Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
⟨Chapter 22⟩
Baek Ran was wearing a white dopo[1] and covering his ears with gat[2]. In the situation where even the serpent yokai showed a bit of tension, this fox was completely relaxed.
“Please sit down.”
He was about to sit down on the chair on the opposite but was stopped.
“Not there.”
So Yu Dan sat down on a small chair on the side.
On the table a game board was spread out. Red horses and blue horses were entwined in a battle for a while. Beak Ran stretched out his hand and grabbed the ivory dice.
“What are you doing right now?”
“It’s a game called ssangryuk[3].”
“Game?”
“He stopped time through the game.”
Chaeu added as an explanation.
Baek Ran threw the dice. One six followed by another 6. The blue horses moved.
“Shall we go?”
The entertainment boat broke the water and shot out like an arrow. Heuk-yo and twins perched on the pavilion’s railing and looked out.
“Do You see it following?”
“Not yet.”
“We can’t be careless. Because it may appear at any second. It’s fast and strong, and seriously hungry.”
“What is it?”
Yu Dan asked.
“Seems to be a werewolf.”
“Werewolf?”
“Yeah. It found its way to this land a long time ago, and secretly fed on humans.”
“It’s coming!”
Chaeseol shouted.
Beyond the fiercely fluttering curtains as if about to fly off, he saw a hill at the river bank. Something was standing on the top of the hill. Looking like a half-human, half-animal wearing gat and red dopo, the animal’s fur bristled up.
“It’s seriously angry right now. Because something it didn’t know about stole its entire prey.”
The werewolf arched its back to follow the ship. It looked human when standing on two feet, but its walk wasn’t human. It was so fast his back turned cold.
— Brat. You have to keep the promise. Don’t you know what happens to the children who lie?
Sharp teeth. Nail covered in blood and pieces of flesh.
The fear from his childhood returned in full force. He tried hard to swallow the fear like a mouthful of Japanese food.
“I’m not a brat.”
The fear then and now was exactly the same. However, that feeling he had was much clearer than in the past. The anger about the things who hide in this world and commit wicked actions. It masked itself as an ordinary shop owner to hunt humans. What the hell happened to the humans it ate?
“Don’t run. Confront it and fight.”
“That’s a good attitude.”
Baek Ran leaned against the back of the chair and spoke back.
“However, the tragedy is that it’s just that, eh? The opponent is a predator who lived for hundred of years. In front of it, humans are only prey. There’s merely a few seconds left. The fate has already been decided. You can only wait for a one-sided massacre not a fight.”
“If it’s a werewolf, even I would have to use all my strength.”
Heuk-yo mumbled.
“Did You hear it? Please don’t expect even a little bit of fortune. I already stopped the time of the two of You, but I can’t stop it again. The moment You’re caught again, it’s the end.”
“Then what should I do? Should I flee for eternity?”
“That also sounds fun, but…”
He replied playfully, but there was no ounce of smile in the fox’s eyes.
“You can’t stop for eternity. Even though the time was cut off, You will have to make a decision one day. To ask for euthanasia.”
Blood drained from the twins’ faces.
The fox yokai picked up the dice again.
“No one can interfere between the two of You. Because You already made a promise to the werewolf. To give it Your heart.”
“That was a fraud! That…”
“They were originally born tricksters.”
While saying it, he threw a dice. The ivory dice rolled and stopped. Four.
“No, all of us are tricksters.”
The second dice hit the first dice. They rolled together and both changed to 6.
“That’s not fun. Because one, two, three, four and five all can be made into six.”
The blue horses moved again.
“So, what should I do?”
“Should I tell You a way? If You don’t have a knife to kill a werewolf, borrow it.”
At that reply, Yu Dan looked at Heuk-yo.
“Hear that? Lend it.”
“That’s not what I meant. Chadosalin (借刀殺人 kill with borrowed sword)[4]. It means to borrow the strength of others to eliminate the enemy. Even though Your two hands are empty, if You look well, there will be another weapon.”
Baek Ran picked up the dice again.
“Strange things appear in this world abruptly. One can’t know the reason for any of them.”
“Supernatural?”
“Correct. We will use supernatural.”
The boat turned. Baek Ran looked outside and ordered.
“Slow down. Let’s not be too fast to lure it.”
The dancers unfolded the fans. Five color skirts spun around. The musicians’ leader played a drum hanging high on the bow of the ship. The sound of instruments boomed louder.
He realized only now. They were all monsters commanded by the fox yokai. It wasn’t only on the ship, but there was also an enormous flock in the water. They were supporting the boat and guiding it.
“If You’re going to confront it and fight, please fight. The fight isn’t only about using Your strength. Hide Your emotions and act calm. Even when You’re emotionally shaken, endure and wait. Then, when the best time comes, take an action quickly. That’s how You cut off the opponent’s breathing without smearing a drop of blood on Your hands. Rather than simply holding a knife and rushing at it, You may have a much higher dimension fight.”
Baek Ran stood up.
“Anyhow, there is no choice. If You can win it, the fate will change, and You will survive, but if not, You will just end up slaughtered.”
The river water split up, and a water channel opened up. The big and small monsters combined their strength and made a path on the water passage for the entertainment boat. The boat rattled and followed the stream.
There was some kind of place at the other side of the fog.
At first only hoisted high banners were visible. After they drew closer, the overall outline was revealed. The colorful fabrics fluttered under the awnings. He heard the joyful sound of traditional music. Suddenly it seemed there were numerous people around, but when he looked around again, there were no people around.
“Where…?”
“This place itself is part of supernatural. Spider Ghost’s Market.”
Baek Ran replied.
“It’s a ghost market that escaped the laws of time and space. It exists only according to the laws of the place itself.”
The boat docked.
A flock of ghosts, who left the market, looked in their direction. While pointing their fingers, they chatted about something, but no matter what, he couldn’t understand a word. He only heard a sound like quickly winding tape.
“Why can’t I understand them?”
“This place was like that from the beginning. Please just stay quiet. Because we can’t draw attention.”
Baek Ran said that and left the ship first. The twins and Heuk-yo followed after him to enter the market.
The door behind the flapping white cloth was full of ghosts.
“You see, anyone can enter here, not only ghosts, but in exchange you can’t disturb the order. In particular you have to be careful of those guards.”
Chaeseol whispered.
She pointed at the strange yokai with her finger. Like real guards, they were wearing jeonrip and kwaeja[5], but from the waist down, they were animals.
“The moment we make a fuss, they will catch us and investigate. If we rub them the wrong way, we won’t be able to come out even when it’s time to close the market.”
“That’s very important. Don’t make a commotion.”
Baek Ran looked back and spoke.
Stalls spread out on both sides. All ghosts were selling and buying items. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they looked to be haggling for a price or asking for bonuses like humans. Looking around, a symbol of a white spider on every market column caught his eyes.
“That’s Spider Ghost.”
Baek Ran walked up to a stall right in front of him. He pretended to browse ornaments made out of bone, while having a hushed conversation.
“Long time ago, a certain elderly couple worried greatly because of lack of children. Finally, they had a son, but what was given birth to was a monster resembling a spider. That child, Spider Ghost, was a person of great strength, but because of his wicked appearance, he was rejected by everyone and his personality became twisted. He would rush to kill anyone, who got on his nerves. Especially the hyeongams, each one of them who was appointed would be killed by Spider Ghost… What? What do You not understand?”
“What is hyeongam?”
“Governor official managing a province. Anyhow, as the thing continued, a son of a certain retired jeongseung[6] stepped out to become hyeongam and sacrificed his life to kill Spider Ghost. Spider Ghost became a vengeful spirit and appeared again, but he said he wouldn’t harm any innocent life if a market was built in his name.”
“Why market of all things? What is so good about a market? Is that one thing he couldn’t do during his life?”
“I also have no idea. And it’s not a time to dwell on that. Anyhow, that’s how the Spider Ghost’s Market came to be. Spider Ghost indeed did as he promised, and didn’t harm any more people, but in exchange the last person to leave this market is certain to die. They will be captured and eaten by Spider Ghost. When in the Spider Ghost’s Market, this is an absolute rule.”
Baek Ran put down a skull ornament he was fiddling with.
“Do You know what You should do now?”
“It came.”
On the other side, Heuk-yo showed them a skull mirror. What was happening behind them was reflected on the glistening metallic surface. The werewolf wearing gat and red dopo was pushing its way through the crowd of ghosts, approaching them.
“As expected, it chased You all the way here. Then shall we get started?”
“Should we do it now, Cheonho-nim?”
The twins asked. Baek Ran nodded.
Heuk-yo, Chaeseol and Chaeu disappeared between the ghosts. After a moment, they appeared around the werewolf again, surrounded him from three directions and slowly approached. The movement was so natural, no one noticed.
“What? What are you doing?”
“I’m giving the wolf a little gift.”
Baek Ran shifted to the next stall. He held a scarecrow doll, whose eyeballs would pop out when you pressed its belly, and started to examine it as if it was the most wondrous item in the world.
In the meantime, the twins suddenly appeared in front of the werewolf.
Chaeseol dropped her purse. Everyone stopped at the clattering noise. The passage was blocked, and the road immediately became crowded.
“My apologies. My apologies. Noona, You should be careful.”
Chaeu hurried to pick up the purse, but dropped it on the road again. Circular coins rolled out. Everyone roared and stretched out their hands.
While everyone was absorbed into a small commotion, Heuk-yo appeared behind the werewolf.
“What? Why is the road blocked?”
Fussing, she swiftly skimmed past them, but in that instant, something flashed at the werewolf’s waist. A golden earring with jade beads.
He had no idea what the hell they were doing. Looking at the method, it was typical pickpocketing. Pickpocketing that gives you an item instead of stealing it?
The golden earring on the werewolf’s red dopo was very eye-catching. The ghost, who peeked out and examined it from the side, looked at it a few times. As if the greed got the better of them, someone plucked their courage and tried to snatch the earring.
The werewolf growled as it looked back.
The ghost got scared and shrunk back straight away. They yelled something with shrill voices, they took out a coin and threw it into the werewolf’s sleeve and fled straight away.
What was that?
Only Yu Dan was curious. The werewolf didn’t bother at all and started to move again. It seemed he was desperate to chase his lost prey. Looking at the back of the half-human, half-beast walking with big strides, something caught his eye. There was a stain on the red dopo that wasn’t there before.
“What is that? I mean that stain.”
“That—“
Baek Ran was about to reply, but shut his mouth. Under the gat, the brown pupils shined sharply for a second as they stared at the other side.
Five guards were quickly approaching them.
“As expected, it was too noticeable.”
The fox yokai stood up. He packed the scarecrow doll with dangling eyes and threw a few coins to the dokkaebi guarding the display.
“Then shall we meet again in that tavern?”
Leaving behind only those words, he suddenly disappeared.
The twins and Heuk-yo were also nowhere to be found. He was left alone in the strange market.
Because of an abrupt thought, he touched his chest. His heart wasn’t beating like before. As he quietly let go, his hand trembled.
If his real body was laying down bloodied in the backyard, then how was he wandering around right now?
As expected, it seemed it would be better not to think about it too deeply as the serpent yokai said. There was also another reason, his head felt strange.
Looking forward, he was about to walk, but he spotted something red approaching him swiftly.
The werewolf. Didn’t it go in the opposite direction? It seemed that he noticed Yu Dan’s presence and turned back.
Don’t be shaken, you have to avoid it.
Don’t panic. As this market is complicated, you can shake it off.
He followed Baek Ran’s words.
Hide your emotions and act calm. Even when you’re emotionally shaken, endure and wait. Then, when the best time comes, take an action quickly. That’s how you cut off the opponent’s breathing without smearing a drop of blood on your hands.
He could do that. No problem.
He changed directions and mixed among the bustling crowd of ghosts. Sour and disgusting smells stung his nose. It was nauseating, but he could do nothing but endure.
While slipping through the gaps between the ghost, who stopped to look at the items, he entered deeper into the market.
***
Yu Dan looked around the market as he walked.
Wherever he looked, the spider mark caught his eye. Even the spears held by the guards were engraved with it.
That was Spider Ghost. According to the legend, that spider monster will catch and eat the last person to leave the market when it’s time to close.
That was the very Kill with the borrowed sword stratagem. Using the gap made by Baek Ran stopping the time of the two, they lured the werewolf into the market to feed him to the Spider Ghost. So they could win even without fighting. No. That was the fight itself.
He understood that, but he had doubts like before.
They have to make it come out last. Easy to say, right? Will it really work out? What kind of clever move was that?
He observed as he moved.
It was a terrifying market, where you could lose your life at the slightest slip, but the ghost couldn’t show the signs of worry. Majority of them were leisurely looking around.
But he discovered one person who was in hurry. A turtle ghost with an enormous shell.
As if the turtle ghost finished all their shopping, they packed their bundle and tried to come out through the side doors of the market. However, they couldn’t leave. They slammed into the wall as if there was some sort of invisible wall blocking them.
The door can’t be opened?
That wasn’t it. Other ghost passed through them without problems. Only the turtle ghost couldn’t do that.
At the loud bang, everyone looked in that direction.
The guards rushed over and said something. They dragged the turtle ghost to the side and searched the turtle’s bundle. The content spilled on the ground.
Did they buy something they shouldn’t have?
The guards sorted the items into two piles. One were newly bought items. The other was the turtle’s personal possessions like lunchbox and towel.
The ghosts gathered. They rummaged through the turtle’s personal belongings and someone picked up a smoking pipe. The guard took the coin they received from him and handed it to the turtle ghost, then pushed the turtle’s back, getting them to the door again.
The turtle ghost stepped out with a confused face. This time they passed without any problems. They let out an ‘ah’ with the expression as if they realized something late.
Yu Dan also had exactly the same expression.
You can only come out after you sell something, huh?
That wasn’t the only thing. As he observed for a while, a certain merchant ghost couldn’t come out and ran around in confusion. The guards took him to the stall, and after he bought some kind of item, he could pass through the door.
That’s right. In this market, you have to buy and sell something.
Sure enough, there were such rules. After nodding to himself, he checked his surrounding again. After confirming that the wolf was nowhere to be seen, he pushed his way through numerous ghost, looking for a tavern.
He was able to find it immediately.
Under a thatched roof, there was an enormous lamp engraved with a 酒 (alcohol) character. The fox, serpent and twin child ginsengs, which naturally sat between ghosts occupying each table and chatting loudly, caught his eye.
Heuk-yo stealthily pointed at the empty table behind them. He went there and sat down with his back to them, pretending they didn’t know each other.
“You’re late, eh?”
Baek Ran spoke.
*~*~*
[1] dopo — The outer garment of hanbok.
[2] gat — A cylinder hat worn together with hanbok.
[3] ssangryuk — a traditional Korean board game. It’s mostly luck-based game, where the Player to first enter the palace with all of their pieces wins.
[3] Chadosalin (借刀殺人 kill with borrowed sword) — an idiom, 3rd strategy from thirty-six stratagems.
[4] jeonrip and kwaeja — 전립 and 쾌자 — jeonrip is a pointed or round military hat. Kwaeja is an outer garment worn by military officials.
[5] jeongseung — prime minister position in Joseon period.
Translator’s note: … So if Spider Ghost doesn’t take innocent people, but kills the last person to leave the market, then it means that no one who steps into that market is innocent, yes?
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