Before I End Up as Rabbit Stew - Chapter 5

The main gate of the Black Dragon Palace was connected to the edge of a hill. It was much larger than it had appeared from afar, much more noticeable, and much more…

“Filthy.”

Yimae stood dumbfounded before the main gate. Its exterior was in such a wretched state that it was impossible to tell when it had last been cleaned.

The peeling paint on the beams and rafters, and the pillars, rotten and riddled with holes in places, looked as if they could no longer support the roof. Sure enough, broken roof tiles were scattered all over the ground, having fallen long ago. So much time had passed since they fell that vines were growing from beneath the damaged tiles.

“Is this the right place…?”

Chaesang said in a hushed voice. Yimae pointed to the area above the gate instead of answering.

Where a signboard should have been hanging on a normal gate, a black dragon emblem the size of a tray was engraved. A hazy spiderweb was an added bonus. In any case, it meant they had come to the right place.

“Let’s go in.”

“Are you sure it’s not somewhere else? Maybe it’s just a shrine or a temple? I heard that the humans of the Red Earth Realm consider the Black Dragon God to be their king, but this doesn’t look like a palace at all…”

“I said, let’s go in.”

Yimae dragged Chaesang, who was trying to avoid reality, toward the gate. The gate opened easily, as if there were no gatekeepers or even a lock.

And the world that unfolded before their eyes was truly a new world, unlike anything they had ever seen in the Golden Garden of the Celestial Emperor’s Palace or even in the Moon Palace. Land covered in layers of mud and tree trunks plunging headfirst into the ground greeted Yimae and Chaesang.

“It’s not, not a big deal.”

“You’re joking, right?”

Chaesang, looking utterly dejected, retreated behind Yimae. Yimae took a deep breath and bravely stepped inside with her friend.

The mud, accumulated over many years, bound their feet as if it were alive. The dense greenery, where not a single patch of the night sky could be seen, grew taller and deeper as they went further in. Dark, black-winged damselflies with glowing blue tails led the way as if guiding them. The surroundings were silent, as if they had fallen into a vacuum.

“It would be faster to find it by scent.”

“You better not. If you stick your nose in there, you’ll be submerged in the mud right away.”

Yimae stopped Chaesang, who was sniffing around.

In fact, she was curious about how the Black Dragon, the head of the palace, lived. Even though the palace had been neglected, there was no way that such a large palace would have no servants. Every palace needed servants to receive stipends and work, so how could the grounds be so filthy?

“Yimae.”

Chaesang, who had been clinging behind her, tapped her arm. Yimae looked in the same direction as her friend.

Inside what was indistinguishable from a thicket or a mossy mountain, blueish grass could be seen. The two rabbits recognized it at once as Yeonbi mugwort.

“So the poisonous herb field is over there.”

Even though they were now in the mountains of the martial arts world, when she was a government official, poisonous herbs would have been gathered together. Yimae and Chaesang put strength into each step, pushing through the mud. The goal was just around the corner.

As soon as they arrived at the field (though it was closer to a swamp), they rolled up their sleeves. Then, they cleared away the mud as best they could, searching for Chaanecho.

Each poisonous herb had its own unique color. Every time they uncovered a pile of mud, the ground shone in various colors, as if jewels had popped out. The deeper they dug, the stickier and smellier the ground became, and the poisonous herbs intertwined, emitting a faint haze.

“Purple, purple, purple, purple…”

Yimae, chanting the color of Chaanecho like a spell, finally achieved her goal. It was just a single root, but it was a purple grass that shone elegantly like an amethyst among the various poisonous herbs.

When Yimae glanced at Chaesang, her friend’s face, with whom she had shared the ups and downs of the past ten years, was filled with a desire she had never seen before.

“Eat it quickly.”

Without hesitation, Yimae pulled out the Chaanecho by the roots and handed it to Chaesang. Chaesang hesitated for a moment before taking the grass.

“What about you…?”

“Even if it’s a forbidden poisonous herb, it can’t be the only one, right? I can just find another one, so don’t worry.”

Chaesang swallowed the Chaanecho in an instant. The poisonous herb slowly entered the small mouth of the moon rabbit. The grass that would turn her into a human went down her throat. Even though it must have tasted poisonous, she crunched it and swallowed it down her throat.

A little later, the moon rabbit transformed into the shape of a human, not just a disguise wearing a human mask, but a true human with a soul.

“Oh my god, really, I’m really human…”

Chaesang, overwhelmed with emotion, shed tears. She touched her bare body covered in smooth skin and her glossy hair, and wept.

She had transformed into a beauty that even the Moon Palace Fairy could not compare to. Even the tears that fell in strings were as beautiful as pearls. Her slender waist and the long, white neck that would make even a deer cry were particularly eye-catching.

Yimae was just as moved. She admired her friend, who had transformed into a stunning beauty, for a long time before tapping the ground with her hind feet. It really works, it really works! Excited, Yimae stirred up the mud.

“I’ll help you.”

The tender arms of a human woman scooped up the mud. The purple Chaanecho that they had newly discovered was smaller than the one Chaesang had eaten. It was more appropriate to call it a sprout than grass.

“This is too small.”

Worry clouded the beautiful woman’s face. Yimae rubbed her palms together as if it didn’t matter. Turning into a human was easier than eating pumpkin porridge. She felt that the ten years she had worked so hard, breaking her shoulders and back, were meaningless. A smile leaked from the corners of her lips, which kept twitching.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained! You know?”

It was the moment Yimae put the small sprout in her mouth with a confident guarantee. A presence was felt between the black tree trunks. Someone was slowly walking through the mud field, very close by.

Yimae chewed the Chaanecho thoroughly, rolling it around in her mouth. She quickly swallowed it down her throat and shouted to Chaesang.

“Run away, run away quickly!”

“But how can I leave you behind…!”

“I’m small, so I can hide quickly. But you have to run away.”

Chaesang, who had already become human, could not turn back into a rabbit. Yimae pushed Chaesang away with her snow-white, round front paws. She gave strength to send away the woman, who was several times her size.

“I’ll follow you soon, so hurry!”

Chaesang seemed to have made up her mind and turned around. She ran along the path she had come, toward the dirty, giant gate. Yimae turned around only after seeing Chaesang completely disappear into the darkness. And then, pretending to be hiding, she stuck close to the nearest tree trunk.

Her heartbeat was so loud that she wondered if only her heart had become the size of a human’s. Yimae was afraid that the being walking straight toward her would hear her loud heartbeat. It was not easy to maintain her composure, even though she was trying hard.

Just in case, she looked around for something that could be used as a weapon, but everything was buried under the mud. Soon, Yimae might also be buried under the mud.

Yes, it was strange that there was not a single person in such a large palace. If she had known this would happen, she shouldn’t have made such a fuss while eating the Chaanecho.

The rabbit racked her brains. Even a mere insect’s mind would become sharp just before death. Even a mouse would bite a cat if cornered. Yimae thought she was in a crisis worse than death. Then, all of a sudden, she felt her brain spinning rapidly. She clenched her fists tightly.

The approaching footsteps were definitely those of one person. Although it was part of her training, she had once fought against ten armed men at once. If it was just one person, she might not be able to defeat them, but she might be able to seize an opportunity to escape. The rabbit dug around in the mud with her long hind legs.

Finally, something hard caught on her toes. At the same time, the owner of the footsteps rounded the tree trunk where Yimae was hiding. The rabbit put strength into her feet and struck the ground. And grabbing the weapon that popped out from the recoil, she aimed it at the stranger without hesitation. The stranger, not to be outdone, drew his sword. The sleek metal flashed blue in the moonlight.

She was confident that she could easily defeat a palace servant or a gatekeeper. She was, after all, the moon rabbit who was called the god of wooden swords.

As long as it wasn’t that crazy god who poured alcohol on human skulls and ate them. As long as it wasn’t that monster god who stuck his nose into animal flesh and sucked warm, fresh blood, she thought.

“What is this?”

The man gracefully raised his hand to the sky as if performing a dance. The lanterns, which she didn’t even know existed, lit up all at once. In the brightly lit mud field, Yimae looked at the rotten corn stalk she was holding.

“A mouse?”

The man muttered to himself. His blade, blocking the end of the long corn stalk, vibrated as if wanting to start an attack. The rabbit had no choice but to recognize the sword and its owner, and she gnashed her teeth. She opened her mouth without realizing it.

“Soon.”

Black eyebrows, black hair. The deep eyes, which were languidly relaxed yet seemed to penetrate the other person’s body, smiled as they looked at the rabbit as small as a mouse. His broad shoulders, as if he found the situation very amusing, twitched slightly.

“You know my name.”

The blue blade suddenly slid down. It was a short moment that didn’t even allow her to blink. The Black Dragon God, as if he didn’t care about getting mud on himself, followed the sword down and bent his knees. The rotten corn stalk was cut off like tofu.

“Good girl?”

It was a warm and affectionate voice, as if coaxing a child. But the face with the sleek, sharp sword between them was like a messenger of hell.

“Shall we guess who you are?”

The rabbit pressed her ears back as far as they would go. Every single white hair stood on end, sensitively receiving the Black Dragon’s breath. Even though she was bathed in bright vermilion light, his unwavering black eyes slowly licked the rabbit. Yimae trembled and thought.

Rabbit, you’re screwed.

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