When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 106
Chapter 106
The warriors sent a short bird call signal before bringing Seowol into the camp.
Once they received a response, they entered the camp with her.
As she was being dragged along, Seowol observed the situation within the camp with her peripheral vision.
Delicious smells wafted from a cauldron filled with soup.
Numerous tents were neatly arranged in two separate areas.
One area was visibly bustling.
Many tents already had lights on, and people were constantly coming and going.
But the other area was different.
The warriors guarding the tent entrances didn’t go inside, and markers of different colors hung from the entrances as if indicating something.
‘What’s that? Is there something important inside?’
Seowol was pondering the tents, from which she couldn't even sense a presence, when…
The Baek Clan warriors took her to that area, opened the flap of one tent, and threw her inside. It was the tent with a small, red, mouse-shaped marker.
As Seowol had suspected, the inside of the tent was empty, with no belongings whatsoever.
Even the grass on the floor had been completely pulled out, revealing the bare earth in the shape of the tent.
‘…’
Something felt off, but she was somewhat relieved by the warrior’s following words.
“We’ll give you dinner, but we can’t bring your portion first. You’ll have to wait until our group finishes eating, so stay here.”
As one of the warriors spoke, another asked, “Where’s the Chancellor? We need him to verify this child, don’t we?”
“I’ll go get him, so you guard the entrance here.”
“Alright. Be right back.”
Seowol knelt on the soft, bare earth, her head bowed, and remained silent.
It was her specialty to glean information by repeatedly asking cautious questions with a pitiful expression.
But she didn’t even use that now. Considering this was her last chance, she intended to move with extreme caution.
Her stomach rumbled continuously. She hadn't eaten anything all day while chasing after them, and her acupuncture points were stimulated by the needles.
The warrior standing guard seemed bothered by the sound, clicking his tongue and saying to Seowol, “Stay here. If you do, I’ll bring you some food now.”
There was no harm in continuing to evoke sympathy.
Seowol raised her tear-soaked face and asked pitifully, “R-Really?”
“Yes. But there’s something I need to tell you first.”
“What is it?”
“The Chancellor will be here soon to examine your spiritual power. He’ll probably ask you a few questions, and you absolutely must not lie. He’s close to being a Divine Beast in terms of spiritual power, so you won’t be able to deceive him even if you try.”
“Gasp. Does the Chancellor have that much spiritual power?”
“You know that Clan Head Baek is a Divine Beast, right? He’s creating another Divine Beast to strengthen the Baek Clan. Since he’s constantly receiving spiritual power, the Chancellor will soon become a Divine Beast as well.”
“......”
“Anyway, answer his questions truthfully and stay put, and we’ll take you with us when we cross the Central River tomorrow. Understand?”
Seowol desperately nodded, like a drowning person clutching at a lifeline.
“Yes. Of course. I will.”
“Good. I’ll go get your food, so wait here without moving.”
As soon as the warrior left the tent, Seowol’s expression grew serious.
‘The Baek Clan Chancellor’s spiritual power is that strong?’
Was he trying to scare her into telling the truth, or was it real?
But the warrior’s demeanor seemed as if he were stating the obvious, not telling a lie.
‘Damn it. I only extracted half of my spiritual power, thinking Baek Giha wouldn’t examine me personally. What should I do about the Baek Clan Chancellor’s inspection? If he’s really close to being a Divine Beast, he might find out.’
Seowol gritted her teeth once more.
After dislocating her joints to free herself from the ropes, she extracted half of her remaining spiritual power and formed it into a Spirit Orb.
‘This much should be enough.’
It wasn’t enough to damage her Core, but it was extremely unsettling.
If there had been any other way to escape, she wouldn’t have resorted to this method.
But the fact that they showed no signs of suspicion towards her, combined with the thought that this was her last chance, pushed her forward.
Even if her Core was damaged, as long as she could switch bodies, it would be fine.
Consoling herself with those words, Seowol tightly wrapped the extracted Spirit Orb around her stomach with cloth.
Then she lowered her body as if she hadn't moved an inch and waited.
Just then, she heard voices from outside.
“What? The Clan Head is coming here himself? Is that necessary for just a child?”
‘!!’
“It seems the Chancellor is doing something. It’s a simple inspection that won't take long, so he probably wants to get it over with quickly.”
‘What?!’
Seowol’s face paled as she heard those words from inside the tent.
With this much spiritual power extracted, she might be able to fool the Baek Clan Chancellor, but it was impossible to escape the senses of a Divine Beast.
‘The Clan Head is coming for something like this? What kind of Clan Head personally inspects an insignificant child like this?’
Swallowing her curse, Seowol observed the shadows of the warriors at the entrance and quickly untied the ropes again.
She didn’t have much spiritual power left, but she divided the remaining power in half and formed it into another Spirit Orb.
She shoved it inside the cloth wrapped around her stomach and then tied the loose ropes around herself again.
With the Spirit Orb now divided into three, she was extremely anxious.
Since she had worked hastily, not knowing when someone might enter, she hadn’t been able to reabsorb and re-extract them properly.
If she had known this would happen, she would have extracted this much all at once from the beginning.
She wanted to re-extract it, but the shadows of the warriors lingered at the entrance as if they were about to come in at any moment, so she couldn’t risk it.
However, quite some time passed before the warrior actually returned.
The warrior who had gone to fetch food returned not with food, but with a set of clothes for Seowol.
“Change into these.”
“…What?”
“You need to look like one of us when we cross the Central River tomorrow. Those clothes will definitely catch the attention of the outpost soldiers, so change into these now.”
“Now? C-Can’t I change later? You said you would bring me food, so can’t I change after I eat?”
“No. You have to change now. I was going to bring you dinner, but the Clan Head said he wants to see you first. Are you a girl, by any chance?”
“What? …Yes.”
“Then I’ll turn around, so change while I’m not looking.”
“B-But…”
“Don’t try to negotiate. Don’t you realize we’re already showing you a lot of leniency by not handing you over to the outpost soldiers?”
“…O-Okay.”
However, Seowol noticed that the clothes they had given her were so small that the shape of the Spirit Orbs tied around her stomach would be visible if she wore them.
‘Damn it. How am I supposed to wear these? They’re obviously too small. Are they all blind?’
“Um, the clothes… the clothes are too small, so could I perhaps have something a little bigger—?”
“This is all we have, so just wear it. You only have to wear it tonight.”
“…But still…”
“You’re still not desperate enough, I see. Should I just hand you over to the outpost soldiers as you are?”
“......”
‘I thought everything was going according to plan until I infiltrated… but now things keep going wrong.’
‘Did I expect the Baek Clan Head to personally handle something like this? What kind of Clan Head inspects an insignificant child like this himself?’
She was frustrated, but there was nothing she could do for now.
She wished the warrior would leave the tent, but his resolute back showed no such intention.
Having created three Spirit Orbs, she was extremely worried.
She couldn’t hide them inside her body since the clothes were too small and anything she tried to conceal would be immediately visible. And she couldn't leave them here either.
‘Should I just escape for now and try again later? …But what if that makes them even more vigilant? What if the Consort changes her mind in the meantime?’
If she had known this would happen, she would have come up with a different plan, but there was nothing she could do now that she had come this far.
In the end, Seowol had no choice but to untie the Spirit Orbs from her stomach.
She wished there was somewhere to hide them inside the tent, but there was nothing, so she had no choice but to use the bare earth, from which even the grass had been pulled.
Fortunately, the color of the soil varied in different places due to the pulled-out grass, and there were many marks where something had been dug up, so it seemed like she could hide something here without being easily discovered.
‘It’s okay. I checked the marker earlier. It was a red mouse, right? I can find this place again. It doesn’t seem like they use this tent anyway.’
To conceal the fact that she was digging, Seowol hurriedly changed her clothes while scraping at the dirt with her toes.
She hesitated once more before dropping the Spirit Orbs into the hole.
She even considered opening the wounds on her arms and stuffing the largest Spirit Orb inside, but that would be too obvious.
She couldn’t give them any reason for suspicion after having endured so much.
In the end, she had no choice but to drop the three small Spirit Orbs into the hand-span deep hole and then firmly pack the soil on top, stamping it down with her feet.
“I’ve finished changing.”
As soon as Seowol spoke, the warrior who had been turned around let out a long breath, as if he had been tense.
He called out, “She’s finished changing!” and someone opened the entrance and came inside.
It was Youngsun.
‘!’
“Now follow me. I’ll take you to the Clan Head.”
Seowol quickly lowered her head, worried that Youngsun might recognize her disfigured face. But Youngsun’s voice was gentle.
‘I’m meeting her face-to-face right away. What should I do? I’m worried about leaving the Spirit Orbs. Should I just take this bitch and run?’
In that brief moment, Seowol considered many possibilities, but ultimately, she obediently lowered her head.
There was a Divine Beast here.
She couldn't cause a commotion, so if she wasn't discovered by Youngsun, it would be better to make her move late at night, when they let their guard down.
Seowol, wearing clothes that revealed the shape of her body, followed behind Youngsun.
She glanced back several times to confirm the marker on the tent she had come from.
“He’s in this tent. Go in.”
Youngsun gestured, leading Seowol to a nearby tent.
‘Alright. If I can just get through this, they'll lower their guard, and then I'll be set.’
Swallowing nervously, Seowol carefully opened the entrance of the tent, which was much larger than the others.
There was no one inside.
“!!”
The moment Seowol was about to run without looking back, something pierced her shoulder.
Thud!!
A sharp ripping sound accompanied the sensation of a blade piercing her shoulder, and her wrist was severed from her body.
“Aaaargh!!”
Seowol writhed in excruciating pain.
Youngsun was smiling, her teeth gritted.
“Did you think we wouldn’t recognize you?”
Instead of counterattacking, Seowol immediately turned around.
Of course, she wanted to tear that bitch apart, but it was too dangerous here.
However, the moment she turned around, she couldn't help but feel momentarily devastated.
All the markers that had been on the tents were gone.
She remembered which tent she had been in based on its position from the camp entrance, but there was no way she could count them now.
“You think you can escape?!”
Youngsun lunged again.
Barely dodging her blade, Seowol started running again.
She couldn’t retrieve the Spirit Orbs now. She had to escape first and plan her next move.
“I won’t let you get away! I won’t…”
But where should she go?
As if sensing something amiss, the Baek Clan warriors were all rushing out, swords drawn.
Seowol’s frantic gaze swept over the camp, and spotting the tent where the attendants were gathered, she ran towards it.
Kicking over the cauldron and knocking things over, she barely managed to escape into the forest.
“Gasp… gasp…”
By then, her body was completely wrecked. It was a miracle that she had made it this far with almost no spiritual power left.
If she hadn’t been so skilled, she wouldn’t have even made it this far.
It was then.
“I know the traits of trash like you well.”
“!”
Seowol reflexively turned towards the source of the sound.
Someone was standing there, looking at her, in the middle of the moonlit plain.
“One of them is that you’re more tenacious than insects.”
Sehwa slowly raised her hand and put something in her mouth.
“!! You!!”
It was her Spirit Orb.
The Spirit Orb, which she had planned to retrieve after they left by searching the entire area, was in that bitch’s hand.
Sehwa smiled, looking at Seowol’s distorted face.
Did she say she was sad about leaving the Ju Clan territory?
No. She had been waiting for this piece of trash, who had targeted her sisters.
She hadn't known whether this woman would come even if she stayed here for a day.
But Sehwa had a feeling that she would definitely come.
So she had orchestrated this to take all of Seowol’s remaining spiritual power. Spirit Orbs couldn't be extracted unless the owner released them willingly.
“Your spiritual power will be the foundation for righteous and good deeds.”
Sehwa picked up the bow she had placed beside her, drew the string, and smiled gently.
“So don’t feel too bad, and just die.”
She released the string.
Twang!!
Whoosh—!
An unavoidable, spiritual power-infused arrow flew straight towards the space between Seowol's eyebrows.
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