Chapter 12: The Anti-Evil Talisman

The person carrying a large basket grunted and set it down on the ground. In the moonlight, its contents were visible: all oil lamps.

“Did you collect everything? There must not be a single one left.”

“This is all.”

“What about the flint?”

“It was all taken away to Huilak Palace.”

Lanterns, oil lamps, and even flint… It seemed they had deliberately gathered all fire-lighting items and moved them to the storeroom. That was why the palace was still so dark. Outside, the moonlight made it possible to distinguish shapes, but inside it must be pitch-black, impossible to see an inch ahead.

“How long will this continue? It’s been at least fifteen days. I’m suffocating every night. The wind sounds like ghosts crying; it’s terrifying.”

“What do we lowly eunuchs know? We just do as we’re told.”

“But is it really haunted here?”

“Shh, keep your voice down. It’s a mercy that the Buddhist monk called it a ghost. If he had said it was a person, who knows what would have happened? We openly disobeyed the Empress’s order not to light any fires in the Eastern Palace. Someone would have died. It could have been you or me.”

When one spoke angrily, cutting off the other, the speaker quickly fell silent.

“Then lock the door and come out.”

The eunuch with the keys locked it firmly.

“Anyway, what a hardship…”

They left grumbling.

Waiting until their footsteps faded, Yun-jo came out and stood under the eaves, looking at the long veranda. Indeed, everywhere he looked was dark.

From what he had heard, this Eastern Palace deliberately kept no lights and collected all lamps into the storehouse every night. This bizarre practice had lasted for fifteen days on the direct order of the Empress.

Yun-jo had visited the Eastern Palace about two weeks ago, which meant that from then until now, they had been living without a single lamp lit at night.

‘Why?’ Moreover, he had overheard that the palace was haunted. ‘Some kind of superstition?’

In any case, the situation was chaotic today, so it was better not to linger. As he tried to climb the wall as usual, his foot caught on something. Suddenly, a deafening clang rang out, and before he knew it, he was falling to the ground.

‘Ugh!’

On top of the wall was a rope studded with countless white papers; it was a geumjul, a talisman rope. Yun-jo hadn’t noticed it and had accidentally touched it.

The clanging didn’t stop. The rope had bells and metal pieces attached; once triggered, all the connected ropes vibrated in a chain, producing a sharp sound that carried far without ceasing. It was as if the geumjul was alive, shouting that an intruder was here.

Yun-jo immediately tried to teleport to Yulsi Mountain. But his body wouldn’t move. The coordinate transfer, which had become so familiar he could use it with his eyes closed, was impossible for some reason.

This had never happened before. Flustered, Yun-jo looked down to find something tightly tangled around his ankle. It was a piece of the severed geumjul.

Just then, he heard people rushing over. With no time to untangle it, Yun-jo ran and jumped onto the roof with the rope still around his ankle. His white clothes stood out even in the darkness, so everyone in the palace saw him leaping onto the roof.

“A ghost!”

“Catch him!”

Dodging screams and shouts, Yun-jo ran frantically. For some strange enchantment, the geumjul on the walls barked like a dog whenever he approached. The rope netted not only the main gate but also the walls of all the buildings inside, completely enclosing the Eastern Palace.

Every direction he moved triggered a loud metallic noise, leaving no time to think about where he was going. He scrambled over roofs, jumped several times, and rolled down to the other side. He landed in a small garden between buildings. Luckily, no one was there.

He tried to break the noisy rope around his ankle, but no matter how he tugged, it wouldn’t snap. He rose to look for something to cut it with, then stopped short at the window he was about to enter.

Someone was in the pitch-black room. Yun-jo recognized him. Sitting motionless in the darkness without a single light was Sahyeon. It was the Crown Prince’s bedchamber.

Despite the situation, Yun-jo felt a slight relief. Much time had passed since his first dream. Counting, at least half a year had gone by. The boy looked very different from back then.

In the faint moonlight, he could only make out a silhouette, but his clothes were neat and his posture straight. Most importantly, he wasn’t covered in blood.

“Who’s there?” At the prince’s voice, Yun-jo quickly hid under the window.

He remembered the moment their hands touched. Right after, the dream had ended abruptly, as if he was pulled out of it. It felt so strange that he had wondered why. His conclusion was that the Crown Prince must be a basic setting character. Physical contact between a user like Yun-jo and such a character was probably prohibited.

He hid out of instinct, but then thought that if contact could end the dream, it might actually be useful now. Just as he was about to stand up, the prince’s calm voice spoke again.

“Don’t come out. Whatever you are, if you get caught now, you won’t leave intact.”

“…”

Yun-jo was quite surprised to be spoken to. After all, the commotion outside must have caught the prince’s attention. He held his breath and stayed still. After a moment, the prince spoke again.

“Did you light a lamp before?”

“…A lamp?”

“The monk said it was the work of a ghost.”

Only then did Yun-jo understand the reason for the chaos. They had mistaken his earlier careless act of lighting a lamp for a ghost’s deed. So they installed the geumjul on the gates and walls, and he, returning after a few days, had unluckily triggered it.

Yun-jo said nothing. He wasn’t sure if it was okay to talk to the prince, especially if he was mistaken for a ghost.

Either way, he was in a difficult position and had no time to think. Indeed, the palace guards who saw him coming this way were now rushing toward the prince’s bedchamber, led by eunuchs.

“Your Highness, did you not see a person in white?”

“White clothes?”

“A ghost has appeared. Following the monk’s orders, we set up the anti-evil geumjul at the second drum hour, and it caught something.”

Now he understood why he couldn’t teleport. The geumjul had recognized him as a ghost. That made sense; the geumjul was meant to block foreign entities. He was the most alien presence in this world, so it was only natural.

‘But still, calling a person a ghost?’ Yun-jo was dumbfounded.

The guards entered and searched the room. The low windowsill barely hid Yun-jo crouching beneath it; it was so shallow that if he raised his head, the top of his head would stick out.

Dark as it was inside, outside there was faint light from the moon, now high in the sky. If anyone came close, they would surely see Yun-jo. But the garden was too small to hide in.

Maybe he should run away before being discovered, but that wouldn’t work either. The cursed geumjul on his ankle would clang with every move, and he’d be spotted before taking a few steps. With teleportation blocked, even with his high stats, Yun-jo had no chance against dozens of people.

What would happen if he was caught and labeled a ghost? Yun-jo imagined it. He wasn’t sure, but it couldn’t be pleasant. First, he pictured being nailed into a coffin like in movies. Or perhaps being burned alive. The thought made his skin crawl.

What would happen to him? Would he die? He had never suffered a major accident in dreams, but minor injuries hurt just as much. He didn’t know what happened if you died in a dream, but even if he survived, it would be excruciating.

Moreover, the dream itself might end. That was a result he truly didn’t want.

“Your Highness, did you hear any sound?” A guard approached the window.

“Sound?”

“It has geumjul wrapped around it, so it makes noise when it moves. The monk infused it with power, so it can’t undo it alone.”

In response, the prince reached out. It seemed he was pointing to the window where Yun-jo hid.

“…!” Certain it was over, Yun-jo covered his mouth and gasped. He was done for. But the prince’s hand calmly drew the curtain by the window and returned to its place. At the same time, something fell outside the window with a thud.

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