The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 20

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

Splash!
Doeui plunged his hand into the pond and hauled something out.
It was a hideous, small ghost that looked somewhat like a snake.
Shriek!
The black, snake-like creature thrashed violently within Doeui’s grasp.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
But as the boy tightened his grip, the snake ghost could not break free and merely writhed helplessly.
“Ah, Family Head, look over there! It’s a snake ghost!”
Baeksa let out a soft exclamation.
A black snake.
For some reason, it reminded her of how she had once been stained black.
As Baeksa flinched, Hwaryeong hurriedly wrapped his arms around her tiny body.
“Get rid of it quickly! You’re scaring the child!”
“I know, just a moment…”
While Doeui tried to banish the spirit, the snake ghost wriggled madly in his hands.
“It’s escaping!”
With that, it slipped from Doeui’s grip in an instant and slithered across the grass.
“Catch it quickly!”
Hwaryeong shouted. But at that exact moment, the water ghost stopped moving.
The ghost came to a halt in a corner of the lawn and spun around in circles, as if searching for something.
It was the exact spot from last night.
Baeksa and Doeui’s eyes widened in unison.
“Could that thing be…”
“Huh…?”
Seeing their reactions, Ju Jeokseo and Hwaryeong both looked at Baeksa at the same time.
Hwaryeong tilted his head and asked.
“Why?”
Baeksa replied cautiously.
“That spot is where I dropped my pouch last night.”
“A pouch?”
“Ah, this one.”
Baeksa pulled a crimson pouch from her bosom and held it out.
“Sirang gave it to me as a gift so I wouldn’t lose my scales.”
Inside the pouch that Sirang had worked so hard to make the previous day lay Baeksa’s small scale.
Ju Jeokseo took the pouch from Baeksa and stared at the ghost snake.
Slither.
Lifting its head, the ghost snake began to slither frantically toward where Ju Jeokseo was standing.
He pulled Baeksa’s tiny scale out of the pouch.
“Now I understand. It was because of this.”
“Does it want the scale…?”
Did it want to take her scale?
But for some reason, she felt that she must never give her scale to that snake.
Sure enough, Doeui let out a heavy sigh and spoke.
“Whatever it wants, it doesn’t seem to have good intentions. Look at this.”
Doeui pointed at the ghost snake.
The creature bared its vicious fangs, flicking its tongue as it glared at Ju Jeokseo and Baeksa.
Black Ghostly Qi surged and billowed around the ghost snake.
“It’s just a Lowly Ghost. It won’t disappear even if you grant its wish, and nothing good comes from keeping it around. I will handle it.”
“Do so.”
As soon as Ju Jeokseo gave the command, Doeui pulled a Wooden Tablet from his shirt.
The Wooden Tablet, which seemed to be made of ebony, possessed a dark luster and sheen that made it look quite precious at a single glance.
The moment the boy chanted a spell, the ghost snake was instantly sucked into the Wooden Tablet.
Swoosh.
However, Baeksa didn’t see the ghost snake get drawn inside.
Just before the ghost was sucked in, Hwaryeong had thoughtfully covered both of her eyes.
“Phew, that was close. A baby doesn’t need to see things like that.”
Hwaryeong smiled brightly as he removed his hands from Baeksa’s eyes.
“That Wooden Tablet is…”
“It’s Doeui’s weapon. It’s also called a Ghost Treasure. He can trap ghosts inside it, or summon them.”
“Um, if it’s a Supernatural Ability that traps ghosts, could it be the Supernatural Ability of the Black Tortoise Family?”
“We suspect Doeui comes from a branch line of the Black Tortoise Family.”
Hwaryeong replied with a shrug. Doeui nodded silently in agreement.
“Anyway, since we have him, you don’t need to worry about ghosts appearing again.”
Hwaryeong said, stretching Baeksa’s soft cheek.
Then, as if the texture—which he was touching for the first time in his life—was quite fascinating and pleasant, he began to knead both of her cheeks like dough.
“Wow, it’s incredibly soft! Look at this! It’s just like rice cake!”
“Thant you…! (Thank you…!)”
“Hwaryeong! Stop teasing her.”
“But look at this! She’s so cute and soft. Hey, can’t you show me your snake form too? I bet it’s really adorable.”
“If youウィsh… (If you wish…)”
Baeksa managed to answer diligently even while her soft cheeks were being held.
Her pronunciation was slightly muffled because her cheeks were pinched, but Hwaryeong’s hands didn’t hurt at all.
He was holding her gently, taking care not to hurt her.
Watching this, Ju Jeokseo shook his head.
“Stop teasing the child, Hwaryeong. And Baeksa, I’m returning your pouch. If you keep it safe…”
It happened just then.
Pop.
From inside the crimson silk pouch, Baeksa’s white scale popped right out.
As the white scale moved entirely on its own, Doeui, Hwaryeong, Ju Jeokseo, and Baeksa all looked up at it in surprise.
The scale fluttered and flew like a small butterfly, then plunged straight into the pond where the ghost had emerged moments ago.
Splash!
“Ah, my scale!”
Baeksa ran to the edge of the pond a moment too late; the white scale had already vanished beneath the black water.
What on earth was happening?
Just as the bewildered child gently dipped the tip of her finger into the pond water.
Swish.
Suddenly, the scale that had sunk to the bottom floated up to the surface and began to morph its shape.
Starting from the shape of a small seed, it brought forth large leaves, grew a sturdy stem, and finally formed a small, elegant flower bud.
“Huh…?”
It was a beautiful white lotus.
But before they could even process their astonishment, an even more incredible sight unfolded.
Swoosh.
The small lotus began to suck in the dark energy within the small pond.
The white lotus greedily absorbed the black Contamination of the pond, soon dyeing itself entirely black.
Yet that was not the end of it.
“The pond water… it became clear.”
Baeksa peered into the pond, leaning her hands on the ground.
As the lotus absorbed the contaminated energy, the pond water turned crisp and transparent, revealing everything down to the very bottom.
Faced with this sudden, miraculous transformation, Baeksa lifted her head in a daze.
“Family Head, the scale…”
The girl’s voice was still laced with confusion.
“Look at this, it became a lotus flower…!”
A small white lotus.
Baeksa reached out and tapped a lotus leaf.
The lotus flower, which looked as though small scales had gathered together to grow, trembled at Baeksa’s touch.
Plop, roll.
Then, it spat a small bead right into Baeksa’s hand.
Baeksa blinked, staring at the black bead that had landed squarely in her palm.
It was round and as small as a pearl.
It was much smaller than the bead she had seen just before her death, but for some reason, the girl was overcome by the feeling that this bead and that bead were one and the same.
‘It’s definitely it.’
Though it was much smaller and less impressive.
Though it didn’t float in midair or glow black like it did back then…
It was unmistakably that bead.
Recognizing her old friend, Baeksa’s eyes gleamed faintly.
***
Ju Jeokseo shook his head.
‘This is impossible.’
A white lotus growing from Baeksa’s scale.
Even the petals that turned black after absorbing the Contamination.
Ju Jeokseo had read about all of this before.
He hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, but rather in an ancient text, yet there was a book that recorded such a sight.
A book compiling the legends of Namto.
According to legend, long ago, there was a place in Namto called Baekryeonji.
Ten thousand White Lotuses would bloom in that massive pond, and it was said that if one dipped their feet into the water, all anxieties would be forgotten and every ailment would be cured.
However, it had become impossible for a White Lotus to bloom in Namto.
Because of the black, contaminated soil and water.
Even when searching for a place that was relatively untainted, the White Lotus refused to bloom.
The White Lotus of legend was a flower that only bloomed in the purest of places. It was only natural that it would no longer grow in a land that had fallen into ruin.
And yet.
‘Though it was dyed black almost immediately.’
To see such a white lotus?
Furthermore.
Ju Jeokseo blankly stepped closer and scooped up some pond water with his hands.
The crisp, transparent pond water sloshed and gathered in his palms.
“Father…”
“Family Head, this is…”
He had not misseen it.
It was truly, perfectly purified water.

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