WPMTE 35🔐

Chapter 35 …

Sitting cross-legged in the room was a salamander yokai so grotesquely enormous it was unnatural. The golden salamander, as massive as a sheer rock wall, was swollen hideously on both sides, as if it had been gorging itself for ages.

Though it looked like a grotesque fusion of a human and a salamander, the creature had drawn six dots—the mark of an immortal—right in the center of its forehead, and was even dressed in silk robes.

Seeing it sitting there with its eyes closed, wearing an expression of benevolent serenity like some celestial immortal, Gongun’s brow twisted in irritation.

But the truly grotesque part of this yokai lay elsewhere.

Attached to its belly was a gigantic mouth. Purple lips hung slack amid sagging belly fat, stretched wide open as if waiting eagerly for the sacrifices that would enter it.

“Shh. From now on, we’re going to get eaten.”

Only then did Gongun realize that Seono was the one speaking—and what kind of plan she had in mind.

Is this woman actually insane?

At that moment, the golden salamander frowned slightly, as if something felt off, and its chest heaved. At that reaction, ecstasy flooded the faces of the yokai kneeling prostrate nearby.

“Ohhh, Master!”

“Our master bestows his mercy!”

What the hell are they talking about?

Just as Gongun knitted his brows, something seemed to convulse inside the purple mouth, and then—ugh, ugh—snow-white bone fragments came pouring out like a waterfall.

The bones kept spilling for several seconds, piling up into a small mound before the yokai. It seemed to be regurgitating what it had previously consumed.

“Thank you! Thank you, Master!”

“We offer sacrifices in return for the boundless mercy of our lord!”

Amid the tearful gratitude of the yokai, the cart suddenly floated up into the air.

This time, it was the mouth on the salamander’s face that opened. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Gongun hesitated again—but it was already too late. The floating cart was about to be dumped straight into the salamander’s gaping mouth, whose eyes were shut tight.

Wait—

Faced with a situation he had never anticipated, Gongun flinched, about to attempt Yonghwa—but at that very moment, Seono wrapped even her legs tightly around his body, forcibly restraining him.

“I’ll save you, so please…!”

Because they were pressed so closely together, Seono’s desperate whisper flowed straight into Gongun’s ear.

“Please, just stay still…!”

As the unfamiliar sensation made Gongun stiffen once more, the cart suddenly tilted sharply, and everything spilled into the creature’s mouth. Gongun’s lips parted at the sensation of his body tipping and falling.

…Ha.

Letting out a hollow, incredulous laugh, Gongun fell into the monster’s mouth together with Seono, who was still clinging tightly to him.

It was as though the throat and intestines were connected in a straight line—nothing was filtered or stopped as everything plunged straight down into the creature’s stomach.

“Ugh!”

Seono and Gongun themselves fell deep into the vast belly.

Seono landed atop layers of piled corpses and hurriedly looked up. A faint, distant light was visible above.

But the moment the lips that had swallowed everything shut tight, darkness swallowed their vision.

Seono, who had been holding Gongun until the very moment of their fall, finally released him without hesitation and stood up.

Gongun, still unable to fully process the shocking reality that he had been eaten by a yokai, lay sprawled atop the corpses, staring blankly at the closed entrance above.

“Get up.”

Seono calmly extended her hand to him, and Gongun looked at her with a stunned expression.

As if she didn’t even have time to deal with such a sluggish reaction, Seono grabbed his hand forcefully and yanked him to his feet. Snapping back to his senses, Gongun grabbed Seono before she could let go, pulling her closer so she had to face him.

“…Have you completely lost your mind?”

His voice was cold, mixed with disbelief and rising anger. Seono answered just as coolly, refusing to back down.

“That’s why you should’ve gotten lost when I told you to.”

At her shameless reply, Gongun let out another hollow breath.

“How did you know this yokai was here?”

At that, Seono fell silent, closing her mouth. Seeing her reaction, Gongun twisted his lips into a smile.

“See? I told you—you’re suspicious.”

“If I tell you, will you believe me?”

“I don’t believe the words of a scheming human.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Her utterly unfazed response only made Gongun’s temper flare even more.

Huh? Just a moment ago you were clinging to me calling my name—? I stayed still out of pity, and now this…?

But Seono, whose attitude had completely changed the moment they entered, sharply knocked his hand away and pulled something out from her clothes.

It was a treasure that emitted its own light. Shining it around the inside of the stomach, Seono suddenly froze as if she had found something. Gongun, still wearing a baffled expression, followed the light with his gaze.

There, stuck firmly to the stomach wall slick with foul gastric fluid, was something strange. Smooth, perfectly round, and vividly red—it looked like an Eumseok.

Gongun tilted his head, displeased.

‘Can an Eumseok really be that round?’

Most Eumseok were jagged and irregular, like rocks shattered by lightning, so such a shape was unfamiliar. And even if it was an Eumseok—so what?

Gongun watched Seono with a skeptical gaze. She slowly scanned their surroundings, then stared at the pile of corpses stacked against the wall, deep in thought.

Even though they were dead bodies, she seemed hesitant to step on them to climb up.

Watching her, Gongun let out a small snort and spoke.

“Looks like Officer Kang will have to keep her promise.”

At the sudden remark, Seono turned back to him.

“You said you’d give up the contest if I saved you.”

“I never asked you to save me.”

“Then how do you plan to get out of here?”

“Don’t worry. I know how.”

“Waiting that long sounds tedious. I might just use Yonghwa right now.”

That clearly struck a nerve. Seono’s eyes widened as she glared at Gongun.

“Absolutely not.”

Oh?

Having regained the upper hand, Gongun grinned.

“Don’t worry, Officer Kang. As promised, I’ll save you here and escort you safely all the way to Myeonggyeong.”

As blood-red mist began to rise around him, as though he truly intended to use Yonghwa, Seono’s eyes grew even wider.

This bastard is serious!

Driven into urgency, Seono finally made up her mind. Casting aside her hesitation in an instant, she launched herself like lightning before Gongun could transform. Using the stacked corpses as footholds, Seono sprang upward and snatched the Eumseok stuck to the stomach wall in one swift motion.

At last, the round, red Eumseok peeled free and landed in Seono’s grasp.

Losing her balance after grabbing it, Seono began to fall—but Gongun, who had been about to initiate Yonghwa, swiftly caught her.

“Hah. You can’t even land properly, yet you want to become a phoenix?”

Seono wrapped her arms tightly around Gongun’s neck despite his mocking tone.

“And what trick is this now?”

Gongun snapped back sharply, unwilling to fall for anything again—but Seono wrapped both her legs around his body.

“We’re going out now, so stick close. The moment we get out, prepare to fire poison at anything you see.”

“What are you—”

But at that instant, the stomach, having lost the Eumseok, lurched violently.

Gongun tried to look up, but just then the stomach began a violent convulsion, and gastric fluid sprayed from all directions.

Damn it…!

As Gongun ducked his head in alarm, a circular barrier formed around him and Seono.

Seeing this, Gongun frowned at Seono, who raised her brows as if to say, What?

‘Abyss is rock, and gastric fluid is water.’

The protective barrier surrounding them was formed from the gastric fluid Seono had drawn in.

Because soon, something tremendous was about to happen.

As if responding to Seono’s meticulous preparations, the stomach began to writhe madly. Startled by the sudden twisting inside its body, the salamander leapt up, thrashing wildly.

“Ugh!”

Along with it, everything inside its stomach was flung sideways, upward, and downward, tumbling into chaos. Even Seono and Gongun, sealed inside solid water energy, couldn’t escape the disaster.

The barrier encasing them rolled around like a giant hamster wheel at an amusement park.

Krrreeeek! Krrreeeeeeeek!

After several agonized retching cries from the convulsing golden salamander, its mouth finally opened, and light poured in.

‘Now!’

Seono squeezed Gongun even tighter and widened her eyes.