The Origin of the Species
“Oh, today?”
“Today.”
Baek Ri-seol answered with complete composure.
Then, she slowly stroked the head of the creature that had just peeked its head above the water—the monster of Loch Ness—no, the Jeoktoma.
“And this little one, too…”
She murmured softly, looking down at the Jeoktoma.
“It’s shrunk quite a bit.”
“I don’t think it’s going to kill me now.”
I stiffened for a moment.
“Hey.”
“Does that mean you thought it would before?”
Baek Ri-seol averted her gaze, looking a bit sheepish.
“…A little?”
“Seol-ah.”
“But not anymore.”
She gently stroked the Jeoktoma’s head again.
“Right?”
Twitch.
Twitch, twitch—
I stared down at the thing for a moment.
It was strange. The savage fury and killing intent I had felt when it was dealing with Su-in—it was completely gone now.
What I felt from the Jeoktoma now was a much simpler emotion. Pure desire. And a strange sense of satisfaction.
It was rubbing its head against Baek Ri-seol’s hand quite tamely, like a large beast being petted by its master.
Baek Ri-seol smiled brightly.
“See?”
“It’s well-behaved now.”
I just watched it in silence for a while.
Could I really trust this thing? What if it suddenly turned on us and made Baek Ri-seol like Su-in?
And then there was the very realistic problem that it was still far too large.
As I was lost in such trivial thoughts, something suddenly occurred to me. Come to think of it, I still knew almost nothing about the Blood God Constitution (Blood God Constitution).
I looked at Baek Ri-seol slowly.
“Seol-ah.”
“Yes?”
“The Blood Yang Constitution (Blood Yang Constitution).”
“The Blood God Constitution.”
“And the True Blood Demon (True Blood Demon).”
I paused for a moment before quietly adding,
“And everything about your Blood Sect, too.”
“Tell me everything.”
Baek Ri-seol blinked for a moment.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
I nodded slowly.
“I think it’s time I knew.”
Baek Ri-seol looked into my eyes for a moment, then laughed softly.
“Alright, Gaga.”
She looked down at the water once and shivered slightly.
“But I’m a bit cold now.”
“Let’s go out and talk.”
“Good.”
I pulled her into a light embrace and slowly walked out of the stream.
Splash—
Splash—
The campfire was still burning softly, not yet extinguished. The leftover chicken bones were scattered messily around it, and Dong-gwi was nodding off beside the carriage.
Baek Ri-seol had draped a thick robe over her naked body. The cleavage revealed between her wet hair was unnecessarily distracting.
I forced myself to look away.
At that moment, Baek Ri-seol began to speak while slowly stroking the half-asleep Jeoktoma.
“To begin with, the Blood Sect…”
“They say it started from a faith that crossed over from the Western Regions hundreds of years ago.”
The campfire crackled. Red light flickered over her eyes.
“The first Blood Demon…”
“They say he truly drank human blood.”
I listened to her quietly.
“His followers were bitten by the Blood Demon and became Blood Ghosts (Blood Ghost).”
“Blood Ghosts crave blood. And they can increase their own kind.”
Baek Ri-seol paused for a moment.
“…Instead.”
“You have to die once.”
“You have to be drained of blood and die, then wake up again.”
I narrowed my brows.
“…So, basically undead.”
“What’s that?”
“Um… like a Jiangshi?”
“Yes.”
Baek Ri-seol nodded calmly.
“After that, you can never see the sunlight again. And you are plagued by an endless thirst.”
The forest beyond the campfire swayed darkly.
“In the end, you can only survive by killing people and drinking their blood.”
“In the process, you make the humans you like into your companions.”
“And those you don’t…”
Baek Ri-seol finished her sentence very calmly.
“…They just become food.”
I couldn’t say anything for a moment. It was a much more horrific story than I had imagined.
But Baek Ri-seol continued.
“Still.”
“The Blood Demon was different.”
“Oh?”
“After a long time…”
“They say he stopped craving blood.”
She murmured, looking at the campfire.
“Even amidst the endless thirst…”
“He tried to remain human on his own.”
Crack—
A log collapsed, and red sparks flew up.
“He wasn’t even afraid of sunlight originally.”
“Rather…”
Baek Ri-seol slowly turned to look at me.
“…They say the more complete the Blood Demon, the freer they were under the sun.”
I asked quietly,
“And the Blood Ghosts, in the end, couldn’t escape that thirst?”
Baek Ri-seol nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“It was absolutely impossible for them.”
The campfire crackled. Red light flickered over her wet hair.
“Instead, the Blood Ghosts…”
“Learned how to deactivate their Blood Body Transformation and began to hide among humans.”
“Wearing masks, pulling down their bamboo hats, covering their bodies with robes…”
She murmured in a low voice.
“Very secretly.”
I suddenly recalled Su-in’s appearance. Red eyes. A bamboo hat. Robes covering her entire body. And the reason she could move during the day.
“What about the Blood Demon?”
I asked slowly.
“Was the Blood Demon different?”
Baek Ri-seol fell into thought for a moment before opening her mouth quietly.
“They say the Blood Demon evolved more and more as generations passed.”
Splash—
The sound of the stream spread calmly into the night air.
“And at some point…”
“They realized their constitution in the way of the Central Plains.”
Her red eyes slowly turned toward me.
“Male Blood Demons have the Blood Yang Constitution.”
“Female Blood Demons have the Blood Yin Constitution.”
“Only those born with that constitution…”
Baek Ri-seol continued very quietly.
“…Can become a true Blood Demon.”
I swallowed my breath quietly.
“If others…”
“Forcefully accept the Great Law…”
Baek Ri-seol’s gaze sank ever so slightly.
“They couldn’t endure it in the end.”
“Consumed by the Blood God’s energy, they became pure killing machines.”
The forest beyond the campfire swayed darkly.
“And such monsters…”
“They say they stained the Central Plains with blood.”
I asked quietly,
“So, in the end…”
“They were purged.”
Baek Ri-seol nodded without a word.
“Yes.”
“Hundreds of years ago.”
“All the Murim forces joined hands and purged all the Blood Ghosts.”
The campfire flickered quietly.
“The Righteous Sects.”
“The Evil Factions.”
“Even the Demonic Cult.”
She murmured in a low voice.
“They all judged that the Blood Ghosts were dangerous.”
“And the surviving bloodlines…”
“Were completely scattered.”
Baek Ri-seol lifted her cup and took a slow sip.
“After that, those with bloodlines unrelated to the Blood Ghosts gathered, and the Baek Ri Clan was newly created.”
“The current Baek Ri Clan must be considered a completely Central Plains force.”
“They are beings completely different from the Blood Ghosts.”
She looked at the flames for a moment, then murmured very softly.
“So everyone…”
“Thought the Blood Demon had completely disappeared.”
Crack—
A log collapsed, and red sparks flew up.
Baek Ri-seol was silent for a moment before opening her mouth slowly again.
“But my mother…”
“Was born with the Blood Yin Constitution.”
I listened to her quietly.
“And she met my father, who had the Blood Yang Constitution.”
“And awakened as the Blood God Constitution.”
Her red eyes flickered slowly beyond the campfire.
“…As a true Blood Demon.”
I swallowed my breath without realizing it.
“After that.”
“Mother gave birth to me, who has the Blood Yin Constitution…”
Baek Ri-seol paused for a moment. And then, in a very quiet voice, she continued.
“Originally, a Blood Demon…”
“The moment they fully awaken, they crave an immense amount of energy from the opposite sex.”
“In that process, they crave countless people.”
“…And they say they even killed them.”
The air around the campfire sank heavily for a moment.
“However.”
Baek Ri-seol slowly took my hand.
“If the spouse by your side possesses energy of the opposite nature…”
“They say that thirst itself disappears.”
I looked at her with a dazed face.
Baek Ri-seol smiled very faintly.
“That’s why my mother…”
“Became the first.”
“Peaceful yet complete Blood Demon.”
I suddenly became curious about her parents’ story.
“Then.”
“What about your mother and father?”
Baek Ri-seol didn’t say anything for a moment. Only the sound of the burning logs echoed quietly.
And only after a long time did she slowly bow her head.
“…Both of them passed away.”
I couldn’t say anything for a moment. Baek Ri-seol rolled the cup slowly with a calm face.
“Instead.”
“They left behind two Blood God Elixirs.”
The campfire flickered calmly over her red eyes.
“I awakened with that Blood God Elixir.”
“I obtained the Blood God Constitution.”
“…And became a Blood Demon.”
I swallowed my breath quietly. And asked slowly,
“Then.”
“The remaining one…”
Baek Ri-seol looked at me without a word. And nodded very slightly.
“Yes.”
“I gave it to Gaga.”
The night air swayed quietly. Grass insects could be heard in the distance, and the campfire was still burning warmly.
“That is…”
Baek Ri-seol murmured, hugging her knees.
“…The story up to now.”
“How on earth did you find me?”
Baek Ri-seol slowly rubbed the edge of the cup with her fingertips. And laughed softly.
“I told you on the first day.”
“That I came looking for the sweet scent of the Blood Yang Constitution.”
The campfire crackled. Red light flickered over her eyes.
“It was the scent that came from my father.”
Baek Ri-seol murmured in a very quiet voice.
“Warm.”
“A stable scent.”
“And…”
The corners of her mouth rose slightly.
“…A very delicious scent.”
I suddenly had an absurd expression on my face.
“Is it all about eating in the end?”
“It’s important.”
Baek Ri-seol answered very seriously.
She lifted the cup again and continued slowly.
“I was passing through the Luoyang area.”
“Then, by chance.”
“I smelled that scent near Sehwahu.”
I hesitated for a moment. Sehwahu. It was during those days when I was struggling so hard.
“At first, I couldn’t believe it.”
“That the Blood Yang Constitution still existed.”
“And in the middle of the Central Plains, at that.”
Baek Ri-seol drank a sip of alcohol quietly.
“So I kept tracking it for a few days.”
“Who it was.”
“What kind of person they were.”
“Whether they were a dangerous human.”
She looked at me for a moment, then chuckled.
“And I made up my mind.”
“…And barged into Gaga’s house.”
I looked at her with a dazed face for a moment, then finally burst into a hollow laugh.
“…Our first meeting was indeed unusual.”
Baek Ri-seol burrowed into my arms quietly and asked softly,
“Are all your questions answered now?”
I was lost in thought for a moment, then slowly shook my head.
“I still have a few left, but…”
…Suddenly, the Jeoktoma was thrashing wildly, showing off its presence…
Baek Ri-seol glanced down with a look of familiarity. And then she murmured very calmly.
“…The Jeoktoma says it can’t hold it anymore.”
“……”
“If we drag it out any longer…”
Baek Ri-seol whispered quietly in my ear with a slightly flushed face.
“…It’s almost as if it’s going to fight a life-or-death battle.”
She gently grabbed my hand. It was a warm, soft touch.
Baek Ri-seol looked up at me with a flushed face and smiled softly.
“Let’s go inside now, Gaga.”
Her gaze slowly moved downward.
“The Jeoktoma is so pitiful.”
“……”
I couldn’t say anything for a moment.
And Baek Ri-seol added her final words with a very calm face.
“Now it’s time to show you the taste of a noona.”
Following Seol-hwa, Seol-ah was saying the same thing.
The taste of a noona.
The moment I heard that word, the Jeoktoma began to writhe even more violently.
