A Sinner's Prayer
Yeongso meekly knelt on the dusty ground. As she reverently clasped her hands together and looked up at the statue of the Queen Mother, Banya added, "Pray out loud. Who knows what you're wishing for in your head?"
His trust in her was at rock bottom. But what could she do? Baekri Yeongso had lived her entire life with kindness and honesty, yet to her husband, Hwa Banya, she was a grave sinner.
"Baekri Yeongso prays to the esteemed Queen Mother of the West. Three years ago, I sought shelter from a sudden shower in a shrine. Finding it in disarray, I cleaned it and offered a prayer. I asked that you grant my husband, Hwa Banya, the Alliance Leader of the Thousand Death Alliance, a chance to reform. Though he acquired wealth and power solely through evil deeds, it is not his fault alone. The responsibility lies with many others for allowing a child to grow up without ever knowing the joy of doing good. Therefore, I begged that the merciful Queen Mother grant my husband a chance to experience the happiness of living as a good man."
Yeongso let out a soft sigh before continuing. "...That is what I prayed for. However, it seems there was a slight misinterpretation between us. While I am grateful that you granted my husband a chance, I did not mean for you to keep killing him until he learns his lesson."
A scoff of disbelief came from beside her.
"I beg of you, please lift the punishment of eternal regression that you have laid upon my husband... and allow him to live in peace, just as he used to."
Was this the right way to say it? Would the Queen Mother of the West understand and grant her husband's wish? Since the wording of the prayer had already been approved by Banya beforehand, the man listening beside her seemed to have no complaints. But would the Goddess of Mount Kunlun agree?
Would it really be alright to tell the goddess—who had interpreted Yeongso's sincere prayer for her husband's reformation as 'infinite regression until he learns'—'Ah, please cancel that. Just let him live the way he used to'? She did not know. She felt as though she could no longer utter a single word carelessly.
To be perfectly honest, Baekri Yeongso's common sense and rationality had shattered the moment her dead husband returned to life perfectly fine.
Within the Thousand Death Alliance, rumors circulated that the Alliance Leader's death three years ago had been faked, and that he had spent the time in closed-door cultivation. However, even a brief observation of Banya revealed that such claims were utter nonsense.
Three years. It was enough time for a newborn in swaddling clothes to grow into a toddler running around the yard. Even if not as drastic as a child's growth, everyone in the Thousand Death Alliance had shown signs of aging, whether it was a few more wrinkles around the eyes or a scattering of gray hairs. Even Yeongso had lost the roundness of her cheeks while mourning him.
Only Banya remained exactly as he had been three years ago. The specially crafted incense pouch, designed to last until the forty-ninth-day memorial service, still smelled fresh. Even the scrape on the back of his hand, sustained just days before his death, had healed completely within a day and a half of his return.
Just as he claimed, Banya had truly skipped three years of time and come back to life. Thus, the sinner Baekri Yeongso had no choice but to do exactly as her husband demanded.
"Didn't you bow back then?"
"I did..."
Yeongso bowed to the half-charred statue of the Queen Mother. She offered dried peaches and jujubes wrapped in paper in place of proper offerings. She hoped that, unlike last time, presenting even a modest offering might make the goddess listen more "properly."
Having finished the ritual, Yeongso rose, casting a wary glance at Banya. Banya pressed his throbbing temples and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"My lady, I am an evil man... Asking to give an evil man a chance to live righteously. No, and of all places, praying for that at a shrine of the Queen Mother of the West? Uneducated as I am, even I know she is the goddess who governs death, punishment, and immortality. And, and... the Peaches of Immortality! The peaches that ripen only once every three thousand years! No, my lady, think about it with that brilliant brain of yours."
Banya pointed a finger toward the heavens.
"If you were the Queen Mother of the West, to whom would you give those precious peaches? To Hwa Banya, whose hands are drenched in blood, or to Baekri Yeongso, who ladles out porridge to the poor?"
She didn't quite understand why he had suddenly brought up peaches, but she got the gist of what he was trying to say. Yeongso mumbled softly.
"To whom?"
"To... me."
"Exactly. Let me ask you again. If you were the Queen Mother of the West, and a good soul like Baekri Yeongso was praying not for her own blessings, but for a mad, murderous husband to get a chance to reform, wouldn't you be furious?"
"But she is a goddess..."
"Precisely because she is a goddess, she might have been several times angrier. She already has a headache managing so many things, yet here you are praying for the fortune of a scoundrel like me. She probably decided to strike me down with divine punishment instead."
Banya shook his head. He glanced at the offerings Yeongso had brought and said,
"So, never pray for my blessings again. Especially not to the gods of heaven and earth or any kind of immortal. They didn't save me when I was a child dying in the gutters, and I have no intention of seeking their favor now. Above all, my sins run far too deep. When I die, this Hwa Banya will be fried in the hottest cauldron of boiling oil in hell."
"But..."
"No buts," Banya cut her off. "It's simple. One day, I will truly die, and after death, there will be nothing but torment. Until that day comes, I plan to do my absolute best to enjoy pools of wine, forests of meat, and endless wealth and luxury."
"My lady," Banya called softly.
"Never pray for me again, even if you mean well. Did I never tell you? Even the mother who gave birth to me never prayed for her son's happiness. My biological father tried to beat his young son to death on a regular basis. In return, the very first thing I did when I stormed Jeokhwa Palace was cut off his cock. Even within the Unorthodox Path, I was heavily cursed as a bastard who severed the bonds of heaven. When there is not a single soul under heaven who prays for me, why do you..."
Banya stared intently at Yeongso, suddenly looking like a man who had lost his voice. It was only after a long silence that he managed to finish his sentence.
"...Who are you to pray for my blessings?"
Spitting out those words, Banya turned away. Yeongso quietly watched her husband's retreating back. After offering one final bow to the statue of the Queen Mother, she followed after him.
That night. Yeongso began to doze off around the Hour of the Pig (9:00 to 11:00 PM). Banya, who had repeatedly warned her that they had to stay awake together past midnight, soon gave up on waking his wife. Sitting up as she slept, Yeongso's face looked utterly exhausted. The saying "she wouldn't even notice if someone carried her away" came to mind. It was only natural for her to be tired. She had barely slept the night before and had been walking around outside all day.
Still, her face is so damn much my type.
She was the woman who had killed him. And she hadn't just killed him; she had made a wish before a sinister statue of the Queen Mother, trapping Hwa Banya in a painful cycle of death. Even if he subjected her to every torture he knew, it wouldn't be enough. Yet, entirely separate from his hatred and resentment toward Baekri Yeongso, the blood still rushed to his groin whenever he looked at her.
I've gone completely mad.
When they had first married, Yeongso was twenty, and her face still held a trace of youthful innocence. Her pure yet elegant beauty had literally driven Hwa Banya wild. To think this woman is entirely mine. To think this body, which smelled intoxicatingly sweet and tasted faintly sugary when licked, belonged to him for the rest of his life.
Though Banya had never taken a woman before her, he could say this with absolute certainty: no beauty in the world could ever arouse his desire like Baekri Yeongso. And so, every single night, he had claimed his young bride, who struggled to endure a man's heavy frame.
When Yeongso covered her mouth