Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 63

“I am not usually such a talkative woman. I hope you will keep that in mind.”

“Speak your mind.”

The Mountain Lord looked as if he had already given up.

He was sitting cross-legged in the detached house, and Geummyeong Jisu was sitting demurely nearby.

“Is this the Hermit’s scheme?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I don’t know what’s going on, but they say there’s only one room. What do you want me to do? It was Sawaolang’s Yooksa [a rank in a specific organization] who secured this room in the first place. Isn’t this the Immortal’s scheme?”

“Men and women are different! How could I have done such a thing! Please watch your words!”

Indeed.

Jisu and the Mountain Lord arrived in the village without incident. Sawaolang’s Yooksa, who had been waiting in the village, guided them, saying they had found a room. But it turned out there was only one room! It seemed they had received some instructions from Okseo.

The Mountain Lord frowned, plugging his ears with his fingers.

“If you are so uncomfortable, I will leave. Spending a night or two awake is not difficult for someone walking the path of Yooksin Tong [a cultivation technique]. Moreover, a true man cannot possibly force a woman outside.”

He wasn’t even human, but a divine beast, so how much more could he endure?

He could run for three days and nights without any problems. So there was no need to be so uncomfortable.

But perhaps she didn’t like that. Geummyeong Jisu’s eyes blazed.

“Are you saying, then, that my presence is uncomfortable for you?”

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

“Then what is it? Are you saying you’re leaving because I’m uncomfortable? That’s enough. I cannot allow the Hermit to make such a mistake. I will leave!”

Having said that, there was nothing more to say.

And frankly, he was hoping she would leave. As he remained silent, Geummyeong Jisu grabbed the doorknob and glanced back. Seeing the Mountain Lord still, her eyes sank deeply.

“On second thought, this is not proper etiquette. The Taoist is our clan’s Hermit, so it is right to serve him without any discomfort.”

Clack.

Geummyeong Jisu, having released the doorknob, strode over and spread out the bedding.

The Mountain Lord couldn’t show it and sighed deeply inside. She changed her words like a reed, making him feel nauseous.

‘Why is this woman doing this?’

His head was throbbing.

“I will go to the bathhouse to bathe, so call me if you need anything.”

Geummyeong Jisu grumbled and went outside after spreading the bedding.

Only then did the Mountain Lord feel relieved, but he didn’t mutter to himself.

She was a Yooksa of higher standing than the Mountain Lord. Her natural hearing was also exceptional, so anything he said would immediately reach her ears. But to cast a barrier seemed like a waste of spiritual power. It would be strange to cast a barrier just to mutter to himself, wouldn’t it?

He snorted and suppressed his anger when Hwaran spoke to him.

[Mountain Lord.]

[What?]

[I usually avoid appearing before others, but I think I must step forward this time.]

[Suddenly?]

It was sudden, indeed.

Hwaran, as she said, came out of the Mountain Lord’s body and manifested.

“Yes, at first, it seemed she was simply upset about being rejected, but upon closer observation, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s something to it. Anyway, I’ll take care of it, so just stay put and watch.”

Hwaran looked at the bedding Geummyeong Jisu had spread out and sneered before walking over it and getting into the covers.

“What are you doing?”

Women’s hearts are truly unknowable.

“Doesn’t the Mountain Lord understand?”

“Understand what?”

“Geummyeong Jisu said she would serve the Mountain Lord here. Yet, she only spread out one set of bedding. Doesn’t that mean she intends to share the same blanket and sleep together!”

The Mountain Lord’s mind seemed to freeze as he blinked his eyes.

“But why?”

He couldn’t understand how she came to that conclusion. It was beyond his comprehension.

Hwaran understood why, but then why would Geummyeong Jisu do that? Just thinking about it made his head spin.

Frankly, he didn’t want to think about it much. He just wanted to be alone because it was all too bothersome.

“Well. Women’s hearts are unknowable, even to other women. But what is certain is that the Mountain Lord’s chastity is in danger.”

The Mountain Lord was silent for a moment.

He had indulged her complaints, thinking she was upset about the rejection of the marriage proposal, but that wasn’t it?

The cause and effect didn’t match.

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“Then, what is this?”

Hwaran patted the blanket she had covered herself with and asked.

“No, well…. There’s only one blanket, or maybe she forgot.”

She might have forgotten her own blanket, being such an absent-minded woman.

But Hwaran shook her head firmly as if to say that was not the case at all.

“No. I’m sure I’m right, so just stay put. I may not know anything else, but my intuition is correct on this.”

“……Okay. But why are you interfering?”

Originally, Hwaran wanted the Mountain Lord to find a partner. That’s why she was so supportive when Choa appeared, even telling him to marry her. It was strange that she was now so concerned about the Mountain Lord’s chastity being in danger.

“Doesn’t the Mountain Lord have the Mountain Consort? Besides, you haven’t even had a formal wedding ceremony or consummated the marriage, yet you’re going to sleep with another woman! Of course, that’s unacceptable!”

It’s not considered a flaw for a capable man to have multiple wives.

That’s the common sense of this world.

However, the Mountain Lord hadn’t even properly consummated his marriage with his first wife.

If he were to engage in intimacy with another woman in the meantime, it would mess up the family tree, so she was stepping in.

He was confused.

The Mountain Lord rubbed his temples and got up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

“Going for a stroll.”

He felt like he needed to get some night air.

“I will accompany you.”

“Do as you please.”

The moon was thin, as if a goblin dog had taken a bite out of it.

But its subtle glow wasn’t unpleasant.

The crescent moon illuminated the night sky, and the night breeze harmonized, making his confused mind feel much better.

The Mountain Lord walked wherever his feet led him, and Hwaran silently followed in his footsteps.

“It’s quiet.”

Perhaps because it was winter, it was quiet without the sound of insects.

“It’s hard to know whether it’s quiet or deathly silent.”

The Mountain Lord quietly closed his eyes at Hwaran’s way of shattering the mood.

“Don’t you know?”

As she said.

The occasional scent of blood and the foul smell of burning filled the air. The stench of metal permeated the entire area, so it was obvious what had happened without even looking. The commoners were terrified, and the children were emaciated, as if they hadn’t had a drop of gruel.

“Even so, what does it have to do with me? It’s the business of commoners. There’s no reason to care. Am I supposed to save those who are oppressed and suffering? It’s all their fate, their destiny.”

It had nothing to do with him.

It was an event that arose because their interests did not align, and the commoners suffered as a result. But those commoners were not the Mountain Lord’s commoners, were they?

“What’s important to me is the Cheonsu Ilgigeop [a significant event or prophecy], not saving humans.”

It might have been different 100 years ago, but the current Mountain Lord was not naive. Whether a commoner who could barely live 100 years lived for 60 years or died after 20 years, they were just humans dying in an instant to him.

He felt sorry for the fading lives, but he didn’t want to control them.

“Do you want me to be human?”

“Of course not. I’m just….”

At that moment!

Dozens of footsteps headed towards the Mountain Lord. Hwaran closed her mouth, and the Mountain Lord narrowed his eyes.

After waiting for a moment, they revealed themselves, appearing to be soldiers wearing shabby armor.

“Who gave you permission to wander around the village in the middle of the night!”

About a dozen soldiers quickly surrounded the Mountain Lord and pointed their spears at him.

The spear blades were thick with the stench of blood.

The blades were very dull, and it seemed they had harmed many people with them.

“Captain, these guys aren’t from the village. The man is one thing, but the woman is pretty and has a beauty I’ve never seen in the village!”

Then the commoners brought a torch to Hwaran, revealing their yellow teeth and grinning.

“I was getting bored anyway, so isn’t this great!”

The soldiers’ eyes gleamed as they sent gazes filled with lust.

However, the man called the captain narrowed his eyes, silently looking at the Mountain Lord.

The Mountain Lord also frowned as he looked at the man, setting aside his strange appearance.

“He doesn’t seem human.”

As he muttered, the men who were pointing their spears flinched.

“We don’t need the man! Kill him!”

The soldiers’ spears thrust towards the Mountain Lord’s body and neck.

“How strange.”

The Mountain Lord’s eyes flashed red as he muttered. Soon, another pupil appeared, and he took a step forward.

Swish.

“Huh!”

“What!”

In an instant, the Mountain Lord’s figure vanished without a trace. The soldiers gasped and looked around.

The Mountain Lord had already arrived in front of the man called the captain.

It was a ghostly feat.

They had surrounded him in a circle, so when did he slip out?

“You…”

Just as he was about to say something.

The man moved first.

He immediately drew his sword from its scabbard and swung it.

It wasn’t a skill he had only tried once or twice.

The swordsmanship was sharp, and it was a path to instantly kill a person.

But the Mountain Lord sneered and flicked his finger at the flying sword.

Ting!

Thud!

With an ear-piercing noise, the sword that was flying towards him lost its target and flew towards a harmless tree, embedding itself in it.

“To see a guy like this here.”

“What is it?”

Hwaran, who had approached unnoticed, asked as if curious.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Ugh!”

As expected, the man whose sword had been cut in two rushed in.

His eyes were bloodshot, and blue veins stood out all over his body. If that was all, it would have been understandable.

But the man’s condition was strange.

Hair grew on his forearms, and black scales sprouted, changing his appearance!

“Captain! You can’t!”

“Not here!”

The men shouted something, but it seemed he couldn’t hear them.

The Mountain Lord dodged the man’s attacks by a hair’s breadth, marveling at it. The man, who had charged in like a bull, crashed into a tree.

It was quite fast, but at best, it was at the level of a divine creature.

Thud!

Crack!

The man slammed into the tree and, unable to contain his anger, uprooted it.

“Stop him! If we leave him like that, all the guys here will die today!”

“How can we stop the captain from becoming like that! If I try to stop him, I’ll be the first to die!”

They stamped their feet, but they didn’t seem to care about the captain’s safety.

The man swung the uprooted tree at the Mountain Lord.

Thud!

A sound of impact was heard.

The soldiers closed their eyes tightly, imagining the man who had been turned into mincemeat.

“Huh!”

But what do you know.

Next to the man, some green sand was blocking the tree.

“It’s not time yet.”

Why is a guy like this here?

The Mountain Lord, wondering about that, flicked his finger.

Then the green sand transformed into a giant hand shape and grabbed the man in one go.

“Ugh!”

The man had already lost his reason, or perhaps he was originally like that, as he struggled and screamed.

“Hwaran.”

“Yes.”

“We don’t need them, so kill them.”

With those words, the Mountain Lord handed over the Guhwando [a type of sword].

Hwaran held the Guhwando, its rings clanging. She looked at it as if she didn’t like it for a moment.

Soon, the screams of the men and the scent of plum blossoms mixed with the stench of blood and disappeared.

The Mountain Lord stared at the man wrapped in green sand and chanted a spell, and magical characters floated beside him and entered the man’s body.

The man struggled as if trying to resist, but it was only for a moment.

He instantly lost consciousness and slumped down, and only then did the Mountain Lord release him.

“This has become troublesome.”

It was his first time seeing it, so he was amazed, but it wasn’t a good sign. He wondered if it was a Hongahyeol [a person with a specific bloodline], but it was completely different. He couldn’t feel the unique energy of a Hongahyeol from this guy, nor could he feel even a shred of spiritual power.

It’s not a Hongahyeol.

But how does he have half the body of a divine beast?

“Please tell me now. What is this guy?”

“Hon-gwae (混怪) [a being of mixed origins].”

Hon-gwae?

It was something that even Hwaran, who had lived longer than the Mountain Lord, had never heard of.

“It’s one of the byproducts of the puppet shows that the Demonic Path bastards put on.”