Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 022
Chapter Title: Dokkaebi Den Mountain Lodge (9)
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“The moment that imoogi poked its head out of the water, my old man charged right at it and yanked out one of its front paws. The geezer’s got some real strength, you know. That imoogi let out a scream like a whale.”
“Ah……”
“In agony from losing its paw, it unwound itself from me and fled. My dad gave me that imoogi front paw as a trophy. Hahaha.”
Byung-su suddenly felt uneasy about the left arm the dokkaebi had given him.
“After that, water ghosts started swarming this river, but they never harmed people. They’d just grab folks’ feet or dunk them in the shallows for a scare. But when that evil bitch tried to wipe out the village, the river’s water ghosts took offense.”
What’s he going on about so at length? Hiding such thoughts, Byung-su and Baekho listened silently.
The dokkaebi kept talking without pause.
“One time, I rammed into that clueless evil bitch trying to cross the river, and the water ghosts piled on, giving her a real beating. She barely escaped, and since then, she hasn’t dared cross this river carelessly.”
“Ah, so that’s……”
“Haha, I stand guard here at the bridge. If that wretch shows up, I’ll slam into her and drop her in—the water ghosts will handle the rest.”
With that, the dokkaebi shrugged and laughed before continuing.
“Hahaha. What do you think? My plan?”
The dokkaebi asked Byung-su, clearly proud of his scheme.
“Ah, so that’s why this river feels so eerily damp and chilly.”
The back-and-forth flowed nicely.
“Exactly! This guy gets it. And it’s not even a Joseon ghost causing trouble, so the water ghosts are even more determined to stop her.”
“Not a Joseon ghost?”
Baekho was startled by the mention of it not being a Joseon ghost and asked back.
“You didn’t know, sir? That evil spirit was Japanese in life. She lived at the mountain lodge… so she’s a Japanese ghost, not Joseon. Hahaha. No need to be so surprised when you should know better.”
“Could you explain more?”
Byung-su asked again, eager for details, but the dokkaebi scratched his head.
“I’d love to, but no time. You two get up on that bridge. I’ll block her here at the front.”
He pointed, and there was the red-clad evil spirit approaching unsteadily, wielding a massive sword.
She drew closer bit by bit until she stood near the bridge.
As the dokkaebi had said, the evil bitch had arrived, and now they were facing off.
The dokkaebi took the lead on the bridge, staring down the evil spirit.
Behind him stood Byung-su and Baekho.
Below the dark, silent bridge, something rose beneath the surface but stopped short of breaking through.
There were quite a few—about a dozen.
From a glance, it looked like people standing in the water.
Their hair swayed like ink at the water’s edge.
“Come on, you wretch! Get over here!”
Confirming their ranks were set, the dokkaebi shouted confidently and loosened up.
The plan was to ram her body if she climbed the bridge and send her tumbling into the river.
The evil spirit lightly gripped her huge sword, scanned the surroundings, and sneered mockingly.
Her expression said the dokkaebi’s words were laughable.
As the sun set, her form grew sharper, her spiritual energy stronger.
The evil spirit, who had been waiting for nightfall, finally stepped forward.
With each light step, red liquid dripped from her body, staining the ground.
The closer she came, the more sour stench and metallic blood smell choked the air, making it hard to breathe.
“Come at me if you dare!”
As the dokkaebi rolled up his sleeves into a ready stance, the evil spirit hesitated briefly.
Then she crouched low and sprang like a coiled spring, lunging at the dokkaebi.
Not to be outdone, the dokkaebi braced himself to grab and hurl her.
As she flew right up to his face, he thrust both hands forward to seize her.
But stretching his arms left his face exposed.
Seizing the moment, the evil spirit opened her mouth and spewed a swarm of red-stained flies.
Unlike the ones she’d unleashed at Baekho, these were drenched in blood from her mouth.
The blood-scented flies engulfed his face, and the dokkaebi screamed.
“Oof! She’s flying blood-soaked flies!”
Hating blood, the dokkaebi panicked as the crimson swarm covered his face, flailing wildly.
In that instant, the evil spirit swung her massive sword down on his head.
Clang!
The dokkaebi’s skull was tough; the blade didn’t cut in.
The impact sent him sprawling on his butt.
“You evil bitch! Try blocking this! If you can last a hundred bouts with me, I’ll call you grandma!”
From behind, Baekho—who’d watched it all—gripped a sturdy wooden branch and charged the woman.
With her wielding a sword and him lacking talismans, it was the closest thing to a weapon he could find.
The exorcism rune carved into the wood sparked flames, but her swinging blade sent blood splattering along it.
The blood doused the fire effortlessly.
Worried for the weakened Baekho with his injured shoulder blade, Byung-su grabbed a club and rushed out too.
He knew a mere human swinging a stick couldn’t harm an evil spirit, yet his body moved on instinct.
“Baekho! Get back!”
Byung-su blocked Baekho’s path and swung at the evil spirit, sending a fierce energy surging toward her face.
Startled by the attack, she pulled back her sword aimed at the dokkaebi and dodged hastily.
“A mere human with this kind of power? What are you?”
Sensing energy stronger than her own from Byung-su’s club, the evil spirit shrieked.
Emel’s infused energy was proving its worth again.
Byung-su pursued, swinging once more, but this time Emel’s power didn’t activate.
His club was long and solid, but useless against the evil spirit.
She easily blocked it with her huge sword and charged him. To save Byung-su, now in peril, Baekho swung his club.
Pitying Baekho trying to fight one-armed due to his shoulder, the dokkaebi peeled flies from his face and yelled.
“Hey, sir! What’re you doing with one arm? Get out of the way! I’ll handle it.”
Even with the dokkaebi joining, the evil spirit didn’t retreat but ramped up her momentum with a sneer.
“All talk and no bite—pathetic. You’d be a hassle one by one, so come at me together! I’ll cleave you all in half at once.”
She slashed Byung-su’s club in two, then thrust at the dokkaebi’s gut.
As her blade pierced toward his belly, the dokkaebi hastily backed away.
Baekho filled the gap, but her sword snapped his club too, forcing him back.
“If you don’t clear off this bridge, your heads won’t stay on your shoulders.”
The evil spirit readjusted her grip and charged the dokkaebi with a bellow.
“What makes you so cocky? Eat this!”
A fist-sized stone flew from behind her, striking her body and bursting into flames.
Amazed that a mere pebble ignited spiritual energy-burning fire, she withdrew her sword from the dokkaebi and turned.
Eun Na-rae had hurled it from hiding behind a large withered tree at the bridge’s edge.
Emel’s energy from the grassland not only boosted Na-rae’s physical abilities but let her harm spirits too.
Na-rae looked more shocked than the evil spirit whose energy burned from the stone.
“Eek! Sunbae! I hit her!”
“I see. This is bad. Are we gonna die now?”
Park Dong-jin, clutching a scavenged club, stepped in front of Na-rae.
“Argh! You little wench! I’ll slice you in half first!”
Screaming in pain from her burning energy, the evil spirit lunged at Na-rae.
“Eun Reporter! Run!”
Dong-jin bravely guarded her with his club, but Na-rae grabbed his arm and screamed instead.
“Ouch! Sunbae, run too!”
Dong-jin bolted without looking back, following her lead.
“Eun Reporter! You evil bitch! Leave them and fight me!”
As the evil spirit furiously chased Na-rae, Byung-su fearlessly pursued her with his broken club.
“Kim Reporter, get back! I’ll go.”
Baekho shouted and leaped forward.
Byung-su tried to follow despite Baekho’s warning, but the dokkaebi grabbed his waist.
“Hold up, mister. Hear me out first!”
Desperate, Byung-su struggled, but couldn’t break the dokkaebi’s grip.
“Let go! It’s urgent!”
“No, how’re you so strong? I’m trying to tell you something good.”
The dokkaebi held the struggling Byung-su and coaxed him.
“What good thing?”
“That front paw I attached instead of your left arm? There’s a trick to it. Heh heh.”
“A trick? What’s that matter now?”
Byung-su stared incredulously at the dokkaebi babbling about secrets mid-crisis.
Still clutching Byung-su’s waist, the dokkaebi explained.
“To use the imoogi front paw properly, I need to work some magic.”
Byung-su was stunned to hear the dokkaebi had attached an imoogi’s front paw in place of his severed left arm by the red-clad evil spirit’s sword.
“You attached an imoogi’s front paw? An imoogi?”
“Yep. Looks just like a normal arm otherwise—no ugliness there. It’s from an imoogi on the verge of dragonhood, so pretty useful. Hold still. To use it right, I gotta infuse some energy. Want me to? Or just leave it?”
The dokkaebi peeked out, still gripping Byung-su’s waist.
“Why didn’t you ask first?”
“Want me to remove it? Live without an arm forever? If that’s what you want, sure. Rip it right off.”
The dokkaebi’s big face was full of mischief.
Byung-su glimpsed the red-clad evil spirit swinging her sword after Na-rae, with Baekho chasing behind.
Baekho had no talismans and his left shoulder still hadn’t healed—he looked vulnerable.
“No time—do something! Energy? Whatever, please.”
In his haste, Byung-su accepted.
Only then did the dokkaebi release his waist, seemingly relieved.
“Good call. Hang on. That guy’s got even weirder energy than you, but he can’t use it right. I’ve never seen your energies before, so I can’t help there.”
The dokkaebi had sensed Emel’s energy too.
“My dad could probably do it, but he’s off in Seoul hunting that cat—too bad. Anyway, wait. Luckily, with the imoogi paw, you can tap into that energy.”
Finishing his spiel, the dokkaebi hopped down from the bridge and ducked into the withered tree.
Rustling sounds came from within, then he burst out.
In his hand was a broom made of broomcorn.
“I’ll push my energy in with this broom. Come here, mister.”
The dokkaebi called Byung-su over, broom in hand.
As Byung-su approached the withered tree, a white puppy trailed behind.
The dokkaebi swept dirt from the ground with the broom and sprinkled it on Byung-su.