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“Captain Yeon!”
Bukgung Yoon saw Yeon Mujin perched on the tree and shouted.
Yeon Mujin, his hair dusted white with stone powder, climbed down among the External Protection Troops.
“My ears aren’t deaf, so you don’t need to shout. They’re a bit muffled, though.”
“Captain!”
The External Protection Troops, choking back tears, rushed toward Yeon Mujin.
Yeon Mujin pushed the faces of the External Protection Troops away with his palm.
“We thought you were dead…!”
“Do you know how worried we were?”
“Get away. You men are disgusting. You left without a word, and now you make a fuss? Are you flattering me out of fear of future trouble?”
“No, Captain told us to do so!”
“Does that mean you’d abandon your Captain like that? Cowards. At least be ready to be buried alive with me.”
“We respect Captain, but not to that extent…”
At the thought that Yeon Mujin was alive, jokes came out naturally.
Yeon Mujin had a knack for lightening serious situations.
“Captain Yeon, what happened?”
“I went and avenged the spirits for harassing the hall master. I wanted them to taste the misery of the homeless. I’ve lived long enough to know that misery well.”
“No, it’s not that…”
“How did you get out?”
In response to Yang Gwan-wol’s question, Yeon Mujin pointed with a finger to the top of the collapsed cliff.
“I came up.”
“Up?”
“I brought the cliff down and used the falling rocks as footings to leap up to the top of the gorge. If you stay calm it’s an easy method.”
“Easier said than done…”
It was a method only possible with uncommon courage and quick eyes.
“The spirits’ rampage worsened, so if we were to clear the Ghost Gorge at a stroke, there was no other way. If we hadn’t caused the whole gorge to collapse, the spirits would have held on and never let go.”
Yeon Mujin’s blade had been dulled to the point it was like a saw from cutting the cliff.
Kkik-kik!
He forced the drawn sword back into its sheath and spoke.
“Anyway.”
Yeon Mujin turned his gaze toward the Ghost Valley manor party.
“Hwan, you.”
Hwan, covered in dirt, gulped air and raised his head.
“You yourself said you were a Ghost taoist.”
Yang Gwan-wol asked in a low voice.
“What is a Ghost Taoist?”
“A Ghost Taoist is one who converses with spirits and commands them.”
Ha Do-yeop provided the answer.
“Ah, like a shaman.”
“It’s a bit different from a shaman. Shamans borrow spirits’ power for rites or divination, but a Ghost Taoist serves spirits and uses their power to harm others. They’re rare in the Ghost Province. People shun the Ghost Taoists as ill-omened, but when someone wants harm done, they seek them out.”
“…What kind of place is the Ghost Province anyway?”
Meanwhile, Yeon Mujin’s remarks did not stop.
“You know you’re a Ghost Province. You knew spirits live in this Ghost Gorge and sometimes torment people. Yet you didn’t warn us until we stepped into the gorge.”
“Ahem…”
Hwan Bija coughed and avoided Yeon Mujin’s gaze.
“This is the result. The spirits’ rampage almost injured the manor lord, and even the Ghost Valley manor lord was almost buried with that gorge. If I hadn’t intervened, I wonder how many of the eleven people here would still be alive.”
“The ghosts of the Ghost Valley aren’t that violent! You provoked them and caused this to happen!”
“If that’s true, why didn’t you step in earlier? Even after you revealed you’re a Ghost Taoist, the ghosts didn’t stop their rampage.”
“That’s…”
That was certainly strange. Ghost Taoist and ghosts are originally symbiotic.
Spirits exert power over people through Ghost Taoists, and Ghost Taoists command those spirits to maintain their power.
Under any circumstances, spirits do not harm their Ghost Taoist. A Ghost Taoist protected by ghosts is such a being.
But this time, for some reason,
“The mountain lord is angered.”
“…What?”
“The mountain lord of Hundred Ghost Mountain is angered. You could feel it as soon as you entered. The atmosphere of Hundred Ghost Mountain is different from before. Surely the mountain lord who rules the mountain must be displeased.”
The one who spoke was none other than Ha Do-yeop.
“Every path was blocked by silvergrass and the gorge winds were sharp. Furthermore, the ghosts of the Ghost Valley didn’t even obey the Ghost Taoist. That a shadow hangs over the whole mountain can only be explained by the mountain lord’s influence.”
“What do you know to speak up?”
“Herbalists of the Ghost Province all live by serving the mountain. The life and death of those who climb the mountain are decided by the mountain lord. You people who come and go from Hundred Ghost Mountain didn’t feel the mountain lord’s presence?”
“What nonsense is that? The mountain lord of Hundred Ghost Mountain?”
Ai Ja asked back in disbelief.
Ha Do-yeop, undeterred, asked Bukgung Dam-deok.
“Ghost Valley Manor Lord, the spirit called Hongyeo that you care for—did you say it was a carp?”
Bukgung Dam-deok, receiving the question from Ha Do-yeop, stammered his answer.
“Y-yes. That’s right.”
“Manor Lord, do you possibly know that carp’s age?”
Why on earth ask about a carp’s age out of the blue?
Bukgung Dam-deok pondered deeply, then answered.
“B-before I came to the Hundred Ghost mountain manor, Hongyeo was already a very large carp. I heard even then it had lived for decades.”
“Hwan Bija, you must have known Hongyeo longer than the Manor Lord. Do you happen to know Hongyeo’s age?”
Even Hwan did not know exactly how many years the carp had lived.
Hongyeo was Hongyeo even when he was very young. That carp had been a treasured spirit passed down on Hundred Ghost Mountain for a very long time.
“All I know is that it lived a very long time. Why ask about a carp’s age all of a sudden?”
Sensing the group’s puzzled stares, Ha Do-yeop answered.
“Long ago, before this mountain even had the name Hundred Ghost Mountain, it was ruled by a strange being called the Hundred Ghost Taoist. He raised spirit beasts, commanded ghosts, and was said to be like an immortal skilled in poisons and medicines.”
“And?”
“Legend has it that among the beasts the Hundred Ghost Taoist raised, the most precious was a carp. It had scales around its fins that gleamed red like a red lotus. Some even wondered if that carp was the fabled Fire Carp passed down in oral tradition.”
Fire Carp!
The Fire Carp was a legendary spiritual beast, like the Ink-Scaled Blood Python or the Human-Faced Spider, said to be as large as a person and able to live for ten thousand years.
In the martial arts world it was rumored that the beast’s innards could yield power ten times that of the Great Rejuvenation Pill of Shaolin.
At the speculation that Hongyeo might be a Fire Carp, and even the Hundred Ghost Taoist’s carp, Hwan Bija and everyone else felt goosebumps prickle along the back of their necks.
“If that carp Hongyeo truly is a Fire Carp and has lived for hundreds of years on this Hundred Ghost Mountain, it would have every qualification to be the mountain lord of Hundred Ghost Mountain. And…”
Ha Do-yeop presented a final guess no one had considered.
“Ghost Valley Manor Lord, you said that Hongyeo has been refusing food and wasting away, didn’t you?”
“…H-Hongyeo!”
Bukgung Dam-deok let out a cry nearly bordering on a scream.
“H-Hongyeo is in pain, you say?”
“That’s what I think.”
“T- there’s no t-time. W-we must reach the lodge q-quickly…”
As he looked, Hwan nodded heavily and spoke.
“I will guide you to the Hundred Ghost mountain lodge by the fastest route.”
“Wait.”
Yeon Mujin stopped Hwan’s words.
“There’s something to clear up.”
“What is it?”
“Your guidance cannot be trusted.”
“What?”
“Wasn’t this mess caused while crossing the Ghost Gorge following your guidance? If you had gone from the start, this wouldn’t have happened. Who knows if you’ll put us in danger again?”
“Are you doubting me now, brother?”
A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan snapped back immediately.
Yeon Mujin grew even angrier at that reaction.
“Shut up! Wasn’t the Manor Lord almost hurt because of your carelessness? How dare you now argue that your faces are more important than the Bukgung Family’s manor lord!”
“…”
“How are we to trust you when we cannot guarantee the maor lord’s safety? From Taiyuan until we reached this Hundred Ghost Mountain, what trust have you four A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan shown? Consider yourselves lucky I didn’t cut you down for the manor lord’s sake!”
“Does that mean if we don’t consider you, you can cut us?”
“Why? Think I couldn’t?”
“You disrespect our brothers? Want to know what it is to earn the hatred of the Fierce Strength Gang?”
The confrontation between Yeon Mujin and A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan instantly made the atmosphere tense.
And then…….
Szzak!
The Ghost Valley Manor Lord, Bukgung Dam-deok, slapped Hwan Bija hard across the face.
Taken by surprise, Hwan Bija crashed to the ground with a thud!
Bukgung Dam-deok, hand on his own cheek, looked down at the stunned Hwan Bija and said.
“Y-you, you, you, you think I’m a joke?”
“…Young master?”
A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan froze in shock.
This was the first time the Manor Lord Bukgung Dam-deok had struck them by hand.
“I-I-I told you. I take responsibility for Yo-Yoon’s safety. How dare you, mere you, disrespect your manor lord?”
“We would never disrespect the manor lord…”
“S-shut up. I make the judgments, not you.”
Bukgung Dam-deok’s voice was shaking more than usual.
His shoulders rose and fell incessantly and his face was flushed.
“Hwan… Hwan, who are you?”
“Yes?”
“A-Answer me. Who is it that has allowed you to survive until this day?”
Hwan knelt and bowed his head to Bukgung Dam-deok as he answered.
“All thanks to Young Master Dam-deok.”
Then the rest of A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan rushed over, knelt beside Hwan Bija, and bowed their heads, saying the same.
“It is all by Young Master’s grace that our A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan were spared and granted freedom!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan banged their heads on the ground in submission to Bukgung Dam-deok.
Bukgung Dam-deok quietly watched until their foreheads split and blood ran.
“R-remember. Know who your master is. And guide them to the Hundred Ghost mountain manor by the fastest and s-safest route. If anything happens to Bukgung Yoon’s safety, or if H-Hongyeo dies, I will hold you responsible.”
At Bukgung Dam-deok’s words, A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan’s bodies trembled like aspen leaves.
The feared A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan were truly afraid of the Ghost Valley Manor Lord.
“We will remember, Young Master…”
Having disciplined his men, Bukgung Dam-deok spoke to his younger sibling Bukgung Yoon.
“Yo-Yoon, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize on their behalf.”
“…No.”
Bukgung Yoon, holding onto Yeon Mujin, spoke to his brother.
“Please apologize to Captain Yeon.”
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