Chapter 22 - Act 4. The Bamboo Tube Beauty (3)

Yise tilted his head at the bizarre reaction, but did not ask again. He listened to the merchant explain several ritual implements as suggested, but most were beyond what he could afford with his current spirit stones.

“Could you recommend a consumable ritual implement that costs no more than ten spirit stones? What I need it for is—”

* * *

Having finished his business early, Yise met Seol Ryeong, who was waiting outside.

“What did you buy?”

“Just a single-use defensive ritual implement. By the way, Seol Ryeong.”

“Yes?”

“What’s dual cultivation?”

“Dual cultivation? ... It’s a Cultivation method a man and woman practice together to unite yin and yang.”

“What would a man and woman need to do together to train?”

“Who knows? Play a hand-clapping game, maybe. I don’t... really know either.”

“You sound like you do.”

“I said I don’t! Why are you asking me that?”

Yise shrugged at her reproach.

“Well, if it’s a training method, I thought we might try it together. I was just asking.”

Seol Ryeong jumped in horror at his words. He could not see why suggesting they train together should leave her so aghast.

The two swiftly descended Azure Mountain and headed for South Mountain Village. It was not particularly far, and now that they had entered Qi Refining, their speed and stamina were markedly different from those of ordinary people.

South Mountain Village was one of the larger settlements near the training compound. Today happened to be the Double Third Festival, and the market held for the occasion had left the village positively bustling. The seasonal food market just outside the tavern street was especially packed with women preparing for flower-pancake outings.

They passed through the village’s busiest shopping street. Cloth merchants occupied the center of the marketplace, surrounded by grain and fish sellers shouting at the tops of their voices. A little farther away stood the cattle market.

Every time a savory aroma drifted past, Yise tried to follow it as though entranced, forcing Seol Ryeong to drag him along by the arm.

“Aren’t you hungry? It’s past mealtime.”

“... What? We ate before we left.”

“You should eat three proper meals a day and have snacks at least twice. Remember that. A healthy body is a solid foundation. Great strength is what you build on it.”

Why did he have to take this so seriously...?

“I understand the logic, but honestly, you eat far too much...”

“Those dumplings look good. Let’s go.”

“Can you even hear me?”

Yise insisted on entering a tavern and only patted his belly in satisfaction after polishing off four plates of dumplings. When he went to pay the tavern keeper, Seol Ryeong stopped him.

“Auntie, this is a talisman that wards off misfortune. Would you take it as payment for the dumplings?”

“Hey. What are you doing in this sacred place of dining?”

“Just wait.”

The tavern keeper looked at Seol Ryeong skeptically, then gave their attire a once-over and brightened.

“Oh, you’re Daoists from Daemudo! Why, of course. What does this talisman do?”

“Keep it on you, and it will ward off bad luck once. After it’s used up, it will turn to ash and disappear.”

“Bad luck, you say...?”

“Well, it might prevent someone from dying or getting hurt, or spare them an illness they were destined to catch.”

“Thank you!”

The tavern keeper prostrated herself and tucked the talisman into her clothes. Not content with that, she bundled up a generous helping of snacks and pressed it into Seol Ryeong’s arms. Yise, who had watched in silence, asked her a question.

“It’s not as though we’re short of money. Why waste valuable resources?”

“It’s not much of a waste. I made that talisman for practice.”

“A Daoist scamming an ordinary person.”

“Scamming? It really works! It might be useless to Cultivators, but it definitely works for ordinary people. We get a free meal and do a good deed, and she gets a precious talisman. Everyone benefits.”

“A good deed, huh.”

“You should accumulate good karma whenever you can while traveling through the ordinary world, too. It brings you good luck.”

In that case, why not simply give them away? Yise wondered, but did not ask. He thought he understood what she meant.

She was not telling him to give alms. She meant accumulating goodness naturally within the workings of cause and effect. The moment a talisman obtained for a fair price shielded that woman from misfortune, its giver would gain good karma.

Seol Ryeong certainly seemed less of a charlatan than the other Cultivators he had met so far.

“What? What is it?”

“What is what?”

“The look in your eyes makes me feel like I should say, ‘How dare you!’...?”

“It’s nothing. Anyway, shall I carry that bundle if it’s heavy?”

“No, thank you. It’s for dinner.”

Seol Ryeong tucked the bundle securely against her chest, as though he might snatch it away.

* * *

The Daemudo outpost in a secluded corner of South Mountain Village looked like an ordinary nobleman’s house.

“They say we can just go in without knocking.”

“Right. I can sense people inside.”

It was quiet within, but his Dokkaebi Senses detected quite a few presences.

When they opened the gate and entered the courtyard, a man with a short pipe in his mouth spotted them and approached.

“Welcome, Cultivator Yise, Cultivator Seol. I received word of your arrival.”

Yise sensed a faint trace of spiritual energy from the man as he bowed. It was far too faint for Qi Refining, however. Apparently, a lack of talent had led him to abandon the path of Cultivation and live as an outer affiliate.

“I am Hong Sadeuk, the outer affiliate in charge of this outpost. You may simply call me Hong.”

“Oh, yes. Could you brief us on the situation right away?”

“Of course. Everyone, leave us.”

At Hong Sadeuk’s words, the women sweeping the ground and cleaning the wooden floor quietly withdrew. Apparently, he was the only outer affiliate living at the outpost, and the rest were all maidservants. They said outer affiliates led luxurious lives... and it seemed that was no exaggeration.

“You can think of Hajin Guesthouse as an organization headquartered here in South Mountain Village that manages several inns in the area. Its brokers regularly use the mountain pass up there, but lately, for some strange reason, they’ve been coming back ill whenever they take that road. It’s probably the work of an evil spirit.”

“Ill? What are their exact symptoms?” Seol Ryeong asked, her eyes gleaming.

“Knowing you were coming, I brought in one of the afflicted brokers. Would you like to examine him yourselves?”

“Yes, let’s.”

They followed the outer affiliate into a small detached building, where an old man in guesthouse livery lay. He sat up as they entered, his complexion dark and lifeless. His eyes were sunken, and traces of froth remained around his mouth. He looked frail enough to cross into the afterlife at any moment.

These were typical signs of exposure to Demonic Energy, but...

“There don’t seem to be any particular symptoms.”

Yise agreed with Seol Ryeong and addressed the old man.

“It seems you had a weak constitution to begin with. When you get home, have an herbal tonic made to restore your strength. At this rate, you’ll die before long.”

“Ah... yes, Master Daoist.”

“Please explain exactly what happened.”

The old man took several deep breaths, as though settling his heart, then slowly began to speak.

“Well... I was crossing the South Mountain Village pass when I went into a forest. Some sort of bamboo grove. Suddenly, I heard a woman crying. So I went closer to see what was wrong.”

He paused before continuing.

“But no matter how I searched the grove, there was nothing to be seen. Just as I was about to turn back... this terribly black ghost sprang at me. I don’t remember anything after that.”

The old man shuddered, as though he could not bear even thinking about it.

“By ghost, do you mean an evil spirit? What exactly did it look like?”

“Well...”

Clutching his throbbing head, the old man tried to recall the Demon that had attacked him, but the memory was hazy.

“It was like a dark cloud, or perhaps mist... I don’t think it had any particular shape.”

Yise and Seol Ryeong asked him all manner of questions in hopes of getting even a little more detail, but learned little. They also combed through the information Hong Sadeuk had collected beforehand (written interviews with those who had encountered the Demon), but those accounts were just as vague.

“That’s a little strange.”

“What is?”

At Seol Ryeong’s question, Yise elaborated.

“Tabaro’s winters are cold enough already, and South Mountain Village is at a high elevation. A bamboo grove would struggle to grow naturally here. Unless someone deliberately transplanted it.”

“Hmm... you’re right. I’ve actually never seen a bamboo grove. My hometown is much farther north.”

“The bamboo grove itself might be a phenomenon connected to the Demon.”

Yise swiftly recalled the information on bamboo-related Demons stored in his mind.

“Ten-Thousand-Year Bamboo. The Three Maidens of Crimson Calamity.”

Seol Ryeong also groped through her memory to keep up with his train of thought, but the Demons were unfamiliar to her.

“Those are... mid-grade Demons... right?”

“Ten-Thousand-Year Bamboo is low-grade. But it’s a monstrous thing, not an evil spirit. The Three Maidens of Crimson Calamity are evil spirits, but they’re high-grade. None of the information matches.”

Yise turned to the elderly broker.

“When did that bamboo grove appear?”

“Now that you mention it, it was just open land when I was a child. The bamboo started growing at some point. As I recall, it might have been about fifty years ago...”

“How large is the grove?”

“About three or four times the size of this estate.”

“What about fifty years ago?”

“Well... that... I think it was about... the same?”

Yise was certain now.

“It’s definitely an abnormal phenomenon caused by a Demon. Given how bamboo grows, a stand that size couldn’t possibly have sprung up naturally in this climate. Let’s proceed on the assumption that it’s an undiscovered Demon.”

“Right, right.”

Yise smiled happily. The <Daemudo Basic Handbook> had clearly stated that being the first to capture a previously undiscovered Demon earned an additional reward. Of course, that meant they would have to handle it all the more cautiously.