Spending Money Only Brings More Windfalls - 5
Starting with Monk Bo-eun and the child acolyte, I sent every spirit drifting around the stone pagoda off to the afterlife.
Perhaps because they were souls who had wandered that place like mist, carrying neither hatred nor resentment, they remained quiet and calm until the very last.
[Thank you.]
The woman of the earring — Moo-dol's wife — embraced the child called Sang-seok and offered me her gratitude.
Rest in peace, all of you.
After every one of them had departed for the afterlife, I was just about to head down the steps when I saw it.
Something inside the moonlit stone pagoda was glinting.
"A mirror?"
Drawing closer, I realized the stones lining the pagoda's interior were a kind of black obsidian, catching and throwing back the moonlight.
So that's why they said that when the temple was completed and the first dharma assembly was held, light came pouring out of the stone pagoda.
Moonlight reflected by an old pagoda on a ridge that no one ever spared a second glance was spilling softly into the temple grounds.
The artisan had seemed to pour his heart into this pagoda, trying to capture the desperate longing of the wives who would wait here for husbands who never came home.
Namu Amitabha.
I pressed my palms together in a bow, then descended the steps.
After that, I went about sending off every lingering spirit haunting the corners of the temple.
It was the first time I'd truly understood it — that the ability I possessed was something like a gift.
Because I could grant these spirits a peaceful rest at last.
And the gifts they left behind, their words of thanks, seemed to layer themselves one upon another, quietly lending strength to both my body and my heart.
At some point, the morning sun had begun to glow beyond the ridge line. I lifted my head to the sky. It was brightening into a pale, washed blue, without a single cloud in sight.
"Namu Amitabha!"
From inside the stone pagoda came one half of the earring pair, a Buddha statue carved from jade, and a Buddhist sutra hand-copied by Bo-eun, the temple's second abbot, sealed within a bronze vessel.
It was a three-story stone pagoda so battered by wind and rain that its original shape was beyond guessing. No one had ever imagined hidden treasures might lie inside. The pagoda held no reliquary, and nothing about it looked the least bit special.
Low and modest in scale, unassuming to the eye — it resembled, uncannily, the figure of a wife who had waited here for her artisan husband.
The abbot and the administrative monk were so overcome with emotion they hardly knew what to do, bowing to me again and again in thanks.
"To think there was a stone pagoda at Wol-sang Temple that escaped the grave robbers! Honestly, we knew it was likely a Silla-era pagoda, but it never crossed our minds that relics might be hidden inside it."
"A sutra left behind by Abbot Bo-eun, the second abbot of all people. I suppose the reason this pagoda was never targeted by looters is simply that it stands outside the main temple grounds."
"I believe you're right."
The abbot pressed his palms together and conveyed his gratitude to me once more.
"Thank you for uncovering the thousand-year treasure of Wol-sang Temple. I don't know how we could ever repay you."
"For now, let's focus on finding the other half of the stolen earring. We can discuss compensation after that."
If we were to honor Monk Bo-eun's wish that the pair of earrings be kept together, we had no choice but to recover the missing half.
"You can't mean — you would help us with that as well?"
The abbot waved his hands, saying he couldn't possibly burden me further.
"Just tell me where it is. We will move heaven and earth to find it ourselves."
Please don't move heaven and earth, Abbot.
I had no intention of letting the abbot clash directly with the Cheonligyo cult. From what I'd heard, the cult had sent down its enforcers to assault villagers and even cut the power. How was a monk supposed to deal with people like that?
"The administrative monk is worried that this ordeal may break your health, Abbot. Leave recovering the hidden relic to me."
"But… to push it all onto you… I would have no face left to show."
The abbot's voice caught in his throat, and he barely managed to finish.
"It isn't a burden if it's something I want to resolve myself."
I turned to the administrative monk.
"If you could lend me a hand, Monk, I believe we could sort this out rather smoothly."
"Of course. Anything."
Temples these days had CCTV installed throughout their grounds and contracts with security firms to guard against intruders. But this time, it hadn't the main hall that was hit — it was a secluded hermitage deep in the mountains, Cheonjinam.
The thieves had slipped in from behind the hermitage and made off with the vessel holding the hidden relic, which meant there was precious little evidence to go on. At best, there was the culprits' figures caught on cameras near Cheonjinam, and a group of men loitering late into the night around the parking lot below the temple.
Beyond that — nothing. Proving that the Cheonligyo cult had stolen the hidden relic would be no easy task.
I returned to the administrative office and sat down with the administrative monk over tea to discuss our next move.
"It seems the people of this cult, Cheonligyo, committed this crime in an attempt to deflect their internal troubles onto an outside party."
"Cheonligyo? That sounds like the name of some heretical sect."
"It is. I hear they reject private property entirely and live communally."
I fetched a sheet of paper and began sketching a map of Ugok 2-ri.
"Right now, their access road is blocked by the dispute with the village. Cheonligyo has been cutting a logging road into the mountain to build a passage from the other side."
After relaying what Moon Sung-il had told me over the phone the previous night, I pulled out my phone and opened Google Maps. Zooming in on imagery taken four months ago, before the road blockade, the cult's main gate came into view. Just inside it stood a winged statue of an angel — apparently an image of the god they worshipped.
"A large-scale assault is going to take place there today, and the police will be dispatched."
That part was Spirit No. 1's job.
"And a search and seizure warrant will be issued so we can find the families of the missing."
That part was Moon Sung-il's.
There really are so many families torn apart by Cheonligyo.
A wife who sold the family home, donated the money to the cult, and vanished. A son who ran away with his college tuition. A husband who disappeared after embezzling company funds and giving it all as an offering. And even a daughter who took her wedding savings and became a preaching officer for the cult.
Countless families had been ruined and left wounded in Cheonligyo's wake. There was even a support group for the victims' relatives.
Moon Sung-il contacted the head of that family association and arranged for a search and seizure warrant to locate the missing.
I handed the administrative monk the paper with my rough map of the cult compound.
"While the police and I are talking with the Cheonligyo side, please look into the men caught on the CCTV footage."
"The video is awfully blurry, so I can't promise I'll be able to identify anyone — but I will do my very best."
Zzzt. Zzzt.
My phone buzzed. It was Moon Sung-il.
"Yes, Mr. Moon."
"Through the victims' family representatives, we've secured the search and seizure warrant. Execution begins in two hours. The prosecution's investigative team is heading to Ugok 2-ri as we speak."
"Two hours?"
I checked my wristwatch.
"I'd better hurry too, then. It takes about an hour to get from Wol-sang Temple to Ugok 2-ri."
"Are you still at the temple?"
"I am. We opened up a Silla-era stone pagoda today. Treasures came pouring out."
When I gave him a brief account, excitement flooded Moon Sung-il's voice.
"You witnessed the opening of a thousand-year-old stone pagoda with your own eyes? My goodness, I'm green with envy."
"The abbot wanted it done quietly, so we brought in a stonemason and had it opened swiftly."
Did you know, by the way, that stone pagodas aren't held together with glue, or fixed in place with clamps and hammers? They're simply stacked. So how do they withstand even typhoons without toppling? That, right there, is craftsmanship — something not just anyone can do.
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris and Rome's Colosseum are arch-based structures too. True, they hold together through the force of the stones pressing against one another. But even so, they use mortar for a minimum of adhesive effect, along with metal fittings.
And that's exactly where the brilliance of our own tradition proves itself.
The structure was built on pure balance alone — engineered so the stones would not collapse, while still allowing them to push against and settle into one another.
Which is why opening one up is just a matter of gently lifting a stone away.
Moon Sung-il was beside himself, saying that the hidden relics from the pagoda would unlock untold secrets of Silla.
"How is it that everywhere you go, Mr. Kim, you end up writing a new page of history? I am simply in awe. There's no other word for it — you are a truly remarkable man."
"Well, my heart was pounding watching that Silla-era sutra come out of the bronze vessel. It felt like being an archaeologist the moment the Cheonmado paintings were found in the Cheonmachong tomb, you know?"
The reason Silla's ancient tombs had survived the grave robbers came down to the layer of lime spread over the burial mounds. Once it hardened, it became even tougher than concrete.
During the military dictatorship era, when Korea attempted its own excavations, the technology didn't exist — so they simply planted explosives and blew the mounds open. The very first tomb excavated that way was Cheonmachong.
They say that when the wooden burial chamber of Cheonmachong was first revealed, it was covered in brilliant paint — but the instant it touched open air, the colors began to fade. That's why today it's kept in a sealed, airtight glass case, and even putting it on public display is handled with the utmost caution.
"Thankfully, the sutra was sealed inside a bronze vessel, so it sustained no damage. The Cultural Heritage Administration will carry out a second round of verification before putting it on display at a museum."
"Then I shall have to arrange a visit through an acquaintance of mine before it goes on exhibit."
Having declared his eagerness to lay eyes on the Silla-era sutra as soon as humanly possible, Moon Sung-il continued.
"I should be arriving shortly. Let's talk at length when we meet."
"What do you mean, shortly?"
"As I mentioned on the phone yesterday, Cheonligyo is a dangerous organization. I'm on my way right now — I want to be of whatever help I can to my business partner, Representative Kim."
Wasn't this exactly the kind of heart that had made Moon Sung-il so rich in connections? I could feel his desire to give back more than I had ever asked of him.
"Understood. Then today, I will make absolutely certain we recover the half of the earring stolen from Wol-sang Temple."
Before long, I had joined Moon Sung-il, and we set out for Ugok 2-ri together.
The village-side entrance was sealed off by the residents. We circled around the mountain and entered the cult's private property via the logging road, where prosecutors, investigators, and police who had arrived ahead of us were already standing off against the compound.
"If you resist the execution of a search and seizure warrant, we will be forced to use physical force. Open the gate immediately."
A police officer, who had taken command of today's joint operation, spoke into a megaphone — but the Cheonligyo side did not open its firmly barred gates.
"This is a final warning. If you resist the execution of the search and seizure warrant—"
Clank. The gate swung open, and a man dressed in white walked out.
The Cheonligyo cult leader? Or his right hand?
A crowd of people trailed out behind the man in white, and judging by their solid builds, it looked as though they'd singled out only the ones who could handle themselves in a fight.
"Did you say a search and seizure warrant? We are not a criminal organization."
"We've received reports that missing persons are being held at this location. There were also tips that abductions have taken place here."
"This is sacred ground, the land of Heaven itself. And our revered Leader embraces those persecuted by their own families, as he carries out his holy work."
According to what Moon Sung-il had told me on the way here, families had filed report after report, and search and seizure warrants for Cheonligyo had been issued any number of times.
But every time a missing family member was actually found here, they insisted they had donated everything of their own free will. And then — get this — they even turned around and sued their own families, demanding the relatives be punished instead.
People brainwashed — or gaslit — into fanatics will betray even their own flesh and blood. They hand over their money, their very souls, and are treated like slaves and abused on top of it, yet they convince themselves that even the abuse is a holy trial on their path to god.
Where exactly does faith end and religion begin? How far can it go?
I searched for Spirit No. 1, who should have been somewhere among the fanatics, calling out in my mind.
No. 1, I told you to infiltrate the place last night. Who exactly are you with?
[Right here, Boss!]
One of the fanatics shot a single hand high into the air.