Waiting For Your Reincarnation Chapter 129

The black aura dissipated like an egg being cracked and a new life being born. Yeon-young stared at the beautiful sight. The soul had deep green eyes, like leaves growing in the middle of summer.

 

Yeon-young’s heart melted the moment she saw those green eyes. When the spirit regained its body, it lost its center and faltered. Ryu Won had taken away its powers when he thought it was safe.

 

Once it was free of the black aura, the spirit’s form became clear. It was a pale-faced, male phantom, and he inhaled, savoring the clean air of Tanato.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“My body is really… back to normal.”

 

“I told you I’d help you.”

 

The man muttered to himself in disbelief, then ran his hands over his body and breathed a sigh of relief.

 

He held his breath, realizing that he was finally back to normal. He looked up at Yeon-young with eyes that held summer.

 

“Do you mind if I hold you?”

 

“…What?”

 

“Who in their right mind would suggest such a thing to someone without losing their mind.”

 

The sudden question visibly flustered Yeon-young, followed by a low, chilling voice. Even without turning around, she could clearly sense Ryu Won’s menacing presence.

 

The man, who had bowed his head slightly in greeting, suddenly fell backward with a jerk of his hips. Yeon-young shook her head in disbelief.

 

“I didn’t think you’d return the favor like this.”

 

“I was going to say no.”

 

“It’s too late. You should have said no right away. You should say ‘I already have someone to marry.’”

 

Ryu Won pulled Yeon-young deeper into his coat. She was buried like a baby kangaroo in his arms. He buried his face near the nape of her neck. The man crouched in front of her, staring into space.

 

Even without looking in the mirror, Yeon-young could tell her cheeks were burning hot.

 

Just then, a mound of dirt, shaped like a tree root, burst through the floor and landed on the man. He froze, unable to utter a single groan.

 

A lemon-colored light floated around the dirt. When I turned to look, Ji Hua had her eyes closed and was reaching for the man. She must have used her power.

 

“Reminds me of Chairman.”

 

It was no different from the ability Saeri had always used. Perhaps it was because Saeri had borrowed both Ji Hua’s ability and her body. If so, Ji Hua might be able to use her ability as well as Saeri if she could recover her body properly.

 

A golden glint flickered in Ji Hua’s eyes before disappearing again. Ji Hua rubbed her chin with her hand and leaned closer to the man.

 

“At least I can’t find Snarl’s aura in this body. Ms. Yeon-young succeeded in purifying it.”

 

“Really?”

 

“I can see why the goddess says we look alike.”

 

Ji Hua smiled pleasantly and nodded her head once. Ryu Won seemed to understand her overwhelming feelings and patted her back warmly.

 

Yeon-young clenched her fist once, replaying the purification process in her head, trying not to forget the sensation of returning Snell to his original form.

 

“We need to move him to the shelter first, so why don’t we go back to the center for a while?”

 

At Ji Hua’s suggestion, Ryu Won immediately fastened his ring. He seemed to be leaving a message for Zhaolin and Veronica, respectively.

 

Ji Hua walked over to the man and reached out to help him up; he didn’t look too bad, just a little wobbly.

 

As they went about their business, Yeon-young’s gaze fell on the spot where the clock tower had been. There was a hole of unknown depth in it.

 

“You said Jung Jaeho was in charge of the clock tower, and he didn’t plug this hole. Snarl slipped out through the hole and didn’t find anything unusual, but he still felt nervous about leaving without investigating it, as if he had left something important at home.”

 

She realized that this couldn’t be an accident. He must have left this hole with some intention.

 

Yeon-young took a step closer to the hole and saw with her own eyes the inside of the pit like a black hole.

 

“The hole…”

 

“Ms. Yeon-young, what are you doing there?”

 

“Hmm? A hole?”

 

Yeon-young was so deep in thought that she didn’t recognize Ryu Won’s call. The hole reminded her of the sinkhole she’d fallen into with Zhaolin.

 

It was much larger than this one, but the shape was very similar. She had also fallen into a hole while investigating the strange aura in the forest.

 

Come to think of it, Yeon-young had encountered many such holes since coming to Tanato.

 

The sinkhole she fell into with Zhaolin, the cave beneath the clock tower, the underground tunnels where the experiments on the modified Snarl were being conducted, and Jaeho’s secret cave. She could go on and on off the top of her head.

 

She suddenly wondered what she was thinking.

 

“The earth’s aura is terrifying.”

 

“Yeon-young, it’s the ground. Look at the ground carefully.”

 

Saeri’s soft but firm voice echoed in her ears. Ever since her condition worsened, Saeri had often shared her impressions of the earth’s aura with Yeon-young.

 

At first, she wondered if her illness was affecting her abilities, but then, just before she disappeared, Saeri advised her to keep a close eye on the land.

 

‘What is Yeon-young missing and wandering away from?’

 

Yeon-young turned her back to the hole and looked at her teammates, who were waiting for her in silence.

 

“Ms. Ji Hua, can you read the energy of the ground?”

 

“Mm. I can. It’s not perfect, but it flows.”

 

“If you don’t mind, could you please read it once?”

 

“Sure. Someone please.”

 

Ji Hua smiled until her pupils disappeared and closed her eyes. Her smile faded, and a weak vibration rumbled through the ground.

 

A sprout of soil rose from the ground, which grew and grew, forming pillars, branches, and leaves. It was very large, like a baobab tree.

 

Yeon-young had to tilt her head back far enough to see the tip of the tree. The tree radiated a warmth that resembled geohwa. It also had a faint, bright glow on its surface, like a night scene.

 

She suddenly understood why Saeri had chosen Ji Hua to help her, and why the spirits had found her disappearance so impressive. Ji Hua was the soul Tanato needed.

 

While she was distracted, Ji Hua opened her eyes and removed the tree. Dirt rained down on their heads like a torrential downpour.

 

Ryu Won brushed the dust from Yeon-young’s hair with his hand, and only then did he let the wind blow the dust from his body as well. The man standing across from them grunted and spat out the dirt that had gotten into his mouth, but he didn’t help.

 

“Hmph…”

 

“What, did you feel anything?”

 

Ji Hua couldn’t answer easily, only letting out a questioning groan. She just tapped her foot on the square floor a couple of times, trying to sense something. When she was satisfied, she cautiously opened her mouth.

 

“Ah…, I wish I had a little more strength.”

 

“Why? Didn’t you feel anything?”

 

“No, I don’t know how far away it is, but at least in the square right now, the earth’s energy is the worst.”

 

Ji Hua covered her nose with her hand and furrowed her brow, as if the mere mention of that aura was unpleasant. Yeon-young’s eyebrows arched in response.

 

“What can I say… Even in the plaza, it’s a bad place, a worse place, and a worse place. The energy is different this way, it’s weird, isn’t it?”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“And here’s the worst, but arguably worse, is where Iris’s pillar is. The further you go in that direction, the more the aura is… corrupted beyond measure.”

 

Ji Hua’s words confirmed one of Yeon-young’s assumptions.

 

“It’s dark under the lantern.”

 

“What?”

 

“I think we’ve been missing something very close.”

 

“Are you getting any hints here? Anything comes to mind?”

 

“That’s what they said in the executive meeting, that we could scour the world and not find a trace of Negro.”

 

Ji Hua’s eyes, which hadn’t been relayed the details of the cadre meeting, were even more colored with questions, but Ryu Won only nodded once, as if he remembered.

 

“Why did we search all over the ground? Digging up the ground and hiding under it is as good a concealment as any.”

 

“Uh…, uh…!”

 

“Maybe Negro’s headquarters isn’t above ground, but in an underground burrow? We’re so close.”

 

Yeon-young remembered a painting she’d once seen in Jaeho’s hidden lab. The last unsolved conundrum. A U-shaped secret enveloping the world of Tanato.

 

It signaled the location of Negro’s headquarters, but it was also the will to reveal how they would engulf Tanato in the future.