The Lair of the Ferocious Spirit
She wore an expression of pure disappointment in herself.
In truth, Jin Samwol was right. It was just that I was even more right.
Should I just bolt from here? Grilling the flustered Jin Samwol and taking her in one go while she's drowning in guilt sounds fun as hell.
The situation was primed perfectly. If I played my cards right with my words, I might get a free pass to knock on her virginity's door.
No. Not yet. Let's stack a bit more. Time's on my side anyway. Move slow and steady, make it solid.
I watched her fuss over packing up my bundle. Once she'd restored it to its original state, I headed back to Jin Samwol.
"I'm back."
"Oh, you're here?"
I deliberately stared straight at Jin Samwol. Earlier, I'd averted my gaze out of courtesy, but this time it was blatantly obvious. She flushed with embarrassment but didn't turn away.
Her own form of atonement, maybe? Worth shaking her up once.
The more guilt she felt toward me, the more solid my plan became.
I hoisted Jin Samwol onto my back again. Her arms wrapped around my neck even tighter than before.
"Alright, let's keep looking."
I resumed our endless game of hide-and-seek. Jin Samwol, with her grim expression on my back, was even quieter than earlier.
I subtly groped her firm ass. Far more brazenly than before. Far from annoyed, she hugged me tighter.
"Um... Young Master Jong. Hold on. I have something to say."
After about fifteen minutes of walking, Jin Samwol suddenly spoke up.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Actually... I, toward Young Master Jong..."
"Kieeeek!"
Jin Samwol's voice was drowned out by a thunderous screech. Our heads snapped toward the sound in unison.
The soul-shattering roar made my brow furrow instinctively. Jin Samwol mirrored my shit-eating grimace as she stared in that direction.
Off the steep path sloping downward, a small cave entrance peeked out from between the trees. I recalled it was the cave the herb gatherer had mentioned—the one housing a spirit beast. We'd wandered this far without realizing.
"Ah! That cave!"
Jin Samwol seemed to know it too. She cut off her own words and stared at the cave.
I asked her,
"What's that cave?"
"I'm not sure of the details. Just that a dangerous spirit beast lives there. My master told me to stay far away... But maybe that's where the wolf fled to?"
Her eyes sparkled as she said it. Huh? The story's taking this turn now?
"Whoever recognized and took Master's Dark Blood Beads must be an extraordinary spirit beast. It might've gone in there."
Jin Samwol shouted, her face flushed red. I had no idea what was in that cave. It never appeared in the original story.
But there was an enemy from the late original story that hailed from Changbai Mountain.
If it's a vicious spirit from Changbai Mountain... No way, that guy?
Suddenly, a villain from the original flashed in my mind.
If it's that bastard, aren't I in danger right now?
The herb gatherer's warning resurfaced.
-No mere beast would act like that. I've never seen it myself, but my brother said a vicious spirit dwells there.
If even Han Kangwoo called it vicious, it might really be that one.
"It's over there. Let's check it out first."
Jin Samwol looked at me and said. I scratched the back of my head and replied,
"The herb gatherer told me a dangerous spirit lives there. Said his master warned him personally... Wouldn't checking it out be risky? That scream just now was seriously creepy."
It was a horrific wail, like it was shredding souls. Full of the world's pent-up rage.
As I answered with a troubled look, Jin Samwol glanced down at her ankle and bit her lip. She suddenly patted my back lightly—a gesture to put her down.
"You're right. I can't put Young Master Jong in danger too. Thank you so much for helping me this far."
"Miss Jin."
Jin Samwol snapped a nearby branch. It was pretty thick, but it shattered like dry straw under her hand chop. She used it like a staff.
"I can lose my clothes, but not those beads. Master carved years off his own life to make them."
Her face was filled with resolve.
"If it's that important, wouldn't calling Black Rock Taoist be better? With your leg injured, going in there seems too dangerous."
As I blocked her and said that, Jin Samwol's face ripened red as a persimmon.
"Y-Yeah, that's true."
She bowed her head in agreement. Right now, she looked like a kid hiding a broken glass from Mom to avoid a scolding.
Those kids always get caught eventually. And it's always Mom who cleans up the mess.
No matter how great Black Rock Taoist is, he can't scan my inventory with spells.
Inventory's the safest place in the world.
"Sigh. It's my own clumsy fault, so I should tell Master and ask for help. Haah... I've only caused you trouble, Young Master Jong. I'm truly sorry."
Jin Samwol bowed her head. Surprisingly, she gave up easily. Of course, after wandering naked outside for over half an hour, she was mentally cornered.
"Then let's head back. Young Master Jong. Sorry, but could I ask you to carry me one more time?"
"Of course."
I hoisted her onto my back again. Good thing she didn't dig in her heels.
If that character really lived in there, rushing in blindly might get my head lopped off. Even Black Rock Taoist probably wouldn't poke around.
Jin Samwol's favor toward me has shot up nicely. Time to set the mood a bit from here? Then 'accidentally' find the wolf, return the beads... Perfect plan.
I reviewed my future plans in my head. If it went like this, her virginity would be mine before tomorrow's sunrise.
"Heaven's will..."
Black Rock Taoist's pupils sank heavily. Lately, he'd been peeking at heaven's will more often.
Just recently, that Han Ga punk had stirred things up with weird tricks, muddying heaven's will. Now something strange was happening again.
Samwol's heaven's will is churning. She was fated to die within nine years if she couldn't dodge the calamity. But after meeting that young man, heaven's will shifted...
Now, Jin Samwol's heaven's will had vanished entirely. Even shifting it was a feat only someone like him or Han Kangwoo could attempt. But now it was gone.
Jin Samwol's heaven's will matched that young man Jongchil's exactly. Black Rock Taoist couldn't fathom what this meant.
No heaven's will? Does that mean no fate? I always thought heaven's will directed the world's flow, but now I haven't a clue. What is heaven's will, and why has Samwol's vanished?
What did the loss of heaven's will signify? The direction of fate erased? Or had she broken free of predetermined fate, grasping true freedom?
Frail mortal that Black Rock Taoist was, he had no way to know.
But one thing's certain... Samwol's met a new fate. Surely tied to that young man.
Black Rock Taoist had noticed Jongchil became Han Kangwoo's disciple.
Recently, heaven's will had shaken massively around Han Kangwoo's hermitage and Biryu Waterfall. No doubt Han Kangwoo pulled strings for his first disciple.
Samwol should be back by now...
Samwol had gone to bathe ages ago and hadn't returned. But Black Rock Taoist didn't go looking.
Having leaked too much heaven's will, he was a walking calamity himself. Covered head to toe in massive misfortune. Moving for anyone now would only bring disaster.
Haah... Is even this fate? Samwol's surely tangled with that young man somehow. Haah. Is it time to let Samwol go?
No one knew how fate would guide her. Not even gods.
"Young Master Jong. This fog is..."
Jin Samwol, piggybacked on Jongchil, spoke in a tense voice.
The thick fog enveloping them was no natural phenomenon. It was the exact opposite of nature's power. Jin Samwol had learned of such forces from Black Rock Taoist.
Demonic qi.
Undoubtedly the spirit beast from the cave's doing. No, better called a yokai.
"Vicious fog. Can we push through back the way we came?"
The fog blocked their retreat. Sensing its demonic qi, Jin Samwol shook her head and spoke.
"We'll just wander in circles and end up back here. Seems like that kind of yokai spell. Just a hunch from eyeballing it."
The atmosphere screamed it. Only one spot lacked the thick fog: the cave entrance.
"Like it's inviting us over. No choice."
Jongchil moved slowly forward. If the cave's owner was that character, running was pointless. Only a head-on fight remained.
This wasn't in my plan... Not everything goes according to plan.
A good realization, but terrible timing.
Wait. In the original, Jin Samwol dies to a spirit beast, right? One strong enough to kill her with the Dark Blood Beads...
Jongchil pieced together the fragmented original plot.
The Changbai Mountain spirit that killed Jin Samwol, the cave spirit Han Kangwoo warned about, and the ridiculously strong yokai from the late story.
Were they the same one?
Suddenly, Jongchil wondered if he was saving Jin Samwol from her fated death.
Come to think of it, killing someone meant to live is one thing, but saving someone fated to die... First time?
Too many impulsive acts before; he couldn't be sure.
The cave interior was pitch black. But not without light. Small glows from the ceiling dimly illuminated the surroundings.
"Young Master Jong... Those are..."
Nightlight pearls.
Nightlight pearls studded the cave ceiling at regular intervals. Far too luxurious for a wild beast's den.
Though he already knew, Jongchil and Jin Samwol realized the dweller was no ordinary spirit—or yokai.