Outside the Blood Valley. Morning.
"Hoaammm... Where am I?" Shun Jin stretched her arms while yawning, waking up. Then she looked around, her eyes meeting mine. Behind the campfire smoke, I was roasting white snake meat.
Shun Jin sat up only to realize that right now she wasn't wearing a single piece of clothing except the white snake skin blanket I made last night. The blue jade necklace was still around her neck. I skinned the white snake that I had split in two in the Blood Valley to make a blanket and sleeping pad for Shun Jin. The rest I rolled up into fabric to take to the city and ask a craftsman to make me a robe and other things from this white snake skin later. Besides keeping warm, the snake skin was very tough—hard as steel and flexible as silk—all in one package.
"A-ah! Why am I naked??? Did you do something lewd to me, crazy man!?" Shun Jin covered her chest. She looked at me with a shy face. Then add the sound of her stomach growling like a whale's, adding more red to her cheeks.
I handed a skewer of juicy, perfectly grilled white snake meat to Shun Jin.
"Eat."
Shun Jin still looked at me as if thinking I was lewd. She ate the white snake meat skewer in one bite and kept staring at me.
"I didn't do anything to your body, Shun Jin."
"Then why am I completely naked this early in the morning? Where did my clothes go?"
I fanned the campfire to roast the white snake meat faster.
"It's a long story. Last night, you and I went through an intense battle."
"Intense battle?" I don't know what clicked in Shun Jin's mind, but now her entire white face and body were tomato red. Smoke seemed to rise from the top of her head.
"With the ruler of the Blood Valley. The spirit king." I continued, making Shun Jin confused, questioning.
"The ruler of the Blood Valley? The spirit king?"
I nodded while giving Shun Jin another skewer of freshly grilled white snake meat.
"You probably don't remember. Or rather, you didn't realize it because you've been fast asleep from yesterday morning until this morning. Yesterday, you were swallowed by a giant white snake that belonged to the spirit king, and then the spirit king showed up when I was about to rescue you from the white snake.
"He wanted you to become his wife. And I didn't allow it, so the two of us fought all day long until I lost my clothes, then around midnight the spirit king negotiated with me. He gave me six months to exchange you for Rastella. If not, you would become his wife."
Shun Jin processed everything I just said with a furrowed brow.
"Why does the spirit king want me as his wife? And why am I naked like you, hmph."
"He saw the quality of your spirit, which is very rare. You aren't affected by regretful spirits when they interact with you, even when they try to consume your spirit. You remain fine. He said the spirit you have is extremely rare, that you have a spirit that exists once in a million years. I'm sure that was just an excuse to get you.
"And you're naked because when you were inside the giant white snake's mouth—which is as big as a cave—your clothes disintegrated from the acid inside the white snake's mouth."
Shun Jin didn't hear any of my previous words and only wanted to hear the reason why she was naked. She chewed the roasted white snake meat skewer and seemed unconcerned about the spirit king wanting her as his wife.
"More." She held out her hand. I gave her another fresh skewer.
"So, yum, yum, yum, did you manage to defeat the spirit king?" Shun Jin ate quite heartily. It seemed she had been longing the taste of delicious food since training for a week in the Blood Valley.
"Why are you asking that?" I asked back. Turning the white snake skewer near the campfire to cook it evenly.
"Although I don't know who you are, crazy man. Yum. But I'm sure of one thing. Yum, yum, yum. You are very strong. I'm sure that without me, you could kill any human you want. Yum, yum."
Shun Jin's mouth was full of meat, and her hand kept reaching out even though the skewer in her hand was not finished. She was truly greedy.
"Unfortunately, our opponent this time is not human. He is the king of spirits. And truly the king of spirits. He's not an easily killed human." I handed two skewers of white snake meat to Shun Jin.
Shun Jin no longer cared; she was naked except for a piece of white snake skin covering her front and enjoying the delicious food in her hand.
"Yum, yum. So we're in trouble?" Shun Jin asked with cheeks puffed out full of meat.
"The ring on your right ring finger." I pointed at Shun Jin's right hand. The girl just realized there was a white snake ring with purple eyes wrapped around her right ring finger. "It's the sign of my deal with the spirit king. Within six months, if I don't bring Rastella to the spirit king, you will die instantly and your soul will be immediately bound as the spirit king's wife. In other words, that ring is a curse, and he cursed you, Shun Jin."
"But you won't let me become that spirit king's wife, right?" Shun Jin asked with hopeful eyes.
I nodded. "You must quickly defeat your father's killer and we will part ways. I will search for Rastella alone. You don't need to come with me anymore. You'll only be a burden once your goal is achieved."
Shun Jin stopped eating. She lowered her hand.
"All right…"
Now Shun Jin ate in silence. She looked sad, angry, and disappointed. Was it because she now realized becoming the spirit king's wife was so terrifying that she looked so listless? Her cheerful and spirited attitude just now seemed to have been drained from her.
"Eat as much as you can. You've just reached the very beginning cultivation level. Consider this a celebration for your advancement."
Shun Jin said nothing. Her gaze became empty.
That morning, for some reason, Shun Jin started to distance herself from me. She seemed to lose herself. And the two of us remained silent without a single word spoken. Walking toward the Jin kingdom. Walking toward the end of Shun Jin's story.
***