Chapter 19
As soon as Baekrok Seonin finished asking his question, the small noises filling the surroundings suddenly stopped.
It was hard to explain, but it seemed as if he was conversing with the very nature of Jeju itself.
Baekrok Seonin nodded a few times before opening his eyes again.
“Just now, I heard the answers from all the natural things of Jeju land. They say that no descendant of the same god as him has died here.”
Hearing this, Yoonseol and Wenling looked at each other and nodded.
“So Zhihan was alive after all.”
“He’s not the type to die easily.”
Even setting aside his innate ability and talent, he was someone whose cunning and escape skills had to be acknowledged.
Honestly, both of them had suspected deep down that Zhihan might still be alive somewhere.
Then Baekrok Seonin slowly continued.
“But there is something a bit strange…”
“What is it?”
Yoonseol asked, and Baekrok Seonin tilted his head.
“There’s a place where the aura of death is circling unusually strongly. As if it’s desperate because it cannot take someone who’s supposed to die.”
Hearing that, Wenling and Yoonseol raised their voices at the same time.
“Where is it?!”
“Where exactly is it?!”
* * * * *
“Do you think Zhihan will really be there?”
After coming down from Hallasan, Yoonseol drove toward the place Baekrok Seonin had pointed out. Wenling, sitting beside her in the car, spoke calmly.
“Nothing is certain. But it’s worth investigating.”
If the aura of death was swirling around a single point, it meant someone was in a state that was neither properly alive nor dead.
“If we find Zhihan after investigating, we arrest him. If it’s a third party we don’t know, then we rescue them.”
Wenling’s expression was serious as he spoke.
Yoonseol simply nodded silently.
Meanwhile, the car carrying them entered a quiet road on the outskirts of Jeju.
Beside the road stood a steep cliff overlooking the sea—an isolated place.
“What’s that?”
Suddenly, something in the distance caught Yoonseol’s attention.
A normal car was half overturned in a roadside ditch.
Beside it, an elderly woman—who looked like a family member—was pacing anxiously.
Apparently, there had been an accident.
“Looks like an accident.”
“That’s bad. This is a one-lane road.”
As the two muttered while observing the car, a man who had noticed them hurried over.
He had short hair and a healthy build, and he immediately asked for help.
“Please help! The car is about to flip over!”
His expression was desperate.
Yoonseol and Wenling exchanged a quick look.
“What should we do?”
“Well, since we’re here, let’s help. If the car stays like that, we won’t be able to move forward anyway.”
Wenling even took off his outer shirt as if preparing to use serious strength.
Then he reminded Yoonseol:
“Remember to act naturally. Don’t forget the first rule of the Raziel Museum: concealment.”
There he goes again with the nagging.
Did this man have some kind of illness that caused him to have a heart attack if he didn’t say this three times a day?
Yoonseol answered casually.
“Don’t worry.”
They approached the accident scene.
The car’s front wheels were stuck in the ditch, barely hanging at the edge of the road. It looked like the driver had slipped while turning the curve too sharply.
“Are you okay?”
Yoonseol first asked the man who had asked for help.
The man smiled casually.
“Ah, yes. Luckily we got out before the car slid off the road. But we couldn’t do anything about the car ourselves.”
Then he shouted toward the elderly woman behind him.
“Mom! These people said they’ll help!”
“Oh my, thank you so much.”
The elderly woman immediately expressed her gratitude.
Since he called her “Mom,” they appeared to be mother and son.
She wore a loose dress, and her left arm was in a cast.
Yoonseol listened to their accents carefully before raising her eyebrows.
“You’re Japanese, aren’t you?”
“I pride myself on speaking Korean pretty well. Is it that obvious?”
The elderly woman simply smiled kindly.
She introduced herself.
“My name is Momiji, and this is my son Tatsuki. We came to Jeju for a family trip after a long time, but unfortunately this happened.”
“That’s right. And as you can see, my mother’s left arm isn’t in good condition, so we were really worried. We’re lucky you came along to help.”
Momiji and Tatsuki looked like a very close mother and son.
Yoonseol responded without thinking.
“Don’t worry. Uh… my younger brother will handle it. He’s strong.”
Wenling reacted immediately.
“Younger brother? Who said I was your—”
“Did you forget the first rule of the Raziel Museum?”
At her reminder, Wenling shut his mouth.
Yoonseol giggled and ordered him.
“Come on then, little brother. Your big sister is asking—use some strength.”
“…Yes, big sister.”
Wenling grabbed the front of the car with a face like he had bitten into a bug.
Then he instructed Tatsuki.
“Grab the left side. We’ll move the car together.”
Tatsuki followed his instructions.
On Wenling’s signal, they pushed the car backward.
Fortunately, with the strength of two men, the car slowly began moving.
While they were pushing, Tatsuki suddenly asked Wenling something strange.
“Sir, do you practice calligraphy?”
“…Pardon?”
Wenling didn’t understand the question.
Tatsuki looked him up and down.
“You seem to smell faintly of ink.”
“It’s the family business.”
Wenling answered shortly, feeling somewhat uneasy.
Tatsuki only smiled mysteriously.
At that moment, a woman’s voice called from behind.
“Mom!”
A woman with neatly cut short hair approached.
Since she called Momiji “Mom,” she must have been her daughter.
Momiji greeted her warmly.
“Mitsuko!”
Mitsuko looked at Yoonseol and Wenling.
“Who are these people?”
“They saw us and stopped while passing by. They’re helping us.”
Hearing this, Mitsuko brightened.
“Oh my, thank you so much! I was just searching nearby to see if anyone could help.”
Then she winked at Wenling, who was still pushing the car.
“Just as expected—Koreans are all so warm and kind.”
“Ah… yes.”
Wenling replied awkwardly.
He wasn’t even Korean, nor particularly warm, but he couldn’t exactly argue in this situation.
“Is it done yet?”
Yoonseol gave a subtle nudge.
Wenling wiped sweat from his forehead.
“Just a moment. Almost done.”
“Ah, what a life. Suffering because I have such a weak younger brother.”
Yoonseol shook her head dramatically.
Then she suddenly grabbed the front of the car.
“Hey, push with everything you’ve got. Your big sister will help.”
With Yoonseol’s strength added, the car that wouldn’t budge moved instantly.
Tatsuki gasped in admiration.
“You’re incredibly strong.”
“I exercised a bit to protect my unreliable little brother.”
Wenling replied calmly.
“That’s why she has a somewhat excessively wild side.”
“What did you say?!”
Watching the two bicker, Tatsuki burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, you two are close siblings.”
It was unclear how anyone could see them as close, but fortunately their lie seemed convincing enough.
“Well then, we’ll be going now. Thank you for your help.”
Momiji and the siblings got into the car and left after expressing their gratitude.
Wenling silently watched them drive away before muttering:
“No matter what happens, don’t ever lie about being my older sister again.”
“Why?”
Yoonseol asked, puzzled.
Wenling frowned.
“Because whenever I think about having an older sibling… someone specific comes to mind, and it ruins my mood.”
* * * * *
“Here it is.”
Ten minutes after starting the car again, they arrived at a remote beach.
The place was carved into deep basalt rock formations like a canyon, and in the distance was a cave whose depth couldn’t be seen.
At a glance, it was the perfect place to hide.
“What do you think?”
Wenling asked Yoonseol.
She inhaled deeply and analyzed the air.
“I can faintly smell something like a beast. But I can’t tell if it’s a chimera.”
“Let’s search.”
They cautiously descended toward the beach.
Suddenly Wenling stopped her.
“Wait a moment.”
He skillfully pulled out a fountain pen.
Then he quickly wrote characters in the air.
The characters floated in the air, glowing red.
Focusing his mind, Wenling added his voice.
“Reveal yourself!”
The glowing letters flashed and disappeared.
Then countless written phrases appeared at the cave entrance.
They looked hastily scribbled, the handwriting messy.
Wenling recognized immediately whose writing it was.
“It’s Zhihan’s script technique. He plastered this place with it.”
“Can you break through it?”
“It’s possible, but it’ll take time.”
Wenling adjusted his grip on the pen.
“Zhihan might escape, so we should block this place and remove them one by one. If necessary, I’ll step in and—damn it.”
He suddenly cursed.
Sensing something was wrong, Yoonseol asked:
“What happened?”
Wenling silently gestured behind her.
“We’re surrounded.”
Yoonseol quickly turned around.
At some point, chimeras had gathered on both sides, growling at them.
There were dozens of them.
Yoonseol looked at the large number of chimeras and said:
“Well, at least it seems we came to the right place.”
The chimeras growled as they pushed them toward the corner of the shore.
There were far more than the ones they had seen last time.
