A Forest flowing with Milk and Honey - Chapter 7.3

“Hrrrk!” Hae-yeon gagged, unable to contain her nausea.

“Don’t stop now, keep moving!” Do-hoon barked, pushing Hae-yeon forward and pulling Woo-rim along.
The relentless crowd was still chasing them, footsteps echoing menacingly behind.

‘Where is Yoon-seok?’ Woo-rim thought, her heart pounding.

Yoon-seok had been missing for some time, leaving Woo-rim uneasy. Despite this, the trio reached the front door safely.

However, just as Do-hoon threw the door open, Yoon-seok appeared and lunged at him, swinging a knife. Blood spurted from Do-hoon’s side, and the knife, already tainted with blood, turned even redder as it absorbed his.

“Ugh!” Do-hoon groaned in pain, gripping Yoon-seok and trying to push him back. Despite Do-hoon’s larger build, Yoon-seok’s strength was astonishing, with veins bulging from his forearms as he overpowered Do-hoon. Injured, Do-hoon was beginning to lose ground.

“Go… hurry!” Do-hoon urged as Hae-yeon pulled Woo-rim towards the front door.

Suddenly, Hae-yeon’s grip on Woo-rim faltered, causing her to fall to the ground outside. Woo-rim was shoved back inside and found herself blocked, unable to cross the threshold. The black blood on her sleeve gave an ominous feeling, like ash.

Yoon-seok pushed Do-hoon aside and stepped inside as the door slammed shut.

“I can’t get out…” Woo-rim whispered in desperation, her wide eyes reflecting the horror of the situation.

With a loud thud, Yoon-seok closed the door and reached for Woo-rim, turning her to face him.
What she saw chilled her to the bone. Mi-jung’s charred body, grotesque and twisted, was crawling like a broken doll. Her burnt eyelids peeled back to reveal glowing red eyes.

The sight of this horrifying transformation sent a searing pain through Woo-rim’s injured palm, and she shuddered.

“I’ve always envied you…” Mi-jung muttered, staggering like a broken puppet, making her way towards Woo-rim.

As Woo-rim’s legs gave out, Yoon-seok held her firmly by the shoulders, preventing her from collapsing. Woo-rim’s heart raced, overwhelmed by the bizarre and terrifying scene unfolding. He tried desperately to push Yoon-seok away, but Yoon-seok’s strength was overpowering.

In no time, Mi-jung stood just inches away.
“I want to be you. Give me your body,” she whispered in a chilling voice, pulling Woo-rim into a cold, rigid embrace. Her ghostly breath grazed the back of his neck, sending a shiver down his spine.

“Give me your body, or I’ll kill you,” she threatened.

The cold blade, held by the possessed Yoon-seok, pressed against Woo-rim’s neck, leaving him with no escape.

“Make your choice.”

Cold fingers, pale and sharp, dug into the nape of Woo-rim’s neck, touching the one last petal that remained. Black smoke began to rise, blinding Woo-rim, creeping into his eyes like icy fingers. But despite the unbearable pain, Woo-rim refused to surrender—he had always wanted to live.

Through the thick smoke, Woo-rim barely made out a figure—a woman weeping tears of blood.

In this chilling scene, the malevolent force exerts both physical and psychological terror, threatening to possess or destroy Woo-rim. The flashback to the ghost’s tragic history adds a deep layer of horror, painting her as both a victim and a vengeful entity. This haunting encounter serves as a climax of fear and emotional turmoil, where Woo-rim’s survival instincts clash with the overwhelming supernatural force.

Woo-rim gasped for air as she opened her eyes, the pain from someone else’s life still sharp as if she had experienced it herself.

The vengeful spirit, the “Sun Gakshi,” stood before her, tears of blood flowing down her face.
“Peach blossoms… that was the dream your child had before birth…” Woo-rim muttered, her hand brushing the back of her neck. The petal that had once felt like a menacing mark now carried a different meaning.

It wasn’t something to fear, but rather a symbol of a mother’s deep sorrow over losing her child.
This moment captures Woo-rim’s realization of the tragic backstory behind the spirit’s vengeance. The final petal on her neck, which once felt threatening, now represents the grief of a mother rather than a curse, bringing to light the emotional complexity of the ghost’s actions.
Woo-rim felt for the back of her neck, realizing that the petals there no longer seemed ominous.

The single petal that Tao had been unable to remove symbolized something far deeper: the flower wasn’t a curse or something dangerous—it was a manifestation of grief.

Peach blossoms have five petals, each representing a different aspect of the anguish that Sun Gakshi, the vengeful spirit, had endured. These were her pain, suffering, jealousy, anger, and, most profoundly, sorrow.
When all five petals were united, Sun Gakshi’s curse would have been complete, allowing her to fully possess Woo-rim’s body. However, only one petal remained—a lingering representation of a mother’s eternal grief for the child she had lost centuries ago.

Woo-rim began to understand the ghost’s motives. “I thought it was strange,” she said. “You let me, Hae-yeon, and Do-hoon survive, didn’t you?”
Indeed, while an axe had been available to break down the door, those under the spirit’s control had only reached out with their hands, refraining from using weapons. Even Yoon-seok, who was armed with a knife, had stopped short of delivering a fatal blow to Do-hoon, allowing him to escape.
This shift highlights Woo-rim’s recognition that Sun Gakshi’s actions, while rooted in vengeance, were also shaped by a grief and loss that transcended pure malice.

The vengeful spirit, Son Gakshi, had been lingering around Woo-rim for over a month, and in that time, she had learned about the people working in the house.

It wasn’t by chance that Hae-yeon and Do-hoon were spared from being tainted by the blood. Similarly, it was not a coincidence that Byeong-ho, who had shown genuine sympathy for Mi-jung’s miscarriage, was able to leave, and that the kind-hearted, hardworking people were prevented from coming to work.

From the beginning, Son Gakshi hadn’t intended to involve these individuals in her revenge. If she were a truly malevolent spirit, would she have let them go?

“I want your body. I envy you…”

The gate to the afterlife, which the vengeful spirit had opened through her centuries of accumulated malice, was closing because of Tae-oh. The spiritual energy Son Gakshi had intended to use for possessing Woo-rim’s body was instead consumed in manipulating the humans around her. Only a single petal—the most painful and smallest part of her grief—remained.

That petal was both the first and the last.
Now, only sorrow remained in Son Gakshi. Without her grudge, her power weakened.

Woo-rim’s words made the ghost aware of this, and the once-powerful vengeful spirit quickly lost her strength.

“Even if you take my body, it won’t bring you happiness. What you truly want isn’t me.”
Woo-rim didn’t know much about spirits, but she figured that if they existed, then so must reincarnation and the afterlife.

“Take this petal and return to where you belong.”
The day the first petal appeared, Son Gakshi had lactated, expressing her longing to nurse the child she had lost.

“Your child is waiting for you.”

The ghost inhabiting Mi-jung’s body hesitated. Tears of blood trickled down, sorrowfully soaking the floor.

Yun-seok, feeling unnerved, turned to face the ghastly sight of Mi-jung’s disfigured, burned face. Filled with fear, he rushed at her, shouting in frustration.

“Why won’t you leave me alone? Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused? Just die already!”
He lifted the knife high and plunged it into Mi-jung’s charred body. Dark blood oozed from her remains, turning into black smoke that enveloped Yun-seok.

“No!” Woo-rim shouted, grabbing a vase from the table and smashing it over Yun-seok’s head.
“Go back… You need to go back!” she cried, her voice trembling.

Yun-seok staggered, just as a cold wind swept through the room, and Son Gakshi’s ghostly form appeared, wrapping her snake-like hair around Yun-seok’s neck, choking him.

“This isn’t right… This isn’t what you truly want,” Woo-rim murmured softly, realizing the depth of the ghost’s sorrow for her lost child.
Woo-rim wished to offer the spirit peace, but she knew it was too late—Son Gakshi had committed too many sins.

Together with Yun-seok, she was consumed by flames. Through the blackened fire, Woo-rim saw a fleeting glimpse of the ghost’s once-beautiful face, smiling softly.

As the final petal of the flower fell, it marked the ghost’s departure.