The Curse That Dries Up a Family's Bloodline [2]

The sorcery known as mugo, or gudu, is the most horrific curse to have spread across the whole of East Asia.

The way it works is terribly simple—and at the same time, absolutely horrifying. Venomous creatures—snakes, centipedes, millipedes, toads—are sealed into a single jar and made to kill, kill again, devour, and be devoured. The battle royale continues until only one is left, and that final victor is born as a concentrated poison, bearing the venom and the grudges of every creature it consumed in a single body.

Because the art itself is so vile, and because its derivative curses like yeonmae or the Crown Prince Ghost are too repulsive to even speak aloud, not one nation among China, Japan, or Korea ever failed to punish it as a capital crime.

So how was the gudu in this mansion being used?

That was the question.

Lumping them together as gudu or mugo was one thing, but this insidious sorcery had a long history and had spread across an enormous swath of the world, so its varieties were surprisingly numerous. If possible, I wanted to pin down which type it was before Lee Ha-ram arrived with the supplies.

'It's probably not the ingested kind, or the sewn-into-clothing kind, at least.'

"Excuse me, what are you brooding so hard about?"

"I was wondering which type of gudu was used on this mansion."

"I'd put my money on the Japanese style."

"Japanese?"

Kim Han-su's reasoning was actually pretty plausible. And the moment I heard it, I had a rough idea where the gudu would be hiding, too.

That said, judging from how the mansion had shown no reaction whatsoever even after I'd swept it with a wide-scale exorcism of the Guangming Mantra, the gudu's main body was almost certainly lurking in the Inner Space. Searching for it in the physical world would be pointless.

"Teacher!"

Just then, a pickup truck you'd only expect to see in America swung onto the narrow one-lane road leading up to the mansion. Lee Ha-ram climbed out of it—the whole body of the truck was wrapped in the protagonist of a famous Hollywood exorcism movie.

"I brought everything you asked for."

"Thank you."

I went over what Lee Ha-ram had brought. The item I inspected most carefully was the golden rope.

"I found it twisted to the left, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just like you said, not to the right! Whew, it was a struggle—barely anywhere sells this stuff anymore."

"Sorry for the unreasonable request, and thank you. Send me the receipt separately later."

"What are you even saying! You and I go way back, don't we? Don't be so cold!"

Exactly what kind of relationship do you and I have, my friend.

That was what I wanted to say, but this was no time for banter.

After that, I asked Lee Ha-ram and Kim Han-su to hammer the stakes into the ground in a ring around the mansion.

"Hnngh!"

"Hey, squid, are those even going in straight like that?"

"Shut up!"

While the two of them drove in the stakes, I performed a kaji-gido—an enchantment rite—over the golden rope Lee Ha-ram had prepared. Kaji-gido is the act of imbuing an object with spiritual ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power through the force of a mantra; the consecrated sand used in the Guangming Mantra Barrier was also a kind of talisman made through it.

Once the rite was done, I tied the enchanted golden rope to the stakes and encircled the mansion in a ring. With this, Lee Ha-ram and Kim Han-su wouldn't be attacked while I worked the exorcism. In fact, the gloomy aura that had been seeping out from the mansion was now failing to cross the golden rope's boundary.

There. The ring was ready, which meant it was time for the champion to step in. I stepped over the golden rope and went inside.

And then—

Shk.

Clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick

The burst photography began. The dry clicking sounds droned on and on, until at some point the clicks changed.

Kak-kagak-kak-kak-chalchal-kak-ka-kikikikikikikikik-ki-ki-ki-ki

That was the signal: I had become the gudu's target.

As I said before, if the gudu used on this mansion was the Japanese type—a field-wide persistent effect rather than a designated-target curse—then where had the person who cursed Park Gil-su placed it?

Not inside the mansion, to start. Park Gil-su, a man with no shortage of enemies, had never stinted on security spending while he was alive, even hiring a separate security firm. Which meant the gudu had to be placed outside, not in. And if it was outside, then for the curse's wielder to guarantee Park Gil-su's death, the options naturally narrowed to a place Park Gil-su would inevitably step no matter how careful he was.

And the same place that Tsukumo Momo, Kim Han-su, and Lee Ha-ram had all stepped on as well.

In other words: the front entrance.

The gudu was buried beneath the front entrance.

Scrrch scrrch scrrch scrrch scrrch scrrch

As if to answer my deduction, black insects began spewing up out of the bare dirt right in front of the entrance. And from the heart of that swarm of black insects, I felt a sensation like the whole world flipping upside down.

The gudu was unfolding an Inner Space.

"No you don't!"

I bolted back out over the golden rope. The gudu's Inner Space, which had tried to swallow me whole, slammed up against the rope—no, it did more than get blocked. As if it had glimpsed something it did not want to see, the Inner Space itself recoiled backward.

"I reinforced it, just in case."

What I'd asked Lee Ha-ram for hadn't been just the stakes and the rope.

"Huh. So gudu really is afraid of this?"

Watching it happen, Lee Ha-ram stared down at the yangha in his own hand as if utterly fascinated.

Yangha is a vegetable in the ginger family, grown mostly in the southern provinces and Jeju Island, so it's an unfamiliar plant in the capital region. Its flower spikes and its young stems are both edible, and traditional medicine uses it as a remedy for irregular menstruation and leukorrhea in women. It calms the mind, clears phlegm, and works well on abscesses and bloodshot eyes besides.

Good for the body and good on the palate—and yet yangha conceals one hidden property: it is the antidote for gudu. I had scattered it in a thick line all along the golden rope. With over twenty kilograms of the stuff spread around, even if this thing were gudu's grandfather rather than mere gudu, it wasn't crossing that line.

"Don't look so sorry for our poor gudu. Yangha's in season right now, so it's delicious—but it can't even have a bite, poor thing, on account of its allergies."

I chewed through a piece of yangha, crunch, crunch. Pungent, and honestly pretty tasty.

With that, the gudu's main body was exposed, and that body was now caged inside the rope. All that remained was to cook it slowly.

"Aaah, uh, ahhh..."

Just then, a familiar voice drifted out from the swarm of black insects. Tsukumo Momo's voice.

"Mo, Momo-chan!?"

"What!? Why Momo all of a sudden?"

'So Tsukumo Momo really was inside the Inner Space after all.'

The gudu had taken the bait and unfolded its Inner Space, and in doing so it had exposed the girl it had been holding. Tsukumo Momo was buried under the mass of insects—only a single purple-dyed twintail was visible, and barely at that.

"I'll be right back."

"Te, Teacher!? You're going IN there!? Weren't you going to exorcise it from outside!?"

"That was the plan, but a chance to save Momo has come up, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so save her I shall."

Kim Han-su had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very nearly crossed the Sanzu River from blood loss last night. Tsukumo Momo, whose photography session had dragged on just as long, wasn't dead yet—but she had no time to spare either.

"But, but—!"

"I told you. I'm a man who earns his pay."

Leaving those words behind me, I stepped back inside the golden rope.

The instant I crossed the rope, I scattered the enchanted sand and unfurled the barrier. Transparent flames spread out wide and burned the black insects away across a broad swath.

Chanting the Guangming Mantra in an unbroken chain, I ran faster than even I expected.

"He's, he's fast!"

"What is that guy, a track athlete? That's way too fast!"

Do-ryeok-enhanced physical ability was something to be grateful for at times like this. Running at a speed that would shame a sprinter, I dove straight into the heart of the insect swarm.

FWOOROOOROOOROOM!

One sweeping burst of the Guangming Mantra Barrier incinerated the black insects, and I studied Tsukumo Momo, now revealed among the ashes.

"Ma, Master Kim...?"

Her eyes were half-unfocused, but her life didn't appear to be in danger.

"Glad you're alive. Hold on tight."

I tucked Tsukumo Momo under my arm and ran for the golden rope. But just before crossing it, the hairs on my back stood on end. I whirled around and threw up the barrier—and in that same instant, the enormous jaws of a giant serpent came swinging down at us.

"You're kidding me!"

To be precise, it wasn't a snake. Just as it had with Lee Ha-ram, the swarm of black insects had massed together into the shape of a colossal serpent.

FWOOROOROOM!

The problem was that the transformation apparently wasn't cosmetic—this thing had withstood the barrier's flames.

"Ugh!"

CHIIIIIIIZ!

Rolling across the ground, I thought: the gudu's power was far stronger than when we'd fought it at the mansion. Why? Had it been deliberately holding back its strength in there?

'No, you idiot, it's simple...!'

The covenant. The gudu buried in this mansion was an area-type curse, yes—but it only attacked those who met its conditions. Just as the Corner Man had elevated his rank as an anomaly by honoring every story element of his urban legend and thereby drawing on Narrative Coercion, this gudu had likewise restricted its targets to people using cameras within its range—and boosted its output accordingly.

And I, in order to lure the gudu out, had walked straight into the covenant's scope of my own free will—by taking photographs. Of course the thing had suddenly gotten stronger.

SHAAAAAA!

But there was no time to sit around analyzing. The giant serpent of gudu was relentlessly fixated on Tsukumo Momo, the one I'd dropped mid-leap.

"Not a chance!"

Leaping as if I'd taken flight, I snatched Tsukumo Momo away in a super save just before the serpent's jaws could swallow her. For a girl barely out of high school, that catch probably landed a strike dead center, I'd imagine.

The moment I evaded the gudu's jaws and let myself breathe, its tail came whipping in and hammered into us. I blocked it with the peachwood sword—but with a body that size, this time it was me who got swatted away.

"Kyaaaaaak!"

"Hnngh!"

Thanking fate [?] for the privilege of a lifetime—being launched horizontally, an experience I never cared to repeat—I righted my posture in midair.

CHIIIIIIIZ!

And I hit the ground, plowing a furrow as I skidded backward. The worst was avoided, but thanks to that I was now even farther from the golden rope.

SSSSSAAAAAA...

The thing knew that too, apparently—it coiled itself along the golden rope with its own body. A declaration of intent: you are never leaving this place.

"Hoo...!"

I let out one long breath and charged at the black serpent.

"Kyaaak!"

Even with an entire human being tucked against my side, my running speed was still track-sprinter grade. No—maybe because my command of Do-ryeok had grown more practiced, I was actually faster now!

PHT!

I slid under the lashing serpent's tail, carried that momentum straight up, and leapt. Watching the black serpent's head graze past just beneath my feet, I sensed victory.

"Attaboy, Teacher!"

"Forget that—that is NOT a human movement!? That's way too fast!"

The moment I crossed the golden rope, to the applause [?] of my spectators—

"Kyaaaaaak!"

Tsukumo Momo bounced off, unable to cross.

"Wh, what the—!?"

"Momo!"

Lee Ha-ram and Kim Han-su panicked. With their voices at my back, I dove back inside the rope.

"Agh, ughhh, urk!"

Tsukumo Momo wasn't merely bounced off the rope—she was writhing in agony. The reason was obvious at a glance. Her skin, here and there, twitched and squirmed as though each patch had a life of its own. More precisely, something under her skin was wriggling.

"Oh, for—parasites that burrow in and puppet the body, that's the wuxia-novel style gudu, isn't it!?"

The small mercy was that she didn't seem to be possessed—Tsukumo Momo only suffered in place; she didn't attack me. The real problem was that with gudu inside her body, she couldn't cross the golden rope at all.

SSSSSAAAAAA...

And as if to mock that very fact, the black serpent waved its massive, repulsive head, looking down on us without even attacking.

"That damn—no, that snake bastard...!"

"Teacher! Get out of there first! We need you out here to come up with a plan!"

"He's right! It's a given you can't cross the rope from that side, isn't it!?"

They were both right. But stepping over that rope now was as good as handing Tsukumo Momo to the gudu. I couldn't do that. Because—

"You don't need to gamble your life over a lousy million won!"

"Yeah, a lousy milli—a million won!? Hold on, I paid twenty million...!"

Letting their voices pour through one ear and out the other, I turned the words I'd just spoken over in my head. Earns his pay, huh.

That was a reason, of course. But truthfully, there was a far bigger one.

Awkward as it is to claim in a situation like this—I believe I am a genius of sorcery. That isn't self-flattery; it's a plain fact my life up to now has proven.

You know how in wuxia novels there's always some special constitution, like the Severed Nine Yin Meridians, where the body is frail and weak, but overcoming that frailty turns it into a rare gift for extraordinary technique? I figured I was exactly that kind of genius. And I was fiercely proud of it. Glad of it, too—proud enough that I wouldn't yield an inch to anyone over having overcome a sickly constitution.

If your head is bad, you can make up for it with your body. But if your body is bad, you can never make it up with your head. Naturally, there was no way someone like me—who'd spent his whole childhood moaning over one petty ailment after another—could be better than other people at anything.

Sorcery was, for that me, the first—and perhaps the last—field in which I could be confident. That's why I didn't want to run.

"If I really am a genius of sorcery, then something like this should be a walk in the park."

I thought it, saying it to no one but myself. A way to break through this very moment.

The black serpent was a kind of avatar, born of the gudu curse congealed into a single form. Its size and density were so immense that even the Guangming Mantra Barrier, reinforced with consecrated sand, couldn't burn it properly. In other words: insufficient firepower.

So what would I fill that missing firepower with?

In the sliver of an instant before the black serpent lunged again, my mind spun at blinding speed—and found the answer.

"Looks like I really am a genius of sorcery."

The sorcerer who laid this gudu had boosted its output with a covenant limiting its targets to those using cameras within its range. Then was there any law saying I couldn't use a covenant of my own?

SSSSSAAAAAAA...

Just then, the black serpent—that collective of curse—gaped its enormous jaws wide and dropped down over my head. I formed the Wisdom Fist Mudra and chanted the Guangming Mantra once more.

But this time there were two differences. One: the hand that pinned the index finger was gripping the peachwood sword. And two: the instant the mantra completed, I poured the sand onto the peachwood sword itself.

FWOOROOROOM!

A covenant is a technique that maximizes a spell's power by loading risk onto it. By restricting the barrier's range to the peachwood sword alone, I raised the output—and at the same time, I gathered the barrier's might, normally dispersed across its wide field, into a single point and maximized it.

A fire of an entirely different dimension from anything before coiled around the peachwood sword.

"That's right—if a pile of creepy-crawlies can do it, there's no way I can't!"

I swung down the sword, wreathed in flame hot enough to sting my skin. The fire dwelling in the blade became a great crashing wave that swallowed the curse's collective whole. The flames pouring off the peachwood sword whirled into a vortex inside the golden rope and burned away every last trace of the curse.

And the fire didn't stop there. As if it had a will of its own, it plunged—like iron filings to a magnet—down onto the source of the curse: the gudu jar buried beneath the front entrance.

FWOOROOOROOOROOM!

When the transparent pillar of fire that seemed to pierce the heavens at last settled—

"Ah...!"

Tsukumo Momo's condition had returned to normal. Not a single insect crawled beneath her skin anywhere on her body anymore.

After confirming she was safe, I headed for the entrance, where the pillar of fire had swept through.

CHIIIIIZ.

"The grass actually burned, huh?"

The transparent flames of the Guangming Mantra Barrier I'd used until now were a spiritual phenomenon, and had never actually burned anything. But the flame whose power I'd drawn out through the covenant was a phenomenon with physical substance—and it had charred away every last one of the lush weeds growing around the mansion.

"...At this point, that's practically magic."

Carrying that utterly pointless observation with me, I stood before the entrance. The jar, half-buried as the insects had boiled up around it, now bulged up from the ground.

THUNK!

I drove the peachwood sword down into the jar. The soft peachwood blade pierced straight through the vessel as though it had become the peerless divine sword of legend.

CRACK!

The jar shattered into fragments, and whatever had been sealed inside it dissolved into black ash and melted away into the air.

It was the moment the curse that dries up a family's bloodline came to an end.