Yeon Joo stopped at the gates of the palace and leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. Her sudden outrage and brisk walking left her breathing hard and fast. Why did she let Yeona get to her like that?
“Are you alright, your face is a little red” Yeon Joo opened her eyes “Salamander, yes I'm alright thank you” yeon Joo smiled at Chang Sun and bowed. “Are you heading out or coming in?” Chang sun asked.
Yeon Joo pointed to the gate and cleared her throat “Actually I was on my way to the forest and. Salamander are you doing anything right now?”“Not necessarily, why do you ask?”
“My journey to the forest is not a pleasant one, it's a matter of life and death could you please escort me?” Yeon Joo requested. Chang sun instantly became curious, he wondered what the young nephylm was up to. “Alright, I'll go with you but I do hope that it's important” he said. Yeon Joo nodded vigorously and bowed again.
“Shin hye, lead the way” Yeon Joo said and began following the little ghost girl. Chang sun fell into step beside Yeon Joo “Shin hye?”“Yes, the little ghost girl in front of us. She's leading the way can't you see her?” Yeon Joo asked. Chang sun sighed, he'd long since stopped his ability to see his ghosts simply because there were too many of them roaming around the palace asking for help from anyone who could see them.
“I stopped getting involved with the dead a long time ago. I can choose to see them or not” he said as he activated his ability to interact with the dead and then he saw the little girl that they were following.
He decided not to ask any questions and see what lay ahead.Shin hye led them deep into the forest, almost towards the mountains. She finally stopped and pointed to an area that was void of any life, no grass or flowers grew there. “That is where he buried me” shin hye said in a shaky voice.
Chang sun stepped forward and waved his hand over the ground.
“I command the grounds to open up and reveal the hidden”Yeon Joo watched as the sand rose from the ground and then a corpse followed, it gently fell to the ground and Yeon Joo stepped forward to look at it. “Salamander, this is strange come look at this. Her body hasn't started decaying and there's no smell either but her body is blue” Yeon Joo knelt beside the body and stared into the girls lifeless eyes.
“When a person's soul is eaten, they turn blue. Shin hye was able to appear before you so that means that the demon wasn't successful but why?” Chang sun said.
Yeon Joo walked towards shin hye and placed her hand on the ghosts forehead. She closed her eyes and searched the girls memories all the way back to when the little girl was born.“She is the only child of her mother. When Shin hye was three months it was discovered that her mother would never be able to give birth again so the woman secretly went to a shaman in the mountains and had her soul bound to that of her child” Yeon Joo said and stepped back. Chang sun nodded “That explains why her soul couldn't be eaten completely but the damage was enough to break the spell binding her to her mother and killing her.” he said.
“Who did this to you?” Yeon Joo asked shin hye and the little girl shook her head. “I can't tell you, I'm not allowed to say” shin hye said sadly.
“But you can't pass on unless he's brought to justice, unless there's something else holding you back” Chang sun said. Yeon Joo gentle pat the girls shoulder, “Shin hye is worried about her mother, her father secretly got married again after it was discovered that his first wife couldn't conceive anymore”
“Father has been unkind to mother ever since I was born and I couldn't figure out why until now. I fear it will only get worse once it's discovered I'm dead” Shin hye said.
“Do not worry about your mother, I will compensate her myself and she will never lack anything until she breathes her last” Chang sun said. Shin hye could tell that the salamander was telling the truth so she let go of any attachments she had with the living. She smiled as a bright light enveloped her and she slowly disappeared.
“This little girl is among the many victims beginning to appear recently, there's a demon that's devouring human souls and we suspect it's jin ho but we have no proof” Chang sun said. Yeon Joo removed her robe and wrapped the corpse up. Chang sun lifted the corpse into his arms and they left the forest.
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Chang sun and Yeon Joo had to report the little girls death to the king since it was yet another suspicious death. Once they were done, Yeon Joo was allowed to return to Sogyeokseo, on her way she ran into Taehyun.
“So it is true, you're in Sogyeokseo now. That bitch Ji Soo will stop at nothing to control every single one of us” he said and balled his hands into fists. Yeon Joo stepped back and bit her bottom lip, she remembered that she'd been warned to avoid him. He was so different from the first time that they'd met, at that time she'd felt so safe in his presence, in his arms but now she feared the very sight of him.
“You are like me aren't you?” Yeon Joo asked. Taehyun frowned at her “What do you mean?”. “I mean only one of your parents is human, isn't it?”
Taehyun was taken aback by her question, for some reason he didn't want her to know that their fathers were complete opposites, natural enemies. He could lie to her but he knew that she already knew.
“Yes, my father is a demon, the complete opposite of your father” Taehyun said. Yeon Joo took a deep breath and then she moved closer to Taehyun until they were just inches apart.“When we first met, I couldn't sense anything from you but lately your aura has changed. I heard that there have been several mysterious deaths lately, are you the demon behind those deaths?”
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Divine Joseon Warriors.
General Fiction"One must die in order to be reborn. Your destiny may have been written by the gods but it is up to you to fulfill it" April Summers is very much used to the weird things that happen to her on a daily basis, however, one encounter forces her over...