Meanwhile, the battle had begun in earnest.
The yokai facing off with Cheon Yijae moved its body with a kugung! Accordingly, the pitch-black Ghost Energy surged and hundreds of ghosts were summoned from various parts of the mountain.
Since all ghosts were enchanted by the energy of Hyungok, they faithfully charged toward Heun’s members following the orders of the yokai possessing that power. Perhaps they’d each received a share of the Hyungok’s energy, as their momentum was aggressive.
[Aah, together with that person’s power, we can also take revenge on Heun!]
[Overwhelm them all at once!]
They’d thought they only had to hunt the centipede yokai, but it was a situation where they had to deal with other ghosts as well. However, Heun’s members weren’t shaken at all and rather took to exorcising ghosts as if they were better than the yokai, doing so familiarly.
There were shamans who hunted by throwing talismans and chanting incantations, some were seen wielding broad divine swords, and others were witnessed piercing ghosts with long spears. Seowoo was impressed by the quite systematic battlefield, and soon his gaze slid toward the back.
The shamans’ weapons were all fascinating, but one among them particularly caught his attention.
“…A gun…”
It was the weapon held in Do Seonhwa’s hand. She stood together with the barrier masters in the back, and whenever she shot the gun as if assisting, pale pink bullets flew out and hit ghosts.
As he stared blankly at that scene, Jin Gwangmin giggled and explained.
“Guns are also traditional weapons. There are actual records of shooting cannons and guns in the palace on New Year’s Eve night during the Joseon era to chase away ghosts.”
It was a ritual called ‘Yeonjong Bangpo,’ where primarily at midnight, gunners would shoot guns at each camp gate (yeongmun) in the palace to exorcise ghosts. They also shot fire arrows and struck gongs and drums together, because at that time it was believed that loud sounds drove away ghosts. Since the roar surprised even humans, they believed ghosts would faint even more.
Listening to the explanation that they announced the end of the year and prayed for blessings at the start of the new year with this ritual, Seowoo nodded. He’d found the appearance of a somewhat modern object fascinating, but it turned out to be a weapon with history.
Also, whenever Do Seonhwa shot the gun, a faint peach scent wafted, and no matter how he looked at it, they didn’t seem like ordinary bullets. He asked while following with his eyes the pink light that remained along the trajectory of the flying bullets.
“Is that also an item from the ‘Do family’?”
“Yes yes, that’s right. It’s a gun that only the Do family bloodline can hold, and it shoots spiritual power so there’s no need to replace magazines—it’s a cheat item. Well, in exchange, spiritual power drains rapidly though…”
Agreeing with the explanation that it was very efficient, Seowoo was inwardly impressed. He’d heard that even the tea that blurred people’s memories was brewed from peaches grown by the Do family, so that family must have very deep roots in this industry.
And on the other hand, it also seemed a bit puzzling that a bloodline from such a family—Do Seonhwa, who seemed to have been raised receiving treatment precious enough to be called an ‘애기씨’—was now in a situation of assisting Cheon Yijae.
Of course, Cheon Yijae’s abilities were also very outstanding, but…
[Hyaaaak!]
“There’s an idiot baring its teeth at me.”
Dozens of ghosts interfered with the shamans trying to subdue the yokai. It was a fierce charge, but Cheon Yijae smiled crookedly and brushed them off with a single gesture. Five or six Jaegui that emerged from his hand, which had already removed all its rings, clashed their sharp teeth with a ttaktttak— and devoured the ghosts’ limbs in an instant. The very rapid predation and its eerie sound made the ghosts shrink back instead.
Thanks to Cheon Yijae blocking the ghosts without allowing even a single gap, the other shamans could easily catch the yokai. Since it was certain that this yokai had swallowed a Hyungok, they had to grasp its location first rather than hunt indiscriminately.
Bureurereu— The centipede yokai shook its head as if annoyed and threw off the shamans. Eventually, confirming that it couldn’t deal with Heun’s members with ghosts alone, it stepped forward itself and said,
[I have… no intention of fighting you… If you just hand over those humans, the prey I gathered… that’s all…]
“Our Heun does not make deals with the likes of yokai!”
Im Gyuyong shouted resoundingly. As if filled with competitive spirit from the battle that had been going on vigorously, he answered triumphantly while raising his spear.
At that, the yokai dropped its head in a quite disappointed manner.
[Then… there’s no helping it…]
“Right. Now you finally realize that you spoke nonsense—!”
[My babies. You’ll have to eat them yourselves…]
At the same time the sad murmur ended, the ground began to heave. Kugugung! It shook greatly as if an earthquake had occurred, and the shamans urgently tried to maintain their balance, but before they could feel relieved at barely not falling, a too-shocking scene unfolded before their eyes.
About a hundred centipedes began to crawl out of the ground.
[I gathered them diligently… to feed my babies…]
As large as the mother’s body was, the offspring’s sizes were also extraordinary. Each one was the size of an adult male, and they moved even more actively than the mother—very violently—a sight that was quite disgusting.
Cheon Yijae furrowed his eyes and said,
“Such tear-jerking maternal love. But isn’t the number of humans gathered a bit small compared to the number of offspring?”
Even though it was a situation of being outnumbered, there was no trace of intimidation in him. Rather, as if he’d predicted the yokai would summon its offspring like this, he looked around and muttered,
“Now they’ve all come out.”
Perhaps having sensed the sinister energy wafting from the ground early on, Cheon Yijae just leisurely clasped his hands together and cracked them, then turned his head left and right. After stretching leisurely, he pulled and released the prayer beads on both wrists one by one with his long index fingers.
At the end of fluid gestures that proceeded like part of a ritual—
Suaaaaaa—
Jaegui began to rise from Cheon Yijae’s shadow. The red energy that had seemed to flow from his hands before now rose even larger through his shadow.
Dozens of Jaegui gathered around Cheon Yijae and flickered like flames. It was impossible to know whether Team 1’s shamans’ reaction of hesitating and stepping back was because of the baby centipedes or because of the Jaegui.
Regardless, Cheon Yijae muttered in a dissatisfied tone.
“Tch. If I release a bit more, I can summon twice as many.”
“No! The Elders were seriously angry about you releasing them on your own last time! And right now, other shamans are also together, so…!”
Do Seonhwa quickly shouted from behind. As if afraid Cheon Yijae might change his mind, she earnestly pleaded that it was absolutely not allowed.
Seowoo listened to their conversation and organized the information. It seemed the number of Jaegui that could be summoned changed according to how many rings and bracelets were removed. And if all those bracelets were completely released, it seemed the Jaegui could be merged into one giant ‘mouth.’
While comparing it to the situation at the movie theater, Jin Gwangmin, who had just then finished his analysis, shouted loudly,
“That yokai is Gwaeoggong! Its weakness is tobacco smoke!”
Gwaeoggong (怪蜈蚣) was a yokai that appeared in folklore related to Kim Jajeom, a figure from the late Joseon period.
True to the combination of words meaning ‘strange centipede,’ it always visited and killed the administrator of a district on the first night of his appointment. It was known to mainly move by climbing high places like roofs and use poison as a weapon.
After administrators died several times and the village became unsettled, a newly appointed administrator heard the story about Gwaeoggong and smoked tobacco in his room that night. The centipede that sneakily entered the room as usual couldn’t distinguish front from back in the smoke filling the space and while fleeing, was eventually caught and killed by the administrator.
And the child the administrator’s wife was pregnant with that day was Kim Jajeom, considered a heroic figure’s extraordinary birth story.
Jin Gwangmin’s dark brown eyes, having discovered the yokai’s true name, shone clearly. They seemed to faintly hold a golden light, and he pursued the momentum to stare even more intently at the yokai.
His exploration ability didn’t simply stop at discovering the yokai’s true name, but seemed to find even the place where the most malicious energy pooled inside the monster’s body.
“And the Hyungok’s location is—!”
But just when Jin Gwangmin was about to discover the location, kugugung! The earth rang out once again. The yokai moved its body hugely and caused a landslide entirely.
As part of the ground collapsed, Jin Gwangmin tumbled to the ground with an “Uuueok.” His glasses fell and rolled on the dirt floor. Seowoo barely avoided falling by grabbing a tree next to him, but the yokai’s gaze was aimed precisely here.
[Kill that guy first!]
The centipede yokai shouted. It was a fierce momentum contrasting with its previously calm speaking manner. As if trying to dispose of the human who threatened it first, it looked at Jin Gwangmin with reddened eyes and hissed.
The baby centipedes rapidly charged downward. They rushed like fierce waves, but kwang! Red Jaegui struck that place.
Cheon Yijae, who had blocked the centipedes’ descent like erecting a wall with dozens of Jaegui, ground out,
“You absolutely cannot go there.”
His chilling voice had a blade sharp as steel. For a moment, anger strong enough to raise goosebumps dwelled there, and in an instant, his momentum was also sharply honed.
“Sojunim…!”
At the sight of blocking so that no attack could reach below, Jin Gwangmin was deeply moved. The fact that he’d fallen flat from the landslide just before was not regrettable at all.
With Cheon Yijae stepping forward like that, he felt incredibly reassured. Though it was the middle of a Guiyeok, his heart was at ease as if he’d gained a million soldiers to the point where nothing was scary, but on the other hand, he was also quite bewildered and confused.
‘Huh? I, I’ve never been protected like this before…?’
