Chapter 64 – Side Story) Cheonho Hoaran, Hogok
I was born as just a small fox monster.
I was born as one of the strange, evil, evil spirits who were born from a karma that was like the remnants of the world.
It has the ears and tail of a fox and the body of a human.
Such a little fox monster.
He ate bugs to survive and hid in a crypt to survive.
Six years of living like an animal.
It was a spring day with green shoots sprouting.
I encountered a monster.
The youkai was stronger than me, and when he saw me, he called me weak and said that weak youkai are useless and swung his fist as if playing a joke.
Before I had time to escape, my leg was broken by the monster’s fist, and as I fell to the floor and groaned, the monster laughed and left.
As if there was no need to even kill.
Because his leg was injured, he had no choice but to stay there for a day, a full day. Although weak, the monster is still a monster. As it was returning to its nesting crypt with its legs that were barely able to move, it was chased by those who specialized in exorcism.
When they saw me, they said that youkai were evil beings, and chased me for three days and nights, firing arrows and amulets at me to kill me.
Why.
What on earth did I do wrong?
I was barely able to run away, but the arrows and amulets I hit while running away were fatal to me as I was weak.
Because, unlike other youkai, I did not have outstanding regenerative abilities.
Even with only a slightly broken leg, I had to lie in bed for an entire day.
All I could do was wait for death.
At that time, I met that person.
‘I heard a crying sound, and it turned out to be a small fox monster.’
She was dressed in red and had talismans similar to those of the exorcists who had followed me.
Ah.
I’m dying here.
Thinking like that, I closed my eyes.
It wasn’t because I gave up on life. It was because it was too hard to keep my eyes open any longer.
But, when I opened my eyes again.
I was in that person’s arms.
As she was being treated for her wounds in her home, with her in her arms, she just asked me to heal my wounds without saying a word.
‘Why…?’
When I asked her why on earth she was saving herself, she said,
‘I saw your wounds. The arrow and amulet belong to a human, but before that, the leg was injured by a monster.’
After saying that, she stroked my head and said.
‘It’s pitiful, it’s pitiful. You are a delicate fox who was just born into this world. ‘You were just born and you are hated by everyone.’
Because he was born weak, he was ostracized by monsters.
Because he was born with the ears and tail of a fox, he was ostracized even by humans.
In the end, she said, who saved me from being almost killed by monsters and exorcists.
‘So, she will at least love you like that. ‘How do you feel, little fox?’
After saying that, she spoke to me who was blankly repeating her words as if muttering them.
‘You are a fox child, so from now on I will call you Hoa.’
A fox and a child.
That’s why Hoa (狐兒).
The moment I first had a name, tears flowed.
Most youkai cannot have names because they are born without parents.
So did I.
It was one of the countless monsters that were born from the karma of the resentments and sorrows left in the world.
So, I also didn’t have a name.
I thought it didn’t matter since most youkai were like that.
Most youkai have nicknames that were created out of fear from humans, and they only take the place of their names.
However, I never thought that a weak fox monster, much less a fox monster that is rejected by both monsters and humans, would have a name.
I never even thought about it, but when I got a name.
Tears flowed endlessly.
‘If you are a monster, how can your tears be so transparent?’
Wiping away my tears, she joked.
‘I think she may have named her wrong. If she had known she was such a crybaby, she would have named her Hogok.’
That was good too.
The name Hoa.
The name Hogok.
If both are names, what’s not to like?
Any name that called me, ‘I’, was fine.
‘Really, this child sheds a lot of tears.’
She said this while wiping my tears.
Later, I learned that teaching and learning witchcraft was done to people who were related by blood, fate, or as parents and children.
She then gave me a name and made me her daughter.
When I found out about it later, I cried again.
And then, while she was cooking in the kitchen, he hugged her waist and said,
‘Mother, mother.’
“, She said, looking at me crying while saying that, my mother smiled and said.
‘You really are a crybaby.’
Afterwards, she was raised by her mother and began to walk the path of witchcraft.
My mother was an excellent witch doctor, and I had a talent for witchcraft.
Even though she was born as a youkai, her weak body may have been due to the fact that she was born with such talent.
So 120 years.
Around the time the third tail was born and I realized the principles of the mind and body, my mother, who had already grown old, said,
‘Finally, that little fox child has grown up so much. ‘Her child, who was once smaller than her maiden, has now grown larger than her maiden.’
Especially this part.
While joking like that, my mother stabbed me in the chest.
However, this time, she could not say anything to her mother, who normally would have told her not to do it because she was embarrassed.
Looking at me like that, my mother continued.
‘Although he was born as a monster, he is untainted and learns and uses magic just like humans. It’s as pure and beautiful as a flower. Okay, I finally remembered your name.’
A name I had only known as Hoa until now.
My name was only called Hoa.
Only then did I realize that it was simply a temporary name to call myself.
But I guess it was good.
Rather than that, I was only saddened by the approaching death of my mother, who had become old, with her back bent and wrinkles forming.
The smell of death coming from my mother, the death that came without any way, was fleeting and endlessly sad.
As if she knew how I felt, my mother held my hand tightly and said,
‘Hoaran. The fox child grew up and became a flower. From now on, you are Hoaran.’
Only then did my name become Hoaran (狐兒蘭).
The fox child grew and eventually became a flower.
Pretty name.
Thinking like that,
I shed tears again.
Why do I cry so much every time my mother gives me a name?
Why do living things have to die?
Even though she knows that what is natural is just what is natural, it is something she cannot go against.
I had no choice but to ask that.
Why on earth is your mother?
Saving countless lives.
Even countless monsters are held accountable for their sins, but they are not killed carelessly, and if they are a monster that is being unfairly persecuted, even if it is a monster, they will save it.
Why is my mother respected and loved by countless humans and monsters?
Old and sick, do I have to die like this?
About 150 years.
Although my mother lived a long life for a human, that was only human standards.
To me, she was born as a youkai and grew up as a human child.
In the end, for me, a youkai, it is an infinitely fleeting and short period of time.
120 years have passed, but by human standards, it is an infinitely short period of time for me, who has barely shed my girlish self.
Only about 150 years.
For me, a youkai, it’s just such a long period of time.
Such a short period of time was about to take away the person I respected and loved most in the world.
Rather, let’s bring our mother back to life.
So even if my mother becomes a monster.
Still, if only she could live again. If only we could be together, with my mother.
When I was thinking that, my mother looked at me and said.
She said, ‘She could be your mother, so she had a happy life. She lived a very happy life. She had a good life, no more, no less.’
Her mother’s eyes, which had become blurry due to old age and illness, were looking at me clearly.
‘So, don’t be sad.’
It is natural for seeds to sprout, bloom, and fall again, leaving behind seeds.
‘I have seen the flowers bloom in my daughter’s life, and now it is time for it to come to an end. Flowers are beautiful because we know that they will eventually fade. ‘Don’t you know that too?’
Suddenly, my mother’s thin, dry hand came up on top of my head.
Hands that were once trustworthy.
Also, there was a time when my hands were just warm.
Also, sometimes, my hands felt tingly.
It was just so thin, it was sad.
I was sad because my mother, who had said that flowers are beautiful when they bloom, scolded me for stopping me from doing what I was about to do.
It was sad that she did not want to follow her mother’s words, the words she had followed her entire life.
However, I was sad that in the end I would follow my mother’s words.
I was sad, and tears flowed.
Looking at me like that, my mother joked again.
‘Really, I guess I made a mistake with your name back then. ‘You should have named yourself Hogokran.’
That’s right.
I’m still a crybaby.
Mother, please stay by my side.
Please.
I’ll ask you this.
A spell that revives the dead.
There was nothing that a shaman like my mother couldn’t use. Even if I could no longer remain human, I was able to continue my life.
Although it turns into a monster. But I was able to live again.
I wanted my mother to live and remain by my side.
If I, your daughter and student, become a monster.
Who would criticize their mother for being a monster?
Even if it were… At that time, all she had to do was step forward.
But… My mother, who was looking at me blankly, smiled at the corner of her mouth.
‘Really, you’re just being foolish, both when you were young and now.’
Bean.
He hit my forehead slightly.
‘But, Hoaran. Now that you’ve grown up, isn’t the time for being foolish over?’
My mother said that, and she continued her words while slowly stroking my head.
‘If she dies, she will burn my body and carry it away on the wind. She seems to want to wander the world even after she dies. ‘I want to fly to a faraway place and see a world I’ve never seen before.’
She nodded her head at those words.
I had no choice but to nod.
‘Thank you.’
Mother closed her eyes as she said those last words, as if she was sleepy.
She nodded as she looked at her mother sleeping with her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face.
She cried all day.
She hoped that her sleeping mother would wake up, and she would.
She cried all day, but her mother never woke up again.
Following her mother’s will, she was carried by the flowing wind to her funeral, and another two hundred years passed. My three tails had now become nine.
‘Heart gas body’
Will, world and body.
Learn the principles of achieving balance among the three.
‘Cheonjiin’
Heaven, earth and people.
Know the principles that make up all things.
‘Eumyangdo’
I know the darkness and the cold, the light and the heat, and their paths.
Following in my mother’s footsteps, my job became to rescue monsters who had fallen into the wrong path, punish the wicked, and protect the good and the wronged.
Just like my mother did.
I also walked that path.
What I saw the most was the countless monsters born in this world.
Many monsters were sometimes sealed, sometimes exterminated, and sometimes harvested.
Yokai are born from karma.
Therefore, to be born embracing darkness, to be born to easily fall into desire, to be born to be susceptible to evil.
Nevertheless, in the end, it’s up.
Because they are born from the human heart, even monsters can have good hearts.
I myself became the first proof, defeating evil monsters, gathering unspoiled monsters, joining forces with humans, and teaching them how to live.
Let’s live like that for another few decades.
‘Fox.’
‘Fox, came down from the sky.’
Everyone in my world knows me, and they call me.
‘Cheonho, Hoaran.’
I became Cheonho and Hoaran.
The talismans pouring out from the sleeves entangled the huge monster.
It attacks five villages and eats hundreds of people.
What’s more, the huge monster that enslaved even the same monster screamed while surrounded by the talismans I poured into it.
‘Why are you attacking me when you are also a monster…!’
The youkai cried out as it struggled in pain and tried hard to remove the amulet stuck to its body.
‘Aren’t you resentful? Don’t you resent this world? We are born from death! We are born from resentment! We are born from longing! We are simply born of lack! Don’t you want to steal it? Don’t you covet what they have? Don’t you want to destroy the things that make a weak subject a family, and a weak subject build a village? Don’t you want to destroy it, steal it, and do that! So will you! Are you a monster too? It is our nature to crave and take! But why did you…!’
Are you blocking me?
Instead of answering the youkai’s question, I asked.
‘Youkai, what is your name?’
‘Name? This body has no need for such things! I am the only one who proves myself, so why do I need a name? Because insignificant people dare to call me as big as Taesan and swing my fist to destroy houses, I am called by the ridiculous nickname Taesan Bunggeo! ‘Something like that, just like that, I don’t need or want!’
Is that so?
After hearing the monster’s answer.
I quietly recited the mantra.
‘Kaaaaa!!’
The talismans suddenly turned into burning foxes, burning the monster’s body and constricting it. I spoke to the monster screaming in pain.
‘You said, you’re the same monster, so why do you stop yourself?’
“Thump,” He said, looking up at the giant monster called Taesan Bung, who fell to his knees.
‘She is not a youkai, but a Cheonho. That’s because it’s Hoaran.’
‘This is because her original daughter has the name Hoa-ran, which she received from her mother, who raised me.’
‘You are a monster called Taesan Bungeo. Even when you die, there will be no one in this world who will remember your name.’
A monster that said it didn’t need a name, but proudly called itself Taesanbunggeo.
I just looked pitifully.
‘Don’t look at me like that…’
That’s the last word.
In the end, I could see the karma flowing out of the youkai who collapsed and died.
Abandoned children.
Even though they have parents, these children are abandoned due to their innate nature.
The resentment of those children gathered together…
A family, a village where such families gather.
It is a monster created by the vengeful spirits of those who died while looking at it.
To the subjects who abandoned themselves, to the subjects who abandoned themselves.
A monster born from the resentment of children who died while seeing people living together like that.
‘…What you really wanted was not to destroy it, but that you also wanted to be there.’
However, that wish could no longer come true.
‘Fox.’
‘Thank you. Fox…’
‘Cheonho, for avenging my family’s enemies…’
People who keep expressing their gratitude to me, while at the same time looking with resentment at the corpse of a dead monster.
The resentment they have towards youkai will give birth to new monsters.
‘Youkai are pitiful beings that are ultimately born from the same principles as magic.’
‘If what you wish for and pray for is the Lord, then the wish that is not fulfilled even if you wish and wish for it will be ruined. And, youkai are born from such a network.’
‘In the end… The magic we deal with and the countless monsters born in this world are fundamentally the same. If magic is about wishing, praying, and ultimately achieving it… Then what is born from the ruins that were not achieved and has fallen is a monster.’
‘Have pity on them, Hoaran.’
She closed her eyes, remembering what her mother had said to her when she was alive.
‘Hey, fox. ‘What should I give as a monument to exorcise a monster?’
Those are the words of the village head who asks that while making a servile expression. After hearing those words, I opened my eyes and looked at the village father and said,
‘Hold that monster’s funeral, and build a tomb on top of it to make an offering.’
‘Yes? But…’
‘A monster that receives an offering no longer harbors resentment and is reborn and does not attack humans. If you don’t want to cause trouble again, follow what your wife says.’
‘…Yes, I understand.’
Someday.
As my mother said, will that day ever come?
‘Hoya, hoya. ‘Someday, someday.’
There will come a day when all monsters and humans will understand each other and live together.
Equal and peaceful.
A world like that.
I wanted to make my mother’s dream come true on her behalf.
However, it was difficult.
There are now three villages made up of the gathered monsters and human children.
There are now only three villages where monsters and humans live in harmony with each other.
It was still a vague hope.
A world where all monsters and humans live in harmony could only consist of three small villages at most.
A world of wishes that my mother could not fulfill and that she never saw.
It was still a long way off for all the world to become that kind of world.
However.
‘Sorghum Gaesaeng Shin Se-yeop Hwahwajaengbalgeeonjira.’
Right now, it only seems like a limitless task, but one day, they too will sprout and bloom.
And someday.
She will have the kind of world her mother wanted to see.
