Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 73

Nangseon Gi Hwan Dam – 72

“Are you really going to let those bastards go!”

One of the elders of Gungbiho shouted. The others seemed to feel the same, but no one dared to look at the Great Elder.

“Then what should we do? The woman is the daughter of Sawolrang, and the man is Sawolrang’s hermit. Moreover, he is threatening to expose our grand scheme.”

“Ha, but….”

“They may have destroyed one of the Giropongs [peaks] of the Howiikjan, but this place was created in the first place, so we can rebuild it. We can naturally expect compensation from Sawolrang, and that’s all. It’s best to abandon unnecessary greed. What can we not endure if we can achieve our grand scheme?”

When he said that in a calm voice, the others closed their mouths as if they had swallowed honey. Why wouldn’t they understand?

They were just dumbfounded and angry.

They brought them as guests, but they fought among themselves and destroyed one of the 24 peaks.

It was unprecedented, something that had never been heard of or seen since Howiikjan was created.

“Do we have to suffer like this from just one guy? He’s just a Yeonggyeol [a cultivation stage]….”

That’s also true.

All the elders here are Yeongmyeong [a higher cultivation stage].

Moreover, the Great Elder Yoho is Yeonggeop Yuksa [an even higher cultivation stage].

It was frustrating that they were being threatened by a mere Yeonggyeol and couldn’t even speak up.

“Unnecessary gambling is a luxury when we’re about to achieve our grand scheme. Besides….”

The Great Elder’s expression changed in an instant as he trailed off.

“We won’t let them go quietly.”

The Great Elder took out a palm-sized crystal from his chest. Inside, a tiny bug was curled up. Everyone’s eyes widened as they looked at it, and they slapped their knees.

“That’s right! That’s it! Shouldn’t we teach him a lesson!”

“That’s right! What could he possibly know about Jangchungjitae [a type of cultivation technique]! If he cultivates without knowing, the hidden bug will twist his blood and ruin his inner core. It’s a fitting punishment.”

“Isn’t Jangchungjitae originally a weak bug? But how does it show such efficacy?”

“Hehe, Elder Yeogong doesn’t know. Jangchungjitae is originally a weak bug, but the one the Great Elder is holding is a specially treated poisonous bug. So he won’t suspect it!”

The elders were lively, but some frowned.

“Are you sure it’s okay? He was a tiger like us and had horns.”

He was Elder Yang Jangji, who had brought the San-gun party here.

When he opened his mouth, the atmosphere sank as if nothing had happened.

They also saw it.

The two horns that sprouted on the head of the tiger who was rampaging like a madman.

“Even so, he is not a Gungbiho [a specific clan of winged tigers]. Is there any need to worry about that?”

As another elder cautiously spoke, the Great Elder closed his eyes tightly.

“Even if the founder of Howiikjan had two horns…. What does it matter now? Even if we don’t have horns, we still have wings.”

The founder of Howiikjan.

He is recorded as a tiger with two horns and two pairs of wings. He created Howiikjan and later ascended to become a divine beast, the idol of Gungbiho.

However, as time passed and generations changed, the blood became thinner.

The two pairs of wings turned into one pair, and the horns on the head gradually decreased until they disappeared altogether.

They are living well even without horns and a pair of wings, but greed is like that. You might not care if you never had it, but if you had it and lost it, you become greedy.

“Even so… if we accept him as a member of the clan and mix new blood, horns might grow. We tried to find a horned tiger before, but we couldn’t find one, so it fizzled out….”

“Hey! How can you say that after seeing what he’s doing? That guy is a madman! Who knows where he crawled out from, but to mix blood with the clan! That’s outrageous!”

The Great Elder Yoho stroked the crystal in his hand and took a deep breath.

Gungbiho, who lost their horns and a pair of wings.

A declining clan.

And a horned tiger appeared.

The Great Elder’s worries deepened.

* * *

A dark solitary cell with no light.

San-gun was resting his chin there.

It was quite unsightly to see him lying down in the form of a tiger, pouting his lips.

“Damn it….”

There wasn’t a place on his body that didn’t hurt.

He was hit so hard that his bones ached and throbbed. But on the other hand, a chuckle escaped him.

“I’m hurting this much, that woman must be on the verge of death.”

Thinking about Geummyeong Jisu groaning made him feel relieved.

Still, he had some reason left, so neither of them used treasures, which was why it ended like this. If they had drawn their weapons, it wouldn’t have ended with scratches.

As he was chuckling alone, footsteps tickled his ears.

Listening to the faint footsteps, he seemed to know who it was.

Clang, clang.

Creak.

The door opened, and Hwaran, with a cold face, looked down at him.

“…….”

Hwaran was silent.

He would rather she nagged him.

Just being stared at silently made him sweat and his throat dry.

“Ahem, ahem.”

As he coughed awkwardly, one corner of Hwaran’s mouth went up.

“You’ve done a great job~.”

He had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.

San-gun avoided her eyes.

“It’s only been an hour or two since you said you weren’t a three-year-old. Do you remember?”

How could he not know?

But now he wanted to pretend he didn’t.

“Fighting with a woman. Even a passing dog would laugh. Isn’t that right? Besides, do you know where this is! I’m really speechless…!”

He realized.

Hwaran was a woman who got heated up while talking.

He was a hundred times wrong to have done wrong.

But he didn’t want to hear nagging.

“Still, there won’t be any problems. Heaven and earth know that they can’t do anything to me…. And.”

“What are you so proud of!”

At the shout, San-gun’s neck shrank like a turtle.

“It’s okay because I can fix it….”

“Is that what you’re saying now? Look at San-gun’s face. Hasn’t your handsome face turned into a mashed bean curd?”

“No, even so, to call it mashed bean curd….”

“Shut up.”

Even so, telling him to shut up was a bit….

As he was thinking that, Hwaran took out an ointment from her chest and started applying it to various parts of his body.

“When will you grow up?”

“If I grow up, it’ll be heavy…. Ahem, sorry.”

He tried to throw in a joke, but quickly apologized when he met her fierce eyes.

“It stings.”

“Bear with it. Still, it would have ended at this level because the princess let it go. Apologize when you get back.”

“Who let it go! You better worry about that woman than me!”

Hwaran frowned and pressed down on the wound.

“It hurts!”

“No matter how strong San-gun is, if you don’t have treasures or divine powers, then Samtong…. No, you’re a Yeonggyeol Yeongsu, so isn’t it right that she let it go?”

He wanted to argue, but Hwaran was right. If it was purely hand-to-hand combat without borrowing other powers, San-gun would have no choice but to be pushed back.

“Still, I’m better at fighting.”

Hwaran stared at him for a moment and said one word.

“You must be happy to have won against a woman.”

That was the final blow, and San-gun closed his mouth.

Meanwhile.

In a solitary cell far from the solitary cell where San-gun was.

There, a beautiful wolf was being scolded just like San-gun.

“I had my doubts.”

The one speaking was her confidant, Ryun.

The opponent was naturally Geummyeong Jisu.

She was lying down with her face covered with both hands.

Whether it was because she was ashamed or because she didn’t want to hear the nagging.

“To be rolling around with Sawolrang’s hermit.”

“Ro, rolling around…. Doesn’t that sound strange? Say we fought.”

Ryun took a small breath and asked.

“So, did you win?”

Then she smiled.

“Of course. I wondered if he was hiding his realm, but he wasn’t. I knew it after fighting once.”

“Is that so?”

“His skills were a bit fierce for a Yeonggyeol…. But he’s still a Yeonggyeol. If we had continued fighting, I would have won 70% of the time!”

“……You’re proud of that. Is that why you’re hurt like this?”

Geummyeong Jisu’s injuries were not much different from San-gun’s.

Ryun slightly touched the wound, and she jumped up.

“That bastard stabbed me with his horn in a cheap way, that’s why I got hurt!”

“What’s cheap about that?”

“I don’t have one!”

“Oh my….”

Ryun clicked her tongue and applied ointment. Just as Jisu was singing that it stung and groaning.

“But a horn on a tiger’s head is amazing.”

“Hmm….”

She rolled her eyes for a long time as if something was bothering her, and then she opened her mouth.

“Come to think of it, I’ve seen such a phrase in an old book from the Manbo era.”

“What is it?”

“It was a human’s old book, so I don’t know why, but it said that if a tiger with two horns appeared, everyone would hunt it and wipe out its seeds. I didn’t see what the horn was used for because the old book was damaged.”

“That’s often the case.”

It was always like that.

Being hunted or hunting.

Humans and Yeongsu [spirit beasts] are originally like that.

“Come to think of it, I think I heard that the founder of Gungbiho also had horns.”

“Is there such a story?”

“I heard it when I was too young, so I’m not sure. I think my father said that…. Did I hear it wrong? Gungbiho don’t have horns, do they?”

“You must have heard wrong.”

Ryun treated her wound as if she didn’t care about such stories.

* * *

The next day.

San-gun came out of the solitary cell and enjoyed the warm sunlight.

Even if he was human, it would take a day or two for scratches to heal for a Yeongsu, so his body was light.

“Then shall we go now?”

He lingered for a long time in a place with nothing to see. He was going to get what he needed and leave, but somehow he stayed for two days.

Now it was time to go find Hyeolbungsu again.

As he walked, Geummyeong Jisu and Ryun were waiting.

She and San-gun briefly made eye contact and then quickly avoided each other.

Ryun, with a bitter smile, was about to say something when a woman and an old man flapping their wings and descending from the sky made her shut her mouth.

The Great Elder Yoho.

And Yang Jangji.

“It’s something that can happen between men and women, so I won’t make a big deal out of it. But I have no choice but to tell Sawolrang about this, so please understand.”

“…Yes.”

Geummyeong Jisu replied sullenly.

He smiled, liking the look of it, and she glared at him.

“And this.”

Yoho threw something, and San-gun snatched it away. It turned out to be Gongjeonggang [a storage artifact, like a spatial bag].

When he scanned the inside in a new way, it contained various elixirs and Ansi stones [precious stones with magical properties], as well as the rare item he wanted.

“Ansi stone and…. What is this?”

A bug in a crystal.

It was a very impressive rare item.

As he was wondering what this was, the Great Elder said.

“……Were you called Daeho Yuksa?”

“Yes.”

“Could you visit this place again when this is over?”

She seemed restless, unlike her usual self. It was strange to see it as acting.

San-gun narrowed his eyes and nodded.

“…I’ll do that if I have time.”

He was a little puzzled.

But he got what he wanted, so it was okay.

He wouldn’t be able to come even if he wanted to after a while, so he could at least say that.

The Howiikjan he saw were those who were trying to soar high but lost their wings and fell to the ground.

The San-gun party left Howiikjan like that and headed straight for Hansan.

“Are you sure it’s okay? To give away the Hoicheongakgo (悔天角呱) [Regretful Horn Toad], that the founder created.”

Yang Jangji asked.

The Great Elder hesitated as if many emotions were crossing her mind, and then spat out as if sighing.

“If he dies, he’s just a useless vessel, and if we meet again…. We’ll have to beg for forgiveness and hope that he becomes our wings.”

Yang Jangji swallowed his saliva.

He never thought he would hand over the Tongsul [a special artifact], which was made for the descendants with horns.

Although it is useless for Gungbiho, who have lost their horns.