The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 67

Despite being seen as the enemy who caused his brother’s death, Cheon Gil-ryong acted like a friendly, old country uncle. Pleased by this, Jinhyuk bowed deeply. Then, remembering why he came, he looked at Cheon Gil-ryong.

Beyond his piercing gaze, his eyes were clear and filled with an unusual light. How could an old man’s eyes be so childlike? Jinhyuk was briefly lost in a moment of mystical admiration.

“You didn’t come just to hear my complaints. What could a young’un like you be so curious about that you’d seek out a superstitious old man?”

Seeing that he knew the reason for his visit, Jinhyuk finally revealed his purpose.

“Well… too many strange things have been happening to me.”

Cheon Gil-ryong closed his eyes and listened intently.

Thanks to this, Jinhyuk was able to explain the events in chronological order.

From the real estate fatso to using force against Yoon Seong-dong’s gang, his suddenly healed back, and his sister being fine after being bitten by a snake—he told it all.

After hearing Jinhyuk’s explanation, Cheon Gil-ryong clicked his tongue.

“Hey, you little rascal!”

Cheon Gil-ryong, having started, took a couple of deep breaths as if starting an engine. The way his chest moved with his breathing was peculiar. It was as if a dragon that had been sleeping for a long time was waking up, and a strange tension tickled Jinhyuk’s neck.

Was the pause really to start an engine? Cheon Gil-ryong finally began to spout words like a clattering farm vehicle.

“Where in the world are there ghosts, you rascal! What? You suddenly used your fists? Of course, you’d suddenly use your fists! Did you think you’d plan it out? Then you’d be an assassin! You hit a guy who was cursing your parents, and you think it was because a ghost was messing with you, not because your heart was moved? People kill each other with knives for a few bucks! If you just stand there when someone is cursing your parents, you’re a moron and a bastard! My brother died and was brought back by our parents, so a son should at least do that much so that my brother’s death isn’t in vain! What? A snake? Animals, when they feel their lives are threatened, will shit and do all sorts of crazy things! If a snake bites its own tail, it feels its life is threatened, you know. Then it’ll spit venom and blood. Some even lay unformed eggs when they’re dying! Even if there were ghosts, do you think a ghost would suck the blood of your sister who was bitten by a snake? Do ghosts look that free? Ghosts like it when someone dies because they get a new friend! Ghosts aren’t firefighters, so why would they save anyone? What? Healed your back? Is the ghost Heo Jun [a legendary doctor in Korean history]?”

Ah, is that so? Jinhyuk shrank back. He couldn’t bring himself to ask if a snake would have spat venom at Yujin, who was just standing still, because it felt threatened. The direct hits that poured out like a waterfall were too fierce.

He had once seen a cow urinating at Kim Eun-jeong’s house. The stream of water pouring out like a waterfall was more like a bladder release than excretion. The way Cheon Gil-ryong was spouting words was similar to that. Yet, he maintained a calm breath and a clear tenor voice. Is he doing diaphragmatic breathing?

Admiration aside for a moment.

‘So, did the snake spit venom because Janggun startled it?’

Jinhyuk’s expression turned foolish. Cheon Gil-ryong’s words sounded very plausible to Jinhyuk. He even wondered if he hadn’t developed normal human emotions yet because he had lived too foolishly in the past. Still, he didn’t shrink back or lose his composure. It seemed to be the effect of the experience he had during the watermelon theft.

“Hmph-! That’s something.”

Cheon Gil-ryong fanned himself with a fan, looking like he was burning inside, as he watched the boy pondering alone, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“Too much thinking is useless, you rascal. If you try to hold the whole world in your heart, you won’t get a damn thing.”

Cheon Gil-ryong’s words, which poured out again like a clattering farm vehicle, struck Jinhyuk’s heart.

They said he was like a living cultural treasure, but he was more like a speed-rapping rapper who was born in the wrong era. He was a grandfather you’d want to call a ‘brain-out outsider.’ Maybe he wasn’t a shaman but a recluse who had mastered the art of lip-reading by reading a bizarrely worded secret book.

“So, there are no ghosts? Nothing attached to my body or anything?”

“Ha-! What is this, you rascal! That little punk. Looking perfectly fine, talking like he’s eating ghost’s leftovers!”

Cheon Gil-ryong’s face turned bright red as he waved his pipe and jumped around.

Heh, Jinhyuk finally burst out laughing. He was grateful that he seemed to be taking his side. He had poured out his worries, even if not all of them, and had gotten the answers he wanted in his own way. A faint smile appeared on his eyes and lips.

He politely offered a few crisp ten-thousand-won bills with both hands.

“Thank you. Here-”

“Money, my ass—don’t forget the dried persimmons, you rascal! I’ll put a few on my brother’s memorial table too.”

“Yes, sir.”

Thinking that his parents’ memorial day had become Cheon Gil-ryong’s ascension day, Jinhyuk bowed deeply.

‘Anyway, there’s no need to feel uneasy, right?’

Jinhyuk felt good and headed home. He had visited with doubts but had received unexpected comfort.

The day was hot, and the cicadas’ cries were deafening, but his heart was walking in heaven. It was because his complicated thoughts had been sorted out at once, and he had shaken off his uneasy feelings.

He strolled slowly, enjoying the scenery with Janggun. It was a rare moment of leisure. He even felt excited, as if he had truly become a carefree fourteen-year-old. This too was a strange thing.

“Morning meal done, about to leave the house—my newly bought straw shoes are just perfect.”

He stopped singing for a moment and looked back at Cheon Gil-ryong’s house.

He could feel Cheon Gil-ryong’s gaze from the porch of the house on the hill. It was quite a distance, but he had no trouble receiving that gaze.

Jinhyuk bowed once more, and Cheon Gil-ryong waved his pipe in response.

At that moment, the colorful flags that had been hanging limply began to flutter. It was a strange sight. At the same time, Jinhyuk’s long-standing question arose.

‘But why do they hang the Taegeukgi [Korean national flag]?’

Still, it’s the national flag, so it’s hung at the top.

***

Cheon Gil-ryong’s brow furrowed strangely at the fluttering flags.

“They’re just noisy, and there are no customers. Should I just take down all the flags?”

Cheon Gil-ryong leaned against the porch pillar and watched Jinhyuk’s retreating figure. He was already a grown man, despite his age. What was a grown man? He looked even sturdier than the wrestlers who used to ride bulls on Dano Day [a traditional Korean holiday] in the old days.

‘I never thought that rascal would come here on his own two feet.’

When he sat facing Jinhyuk, Cheon Gil-ryong was overwhelmed by the boy and couldn’t observe him closely. It was because of the boy’s appearance. He was wearing a loose, long-sleeved shirt as if he was trying to hide his body, but there was no way he couldn’t see the body hidden inside.

‘Whatever trick he used, it’s a nasty power.’

It wasn’t just a sturdy body. He could clearly feel the muscles and tendons woven with spirit, but the boy, by some magic, was casually containing that great power. It was an extraordinary energy, a power that would have driven any ordinary person mad. But the boy was wielding it as naturally as breathing, so it was fitting to call it a miracle.

‘He’s like a pig’s bladder.’

And his eyes. They were sparkling eyes full of yang energy [positive energy in traditional Korean philosophy]. He was born with a versatile and unpredictable energy. Such people, unlike their talents, often live insignificant lives. Many of them have eccentric personalities, and it’s difficult for them to focus on one thing. If he had been born in the city, could he have bloomed properly in at least one area? That’s why they say people should be sent to Seoul.

‘He had a face that was born with all sorts of talents in a house where starlight shines…’

So, he was destined to live an ordinary life without using his talents. His talents remained the same, but his fate had changed to a comfortable house where not even moonlight could penetrate, let alone starlight. It must be because his parents were alive, but it must also be because of the extraordinary power that resided in his body.

He felt his heart pounding as if he had found a fresh subject for research, as they say there is no end to learning.

“Hmph-, that little punk. I thought he came to kill me too.”

He still had 18 years to live to reach 100.

Cheon Gil-ryong stroked his chest as he exhaled the smoke he had inhaled from his pipe.

“I wondered how he had changed the Cheon Gi Grand Luck [a concept related to fate and fortune in Korean tradition].”

It was a question that had remained unsolved for several years.

The energy of the neighborhood had indeed changed because of that rascal, but the question was how he could have changed it. Seeing the yang energy he was exuding, it made sense.

‘Let’s see… when was that?’

Cheon Gil-ryong delved into memories from over 70 years ago.

It was a neighborhood where ominous energy spread.

Although it was sunny, the energy itself was damp because of the seawater that carried yin energy [negative energy in traditional Korean philosophy] deep into the village day and night.

Young Cheon Gil-ryong, who was born in Hamgyeong Province, was led by his brother to this village a long time ago. He was not even ten years old at the time, so it must have been the year of Gimi when the March 1st Movement [a major Korean independence movement against Japanese rule] took place.

– “Brother, how can you live in a place where there are no people? This younger brother is afraid of the wolf howls and fox cries.”

– “Looking from afar, the site is ominous. If we don’t suppress it with yang energy, the water will swallow the land someday.”

– “Didn’t you say that it’s natural for land to dissolve in water and water to move the land?”

– “It’s not just about this small piece of land disappearing. That land could become a country, or a continent. Countless people will die. That’s how the energy of the heavens is.”

When they climbed the mountain overlooking the gray sea full of mud, Cheon Gil-ryong could not forget the solemn expression his brother had worn.

– “This is the navel. We, brothers, will make this our life’s work.”

Although Cheon Gi-ryung was young, he had a mysterious quality, and the locals did not hesitate to follow him. Cheon Gi-ryung had a cemetery built on the mountain facing the sea and built a house at its entrance to live with his younger brother.

‘It was damn scary…’

From will-o’-the-wisps to ghostly cries, and the growling of foxes digging up graves. If it hadn’t been for his brave brother, Cheon Gil-ryong might have gone mad. After his brother’s ascension, the first thing Cheon Gil-ryong did was to file a complaint to have the cemetery removed. Now he had nothing to fear, but it was because he was reminded of his cowardly childhood.

Cheon Gil-ryong, who had vaguely recalled his childhood, opened his eyes.

Looking at the boy’s back, which had become as small as an ant, he vaguely grasped the situation.

It was just a vague feeling.

‘There’s no ghost attached to his body.’

His spirit was strong, as if he were two people.

Even his brother, whom he considered a sage, was no match for the boy.

He was very disappointed that he had been distracted by his appearance and had not observed him properly.

Looking at the moon rising from the fire can on the night of the new moon, his brother Cheon Gi-ryung had said.

– “Younger brother, look at that. Now we can stop playing guardian gods and ascend. That child is quite something.”

Having seen the boy up close, he agreed with his brother’s opinion, but Cheon Gil-ryong had no intention of ascending.

This world was good.

Cheon Gil-ryong, who was puffing on his pipe, grumbled to the back.