Chapter 135

“There are several spirit beasts, so let’s divide them and each take one. I’ll take the fox.”

“Ah, that’s cheap! Then I’ll take the deer.”

“Are the bear and the snake what’s left? I’d rather have the snake than the bear…”

“Teacher Yu, that snake is called Seven Tongued Snake and carries extreme poison. It’s incompatible with a fist master like you. I’ll take the snake.”

“…Then only the bear is left.”

Yang Gwan-wol shot a sharp rebuke at the dejected Yu Se-gwang.

“Se-gwang. Consider this a life lesson. Life is essentially a sprint.”

“For a deputy captain who pushes members in front of a bear, that doesn’t sound very noble.”

“No confidence? If you don’t have it, swap.”

“Thank you.”

“Actually, I’m joking. I’m absolutely not swapping.”

Come to think of it, a crow was still left.

“What about the three-legged crow?”

“That’ll be for the leader to handle. We’ll only take the wild animals.”

“Understood.”

While the External Protection Troops members distributed personnel, the A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan each chose the spirit beasts they’d take.

Aija came to Pyo Gang-hyeok’s side and said.

“The black-horned stag’s horn is stronger than most weapons. If it charges you with that horn, consider yourself gone to the netherworld.”

“Then we just need to avoid getting hit, right?”

“…It’ll probably be quite fast?”

Pyo Gang-hyeok tapped his legs and said confidently.

“What I’m most confident in are these two legs.”

“Good. While you draw its attention, I’ll try to neutralize the black-horned stag with my Dream Soul Incense.”

Because Bi Mokja was strong, he attached himself to Yu Se-gwang, who had the bear.

“Are you a fist master?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever fought a bear?”

“Not yet.”

“I have. I used to test strength with that one from time to time.”

“…With a bear?”

“I lose about seventy percent of the time.”

“So you win thirty percent of the time?”

Bi Mokja nodded and said.

“That bear looks fierce but is actually extremely docile. Don’t think about knocking it down; focus on stalling for time.”

“Understood.”

Next was Gyu Guja.

He chose Ha Do-yeop, who handled the two-headed beast, due to their bond from Deathly Cave.

Ha Do-yeop asked him.

“Elder, you’re unarmed—do you intend to face the two-headed beast?”

“Don’t worry. I know snakes well. A snake’s weakness is its head. Press the head and it won’t move. For that task, my ability is perfect.”

Indeed, a Gyu Guja who could freely extend his limbs was best suited to subdue the two-headed beast.

“I’ll repay the debt from the cave.”

“You already repaid it decades ago.”

Gyu Guja smiled with satisfaction at Ha Do-yeop’s words.

“Thank you for saying that.”

Last was Hwan Bija.

He approached Yang Gwan-wol, who had taken the Seven tailed Fox.

Yang Gwan-wol looked at Hwan Bija, thinking, like the others, that he would direct a method or strategy to deal with the spiritual beings.

“…What are you looking at?”

“Does that thing have anything special?”

“You mean the seven tailed fox? Yes, it does.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not telling.”

“….”

Yang Gwan-wol forced himself to restrain his temper.

‘Why did I get stuck with such an old man?’

Hwan Bija looked at the sulking Yang Gwan-wol and thought.

‘Does knowing it mean you can prepare for it?’

The Seven tailed Fox’s other name is Fox spirit; it was a creature with powers to bewitch people.

Unless someone had the strength to resist sorcery by their own power, it was better not to know the fox spirit’s abilities.

Hwan Bija’s role was to disrupt the fox spirit’s enchantment so Yang Gwan-wol could keep his wits and fight.

It was the kind of assistance only a ghost-handler and chant-master like him could provide.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Beyond the spirit beasts, inside the lodge, a rumbling like the earth shaking had been reverberating for some time.

“There’s no time. We’ll enter.”

At those words, Bukgung Yoon, who was on Yeon Mujin’s back, gripped Yeon Mujin’s neck tightly.

“Let’s go!”

“Open the way!”

The Flying Swallow Manor’s External Protection Troops members swarmed their assigned spirit beasts all at once.

The A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan of Ghost Valley Manor moved at the same time.

Crackle!

Ai Ja lit the Dream Soul Incense,

“Eeeek!”

Bi Mokja of physical strength charged at the bear,

Ss-s-s!

The uncanny Gyu Guja extended his arms like a snake,

“Bagabam shitatapart… namostute ashitanaralka….”

Hwan Bija the spirit-handler intoned a spell.

The External Protection Troops members forged a path and, each drawing their weapons, collided with the spirit beasts.

“Leader!”

Through the gap opened while they dealt with people, the members shouted and Yeon Mujin ran.

Kuuung!

Bukgung Yoon felt for the first time a bear’s forepaw brush above her head.

It was so close she would have been struck if her head had been even an inch higher.

But there was no time to scream.

Because Yeon Mujin had cleaved through the spirit beasts and was running at full force.

‘Ugh…!’

As the surroundings flew past like an arrow, she was too terrified to open her eyes.

Bukgung Yoon buried her face in Yeon Mujin’s back and held on tightly.

In her ear she heard the cries of beasts.

Kaaaahk!

The only one not seized by the martial men, the Three Legged Crow, flew after Yeon Mujin.

“Captain Yeon! Something—something seems to be following us!”

“Has it moved toward the Third young master?”

“Ah, no—it’s too fast…!”

“Don’t worry. I can see the pond over there.”

“…Ah!”

Bukgung Yoon let out a gasp like a scream the moment she opened her eyes.

Because she was flying in the sky.

More precisely, Yeon Mujin, carrying her on his back, had leapt about four to five jang high off the ground.

“Do you see it? That seems to be the carp.”

“I can’t see it!”

“Leader, you have to open your eyes to see.”

“Aaaah….”

Even from that height, Hongyeo was plainly visible.

It couldn’t be unseen. What the Third Young Master called a pond was the size of a lake, and what he called a carp was not a carp but as huge as a whale.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The pounding sound was Hongyeo banging its head against the pond’s wall.

For some reason it was wreaking havoc, slamming its entire body into various parts of the pond.

The sound was so loud it felt like the ground itself was trembling.

Kaaak!

“It’s persistently following.”

The three legged crow let out a long cry and glared at Yeon Mujin.

It seemed to say it would not let them pass beyond this point.

“What are you staring at, you bird-brain?”

Caw!

“All the same, you’re just a crow with too many feet…”

Kaaak!

Being a spirit beast, could it understand human speech?

At Yeon Mujin’s words, the three legged crow’s cry grew louder.

Angered, the three legged crow folded its wings and flew straight at Yeon Mujin.

Fwoosh!

“…!”

Flames began to ignite at the tips of the three legged crow’s feathers.

The three-legged crow has long been a spirit beast symbolizing the sun, a creature of extreme yang nature.

The flaming crow, aiming for Yeon Mujin, looked like a self-driven fire-arrow.

Swoosh!

An inescapable midair.

Yeon Mujin had no choice but to draw his sword.

‘Somehow since coming to Hundred Ghost Mountain I’ve been breaking my rules several times…’

His rule of drawing the sword only to slay people had to be put aside for now.

He’s not even a warrior—if he were to be beaten to death by a crow, what a pathetic end that would be.

Kaaak!

Fwoosh!

Yeon Mujin swung his sword at the surging three legged crow.

But he had overlooked one thing.

Having cut through the gorge and been bitten by the seven tailed fox’s teeth, his sword was already badly damaged.

Snap!

His sword, colliding with the three legged crow, snapped cleanly in two.

Yeon Mujin threw away the broken sword without regret and grabbed the three legged crow’s head.

Sizzle!

From the hot body there was the smell of meat cooking from Yeon Mujin’s hand.

“Leader Yeon!”

The heat was enough to reach Bukgung Yoon, who was carried on his back.

The three legged crow held in his hand struggled to escape; every flap of its feathers sent a wave of heat.

“It’s just as well—there was nowhere to step anyway.”

…Caw?

Yeon Mujin flipped his body while holding the three legged crow’s torso and placed his feet on its body.

…Kaaak!

The three legged crow let out a cry, sensing an ominous future.

“Leader, we’re going!”

“…Yes?”

Thump!

“Kyaaa!”

Kaaak!

Bukgung Yoon and the three legged crow uttered similar-sounding screams at the same time.

One from pain, the other from fear.

Using the three legged crow as a stepping platform, Yeon Mujin plunged straight toward the pond of the Hundred Ghost Manor.

Her face was flushed, the sky spun, in her ears the clash of arms and the Three Legged Crow’s distant, pained cries…

Truly, this was the most dizzying day of Bukgung Yoon’s life.

Is this everyday life for Yeon Mujin?

“Captain Yeon, the ground! The ground! We’re going to hit! I said we’re going to hit!”

“Captain, don’t worry! Sometimes life is about colliding and breaking!”

“That’s not what I mean!”

Yeon Mujin and Bukgung Yoon tumbled across the ground.

Remarkably in that brief moment, Yeon Mujin turned the Bukgung Yoon on his back to the front, gathered her into his arms, and slammed into the ground.

Three rolls, no, five? After more than seven, Bukgung Yoon gave up counting how many times they’d tumbled.

Strangely, when the tumbling stopped and they stood up, Yeon Mujin’s thrown sword lay exactly where they stood.

“While I handle the Three legged crow, check Hongyeo’s condition.”

Before she could clear her head, Yeon Mujin spoke—even though the world was still spinning.

Kaaak!

Radial trees stretching to the sky, and beyond them the angry cries of the Three legged crow could be heard.

Her bodyguard stood again holding the sword split in half. From his back came a determination that he would not give up no matter what.

So Bukgung Yoon could not just lie there any longer.

After all, wasn’t she the lord of these men—the manor lord of the Flying Swallow Manor of the Bukgung Family?

Bukgung Yoon stood up as well.

She pressed her dizzy head, straightened her dirt-streaked collar, and gripped her trembling legs.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Nothing was over yet.

There was no time to sit down until they stopped that carp’s convulsions.

“You damned carp!”

A curse she’d never uttered in her life rose naturally from deep in her core.

The closer she got to the pond, the stronger the vibration became.

Bukgung Yoon grabbed the pond’s edge and peered inside.

Splash!

Rough currents whipped up by the carp’s thrashing splashed everywhere.

But at this point, what did getting wet matter?

‘It’s, it’s huge…’

Seen up close, Hongyeo felt different than from above.

People often use the term “Eight foot ghost”—a ghost as tall as a pole—and Hongyeo was as gigantic as such a eight foot ghost.

Splash!

Another surge of water rose and drenched Bukgung Yoon.

But she did not retreat or show fear.

She clung on stubbornly and observed the carp in the pond.

And she discovered something.

‘What is that?’

Each time Hongyeo struck the pond wall, its scales crumpled and folded.

Watching calmly, Bukgung Yoon realized that Hongyeo’s scales were surrounded by a thin membrane.

It was a tough, thick membrane like coarse hemp.

And she remembered having seen something similar before.

“—Yoon, how is it? Isn’t it splendid? It’s a Bansi snake brought from Wa Country. They say it has the strongest venom among Wa’s snakes.”

When she was young, her fifth brother Bukgung Mok-min once bought a snake and showed it off in front of her.

He would bring the Bansi snake at every opportunity, and when that snake shed its skin it looked just like this.

‘It’s molting. It’s trying to shed its skin. It’s writhing in pain because the molt won’t come off… But do carps shed their skin too?’

There was no time to debate such things.

Because it was something she had to do, people were fighting, and she was certain of it.

“Sss, huu—.”

Bukgung Yoon stood up, steadied her breath, and removed her outer garment.

She glanced once toward the direction where Yeon Mujin was fighting the Three legged crow, then grabbed the hem of her skirt.

And,

Splash!

Bukgung Yoon threw herself toward the pond where Hongyeo was.