The villagers already didn’t like that mountain. Did they say that I, in my young heart, climbed that mountain not knowing anything and brought back an evil god? If it was Aunt’s words, who was now regarded like a god, the villagers would believe it even more. I approached Bihyeon closely and plopped down on my knees in front of him. My voice trembled as I spoke in a daze. Likewise, sweat was pouring from my trembling body.
“Bihyeon-nim… I’m sorry. It seems like it’s all because of me.”
Because I didn’t listen to Aunt. No, I should have stopped Aunt right away when I felt something strange in the first place. When I had an ominous feeling, I should have held Aunt’s hand and said even one word to stop for my sake at least. I held the Haechis that had grown cold in my arms tightly and shed tears. I carefully placed the Haechis on the floor and tried desperately hard to remove the talismans attached to Bihyeon. He weakly kept shaking his head.
“I was too greedy.”
Tears dripped down and wetted his clothes. I couldn’t even call them clothes. Because they were soaked in blood and only looked like red lumps. I worked my nails hard to remove the talisman stuck to his foot. It was closer to tearing than removing. Perhaps because of that, the nails on my fingers split from the flesh one by one with a cracking sound, thud, thud, falling off.
At that sound, Bihyeon reacted by shaking his head a bit faster. His body was trembling little by little. Ah, the talisman wouldn’t come off easily. As if firmly stuck to something, when I tore about half of it, my hand hurt more. Thud. All the nails on my five fingers fell off. I had no sensation in my hand. I smiled weakly and shed tears.
“…It’s all my fault….”
If only I hadn’t been greedy, if only I had stayed quiet like a dead mouse at home without coming out, this wouldn’t have happened. At the very least, if only I had just quietly returned home when Aunt caught me…! My hand gradually turned black. I felt like all the blood in my hand was draining out. Just a little more and it seemed like it would tear.
“At least let Bihyeon-nim escape….”
I trembled and muttered to him. If I kill myself and an opportunity comes, I’ll definitely send you away… I hoped he could escape from this village that had become so terrible. I had to make him run away quickly before anything else happened. My hand wouldn’t move anymore so I bit my mouth hard. Bihyeon, who had been moving as if his whole body was refusing, breathed roughly. Just run away. Just don’t think about me and don’t let this happen to you.
“Cough….”
My insides were hot. Something came up, so I covered my mouth then checked my hand. Dark red blood was smeared on it. After that, I seemed to have fainted. Even while crying inside that I couldn’t, my body hurt so much that it didn’t go as I wanted. Resentful. If you ask who was so resentful, of course it was Aunt. But I resented myself the most. Myself who made things this bad.
* * *
My eyes snapped open at the warm warmth of someone hugging me tightly. It hurt so much that I had no sensation in my body, so I blinked for quite a while before looking around. Since I could see my surroundings well, the sun seemed to have risen, and the place I was in wasn’t the shrine. It was the middle of the village. I sprang up. I was being held in Mom’s arms. The villagers surrounded us holding stones.
“Mom…!”
“Baby, don’t look. Don’t look….”
Mom’s hands were trembling. Thwack! There was a sound. When I turned my head, Dad had been hit by a large stone in front and collapsed. At that signal, people began throwing stones mercilessly. Mom hugged me tightly. As if to prevent me from seeing, she covered my eyes with her hand, but realizing that Mom’s body was also covered in blood, I bit my lip hard.
“Please don’t. Please don’t…! Dad…!”
“How dare you bring an evil god!”
“The drought came because of these things. Because of these evil things!”
Thwack, thwack. Dad, who had been blocking us with his whole body, now had no movement anymore. Mom also, getting hit by stones, bit her lips tightly and held back groans, but eventually the strength in the hands holding me weakened. Thud. I looked at Dad blankly when footsteps sounded especially loud, so I raised my eyes. I made eye contact with Aunt who wore a sad expression. Aunt, who was wearing an especially fine hanbok today, her eyes could no longer be found to be human. They were just filled with evil. Why don’t people know? Why can’t they recognize that…?
“It’s all because of you.”
She grabbed my chin and spoke while gritting her teeth. Very quietly so others wouldn’t hear.
“It’s all because of you, Hanyoon. You killed your parents and brought the god to death. Everything became like this because of you.”
“Aunt….”
Mom trembled and covered my ears. But that hand soon dropped weakly with a thud.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I can rise above everyone.”
Giggling, she raised her hand. Those who were throwing stones hesitated. They seemed like things without their own will. I was accidentally hit by the last thrown stone on one side of my forehead and it stung. Blood flowed and one eye closed on its own. When I raised my hand to touch my eye, Aunt grabbed my arm tightly and lifted me up.
“Dare to witness with your own eyes what results come from not listening to me.”
And I was dragged along and put inside a prison. Beside me, Bihyeon was sitting tied up like a criminal. Fortunately or unfortunately, the talismans I had been tearing off remained as they were. Slam! After closing the prison door, Aunt looked me over then left.
My hands and feet weren’t tied. Aunt had just stuck some talisman on my back. My body hurt as if burning up. It was hot as if someone had set fire to my body. I approached to the side and grabbed the bars blocking us tightly. Perhaps because of the presence, Bihyeon turned his head to look this way. His eyes and mouth were still covered. I bit my lips hard, looked at him, then took a deep breath.
‘Now there’s no one to help me. What do I do? What should I…’
How can I make Bihyeon-nim escape? Now even tears wouldn’t come out. It was as if my body had absorbed all the misfortune that suddenly struck. No. Who would I blame? Isn’t it all something I brought upon myself?
‘Still, God-nim, please at least save Bihyeon-nim….’
All I could do was pray to the god. After praying with my hands together for quite a while, when my whole body became soaked with sweat, creak, the door opened. What entered were Aunt, the village elder, and several fathers who had lost their children. Their eyes were filled with venom alike. They headed not to me but to Bihyeon.
Clang. The door closed. Perhaps because the sun was setting, the prison was dyed blood-red. And I realized they were holding axes and knives in their hands. In the moment I went “Huh?”, those who opened and entered the prison door dismembered Bihyeon’s body.
“Blessings.”
“Grant us.”
Each time they spoke, they used all their strength to hack at his body with the axes.
“Aunt? Don’t, don’t do it….”
What is happening? I blinked blankly while watching blood splatter. I raised my hand and wiped my cheek. His blood that splattered all the way here smeared on my hand.
“Please don’t!”
At that moment, something inside me seemed to snap. I screamed while reaching my arm through the bars, my neck bulging with veins. But the more I did so, the more cruelly blood splattered and flesh split. Aunt approached him who was trembling all over, bent down and grabbed a severed arm. And she brought it straight to her mouth and bit into it with a crunch. Crunch, crunch.
“Grant us blessings!”
“Your precious things.”
“Your flesh!”
“Eternal life to us!”
The sight of speaking with blood on their mouths was truly bizarre and strange. I stepped back, sat down with a thud, tousled my hair and screamed “Aaaah.” Please stop. Please someone help. God-nim, you said he’s your son, please help him….
* * *
Ah…. I opened my eyes. That horrific scene repeated for a long time. I didn’t know how many hours had passed, how many days had passed. I hoped it was rather a nightmare, but I was still inside the prison. In the next prison, Bihyeon who was endlessly torn limb from limb and covered in blood, and his blood that filled the floor so much you couldn’t see what was originally there. Due to the atrocious acts repeated over a long time, aside from his arms and legs, flesh everywhere on his body was torn and ripped. Cruelly enough that you could see inside clearly.
Creeeak.
Now it was difficult to think of anything, so I was blankly looking only at the floor when I turned my gaze at the sound of the door opening. I saw a familiar face. It was the twins’ father. He who approached limping with old cloth wrapped around his forehead stood before me.
“…Uncle… please help… Bihyeon-nim….”
I crawled toward him. The words I barely uttered after several days were insignificantly small.
“Yoon, listen carefully.”
He who was trembling kept looking at the tightly closed door. Soon he grabbed my hand tightly.
“I’ll set fire around to draw attention, so in the meantime, take that person and run away.”
Uncle, who clenched his fist with somber eyes, grabbed my shoulder tightly.
“Now the only child left in the village is you, Yoon. So you alone must not be harmed by the evil god and run far away.”
“What? What about the children? What about Cheol and Gyeong?”
“…The evil god took them.”
“I didn’t do it. Uncle… it wasn’t me….”
“I know. I know everything.”
So the village children were also Aunt’s doing. It was all her doing…. Tears didn’t come out, but I rubbed my eyes hard and nodded. I opened the door to where Bihyeon was with the key Uncle gave me. With the remaining strength, I finished tearing the talismans tied to his feet. Even the opposite hand had all its nails fall off and both hands turned black, but fortunately I was able to tear them all off.
I came out of the prison supporting him together with Uncle. It was either dawn or the sun had set and the sky was dusky. Barely able to rely on sight by the Moonlight. Uncle holding a torch looked at me and nodded. Several villagers who were standing guard around the prison had fallen bleeding, as if Uncle had dealt with them.
“Let’s go, Bihyeon-nim.”
After bowing to Uncle, I hurriedly supported Bihyeon and headed back. It happened to be the road going to the back mountain. My body hurt so much, had I been walking gritting my teeth for quite a while when a fire broke out in a house a bit far away. When I realized it was the twins’ house, I felt like tears would come out but I held it in and walked looking only forward.
