Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Both of them screamed and fell backward.

“P—Person…!”

They shouted as if they were about to lose their breath, frantically flailing their limbs to climb out of the pit. But their startled limbs wouldn’t cooperate, and they merely floundered, rolling back into the pit. The confusion continued for a while as Sam-rae struggled to climb up, only to fall back down, and Bok-seok, trying to push his younger brother up, slipped and fell with him.

But then, as there was no sound, the two of them froze.

When they slowly turned around, there was no movement from the coffin. They looked at each other. Then Bok-seok swallowed hard and hesitantly peered into the coffin.

There it remained, just as before.

“What… what is this?”

Sam-rae asked nervously, but Bok-seok didn’t answer. Unable to suppress his curiosity, Sam-rae edged closer to Bok-seok and stretched his neck to look inside the coffin.

The man lay perfectly still inside the coffin with his eyes closed. He was dressed in a clean jade-colored robe, looking so neat that he could walk the streets immediately. However, his hair was not styled, and it was hanging down.

And he was so beautiful, like someone not of this world. His skin was smooth and white, like porcelain, with a soft glow. His eyes were gently closed, and his full, red lips added to his beauty.

There was no vitality of the living, but his transparent, glowing skin did not have the dull and stiff feeling typical of the dead. Instead, it seemed to radiate with brilliance.

“Is he… a person?”

Sam-rae murmured, staring blankly at the man.

At that moment, Bok-seok, as if making a decision, reached out his hand. His hand trembled.

He touched the man’s cheek lightly and then pulled his hand away as if burned. He muttered, pale with shock.

“It’s warm.”

Sam-rae looked at the man lying in the coffin, who had a strange glow and coldness.

The beautiful man lying on the moldy-smelling coffin floor, with a faint light seeping in, gave off an unusually chilling atmosphere.

“So, he’s really a person…?”

At that moment, Bok-seok noticed a sword lying next to the man.

He cautiously reached out and picked it up. As he drew it, the blade made a sharp metal sound. The sword was razor-sharp, with a blue edge that shone brightly, like a monster that had drunk blood.

Moreover, the sword was sheathed in shark skin, with a detailed carving of a crane soaring through the clouds on the guard, and it was adorned with gold in several places, indicating it was an exceptionally valuable item.

Bok-seok and Sam-rae, reflected in the smooth blade, swallowed hard.

Sam-rae murmured in bewilderment.

“What about Aunt Ah-eun…?”

It was impossible to find a connection between the gentle widow, who seemed incapable of causing harm, and the beautiful man hidden on the floor of the barn.

At that moment, Bok-seok and Sam-rae, unaware of it, saw sunlight streaming through the barn’s window frame. As the sun set behind the mountain ridge, the last brilliant rays of sunlight poured onto Si-woo’s face.

The light caressed his perfectly shaped face. And as if the sunlight had infused him with life, Si-woo took a deep breath.

Soon, the sunlight gradually faded, and the evening arrived with clear smoke rising from the kitchen stove in the distance.

“Close it.”

Suddenly, Bok-seok put the sword back in its place and said urgently. Sam-rae looked at his brother in surprise.

“Close it?”

“Yes, close it for now.”

Bok-seok spoke firmly and pulled the coffin lid up. Sam-rae, bewildered, helped his brother. As the light disappeared through the closing crack of the coffin, Si-woo’s hand ceased its movement.

It seemed as if they were trying to hide the fact that someone had been there by quickly tidying up and leaving. Bok-seok’s expression was unusually serious, indicating that this was no ordinary situation.

“Brother.”

Sam-rae called out anxiously, and Bok-seok put a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder.

“Stay at home.”

“Home?”

“I’ll go to my government office and report it. Don’t tell anyone else yet. Understand?”

Sam-rae, instinctively realizing the gravity of the situation, nodded. He parted ways with Bok-seok and hurried back home.

“Did you come back?”

Sam-rae’s mother, sitting on the porch and preparing vegetables, asked.

“Yes.”

His mother looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Why do you look so weak, like a chicken that hasn’t had its feed?”

“It’s nothing.”

Despite his bravado, Sam-rae was still just a child who had yet to mature. Unable to keep a completely calm face, he went to his room and began to groan. The shock from the image of the man lying in the coffin was too overwhelming for a child to bear.

His mother came into his room to ask about the reason.

“What happened?”

Sam-rae shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

Given his pale face, it looked as though he had seen a ghost, so Sam-rae’s mother asked again.

“Come on, just tell me. Did you get caught doing something?”

“Well….”

Sam-rae seemed about to speak but suddenly made up his mind, stood up, and ran out.

“I’ll be right back!”

He felt he needed to check again.

“Sam-rae!”

His mother called out, but Sam-rae did not stop.

* * *

Ah-eun looked down on Hanyang from the foothills of Mt. Samgaksan. The palace, which appeared at the end of Yukjo Street, looked serene.

Six years ago, Changwon-gun was never punished. Although his official appointment was revoked at the time of the incident, the king soon returned it.

‘How can I make Changwon-gun pay for his crimes?’

But if Si-woo, consumed by revenge six years ago, had allowed Changwon-gun to be killed, the situation would have spiraled out of control.

If a royal relative were to die, people would surely learn of their existence and begin hunting them. There might even be specialized hunters to capture them.

From birth, Ah-eun had always been a prey. Born at the very bottom of the food pyramid, she had never once ventured beyond that boundary. Thus, she was always alert to the movements of predators such as capricious masters, arrogant officials, and men from the neighborhood who acted violently.

She knew better than anyone when predators went hunting. They became endlessly cruel when they felt threatened. And to remove any element that made them feel threatened, they would stop at nothing.

Therefore, Ah-eun had instinctively concealed her nature. Although she possessed strength that few humans could match, she knew with an almost herbivorous instinct that even the most ferocious tiger could not withstand a systematic hunt by humans.

By a twist of fate, Ah-eun was a herbivore trapped in the body of a carnivore. That was Ah-eun.

Ah-eun looked again at the Palace. She could not let Si-woo sleep in the coffin forever, but she also could not wake him without knowing whether Changwon-gun had been properly punished.

Moreover, even if Changwon-gun were punished, she was not certain that Si-woo would be satisfied. When Si-woo was human, if Changwon-gun had received his just punishment, he might have buried his resentment deep in his heart despite his sorrow. But now, Si-woo would not stop until he saw Changwon-gun’s blood.

If Ah-eun had had the power when Haji died, she would not have remained idle. But in her case, everything was over by the time she opened her eyes.

Ah-eun swallowed a sigh and turned away.

* * *

Ah-eun walked home. As she neared her house, she suddenly felt her heart race for some unknown reason.

Yet, there was no change in the appearance of her home. The most important barn’s lock was securely fastened, and there were no signs of activity around. Ah-eun felt relieved. Still, she could not shake off the ominous feeling. She did not know it at the time, but her keen intuition was likely signaling danger.

At that moment, a chilling wind blew.

“Ah-eun.”

Through the wind, a voice, lower than before, drifted like the sound of a dry twig rustling. Ah-eun froze as if struck.

This voice…

Something was lurking behind her.

Ah-eun had no choice but to tremble and turn around.

Si-woo was standing there.

The barn’s lock was intact.

The overwhelming presence, blazing eyes, and a menacing aura that made the air itself tremble…

This was a vampire. It was something she had created, but it was a true vampire, fundamentally different from her.

“What happened to Changwon-gun?”

Si-woo asked in a voice that was difficult to tell if it was the wind or his own.

“Master, please listen to me.”

In a panic, Ah-eun grabbed Si-woo’s arm. Whatever had happened, the important thing was that Si-woo had awakened.

“I have also experienced what you are going through. I lost my daughter. Don’t think I don’t know that rage, injustice, and pain. There was a time when I thought that the reason I became like this was to seek revenge.”

Si-woo’s eyes gleamed.

“Why did Haji have to die?”

Ah-eun felt as if her breath had stopped.

“How could you… know Haji’s name…?”

She had spoken about Haji frequently, but she never imagined that Si-woo would have heard it, let alone remembered the name. The fact hit her like a suffocating weight, causing her lips to tremble.

As Ah-eun struggled to continue, Si-woo spoke again.

“Why did Eop-ji have to die? What was the fault of the two of them?”

And then Si-woo vanished.

“Gah!”

At the same time, a gasp of surprise was heard. Ah-eun whirled around and locked eyes with Sam-rae, who was hiding behind the wall.

Sam-rae, as if he had seen a tiger’s eyes, collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way.

As Ah-eun went to approach him, Sam-rae, looking up at her, could barely speak.

“H, he… he disappeared…”

At that moment, Ah-eun sensed the presence of people coming from the end of the road. It seemed that officials were arriving.

Ah-eun also vanished.

“…!”

Sam-rae could only stare wide-eyed at the place where Ah-eun had disappeared.

* * *

Ah-eun gasped for breath. There was no need to follow the presence or read the directions; Si-woo could only go to one place.

The area beyond the towering wall was calm. It was just as Ah-eun was about to climb over the wall.

Clang.

A sound of rupture, inaudible to human ears from afar, echoed.