“Fine. Let me try something.” I search for gi—any gi—but there is no life here. Only death. “I can’t see anything.”
“Try again.” Minju slips her hand into mine. “Take your time.”
I don’t want to stay here a second longer than necessary, but I listen to her advice. Spinning slowly in a circle, I peer into the wall of fire, trying and failing to ignore the writhing bodies.
There is no life force for me to discern.
I’m about to turn back to my friends when something flickers at the corners of my eyes. I spin back, zeroing in on it. A speck of redgiglows in the distance.
The life force of Underworld.
Chapter Fourteen
Sunny
It seems counterintuitive, but the Kingdom of Underworld is not for the dead. After all, Underworld is one of the four life sources created by the Cheon’gwang.
“Does hell lie in the Kingdom of Underworld?” I ask Minju, not letting the smudge of redgiout of my sight.
“Every King of Underworld has been less than frank when it comes to that question.” She purses her lips in annoyance. “But it is not outside the realm of possibility.”
“Good.” I stalk toward the life force of Underworld. “Because I think I just found an entrance to the Kingdom of Underworld.”
The redgiveers to the left of the moonglade, but I have a feeling we shouldn’t get off the silver road. I’ll worry about that when we get closer to the entrance. For now, we walk.
“What do you see?” Captain Seo shortens her stride to match mine.
“I see thegiof Underworld over there.” I point toward it even though she can’t see it. I’m the only one in both realms who can.
I stare at the red life force ahead of me, because it might be our only way out of hell. But I also do it to keep my eyes averted from the wall of fire that surrounds us, rising without end, with countless emaciatedbodies jerking and twitching inside. Their silent screams scrape against my skull, and cold dread slithers down my spine.
I wonder if my friends can see it too. Their steps seem steady enough, but their eyes are intensely focused on the moonglade a few paces ahead of them. Minju is wringing her hands raw, and a muscle tics uncontrollably beneath the captain’s right eye.Yup.They see it.
“How much farther?” Captain Seo clips out.
“Not very far,” I murmur.
But the entrance to the Kingdom of Underworld—at least, I hope it’s the entrance—is much farther away than I’d thought. I press a hand against the stitch in my side and pant as I put one foot in front of the other. On the plus side, the red smudge is getting bigger as we march on. We are definitely headed in the right direction.
I catch Minju by the arm when she stumbles and ask, “Do you need to take a break?”
“No.” Her gaze flits up toward me. Then with a gasp, she tucks her chin into her chest. She must’ve accidentally gotten an eyeful of the burning bodies. “No break.”
“Okay.” The glowing redgiarches like a doorway in the distance. I wrap my arm around Minju’s shoulders. “Let’s keep going.”
To my relief, the silver road curves slightly to the left as we get closer to the archway.Good.We can keep walking the moongladeandget the hell out of ... hell. I snort.That’s one hell of a pun.I snort harder.
“What’s so funny?” The captain keeps her gaze pointed down.
“Nothing.” I shrug. “Deadly peril always makes me a little loopy.”
“That’s adorable.” Minju peeks at my face for a split second before lowering her eyes to the road again.
I snatch my arm away from her shoulders. “If you have enough energy to utter such blasphemy, you can walk without my help.”
Captain Seo and Minju laugh at my expense. I bite my cheeks to hold back a smile. I’m happy to share my loopiness with my friends. We could all use a distraction from the tortured souls floating around us.
They must have done some horrible shit to be in there, but it still doesn’t sit right with me. I actually feel sorry for Yeomla, the god of Underworld. Deciding who gets punished, how much, and for how long seems like a heavy burden to bear. But who am I to pity a god? They probably don’t give us regular folks a second thought.
