Chapter 28. The Twins of Light and Darkness (3)
Cheongyeon remembered the elders fleeing the meeting hall as if they were running away.
They had known the secret behind Pasa changing between day and night.
As the night deepened, the atmosphere grew more intense.
Boom. Boom.
Drums made from leather stretched over bone echoed through the area. From cracks in the walls of the rocky mountain came chilling cries that seemed to pierce straight into the heart.
Large bonfires were lit everywhere, and the delicious smell of food filled the air.
It almost felt as though a grand feast was about to begin.
Haega prisoners covered in tattoos hurried around serving food while wearing black blindfolds.
Cheongyeon hid behind a tent and watched them.
"Hurry up. The Gwido will open soon. We need to prepare to receive our guests."
The supervisor shouted at the prisoners, urging them to move faster.
What exactly was the Gwido?
And who were these "guests"?
As though answering Cheongyeon's questions, someone dressed in unusual leather clothing climbed onto the altar.
They drew a sharp knife across their palm.
Red blood dripped onto the stone.
The ritual began.
White smoke rose into the air, mixing together as scattered firelight flickered across the tents.
The unstable flow of air began to distort.
Then the empty space itself twisted.
A huge opening of darkness slowly spread apart like the mouth of a monster.
It was a path leading to another realm.
Following that path, a long procession of guests entered from outside the village.
At first, they moved faintly like shadows.
But little by little, their forms became solid enough to be seen with the naked eye.
The moment Cheongyeon saw them, she froze in shock.
Some had long chains wrapped around their necks.
Others had deeply sunken eyes or strange lumps growing from their heads.
Every single one of them had a horrifying appearance.
However, the Haega people wearing black blindfolds seemed unable to see them.
The ghosts passed straight through their bodies, as if the two sides existed in completely different dimensions.
One after another, the ghosts took their seats.
They talked, drank, and enjoyed the banquet.
Some jumped around excitedly, while others laughed with mouths split all the way to their ears.
"They look like the residents of Cheonhui Kingdom."
Seeing them reminded Cheongyeon of the residents she had encountered in Cheonhui Kingdom.
Those creatures had poured long strands of hair from every opening in their bodies as they attacked Cheongyeon and Seongha.
"I'll watch a little longer."
Cheongyeon steadied herself.
She had come here to discover how the darkness of Hui Kingdom had begun and to uncover the true nature of black magic.
"Why does Haega prepare offerings and entertain these ghosts?"
Cheongyeon carefully looked around, hoping to find some clue.
She held her breath and cast a technique over herself to hide the presence of a living person.
Then she began hearing the ghosts speak.
[Soon, one of the officials of Hui Kingdom will suffer a terrible accident.]
[A white rainbow will appear over the village beyond the mountain, and a hen will turn into a rooster.]
[Bandits will appear near the border. The nearby villages will suffer greatly.]
The ghosts spoke as though they were interfering with the human world.
Whenever they spoke, their voices were sucked into the small bottles sitting on the tables.
Every word was stored inside them.
That was how the shamans of the rocky mountain had been able to predict the fortune and misfortune of humans.
The ghosts continued talking.
[Where is Haemora?]
[Haemora took the Divine Soldiers to Hongyang. King Nampyeong ordered something to be taken care of.]
[Why are Divine Soldiers obeying a human king? They should just eat him instead. I wonder what royal blood tastes like.]
The ghosts whispered among themselves while licking their lips.
[King Nampyeong ate the "main body," so there's nothing we can do. We have no choice but to obey the spell placed on the main body.]
The main body?
What did they mean by saying King Nampyeong had eaten it?
Cheongyeon's expression darkened.
There was something deeply ominous about those words.
[The king gained tremendous power, so naturally he must pay the price.]
[When the day of the end arrives, the king will offer his own kingdom as a sacrifice anyway.]
The ghosts burst into laughter.
The unpleasant sound made Cheongyeon's nerves tighten.
[Gyaaalalal!]
Suddenly, a gust of sandy wind swept through the banquet.
A bottle sitting on the table where Cheongyeon was hiding shattered.
From inside came a bizarre scream so piercing that it felt as though her eardrums would burst.
"What was that? Is there an intruder?"
The Haega soldiers sensed something strange and immediately began searching.
To them, Cheongyeon was nothing more than an unwanted intruder who had secretly entered this otherworldly space.
"They found me. I need to get out of here."
Cheongyeon ran toward the edge of the banquet grounds.
She startled at the sight of her own shadow flickering across the tents and nearly knocked over one of the bonfires.
The ghosts' laughter, the colorful flames, and the smell of food all mixed together.
It made her feel sick.
Entering the Gwido had been easy.
Finding the door back to reality was another matter entirely.
Meanwhile, Cheongyeon's body gradually became heavier.
It felt as though her feet were sinking deep into the ground with every step.
Something was grabbing her with tremendous force and dragging her downward.
[Where are you going? You're not going anywhere.]
Cheongyeon looked down.
Her eyes met those of a ghost beneath her feet.
Its body looked as though several human bodies had been torn apart and stitched back together.
The ghost bent and unfolded its arms, legs, and waist in unnatural directions as it began climbing up Cheongyeon's body.
Crack. Crack.
The dull sound of its joints snapping echoed beside her ears.
Under the overwhelming ghostly energy, Cheongyeon couldn't struggle.
She couldn't even breathe.
In the blink of an eye, ghosts surrounded her from every direction.
They tilted their heads as though they had discovered something fascinating, their eyes shining brightly.
[You can see us?]
[You can hear us?]
At the same moment, the ghosts violently reached toward her.
Some breathed heavily, their nostrils flaring as though they wanted to suck away her energy.
Others tried to tear Cheongyeon's body apart with their hands.
[Be wounded for us.]
[Suffer for us.]
[Cry for us.]
[And become filthy for us.]
Cheongyeon was terrified.
She couldn't even scream.
Her frozen body refused to move the way she wanted.
"No..."
She tightly grabbed the blue gemstone necklace around her neck and squeezed her eyes shut.
"I'll turn into her again."
She resisted the power of darkness, desperately refusing to let herself be swept away by it.
Her face turned pale blue.
Her fingernails became black.
