The letters that had surfaced on the dark screen slowly faded away, and the sound of bells drifted in from far off.
Clink— clink— clink....
A box abandoned at the foot of the mountain ca into view. Once more, the small, thin hand of a child scraped the box—kreeek.
Watching the screen, Reporter Wi swallowed unconsciously.
And then, a mont later, the opening ca crashing in like madness.
The sound of a flute and droplets of blood, a hand writing talismans, the cries of a bound man, “Mother! Mother!”, a mother who stitched embroidery as if she didn’t know her son at all, bang—, the violent clash of a gong, rotted ritual ropes, and wavering shadows.
While still reeling from that overwhelming sense of terror, the overlapping ghost stories vanished all at once.
—Huff... huff....
It was the Crown Prince’s bedchamber, faintly suffused with a bluish glow. The Crown Prince, his entire body drenched in sweat, stared wide-eyed at the ceiling.
It was peaceful, as if everything he had just seen had been nothing more than an illusion.
—Your Highness. Did you cough?
A human voice ca from beyond the door.
The reassurance that there were other people outside—other humans—slowly settled in.
Only then did the Crown Prince co to his senses. Wiping his brow with a finely trembling hand, he answered,
—Yes. Bring the rinsing water.
Clatter—. When the window was opened, the sound of birds chirping drifted in. It was a peaceful dawn.
Beyond Yunhwi’s bedchamber, bamboo leaves swayed in the wind.
* * *
At the sa ti, the screen looked down upon a house made of eerily dark, almost blackish-red wood.
The cara moved fluidly, opening the door and entering the house. It was Seonghwi’s point of view.
Kreeek—.
The old wooden door slid open the mont Seonghwi arrived before it.
Inside the wooden door, nothing but rotted ritual ropes hung everywhere. It was enough to make one uneasy, but Seonghwi walked straight ahead as if he cared nothing for such things.
From the outside, the house had certainly looked modest, yet Seonghwi had to walk quite a long distance before finally reaching the threshold.
Kree—ek—.
Once again, without even touching the handle, the door opened on its own.
It looked as though sothing inhuman had opened it directly for him.
“You have arrived.”
Not a single ray of sunlight entered the spacious room. From beyond the folding screen ca the dignified voice of a woman.
Before Yeomga—whose face was not shown—Seonghwi sat in a polite posture.
Gloomy music began to play. It sounded like a geomungo string being slowly pushed from its end, as if it might snap at any mont.
Between those precarious notes, Seonghwi opened his mouth.
“It feels like things are progressing far too slowly.”
Looking sowhat impatient, he seed to want whatever this was to move along more quickly.
“The greater the matter, the more ti and care it requires....”
A soft chuckle ca from beyond the folding screen.
Unlike the relaxed Yeomga, Seonghwi was nothing but restless. Pressing his lips inward and holding them tight, he let out a sigh.
“I know. It’s just... what if we miss the ‘right ti’ like this?”
Whatever the two were discussing, it was clearly nothing good.
The instant Yeomga’s previously unseen face was caught on screen, everyone instinctively realized it.
“...”
Yeomga, silent, was smiling so wide it looked as though her mouth might tear apart.
It was the grin of a starving demon—drooling as it stared with bulging eyes at Grand Prince Seonghwi beyond the folding screen.
[♨The occult boom is coming, coming—Strange Tales Episode 1 live thread♨]
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