BBS (84)

Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost

 

〈Chapter 84〉
 

“It would be strange if you understood. Aren’t you just a seventeen years old human, while Cheonho-nim is an over a thousand years old yokai? It means you’re very normal for not understanding, you should be happy.”

Do-ssi spoke as he took the lead.

“But it’s mortifying that Cheonho-nim misunderstood that I was scheming to bring Him. I really didn’t expect you to follow. And I even more so didn’t expect to poke Cheonho-nim’s Achilles heel.”

“I had no idea I was poking at something. I guess because he spends all his days scheming in the corner of a room, he expects others to do it too.”

“True. Well, I think He can’t help it. He saw all of those things since He was young, the royal court is a vicious battlefield to begin with. You may enjoy extraordinary power, only to be one day accused of treason and be executed. You may be showered in favors, only to suddenly eat a poisonous rice cake and go on eternal retirement. In such a situation, wouldn’t there be many, who could make use of Cheonho-nim, who was sent down from Heavens, for all sorts of things? Even in the Heavenly Realm, which could be said to be His home, the law of jungle dominates, so it absolutely couldn’t be less, only more. So, it’s natural for Him not to believe in anything. I can understand that. What I really don’t understand… Keuk, as an adult, I have to be patient.”

“Right. They say that the longer you live, the more childish you become.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Do-ssi shook his head.

“In your eyes, does Cheonho-nim look completely grown up?”

“Obviously he doesn’t.”

“Yeah. He originally should have grown more, but…”

He swept his hand through his neck. Yu Dan was shocked.

“Really?”

“Not only His head, His tail was cut off at the time too. So He made it into a weapon and carries it around.”

“Aaha.”

He at last realized. He thought that huge spear divided into nine blades was particular, but it was his old tail.

“I thought old people only respected him as Cheon-ho, but he had his ups and downs too, huh?”

“Hearing the stories, he should have already died hundreds of times. He must have stubbornly survived, because he gathered an army of all kinds of spirits and creatures. He is a very tenacious one. People, who all only thought he was a young master, who only knew worship, all got a hard lesson.”

Do-ssi glanced around.

“Ehem, I talk a lot. All of this are stories I laboriously picked up, while getting Cheonho-nim’s very old subordinates drunk. Pretend I didn’t say anything and you know nothing. Well, you’re blunt, tactless and neglectful in your studies, but even so, your mouth isn’t light, and you seem to have some sense of loyalty of your own. I don’t know about anything else, but I appreciate that one.”

Did those damn yokai have to always put a thorn in their words, just to say then something resembling a praise? They had a habit of punching him with full force and then throwing in a nice word as if they had a good heart. He wanted to say something about it, but curiosity took precedence.

“Then what grudge does he have with those dokkaebi? What did they do to him?”

“Aaah. They threw a chicken blood baptism for him. You know the blue containers used when wintering kimchi? It has about 130 liters.”

“What? That’s enough to hate them like a mortal enemy. Should I say they brought it upon themselves?”

“Just before it, Cheonho-nim broke a pavilion, burned down a shed and summoned enormous Cheoyong[1] to swallow dozens of dokkaebi elders and then vomit them.”

“I take back what I just said.”

“Also, that day was my birthday.”

Yu Dan really pitied this middle-aged dokkaebi.

“You’ve got a lot of trouble, caught between the two like this.”

“They weren’t on good terms in the first place. All things we call supernatural beings, yokai, monsters, ghosts, spirits, etc. usually have one of two reactions. They either fear the fox Cheon-ho, who was sent down by the Heavens, or they covet His magical power and try to hunt Him down. But for dokkaebi it’s not one of the two. They hate Cheonho-nim. The older the dokkaebi, the more so. It’s instinctive.”

“Is it similar to how I feel bad when looking at supernatural?”

“It may be similar.”

“What about uncle-ssi? Did you hate him?”

“At very beginning I did, but…”

Do-ssi’s words trailed off.

“Let’s move quickly.”

Then he shut his mouth and hastened his steps.

Yu Dan regretted asking for no reason. But Do-ssi’s stories were fun. Feeling sorry, Yu Dan followed after him.

Led by the middle-aged dokkaebi, he arrived in a hanok town.

As tile-roofed houses surrounded by stone walls, gathered into a town, there was a certain unfamiliarity to them. Each house has different nameplates, and he saw housewives take out trash, so they were residential houses with real people living in them. Do-ssi circled around the alleyways and stopped in front of a certain house.

“Here?”

“Yeah.”

It was a tile-roofed house exactly like any other. It had a milk basket and even a mark of the Christian church. He couldn’t even begin to imagine it was a dokkaebi mansion. Instead of pressing the doorbell, Do-ssi grabbed the heavy door ring of the main door and knocked three times. Thud, thud, thud.

“It’s me!”

And then he explained.

“This is a voice and fingertip recognition magic. We had the most advanced technology for hundred of years.”

After a moment, the door opened wide.

It looked like an elegant ‘ㄷ’ shaped tile-roofed house, with three or four rooms and a small yard. But the moment he stepped in after Do-ssi, the scenery suddenly changed. Before him stood a magnificent noble house, where a lord from Joseon period would live. Male adults with topknots and in dopos[2], hurried towards them.

“Hyung-nim, You came!”

“You’re finally here! Now we can breathe a little.”

As if like they said, there was trouble, all of their faces were hollow and their hair disheveled. They happily surrounded Do-ssi, and a little later, a female doctor rushed over. She was a girl of eighteen or nineteen years, wearing a square black called chaaek and a cotton apron. Her eyes were big and clear, giving her a clever look, but her face was very haggard.

“Uncle, You received my letter, eh?”

“Oh, Seokryu-ah, half of your face is gone.”

“Worry about the elder more than me.”

The girl called Seokryu looked around, while sending Do-ssi a questioning gaze. Do-ssi lowered his voice and whispered.

“Don’t worry. He said He is coming.”

“Really?”

Seokryu was relieved, but the adult men’s complexions changed.

“Who is coming? No way, that arrogant…”

“Hey, hey. Let’s go in.”

Do-ssi motioned towards Yu Dan standing behind him. The dokkaebi at last noticed Yu Dan.

“What? What is it? Have you lost your mind? What for are you bringing in a human in such a situation?”

Everyone’s faces stiffened, and they glared at him with unkind gazes. Even Seokryu looked at him, confused.

“Let’s go in, and I’ll tell you.”

Do-ssi entered, dragging Yu Dan in and pretending not to notice. He pointed at the wooden hanging board at the top.

“This reads as ‘Su-san-jae (秀山齋House of Soaring Mountains)’. It’s a name remarking on the clear remarkableness of Inwang Mountains range. This old mansion with its ninety-nine rooms, which thoroughly hid us from humans’ eyes, holds all of our Bukchon dokkaebi’s history.”

Do-ssi’s words oozed with pride. It was obvious how precious this old mansion was for him. But…

Since he crossed the threshold and entered the sarangchae[3], he felt something was wrong. It felt like he was moving not through air, but water. He felt choked, like the entire dokkaebi mansion was drowning in invisible water.

“What curse is this powerful?”

Do-ssi was surprised, and looked around the other dokkaebi. The others sighed, and shook their heads.

“There is no say. First time I see it.”

“It’s not for no reason you’re so helpless.”

Taking an opportunity of everyone whispering among themselves, Do-ssi took out a paper fox out of his bosom, while avoiding everyone’s eyes. He stealthily placed it in a dark corner and then acted innocent — he was truly skilled at this. Dokkaebi took Do-ssi and Yu Dan to climb the maru, without knowing anything.

Do-ssi walked, while he continued his explanation.

“Several families live here together, but the oldest and most numerous is our Do family. Our surname speaks for itself, we originate from pots. My niece, Seokryu is a pomegranate(seokryu) flower bowl, used by a certain female doctor from Joseon period. Over there is Songjuk(pine and bamboo), Subok (longevity and fortune), Cheongbok (blue crane)…”

“Does everyone have names based on patterns?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what is uncle-ssi’s name?”

“I’m Unryong. Clouds and dragon.”

“What? That’s cool. Doesn’t suit uncle-ssi.”

“Hey! You punk! What doesn’t suit uncle-ssi?”

The dokkaebi looked back. Do-ssi hastily lowered his voice.

“Anyway, it’s not what I tried to tell you. We’re currently going to see Elder Byeonsong. He is the blue and white porcelain with green pine tree pattern, that was personally given by Seongjong to Seonggyungwan Academy[4]. Unbending beyond description. You already completely hate things like ghosts, dokkaebi and yokai, so you will never bow your head to him. But, if acceptable…”

“Keep your mouth shut?”

“Not exactly, more like…. Hmm.”

He felt like he knew what Do-ssi was worried about. Although the dokkaebi here were haggard, all of them were grown-ups. Didn’t they pour chicken blood on Cheon-ho, when he became too much? Yu Dan didn’t want to cause a commotion.

When sarangbang’s door[5] opened, he saw tails with dokkaebi faces piling up like a barricade. As he entered inside, breathing became easier, as if he got out of water.

This was a room for adult men, but crisis being crisis, the women and children fled here. No one’s state was good, the babies were a problem in particular. They screamed through tears, as if they were burned, and their voices were all hoarse. The women soothed the babies with uneasy and worried faces.

On a silky cushion besides a folding screen, sat with a straight waist and small stature an elder. He was extremely thin, but his gaze was strong and solid, like green stones. Indeed worthy of the family’s great elder.

“Unryong, you’re here?”

“Yes.”

Do-ssi bowed deeply and then looked at the elder with disbelief.

“No, how could You become so weak….”

“My own carelessness. I tried hard to catch that disastrous thing, and just ended up with such a useless body.”

“What are You doing consuming so much energy at Your age? Shouldn’t you go to a clinic?”

“Curse energy engulfed us and our newborns keep collapsing, not able to even move, yet you tell me that I should just save myself? And where would I go after abandoning this Susanjae? I’ll protect this place even if I die.”

“But without those dokkaebi tiles we would have already shattered a long time ago. Those old dokkaebi faces are blocking the wicked energy.”

At Seokryu’s words, Do-ssi nodded with an ‘ohh’.

“Subok-yi sure did a lot. He goes on and on about how the pillar is skewed, when collecting useless things…”

The dokkaebi named Subok avoided their gazes with an ashamed face. Do-ssi looked at him with a confused face.

“What’s that about? Wasn’t Subok-yi diligently buying those dokkaebi tiles?”

“They were all fake.”

The elder retorted.

“He bought them when drunk — again. All those bastards are the same. Their dokkaebi tiles pile up like mountains in the warehouse, but most of them are fake. All of those empty-headed bastards are the same!”

“Aaah, I see.”

Do-ssi looked into the distance with a helpless face. Sure enough, they were from one family. This middle-aged dokkaebi also would buy junk when drunk, and fail to recognize genuine items.

“So what are those dokkaebi tiles?”

“Took them off the roof. When this house was first built in the old age, real tiles were put on the roof. It’s absurdly little, but for now, we have no time or energy to take risks with dokkaebi tiles that may be real or fake…”

The elder’s powerful pride gleamed on his face. Do-ssi kept shaking his head.

“To think such a misery befell the Susanjae. Are You still in the dark for where this disaster came from?”

“We have a clue. It’s a mermaid’s curse.”

“Mermaid?”

“Yeah. Some said they saw a mermaid swim in the house. And not a simple mermaid, but a very hideous one. It’s certain that this misfortune was brought by some kind of item related to mermaids wrongly entering our hands. But no matter how thoroughly we investigated, we found nothing. Now even the young men can’t endure the energy. We can’t drag on any longer.”

The elder lowered his voice.

“Water overcomes fire, fire overcomes water. If water is enveloped in the energy of fire, it can be taken out by that energy. So I’m going to burn this Susanjae in Samadhi fire. Those wicked mermaids will all die in the miraculous fire that chases away little evil spirits.”

Do-ssi stared at him, startled.

“You must not! Have You gone senile? Aren’t we too little evil spirits? If you burn Samadhi fire, we too will be exorcized! Elder, with Your body now You will never endure this!”

“Then should I order the women to do it? Children to do it? As the men of the family, we have a duty. Unryong-ah, no matter the choice, there is no way without sacrifices.”

“That’s not it.”

Do-ssi looked at Yu Dan.

“That’s why I brought this human child. Amazingly, this punk has a Heavenly Eye, that pierces through the laws of life and death. He said he would try to look around the house and search for the disastrous thing.”

Everyone was surprised by those words. Seokryu cautiously spoke.

“But, doesn’t Heavenly Eye open only after a bone-crushing training? This human seems to be but a seventeen year old.”

The elder silently stared at Do-ssi.

“Speak truth.”

“Yes? All I said was truth.”

“What nonsense are you spewing!? If your words are the truth, then where did you meet such a rare human and brought him from?”

“That…”

Do-ssi hesitated.

“Why aren’t you answering!? Unryong, you damn bastard! If you’re one of us, you would not say that a gang member of that earth puppy can enter this Susanjae, no matter how helpless we are, would you!? Birds of a feather flock together! That bastard must be a fraud to his flesh and bones! Get him out right now!”

The elder fell into a fit of rage. But even in this murderous atmosphere, Yu Dan couldn’t contain his curiosity about one thing.

“Earth puppy?”

“That’s what He calls Cheonho-nim. The elder thinks that the title of Cheonho is too noble for Cheonho-nim. But, for a blue-white porcelain gifted by Seongjong to Seonggyungwan Academy and was even recorded in Joseon Royal Chronicles, it’s unbecoming for Him to curse. So, as compromise, He calls Him an earth puppy. Others call Cheonho-nim Cheonho every time, but elder calls Him earth puppy ten times before He is satisfied.”

Earth is opposite of heaven. Dog’s pup instead of a fox. It was funny, but the dokkaebi were very serious. And cold. If they were gnashing their teeth at this fox so much…

“I wasn’t sent by that earth puppy.”

Yu Dan abruptly spoke. Do-ssi told him not to say anything, but he couldn’t just quietly keep his mouth shut when he might be taken for a fraud and chased out.

“On the contrary. I came here, even though he didn’t want me to. Because I too almost died because of a disaster brought by an object. And it seemed like I may be able to help, so….”

Some hummed and their expression changed, but the rest still looked like they were going to grab him and kill him. Even so, he didn’t back down. It wasn’t a day or two when he was a ghost or a yokai looked at him with an unkind gaze.

“And I’m not a fraud. Didn’t you mention tiles? There is not enough dokkaebi tiles to block a curse. There are many in the warehouse, but with what is on stake, you can’t risk them not knowing which ones are fake. I had a thought when I heard that. If you bring me to that warehouse, I will be able to find the real ones.”

At last, the eyes of all dokkaebi faces changed. Even Do-ssi was excited.

“Hm…”

The elder thought for a moment, and then said:

“Take him to the warehouse.”
 

*~*~*
 

[1] Cheoyong — according to a legend from the Silla period, a king made a sacrifice to the Dragon King of East Sea, and the Dragon King came to dance with his sons. Then one of those sons followed after the king. That was Cheoyong.

[2] dopo — outer-garnet of a hanbok.

[3] Sarangchae — the area of the house opened for guests.

[4] Seongjong to Seonggyungwan Academy — Seongjong was the ninth king of Joseon. Seonggyungwan Academy was something akin to a university, it prepared its students for the government offices and was the heart of the country’s science and humanities studies.

[5] sarangbang — a room where men and their guests spend their time.

[?] dokkaebi tiles — they’re those beautiful ornamental tiles you can see on old Korean buildings, carved with scary faces. They were supposed to chase away evil and protect the household.
 

Translator’s note: Very regretful that only his family calls our middle-aged dokkaebi Cloud Dragon.
 

 

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