Chapter 281

Chapter 281

The 31st Piece Turns the Tables

Chapter 281

The ghost, wheezing as its throat was squeezed, struggled to reply to Seol's question.

"Keek... Yaksha... Are you looking for Yaksha?"

"Yes, where is he?"

"I might feel like talking if you let me go."

"..."

Seol slightly loosened his grip.

Now that the ghost could breathe a bit more comfortably, it said.

"What are you? How do you know about Yaksha?"

"That's not something you need to worry about. Where's Yaksha?"

"Kek... What a fool. Searching for Yaksha is the same as walking to your death."

"Just like this."

The ghost rolled its eyes before starting to speak.

"No one knows where Yaksha is."

"Why?"

"Because Yaksha has torn down the boundaries—it becomes the path wherever it goes—no one can know where it went."

"Torn down the boundaries... does that mean..."

The ghost looked at the burning monsters and grinned.

"Yes. A huge hole has been torn between the Ghost Realm and the human world. The name of that hole is..."

Click...

The ghost's sword started to unsheathe itself.

"Yak... sha..."

Stab-!

As Seol's hand slashed horizontally, the ghost's head flew off with a spray of blood.

His expression darkened.

'Where are you... Yaksha.'

Seol frowned and looked around at the countless monsters and ghosts.

Even the flames from the cannon attack weren’t enough to kill them all.

He shook off his ominous thoughts and began eliminating the culprits behind the situation one by one.

Stab!

Crash!

As Seol and Chi Woo advanced, the already chaotic valley descended further into madness.

Kiik!

Thud!

Whirl!

Kwaaaa!

Biran and the transferees who assisted in tracking the monsters didn't engage in battle. Instead, they marked the ghosts and monsters fleeing from Seol—for Seong Jo to be completely freed from the threat, every trace of evil in this place had to be eradicated.

By the time Seol and Chi Woo beheaded the last marked ghost, five days had passed since they had emerged from the sewers of Seong Jo.

* * *

"Here! Please, look over here!"

"Lady Seol Hong! And Mr. Kang Seol! Please, say a word to my child!"

"Lord Chi Woo!"

Swoosh...

As Chi Woo slightly lifted the cloth covering the window of their lodging, he saw a huge crowd gathered outside.

"They've been there for two days."

"Let them be, Chi Woo."

"But... Oof. Being stuck inside all the time is a bit suffocating."

Not long after Seol Hong was dispatched, Seong Jo returned to normalcy. This was all thanks to Seol and Chi Woo, who had driven out the ghosts and monsters.

- The fragrance of a Dragon's Flower is only for the people.

Chi Woo’s words to the soldiers quickly spread throughout the city’s citizens.

As a result, Seol Hong and Chi Woo became revered as if they were saints who had appeared in Khan during times of chaos.

This caused inconveniences such as being confined to their lodgings, but there were also some positive aspects.

[Special Stat: Charm has been confirmed.]

[Special Stat: Charm has been unlocked.]

[Related Title: A Charming Individual has been deleted, and 30 points have been added to the Charm stat.]

Seol had unlocked at new stat.

He could now check the Charm attached to the equipment.

[Special Stat: Charm]

- A special stat that affects all beings that have intelligence. It sparks curiosity in those meeting you for the first time and fosters affection in those who already know you. The higher the value, the more likely others are to be captivated by you.

'Charm is also a good stat... as long as you don't overdo it.'

Charm had a similar effectiveness to Spirit.

If you have a good enough amount of Charm, you could easily overcome hard adventures.

However, excessively high Charm could lead to dangerous situations.

Like a duchess urging you to run away with her or a woman you've never interacted with seeking revenge for unrequited love.

'It isn't bad to have some.'

Having unlocked Charm through this incident was another decent reward. Seol Hong and Seol's actions breathed life into the chaotic situation in Khan.

Thanks to that, Seol Hong's name became known even in faraway regions.

In any case, Seong Jo would now gradually return to daily life.

"When is the Central Army withdrawing?"

"It hasn't been decided yet. But they will probably be dispatched to another region once the city is cleaned up."

Outside the window, citizens could be seen shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Lady Seol Hong will be the one to become the dragon!"

"Have mercy on the people!"

Oof...

Seol Hong sighed.

She turned to Seol and asked.

"They say we're the only ones who have completed the mission in this area... What do you want to do about our next destination?"

"Hmm..."

"Retreating and waiting for the situation to calm down is also an option."

Hearing those words, Seol and Seol Hong exchanged glances and smiled.

"There's no way we could do that."

"Right, the situation doesn’t allow us such a luxury."

Knock, knock...

Sibi knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"A messenger has arrived."

"A messenger? Whose?"

"Well..."

It seemed that Sibi and the messenger were arguing outside.

Having found hundreds of survivors, Jin Ryeo and Geok Bi couldn't hide their surprise.

Since things had turned out like this, they had no choice but to retake the city.

They scribbled the bad news in a letter, trying to make it sound positive.

- Survivors confirmed.

They promised they would return later and were planning to escape. If they hadn't encountered that creature the moment they tried to leave the city, they might have succeeded.

If that had happened, they would have truly been lucky.

Whoosh...

"Huh"

Geok Bi was wounded in the blink of an eye.

They couldn't see what had happened.

At that moment, Jin Ryeo used all her assets.

No—she offered it to Kunna.

'Kunna! Get us out of here!'

BOOM-!

Jin Ryeo and Geok Bi ran away from that place at blazing speed.

Geok Bi briefly lost consciousness.

While carrying her on her back, Jin Ryeo just kept running.

She wasn't sure where the camp was.

She just thought she had to keep running to survive.

That was the situation they were in.

"Jin Ryeo, leave me behind and leave..."

"Shut up! It's already hard enough!"

"No one will doubt your loyalty to Lord Tae Yul even if you leave me behind..."

"Tae Yul? Who cares! I'm only tied down here because of money!"

"That's more of a reason to leave me behind... There's no need to fight that creature..."

"Hey! I have dignity!"

Jin Ryeo screamed in frustration.

"I'm not fighting that monster. I'm fighting your death! Don't you dare die in front of me!"

"Jin Ryeo..."

"I should have stayed in the North... I shouldn't have come here... They said there was money to be made in Khan... I just kept spending everything I earned... Oof... Damn it..."

"Haha... The creature's here, Jin Ryeo."

"I don't have any money left! Try to stop it!"

"Understood..."

Whoosh...

As Geok Bi exhaled, the hissing of cicadas began echoing from all directions.

Cri...

Cri... Cri... Cri...

"AAHH! MY EARS!"

"Shut up. It's hard to mask the sound."

"Oof... Oof..."

"Didn't you hear me? Be quiet."

"Are you saying I shouldn't even breathe?"

[Geok Bi used Sound Theater.]

[You reproduce the sound stored in your memories.]

From a distance, the voices of Geok Bi and someone else could be heard.

"Geok Bi, I want you to fight for me."

"Lord Tae Yul, that would be an honor."

Fwoosh...

The creature chasing them tore through the sound.

Geok Bi whispered to Jin Ryeo.

"The creature cut through the sound. It's still chasing us."

"..."

She added one more thing.

"I can hear it. At this speed, we'll cross paths with a carriage in about 10 seconds. One... Two..."

The hairs on the back of Jin Ryeo's neck stood on end.

"A carriage? Damn it... Why here of all places...?"

The current situation in Gi Seom had spread across the entire continent, yet someone was leisurely riding a carriage nearby!

She needed to make a choice.

Was the person in the carriage an ally or just someone who hadn't heard the news?

"No matter who it is, they'll get killed by the creature!"

In that case, she needed to make a difficult choice.

Would Jin Ryeo and Geok Bi die? Or would the people in the carriage die?

The decision was postponed until Geok Bi finished counting to ten.

Fwoosh-!

As the carriage came into view, she felt a murderous intent from behind her.

"I'm sorry!"

Jin Ryeo leaped over the carriage.

BOOM-!

The monster clashed with the carriage.

Even at that moment, Jin Ryeo kept moving.

Because of the thought that she might die if she stopped moving, she kept running.

And a few seconds later, she came to an abrupt stop.

"Jin Ryeo? Hurry..."

"Oof... Oof... So this was the huge luck that Kunna was talking about."

"What...?"

As Jin Ryeo turned around and looked at a dark figure emerging from the wrecked carriage, she made an ambiguous expression, unsure whether she was crying or laughing.

"The fortune was right!"

"That man... who..."

Creak...

Creak...

There was a dark figure holding a crimson blade with both hands.

"Fingers! Those fingers!"

GRRR...

Shaking from the impact, Seol whispered to the opponent, who was holding a sword.

"You..."

The swordsman wearing a terrifying mask struggled to cut down Seol.

"So it's you."

[Sudden Adventure 'Usurper Yaksha' is now active.]

[This Adventure is very dangerous.]

...