By Zephyria 
Asadal Mountain
“Once we cross this ridge, we’re almost there. We’ve nearly arrived, so hang in there a bit longer.”
When Young-pa patted the beast’s nape, it barked twice as if it understood.
To hide their tracks, they intentionally traveled through the shell clouds. When he peeked out to survey the mortal realm, he saw a peak that looked as if it had been carved by a giant chisel. To the west of the mountain lay the deep blue ocean, and to the north, an endless plain stretched out below.
The rugged mountains were covered in lush green forests. The summit of the highest peak, towering like a silkworm’s head, was hidden by the upper-jaw clouds. Waterfalls poured from cliffs in white foam, gathering into pools large and small.
The last time Young-pa had come here was during the period when he was drowned in grief after losing Yeogo. At that time, Young-pa had searched for Azure Dragon after hearing rumors that they could bring the dead back to life.
Now he knew that no matter how much of a deity they were, they could not save a human life, but back then, he had been desperate enough to believe the underground rumors. Asadal Mountain was one of the places where Azure Dragon was said to appear.
‘Azure Dragon, you bastard! Where are you!’
At the time, he had spent three days without sleep, insulting Azure Dragon in front of the lake. He had done the same at over ten rivers and lakes, including Asadal Mountain, but the deity never appeared anywhere. Young-pa had no choice but to bury the bone ash of his friend on the wind-swept hill of Bipung.
‘Thinking back, it was a relief.’
Azure Dragon was not an easy-going personality. Had they met back then, Young-pa might have vanished from the world, just as Lee Shim had said.
‘They are a twisted dragon who regards all beings in the world as insects, and it is said they despise humans the most.’
The deity who loathed humans so much was now fast asleep in Young-pa’s arms. While harboring the poison drained from the one they despised within their heart.
“That son of a bitch is searching for us with eyes like fire, O Azure Dragon.”
Young-pa gripped Biryoo’s waist to keep him from falling. Because he was lying prone on the monster’s back, only his indifferent profile was visible. His hair fluttered in the breeze.
“This is no time for sleeping. I could just push you back down to the mortal realm where serpents swarm, you know.”
Young-pa forced his gaze away from Biryoo and looked ahead.
Dense green forests stretched out for a while, then the view suddenly opened up to reveal a familiar waterfront. A place where rumors were rampant that a divine dragon would descend to bathe. It had not changed at all from three hundred years ago.
The scenery was exactly as Young-pa remembered. The lake was so blue that it looked like an otherworldly realm, and the peach trees lined up like totem poles emitted a subtle fragrance. A range of emerald mountains surrounded the mysterious place—mysterious enough for divine rumors to circulate—like a folding screen, with the scars of wind-strikes and scratches still clearly visible. A few butterflies fluttered lightly through the quiet grass.
Young-pa soothed the monster and made it fly low. After carefully surveying the area, he found a rock cave suitable as a hideout. It was on high ground, so it was unlikely to be discovered by serpents. Moreover, it was wide enough for several people to stay.
Young-pa pulled Biryoo down from the monster’s back and carried him into the cave.
≋ ≋ ≋
Fifty serpents crawled up the rugged ridge. Twelve pit vipers, eight flame venom snakes, twenty large black anacondas, nine nungsas, and one blood-eyed snake with crimson patterns. It was a group consisting entirely of serpents capable of using sorcery.
― That human is really giving us a headache.
The leader, the flame venom snake, muttered as it crawled onto a flat stone.
― Indeed. He is a truly nasty fellow.
The one who answered, half-flattering and half-grumbling, was the blood-eyed snake. At those words, the flame venom snake clicked its tongue.
― Does it make sense to search every waterfront in the world just because one guy disappeared? What on earth does he have to do with that human?
― Now, now, Black Tortoise must have his reasons.
When the flame venom snake complained again, the blood-eyed snake smoothly flattered it.
― It’s quiet here, so it’s probably not the place. Still, just in case, let’s split up and search the vicinity.
― Yes, yes, let’s go!
The serpents divided into four groups and scattered to the east, west, south, and north. Among them, the blood-eyed snake headed east, leading twelve silent lackeys.
Though he was obediently following orders, his mind was filled only with the desire to lounge and rest in a comfortable place.
‘Tiring. I wish this would end quickly….’
In short, Black Tortoise’s human prisoner had escaped again. Since he had been locked alone in a remote cave this time, Ji Seo-gu’s fury was immense. He had secretly sent his subordinate serpents to the mortal realm to search. For some reason, he ordered the serpents with special abilities to thoroughly scour places where a dragon might hide.
If they failed to find the prisoner, they were all dead meat. The blood-eyed snake knew this well, but he thought that if he just stayed quiet, someone else would find him. He never imagined that he would be the one to encounter the prisoner. It was a complacent thought.
When nine of the twelve serpents he was traveling with disappeared, the blood-eyed snake dismissed it, thinking they had simply lost their way. It was only when the serpent crawling beside him was split in half that he realized something was wrong.
“What is happening!”
Before his very eyes, the necks of the last two serpents were severed. The blood-eyed snake was so shocked that even his confident transformation art wavered.
Consequently, his true form was revealed—the appearance of a lesser dragon, whose exterior had become similar to a dragon’s after dreaming of becoming one for a long time. On one of his trembling hands, the pinky finger was missing. Some reckless human had chewed it off long ago because that pinky had been particularly cute.
“You earthworm.”
When he heard that human’s voice, Lee Shim thought he was dreaming.
As a conscientious lesser dragon, Lee Shim admitted that it was his fault that Young-pa had been captured and taken underground again. Strictly speaking, it was due to Young-pa’s recklessness in rushing into the wilderness despite being dissuaded, but regardless, Lee Shim held the sentimental belief that he was partly to blame.
Thus, he had lived with a feeling of apology since Young-pa was captured by Black Tortoise. Even when Young-pa was humiliated before all the serpents of the world, he pretended to enjoy it on the outside, but his heart was not at peace.
“How are you still alive and well?”
Even when he heard that voice a second time, Lee Shim dismissed it as a plausible hallucination. However, when Young-pa appeared before him with blood-soaked white robes and disheveled hair, his jaw dropped. The blood on the yellow clothes was not an old stain. The scattered serpent corpses proved that he had committed slaughter not long ago.
Lee Shim transformed into human shape and prostrated himself flat on the ground. He felt that this time, he was truly doomed. He shut his eyes tight and imagined his neck flying away by a blade of wind. However, instead of casting a spell, Young-pa walked toward him with steady steps.
“My tie with you is exceptionally tenacious.”
When Lee Shim slightly raised his head, he saw a fierce face. The human, with shadows cast over his eyes, looked like an evil spirit.
“I believe I told you not to let yourself be seen by me?”
As Young-pa grabbed the collar of the shivering Lee Shim and lifted him up, his feet left the ground.
“What do I do….”
Since his life was on the line if he stayed still, Lee Shim didn’t even have time to think.
“If you only give me a chance, I shall confess everything that has happened!”
When Young-pa let go of his collar, Lee Shim tumbled onto the ground. He knelt politely, gauging Young-pa’s reaction.
“After parting from you, elder brother, in the juniper forest, I went underground.”
Lee Shim began by recounting his visit to the Heavenly Crow Temple and the Temple of Forgotten Years. He told everything exactly as it happened: his attempt to persuade them to stop White Tiger and his failure, and how he almost died. Even the part where he had to wake Black Tortoise due to their trickery. He had no time to fabricate a plausible lie.
After listening to the end, Young-pa’s eyes narrowed into triangles.
“So you’re saying I ended up like this because you woke Black Tortoise.”
“Do you think I wanted to betray you, elder brother! But that was the only way to survive. I did it to live, to live….”
Young-pa did not reach for Lee Shim’s throat or fly into a rage. Instead, he looked down at Lee Shim with cold eyes.
“I could vent my anger by chewing you up piece by piece from head to toe.”
“Elder brother….”
“But that would be meaningless. Instead, I will give you a chance to make up for your mistake.”
“I will do whatever you command!”
Young-pa crouched down to meet Lee Shim’s eyes.
“You cannot even imagine who it was that came all the way underground to rescue me this time.”
Lee Shim shook his head silently.
“It was Biryoo.”
“Biryoo… you say?”
“Yes. The name of the eastern azure dragon.”
Lee Shim, who had unconsciously opened his mouth, froze. He wanted to ask if he had heard correctly, but no words came out.
“It’s no joke. I saw it with my own eyes,” Young-pa added calmly.
While shocked, a doubt that had remained unresolved deep in Lee Shim’s heart finally clicked into place. He had known for a long time that Biryoo was no ordinary human. Lee Shim recalled the bloodlust Biryoo had emitted when he faced Dae Mang. And the ornament he had worn around his neck.
‘This works out perfectly. I was sick to death of living while suppressing my nature.’
If that ring was not a tool to amplify spiritual energy, but rather a device to hide the form of a deity! Once that thought occurred to him, Lee Shim trembled violently, goosebumps breaking out all over his body.
“Black Tortoise is currently searching for places where a dragon might hide, elder brother! The reason for that is….”
“He probably guessed that Azure Dragon rescued me and hid me.”
Lee Shim found it hard to even breathe, overwhelmed by the newly discovered fact.
“But elder brother…. Why did Azure Dragon save you? Was your friendship that deep?”
“It’s not because of friendship. Do you remember the ring you disguised as a pebble?”
“Of course.”
On the day he left the snake cave, Young-pa had shown Lee Shim a transparent ring and made him disguise a pebble into the same shape. Then, he put the fake ring in a black box and threw it away on Mount Geumo, but Lee Shim still did not know the inside story of that event.
“Actually, Azure Dragon is looking for that ring. They came underground to find its whereabouts.”
“Weren’t you the one possessing it, elder brother?”
“No!”
Young-pa struck Lee Shim’s head with his fist. Lee Shim curled up and rubbed the crown of his head, yet he felt a sense of gladness.
“Anyway, all you need to know is that I am aligned with Azure Dragon. Understand?”
“Yes, yes….”
“It is my luck that Black Tortoise sent you here. That doesn’t mean I intend to ask for a favor.”
Lee Shim lowered his arm and waited for Young-pa’s next words.
“You are the kind of fellow who would betray me ten times over if it meant surviving. But I know that you hate the underground as much as I do.”
Young-pa looked at Lee Shim with a calm gaze.
“Let’s make a deal. From now on, make it seem as if there are no problems on Asadal Mountain and act as my spy. I mean, report the movements of the underground to me.”
Young-pa used the word ‘deal.’ That meant there would be a reward. As Lee Shim waited with a trembling heart, Young-pa added nonchalantly.
“Giving one wish-fulfilling orb would be a piece of cake for Azure Dragon.”
Lee Shim’s heart leaped wildly. How could he maintain his composure when a lifelong wish, which he had deemed hopeless, was now within reach? He felt as if tears were about to burst out at the sudden possibility.
Though he had barely kept his life, he bore the indelible sin of having let Young-pa go as a warden. He had been living in anxiety, not knowing when Black Tortoise would call him and make an issue of it. If he only had a new wish-fulfilling orb, he could ascend to the clouds beyond that reach, and his miserable life would finally end.
“Just leave it to me, elder brother,” Lee Shim said, clenching his fists tightly.
“For now, let’s meet at the ridge of the highest peak in fifteen days at noon. That day….”
Young-pa stopped mid-sentence and frowned. Lee Shim also felt the presence of someone approaching. When their eyes met, Young-pa nodded. Lee Shim cast a disguise on Young-pa and transformed himself back into the blood-eyed snake.
― There were no traces in the north. How about the east?
The flame venom snake appeared from behind, leading its lackeys. Lee Shim checked with a sidelong glance that Young-pa, in the form of a rabbit, was hiding in the mountains.
― Here, here is….
Lee Shim wanted to say there were no problems, but right beside him, a split-in-half serpent was exposing its entrails. The flame venom snake’s surprised eyes scanned the corpse.
― What! Why did this one end up like this?
― Unfortunately, not only this one but others have died as well.
Lee Shim tried to feign a sorrowful attitude, but seeing the flame venom snake’s vicious expression, he knew he was cornered.
― It is not my fault.
― Then are you saying they just died on their own?
― Over there, behind that lake… a terrifying creature is lurking!
The flame venom snake glared at Lee Shim with suspicious eyes.
― A terrifying creature?
― Yes. You must absolutely not go inside. That thing killed all the poor serpents. I, I… almost died too, but barely managed to return, yes.
The flame venom snake’s eyes gleamed suspiciously, and its tongue flickered.
― Strange. Far from being terrifying, I smell something suspicious.
― Suspicious! How, how could that be? It is the scent of the terrifying existence living inside that lake.
Lee Shim wanted to cry. There was a limit to how many absurd lies he could fabricate. The flame venom snake seemed not to believe a single word, and eventually, it pushed its head forward in a threatening manner.
― I am curious where this terrifying existence is. What does it look like?
― Very terrifying, very scary, ugh… it was really big. Didn’t you see it going up there?
― How could I have seen it? It’s likely a story you made up. You shall explain this in detail before Lord Ji Seo-gu.
When no matter how much he denied it, it didn’t work, Lee Shim’s whole body shriveled and his scales trembled. If he were dragged before Black Tortoise this time, there would be no way to escape death. Lee Shim would rather wait for Young-pa to reappear and dispose of the flame venom snake.
‘What is this useless human doing instead of helping me!’
He whipped his head around and scanned the mountain slope. However, the rabbit was nowhere to be seen.
― Where are you looking, you idiot! There’s nothing there!
The flame venom snake shouted fiercely. But Lee Shim’s anxious eyes would not leave the bushes.
― Th-th-th-there….
― Stop talking nonsense and follow me!
― Th-th-there….
― Do you think I’m a joke? I’ll teach you a lesson right here so you’ll come to your sen—
Before the flame venom snake could finish, a violent roar that tore through the eardrums erupted from where Lee Shim’s gaze was fixed.
The air vibrated heavily, pebbles shook, and it was a howl that naturally made a serpent’s scales tremble and its tail curl. Although it had been a very long time since he had heard it, Lee Shim had never forgotten that sound.
The owner of the scream appeared, tearing through the bushes. A long, winding body wound between the trees. The creature, breathing fire from its nostrils in a state of absolute rage, was a dragon. Its entire body was covered in golden scales, and its standing mane was a burning vermilion.
The dragon charged, smashing several trees with its head. Then, with a lightning speed that belied its size, it swung its claws and severed two serpents.
“How dare crawling things trespass upon my mountain!”
As it raised its head and roared, the mountains, rivers, plants, and trees shook violently.
“This is my land! I say, this is my territory!”
As he scolded the forest, a great wind arose, and leaves fell like rain.
Lee Shim and the Flame Venom Snake started in surprise and fled one after another, as if they had never been at odds. Dozens of underlings, unable to escape as shrewdly as they did, were slaughtered where they stood.
Every time the golden dragon swept its tail, serpents were flung into the air, and every time it swung its claws, they died violent deaths. The Yellow Dragon killed the swarm of serpents mercilessly, yet did not even touch them with its mouth. Fearing that it might swallow even a part of the corpses, or that they might stain its claws, it was busy clearing them away.
“Blegh, what a disgusting smell!”
He shouted, venting his anger as if his fury had not yet subsided. As he swung his tail violently, innocent trees snapped and fell.
There was someone watching this scene from the hillside—a rabbit with fluffy white fur. Though it took the form of an animal, it was Young-pa, disguised with the help of Lee Shim’s power.
‘He’s throwing a complete temper tantrum.’
He marveled at the dragon’s tyranny. The sudden temperament of the Yellow Dragon was enough to surprise even Young-pa, who was quite well-known for his own disruptive behavior.
Since the only dragon he had ever met was the Azure Dragon, he had assumed all dragons were beings as cold as ice and as serene as a ripple. The Yellow Dragon did not look like the same kind as Biryoo at all. Young-pa could not even imagine Biryoo flying into such a rage, failing to control his strength, or venting his anger on his surroundings.
‘But it cannot be a coincidence that this mad dragon is here.’
There must be a reason why the Azure Dragon chose Asadal Mountain. Perhaps this Yellow Dragon was his trusted subordinate or an incomparable friend. Now that the Azure Dragon had lost consciousness, Young-pa needed the help of someone trustworthy. The problem was that the Yellow Dragon’s behavior was highly suspicious.
Young-pa was not naturally a cautious person. He was born with a provocative nature that did not fear gambling, and whatever serious side he once had had likely been scraped away and taken by Immortal Flower. Normally, he would have jumped out and tried to speak to the Yellow Dragon.
‘But… I am not alone.’
His thoughts turned to Biryoo, lying alone in the cave. The sick dragon had still not regained consciousness. Young-pa had found it difficult to leave him behind to come this far.
‘For now, it’s better to be careful.’
Lost in thought, Young-pa suddenly snapped back to reality. The surroundings were suspiciously quiet. Not only had the Yellow Dragon’s loud shouting about the vomit-inducing smell of serpents ceased, but even the sound of insects had stopped.
Young-pa, who had been peering down from the brush, froze. It was because his gaze met two large eyes.
The Yellow Dragon, suspended in mid-air with its body twisted in a complex coil, was staring straight at Young-pa. Its pupils were a crimson red that recalled the midday sun.
≋ ≋ ≋
A man lay in a secluded cave. His smooth cheeks were pale, devoid of any color. Even though he had been laid straight on a mat woven from wild grass and given a pillow made of rolled-up clothes, the damp cave was not a place for a patient to rest.
The man took the form of a human, but he was not human. The reason he looked more like a corpse than a living being was that something important had vanished.
He had lost his foundation. The weight of existence that he should have possessed had been torn away. Then, what was he? Right now, he was nothing. Neither a deity, nor a dragon, nor a human.
As the midday sun tilted toward the west, Biryoo slowly opened his eyes. It had been three days since he lost consciousness.
As soon as he woke, he frowned in deep discomfort. It was because the sensations surrounding him were unfamiliar. Damp air clung to his skin, and it was too dark to distinguish objects. His back touched the uneven ground. The weight of his body pressing down on the world felt strangely heavy.
Biryoo reached out his hand, only to realize he was severed from the flow of nature. Everything felt distant, dull, and cold. He could not feel the power of the wish-fulfilling orb that had been fused with him as one. The same went for the water dragon’s ability to absorb water through scales and create torrents.
The special ability he had handled as naturally as breathing was now in an unreachable place. Biryoo had become no different from the humans who covered the world, whom he had once ignored like insects.
Along with a splitting headache, the culprit of this situation came to mind.
‘Hey, Biryoo. Biryoo! What’s wrong? Open your eyes.’
That man. That wretched human was the problem.
He had gone through the trouble of rescuing him from the underground, only for the man’s body to be consumed by toxicity. The pretty face wailing in pain vividly appeared before his eyes.
‘Please, please… stop my life… I beg you.’
He could have taken the man’s life according to his request. He could have waited until the man’s mind succumbed to the poison and then ripped open his belly. But Biryoo had saved him. He had paid a price to save a wicked man who dealt in betrayal and lies, a hopeless man who could not be trusted.
Biryoo’s eyelashes trembled with rage.
Would there be another dragon in the world so foolish as to drink centipede venom himself? No matter that he did it to find the whereabouts of the somyeonghwan, it was an unbearably displeasing situation. However, one cannot gather rain that has already fallen.
Biryoo pushed himself up. He endured the pain that felt as if every joint in his body was snapping.
“Ugh.”
Hearing the groan, a creature that had been lying prone as if dead in the inner part of the cave rushed over. The house-sized monster did not dare come close to Biryoo, instead wagging its tail vigorously from a short distance.
Its face was hideously twisted, and its body looked as if various types of tigers and dogs had been sewn together. The large wings attached to its flanks were folded. It reeked of profane energy; he didn’t even need to be told whose hand had touched it to know.
“You came from the underground,” Biryoo muttered coldly.
At that, the monster barked mournfully and told its story.
In short, it had originally been an ordinary dog living in a human village. One day, a swarm of serpents attacked the village, all the people it loved died, and it was dragged underground. After enduring the pain of its body being cut into pieces, it had become this form.
After being imprisoned for a long time, a grateful human rescued it one day and released it into the outside world. The monster lived in the mountains for a while, but its freedom was short. It was captured by serpents again. While imprisoned underground, it had to fly through the sky carrying someone on its back along with other monsters.
The grateful human from before had rescued it once more, so the monster decided to serve him as its master for life. It told the story of how it flew with all its might because he said they should go to Asadal Mountain.
‘This beast saved me.’
Biryoo gazed blankly at the hideous monster.
“Where is your master?”
The monster replied with a few short barks. It seemed Young-pa had gone out to scout the surroundings. While doing so, he had left instructions for the monster to never go outside and to protect Biryoo well.
“A human who requires a lot of care,” Biryoo muttered as he stood up.
As he headed toward the cave entrance, the monster followed closely, wagging its tail and acting coquettishly. Biryoo frowned and held out his palm.
“Ugly thing. Stay away.”
The monster stepped back with a crestfallen attitude and lay down with a whining whimper. Biryoo stepped out of the dark cave.
It was broad daylight with sunlight pouring down. The brightness and temperature of the light, the weight of the air, the feel of the ground—everything felt different from when he was a divine beast.
The brilliant lake he used to soak in the past looked blurred, as if the light had faded. Even though the forest was within sight, the smell of tree bark felt faint, as if it were ten li away.
‘Humans manage to live well with such senses.’
Dry soil crumbled beneath his feet. For Biryoo, who was far more accustomed to flying, even supporting the weight of his body on two legs was a tedious task. However, it was not the first time he had experienced this. In living thousands of years, there was almost nothing he had not experienced.
Biryoo caught a scent carried by the Pure Wind. After that, he listened to the song of birds and bent his waist to sift through the soil. Once prepared, he moved his two legs and ran forward.
≋ ≋ ≋
Asadal Mountain was a bathing place that Biryoo used to frequent in the past. Because it was as secluded as it was rugged, it was a good place for a dragon who loved tranquility to stay.
The fact that it was littered with bodies of water of all sizes—waterfalls, valleys, lakes, and ponds—was one of its greatest advantages, and the surrounding scenery was also a delight. In spring and summer, he soaked in the water while viewing fragrant flowers and lush greenery; in autumn, five-colored maples and golden reeds; and in winter, the snow piled softly on the treetops. The four seasons were the height of elegance.
It was spring, the season when petals fell from mountain plum and peach trees. The goosefoot in the fields and the iris by the water had not yet bloomed, and the orioles were preparing their songs to announce the season. In such an abundant time, Biryoo was running along the foot of the mountain with a grim expression.
The budding and growing greenery could not possibly enter his sight. He was wandering in search of someone’s traces, dragging a body that felt as if it might break.
‘He couldn’t have been captured and taken back underground, could he?’
If so, he would have wasted his effort, Biryoo thought bitterly.
Divine power could simply be recovered. But if Ji Seo-gu had taken Young-pa to a place where he could not be reached, the treasures of the heavenly realm were as good as lost forever.
Also… he would never meet that man again.
‘Could there be anything better than that?’
Biryoo muttered to himself while checking the traces of time carved into the wood grain. As if he could possibly be concerned for the well-being of that exasperating thug. The only thing that mattered was the location of the treasure he was hiding.
Upon reaching a stream, a few deer that were quenching their thirst vanished in a hurry. Biryoo carefully examined the surrounding soil, rock moss, and fallen leaves. Even with his degraded senses, he could feel that Young-pa had been here.
Before long, Biryoo found a piece of cloth caught on a sharp stone. Blood stained the yellowish, worn fabric. His expression darkened, and the small piece of cloth crumpled in his grip.
Bark! Bark!
The monster, which had been following Biryoo from a distance, barked. When Biryoo showed it the trace of Young-pa, the beast buried its nose and sniffed.
Woof!
It said it felt it knew where its master was.
“Lead me that way.”
It was only natural that a dog’s sense of smell was superior to Biryoo’s, who had lost his dragon’s senses. As the monster ran with its ears fluttering, Biryoo followed at a distance. It was clear that the person Biryoo was looking for was not far. Or, perhaps, his corpse was.
Just as the two began to climb a steep slope, the gentle breeze turned into a strong wind and pushed them back. It was not a natural wind, but surely sorcery summoned by someone.
The beast pushed forward stubbornly, its ears flapping like flags. When they pulled themselves up onto the slope, the raging wind stopped.
“How on earth did he fall from there?”
Young-pa was there. With his bare chest and waist exposed to the sunlight, he stood slanted, glaring upward.
There were signs of tearing at the bottom of his pants, and a wound was stamped on his ankle. Other than some scorch marks on both palms, he didn’t seem to be seriously injured. Biryoo breathed a sigh of relief.
Bark! Bark-bark!
The monster and Young-pa met dramatically. As the monster jumped into his arms, Young-pa let out a curse and fell backward.
“Hey, you useless thing! I told you to stay in the cave!”
The monster’s tail wagged frantically. Because it licked his face wildly, Young-pa had to lie flat on his back.
“Get off, you brat!”
Bark-bark-bark!
“You don’t even know why I’m out here. There are practically three mouths to feed…”
Young-pa’s loud talking slowed down. It was because he spotted Biryoo standing some distance away. His eyes slowly widened, and a large smile formed on his lips.
“Biryoo!”
Young-pa sprang up like lightning and ran toward him, arms fluttering like a butterfly. He reached out to hug Biryoo’s waist, but since Biryoo stepped back, he ended up hugging the empty air.
“You were alive. I was worried because you wouldn’t open your eyes, are you alright?”
This time, as he reached for his cheek, Biryoo swatted the hand away in mid-air. Only then did Young-pa notice his stiff expression and read the room.
“Are… are you alright, Azure Dragon?”
“How could I possibly be alright?”
Even if he had lost his divine power, he was still the King of the Heavenly Realm. As Biryoo looked down with a cold expression, the human slowly knelt. Biryoo asked the prostrate Young-pa:
“How many days has it been since I woke up?”
“You slept for three days.”
“I have lost the wish-fulfilling orb.”
“I picked up some fragments, thinking you might need even a piece.”
Young-pa reached into his waistband, pulled out a small cloth pouch, and offered it with both hands. Opening it revealed it was filled with blue fragments. Biryoo put the pouch in his robe and crossed his arms.
“What were you doing here?”
“A squirrel hid up there. I couldn’t catch it no matter what I did, so I was just about to climb the tree.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the monster leaped up, placed two thick front paws on the tree, and barked loudly.