Chapter 36: Looking for the Hint (4)

A massive snake that was releasing a bright white light was looking down at us.

"It-It's a huge snake...!"

I clenched my teeth upon hearing Wi Seol-Ah's words.

We were in a very bad situation.

'...A demon?'

There was no way that a snake so large in size wasn't a demon.

And considering how it had spoken to us... is it a demon with some sort of intellect?

I had never heard of or seen such a thing.

Let alone a demon so massive in size.

'What do I do?'

I probably wouldn't be able to even scratch it with my current capabilities.

But I had to at least make sure that Wi Seol-Ah safely got out of this place.

How can I distract it...?

At that point, the snake spoke, as if it had just read my mind.

- Calm down, child. I am not very hungry right now.

'...It isn't hostile?'

Upon hearing its words, I wiped my sweat and asked.

"Can you understand me?"

- We are talking to each other after all.

"How can a demon speak the language of humans?"

- A demon... How amusing.

The snake moved its tongue.

Even its tongue looked much bigger than me.

- We are at a time where entities such as myself are called demons, hm?

It was a bitter voice.

It didn't seem hostile, but I couldn't trust a demon, so I still covered myself with Qi.

The snake opened its eyes to reveal a golden gaze and asked me a question.

- ...I'm curious, child. How did a child like you, who isn't from the Nature, manage to come all the way here?

"Nature...?"

Is it referring to the Golden Nature?

"...The Golden Nature disappeared centuries ago."

Following my words, the snake's eyes widened.

Then it slowly closed its eyes.

- Shhhh

The giant snake curled up its body.

It had only moved slightly, but the entire room immediately started shaking—the snake was that large.

- ...I see. It seems it was inevitable after all.

The huge head of the snake slowly came down to the ground.

- But still, I am curious. Even if my power has been degrading, how did you manage to come all the way here?

'...When it said power, does that mean the spatial magic was set up by this demon?'

A demon that possessed such inconceivable power...

How scary is that?

How should I answer the demon's question?

The truth is, I only ended up here because Wi Seol-Ah led me all the way, so I didn't have much to say.

"...I happened to coincidentally find it."

- ...What?

The snake that had been about to respond to my absurd answer suddenly stopped itself and moved its gaze to a different place.

The snake was now looking at Wi Seol-Ah.

Its golden eyes shined slightly as it looked at Wi Seol-Ah.

Because of its size, I couldn't help but feel fear at the massive head staring so intently at us.

Wi Seol-Ah seemed to share my fears as she hurriedly moved behind my back.

The snake, after observing her for a few seconds, backed off a bit to give us some space.

- I see... So that's what happened.

Huh? What did he understand?

- Child, what was your goal for coming here?

The snake suddenly asked.

I was stunned for a bit by the snake's question.

If this snake had some sort of relationship with the Golden Nature, would it just let us steal the secret vault and let us get away?

"I ended up here by coincidence, sir."

I unconsciously spoke in a formal tone.

The snake swirled its tongue at my answer.

I didn't know if I was hallucinating from fear, but it looked to me like the snake was smiling.

The snake then spoke.

- Unfortunately, the thing you are looking for no longer belongs here.

...Fuck, he noticed that I came here for the secret vault.

Following that realization, sweat instantly soaked my back.

The snake continued its words.

- Since my days are about to come to an end, this place will also disappear with it.

'...About to end?'

Now I felt like I knew how the Tang Clan was able to find this place in the first place.

If the snake was being truthful, then the Tang clan had probably found this place after the spatial magic had faded away.

'Now it makes sense why no one was able to find a unique tree such as this one for so long.'

But is it saying the truth about nothing being here?

If it was, then what did the lord of the Gaecheon Clan gain from this place?

- Child.

"...Yes, sir?"

I answered nervously to the snake's call.

My pride was hurt because I was speaking to a snake in such a formal tone, but now was not the time to bother about such trivialities.

- What do you think fate is?

"What kind of shitty question is that... Sir?"

To such an absurd question, I subconsciously responded with my normal way of talking.

'You idiot, why would you do that in a situation like this!?'

- Hahahaha!

The snake laughed at my response, the entirety of the room shaking as it laughed.

- You are correct... That was indeed an absurd question from me.

Thankfully, the snake didn't seem angry.

I wanted to complain about the fact that the snake was the only one asking the questions, but I held myself back.

I couldn't afford to do so in my current situation.

The snake loosened its curled-up body slowly.

- ...Why stall it for this long when it is destined to disappear one day.

It didn't seem to be talking to me.

Who was it talking to? Then, the snake suddenly started shining brightly.

It wasn't emanating the white light it had before, but a golden light just like its eyes.

As I thought about taking this chance to run away with Wi Seol-Ah, something shot out from the snake's opened mouth.

It was a golden marble.

I picked up the marble that had come to a stop at my feet.

Then the snake spoke.

- Take it.

"...What is this?"

- It's your reward for dealing with a monster such as me. As it was bound to end up in someone's hands sooner or later, it is probably better for you to have it. Such is fate.

Even though the marble had come out of the snake's body, it wasn't covered in any sort of mucus.

If I had to make a comparison, it looked sort of like a demonic stone, but it didn't have any ominous feeling around it, much unlike demonic stones.

Instead, it felt luxurious and bright.

It seemed... holy?

- Considering you have that inside your body, you will be able to absorb it easier than others would.

'"That"? What does it mean by that...?'

Before I could process any other thoughts, hot qi suddenly and furiously surged into my body.

"...Ugh!"

Following the sudden influx of pain, I dropped to my knees.

Once again, just like last time, my demonic absorption ability activated without my will.

I had let my guard down, it seemed that it was actually a demonic stone.

But, weirdly enough, I couldn't feel any demonic qi seeping into my body.

The problem instead seemed to be the fact that the Qi that was streaming into my body was too much for me to handle.

As I struggled with the pain, I felt the hands of Wi Seol-Ah rub against my back.

Suddenly, the furious Qi that had been streaming into my body calmed down.

However, just as I sought to heave a sigh of relief, the injected Qi met my own fire Qi, then began to combine with it, and went on a rampage throughout my body.

"Ughhh...!"

The pain instantly resurfaced, worse than it had earlier been; I felt like I was going to die.

Was the snake actually trying to kill me? If so, why go through such a roundabout method? Surely gulping me down in one bite would've been much more efficient...!?

Slowly, then rapidly.

- Boom!

The only sound in my ears should've been my groaning, but for some reason, I heard an explosion in my head.

Was I hallucinating because of the pain?

Eventually, the two Qis that had been rampaging like crazy formed into one line.

After this merged line of Qi reached the center of my body, it suddenly spread throughout my whole body—disregarding any semblance of control I tried to establish.

It was as if it had suddenly exploded.

As the pain got to a point where I could no longer handle it;

I blacked out.

***

After Gu Yangcheon had fainted.

The room was left with only two conscious individuals—the snake, and Wi Seol-Ah.

The snake laughed after seeing what had happened.

- I guess it was too much for him to handle.

The power of a snake that was about to become a dragon.

Having absorbed such power, Gu Yangcheon now possessed a Qi that was stronger than most others.

Wi Seol-Ah put Gu Yangcheon's head on her knees and slowly rubbed his back.

The snake then asked her.

- Are you satisfied with this?

Wi Seol-Ah lifted her head upon hearing the snake's question.

Unlike the usual black eyes that Wi Seol-Ah usually had, her eyes were now golden.

Wi Seol-Ah then opened her mouth and said.

"It's not up to me to be satisfied."

Her tone was vastly different from how she usually sounded, the naiveté usually present nowhere to be found.

The snake responded, sadness evident in its tone.

- You came all the way here after changing so many things. Is this what you wanted?

"Why? Can you not comprehend it?"

- It is not that. I comprehend it so much that I feel sorry for you.

The snake slowly lowered its body to the ground.

Its scales were slowly losing their light.

Wi Seol-Ah, still rubbing Gu Yangcheon's back, asked.

"Why did you hand over the jewel you'd been protecting for so long to a person you'd only met for the first time?"

- I felt whimsical. There is nothing worse than waiting for someone who will never come, so I decided to let go.

The snake was reminded of a golden-haired man with a bright smile.

Someone it would never see again.

- ...Fate is such a cruel mistress.

The scales were now falling to the ground. As soon as the scales touched the ground, they crumbled and disappeared.

Just like the leaves of the white maple tree.

Not long after, the massive snake disappeared... without leaving a single trace.

Those were the last moments of the snake who had provided the jewel.

Wi Seol-Ah carefully patted Gu Yangcheon's head.

"Even in that situation, you were thinking of protecting me... What kind of person are you?"

- drip-drip.

Tears were slowly falling onto Gu Yangcheon's face.

'You could've just run away.'

Gu Yangcheon, even while shaking, had continued to stand in front of her.

'I can't understand. Why do all that for me?

'For a person like me who only holds grudges and contempt and doesn't know anything else...'

I was reminded of the person who never once opened her mouth for anyone else but herself.

I had despised her. I hated her and wanted nothing more than to kill her.

That person was none other than me.

- ...Give it back now.

I heard a voice.

Wi Seol-Ah wiped the flowing tears with her hands.

"Sorry, but I'll be borrowing it for a bit longer."

Now was not the time.

It was still dangerous.

Just a little more.

Wi Seol-Ah carefully placed Gu Yangcheon's head on the ground and slowly got up.

She wanted to pat his head a bit more, but she knew her place.

And she felt that it was a selfish act since she was ignoring her guilt.

Wi Seol-Ah slowly stretched her body.

It was still the body of a young, fragile girl, but the vessel that was holding her was so big that she had no problem controlling the body.

After she was done stretching, Wi Seol-Ah spoke while looking at the door they had come from.

"Come out now."

The voice of the little girl was now sharp and cold akin to an awl.

The man, shocked at her words, revealed himself.

"...How? Since when did you notice that I was here?"

"You thought you'd be able to hide yourself when you lack so much?"

The man was none other than Macheol.

Namgung Cheonjun's escort.

Ever since the beginning,

Ever since Gu Yangcheon left the Tang clan, Wi Seol-Ah had known that she and Gu Yangcheon were being followed.

Even if Gu Yangcheon had some experience from his past, there was no way that he would have been able to notice a martial artist that reached the peak realm.

"...I was going to finish it quietly."

Macheol let out a sigh.

He already had his sword drawn.

"You are a child with good senses. I didn't want to deal with you, so I was only going to get rid of Gu Yangcheon, but now everything is messed up."

"Is this an order from Namgung?"

Macheol's eyes frowned at Wi Seol-Ah's question.

"How dare you!? You have no right to utter such a name through your mouth!"

Wi Seol-Ah remained expressionless in the face of Macheol's rage.

And then quietly pulled out a dagger.

Macheol scoffed at her upon seeing the dagger.

"What are you going to do with that?"

Wi Seol-Ah didn't respond.

Macheol then thought to himself as he gazed at Wi Seol-Ah.

'Beautiful.'

She was fascinatingly beautiful.

She still seemed a bit young, so it would be better to bring her back to the clan and only get rid of the Gu Clan's son.

Along with the secret vault, and Gu Yangcheon's head.

This had been a successful trip.

After Macheol finished his thoughts, he asked Wi Seol-Ah.

"If you don't resist, I won't lay a finger on you. How about it?"

'She will most likely get hurt if she tries to fight me while also trying to protect her master.'

'And that definitely won't make my master happy.'

Wi Seol-Ah, once again, didn't respond.

She simply looked down at the dagger.

Macheol let out a disappointed sigh.

"Right, if you so insist, then..."

- Thud.

"Hmm...?"

Macheol let out a dumb sound.

Something had fallen near him.

Then he felt something strange, an unnatural lack of balance.

Macheol, with a shaky hand, tried to touch his left shoulder.

Cold sweat flowed down his cheek.

It wasn't there.

The entirety of the left arm that should have been there, wasn't.

When he looked down at the ground, he saw that the thing that fell was none other than his own arm.

"When did you...?"

Macheol hadn't even seen Wi Seol-Ah swing.

"Shut up."

Wi Seol-Ah's voice dug into his ears.

And Macheol finally realized that something was wrong—horribly wrong.

Wi Seol-Ah took her first step forward, and Macheol's breathing instantly roughened.

As the distance between them shrank, Macheol found that it was getting increasingly harder to breathe.

An overwhelming pressure was pressing down on him.

"...Don't open your mouth any more; I don't want him to wake up when he is sleeping so soundly."

As she took a step forward, Wi Seol-Ah's hair slowly turned golden.