

And then, something amazing happened.

The dense reeds in the middle of the water began to part to the sides, revealing a deep waterway.

“The reeds!?”

“Huh? The reeds are moving!”

The boatman and Seol, who had been watching the reed forest with me, were both stunned.

Focusing my gaze to discern what kind of trickery was at play, I noticed the reeds rising and falling with the waves from the boat’s movement.

Normally, reeds root themselves firmly in the muddy bottom of a river or lake.

‘Ah... it’s like Myanmar’s Inle Lake.’

At that moment, I understood what the river bandits had done.

Just like the floating gardens in Inle Lake, they had woven together clusters of aquatic plants, letting them float on the water, and planted reeds on top.

The bandits must have cultivated these floating reed beds to disguise shallow waters, only parting them when they needed a hidden waterway.

“They must have woven together floating vegetation and planted reeds on top, right?”

“Wow, as expected from the young master.”

The boatman and Seol looked impressed, while Lee Tae flinched at my deduction.

“So, this is how you evade the government patrols, huh?”

“Heh, well... something like that.”

Following the revealed waterway, we sailed deeper into the reed forest. Eventually, a small pier appeared among the reeds, and beyond it, a village came into view.

Smoke curled lazily from chimneys.

It was nearing dinnertime, and the sight of cooking fires rising from the homes made it look just like a typical rural village.

I had assumed the river bandits’ base would be a den of ruthless criminals, but it actually felt more like a quiet fishing village.

Fishing nets were strung up in several places.

Seol seemed to be thinking the same thing as she murmured, surprised,

“I thought it would be a hideout full of brutal criminals, but... it’s just a village?”

“Yeah, it really is.”

Just then, Lee Tae’s voice rose from below.

“This is our floating village.”

“It looks more like a village than a bandit hideout.”

“Well, when you get enough people who’ve been wronged by the world gathering in one place, it turns into a village.”

Lee Tae claimed the people here were all wronged victims who had nowhere else to go.

But I wasn’t so sure about that.

After all, criminals always say they were falsely accused.

Back in my past life as a YouTuber, I had watched some ex-convict vloggers, and they all swore they were innocent.

Even among hardened criminals, they still called others the ‘real bad guys.’

However, as the boat neared the dock, I saw something that made me reconsider Lee Tae’s words.

There were quite a few people in the floating village, and their appearances were unexpected.

Near the dock, most of the people watching our boat with wary eyes were women and children.

“So-ryong, didn’t they call themselves river bandits?”

“They did.”

Seol was just as surprised as I was by the unexpected scene.

It seemed the advance group of bandits had already explained our arrival, as the villagers watched us with nervous expressions.

They were afraid.

Most likely because their men had been captured during the government crackdown.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

As our boat docked, a sturdy-built man stepped onto the gangplank the moment it was lowered and said,

“A Zhenke Ship on the Yangtze... Haven’t seen one of these in ages. I’m Xiao Samlang. I used to be a shipwright in Fuzhou. You said the ship is leaking?”

The man, who looked to be in his forties, rolled up his sleeves, revealing a muscular frame befitting a martial artist. His thick, unkempt beard made him seem even more rugged.

There was something trustworthy about the way he gently ran his hand over the ship’s hull as he spoke.

His calloused hands, rough from years of labor, only reinforced that sense of reliability.

“I am So-ryong, son-in-law of the Tang Clan and a member of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. A pleasure to meet you. Boatman, show him where the leak is.”

After exchanging greetings, I left the repair talk to them.

It made more sense for the boatman to handle this rather than me.

“Yes, So-ryong. Understood.

It happened when we struck a drifting log during the last storm. The leak ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) is near the bow. Would you like to take a look?”

“Let’s check it out.”

The two of them went down to the bow, inspecting the damaged area.

Shortly after, they returned to the deck and began discussing the repair.

“To fix the leak, we’ll need ramie grass, lime, and tung oil.

We can send some of the lads to gather the ramie grass from the mountains, but we don’t have any lime or tung oil here.

Do you happen to have any?”

“Of course, we do. Will that be enough?”

“Yes, that should do the trick.”

“How long will the repairs take?”

“Hm... First, we need to drag the ship ashore at dawn and let it dry. Ah, hold on a moment. Lee Tae! Tell the men to go gather plenty of ramie grass from the mountains!”

“Got it!”

After shouting at Lee Tae outside the boat to collect the necessary materials, the shipwright continued the conversation.

“Where was I? Ah, right, I was saying we need to dry the ship first. Once it’s dry...”

According to the shipwright, repairing the ship would take about ten days.

After pulling it ashore to dry, they had to treat the wood with tung oil, then seal the cracks with a mixture of ramie fiber and lime. The process required another drying period, which meant at least ten days of work.

The boatman, having finished speaking with the shipwright, turned to me.

“So, shall we proceed as the shipwright suggests?”

“Understood. I’ll leave the repairs to you, shipwright. And—could we have a private conversation for a moment?”

“You want to talk with me?”

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it, but...”

The man tilted his head at my words, puzzled.

Once I explained the situation, his expression turned to one of disbelief.

“That bastard Lee Tae, so he’s trying to sell me out to save himself, huh? The Tang Clan... Well, I’ve already repaid any loyalty I owed him... But are you sure about this? This guy killed a man.”

“He killed someone?”

Hearing that, I reconsidered my decision. If I hadn’t seen the village’s people for myself, I would have simply left after repairing the ship.

But Lee Tae’s words about how “people from all over the land, who suffered injustices, ended up here” suddenly resurfaced in my mind.

I asked the shipwright,

“Could you tell me the whole story?”

He nodded and, with a heavy sigh, sat down on the deck.

“This isn’t something I can just say outright. Got any liquor?”

The fact that he needed a drink to tell the story meant it wasn’t something one could say sober.

Seol silently signaled the boatman to bring some.

Once the shipwright took a deep gulp from the bottle, he finally began speaking.

“Well, here’s how it happened...”

***

A sharp, startled hissing sound came from Bin as I stepped out onto the deck.

Beyond the cabin, a thick dawn mist had settled over the floating village, making it impossible to see even a step ahead.

“The fog is thick. Bin, should we wait for it to clear before heading out?”

A sharp hiss in response.

Bin didn’t like high humidity, and honestly, neither did I. The damp air would make my clothes sticky.

So I closed the door and returned inside, where I found the shipwright and Lee Tae sprawled on the floor.

I tossed a blanket over them.

The reason they had passed out here was simple—the conversation with the shipwright, which had started over drinks, had gone on far longer than expected.

And, of course, both had drunk too much.

It was only natural that Lee Tae, who had been drinking with him, also ended up completely wasted.

After lighting the lantern in the cabin, I heard splashing sounds from the corner.

—Plop. Plop.

Hua-yang was signaling for food.

I set the lantern down near it and turned to stare at the sleeping shipwright.

His drunken ramblings from the night before replayed in my mind.

“He really was innocent...”

The shipwright had told me his past.

Back in Fuzhou, he had worked alongside his older brother in the shipbuilding trade.

One day, a high-ranking official’s son had attempted to assault his brother’s wife, so the shipwright beat the man to death.

But because the dead man was nobility, the shipwright was branded a murderer and forced to flee.

That was ten years ago.

Hearing his story, I was convinced he wasn’t a bad man.

But the problem was... he was still a wanted fugitive.

In this era, wanted posters weren’t like modern photographs—they were more like rough sketches, called likeness descriptions.

They were rarely accurate.

And after ten years, almost no one would recognize him.

Still, taking in a fugitive was a serious matter.

I would have to consult my father-in-law before making any decisions.

‘I should take this matter back to the Tang Clan and ask for his opinion.’

Just as I was reaching a conclusion in my mind, a commotion broke out outside.

“Boss! Boss!”

“Where’s the boss!? Wake up!”

The voices of the river bandits rang through the mist.

“What’s going on?” I nudged Lee Tae. “Lee Tae.”

“Grr... Don’t bother me, you bastards... Hnngh...”

—Hiss!

“Ahhh!”

Bin, apparently disgusted by Lee Tae’s groggy response, hissed loudly into his ear.

With a yelp, he sprang awake despite the early hour.

I pushed him toward the deck.

“Your men are calling for you. Go check it out.”

“...My men?”

Still rubbing his eyes, Lee Tae stumbled onto the deck.

Moments later, he rushed back, looking shaken.

“So-ryong! You’re still going to keep your promise, right?”

“...Promise?”

“The promise that you wouldn’t feed us to your creatures!”

Lee Tae suddenly needed reassurance.

I gave him a confused look and nodded.

“Of course. That was already settled. Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”

“Well... One of your spirit beasts must have been hungry last night...”

“...What?”

Stepping onto the deck, I saw that the fog was beginning to clear.

Hwa-eun had already arrived before me, inspecting something on the deck.

She lifted a tarp, revealing the mystery beneath.

Her voice trembled in disbelief.

“This is... a moknaei?”

I didn’t recognize the term, so I stepped closer and pulled back the tarp myself.

A dried-up corpse lay beneath it.

‘Moknaei means... a mummy!?’

The tarp rustled, stirring up a faint scent of cilantro.

Now, I finally understood what Lee Tae was so afraid of.

Apparently, my creatures had found this corpse and treated it like food.

“...Are you serious? My creatures wouldn’t eat something this spoiled.”

There was no way they would touch such low-quality food.