Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 146

The next day.

Hori arrived early in the morning and burst through the door.

“Why are you shirtless?”

“It’s more comfortable to sleep without it.”

“Really? Never mind that! Let’s go, Daeho, quickly!”

“Where are we going?”

“I heard everything from Hongyeon! You’re going on patrol with Hwaunbanhong [a mythical creature, likely a dragon or similar beast], aren’t you!”

“Does it have to be done first thing in the morning?”

“Of course! Hurry up and get Hwaunbanhong out!”

San-gun massaged his temples and went to Changchang to retrieve Hwaunbanhong.

He was still tethered by Tamhwa’s black Geumjangsa [a type of magical rope or binding].

San-gun waved his hand to release the Geumjangsa and climbed onto Hwaunbanhong.

He expected resistance, but surprisingly, the creature remained still.

“It seems you placed a separate Geumje [a magical seal or restraint] on him.”

“Yeah, Bokjwapae [likely a person’s name] is here.”

It was another item he hadn’t seen in a while.

“Can I have it?”

“It doesn’t matter. You said you wanted it, right?”

“You’ll give it to me if I want it?”

“There’s no reason not to.”

Hori said with a confident look.

“I’m not the black Hori who used to loiter around Geomut Mountain anymore! Now I’m the ninth seat of Siphaemancheok [a powerful organization or group], so just tell me if there’s anything you want!”

“Anything is possible?”

“Of course!”

Anything is possible.

San-gun’s eyes flashed with interest.

“I don’t really need anything else, but there’s one thing I’ve always wanted from you.”

“There was something like that?”

“I wanted it, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask.”

“Tell me. A guy who was thought to be dead has come back alive; what can’t I give you?”

Then San-gun grinned and said.

“Hongyeon.”

“Huh?”

“I want Hongyeon. Give her to me.”

“Huh? Hey, you! Hongyeon is not an object! What are you talking about!”

“Didn’t you say you could give me anything? I want Hongyeon.”

“No way! I can give you anything else, but I can’t give you Hongyeon! Just take me instead!”

“I don’t need you.”

San-gun said seriously, and Hori’s expression crumpled.

“Why don’t you want me! I’m Yeonggeop [a high-ranking title or status] too, and so is Hongyeon!”

“Your head is empty, isn’t it? A true gentleman seeks talent, so I don’t need you with your empty head.”

Hori seemed greatly shocked, slightly opening his mouth and losing focus in his eyes.

“Empty… empty…”

San-gun cleared his throat and looked apologetic.

“It was just a joke, don’t take it to heart. In the first place, even if I asked you for Hongyeon, she wouldn’t come to my side.”

Jeokroejurang [a type of spirit or servant] only serves the one they choose themselves as their master.

Even if you force them to serve as master, you can’t change their minds.

The Jeokroe tribe feels rewarded by dedicating their lives to serving their master.

“I, is that so?”

“That’s right.”

San-gun helped Hori onto Hwaunbanhong and sat next to him.

“Still, Blackie, even if your head is empty, your heart is full.”

“Hmm… I guess.”

Perhaps because he had achieved Talhyeong [a state of transformation or enlightenment] and had the appearance of a girl, it wasn’t completely full.

He didn’t know, but good is good, so Black Hori quickly forgot about it.

San-gun chuckled, put Bokjwapae in his arms, and began to slowly fly into the sky, controlling Hwaunbanhong. As Hwaunbanhong spewed red mist from its gills and slowly moved forward, it had its own charm.

“Isn’t it hot?”

“No, it’s nice and warm.”

San-gun was also in Talhyeong form, so they looked like a well-matched young boy and girl.

Of course, the boy had horns and wings.

The girl had fox ears and seven tails, but there was nothing wrong with that.

“That’s the plaza where Daeho fought your Bokchung [likely a person’s name or title] yesterday. And that’s…”

Hori pointed here and there, excitedly telling him about the place.

Who lives there, where they raise livestock that tastes good, and other trivial things.

But Hori was so excited that just listening to him made him feel excited.

“Over there! That’s also one of my favorite places. It’s a red lake called Jeokhongji (赤弘池) [Red Vast Lake].”

As Hori said, it was a bright red lake.

The water was so clear that you could see right through it, and red aquatic plants were planted all over the inside.

“I don’t know what it is, but they say that aquatic plant makes the lake red.”

“Hwabong (花澤) [Flower Marsh].”

“Hwabong? Now that I think about it, it looks like a flower. Hwabong… Hwabong. But how do you know that?”

“…I’ve traveled to many places.”

San-gun vaguely mumbled and avoided Hori’s eyes. He then took out a Kkompae [a type of smoking pipe or cigarette] from his arms and lit it.

“Hoo-”

Pure white smoke trailed and disappeared.

“Sniff, sniff, it smells like medicinal herbs.”

“Because I’m burning medicinal herbs.”

After drying various medicinal ingredients, he rolled them up and put them in as ingredients.

Since they are good for the body, the more you smoke them, the cleaner your blood becomes.

The scent was also fragrant and good.

“Not bad. Smells good.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes, it’s good.”

San-gun looked at the Red Sea with melancholic eyes, and Hori smiled happily.

By the time he had finished smoking one cigarette, he had circled around, leaving only the north.

The northern region was surrounded by walls made of various metals and soil.

It seemed to be done to block the fire of Manseongdogyeom [a powerful, malevolent fire or energy].

Even now, Guisu [a type of spirit or guardian] are taking turns monitoring this place, channeling their spiritual power and repairing the walls.

“The situation is not good.”

“We’re doing this now, but we don’t know when it will collapse, and the Guisu here are also slowly being poisoned, so it’s right to say it’s not good.”

It was eerie, as if looking at the hellfire burning fiercely.

San-gun stared at Dogyeom [the essence or manifestation of Manseongdogyeom] for a moment and asked Hori.

“What do you think of Siphaemancheok?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Siphaemancheok Guis see Dosas [Taoist priests or practitioners] as enemies and use humans as food. What do you think of that?”

It was a question he wanted to ask once.

Hori, who became the ninth king of Siphae.

He was curious about what he was thinking.

“Isn’t that the same for humans? They also look down on us as food or inferiors. They try to kill or subdue us as soon as they see us, so why would we be any different?”

“…That’s right. It wouldn’t be any different.”

The weight of being alive is all the same.

“But why are you asking that?”

“I just asked.”

San-gun pinched Hori’s cheek.

“Our Blackie has grown up. Well, you’re at least 4 or 500 years old, so you should be able to answer this easily.”

“Why are you pinching my cheek?”

“I’m just proud of you, so don’t mind it.”

“Really?”

“Really. Our Blackie has grown up so much that she can get married.”

As he said that and stroked his head, Hori’s cheeks turned particularly red.

It was unknown whether it was because of Hwaunbanhong’s red clouds or the sun rising in the mid-sky.

“W, what marriage.”

He nonchalantly brushed his hair behind his shoulder and fanned himself.

“Ah, now that I think about it, I heard that you can handle Manseongdogyeom. Is that true? It would be nice if you could…”

His eyes were filled with worry.

He was worried because the poison of Manseongdogyeom was no ordinary thing.

Because it was San-gun, not anyone else.

“I ate Chulyeongju [a mystical elixir or pill], so most poisons don’t work on me. Manseongdogyeom will still be dangerous… but I got a little resistance when it entered my body last time. I’ll need a little preparation, but nothing will happen that you need to worry about.”

“What does that mean?”

“In short, it means I won’t be dealing with the main body of Manseongdogyeom, so it’s okay.”

San-gun then took out a stone from his arms.

It was a part of Manseongdogyeom that Hwanmang [likely a person’s name] had extracted from San-gun’s body before.

With just this, he could track where he was, so it wouldn’t be difficult.

‘But before that, I need to build up more resistance to the poison.’

As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot, San-gun drove Hwaunbanhong towards the sea of fire and stood in the air.

Hwaunbanhong instinctively didn’t want to go, so there was no choice.

“You should stay away too. I think I’ll get scolded by Hongyeon if you get hurt.”

San-gun waved his hand to scatter Bongakcheonghwa [a type of magical energy or technique] and spread his fist.

Duryeonmahwa [a type of magical energy or technique] appeared and spun around, and a lotus flower unfolded, and from within it, Cheongbong [a type of magical energy or technique] soared like a flame and took shape.

Then, all the Guisu on the barrier were startled and looked at San-gun.

Even though the hot air was already intense thanks to Dogyeom, it became even more severe because of Cheongbong.

The Guisu then gathered, bowed their heads, and clasped their fists.

“Step back.”

“Yes, sir!!”

As San-gun made a hand seal, Cheongbong increased in size and jumped into the blazing sea of fire. Dogyeom and Cheongyeom [another type of magical fire or energy] mixed together, and a pillar of fire soared greatly.

Kwaaaaaaa!!

As fire and fire mixed and fluctuated, the Adam’s apples of the Guisu watching around rose and fell.

At that time, San-gun suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a small triangular hill.

Tahanan Yeosan [a magical mountain or object] spun around and changed to a size of hundreds of chapters, and was thrown into the middle of the sea of fire with a loud noise.

Kwaaaang!!

The sea of fire shook greatly.

Cheongbong seized the opportunity and circled around Tahanan Yeosan, luring Dogyeom.

A strange thing happened.

Suddenly, Dogyeom gathered around Tahanan Yeosan as if drawn to Cheongbong.

As if he knew it would happen, San-gun flicked his ten fingers and shot out magic letters.

Tahanan Yeosan shook greatly, and a rough explosion erupted once. Kwaang! Then volcanic ash erupted and lava soared like a flying dragon, jumping towards Dogyeom. Lumps of lava were scattered in all directions, attacking Dogyeom.

Not to be outdone, Bongakcheonghwa and Geumyeom [another type of magical fire or energy] flashed and were scattered in all directions.

As Cheongbong scattered flames, Dogyeom surged wildly like seawater.

‘It’s just a remnant…’

It wasn’t as easy as he thought.

400 years have passed since then, so Manseongdogyeom itself seems to have grown even stronger.

‘How strong has the main body become?’

He didn’t know.

He had to face the main body, but he was already worried about this.

Inevitably, he would have to slowly take the time to gain resistance to Dogyeom and catch him over a long period of time.

It was then.

San-gun threw a red stone and quickly changed his hand seal.

Then, around the red stone, ominous red flames, identical to Dogyeom, soared in all directions.

Dogyeom gathered like a flock of crows seeing food. It was as if they were being sucked in.

As he moved his lips, the sound of chanting Buddhist scriptures spread throughout the world, and the heat began to subside.

“Ooh!”

“Dogyeom is disappearing!”

And after a while.

Dogyeom did not exist in a place nearly two hundred chapters around the barrier.

The Guisu cheered as if a festival had been held, shouting for Gugui [likely a person’s name or title].

It seemed that they were cheering for Gugui because they didn’t know San-gun’s name yet.

“It’s too early to be happy. Manseongdogyeom is still alive and well, and I’ve only sealed a part of it.”

“But isn’t it amazing! Dogyeom itself seemed to have a will and wouldn’t go out, and it was difficult to seal. You did it so easily, so Daeho is Daeho after all!”

He shook his hand and 겸언 [a polite expression of humility], but Hori was very excited and praised him as amazing.

San-gun stared at the red stone where Dogyeom had gathered, threw it into the volcanic crater of Tahanan Yeosan, and stored Cheongbong and Tahanan Yeosan back into his body.

‘Unless Manseongdogyeom appears, it won’t be difficult if I do it slowly.’

He would have to collect Dogyeom little by little to build up resistance to the poison, and later he would have to catch Manseongdogyeom itself.

He is a guy with poison and fire strong enough to threaten Yeonggeop itself.

He had to capture him no matter what, as he would not only be able to increase the power of Bongakcheonghwa, but also take a step towards becoming immune to all poisons.

“I’m in a good mood, so I’ll give each of the guys here a jar of alcohol!!”

“Waaaaaa!!”

Hori was excited and scattering jars of alcohol to the Guisu.

“Are you that happy?”

“Of course! There are countless guys who have suffered because of this!”

He looked at Hori with a satisfied face and suddenly thought of Baek Mountain.

Baek Mountain was also his land, but he felt bad that he hadn’t taken care of it like Hori.

San-gun stared at Hori, who was laughing and playing with the Guisu for a long time, and missed Baek Mountain and returned to Hwasan.