The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 62

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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 62
The reason contamination could not be purified was connected to a legend of Haeseo Kingdom.
Long ago, when four Divine Beasts ruled this land, the concept of contamination was dim and faint.
There was strife and hatred among the beast-kin, but it occurred so rarely that they scarcely noticed it, and it dissipated quickly.
However, as time passed, negative emotions grew stronger, and as disputes among the beast-kin became frequent, contamination too began to swell.
Thus the Heavenly God gifted the world with a seed to purify contamination, and that seed was the White Lotus Flower.
This lotus grew wild in Namto, blooming abundantly in a vast pond there and purifying all contamination throughout Haeseo Kingdom.
That was the legendary Baekryeonji—the White Lotus Pond.
A pond from legend where ten thousand white lotuses bloomed, and merely stepping into it could make one forget all worries.
But for some reason, Baekryeonji dried up, and it could no longer purify contamination.
Whereupon the four Divine Beasts—the Vermilion Bird of the South, the Black Tortoise of the North, the White Tiger of the West, and the Azure Dragon of the East—made earnest offerings to heaven.
And thus was born the Yellow Dragon, a being blessed by heaven who could purify contamination.
“The only being presently capable of purifying it is the Yellow Dragon of Imperial Royalty. However, before that, there was a place in Namto called Baekryeonji.”
“The legendary pond, you mean.”
“According to legend, that pond too could absorb and purify contamination. In my estimation, I suspect the young lady is somehow connected to the legendary Baekryeonji.”
“……Me?”
“Yes. This is merely conjecture, but the young lady’s Abnormal Ability is remarkably similar to the power that Baekryeonji possessed. So if we learn more information about Baekryeonji, we may well come to understand more about the young lady’s ability.”
“But Baekryeonji dried up ages ago—it’s a legendary pond. Where would we even find information about it?”
“The answer to that also lies in legend…”
Yo Nyeong’s eyes sparkled as she opened an ancient book.
The old tome was filled with countless drawings of water lilies.
“Look here, if you please!”
And beneath them…
“……A turtle?”
A colossal turtle was drawn there.
Baeksa’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as she peered at the page.
What could this turtle possibly have to do with lotus flowers?
Just as she was pondering this, Yo Nyeong spoke.
“According to legend, Baekryeonji had a guardian deity. This turtle god is called Jangwangshin.”
“Jangwangshin……”
“It means a god that lives for an extremely long time.”
“So if we meet Jangwangshin, we could obtain information about my ability?”
“Precisely!”
Yo Nyeong winked.
Hwaryeong stared blankly at her for a moment, then turned to Ju Jeokseo with a puzzled expression.
“But Father, Jangwangshin is a being from legend, isn’t he? How would we even find him?”
“No.”
Hwanya shook his head.
And spoke with firm conviction.
“Jangwangshin exists.”
“A turtle this enormous truly exists?”
“He does.”
“How do you know?”
“There are turtle beast-kin who serve Jangwangshin living somewhere in Namto.”
“It’s also within the patrol range I cover.”
Hwaryeong started in surprise and wrapped his arms around Baeksa in a tight embrace.
“This is unbelievable—Jangwangshin really exists? I thought he was just a legendary turtle!”
“I thought the same until your age. But even so, I’ve never actually met Jangwangshin…”
“Why can’t you meet him?”
Baeksa tilted her head in confusion, and Hwanya answered.
“Simply because he’s a deity. The turtle beast-kin who serve him likely haven’t seen him properly themselves. We only know he still exists in this land.”
“But if you’ve never seen him, how do you know he exists?”
“Because those turtles haven’t left that place. They’re retinue of Jangwangshin, so if he weren’t in this land, there’d be no reason for them to remain in Namto. They’d return to Bukto, the land of the Black Tortoise.”
In other words, the fact that those beast-kin were still here meant that Jangwangshin existed.
“Then we should attempt to meet Jangwangshin. If it’s possible, that is.”
“About that, how about we make an offering to the Divine Beast and request the Divine Beast’s Protection?”
“The… Divine Beast’s Protection…?”
Baeksa blinked, hugging her doll close.
From Jangwangshin to Divine Beast’s Protection—there were so many difficult unfamiliar terms.
Her head was spinning.
And Hwaryeong felt the same way.
Seeing the two young ones struggling, Ju Jeokseo gently stroked both their heads and spoke.
“I made it sound grand, but it simply means asking the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast for a favor. She may grant it, or she may not.”
He lifted his shoulders with a shrug.
“Whatever answer comes back is heaven’s will. So asking for protection isn’t unreasonable.”
“In any case, I am convinced that the young lady’s Abnormal Ability is connected to this legend of Baekryeonji. And consider the name the Divine Beast bestowed! Is it not the name of a white lotus flower?”
Yo Nyeong spoke with conviction in her voice.
“All of this cannot be coincidence. My intuition tells me so!”
“Fine, fine, but since when has a scholar been someone who speaks from intuition?”
“…”
“Why not cast a divination instead?”
***
Doeui threw eight rods made from beast bone across his room.
The eight rods clattered, flipped, and formed a single pattern.
The boy slowly read the shapes of the rods and interpreted the divination.
“A visitor approaches…”
The strongest number was the visitor’s number. But there was something strange about it.
“Two visitor numbers.”
Both were great visitors. Yet the number for an unwelcome guest and the number for a welcome guest appeared simultaneously.
Whether this referred to the same person or two different people was unclear, but it was hardly an auspicious divination.
‘What sort of visitor is coming?’
As the boy read deeper into the divination with a puzzled expression, something strange caught his eye.
“This is…”
It was a small fragment.
It seemed one of the rods had cracked slightly when they collided during the throw.
Normally this wouldn’t be worth worrying about. Bone cracks easily, after all.
But this broken fragment lay within the larger configuration, and the fragment itself seemed to complete the picture in an eerie way.
Doeui had been able to divine worldly matters since birth. To such a one, this fragment could not be ignored.
Looking at where it lay, it was positioned in the section of health fortune.
Moreover, its sharp edge pointed inward—if anything, it was an inauspicious divination.
Was someone going to be injured again?
Doeui stared at the divination for a long while, then gathered all eight rods.
As he did, the black shadows that had been watching him from beyond the divination board hesitated and drew closer.
The Ghostly Wailing that had briefly weakened was growing louder again.
He pulled the scale Baeksa had given him from his garment and brought his hand down hard on the table. Bang!
“Stop.”
In an instant the Ghostly Wailing ceased. The black shadows withdrew, sensing his warning.
Doeui opened his palm and gazed at the small scale resting there.
The pale, transparent scale—small as a baby serpent’s—glimmered like a jewel in his hand.
It was the most precious thing in his life at this very moment.
It was also an indispensable piece of the divination board that composed the boy’s existence.
Contemplating it for a moment, the boy smiled faintly as he returned the scale to his pocket.
***
Ju Jeokseo decided to attempt meeting Jangwangshin, just as Yo Nyeong had suggested.
The baby serpent’s head was gradually darkening, and with Baeksa falling asleep with increasing frequency, he judged that he could not afford further delay.
‘If something happens to the child like this, it will be a disaster.’
But meeting Jangwangshin required preparation.
Those turtle beast-kin did not stay in one place; they constantly moved their location.
Moreover, since this would be Ju Jeokseo’s first time traveling a long distance with Baeksa, he made thorough preparations.
During the time this took, the beast-kin of the Vermilion Bird Family cared for Baeksa with the utmost devotion.
Too much had happened to the child in such a short time.
For an ordinary child, it would have been enough to break her completely.
Yet Baeksa possessed such strong spirit that despite all she had endured, she showed no signs of withering.
Sirang felt her eyes grow hot watching her.
‘The young lady has grown.’
She was unmistakably different from how she had been when she first arrived at this estate.

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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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