NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34
Chapter 34
“Nineteen, twenty. One, two, three…”
“Ugh…”
“Hang in there. Not much left.”
“…Ngh.”
“Eight, nine, ten. Okay, your hiccups should have stopped now. Try breathing.”
Haaah—
Eun-hwi took a deep breath and then exhaled as if expelling all the air from his lungs.
Nevertheless, he was afraid the hiccups might come back. His eyes darted around, waiting for a reaction.
“…Huh?”
Even after some time passed, the sound didn’t return like before. Amazingly, his chest, which had been heaving uncontrollably, had now calmed down.
“They really stopped!”
The hiccups had disappeared as if by magic. To think he could escape a near-death experience just by sticking out his tongue. How did Yeo Moon-beom know such a method?
As he had confidently claimed, Yeo Moon-beom really did know a lot.
“It’s fortunate you didn’t die from something like hiccups.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Yeo Moon-beom!”
“It’s nothing.”
Yeo Moon-beom shrugged lightly, as if it were no big deal, but with a face tinged with pride. Then he turned to face the opposite direction.
In an instant, as if he had become a different person, the smile that had filled his lips disappeared. A coldness that seemed to freeze even the air around him emanated from him.
“Don’t ever lay a hand on my dokkaebi again. If you do it one more time, I’ll really kill you.”
Yeo Moon-beom glared at the man-faced bird, who was getting up from his seat looking exhausted, and picked up the axe that had fallen to the ground. His eyes were filled with murderous intent, as if he would split the bird in two if it didn’t answer.
“…”
However, perhaps unable to let go of its bruised pride completely, the man-faced bird turned its back silently.
Turning one’s back to an opponent who had initiated the fight was tantamount to admitting defeat. Despite knowing this, Yeo Moon-beom raised the axe threateningly and asked again:
“Not going to answer? You bastard.”
“…”
“Even after getting beaten like that, this bastard still hasn’t come to his senses. Do you want to get beaten to death to come to your senses? Or do you just want to die?”
If it weren’t for Eun-hwi, the man-faced bird would have been dead long ago. Annoyed by its childish behavior, not even able to say thank you, Yeo Moon-beom tightened his grip on the axe.
“I promise. I will make sure it doesn’t touch you.”
A noble voice, untainted by any worldly lies or impurities, came like the wind. Everyone turned towards the source of that clear, awe-inspiring voice that sounded like jade beads rolling on a silver tray.
Who is it?
A woman wearing white silk clothes embroidered with golden threads, with a long-tailed paradise flycatcher perched on one shoulder, slowly approached them.
She was about 170cm tall with a slender figure, and her appearance was far more alluring than even a white fox transformed into a human.
Not a single raindrop fell on the path where she walked. Although the rain had thinned, it hadn’t completely stopped, so Yeo Moon-beom gripped the axe handle tightly, remaining cautious.
As expected, the kiss alone wasn’t enough, and Eun-hwi’s power residing in his body was gradually fading. Unless he shared skinship again, he didn’t think he could face the woman like he had fought the man-faced bird. He racked his brain for how to overcome the situation.
“M-Mountain God!”
Just as he was using all his senses to time his attack, Eun-hwi’s surprised cry was heard. Taken aback by the unexpected identity of the woman, Yeo Moon-beom found himself asking:
“…Mountain God?”
She looked so different from the white-haired old men in most of the Buddhist paintings hung on the walls of mountain god shrines. Even knowing that those were just images based on human imagination, Yeo Moon-beom couldn’t shake off his doubt and maintained his attack stance.
“Human. Quickly show respect to the Mountain God.”
The man-faced bird bowed its head in reverence with its battered body. Yeo Moon-beom found it amusing how the monster before him, who rarely apologized even after doing wrong, was now groveling before the Mountain God.
“So you are that tiger.”
The Mountain God, who had been staring at Yeo Moon-beom for a long time, reached out and rubbed the injured parts of the man-faced bird. The areas that had been roughly torn by the axe blade joined together, leaving only boundary lines, as if torn paper had been glued back together.
“That… tiger? You know me?”
“To push back a man-faced bird with a human body. Indeed, it’s enough to disturb the harmony of yin and yang.”
“Don’t change the subject. I asked if you know me.”
“I am an old friend of Dokkaebi. Does that answer your question?”
At the mention of Gabi’s name, Eun-hwi, who had been fidgeting and watching nervously, suddenly interjected with a question.
“Then did my father tell the Mountain God about Yeo Moon-beom?”
An uninvited guest who comes through the gap of disharmony and disturbs the balance of yin and yang.
He recalled the revelation from the Mountain God that the man-faced bird had mentioned earlier.
At the time, he thought it referred to himself, but now it was clear that it must have been about Yeo Moon-beom.
The yellow eyes under long eyelashes sparkled with curiosity. Since being caught stealing offerings from the mountain god shrine and incurring the man-faced bird’s hatred, Eun-hwi had been banned from entering the Mountain God’s domain and hadn’t exchanged a word with her for years.
If the Mountain God could control birds, she might know where his father was and when he would return. Perhaps they were even exchanging messages now.
The Mountain God’s gaze fell on the half-dokkaebi’s expectant face.
“Child. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”
The relentless rain finally stopped, and streams of light began to pour through the clouds. After completely sending the man-faced bird, vulnerable to sunlight, back into the forest, the Mountain God stepped forward to stand in front of Eun-hwi.
“Mountain… God?”
He had always seen her from a distance, maintaining a certain distance, but this was the first time he had faced her so closely.
Being such a difficult existence to approach, and having had almost no experience with women, Eun-hwi’s cheeks flushed red. His long eyelashes fluttered incessantly in embarrassment.
“It was my oversight. Leaving the man-faced bird until it became like that. I’m sorry.”
The Mountain God briefly looked towards the forest where the man-faced bird had disappeared. Then she brushed her fingertips over Eun-hwi’s face, which had been scraped when he fell from the gust of wind. A warm heat spread over his skin, and the wound healed instantly.
“My jurisdiction is not only this Wolhwa Mountain, but also ruling over the mountains and rivers of the Baekdu Mountain Range. Because spirits have their laws, humans have their laws, and nature has its laws, I have not intervened in your affairs as an outsider until now. There were countless beings on this land that I had to look after properly.”
The Mountain God reached out her hand and infused divine energy into the grass that had been ravaged by the wind and rain. The plants that had been drooping lifelessly immediately straightened their backs and basked in the light pouring down from the sky.
“However, the man-faced bird is my loyal servant. What happened to you is entirely my responsibility. So in return, I will tell you one thing.”
After briefly glancing at Yeo Moon-beom, who was still glaring with a displeased expression, she spoke to Eun-hwi with a benevolent smile on her face.
“Child. When your wish comes true, your father will return.”
“If I become human… my father will come back?”
To think that if his wish came true, he would be able to meet Gabi, whom he had been waiting for so long.
The desires he had thought were separate were actually connected. The half-dokkaebi’s small head tilted in confusion at the Mountain God’s words, which were hard to believe.
He was curious about what kind of conversation had taken place between his father and the Mountain God. He felt upset that such information hadn’t been sent to him directly.
But surely there must be a reason for it?
He couldn’t even begin to guess what that reason might be. His head, which had been tilted diagonally to the right, now turned to the left. However, apart from the questions that couldn’t be answered immediately, an unprecedented expectation welled up.
Yeo Moon-beom had promised to fulfill his wish, so all he had to do was believe and follow him.
It felt as if the star that he couldn’t reach no matter how much he stretched his hand or flew high as a dokkaebi fire was now rising close before his eyes, welcoming him. His heart pounded.
Eun-hwi asked the Mountain God again, as if to reconfirm, while she just smiled silently:
“Mountain God, can I really see my father if I become human?”
“All things are meant to unfold naturally. Don’t lose yourself at any moment and act on what you believe. That’s how your father will safely return to your side.”
“What I believe…?”
He had only spent his days harboring the desire to become human, never deeply considering what the natural order was or what belief meant. These concepts were too difficult for him to grasp.
Still, because there was hope, he wanted to think hard for Gabi, who would return someday.
As Eun-hwi slowly nodded his head, the Mountain God, who had been watching him with a gentle and warm expression, now turned her gaze to Yeo Moon-beom and said:
“Tiger. You will stand at a crossroads of choice. It is the way of the world that when you gain one thing, you lose another. Do not defy this, and choose what is most precious to you. This is all I can tell you for your sake.”