57 – Episode 52: No life without innocence – 1

A whitish breath leaks out with each breath.

Even though I was wearing the fur winter clothes I had bought in a hurry, the cold air entered my clothes.

It seemed to me that the rumor that if the corpses of frozen dead in that mountain range were stacked high, they would be almost as high as the top of the mountain.

I gritted my teeth and muttered.

“It’s f*cking cold… .”

We, who are currently tracking the existence of transcendental species, are climbing a rugged mountain range. Aside from this harsh weather, looking down at this dizzying view made it difficult even for me to climb the mountain sober.

A dirt road that goes around the mountain about one width.

Let alone the fence, it was a dangerous road that could lead you to fall down a cliff hundreds of meters down if you stumbled.

Of course, you can’t go up this road with a wagon.

That’s why we had no choice but to walk up to the village halfway up the mountain.

Kyoko’s pain continued to be heard from behind.

“Ah, you can’t look down… only look ahead… .”

Turning slightly, she was already shaking her legs badly.

It was so pitiful to see him barely taking one step at a time, pointing to one side of the wall.

The last time I escaped from the sewer, I guessed that Kyoko might have a fear of heights.

That’s why I told her to wait in the carriage before going to the village, but Kyoko insisted on going with us.

I had no choice but to bring him because of his stubborn attitude, but if he was going to suffer while trembling like that, I couldn’t figure out why he was following me.

Then Rin opened her mouth.

“As if this place is a high terrain similar to the plateau in my homeland.”

“What?? Rin, is that right? there. China’s territory.”

“… … Anyway, how far is it until Juhyeok Village?”

Ignoring Isabel’s words, Rin asked me.

“If you go up along this road, they say you will come to a village.”

If you look at what helped us escape from the capital, the information must be clear. I didn’t feel a little uncomfortable, but we climbed the mountain path slowly.

And after climbing for about an hour, I began to see something in the distance little by little.

In the bitter cold, after several hours of climbing, his body was already exhausted. Tapping on my groggy knees, I endured it and headed for the entrance to the village.

The statue at the entrance was half buried in the snow.

The head of the statue was hidden in the snow, so I don’t know the detailed appearance, but it seemed to be in the shape of a horse.

I thought it was just a jangseung or something and headed towards the village.

…

Colorful houses built of mud bricks.

The walls dyed with red and dyes and the tiles stacked on top of them were creating a unique landscape.

As we walked around the village, soon the villagers began to approach us one by one. They were watching us with wary eyes toward strangers they hadn’t seen before.

I smiled and asked them.

“Hey, I’m sorry for coming in so suddenly. There is something I want to ask about this town. Can we talk?”

The villagers gathered among themselves, chatting about something, then nodding their heads. A middle-aged man slowly approached us and opened his mouth.

“I will let you meet the village chief. Follow me.”

He gestured and led us to the village chief.

After a short walk, we arrived at the place where an old woman with gray hair was sitting cross-legged.

I was just staring at it awkwardly.

The village head meditated without saying a word and didn’t even make eye contact with us.

No matter how much I talked to him, he didn’t answer.

“This baba sucks! People are in front!”

As time went by, Kyoko opened her mouth as if she couldn’t stand it any longer until 30 minutes passed. To be honest, I didn’t set up a bee in front of people, so I wondered what I was doing.

Perhaps in response to Kyoko’s words, he opened his tightly closed mouth and began to speak.

“Yes, innocent children. How did you come to this barren village?”

A voice that seems to feel the wind of the years intact.

The old woman’s question asked us with a benevolent expression, and Rin asked curiously.

“Innocence, old woman, what does that mean?”

To Rin’s question, the village chief continued.

“This village is dedicated to the incarnation of purity. A place where the mind and body are corrupted and those who have sinned cannot enter in the first place. However, entering and exiting this village means that you are the proof that you are pure people.”

We couldn’t understand the village chief’s words at all.

Well, if it’s good, it’s good, and since he approached us amicably, that was fine.

“Chief, the reason we came to this village is… ”

I explained the story of the Transcendence Bell to the village chief, and the village chief seemed to know very well about it.

“The transcendent being you are looking for must be the guardian deity of our village of Pelessia.”

“Then, to the location… ”

“Of course I know.”

Nodding his head at my question, the village chief asked again.

“Do you want to go there? If so, I will put them together in this procession of purity.”

“A procession of chastity?”

“Once a year, the incarnations call humans to the sanctuary of chastity. The reasons vary, but most of them are for noble discussions.”

My expression gradually brightened.

Barely holding back the corner of my mouth trying to get into my ear, I thanked the village chief with a bright smile.

“Thank you for allowing us to accompany you! To be honest, it was very frustrating, but thank you very much.”

Wow, things work out so well!

I was really lucky this time. If you only go in that procession together, you won’t have to suffer hard.

At that time, the village chief woke up from colic and opened his mouth.

“One, I feel sorry for you… ”

Seeing me seized with a sense of relief, the village chief spoke in a slightly subdued voice.

“You cannot go to the Shrine of Purity with me.”

Somehow I was so lucky.

It was like a thunderclap.

No, I couldn’t understand why all of them could accompany me, but I couldn’t.

“Why is that… ”

“Only virgin virgins before the age of 30 are allowed to enter the Holy Land of Chastity. I can’t take anything other than that. That is the rule of the Holy Land.”

“If you break the rules and enter, how… ”

I cautiously asked the village chief.

Then, the village chief sighed and opened his mouth.

“You will probably die. The incarnations never tolerate men.”

It was really brutal.

No f*ck where in the world is that law. A bastard called a transcendental species whose gender is covered?

What kind of transcendence is there?

“Once I understood. Then, if there are 3 people besides me… ”

“They all deserve to go to the Holy Land. Unfortunately, you, a man… ”

The village chief’s words deepened my worries.

After coming this far and getting the opportunity to go to the Transcendental Bell, there was no way to go back.

But to send only them…

I looked at the girls who were quietly chatting on one side without saying anything. All of them confidently told me to believe in themselves.

“Joo Hyuk, you do. Don’t worry. If you act cheeky. To us, then we will. Fire the america death beam!”

“Chop, I will show the power of the emperor to the arrogant transcendent servant wwwww who only believes in me wwww”

“Joo-hyeok, I will take care of these two somehow, so don’t worry too much. A mere transcendent species will succumb to the mighty power of China anyway.”

I instinctively felt it.

That you should never let them go alone. Obviously, something irreversible will happen. Somehow I have to accompany you.

I asked the village chief with a desperate expression.

“Is there any way… ?”

“Well… This is a very embarrassing situation.”

The village chief, who was drooling, touched his chin for a moment.

After thinking about it for a long time, the village chief made a suggestion to me.

“Then how about trying this?”

When the village chief’s words became quite serious, the village chief gave a meaningful smile. The moment I saw that expression, chills went down my spine.

An ominous feeling as if something else was about to happen flooded his body.

“In the history of the procession of innocence in the village, there is no record of a man entering the shrine. Only two of them have records of men entering the Holy Land.”

The village chief spoke to us with arms crossed.

“It is said that a man in the first record met a terrible end after his sex was discovered by an incarnation after entering and exiting, and his abdomen was pierced.”

The more the village chief uttered each word, the more my face began to turn white. I was frightened and shook my head. To die so horribly just for being a man…

I don’t know if it’s true or exaggerated, but judging by the village chief’s expression, it didn’t seem like a lie.

“No, Chief, that doesn’t mean that you die just by going in! What a suggestion! It’s just a new method of suicide.”

“Tsk, this is a very young child logo. I haven’t told you the case of the second person yet.”

I jumped in anger at the village chief’s words.

I’d rather just say there’s no way, isn’t that just going back and saying, “Go and get stabbed to death?”

Seeing this, the village chief shook his head and clicked his tongue.

Then he started telling the story.

“The man who went to the Holy Land for the second time returned to the village alive and well, unlike the previous man.”

“Then how… ”

“The way he did it was… ”

Afterwards, I was stunned by the words the village chief said.

I couldn’t even tell if he was serious or if he was joking.

The former would be correct given the situation, but I couldn’t believe it.

“f*ck no way! I just don’t go to a bar that goes that far… ”

When I desperately shouted and looked to the side, Kyoko was staring at me with a sad expression. Seeing that innocent face made me feel anxious again.

Would it really be okay if I left it to them without me?

After thinking for a while, I opened my mouth.

“… … Okay. I will follow that method.”

f*ck of course it’s not okay

No matter how much I think about it, if I don’t go with them, I won’t be able to do it because I’m very anxious.

If you use this method, you’ll probably be ashamed to look around.

Yeah, f*ck it, try to act like a man.

So, biting my lower lip, I decided to follow the village chief’s suggestion, which I didn’t want to do to the point of death.