Chapter 072. The Sleeping Girl's Prayer (1)
Darkness deeper than a moonless night covered the capital of Hongyang.
The "villages covered in darkness" that had once existed only as rumors were now reality for the people of Hui Kingdom.
A song filled with despair echoed across the entire world.
It sounded like someone's broken heart.
Seongha stood before one of Hongyang's Five Great Gates.
Even the thick darkness could not hide his beautiful face or his brilliant white robes.
His empty expression looked like that of a person trapped inside a private room no one else could enter.
Broken market stalls lay scattered nearby.
Lanterns hung without light.
Clothes abandoned by fleeing people covered the streets.
Everywhere, remains of the festival were left behind.
Ever since darkness descended...
Seongha had returned to this place countless times.
[They said they brought in the leader of the heretics.]
A witness spoke.
[They said she was responsible for every terrible thing happening in the kingdom.]
Another continued.
[They dragged the woman from a carriage and tied her to a wooden pillar.]
The person's face turned pale at the memory.
[Blood was stuck all over her, and her body hung limp. She looked like a corpse.]
Seongha felt dizzy while listening to the citizens who had witnessed the execution.
He removed the severed heads of the Jeongilhoi people and buried them.
Then searched every part of the area around the Five Great Gates.
There was no sign of Cheongyeon.
Only her precious blue gemstone necklace remained on the ground.
It had become completely stained with powerful demonic energy.
Seongha stared for a long time at the place where they said Cheongyeon had been tied.
Then looked down at the necklace in his hand.
He remembered every moment.
Again and again.
Blaming himself each time.
Whenever he imagined the fear and pain Cheongyeon must have felt...
It seemed as though his flesh was being cut away.
They had only just confirmed their feelings for each other.
Only just become connected.
Then darkness tore them apart and created an endless ocean between them.
Seongha did not even know whether she was alive.
The ominous prophecies that had come from the sky...
The countless groups trying to suppress Cheongyeon...
Perhaps today's tragedy had always been waiting.
Everything is my fault.
What if he had never shown her to the world?
What if he had hidden her inside his arms from the very beginning?
What if they had simply left for somewhere no one knew?
But those were excuses spoken by someone who had failed to protect her.
[I want to know who I am.]
Cheongyeon's voice returned to him.
[I want to know what I can do in this world.]
She had always carried enormous dreams.
She was curious about the world.
She wanted to understand her destiny.
She had freed the people trapped inside the Hae Clan's rocky mountain caves.
She had protected the Jeongilhoi people who came to find her, even before Hui Kingdom's ruling class.
She was not someone Seongha could keep locked inside his arms.
[Don't you understand yet?]
Manu's words returned.
[You must never let go of what is precious to you, even for a single moment.]
Manu had been right.
Seongha should have abandoned everything and remained beside her.
He should never have left Cheongyeon alone.
He had failed to keep his own promises.
Every promise they made about the future now felt empty.
Seongha swore revenge.
Every person who had hurt Cheongyeon that day...
He would personally kill them.
He would tear apart both flesh and soul.
Without realizing it...
Seongha had returned to the cynical man he had once been before meeting Cheongyeon.
The eldest son of the great Jin Clan.
"Priest Jin."
Junior priests of Beopsindang approached.
"There you are."
They seemed to be conducting an inspection.
They wore white official robes and carried lanterns in a line.
Several held ropes attached to platinum plummets.
They used them to detect evil energy.
Even though Seongha had removed his robes and given up his position as High Priest...
The junior priests still called him Priest Jin and obeyed his orders.
Darkness had struck at the same time as civil war.
Every office and government department in Hui Kingdom had stopped functioning.
People could barely even tell what organization they still belonged to.
For the junior priests...
Seongha was the only person they could trust.
"We confirmed the identities of all the people found along the main road."
Another priest spoke.
"We plan to bring those in poor condition back to Beopsindang."
He sighed.
"But without any proper solution..."
His expression became worried.
"We don't know how long the darkness will continue."
For the first two or three days after darkness descended over Hongyang...
The city had been so completely black that nothing could be seen.
Later...
Perhaps the darkness weakened.
Or perhaps people's eyes adjusted.
Faint white lines and pale light slowly made it possible to distinguish nearby objects.
During that time...
Chaos spread across the entire city.
People wandered through streets unable to find their homes.
Others desperately tried to escape the capital.
It had become complete disorder.
Some citizens gathered inside cramped rooms.
They extinguished every lamp and trembled silently.
They only hoped the beings from the afterlife would pass without noticing them.
Looting became common.
So did theft.
Some people even killed others over minor arguments.
The atmosphere resembled a city struck by war or plague.
The only difference was...
Night never ended.
And strange beings kept crossing over from the world of the dead.
"Beopsindang is completely filled with refugees."
A priest lowered his head.
"We barely have space to stand."
"The relief rice needs to arrive before our stores are empty."
There was no ruler rescuing the people from strange beings.
No ruler dealing with the disaster.
The city had become lawless.
During that time...
Beopsindang became an emergency relief center.
Priests traveled through the darkness checking whether people were alive.
They reached out to those in need.
They marked walls beside houses with Beopsindang's symbol.
Silver threads were stretched across doors and roads to prevent wandering spirits from easily entering.
It was only a temporary defense.
Most importantly...
