Chapter 188
They say the sun sets early in the mountains.
Even when it was still a time of bustling activity in the city, twilight began to descend on the mountain, and the light that barely shone through the leaves, revealing outlines, was swallowed by darkness, creating a terrifying black space where one couldn't see an inch ahead.
And as time passed, the darkness deepened, and although the moon in the sky tried to illuminate the mountain by barely shedding light, it was incomparably weak compared to the sun, so the forest became filled with a blackness that seemed it would stick to your hand if you waved it through the air.
And perhaps because of this incredibly gloomy atmosphere…
The mountain was quiet.
The martial artists who had collapsed from exhausting training were sleeping quietly, even though they should have been snoring loudly enough to shake the mountain as usual, and the usual sounds of insects or mountain birds were not heard, with a fearful silence spreading throughout the mountain.
The calm before the storm.
As if showing clarity and freshness before a storm arrives.
As if embracing an ominous calmness and tranquility.
Such silence permeated the entire mountain.
The silence that comes before a great event was floating everywhere.
"It's damn gloomy."
The master muttered quietly to himself, as if unable to bear this chilling silence.
Although he knew that the ideal image of a 'man' was to keep his mouth shut and speak only when necessary, the atmosphere was such that he couldn't bear it without making a sound.
The act of making a sound to make one's position known, of speaking out loud to establish one's existence, and thus revealing one's presence to some extent to realize that the current situation is real.
The master slightly frowned, perhaps displeased with the fact that he had engaged in such behavior, or perhaps disliking this calm, settled feeling that appeared before a great battle, and continued to make sounds.
He could have used the Grass-Treading Technique to run around without making any sound, or used the stealth techniques learned for ambushes to minimize sound.
But instead, he put weight on his feet to break the twigs on the ground and step on fallen leaves, and moved forward as if reassured by the rustling sound of the leaves and the cracking sound of breaking twigs.
What should this be called?
How should this sensation enveloping him be described?
Fear?
No, it wasn't that.
The master was not afraid at all.
But even though he wasn't scared, his nerves were on edge, and his sixth sense, which felt the strangeness coming from the silence, seemed to be raising his vigilance and shouting at him to prepare for 'something' that was about to happen.
It's ominous.
Ominousness.
Yes. It was ominousness.
The master felt that this mountain was ominous right now.
It seemed as if a simple sense of unease and ominousness, not something supernatural like misfortune, evil spirits, or curses, was spreading throughout the space.
They say it's darkest before dawn. Tsk, now that we've brought in an expert, it should be resolved.
The master hurried his steps and reached the place where the temporary shrine was.
Upon arriving at the temporary shrine, a small light was visible, and following the light, a clearing that was brightly lit, incongruous with the dark mountain, revealed itself.
The space full of sacred ropes and talismans was filled with the light of candles.
Whether they were preparations for the ritual or just to illuminate the darkness was unclear, but their number was enormous, not just lighting up the darkness but filling the space with light.
"You've come."
"Ahem, you've worked hard. Is the preparation complete?"
"Yes. We were just waiting for you to arrive. The time is... it's almost the Hour of the Rat. Perfect timing. Good."
Jinseong welcomed the master who had arrived alone.
"Master, hmm. You don't particularly need to help with the ritual, so I'd like you to watch comfortably. You can rest in the tent, or just stand still and watch as if you're viewing a spectacle."
"I'll stay here. What would I do inside the tent?"
"If that's more comfortable for you, then do so."
He spoke as if respecting the master's choice, and gestured to Rise, who was dressed in white and red. Rise then approached him, her white clothes fluttering, as if she had been waiting.
The wide-sleeved top was embroidered with birds and trees in gold, and the gold thread reflected the light of the brightly burning candles, captivating the eye. The long sleeves covered her hands and reached down to her knees.
"Now, I will perform the Kagura dance."
Jinseong, looking at Rise's beautiful appearance, stepped back slightly and turned on the music. Then, traditional music began to flow from the Bluetooth speaker, and soon it became a massive sound that filled the entire temporary shrine, riding on the divine power.
A sound that filled the space completely.
It was a sound that filled the entire space, as if this was what it might feel like to listen to music in a small theater.
As the music started to play, Rise began to move her body as she had learned.
The dance she had learned since childhood.
The dance she had cried and complained about learning, but had to learn nonetheless.
The dance of prayer and offering that she, as a shrine maiden serving the gods, naturally had to master.
Rise gracefully fluttered her sleeves, moved her feet in curves, and moved her body elegantly, drawing pictures with her sleeves.
When she fluttered both arms, she became a bird flying in the sky, and when the two sleeves moved elegantly and slowly settled on the ground, it became the image of a bird folding its wings to rest. As if a god had sent a bird as a messenger and placed it before humans, the lines were drawn in a noble and elegant manner.
The divine power responded to this, emitting sparkling light, sometimes making the sleeves light, sometimes heavy. And the trajectory drawn by the sleeves created afterimages that lingered longer in the eyes. The flickering of the candles and the reflection of the gold thread captivated people, and whether divine power was added or not, it even created the illusion of drawing pictures with light that remained in the eyes for longer.
Ding-
And then bells were added.
Rise began to swing a stick with bells hanging like fruit, and in sync with Rise's curving movements, they made no sound, but whenever Rise stretched out straight, they rang. It was as if they were beasts trained by their master, keeping their mouths shut usually and only making sound when needed.
Ding-
The straight-stretched bells sparkled each time, reflecting the light emitted by the candles.
As if gold shines brilliantly when it receives sunlight, or silver emits a soft glow when it receives moonlight.
Red, or yellow.
The bells emitting light as if to captivate people were so beautiful that they made the master, who couldn't take his eyes off Rise, gape in awe.
Ding-
The Kagura became more beautiful as it progressed.
The gathered light changed from points to lines, from lines to planes, creating even more beautiful pictures, and the planes soon changed to three-dimensional forms, moving as if illuminating the entire space emitting divine power. The light created a flow as if riding waves, and the flow swayed back and forth in sync with Rise's Kagura movements, becoming both a part and the whole of the picture.
And thus, the lines gathered and formed the shape of a dog, and only after the scene of a dog made of light howling like a wolf looking up at the sky appeared did the dance come to an end.
When the dance ended and the music stopped, the light scattered.
As if fireworks were exploding, the light spread in all directions, and perhaps to break the spell on people entranced by the shrine maiden's dance that had brought the world of gods to the human realm for a moment, it emitted an intense light that stimulated people's minds and made their eyes blink involuntarily.
"...That was amazing."
The master, too, seemed to have been entranced by the dance and took a while to speak. When he finally did, it was praise for Rise who had shown such a wonderful dance, and an appreciation soaked in the emotion of someone who had witnessed art.
Jinseong smiled brightly, perhaps pleased with the master's words, and approached Rise, who was panting, and whispered something to her.
Then Rise gathered the bells and moved to the tent.
"Now. Next, we were going to pray for the god's power and shoot divine power into the forest to make the spirits jump out... but."
The master tilted his head at Jinseong's strange words.
Were going to?
What did that mean?
"Have you heard of 'beating the grass to startle the snake'? Like startling a snake by beating the grass, we were going to startle the spirits with the presence of the god and make them jump out on their own. But you see."
Jinseong approached the master and pointed in one direction.
"Perhaps because the shrine maiden's dance was so good. It's already jumped out."
Where he pointed with his finger was the head of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
"That is...?"
The stone statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva with a seemingly compassionate smile.
It was the face he had seen all day long, enough to make his teeth chatter and grind.
"Why is there only a head?"
But if there was a difference from that face, it was that there was only the head of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
What the martial artist had seen recently was Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva with a black head sprouting from a stone body.
But the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva that now entered his eyes was a strange sight of only a white stone head floating in the darkness.
"No. There is a body."
No.
That wasn’t it.
There was a body.
A black body.
There was a black body hiding its form, buried in deep darkness.
There was a clumsy body that seemed to have been molded by gathering darkness, and the hands forming a mudra pretending to be compassionate were constantly changing shape, made up of disgusting worms that were repulsive just to look at.
A form completely contrasting with the recent Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva that had a white body with only a black head.
A white head with a body that seemed made of shadows, hands made of worms.
The master could see that this was the 'Fourth Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva' that the martial artist had recently heard as a ghost story, and a form created by a spirit that couldn't become an evil spirit to play tricks.
[ ...ring. ]
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva approached them slowly, as if sliding on ice.
[ ...offering. ]
Slowly.
But surely.
It approached while maintaining its compassionate smile, letting its body be pushed by the hands of darkness, and when it finally reached the point where the candlelight reflected on its white face.
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva spoke.
[ Make an offering. ]
A faint smile.
A mouth that cannot open because it's made of stone.
But Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva clearly spoke despite being unable to speak.
[ Offer me a child untainted by the secular world. ]