Spirit Hunt (5)
Saryeon racked her brains and came to the firm conclusion that No Jinha definitely didn't know for sure.
First off, it was suspicious that he'd come not just once, but multiple times. And second, he'd spent the whole night noisily scouring the Mukrim.
If he'd seen me fleeing with Taeyanghu, he would've focused his search there.
'At least that's a relief.'
She'd cursed Maogong inwardly for a good while since her internal energy hadn't grown from Taeyanghu's inner core, but in the end, it had led to a positive outcome. Even if they checked her internal energy, there'd be no sign of any increase.
And there were no obvious external changes either…
"But did you really eat a spirit's inner core? Your skin looks insanely clear…"
"Hey, my skin's always been good."
"Lies again… Ah, no! I mean, it kinda… sparkles now. Even your hair seems to have this weird glow…"
Maogong, you bastard.
"…………How am I supposed to catch something that hundreds of instructors and academy students couldn't, all by myself?"
"True… There's no way big senior brother could hunt a Mukrim spirit alone."
"……"
What? Is she throwing shade?
Pushing aside the nagging doubt, Sowoon moved on with Saryeon.
When they reached the spot where they'd camped, everyone was already up. But why did they all look so grim?
"No Jinha came by."
"Yeah?"
"And…"
Eunho hesitated mid-sentence, glancing at Yang Japyeong, who let out a small sigh.
"Instructor No seems convinced that Representative Jin went off to hunt a spirit."
How the hell did the conversation go that way?
"Actually, I…"
"I'll explain."
"……"
Cutting off Yang Japyeong, Eunho stepped forward again.
"He grabbed at the excuse that we weren't managing the academy students properly without you there, so I ended up telling him. That you can read spirit veins."
No Jinha had tried to pressure Namgwonmun over poor student management, and fed up, Eunho had jumped in to defend him—and spilled the beans. Hearing that, No Jinha must've become convinced Sowoon had gone for the killing blow on the spirit using his spirit vein reading ability.
"Got it. Okay."
"……Is that all?"
Both Eunho and Yang Japyeong tilted their heads in confusion.
They built it up like it was some big deal.
"Just because I can read spirit veins doesn't mean I can hunt spirits. And even if I could, how would they prove it?"
Sure, No Jinha and the other instructors might pressure him a bit, but so what? Once you eat the chicken and burn the feathers, even the king can't touch you without evidence. What could they do?
"Is breakfast ready? I'm starving."
He was ravenous after tussling with Maogong all night.
#
Even after morning came, their group continued exploring the Magyeong without incident. Going to them first would just pile on the suspicion.
But as the sun climbed to midday and eventually set, No Jinha still didn't show.
'What's going on? I figured he'd come charging after us with bloodshot eyes.'
Instead, the Mukrim forest started rumbling again—from midday until sunset. Even after dark, the noises and explosions kept going.
"Are they still hunting spirits?"
"Yeah, big senior brother made such a fuss saying you'd already gotten it, but looks like they found another one after all."
Geum Pyo and Eunho chatted while eyeing the direction of the latest boom. Sowoon could only tilt his head.
'Maogong was definitely being chased by academy students.'
Otherwise, it wouldn't have been caught so easily. Or had they found another spirit?
He turned to Yang Japyeong, who was silently boiling porridge nearby.
"These spirits. Have they always been in the Mukrim?"
"What do you mean? Of course they've been here from the start."
Yang Japyeong explained that the spirits and Mukrim were inseparable.
"Hmm… Then, what happens if a spirit gets hunted?"
"The Mukrim is cut off from the world, operating by its own laws and moving on its own. So if a spirit goes missing, another one fills its place—or so I've heard."
"……"
A question arises.
Did that mean the Mukrim sensed its own deficiencies and filled them? Like a person would?
Sensing his silence as curiosity, Yang Japyeong continued.
"Even if you scoop a ladle of water from a small pond, that spot doesn't just vanish into a gaping hole, right?"
He gestured to the forest.
"When you cut down a tree, a new one grows in its place, basking in sun and nutrients. That's the way of nature. The Mukrim just makes this principle more pronounced, which is why it's seen as a divine land."
His explanation made it start to click.
"These four great spirits. How long have they been in the Mukrim?"
"As I said, the four great spirits have always…"
"No. Taeyanghu, Cheongseolbingbaeksa, Man nyeonto-ung, Geumgapbungjo. These four specifically. Have they been here for hundreds of years?"
"……"
Yang Japyeong hesitated for the first time.
"……Man nyeonto-ung and Cheongseolbingbaeksa have existed since at least a full cycle of the Heavenly Stems ago."
"Hmm, so not Taeyanghu and Geumgapbungjo."
"……Why do you ask?"
"What happened to the previous spirits in those positions?"
"……We don't know. Spirits maintain the Mukrim's balance until their energy runs out, then meet their end on their own."
That seems too artificial.
"Then… do you know when spirits were first discovered?"
"About two hundred years ago. One of our Namgwonmun ancestors first found Bullyang Manjo."
"Around when the Mukrim was designated forbidden."
"……Even before that, its dangers were always emphasized. But why? Is something wrong?"
Sowoon shook his head lightly at Yang Japyeong and smiled.
"No. The Mukrim's just so fascinating."
"Isn't it?"
"Yeah."
The Mukrim spirits differed from Central Plains spirit beasts. Now it made sense why Taeyanghu's inner core was only the size of a mung bean—it hadn't even lived sixty years as a spirit.
No one had ever hunted one, so no one had tasted an inner core, and thus few knew of their special effects.
Sowoon raised another question.
"By any chance… have you ever found a spirit corpse that met its end naturally?"
Yang Japyeong shook his head as if exasperated.
"You're relentless. Trying to figure out if they have inner cores, right?"
Not exactly what I wanted, but it'd be nice to know.
"Yes."
He sighed but explained in detail.
"No. When a spirit's time comes, it hides in a secret tomb deep in the Mukrim. No one's from Namgwonmun or elsewhere ever been there—it's unknown territory."
Sowoon nodded as if amazed.
"Truly mysterious."
"That's the Mukrim for you."
Yang Japyeong shrugged his broad shoulders.
But while he did, one hypothesis refused to leave Sowoon's mind.
'It fits too perfectly.'
The ban on the Mukrim. Spirits appearing and vanishing quickly. Even no corpses found.
'Suspiciously perfect.'
It could be coincidence, but Sowoon couldn't dismiss it. A monkey had straight-up said "Cheonma"—and this was coincidence?
Some kind of demon god revelation?
There was zero info on the Mukrim in Mantongbu, or even Simhyeongak. The Murim Alliance had long ago banned it and washed their hands.
He'd have to dig through Haomen for this. Truths like these hid in scattered rumors.
As that thought crossed his mind—
Tadadadak.
The sound of someone rushing over.
A group crashing through the underbrush.
'What the?'
Then their voices.
"Th-there…! Over there! Smoke's coming from there!"
"Let's go!"
They'd been crossing the forest but veered sharply off course, yelling again far away.
"Damn it…! This isn't it! It's over there, over there!"
"Move! I'll find the way!"
"This goddamn forest!! Fucking forest!"
The cursing voices grew close again, then abruptly swerved right and faded.
"Shit! Not here either!"
"Crazy, someone do something!"
……What the hell are you idiots doing?
With no choice, Sowoon headed their way. Passing a couple natural formations, he spotted them—academy students drenched in sweat from head to toe.
"Wh-who? J-Jin… Representative Jin!"
"Jin Sowoon! Why are you here?"
"No way… you lost your way too?"
What are you on about?
Sowoon didn't bother hiding his disbelief.
"Weren't you chasing smoke? What gave you the balls to wander off without a guide?"
"No way… that smoke was yours? Then this is…?"
"Yeah. The Magyeong."
"……We weren't trying to come this far."
The six were the ones who'd been with their instructors and external guides. They'd ditched them to run off alone.
"……We got lost."
"How?"
"Chasing a spirit…"
"Shh!"
One student clamped a hand over the blabbermouth's mouth.
"Hmm…"
Recalling No Jinha's three visits last night, Sowoon asked.
"Didn't they say the spirit got away?"
"……"
"……"
They exchanged glances like it was some big secret, hesitating.
Come on, we've seen right through you. Hiding now is pointless.
"Guess you don't need my help. See you after the expedition then."
As he waved and turned without hesitation, they panicked.
"W-wait! Take us to where the guides are… We'll tell you everything!"
"Dude! If we tell, the instructors will…!"
Tsk, still clueless.
"Nah, not that curious. Oh, and watch out—lots of magi beasts in the Magyeong."
As he slipped into the natural formation, a desperate cry came from behind.
"W-we'll talk! We'll talk!!!"
Sowoon poked his head out from the formation.
"Eek!"
They recoiled like they'd seen a ghost, tears and snot streaming.
"J-Jin So…"
"Representative!"
"……"
Even in a pinch, get the title right.
He shrugged, and they scowled.
"O-okay, Representative! Great Representative…! We'll spill everything, just take us!"
He'd planned to take them anyway. Couldn't let them die here, instructors or not.
Not because of the 'great' bit. Nope.
"Alright, spill. What is it?"
But their story exceeded expectations.
"A-another spirit appeared."
"Another one?"
"Yeah…! The guide said it looked like Man nyeonto-ung."
"Ho, really?"
Good deeds do get rewarded. Totally planned to take 'em from the start.
#
"……Do we really need to go find them? We can just wait at the outpost."
Yang Japyeong voiced his concern negatively, but…
"They ditched their own students to chase after it. What if other stragglers fell behind? If they wander the Magyeong and something happens?"
"……Is that really your goal?"
"Ahem…"
Yang Japyeong's suspicious gaze didn't waver.
Why can't this guy trust people?
Sowoon poured out his passion, more than anyone for the students' sake.
"We don't have time for this…! We might not save To-ung!"
"……Did you just say To-ung?"
"Ahem…! There's a student nicknamed To-ung. Very special to me."
"……Jeongdohoe?"
"Yes."
Sighing, Yang Japyeong finally nodded.
"Fine. Wandering the Mukrim without guides is too dangerous anyway."
They turned toward the instructors' position—the source of last night's explosions. As expected, they encountered more stragglers.
"S-save us!"
"We're saved!"
"W-water! Anyone got water?!"
But these students were in worse shape than the previous group. More wounds, clear signs of exhaustion.
One gulped down water, panting as he answered.
"Th-the spirit attacked midway."
"Attacked?"
"Totally different from when they caught Taeyanghu…! Felt like it was used to killing. We barely escaped."
"……"
They gathered the stragglers and moved on. At the battle site from last night, the scene was even more gruesome.
The first dead body.
Sowoon turned back and asked for details.
"What happened?"
"Th-the spirit… the spirit's furious…"
A student mumbling deliriously.
Beside the corpse,
"U-ugh…!"
The guide in hunter garb clutched his head, bowed low.
"……C-curse of the spirit! It's the spirit's curse!"
The hunter seemed even more unhinged than the student.
Sowoon glanced at Yang Japyeong, who sighed softly.
"……A rumor from the Mukrim. When spirits enrage…"
He inhaled sharply, eyes flashing.
"All life in the Mukrim meets death…"
For now, they tended the wounded. Couldn't move yet.
Then Sowoon approached the corpse.
As he reached to examine the wounds—
"……!"
Drdrdrdr.
The Azure Dragon Ring on his left hand began to vibrate faintly.