Chapter 126: Chapter 123- Escape

SCREEECH!!!

The Nian Beast released a wretched scream before its slender and elongated body slither its way on its four legs toward Sol and Yoon-Jae.

It was fast.

Yoon-Jae, who heard the commotion behind them turned to look.

When he saw the hideous appearance of this thing chasing after them, his scalp tingled, and a chilling sensation ran through his body, causing his blood to turn cold.

“Wah! I-Is that–”

“The Nian beast!”

Sol finished as he dragged Yoon-Jae to turn a corner.

Yoon-Jae held onto Little Zeel tighter as he was dragged.

BANG!!!

The Nian Beast was running so fast that it was hard for it to bend the corner. It slipped and fumbled while clinging onto the corner of the ruin walls cracking them further, before resuming its chase.

“I-I don’t understand, then is that Su Jin?!”

“No, it’s Su Moon.”

“Damn it. Explain Sol!!”

Yoon-Jae roared as they bent another corner.

BANG!!!

The Nian Beast was right behind them, and it released another screech as it bent the same corner.

Under normal circumstances, they would have been dead by now since they didn’t have their cultivations. But as the large halls got smaller the deeper, they ran into the palace, the Nian beast became hindered, slowing it down significantly.

Otherwise, the two of them would have died from a simple hit from it. But this meant they had to run with all they had at the top speed they could currently manage.

“You seriously want me to explain that now?”

BANG!!!

The Nian Beast continued to chase them.

“Yes! Explain what’s going on, how can the Nian Beast be Su Moon?! You said it wasn’t him back there!!”

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Sol and Yoon-Jae’s ran as fast as they could, but they were truly too slow without their cultivations.

Despite being lucky these halls weren’t large enough for the Nian Beast to comfortably chase them, it was still keeping up with them since it could easily squeeze its massive body through these narrow halls.

Sol, being urged by Yoon-Jae to explain himself, gritted his teeth before he suddenly stopped.

The two had made two successive turns losing the Nian Beast from sight. But from the screeching and the loud noises coming closer and closer to where they were, it was clear they hadn’t managed to lose it entirely.

“Sol! What are you doing?!”

Yoon-Jae stopped with Sol and glanced down the hallway and then at back him, his heart was racing at the dangerous situation.

“Just give me a second.”

Sol said as he walked over to the wall on the right and placed his hand on it.

When Yoon-Jae looked he saw a blue rune on the back of his hand.

“Wait, what’s that?”

“I’ll explain in a moment, just give me a second Brother Yoon-Jae.”

BANG!!!

BANG!!!

“Sol whatever you’re doing, do it fast!”

Yoon-Jae said as his eyes opened wide while looking at the end of the hallway.

The Nian Beast was fast approaching.

“It’s a bit difficult, I didn’t know it would be this hard. How was it able to change the Formation Array without the Legacy Inheritance?”

Sol said in a panicked voice as he closed his eyes tightly and concentrated as hard as he could. His palm with the blue rune on it was still placed firmly on the wall.

“Sol?”

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

“SOL!”

As the Nian beast got closer and closer Yoon-Jae’s yells got louder and louder.

Sweat dripped from Sol’s forehead as he croaked out.

“Just give me a few seconds!”

Sol then raised his other hand and began forming hand seals.

“A few seconds? We’ll be dead in a few seconds!!”

Yoon-Jae yelled and just as he did, a loud explosion occurred at the end of the hall. The corner of the walls was demolished sending dust and rubble flying everywhere.

SCREEEECH!!!

The Nian Beast sprang out of the dust and rubble with a loud wail before charging towards them.

Yoon-Jae’s face blanched and without hesitation, he grabbed Sol to drag him away.

At that moment, the Nian Beast quickly approached them and opened the gaping hole in its face to reveal the many rows of teeth it had.

Whoever it swallowed won’t have a peaceful death. Those teeth will tear their flesh into shreds and grind their bones to dust.

Everything slowed down.

The Nian Beast pounced at the two while Yoon-Jae grabbed Sol to pull him back. Then suddenly, the blue rune on Sol’s palm released a resplendent light.

“I got it!”

Sol yelled in triumph.

Immediately, the walls of the hallway exploded with light as blue runes in all shapes and sizes spread to cover every inch of it. Within a split second, a wall made out of these blue runes appeared between the pouncing Nian Beast and the both of them.

BANG!!!

The Impact the Nian Beast had with this barrier caused the walls to shake and more cracks to form on them.

The impact also caused Sol and Yoon-Jae to jump out of their skin and retreated several steps.

The two looked at this Nian Beast up close, and realized it was more sinister and gross looking.

However, the sound of something cracking suddenly echoed out.

It wasn’t the wall.

Sol and Yoon-Jae felt their hairs stand up and their scalps tingle as they saw cracks appearing on the blue barrier.

“Damn it, Sol!”

Yoon-Jae cried out in horror before he turned and sprinted down the hallway.

“I-I said it was hard to control the Grand Formation Array!”

Sol cried out bitterly as he ran after him.

The Nian Beast broke the barrier and continued its relentless chase.

“NO ONE MAKES A FOOL OUT OF ME!!”

Instead of a loud screeching sound, it spoke human language this time.

The two ignored it as they bent corner after corner. Each time Sol would create a barrier at every turn.

But this would give away their positions, so they left decoy barriers to throw the Nian Beast off.

Soon the two burst through two large double doors and were greeted with a large ballroom.

If it weren’t for the cracked and musky-looking walls, as well as the dust-covered ground, this place would have looked amazing.

“Sol, start explaining, what happened back in the office? How is Su Moon the Nian Beast?”

Sol was lying flat on the ground with his chest visibly heaving up and down. He was exhausted, not just from running, but from erecting all those barriers as they came here.

After catching his breath somewhat, Sol rolled over to his side with a groan. He then looked up at Yoon-Jae and asked.

“Brother Yoon-Jae, think about it logically, why would the Nian Beast swap places with the son of a Deity and not the Deity himself? Not only could it disguise itself as the ruler of thousands, but no one would question its identity. It would also have free reign to devour as many children as it wants without anyone finding out.”

“But what about the fairy tale? It said…”

Yoon-Jae suddenly froze, before saying.

“The fairy tale isn’t real, is it?”

Sol shook his head.

“The Nian beast made it up. Su Jin likely went there to kill it rather than sacrifice himself, but something must have gone wrong and when Su Moon went to the village to save him, the Nian Beast took that chance to take his appearance.”

Yoon-Jae fell back on the ground, Litle Zeel still in hand, and he release a long sigh.

“So, was this entire trial the Nian Beast’s doing?”

Sol shook his head once more.

“It’s real, everything here is real just as you said Brother Yoon-Jae. It’s just that the Nian Beast changed the words of the trial in the office. Su Moon wasn’t the one killed for the Grand Formation to activate; it was Su Jin! Think about it Brother Yoon-Jae, when we initially read Su Moon’s words about Su Jin acting strange, as well as his mother’s journal, we thought that was a sign of him being the Nian Beast. However, wasn’t his erratic behavior more likely occurring because he was scared of someone, or rather… something?”

“So, Su Jin knew his father was the Nian Beast, or at least suspected him to be? But yet he still stayed?”

“Then what would you have done Brother Yoon-Jae if you were in his shoes? Tell everyone your father wasn’t your father but the Nian Beast? The Nian Beast would have made it look like he had gone mad. And if he tried to leave, the Nian Beast would suspect him of knowing the truth and it would never allow him to leave if he knew Su Jin’s behavior was because he knew the truth…”

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