Chapter 164
Everything had been resolved.
The devastated village was written off as having been destroyed by an energy resonance phenomenon due to a 'magnetic field anomaly', the briefly chaotic safe zone returned to normalcy, Jinseong, who had completed his coming-of-age ceremony, returned home feigning innocence as if nothing had happened, and the people from the military human rights center were able to wrap up their work and return.
Yes.
Everything had been resolved, and everything had returned to its place.
Except for one thing.
Rustle.
Impurity.
The terribly unparalleled impurity originating from the cursed object that had borrowed the form of a wild boar carcass, not fully purified by burning alone.
The impurity was rotting in the center of the village where only traces remained, unseen by anyone's eyes. Evading the surveillance equipment of the TOD, avoiding the lenses of satellites, and escaping the gaze of people observing from afar with telescopes.
Impurity was something that went unnoticed.
Impurity was something that made people wary.
Like mold, it grew from inconspicuous places, expanding its influence, and only when it was sufficient did it reveal its color, manifesting its presence.
Like moss growing in damp and humid places.
Like mushrooms growing at the base of trees, absorbing moist soil and shade.
Like larvae growing by eating away at the insides of rotten trees.
Impurity itself existed in blind spots, was difficult to find unless one was conscious of it, and only when it was discovered would one realize it had spread like wildfire.
The impurity from the cursed object Jinseong used as material had settled in the blind spots of perception, spreading impurity into the land itself like mold, like moss, like insects, like corpse particles spreading from the corner of a grave, riding on gloomy darkness to make people sick.
Rustle.
The impurity took root in the land.
What flowed out from the pitch-black mass barely maintaining the shape of a wild boar seeped into the ground in the form of lye, dyeing the earth pitch black, and descended towards the groundwater deep in the earth, descending further and further. Even as it did so, it dyed its surroundings black as if black ink had been mixed into water, and bestowed terrible impurity upon the dyed areas.
This impurity didn't directly pollute the land but brought misfortune.
It didn’t directly harm growing things but made them miserable.
It eliminated the pollen from blooming flowers.
It made growing insects get eaten by natural predators.
It caused eggs to crack when hatched, and if offspring were conceived, it made them fall ill before they could fully grow.
Sprouts would wither and die yellow, and growing trees would succumb to pests and diseases, ending their lives and displaying their dried-up corpses standing upright.
And the harm caused by impurity wasn't just this.
The ash clinging to the surface of the wild boar scattered bit by bit in the wind, seeping in as if melting away, becoming something that acted on space itself. And if there were living beings for this impurity to affect, it would immediately begin its action.
It would make germs swarm in hunted meat.
If wounded, it would surely fester.
If one tried to raise offspring in this space, the lineage would surely be cut off.
Impurity was–
Impurity that had clumped together and strengthened to be able to harm people was just that.
But again, impurity was invisible.
It could only be recognized after being perceived, and if not kept in mind, it was difficult to notice as it was positioned in blind spots.
"Is this the place?"
That was why the uninvited guests who came from above fearlessly stepped into this ominous space because it "didn't look dangerous" and "didn't feel dangerous".
"According to the coordinates, this seems to be the place Xuannü mentioned."
"There's nothing here. Check again."
"The scenery is a bit different from what was described, but the coordinates match."
"Let me see that device for a moment."
There were two uninvited guests.
The two Asians wearing glossy dark blue suits had well-trained, sturdy bodies and black pistols at their waists.
"You're right. This is the place."
"Hmm. Did we arrive too late?"
"That can't be. We infiltrated by submarine as soon as we heard from Xuannü."
The two began to wander around the village with their devices, tilting their heads as if something was strange.
Completely unaware of the impurity spread in the air, they held their breath, tense in case evil spirits or demons might suddenly appear. They carefully lifted collapsed roofs and examined shattered walls.
"There's nothing here. Xuannü's words couldn't have been wrong..."
"With everything destroyed like this, could those Gaoribangzi bastards have fired shells or something?"
"No. There's no smell of gunpowder, and the device shows normal residual magic power levels."
"Then what could it be..."
They whispered to each other as they walked around the village. But as if mocking their nerves, there were no traces to be found anywhere, and even when they searched through debris and entered shaded areas, there were no evil spirits or demons pouncing on them.
Instead, only dust rising as if to pollute their lungs and fine sand sticking to the insides of their nostrils greeted them.
They tilted their heads as if they couldn't understand.
"It's strange. Really strange. According to Xuannü, something unusual was supposed to have appeared..."
"But there's nothing unusual, just the ruins of those wretched Bangzi's houses..."
"Come to think of it, what exactly did Xuannü say?"
"She said to check because it seemed a strange being had appeared in the old North Korean land. And what else? She said something that noticed that being would move its feet."
"Right, she told us to confirm the strange presence and the evil visitor."
"Speaking of which, what did she call that strange being? Something about twisting the celestial bodies and being born in the shadows?"
"Wasn't it born in the darkness between celestial bodies?"
"Ah, right. That's it. She said it was a being that seemed to have been born in the darkness between stars, twisting the celestial bodies."
"Wow. That's quite an expression. Someone might think she's a sorcerer."
"A sorcerer? She's not such a trivial being, but a Contractor!"
"And not just any Contractor, but a Contractor of the Zhongming Bird!"
"Alright, I get it. I was just saying. You're so sensitive. Let's just do our job."
After thoroughly searching the village and finding nothing unusual, they walked to where the uprooted old tree was located.
As they approached the site of the old tree, they saw deeply gouged earth and the shattered pieces of the old tree.
The once widely spread skeletal branches were now broken into pieces scattered all around, and the thick trunk was split into three large parts, lying sprawled out.
"Is there anything on the old tree?"
"Let's each take a look."
"Alright."
They each approached a piece of the broken trunk.
Then they slowly examined it using the equipment they had brought.
A cursed object that could examine traces of sorcery.
A device that could detect traces of magic power and qi energy.
A small scanner-type artifact that highlighted traces of living beings with fluorescence.
"Hmm. I don't sense any magic power or qi."
"Seeing no traces of living beings, it's not witchcraft or summoning either."
"If it's neither magic, qi, nor biological, but a strange being was born... Could it be alchemy?"
"I see. Then it makes sense why Xuannü called it a 'being'. If it's born but not a living thing, it must be something inanimate that can move."
They each examined one piece and then gathered in front of the hole to share their opinions.
"Given that no biological traces were detected, it doesn't seem to be a homunculus."
"A golem or a doll?"
"Yeah."
They looked around regretfully.
"If we had brought photos or videos, we could confirm properly."
"Can't be helped. This place where those Bangzi bastards lived always has noise interference."
"But we've investigated thoroughly, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?"
"Well, there shouldn't be any problems, but... Did we look everywhere?"
"We searched the village and the old tree. What else is there to look for?"
"You're right. We've looked everywhere, and it doesn't seem like there's anything more to investigate."
"Alright then. Let's not dawdle and get out of here. It'll be troublesome if we're caught."
They didn't forget that they were uninvited guests.
Judging that they had finished their work, they packed up the equipment they had used for investigation, moved to a shaded area to hide, checked their infiltration gear once more, and then came out to erase any traces they might have left in the village.
They erased the faint footprints left behind, wiped away marks on the ground, and double and triple-checked for any fingerprints they might have left while examining the house ruins or the old tree. Only after such thorough checks did they return to where they had come from.
"Let's go."
The three people moved from shadow to shadow, concealing their bodies as they made their way to a secluded spot on the coast. They maintained their tension until they reached the two-person mini-submarine for infiltration, and only after entering the submarine did they let go of their tension.
"Phew."
"This mission is over too."
Inside the cramped submarine where they could feel each other's breath, they sighed in relief.
The two utilized the little space available to take off their equipment. They removed their dark blue infiltration suits, took off the several-kilogram devices that had been straining their waists and shoulders, and even unholstered their guns that had been bumping against each other's waists and other uncomfortable places in the tight space.
The two finally let out sighs mixed with joy as if a burden had been lifted off them.
But even so, they tilted their heads as if feeling something odd.
"Was the submarine always this cramped?"
"It's a two-person sub, of course it's cramped."
"No... I don't think it was this bad before...?"
"Are you possessed by a ghost or something?"
"Right. You're talking like someone possessed by a ghost."
"Really...? Am I imagining things?"
"Yeah, it's your imagination, I tell you."
"You're talking nonsense now that you're relaxed."
Inside the packed submarine.
The two tilted their heads but still moved the submarine towards China.
"Let's quickly report and rest."
The submarine was filled with warmth.
"There's a delicious Sichuan restaurant near the base."
They felt close to each other.
"I wonder if we'll be able to see Xuannü?"
They respected each other.
"What's the point of seeing her?"
"Right. We just need to report and rest a bit."
They didn't ignore each other's words.
"It would be nice to see her."
The three people laughed.
Exuding the smell of sweat.
Showing desire for alcohol.
Moving their exposed white jawbones.
They laughed.