Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Trust No One But Your Own Shadow (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Byung-su offered a cigarette.
"It's menthol, though..."
"What, menthol? Who the hell smokes that stuff? You got any regulars?"
The village head turned to Dong-jin.
"I don't smoke."
"Hey, brother, buy a pack at that shop over there."
The youth leader, unable to stand it any longer, chimed in, but the village head ignored him and held out his hand to Byung-su.
"Hand over whatever you've got."
The village head closed his eyes as he exhaled a long plume of smoke.
He seemed lost in thought.
Dong-jin, ever oblivious, ventured an opinion.
"Couldn't they just route the road around the tree?"
"The county office and construction company are already thinking of keeping the tree and rerouting the road. But me and the youth leader are trying to convince them to cut it down and build straight through."
"Why insist on chopping it down?"
Dong-jin asked, prompting the village head to furrow his brow.
"Why leave a source of disaster like that in the village? Think about it—no one knows for sure if the tree really hurt people, but people have gotten hurt and died. Some worship it as tree spirit work, others hate it. We can't keep it around."
He was overly agitated.
Byung-su nodded at the village head's firm stance, stood up, handed over the whole pack of cigarettes, and surveyed the village.
It was a small, quiet rural scene you could find anywhere.
But with no one coming or going, it felt somehow desolate.
"Village head, we're heading into the village to snap photos of the tree and interview folks. Where do we go to see it?"
"Just follow this road straight... You'll know it when you see it. I don't want people hating me for bringing reporters, so I'll stay put."
Byung-su noticed the village head's and youth leader's fingertips trembling badly.
* * *
"Ah, found it! This must be the tree."
Na-rae ran up and stood in front of it.
The tree stood tall in the middle of the halted construction road, its branches swaying in the eerie wind.
It wasn't your average everyday tree.
At a glance, it dominated the surroundings, and all sorts of food offerings were laid out around its base.
As the village head had said, the trunk and surrounding ground were reddish, as if someone had splashed blood.
Na-rae touched the stained earth, then pulled out a plastic bag and scooped up samples from several spots.
"Fresh blood. Animal blood, probably?"
Byung-su had no answer to Na-rae's question.
Dong-jin looked up at the tree and muttered.
"Does it really grow this big in thirty years?"
The massive trunk and towering height with lush branches made it hard to believe it was only thirty years old.
He looked awestruck by the tree's majesty.
"Team leader, people generally see trees as sacred and build shrines for them, right? Like the sacred pine trees. A tree that harms people? Hard to believe."
Na-rae cautiously asked Byung-su as she circled the tree.
No one else was around but their group, yet standing before the giant tree made her feel psychologically dwarfed.
Dong-jin and Na-rae's cowed behavior stemmed from the overwhelming pressure of nature's grandeur.
This pressure soon bred awe, turning into faith—and fear.
"Dark red sap, right? Dark red sap. If there's such a thing as a sacred tree, there can be evil ones too. It's only natural. We shouldn't assume trees are all good just because of the image."
Byung-su got a bad vibe from this tree.
"Long ago, there were cases of digging up graveyard trees at midnight, planting them, and feeding them human blood to grow them. Plus, this area's full of tree ghost stories. Locals know how to serve it and what to offer."
Unlike Dong-jin and Na-rae, he didn't lower his voice but spoke firmly, deliberately, as if addressing the tree itself.
"People who worship trees call them sacred, but tales of harm always follow... It can't be purely holy or good."
If it's sacred to one side, the other side sees only harm.
"Dudu-ri is just an evil god, an evil spirit. If it oozes dark red sap—not human blood, maybe, but this tree's definitely grown on blood. Isn't that right? Tree!"
Byung-su curled his lip in a smile—or was it a sneer?
The wind shook the branches violently, giving the illusion that the tree was wailing.
Byung-su had clearly sensed something from the tree and provoked it on purpose.
"You folks from Seoul? Reporters?"
A boy's voice came from behind, drawing the gazes of Byung-su's group away from the tree.
"My grandpa says the sun's setting soon—don't head back to Seoul late. Stay at our place and go tomorrow. That's why I came to ask."
The elementary school-aged boy had sparkling eyes and seemed quite clever.
"Kid, your grandpa's...?"
Na-rae asked with a smile, and the boy answered clearly.
"The youth leader. Not many young folks in the village, so he's been at it for thirty years. Funny, right?"
"Sure is. Funny. Team leader, sun's going down soon. Let's stay a day for reporting. Have some soju at night too. Hehe. Soju."
Na-rae, charmed by the boy's cheerful, friendly tone, begged Byung-su to stay the night.
"Yeah. Takes time to get here and back anyway. Let's report for two days—today and tomorrow. The tree can't talk, so photos only, then interviews in the village. What are you waiting for? Snap away!"
Na-rae and Dong-jin busily photographed the tree and surroundings.
The boy squatted beside Byung-su, watching them.
"Mister reporter, I'm a fan of KD Report's science and religion team. Loved the Jamsil sinkhole article. The Gwacheon pterodactyl too. That old Cheorwon werewolf piece was legendary. Total fan. How do you get those tips?"
The boy suddenly declared himself a fan, leaving Byung-su embarrassed as he patted the kid's head.
"It's the religion and science team. Thanks for being a fan."
As Na-rae finished shooting and turned, she spotted an old woman glaring at them from a few paces away, as if ready to devour them.
"Jong-sik, you! What are you doing here? Who are these people? Why are they photographing our tree and messing around? What do you think you're doing?"
The sharp-eyed old woman yelled sharply, grilling the boy.
"They're guests of Grandpa. Reporters from Seoul here to cover the tree."
"What reporters! No reporting! Get lost, you damned outsiders. Why do you keep coming?"
Na-rae flinched at the old woman's fury and glanced at Dong-jin.
Dong-jin stepped forward with a gentle tone.
"Ma'am, if we report on it, maybe the tree won't get cut down, and we can check the truth behind the bad stories tied to it. We'll do a good job."
He tried soothing her nicely, but her response was harsher.
"Shut up! I said no reporting, so no! Quit yapping and scram!"
As the old woman lunged with curses, the boy jumped up and tugged Byung-su's hand.
Dong-jin and Na-rae had to flee from the old woman too.
"Granny, why? It's not even your tree. Mister, hurry. I'll find someone you can interview. You can't just interview anyone here or you'll be in big trouble."
The old woman fumed and hurled curses as the boy pulled Byung-su along.
"Jong-sik, you brat! Just like your grandpa, bringing in outsiders for mischief—you'll die a miserable death! Lightning'll strike your green skull. You'll drop dead in your sleep!"
"No, granny, sudden death is a bit..."
Dong-jin turned to say something, thinking it too harsh for a child, but Na-rae stopped him, and they followed the boy.
"Senior, let's just go."
Once everyone was gone, the old woman approached the tree, stroked the trunk reverently, and said.
"That lightning-struck fool's gonna die. Daring to cut down our sacred spirit. Bringing outsiders to poke around, the wretch."
* * *
Guided by the boy, Byung-su's group interviewed willing villagers, then headed to the youth leader's house as night deepened.
The two-story home, newly built, seemed fine for a one-night stay.
"Just me and Jong-sik live here. He's my son's bloodline. I've got three rooms upstairs—make yourselves at home. Built it when living with my son and daughter-in-law, but they died, and now the house is too big."
The youth leader's voice grew wistful, so Byung-su gently probed.
"Your son and wife... accident?"
"Accident, yeah. But a real strange one. In-mok's mom was moving to Seoul, and on the way back from seeing her off at the station, their car plunged into the reservoir. In-mok—the prosecutor in Seoul—was friends with my boy."
"Prosecutor Kang In-mok?"
Na-rae nailed the name, startling the youth leader.
"Right, you know him?"
"Heard of him. Been curious since the village head mentioned it. Central District Prosecutors' Office, right?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"What was so weird about it?"
Byung-su asked, intrigued.
"Well, In-mok wouldn't come down to fetch his mom, so they shipped her stuff to Seoul. My son went to see her off at the station and... that's when it happened. We sorted the stuff at their house a few days later, but then both died in the accident."
Tears welled in the youth leader's eyes.
"But get this. When my son was going in and out of that house, he told me something."
"What?"
[Dad, there's something under In-mok's tree. People keep calling me. Kids too.]
"Should've stopped him from going near when he started saying weird stuff. Aigoo."
At the mention of the tree talking, Byung-su asked.
"Did he touch the tree?"
"While tidying the yard, he hit the base with a shovel, I guess. Said the tree felt ominous, needed chopping and digging up. Said blood came from it... Insisted on checking by digging. I told him it was In-mok's tree, talk to In-mok. He did tell In-mok about it."
"Decided to cut it?"
"In-mok said handle it however, but the next day, my son and wife died in the crash."
Dong-jin's mind was a whirl of confusion.
'Does he think the tree caused his son and wife's deaths, so he wants the innocent tree gone?'
As Dong-jin pondered, the boy recounted the day's events to the youth leader.
"The ginkgo house granny said I'd die since I was guiding the reporters. Said that stupid tree curses me with sudden death."
"What? Sudden death? In-mok's mom said that to my precious grandson? That damned hag—I'll give her hell tomorrow. Jong-sik, you go to bed."
After sending his grandson to his room, Dong-jin and Na-rae headed upstairs to their rooms.
Only the youth leader and Byung-su sat at a simple soju setup in the living room, tilting glasses and talking.
Na-rae wanted to join but pouted at Byung-su's gesture to go upstairs and headed up.