Mudoo - Chapter 52

Part 6: The Peach Tree Fruit

Even so, Kang Tae-shin couldn’t swallow the anger boiling up to the top of his head. He shouted right in the constable’s face, insisting on their innocence.

“What crime have they committed?! The Elder has done everything you people told him to do!”

“Hey! Watch your tongue. Do you want me to let go of this hand?”

“Tae-shin, step back.”

From behind Yeo-ok, the Elder spoke in his usual unhurried tone. Despite having his hands tied and being dragged away, his face was calm, almost serene.

“It’ll be fine. I’m a shaman — I know the road ahead. Go on inside and get dinner started. I’ll be hungry when I get back.”

“But Elder…”

“Go on. Dong-gil is waiting too.”

The constable’s grip on Tae-shin’s collar loosened. Muttering curses under his breath, the man shoved Tae-shin aside.

The constables holding the Elder and Yeo-ok on either side began moving again.

“Elder! Yeo-ok!”

“I told you not to worry. I’ll be back soon.”

The Elder spoke cheerfully as he passed. Yeo-ok looked back, forcing the corners of her mouth up into a smile. But her face had gone pale, and her expression was heavy with worry — so unlike her usual self — that Tae-shin’s heart sank.

What made him burn with helpless fury was knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do. All he could do was watch until the Elder and Yeo-ok disappeared from sight.

***

Just as the Elder had said, Tae-shin went home and made dinner. He set the table and waited for a long time, but they never came back.

He stayed awake all night with his eyes open. At dawn, he cooked breakfast and set the table again. Surely they’d be back now? He stepped outside the gate, pacing anxiously, but there was no sign of them — not even a strand of hair.

When it was noon, he made lunch. At night, dinner. But the ones he was waiting for never came, and the carefully prepared meals ended up back on the breakfast table the next morning.

Days passed like that. Tae-shin couldn’t swallow a single bite. He starved himself until his belly felt glued to his back, waiting and waiting. Only Dong-gil, unaware of what was happening, ate until he was stuffed.

Tae-shin sat on the threshold of the wide-open gate, staring endlessly down the corner of the street where Yeo-ok and the Elder had disappeared, praying with all his heart that they’d return today.

“Dong-gil… when on earth are they planning to come back? When they get home, I’m going to give them a real scolding.”

He murmured to himself, stroking Dong-gil’s cheek when the boy came near.

The sun climbed high in the sky — it was noon. Tae-shin was just about to go back inside to prepare lunch when—

“Hey, Tae-shin! Come out here, quick!”

A voice called urgently. Tae-shin ran out into the yard, and there, being helped through the gate by villagers, was none other than Yeo-ok.

Her neatly dressed clothes were now rags, torn and soaked with dark, dried bl00d. Her hair was undone and tangled, her face streaked with dried tears and sweat.

“T… Tae-shin…”

His name slipped weakly from her pale lips. Tae-shin hurried over to support her.

“What happened?!”

“I’m… I’m fine. But the Elder…”

Yeo-ok collapsed to the ground, bursting into sobs. She pounded the earth like a child who had just lost her parents. Even without hearing the words, the villagers — and Tae-shin — understood what had happened to the Elder.

***

When her wailing finally subsided, Tae-shin led Yeo-ok to a small room in the inner quarters. He laid her down and brought back a soft cloth soaked in water. Dong-gil, sensing the urgency, busied himself alongside Tae-shin.

“Tae-shin… Tae-shin… what are we going to do…”

Tae-shin gently wiped Yeo-ok’s face over and over.

The Elder had said he knew his own fate. Damn him. He must have known he was going to die. Even if he hadn’t been some gifted shaman, people often had a sense when death was coming.

“I’m sorry. I should have stopped them. I should’ve thrown myself on the ground, anything, to keep them from taking you and the Elder.”

He knew regret wouldn’t change a thing, but it was all he could do now. Yeo-ok’s tears wouldn’t stop. No matter how many times he wiped her face, it was soon wet again.

Tae-shin tried to keep his own tears in as he tended to her, but his shoulders trembled. Biting his lips hard did nothing to stop the heat rising behind his eyes.

***

He went to the county office every day, but the Elder’s body was nowhere to be found. He begged over and over to at least be allowed to give him a proper funeral, but it was useless.

They said the Elder had committed a grave crime — serving strange spirits and daring to challenge the king’s authority. His high standing in the village only made the punishment heavier.

As for Yeo-ok, they ordered her to be driven out of the city. They claimed she’d escaped punishment because she was still young and had only recently been initiated as a shaman.

In a single moment, a shaman had become the lowest of the low among commoners. When they needed her, she was treated like a physician. Now… garbage.

When Tae-shin came home, Yeo-ok was bedridden. Her condition worsened by the day until she was barely clinging to life.

Tae-shin was about to lose his family all over again. He had thought that, having gone through it once, he could endure it a second time. He was wrong — the pain only cut deeper.

“Yeo-ok… please, get up. At least you have to live. If you leave me too, how am I supposed to go on?”

He held her hand and whispered quietly.

“A shaman’s life might be cursed, but you can’t go like this. You still have things you need to do.”

Believing she could still hear him, he went on.

“If you wake up, I’ll do anything. We’ll sell this house, move outside the capital. You can rest and eat well until the day you die. Hm? Yeo-ok… let’s get up now.”

“Hmph. She’s gravely ill, but I came too soon, it seems.”

A sudden voice made Tae-shin’s head snap up.

A tall man in a worn robe and black gat stood there — someone Tae-shin had never seen in the village.

“W-who are you? How did you get in here?”

The man looked startled and stroked his chin.

“You… can see me? My name is Gangnim. Humans usually can’t see me. How strange.”

“What kind of nonsense is this, barging into someone’s inner quarters? Get out!”

Gangnim’s expression turned grave.

“I am a grim reaper, here to escort this woman’s soul to the afterlife. Her time is almost up — you’d best prepare yourself.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

Tae-shin jumped to grab Gangnim by the collar, but his hands passed right through him. He could see him, but not touch him.

The impossible reality made Tae-shin let out a bitter groan — and he realized tears were running down his face.

“No… no, you can’t take Yeo-ok. She’s still here, still alive! How…”

He spread his arms, shielding Yeo-ok with his whole body. Gangnim let out a sigh, unable to hide the pity in his eyes.

“Life always ends in death. It’s her fate — you must accept it.”

Hearing that, Tae-shin collapsed to the floor, sobbing — tears he’d been holding back all this time. The grief of losing the Elder poured out with it.

Gangnim watched him for a long while, not knowing what to do, before finally speaking.

“There is… one way to save her.”

Tae-shin scrambled forward on his knees, bowing low before him. His face was streaked with tears, his eyes bloodshot.

“What is it? I’ll do anything. Please… just tell me.”

Gangnim glanced between Yeo-ok, barely breathing, and Tae-shin groveling at his feet. At last, he spoke slowly.