1Meanwhile, White Crane approached Jawoon and asked:
“Lord of Cheonryeongji. Do you truly intend to leave without finding your original spirit?”
“That is so, White Crane. I am sorry to trouble you, but could you open the door? With my current spiritual power, even opening the door is difficult.”
At the sight of Jawoon, weakened enough that he could not even open a door others opened with ease, White Crane forced down the sigh that threatened to escape. Before opening the door, he took out a small pouch and a rod made of pale blue jade, about two spans long, from his breast and handed them over together.
“Lord Geomun Star Lord sent them.”
Taking the two items, Jawoon smiled gently.
“There is no one as reliable as Geomun when he is an ally. Tell Geomun I am grateful. And this is the Gamhacheok?”
“Yes. He said that since it is a tool for governing water, it will surely be of help.”
After answering briefly, White Crane slowly opened the door. His boyish face was full of worry. Jawoon tucked the items into his sleeve and patted White Crane’s head once.
“Thank you. I will see you when I return.”
Once Jawoon vanished beyond the door in a flash, White Crane turned to Black Tortoise and spoke.
“Lord Black Tortoise, you should hurry to Manhwijeon as well. The Heavenly Emperor is waiting.”
Black Tortoise nodded with a shadowed face.
“Understood. Go ahead. I will follow soon.”
White Crane bowed to Black Tortoise and opened the door again, disappearing. After White Crane vanished, Black Tortoise looked for a while at the Azure Dragon’s original spirit sleeping within Winter Snow Lake, then extended a hand. Black energy gathered and soon became a black spear in Black Tortoise’s hand.
Black Tortoise lightly tossed the spear and planted it beside him. Then the spear turned back into black energy and soon took the form of a young man with a boyish face.
“Moo. Go to Cheonryeongji and fetch the Azure Dragon’s dragon orb from the golden fish.”
The young man called Moo floated slightly in the air, arms crossed, and spoke:
“You think the Azure Dragon will be hurt badly enough to need the dragon orb?”
“No matter how young and weak White Tiger is, he is one of the Four Symbols. The one White Tiger fought for over twenty days and barely sealed is Gonggi. Since Gonggi is one of the Four Fiends from the start, he is by no means an easy opponent.”
“But Erlang Shen is there, isn’t he?”
“Erlang Shen is strong, but he still lacks experience. Geomun told the Azure Dragon about the weakness, so the sealing itself should be possible, but…”
Black Tortoise shook his head, thinking of the Gamhacheok and the small pouch Jawoon had received.
“I do not wish for the Azure Dragon to be hurt either. It is just…”
“I know. You are preparing for a one-in-a-million chance, right?”
Moo looked at Black Tortoise with a face full of mischief.
“Will you be all right? The Heavenly Emperor entrusted the protection of the Heavenly Palace to you, Hyeon. Doesn’t that mean you should not go anywhere?”
Black Tortoise touched the floor and opened a door to Cheonryeongji, saying:
“The Heavenly Emperor gave an order to Black Tortoise, not to Black Tortoise’s weapon.”
Moo shrugged once and leaped through the door Black Tortoise had opened. In an instant, even the trace of the door disappeared; only then did Black Tortoise rise and quietly leave Winter Snow Lake. He did not open a door but walked slowly away, and his steps looked endlessly heavy.
After Jawoon left for the Heavenly Palace, everyone held their breath, so Cheonryeongji was quiet without even the common sound of birds.
Geuma had been scattering cornelian cherry seeds that filled her hands, planting them sparsely in a sunny spot. She straightened and looked at the sky. It had already been a month since Jawoon left.
There had been no news from the Heavenly Realm. The trip should have been more than enough time for him to return, but her master still had not come back, and her insides burned with anxiety.
Geuma let out a short sigh and sat by the water, dipping her feet in. Her silk shoes had disappeared, and her white, plump feet, faintly showing red scales, dangled slightly in the water.
“He must come back safely…”
Then it happened. The ground around Cheonryeongji rumbled low. Geuma rose nimbly from her seat. In one hand, a red rod had appeared before she knew it, and in the other, water energy gathered.
“Who are you?”
Normally, no wicked energy would dare settle in Cheonryeongji, but now its master was absent. Geuma tensed, ready to attack at any moment. Her black eyes glared between the densely wooded trees.
“Geuma. It’s been a while.”
The young man who emerged from the bushes with a boyish face was Moo. Moo plucked a leaf from his hair and hopped over to stand before Geuma.
“Moo?”
Geuma stared at Moo with wide eyes, then released the water energy gathered in one hand. The round clump of energy turned to water and seeped into the ground.
“What brings you here?”
“We meet after so long, and you ask why I came before even saying hello? I’m hurt.”
When Moo said that with a grin, Geuma finally realized she had been rude, stepped back, and folded her hands.
“Geuma greets Lord Moo.”
At Geuma’s polite greeting, Moo waved a hand instead.
“I didn’t expect such a formal greeting.”
Moo lightly touched Geuma’s shoulder.
“No. It is only proper that I offer it. But have you perhaps come looking for Lord Jawoon? Lord Jawoon is currently…”
When Geuma tried to tell him of Jawoon’s absence, Moo shook his head.
“I already know the Azure Dragon is at the Heavenly Palace. That is why I came.”
At Moo’s words, Geuma urgently grabbed his sleeve.
“Has something happened to Lord Jawoon?”
At Geuma’s urgent voice, Moo made a troubled expression and hesitated.
“Hyeon told me to bring the Azure Dragon’s dragon orb.”
“What exactly happened?”
Moo scratched his cheek and hesitated for a moment, but at Geuma’s urging, he eventually told her everything that had happened in the Heavenly Palace. As Moo’s story went on, Geuma’s face grew paler and paler.
“Then, right now… is Lord Jawoon going alone to seal Gonggi?”
“Erlang Shen is with him, so there shouldn’t be any great danger. But something might happen that requires the dragon orb.”
Geuma staggered, then covered her mouth as if stifling a scream.
“What’s wrong?”
Surprised by the intense reaction from Geuma, who rarely showed changes in emotion, Moo held her up. Geuma trembled slightly and spoke.
“Lord Jawoon’s dragon orb already used a great amount of its essence several years ago, and its essence has not yet fully recovered.”
At those words, Moo jumped in shock.
“What? You mean the Azure Dragon was hurt badly enough to need treatment using the dragon orb?”
Instead of answering, Geuma looked at Moo and said:
“I will go myself. Right now.”
“Where? The Heavenly Palace? You’re a golden fish. Going to the Heavenly Palace is too much for you.”
Geuma looked at Moo, then began to undo her hair. The hair tied on both sides of her part in fist-sized buns came loose, and when the horns hidden within were fully revealed, Geuma closed her eyes.
A fierce wind blew past once, and in the place where the child had stood, a woman in red clothes now stood. Moo blinked at Geuma, who had grown taller than him.
“You ascended the Dragon Gate? I hadn’t heard that a new dragon was born.”
Now fully adult, Geuma shook her head. Her long, loose hair swayed with the motion.
“I have not ascended yet.”
“Does the Azure Dragon know this?”
Geuma shook her head again.
“I have not told him. I do not intend to tell him in the future either.”
“Why? If you do not ascend the Dragon Gate, you won’t be recognized as a dragon. You will have to keep living as a human immortal.”
Instead of answering, Geuma folded her hands and closed her eyes. After a moment, a bead slightly larger than an adult’s fist, radiating brilliant five-colored light, appeared in her hands. It was a dragon orb.
After confirming it was her own dragon orb, Geuma brought it to her chest. The dragon orb soaked into her chest and disappeared in an instant.
“I will go to the Heavenly Palace and return, so may I ask you to watch Cheonryeongji for a while?”
Moo shrugged once and held out a hand to Geuma. When Geuma quietly closed her eyes and bowed to match his height, Moo placed his palm on her forehead. Black energy wrapped around Geuma’s entire body once, then disappeared.
“I hid the Azure Dragon energy inside you with Black Tortoise’s energy. If seen by energy alone, you will look like one of Black Tortoise’s kin, so no one will block your path.”
After finishing, Moo took out a round tablet from his breast and held it out to Geuma.
“Take this. Show it to the Sun General and Moon General at the Sun-Moon Gate, and ask them to take you to Black Tortoise.”
Geuma took the tablet from Moo and hurried to the water’s edge of Cheonryeongji. Moo followed and stomped hard on the boundary where water and earth met; in an instant, a pillar of light shot up toward the sky.
Geuma looked up at the pillar once, bowed lightly to Moo, and jumped into the water. A moment later, a huge red dragon soared into the sky and vanished in an instant. Moo admired the rainbow unfurling in the red dragon’s wake.
“I heard Vermilion Bird Divine Lord brought her here. Is she a red dragon because she resembles his splendor? She is like a sun climbing against the sky.”
Moo watched the sky until Geuma was out of sight, then rubbed his neck and turned his head. His gaze went to the area near a large flat rock by the water.
“Don’t you think so too?”
Something stirred in the shadow where nothing had seemed to be.
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