TGHD Ch24

The crows that had been gathered around the pavilion swooped down in an instant. Kwon Namil flailed his arms in panic, but the crows were relentless. Suddenly, with a snapping sound, the necklace fell to the ground.

One of the crows had cut the string.

“Heok…”

Kwon Namil’s eyes became unfocused as he took a deep breath. His vision blurred, as if shrouded in mist, causing Ryubeom’s face to harden as he observed.

He was possessed by an evil spirit.

Kwon Namil started running somewhere. No, to be precise, he was being ‘dragged’ away. He was moving so fast that Ryubeom bit his lip and followed.

Cheon Ryubeom, being a tiger beastman, was certainly fast, but the possessed Kwon Namil moved even faster. It was bizarre, as if he were being pulled along by a string. Behind them, Garam followed in a panic, and Ryubeom shouted.

“Stay back, it’s dangerous!”

“Huff! I dislike him, really hate him, he’s annoying, but… huff! He’s still a customer…!”

Thinking that the list of modifiers was a bit long, Ryubeom eventually nodded. Garam had her own reasons too.

The place they arrived at was, as expected, a white mansion right in front of the mountain. It was the place where Kwon Namil used to live, where Nakyung and her child’s mother had worked.

The mansion exuded a menacing aura, shrouded in darkness. Even though it was midday, the area around the building was as dark as night, with sticky, black liquid writhing around the structure.

“Why… why is the house like this…”

Garam stepped back in horror upon seeing the scene. Ryubeom warned her not to come inside and then examined the house.

Kwon Namil had already been dragged inside.

After taking a deep breath, Ryubeom passed through the front gate. But as he stepped inside, Yeohwi extended his arm. Despite the ominous aura flowing from the mansion, his face was unexpectedly calm. Looking down at Ryubeom, he spoke quietly.

“If you go in, it will be really dangerous. The evil spirit’s grudge is clearly targeted at Kwon Namil. If you delve any deeper, it could become very dangerous, even more so than yesterday.”

Yeohwi’s gaze fell upon Ryubeom’s hand. The back of his hand, attacked by the evil spirit last night, was blackened and decayed. Only a day had passed, yet the wound had deepened and spread. Considering that tiger beastmen were usually resistant to such harm, the current situation was evidently perilous.

Compared to the strange occurrences in Hyojomyeon so far, this was certain. Dropping objects and stealing food now seemed like mere child’s play. The malevolence felt now was on a different level. The spirit had possessed a living person and filled the entire house with a killing intent. The grudge of the evil spirit grew stronger by the moment.

But Ryubeom shook his head.

“I was prepared for this from the moment I decided to investigate.”

Seeing someone being dragged inside, even if Kwon Namil deserved the grudge of the mother and child, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Regardless of whether Kwon Namil deserved his fate, it was Ryubeom who had called him here, so he had to take responsibility.

Cheon Ryubeom rushed inside the house. Eventually, Yeohwi followed, and the two began searching the large house with its vast garden. They had to find Kwon Namil first.

The deeper they went inside the mansion, the darker it became.

It was hard to see ahead, and the spirits were restless. The evil spirits, gathered around their core, were agitated by the strong emotions of their core. Some flitted around the house, as if trying to escape the turmoil, forcing Ryubeom to dodge as he walked.

Shrieeek!

Four evil spirits shot fiercely toward Cheon Ryubeom. He immediately dodged one with a light leap, kicked another, and grabbed one in mid-air, using it to strike another spirit. Despite their ferocity, they were not organized, making them easy to handle.

After a smooth series of movements dealing with the spirits, Ryubeom suddenly flinched. One remaining spirit had headed towards Yeohwi.

“Yeo…!”

Startled, Ryubeom turned to look at Yeohwi, but all he saw was the ashes of the spirit, burning away in the air. He watched in a daze as it vanished with a spark.

The black hem of Yeohwi’s robe fluttered peacefully, and Ryubeom realized that Yeohwi had dealt with it with a single gesture.

“Shall we continue?”

Yeohwi dusted off his sleeves nonchalantly and smiled as he met Ryubeom’s gaze. Feeling relieved yet strangely uneasy, Ryubeom found Yeohwi’s calmness odd. While Ryubeom, a tiger beastman, was on high alert, Yeohwi’s composure seemed out of place.

That tranquility felt alien.

Ryubeom checked Yeohwi’s wrist with a puzzled feeling. The bracelet he wore, made of connected wooden beads, had one bead glowing faintly red. Was it more powerful than he thought?

But Ryubeom quickly shook his head. There was no time to dwell on sudden doubts. If Yeohwi had a useful safeguard, it was fortunate for them both, so he decided to think positively and moved forward.

“There’s a more sinister aura coming from inside the house…”

They hadn’t even entered the building yet, just crossing the garden, but it was already challenging. It felt like waves of darkness were crashing around them.

Surely they hadn’t killed Kwon Namil already, had they? A sudden worry struck him, but he shook his head. If killing him were the goal, they could have done so when the spirit first possessed him. There were many ways: throwing him off a cliff, smashing him into the ground, breaking his limbs, and so on.

Since they had brought him here, there had to be a reason for it.

And Ryubeom’s assumption proved correct.

[What should I do? Hm…?]

When they finally entered the house, Ryubeom heard someone’s voice from the second floor. The cracked voice was tinged with sobbing. He quickly approached the stairs and looked up, seeing ‘them.’

Kwon Namil was hanging limp like a broken puppet, and next to him was a black figure. It resembled the crow beastman Ryubeom had encountered in the mountains last night. This was the core of the evil spirit, Nakyung’s mother.

And in front of them was… a very small presence.

And in front of the two of them… there was a very small presence.

Typically, vengeful spirits appeared in the form they had at the moment of their death or their usual appearance. Over time, or when affected by other evil spirits, they could become grotesque. But this spirit was different from both cases. Its form was so indistinct that it was almost like smoke, barely recognizable. It looked like it could disappear at any moment.

The woman looked at it and spoke desperately.

[My baby, Mommy has brought this man. Do as you wish…]

…Is that Nakyung?

As Ryubeom wondered this and carefully placed one foot on the stairs, the woman’s head snapped around. Her pitch-black eyes, devoid of any whites, stared directly at Ryubeom, filled with clear suspicion.

Shwoooosh!

A wave of darkness began pouring down the stairs. It gushed down like a flood, making it impossible to ascend. Moreover, the darkness that spilled onto the first floor rapidly filled the space.

“…Ugh…!”

Ryubeom was engulfed by the darkness. It was as if he were submerged in water, making it hard to breathe. Not only that, but the moment his vision was swallowed by darkness, he lost his sense of direction. He had been able to see the structure of the house’s first floor just moments ago, but now he saw nothing.

It felt like he had been abruptly dropped into a completely different place.

The intense grudge clouded his thoughts. At some point, his surroundings began to feel like a maze. It was as if he were trapped in a labyrinth with no exit. This dark and cold space filled him with endless resentment. He felt wronged by being in this situation, sorrowful for not being able to find a way out, and angry.

His body ached. It felt like it was burning, and at other times, it felt as if he were being trampled mercilessly. The constant waves of pain threatened to make him lose his mind.

“Ugh…”

But Cheon Ryubeom barely managed to hold onto his sanity. Was this pain possibly ‘theirs’? Had they felt this kind of suffering? The darkness, which had seemed like a labyrinth trapping him, now felt like a fishbowl holding their sorrow. Endlessly wandering in the dark, unable to leave.

Even though they knew that all that remained between them was pain, why couldn’t they let go, knowing that staying only meant repeating the torment? What had caused them so much pain and resentment… to the point where the woman chose to become an evil spirit?

He felt a need to find out.

A desire to understand blossomed.

Eventually, this desire bloomed like a faint flower in the darkness. The eyes of Cheon Ryubeom, looking at it, sparkled. It was a different kind of energy, a silvery light. His eyes, softly glowing as if bathed in moonlight, gazed ahead.

“A path…”

One by one, white flowers began to bloom, forming a path. Ryubeom slowly walked along it. Nothing could be seen in the darkness except for the flowers, and he couldn’t tell what was beneath his feet, but Ryubeom moved forward without hesitation, even if there might be a cliff at the end.

Finally, Ryubeom reached the end of the path and cautiously extended his hand towards the darkness. At the end of the gesture, as if opening a door…

A memory, opened.