Fabre in Sacheon's Tang

Before I reached the Life-and-Death Realm, I was the kind of husband who had to keep his head down in front of my wives.

It wasn’t because of a “function” issue or anything. It was just that if you’re dealing with wives who are martial arts masters, you can’t help but lower your head.

I don’t know about anything else, but stamina—that was the problem.

I remember hearing it once in a previous previous life.

They say if you work out, testosterone—the male hormone—gets produced along with it, and your sex drive increases too. Since my wives learned martial arts that made them move their bodies, maybe their testosterone went up too, because their sex drive was on a different level.

No matter how much you’re newlyweds, isn’t it generally a little hard to go for hours at a time?

Anyway, in that state, the moment I reached the Life-and-Death Realm, the situation flipped.

A master of the Life-and-Death Realm can draw in natural qi and convert it into yang qi, so my body became basically the same as owning a battery that never runs out.

So after a storm-like mandatory defensive battle, looking down at my wives on the bed while they panted in a worn-out, languid state had been my little pleasure lately, but of all immortals, it had to be cosmic sex masters.

And not one, but three?

With a sense of crisis like a corner of my nighttime throne I’d briefly seized was about to collapse, I swallowed hard.

I fight like an idiot by brute stamina, but now Ji-ryeon was definitely going to learn technique and toy with me.

Wasn’t it always like that in the martial world too? The natural enemy of guys who are only strong is guys with good technique.

‘Ha... I’m uneasy.’

I thought maybe I had to give up on Ji-ryeon.

And that turned into this thought: out of four, I win against three and lose to one.

With the idea of losing to Ji-ryeon being basically inevitable, I’d give up on that, and I’d beat my other wives.

Then wouldn’t the result be 3:1, my victory?

There was a high chance my dignity as the head of the household wouldn’t be damaged.

The moment I made that decision—

A light suddenly surged up from Ji-ryeon’s body.

—Hwaak.

Centered on Ji-ryeon, the peach-blossom color that had been supporting her earlier burst out and shoved me back.

“Hhk.”

It wasn’t a huge shock, but my body slid backward anyway.

When I lifted my head and looked at Ji-ryeon, pink energy was rippling around her body.

In an instant, Ji-ryeon looked like some religious saint, wrapped in a halo.

Her pupils had also turned into a peach-blossom pattern.

And Ji-ryeon herself was completely different from a moment ago.

Just earlier, she’d looked insanely captivating, but now she was wearing an expression that felt warm and snug, like a mom.

I had the thought that maybe her body had been taken over.

That body-stealing cliché you only see in fantasy anime from a previous previous life—I was feeling it.

‘N-no way!?’

As I was thinking, what if Ji-ryeon got tricked into a scam contract, Ji-ryeon looked at me with those pupils painted with pink petals and opened her mouth.

[Don’t worry. We had something to say to that child for a moment, so we borrowed this child’s body.]

It definitely felt like the Three Maidens Ji-ryeon had decided to serve had done some kind of possession.

But before I could even rein in my shock, I had no choice but to be shocked again when I looked in the direction the possessed being pointed.

Because the being possessing Ji-ryeon was pointing at Zihwa.

The being possessing Ji-ryeon spoke toward Zihwa.

[I thought it was a familiar aura, and sure enough, you were alive.]

A very warm, snug voice.

It was a voice overflowing with benevolence, as gentle as her expression and atmosphere, but at those words Zihwa clenched her teeth and shouted.

“Dark Maiden...”

If it was the Dark Maiden, then she was indeed one of the cosmic sex masters.

Ji-ryeon slowly nodded.

[Yes. It’s been a while.]

It looked like she and Zihwa knew each other, and Zihwa spoke as if in anguish.

“I thought you’d just pass by, but I really got found out anyway? Of all things, I haven’t even been in the Nine Heavens for long, and I ended up catching your eye...”

The other side’s voice was gentle, but Zihwa’s reaction was the complete opposite.

It was like she’d gotten caught by an existence she absolutely couldn’t afford to be caught by.

Zihwa was from a spirit-bird lineage, and she’d said she’d been born as a mutant alone and driven out.

So normally, she shouldn’t have had much connection with that being, but for some reason, it seemed she did.

And in a bad way.

Zihwa looked toward me and said.

“Y-you must not step in no matter what. Please, I’m asking you about what’s left behind...”

Her eyes were dark, and her voice was hoarse.

“What’s left behind” was probably referring to Jayo.

She was probably saying it like that because she thought even Jayo’s existence might get exposed, so she called her “what’s left behind.”

Zihwa seemed to think she was going to die here.

I walked forward slowly and stood with my back to Zihwa.

Half-blocking her.

Then I grinned and said.

“In this world, what kind of bastard just watches his wife die and does nothing?”

“Y-you...”

Hearing Zihwa’s voice soaked with moisture, I spoke to the being possessing Ji-ryeon.

“I don’t know what happened between you and my wife, but as her husband, I can’t not step in. Since a lowly thing has blocked your way, please don’t be angry.”

Then the Dark Maiden, possessing Ji-ryeon, looked at me and smiled.

But I couldn’t let my guard down.

I’d heard that higher beings usually look at lower ones like tiny creatures.

So just because she was smiling like that, it would be trouble to relax.

High beings are exactly the kind of beings where it wouldn’t be strange for them to suddenly cut you down in one stroke.

‘I’m kind of scared.’

Honestly, I was terrified.

Even while I was continuing this line of thought, my life could suddenly be cut off.

But I hadn’t stepped in blindly.

Right now, the other side had taken Ji-ryeon in with a disciple-like feeling.

And she was possessing Ji-ryeon.

Even if she was truly an existence that had a feud with Zihwa and wanted to kill both me and Zihwa here, Ji-ryeon would somehow stop it.

That was the vague thought I had.

Since she was possessing her, she wouldn’t be able to use all her true body’s power anyway, and what she could use would be Ji-ryeon’s power plus a little extra.

If it was me and Zihwa, couldn’t we somehow block it?

If I even called out Gun Hye-rin from inside?

And the fact that three higher beings had come to find Ji-ryeon at all meant there was no substitute.

So if, because of Zihwa, she killed both me and Zihwa, would Ji-ryeon really stay still?

Of course, in raw power, Ji-ryeon obviously wouldn’t be able to handle that being.

But if the irreplaceable Ji-ryeon said she’d die?

Ji-ryeon had a high chance of saying that if that being laid a hand on me, she’d follow me and die too.

So I decided to believe in that.

In an instant, the being in front of me made an expression like she was amused.

[This child is really noisy. She says if I touch you, she’ll bite her tongue and die.]

Just as expected, Ji-ryeon.

Just like I thought, Ji-ryeon was threatening the Dark Maiden with her own life.

The being in front of me smiled and continued.

[First, I should talk a little. I’m not an evil god who harms ordinary people, even if I might be called a villain, and I have no intention of touching that child. Of course, not the child behind you either.]

It felt like she was talking to Ji-ryeon, not me.

I couldn’t completely trust those words, so I held my ground, but I felt Zihwa’s hand on my shoulder.

“You can step back. The moment a higher being speaks, those words carry authority. Since she made a pledge, she will never break it.”

Then she walked out to my side and asked the being possessing Ji-ryeon.

“You didn’t come all this way, borrowing even Ji-ryeon’s body, just to see my face. So why did you come to find me?”

A brief silence.

After staring at Zihwa for a moment, the Dark Maiden opened her mouth.

[I heard what happened to you. When I went to help you, you had already been driven out.]

It was nothing like Zihwa’s guarded reaction.

Just like earlier, it felt like a reaction Zihwa hadn’t expected.

She was saying she had tried to help Zihwa in the past.

Zihwa shouted in a voice that couldn’t believe it.

“Y-you tried to help me!?”

A smile appeared on Ji-ryeon’s face.

It felt like the smile of the Dark Maiden.

A warm smile, like a mother’s smile.

[Of course. I’m your mother’s friend.]

“M-my mother...”

What she was referring to was Zihwa’s mother—my mother-in-law.

At those words, Zihwa’s clenched fist trembled.

Water droplets fell onto her fist.

Zihwa burst into tears at the other side’s words.

It seemed like it was because the story of her mother, who had died in Zihwa’s place, had come up.

The voice that followed.

[I think I know why you thought I would be hostile to you, but what I experienced has nothing to do with my will. So if you want revenge, I have no intention of stopping you.

The other birds won’t step in either, so do what you want to do.]

‘Whew. So she was just my mother-in-law’s friend.’

It felt like I’d endured ten years—no, since this is the cultivation world, maybe about a hundred years.

I thought I might die any second, but it was like a friend of my late mother-in-law had heard her daughter was alive and came to see her face.

It was when I was feeling a bit relieved.

Ji-ryeon’s hand slowly rose.

In the next instant, a beam of light shot out from Ji-ryeon’s hand.

—Puhwak!

That burst of light from her fingertips pierced straight through Zihwa’s solar plexus.

It was so fast she couldn’t react at all.

After being hit, Zihwa coughed up blood from her mouth.

“Kuhk!”

“Zihwa!”

I stepped in front of Zihwa and drew up my energy.

The wound was serious, but it was a wound that would heal if we treated it with Moji and Soji. Still, I couldn’t allow another attack like that.

I didn’t think I could attack because Ji-ryeon might get hurt, but—

At my action, the Dark Maiden possessing Ji-ryeon spoke in a voice that sounded extremely satisfied.

[Yes, yes, that’s how it should be. No matter how strong the being in front of you is. Drawing your blade for your own people—that is the virtue of an Emperor.]

The Dark Maiden was saying something I couldn’t understand.

I shouted toward her.

“What is this supposed to be!? You clearly—”

I was about to shout that she’d clearly said with her own mouth that she had no intention of attacking, when—

A light suddenly began to burst out from Zihwa’s chest.

From the spot where the energy the Dark Maiden had fired was lodged, it was slowly spreading through her entire body.

Zihwa clutched her chest and said.

“This is... Mother’s...?”

[Yes. It’s what your mother left behind. She told me to hand it over when you returned.

You rose again to the heavenly realm after you fell, but because you fell, your body was probably a mess. Your body will recover.

Then I’ve said what I needed to say and handed over what I needed to hand over, so I’ll be leaving now. It will be a burden on this child’s body too, so I can’t stay long. Next time, I hope we meet in person.]

It seemed like she had delivered some kind of energy Zihwa’s mother left behind.

I was thinking you really can’t let your guard down for even a day in the cultivation world, when the Dark Maiden said she was leaving, but then she looked at me with a bright smile.

[Ah, and child?]

“Me? Are you talking to me?”

Even though she said she was leaving, she suddenly spoke to me, so I answered with a stupid expression, and I heard a voice with laughter in it.

[Yes. When I descend and then withdraw, this child will probably get divine fever. You should cool her down well.]

“Divine fever?”

At the words divine fever, I tilted my head, and Ji-ryeon collapsed like a bundle of straw.

Thump.

“Ji-ryeon!”

I ran over and quickly pulled her into my arms, and Ji-ryeon opened her eyes and let out a breath.

“So... So-ryong... haah.”

Her face was slightly flushed.

Ji-ryeon breathed out sweet breaths.

Worried by what she’d said about divine fever coming, I asked in a worried voice.

“Ji-ryeon, are you okay? Your body’s really hot?”

Ji-ryeon’s body really was burning up.

At my worried question, Ji-ryeon let out hot breath by my ear and whispered.

“Haah. So-ryong. Hold me. My body’s hot.”

“Huh?”

In an instant, I felt like I knew what divine fever was.

A cosmic sex master had descended into her and then withdrawn, so it felt like a switch had been flipped.

‘Goddamn it.’

Divine descent was fine, and healing Zihwa was fine, everything was fine, but why do I have to grit my teeth and clean up the aftermath?

I drew in the qi from all around and quickly converted it into yang qi.

It didn’t seem like this would be solved in just one or two times.