Chapter 58
Thud—!
“…Haha.”
Kalicia immediately knelt down, realizing the situation. She gave a servile laugh and rolled her eyes subtly, searching for Ian and the scholar.
“Ugh… ughh!”
At the familiar moans, Kalicia’s head lifted. Two people, bound by Jacheongbi’s energy, were suspended helplessly in midair.
“Foolish shaman. Did you dare think you could hide from my eyes in this Jacheongbi field?”
Kalicia met the stern gaze. Quietly, she slipped the grains she held into the folds of her skirt.
“Tch! Why is it that those who receive the General Spirit have not a shred of sense?”
With a scoff, Jacheongbi threw a short sword at Kalicia’s skirt.
“Ahh! Gah! Haha… Did you see that?”
“Yes. I saw. Foolish and naive shaman. Had I not allowed it, would you have dared to leave with the grains?”
“Y-yes, that’s true…”
Kalicia’s hunched back straightened. There was a reason Jacheongbi was speaking to her this way: as a divine spirit, he was showing mercy.
“My deepest gratitude, Jacheongbi-nim. If it pleases you, please extend the mercy you were about to…”
“Brazen, aren’t you?”
Jacheongbi’s eyes sharpened.
“One, your soul is pure and your heart righteous, so I will extend the mercy I had intended.”
His gaze fell upon the scholar suspended in the air. Unlike his usual scolding, there was an extremely benevolent look in his eyes.
Thud! Thud!
Soon, the scholar and Ian’s bodies dropped to the ground.
“Foolish shaman.”
Jacheongbi tossed a silk pouch, thick with contents. Kalicia caught it, puzzled. It was the grains.
“So many of them?”
“Are you not usually so gluttonous?”
Jacheongbi clasped his hands behind his back and raised his eyebrows, referring to the people of Goshire Village.
Whoosh!
He threw something else—a beautifully blue silk sachet.
“You are destined for great deeds, so hardships will come.”
His gaze shifted from the scholar back to Kalicia.
“Understood, Master,” Kalicia said, placing the pouch and sachet in her arms and bowing deeply.
“And one more thing: for the Gui Gate Calamity, it is better to give a sword than a talisman.”
After a brief look at Ian, Jacheongbi vanished beyond the trees.
Goshire Village
“So, what do you plan to do with this?”
The scholar, planting the grains in the field protected by barriers, stretched his aching back.
“We’ll turn them into porridge and feed it to the villagers and the spirits. Even just eating the grains will cleanse one’s sins.”
“Just eating it cleanses sins? Then hurry! Plant quickly! We must relieve their suffering as soon as possible!”
Kneeling, the scholar shoveled the earth frantically.
“Yes, yes. But Mun-hyung, are you burying someone? Shall I prepare a coffin for you?”
Kalicia grabbed the scholar’s arm as he dug.
“Who digs so deep for a single seed? At this rate, we’ll hit a hot spring! A hot spring will burst out!”
“Isn’t this fine? Hmm… hmm! I should have tried something like this before.”
Embarrassed, the scholar covered the dirt back up and glanced at Kalicia.
“If you dig this deep, the sprouts will break through easily, Mun-hyung.”
“Ahem! I should have learned farming from my father while I could.”
“You teach kids at a seodang, right?”
“Well, Father is… a bit unusual. Different from other noblemen. He would toil in mud, repair old farming tools himself…”
The scholar remembered old memories. As a child, he had thought his father odd for mingling with the common folk instead of pursuing a government career. Even the day he left for Gyeongdeokjae with hopes of officialdom, it was the same.
“I will go to Gyeongdeokjae. There, I will pursue proper governance for the people. The officials of this country are far too corrupt…!”
“Ah, my son is spirited. Alright, come help your old man in the fields first.”
“Are you listening? That isn’t even your father’s field. Your clothes will get dirty. Step out now.”
“Mr. Park from next door fell off the mountain; there’s no one to help. Politics for the people is good, but aiding here is more useful now.”
Yet it was his father who truly cared for the people—the scholar had failed to understand his father’s deep intentions.
“You’re quite the prodigy. Learn something now, Mun-hyung. Otherwise, reading books alone will just make you clever in vain. Knowing the world is key to becoming a good official.”
Kalicia planted the last of the grains.
“You speak like my father. He said the path to help the people is among the people themselves.”
“Mun-hyung.”
“Touching, isn’t it? I too have come to a deep realization through this.”
“Mun-hyung.”
“Honestly, many criticized Father for mingling with commoners. They said it broke decorum. But in truth, he fulfilled the duty of a true noble…”
“Mun-hyung! Stop talking and move your feet, silly! Are these sprouts really growing?”
Green shoots had already poked up from under the scholar’s feet. It had happened almost immediately after planting.
“Sprouts? Already? Where?”
The scholar moved his feet to see them.
“Ah! Don’t step on them! Mun-hyung! I said don’t step!”
“I’m not stepping to be cruel! Where—ugh!”
The scholar, flailing, was suddenly lifted into the air. Ian, quietly planting seeds, had grabbed his ankle.
“Ugh! You’re becoming like those troublemakers! Speak! Use words!”
Suspended midair, the scholar cried out.
In the village center, surrounded by layers of barriers, the villagers of Goshire bustled. They chopped wood, lit fires, and brought dishes, as if preparing for a grand celebration.
“Hup!”
Half a dozen villagers carried a large ceremonial table, sweat beading their foreheads. Their movements were awkward due to cords tied around their ankles.
“Hey! The table’s crooked. Not there—there!”
Kalicia, seated in the shade, energetically directed them with a stick she had found.
“Look here. Yes, here. Can only my eyes see this dust?”
“Are you tickling the beans? Wash them thoroughly! Think of it as cleansing your sins, scrub vigorously!”
“Look at the firewood you brought! It’s just fuel that will burn anyway. At this rate, even this opportunity might burn away.”
She continued giving detailed instructions.
“They are struggling. They have physical limitations.”
Eventually, Ian stepped in, blocking her.
“You are right. Even royal rites don’t go this far.”
The scholar supported her argument. Though they were cleansing sins and should not be interfered with, this was excessive.
“Excessive? A ritual table requires utmost sincerity. Especially when praying to cleanse killing karma, it requires even more.”
The young man who had died returning from the mountain ritual was the owner of the ceremonial table.
“…May you attain rebirth in paradise.”
On the table, porridge made from the grains steamed, and villagers prostrated themselves. They pleaded for forgiveness and absolution.
“Ohh!”
“Ahhh!”
Some struck their heads on the ground; others tore at their chests, wailing.
They begged, and begged again…
By the time the villagers, exhausted from crying, began to collapse, a solemn voice fell over the area.
“Now, partake of the food.”
At Kalicia’s words, the villagers rose unsteadily, holding bowls of porridge with trembling hands.
“Haa… ah.”
The fragrant, savory porridge moistened their dry lips and gently soothed their aching stomachs.
Rustle—
At that moment, a gentle breeze teased through the villagers’ hair.
