Chapter 689
Thud, thud.
It’s cold.
That was Yohee’s first thought as she opened her eyes.
Staring blankly at the droplets falling onto her forehead, the memories she had momentarily lost surfaced one by one.
This is…
Who she was. The life she had lived. What happened in the Western Yao Tribe. What she witnessed in the Poison-Blooded Land.
And—
I love you, Yohee.
Just recalling that voice and face made her shudder. Behind him—Muyaho collapsing, and a young man falling with it.
All of it.
“Hiss…!”
Yohee shot upright as if struck by lightning, barely swallowing the scream rising in her throat.
Fully recovering the memories from before she collapsed, she looked around in sudden fear.
Where is this?
It was an unfamiliar space. Vague darkness, heavy silence, walls on all sides with barely enough light to make anything out.
A prison, clearly prepared for someone.
Heukung.
No—
the man who stole that name.
Recalling the one who had lived his whole life as a lie, Yohee instinctively reached for her waist.
She searched for her Soft Sword, always worn like a belt. But all she found was blood-soaked silk and dirt.
Ah. Back then.
She remembered losing it, drugged by the elixir pill.
And since she never actually took any Antidote, her Internal Energy should still be sealed—
“Huh?”
A sound escaped her before she could stop it, and she quickly covered her mouth. But the shock was clear in her wide eyes.
How?
Forcing herself to calm down, she checked her body once, twice, three times.
And she was certain.
The restriction on my Internal Energy… is gone.
Undeniable. Her Internal Energy gathered in her dantian was full and unsealed, exactly as before.
But how? And why?
Everyone, including me, should have been captured by Heukung.
She could not understand any of it.
She was alone. In a sealed space. And unrestrained.
Clearly, no one had been able to stop Heukung at the end.
Jin Taekyung, gravely wounded, wouldn’t wake for days. Muyaho, who could fight like a master, had been brought to the brink of death by a single surprise blow.
And she had collapsed without even swinging her sword.
Then how is the restriction gone?
There were no ropes or chains binding her. Even if her martial arts weren’t exceptionally high, she was still early peak realm.
Too sloppy, too strange—this wasn’t Dark Heaven’s work.
Perhaps…
Swallowing dryly, Yohee rose and examined her surroundings carefully.
As her eyes adjusted and her restored Internal Energy strengthened her senses, the scenery beyond the darkness became clear.
This is…
The moment she recognized it, her breath caught.
A vast space—far too large to confine a single person. Hundreds of yards in radius, perhaps more.
But the size was not what suffocated her.
Cold rock surrounded everything. Walls, floor, ceiling—an unbroken fortress of stone.
What on earth is this place?
As she stared at the stone and the thick vines covering it—
Swish…
A breeze stirred the vines.
She blinked, feeling the cool air on her skin. Something brushed her head and landed in her palm.
Rustle. Thud.
A leaf.
Green, alive—nothing like the Poison-Blooded Land.
A thought struck her like lightning.
Wait—wind?
If it was sealed, wind couldn’t blow.
Which meant somewhere—
there was a gap.
A gap large enough to shake those heavy vines.
But no matter how she searched, she found no opening.
Impossible.
She touched the walls. Struck them with Internal Energy. Climbed the vines. Reached upward as far as she could.
Nothing.
No exit. No crack. No weakness.
Not despair at being captured—
but helplessness from being in a place she couldn’t understand.
Not even an exit… this is absurd.
More than two hours passed as she searched. Nothing changed.
Then who brought her here? And why?
Feeling lost, she slumped down, leaning against the stone wall. A warm, soft sensation spread across her back.
“Huh?”
Strange.
Blinking, she tilted her head back—
—and met a pair of blue-white eyes staring down at her from the darkness.
“Ah.”
—Krrng.
Silence fell.
Yohee slowly rose. She looked at the towering rock wall behind her, then at the massive White Tiger whose upper body protruded from the stone as if carved out of it.
She thought:
What is this?
She forced herself to think logically.
First. This is an enormous space with no clear purpose.
Second. Surrounded by rock in all directions, with no visible sky or exit.
Third. A White Tiger appeared with only its upper body visible, as if emerging from the stone itself.
Fourth. Therefore, there are only two possible explanations.
A dream—or the afterlife.
Without hesitation, Yohee slammed her head into the wall.
Thud.
She did not wake.
And the White Tiger’s ghostly appearance—upper body floating, snow-white fur, blue-white eyes—
Isn’t that him?
Muyaho. The White Tiger Yal Mok treasured.
Seeing it alive—without a scratch, tilting its head innocently—Yohee reached one conclusion.
This was the afterlife.
No wonder there was no exit.
She didn’t know. It was her first time being dead.
Everything suddenly made sense. Like tangled threads unraveling.
“Hic… Heukung, you son of a bitch…”
The crisis of the Southern Barbarians?
Her dignity as the Yao Tribe’s chieftain?
What did it matter? She was dead.
Only a half-tiger ghost was watching her now.
Thinking of her mother who died twenty years ago, tears streamed down her face.
“Sniff… Waaaaah!”
Muyaho, hearing her beastlike sobs, approached and licked her tears.
—Krrng.
A rough tongue brushed her entire face.
Too vivid for a ghost—
but maybe ghosts had senses too. Who knew?
Yohee buried her face in Muyaho’s fur and cried.
Until her hand clutched something soft and swaying.
Grasp.
—Haa!
At first she ignored the sound. Then wondered.
She raised her head—and saw it clearly.
The snow-white tail she was holding.
What is this? It’s a tail. I thought it was something else.
She buried herself in the fur again.
Then froze.
Wait—why is there a tail?
Ordinary animals had tails, yes.
But only moments ago, this White Tiger was only an upper body.
Now it was complete.
Could it be?
Yohee stood and placed her hand on the wall where Muyaho first appeared.
Thud.
Cold, hard, impenetrable.
But too early to give up.
There’s something I’m missing. Definitely.
This wasn’t a dream.
Nor death.
Just a situation beyond human understanding.
Muyaho, as if reading her thoughts, stepped forward.
—Grrr.
It bent its body slightly, signaling.
Yohee stared.
“Are you telling me to ride? On your back?”
—Krrng.
“…Ha.”
She had heard it was intelligent, but not this intelligent.
Climbing onto its back, she gripped its snow-white fur.
Muyaho raised a massive paw toward the stone wall.
Thud.
The wall filled her vision. Yohee squeezed her eyes shut.
Please.
A strange sensation enveloped her—
Half-AAAAK!
When she opened her eyes—
“Ah.”
Warmth. Light. Life.
Trees rich with vitality. Flowers scattered everywhere. A world completely unlike the darkness before.
Enough beauty to make her forget everything.
“This… this place…?”
Muyaho didn’t answer.
It bolted forward through the path of grass and flowers.
Tap—whoosh!
Cool wind wrapped around her. Animals watched as they passed:
Mountain birds in towering nests. Deer and boars sunbathing among the trees.
Even a bear offering its body as a resting place.
What… what did I just see?
But the shock vanished quickly.
Food chain? Logic?
It didn’t matter.
Everything felt natural here.
This is… completely absurd.
Just as the words evil art flickered through her mind—
The path ended.
And a small pond appeared.
And next to it—
“Jin Taekyung!”
It was him.
Muscular, well-proportioned body. Red armor. Half-submerged in clear water.
Only ten yards away.
But Muyaho stopped cold.
—Krrng.
A low call.
Following its gaze, Yohee felt it before she saw it.
Whoosh—
A breeze infused with unfamiliar energy swept past. Green leaves rained down from a massive unfamiliar tree.
Then—
Under its vast shade—
A Black Tiger rose.
A creature of pure darkness.
(T/N : Ooooooh. Was it the Black Tiger Taekyung and ht e Beast Palace Lord were chasing at the beggining of the arc?