Editors: Ytho, LaidBackGuy
At that end, laughter coming from the flame stopped. The familiar who was looking at the flame turned her head to look at Lee Sungmin. She sighed and dragged down the robe she was wearing.
“A beastkin?”
Lee Sungmin muttered with his eyes wide open. It was because of the cat ears that popped out of her dark hair. Hearing Lee Sungmin’s words, the familiar introduced herself with her amber eyes narrowed.
“I am Rubia. Under the command of my Master, I was waiting for you here.”
“Oh, is that so? That son of a bitch was waiting for him. If so, then he’s the one who should come back.”
The flames laughed at Rubia’s words. Every time the voice sounded out, the lights around it would flicker and glow brightly. Lee Sungmin looked at Rubia with a deep face and raised his finger to point to the flame.
“What is that?”
“Look at that undignified little bastard pointing his finger at me.”
The flame grumbled. His voice expressed strong discomfort, but he was all bark and no bite. However, the lights around him wavered greatly as if expressing his feelings.
“He’s the remnant of a Great Yokai who’s currently asleep in this forest.”
“A remnant… I’m not such a trivial being. Although I lost my body and remained conscious, I am not a remnant.”
The flame spat out. Lee Sungmin laughed at the word ‘Yokai’. It wasn’t his first time hearing such a thing. He had heard that monsters are sometimes called yokai in some areas. As far as Lee Sungmin knows, there was no significant difference between a monster and a yokai. In the end, neither of them was human, and both were monsters that ate humans.
“He was once the one who led the 100 Great Ghosts, but now he’s lost his body.”
Lee Sungmin blinked as he listened to Rubia. The flames flashed unpleasantly, but did not protest. Lee Sungmin briefly alternated between Rubia and the flames and asked.
“So what the hell is it that you want to tell me?”
Lee Sungmin first looked at Rubia.
“I ask you this, but I know you can’t give me the right answer. Only Envirus himself can answer, but you are not Envirus.”
“… that’s… Yes. I’ve been waiting for you, but I can’t answer your questions.”
“Where’s Envirus?”
“I don’t know where Master is. But if you come with me, my Master will come to us someday.”
Rubia replied like that in a confident tone. However, her answer did not satisfy Lee Sungmin. After all, Rubia didn’t know Envirus’ whereabouts. Rubia said, reading Lee Sungmin’s expression.
“Master also promised us. ‘Wherever I am, I will come back someday’.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Rubia nodded strongly. Lee Sungmin looked at the flames after hearing her answer.
“Who are you?”
“Heoju.”
“I am the one who came back from death. Why have you been waiting for me?”
“I do not know.”
Heoju replied in a dignified voice. In any case, his voice was so confident that Lee Sungmin was left speechless. Heoju added more words with a distant gaze.
“I really don’t know. All I know is that someday you will come back to me, and I will have to leave this forest with you.”
After hearing Heoju’s words, Lee Sungmin looked at Rubia. Rubia looked a little unwilling but nodded while watching Lee Sungmin.
“What he said is true.”
“There is nothing else to it.”
Lee Sungmin’s eyes were full of irritation.
“Everyone who has ever met me and told me that there was something special about me. There is something to it, but I cannot tell you exactly about it. It had something to do with vague words like the apocalypse and the apostle of the apocalypse.”
“that… My master could answer for sure. But I… ”
“Why did your master Envirus leave by himself without taking you all along?”
“I don’t know. Because Master is busy…”
“Ha!”
Lee Sungmin let out a spirited laugh. He glanced at Rubia, who had her eyes glued to the ground and then turned to look at Heoju.
“Heoju, Are you the biwon that the clan living in this forest is seeking?”
“A forest clan. Right. Are you referring to those foolish monkeys who have been inbred for generations and are dying because of it? I am not their origin. Their secret origin doesn’t exist in the first place. The value of their existence is nothing more than for the continuation of the bloodline.”
“Bloodline?”
“The chosen one selected from those who have the blood to become the patriarch is the only one who can open the walls of the forest. I just exist somewhere in the middle of the road.”
It was as Heoju said. Behind Heoju’s body of flickering flames, the winding road continued it’s path.
“What is this forest?”
“The place where the souls of old monsters are bound. Those monkeys keep the forest sealed merely by existing. ”
After hearing that, Lee Sungmin stared at Heoju. After a moment’s thought, he asked him.
“Come with me. What form are you going to take? Didn’t you not have a body?”
“There is a way.”
Heoju replied in a relaxed voice. Lee Sungmin glanced at Rubia. She said in a small voice, reluctantly glancing towards Heoju.
“The choice is yours. My master didn’t say anything about him either.”
“I’ll be turning back.”
Lee Sungmin replied as though he had nothing to think about. He didn’t want to have a yokai of unknown origins inside his body. As Lee Sungmin turned around, Rubia quickly approached his side.
“Let’s go together.”
“Until when?”
“Until my Master returns.”
Rubia replied, and Lee Sungmin, laughed, finding it ridiculous. He wondered what was inside the forest, but he didn’t think he could get anything by going to the place where the soul of the ghost was sealed.
“Hahahaha!”
It was at that moment when Lee Sungmin was about to go back the way he had come with Rubia. Heoju burst into laughter. Lee Sungmin turned around.
The flames, which were Heoju, flickered on top of the rock and exploded. Hundreds of embers swayed in the fog and rushed toward Lee Sungmin. Rubia made a sound of surprise, and Lee Sungmin immediately concentrated his inner force.
However, the hundreds of embers were faster than him. No heat was felt from the fires that touched his body.
Something was overwhelming his consciousness. Lee Sungmin concentrated his mind while biting on his lower lip.
[what… What is this?!]
The thing that was trying to enter his subconscious was pushed out. Soon after, Heoju’s embarrassed voice rang out in Lee Sungmin’s mind.
[You…! What the hell did you do that made your mental barrier so strong ?!]
Whenever Heoju shouted, his body also shook. Lee Sungmin took off the robes he was wearing. Then Rubia, who was beside Lee Sungmin, jerked and turned around with a startled sound.
“Get out! What are you doing suddenly?!”
Disregarding Rubia, Lee Sungmin looked down at this body. He didn’t know what was going to happen in the woods, and the armor that Selgerus had put on him in advance was humming. Looking closely, the armor had a light red aura visible around it.
[This asshole … You couldn’t take over his human consciousness… ?! Even if he’s the one who came back from death… !]
“My words exactly. What is it with this fucking lunatic?”
Lee Sungmin frowned and knocked on the armor. There were several reasons for Heoju’s failure. In the past, Preskan had failed to cast his magic into Lee Sungmin to control his mind. Kim Jonghyun said that the Aura of Favorability protected Lee Sungmin and reflected Preskan’s magic back to him.
(T/N: It should actually be Freskan and not prescan, i’ll fling away all previous translators for making such a mess)
‘Or maybe my mental strength was strengthened because of all the years spent in secluded cultivation in my subconscious.’
Maybe it was both. As a result, Heoju failed to infiltrate Lee Sungmin’s body. Rather, Heoju’s consciousness entered the armor, instead of Sungmin’s body.
“Is Heoju inside that?”
Rubia asked with her eyes wide open. Lee Sungmin took off his armor while feeling annoyed. It was a pretty good armor, but he was removing it.
[Well, wait, wait! Wait!]
Heoju hurriedly called out to Lee Sungmin.
[I apologize for trying to possess you!]
“You have already done it.”
[I was in a hurry! I won’t do anything strange anymore…!]
“How do I believe that?”
[Because I will swear by my name… !]
“Your name means nothing to me.”
[then… I’ll… give you the… treasure. A Treasure that I have collected before!]
It was a little tempting.
“What kind of treasure is it?”
[I can’t tell you that.]
“I don’t think you understand the situation right now. I’ll leave my armor off here if you’re going to talk bullshit. ”
[I don’t know how many treasures I have collected myself, how can I explain it to you?!]
Heoju shouted as if he was frustrated.
“What did Heoju say?”
Rubia asked with shining eyes. There was nothing to hide, so Lee Sungmin told Rubia about Heoju’s offer. Then Rubia said with a rather surprised face.
“If it is a treasure that belongs to Heoju, it must be a priceless thing. Heojun was indeed one of the most powerful and famous ghosts 300 years ago, and the treasures he had gathered were just as famous as him.”
[See! I told you it was true?!]
Heoju yelled out hearing Rubia’s words. Lee Sungmin donned his armor again.
“Shut up! Unless I speak to you in the future. If you talk bullshit again, I’ll take the armor off and throw it into a toilet bowl.”
[What has the Great Ghost Heoju come to… I can’t believe it became like this!]
“Why are you grieving when it’s your gain?”
Lee Sungmin grumbled while he went back. He was worried that the wall of the trees might be blocking his path again, but the wall was no longer there. Rather. In the first place, the path did not exist behind the entrance that Lee Sungmin came with Kazuya.
“It’s amazing.”
At the end of the road, the fog disappeared. Lee Sungmin was outside the Sleeping Forest. Rubia, standing next to Lee Sungmin, replied.
“That forest is a powerful yet twisted result of witchcraft. Don’t try to understand it with common sense.”
“I have no intention of understanding it.”
The armor containing Heoju’s spirit trembled. He did not dare to say anything, but it was clear that he was thrilled to come out of the forest. Lee Sungmin didn’t like the fact that Heoju was inside his armor, but he was going to let him tag along until he acquired his treasure from him.
“Are you really going to follow me?”
Let’s say Heoju was like that, but then what about Rubia. Lee Sungmin asked while looking at Rubia. To that question, she replied with an expression that implied he had asked something absurd.
“I said it before didn’t I? I will follow you until my master returns.”
“What if I don’t want to do that?”
“Did you not want to meet my master? If you hurt me or leave me behind, you will never be able to meet him.”
Rubia said in a confident tone.
“Are you going to come with me without knowing where I am going?”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to meet the Heavenly Demon.”
Lee Sungmin replied. At that end, Rubia was standing with her mouth wide open.
“Heavenly demon… If it’s the Heavenly Demon… That… Wijihoyeon?! Why that monster… ? ”
“There is a reason we must meet.”
Lee Sungmin said and started walking. Rubia hesitated for a moment but followed right after him.
“Can’t we just find a nice and airy place to rest while we wait for my master to come?”
“Just like your master is busy wandering around, So am I.”
Lee Sungmin replied without hesitation. In response, Rubia’s expression was distorted.
“I don’t want to go… ”
“Then I will take you forcibly. Didn’t you say that I can only meet Envirus through you?”
Saying that Lee Sungmin raised his hand. His elongated fingers expressed his killing intent. He would not hesitate to draw blood depending on her answer. Rubia trembled as she looked at it.
“… I’ll just follow.”
Rubia said, with her ears drooping down.