🚨 Warning: This chapter includes very graphic imagery of self-harm/injury and violence. Please remain mindful of this as you read. If you feel uncomfortable, do not hesitate to stop reading or please skip the chapter! 🚨
【Book Chapter 8 】
Nokhee woke up in a daze, realising it was early morning. She struggled to get up, and as expected, the spot next to her was empty.
Even though her body had been handled so roughly, she surprisingly didn't feel any discomfort, which hinted that Kijoon had used his magic to tidy things up once again. Yet, as always, he had neglected the lower part.
“Ugh…”
As soon as she stood up, pale, milky fluids began to spill out from below as if leaking water. The sudden sensation of it flowing down her thighs made her shudder. Nokhee staggered hurriedly to the place where the chamber pot was.
After pressing down firmly on her lower abdomen with her own hands, she spent a long moment emptying everything inside in a slow, steady stream. Mixing it with sawdust, she secretly disposed of it outside before returning to her quarters, where an uncanny silence hung in the air.
"What day is it today…?"
Nokhee, entering the room, tried to gather her still-dazed mind and silently counted the days. But no matter how many times she counted, it was still the day before she had to leave for the imperial palace.
“...The reverse scale."
Only then did she suddenly remember what she had forgotten. She hastily rolled up her sleeve, her face turning pale in an instant.
“Wh-why...”
Was she still dreaming? If not, then why was there still a black scale on her wrist?
“Th-this can't be..."
Nokhee shook her head in denial. In an instant, her vision blurred, and, without warning, hot tears fell in droplets onto the scale on her wrist.
She had gritted her teeth and endured over the past three days, thinking it would surely disappear. Although there was still one day left, Yoon Jucheol would not leave her out of the banquet, so the day would pass in a flash.
“No. Please, please...!”
It felt as if her mind was being shredded to pieces. She should have resisted the urge to sleep, staying awake and putting more effort into the act. This was her last chance, but she foolishly failed to endure it just because it was too much to bear.
There was nothing more she could do to save the one she loved. Nokhee despised her own helplessness and was terrified by the thought that Kijoon might either die or be condemned to an eternity of servitude. Overwhelmed by fear, she couldn't hold back her tears.
‘What should I do now? What am I supposed to do?’
Out of the eleven scales, one remained on her body, while the other four were still in the hands of the Yoon family. [1] Giving them to Kijoon was impossible, so what could she do?
Like a fool, Nokhee kept repeating the same words to herself, scratching at the scaled area on her skin until it bled. Then, all of a sudden, a bright idea came to her.
“...Seonghyeon."
The Grand Shaman and Yoon Jucheol had handed over a reverse scale to her younger brother, Seonghyeon, using it as leverage to hold him hostage.
From what she recalled from their last conversation, Seonghyeon still believed it was just a tonic to boost his vitality, unaware that it was the cause of turning the people of the household into snake monsters.
He had been instructed to hide it in a secret place, so he probably hadn’t swallowed it yet. She needed to go to Seonghyeon's quarters immediately and retrieve it.
Having made her decision, Nokhee sprang up from her seat, quickly gathered herself, and rushed out of the room. As she walked through the front courtyard, she found it strange that Eokbun was nowhere to be seen, and the entire place was deserted. The same unsettling silence greeted her once she stepped outside her residence.
She wondered why there was no one around, but then it occurred to her that they must have all gone to help set up the banquet.
In a way, it was fortunate. She wasn’t sure how grand the banquet would be, but given the current situation, there was a good chance Seonghyeon’s quarters were empty too. Even if someone were there, all she had to do was persuade Seonghyeon to hand over the reverse scale. No, she was certain he would do so.
Perhaps because she was in a hurry, Nokhee's steps quickened on their own, and she arrived at Seonghyeon's residence earlier than expected.
The inner residence near the Lord’s Palace originally belonged to Yoon Jucheol's eldest son, Myunghoon, with Seonghyeon, a dependent, also living there. However, after Myunghoon’s death, it became solely Seonghyeon’s residence.
Nokhee stepped over the threshold and entered, but as expected, there was no one to greet her. It was odd that even the gatekeeper did not stay behind in the residence of the eldest son of the family. However, given Nokhee's desperate situation, she couldn’t afford to dwell on such matters.
Without even taking off her shoes, she rushed into the inner chamber where Seonghyeon stayed. Fortunately, the room was empty, as the owner had likely gone to the banquet early.
Nokhee immediately began searching every nook and cranny, pulling open desk drawers, rifling through sewing baskets, peering under the bed, and even checking inside vases, as though hunting for a mouse.
“Where is it? Where is it?!"
Without a second thought, she rummaged through and overturned every piece of furniture in the room, but the reverse scale Seonghyeon had hidden was nowhere to be found.
‘Could it be hidden in the room that he originally used?’
With that thought, Nokhee rushed out and ran to the small room across the hall. She overturned everything in that room as well, but the reverse scale wasn’t there either.
In a desperate attempt, she combed through one room after another, then searched another, and another. Eventually, she had turned every room in the building upside down — storerooms, pantries, even the kitchen hearth — yet there was no sign of the reverse scale anywhere.
As if that wasn’t enough, she began crawling around like a madwoman, digging through the soil of the back garden. Suddenly, from afar, the sound of pungmul — the rhythmic music of drums, gongs, and festive chants — echoed through the air. It seemed the banquet was about to begin.
If Yoon Jucheol saw that she had not taken her place at the banquet table by now, he would surely fly into a rage and send someone to find her. However, Nokhee remained frozen, sitting on the dirt ground, unable to move.
“...It's not here."
It wasn't here. Seonghyeon must have hidden it in a place no one knew because he truly wanted to become the head of the family. No matter how much Nokhee searched, Kijoon’s reverse scale was nowhere to be found.
This was her final hope, the last chance to gather the seventh scale — yet even that had slipped through her fingers.
Nokhee sank to the dirt, oblivious to the grime staining her clothes. From afar, the jubilant sound of music swelled, marking a day of celebration. Yet, where she sat felt like the heart of hell.
‘Kijoon. Kijoon. What am I supposed to do for you?’
With bloodshot eyes, Nokhee stared into space, then abruptly wiped away the tears that had drenched her face with her sleeve. Then, with a determined expression, she pulled something from her inner garment and held it up.
In her hand was a small silver dagger she had bought at the market not long ago. It hadn't been intended for this purpose, but...
She recalled asking Kijoon about it last night, and he had said it was useless. But now, she couldn't think of any other option.
Nokhee drew the dagger from its sheath without any delay. As promised by the shopkeeper, the blade, as wide as the palm of her hand, was sharpened to a fine edge. She briefly set it down and then rolled up her left sleeve to her elbow.
'This will hurt a lot.'
It would surely be excruciating. How could it not hurt when cutting into living flesh? Nokhee hated pain. She was utterly fed up with suffering, sick to the point of disgust.
But it would all be over soon. With the promise of imminent relief from pain, she could endure it.
Using the silver dagger, she tore off a piece of her skirt and stuffed it into her mouth, biting down hard. She had never used a blade before, but she knew that getting it over with quickly would lessen the pain.
Nokhee gripped the silver dagger firmly in her right hand and brought it close to the black scale on her left wrist. As the cool touch of the blade met her skin, the hand holding it trembled like a leaf in the wind.
'It's okay. It won't be that bad.'
She steadied herself, took a few deep breaths, and then, with a steady hand, began cutting away the flesh near the scale.
"Uggghh―!”
As soon as the blade pierced her skin, blood surged out, and a searing pain engulfed her. Despite the cloth pressed against her mouth, the intensity of the agony was overwhelming, and a strangled scream slipped past her lips.
Still, she didn't stop; she kept slicing into her wrist.
“Heuug, huh, haaa...”
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a bloody piece of flesh dropped from Nokhee's arm. She howled like a beast, but carefully wrapped it in cloth and tucked it into her bosom along with the silver dagger.
At that moment, as she tried to stand up to find Kijoon, sudden dizziness overtook her, and her vision went dark, forcing her to sit down for a moment.
It seemed she had lost more blood than expected. She quickly wrapped the wound with a pre-sliced piece of cloth, but the blood soon soaked through.
After waiting for the dizziness to subside, she gathered her strength, stood up, and staggered out of Seonghyeon’s residence. Her body and mind were in tatters, unlike when she had entered.
She knew people would be shocked to see her in this state. But the thought of finding Kijoon first pushed all other concerns aside.
‘Now, where in this vast castle can I find that servant...?’
On the day of the banquet, Kijoon's tasks were usually one of three: running errands for Yoon Jucheol, doing various chores alongside the other servants, or kneeling under the banquet table to endure humiliation in front of the guests.
There was no mention of running errands last night, so it was one of the other two. So, it would be a good idea to go to the venue where the banquet was held first.
After making that decision, Nokhee gritted her teeth and walked forward.
As she approached the banquet hall where the feast was being held, it seemed that all the people she hadn’t seen previously were gathered there, as the sound of festive music and lively chatter blended and filled the air.
To avoid causing unnecessary commotion, Nokhee hid her bleeding left hand behind her back and entered through the side door where the lower-ranking servants came and went. Strangely, not a single servant, who should have been busy working in the back courtyard, was in sight. Naturally, Kijoon was nowhere to be found either.
Yoon Jucheol's joyful laughter could be heard clearly from the front courtyard, which felt strangely out of place.
"To the future of our dear Bohee, who is to become our Crown Princess, and to the prosperity of the Yoon family! Everyone, please join me in a toast! Hahaha!"
Nokhee stealthily made her way around the building and hid at the corner, peeking out to observe the banquet. Yoon Jucheol was standing at the head table, offering a toast to the guests, with Bohee sitting next to him, beautifully dressed. To her surprise, even the Grand Sharman was present, seated nearby.
"Before we go on, let us all express our gratitude to the Grand Sharman who worked hard for our family!”
This time, Yoon Jucheol praised the Grand Sharman and raised his glass. Although her face was still heavily powdered, making it difficult to discern her thoughts, her smiling expression suggested that the Grand Sharman was in a very good mood.
Below the head table, where they were seated, not only were all the members of the Yoon family gathered in full force, but also the nobles, landowners, and other guests were busy eating and drinking.
Nokhee scanned the area thoroughly to find Seonghyeon, but he was nowhere to be seen. It seemed he might have stepped away for a moment.
It was then. Suddenly, servants carrying trays of food and drinks began to emerge in an orderly line from the opposite side of where she was hiding. Despite feeling dizzy from the loss of blood, Nokhee found this very peculiar. After all, there had been no one in the back courtyard when she entered through the side door.
'Just where did they all come from, appearing one after another like this?’
Was she so disoriented that she couldn't properly recall what she saw? As she watched in bewilderment as the servants moved about, a figure suddenly appeared that made Nokhee's eyes widen.
'Eokbun…?'
Why was Eokbun here? The woman who attended to her was known as a timid rabbit yokai, famous for being too afraid to leave her quarters. Even if she had come to help with the banquet, she would likely be holed up inside, simply assisting with the dishes...
As Nokhee watched Eokbun with bated breath, a sudden chill ran through her. Strangely, there was no white visible in Eokbun's eyes as she carried the food, only a disturbing, unnatural blackness.
Why were Eokbun's black pupils so large today? And why was she, usually so timid, smiling and moving among the guests so confidently?
The same was true for those who appeared one after another. Osan, who always eagerly prepared Nokhee’s meals, her husband, who greeted her warmly every time they crossed paths and other familiar faces — everyone was walking out.
Though they were not the type of people who should be serving food, Nokhee couldn't understand why they were all gathered at the banquet.
Eokbun, who was placing a tray of drinks in front of one of the Yoon family’s relatives, suddenly raised her head and looked directly at where Nokhee was hiding. The moment her eyes met with Eokbun's pitch-black eyes showing no visible whites, Eokbun mouthed something.
Here…
Nokhee narrowed her eyes, trying to understand what Eokbun was saying.
“Here... lea-ve...?"
As she repeated each syllable, it was at that moment that she vaguely grasped its meaning.
“Kyaaaaaaa―!”
A piercing scream sliced through the festive music. Nokhee’s gaze, which had been fixed on Eokbun’s mouth, snapped around. And then...
“Huaa, ughh..."
She saw Yoon Jucheol transform into a snake monster and bite the neck of his only daughter, Bohee with his jaws.
“Hissssss―”
The horrifying hiss of the snake echoed through the deathly silent hall.
“Th-tha-that…”
“What on earth…?!”
The guests at the banquet were utterly shocked by the sight before them, unable to believe their own eyes. The Grand Sharman was no exception; she had never imagined that Yoon Jucheol, the head of the Yoon family, would transform in front of everyone. Her eyes, heavily lined with black makeup, stood out starkly, the whites particularly prominent.
Just as the thought crossed her mind that the Grand Sharman’s eyes seemed completely contradictory to Eokbun, Nokhee heard a chorus of screams.
"Aa-aahhh!"
“Ugh!"
“Kyaaaaaa―!”
Suddenly, screams rang out simultaneously as members of the Yoon family began transforming into snake monsters, appearing one after another from all directions.
One, two, three, four... In an instant, scales sprouted from their faces, their tongues split into two, and sharp fangs jutted from their elongated snouts. The transformation was so rapid, and the number of them so vast, that it was impossible to count them all.
The sounds of snakes hissing echoed from all around. They started crawling all over the floor, biting and killing anyone they could find, whether they were guests or even their own family members.
“Argghhhh―!”
“Save me!”
“Kyaaaaaa, euaghhhh―!”
The banquet, which had been filled with the sound of music and lively chatter, instantly transformed into a scene of chaos, covered in blood and flesh, with grotesque screams and shrieks filling the air.
“H-hey! Qu-quickly, call the soldiers! Hurry!”
The Grand Sharman, who had been revered like a goddess in the Yoon family, widened her eyes in panic, unsure of what to do in this situation. In an attempt to escape the attacking snake monsters, she climbed onto the table with the food, knocking over dishes and kicking furniture as she ran, her frantic movements resembling a weasel fleeing in fear.
However, the Grand Sharman’s escape was short-lived. A group of people blocked her path at the end of the long row of tables. They were the lower-ranking servants, whose eyes had lost the whites, just like Eokbun's.
Strangely, the Yoon family members who had transformed into snake monsters preyed on fellow humans but did not harm the lower-ranking servants who moved among them. As a result, the number of black-eyed figures surrounding the Grand Sharman steadily grew.
"Mo-move aside! How dare you stand in my way?! Step aside this instant, or else!"
The Grand Shaman, no, Manseon, brandished the fan she always carried, which was imbued with her spiritual power, threatening the servants blocking her way.
“You insolent creatures! Do you know who I am?! Move aside! How dare you...?!"
“You are a 750-year-old weasel."
It was then. One of the beings, who had been staring intently from within the forming circle that enclosed her entirely, suddenly spoke.
“W-what...?”
Manseon was momentarily startled by the words that accurately identified her identity. Then, this time, a voice came from another direction.
"In this land that has lost its master, you have been playing the role of a false ruler for over 150 years."
“Wh-what...”
"And due to your many sins, you have become corrupted, neither a yokai nor a beast."
“St-stop kidding around!”
Manseon spun around, following the sounds coming from different directions, and then suddenly shouted.
"Ho-how could I be corrupted?! Me?! I am the master of this land, and I will soon become the Land Deity, so how dare you…?!"
What did these insignificant beings know? They were nothing but lowly humans. Even though her powers had weakened recently, killing a few humans was still a trivial matter for her.
Having made that judgment, Manseon channelled her spiritual energy into her fan and tried to unleash her power. However, despite opening the fan, nothing happened. No blades, like daggers, flew out as they should have.
“Ho-how could this be…?”
This shouldn’t be happening. Over the years, she had that bastard servant kill dozens, even hundreds, of mythical beasts to gather their spiritual energy for her, so how could this be...?
It was at that moment, as Manseon gazed in disbelief at her fan with wide, trembling eyes — her power seemingly gone — that the servants surrounding her suddenly spoke in unison.
“You have finally lost all your spiritual power."
Only then did Manseon realise that all the humans surrounding her had no whites in their eyes. A chill ran down her spine.
They were not alive. Cold sweat trickled down her back. Sensing that disaster was imminent, she desperately swung her fan, which now felt as useless as an empty tin can.
“Wh-who are you? How dare you, the already dead, try to harm the living? Do you not fear the heavens? Are you not afraid of the punishment that awaits you in the afterlife?"
Then, the spirits, disguised as servants of the Yoon family, spoke in unison.
"We are the ones you have devoured until now, and we are the sins you will bear in the future."
The beings with pitch-black eyes swarmed forward, clinging to her from head to toe, ravenously tearing into her flesh. Just like the way she had greedily devoured the mythical beings she had caught.
“Aa-arghhhhhh―!"
With a pale face, Nokhee rushed out of the nightmarish scene, leaving behind the Grand Shaman's screams as she was surrounded by her subordinates.
Though she wanted to see what would happen to Manseon, she had no choice but to flee. In her panic, she tightened her grip on her left hand, where she had cut through the flesh, causing blood to seep through the bandages.
Several nearby snake monsters seemed to catch the scent of blood, their gazes instantly locking onto the corner where Nokhee was hiding. If she stayed a moment longer, her throat would be torn out, leaving her with no choice but to quickly retreat through the side door she had come in from.
Once outside, she found no one in sight. But from behind, constant screams and desperate cries for help echoed, and with the pain from the wound on her wrist, she felt her mind fraying, barely holding onto the last threads of sanity.
Translator's Corner:
[1] In ch16, Kijoon mentioned "For now, the seven on the lady's body will suffice," and that he would be in the safe zone if he had more than half. Excluding Kijoon's own scale; there are a total of eleven. He currently has 6 out of 11 of them which is just over half (the minimum threshold); but he would be safer if he had at least 7 scales; and that is why Nokhee is so anxious about returning the last scale she has to him.
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