BBS (16)

Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost

 
⟨Chapter 16⟩
 
 

“Ah…”

Yu Dan looked down at his body.

Now everything lumped into one lock of hair. Because it coiled around the whole torso, he couldn’t differentiate where were his legs.

With a sudden jerk, an unknown feeling washed over him.

This was the end, huh?

Yeah. Because even if he was lucky, it could turn against him.

Yu Dan stared at the sky in some unknown place.

“I accept it. I want it to end here. Really. I don’t wish for a favor. Don’t burden yourself.”

“I know.”

The fox yokai responded indifferently.

“So please don’t go ahead of Yourself like this.”

His stiff like stone body was suddenly pulled. The hair locks, which tightened like a rope, snapped.

“I said I won’t let go yet. Though I wanted to let go a few times. When I had to do everything with one hand. When I couldn’t leave the room and had to protect you from the side. When I did my best to earn you time, while you fell asleep, even though I told you to think.”

“I didn’t sleep— What was that? Not let go of what?”

“Your lifeline.”

“Lifeline?”

“Yes. If the other side grabs a half of it, then shouldn’t someone grab the other half?”

“… What?”

He asked back blankly.

Small pieces of doubtfulness now pieced themselves together.

That was it, huh? The strange thing in his right hand’s sleeve.

“So that’s why you kept using only one hand, huh? Even when tying a rope, even when making talismans, even when using the knife. Because you were holding my lifeline with the other hand. So that’s what the frog meant by hanging between a yokai and a ghost, huh? But if you did that, you should have at least told me! If you did, then I…”

“You would be careless, right? Like now. Please stop with the nonsense and come out!”

A powerful power pulled on his body.

He was dragged out like this, rolled and hit the wall hard. Even so, he didn’t feel much pain.

The space sealed by the bamboo blind was intact. On the other hand, everything on the other side was rattling as if it was to collapse at any moment.

The hanging scroll was fluttering. The wicked energy raged like a storm.

The fox with shining golden fur stood in the center of it. He held an eight forked spear from the old times, behind him the summoned swarm of the Road To Hell spread out without limits.

“I can let go now.”

Baek Ran flapped his sleeve and opened his right hand. In the middle of his palm was a black mark, as if burned.

“Even though it knew You would be each other’s ruin, it wanted to hold You the moment it saw You. That’s a bad habit. No, they themselves are bad things.”

As if saying ‘Isn’t it a shame?’. He turned to look at the struggling hanging scroll with narrowed eyes.

“The mystery was solved. The origin of that power. And now I know the secret of its death that it tried to hide so much.”

The painting was enraged.

The sound of the wind trying to rip the hanging scroll. Or perhaps the sound of numerous cats opening their mouths to cry out. With such a horrible scream, it lunged towards the fox yokai. But dozens of hundreds of monsters of the Road to Hell stared at it. Those gazes pressed the thing down to the floor.

“That was that period, correct? The period when one had to die just to stay clean and precious. Should we make a deal? From that moment on if even one thing I say is wrong, I’ll let You go. But if everything is correct, You will have to leave.”

Even though he made a suggestion, he didn’t listen for a reply or anything like such. Baek Ran’s words continued straight away.

“Blue army. It’s so simple there is no need to even talk about it. Qing army. The army of Qing dynasty. Qing(清 name of Chinese dynasty) and qing(靑 blue)[1], but in Your head You imagined them as a blue and scary army like a sea. It’s the middle of the war[2] now. Your family fled to the island for shelter. You didn’t think they would be able to come this far, but they even ended up crossing the sea. Your clan’s men trembled in fear. They didn’t fear the disaster of war, but trembled for their family’s honor when his wife and daughters, their mother and sisters would endure foul things at the hands of barbarians…”

The ghost howled.

The talismans, which text was erased and fell on the floor before, flew up and swarmed. They pounced violently as if trying to block Baek Ran’s mouth, but Beak Ran simply shook them off.

“They were the very animals. Your father and brothers. Close-minded animals, who couldn’t even see when they had eyes, who killed their tied up and healthy family for the fake honor. Under the horrible coercion, the mother and older sisters you loved hung themselves one after one. It had to be awful. You couldn’t believe it, correct? You begged for Your life, but they didn’t even bat an eyelid. You tried to flee but was caught before You even took a few steps. So, how did you die…?”

At that moment, as if trying to figure it out, the fox quietly fell into thoughts for a while. The hair and clothes fluttered furiously.

“You seem to be obsessed with necks in particular, You always try to strangle by the neck first. Was it Your brothers who grabbed you by the arms? And Your father who grabbed the cloth? Yes, that’s right. Please try to keep screaming like this. Because with it, I can see it better.”

It was right. It started to become visible even in Yu Dan’s eyes now.

A lady with loose hair wailing as if vomiting blood.

She couldn’t believe it. There were still lady things spread out on the floor. Wasn’t it but a moment ago when she was tying her hair with her mother and older sisters while laughing and chatting? But then her father and older brothers ran in with ghastly faces. While saying that everyone has to die. While saying that they have to do it for the family’s honor.

“You couldn’t understand. Why only women have to die? Because of something that didn’t happen yet? For the first time since You were born, you rebelled against Your father, eh? When the noises outside gradually became louder, Your father became impatient and finally pulled out a knife.”

Extreme pain drilled into her shoulder.

No matter how firmly he made up his mind, in the end it was her father. Because he grabbed on the sleeve with a complicated mind, he couldn’t stab in the vital points properly. So it turned into even more vicious. She was hastily stabbed a few times, but her breath wouldn’t be cut off anytime soon.

Her whole body gradually turned cold. Her consciousness was blurring.

The next year, the marriage talks would begin.

She wanted to finish the peony embroidery this month so much. Who is going to feed the old cat that lived in the backyard now?

She couldn’t understand at all.

What the hand of her father, who caressed her head so affectionately, was doing right now? Why the eyes of her older brothers, who always laughed, were so scary?

Because she struggled with her hands and feet, she gradually lost her strength.

It’s for you. We are doing it because we love you.

Everyone kept saying that.

But if that’s true…

Why can’t you just let me live?

Bloody tears dripped from the eyes of the ghost in the hanging scroll.

The fox yokai also stared at it.

“This is the story about how You lost your life. You sincerely wanted to live, but You had to die for the reason You couldn’t do anything about, and so You hated all the living. So You became a thing who hurts at random. However You can’t do this. You have to stop now.”

Baek Ran held a spear and cut down the hanging scroll.

The vibration spread in all directions.

The air turned cold. He could feel that ‘thing’s’ presence. Finally, it couldn’t endure any longer and was dragged out of the hanging scroll. But perhaps because of the barrier, even though she was pressed right in front of the bamboo blind, her appearance wasn’t visible.

“Please leave. This world is not a place for You to stay in.”

He didn’t raise his voice even once, but it was a command that couldn’t be disobeyed.

The thing was gradually expelled through the door. She wasn’t going to move obediently. She couldn’t help, but to be expelled, but she was going to rebel to the last bit of her strength remaining.

“What more do You want now to go?”

Baek Ran struck the floor with his spear again.

The two energies clashed turning into a whirlwind. Some medical cabinets shattered and medical ingredients scattered.

Yu Dan shook his head.

So nasty, huh? If you lost, you should leave, right? The secret of its death was revealed, so it couldn’t have any more strength. This painting was no longer a ghost painting. Even when he looked at it directly, it wasn’t scary. Just…

At that moment, the thing moved its eyes and its gaze met with Yu Dan’s. Its eyes narrowed like a snake. He stepped back, but he realized too late.

In this commotion, his scarf almost completely untied. He saw its end stick out outside of the bamboo blind.

He hastily pulled it back.

But the other side was faster.

The thing, which desperately grabbed the air while being expelled, at the critical moment snatched the scarf’s end.

His neck was suddenly pulled.

When he came to his senses, he was already holding the scarf tightly. Held on the one side by a ghost and on the other side by him, the scarf ended up tightening around his neck.

What an amazing strength. He might die like this. No, he will surely die.

However, he couldn’t let go. As he was dragged little by little, he hit the door sliding door.

Suddenly his vision brightened.

At the same as light entered, the corridor door cracked opened. The serpent yokai looked around with a confused face, and then was startled by the scene she saw.

“You twisted thing! In the end you can’t let go of your feelings and try to hurt a human!?”

She pulled out a sword as she jumped forward. The twins and Do-ssi hurriedly ran in.

But everyone abruptly halted in front of the bamboo blind. They didn’t dare to cross it and looked at Baek Ran with anxious faces.

“Please do something! Quickly, before it takes Him away…”

At Chaeu’s words, the fox yokai shook his head.

“It won’t take him away. How in the situation where it can only be expelled or flee can it carry a heavy soul? It’s just too resentful, so it tries to snatch something with it.”

“What?”

“I’m talking about the item it’s currently grabbing onto.”

Even though Yu Dan’s mind was hazy, he was startled.

… My scarf?

Can’t. He didn’t care about anything else, but it absolutely can’t. It absolutely cannot be stolen.

Even when his mind was hazy because of the tightened neck, he grabbed onto the scarf’s end with all his might.

“Are you sane?!”

He hazily heard yokai’s voices.

“Are you going to trade your scarf for your life?”

“Uncle will give you an even better scarf! I will give you a fur scarf made out of Huoshu’s fur[3]!”

“It’s useless! Whatever we say, it will not get to him! He can’t let go of it! He said that it’s a memento after his mother, remember?! That’s too much! Of all things to ask for that!? No matter what ghost it is, it’s too much!”

“What should we do?! If it continues like this, something truly bad will happen! Cheonho-nim, please save him!”

Everyone stared at the fox yokai with desperation.

Baek Ran walked up and kicked the bamboo blind. The lightning burst and coiled around his sleeve.

“Please let go.”

That order was filled with some kind of binding power. However, Yu Dan fought against that power and shook his head.

“Why can’t You let go?”

“I said I’ll never lose it… It was a promise…”

“So You believe that it’s correct action to grab onto this item right now and die because of suffocation?”

“You don’t know… Now this is the only promise I can keep… Nothing beside it…”

His neck twisted back.

Baek Ran raised his eyes.

“Good. This is Your choice to die, whatever the reason. There is no problem as it’s unrelated to me. However, can I tell You one thing?”

The fox bent his knees and sat down. He stared straight into his eyes as he spoke.

“There are kinds of ghost who harm us. They take out their anger, while harassing us without reason, they hurt us, and even bring life-threatening crises. But, even though they do that…”

His gaze lingered in the distance for a bit, on the scarf that was almost pulled out and about to slip out through the door crack.

“We can throw them a bit.”

“Why?”

The shining golden eyes filled with sly energy, which one couldn’t read the thoughts behind them, turned towards him.

“Because we have something they can never have, even though they want it the most.”

“…”

For a moment he was at a loss about how to reply.

The fox yokai’s words burrowed into his head.

The thing they want the most, but can never have.

Because… no matter what, we are alive.

Suddenly the strange feeling of anger rose up in him.

I- even if I was going to lose my breath, I absolutely never wanted to let go, but… But even though I didn’t dare to let go…

His fingers lost their strength.

The soft cloth creased his fingers as it slipped away, and then disappeared in the sliding door’s crack in the instant.

The tightening around his neck was released. As his blocked windpipe opened, he burst into coughing.

Yu Dan wobbly stood up. Before his blurry vision returned to normal, he threw open the sliding door in front of him.

Dark yard.

In the distance, he saw a shadow with its entire body wrapped in the scarf and slithering away. It looked like enormous and hideous snake.

He stared at it for a while and then turned around.

The yokai stood still. He expected laughter, shock or anger, but they just nodded.

Baek Ran’s eyes followed the trace of the snake.

“You’re just going to send it out like this?”

Even though Yu Dan asked, there was no answer. He opened his mouth only after a while.

“Yes… Because for such a hateful ghost[4] the very existence is hell, so it would be rather graceful if someone vanquished it.”

So he couldn’t do such an act of mercy?

That said, the fox yokai’s eyes were nothing but cold.

His neck was also cold. The night wind blew right at it.

He tried to feel it a few times as he couldn’t believe that it wasn’t there. It was really warm. His eyes stung because of sadness and regret.

“Why the hell it would want such a thing?”

“How would I know its mindset? Perhaps it was ill nature saying that if it couldn’t snatch Your life, it should take something precious instead. If not…”

“What if not?”

“Perhaps it was just cold. The wind is cold.”

Baek Ran closed the sliding door.

Yu Dan also followed inside.

He hit something with his foot. A hanging scroll.

The painting, which was so vivid before, gradually fainted. As all colors melted, soon nothing but a white paper remained.

Yu Dan stared down at the empty paper for a while.

He shrugged and rolled it up. After looking around he handed it to Do-ssi.

The dokkaebi’s face crumpled.
 

***
 
Yeah. That really might be right.

Being alive, somehow it may be the best thing to have.

He tried to think. When alive, he can walk like this, he can feel the wind, see the sunny scenery of spri…

At that moment, he staggered. Someone hit him with all their might.

“Watch where you’re running!”

Looking down, it wasn’t a child. It was toad people with horns protruding from the backs of their heads.

“No, what kind of yokai-like things go out for a flower sightseeing? Go home. Go home.”

After he turned them around and pushed their backs, people looked at him strangely. It was natural. Because he was moving the air while mumbling.

Done. Let him just be on his way.

Yu Dan walked faster and crossed the street. As he crossed a beautiful traditional yard and opened the door, he halted.

Inside, everyone was chatting.

“… Please, don’t be too hard on Yourself. Everyone has things they find difficult to compromise on. If nunim was threatened to give up Your precious sword or Your life, You would be able to instantly make a decision.”

“That’s right, but… Ayi, let us not think too much about complicated things. If he listened to me and take of that scarf, the ghost wouldn’t steal it. Who is to blame? He is to blame, right? Now that his neck is free, I won’t feel suffocated.”

“Right, right. It’s regretful that it was stolen, but even his late mother wouldn’t make that scarf to kill her son from heat. This year it’s unusually hot. He could collapse from heatstroke at any moment. Wait a minute. If thinking about it this way, that ghost seems like a true lifesaver! Where the hell did my thoughts go wrong?”

“At least it was a saver of fashion. That antiques destroying punk. How is that when something just enters his hands, nothing remains? I have a fever just when thinking about it, but if he appears with a scarf, I’ll collapse from the heatstroke.”

Listening to it, it was a true spectacle.

Yu Dan slammed the door opened.

“What?! What are you slandering people behind their backs!?”

Everyone looked up with surprised faces.

The surprise soon turned to shock. Even the face of the fox yokai, who was lazily sitting at the side, hardened.

Faster than anyone, Chaeseol jumped up. She ran towards him with a dumbfounded face.

“How could it be? No way, did the scarf die and become a ghost? Then how are we going to ascend that scarf’s ghost?”

Chaeu also came over and stretched out his hand with a dazed face. After touching the scarf, his face grew even more shocked.

“Noona! This isn’t a ghost! And we aren’t hallucinating! That’s a real scarf!”

“Then—.”

The twins stared at Yu Dan with a face as if they couldn’t believe it.

“You went to the ghost, and it gave you back the scarf!”

The two suddenly knealt down at the same time.

“Such excellency!”

“I failed to recognize you… No, I failed to recognize… You, sir.”

“What are you talking about!?”

Yu Dan pulled the twins up to stand. They were indeed ridiculous. What the hell was that reaction?

“Obviously I gave a scarf to the ghost! This is a different scarf! On what basis do you think I have only one scarf?”

“What?”

Heuk-yo grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“You punk! Are you saying you have scarfs piled up at home?!”

“Eight.”

“What? Are you some kind of eight-headed snake!?”

“So what?! She made many of them because I lost them too easily!”

After he hastily tied the scarf up, because he thought it might come off, the face of Do-ssi, who watched that scene, turned red.

“Ah, I think I’m feverish.”

The dokkaebi sunk down on the chair with a thud. The wind knocked down the tea cup and the tea suddenly poured out. The corner of the book, which Baek Ran was reading, was getting wet, but it seemed that even he didn’t notice.

“Is that so…”

Baek Ran mumbled with a blank face.

“Even though he has several scarfs, he kicked up a fuss, eh? That’s how it is, eh? No matter how incomprehensible the painting of the ghost might have been, the humans may be beings that are even more impossible to comprehend than that. That’s how it is indeed…”

He closed the book with a tap and stood up.

“I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed, eh?”

With a thudding sound, he climbed up the second floor.

“No! How long it was since He came down!”

Heuk-yo screamed. She glared at Yu Dan with resentful eyes, grabbed his shoulders tightly again and turned him around.

“Is it perhaps because you don’t know? I’m talking about that white thing outside. Those things are called flowers. Right now is a flower blooming season. So take it off! Can’t you take it of right now?”

“I hate it. Because it’s cold.”

He barely escaped to the corner and sat down.

It couldn’t be helped. Because his spring always comes later than for others.

He believed that, but…

He looked at the cloth tightly wrapped around his neck.

As he thought, wasn’t it a bit warm? It seemed that he would have to untie it in a few days.

Yu Dan creased the slightly fluffy fabric with closed eyes as if regretful.
 

*~*~*
 
[1] Qing and qing — I don’t know Chinese, so those two may be read differently, but in Korean they would be read the same, as ‘cheong’.

[2] war — referring to the Qing invasion of Joseon in 1636.

[3] Houshu — 火鼠, in Korean ‘화서 (hwaseo)’, a fire rat. According to the legends it lives in the burning trees. A cloth made out of its fur doesn’t burn but rather is cleaned by fire.

[4] hateful ghost — 염매 (yeommae), referring to a technique of sorcery where you make a vengeful ghost out of a soul of someone, who died a terrible death. A popular example is putting a child in a barrel or jar, where they would starve or suffocate and using that jar with a soul to curse someone.
 

Translator’s note: Yeah, sorry baby, we got two suicidal bastards solving the secrets of your death instead of their own problems.
 

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