Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: The Purified Pond
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He had entered as instructed, but the situation was awkward. Wi Seongcheon flinched unnecessarily, glancing at the White Heat Witch.
The White Heat Witch, seated directly across from him, paid him no mind. She had brought him straight to the room and now lounged half-reclined on a plush chair covered with a thick rug.
She then pulled over some nearby bottles of liquor and began drinking alone.
Wi Seongcheon stole glances at her. She had led him to the room, sat him down, and done nothing else.
She neither offered him liquor nor tea. It seemed as though she was the only soul in this vast Blood Palace.
"Why do you keep peeking like that?"
The White Heat Witch, who had been blowing across the mouth of her bottle, looked at him with languid eyes. She wiped the corner of her mouth and shook the bottle.
"What, does it pain you to see me drink alone?"
"Shall I join you?"
At his tentative question, the White Heat Witch snorted. She drained the remaining liquor in the bottle in one gulp and set it down.
"You're not here just to drink with me."
"Well... you're right."
"Don't mind me. Do as you please."
"Pardon?"
"You're here to search for something, aren't you?"
Wi Seongcheon's face stiffened at her abrupt words. It wasn't just his expression that froze. His mind rang as if struck on the back of the head with a hammer.
"...How did you...?"
"You stared at the Blood Palace without a shred of fear, yet you thought I wouldn't notice? If you were going to lie, you should've come up with something more believable."
A new bottle was uncorked, and the sharp scent of strong liquor filled the air. The White Heat Witch narrowed her eyes, savoring the aroma.
"I'm curious what you're looking for, but I won't pry since you haven't found it yet."
"...Really?"
"I hate chatting when I'm drinking."
At her quiet warning, Wi Seongcheon shot to his feet. He still couldn't grasp her true intentions, but he couldn't refuse the opportunity she'd so kindly laid out.
Wi Seongcheon averted his gaze, left the drinking White Heat Witch alone, and exited the room.
The sun had already set. For such a sprawling compound, the Blood Palace had few lanterns, leaving the surroundings dim and shadowy. The dusty, worn wooden floors creaked if stepped on carelessly.
It was certain. No one else lived in the Blood Palace besides the White Heat Witch. That's why it was left in such disrepair. Even Baek Rihyang's estate had employed quite a few servants, so it felt odd that the home of one of the Ten Heroes lacked even a single attendant.
This wasn't the time to dwell on it. Wi Seongcheon whipped his head around, surveying the Blood Palace. He stepped off the floorboards and crossed a weed-choked garden.
"...Ugh."
It was far from ideal. Wi Seongcheon grimaced and lowered his gaze.
A completely untended pond. Corpses and bones of fish—who knew when they'd died—floated there. An unmistakable stench wafted up as well.
Here.
Wi Seongcheon smoothed his crumpled expression. No doubt about it. The heart of the Blood Palace. Beneath that murky dead pond. He picked up a nearby stone and tossed it gently into the water.
The water was so filthy he couldn't see how deep it sank. A faint *plop* reached his ears as the stone slowly settled on the bottom.
"Ah, damn it."
His carefully composed face crumpled again.
"I hate this kind of thing."
Dedicating himself to training for days without bathing was one thing; diving headfirst into filth was another mindset entirely. Wi Seongcheon grumbled as he glanced back.
The door to the White Heat Witch's room was firmly shut. Confirming that, he quickly stripped off his clothes.
It was night, but not cold at all. Being on a southern island, it was stiflingly humid. Should he count that as a blessing?
Trying to console himself, he extended a foot toward the pond. Blessing, my ass. The weather was hot, and the untended pond's water was equally lukewarm and sticky.
*I don't want to go in...*
His heart protested, but.
Wi Seongcheon held his breath and waded into the pond.
He hadn't taken a few steps when the ground gave way beneath him, sucking his body down under the pond.
The tepid water clung stickily to his skin. It felt nothing like diving into the sea. More like being pulled into a swamp.
He didn't want to open his eyes, but he had no choice. Keeping them shut meant seeing nothing. To spot anything, he had to open them. Wi Seongcheon forced his eyes open.
The pond was far deeper than he could have imagined from outside. He circulated his internal energy to add weight to his body. His descent accelerated.
His ears rang and clogged, his meridians throbbed. He didn't resist the squeezing current. The endless fall eventually ended. The pond was deep, but not as vast as the ocean.
Wi Seongcheon opened his senses wide. The bottom beneath his feet was firmer than expected, not as soft as he'd thought. He righted himself and looked around.
Regret came immediately. The pond floor was littered with things he had no desire to see. Whose remains were they? Wi Seongcheon averted his eyes from the scattered skeletons. There were more than one or two, stripped clean of flesh.
*Old ones.*
Wi Seongcheon walked along the pond floor. Deep but not wide, he soon found what he sought.
Perhaps too much time had passed.
It was badly damaged. But its shape was still recognizable. Wi Seongcheon stood frozen, staring at it.
Centuries ago. The stele erected by Anannai, the Divine Maiden, the Sea Dragon, and their like-minded comrades. Wi Seongcheon resumed his steps.
The inscriptions carved into that ancient stele had faded with time, barely visible—or not just that.
*Someone smashed it.*
Time alone hadn't toppled it. Few characters remained legible. Heaven's Mandate Lies with Man. Severing Heaven's Principle.
*'Heaven's will resides in humanity, severing heaven's principle.'*
The rest was too damaged to make out. Wi Seongcheon slowly reached out and touched the stele. In that instant, light exploded in his mind.
He felt Anannai's lingering memories fully dissipate. At the same time, a nauseating repulsion surged intensely.
Wi Seongcheon exhaled bubbling breath and clutched his dantian with both hands. Unlike the marrow cleansing in the sea, a searing agony stabbed his dantian.
But the pain didn't last. The sharp knife-like torment subsided quickly, leaving a comfortable ease as if it had never happened.
Rumble!
The stele touching his hand crumbled away. Wi Seongcheon glanced at it briefly, then began ascending. His breath was starting to falter.
"Puha!"
The descent had taken ages, but the ascent was swift. Wi Seongcheon spat out the foul, slimy water that had entered his nose and mouth as he emerged from the pond. He couldn't do anything about the stench, but he kindled heat in his body to dry his soaked form. Then.
Splash!
His freshly dried body was drenched again. Wi Seongcheon, looking like a drowned rat, blinked. As he brushed back his sodden bangs and turned his head.
Splash!
Water poured over him again.
"...What are you doing?"
"You stink."
The White Heat Witch spat that out and picked up the next jar. It too was filled to the brim with water.
"Wait a—"
He couldn't finish. Wi Seongcheon meekly shut his mouth and closed his eyes.
The White Heat Witch stopped dousing him only after the six jars at her feet were emptied.
"...I can wash myself."
"Here."
He grumbled in protest, but she merely tossed him the soap pouch in her hand. Cracking it open revealed a thick fragrance assaulting his nose. Wi Seongcheon obediently sprinkled some on his palm and patted it over his body.
"Get dressed."
"Yes..."
The clothes he'd shed before entering the pond were in the White Heat Witch's hands. Wi Seongcheon politely extended his hands to receive them.
Turning his back slightly to dress, he tried to ignore the burning embarrassment on his face.
"...Why are you out here?"
"I finished my drinks."
"Already?"
"I didn't plan to drink much. So. What did you see down there?"
"Skeletons. Lots of them."
"I was hoping you'd end up the same."
The White Heat Witch sneered. Wi Seongcheon blinked and turned to look at her.
"Those without qualification throw themselves in and wind up like that."
"What do you...?"
"A curse."
The corner of the White Heat Witch's mouth twitched upward.
"Something like that. The bones you saw are just a fraction. I've never gone in myself, but those who got sucked under could fill the pond and then some."
For that, there were few skeletons on the bottom. Had the bones dissolved over endless years? Or poison? Wi Seongcheon made a puzzled face.
The water had been foul-smelling and sticky, but not poisonous enough to warrant that.
"But that curse is broken now."
The White Heat Witch pointed at the pond. Wi Seongcheon turned as she indicated and couldn't help but be startled.
The pond water, which had reeked moments ago and shimmered with sickly hues, had become clear and pure as if purified by some miracle.
"That means you're the Apostle foretold in the doctrine."
"...Pardon?"
"For me, that's extremely, extremely troubling."
The White Heat Witch's eyes narrowed. Wi Seongcheon couldn't comprehend her sudden rambling.
But he had no chance to ask. Before his questions could form into words.
Wi Seongcheon's hair stood on end. A ferocious killing intent crashed over him in an instant.
It was unrefined, mad killing intent, blatant and vicious. Wi Seongcheon instinctively leaped back several paces.
The source was the White Heat Witch. Despite unleashing this maniacal aura, her expression didn't change.
Her eyes still held that pleasant drunken haze. Her slightly furrowed brows showed only mild irritation, nothing more.
"...What's this all of a sudden?"
Only killing intent approached. The White Heat Witch stood in place. Wi Seongcheon couldn't grasp the context.
In truth, it wasn't just now. Her actions had made no sense from the start.
But this killing intent felt too abrupt.
"Did I do something wrong...?"
"No mistakes on your part. I let you into the Blood Palace. I permitted your search."
"Then why?"
"Because you found it."
The White Heat Witch slowly raised her hand. Wi Seongcheon retreated further. Her long, beautiful fingers gripped the wide sleeve and rolled it up.
Her exposed forearm gleamed with pure white light. Wi Seongcheon understood why she was called the White Heat Witch.
"What you saw under the pond."
"...Skeletons?"
"You saw something else too, didn't you? I don't know exactly what."
The killing intent didn't subside. If anything, it grew more savage. It made her seem all the more alien. Her expression and aura clashed completely.
"But the pond is purified now."
"...So?"
"Little one."
The White Heat Witch thrust her hand forward.
"I have no desire to serve a master weaker than myself."
The words remained incomprehensible, but he had no chance to voice his confusion this time either.
Her blazing palm pierced the darkness.