Panting Pass 2
As they followed the group ascending the pass, Seo-ah kept scanning the surroundings. The handed-down tale was relatively positive—almost amusing, in a way—but viewed from a slight distance, it sent chills down the spine. It was bizarre enough that a corpse had floated in on the floodwaters during the rainy season while someone was fishing. And to wade into those raging waters out of pity to retrieve it? That was no small feat. A man with the grit to touch a half-rotten corpse when alone by himself was destined for great success, no matter what he pursued.
"If corpses are washing up here, it must be a path spirits tread. Paved smooth with asphalt like this—how could accidents not happen?"
"Oh ho, even the boss lady sees things like that?"
"That's what Grandmother would say, isn't it? I'm no spirit-seeing shaman; how am I supposed to know about that stuff."
"They say the blind shaman sometimes sees better than the real deal. A sharp-eyed regular person..."
"Quit talking nonsense."
Regrettably, nothing appeared in her sight—no humanoid shapes playing pranks. This was the difference between shamans here and necromancers like her. Her art pulled memories tied to the threads in this land and linked them to a body to reveal truths. Shamans, assuming gods existed, tried to manifest the unseen before people's eyes. So if you asked what a ghost really was, they couldn't answer. It wasn't visible to her, so what could she say?
"Didn't seem that high from below, but damn, it's quite the climb from up close."
"Yeah. No wonder they call it Panting Pass. Haa..."
They'd insisted on lugging cameras up just to film, but now her voice was turning into pained gasps instead of clear speech. Seo-ah, with her tireless body, had no such issue.
"Haa, haa, haa... hng... haa~"
"Why are you moaning like that? So lewd."
"Ugh... haa, it's tough—what can I do?"
"This won't do. Learn stamina before tackling another language. You're younger than me, and here you are huffing like this."
Ahead, an elderly person twice Hyeon-a's age strode up briskly, while she lagged behind, wheezing. Even she must have thought it looked bad. Sure, rural farmers had great stamina, but wasn't age the ultimate bully? Sure enough, the grandmother who reached the summit sweating narrowed her eyes seriously. She seemed to be talking to the village head about something. By the time they caught up, matching Hyeon-a's pace, it was about a legend: an old grand monk had performed some rite here long ago. He'd held sacrifices in this valley to keep the spirits from straying, but over a century later, it had weakened considerably.
"What, did you crawl all the way up?"
"I at least walked hard. My employee did crawl a bit."
"Aigoo, did you run into a ghost on the way? Why're you sweating like that?"
"...Something like that. A serious modern-person problem."
"Tsk tsk, what happened to the young lady."
Seeming to grasp what she meant, the grandmother eyed Hyeon-a up and down—her face flushed with embarrassment. Even accounting for the camera in her hands, her stamina looked sorely lacking.
"No point following anymore; you'll just be baggage. Don't catch a cold at night—sit under that shade over there."
No sense standing in the sun sweating buckets; she'd just end up with a cold or worse. Sure, there was a clinic if you walked ten times over, but their treatments were basic pills, shots, IVs—nothing fancy. And heading to a real hospital meant a long drive. Best to stay healthy and pain-free. No pride worth staking here.
"I'll rest a bit and come back."
"Yeah."
Hyeon-a meekly headed under the tree where village grandmas on a sightseeing outing sat. The other grandmothers smiled teasingly: aigoo, the young one's already—
"Is that your daughter?"
"Not quite—just an employee. She's filming to make money uploading videos."
"Those videos make money?"
"Beats me on the details. Probably enough to get by. Interested?"
"Maybe. Once my spirit power fades and I retire, might need something to kill time. Heh heh."
She had no worries about livelihood for life, so it was probably more boredom relief than real profit-chasing.
"Anyway, what do you think? See anything?"
"Eh. Nothing specific, but climbing the hill with this cool breeze against the weather—kinda nice."
"...Amazing. Can't see the obvious things wandering right in front."
"What's wandering?"
The threads crossing this pass were unusually thick and numerous, but none manifested physically before her eyes. If they did, it'd lean more toward a sorcerer's prank than ghosts, she thought, scanning around. The grandmother's disciples fidgeted, glancing about—clearly sensing or seeing something.
"Looks like we need a gut. The new paving messed up the old monk's underworld path."
"Can I watch the gut?"
"It'll take two days."
"Ah, then..."
"Watch the start and go, or whatever."
The grandmother approached the elderly village head and discussed it; he looked mildly surprised but nodded. Funding from village savings—some young folks' faces soured slightly. But what could they do? The elders, vaguely aware of the tales, nodded knowingly.
"No point dragging it out. Start tomorrow."
"Ayy, finally a big village gut after so long. Heh heh."
The head laughed heartily, thinking a big gathering and feast wouldn't hurt. He called out loudly to nearby residents, acting like it was no big deal. Lately, many retirees moved to the countryside; bad rumors could hurt that.
"Block the road below for two days—no cars."
"Yes."
This paved road led up to a new earthen dam by the reservoir, so vehicles rarely came anyway. Under the head's lead, preparations began. Grandmother and disciples bustled: prepping food for the rite, fetching a live piglet. The once-quiet village buzzed. It was a descent-of-god rite to summon the mountain spirit and inform it of the path change, purging all impurities. Outsiders like them watched from a distance.
"Filming's impurity, climbing the mountain's impurity—nothing to do."
"Still, nice to leisurely watch something rare you can't see just anywhere."
"Hmm..."
Villagers cleaned everywhere for the god's arrival. They scattered fresh flowers bought somewhere along the pass, lit incense at the top, and let the scent waft down repeatedly. All prep to guide the pass-guarding mountain spirit to the new path. With the pass so steep and mostly elders in the village, they just watched.
"And no rule saying you have to go that way up the mountain."
"Intriguing, but I'd rather not..."
"Why?"
"What if I ruin the whole ritual alone? A single gut costs thousands, right?"
More scared of compensation if it went wrong, Hyeon-a wanted to avoid clashing with the mood—just spectate. Wandering the mountains for a viewpoint in this weather sucked too.
"Young lady, come eat this with us."
"Yes, Grandmother!"
Now familiar with local grandmas through chats, she scored fresh jeon pancakes and side dishes they made. Not just any descent, but a deep-mountain spirit coming to eat and share—extra care meant guaranteed tasty.
"I'll head to the mountain quick."
"Alone, boss? Stay and eat."
"Gotta scout spots for tomorrow's view. Tell 'em nicely."
"Okay."
Pungent smoke rose from burning jeon; disciples, after basic prep, began impurity-purging for the altar area. They fetched a basin of clear groundwater, circled the sernang shrine, and chanted:
"All impure forces of heaven,"
"All impure forces of earth—"
⟨ Sernang, take them far, a thousand leagues swift! ⟩
They repeated to chase away stray ghosts crashing the party. Cleaner for a high spirit, the better—more satisfaction meant more blessings for the village. With few permanent shrines left, they used a makeshift stone tower, busy purifying around it. Seo-ah watched the process, then slipped toward a side path by the village.
"What? Scouting a far-view spot?"
The supervising grandmother had quietly detached and stood right behind her.