Hwayugi fanfic (Korean odyssey) : Guardian

Three bets part 9 -The first bet

NOTE: You MUST read 'Oh Gong's past' part 1-8 to be able to understand the first bet.

He doesn't know how long he has spent in the darkness.

Those dimly lit candles are slowly draining his power away.

Exhaustion.......

Sometimes he feels like he's hallucinating. He thought he could hear her voice but when he opens his eyes, all he can see is a pitch of darkness. This prison is no longer a normal prison. It's one where it's intended to wear down the prisoner's will and sanity. This is terrifying.....

Besides thinking about her, he has nothing else to do. He tries his best to break through from the seal yet the barrier is not budging at all.

How is she managing? Is she panicking because she's left all alone by herself?

Will she be crying by herself somewhere?

He needs to find a way to get out of here.......When he's imprisoned, all the barriers around the wooden house and Seurumdong will be down. Hopefully, Oh Jong will be able to notice something is wrong and stop her from going to work and watch over her to ensure her safety.

Time has lost its meaning. It almost feels like his body doesn't belong to him anymore. He can vaguely remember that 500 years ago, he could at least observe the moon and the stars from the Marble mountain. But now, it's darkness, darkness and darkness. There's despair, despair and despair.

He uses his body's recovery state to tell when the day resets. He would then try to break through the barrier again yet all the efforts were in vain.

Today, when the day's almost over, the woman came. He was going to use this as an opportunity to escape but the woman utilized the power of the seal and forcefully took 3 drops of blood from his heart and then left without saying anything.

The process of obtaining the blood was supposed to make him feel like he's heart's been torn out. Yet, he just collapsed to the floor as he couldn't feel anything, causing the woman to spare him a few extra glances before she left.

Only heaven knew that the real heart aches to him is the rushed goodbye he made to his beloved that day.

Every time he thinks about how she's just waiting by herself anxiously, he feels an endless amount of knives are stabbing in his heart.

He has encountered many calamities and trials and were gravely injured many times. But as long as he doesn't die, there's always hope.

But......

He's no longer certain if there are any possibilities for him to leave this place any time soon.

----------------------------

Where is this place??

Is this the first bet?

The room is surrounded by gloomy glass panels. The woman drops a small drop of blood into a small urn shaped like a tower. Afterward, the bet commences. She arrives in a strange world surrounded by thick fog.

The first bet: Prevent the great sage Son Oh Gong from being imprisoned inside the Marble Mountain.

She's thrown into the strange world, she can't tell if this world really exists of it's a recreated illusion.

She wakes up by the side of the river and she is still as filthy from the mud and rain from before. Because of her abnormal way of dressing, people thought she's a demon and scatter away in fear. And to her, the people are wearing clothing that is strange and unfamiliar to her.