Chapter 004 — Black Shadow Celestial Maiden (4)
Cheongyeon headed toward a mountain with Seongha.
The mountain stood in the central region of the mainland, one of the many landmasses that made up Cheonhuiguk.
Once they crossed the boundary where the mountain ridge met the sky, a long stone staircase appeared among the clouds, stretching all the way up the mountainside.
At the top stood the ruins of an old temple.
Seongha looked around the abandoned grounds.
A heavy silence filled the air.
The dark, charred wooden pillars still bore clear traces of the flames that had once consumed the place. Broken roof tiles, stone bells, and ruined stupas lay scattered across the courtyard.
The lotus-patterned window frames and golden altar, which must once have been painted in brilliant colors, had long since faded.
Now, they were little more than rotten wood.
“This place is...”
“This is where Monk Wongwang and the practitioners of Jeongilhoe once lived.”
Cheongyeon began telling him the story of the past in a quiet voice.
As she slowly walked through the temple grounds, it almost felt as though the people who had lived here long ago were appearing before them again.
“They say the people followed the monk like he was their own parent.”
The place where Monk Wongwang had once lived was a small, collapsed building with only a single room.
There was nothing inside except a simple platform.
From the modest surroundings alone, Seongha could tell that the monk had lived a frugal and honest life.
“He used to say that saving the people was just as important as cultivation and prayer.”
When they passed the place where the main prayer hall had once stood, Seongha almost imagined he could hear prayers drifting out through the doorway.
He could vividly picture a great monk sitting cross-legged while people bowed and recited scriptures before him.
“That’s why the people of Jeongilhoe followed the monk’s teachings and traveled from village to village, helping people suffering from plague and famine.”
The only building in the temple that had escaped the fire was a shrine hidden deep within the grounds.
A lotus pedestal stood in the center of the shrine.
Behind one of the walls was a small secret chamber.
When the two opened the hidden door and stepped inside, stale dust and cobwebs covered everything in a pale gray layer.
The chamber contained boxes filled with farming tools such as plows and rakes, along with emergency supplies like bandages.
Seongha picked through sheets of paper containing handwritten copies of the monk's teachings and scriptures, as well as pledges written by the practitioners.
He fell into thought.
These people seemed far removed from the image of rebels who worshiped heresy and incited the common people.
It felt as though a truth unknown to him had been buried beneath Huiguk's history.
Eventually, the two stopped before a large grave made from piled stones and earth.
On the gravestone was a symbol resembling a sword and a lotus.
It was the emblem of Jeongilhoe.
“Twenty years ago, everyone in Jeongilhoe was killed.”
Cheongyeon tried to speak calmly, but deep sorrow lay beneath her expression.
“People from the nearby villages informed the authorities about their base. The king's army came, and even the great noble families sent their private soldiers to help with the suppression.”
The suppression force piled the bodies of the practitioners and commoners into mountains.
Then, to hide what they had done, they set everything on fire.
What could the rulers of Huiguk have feared so much about such a small group of practitioners?
Why had all the powerful people of the nation joined together to carry out such a massive slaughter?
“The bodies were burned so badly that no one could identify them. In the end, they had no choice but to gather the ashes and bones in one place and hold a memorial service.”
Cheongyeon lit incense.
Then she closed her eyes and quietly prayed.
She had probably visited this grave countless times, mourning the people of Jeongilhoe who had died long ago.
Standing before the grave whose occupants could no longer be identified, Seongha felt an indescribable emptiness.
He stood beside her and began reciting the prayer he used as a priest when performing rites for the dead.
[May the voice of wisdom reach the departing souls.
May they rest peacefully in a pure and tranquil world.]
At that moment, a breeze came from somewhere.
Pale violet flower petals began falling like rain.
A rich fragrance spread through the air.
After finishing her prayer, Cheongyeon walked toward another grave that seemed to have been made much more recently.
A pinwheel had been planted in front of it.
It was an ordinary pinwheel, with feathers like those of an arrow attached to the end of its stick.
“This is a pinwheel my senior brother made for me.”
The pinwheel weakly spun in the wind.
“Actually, everything I told you today came from my senior brother. I was too young back then, so I don't remember anything myself.”
Cheongyeon smiled sadly.
“What hurts even more is that so many people sacrificed themselves to protect me. And yet... I don't even know what kind of power I possess.”
Perhaps the burden of being the Celestial Maiden weighed heavily on her.
Cheongyeon's shoulders drooped.
The two left the temple ruins and began making their way back toward Cheongyeon's floating pavilion.
While they walked, another day in Cheonhuiguk came to an end.
The surroundings turned deep purple.
Before long, everything became as dark as if ink had been poured across the world.
“For some reason, the road back to the pavilion feels unfamiliar today.”
Cheongyeon glanced nervously at the path behind them.
In truth, Seongha had been feeling the same thing for a while.
It felt as though the terrain itself was constantly changing.
An eerie presence slowly began filling Cheonhuiguk.
Thick fog spread across the heavenly world.
A chilling wind brushed across the back of his neck, almost like an invisible hand gripping it before passing by.
Something was about to begin again.
“Sometimes... I feel strange things around me. Beings hiding in the darkness watch me. Sometimes they even follow me.”
Ever since she was young, unknown shadows had wandered wherever Cheongyeon went.
She said flocks of crows also circled endlessly around her floating pavilion.
Cheongyeon gave a self-mocking smile.
“It's almost as if I'm the one carrying darkness wherever I go.”
Clatter—
At that exact moment, as though her words had been a signal, something hiding among the dark leaves revealed itself.
With the sharp sound of metal striking metal, several ropes shot toward them like a hunting net.
Seongha nearly lost his balance, but barely managed to stay on his feet.
“Wait! Don't move.”
Seongha immediately pulled Cheongyeon toward him.
The two pressed close together inside the narrow gap between the thin lines.
“Priest, are you all right?”
Cheongyeon looked up at him from within his arms.
Her lips trembled from the sudden shock.
“I'm fine. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Cheongyeon shook her head.
The tangled ropes dug into their skin and tightened around them.
Small hooks and pieces of metal glittered along the ends of the lines.
It was clearly a much more sophisticated trap than it first appeared.
“It seems we've been caught in a trap. If we move carelessly, blades may come flying at us.”
“A trap? Who would make something like this...?”
Seongha carefully examined it.
Ancient pieces of bone lay scattered across the ground.
They were so decayed that it was impossible to tell whether they had belonged to humans or animals.
A crow with both wings spread wide had been nailed to a tree.
And what had appeared to be rope was actually long strands of human hair twisted together.
The hair spread through the forest like a massive web.
Dead rats, bronze bells, and scraps of cloth covered in red writing hung from the strands.
It looked like some crude curse from folk superstition.
Who had prepared such a disgusting ritual?
Creeeak—
Creeeak—
The rusted bells hanging from the strands began ringing with an unnatural sound.
Screams and shouts seemed to whirl inside their minds.
The lingering thoughts sealed within the trap slowly took shape.
A horrifying scene from twenty years ago appeared before Seongha and Cheongyeon.
Across the forest stood the ghosts of villagers carrying torches.
They whispered among themselves.
Their gazes were disturbingly persistent.
They were waiting for something to fall into their trap.
[I heard we'll receive a huge reward if we cut off their heads or ears and bring them in.]
[They'll pass through here soon. Don't let a single one escape.]
Seongha's expression turned cold as he heard their voices.
“This isn't an ordinary hunting trap.”
His eyes narrowed.
“It was made to catch people.”
“To catch people...? Then, could it be...”
“I believe your guess is correct, Cheongyeon.”
Seongha gently bit his lower lip.
He finally understood what had happened.
Notices had been posted throughout the villages near the temple.
They promised large rewards from the government to anyone who reported members of the heretical Jeongilhoe.
The villagers had been tempted.
In the end, they chose to betray Monk Wongwang—the very man who had reached out to help them during their suffering.
They blocked the roads surrounding the temple and placed traps everywhere.
If any members of Jeongilhoe escaped from the royal soldiers, the villagers planned to capture them and hand them over.
“But they never received their reward.”
Seongha looked around the ruined heavenly land.
“Because the power of the Black Shadow Celestial Maiden caused the entire city to rise into the sky.”
The villagers had been forced to live in the harsh environment of the floating city.
Eventually, they all died miserable deaths.
Most starved to death.
Others, overwhelmed by terror and despair, threw themselves into the empty sky.
“They were punished by being imprisoned in the heavens forever.”
Seongha's gaze turned toward the ghosts.
“And that's how they became wandering dead within Cheonhuiguk.”
The resentful spirits wandered Cheonhuiguk searching for Cheongyeon.
Still filled with hatred, they wanted to harm her.
[Look! Something finally got caught in the trap!]
[Execute the heretics of Jeongilhoe! They committed the blasphemous crime of worshiping an ominous being!]
[We did nothing wrong! The Black Celestial Maiden is the reason we suffered! That woman was the one who raised the city into the sky!]
“...”
