“… I might die.”
“Me too.”
The eyes of the Mount Hua disciples were lined with dark circles, and they sighed, looking at each other.
‘How can we sleep? The ghost keeps coming.’
‘Just the wind blowing gives me a heart attack.’
They were trying their best not to care, but how was it possible for a human heart to be that perfect? There were more than five people who had witnessed the ghost, so now everyone was on edge.
“It is a real ghost.”
Chung Myung couldn’t straighten his distorted face.
He had been trying to find any trace of the ghost for the past few days, but, strangely, the ghost would never appear before him.
Despite there being three more ghost sightings after Chung Bong collapsed, he couldn’t see any himself.
“Unless there is a real one.”
Did it make sense that the disciples could see it, but not find it?
“… Hm, this.”
Hyun Young, who was sitting on his bed, sighed heavily.
“The disciples are all troubled.”
“Huayoung Gate?”
“Yes, and the new kids…”
“Ugh.”
At Wei Lishan’s words, Hyun Young touched his head as if it hurt.
Who would be the most afraid of ghosts? Kids.
Even grown-ups pissed themselves when they encountered a ghost-like entity, so how could kids stay calm when rumors continued to spread?
“I really want to stop the rumors, but this is…”
“How can they be caught? The two things humans cannot ever catch with their hands are words and ghosts.”
But now, both were teaming up to bully them. So, Hyun Young felt his stomach churn.
How could there be so many storms in one place?
It was then…
Clack.
“Elder!”
Jo Gul came running through the door with a bright face.
“Elder, don’t worry anymore! I found a solution to this!
“What?”
Hyun Young jumped at this most unexpected news.
“Solution? What is that?”
“Kuk! I am Jo Gul, Jo Gul! There is no one like me who solves problems! I have searched all over Xi’an and brought the strongest shaman! Now that ghost is done…”
“Yah, you fucking idiot!”
Hyun Young hit Jo Gul on the head with the teacup he was holding.
“Ack!”
Because of that, Jo Gul screamed as he squatted down. Seeing him like that, Hyun Young shouted,
“How dare you go to some other place and bring a Shaman because of a ghost! It would make more sense to bring a scholar from a famous place and ask him to teach you the basics! I am afraid that rumors will spread, and you are just feeding them more content!”
Hyun Young didn’t realize his hands were working more than his mouth was.
“Ugh!”
Jo Gul clutched his head and said,
“B-But we cannot fix it, right?”
Hyun Young went silent at this and sighed.
In the past, there were ancestral rites and talismans passed down even in Mount Hua. Of course, for a Taoist-based sect, it was weak compared to those who actively dealt with spirits, like Wudang.
Yet, it still had its own rites, which were also handed down.
But when the Demonic Sect began to rise and when Mount Hua was brought down, everyone focused more on making a living, and such rites, rituals, and talismans made no sense in that restoration process.
“Kuak. There was nothing related to spirits was recovered…”
Hyun Young was trying to think of a way out, but then someone cut off his worries with a lively voice,
“Eh! Why bother with that!”
“Uh?”
Chung Myung shook his head,
“What era is this, for such superstitions to be believed!”
Chung Myung…
We are the same…
What could one say if a guy who flew through the sky on a sword said this?
“No, what am I supposed to say if you are scared of ghosts when those before us ran right at the Demonic Sect? Afraid of ghosts? I am more afraid of humans!”
“… it might be that way for you, but this is a problem because the Huayoung disciples are scared.”
“Do not say such pathetic words. This is no vacation house! How can they come and go whenever they want to? That won’t happen!”
Chung Myung had already witnessed kids joining and leaving in a few days duration, too many times, and he did not want that to happen again.
“So, shouldn’t we be solving this?”
“Ugh!”
Chung Myung scratched his head.
Until now, the most difficult problems had been solved with fists and kicks. However, this was a task where no physical attacks would work.
Jo Gul, who was watching this happen, shouted,
“Then let’s do this!”
“Uh?”
“How about moving the Gate?”
“…”
Everyone looked at him with blank eyes.
“… it hasn’t even been a month since we built the new one?”
“Think with a calm head. Isn’t this a place where ghosts gather? And that means this place is ruined. Do you think those who came here before us didn’t try anything? They must have done everything and anything they could. Then how can we solve a problem that those before us couldn’t?”
“Hmm…”
“Which is why I’d rather throw this away and buy a new…”
At that moment, Yoon Jong smiled, holding him by the shoulder,
“Gul.”
“Uh?”
“Stop trying to show off the fact that you are from a rich family, and shut that mouth of yours before I pull out your tongue and smash it.”
Yoon Jong’s voice had a faint anger in it.
“As expected of this rich kid.”
“What a way to waste money! Seriously!”
“Ugh!”
As the criticism flowed in, Jo Gul went silent.
“No, normally losses are always thrown right…”
“Gul.”
“Uh!”
“Shut up.”
“Yes!”
When Baek Cheon also frowned, Jo Gul went silent. It seemed like they were ready to throw him away the instant he said anything else.
Seeing this, Chung Myung shook his head.
“Still, isn’t this something that happened when you were moving alone? I told you to keep moving together, so why do you keep going around alone?”
“… what is the use of taking someone to pee at early dawn?”
“And they don’t wake up when we try to wake them.”
“Still, what about Yu Sago?”
“Ugh.”
Chung Myung was at a loss for words.
‘This cannot go on.’
After thinking for a moment, he closed his eyes. As time continued, the disciples who gathered would leave, and they would be forced to sell the place.
But with a ghost appearing, that too in a newly built place. So who in their right mind would buy this place?
The ghost-infested place that even scared away Mount Hua’s disciples!
Chung Myung raised his head as if he thought a way out of this whole situation.
“This is nothing.”
“Huh?”
“If it were really a ghost, there would be no other way. We would have to look into a new place.”
“Abandon this place?”
“Then? There is another way?”
“No, but…”
He rubbed his chin as he said,
“I am not saying that what Jo Gul Sahyung said was wrong. We have to cut our losses before they become larger huge for us. If we hold onto this thinking, we can do something, and failing to do so, the trust we have earned will disappear. And it is better to give some excuse and get away from the loss right now.”
“Excuse?”
“Well… there is a lot we could say. Like we are moving to a bigger city because we need more disciples.”
“Hmm. I am sure that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to do that.”
“It will be important to keep the disciples from speaking about this.”
“That will not be so difficult. Even if rumors spread a bit, the people in Xi’an believe in Huayoung Gate right now.”
As soon as the words came out, Jo Gul pouted.
“Everyone cursed me when I said the same thing.”
“Shut it!”
“Mouth close!”
Jo Gul felt that this was unfair and went to a corner to sit, but not a single person paid any attention to him.
“Well.”
Chung Myung closed his eyes.
“First, we need to find a place to sleep.”
“Starting from today?”
“… Sahyung, the sasuks’ faces clearly say that we need to find a place to sleep.”
Everyone nodded because they wanted to sleep, but they couldn’t because of the ghosts,
But Hyun Young said,
“It will not be easy to find a place for so many people to fit.”
“Ah, not exactly, Elder. Right now, there is a manor available that is big enough.”
“Uh?”
Chung Myung smiled and said,
“There is a manor which belonged to a sub-sect that packed up and left. Right now it is empty without an owner.”
“It isn’t that it is without an owner, but push…”
“That is a discussion for another time.”
Hyun Young just nodded.
In his heart, he seriously hoped to teach Chung Myung about the common attitude of the world one day.
“Is there any problem in using an empty place? If it sits well with you, I can go check it out.”
“Right. If you are saying that, then no one will come.”
We must live too.
Chung Myung, who decided to get sleep for the night, smacked his lips.
“I never once backed down in the face of an enemy in my life… but to run because of a ghost.”
“This is one step back and two steps forward!”
“We aren’t moving any further ahead, though!”
Chung Myung groaned and sighed.
“Well, this cannot be helped.”
If there were an enemy in front of him, he would have struck them with his sword or whatever was avaliable, but now in the face of an invisible enemy, nothing would work.
“Because ghosts cannot be fought. Now that things have turned out like this, we should get some sleep!”
“… really?”
“Why?”
“N-Nothing.”
Baek Cheon turned to Chung Myung,
“If I were you, I would have thought that the person who couldn’t sleep because of the ghosts would be mad at them.”
“…I thought someone’s head would need to be beaten before they would fall asleep.”
“Or, ‘I have too much energy left that I cannot sleep!’ or something like that!”
“…’
Chung Myung shook his head and said,
“Should I do what I want then?”
“N-No!”
“Go and confirm the place!”
They all moved, and Chung Myung looked at them.
“Ugh. Nothing is happening how I want it to.”
“What could be done? This isn’t something we can control.”
“Yes. First… first we need to calm the new disciples. I wouldn’t care if it were Mount Hua, but we need to take care of Huayoung.”
Chung Myung smacked his lips and looked at the hall.
And…
In the darkest shadow of the place where the sun would have a hard time touching, and not far from them, an unidentified gaze was watching Chung Myung,
Night soon arrived.
The halls of Huayoung, where people moved from, were bleak. The doors were creaking, and the wind moved across.
In the hall where the disciples managed to move from, not even a small animal was moving. Only the moonlight shone throughout.
How long was it?
Shhhh…
Something started to move in the shadows.
The motion was so fast that it could not be seen, but it soon turned whitish.
Shhh…
The hazy form landed in the middle of the hall and began to sway. And soon moved to the largest hall.
And in front of the firmly shut door, it stopped.
Kkk…
The large latch was neatly cut away, and the door slid open. And the white form moved into the hall as if floating through the air.
“…”
Shhh.
The ghost, which entered the place, moved a couple of times here and there as if thinking or hesitating.
And then, the form shrank a little, and soon the ground began to move.
“… damn it.”
Came the raspy voice.
As the wood flooring was torn, the soil below was exposed, and the white shimmer grew. At the same time, the floor began to be dug up.
Chak! Chak!
Dirt and gravel were all piling up like a small mountain in the middle of the hall. And the speed at which this was happening was amazing.
The ghost dug for quite a long time.
“Because I lived long enough.”
The ghost stopped moving at the sudden voice. And with obvious shock and fear, it shook.
“To finally see the day when I see a ghost digging up the ground. Why? Do you want to head back to your grave?”
The door to the hall had been shut, but now it was opened with Chung Myung walking in with a grin.
“…”
“Is that a spirit?”
“As if.”
“Then what the hell is that thing?”
And Jo Gul came in with Yoon Jong through the large windows blocking the path, and Baek Cheon came in from the other door.
It’s escape routes were blocked in an instant…
“Who is there?”
Chung Myung pointed to the side door, which was far, and Yu Yiseol, who was hiding behind, only peeked with her eyes out.
“… G-Ghost.”
“Won’t you block the path! Do it right!”
A very brief crack, but they all managed to block the way out, and they began to approach the ghost.
Chung Myung grinned, watching the ghost tremble.
“I don’t know what you are.”
His eyes shone as if enjoying this.
“If you are a ghost, I will kill you, and if you are a human, I will beat you to death!”
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