Chapter 480: Dirt

After sending off those who left for the bamboo forest, Eunho and Jeokho returned to the hall and drank tea.

Jeokho was unable to calm himself down so Eunho served him tea, but it did not work very well.

Throughout their tea session, Jeokho looked in the direction of the forest, his nervousness completely apparent.

He took his time sending off Kim Shinrok, even giving him loads of advice, but he still wasn’t relieved.

“You must be very worried about your son.”

“It’s my son’s first time going to the garden.”

Gardens — a reconstructed otherworld ruled by an owner.RêAd lateSt chapters at novelhall.com Only

In other words, the Tiger Clan’s garden was an otherworld created and maintained by the power of the Tiger Clan.

Descendants cannot resist or harm things that are related to their source.

From Jeokho’s perspective, it’s like his son was entering a fire pit naked.

Even though his son was accompanied by his friends and family, he still didn’t feel relieved.

“The garden is unstable. There was even a problem with a letter that was sent last time. What if the space suddenly transforms and my son becomes isolated inside?”

“I’ve heard of that. The chief sorcerer’s student used her strong powers which affected the garden.”

“Yes, so we’re not sure what could happen inside and...”

“Jukho tested his student’s energy waves in advance. You don’t have to worry.”

Eunho tried to reassure Jeokho by presenting to him the result of the test.

Jeokho listened as he scanned through the table again and again.

“You gave your son a lot of advice before he left, right? Even if something happens, he’ll overcome it through your advice, Jeokho-nim.”

“...Looking back, I think I forgot to tell him some other things.”

“Your son is wise. What you gave should be enough.”

Starting with that, Eunho continued praising Kim Shinrok.

After a few minutes of praise coming from Eunho’s mouth, Jeokho finally began to regain stability.

He finally took a proper sip of his tea, and Eunho prepared another helping with a soft smile.

While a new pot of tea was boiling, Jeokho asked.

“...There’s something I want to ask, Eunho.”

“Go ahead please.”

Jeokho struggled to find words.

As the silence continued, Eunho squinted and looked at Jeokho.

He guessed what Jeokho was trying to bring up considering what they had been talking about and also considering Jeokho’s hesitation.

‘...Jeokho-nim wants to talk about that.’

Even if the time when Jeokho was madly in love was in the distant past, and even though Jeokho has completely rectified and changed himself, he lived as a sinner for a long time and his fiery temper still remained.

Unlike Hwangho and Baekho, Jeokho had a son.

Eunho expected Jeokho to bring this up.

“Don’t you miss your descendants?”

Eunho, who has been speaking eloquently til now, couldn’t find the words to speak.

He could hardly move his lips even though he expected the question.

“I couldn’t bear not seeing my son the whole time I was locked up. I missed him, worried about him, and I wondered how he was. Even though I know how heavy my sin is.”

“...”

“Why did you hide the existence of your descendant? Why do you still refuse to see your grandchildren?”

Everyone else was probably sharing the same thought as Jeokho.

They were happy that Eunho woke up and were considerate of him.

However, he couldn’t rely on that forever.

The existence of his descendants wasn’t something that should be ignored.

‘...Three of my descendants are in this mansion, and two of them will enter Eungwang High next year. It will be harder to hide it.’

Eunho stared at the lukewarm tea with subdued eyes, quietly lost in thought.

The appearance of silver-haired children, those who he has never seen before, flashed before his eyes.

The feeling of warmth, when he held his child in his arms before leaving her to Ok Toyeon, was still vivid.

He felt affection, and yet anger and guilt at the same time.

“My child wasn’t.”

Grief, anger, and guilt smeared Eunho’s voice.

“I, I couldn’t... I couldn’t protect my child from the traitor. From her mother.”

“What? Didn’t you say the human shaman died?”

Eunho mentioned that the human shaman died after giving birth.

How could the shaman harm his child?

The child was left with Ok Toyeon and survived.

Jeokho tried to organize his thoughts, but he couldn’t find an answer.

Eunho only nodded.

“She died. Because of harming my child and defying the will of the heaven.”

“...!”

“My child was born helpless. The flow of her chi was completely blocked, and her body was unwell. Instead of becoming a warrior, she became something else.”

Jeokho felt as if lightning had struck him at the news of the shaman harming Eunho’s child.

If all of Eunho’s words were true, the human shaman would’ve brought harm to the child while she was in her body.

The latter part of Eunho’s words caught Jeokho’s attention, but something else was more important than that.

“So the reason for the new prophecy was...”

“Because my child has lost the strength to fight as a warrior.”

Jeokho was speechless.

He understood now why Eunho hid his descendant.

“A tiger descendant who cannot fight. Can a child born with the fate of getting caught up in the heroes of the Tiger Clan be safe among her people?”

Eunho’s eyes turned toward the main house where his grandchildren were.

Jeokho saw the longing in his eyes, something that happened for the first time.

* * *

My vision changed rapidly as soon as I stepped into the space.

Inside the Tiger Clan’s garden, the scenery was a mountain.

A second ago we were deep into a bamboo forest, and now we were deep in the mountains.

‘It’s my first time in an SSR-rank faux reality otherworld. The air’s different.’

In the SSR-rank otherworld in Hongcheon, we were on the defensive side.

And although I experienced an SSR-rank otherworld through the old simulator in the secret passage, this one is completely different.

The scale and effect of the energy pressure were completely different from those of SR-rank otherworlds.

Fwaaaaat!

Hwang Jiho developed a golden boundary as soon as we entered.

The air became lighter as Hwang Jiho’s fingertips closed the boundary.

“Alright. Don’t go out of the boundary.”

I could protect myself with my own energy waves.

It seems like this tiger is acting like a clan head.

The boundary skill summoned by Hwang Jiho enveloped us all, and we all moved together with him.

Jukho admired Hwang Jiho’s boundary skill, saying that it was a high-level skill that he could not imitate.

“...Alright, I’ll show you around.”

Jukho began to walk with a bamboo lamp.

“Can you tell me what torture you’re going to do?”

“I have a few in mind, and I’m curious what you’re going to do first.”

The tiger couple spoke to Kim Shinrok while we walked.

He diligently explained the torture plans for today.

“With the help of Jukho-nim, we will distort the time axis and proceed with the torture. The person would probably experience time 100 times slower.”

Kim Shinrok took out a tightly sealed envelope from his arms.

The tigers looked wary.

“I’ll use a nightmare dust today. It’s a trace of the nightmare Insomnium left in this world.”