WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 7: Episode 2: Infant-Cry Dragon Horse (4)

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It was a truly staggering blow.

It far surpassed the level Ise had imagined. Then again, Mongryeon was not human to begin with.

‘This is the strength of the dokkaebi people’s greatest master.’

His master was far more overwhelmingly powerful than he had expected.

Enough that the saying, “As long as Mongryeon guards Gwisu Temple, no ordinary demon can even come near it,” no longer sounded like a joke.

Which was why it was so surprising that the Infant-Cry Dragon Horse had dared to hunt the dokkaebi people.

And why it was all the more unfortunate that this disaster had happened in her absence.

“Is your body feeling better?”

“Yes, Master. I’m much better now.”

“You endured well without letting out a single groan. If you’re all right, get up. I have something for you to do.”

Mongryeon handed Ise a bell cluster with a handle forked at one end, a small brass blade hung with paper tassels, and a vertically divided rectangular sheet of paper.

“These are spirit artifacts for releasing spirits. They were made so even ordinary people without spiritual energy can use them.”

“Releasing spirits?”

“Yes. Killing a demon isn’t the end. Their resentment remains in the corpse for a while. If you don’t properly release it, that resentment will wander the nine heavens and eventually create the same kind of demon. You’ve only hunted its shell.”

Ise turned the spirit artifacts over in his hands. They did not feel like ordinary objects. He could clearly sense an auspicious presence from them.

“The resentment of the Snail-Headed Scholar you killed had already escaped as well. In other words, even putting aside whoever stood behind it, your revenge was never complete to begin with.”

“...I see.”

“The first line is the Spirit Release Incantation. Hold the Spell Bell in your right hand and the Spirit Tablet in your left. Keep your mind clear, and recite the incantation with reverence.”

Mongryeon clicked her tongue regretfully.

“If you had awakened a spiritual root, you would have absorbed quite a bit of spiritual energy from this hunt. What a shame.”

“Is it all right for me to do this?”

“Then should I, a dokkaebi, do it? Releasing spirits is a ritual only humans can perform. That’s why we maintain an alliance with them.”

“I heard the dokkaebi people can raise their realm by eating demons. Wouldn’t it be better for you to eat it, Master?”

“Forget it. If I wanted to consume its demonic qi, I would have had to eat it alive. And a mere Qi Condensation demon, no better than an insect, would not even make a dent in my appetite. Think of this as gaining experience.”

“Ah... understood.”

Ise nodded, convinced.

Then he calmly began to recite the Spirit Release Incantation.

“Spirits flee and are released, all shall fade and be dispelled.”

It was a short phrase.

When the eight-character incantation ended, the Spell Bell chimed and gave off a bright yellow light.

The next moment, black energy flowed from the Infant-Cry Dragon Horse’s corpse. It churned as though seized by a convulsion, then burrowed into Ise’s body.

“...?”

“Is it done?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Don’t be disappointed that you couldn’t absorb spiritual energy. The Restoration Pellet you took will remain in your body for a long time, then show its effects once you awaken a spiritual root. You struck gold.”

“Still, something feels strange.”

“What is it?”

“It felt like the demonic qi inside the Infant-Cry Dragon Horse entered my body... Can humans absorb demonic qi?”

At Ise’s words, Mongryeon stared intently into his body.

She thought she could faintly sense demonic qi, but the presence was so weak that it was hard to distinguish from turbid qi.

Could that tiny wisp even be called demonic qi...?

The Infant-Cry Dragon Horse had punctured several holes through his body. Even if a little demonic qi had temporarily remained inside him, it was not particularly strange.

She shrugged.

“Who knows? I’ve never heard of such a thing. That would only be possible in a demonic sect that cultivates demonic arts. Humans cannot handle demonic qi, and demons cannot handle spiritual energy. Their roots may be the same, but they are entirely different powers. Only those with keen perception or those who have reached a certain realm can vaguely sense them.”

Ise faintly furrowed his brow. Both spiritual energy and demonic qi felt perfectly clear to him.

“I see. I must have been mistaken.”

“If it bothers you that much, remember the symptoms and ask at Great Exorcist Order later. This master hates theoretical matters.”

Ise fell silent at Mongryeon’s firm answer.

The unpleasant energy lodged in his stomach still seemed to squirm, but there was no need to upset his master.

He would observe it a little longer, then ask again later.

“Now conduct a memorial rite for the children who died. Hold the Divine Blade in your right hand. The Memorial Incantation is on the third line.”

Enemies were released. Allies were memorialized.

Ise engraved those words into his mind.

“Though they were souls born as demons, pray sincerely that they will not fall into the bottomless abyss of the demon realm, but safely enter the Gate of Reincarnation and be born human in their next lives.”

“...Yes.”

Mongryeon and Ise gathered the bodies of the fallen dokkaebi and laid them side by side. They stood before them in silent prayer.

“Spirits depart in peace, return to the path of light.”

This time, Ise distinctly felt their souls rise toward the sky.

Once the ritual ended, he looked at Mongryeon.

Her expression was complicated. Then a smile appeared on her face, as though she were seeing off those who had departed.

“Smile. Showing a smile to the dead is dokkaebi custom.”

“...Yes.”

A dull ache spread through one corner of Ise’s heart as well.

It was the same feeling he had when he lost his family to the Snail-Headed Scholar.

Only now did the sense of loss finally come crashing down.

The deaths of people he had seen every day for six years were not as light as he had thought.

“What a funny expression you have.”

Unable to properly cry or smile, Ise thought it was fortunate there was no mirror nearby.

* * *

Several days passed after the Infant-Cry Dragon Horse’s rampage.

Gong Ilchwi and Gong Woljang were punished with ten years confined in the Cave of Repentance.

The young dokkaebi were also forbidden from leaving the territory.

Ise looked at Mongryeon and the dokkaebi people lined up behind her.

They had come to see him off.

Today was the day Ise would leave Gwisu Temple and take Great Exorcist Order’s entrance examination.

“Tch. You stubborn brat. I could take you somewhere that close in an instant.”

“As I said, I want to gain some experience of the world while I have the chance.”

“Just don’t get yourself killed by some blind demon on the way.”

Mongryeon casually handed him a dagger wrapped in cloth.

“This is...”

The object in his hand was the Vein-Severing Blade, the sacred relic Ise had used in his battle against the Infant-Cry Dragon Horse.

“Can I really accept something this valuable?”

“Take it before I change my mind.”

Ise hurriedly tucked the dagger securely inside his clothes.

“I can’t give you much. Everything I own is precious property my children risked their lives to bring back. Use it well, and return it once you reach a realm where you no longer need it.”

“I will.”

When Mongryeon stepped back, members of the dokkaebi people came forward one after another and began stuffing objects from their sleeves into Ise’s bundle.

Lunch boxes, silver coins, small jewels, an unidentifiable scroll, and a necklace set with a red stone.

“That’s a Spiritual Stone. Cultivators use it as currency, and grind it down to make medicinal pellets. Keep it with you for the time being.”

“Thank you.”

They were surely each person’s treasured collection. Watching them hand over things whose uses they did not even know, as though pressing pocket money into his hands, made Ise’s chest ache.

At last, Gonga, who had been lingering hesitantly, handed him a prettily wrapped cone-shaped object.

“Um... be careful.”

“Thanks. But what is this?”

Instead of answering, Gonga hurried back into the crowd of dokkaebi.

Mongryeon snickered and answered for her.

“That’s a Juvenile Horn. It falls off only once, after a dokkaebi reaches adulthood and before their permanent horn emerges. It’s like a baby tooth before permanent teeth come in for humans. It’s a fairly valuable ingredient, so if you ever make medicinal pellets, think of Gonga once before you grind it up and eat it.”

“...Gonga.”

“You might die out there. Shouldn’t you have planted a little seed before you left? I was curious about a human and dokkaebi hybrid, too.”

“Chief!”

Only Gonga’s shriek came from somewhere out of sight. The dokkaebi adults burst into laughter.

After Mongryeon’s words, which could have been either a curse or a joke, the dokkaebi exchanged farewells.

Ise bowed deeply to show his gratitude.

This place felt like home now.

Stepping back, Ise gave Mongryeon a ninefold formal bow.

“Once I enter Great Exorcist Order, I believe I will be away for quite a long time. Though we are of different races, I will never forget the kindness of you and everyone here for taking me in as family. Please remain well.”

“All right. Don’t worry, and grow stronger. Great Exorcist Order’s rules are more flexible than you might think, so make time to visit now and then.”

“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll be going.”

When he bowed once more, Gonga, Chanmo, and several other dokkaebi waved their hands and called out.

“Come back safely, Ise!”

“Make sure you eat properly!”

“We’ll miss you!”

With difficulty, Ise took his first step.

Toward Cheongsan, renowned for the spiritual energy that flowed through it.

* * *

Subu Village.

Once, Ise had thought of this place as home.

If his desperate plea for help during the demon rampage had not been ignored.

If someone had reached out a hand after he lost his family.

Perhaps he would still have felt that way.

Life in Subu Village was the second happiest memory of his life.

Now his heart was relatively at ease. Perhaps it was because he had found a new home.

Ise stepped inside the house. Noticing the change in the courtyard, he frowned.

‘The graves...’

They were gone.

The graves he had made for his family.

Ise rubbed his face with both hands.

Inside the walls, everything was empty, as though the place had been robbed. The thatched house was a derelict building on the verge of collapse.

Barely suppressing his rising anger, Ise spotted the broad stone he had used as a grave marker.

Words were written there in ink.

“If you see this, come find me. From Wiseong.”

It was unmistakably Wiseong’s handwriting.

Rather than grow despondent, Ise immediately headed for Wiseong’s home.

If his family’s graves were gone, he would have no reason to return here again. He intended to meet Wiseong, settle whatever business this was, and leave at once.

“Teacher, it’s Ise.”

“Come in.”

Wiseong was in the study reading a book, just as Ise remembered.

Even after Ise entered, Wiseong did not glance up, eyes still fixed on the book.

“You sent for me?”

“There is a money pouch in the second compartment of the cabinet on the left. I sold the things you left behind last time without consulting me, along with the remaining household goods and the land, and converted everything into cash.”

“...But that was payment I had rightfully made.”

Even at Ise’s words, Wiseong merely shook their head.

“You cannot call something fair payment when you left it behind after unilaterally finishing only your own business. I thought it might become a well-meant but futile effort because you would not return alive, but fortunately, you did.”

“Did you truly need to go this far...?”

Just six years ago, Wiseong had not seemed to care whether Ise lived or died.

The unasked-for kindness made Ise grateful, but uncomfortable at the same time.

“Does returning an item to its rightful owner require a reason?”

Ise could not answer Wiseong’s reply.

At last, Wiseong closed the book and met Ise's gaze.

“I remember when you were first adopted into this village. I remember you coming and going from my study as well.”

“I’m grateful that you allowed me to borrow books and taught me how to read.”

“When you were the only one to survive, there were people who wanted to help you. There were also ruffians who tried to stop that help.”

“...Is that so?”

“Fear born of ignorance creates monsters. So do not resent them too much.”

“I do not particularly resent them.”

Wiseong smiled faintly. Ise realized it was the first time he had ever seen Wiseong smile.

“There is a Burial Map in the money pouch, marked with your family’s grave locations. Visit them now and then. I regret moving them without your permission, but according to geomantic principles, making graves within one’s home goes against natural order.”

“Thank you...”

“Then go.”

It was typical of Wiseong to say only what needed saying, then send a guest away.

That day six years ago, Ise had been surrounded by nothing but people to resent. Now, for some reason, he kept finding people he needed to thank and repay.

“Ise.”

“Yes?”

“You look well. I’m glad.”

Ise bowed, then slowly withdrew.

Footnotes:

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