Kepala Baek Saheon mendongak tiba-tiba. Baru saja, suara benturan dahsyat terdengar di belakangnya. Mungkin hal yang lebih buruk sedang terjadi di desa itu… 'Sial, ini bukan waktunya memikirkan itu.' Dengan gigi terkatup rapat, ia memaksa dirinya untuk terus bergerak. Ia harus menjauh secepat dan sejauh mungkin. Di punggung Baek Saheon yang berlari menyusuri jalan gunung tertahan ransel besar, berisi air, makanan, dan perlengkapan bertahan hidup yang ia pilih dengan penuh pertimbangan. Semua itu dia kumpulkan dan sembunyikan di tempat rahasia, direncanakan untuk dipakai suatu hari nanti jika ia terpaksa melarikan diri dari desa. Ia nyaris tak percaya akhirnya benar-benar menggunakannya. Tulang-tulang yang ditinggalkan setelah grup tradisional itu runtuh dan lenyap. Di antaranya, tulang-tulang yang dulunya adalah kakak perempuannya. Seharusnya ia meninggalkannya. Terlalu berat untuk dibawa. Ia tahu itu perbuatan bodoh, tapi ia tak mampu membiarkannya tergeletak di tanah begitu saja. Itu satu-satunya hal yang memenuhi pikirannya. 'Aku ingin semua orang binasa saja.' Jauh lebih baik begini. Penduduk desa, orang luar yang datang ke desa itu, bahkan para agen yang gagal menyelamatkannya. Ia berharap mereka semua musnah, dan desa terkutuk ini lenyap tanpa jejak. Hanya membayangkannya saja sudah membuat dingin menjalar di tulang belakangnya. Agen muda berkacamata yang berhasil ia arahkan untuk menarik 'hadiah khusus' itu. Sangat tenang. Tidak pernah mengejek atau marah padanya, sekali pun. Seseorang yang, bahkan setelah menolongnya, tidak pernah meminta imbalan apa pun. Dan pada akhirnya, menepati janjinya. Janji bahwa keduanya akan selamat. Bahwa ia tidak akan mengkhianatinya. Perasaan aneh menggelembung di dalam dada. Kemungkinan besar, ini sensasi yang baru pertama kali ia rasakan seumur hidup. Perasaan ganjil yang muncul saat kau melakukan sesuatu yang baik—sesuatu yang biasanya tak akan pernah kau lakukan—dan berhasil, murni karena kebetulan. Orang-orang menyebutnya rasa puas. Mungkin itulah sebabnya, secara impulsif, ia meninggalkan 'perahu kertas' itu. Tentu saja, itu hanya akan bermakna jika agen itu bertahan hingga akhir dan menemukannya. '…Aku akan memikirkannya jika dia mengambilnya.' Mengingat semua kekacauan tadi dengan perajap, pedang ritual, semua kegilaan itu, orang itu bisa saja sudah tewas sekarang… Tekanan aneh yang merinding mencekik tengkuknya, membuat dingin merayap ke seluruh tulang belakang. Ada sesuatu di belakangnya. Tak diragukan lagi, hal yang lebih ganjil sedang terjadi di desa itu. Pada akhirnya, Baek Saheon tak bisa menahan diri. Ia menoleh. Wajahnya pucat pasi, dan ia kembali berlari di sepanjang jalan gunung. Ia tak pernah menoleh lagi. Adegan yang baru saja tertangkap matanya. Darah merah membanjir dari langit. Aku ambruk ke tanah. Terjadi secara refleks. Aku terjatuh ke depan, kedua telapak tangan menekan permukaan tanah. Darah merah menggenang di kepalaku dan punggung tanganku. Makhluk celaka. Wabah. Ruh rubah kuno. Nyeri yang panas sampai membuatku ingin menjerit tiba-tiba menyambar salah satu tanganku. Kiri. Yang belum terputus. Sepertinya aku akan mati! Aku menggaruk tanah dengan tanganku. Aku bisa mendengar Agen Bronze dan Agen Choi bertengkar. "Bukankah itu Jenderal Harimau Agung Daecheongbong[1]? Gila kau?! Memanggil entitas supranatural yang bahkan tidak bersahabat dengan manusia…!" "Nanti dulu! Diam sekarang!" Aku menahan rengekan dan segera memalingkan kepala ke samping. Direktur Ho, dalam wujud Asisten Manajer Eun Haje… Makhluk kotor. Hina. Mari lihat wujud aslimu. …tersenyum di tengah hujan darah. "Orang-orang ini kenalku. Sesepuh, tak perlu khawatir. Silakan pergi." Lepuh menggelembung di punggung salah satu tanganku. "Orang-orang ini kenalku. Sesepuh, silakan sapa dari balik ambang." Lepuh pecah dan nanah menggenang, tanda infeksi. Ekormu sudah dipotong. "Orang-orang ini kenalku. Sesepuh, bagaimana kalau duduk di teras dan makan?" Nanah pecah dan menetes. Tubuh Asisten Manajer Eun Haje melayang ke udara. Anggota tubuhnya melintir dan tertekuk, seakan diikat paksa, tapi senyum lembutnya tak berubah. Agen Choi menekan bahuku. Tinggalkan hanya kulitmu. "Tapi aku nggak mau, kan?" Di antara kilat petir, wajah Direktur Ho muncul. "Tinggal kulit setelah mati, ya. Itulah yang dilakukan harimau. Aku benar-benar tidak tahu kau bicara apa." Ia masih tersenyum. "Mereka bilang sedikit pengetahuan itu berbahaya, sungguh menakutkan. Tapi aku bukan ruh rubah. Bukti apa yang menunjukkan aku rubah? Atau hantu? Gimana kalau begini: 'Pergilah, roh jahat! Namu Amita Bul Gwanseum Bosal, Geupgeupyeoureong, Kerajaan-Mu datanglah, Bapa di Surga.' Aku bahkan akan menaburkan garam dan kacang merah." Petir menyambar lagi. "Tapi tidak mempan." "Sayang sekali. Sepertinya kau salah… Sungguh disayangkan…" Suara tenang terdengar dari sosok yang melayang di udara. Mata raksasa muncul di tengah darah yang mengalir deras dari langit. Anggota tubuh Direktur Ho melintir. Lama membusuk. "Kasarnya kau. Memaksaku dan kenalku terpisah." Wajah tersenyum itu menoleh padaku. "Sayang sekali, Soleum-ssi." Dan sesaat kemudian. Tubuh Asisten Manajer Eun Haje, yang melintir tak wajar dan melayang di udara, lenyap seakan tak pernah ada. Bersamanya, Direktur Ho yang merasukinya, juga hilang. Aku mulai mengira-ngira dalam kebingungan—bagaimana tepatnya ia mengendalikan Asisten Manajer Eun Haje, pengikatan macam apa yang diletakkan padanya, apakah ia baik-baik saja sekarang… Pada saat yang sama, aku mendongak ke langit. Hujan darah berhenti. Aku menunduk melihat punggung tanganku lagi. Semua lepuh dan nanah telah lenyap, seakan dicuci bersih oleh darah. "Tidak, Jenderal! Bukannya kau bilang akan memaksanya menunduk dan memberi hormat? Tapi dia pergi begitu saja!" Leher Agen Choi dijengkit dan ia terangkat ke udara. Aku segera mendongak ke langit dan berteriak, "Maafkan! Dan terima kasih!" Anak yang tahu sopan santun. Sesuatu memandangiku dari atas. Dan memproklamasikan satu hal. [1] Daecheongbong – puncak utama Seoraksan, terletak di Gangwon-do, sekitar 3 jam dari Seoul ↩ (Lebih lanjut tentang Jenderal Harimau, lihat Bab 201.2)
Bab 464
Baek Saheon’s head jerked up. Just now, a tremendous crash had sounded behind him. Maybe something even worse was happening in the village… ‘Fuck, is this the time to be thinking about that?’ Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to keep moving. He had to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible. On Baek Saheon’s back as he ran down the mountain path was a huge backpack, packed with water, food, and survival gear he’d agonized over selecting. It was all stuff he’d collected and hidden in a secret place, planning to use it one day if he ever had to make a desperate escape from the village. He could hardly believe he was finally getting to use it. The bones left behind after the traditional band had collapsed and vanished. Among them, the bones that had once been his older sister. He should have left them behind. They were too heavy to carry. He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but he just couldn’t bring himself to abandon them on the ground now. That was the only thing that occupied his mind. ‘I wish everyone would just die.’ It would almost be better this way. The villagers, the outsiders who’d come to the village, even the agents who failed to rescue him. He wished they would all die, and this damned village would disappear without a trace. Just imagining it sent a tingling thrill up his spine. The young agent with glasses who he had maneuvered into drawing the ‘special prize’. Surprisingly calm, never mocking or getting angry at him even once. Someone who, even after helping him, never demanded anything in return. And, in the end, kept his promise. The promise that both of them would survive. That he wouldn’t betray him. A strange feeling stirred inside him. It was probably a sensation he was experiencing for the first time in his life. That peculiar feeling you get when you do something good—something you normally would never do—and succeed, purely by chance. People called it a sense of fulfillment. That must have been why, on impulse, he left behind the ‘paper boat’. Of course, it would only matter if that agent survived to the end and found it. ‘…I’ll think about it if he picks it up.’ Considering all the chaos earlier with the centipede, the ceremonial blade, all that madness, that guy could very well be dead by now… A bizarre, hair-raising pressure gripped the back of his neck, sending chills down his spine. Something was behind him. There was no doubt that something even stranger was happening in the village. In the end, Baek Saheon couldn’t resist. He glanced back. His face went pale as a sheet, and he broke into a run along the mountain path once more. He never looked back again. The scene he’d just glimpsed. Crimson blood was pouring down from the sky. I collapsed to the ground. It happened automatically. I fell forward, both hands pressed to the earth. Red blood poured onto my head and the backs of my hands. Wretched beast, plague, ancient fox spirit A pain hot enough to make me scream suddenly flared in one hand. My left hand, the one that hadn’t been severed. I feel like I’m going to die! I clawed at the ground with my hand. I could hear Agent Bronze and Agent Choi bickering. “Isn’t that the Great Tiger General of Daecheongbong[1]? Are you crazy?! Summoning a supernatural entity that’s not even friendly to humans…!” “Later! Just be quiet for now!” I stifled my groans and hastily turned my head to the side. Director Ho, in the shape of Assistant Manager Eun Haje… Filthy, base creature Let’s see your true form …was smiling in the rain of blood. “These people are my acquaintances. Elder, you need not concern yourself. Please, go on your way.” Blisters bubbled up on the back of one of my hands. “These people are my acquaintances. Elder, please shout your greetings from beyond the threshold.” The blisters burst and pus oozed out, marks of contagion. Your tail has been cut “These people are my acquaintances. Elder, why don’t you sit on the porch and have a meal?” The pus burst and trickled down. Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s body floated into the air. Her limbs twisted and contorted, as if bound by brute force, but her gentle smile did not change. Agent Choi pressed down on my shoulder. Leave only your hide behind “I don’t want to though?” Through the flashes of lightning, Director Ho’s face appeared. “Leaving only your hide after death, huh. That’s what tigers do. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” He was still smiling. “They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, how frightening. But I’m no fox spirit. Is there any proof that I’m a fox? Or a ghost? How about this: ‘Begone, evil spirit! Namu Amita Bul Kwanseum Bosal, Geupgeupyeoureong, Thy kingdom come, Father God.’ I’ll even sprinkle salt and red beans.” Lightning struck again. “But it’s not working.” “What a shame. It seems you’ve made a mistake… How unfortunate…” A calm voice came from the one suspended in midair. A giant eye appeared amid the blood raining down from the sky. Director Ho’s limbs twisted. Festering for so long “How vicious of you. Forcibly tearing me and my acquaintance apart .” That smiling face turned to look at me. “What a pity, Soleum-nim.” And in the next moment. The body of Assistant Manager Eun Haje, twisted unnaturally and suspended in midair, vanished as if it had never existed. And with it, Director Ho, who had possessed her. I started to speculate in confusion, just how was he controlling Assistant Manager Eun Haje, what kind of binding had been placed on her, was she alright now… At the same time, I looked up at the sky. The falling blood had stopped. I looked down at the back of my hand again. The blisters and pus had all disappeared, as if they’d been washed away by the blood. “No, General! Didn’t you say you’d make him grovel and pay his respects? But he ran off so easily!” Agent Choi’s throat was seized and he was lifted into the air. I hastily looked up at the sky and shouted, “I’m sorry! And thank you!” A child who knows manners Something looked down at me. And proclaimed one thing. [1] Daecheongbong – the main peak of Seoraksan, which is located in Gangwon-do and about 3 hours away from Seoul ↩ (More details on the Tiger General in Chapter 201.2)
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