Before I End Up as Rabbit Stew - Chapter 9

He snapped off the lotus arabesque ornaments. He took the gold, carved smaller than a fingernail, to the rabbit.

“What’s that?”

“A hair tie.”

“No, I know it’s a hair tie, but why are you bringing it to me? What are you doing?”

The rabbit was so flustered that she forgot her vow to be eternally polite to the parricide. As she frantically tried to run away, she was once again humiliatingly grabbed by the scruff of her neck. The Black Dragon didn’t hesitate and attached the ornament fragment to the rabbit’s ear.

“Ow! Ow! It hurts!”

“You won’t die.”

Yimae scratched her tingling ear with her hind paw. The ornament was firmly embedded and wouldn’t come out. She felt a strange sensation because of the intense Black Dragon energy emanating from the ornament. This wasn’t an ordinary hair tie decoration. It was a part of the Black Dragon.

“If you stray too far from me, this ornament will explode.”

“What kind of rule is that! This isn’t an equal trade!”

“Equal?”

The Black Dragon stroked the rabbit’s head, using as little force as possible. He scoffed.

“I never thought it was equal. I only made a labor contract.”

“Huh?”

“Is it wrong to put a shackle on a newly acquired slave?”

Is this guy really crazy?

“If you understand, do your best in cultivating the magic herb from today onwards. Be good, okay?”

The Black Dragon flicked two fingers on the rabbit’s back, covered in fluffy white fur. The rabbit clutched her ear, trying desperately to remove the ornament.

“Take it off! Please take it off!”

“You’re too demanding.”

Just as the Black Dragon was about to put the struggling Yimae back in the cage, Yimae gathered all her strength and leaped over the window frame. And she plunged her feet into the lotus swamp.

“I’d rather go back to selling my body!”

She nimbly avoided the lotuses and lotus leaves as she dashed towards the wall. It was much easier to run away from the lotuses than when she was human. To the Black Dragon, the lotus would be his mother herself. It was impossible to tell which was superior, the parricide who harmed his mother’s remains to extract his reverse scale, or the filial piety of cherishing the lotuses while honoring his mother’s soul. Perhaps this was true parricidal filial piety.

“Stop!”

The Black Dragon’s low roar was heard. But Yimae wasn’t one to stop at that. The wall was close, and it was low enough to climb over with a little effort.

“Too bad. I guess you’ll never get to eat rabbit stew, you petty person!”

The rabbit taunted the Black Dragon, who was quickly catching up to her. With a single bound, Yimae reached the edge of the wall. And in an instant, the ornament fragment embedded in her ear began to spew fire. Startled, Yimae couldn’t do anything about her burning ear and fell. Just before she hit the ground, a cold, large hand enveloped her. The Black Dragon rolled with the rabbit in his arms.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop?”

The Black Dragon, who had crashed into the wall, grabbed the rabbit’s ear with the fastest movement she had ever seen. As he curled his hand around the ear, the blazing fire quickly disappeared. Yimae buried her face in the crook of the Black Dragon’s elbow. Her whole body trembled like an aspen leaf.

“You were… trying to kill me…”

“It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t run away.”

“Is that what you’re saying now…”

She wanted to tear apart her own mouth that had told Chaesang that the rumors were just rumors. This was more of a madman than the rumors suggested. She never imagined that the ornament would really explode. Yimae was at a loss as to what to do in the future.

“It’s okay. Be good, okay?”

The Black Dragon blew on Yimae’s ear, which had been burned. What was all this?! The moon rabbit’s brain was boiling, but she was too scared to do anything.

“I need to apply medicine.”

“You could just take this off…”

“I don’t want to.”

Yimae didn’t have the strength to argue back. The shock was so great that she felt like she was going to faint. Yimae kept her head buried and was carried by the Black Dragon. The Black Dragon walked for a long time. It didn’t seem like they were going back to the lotus swamp pavilion. Just as Yimae’s mind was fading, he stopped walking.

“Wait here for a moment.”

Yimae barely opened her eyes. It was a plain room with a slightly wide bed, a desk, and three or four ordinary candlesticks. Between the bed and the desk, there was a beautiful folding screen painted with mountains in ink wash, seemingly for privacy.

“It won’t be long now.”

He opened all the drawers of the few pieces of furniture and found a balm in a round container. The Black Dragon, sitting next to Yimae, twisted open the medicine container. A dense, sweet scent filled the room.

“What is that?”

“Immortal Unguent.”

Yimae recalled her homeland, which she had left long ago. It was the Immortal Peach that bore fruit only once every thousand years in the Kunlun Mountain Peach Garden. When she was young, she didn’t know it was precious and often ate fallen peaches without a second thought, and their softness and fragrance were truly exquisite.

“Where did you get this?”

“Be quiet.”

The Black Dragon applied the fragrant and soft ointment to the rabbit’s ear. It was a divine medicine made by gathering Immortal Peaches and simmering them over a low flame for a long time. As expected, it was a panacea of the immortals that healed any wound.

Indeed, as quickly as the proven effect, the burned ear began to heal. The singed and lost fluff also returned to its original state. When Yimae felt that the wound was completely healed, she abruptly pushed away the Black Dragon’s hand.

“That’s enough.”

“Are you sulking?”

Sulking? After almost burning her to death, he asks if she’s sulking?

She felt like this was what it meant to be frustrated. Yimae stared at the Black Dragon with her jaw dropped. Why did the Geumbudo Master keep passing through her mind? The moon rabbit wanted to offer a sincere apology to the Geumbudo Master, who must have been frustrated because of her throughout her time at Oreum Hall.

“I don’t know how to joke.”

The Black Dragon lowered his voice.

“Since I was young, I have often been scolded by my mother for not being childlike.”

Why the sudden confession of family history? The rabbit pouted. Now that the wound was healed and she felt better, her mouth was itching again.

“I don’t joke, and I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

“Then does that mean you were serious about boiling me earlier?”

“I don’t dislike rabbit meat.”

Ah, then she should use honorifics again. The quick-witted moon rabbit had excellent situational awareness. The Black Dragon continued.

“So, don’t take my words lightly.”

“Of course, I almost got my head burned off for taking them lightly.”

“Head… Keep your speech dignified.”

At this point, who was the one making too many demands? Yimae bowed obsequiously and answered, “Yes, yes.” The Black Dragon narrowed his eyebrows as if displeased. But he didn’t say anything more and gestured for her to follow him.

As they left the room and walked along a winding path leading somewhere, the entire palace was as quiet as if it had fallen asleep. It was strange that there were so few people in the palace of the sole deity of the Red Earth Realm. But fortunately, the palace was in good condition, and it was generally clean and tidy, as if only the back garden had been neglected.

The eastern sky was lightening. It was almost time for the sun chariot to rise. Just as Yimae was about to ask when and where they would arrive, the Black Dragon stopped abruptly.

“Go in.”

It was a very small pavilion built in a U-shape. The single room they had just left seemed bigger. What was this place made for that it was so small? Yimae rolled her eyes and went inside.

A giant weeping willow tree was breathing with the pavilion. The pavilion was built in such a way that the trunk and branches of the tree were preserved without any damage. The roots of the tree curved and encompassed the entire lower floor, and willow branches fluttered through the windows of the upper floor, which had only bars. The branches flowed down to the floor, looking like a waterfall of green.

“You can live here.”

If she used both the lower and upper floors, it would be bigger than any house Yimae had ever lived in. Excited, Yimae ran to the weeping willow tree and asked,

“Is this place unoccupied? Can I really live here?”

“It was originally used to house carrier pigeons, but it’s not used anymore.”

Carrier pigeons?

“A pigeon coop?!”

The Black Dragon nodded silently. Then he asked innocently,

“Do you need a smaller place?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

The furious Yimae kicked the tree trunk. Slender leaves like flutes fell down in droves. The Black Dragon shrugged.

The rabbit huffed and puffed and circled the pavilion. Fortunately, there were no traces of bird droppings or smelly feathers. On the lower floor, there was a spring about the size of a gourd, and clear water gurgled out.

“It’s the closest place to the Lotus Cultivation Hall, so it will be easy to transport the magic herbs.”

The name of the pavilion east of the lotus swamp was apparently the Lotus Cultivation Hall. The rabbit tapped the ground supporting the pavilion with her hind paw. The soil was softer and more moist than she had expected. She thought it was perfect soil for cultivation.

“Don’t forget the promise.”

Yimae approached the Black Dragon as if she needed to get a confirmation.

“You said you don’t joke or lie, so I’ll trust you.”

The Black Dragon bent one knee as he had done when they first met. He brought his little finger to his white cheek, matching his eye level with the rabbit as much as possible. The moon rabbit twitched her whiskers but didn’t avoid it.

“You too.”

Yimae slowly nodded. At that moment, the sun chariot opened the sky and appeared brilliantly, hanging a dazzling ray of sunlight on the very top of the weeping willow tree.

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