Rise of an Empress

The Unknown Path

The monks leave Concubine Seo in the corridor of the main portion of the Dragon Temple. Her lonely journey begins towards the thousand-year-old unopened golden door of the temple.

Concubine Seo strongly holds the box that the maids have prepared for her to stay here for 3 days. It may appear simple, but no one dares to walk this way as this seems like a very peaceful and calm way is one of the most dangerous ways of Goryeo. 

The pits on the wall of the corridor carrying uncountable families of golden snakes. The natural guardians of the Dragon Temple. Concubine Seo takes deep breaths noticing the peeking heads of the curious snakes.

After walking for some time, she looks back. Now the monks standing on the temple premise look so small. Maybe when she reaches the door there will be no trace of them anymore from her view. She again starts her unknown journey.

At last, when Concubine Seo reached the golden door, the trace of the Dragon Temple premise was just like a pinpoint light source from her view. She understands that the corridor's way has a downward slope which has made her go under the surface of the ground.

Concubine Seo touches the large stone beside the golden door. Something is engraved on the stone. She touches the letters engraved in stone and utters the sentences written with these letters, 

"Who are you to break the silence of fall where the four seas goddess rests?

If you are not someone with rights, then roaring water and immense waves of four seas will engulf you and you will be graved under screams of hell. "

She keeps the box on the ground and tries to push the door.

When her attempt results in success, she notices she is panting in exhaustion. It took a lot of effort to open the thousand-year-old unopened door. A rush of cold, moist air welcomes her from inside.

Concubine Seo continues her journey to an unknown path. She sighs as she looks at the long curved corridor, it seems like she has to go further away. Until now, her destination was the golden door, but currently, it's something unknown.

Concubine Seo doesn't know how long she was walking until she hears the sound of water. She fastens her speed towards the source of the sound.

The ray of light makes her more hopeful. She almost runs to reach the end of the corridor. This blurred vision inside the corridor was becoming intolerable for her. Right now the only thing she wants is a touch of light.

The end of the corridor exposes a new world for her.

A waterfall… Water is falling from a place so high that Concubine Seo can't see the highest point of the waterfall.

The waterfall has given birth to a river. The river has made its way to an unknown cave full of darkness before taking the curved way.

And there she remains.

The Dragon Goddess.

The stone is a statue of the Dragon Goddess. It is obvious that It's not man-made, nature has created it with an unknown mystery. 

The source of light?

The only thing of which the highest point can be seen beside this giant statue is a round-shaped hole in the wall of this hidden underground temple. This is the only connection of this temple with the world. 

Concubine Seo can see part of the blue sky through it.

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As the day turns to night, the full moon can be seen through the round hole now. The moon is pouring all its light on the Dragon Goddess's statue. The spikes on the statue have become prominent with lights and shadows under the moonlight. The statue is almost alive on the waves of the river, on the base of the waterfall.

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Concubine Seo takes off her gorgeous robes and crown, now she is only with a white robe inside.

She feels an urge to drown in the turbulent waves of the river.

She is going to be engulfed in the water to reach the goddess statue. But she keeps drowning in a semi-conscious state.

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