Chapter 126

Blaine read the rest of the text on the bamboo scroll, but there was nothing else aside from the details about The Rite of the Living Ghost. He set the scroll down and examined the interior a bit more, but nothing else was found.

Deliberating on whether he should simply leave, Blaine turned back toward the gap he had entered through. It was still open, just wide enough for a single person to pass.

Without much hesitation, Blaine approached the gap and squeezed through. He figured if there were more to discover inside, it wouldn’t let him out so easily—the pavilion had been like that, after all. However, Blaine passed through the gap with ease, and upon stepping outside, the corridor was gone, replaced by an entirely different landscape.

“What the…?”

He was outdoors, not inside. It was supposed to be a corridor decorated with ink-and-wash paintings. Staring blankly at his surroundings, Blaine quickly spun around to check the gap he had just exited.

“?”

There was no corridor or gap behind him. He could only see a palace hall situated atop a distant stone platform. Blaine looked around, utterly dumbfounded. A chill ran down his spine.

Absently rubbing the arm that held the lantern, he lit up the area warily and hurried toward the palace hall. He felt that if he entered the hall, he might be able to find the place where he had been separated from Theo.

Theo and Noquia moved while practically glued to each other. Normally, this level of proximity would have made them recoil in disgust, but right now, there was no ally more reliable than the person beside them.

Relying on one another, they moved cautiously through the darkness where they had no idea what might jump out, holding only a single lantern. They didn’t forget to search the rooms with closed sliding doors.

A set of closed paper-covered sliding doors appeared ahead. The two opened the doors and stepped inside. The interior was similar to the countless rooms they had already passed through. Setting the lantern down in the middle of the floor, the two began searching here and there by its light.

They were meticulously checking everything from the stationery chest to the wardrobe and the study desk when something moved at the edge of Theo’s vision. Theo instinctively looked up and froze in place.

Behind the sliding doors, faintly illuminated by the lantern light, a shadow moved slowly—slyly. The way it glided without any bounce reminded him of the bride. However, the shadow was too small to be her. It looked like a child.

Theo instinctively swallowed his breath. In the meantime, the shadow passed the sliding doors and stood before the wide-open entrance.

As the size of the shadow suggested, it was a small child. A young girl with her hair unraveled and flowing down to her toes. Standing at the door for a moment, the girl turned her head to look inside the room. Her face wasn’t visible due to the messy hair, but he got the distinct feeling she was scanning every corner of the room.

Theo couldn’t even swallow his spit; he just stared at the child with wide eyes. Since Theo had suddenly masked his presence, Noquia must have sensed something too, as she stopped moving and held her breath. She seemed to realize an anomaly had occurred. After peering into the room, the child turned her body and glided slowly inside.

The way she walked was truly similar to the bride. Theo subconsciously checked the child’s feet. The hem of the girl’s skirt didn’t touch the floor but floated slightly above it, and in the space where feet should have been, there was nothing.

He realized it instinctively. That thing is dead.

Theo reflexively covered his own mouth. Not even a tiny breath must leak out. As the child began to wander through the room as if patrolling, a pale-faced Theo tracked her with his eyes.

Amidst the skyrocketing tension, Theo’s body became drenched in a cold sweat. He grew even more anxious, fearing Noquia might make a sound without realizing the situation, but fortunately, she remained motionless with her eyes squeezed shut.

Theo was on edge, worried that even the sound of a falling bead of sweat might be heard, but contrary to his excessive fears, the child wandered the room a few times and then left, vanishing just as she had come. Since there were no footsteps, he couldn’t tell how far away she had gone; he stood frozen in place for a long time until his entire body was on the verge of cramping before he finally relaxed.

His strength failing him, Theo leaned forward with his hands on his thighs and exhaled the breath he had been holding, wiping the cold sweat from his face.

“Why did I agree to come into a dungeon like this…?”

He felt like he was going to die from the unfairness of it all. He had said he didn’t want to! He said they should go to the Treasure Hunter! He glared at Noquia with resentful eyes, though there was no way she could notice his gaze since her own eyes weren’t even visible.

“Hey, what? What was it? What just came and went?”

Noquia asked in a rapid-fire succession, her voice filled with anxiety. Being unable to see must have made her even more tense. Theo straightened his back and replied.

“I think something dead just stopped by…”

“Something dead?!”

“Yeah. The way she walked was exactly like the bride, so I checked—she had no feet.”

“No way?”

“I guess the bride was designed to mimic both the living and the dead.”

“That’s nasty…”

“The dead ones wander around without a single footstep, so it’ll be hard for you to notice. If one shows up, I’ll tap you.”

“Uh… yeah, if you tap me, I’ll stay quiet.”

Noquia nodded and said she was counting on him. After finishing their search of the interior, the two stepped out of the room. Having encountered a “dead thing” once, they moved with even greater caution. However, they found no significant results and couldn’t find the others. Just as they were starting to grow weary, Theo opened a certain room and his face fell.

There was an altar inside. On top of the altar, which was decorated with candles and banners, sat a pair of shoes.

“Ah, dammit…”

“Huh? Why?”

“It’s an altar.”

“An altar?”

“Yeah… there are some shoes here.”

Theo approached the altar and reached out. Along with the interaction, the item information popped up.

《 Taesahye》
「 A man’s dry shoe. The uppers are made of silk or leather, with white stripes engraved on the nose and heel. 」

“They’re called Taesahye.”

“What’s that? Never heard of it.”

“They’re shoes for men. Not like rubber shoes, but something that looks a bit more high-end.”

Noquia nodded, seemingly having understood Theo’s rough explanation.

“The moment I take these, the bride is obviously going to show up…”

Theo grumbled and scanned the surroundings. He needed a place to climb up—somewhere higher than the bride’s height. However, the room with the altar had no such spot.

“First, let’s scout for a hiding place nearby.”

Fortunately, there were many rooms surrounding the altar. Since the rooms they had passed through earlier contained plenty of furniture taller than the bride, finding a hiding spot wasn’t difficult.

Theo first had Noquia hide on top of an uigeorijang in a room close to the altar. If they tried to hide together after the bride appeared, it would be a lot of work and take more time; it was easier to hide the visually impaired Noquia first.

Luckily, the room right next door had a four-tiered bookshelf, providing an ample hiding spot for Theo as well.

“I’ll come get you once it’s safe, so don’t move and don’t make a sound. When I come back, I’ll knock on the wardrobe twice. Don’t answer even if someone calls your name.”

“Okay. You won’t abandon me, right?”

“If I abandon you, who am I supposed to wander around with?”

“I trust you.”

“Yeah.”

After reassuring Noquia, who kept trying to confirm he wouldn’t leave her, Theo left her room and headed back to the altar. His shoulders instinctively hunched at the thought of the bride chasing him once he took the Taesahye, but knowing a surefire way to avoid her gave him some peace of mind.

Theo took a deep breath in front of the altar and grabbed the Taesahye. The candles on the altar blew out all at once, leaving behind the scent of paraffin, and simultaneously, a piercing scream echoed from somewhere far off.

The sound was distant as usual. There was plenty of time to run and hide. Theo practically tumbled out of the altar room and dashed toward the room with the four-tiered bookshelf.

Upon reaching the room, Theo leaped onto the bookshelf and lay flat against the top. A short while later, the bride made her appearance. Emerging with her three eyes—the ones disguised as bridal marks—flashing white, she was dripping tears of blood from her two tightly closed eyes.

The bride moved quickly past the room where Noquia and Theo were hiding and headed toward the altar room. Seeing the empty altar, she shrieked in rage and began smashing everything in sight.

Hiding atop the wardrobe and the bookshelf, Noquia and Theo flinched at the noise and held their breath even tighter. The bride began to wander the area, letting out cries filled with resentment. She was searching for the one who took the Taesahye.

She passed by the front of their room several times and even entered to roam the interior, but the bride failed to find the two people hidden in spots higher than her own height.

Eventually, unable to find Theo or the Taesahye, the bride collapsed on the spot and burst into heavy sobs. Her small, round back heaving with sorrow looked strangely pitiful.

Father and Holanghee, who had been sleeping peacefully on the mattress, opened their eyes at a rattling sound, like something sliding open. Rubbing their eyes, which were heavy with sleep, the two sat up and looked around for the source of the noise. Then, they found it. The wall opposite the passage leading to the other room had opened.

“?”

Getting up hesitantly in confusion, the two looked back and forth between the passage and the opened wall. They hadn’t expected a new path to open. Just in case, they checked the original passage, but it was still blocked by the invisible wall.

Exchanging bewildered looks, Father and Holanghee approached the open wall. Reluctant to step inside, they inspected the interior from the outside first. The inside was identical to the opposite passage: a narrow corridor lined with paintings on both sides.

They had a hunch that these paintings would be a major clue to clearing the dungeon. Swallowing hard, they exchanged a look and stepped into the passage.