The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 87

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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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It was exactly when the Soul Flame was wandering aimlessly.
Out of nowhere, a white bird swept down and gently took the flame into its beak.
Then, after casting a brief glance at Mo Hyun’s corpse, it flew back the way it had come.
***
The lightning stopped.
Baeksa’s Cintamani recovered its tranquility once more.
And in that single heartbeat, the child felt her mind grow astonishingly calm.
She had been utterly furious just moments ago, but that volatile emotion was completely gone, replaced by a profound stillness.
It was as though a crashing wave had suddenly flattened out into a glassy surface—as if the very root of her anger had vanished.
And right at that moment.
Flutter.
The white bird returned outside the window, carrying a small, spark-like ember in its beak.
It then alighted softly and placed the flame right upon Baeksa’s palm.
“What is this…?”
As the child peered carefully at the spark, she could hear a tiny, faint heartbeat pulsing from deep within it.
Siyeom gasped in awe.
“It’s a soul…! Your bird found it!”
“This child’s soul…?”
Baeksa leaned in close, tilting her ear to catch the rhythm of the heartbeat.
Je-ryu’s steady pulse, paired with what sounded like a baby’s gurgling laughter, echoed endlessly from within the flame.
Mercifully, she could detect no traces of terror or fright clinging to the spark.
‘Ah, maybe she’s too young to understand what was happening.’
Perhaps Je-ryu’s soul simply thought she had gone out to play for a little while.
Just like the soul of that young dragon.
It was a relief, if anything.
“Y-You mean that’s my baby’s soul? Is that really true?”
Ha Seolyeong’s Husband, who had been watching the entire ordeal without daring to breathe, asked in a trembling voice.
Baeksa gave a slow nod.
“Please wait just a moment.”
The child did not particularly care to know how the soul had managed to find its way back to her.
She merely felt that what was meant to return had simply come home.
It was strange, really. Normally, she would have been intensely curious about the exact circumstances behind its safe retrieval.
But today, her sudden rage and the subsequent return of the soul felt like a perfectly natural, seamless sequence of events.
“I’ll send you back right away,” Baeksa whispered.
Another bright chuckle rippled from inside the flame.
Closing her eyes gently, the child channeled her Abnormal Ability.
The moment she guided the soul back to its rightful place, the sound of a heartbeat began to echo from Je-ryu’s body in two distinct cadences.
The ghost’s heartbeat and Je-ryu’s heartbeat.
Only now were the two pulsing in perfect tandem. It was all thanks to the return of the soul that the thief had stolen away.
“Gently…”
The child carefully coaxed the young dragon’s ghost out of Je-ryu’s body.
As if the wraith itself had no idea what it had been doing, it followed Baeksa’s touch and slipped out with absolute ease.
There was no rejection, no resistance whatsoever.
Both were far too young and fragile as souls to harbor any such malice.
“It’s alright, there’s nothing to fear.”
Just close your eyes and open them again, and everything will be resolved.
With that soft murmur, the young dragon’s soul dissolved into a golden light.
The Killing Karma and Contamination were completely purged away, leaving behind only the cleanest, purest soul of a Yellow Dragon.
Though the spirit was significantly smaller than the ones Baeksa had witnessed in the Warehouse, it burned far brighter than any of them.
It was an exceptionally radiant, unblemished soul.
It shone so beautifully that one might wonder if it could be entered into the Celestial Registry.
Viewed through her awakened Dragon Eyes, the sight was even more striking.
The golden light could not bring itself to leave immediately, lingering instead around the young dragon.
It behaved exactly like a toddler loath to part ways with a friend they had just met.
Yet, it had to be sent onward. Baeksa’s instincts whispered that this was the proper way.
“Goodbye.”
The baby dragon seemed to offer a faint smile.
“Next time, make sure to be born in a place where it doesn’t hurt.”
With those final words, the golden flame scattered into the air, vanishing like a drift of glittering pollen.
Concurrently, the heartbeats echoing from within Je-ryu’s frame merged into a single rhythm.
Je-ryu’s own.
The original heartbeat that had been stolen away.
That lone pulse thudded strongly now.
As everything drew to a close, the incantation characters wrapped around Siyeom’s wrist began to fade away piece by piece.
The Spell Matrix was finally complete.
Color flooded back into Je-ryu’s face, and the child’s limbs twitched slightly in her sleep.
It was the natural process of a soul settling back into its proper place.
“It’s truly all over now,” Siyeom murmured.
The sudden release of tension caused Ha Seolyeong to collapse heavily into her seat.
Her husband burst into tears, wrapping his arms around his children. Neither parent had spoken a word, but their hearts must have been torn to shreds throughout the ordeal.
What parent in the world could remain composed when their own child’s soul had been stolen?
Had they failed to recover this soul, Ha Seolyeong would have spent the rest of her days drowning in bitter regret for opening the gates to Mo Hyun.
Now that the crisis had passed, exhaustion hit the baby dragon all at once as her own tension dissipated.
When she began to sway precariously from the overwhelming drowsiness, Hanya stepped forward nimbly and scooped Baeksa up into his arms.
“Hanya…”
Blinking away the heavy sleep, Baeksa looked up at Hanya.
She had so many things she wanted to say, so many questions she wanted to ask, but a fierce drowsiness washed over her, refusing to grant her the chance.
As if understanding everything perfectly, Hanya cradled Baeksa close and pressed a tender kiss to her rounded forehead.
“You did wonderfully, Baeksa. You worked so hard. You can rest now.”
Really? Is it truly all over?
Then will the suffering Beast-kin finally be free from their pain?
The agonized screams of the Beast-kin she had heard while walking the streets still remained wedged in the child’s heart like a painful thorn.
However, she was far too depleted to even muster the strength to ask.
Never in her life had she felt this utterly drained. It felt as though if she closed her eyes now, she might sleep for an entire week without waking.
Cradled in Hanya’s embrace, Baeksa gave a tiny nod and let her eyelids fall shut.
“Then… I’ll just rest for a little bit…”
It didn’t feel like falling asleep; it felt as though she were being violently pulled down into a deep abyss.
It was a sensation akin to being entirely swallowed up and submerged by sheer exhaustion.
Lacking any power to resist such a force, the child drifted into a peaceful, rhythmic slumber within seconds.
In that brief instant, the number of sleeping children in the room grew from two to three.
***
“Father, Baeksa has fallen asleep.”
“She is always fatigued after utilizing her Abnormal Ability. Considering she pushed her powers to their absolute limits today, it is only natural she would be this exhausted.”
Ju Jeokseo calmly slipped off his outer coat and draped it over Baeksa as she lay cradled in Hanya’s arms.
After weeping silently for a long time, Ha Seolyeong finally noticed Ju Jeokseo’s presence and bowed deeply to him.
“Divine Lord, you have saved our child. I do not know how we can ever begin to repay this immense grace.”
“I am not the one who saved her; this child did,” Ju Jeokseo replied.
“As the Divine Lord of Namto, it is my bounden duty to protect you all. Had I been the savior, you would owe me no gratitude whatsoever. But this child is different.”
He shifted his gaze, looking over the sleeping sisters, Je-ui and Je-ryu, before letting his eyes settle on Baeksa.
“This child’s efforts and her selfless sacrifice are by no means something to be taken for granted. Therefore, when she awakens later, ensure that your gratitude is directed to her.”
“We will! Thank you so very much!”
The couple bowed once more. Leaving them with a quiet injunction to tend to the children carefully, Ju Jeokseo stepped out of the room.
Siyeom lingered for a moment to inspect Je-ryu and Je-ui’s condition one final time, advising the parents to nurse them with care since the girls would remain vulnerable to Contamination for the time being.
By the time they finally exited the Ha Clan Vermilion Bird Family Estate, darkness had already blanketed the sky.
Having followed Ju Jeokseo out a moment later, Siyeom inquired, “That lightning bolt from earlier… It was the dragon’s Heavenly Punishment, wasn’t it?”
“It appears so.”
A bolt of lightning striking from a clear blue sky to judge a sinner—a Heavenly Punishment.
As things stood, that was a feat only the Emperor could execute. Furthermore, even the Emperor seemed bound by restrictions, unable to wield it at a mere whim.
It could only be invoked against those whom the heavens themselves deemed indisputably guilty of a heinous crime.
Yet, a mere seven-year-old child had somehow manifested that very power.
“If we search the area where the lightning struck, there is a high probability we will find Mo Hyun’s corpse.”
Ju Jeokseo delivered his orders to Jo Yeong, who had been waiting outside.
“Take the soldiers and retrieve the body if it is there…”
“And if there is no corpse?”
“That is highly unlikely, but should that be the case, track him down, turn him into a corpse, and bring him back. Consider it the price for daring to threaten a child more precious than a thousand pieces of gold.”

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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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