After shopping, Da-hye headed back to Songrim. Dang-gu ran up to her.

"Da-hye! Did you hear?" Dang-gu grabbed Da-hye's arms and shook her a little bit.

"Did I hear what?" Da-hye asked.

"Jin Mu of Cheonbugwan will be burning Naksu's body." Dang-gu said. 

If Mu-deok was Naksu, she was going to be there to see her body being burned. Da-hye needed to confirm that Mu-deok was Naksu.

"When will this happen?" Da-hye asked Dang-gu.

"I'm not sure." Dang-gu said. "That's all I know."

A day later, Naksu's body was going to be burnt.

Naksu's body was laid out on pieces of wood. It was the traditional funeral. Being burned. Da-hye noticed that Yul had the bird whistle in his hand.  Da-hye knew that Naksu was Yul's childhood friend.

"Begin." Jin Mu said.

"Yes, my lord." Cheonbugwan mages began lighting the wood on fire.

Da-hye spotted Mu-deok in the crowd. Perhaps Da-hye was right about Mu-deok. Naksu's body began burning. As Naksu's body began burning more, people started leaving.  Yul, Dang-gu and Da-hye had also left. She had nothing to do there because she had confirmed that Mu-deok was Naksu.

"At least we know Naksu won't be returning to her body." Da-hye said as they walked back to Songrim.

"Thinking about that gives me the chills." Dang-gu said.

After that, Da-hye went to Jeongjingak to train. She stayed in Jeongjingak for most of the afternoon. Sje was mostly reading books. She liked doing that because she could forget about everything going on in her own world. Yul was also in Jeongjingak.

Suddenly, Dang-gu ran into Jeongjingak. Da-hye got up and walked towards him. Had Dang-gu gotten himself in trouble? Had Uk done something stupid again?

"Da-hye...." Dang-gu had a worried expression on his face. He clinged onto Da-hye's arm. "Yul..." Dang-gu said as Yul walked towards them. "Uk ingested poison." Dang-gu stuttered. "They say he's going to die." Dang-gu sobbed.

Da-hye was too shocked to reply. But could Master Heo not concoct an antidote? 

"What?" Yul said the same thing she was thinking.

"Mu-deok was the one who gave it to him."  Dang-gu said.

Why would Mu-deok do that? Was this her way of killing him? She really was Naksu , then.

"But she will not say what kind of poison it was, so my uncle is torturing her right now." Dang-gu sobbed. Da-hye immediately realized what was happening. Mu-deok had done to get someone to open Uk's gate of energy. Da-hye ran to the secret room. She knew her uncle and Mu-deok would be there.  Mu-deok's hands were tied to a string that she was hanging from. Da-hye's uncle was standing in front of Mu-deok. There were other mages in the room, including Sang-ho.

"What was the poison?" The leader asked. There was no response from Mu-deok.

"Keep going." The leader told the mages who were torturing her. If Mu-deok was willing to die so that Uk's gate of energy could be opened, there was something else going on. Was Mu-deok in love with Uk?

"She could die, my lord." Sang-ho said.

"Uk is dying." The leader said. "We must find out what it is in the next two hours."

Mu-deok had her eyes closed. She let out a cough. She looked so exhausted. Da-hye could not see such a weak girl being tortured.

"Where is Uk?" Da-hye asked one of the mages.

"Sejukwon." The mage replied. "With Master Heo." Suddenly, a servant from sejukwon ran into the room.

"My lord." The servant said.

"How is Uk?" The leader asked. "Did something happen to him?"

"Master Heo Yeom removed the poison." The servant explained. "Young Master Jang is safe."

"Did he concoct the antidote?" The leader asked.

"No, my lord." The servant said. "He opened the young master's gate of energy."

Mu-deok smiled weakly. Uk finally got what he wanted. So, that was Mu-deok's plan to get Uk's gate of energy open. After that, Da-hye met up with Dang-gu and Yul.

"How is Uk?" Dang-gu asked still sobbing.

"He is fine now." Da-hye said. "Master Heo opened his gate of energy." 

"He....he opened Uk's gate of energy?" Yul asked unsure of what he had heard.

"Yes." Da-hye said.

Uk weakly walked forward as he tried to carry Mu-deok's weak body.

"Young Master, are you all right?" Maidservant Kim ran towards Uk. "Why did you bring her out?" Maidservant Kim asked referring to Mu-deok. "Let her go." Maidservant Kim tried to reach out for Mu-deok. Uk pushed Maidservant Kim's hand away. And continued to walk forward.

Da-hye, her uncle, Dang-gu, and Yul walked closer to Uk and Mu-deok. He got on his knees.

"I apologize for causing trouble." Uk said.

"Why did you bring her out?" The leader asked Uk. "She tried to poison you."

"She did not poison me." Uk said. "I poisoned myself. I did it because I hated that I was incapable of casting spells. My maid only risked her life by doing what she was told to do." Uk explained.

Da-hye sensed that there was something going on between Uk and Mu-deok for her to risk her life for him. Romatic feelings.

"It was all my doing." Uk said. He leaned Mu-deok's head on his shoulder.

"Jang Uk, how could you?!" The leader asked angrily.

"Please save it for another time." Maidservant Kim said. "He still has not recovered from the poison. Punish him all you want, but wait until he has fully recovered."

"Uk almost died just now."  Dang-gu said. "Please do not scold him like that. Look at how pale his is." It was true. Uk did look really terrible.

"Take him home for now." The leader said.

"Young Master, let us go." Maidservant Kim reached out for him. "Go to Sejukwon and receive treatment."

"Mu-deok needs to go too." Uk said.

"Now is not the time." Maidservant Kim said.

"Mu-deok needs to get treatment too." Uk insisted. Mu-deok did look horrible. 

"Otherwise, I will not go." Uk said.

"Young Master," Maidservant Kim said.

"Fine. Go ahead and die!" The leader shouted. "Lock them back up!" The leader ordered. Da-hye's uncle had a very short temper.

"Calm down, uncle."  Dang-gu grabbed his uncle's shoulders.

"We cannot just let them both die." Da-hye said trying to get her uncle to calm down.

"If Uk is right, the maid did nothing wrong." Yul said. "She is severely injured. Without treatment, she could die." Yul tried to convince the leader. 

"I am surprised she is still alive even after all those beatings." The leader said. Da-hye knew why she was still alive. Mu-deok was Naksu. "If she dies, I will allow you to hold a funeral for her." The leader said. 

Uk let go of Mu-deok and bowed his head down to the leader. He slowly got up again.

"Please help." Uk pleaded. "Mu-deok risked her life to do what I asked. We need to treat her at Sejukwon to save her life." Uk explained. "Please help her."

The leader sighed and turned around. "I want them out of my sight." He said to the mages. "Take them both to Sejukwon." The leader walked away. Da-hye's uncle had always had a soft spot for Uk.

"Uk." Dang-gu said.

"Young Master, go on ahead. I will take Mu-deok there." Maidservant Kim said.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰. 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟰 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗗𝗮-𝗵𝘆𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁. 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 🤦‍♀️. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.