Chaeyoung can feel the earthy smell invading her nostrils, not as pungent as the smell after rain, but recognizable when you step foot into a large patch of woodland. Everything is eerily quiet, as if they too are holding their breath for what to come. There’re not many crickets or cicadas left in this mid-autumn, and the big-mouthed toads also hid away when the first cold breeze came. But Chaeyoung does not feel cold, the brown watery cloak keeps her warm. Even without it, Chaeyoung would be too immersed in the task at hand to pay any attention to the weather. Inside her, the energy from last night has decreased in strength, no longer making her tremble, but still enough to make her mood today full of enthusiasm and confidence. They can pull this off.

Out of habit, she looks up at the sky to find the moon, but the dense canopy has blocked it. Doesn’t matter. She knows that in a few minutes, commotions would be heard from the main and east gates, drawing the attention of the guards.

On cue, an explosion rings out from the direction of the front gate, followed by a commotion. The guards on this side also look at each other panicked, not knowing if they should go to help. Chaeyoung stays still, counting in her head. Five minutes later, another explosion is heard at the east gate, and the turmoil is growing louder. The guards are now panicking, some even abandon their posts to see what is happening.

"Main gate and East gate are under attack!" She hears a shout that drowns out the commotion, "We must assist them."

"Divide into three parts, two parts go to aid the gates, the remaining group stays here to guard this gate. If there is an attack, you must call for aid immediately."

He barks orders and the guards become less agitated.

The guards follow the order and run off quickly, leaving only two guards at the gate and one on the watchtower. Chaeyoung stays rooted, waiting, even when the groups have gone. It isn’t time. Yet. A few moments later, another two explosions sound at almost the same time, much duller than the first ones, but enough to signal Chaeyoung. Junsu and Changmin have successfully drawn the guards to the two gates, and now it is Chaeyoung’s turn. She takes a deep breath, silently praying for Changmin and Junsu. Confronting an entire armed force is definitely not an easy task.

Rising up from her hiding place, she takes a small ceramic jar from the leather pouch and opens the lid. Inside the jar is ash-gray powder, resembling the color of an old stone wall that had been covered with moss. She raises the jar up, making no sound, not even the rustling of the trees, and pours its entire content down her orange hair, while trying not to inhale any. Junsu and Changmin have dyed their hair colour to black, but they insisted Chaeyoung keep hers until this very moment. She shivers and tries not to sneeze when some powder gets into her nose. She can’t risk revealing her location before she even starts. A second later, an ash-gray cat walks out from the bush and the orange-haired girl is nowhere to be seen.

Chaeyoung maneuvers her way through the trees in the cat form. Thanks to the pads on her feet, there’s barely a sound even to the sharpest ears. Soon, she is right at the edge of the forest, ready to step out from under the dense foliage that has sheltered her.

***

Mina couldn't bring herself to sleep knowing what is happening tonight. Her mind couldn't stop worrying, despite various attempts to meditate and relax her body, so she gets up from the bed and puts on the long coat. A walk should clear her mind. Arriving at the moon gazing tower, she realizes she's not the only one who couldn't sleep tonight. All three remaining members of the demigod family are here, even their butler, Mr. Lee is present. The butler pours her a cup of tea and pushes the dish of snack/fruits/sweets nearer to her when Mina sits down.

Keep the connection open, Jaejoong says when Mina asks what she could do to help Chaeyoung, but don't let your worries affect her, it's best if you can stay calm. It's easier said than done, especially when Mina has a history of anxiety.

It isn't until the kitsune starts talking about the old adventure, the stories of the times he broke into the most heavily guarded fortress, that Mina finally lets herself focus on something other than Chaeyoung's mission. To her great surprise, the demigod also chips in to tell some of his adventures. Their adventures are quite fun to hear about, and soon, she finds her attention shifted from worrying about Chaeyoung to hanging on their words, eager to hear more about the magical world.

***

Chaeyoung crawls on the wall, trying to hide in the shadow, avoiding the already alerted eyes of the guards. Climbing on the nearly vertical rock wall isn't too hard, considering she has been practicing it for weeks, but she has to dodge the guards, which is tricky. Good thing they have been stretched thin tonight, thanks to Junsu and Changmin. While the two guards are looking the other way, Chaeyoung sneaks down the stairs, her gray fur making her almost indistinguishable from the stone platform. First step succeeded.

Still dodging the guards, she stops in front of a large luxuriant peach blossom garden, so dense that people could not see the other side. The garden stretches to both sides, like another rampart enveloping any architecture inside.

At first glance, it seems harmless, but Chaeyoung knows better. This seemingly harmless peach blossom garden is actually a dangerous maze, once you go in, it’s nearly impossible to get out. Although it is autumn, peach blossom petals are still abundant on the branches, to lull those who are foolish enough to walk into this garden. Even though flower gazing is the last thing on her list now, Chaeyoung does not hesitate to enter.

As soon as all her feet touch the garden soil, she can already feel a strange gust blowing from behind. She looks over her shoulder only to find a peach tree has stood there, blocking the entrance, as if it has been there since the beginning. The two identical paths ahead of her looks like normal pathway, formed by visitors’ frequent footsteps, yet she couldn’t shake the sinister feeling that the trees are silently laughing at her, planning on how to devour this foolish human. The stars visible through the sparse canopies look fake, as if it is just the replica of the true sky above, created to mislead people.

Chaeyoung knows she must not trust any stars or even the tiniest grass here. Thankfully, she came here prepared. She brings her front claw up and pulls a gray rope that is hanging around her neck to the ground. At first glance, there is nothing special about this rope, except for its one tip is covered in silver. It looks identical to the silver-head type of snakes that normally wander in gardens looking for prey.

"Lead me out of this maze." She whispers.

Suddenly, the rope comes to life, wiggles out of her hold and starts sprinting forward. It's fast and constantly turns in a place where there seems to be no path at all. This rope was specially prepared for her by Jaejoong. It has the black and white color of yin and yang, the key to the maze which is based on eight trigrams[1]. The rope snake sprints fast, without stopping to take a breath (it’s a rope, of course it doesn’t need breathing.) But Chaeyoung is breathless chasing for it. If it weren't for the sharp senses of cats, she would have lagged behind. She runs, silently praying that the dense trees would shield herself from the guards' eyes.

Cats are famous for their speed, not endurance, and Chaeyoung is using all her strength to chase the snake. When she thinks she can’t run anymore, a glimmer of light in the distance catches her eyes. Fire. As soon as she leaves the dense garden behind, she jumps forward, snaps at the snake’s silver head and keeps it in . The rope snake wriggles a few times and then stays limp, lifeless. It has reverted back to being a rope and she hangs it back around her neck. She’ll still need it for the return.

Staying alerted, she sits down on the stone path to take a breath. In front of her is a wide corridor, lit by two dim torches, and guards are nowhere to be seen.

She takes one step into the hallway and immediately jumps back in fear. A fireball lands right where her foot has just been. All the hair in her body rises up from the surprise attack and Chaeyoung can still smell the air burning right in front of her nose. The quick reflex has saved her a leg, or maybe a life. She looks up to the fire that is dancing inside the torches and curses herself for being so careless.

The fire inside it isn’t the ordinary one. The Samadhi fire, or Flames of Purgatory, Chaeyoung recalls what she learned in magic class, which cannot be extinguished by wind or ordinary water.

You have to be especially careful with this flame, the kitsune warned her, even the tiger deity avoids this place.

She mustn’t pass this corridor in her cat form.

This corridor is unguarded, but soon the guards will be here. Chaeyoung quickly changes back to her human form, orange hair still covered with a layer of ash-gray dust, and pulls out two crystal-like gems from her pocket. They are soft and cool like water wrapped in a rubber layer. Nectar of Life, the holy water that can extinguish the Flames of Purgatory. The thing is, she has only two of these to put out two flames. One mistake and all will be over.

Mumbling a prayer, she throws one, then two. Both torches go out, leaving pitch-black darkness in the corridor. Quickly, she presses herself against the corner of the wall in a defensive posture. Her right hand draws out the sword, while her left hand touches the dagger strapped to her waist. She can feel tiny pellets in her pocket, ready to be used. Taking out two flames from fire (火), it will become people (人). Guards will arrive soon.

She hears the sound of the wind on her left and quickly jumps out of the way. Another screeching sound from the front makes Chaeyoung jump back two steps in surprise. Two guards have arrived, and they could see in the dark. At first, Chaeyoung could only hear and rely on the dim silhouette to defend, but gradually, as her eyes got used to the dark, she began to counterattack. Fortunately, cats are nocturnal predators, and able to see in the dark. Although her eyesight is back to normal, confronting two large guards is still a tough task.

While her right hand is swinging the sword, the left hand fumbles in the pocket and pulls out a few pellets. The opportunity comes very quickly. When a guard opens his mouth to inquire about her identity, Chaeyoung quickly throws a few at his face. Fortunately, one landed in his mouth. She can hear the other guard shouting “Careful!”, but it is too late for his friend. The pellet dissolves as soon as it lands. He roars in anger, raises his sword up, but his legs wobble, and then his massive body collapses on the ground. Despite his friend’s screaming, he does not move an inch.

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