At Shim Iyul’s cold warning, the ghost stuttered.
“H-how can I when I p-possessed this body… I-I can’t…”
“Does a mere wandering ghost mean to disobey my words?”
“Wh-why does a y-yosu interfere in h-human affairs? Whether I p-possess a human b-body or not…”
“As long as it doesn’t irritate my eyes, I don’t care what a wandering ghost like you does.”
“Th-then…”
“But you chose the wrong person. Not this woman.”
“Wh-why…”
“Because this woman makes coffee that suits my taste perfectly.”
And because I was asked to. It’s just one cat, but since he is a fox of deep faith, he must keep his promise.
“N-no… T-try it if you d-dare.”
The ghost possessing Lee Jinkyung’s body provoked. Shim Iyul, who contorted his brows, put strength into the hand gripping Lee Jinkyung’s neck. Yogi rippled from his fingertips. The ghost’s pale face appeared over Lee Jinkyung’s face and disappeared repeatedly. It was proof the ghost was stubbornly holding on. Forcibly pulling it out was possible, but then he couldn’t guarantee Lee Jinkyung’s body would be safe. It wouldn’t be able to handle Shim Iyul’s yogi.
The ghost, realizing Shim Iyul was being careful not to harm Lee Jinkyung’s body, giggled.
“A y-yosu cherishing a h-human…”
Shim Iyul clicked his tongue and released her neck while simultaneously pushing Lee Jinkyung’s body. Lee Jinkyung, who sprawled on the floor, was about to run away when he pressed his foot on her stomach. She struggled like an insect trying to escape, but she couldn’t get out from under Shim Iyul’s foot.
“Annoying. Shouldn’t have made that promise.”
Shim Iyul, who muttered irritably, called Eun Seonmyeong. At times like this, a hunter is the answer.
— What?
A blunt voice came through.
“Be kind on phone calls. Don’t you know?”
— I know to keep it brief and to the point.
“Come here.”
— I’m busy.
“A ghost possessed the owner of the <The House Where You Are> cafe. Come and do something about it.”
— What if I refuse?
“I can’t drink my perfectly suited Einspänner! Then I’ll be unhappy. Will you make me unhappy? You cruel hunter.”
When Shim Iyul made a groaning sound, Eun Seonmyeong let out a deep sigh from the other end of the phone.
— Wait.
Shim Iyul, who hung up, pulled over a chair and sat down. He was still pressing Lee Jinkyung’s stomach with his foot. The ghost possessing Lee Jinkyung’s body repeatedly cried, giggled, and cried again, begging to be released. But Shim Iyul didn’t even pretend to listen and yawned as if bored.
About ten minutes passed. When a call came and he checked thinking it was Eun Seonmyeong, it was Ban Hanseong.
“What?”
— Will you come visit today?
“I’m busy. Right now a ghost possessed my regular cafe owner’s body…”
— When it comes to ghosts, I’m an expert! I’m called the ghost expert shaman Ban Hanseong. I’ll rush over right away. Where is it?!
Ban Hanseong, though he hadn’t been called, excitedly hung up at the mention of a ghost. He had asked him to come visit yesterday too, so he must be quite bored. He was going to say you’re not needed since he called Eun Seonmyeong, but gave up. He had to tell him about selling the ginseng to Choi Myeongwon anyway.
The first to arrive was Ban Hanseong. He entered very carefully, tiptoeing while saying “Excuse me” in an extremely polite tone, then frowned when he saw Lee Jinkyung.
“It’s an evil ghost.”
Meaning a ghost that had harmed humans. Such an evil ghost had even possessed a human body, which was forbidden. They had to hurry and separate the ghost from Lee Jinkyung’s body. Ban Hanseong sympathized with ghosts more than humans, but he didn’t embrace evil ghosts.
“Can you exorcise?”
“I can’t.”
Ban Hanseong answered confidently to Shim Iyul’s question.
“Then why did you come?”
“At the mention of a ghost, just in case. Should I call the Gaju?”
“I already called him. He’ll arrive soon.”
Ban Hanseong, who nodded and squatted down, looked down at Lee Jinkyung writhing in agony.
“I’ll try talking to it.”
Shim Iyul nodded. Then watched to see what he would do.
“I speak as a descendant of Bihyeongrang, master of ghosts. Come out of the human body.”
When descendants of the Ban family contract with ghosts, they chant the spell “I speak as a descendant of Bihyeongrang, master of ghosts. I will give you a name, so become my servant ghost.” It was a spell passed down for generations from their ancestor Bihyeongrang. Chwiweol and Taeho, who were also ghosts wandering around having forgotten why they remained in the world, were also made into servant ghosts when Ban Hanseong gave them names. So he tried twisting the spell with a hopeful mind, but it didn’t work. The ghost giggled and spat at Ban Hanseong. Ban Hanseong, who dodged quickly, stood up awkwardly.
“It didn’t work.”
Because ghost blood was mixed in, ghosts felt familiar toward descendants of the Ban family, but not all ghosts were like that. Evil ghosts were exceptions.
“Would an evil ghost listen to you?”
A pitying voice was heard. When he turned around, Eun Seonmyeong was entering the cafe entrance. He changed the sign to closed and locked the door from inside before approaching. While clicking his tongue saying, “You’re both equally careless.” If someone had come in, it would have been quite an awkward situation. With Shim Iyul pressing down on the woman’s stomach, they would definitely have been mistaken for a two-person robbery.
“You came?”
“Why did you come?”
“I was bored so I called Fox-nim to come visit, and he told me about the ghost possession. So I rushed right over.”
“If you’re bored, play with ghosts. Why call the fox?”
“Playing with Fox-nim is fun.”
Aside from Eun Seonmyeong and Han Seolju, Ban Hanseong only hung out with ghosts. Shim Iyul also wasn’t human, but he wasn’t a ghost either. Ban Hanseong quite enjoyed hanging out with Shim Iyul, who would look like a beautiful human to strangers. They talked behind Eun Seonmyeong’s back together and planned operations to torment Choi Myeongwon. Though the actual age difference was quite large, it felt like hanging out with peers.
Honestly, Han Seolju was like an old man and a nag so he was no fun, and Eun Seonmyeong was generally no fun.
“Still, if possible, don’t play with the fox.”
“Why should I?! Maybe jealousy…”
“Shut up!”
Eun Seonmyeong, who blocked Ban Hanseong’s mouth with a fierce look meaning if he said one more word he wouldn’t let it slide, looked at Shim Iyul. A sigh came out naturally.
“You brought the Dongjagwi to bother me, and now a ghost-possessed human?”
It was true, so there was nothing to say back. Shim Iyul scratched the back of his neck and smiled awkwardly.
“I tried to solve it on my own at first…”
“But?”
“This wandering ghost won’t come out and is holding on. If I forcibly pull it out, the body’s owner might get hurt, so I called you, the great exorcist.”
Shim Iyul put maximum charm into his voice. Eun Seonmyeong’s brows furrowed.
“Wasn’t I a lowly hunter?”
“Ey, that was a joke. The Gaju of the only remaining exorcist family being lowly, who would say that?!”
“……”
Eun Seonmyeong said ‘You’ with his eyes. Shim Iyul, who slightly avoided his gaze, smiled slyly.
“Great Exorcist-nim, you’ll exorcise it, right?”
“Don’t you often hear you’re servile?”
“If anything, please say I have good social skills.”
Words can differ in nuance. Servile, he says. Eun Seonmyeong, who shook his head at the sulking Shim Iyul’s retort, looked down at the trembling woman. Her face, pale enough to look like a patient with no blood in her lips, was terrified. When the hunter and exorcist Eun Seonmyeong appeared following the yosu Shim Iyul, she felt fear.
“Th-this woman’s body is m-mine!”
Yet the ghost insisted the woman’s body was hers. Not just this wandering ghost, but ghosts who possess human bodies commonly try hard not to be ejected.
Whether to frighten them, the ghost began manipulating the woman’s face. The lips twisted grotesquely, and the tongue stuck out long. Of course, it was a futile struggle. Though an ordinary human would have been scared enough to piss themselves and run away at such a sight, the people gathered here were not ordinary. Even knowing that, the ghost trying to frighten them using every means available was pitiful.
‘One punch would be simple.’
One punch filled with spiritual energy and it would pop out unable to hold on. A crude but simplest method. Of course, the woman’s body might get hurt a bit.
Eun Seonmyeong turned to look at Shim Iyul. When their eyes met, perhaps with the intention to flatter, the smiling face was attractive… no, disgusting. Eun Seonmyeong shook his head hard to shake off the stray thought and took out a dagger from the bag he brought. Then he wounded his index finger just enough for blood to flow slightly.
After applying blood to the woman’s forehead and both wrists, he gestured to Shim Iyul. It meant to take his foot off. Fortunately, Shim Iyul, who understood right away, took off the foot he had been pressing down to prevent the ghost from escaping and stepped back.
The reason for applying blood was to protect the woman’s body from the ghost. Unless the blood was washed off, the ghost couldn’t freely move the woman’s body. At the same time, if ejected from this woman’s body, it also couldn’t possess the body again unless the blood was washed off.
“Hanseong-ah, sit the woman up.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“…Are you sane? Telling me to touch a human!”
Ban Hanseong jumped. The face hiding his hands behind his back and looking resentfully as if he’d suffered something terrible was a sight to see. His expression said ‘How dare you tell me to touch a human.’
For a moment he wondered if that guy now thinks he’s a ghost instead of human.
“I’ll do it.”
When Shim Iyul tried to step forward, Eun Seonmyeong refused saying “Never mind” and personally sat the woman’s upper body up. He took out Gyeongmyeonjusa and Goehoangji from his bag, drew a talisman to expel ghosts from the body, then burned it, mixed it with water, and made the woman drink it.
The last thing he took out was a golden feather. Though now extinct, in the past the Eun family raised golden chickens. The golden chicken, whose entire body was golden, was a mystical creature with the power to drive away ghosts. Naturally breeding was difficult, and their bodies were also weak, dying after falling ill from even small shocks, finally going extinct several hundred years ago. However, only the tail feathers were passed down in the Eun family, and ancestors used them to exorcise ghosts that possessed human bodies.
This was Eun Seonmyeong’s first time using the golden chicken’s tail feather. He had exorcised possessed ghosts about twice before, but at those times he simply solved it with punches. Of course, after clearly stating there could be aftereffects and receiving a written pledge that they would ‘absolutely not hold him responsible.’
The reason for solving it in such a complex and troublesome way instead of the simple solution was solely because of that bewitching fox.
“What?”
When he looked at him with displeasure, Shim Iyul, who read the emotion in his eyes remarkably well, raised the corners of his eyes and asked.
“I’m feeling a moment of self-loathing.”
Because I don’t know why I’m doing what the fox bastard wants.
“What are you talking about? What self-loathing?”
Shim Iyul, who didn’t understand what Eun Seonmyeong meant, tilted his head in puzzlement.
“That’s just how it is.”
Eun Seonmyeong, who swallowed a sigh, struck the woman’s foot with the golden chicken’s tail feather.
