Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Evil Ghost Baek Dong-su (12)
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Baekho hurriedly slapped a talisman for repelling evil spirits onto the window and spoke to Kotul.
“Listen up now. Somethin’s comin’, and there’s a heap of ’em. Tell your boys downstairs to take cover. You stay right here in this room.”
Ignoring Baekho’s warning, Kotul turned to Manager Kim.
“If somethin’s comin’, we can’t pull the boys out. Gotta call in more. Hey! Manager Kim, round up more guys!”
“Yes, boss.”
Manager Kim took Kotul’s order and dialed somewhere.
Listening to their exchange, Baekho clicked his tongue.
“Heh heh, won’t listen. Tsk tsk.”
Kotul’s crew couldn’t see the spirits swarming below the building, so they had no clue how bad things were.
[Stupid humans.]
Yi-hwa sent Baekho a telepathic message as she slipped out the door.
Without even opening it, Yi-hwa passed right through, and her voice echoed from outside.
[Baekho, that fool’s just gonna pile up more bodies for no reason. I’ll hold them off out here, so you guard the inside.]
* * *
“Oppa! Mi-hee unnie said you headed out this morning—what’s going on?”
Da-hee, who’d been with Byung-su, picked up the phone.
Her brother Baekho’s voice wasn’t its usual cheer; it sounded rushed, like trouble was brewing.
“Da-hee, I’m in a real fix.”
“What happened? Take it slow, oppa.”
“Got a rush job today to chase off a won-gwi. But this ain’t just some soul-soothing ritual. This dump’s headed for multiple funerals. Need your help.”
“Where are you?”
“Gangnam, Yeoksam-dong.”
“Yeoksam? Hmm, text me the address—I’ll come right over. I’m already in Gangnam with Reporter Kim Byung-su. Won’t take long to get to Yeoksam. Don’t worry.”
Na-rae had seen Seol-mi get dragged off by those thugs and called Il-han, then Dong-jin too.
Il-han had relayed that Seol-mi was in the Gangnam hospital ER, so by the time Baekho rang, Da-hee, Dong-jin, and Byung-su had already arrived there.
“Da-hee! Every second counts—hurry it up. Forgot my talismans when I rushed out.”
* * *
Yi-hwa stepped out of Kotul’s office, and her eyes took in the corridor packed with chuk-gwi and jibakryeong.
At least it looked like no one else had been hurt yet.
Five of Kotul’s underlings lay sprawled on the floor, but they just seemed knocked out—no wounds.
With Kotul as the target, they hadn’t gone after anyone else... but who knew how long that’d last.
Yi-hwa yanked out her silver hairpin, shaping it into a gleaming sword. She held it diagonally before her chest and blocked the spirits’ path, bellowing.
“Where’d you mongrels crawl from, swarming like this? Back off, or I’ll burn you all to ash and force you into nirvana!”
Yi-hwa’s clear shout—no telepathy needed—carried into the office for Kotul’s crew to hear.
Even with her roar, three chuk-gwi in the shapes of dogs and snakes lunged forward.
She booted the dog-shaped one on her right with her right foot and crushed the snake-shaped one on her left under her left heel.
The dog-shaped chuk-gwi diving for her chest while she pinned the others got sliced clean in half by her silver sword.
“Think numbers’ll save you? You’ll end up like that—now scram!”
Overawed by Yi-hwa’s presence, the jibakryeong hesitated and fell back, but the chuk-gwi didn’t care—they charged on.
Chuk-gwi were stubborn and single-minded; retreat wasn’t in them.
Those cut by Yi-hwa’s silver sword or kicked away turned to ash or tumbled across the floor, but more poured up the stairs.
It was like the stairs from the first floor to the tenth were overflowing; the chuk-gwi filled the corridor faster than she could cut them down.
White smoke—her spiritual energy leaking—rose from Yi-hwa’s majestic form.
[Baekho, too many... won’t hold much longer. Hard to buy this mess from a freshly dead won-gwi... but it fits.]
[Da-hee and Reporter Kim Byung-su’ll be here soon. Just hang on a bit.]
Baekho replied to Yi-hwa’s telepathy.
He wanted to check on her outside, but the snake-shaped chuk-gwi clinging to the window held him back.
Step away, and it’d smash through for sure and go after Kotul.
Kotul’s crew had gone white as sheets from Yi-hwa’s shouts and the chuk-gwi’s shrieks outside.
* * *
Baekho pulled the half-broken trident shaft, rattle, and fan from his bag.
He jammed the shaft into Kotul’s fancy sofa and eyed the boss’s bulging stare.
“Hand over your jacket and cash—show some sincerity, quick!”
At his barked order, Kotul shrugged off his suit jacket and fished a few fifty-thousand-won bills from his wallet.
“What’s this—such poor devotion?”
Baekho snatched Kotul’s wallet and emptied it of all cash and checks.
He glared at Manager Kim and Woo-song next; they surrendered their wallets without a peep.
Baekho draped Kotul’s jacket over the trident and set the money at its base as an offering.
He gripped the rattle in one hand, the fan in the other.
Long, colorful cloths—over a meter each—trailed from both, making a flashy display.
These were his ritual tools: to soothe lost souls and drive off wicked ghosts.
Swinging rattle and fan, he danced with flair. The snake-shaped chuk-gwi plastered to the window writhed, mouth agape in agony.
“You pests! Think you can slither in? Begone!”
At his yell, two small snakes twisted free and dropped to the floor.
The two big python-shapes opened their jaws in torment, bodies coiling wildly.
“Still holdin’ out, eh? Let’s see how long.”
Baekho muttered under his breath and danced on.
* * *
“Oppa Baekho’s in danger chasing a won-gwi in Yeoksam-dong. I gotta go now. Reporter ajusshi, come with and help out.”
Da-hee, after Baekho’s call, roped in Byung-su.
Byung-su nodded like it was obvious.
Da-hee might be a whiz at talisman exorcism, but she was still just a kid—no way he’d let her go solo into danger.
At the mention of “won-gwi” in Da-hee’s tale, Na-rae’s ears perked right up. She declared she was coming too.
Purely for the scoop, of course.
“I’ll tag along. Place is crawling with gangsters—scares me to stay. Team leader and sunbae aren’t covering anything lately, so I gotta chase this won-gwi. Article gold!”
She wasn’t wrong: Gangnam Hospital had Ma-gwi’s funeral parlor set up, swarming with his crew, and Kotul’s faction in the ER made the vibe downright nasty.
“If Eun reporter’s going, I should too. Safer sticking with the team leader and Da-hee.”
Dong-jin chimed in to join.
Made perfect sense all around.
“Right, let’s move.”
Just a few blocks to Yeoksam—ten minutes tops.
En route, Da-hee filled the group in on Baekho’s story.
Byung-su grew uneasy listening.
‘Baekho-nim’s got real divine power, and a mere won-gwi’s got him cornered? Weird. Better hustle and check it out.’
Da-hee punched the address into the nav and, nearing it, sensed the evil auras roiling.
She could read the spirits’ exact state and warned Na-rae.
“That spirit from reporter unnie’s house is here. But way stronger now. Whoa! Insane! Ballooned this much in days—swallow a spirit orb or what?”
“I’m not unnie. Spirit orb? Like Dragon Ball?”
“Hee hee, kidding. Unnie.”
With Byung-su there—packing demon arms—Da-hee seemed less stressed.
The target sat in a narrow alley linking Yeoksam’s food street to the main drag.
“That’s it.”
The building Da-hee pointed out oozed aura even Na-rae could feel.
Basement lounge bar, offices above; only the tenth floor was lit.
Dong-jin saw nothing, but Byung-su and Da-hee spotted chuk-gwi scaling the walls and cramming the stairs.
A bit off, a sharply dressed man stood watching.
Na-rae clutched the fan from the dokkaebi elder tight; Emel’s power surged through her, letting her see it all clear.
“Holy crap, jackpot!”
“That guy’s the spirit who broke into Eun reporter unnie’s place.”
Da-hee told Byung-su. Dong-jin craned his neck, dying to spot it.
“Where? I don’t see... Somethin’ over there?”
“Oops, sorry. Probably better you don’t. It’s a wriggling nightmare—nothin’ worth seein’.”
“Nah, gotta see it to dodge it.”
Unlike Dong-jin, Na-rae clocked Dong-su right where Da-hee pointed and nodded.
“Yep, matches the photo spot-on.”
Da-hee pricked her right index fingertip for blood and drew a sealing talisman on a water bottle.
“Park reporter, Eun reporter—stay in the car for now. We’ll be right back.”
Byung-su said to Na-rae as he stepped out.
Out of the car, Byung-su slipped on the leather glove Da-hee had talisman’d for his right hand.
Thanks to the dokkaebi elder, the seal didn’t faze him a bit.
Da-hee hopped out after him.
The jibakryeong and animal spirits clustered at the building’s base turned toward them.
* * *
Smoke kept billowing from Yi-hwa’s body.
Bite marks from the chuk-gwi spots where spiritual energy burned away instead of blood, puffing white vapor.
Seeing the smoke, the jibakryeong that had backed off started pressing forward again.
Four cat-shaped animal spirits rushed her at once.
Aura-boosted to dog-sized cat spirits swarmed; Yi-hwa panicked and retreated.
They pursued, clawing her all over as she fell back.
Unlike bites or rams, cat claws were a nightmare to counter.
Her gashes tore open, white smoke pouring out.
Yi-hwa slashed the lead clawing cat spirit with her silver sword.
The bisected body ignited, crumbling to ash on the floor.
Yi-hwa’s silver sword—Baekho’s divine relic from a hundred days of prayer—was killer against evil ghosts.
Her ferocity gave the three remaining cat spirits pause.
Yi-hwa stepped up and swept horizontally fast; two cat spirits burst into flame and ashed.
As their remains scattered the corridor, fresh chuk-gwi rushed in to fill the gaps.
Yi-hwa slammed her silver sword down; the floor split, flames erupting to engulf the chuk-gwi.
They scattered from the blaze.
Finally breathing, Yi-hwa telepathed Baekho.
[Baekho, why’re cat and dog spirits so thick around here?]
[Pets folks dump—they die. Sounds like backup outside; hold tight.]
[Gotta. Or I’m the one nirvana-bound.]
Yi-hwa seized the flame gap the spirits dodged, reset her stance, and advanced.
She gripped the silver sword two-handed, thrusting it straight ahead at the jibakryeong lurking behind the chuk-gwi.
“What’s got you lot mobbin’ like this? Back off now!”
One jittery jibakryeong shuffled forward at her command.
“We ain’t here by choice—threatened into it. Chuk-gwi do whatever they’re told, sure. But us? They said drag that man from the room scared-like, or burn us out.”
Flesh-dead spirits felt pain and fear just like in life—pitiful things, really.