Chapter 146 (2/2)

[I don't think it's possessed by a ghost or anything. Rather, the spear itself seems cursed. Nothing good will come out of taking that.]

Hearing that, Seol Jihu's thoughts of taking the spear immediately vanished. Things that he felt doubtful about were best left untouched.

'Just how many were killed with that spear that… even the armor…'

Then again, there were traces of an expedition team looting everything in sight; so thinking that there must have been a reason the armor was left alone, he decided to give up.

It wasn't that he didn't have any lingering regrets, but after Flone appeased him with the jewels she retrieved from the chandeliers on the ceiling, the two happily went up the stairs.

Now that the survey of the third floor was complete, there was only the fourth floor left.

[There's less stuff than I imagined. I thought it'd be overflowing with gold.]

“It's because there were people who came before us. Who would leave anything behind if there were treasures right in front of them?”

[Ugghh! Do you think they searched the emperor's bedroom or his personal safe?]

Knowing why Flone was placing so much interest in finding valuables, Seol Jihu said with a bitter smile.

“It's fine. I'm content with what we've found so far. There's a saying that having too much is as bad as having too little.”

[Too much is as bad as too little… it's a good saying.]

“Isn't it?”

And the moment he placed his foot on the stairway to the fourth floor.

“I'm really okay so you should — ?”

A sharp cling grazed his eardrums.

While it was only a minor stimulus, Seol Jihu stopped his steps 'intuitively.' It was because his whole body was wrapped around by a sense of danger.

It was an unexplainable sensation, but it felt like he had crossed a boundary the moment he stepped onto the stairway.

[Ah…!]

Flone hurriedly placed herself before Seol Jihu and looked up the stairs.

“Flone?”

[Don't look.]

Seol Jihu who was about to look up immediately stopped his actions.

[Close your eyes.]

“Huh?”

[You might fall into a trance the moment you look, so close your eyes, now!]

Because Flone's voice sounded extremely urgent, Seol Jihu did as he was told and closed his eyes.

Though his heartbeat started rising rapidly because of the sudden situation, he could calm down after feeling the cold air from his ice spear.

[Who do you think you are?]

Flone raised her voice sharply.

[Why are you hiding there? What's with all the tricks?]

'Tricks?'

[…You want me to give him to you?]

[What if I don't want to? He's mine.]

Her voice rang out as if she was talking with someone.

He didn't know what to make of the situation as Flone, who had always attacked first when she sensed ill intent, was trying to talk with the other being.

[What? You'll tell me if I hand him over? Quit your s.h.i.+t, or I'll rip your mouth off.]

[Huh? f.u.c.k off while I'm being nice.]

And whilst the unknown conversation continued.

[You seem to be greatly misunderstanding something.]

Flone lowered her voice.

[…Fine. You want a go huh?]

The next moment…

Kaduduk-! Paduduk!

The sound of teeth violently gnas.h.i.+ng rang out right next to him, causing him to involuntarily s.h.i.+ver.

It was a familiar sound. It wasn't a noise made by the unknown thing on top of the stairs.

The once fluffy smoke suddenly felt like hundreds of thousands of needles that seemingly stabbed his skin. It was the sign that Flone was extremely angry.

[I'll kill you…]

The moment the death statement filled with killing intent rang out.

The grinding noise stopped, and the stabbing sensation washed away.

[…It fled.]

“Can I open my eyes now?”

[Yep. You can open them.]

Opening his eyes, Seol Jihu found that the scenery remained unchanged. Only, the feeling of danger had vanished like a lie.

“What was it?”

[A kin.]

Flone answered with the same reply she had given on the first floor. Her voice contained a bit of embarra.s.sment.

[…It probably was from the same era as me. The amount of resentment it held wasn't normal.]

Meaning, it was a ghost that was at least a couple hundred years old.

“Can you beat it?”

[It's nothing hard.]

Flone confidently replied.

[There was something I wanted to know so I tried asking if it knew…]

“Knew what?”

[The memories it had when it died. Anyway, it kept blabbering about stupid things.]

Seol Jihu had a gist of what those 'stupid things' were so he didn't ask.

[So just as I was about to get real, it immediately tucked its tail and ran.]

“Then that means that there's a possibility that your grandfather really might be here somewhere.”

[Honestly, I've almost given up on it… But there's a little spark of hope now.]

In other words, Flone wanted to quickly search through the rest of the villa.

Seol Jihu glanced up the stairway. Seeing how there seemed to be nothing there anymore, the unknown being must have really ran away. It didn't seem like Flone was lying either.

“Then let's head up.”

After carefully observing with his Nine Eyes, Seol Jihu began to boldly climb the stairs.

Right before taking the last step to the fourth floor, he turned around just in case.

The stairs were still there.

Thinking that he should take care to remember the path he took, Seol Jihu finally stepped onto the last floor.

The fourth floor looked particularly darker than the other floors.

Looking around under the light of the illuminating stones, Seol Jihu reflexively stopped breathing.

'This smell…'

His eyes grew serious.

[It reeks of blood.]

Flone's voice resonated.

[Very strongly at that.]

Seol Jihu nodded. The stench of blood was so strong that it had filled his lungs the moment he took a small breath.

It seemed to be relatively recent.

'Could it be that the expedition team..?'

A particularly strong smell came from a certain direction.

Seol Jihu slightly swiped the blood on the floor. The blood dripped down from his foot as he lifted his leg.

'Perhaps.'

The fact that the blood hadn't solidified yet meant…

'There might be people who are still alive….'

Swallowing back the saliva that pooled under his tongue, Seol Jihu carefully observed his surroundings.

The bloodstain continued across the floor and into the corridor.

After following the trail for a bit, Seol Jihu's expression suddenly scrunched up.