Chapter 160


파아아악!

When I swung the divine object, instead of a dull sound, a tremendous noise echoed like a water balloon bursting.

Jinseong furrowed his brow at the deafening sound but continued to swing his staff. With each swing, the sound slowly transformed into a noise that resembled a pig wailing.

꾸이이익!

꾸익!

It sounded as if a pig were being bludgeoned with a club.

It was not merely the sound of striking leather; it felt as if he were hitting something alive.

It was as if the ankh (☥), symbolizing ‘life’, infused its life force into the leather, breathing life into the divine object’s head. With each blow, the defilement spewed everywhere but was contained within, evoking an illusion that an evil spirit in the underworld was taking refuge in the wild boar.

[ 히, 히이이익. ]

The shaman evil spirit stepped back in fear at that sight.

The defilement, which had been spewing out, was now being contained, turned into the materials that formed its body and veins. Muscles twisted and the leather began to thrash about. The four legs, which had merely been extensions of the leather, stretched out to stand on the ground.

As it twisted its neck and lifted its head to gaze upon the evil spirit, the shaman evil spirit could do nothing but watch as the divine object gained life.

뀌이이이이이이익-!

Finally, when the divine object created massive fangs from the defilement and its body bloated to the size of a second floor building, the shaman evil spirit huddled tight into a five-body posture and screamed.

[ 아고, 산신님! 산신님께서 여기는 어찌한 일로 강림하셨사옵니까! ]

The shaman, who had just moments ago rolled his eyes, tearing apart evil spirits and haunting Jinseong, was now trembling in terror.

Fearful of meeting the divine object’s gaze, he buried his head into the ground, prostrating deeply, as if that alone would keep him safe. As if that wasn’t enough, he stretched out his hand to poke his eyelids, fully gouging out his own eyeball.

[ 산신님, 산신님! 이 보잘것없는 년에게 자비를 베푸사 목숨을 부지하게 하옵소서! 아랫골에서 살아온 이 늙은 몸뚱이는 질기고 맛이 없을 것이니 이빨로 씹어먹지 말 것이며, 너무 질겨 엄니를 상하게 할 수 있사오니 엄니로 배때지를 꿰뚫지 마옵고, 불경하게 보일 수 있는 눈깔을 이리 먼저 파버렸으니 껌껌해 아무것도 보이지 않는 죽을 날만 기다리는 노인네를 눈감아 주십시오! 이 늙고 재주 없는 것이 이렇게 비나이다 비나이다! 목숨만 살려주십시오! ]

The shaman’s begging was desperate. It was so pitiful that one could have mistaken him for a living human trying everything to save his life, screaming as if his throat would tear, squeezing every ounce of strength as if he were a young man with many days left to live.

뀌이이익!

The divine object stood still, observing the shaman’s pleas. The wild boar, growing in size with each of the shaman’s uttered words, continued to absorb the defilement overflowing from him, gradually completing its monstrous form.

The straw-hair became saturated with defilement, turning into a pitch-black hue, each strand transforming into a sharp thorn. The thorns were sharper and more atrocious than those adorned by a wildman, and the pronged pillars seemed so densely packed with saw-like teeth, once embedded in flesh, they would never come out.

The leather, which had felt ominous even in its earlier form, became stronger than steel, while the fangs crafted from defilement glimmered like black spears. The eyes, devoid of whites, were filled with darkness, emitting a feeling that the air grew humid and mold spiraled up.

And from the monstrous mouth below, dark saliva dripped, marking the ground black and causing it to rot every time it fell.

Veins popped out all over its body, slithering like tentacles of a snake, and little holes in those veins leaked out defilement like steam, darkening the air.

‘What a splendid monster it has become.’

Jinseong smiled, clearly satisfied with the sight.

‘You did very well.’

He looked upon the shaman evil spirit, desperately begging for its life.

‘Thanks to you, such a powerful monster has been formed.’

Evil spirits varied in appearance from country to country. Just as one could only see a “bowl ghost”, which had a long protruding mouth, in Korea, their forms differed according to culture and life.

The evil spirit known as “the washerwoman of the night (Les lavandieres de nuit)” in France could appear as an ordinary woman and as a smoky figure. Meanwhile, the evil spirit called “pee tai hong (ผีตายโหง)” in Thailand retained its appearance from when it died.

Though these spirits differed slightly in appearance, behavior, and abilities, they all shared a singular purpose:

To hypnotize humans and commit atrocious acts.

While the forms and actions of evil spirits varied from one nation and ethnicity to another, their intent to harm humanity remained unmistakable.

Evil spirits did not hesitate to exert their powers to harm humans, and some peculiar ones even swallowed other evil spirits to grow stronger.

Scholars referred to this as “soul absorption (흡혼).”

And now, the shaman evil spirit before Jinseong was a peculiar entity capable of performing such acts.

When the once living spiritual capable person became an evil spirit after death, it wielded powerful spiritual abilities, just as it had in life, vanquishing other evil spirits and swallowing the defilement they possessed. Even as its own soul decayed and burst, it would not expel that defilement, holding onto it while continually performing rituals, striving to become a great evil spirit.

And Jinseong intended to take advantage of this shaman evil spirit’s nature.

‘While performing rituals, it encroached upon me, making this a sacrifice and offering, and it continuously stuffed itself full of that defilement, turning its body into my offering. Now, just as it had before in life, it is in submission to a powerful spirit, granting me the power of life and death over it, thus endowing the divine object with symbols of idol and spirit, and worshiping it.’

Ultimately, all the shaman evil spirit had done was akin to throwing itself into the fiery abyss of hell.

And even now, it was actively placing its body into the pit.

Unaware of its shriveling body, it continued to have its defilement taken by the wild boar. Enduring as its body was torn by the thorns of the beast, it merely begged and begged in vain.

Having lived in servitude to spirits, it could not even dream of rebelling against the wild boar, which it considered as a “mountain spirit.”

Thus, the shaman evil spirit foolishly dedicated its body to the wild boar, and it was not long before this vicious cycle would come to an end.

[ 끄으으윽, 산신님이 노하셨어. 산신님이, 산신님이 노했어…. ]

The shaman evil spirit, in that same prostrated position, had all its defilement taken away by the wild boar, and its soul was torn apart, vanishing completely.

꾸이익!

Seeing the wild boar satisfyingly flatten its belly to the ground after finishing off the shaman, Jinseong pulled out a chunk of charcoal from the wheelbarrow and piled it in one spot. He then took a long piece of charcoal, wrapping the cloth he had used to grip the wheelbarrow around it, using Samādhi True Fire to light it and create a makeshift torch.

He threw the torch onto the pile of charcoal, creating a campfire, and transformed the crushed ankh he held in his hand into a broad tray shape.

Jinseong clenched air tightly, moving the charcoal around to bring forth ash, sprinkling it onto the ground as he exhaled cold air to cool it down. He then buried one hand in the cooled ash, using the golden tray as a mirror to begin painting his skin black.

As he viewed his face reflected in the golden tray, a primitive wildness emanated from him, and with every stroke of the black ash, it appeared as though he was gradually regressing from civilization into barbarity.

Finally, he made all exposed skin blend seamlessly with the darkness. The skin smeared with charcoal took on the hue of an impenetrable dark void, and instead of the smell of a human’s body, it radiated the scent of burnt wood, something more closely aligned with nature.

Jinseong examined himself closely in the golden tray, nodding in satisfaction, then twisted the shape of the tray into a sharp spear.

He tossed aside the rags draping over him and turned to gaze upon the wild boar.

“With the grace of the great ancestors and the earth, I shall finally become a man! Under the watchful eye of the great Mother Moon, I advance through trials! May I meet beasts with the bounty of the forest and bear the courage of flames, cutting off their breath without fear!”