The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 76

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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 76
“Yeon-ah! Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Ju Jeokseo quickly scooped up Baeksa and examined her condition. The child’s two legs dangled helplessly in the air.
“Uncle, are you all right? I saw you following behind me, but then you disappeared. I was worried.”
“I was worried too. You have no idea how shocked I was to lose sight of you. This uncle’s heart nearly broke.”
He pulled the little serpent close, and Baeksa nestled into his embrace.
“What did Jangwangshin say?”
At Ju Jeokseo’s question, even the Turtle Humanoids standing in the back all turned their gaze toward Baeksa.
They looked desperate to know what revelation their god had bestowed upon this young serpent.
“Jangwangshin said…….”
Still cradled in Ju Jeokseo’s arms, Baeksa recounted what had just transpired.
As she walked, she came upon a great pond, and there Jangwangshin stood.
The god told her not to fear absorption itself, and advised her that she could absorb the Ghost Dragon Fragment as well.
After hearing all of this, Ju Jeokseo’s reaction was decidedly lukewarm.
Baeksa asked carefully.
“Uncle, why do you look like that?”
“Jangwangshin says absorption will suffice, but the Ghost Dragon is as much a plague entity as anything else. What if you absorb it wrongly and something goes amiss?”
At Ju Jeokseo’s words, a young Turtle Humanoid bristled.
“Family Head, Jangwangshin is a god! A great one who guides the young serpent on her path to becoming a dragon!”
The young child seemed offended that Ju Jeokseo dared to doubt Jangwangshin.
The tribe’s elders rushed to quiet the boy and cover his mouth, but what had been spoken could not be taken back.
“How dare you speak so disrespectfully to the Divine Lord!”
At the elder’s reproach, the child hung his head shamefully.
But Ju Jeokseo, as befitted the king of Namto, paid the matter no mind at all.
“I understand, little one. But what can I do about my worry?”
“It’s all right, Uncle.”
Baeksa lifted her head slightly to meet Ju Jeokseo’s eyes.
His face reflected in the child’s large pupils.
“Jangwangshin doesn’t lie, so I’m sure I’ll be fine. So let’s hurry back. We’ve found a solution, so we need to go at once and resolve this.”
The truth was, the young serpent did feel afraid.
Who wouldn’t? Her hair was visibly darkening before her very eyes, moment by moment.
And yet, strangely, the joy she felt was stronger than the fear.
The Dragon Tribe were beings meant to devote themselves to their country for life.
The Blessing—that extraordinary Supernatural Ability—had been granted precisely for that purpose.
But the young serpent had not been able to do so, no matter how much she wished.
No one had ever needed her Ability.
But now, knowing that she might be able to become a true dragon……
The fact that she could help someone filled her with such joy that she wanted to return to Namto at once.
It was astonishingly wonderful to know she could be of use. It felt as though a small, warm Warmth Stone had taken root in her heart.
The child smiled at Ju Jeokseo, then as if suddenly remembering something, turned her gaze to the Turtle Humanoids.
“Oh, and…… Jangwangshin asked me to tell you that he is grateful. He said he hadn’t had the chance to pass on the message.”
In fact, just before leaving the pond, Jangwangshin’s voice had reached her once more.

‘The Turtle Humanoids?’

Jangwangshin’s voice as he said this was brimming with excitement.
“Jangwangshin…… wanted to thank us?”
“Yes, and…….”
Baeksa glanced behind her.
“You can reach Baekryeonji if you go into that forest. Jangwangshin has called you there.”
“Ah, but… why us……?”
Baeksa knew exactly why he’d summoned them.
Hadn’t she just consumed all the foul energy that had plagued the pond?
Thanks to her, the pond had become transparent and clear, as if it had never been dark.
Jangwangshin likely wanted to show this Turtle Humanoid clan the transformation.
He was, after all, the guardian deity who protected this White Lotus Pond of Namto.
“Thank you for delivering the message, young dragon. We shall be on our way.”
“Yes, we should be going too. Thank you for guiding us.”
“Not at all—it was the least I could do. Should you need anything in the future, do say so. This child will come to fetch you.”
The elder gave the young child—whom he’d just scolded severely—a gentle nudge.
Baeksa looked at the boy with curious eyes and asked.
“Say, what’s your name?”
The child answered at once.
“I’m Seongyeong, miss.”
“Seongyeong, thank you for coming to fetch me. I’ll see you next time.”
Baeksa smiled brightly and waved her hand.
At that, Seongyeong’s face suddenly flushed a burning crimson.
The adults blinked at the sight.
“Huh?”
“Ah, safe travels, miss!”
Seongyeong bowed hastily and hurried off into the forest.
The Turtle Humanoid clan watched him go, then offered a final bow to Ju Jeokseo.
“Divine Lord, may you return safely. Though our clan dwells in Namto, we remain distant from its matters and cannot know all that transpires. Yet we pray that your troubles find swift resolution.”
With that farewell, the Turtle Humanoid clan filed into the forest and vanished.
And not long after——
“This… this can’t be…!”
“How did this pond…?”
From deep within the dense forest, cries of amazement erupted from the Turtle Humanoids.
***
The Vermilion Bird Family Estate.
Siyeom frowned as she studied the Spell Matrix drawn on the floor.
The Spell Matrix was glowing red.
“How strange…….”
This was an Incantation Spell meant to prevent the Ghost Dragon’s possession—a spell designed to suppress the movement of wraiths.
As it was a spell array drawn with Siyeom’s Supernatural Ability, it should have been fail-proof.
Yet the red glow meant…….
“Something’s gone wrong.”
She muttered under her breath. Siyeom drew six Bone Rods from her robes and cast them onto the Spell Matrix.
The six white rods scattered in all directions, spinning like clock hands within the spell array.
The rods aligned simultaneously to point at a single spot. Siyeom hastily examined the Spell Matrix.
Sure enough, there were signs that someone had deliberately touched and damaged it. She narrowed her eyes.
‘This wasn’t done by an ordinary person.’
It had been damaged with such cunning that it appeared unbroken at first glance.
Which meant someone skilled in Incantation Spells and versed in the Xuanwu Ability had sabotaged this Spell Matrix.
“Doeui.”
Siyeom called for Doeui as she examined the Spell Matrix. The boy emerged from behind the bookshelf.
“Yes?”
“While I was away, who entered this place?”
He squinted.
“You instructed me to let no one in, so I let no one enter. A person who came with us did step as far as the entrance, but did not come inside.”
“Someone who came with us?”
“Yes, that…….”
Siyeom’s eyes narrowed.
Siyeom’s presence at this place was strictly confidential.
She had come without the knowledge of the Family Head of the Black Tortoise Family or his successor, bringing only a single attendant with her.
That attendant’s name was Hyun Mohyun.
He had no personal ties to either the successor or the Family Head, and was instead closely bound to Siyeom.
He was someone she often took with her precisely because of his usefulness as an attendant.
And at the same time——
‘Right now, he’s the only person who could possibly tamper with this Spell Matrix……?’
She tilted her head questioningly, then placed her index finger in her mouth.
Crunch!
Her flesh and bone ground together as black blood welled up. Siyeom redrew the spell pattern over the Spell Matrix with her own blood, reinforcing it.
Her eyes, lost in thought, began to glow an eerie pale green.

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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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