Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: A World That Watches
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"Our benefactor is quite the artist too."
"Whoa."
The women were amazed by Hwan-in's drawing skills.
In truth, Hwan-in's artistic talent wasn't exceptional. He simply captured the subject's key features well and added enough detail to make it vivid.
The fact that even this was considered impressive spoke volumes about how backward Yukam was.
"Is this uncle the one with the red soul?"
Ephnis, who had earned Hwan-in's high praise for her perceptiveness, immediately grasped the situation and asked in a grave tone.
"Yes. There was someone in the village who looks just like this... resembling a pitbull, glaring at him with eyes full of resentment. Do you know him?"
The Huiini sisters seemed clueless about the identity of the vengeful spirit. Ephnis had only guessed at the circumstances without knowing who it was, but Ryuhi responded with an equally serious expression.
"That's Mr. Houlan, who had a field at the foot of the mountain. I remember about ten years ago, he suddenly vanished, and the villagers were worried and searched for him."
"Ah. Was this Mr. Houlan? I vaguely remember now too. The adults said his disappearance was even stranger because he was such a calm and hardworking man."
"Ryuhi. You seem like you have more to say."
"...The one who has that uncle's field now is the person our benefactor mentioned. This guy."
Ryuhi's finger pointed at the pitbull-terrier-like man.
The remaining 40% of his hypothesis clicked into place, turning his suspicions into certainty.
If Hwan-in's prediction was correct, physical evidence would soon follow.
"Do you know what their relationship was?"
He planned to decide his next move based on that, but after hearing Ryuhi and Ephnis's explanation, Hwan-in felt much more at ease.
They'd quarreled often even before. And if the pitbull type was as fierce and trigger-happy as he looked, practically isolated from half the village, this would make things even easier.
Earth's pitbulls were known for being quiet and gentle—maybe this world was different.
At any rate, there was no reason to hold back. Just as Hwan-in was about to head to the village chief, he paused and looked at the two spirits standing behind Ryuhi.
A man and woman gazing at Ryuhi with faces full of adoration.
'Could it be...?'
After a moment's thought, he erased the drawings of the two people on the leather and sketched the man and woman in as much detail as possible, showing it to Ryuhi.
"Do you know these two?"
"Uh... That's Mom and Dad... I couldn't quite remember their faces..."
Tears welled up in Ryuhi's eyes as she stared at Hwan-in's drawing, her gaze trembling.
"Benefactor. How... how do you know my parents?"
"They're standing right behind you, looking at you with such loving faces."
"...!"
Ryuhi whipped around, but all she saw was the familiar interior of her long-time home.
"Ah... Aah..."
Clutching Hwan-in's drawing to her chest, Ryuhi sank to her knees and began sobbing as if her heart were melting.
The couple gently stroked her head—without touching it—and turned their eyes toward Hwan-in.
Their gaze conveyed a message they wanted to impart.
Hwan-in nodded, and the sharp-yet-gentle wolf-like man passed through the wall and out of the house.
Glancing at Ryuhi receiving comfort from her siblings, Hwan-in lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Your father has something he wants to tell you."
Ryuhi hastily wiped her tear-streaked face and jumped to her feet, following Hwan-in.
The wolf-man led them to a small tree behind the house.
It looked as if he wanted them to dig right there, so Hwan-in relayed the message. Ryuhi rushed off, grabbed a shovel, and started digging.
Clang!
"Ah..."
She hadn't dug far when the shovel hit something hard. Dropping it, Ryuhi carefully brushed away the dirt with her hands and slowly lifted a soil-caked box about 40cm by 40cm from the ground.
Inside the weathered wooden box—eaten away by time—were a few silver coins, a small wooden figurine of unclear purpose, some gemstone roughs, and purple seashells tumbling amid the dirt.
"This must be the savings Uncle and Auntie were setting aside for their daughters' weddings..."
Ryuhi hugged the contents to her chest and burst into sobs again at Ephnis's sullen remark.
"Hic... Mom... Dad...!"
"Ryuhi. Your parents seem ready to pass on. Shouldn't you send them off with a smile on your face?"
"...! Wh-where? Where are they?"
"Right in front of you. About a meter ahead."
Setting the box down, Ryuhi stood abruptly, wiped her face clean with her sleeve, forced a smile, clasped her hands, and began pray.
It was a prayer promising her parents not to worry, that she would live happily.
Her parents watched their daughter with gentle eyes, then bowed deeply to Hwan-in. Like Lua before them, they dissolved into the air, leaving only a few glowing orbs.
Hwan-in waited until the orbs popped and vanished, then placed a hand on Ryuhi's shoulder and said quietly,
"They've gone."
As if she'd been holding back her tears, Ryuhi broke down at his words and threw herself into Hwan-in's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her tears flowed like an overwhelming mix of emotions surging forth.
Word of what happened at Ryuhi's house spread through the village like wildfire.
A few nosy village aunties who couldn't resist following secretly had witnessed everything from behind the house and blabbed it to everyone.
Even Ryuhi, with her puffy eyes, showed the villagers the drawing Hwan-in had made and the items her parents left behind. Since no one without spirit sight powers could have seen or known about it, no one doubted the truth.
"So... Ryuhi's parents, Byugsel and Ryuanne, were the vengeful spirits?"
The chief asked with a look of disbelief, and Hwan-in shook his head.
"I took the girls aside to ask a few clarifying questions. Their spirits happened to be there at the time, so I guided them on."
Oohs and aahs erupted from the villagers.
Did you hear? The Byugsel couple passed on!
They watched over for six years without passing—must've been really held back.
How could they rest easy leaving two daughters behind? I'd be the same.
True that. And one of them died in Lord Oljrot's tidal wave... tsk tsk.
At least we could deliver their dowry this way so they could pass in peace.
The villagers lingered, unwilling to leave.
In a rural village where every day blended into the next—yesterday like today, tomorrow the same—life was a monotonous routine.
With a once-in-a-lifetime event like a spirit master's visit underway, no one was leaving for "busy work."
Piled-up chores? Handle them with an all-nighter after the event.
If proving the vengeful spirit with the Ilail flower had earned him half the village's trust as a spirit master, sending Ryuhi's parents off sealed it completely.
As the villagers buzzed about whose turn was next for passing on and what to do with the vengeful spirit, Hwan-in whispered to the chief.
No need for long explanations like "Someone killed someone and stole their field for such-and-such reason, full of grudge."
Just casually...
"The vengeful spirit is glaring at Mr. Lukil with eyes brimming with hatred."
"...!"
...say that, and the chief would fill in the details from his memory, spinning tales in his mind.
And that's exactly what happened.
"...The vigilantes, seize Lukil immediately."
"Pardon?"
"Are you deaf? Grab Lukil now!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
At the chief's thunderous command, the young men of the village scrambled to grab the pitbull-headed man named Lukil.
"Wh-what's going on!? Why are you doing this to me!!?"
Lukil resisted those trying to bind him, but an unawakened, non-warrior man couldn't overpower five adults.
Moments later, tightly bound Lukil was forced to his knees before the chief, protesting his sudden mistreatment.
"Chief! What did I do to deserve this!?"
"What did you do ten years ago!?"
"...!?"
"What the hell did you do to make a vengeful spirit glare at you like it wants to kill you!?"
Lukil felt a chill grip his heart at the chief's outburst, laced with chest-bursting fury.
He glanced back at Hwan-in.
'No way...?'
"I've told you time and again! Don't do things that breed grudges! Don't act in ways that turn spirits vengeful—let's live together in peace!! Why do you think that happens?! If a vengeful spirit appears, villages like ours without spirit masters are doomed to vanish! We! Our ancestors! Everyone who's built this village over centuries—it'd crumble in an instant!!"
The chief's righteous fury, mingled with lament, froze Lukil and the villagers.
After his fiery tirade, the chief seemed to age years in seconds, slumping. The vigilantes rushed to support him.
"Elder!"
"Chief, are you okay!?"
"Hey, Halengel! Hurry over!"
A man with a yellow mixed-breed dog's head dashed from the crowd, popped a pill into the chief's mouth, and massaged his arms, shoulders, and legs.
With a weary sigh, the chief spoke in a drained voice.
"It's a good thing the spirit master saved the children and came to our village just in time... Otherwise, we'd have been ashes within years... You, your kids... all of us would've died..."
"..."
"..."
"Fools like us... By the time we notice a vengeful spirit, it's too late... Think back to how the neighboring village vanished..."
The villagers grew somber at the chief's feeble mutterings.
Seizing the moment when all eyes were on the chief, Lukil bolted.
"Hey!"
"He's running!"
By the time they noticed, Lukil was at full sprint.
The vigilantes gave chase too late, but Lukil was confident in his speed. If he just escaped the village, he'd live. That's when he spotted someone blocking his path out.
Damn spirit master!
The loathsome spirit master who'd whispered to the chief, sparking this mess, stood expressionless.
Lukil charged at him with murderous intent.
His build was small and slender like the women's—fragile. A solid shoulder check would snap bones and send him tumbling. Then the villagers would fuss over the spirit master, slacking on pursuit...?
As he lowered his upper body for the tackle...
Lukil glimpsed something dark rising from below.
Crack!
"Kragh!"
A sickening pain like his neck snapping hit him, and he tumbled across the ground.
Hwan-in looked down expressionlessly at Lukil, who'd collapsed from his crescent kick to the throat.
'I aimed for the weak spot, but...'
If he'd wanted to kill, he could've smashed his head with the stone axe at his waist. Lukil had even presented it nicely.
But he couldn't kill him himself.
The village had to punish its own; an outsider doing it would tarnish his image.
So he'd used one of the few kicks from his dojo training, but he hadn't even needed the roundhouse or upward kick.
Hoisting the foaming Lukil to his feet, Hwan-in handed him to the arriving vigilantes. Their eyes sparkled like children's.
Ignoring the stares, he approached the chief.
"Chief. That palisade—wasn't it built around ten years ago?"
"Yes... About that long. But how did you...?"
Revived somewhat by the medicine and massage, the chief staggered up and asked.
"We need to remove part of it."
"...Understood. Batul, help the spirit master."
"Yes, sir!"
Hwan-in gathered Batul and a few others to dig around where the red spirit had stood.
He'd seen spirits move freely. He knew from Lua that the death spot and spirit location could differ.
But Hwan-in's near-instinct told him something was at the first spot he'd sensed the red spirit—where it had stood.
Likely the red spirit's corpse.
Even deploying Spirit Possession on the men, Hwan-in pointed out a section of palisade—over 6m logs—and they diligently uprooted them.
"Whoa, suddenly surging with strength...?"
"What did the spirit master do to us?"
He directed the approaching women to dig sites.
With dozens working, it was quick.
"Eek!?"
"Kyaa!"
"Mommy...!"
Under the nearest palisade log where the red spirit had stood, a skeletonized corpse emerged.
"Wh-who's that?"
"Th-the vengeful spirit's body? The spirit master said it stood here."
The chief called Hwan-in gravely, staring at the bones.
"Spirit master."
"I checked earlier. It's Mr. Houlan."
"...!"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Moments later...
"You filthy bastard! How are you even human!!"
"Worse than a dog! Was your friend's land that tempting!? Huh!?"
"Disgrace to Yukam! Die! Die!"
Enraged, the villagers hurled stones at the groaning, rising Lukil. They'd pieced it together from Lukil's actions, the corpse's owner, and the chief's behavior.
Soon, they swarmed, stomping and beating him.
Hwan-in stood silently with the grim chief, watching.
"To think such a thing happened in our village... I had no idea... We had no idea..."
With a deep sigh, the chief calmed the furious crowd and continued.
"We'll deal with that scum later. First, recover Houlan's body."
Following orders, they fetched white cloth and gently gathered Houlan's bones onto it.
They buried him properly in the village cemetery, then erected a pillar in the central square for all to see and hung Lukil from it.
Not a noose execution.
They bound his hands overhead and flayed him alive.
Of course, they doused him with water to prolong it over two weeks day and night. On the brink of death, with legs severed, Lukil was stuffed in a sack and dumped in a field dozens of kilometers away.
Houlan's wife and children, who'd been forced to work for Lukil, reclaimed their field.
Lukil's house and assets transferred to Houlan's family as reparations.
Lukil's family hadn't condoned his act but had benefited as kin, so they were stripped of everything and exiled.
Lukil's wife knelt before Houlan's wife, begging desperately.
"I'll serve you my whole life. Please, just spare us exile...!"
Once exiled, no other village would accept them. Rumors would spread, leading to re-exile.
Exile was a death sentence in the wilds.
Desperate to stay, they pleaded with Houlan's family.
Unlike the vile Lukil, his wife and kids were hardworking and kind.
Well-liked, friendly with Houlan's family... but forgiveness was denied.
The chief, face etched with regret, addressed the kneeling wife and five children.
"We all know you're good people. But some crimes demand severe punishment, and the vengeful spirit lingers. Justice must be served."
"Sob... Then punish me like my husband. At least let the children stay... They did nothing wrong, Chief. Please..."
"I'm sorry."
"Sp-spirit master! Please! Take this body if you want. Just save the children, please!"
Lukil's family clung to Hwan-in like a rotten rope, but as an outsider, he stayed silent in his room.
"Yurisha. I'm sorry."
"Ah... Aaaah..."
Thus, Lukil's family was led away by vigilantes, vanishing from the village. Houlan's bloodied spirit regained its clear, pure gray.