The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 48

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 48
Though Mu Je spoke with genuine concern for Do Young, his words landed differently.
“What…!”
Do Young bristled at Mu Je’s calm, well-intentioned tone.
“You don’t know until you actually test it.”
“Many people say that.”
“…Are you always this infuriating?”
Do Young’s lips trembled, quivering with suppressed rage.
Had Arin not been watching, he would have thrown caution aside and charged into combat right then.
Mu Je, for his part, found Do Young’s reaction deeply puzzling.
‘Does he really want a Swordsmanship bout so badly?’
There were quite a few people who came seeking to learn from him.
He’d heard Do Young was fond of the blade, so a sparring match seemed reasonable enough.
“If you’ll tell me a convenient location and time, I’ll accept the challenge.”
This bastard just won’t quit…!
Do Young’s appetite—and with it, his reason—evaporated in an instant.
“Tomorrow at the Hour of Dragon
(between 7 and 9 in the morning)
at the Training Ground.”
Do Young spoke with deliberate sharpness, and Mu Je replied at once.
“That timeframe won’t work well.”
The Hour of Dragon was when the dragon ascended to heaven, and the dragon’s power in the Twelve Zodiac was strongest then.
“It would be better to do it at the Hour of Tiger
(between 3 and 5 in the morning)
instead.”
The Hour of Tiger was when the tiger stretched, and that was when the tiger’s power in the Twelve Zodiac was at its peak.
It was meant, in its own way, as a kindness.
‘Does he think I’m made of water?’
That only made Do Young angrier.
“Absolutely not! Let’s make it fair—the Hour of Horse
(when the horse runs wild, between 11 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon)
instead.”
As the two settled the match in rapid succession, Arin found herself left behind.
Not knowing how to wield a blade, Arin murmured softly to herself.
“I wish I could learn too…”
Of course she didn’t expect to become skilled like her brothers, but she wanted at least enough knowledge to follow their conversation.
But Do Young, already worked up, failed to hear her voice.
Mu Je, however, caught her words with sharp attention and leaned in close.
“Shall I teach you?”
“Really?”
“I have quite a lot of free time these days.”
He offered a faint smile, as though it were nothing at all.
If the many peers who’d been rejected before had witnessed this, they would have been astounded.
Mu Je lowered his head slightly, as if shy, and added softly,
“In return, please cheer for me tomorrow. I’ll consider that my tuition.”
Cheering was something she could do with confidence.
Arin, who had worried she might be a burden to him, suddenly clenched both fists and cried out,
“Yes!”
* * *
Yeo Ryeong made her way toward the cave behind the Shrine.
In the secret chamber deep within the cave, the Black-haired Boy was being held captive.
After rescuing him from the street that day, she’d been forced to take this measure because he’d attempted escape multiple times.
The moment the boy caught sight of Yeo Ryeong, he snarled and grabbed the iron bars.
“Let me out, you old witch!”
“Release you if you swear never to run away again.”
The boy had tried to force his way out of the Twelve Zodiac Village, only to end up covered in wounds from head to toe.
His fierce temperament made him hurl himself against the Barrier without hesitation.
He’d throw himself against it with his bare body, reckless enough that it could kill him, yet he never stopped.
Weary from having carried him back from the village gate—where he’d collapsed multiple times—and treated his injuries, Yeo Ryeong dismissed his shouts lightly.
“I’ll say it once more: now that you’ve entered this place, you cannot leave without my permission.”
“Where on earth am I!”
“The Twelve Zodiac Village. And I’m not a grandmother—I’m the Shrine Maiden Yeo Ryeong.”
Yeo Ryeong introduced herself, but the boy, whose knowledge of the Zodiac was lacking, spat on the ground.
“Ptui! You’re still a grandmother either way.”
“…….”
“I don’t care what the Twelve Zodiac Village is, but I don’t want to stay here for even a single day. Let me go right now!”
Yeo Ryeong found herself at a loss for where to begin teaching the child.
A boy born with the power of the Zodiac, yet ignorant of it.
Clearly connected to the Black Demon Sect somehow, yet he showed no sign of revealing who was chasing him, or even who his parents were.
“If you leave? You want to be caught again by those who were hunting you? They won’t be as merciful as I am.”
She had already noted the bruises covering his body and the puncture marks from needles.
It was clear he’d escaped after suffering brutal torture at their hands.
“If you don’t act like a wild beast, I’ll allow you to roam freely throughout the Twelve Zodiac Village.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then you’ll stay here. Training in darkness, nothing else.”
“That’s even worse!”
The boy growled, shaking the iron bars back and forth.
His strength was so formidable that the bars trembled and seemed ready to collapse.
As his eyes flashed gold, Yeo Ryeong let out a sigh.
“I suppose I’ll need to stop him from using that power.”
Yeo Ryeong reached out and tapped the boy’s forehead lightly.
In that instant, a Lotus Petal Mark appeared on the boy’s forehead, then vanished.
The boy felt his strength drain away completely.
“What did you just do! Give it back right now!”
For the first time, the boy’s gaze wavered.
“I can’t. This is medicine for a child who won’t listen.”
“You, you, cursed grandmother!”
“First, you’ll study the Zodiac. Once you’ve finished all the books I give you, I’ll let you leave this place.”
At Yeo Ryeong’s signal, Geum Geum enlarged itself and brought in a pile of books as if it had been waiting for this moment.
As the boy seized the opportunity to escape, Yeo Ryeong, noticing his intent, issued a stern warning.
“Don’t even think of harming my precious rat. That one is quite vicious.”
Seeing his intentions had been read, the boy trembled.
“……Damn it. Do as you please! I’m never doing anything your grandmother says!”
The boy huffed defiantly, sat down facing the wall with his arms crossed.
It was a clear refusal to speak further.
At that stubborn response, Geum Geum clicked its tongue.
– That one really does need discipline. How dare he call you grandmother, Yeo Ryeong!
The boy’s demeanor was notably hostile toward the Twelve Zodiac.
A child of the Zodiac who despised the Zodiac itself.
To Yeo Ryeong, who was elder to all the Zodiac Signs, that seemed pitiably tragic.
Perhaps he had suffered harsh abuse, just as Arin had.
“Look after the boy well, Geum Geum.”
– Don’t worry.
After Yeo Ryeong and Geum Geum disappeared, the boy collapsed onto the ground.
He had been covered in blood when he collapsed, after all.
When he discovered signs of treatment throughout his body, the boy’s spirit sank.
There was no doubt that old woman had healed him.
The longer that nagging grandmother fussed over him, the more someone came to mind.
And the more he wanted to push her away.
The boy’s eyes grew increasingly red.
“Grandma, I miss you. I have to avenge you soon…….”
But with his strength alone, he could not stand against them.
So the boy, now a fugitive, had never been able to sleep peacefully for a single moment.
And since coming here, he could eat delicious food three times a day and sleep comfortably.
At first he wouldn’t eat, fearing poison in the food, until that creature—Geum Geum or whatever—tasted it directly in front of him.
Only then did the boy begin eating to regain his strength, and that very night he attempted to escape before losing consciousness.
After failing three escape attempts, the boy had come to accept that he couldn’t leave.
The boy’s gaze turned toward the book Geum Geum had left.
“The Zodiac is horrible.”
After avoiding it for some time, the boy finally opened the book and muttered with a deeply furrowed brow.
“Shouldn’t you start by asking if he can even read? This cursed old woman.”
* * *
That night, Do Gyeong came to sing a lullaby and started in alarm when he heard what Arin had said.
“Do Young challenged Mu Je to a duel?”
“Yes. I’m going to watch tomorrow—will you come too, Father?”
Arin had no idea that the duel had come about because of her, and simply thought it would be an entertaining spectacle.
“It should prove quite a sight.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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