Chapter 80: Myeong-Myeong and the Familiar League (8)

The Sacred Hall was the representative building of the Three Families Union.

Thus, their eyes and ears were everywhere.

And now, those eyes and ears were delivering unbelievable news.

They said a Haetae had appeared.

A divine beast Haetae, no less.

And someone was controlling that Haetae.

Unbelievable reports were coming from the Sacred Hall. News that would force the high-ranking figures of the Three Families to take action.

As a result, the VIP seats began to fill up. Elders and notable figures from the families took their places. In some cases, even the young heads and family leaders had come in person.

And they were all looking down at one beast.

“It just looks like a puppy. A mutt with a bit of monster blood mixed in.”

“...It’s immature. That’s no ordinary beast. Focus on its aura.”

The younger generation couldn’t sense anything from that beast. But the elders and notable figures, who concentrated their senses, felt something.

Something they could feel in the depths of their bloodline.

“This can’t be…”

Among the Three Families Union, there was a family that traced its origins back to the Haetae. They trembled as they instinctively realized that the small creature was indeed a young Haetae.

A young woman, her eyes tightly covered, murmured.

She was the head of the family that inherited the bloodline of the Haetae.

Her name was Haeryeon, the youngest person in the Three Families Union to ever open the Ghost Gate.

“That’s really the Haetae…”

Haeryeon murmured.

The Haetae was an incredibly dangerous divine beast.

As those who carried its blood, they knew that fact all too well.

“We must stop the granting of Sacred Blood.”

But how could they stop it?

The Three Families valued tradition.

And the ritual of granting Sacred Blood was one of the most sacred traditions in the Union.

How could they interrupt such a revered ceremony, especially with so many eyes watching?

And so, the ritual to grant the Sacred Blood began.

Jinari, the young leader of the Jin family, accepted the unsealed Sacred Blood from the runner-up. With solemn reverence, Jinari completed the ceremony without a single mistake and held the vessel containing the Sacred Blood with great care.

Yang energy sanctified becomes Extreme Yang.

Yin energy sanctified becomes Extreme Yin.

Corruption sanctified becomes the Infinite Black Water.

And spiritual energy itself, sanctified, is called the Sacred Blood.

It was the ultimate ectoplasm, quite literally the blood of the gods. A faint trace of it flowed through the direct descendants of the Three Families.

Because of this Sacred Blood, the bloodline of the Three Families was stronger than others of the same ability and rose in rank faster than those of lesser lineage.

So what would happen if that Sacred Blood touched a divine being?

The divinity within that being would be revealed.

“Look at that guy. It looks so common. A gigolo, handling a divine beast? Impossible.”

“Right? Brother, dose he really thinks a noble divine beast would associate with such a lowborn?”

Most of the VIPs gazed at Yoo Hajin and Myeong-Myeong with disdain.

That was, until Jinari poured the Sacred Blood onto Myeong-Myeong.

As soon as the Sacred Blood touched Myeong-Myeong, everyone realized something.

The Haetae consumes sin.

The Haetae judges sin.

In an instant, everyone in the VIP seats understood this truth.

“Haah… haah…”

“Ugh, that… that’s…”

The bloodlines of the Three Families reeled back in panic.

The Haetae consumes sin.

But what exactly is sin?

It is the lingering soul of one’s evil deeds.

Among the bloodlines of the Three Families, there were those who had committed countless sins for the benefit of their family, and for their own personal gain.

In fact, most of the people in the VIP seats were sinners. After all, as the predators of the human world, the Three Families had never hesitated to prey upon the weak.

“&%$#!”

Just hearing that cry was enough.

That divine beast could devour their very souls.

“The divine beast is going berserk. It can’t handle the sudden awakening of its divinity.”

Unless they were able to protect their souls with the force of their Ghost Gate, those in the seats could only tremble in fear.

And this included the staff of the Sacred Hall.

The guilt of lying to one’s parents.

The guilt of gossiping behind a colleague’s back.

Even those with such minor sins instinctively felt terror. Only those who could declare themselves without a shred of shame under heaven would not fear a Haetae like this.

“There’s no one like that in today’s world.”

The family head who inherited the Haetae bloodline murmured.

They, too, were using the Ghost Gate’s suction to hold onto their soul, so they had less to worry about being devoured by the Haetae.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t afraid.

Everyone here was the same.

A divine beast that had just awakened its divinity and was going berserk?

“^$%$*!”

The divine beast howled in confusion. It was probably because it had seen the terrifying truth of human sin. The family head who inherited the Haetae’s blood knew better than anyone that human sin was disgusting and terrifying.

There were days she wanted to gouge out her own eyes.

That’s why she tightly bound her eyes every day with a blindfold infused with yin energy and corruption.

Because seeing humans through the eyes of a Haetae was too disgusting and terrifying. As her powers as a Haetae grew, she couldn’t even look at her friends or family anymore.

No, from the moment she saw their sins, her feelings for them turned grotesque. That Haetae would likely feel the same.

Soon, it would begin sikje — the consumption of sin.

Just like she did when she was young.

Such a thing must be stopped.

“I’ll open the Ghost Gate. Even if it’s a pureblood Haetae, it’s still immature in terms of enlightenment. If we act now…”

“But, Head of the Family, the Haetae is the origin of our lineage. How can we, as its descendants, dare to attack such a sacred being?”

At those words, Haeryeon hesitated in forming the seal for the Ghost Gate.

At that moment—

“Head, there’s a man…,”

The family servant said something unbelievable.

“He’s calming the howling Haetae.”

Calming the Haetae? How could anyone calm a pure creature, born to abhor and fear the sins of this world, to the point that it consumes them?

Only someone with no sin visible in their soul could manage such a feat.

Unless there was a person whose soul was completely unaffected by the highest mysteries of sin or fate.

And Haeryeon knew better than anyone that such a person couldn’t exist in this world.

“*#@#… Myeong-Myeong…”

Yet, the Haetae’s voice was gradually quieting down.

***

Dogs hate getting washed.

And apparently, Myeong-Myeong was no different.

When the mysterious liquid that the chick called “Sacred Blood” was poured onto Myeong-Myeong, the previously calm Myeong-Myeong suddenly started acting up.

“What the—? Is it really evolving?”

With a series of barks and yelps, Myeong-Myeong looked terrified of something. Actually, it seemed scared of everything around it.

“Chick, is this normal?”

“U-ugh…”

Even the chick was acting strange.

It was huddling up in fear, just like Myeong-Myeong. And looking around, I saw that the staff were also reacting in a similar way.

Could this be because of Myeong-Myeong?

Did everyone just get overwhelmed by Myeong-Myeong’s charm?

“Myeong-Myeong, tone down the charm!!!”

I pulled Myeong-Myeong into my arms, and gradually, the barking and whimpering began to calm down. Once Myeong-Myeong had settled, I tried to put it back down, but it whimpered and clung to me, refusing to leave my arms.

“Well, it’s clear you learned some new skill.”

I stroked Myeong-Myeong’s fur as I spoke, but it kept burrowing deeper into my arms, as if the outside world was too dangerous. What was going on? Why had Myeong-Myeong suddenly turned so needy?

“My legs…”

At that moment, the chick murmured.

“My legs… they’ve gone weak… Please hold me…”

The chick lowered its head, looking like it was on the verge of tears.

“Peep… What a disgrace to show myself like this during the Sacred Blood Ceremony… Ugh…”

It was about 98% of the way to crying out loud.

I glanced up toward the VIP seats high above.

Though I couldn’t see them clearly, I could feel the weight of countless gazes directed at us.

If the chick broke down in tears in front of all those watchful eyes, its reputation would be over. I couldn’t let that happen.

I quickly covered the chick with my coat,

Then took its hand.

“Peep?”

And I ran toward the greenhouse known as the dark tent.

***

The high-ranking members of the Three Families watched the scene unfold, deep in thought.

The rampaging Haetae. The man who had calmed the Haetae. And then, after a few words from Jinari, they quickly moved into the dark tent.

They must be discussing their next move.

So that man was someone who served Jinari?

“Was that man from the Seonghwa Jin family?”

“To be precise, he must be part of the faction that supports Jinari.”

“Hmph, this Sacred Blood Ceremony was just an excuse for the Jin family to announce they’ve tamed the Haetae. I shouldn’t have bothered showing up.”

One family leader lowered their hand.

Just before removing their blindfold, they had heard that the man who calmed the Haetae had left. So they lowered their hand.

“As I thought, there’s no such thing as a man with a spotless soul.”

Haeryeon, the head of the Hae family, murmured bitterly.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

[TL: You can support the translation and read 5 chapters ahead of the release here on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Bill94

Join Our Discord for regular updates and have fun with other community members: https://discord.com/invite/SqWtJpPtm9 ]

Support Author

Join Discord