After returning from a long journey, Lord Yong along with Nyang and other followers had a prolonged discussion regarding the devil's book and about how they would come out alive from the deadly desert.
Past discussion it was decided that four of Lord Yong's disciples would accompany him because there would be very little time to search for the book in that large desert, that too in one day.
Lord Yong asked Nyang to protect Si-ri in his absence, before he with others moved towards Xinjiang province.
Nyang was the most trusted disciple of Lord Yong. He silently prayed for Lord Yong's success.
Xinjiang province is far away from Noam. After walking for a long time Lord Yong decided to take a rest near, as it was nearly getting dark. They got busy preparing tents and torch in order to keep themselves safe from wild animals.
After having a night meal they all went to sleep except Lord Yong, he was in his thoughts while staring at the sky.
"The sky has muffled the sheet of twinkling stars that unfolds the subsequent happenings by making some odd constellations. There is a constellation made up of thirteen stars, called Phoenicopterus, which roughly resembles the shape of a dome. This constellation represents the god of miseries and hurdles. Those who are born under it are believed to be unfortunate." Lord Yong thought.
Ensuing time won't be easy, the road that leads to conquest is full of thorns and sacrifices. Lord Yong moved to his tent after much contemplation.
With the first rays of dawn, Lord Yong and the others started their journey towards the Xinjiang province.
Time was running out, Si-ri's eighteenth birthday was approaching soon. Even though Lord Yong wasn't Si-ri's biological father, he always loved her like his own daughter.
At the palace, the King and Queens were fascinated by the Prince's skills. Be it fighting, poetry, or problem-solving he excelled at it all. The Prince had become the center for their world.
Later at night, Queen Iseul asked the King about Prince Jian's marriage.
"We should look for a suitable bride for our son. His eighteenth birthday is coming and it would be a grand celebration."
"Yes, I'll think about it," said the King and walked outside.
"It seems that the Queen has forgotten about the heinous crime she had committed for the sake of an heir. She had ordered Lord Yong to kill our daughter in order to end that curse. I'll always be grateful to Lord Yong, who told me everything about the Queen's and Mi-sook's intentions to kill the Princess."
"After coming out of the prison to kill the princess. Lord Yong carefully exchanged the Princess with a wooden doll. Lord Yong had sacrificed the doll instead of the Princess and managed to save the Princess. He knew that to kill Mi-sook, the Princess had to be alive. Only Princess could become the reason for her death."
"As for Prince Jian, the coming birthday might be the last birthday of his life. Mi-sook never wanted to see the royal family flourish. The Prince and Princess are the outcome of Mi-sook's dark arts therefore, to get rid of the dark arts and curse, the devil's book is the only solution."
"Lord Yong is my only hope, I'll pray for his success in finding that book. I had received the letter reporting that he'll be off to Xinjiang to look for the book. The Devil's book is the only thing that can save my kids. They say a curse from a pure soul is never wasted; it will do its work at any cost. But I don't want to see my kids die in front of me helplessly."
"Sometimes being a King feels like a burden, knowing that your enemy is inside your palace and can harm you and your family but still you couldn't do anything but to bear their existence silently. Problem arises here when enemies don't show their true colours but they are up to something big in their minds," the King thought to himself.
Later that night
Queen Iseul went to Prince Jian's chamber only to find him sleeping. She sits beside the prince and caresses him with love.
It is such a relief to see my son sleeping. It scares the living the daylights out of me recalling the sin I had committed. I knew it was one of the worst things I could have done as a mother but I couldn't lose both of you. I couldn't have handled it. But seeing you grow all these years and that smile on your face everyday, makes me feel it was worth it. Don't worry Jian, I'll go to any extent to save you."
"My son's eighteenth birthday is nearing and I can still hear her curse in my ears even today. I must talk to Mi-sook on this matter," said the Queen.
Queen's chamber
Mi-sook rushes into the Queen's chamber and greets the queen.
"Prince Jian's birthday is near. I just want to warn you if anything happens with my son you won't be able to see the next morning," said the Queen gravely with a tainted expression.
"Your highness! The curse is no longer effective. We sacrificed the Princess for the longevity of the Prince. They were twins, the cursed twins. This means that sacrificing one cursed child would make a way for the second child to live. Fire has been given a special place in our mythologies, it can turn anything into ash and it can completely end the existence of anything without any trace, it can even end a curse, so setting the Princess on fire was the only option left and we did that. Therefore, you don't need to worry, Prince Jian is out of danger now, and everything is alright." Mi-sook reassured the Queen.
After Mi-sook ensured the Queen that everything was under control and alright, she seemed to calm down a bit.
Mi-Sook walked out of the Queen's chambers and sighed before a mysteriously wicked smile slowly grew onto her face. A smile that would give chills to even the mightiest warriors.
Lord Yong and his disciples had finally reached Xinjiang province. The Xinjiang province was built on the banks of a large natural harbour and was truly an extraordinary sight once. Its elegance was matched by the backdrop of lush fields of grass. But the frequent sandstorms had destroyed the beauty of the province and made the fertile soil of Xinjiang sandy. The province was a desert where greenery was nowhere to be seen. The place that was once fortunate and affluent many years ago now looks miserable and hapless. Many families eloped the place while looking for a better opportunity of survival. Very few houses could be seen there. Lord Yong and others headed to the town. On their way an old man approached them.
Early in the morning, Lord Yong and his disciples performed a special ritual in order to seek blessings from almighty. Then they proceeded towards the Sea of the Dead. The entire folks of the town came to see them off and gave their best wishes for the attainment of their work. In order to show respect, people of town bowed their heads on their departure. With bundles of hopes, expectations and fear, the gentlemen headed towards their destination. Route to the desert was so abstruse and rocky. Despite walking through an impalpable path, Lord Yong and the others somehow reached the desert. They all stopped there for a while, observing the never-ending desert ahead of them. They a
Terrified, Lord Yong cried aloud. He could not control his tears from streaming down his face, while looking at the sky. Again, he saw Si-ri's smiling face when he closed his eyes and started to pray for the book as it was a last resort to save his beloved daughter. In this entire context, Lord Yong faints eventually.A few minutes laterLord Yong gained consciousness and quickly tried to stand. The sun was half submerged but wait, what was the black hues emitting at the direction of the sunset? Lord Yong recalls the words of the Dark Lord "The aura of the book is so dark that wherever it will be placed under the ground it will emit black clouds above it".Without wasting a single second, he immediately ran towards the black clouds. When he reached there, he saw four other men who were
The preparation of the Lantern festival was in full swing. The market was full of hustle-bustle, brimming with the colourful and beautiful lanterns to allure the visitors. Vendors had decorated their shops to attract customers. Kids could be seen indulging themselves in gruelling arguments with their parents and crying stubbornly to buy them their favourite toys and lanterns. Other throngs of people were busy buying new clothes for their family. There was one ordinary shop among the crowd of wacky shops, but surprisingly it was full of customers because there the lanterns were inconceivably designed with different textures. That ordinary shop attracted Min-ho. He decided to buy a lantern for Si-ri from that shop which was surrounded by a huge crowd. Min-ho didn't know that unknowingly he was also grabbing the attention of girls. Min-ho was tall and he
Far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, Si-ri was gladly weaving clothes for winter. Out of the blue she noticed some light from the corner of her eyes and rushed towards her window for clarity. She became a little frightened and suspicious, worried there could be thepresence of a human being but it was something else. “Oh! It’s a lantern, it seems people have started to celebrate the festival,” said Si-ri and closed the window to stop herself from admiring the sky full of lanterns. In this way, she would clog herself from the strong desire to go and see the world, happy faces of people, celebration, colours, crowd and everything. “If only, father would have been here, I would not feel this lonely. It's been a long time since I haven't seen you father, please come back soon. I am missing you
Min-ho was thinking about Si-ri’s advice. He screeched to halt in a nearby tea shop for a while. After some time he noticed the damnatory gazes of people around him. Some of them were so startled with his presence that they started to leave the shop. Min-ho couldn’t help but scoff at himself. “Some people are scared of me because of my arrogant demeanour and others look down on me scornfully because of my work and idleness. What kind of life am I living?” “I never got affected by these people but on the contrary I never wanted to see disgust and fear in their eyes for me but this is what I have earned in all these years, I only realised it now when someone poked me. It’s like I have been lost and stuck in a wasteland where there was direction where I could run but not sure in which direction, lots of faces
Lord Yong and his disciples finally reached Noam. Lord Yong was happy that finally, he had the book to save Si-ri but at the same time he was agitated with the remedy that leads to break the curse. Lord Yong and the others placed the book in the shrine located at Lord Yong's house. Lord Yong opened the book and started looking for the antidote to break the curse. He continued to turn page after page with a menacing taste of what's to come. The front page of the book was dark and coarse, the pages had turned yellowish. Spells and amendments were written on each page of the book. The pages of the book are said to be made of vellum of animals. Sentenced to death for breaking his monastic vows, the monk offered a proposal to the King that he would create a book with the world's knowledge in return for his life. The King accepted the propo
As the sky turned dark and an inky black sky appeared, the furrows between his brows grew deeper, as he sat with anxiety written all over Lord Yong's face.Lord Yong had decided to disclose the complete truth to Si-ri before it was too late. He bought some gifts for Si-ri and stepped towards the dense forest with a torch.Standing in front of the mansion Lord Yong knocks on the door. Si-ri rushed towards the door, sensing it must be her father and hastily opened the door. Si-ri was grinning from ear to ear and hugged her father."I missed you a lot, didn't you miss me?" asked Si-ri, making a puppy face."Do you really think your father could forget you? I missed you so much and prayed for your well-being," Lord Yong cupped her face an