When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Just as she said, no matter how much they dug, the tree's roots seemed endless.
With continued digging, both Sehwa and Youngsun grew increasingly tired.
Fortunately, the others thought she was already asleep and didn't look beyond the luggage.
Without anyone keeping watch, they would have been caught if someone had paid just a little attention to what was behind the pile of belongings.
"No way, this thin tree is really... oh!"
As Youngsun continued digging while dripping with sweat, suddenly the spiritual tree tilted to one side.
Startled, both of them rushed to grab the falling tree.
"Careful, careful."
After carefully laying the thin tree on its side, Sehwa ran her hands along the inside of the deeply dug earth and continued digging deeper.
And not long after...
"...!"
Youngsun's eyes widened at what was revealed beneath the ground.
"Young Lady, this is...!"
"Bring the chest from over there. Let's gather everything without missing a single one."
"Yes!!"
Youngsun responded while staring in amazement at the ancient spiritual orbs buried abundantly in the black soil.
Feeling like a ginseng digger, she thoroughly searched the pit and enthusiastically gathered the spiritual orbs into the chest.
As they watched the large chest fill up, expressions of joy bloomed on both Youngsun and Sehwa's faces.
"Oh, my! Why do you two look like this?"
When the group woke up early in the morning to continue their journey, they were shocked to see the Young Lady and Youngsun looking like beggars.
There had been so many spiritual orbs, they didn't even have time to fix themselves up, worried they wouldn't be able to collect them all before the others woke.
When the group withdrew to prepare water for washing, Sehwa and Youngsun just looked at each other and laughed.
All the spiritual orbs were safely stored and locked in the chest, except for the last ten they had dug up, which Sehwa and Youngsun split between them, five each.
While the others cleaned up the traces from the previous night, they washed up, changed clothes, and carefully tucked the orbs into their sleeves.
From the outpost to the Ju Clan's territory was about a two-day journey if riding horses without rest.
Since Sehwa was traveling in a palanquin and they had many belongings, their pace was slower.
Though it would take about five days at this rate, everyone's faces were bright, perhaps because they were returning home after a long time.
When one person started singing, the rest of the group joined in with smiling faces.
Listening to their singing, Sehwa touched the spiritual orbs hidden in her sleeve.
The small bead-like spiritual orbs had definitely been cold at first. However...
'How strange. Is this normal when they're taken out?'
Whether it was from her touch or from being exposed to the air, they had started to emit a subtle warmth.
'Why are they reacting like this when I haven't even used spiritual power to touch them? Don't spiritual orbs usually need to be activated with spiritual power and swallowed to have any effect? ...It's probably nothing serious?'
She couldn't pinpoint exactly what she was feeling because her own body felt strange as well.
Why was that?
'...My head hurts and I feel nauseous for some reason.'
She thought it was strange since there was no reason to feel this way.
And then at some point, Sehwa's consciousness slipped away.
BANG!
A large hand with almost no calluses slammed down on the table hard enough to break it.
"She left? Without even coming to apologize to me?"
Ju Kyunghyun, who had remained at the Ju Clan residence in the Human Realm, was so dumbfounded he nearly fell backwards.
He had exercised extraordinary patience and waited all night. He had even stayed up the entire night.
He was certain that Sehwa would come seeking his forgiveness, with tearful eyes and a reddened face, saying, "Brother, I truly wasn't in my right mind yesterday."
"How could I have spoken to you that way, Brother... I was just so afraid of going to the Baek Clan... I kept getting angry..."
'I was sure she would come to me saying such things...'
It was a level of patience he had never shown anyone before.
Yet this was the news he received in return.
"Yes, she already passed through the gate and crossed over to the Mystic Realm yesterday evening."
"Ha. That child has completely lost her mind."
How.
Even after I told her she needn't even greet me if we meet again.
How could she act this way after hearing such words?
"That Sa Clan girl, her cousin, is still in the Human Realm. Should we bring her in and hear what she has to say?"
"What is there to hear from that woman?"
"Still, you never know. Young Lady Sehwa's attitude changed so suddenly. Could Elder Myoungyoon be plotting something?"
"Enough. Drop it."
"Young Lord."
"I've considered that possibility too. But that's not it. If they were plotting something, they would have acted normal instead."
Ju Kyunghyun let out an empty sigh, conveying his complete bewilderment.
"Then has that child truly gone mad? How could her manner and behavior flip completely upside down in just a few days?"
"Anyway, you should cross over to the Mystic Realm for now. The Mystic Ruler dislikes when things go wrong. Since he ordered that Elder Myoungyun's daughter should not meet Baek Giha, you should go now."
"...Yes. I must."
'Ju Sehwa.'
Ju Kyunghyun clenched his hand with prominent knuckles tightly.
'Let's see if you truly won't regret treating me this way.'
As his trusted subordinate Cheonryeong said, since Sehwa had crossed through the gate, he too had to quickly follow after her.
Ju Kyunghyun rose with a cold expression.
Yet even as he left the Human Realm and crossed over to the Mystic Realm, his hardened expression showed no signs of softening.
Around that time, Sehwa's group was stuck on the road.
The servants, unable to do anything, waited anxiously with worried faces for someone to pass by.
It had happened when they stopped briefly for mealtime.
Though it was just a simple meal of boiled provisions, everyone's faces had brightened when the savory aroma wafted through the air.
Youngsun received the first bowl and went to deliver it to her Young Lady, gently tapping on the palanquin.
"Young Lady, it's time to eat."
But there was no response from inside.
"Young Lady? Are you sleeping?"
Puzzled, she slightly opened the palanquin door, and was so startled she nearly dropped the bowl she was holding.
"Young Lady!!"
Her Young Lady had lost consciousness and collapsed, her face flushed red.
Wondering if she had another fever, Youngsun hurriedly felt her forehead and even checked her inner body temperature by slipping her hand inside her collar, before realizing the reason.
Good heavens. It was exuviation.
After realizing this, she couldn't touch her anymore.
Exuviation was a very important process for mystic beings.
Usually, it could be completed safely under a guardian's supervision.
But now that spiritual power in the atmosphere had decreased, there were occasional cases of failed exuviation, though the probability was low.
It happened when there was external interference or some problem during the process, which could result in physical damage or, in severe cases, loss of life.
So it was natural for Youngsun to panic upon seeing Sehwa suddenly begin exuviation.
Moreover, exuviation usually showed early symptoms at least a week to two weeks in advance, giving time to find a guardian...
'How could she suddenly start exuviation, without any warning signs...'
Meanwhile, Sehwa's completely limp body was becoming drenched in cold sweat.
Youngsun's gaze wavered anxiously at her pale complexion and painful groans.
'What should I do.'
Usually, only someone with higher spiritual power than the person undergoing exuviation could help.
Not knowing her Young Lady's true spiritual power level, she couldn't rashly step in as a guardian.
All she could do was quickly send one of their party back to the territory to bring Elder Myoungyun...
As Sehwa began to writhe in increasingly severe pain, Youngsun's heart burned with worry watching her.
The servants who had assessed the situation also stood around restlessly guarding them for quite some time.
Then someone with worried eyes brightened and shouted.
"Someone's coming!"
The sound of spirited hoofbeats began to be heard in the distance, along with cloudy dust.
"Oh my goodness!"
A young maid with good eyesight quickly identified the owner of those sounds.
"Young Lord! Sister Youngsun! It's the Young Lord! The Young Lord is coming!"
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