Chapter 32
**CHAPTER TITLE: Nightmare (1)**
Lune was dreaming.
But at some point, a strange sense of déjà vu hit him regarding his own name.
‘Lune? I used to be an Imugi. What was I thinking?’
No.
He wasn’t the Lune of a hatchling. He was an Imugi capable of swallowing an entire mountain whole and crushing it.
Regaining his senses, he shook his head and surveyed his surroundings.
Dark, broken clouds were already piling up in the sky.
‘It’s starting again, huh.’
The time when the qi of heaven and sea clashed.
If left alone, the waves would tangle and unleash a massive disaster.
He had to intervene every time a whirlpool threatened to engulf the island before it was too late.
Thinking that made today feel strangely dull.
But soon the deep sigh washed it away.
Lune rose to his feet and lifted his head toward the sky.
The Imugi began to calm the twisted qi of heaven and earth that swirled across land and sea.
Tasks that had always been difficult and taxing felt oddly easy and smooth today.
‘You used to rampage all over the place and give me trouble every time. Today, though, you’re actually listening to me.’
Enjoying the rare moment of leisure that had come after so long, he idly caught a feather carried on the wind.
‘A crow’s feather…?’
Even one crow never lived on this island, yet a crow feather here.
It was strange.
The Imugi shook the feather for a moment, then lost interest and let it drift away on the wind again.
‘I wonder if someone’s coming to visit.’
It wasn’t quite a joke, but it wasn’t a complete joke either.
Born an immortal, he had lived for hundreds of years.
His instincts, forged over countless seasons, were still sharp.
He sensed something coming that he couldn’t yet name.
He didn’t easily overlook the unease the natural world brought him.
Because sometimes that single intuition proved correct and led him to a fateful crossroads.
‘I hope that visitor isn’t a mischievous ghost.’
Lune shrugged his shoulder once as he said it.
Today was the last day of the tenth month.
The day when the mischievous souls of the dead descended from the sky for a brief visit.
‘Of all days, the night before the new moon….’
The day when yin qi grew especially strong.
Other divine spirits would be out patrolling, protecting humans from disasters.
The Imugi, who held no interest in humans, simply ignored it.
But then he remembered.
‘Speaking of which… what happened to her?’
Baekmi, the fox spirit.
The fox spirit who had once been mocked as a fox demon by other divine spirits.
Years ago she had foolishly fallen in love with a human.
She even abandoned her fox core to become a celestial being.
‘Still don’t understand why she decided to become human.’
Lune suddenly wondered how Baekmi was doing now.
‘She wandered wherever she wanted on the island too, so she wouldn’t mind me dropping by once.’
His tasks on the island were finished anyway.
He could spare a little time to visit.
A crisp autumn morning with a cool, almost too bright sky.
He usually wore colorful robes, but today he had changed into a black robe for the first time in a long while.
The red sash fluttered wildly in the wind.
***
‘Is this the place?’
It was a thatched-roof cottage, yet it looked surprisingly clean and well-maintained.
The sight of Baekmi, who had left without a word on the day they last parted, still lingered in his mind.
‘Let me see how she’s been living happily.’
Her kind had always lived as immortals for her whole life.
Even a single human body felt unbearably cramped to her.
The children living under the yoke of birth and death, struggling with money and greed in confusion.
Among them, the white fox Lune remembered so well felt far too pure.
In truth, he was curious.
What exactly was it to be loved and live happily?
‘Why did she give up her fox core just to seek that?’
He waited a moment, then a man who looked like a husband opened the paper window and stepped out.
He wore an ordinary red shirt and trousers, with worn straw sandals.
Nothing special about him.
The moment Lune saw him, he clicked his tongue.
‘The fox spirit who was supposed to become a celestial being should have been right here… yet he looks like this.’
Even after becoming human, he should have prepared.
Originally, whether he hunted in the mountains or cut wood, he should have been better off financially than he was now.
‘Excuse me. I have to buy medicine for my mother, so I’ll be late today.’
‘Take care.’
‘I’m so sorry. If only your mother hadn’t collapsed out of nowhere… you even had to sell the jewelry I gave you.’
‘You said you weren’t going to say that. I’m fine.’
Baekmi.
Her hair, once dazzlingly white, had turned black like any ordinary human on this land.
But her smile was still bright and cheerful.
The man looked embarrassed yet embraced Baekmi tightly with eyes full of affection.
Baekmi, nestled in his arms, was startled at first, then closed her eyes and smiled happily in his embrace.
‘I won’t give up. I’ll work hard and definitely make you rich.’
‘Thank you, my husband.’
Lune could guess the story from the way they spoke.
He remained silent and waited until the man completely left.
At that moment, a voice called out from behind the reed door.
‘Muk, you’re here?’
A voice as innocent as the one he remembered from the island.
Yet somewhere in it lay a quiet fatigue.
‘Yeah.’
‘Hehe. You came to see me?’
‘I wasn’t planning to come see you. Since I’m a divine spirit too, I figured I should handle some matters during the ghost festival. And while I was at it….’
The Imugi was about to continue when his eyes widened at the sight of her.
Smiling brightly, she stepped out from behind the reed door.
‘You have a child?’
Baekmi rubbed her belly slightly, following Lune’s gaze.
‘Yeah. You can tell, right? Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t know.’
‘Does your husband know?’
It bothered him that she only ever mentioned her widowed mother.
Surprisingly, Baekmi shook her head.
‘What are you planning?’
A helpless sigh escaped him.
Everyone knew there were things she couldn’t say to a human.
Then Baekmi smiled slyly and answered.
‘Muk, you know too. I chose to become human, so the fox spirit blood in me doesn’t disappear.’
Lune’s brows furrowed.
That was right.
Unlike ordinary couples, the child Baekmi carried had the blood of a divine spirit in her.
‘But I want to have this child.’
She sounded earnest.
A child who couldn’t be born human.
Already carrying a tiny fox core in her womb, she was the complete successor of a fox spirit.
Yet divine-spirit children were not welcomed by humans.
They were branded as ghosts and chased away, or as bringers of misfortune, and often driven out of the village.
Lune, who knew that fact, couldn’t speak lightly.
‘Why aren’t you telling the child’s father? After all, it’s only a matter of time before it’s discovered.’
‘I will tell him. But….’
Baekmi looked down at the ground.
‘Even though he knew I was a fox spirit and still loved me, deciding to marry was very difficult. And if I tell him our child isn’t human….’
Whether her husband would be happy or not.
Baekmi couldn’t be certain.
‘Plus, lately his mother has been sick, so he seems quite strained.’
Seeing her open her mouth as if to say more, then close it again, Lune could only sigh.
‘Hah. You’ll drive me crazy.’
Why that had made Baekmi smile softly, Lune couldn’t figure out.
‘Still, you came, and that’s really good. I always thought you only came out to the island for work and never thought about me.’
‘Who said I came because I thought about you? I came because there’s work. During the ghost festival, we cleanse malevolent spirits and gain quite a bit of merit.’
Baekmi laughed and lightly slapped Lune’s shoulder.
‘You know, back then, whenever this happened, I’d hear those sniveling guys who only came out when there was merit to claim, and I’d get tired of them! You don’t remember?’
Days when yin qi grew especially strong had come a few times.
Times when divine spirits were active, building good deeds, merit, and reputation.
But the Imugi, too tired to meet them, had simply stayed away.
Embarrassed, he muttered in denial.
‘Merit is merit, so I did come out occasionally, didn’t I?’
‘Aigoo. You really haven’t changed at all?’
Her laughter was the same innocent, carefree Baekmi from before.
Lune felt a little lighter inside.
‘Anyway, tell me honestly. Aren’t you supposed to know as the child’s father?’
With that, Lune reached into his sleeve and pulled out something.
‘Here. I didn’t come on purpose because of you, so take it without hesitation.’
Valuable jewels, ornaments, and spirit objects from a ship that had drifted onto the island he called the gem island.
She had always been interested whenever he visited as a fox spirit.
Since he wouldn’t use them himself, it was better to give them to someone who would.
‘There was even a gold ring. It should be fine as a gift for the child.’
As a free-spirited fox spirit who preferred wandering over staying home like other wives, this life seemed extremely stifling to her.
‘Anyway, I brought them because I thought even if I become a celestial being, money won’t matter much.’
‘This is….’
‘Say you received it from me. It’s something I already had. I sold a few gold things to buy clothes for the child.’
Though a blunt tone like that would usually grate on her, Baekmi simply smiled brightly again.
Sniffle.
‘Eh? Why are you crying?’
In front of the startled Imugi, Baekmi burst into louder sobs.
‘Hwaaaaang. Hiiiing. Thank you.’
‘Hey, hey. Hey, why are you crying?’
He panicked, not knowing what to do, and finally gave her shoulder a light pat.
‘He couldn’t even happily celebrate the fact that he had a child.’
Even someone who thought him slow in such matters felt a pang of pity.
Lune watched as the fox spirit who had clutched the pouch with both hands finally stopped crying and nodded.
‘I-I’ll tell you.’
‘Good. You thought well.’
Sniffling, Baekmi hugged the pouch tightly to her chest so she wouldn’t miss it.
Then she pulled up her sleeve and wiped her eyes before looking at him with clear eyes.
‘I have something to ask you, Muk.’
‘What is it?’
‘If anything happens to me later, please take care of our child for me.’
‘What nonsense is this?’
The cold reply made the sniffling Baekmi hiccup.
‘It’s your child. Raise her while always being by her side. Show her a happy life. When your beloved’s lifespan ends first, you two will live relying on each other.’
More tears welled in Baekmi’s eyes.
The sky swelled with them, then burst and poured down.
Lune, whose heart ached at the sight of her crying face, finally manifested part of his arm.
He peeled off a tiny scale and cast a simple spell, handing it to her.
‘If you call my name, this scale will find its way to me. Whenever it gets hard, just call me.’
It was a scale meant to find him even after he had ascended.
Though it went against divine-spirit rules to get too involved with a being who had become human, he felt a pang.
‘Because it was given to someone who had a child who wasn’t human.’
With that reasonable justification, he adjusted his robe.
‘Don’t stay out in the cold. I have to go back to work.’
‘Hiiiing. Just a little longer.’
‘You said there’s a widowed mother. You have a husband.’
Separate from how he felt, he didn’t want to stand out to other humans and become a nuisance.
In the end, Baekmi nodded.