The Beloved Baby Priestess of the Twelve Zodiac Gods - Chapter 83

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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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Episode 83
“She keeps vanishing whenever I remove the Silver Cloth Veil, so today I brought her while wearing it, as I said.”
As Arin grumbled, Woo Hyun’s head snapped up.
“That’s my job, isn’t it? If your identity gets exposed because of me, the tiger will kill me.”
“Don’t you want to hear the opinion of the tiger standing right in front of you?”
“What are you saying, really.”
Woo Hyun clicked his tongue and turned his head away.
Arin, who had been staring at him as he fussed with the back of his head, spoke up.
“Do you remember, Priestess? How Woo Hyun made a fuss about not cutting his hair.”
“I remember. He always covered half his face so gloomily that I worried about what would become of him when he grew up.”
As Arin said this, shading her eyes with her hand, Yeo Ryeong answered lightly.
At this, Woo Hyun glared at innocent Arin.
“Are you picking a fight?”
“No. I’m saying it’s better now. Your forehead is fully exposed, so you’ve got decent looks.”
Arin smiled broadly and gave a thumbs up, and Woo Hyun, at a loss for words, knitted his brows.
“……There’s nothing a girl won’t say.”
He still had a habit of speaking pointlessly sharp words he didn’t mean.
Yeo Ryeong glanced at Woo Hyun’s reddened ears and opened her mouth.
“And here’s a boy who looks like a girl, complaining about being called one.”
“Don’t you start too!”
“I am Yeo Ryeong. If I’ve become the Priestess’s escort, shouldn’t I be careful with my words?”
As Yeo Ryeong spoke, raising her walking stick with a flourish, Woo Hyun reflexively shielded his head.
It was because of memories of frequently receiving flicks from her when he was young.
“There’s no one here but us anyway!”
“A leaky pot that leaks inside will leak outside as well.”
“Tch. Always lecturing.”
Woo Hyun groaned and flopped down onto the mat.
“Don’t worry. Outside, I’ll be respectful and call you Priestess, Priestess.”
“Tsk tsk. He just can’t help himself, can he.”
As Yeo Ryeong disapproved with a click of her tongue, Woo Hyun sprawled out on the mat and fell asleep.
While the outside world teemed with Yokai, the Twelve Zodiac Village remained blissfully peaceful.
Though it had only been a few months, it felt like coming home.
When Arin noticed Woo Hyun already sleeping soundly, she turned to Yeo Ryeong.
“Priestess, I brought what you asked for.”
“It’s quite well preserved this time.”
“I’ve been practicing. Of course, I still have a long way to go before I catch up to you.”
“I don’t know. It seems like you’re doing better than me now.”
Her power had grown far more refined compared to years before.
Arin’s strength was remarkable—even surpassing Yeo Ryeong at a similar stage of development.
While Yeo Ryeong examined the core, Arin fell into thought.
Arin remembered the strange Yokai she had encountered days ago and spoke.
“You know, Priestess, one of the Yokai that appeared recently—even after I took its core, the host moved as if it were still alive.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So I had no choice but to destroy it, but the state of the host was strange…….”
Usually, when a core was destroyed or separated using the Binding Restraint, the host died like a puppet with cut strings.
But the Yokai Arin had encountered days ago remained alive even after its core was removed—strange.
Moreover, when she saw the core anguish and writhe as it was destroyed, her heart grew uneasy.
“Maybe they’ve succeeded in experiments on living things too. That’s why it bothers me.”
What Yeo Ryeong had learned so far was that the Black Horse Clan implanted cores into corpses to make them move as if alive.
But when an existence appeared that defied that hypothesis, uneasiness was inevitable.
Yeo Ryeong narrowed her eyes and spoke.
“You feel like you’re killing them?”
“Yes.”
“They’re already dead. They only appear to be alive, but it’s merely an illusion.”
Yeo Ryeong spoke coldly and stood from her seat.
“If such things appear again, do not hesitate to kill them. There is nothing as dangerous as feeling compassion for an enemy.”
Yeo Ryeong was ruthless when it came to the Black Horse Clan.
Arin knew this stemmed from her bitter history with Hyeok Gwang.
Arin nodded and gently changed the subject.
“Still, things have become a bit easier since Woo Hyun started coming along.”
“That’s fortunate. I was worried he might cause trouble.”
“When he was on guard duty, he was so scrupulously formal it felt rather strange, actually.”
“That must be because his teacher is strict.”
It was the result of Do Gyeong’s careful management of Woo Hyun over the past months.
“But how are things between you and Hwasa?”
“Hwasa and I are getting better coordinated with each passing day.”
“Well, you did find a creature perfectly suited to your temperament. The fact that it survived at all is thanks to you alone.”
The egg that Arin had received from the fire serpent had gone unhatched for years.
Remembering those anxious days when she’d wondered if it would ever be born at all, Arin stroked Hwasa’s head tenderly.
“I’m just grateful it was born healthy.”
Sss.
Hwasa responded by licking Arin’s finger.
Few knew that this adorable little serpent was in truth a fearsome fire snake.
Affectionate by nature, it monopolized all of Arin’s doting.
It was then that Yeo Ryeong spoke up.
“Your birthday is coming soon, isn’t it? Both Do Gyeong and Mu Je have requested leave to coincide with it.”
“Really? I suppose my threats actually worked this time.”
“Threats?”
“I told them if they didn’t come this time, I’d never see them again.”
As Arin muttered this with grim resolve, Yeo Ryeong laughed softly.
In truth, Yeo Ryeong had long suspected why Mu Je avoided Arin.
Having grown up so close to each other since childhood, their familiarity had gradually become uncomfortable for him.
Especially as he entered adolescence and increasingly began to see Arin in a different light, it must have caused him considerable inner turmoil.
The Arin of now was, by anyone’s measure, a beautifully refined young lady.
Bound by the word “friend,” unable to go forward or back, he’d likely chosen to keep his distance.
But Arin, unaware of all this, had every right to feel hurt.
“Don’t be too hard on him. He’s been wrestling with his own troubles.”
“What could he possibly be troubled about? We used to tell each other everything, but now I don’t even know what Mu Je is thinking.”
Arin muttered disconsolately. It felt as though her constant companion had suddenly vanished.
They’d gone from seeing each other daily to exchanging letters for two years.
“I’m actually worried it might feel awkward when we meet after so long.”
All manner of anxious thoughts crowded her mind, and with each passing day as her birthday drew near, her nervousness only deepened.
It was then that Woo Hyun, propped on his elbow, murmured something.
“What? Are you afraid he’ll say he’s tired of playing with you now?”
His gaze drifted pointedly toward the wall, though Arin didn’t notice.
He seemed to direct a scoff at someone before turning back to Arin with a smirk.
“Looks like he’s grown weary of sticking to your side every day. You should just forget about that guy.”
“Be quiet. We’re close friends. He writes back every single time.”
As Arin protested without much conviction, Woo Hyun snickered.
“Sure, sure, best friends.”
“Hey! Don’t tease me!”
At Arin’s sharp retort, Woo Hyun grinned mischievously, fiddled with the mat beneath him, and suddenly sprang to his feet.
“Let’s go. It’ll be dark soon.”
He placed the Silver Cloth Veil over Arin’s head and then nodded his farewell to Yeo Ryeong while still in that pose.
“We’re off now, ma’am.”
“I’m a Priestess, not an old woman.”
Even at Yeo Ryeong’s reproach, Woo Hyun merely shrugged and hurried Arin along.
Yeo Ryeong shook her head as if to say there was no stopping him.
It was obvious why he was pretending to hurry Arin’s pace so eagerly.
Not long after the two departed, Mu Je appeared at the Temple Shrine.
Judging by the way he’d kept his presence hidden while Arin was there, it was clear he’d been avoiding her.
Yeo Ryeong narrowed her eyes and murmured.
“If only he’d come a little earlier, he would have seen Arin.”
At this probing remark, Mu Je offered no real denial and simply headed toward the mat.
As he moved to sit, something caught his eye.

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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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