TLSVB 20

Chapter 20

Splash!

Doui plunged his hand into the pond and pulled something out.

It was a small, grotesque-looking ghost. It even resembled a snake.

Keeeek!

The black snake-like creature writhed in Doui’s grasp.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

However, when the boy tightened his grip, the snake ghost could not escape and continued struggling.

“Ah, Family Head, look at that. It’s a snake ghost!”

Baeksa cried out softly.

A black snake.

For some reason, it reminded her of the time she herself had become stained black.

Baeksa flinched, and Hwayeong hurriedly wrapped her small body in her arms.

“Get rid of it already! You’re scaring the child!”

“Alright, just a moment…”

As Doui prepared to eliminate the ghost, the snake ghost suddenly struggled harder.

“It’s getting away!”

In an instant, it slipped free from Doui’s hand and slithered across the grass.

“Hurry and catch it!”

Hwayeong shouted.

But then, suddenly, the ghost’s movements stopped.

The creature halted in one corner of the lawn and began circling around as though searching for something.

It was the exact spot from the previous night.

Baeksa’s and Doui’s eyes widened at the same time.

“That thing couldn’t possibly…”

“Huh…?”

At their reactions, Ju Jeokseo and Hwayeong both turned to look at Baeksa.

Hwayeong tilted her head.

“Why?”

Baeksa answered carefully.

“That’s where I dropped my pouch last night.”

“A pouch?”

“Ah, this one.”

Baeksa took out a scarlet pouch from inside her clothes and held it out.

“Sirang gave it to me as a gift. So I wouldn’t lose my scales.”

Inside the pouch Sirang had worked so hard to make the previous day was one of Baeksa’s tiny scales.

Receiving the pouch from Baeksa, Ju Jeokseo looked toward the ghost snake.

Sssrrrt.

The ghost snake raised its head and began frantically crawling toward Ju Jeokseo.

He took Baeksa’s small scale out of the pouch.

“Now I understand. This is what it was after.”

“Does it want the scale…?”

Did it want her scale?

Yet somehow, Baeksa felt that she absolutely should not give the scale to that snake.

As expected, Doui let out a sigh.

“Whatever it wants, it doesn’t seem to want it for any good reason. Look at it.”

Doui pointed at the ghost snake.

The creature was baring its fangs and flicking its tongue aggressively while glaring at Ju Jeokseo and Baeksa.

Dark ghostly energy billowed around it.

“It’s a wandering evil spirit. Even if you give it what it wants, it won’t disappear, and there’s nothing good about keeping it around. I’ll deal with it.”

“Do so.”

As soon as Ju Jeokseo gave the order, Doui pulled a wooden plaque from inside his robes.

The plaque was made of black ebony, glossy and lustrous. At a glance, it appeared to be quite valuable.

As the boy chanted an incantation, the ghost snake was instantly sucked into the plaque.

Saaah.

However, Baeksa never saw the ghost being absorbed.

Just before it disappeared into the plaque, Hwayeong had covered her eyes at exactly the right moment.

“Whew, that was close. A baby doesn’t need to see things like that.”

Hwayeong removed her hands from Baeksa’s eyes and grinned.

“That plaque…”

“It’s Doui’s weapon. Some call it a Ghost Treasure. It can imprison ghosts inside. He can also summon them.”

“If it’s an ability that seals ghosts, could it perhaps be the ability of the Black Tortoise?”

“We’ve guessed that Doui comes from a branch family of the Black Tortoise lineage.”

Hwayeong shrugged as she answered.

Doui silently nodded in agreement.

“Anyway, with him around, you won’t have to worry about more ghosts appearing.”

As she spoke, Hwayeong stretched Baeksa’s soft cheek.

Then, apparently fascinated by the sensation, she began kneading both cheeks like rice cakes.

“Wow, they’re so squishy! Look at this! They feel just like rice cakes!”

“Th-thank you…!”

“Hwayeong! Stop teasing her.”

“But look at her! She’s so cute and soft. Say, could you show me your snake form sometime? I bet it would be adorable.”

“If you wish…”

Baeksa answered earnestly despite having her cheeks squished.

Her pronunciation came out a little distorted because of Hwayeong’s grip, but it did not hurt at all.

Hwayeong was being very careful not to hurt her.

Watching the scene, Ju Jeokseo shook his head.

“Stop bothering the child, Hwayeong. And Baeksa, here is your pouch back. If you keep it safe—”

At that moment—

Pop.

Baeksa’s white scale suddenly slipped out of the scarlet silk pouch.

Everyone—Doui, Hwayeong, Ju Jeokseo, and Baeksa—stared in shock as the scale moved on its own.

Fluttering like a tiny butterfly, it flew through the air and then dove straight into the pond where the ghost had appeared.

Plop!

“Ah, my scale!”

Baeksa hurried to the pond’s edge, but the white scale had already vanished beneath the dark water.

What in the world was happening?

Confused, she gently dipped her fingertips into the pond.

At that moment—

Saaat.

The scale suddenly rose back to the surface.

Then it began changing shape.

Starting as a tiny seed, it grew broad leaves, then a sturdy stem, and finally formed a delicate flower bud.

“Uh…?”

It was a beautiful white lotus.

But before anyone could fully process their surprise, something even more astonishing happened.

Saaaaaah.

The little lotus began absorbing the black energy within the pond.

The white lotus voraciously devoured the corruption filling the water, and soon its petals turned black.

Yet that was not the end.

“The pond water… it’s become clear.”

Baeksa placed a hand on the ground and peered into the pond.

As the lotus absorbed the corrupted energy, the water became crystal clear, allowing them to see all the way to the bottom.

Stunned by the sudden transformation, Baeksa looked up.

“Family Head, my scale…”

Her voice was still full of bewilderment.

“Look. It turned into a lotus…!”

A small white lotus.

Baeksa reached out and lightly tapped one of the lotus leaves.

The flower, which seemed as though it had grown from countless tiny scales gathered together, trembled when her hand touched it.

Tap.

Then it dropped a small bead into her palm.

Baeksa blinked and stared at the black bead resting in her hand.

It was tiny and round, no bigger than a pearl.

Much smaller than the bead she had seen before her death.

Yet for some reason, she felt that this bead and that bead were one and the same.

It was certain.

Far smaller and much less impressive.

It did not float in the air as the other one had.

Nor did it shine with a dark radiance.

But still—

It was definitely that bead.

Recognizing her friend, a faint light shimmered in Baeksa’s eyes.

Ju Jeokseo shook his head.

‘This is impossible.’

The white lotus that had grown from Baeksa’s scale.

The petals that had absorbed corruption and turned black.

Ju Jeokseo had seen all of this before.

Not with his own eyes, but in an ancient book.

A book that compiled the legends of the Southern Lands.

According to legend, long ago there had been a place in the Southern Lands called Baekryeonji, the White Lotus Pond.

Ten thousand white lotuses bloomed upon its vast waters.

Anyone who dipped their feet into the pond would forget all their sorrows, and every illness would be healed.

However, it was impossible for white lotuses to bloom in the Southern Lands.

The land and waters had become tainted by black corruption.

Even in the few places that remained unpolluted, white lotuses never bloomed.

The legendary white lotus was a flower that could only bloom in the purest of places.

It was only natural that it could no longer grow in a corrupted land.

And yet—

‘Though it turned black almost immediately.’

Such a pure white lotus?

And furthermore—

Ju Jeokseo approached the pond in a daze and scooped up some water.

Clear, transparent water pooled in his hands.

“Father…”

“Family Head, this…”

They were not mistaken.

The water had truly been purified completely.