Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 8

Tale of Nangseon – Episode 7

[Aren’t you scared?]

“Hmph!!”

She turned her head away, but I could see her lips were still pouting.

For a moment, Mountain Lord wanted to forget everything and just go back to Mount Baek and take a long nap. Taking care of a child was harder than he thought.

[Oh? I see. I’ll be going back then, so take care of yourself. You’ve been annoying and filthy all this time.]

He couldn’t be happier that he was offering to leave. As Mountain Lord turned around, Cho-ah was startled and jumped up from her spot.

Mountain Lord could practically see what she was doing just from the sound, and he subtly raised the corner of his lips.

“Ah! Let’s go together!”

No matter how sulky she got, she was still just a child. ‘Kids will be kids,’ he thought, turning around to say something, when—

Whoosh.

A chilling wind stopped him in his tracks.

Instantly, Mountain Lord’s expression turned cold, and Cho-ah, seeing this, stopped walking in surprise. Mountain Lord quickly strode to Cho-ah’s side and stood protectively in front of her.

[Show yourself.]

Kee hee hee hee!

A ghastly laughter, like scraping metal, echoed from the densely overgrown bushes.

“Hic!”

Seemingly startled, Cho-ah hiccuped repeatedly and tightly grabbed Mountain Lord’s fur.

Mountain Lord also tried to locate the creature by spreading his energy, but it was difficult to find, as it was skilled in concealment.

[I won’t say much. Leave that girl and disappear! If you do, I’ll spare your life!]

The voice, filled with spiritual power, was enough to startle even Mountain Lord.

‘At least a spirit beast.’

Perhaps it was even beyond a *spirit beast* (靈物, a creature imbued with spiritual energy), reaching the realm of *spiritual harmony* (靈和, a higher state of spiritual existence).

Mountain Lord didn’t recall ever hearing about such a powerful being in Baekcheok Valley.

The spirit beast that gave Baekcheok Valley its name had disappeared long ago.

Then how could such a powerful being be in this small mountain? He wracked his brain, but couldn’t find an answer.

More importantly, how to escape.

If not, he needed to think about how to fight.

‘Haa… I knew this would happen because of Cho-ah…’

If he stayed with Cho-ah, these kinds of beings would line up to find them.

He was a renowned Mountain Lord in Mount Baek, but this world was a dangerous place teeming with even stronger beings.

If that weren’t the case, Mountain Lord might have pretended to be unable to win and considered raising her as an adopted daughter, if not a wife.

However, her blood and her fate were beyond what Mountain Lord could handle.

Perhaps saying goodbye here wouldn’t be so bad.

‘First…’

[If I hand over this child, you promise not to harm me. Can you swear to it?]

Cho-ah’s eyes widened at Mountain Lord’s words.

[Puhuhu, I promise. I only need the trembling white-haired child, not a tiger. I already have enough tigers… I need to take that child right away, so I won’t have time to chase you.]

‘Enough tigers…’

Mountain Lord nodded slightly and took a step back.

“S-Sir!”

But Cho-ah grabbed Mountain Lord’s fur and wouldn’t let go. She looked as if she doubted her ears, her eyes filled with tears, wanting him to say it was a joke.

However, Mountain Lord hardened his face as he looked at Cho-ah and said,

[Let go.]

“Why, why! Is it because Ch-Cho-ah was mad? I-I won’t do it again, okay? S-So….”

[Enough! Are you going to let me die because of you! Yes, I’ve grown fond of you, but even so, I’m not willing to risk death for a mere human girl! So let go and accept your fate!]

Mountain Lord coldly shook off Cho-ah’s hand, even seeing the blood drain from her face.

“Puhuhuhu.”

Then.

Rustle. A disheveled old man emerged from the bushes.

His hair was disheveled, and his eyes moved separately at different times, a bizarre sight, but he had a human form.

The energy he exuded was definitely not human, yet he appeared as one, so the meaning was obvious.

‘Shapeshifting?’

The Mountain and Sea Exorcism Record was a story centered around humans, so everything was written from a human perspective.

Therefore, information about shapeshifting was scarce, and Mountain Lord couldn’t find much about it.

He had lived as a tiger for nearly a hundred years and had almost given up on it.

‘Shapeshifting, now of all times…’

It was said that one could naturally use it upon reaching the realm of spiritual transcendence, but it was uncertain how long it would take for Mountain Lord, who was at the edge of being a spirit beast, to reach the realm of spiritual transcendence beyond spiritual harmony.

‘Even if I don’t know, it would probably take two or three hundred years.’

Mountain Lord stared at the disheveled old man in front of him.

The old man, holding a huge, blood-stained sword in his hand and exuding a chilling aura, smiled creepily as he took one step at a time.

“Disappear if you don’t want to die.”

‘Spiritual Harmony level.’

Spiritual Harmony, the level above spirit beast.

The energy he was scattering was definitely above Mountain Lord’s level.

Yet, the fact that he was in human form meant that he possessed a treasure related to shapeshifting or had a method that Mountain Lord didn’t know.

Mountain Lord glanced at Cho-ah, who was standing blankly with a serious face, then turned and ran into the bushes.

“He knows his place. Now… then.”

The disheveled old man smiled at Cho-ah’s pale face.

“To think I’d see the seed of the White Blood Demon here… There’s no one in the world as lucky as me! Khahaha!”

* * *

A sword so rusty and with so many missing teeth that it couldn’t even cut anything.

The woman holding that sword smiled faintly and brought it to the old man’s neck.

“…….”

“Do you understand?”

The old man nodded, his face full of anger at her question.

Then, Mountain Lord’s Changui [likely a reference to a specific martial art or technique].

Hwaran withdrew her sword, and the old man, who called himself Cheongdosan, cautiously stepped back, wary.

“I won’t ask you to believe me. But I hope you understand that we don’t intend to harm that child.”

“……Even if I don’t believe you, there’s nothing I can do, so I have no choice but to believe.”

“I’m glad you understand. There’s nothing as foolish as not knowing your place.”

The old man gritted his teeth, but she merely scoffed.

“So, how did you and that child end up here? I trust you won’t just say you’re travelers.”

“……As you can see, I’ve been traveling and training with my disciple in various places.”

“I believe Kunlun Mountain is quite far from here.”

“That’s right. You may or may not believe it… but somehow, we ended up here. Then I heard a rumor.”

“A rumor.”

“I heard that spirit beasts and monsters alike are dying around Baekcheok Valley, and that ghosts are rampant, harming many people. I came here with my disciple to investigate that.”

“Interesting. Tell me more.”

“Ahem, the spirit beasts’ limbs are severed, and their bellies are cut open as if they’re looking for something. It’s as if they’re preparing for some kind of ritual.”

A ritual.

Monsters.

Hwaran pondered that for a moment, and just as she was about to say something to him.

Whoong.

An alien energy swept through her body.

“This is!”

Cheongdosan was startled and raised his sword.

Even the little boy behind him was dripping with sweat as he looked around.

The immense energy that made their bodies shrink made them instinctively tense.

But Hwaran simply placed her hand on her chest, her face hardening.

“It seems something has happened… To think my master would call me so urgently.”

She muttered softly, then fluttered a jet-black cloth taken from Gongjeonggang and plunged straight into the bushes.

* * *

“White Blood Demon… White Blood Demon.”

The disheveled old man looked down at Cho-ah and ran his hand over the nine rings hanging on his sword.

[To think the White Blood Demon, who was said to have been wiped out 200 years ago, would still be maintaining its lineage. Well, strong power attracts even stronger power…]

The old man, reminiscing about old memories, reached out to Cho-ah.

Cho-ah, who he thought would struggle, had lost the light in her eyes and showed no reaction.

Was it such a great shock that the tiger had abandoned her? It was ridiculous, but the old man picked her up and crossed the bushes.

In an instant, the old man reached a cliff and placed his hand on a huge rock in front of it, giving it strength.

Drrrrrrr!

The rock slid to the side.

And a huge cave appeared.

The stench of blood pierced the nose, and a foul odor permeated the cave.

How many lives had been slaughtered?

An immeasurable number of lives must have been killed to emit such a strong stench of blood.

“I was planning to do it later, but if there’s a White Blood Demon, it’s a different story. I can execute it right now without any problems.”

The old man looked at Cho-ah, whom he had picked up, like a treasure and disappeared into the cave with a sinister smile.

The cave, which he thought would be dark, was emitting a subtle light as the night-shining pearls embedded everywhere glowed.

Blood was sticking everywhere, and the foul odor that pierced the nose spread out as he went deeper inside.

Strangely, the passage became wider and wider as he went deeper into the cave.

How long had he walked?

The old man stopped walking and put down Cho-ah, who had a blank face.

Inside the cave, there were organs of all kinds of animals gathered, and there were also piles of human heads.

Tiger heads, human heads, and their hearts and organs.

Each location was uniform, as if performing some kind of ritual, and the magic circle made of blood on the ground was also eerily drawn.

Cho-ah was in the middle of all kinds of things piled up.

Only then did she come to her senses and look around, but her face was expressionless, as if she had given up on life.

The old man was puzzled by this, but it didn’t matter anyway.

The old man grinned and put down the huge sword, taking out a dagger from his chest.

It was a very crude dagger, but it was covered in blood.

“Your blood and flesh will bring about the *Three Communications* (三通, likely referring to a specific spiritual or magical concept). I will not forget you, so may you attain bliss in the afterlife!”

Cho-ah glanced at the disheveled old man with lifeless eyes, then calmly closed her eyes.

Thud!

* * *

Since she could not remember, the girl was like that since she was little.

“Get away, you ghost!”

Ghost.

Nasty girl. And so on.

Children and adults alike said harsh words.

It was too unfair for the young girl to be despised and mistreated by them just because she had a slightly different appearance from them.

“Get lost, you jinx!”

They threw garbage, poured dirty water, and even sprinkled salt, which the rich said was expensive.

She stayed at this house and that house, but she had no happy memories.

She always had to be mindful of them, and she had to do her job inconspicuously to avoid being beaten.

Since she had a nasty appearance, it was natural for her to do what she was told and cower in order to be loved by them.

Then one day.

The courtesan sisters were talking about this and that.

Husband. Marriage. Family. Love.

It was fun to occasionally go to the *gibang* (妓房, a traditional Korean house of courtesans) to run errands and listen to such stories.

She thought that she would never feel such emotions and that she would never have a family.

But even so, it was happy to indulge in a brief daydream.

Living happily with her beloved husband and bearing his children.

A wonderful husband who would stop someone from hitting her, and who would find and punish anyone who insulted her.

Her own wonderful husband.

Her own love who would only love her and would not hesitate to do anything for her.

The girl lived day by day, relying on such daydreams.

And one day.

“You must marry the Mountain Lord.”

The girl was to marry someone named Mountain Lord.

The girl didn’t know what a Mountain Lord was, but she was thrilled to hear that she was getting married anyway.

Finally, she was not alone in this world.

She would have her own side, and she would be able to have children and create a family.

The girl wanted to see her partner as soon as possible.

She wanted to share affection.

She wanted to share his pain and also show her own pain.

Many people looked at the girl, who was proudly saying that she was getting married, with pity.

She didn’t understand it at all.

It was because the daughter of the wealthy Kim family in the next village was also married to someone she had never seen before. It was not uncommon for young men and women who had no acquaintance to get married.

“It’s a tiger, a tiger. Your husband is a tiger….”

The girl tilted her head at the courtesan sister’s words.

Tiger.

She didn’t know what that was.

Only after hearing a detailed explanation did she realize that it was not a human but an animal.

Ah.

I see.

I am human, but I am despised by humans and mistreated by humans, so I cannot marry a human.

The girl thought to herself.

And she understood.

If so.

Even if it’s a tiger.

Even if it’s an animal.

I will accept him as my husband and be loved. I will build a family with him.

Because I am a ghost in human form who cannot be loved.

.

.

“May you attain bliss in the afterlife!”

The disheveled old man raised his dagger towards the girl.

That dagger, dripping with blood, would pierce her body and erase her from this world in an instant.

Then, memories of Mountain Lord flashed through her mind like a panorama.

Her meeting with him.

How surprised she was that he spoke.

Her sleeping with him.

-Sir’s embrace was warm.

The time she went to Ungeol Village to prepare her trousseau.

-Having a husband allowed her to speak without hesitation.

The time Kim the Rich stole ginseng from her.

And the time her husband went and taught him a lesson.

The time he gave her the Domo Robe.

A dreamlike night.

It was fun.

The girl thought so.

The fact that she had a husband itself. The fact that she was with him itself made the girl happy and warmed her heart.

The emotion of happiness that she could not enjoy made her smile.

But that was also the end.

The girl closed her eyes.

Finally, the image of the tiger abandoning her came to mind, but she did not blame him.

‘It’s my fault.’

If there is a sin, it is in her being born as a ghost.

There must be a sin.