TGHD Ch 38

Meanwhile, the conversation between Kyung Jaehwan and the secretary continued.

“Tsk. I didn’t think that guy would betray us…”

“You have an important event coming up, this must be quite concerning.”

“No, no, it’s not that big of a deal. Do you think he can really escape?”

Kyung Jaehwan waved it off with a laugh, then took out a cigarette, which the secretary lit for him. Taking a deep drag, he sighed, feeling more relaxed.

“He tried to outsmart us by planning to flee to Japan, where our influence is weak. What a funny guy. But there’s no way he could escape this land.”

“But it seemed he was quite thoroughly prepared. The secretary general has a lot of information. Could it be dangerous? There were also several indications that he was trying to collude with other parties…”

“You’re good at everything, but you worry too much. Do you know who we’re working with?”

Kyung Jaehwan patted the secretary on the shoulder. The secretary straightened up and nodded, while Kyung Jaehwan took another drag of his cigarette.

“Still, Chief Oh has been with us for quite a while…”

Sighing with a slightly bitter tone, Kyung Jaehwan clicked his tongue.

“He didn’t learn anything from what happened over twenty years ago.”

“…Are you referring to the prophecy incident of the Shinga family?”

“Yes. Remember, never forget that incident and always keep it in mind.”

His voice resonated heavily in the damp air just before the rain, the faint smoke from his cigarette mingling with the cloudy sky.

“You must not defy the heavens.”

A subtle confusion and bewilderment crossed Cheon Ryubeom’s face as he listened. While he couldn’t fully grasp the conversation between Kyung Jaehwan and the secretary, he could infer that ‘the heavens’ referred to the Cheon family.

It seemed the chief secretary had betrayed them, but Kyung Jaehwan was confident he wouldn’t escape. Though he mentioned handling it himself, he also referenced the elders… Are the elders resolving this issue?

The fact that the elders had set up a barrier for this house indicated a close relationship with Kyung Jaehwan. But this seemed to be a matter between humans, so why were the elders involved?

And what was the prophecy of the Shinga family…

Tap, tap, Yeohwi lightly tapped Ryubeom’s arm. Then he pointed towards Kyung Jaehwan, indicating he was finishing his conversation with the secretary and heading back to the garden. Ryubeom, lost in his thoughts, hadn’t noticed.

Realizing he was almost embracing Yeohwi, Ryubeom flinched and let go.

“Ah, s-sorry.”

“…It’s okay. Let’s get out of here before they suspect anything.”

Ryubeom nodded, barely managing to compose himself. He was worried that his stiff expression might be noticeable.

As soon as they stepped into the garden, Kyung Jaehwan exclaimed. He mentioned he had been looking for them, discreetly confirming the direction Ryubeom was coming from. Taking a long way around, they were quite far from the annex, and Kyung Jaehwan’s face relaxed.

“Oh dear, I was away for too long, wasn’t I?”

Kyung Jaehwan smiled warmly, his face completely different from when he had been mocking someone earlier. It was as if he had two faces.

“Let’s continue the garden tour. There’s so much I’d like to share with you.”

Ryubeom silently nodded. At the moment, he was too confused to manage his expression, and if he spoke, his questions would likely spill out.

Naturally, the garden scenery didn’t register with him. His mind kept replaying Kyung Jaehwan’s conversation with the secretary.

An hour passed in an instant, and finally, the garden tour ended. Kyung Jaehwan mentioned he had another engagement in the evening and naturally wrapped up the meeting. Ryubeom barely managed to express his gratitude for the invitation.

Just before leaving the mansion, Ryubeom spoke one last time.

“…The item in the garden set up by the elders, while effective, seems quite dangerous.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean…?”

“If it activates incorrectly, it could damage the house as well. Are you fully aware of its activation conditions and effects?”

Ryubeom hoped his voice wouldn’t tremble. Kyung Jaehwan, looking slightly puzzled, glanced between Ryubeom and the pole in the garden before nodding with an ‘Ah.’

“They said I didn’t need to worry. They explained that it protects the house from evil and that when the barrier activates, a binding spell will be cast immediately. They assured me it would tightly bind and tear apart whatever it ensnared.”

“…So it’s a form of a destruction spell.”

“Exactly, haha. Thank you for your concern. You are very kind, young master.”

Kyung Jaehwan’s hearty laughter left Ryubeom feeling an unsettling chill. There were ways to purify evil spirits, but instead, they had chosen the horrific method of slaughter and annihilation. While there was no reason to show mercy when hunting evil spirits, the brutal method filled Ryubeom with a sense of uneasy discomfort.

“You needn’t worry any longer, young master. The blessings from the great tigers will protect me.”

For a moment, Cheon Ryubeom’s expression turned strange. His face paled slightly as he shifted his gaze from the garden to Kyung Jaehwan.

The blessings of the tiger family.

The special power to drive away misfortune, bring in luck, and lead wealth and power. People from all fields bowed to the tiger family and sought meetings to receive such blessings. The meetings Ryubeom had guarded in the past were of this kind.

Given Kyung Jaehwan’s close relationship with the elders, it wasn’t surprising he had received such blessings. But for a fleeting moment, Ryubeom recalled someone’s shout in an oddly familiar way.

“We just received it too!”

…It’s just a phrase. That phrase could be used anywhere and might not have any connection to the blessings of the tiger family. Ryubeom reflexively dismissed and ignored the outcry in his head, attributing it to the relentless investigations over the past few days, which had made him overly suspicious.

Yet, the more he tried to ignore it, the more Jeon Seunghyeok’s outcry echoed endlessly in Ryubeom’s ears.

Rumble…

As a faint light spread through the dark clouds, a massive thunderclap resounded. The atmosphere vibrated as if the sky itself was shaking.

* * *

That night, Ryubeom received news that Jeon Seunghyeok had awakened.

However, he was still mentally unstable, constantly crying out for help and hiding in the corner of his hospital room. It would take about two hours for Ryubeom to reach the hospital from his current location.

“It might be difficult to talk to him, but shall we go?”

“…No, we need to go to Dampho Port.”

“What? Why are we going there suddenly?”

Yeohwi looked at Ryubeom with a puzzled expression. Ever since they left Kyung Jaehwan’s mansion, Cheon Ryubeom’s face had been set in a hard expression.

Ryubeom kept mulling over the information he had heard inside the house. The barrier inscribed with a terrifying spell, the conversation between Kyung Jaehwan and his secretary…

And the prophecy incident of the Shinga family.

Since it was an incident from over twenty years ago, Ryubeom wondered if it might be related to the Jeokdan Corporation. So, as soon as he left the mansion, he checked all the information about the family members of Jeokdan’s representatives. He looked to see if there was anyone with the surname Shin, like the representative’s wife, daughter-in-law, or grandmother.

But there was no one with the surname Shin in that family.

“There was another incident.”

Cheon Ryubeom couldn’t shake off the strange feeling about that incident. Despite only hearing a vague account, it kept gnawing at his mind, and he couldn’t let it go.

So he wanted to meet ‘Chief Oh,’ who might know about the incident. He pieced together the words the secretary had whispered to Kyung Jaehwan, barely recalling them.

“Chief Oh is heading to Dampho Port at 11 to leave for Japan…”

The time might not be exact, but it was certain it was today. Otherwise, Kyung Jaehwan wouldn’t have left in such a hurry.

Chief Oh had betrayed Kyung Jaehwan. The secretary was worried because Chief Oh had a lot of information, but Kyung Jaehwan assured him the elders would handle everything, so there was no need to worry. At first, Ryubeom wondered why the elders would be involved in a matter between humans…

But what if Chief Oh’s betrayal wasn’t just connected to Kyung Jaehwan but also to the Cheon family?

“…I need to confirm it.”

Cheon Ryubeom spoke in a low, steady voice. Though he seemed calm from thinking it over for so long, his fingertips were trembling slightly.

What did the elders mean by ‘handling’ this? What information did Chief Oh have? And why did Kyung Jaehwan criticize him for being foolish and mention an incident from over twenty years ago…

“You must not defy the heavens.”

The ominous-sounding voice lingered in Ryubeom’s ears and seeped into his heart, beating ominously.

Yeohwi, observing Cheon Ryubeom’s pale face, stayed silent. For some reason, Cheon Ryubeom now looked like someone on the verge of collapse. He seemed confused, wanting to deny something, a little scared… and ultimately, sad.

Yeohwi impulsively reached out and wiped Ryubeom’s eyes.

“…I’ll come with you, so stay calm.”

It was a comforting touch, soothing Ryubeom, who was stiff with tension. The gentle warmth barely brought a faint smile to Cheon Ryubeom’s face.

* * *

Thunder rumbled louder as they approached the Dampho pier. It looked like it was going to pour any moment now. A chilly wind, sharp as a knife, blew through the heavy, oppressive air.

First, Cheon Ryubeom looked up information about Chief Oh. A quick search revealed that he was Secretary-General to Kyung Jaehwan. It was easy to find details as he always accompanied the presidential candidate on official schedules.

Oh Seoktae. There were even pictures of him at the Cheonho Foundation’s event articles, bowing his head while shaking hands with the Elder.

Ryubeom familiarized himself with Oh Seoktae’s face and checked the map.

“There is only one way to the pier…”

The Dampho pier was so remote that the only way in from other regions was by crossing a mountain path. Ryubeom calculated the odds of Oh Seoktae arriving at the pier in advance to wait. However, the surrounding area was too desolate for anyone to hide.

Particularly as Oh Seoktae was reportedly avoiding trackers, it seemed more likely he would arrive right before the smuggling time. Moreover, someone might already be waiting at the pier, so Ryubeom planned to intercept him en route.

Shwaaah…

As Ryubeom searched for a suitable spot to wait on the road, it began to rain. The sky had been cloudy all morning, and now it poured. Heavy raindrops fell as if they would smash the ground.

The air grew even colder.

“…”

Ryubeom’s eyes darkened as he looked down the long, straight road. The air felt heavy, making it slightly difficult to breathe.

No, it can’t be.

Ryubeom repeatedly denied what he couldn’t quite identify. He hadn’t even named his doubts or understood the shape of his anxiety. He desperately pretended not to know it.

He almost wished Oh Seoktae had succeeded in escaping by another route. That the aide had received false information, and Oh Seoktae was far away trying to betray them. He hoped this betrayal would be purely a personal issue for Kyung Jaehwan, and it would all end with him.

He hoped the Cheon family wasn’t involved.

He tried to believe the Elders were only helping Kyung Jaehwan with this personal problem because they were close. He tried to close his eyes and ears to it, but the cold wind kept blowing. The raindrops carried by the chilly wind kept hitting his body, a sensation he couldn’t ignore.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…

His heart beat rapidly. As Ryubeom clenched his fists, Yeohwi gently stroked the back of his hand.

“…Young Master, calm down. If you block the road with that face, Oh Seoktae will faint.”

Yeohwi’s lighthearted tone was a deliberate attempt to remind him to breathe and relax. Ryubeom forced a smile and tried to take deep breaths as Yeohwi suggested. But his efforts seemed in vain, as he still struggled to breathe.

“I… I feel strangely, very anxious.”

Ryubeom stammered. The confusion that sprouted from visiting several places over the past few days had grown after meeting Kyung Jaehwan. No, it wasn’t just that. His heart wouldn’t race like this for such a simple reason.

The smell of rain stifled his breathing, the mountain scenery made his head spin, and the high mountain path made his stomach churn. A sheer cliff loomed in his vision.

Ah, this is, because it’s like the day… I first witnessed death.

Roar!

At that moment, he heard the sound of an engine from afar. His keen ears caught the noise that could have been drowned out by the downpour. Ryubeom’s eyes barely focused.

It was Oh Seoktae.

Ryubeom shook his head, telling himself to focus on the situation. Oh Seoktae was coming down this straight road. If he drove straight ahead, Ryubeom would send a signal with his energy, and if he stopped, they would talk. Reciting his plan for the umpteenth time, he stepped forward.

Each step through the rain was heavy. It was hard to move with the confusion and doubts weighing him down, but Ryubeom tried to stand tall.

Boom, crash!

Lightning struck. The surroundings turned white for a moment, and the brief scene was etched vividly in his mind. A winding mountain road. A black car navigating it, with Oh Seoktae’s anxious face visible inside.

Confirming his presence, Ryubeom quickened his pace. The shadow of the lightning faded, and darkness settled back, only for it to light up again in a flash.

Screeeeeech!

Ryubeom saw something dark descending from the mountain, engulfing Oh Seoktae’s car. Before the thunder rumbled, the sound of the car skidding off the road hit Ryubeom’s ears sharply.

The car tumbled down the cliff.

‘Ryubeom!’

A panicked voice from a distant memory echoed in his head. Mixed with the smell of rain was a faint scent of blood. Dazed, Ryubeom stared at the ‘black thing’ before him.

It was the same as the day a car had crashed onto him and his parents…

Changwi.

“Gasp…!”

Ryubeom staggered and collapsed. His knees buckled, and he fell to the cold, wet ground, crawling. His head felt like it would burst. He couldn’t breathe. Hic, huff, ugh. His breathless sounds fell into the space like an animal’s cries. Beside him, he faintly heard Yeohwi calling his name, but he couldn’t respond.

Cheon Ryubum crumbled under the memory of ‘that day.’

Over a decade ago, the hazy memories of that day began to take shape. On the day of the torrential downpour, dark Changwis attacked the vehicle he was in with his parents. The ghosts that appeared to attack from below the cliff were also Changwis.

The scenes of that day started to reassemble piece by piece. Ryubum’s parents were the first to hurriedly hide the child in a cave, but the silhouettes of those slowly approaching from behind were etched into Ryubum’s eyes.

The soot cleared from what seemed like a blackened memory…

‘Eunhwa, I wondered what you were doing after leaving the family, and it turns out you were causing this kind of trouble…’

‘Did we really have to meet like this?’

The presence that appeared with the black Changwi and clicked his tongue. The image of the Grand Elder appeared like a puzzle piece in its place. And the images of other elders gradually matched around him.

Now, Ryubum understood why his mother erased his memory. It wasn’t just because it was a terrible thing for a child to remember; if he knew the whole story, the elders would have killed him. So, she hid the memory.

Ryubum was tormented and saddened by that fact. The truth that the elders he had spent his whole life trying to please were the ones who killed his parents was too horrible.

“Ugh, sob…”

Yeohwi held the sobbing Ryubum. As Ryubum crawled on the ground, tearing at his hair and clawing at his throat as if he couldn’t breathe, Yeohwi forcibly grabbed his hands to stop him. He encased Ryubum’s body in his arms to keep him from collapsing onto the cold ground. Cheon Ryubum felt like he would shatter into pieces and scatter in the downpour.

A surprised and confused voice spoke somewhat incoherently.

“Why are you crying like that? Huh? I got rid of the Changwi for you. They’re all gone now, so why…”

Hands that didn’t know what to do wandered through the air, awkwardly patting Ryubum’s back and clumsily wiping his eyes. The first time those tears touched his fingers, Yeohwi flinched and tried to pull back but eventually, he gently cupped Ryubum’s face and comforted him. He held him in his arms.

“I even saved that man, so stop crying…”

Right after the vehicle fell, Cheon Ryubum collapsed on the ground and cried. He clutched his head, making breathless sounds interspersed with incoherent pleas to save him. He begged like a child hiding in a cave, crying.

So Yeohwi eliminated the Changwi that Ryubum feared and sent a protective spell to the fallen vehicle. Words telling him to stop crying because he did as Ryubum wanted kept falling into Ryubum’s ears.

With hands wiping away his tears and the warmth of being tightly held, Ryubum’s focus slowly returned. Yeohwi’s face wavered like a reflection in Ryubum’s tear-filled eyes.

“…Yeohwi…”

Cheon Ryubum couldn’t discern what emotion was held in the dark red eyes looking at him. Yeohwi seemed confused too. But the fact that he was right in front of him and the warmth of the hands wiping his tears were too clear.

So Ryubum could stand up. The fall into that horrific moment stopped.

“…I need to check on that man.”

He couldn’t break down now. Ryubum’s goal was always to uncover the truth of ‘that day.’ Even though it wasn’t the moment he expected and the form was more horrifying than he prepared for, he couldn’t stop here.

If this road led to the truth, he had to walk it to the end.

As soon as he regained his composure, Cheon Ryubum moved to go down the cliff. Yeohwi frowned momentarily but saw Ryubum’s determined, albeit staggering steps, and couldn’t stop him. All Yeohwi could do was support the stumbling Ryubum. He couldn’t be stopped in moments like this.

They finally arrived at the bottom of the cliff.

Ryubum carefully surveyed the surroundings. Fortunately, there were no Changwis hiding here. Nor were there any unusual signs from above. It seemed the elders had only sent the Changwi since Oh Seoktae was an ordinary human. An elder could command Changwis without having to traverse the deep mountain path.

Still, Ryubum moved cautiously.

Thud, thud, thud. His heart continued to pound heavily. It was no exaggeration to say that Cheon Ryubum was barely standing by force of will. He felt he might collapse at any moment, but he stubbornly held onto his sanity to check the vehicle. Inside the heavily crumpled car, Oh Seoktae was found unscathed, though unconscious from fear when the car fell.

Ryubum first took him out and hid him in the bushes. Then, while searching the car, he found a bundle of documents under the seat. Ryubum’s eyes darkened as he scanned the documents.

The contents were full of accusations against the Cheonho Foundation elders and their collusion with various businesses, political figures, and high-ranking officials. It detailed how the Cheon family infiltrated society, exploited humans, and committed tyrannical atrocities using their elevated power.

It also meticulously listed the coercion of large donations to the foundation and the backdoor dealings to ensure the success of the elders’ business ventures. Additionally, it detailed the schemes to position Kyung Jaehwan as the president, to place a puppet of their choosing at the nation’s pinnacle.

Having already faced the true nature of the elders in his memories, Ryubum wasn’t deeply shocked by the contents. Perhaps he had mentally prepared himself while investigating this case.

However, there was something that couldn’t be explained by this alone.

The elders came to find his mother and condemned her for ‘doing such things.’ Was it about exposing the foundation’s corruption? But his mother left the family before the foundation was established. She was uncovering something else.

Cheon Ryubum had repressed his suspicions towards the family as much as he could. He dismissed all his doubts as unfounded and ignored his anxiety as an illusion. But the moment all these suspicions became reality, a flash of realization came.

“Blessing…”

The owners of the underground warehouse that Ryubum had inspected earlier are the same people mentioned in the documents he was now reading. These are individuals with close ties to the elders. In their warehouse, shattered pottery shards were found.

Ryubum had assumed that the entity behind the Sagwido was naturally an evil spirit or monster. The grudge and malicious energy they displayed in Useomsan were so intense. His perspective was clouded by this bias. But once that perspective was removed, a new candidate emerged.

They were not evil spirits or monsters, but… ‘Eopshin (業神).’

A deity that protects the household and governs the fortune, wealth, and property of the home. Eopshin typically resides in the storage rooms or warehouses of wealthy families, and the more they are venerated, the wealthier the household becomes. This brought to mind the folklore where people place rice in jars to worship Eopshin, praying for the deity to inhabit it. Ryubum felt a sense of vast realization.

The Tiger Family was forcibly creating a god.

The events had begun to fall into place one by one. The demons that had been particularly hostile towards the tiger when they first clashed on Uisom Mountain. They initially lacked momentum, but the moment Ryubeom roared, they turned hostile. Their reaction seemed more angered towards the tiger than towards members of the enemy group.

And their leader, grabbing Ryubeom.

“Ga… Hii… Tiger, it’s…”

The anger spewed from his crushed mouth was clear.

The reason the demon easily pierced Ryubeom’s barrier and why the curse seeped unnaturally deeply into Ryubeom’s blood was ultimately because of this. They were gods created from the energy of the Cheonga family. Therefore, they broke Ryubeom’s spells using the same energy and revealed their fundamental anger.

“…They were Eopshins.”

Ryubeom said to Yeohwi in a firm voice. The elders had taken advantage of humans under the pretense of blessings and had created stronger bonds by forming Eopshins. Ryubeom speculated that the elders had also made the talisman engraved with the ‘Suppression’ spell that Jeon Seunghyeok held.

“And my mother… seems to have been freeing them.”

Ryubeom’s fingertips trembled gradually. His voice grew moist as he mentioned his mother.

Yeohwi quietly looked down at him. It was now clear that Ryubeom’s earlier reaction was a trauma response intertwined with the accident involving his parents that he had mentioned before. Back then, he had been too focused on stopping Ryubeom’s crying to think of anything else.

Yeohwi opened his mouth, but in the end, remained silent. However, the act of extending a hand to brush Ryubeom’s tear-streaked cheek conveyed some emotion. It was clumsy and awkward comfort.

At that moment, Oh Seoktae woke up.

“Aaah…!”

Oh Seoktae was startled at the sight of Ryubeom’s face as soon as he opened his eyes. He had seen Ryubeom at the recent Cheonho Foundation event. Ryubeom firmly held onto Oh Seoktae’s shoulder as he attempted to flee in terror. Despite trembling as if he would faint, there was no time to check on his condition now.

If ‘they’ were Eopshins, there was one last thing to confirm.

“Oh Seoktae. What is the prophecy incident of Shinga?”

“W-What…?”

Oh Seoktae blinked in confusion as if he had heard a nonsensical question. As Ryubeom pressed him for an answer, he was flustered by the completely unexpected question.

“Kyung Jaehwan mentioned that incident when he heard you had fled. What on earth happened two decades ago?”

As if suppressed by Ryubeom’s intensity, Oh Seoktae opened his mouth but only repeated, “Well, that, um, huh, that…” The shock seemed to have clouded his thinking. Having just been attacked by Chang-gwi and fallen off a cliff, it was understandable that he was disoriented.

After taking a deep breath, Ryubeom grabbed his jaw and made eye contact. Golden light shimmered in Ryubeom’s eyes as he used hypnosis.

“Answer the question correctly.”

It wasn’t difficult to hypnotize someone who had become emaciated and mentally strained after days of fleeing. As a faint golden light glimmered in Oh Seoktae’s eyes, he stammered out his answer.

“In the past, there was a household of very powerful shamans…”

The story tumbled out incoherently. A family that had been shamans for generations, reputedly so powerful that it was believed their surname ‘Shin’ might have derived from the word ‘God’.

“Twenty-two years ago, they… they predicted that divine punishment would befall the Cheonga family… that they had caused too much bloodshed and dared to impersonate the heavens…”

“…How did the Cheonga family react to that?”

Oh Seoktae’s bleary eyes looked at Ryubeom. Merely recalling ‘that moment’ seemed dreadful, making his complexion pale, then he laughed maniacally, soon after whimpering in fear.

“The entire household of that shrine was… torn to pieces, dead…”

Ryubeom’s face gradually hardened as he listened to the story, known to only a few, that made humans fear the tiger elders even more. Was it shocking to hear about another murder committed by the Cheonga family? Was it terrifying that a powerful shaman family had been brutally murdered just for making an ominous prophecy?

No, rather…

Zzzt—

Suddenly, Ryubeom flinched. A burning current ran through his palm, and he immediately understood its significance.

After leaving Kyung Jaehwan’s house, he had buried a treasure on the hill behind it. The treasure hidden near the cliff, where the last traces of the demons remained, was a warning device. In other words, it meant that ‘they’ were now approaching that location.

Suddenly, the information Gu Il had provided flashed through Ryubeom’s mind. Accidents causing the collapse of villas had occurred since two decades ago but had stopped about ten years ago. That would coincide with ‘that day’, the day Ryubeom’s parents died.

And the accidents had resumed several years ago.

“…Yeohwi. I need to go somewhere.”

“Now? Where on earth…”

“It seems like demons, no, Eopshins have appeared on the hill behind Kyung Jaehwan’s mansion.”

Yeohwi was puzzled by Ryubeom’s sudden anxiousness. However, upon hearing the location Ryubeom mentioned, Yeohwi immediately frowned and grabbed Ryubeom tightly.

“Even though we’ve figured out their identity, we still don’t know how to deal with them. And knowing that they harbor hatred toward the Cheonga family, shouldn’t we be more cautious right now? What dangerous thing are you planning to do now?”

Although Yeohwi’s words poured out like fierce scolding, Ryubeom was not intimidated. He calmly shook his head.

“It’s not something dangerous. Well, it could be dangerous, but…”

“Then let’s go together.”

“No, that’s not possible. If you go there with me, the family might notice, so I have to go alone.”

Even if it wasn’t because he was the only one who could traverse space using the treasure, Ryubeom couldn’t take Yeohwi with him.

“I have something I need to confirm. I need to find out.”

Yeohwi frowned at Ryubeom’s response. But it was more out of concern than displeasure. When they came here, Cheon Ryubeom had insisted on verifying things for himself and faced the truth, breaking down in the storm as a result.

Yeohwi’s eyes mixed with various emotions. It was a similar confusion to when he had caressed Ryubeom’s tear-streaked cheek earlier, revealing a worry he couldn’t swallow down.

Ryubeom covered Yeohwi’s hand, which was holding his arm. He gently covered the hand that clung to him as if it would never let go, and quietly whispered.

“When this is resolved… I will definitely come back.”

“….”

“I will tell you everything then.”

Ryubeom’s words, spoken while looking directly at Yeohwi, sounded like a promise. His hazel eyes, looking at where he was meant to return, were filled with sincerity.

Slowly, very slowly, Yeohwi’s hand withdrew. Ryubeom waited quietly, and only when Yeohwi had completely let go and nodded, did he smile. It was a smile of gratitude for accepting his promise.

After that, Cheon Ryubeom traversed the space.

There was a possibility he could end up somewhere else since it was the first time using the item. But Ryubeom firmly believed he would arrive correctly. Cutting through the thick fog of confusion, he believed he would finally reach that path.

Eventually, Ryubeom’s view completely changed, and he arrived at the mountain where he had been a few hours ago. Though he was far from the cliff, he paid no mind and sprinted upward.

Slowly, the rain was stopping.

Ryubeom continued to piece together his memories through the fog. What exactly was the silver mirage he had discovered during his search of the mountain? Why had the bell sound he heard during his clash with the Eopshins on Uisom Mountain felt familiar?

The strange story the restaurant lady he met during his search had recounted swirled in his mind, along with her description of ‘the two people’ he saw back then.

The prophecy from 22 years ago that Oh Seoktae mentioned. And Cheon Ryubeom’s mother also left the family at that time.

The answer ‘he’ gave to young Ryubeom’s question in the distant past echoed in his ears.

“My family… all are here.”

Boom!

Ryubeom was startled by the scene in front of him when he finally arrived. Similar to the scene he had witnessed on Uisom Mountain, a group of Eopshins was gathered. And among the Eopshins staring at Kyung Jaehwan’s house, a small weasel Eopshin charged downward.

“No!”

Ryubeom urgently threw himself to grab it. But even the slightest touch caused sparks to fly! It was a sign that the barrier was about to activate.

If this barrier activates, it would trigger a large-scale obliteration spell.

With a pale face, Ryubeom hastily drew a breaking spell. It was impossible to break a spell that several elders had created with his own power alone. Therefore, Ryubeom was aiming for a very narrow-range block. He needed to prevent them from becoming aware of the collision happening here.

Only after pouring almost all his energy did the sparks stop. However, the Eopshin still showed hostility without giving Ryubeom a moment to breathe.

[Hyaaak…!]

It glared at Ryubeom and attempted to attack, displeased by the Cheonga energy directly in front of it. And then.

Ding…

A bell sound was heard from afar. The Eopshin’s momentum weakened, and it retreated at the somewhat urgent bell sound. It seemed like the bell was saving Ryubeom from the Eopshin, but also as if urging him to move quickly to another place.

When the bell rang again, the Eopshins’ movements quickened. In the forest far away, a silver silhouette was faintly visible.

They seemed about to move away again. Holding his breath, Ryubeom called out earnestly and desperately. To the one who had protected him from Uisom Mountain, and had deliberately tried to distance him from this incident.

“Father!”

The white silhouette moving swiftly between the trees halted.

The moment slowly came into Ryubeom’s view. The vague silhouette resembling an opaque mass of smoke gradually took on a clear form. Cheon Ryubeom’s realization had brought him forth. The existence blurred in the world was called back by Ryubeom’s earnest call…

Finally, the figure turned around, looking exactly like Ryubeom’s last memory. Despite knowing he should pretend not to notice, he couldn’t ignore the call.

“…Child.”

Ryubeom gasped at the answer that had finally returned. It was only one word, but it made his heart race.

It wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

The voice that reached his ears was unmistakably his father’s, and the appearance before his eyes was exactly as he remembered. Light brown hair with a hint of silver, light brown eyes. A white shirt and light gray pants. Although it was a simple outfit, it was enough to tell that this was his father, who exuded a strangely calm and ethereal atmosphere.

His father’s appearance was slightly transparent. However, it felt too peculiar to be certain that he was merely a ghost, a lingering soul. It seemed as if his father was precariously existing on the boundary between life and death.

Ryubeom, knowing through his memories that the elders were the culprits of ‘that day,’ was grateful for his father’s existence in any form.

“Is it really, truly you?”

Stuttering, Cheon Ryubeom approached him. The stiff expression he had held up until now softened, and his face turned into that of a child on the verge of tears.

His father hesitated but no longer tried to run away as he had before. He stood, seemingly bound by the sight of Ryubeom’s tearful face, and looked at the approaching child with unfamiliar eyes. As if faced with something unimaginable, he traced Ryubeom’s face with his gaze. The light brown eyes, transparent and shining, seemed as if they were brimming with tears.

“…You’ve grown so much.”

“Is it really, truly you?”

“What do you expect me to do when you call out to me and hold me so confusedly? You’ve grown in body, but you’re still just a child.”

His father softened his gaze and smiled. It was the same smile that Ryubeom remembered from his childhood. As soon as he saw that smile, a flood of past memories overwhelmed Ryubeom, causing his face to twist further.

Around that time, his father’s gaze shifted slightly to the side.

“Ahem! I didn’t tell him! I clearly sent him far away!”

The person who flinched and shouted at even the slightest glance was Baekyeong, who had been hiding between the trees. As he protested and straightened his posture, he looked aggrieved.

“I didn’t say anything, though…”

“You were speaking with your eyes!”

Ryubeom sighed softly. Baekyeong’s strange behavior in the hermitage had indeed been a clue for his deduction, but seeing the two of them conversing before his eyes made him feel amazed. What was the nature of their relationship?

At Ryubeom’s curious gaze, Baekyeong awkwardly cleared his throat.

“First, let’s hurry and cross over. We don’t know what problems might arise from the recent clash.”

Ryubeom barely managed to stop the barrier from activating, but even the brief clash might have sent a signal to Kyung Jaehwan’s house. Or he might have sensed the malevolent energy that appeared here.

His father nodded in agreement and extended his hand into the air. From his palm, silver energy poured out like waves, creating a door in the air.

Baekyeong guided the Eopshins to go in first. Watching the orderly movement with fascination, Ryubeom heard his father carefully call out to him.

“…Will you come with me?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

Although the question seemed to hesitate about whether this was the right choice, Ryubeom’s answer was quick. His eyes held a firm and earnest resolve. Now that they had finally met, they should stay together, no longer leaving him behind like on that day.

His father wore a sad expression, but when Baekyeong muttered from the back, “If we don’t take him, he’ll follow us to the end…,” he glanced at him sharply. Baekyeong coughed and hurried into the door.

Soon, his father extended his hand to Ryubeom. It was the same hand he had always held out whenever they crossed the crosswalk in the past. Ryubeom, suppressing the surge of emotions, grasped that hand.

Then they walked together toward the door. The view beyond the door shimmered with an opaque light, but Ryubeom wasn’t afraid of the path ahead with his father.

Ding…

As his father shook the bell one last time, the door fully closed, and the scenery around them blurred. Seeing the object in his father’s hand, Ryubeom realized why the bell sound had felt familiar.

It was the sound of the soul.

When Ryubeom was young and fell ill because he couldn’t control his energy, his mother went far away to get medicine, leaving his father to look after him alone. Even while getting injured by the untamed tiger energy that Ryubeom couldn’t harness, he stayed by his side and warded off the approaching demons. The sound of the Muryung his father had shaken back then faintly came to mind.

Ryubeom tightened his grip on his father’s hand. His father hesitated briefly but then gently patted the back of Ryubeom’s hand, just as he had done in the distant past.

* * *

Beyond the door was, as expected, the hermitage on Uisom Mountain.

Though they had been in a torrential downpour until a moment ago, the sky here was clear as if not a single drop of rain had fallen. The full moon brightly illuminated the ground, and the peaceful sound of insects filled the air. Ryubeom looked around with a sense of wonder. It felt as if he had come to a completely different world. Even though he had visited this place once before, it felt unfamiliar.

Meanwhile, Baekyeong and Ryubeom’s father had the Eopshins enter the jars. The storage behind the hermitage was filled with quite a few jars, seemingly used solely for the Eopshins.

Watching from behind, Ryubeom asked a question. His father was focused on sealing the jars, so the question was directed at Baekyeong, who was nearby.

“Why do you travel with the Eopshins? Isn’t it dangerous to be with those who have already been freed?”

“Hmm, so you figured out they were Eopshins. And judging by your reaction, you seem to know how they were made too…”

Baekyeong answered, scanning Ryubeom up and down.

“They break the Eopdanji jars. Those jars can’t be physically broken. Moreover, because they caused a commotion in the past, they keep hiding the jars, so they help in locating them.”

The Eopshins created by the Cheonga family shared the same root. Because of this, they could keenly sense each other’s energy, hence traveling with the Eopshins.

“The Eopdanji at Kyung Jaehwan’s mansion is particularly well-hidden, making it hard to find… but the information network will contact us soon.”

Baekyeong shrugged lightly. Ryubeom nodded, marveling at the existence of the ‘information network’ Baekyeong mentioned.

Watching his reaction, Baekyeong scratched the back of his head, muttering as if he couldn’t understand.

“I deliberately gave you the oldest clue, but how did you figure it out so quickly? Well, I suppose that determination runs in the family…”

His words were more of a sigh than a question. Ryubeom realized that the feeling of being out of place when he first went to the location Baekyeong mentioned was not just an illusion. Without the help of Gu Il, or the Fox clan, he wouldn’t have been able to piece it together.

However, the first clue did come from Baekyeong, so Ryubeom bowed his head in gratitude.

“Though it was an old clue, it opened the floodgates. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to deduce anything.”

There was no trace of resentment in his sincere thanks. Baekyeong, seeing Ryubeom’s expression, shuddered his shoulders and suddenly shouted.

“Father and son with those same eyes…!”

“What kind of eyes are you talking about…?”

“Uh, very, uh?! Eyes that make a person feel guilty!”

Despite his rough appearance, Baekyeong seemed to be very shy, judging by the way he kept checking the other person’s reaction while speaking bluntly. He appeared to be feeling a pang of conscience seeing the pure heart of the person he had deceived all this time.

At that moment, Ryubeom’s father returned after finishing the seal.

“It’s fortunate you prevented the clash, otherwise it would have left a deep scar.”

Baekyeong nodded, glanced around the storage, and finally alternated his gaze between Ryubeom and his father.

“It’s time for me to step aside…”

With a clear throat, Baekyeong quickly stepped back. Ryubeom watched his retreating figure, then slowly turned his gaze to stare at his father.

Under the quietly descending moonlight, their gazes met silently for a long time. They hadn’t had a proper conversation yet, but just looking at each other seemed to hold great meaning. They continued to look at each other and then look again.

Finally, his father softened his gaze and smiled.

“You seem to have a lot of questions. Where should we start…?”

“From the beginning to the end, everything.”

“…Alright. You’ve grown up now, so I suppose I should tell you too. You still seem like a child to me, but you made it here all the same…”

His father turned and walked somewhere, with Ryubeom quickly following behind. He stayed close, as if afraid of losing him. His father, with a regretful look, gestured for Ryubeom to sit beside him on the porch.

In the place bathed in moonlight, his father’s story began to unfold softly.