Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 5

Tale of Nangseon – Episode 4

“You mustn’t abandon Choa, okay?”

He asked about the wild ginseng, and she suddenly hugged him. As if that weren’t enough, San-gun frowned, watching Choa whine about not being abandoned.

Perhaps seeing his displeased expression, Choa’s tears welled up, and her sobs grew louder.

‘Damn it…’

She bursts into tears at the slightest thing, making whatever affection he might have had dwindle away. But seeing Choa cry about the wild ginseng, he roughly understood what had happened.

[Did you lose the wild ginseng?]

He had only thought of it after leaving her behind, but there was no way a little kid could take care of herself just because he gave her wild ginseng.

Someone must have taken it from her.

“Gi, Kim Buja took the wild ginseng.”

[Kim Buja?]

San-gun nodded, listening to Choa’s tearful and stammering explanation of what had happened.

He had roughly expected something like this. Maybe even he would have secretly stolen it if he saw some kid wandering around selling wild ginseng.

The world is harsh, and people are too busy taking care of themselves. And the world is usually a place where the rich get richer.

[Come here.]

“Hic, yes?”

* * *

Kim Buja was smiling contentedly as he looked at the wild ginseng he had taken from the girl.

He got three free roots of precious wild ginseng, so he felt full even without eating, and he felt like he could listen to his wife’s nagging with a smile.

“Hehe, how beautiful it is.”

It is said that the older wild ginseng gets, the more it resembles a person, and after a thousand years, it gains spirituality and transforms into a human form.

Therefore, the more the wild ginseng root resembles a human, the older and more valuable it is.

“Chilsam said it’s at least three hundred years old, so with that money, I can leave this cramped place and go to Hanyang [historical name for Seoul]!”

At least three gold coins. If he waited longer, he could get up to five gold coins. With that money, it wouldn’t be a dream to start a trading company and build a large house in Hanyang.

“Hehehe, it’s a real treasure, a treasure.”

He was secretly uneasy about chasing away that ghostly little girl, but what could she do even if she held a grudge?

“She’s just a child anyway.”

Besides, that girl’s status is a slave.

If he just opened his mouth, Magistrate Baekji or his son wouldn’t stand still.

He shrugged and took out a smoking pipe, lighting it with a flint.

Sucking in the smoke, it was like paradise.

“Elder! Elder! Magistrate! B, big trouble! U, uwaaa!!”

Mal-ttong was making a fuss outside, being noisy.

Kim Buja, who had been in a good mood, narrowed his brows and picked up a switch [a thin, flexible stick used for corporal punishment].

“You rascal, I’ll get you!”

He hadn’t liked him from the start.

He was too stupid, irritating him with everything he did, so how could he look kindly on him?

Squeak.

Kim Buja’s steps stopped abruptly as he opened the door to scold Mal-ttong.

It was because Mal-ttong’s face was pale white, and his limbs were trembling.

“Why are you being so… Heeeik!!”

Kim Buja saw Mal-ttong crumpled in the yard and stepped outside, and what he saw was…

A yellowish-brown background with black stripes. Sharp fangs and red eyes. A tiger among tigers with a presence that would make anyone wet their pants.

The San-gun of Baekshan, whom he had only heard about, was standing there with fire in his eyes, full of vigor.

“Oh my goodness!”

“W, wife!”

Kim Buja’s wife, who had come out wondering what was going on, was startled and collapsed to the ground when she saw the tiger.

It was fortunate that she wasn’t pregnant; if she had been, she would have miscarried immediately.

The other slaves in the house also saw the San-gun and were surprised, collapsing to the floor. Some of them even wet themselves.

Kim Buja dropped the switch he was holding and trembled.

How could he not when the fiercest of beasts was growling as if to devour him, its eyes shining red? Those sharp claws and strong fangs were too frightening.

It was said that when you meet a tiger, you faint from its spirit, and that was exactly right.

He thought he was done for.

He still had so many things he wanted to do and achieve, but he was going to die so futilely.

To be eaten by a tiger, not even dying honorably.

Kim Buja’s eyes welled up with tears of injustice, lamenting that the heavens were heartless.

But then.

“Give me the wild ginseng!”

A child’s voice was heard from beside the San-gun.

Wondering what it was, he carefully raised his head while prostrating himself, and he saw a white-haired girl hanging from the San-gun’s neck, looking down at them with her chest puffed out, full of spirit.

‘That girl is…!’

It was the white-haired girl who had come earlier with the wild ginseng.

‘Could that be true!’

Did she really consummate their relationship and serve the San-gun as her husband!

Kim Buja’s face hardened, and he couldn’t do anything but prostrate himself with his head bowed.

A guilty conscience needs no accuser, so he instinctively hid.

But Choa was not easy to deal with.

“Over there! That man and that man pushed Choa and took the wild ginseng!”

Heeik!

Mal-ttong and Kim Buja’s faces turned pale, and they were sweating profusely.

They desperately wanted to run away, but strangely, their legs wouldn’t move. Even if they did move, they wouldn’t be faster than a tiger, so it would be futile.

‘I’m going to die!’

From a tiger attack!

It wasn’t for nothing that people called it “tiger plague” and feared it.

As Kim Buja directly experienced what he had only heard about, his past foolishness flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Who knew if the San-gun’s sacrifice had really become his bride? Not even a woodlouse knew.

And that’s not all.

He forcibly took the wild ginseng from the San-gun’s bride and tried to beat her with a stick, so he would have nothing to say even if he was torn to pieces.

[Where is the wild ginseng?]

Twitch!

‘The tiger spoke?’

Kim Buja’s face, who thought he was done for, lit up with hope.

‘It’s a divine being! A divine being!’

The San-gun of Baekshan. His fame had reached even the king, and he had become a divine being.

No wonder he had taken that little girl as his bride; he had a feeling that was the case.

Fortunately for Kim Buja, it was a stroke of luck.

It was said that even if you were bitten by a tiger, you could survive if you kept your wits about you! Kim Buja wracked his brain, which wasn’t working, and opened his mouth.

“C, congratulations on becoming a divine being!!”

[Shut up and bring the wild ginseng.]

“Y, yes… M, Mal-ttong! What are you doing! Why don’t you bring the wild ginseng to him!”

“A, I understand!!”

Thump!

Mal-ttong, stumbling and falling, hurriedly brought three roots of wild ginseng and politely handed them to Choa, who had come down from the San-gun’s head.

“Hehe, I found the wild ginseng, husband!”

The San-gun snorted at her innocent smile and hardened his face again, looking down at Kim Buja.

“S, San-gun! I have committed a crime worthy of death! This unworthy one did not recognize the San-gun’s bride…”

[Bride, my foot. Enough. It is clear that you took my wild ginseng. So, as punishment, I will take your wealth, so consider yourself lucky that I am not taking your life!]

Wealth!

Kim Buja’s face flushed at the thought of a mere tiger extorting his wealth.

“H, how can a divine being covet wealth like that…”

‘I heard that divine beings don’t kill people. Then the San-gun must be the same.’

He wouldn’t die even if he resisted a little.

How could he let his wealth, which he had worked so hard to accumulate, be taken away so futilely?

Thinking this, Kim Buja opened his mouth while constantly looking around, even as he groveled.

“E, even so…, if you take our wealth, the king will not stand still…”

[The king?]

“Yes, I may be in this remote area, but I was still someone who lived off the country’s stipend [regular payment or allowance]…, and this wealth is no different from the king’s…”

[Ah, so you’re saying that if I take it, the king will bring an army and kill me, or something like that?]

Ha!

The San-gun scoffed in disbelief.

He wondered if the contemptible old man, who had recognized him as a divine being and thought he wouldn’t kill him, was trying to be clever.

If he were an ordinary divine being, he would have been frightened by the mention of the king’s army, but the San-gun was originally human.

How much did he despise divine beings to spout such nonsense? The San-gun felt suffocated and speechless.

He felt sorry for the guy, but he couldn’t fall for such absurd nonsense.

[You believed in ridiculous words and tried to be clever. You’re talking nonsense because you’re sure that a divine being can’t kill people.]

“H, how could that be! This Kim Buja! I have not spoken a single lie to the San-gun of Baekshan! But… isn’t it true that divine beings cannot kill people…?”

Was he trying to confirm whether his lifeline was properly attached?

It was as if he could hear the fox-like old man’s brain working all the way over here.

[Divine beings don’t kill people? You believe such nonsense?]

“T, then does that mean you wouldn’t mind killing?”

[Living things inherently live by killing something else, which is the law of nature. It is perfectly natural for life to kill life. In the first place, to live, you have no choice but to kill something to live, so why do you think of humans differently!! It is only humans who differentiate between humans, animals, plants, and all living things!]

Living things inevitably live by killing living things.

It is not a sin but an instinct and a law. Even the weeds growing on the roadside are a life, and humans are a life, but it is only humans who think that their weight is different.

Humans are also just one life living on the earth. There is no difference.

Moreover, the difference between divine beasts and demonic beasts is purely judged by human standards.

If they don’t attack humans and are docile, they are divine beasts, and if they are violent and attack humans, they are demonic beasts, but how could it not be so?

It was an arrogant thought that the whole world revolved around humans.

[I was going to show you mercy and not take your life, but your three-inch tongue is taking your life away. The reason why divine beings don’t attack humans is because there’s no need to! What good would it do to kill the likes of you!]

“H, heeik!!”

[You will not die even if you die to me. Become my changgwi [a type of vengeful ghost] forever and live as a slave for the rest of your life!]

“Heeik!! I, I was wrong! P, please, o, o, only spare my life!!”

The San-gun roared and raised his front paw, trying to swing his sharp claws.

The bulging muscles swelled, and the yellowish-brown fur bristled. The San-gun’s red eyes shone with anger, and Kim Buja was on the verge of foaming at the mouth from the burst of murderous intent!

“Husband!”

Abruptly.

Choa blocked the San-gun’s path.

With her short arms wide open and a face that looked like she was about to cry.

[Ah, get out of the way! I’m going to cut that guy’s throat!]

“K, killing is bad! No!”

Choa firmly said no, clinging to the front paw that the San-gun was holding up and stopping him.

[Oh, I’m going to really!]

“Kyaa! A, a husband who hits his wife is a bad husband!”

[Who’s your husband, who! Oh, really… What sin did I commit!]

The San-gun took deep breaths and stomped on the ground! He swallowed his anger and looked at the man called Mal-ttong and ordered.

[Tell that guy to send the wealth he has to send to the top of Baekshan when he comes to his senses! If he leaves out even a grain, then there will be a complete disaster!]

“Heeik! H, how could there be!”

[Tch, damn it.]

“Ah! Let’s go together!”

[Get away! I don’t even want to see your face!]

“Hing……”

Even so, Choa followed the San-gun, slithering behind him.

Mal-ttong looked at the two of them with a face that said he had aged ten years, and sighed deeply as if the ground was sinking.

“The San-gun’s bride… then is she a… Sanbi (Mountain Consort) [a female deity or spirit associated with a mountain]……?”

He let out a hollow laugh at this absurd situation and collapsed to the ground in the yard.