I headed to Mount Hua.
I didnât come back right away; I had to wait as long as possible until sunrise before returning.
That was because I recalled the words that moving at night was best avoided if possible.
Getting back inside wasnât difficult.
I remembered what Gubong had done last time, so I had already prepared by obtaining some ground turtle shell powder in advance.
The problem was finding the right location to enter.
âHere.â
That, too, wasnât difficult.
It was clearly visible.
I narrowed my eyes, observing the distortion in space.
âI couldnât see it before, but nowâ¦â
At first, I had to concentrate with my mindâs eye open just to barely catch a glimpse. But now, for some reason, it was strangely clear.
Was there a particular turning point that caused this change? Or perhapsâ¦
âDid something happen to the barrier?â
Doubts piled up, but I didnât dwell on them. This wasnât the time to be worrying about such things.
Tap, tap.
I sprinkled a little of the powder on my body.
As I had felt last time, it was an unpleasant experience every time I did it.
ââ¦Ground turtle shell powder, seriouslyâ¦.â
It felt like rubbing crushed dead skin onto my body.
It was irritating as hell, but there was no other choice, so I endured it and kept sprinkling.
After tapping some onto myself a few times, I turned to sprinkle it on Cheonma as well.
ââ¦Iâm not doing that.â
Cheonma, unusually, recoiled with visible disgust.
âWhat do you mean youâre not doing it?â
Baffled, I grabbed her arm.
âI donât want to.â
Smack!