TGHD Ch27

Below, the evil spirits, excited by the scent of the tiger’s blood, were causing a commotion. The evil spirits climbed the outer wall of the mansion and reached out to grab Ryubeom, who was floating in mid-air.

Nevertheless, Ryubeom charged towards the barrier once more.

“That reckless…!”

Below, Yeohwi muttered something incomprehensible, and a vivid red light covered the ground. Taking advantage of the moment when the evil spirits were suppressed, Ryubeom managed to enter the barrier.

Boom! A black aura exploded as if trying to push Ryubeom back, but he ran forward, enveloped in a golden aura. The surroundings were completely dark. The darkness was so thick and fierce that he couldn’t see ahead.

Ryubeom ran through the maze-like darkness. Now, the pitch-black darkness took the form of daggers, slashing his arms, cutting his waist, and tearing his legs. The more he seemed to realize what lay at the end of his path, the more ferocious the attacks became, and as all the energy concentrated on Ryubeom, the hemispherical space began to disintegrate.

As the ground cracked, Ryubeom was once again on the brink of falling. However, he managed to run across the shattering mirror-like surface and embraced ‘it.’

Then he fell. The ground disappeared as the lady recklessly drew on energy. Ryubeom embraced the falling ‘it’ and fell together.

[No!]

The lady’s scream echoed. Amid the dizzying sensation of falling with the wind tearing around him, Ryubeom whispered.

“…Nakyung.”

Swallowing the painful breath that had risen to his throat, he spoke to ‘it’… no, to Nakyung.

“Are you looking for something?”

[…]

“I’ll help you.”

Through his memories, Ryubeom understood. Although the child’s memories were damaged, with gaps and not as clear as the lady’s, he could still tell.

Why Nakyung became a lingering spirit haunting Hyojomyeon.

Nakyung slowly lifted her head in Ryubeom’s arms. Although she was just a form made of smoke, Ryubeom felt as if he was meeting a pair of pitch-black eyes. Like a raven’s eyes, shining solely in the darkness.

Soon, the wind blew.

Though it was a very light breeze, Ryubeom instinctively recognized it as Nakyung’s energy. And that wind guided the two of them to the second floor of the house.

[Nakyung…? Baby? What just…]

The lady hurriedly followed. At first, she chased after the falling two, holding a dagger to separate Ryubeom from Nakyung. But suddenly, Nakyung used her strength.

She was a child who couldn’t even speak. Severely affected by the exorcism, she barely existed. The lady had expected the child to express something if she brought Kwon Namil, but unexpectedly, the child reacted in the arms of that unfamiliar intruder. Even using up her remaining energy.

Standing in the second-floor hallway, the lady spoke in a collapsing tone. The dagger she had been holding had vanished without a trace.

[Were you angry with Mom…? Is that why you haven’t spoken all this time?]

Ryubeom quietly watched the grieving lady before moving. By now, Nakyung was walking ahead.

Finally, in the room at the end of the hallway, Nakyung stopped and looked up at Ryubeom.

[Why that room…]

By now, the lady, no longer exuding any hostility, cautiously walked behind Ryubeom as if watching Nakyung’s reaction. Then she sighed in front of the room they arrived at.

It was the room Kwon Namil had used in the past.

Ryubeom opened the door without a word. The long-abandoned door creaked as it opened, having been left behind by its owner long ago. Even with the door wide open, Nakyung did not enter but continued to look at Ryubeom, standing at the threshold.

As if it were a space she could not enter, as if asking Ryubeom to go in for her.

The room, which had been untouched for a long time, was covered in dust. There was quite a bit of luggage left behind, as if the occupant had hurriedly left.

The reason was obvious. Nakyung’s mother had committed suicide on the first floor of the mansion, fleeing from the unclean space. More precisely, fleeing from her spirit, which was bound to become an evil spirit. In a hurry, they abandoned the house and left Hyojomyeon.

“Here?”

Ryubeom moved along with Nakyung’s gaze. He opened a drawer, looked at the child, then opened another drawer. He searched the shelves, looked under the bed, and finally took out an item from the wardrobe. A rectangular wooden box.

It was Nakyung’s jewelry box.

Carefully brushing off the dust with his sleeve, Ryubeom approached the lady. He held out the jewelry box with both hands as if asking her to open it.

[Why is this here…]

The lady groped the air, bewildered. However, after confirming that Nakyung was also watching her, she cautiously opened the lid of the box.

It was a box containing dozens of glass beads.

[Ah…]

The lady froze upon seeing it. But beside her, Nakyung, somehow disappointed, moved her smoke-formed body. After hesitating, Ryubeom concentrated his spiritual energy in his hand. As a subtle golden light gathered, the beads finally sparkled.

Like the beads Nakyung had first seen one day at noon.

[…! …!]

The black smoke trembled again. It seemed to be the maximum expression of intention. It was a simple gesture, but Ryubeom felt the child was happy. Because the pitch-black eyes were sparkling.

The lady stared blankly at the glass beads.

Earlier, Ryubeom had sensed it while reading Nakyung’s memories. And he was convinced by what he saw of Hyojomyeon’s first strange phenomenon in the lady’s memory.

Nakyung had been looking for this jewelry box from the beginning. That’s why she wandered around the mansion, even after becoming a vengeful spirit due to the villa explosion. But the one place Nakyung couldn’t enter was Kwon Namil’s room.

Because it was a place she could never approach in life, if she got too close, she would immediately be shot with a BB gun and have to run away. The fear from that time lingered deeply, so even as a lingering spirit, she couldn’t bring herself to explore this place. After half of her soul was exorcised, she couldn’t come near it even more.

Ryubeom felt it when he first discovered Nakyung here. When he saw Nakyung on the stairs of the mansion’s first floor. She was in a state where it wouldn’t have been strange if she had already vanished, and the reason she had held on so far wasn’t because of the fear from the people the lady offered as sustenance… but because of the jewelry box. She was holding on with that single grudge.

She wanted to show her mother the glass beads.

When Nakyung entered the mansion, she understood the meaning of the tears her mother shed while holding her. She wanted to make her mother happy, and the only thing she could achieve through her efforts was the glass beads.

Following the instinct of a crow that loves shiny things, she was so happy to witness the glass beads shining under the midday sun. That’s why she endured Kwon Namil’s bullying, wanting to show them to her mother. Coincidentally, her mother’s birthday was just a few days away.

[Sobs, sobs, sobbing, hiccup…]

The lady wept. She choked as if she couldn’t breathe, shook her head in agony, and finally collapsed, clutching the jewelry box preciously. Beside the lady, who sat on the floor sobbing, Nakyung fretted.

Then she looked up at Ryubeom as if asking what was wrong.

“She’s crying because your gift is so beautiful.”

So Ryubeom answered in the softest voice he could manage. It was quite awkward as he was not used to comforting children, but Nakyung’s spirit trembled as if pleased.

Soon, Nakyung approached as if to nestle into her arms. As the lady embraced Nakyung with trembling arms, the child’s spirit gradually began to fade from its edges. Although it was already just smoke, even that was now disappearing.

Because the child’s only grudge, her final wish, had finally been resolved.

[Baby, thank you… truly, thank you…]

The lady no longer tried to prevent Nakyung’s disappearance and gently stroked her while holding her tightly. Until the very last moment, she thanked her, saying the glass beads she gifted were so beautiful and cherished. The face of the mother confronting the child’s long-denied and postponed vanishing was peaceful.