By Zephyria 
When Young-pa ascended again, he saw that Wudam was in terrible condition. Even while gasping for breath, he did not let go of the child.
“Mas… Master… this poor child, the child… isn’t moving. What do we do?”
“How is your own body?”
“I… I think… this is as far as I can… go.”
Tears, thick as chicken droppings, fell from Wudam’s eyes.
“Master, instead of me… please perform the exorcism. The… ser… serpent monster of the house… the one you killed earlier… wasn’t the only one. They said there are ten in total in our family…. My father probably already…. Please, make sure you kill them all….”
“Stay awake.”
As Wudam tried to close his eyes, Young-pa grabbed him by the collar and shook him. When that proved useless, Young-pa slapped him, and Wudam blinked his eyes open. Young-pa looked into his eyes and spoke firmly.
“If your father is gone, you are the last remaining descendant of Wubaek and the clan head of Pacheondang. Stop acting like a child and pull yourself together.”
“Master, but….”
“Listen carefully. There must be a passage below here that your ancestors used to escape. If humans were able to leave through it, it shouldn’t be hard to find. I will find it and do my best to break through.”
Wudam bit his lip and nodded.
“It may take a while, but I will return, so trust me and endure. In the meantime, keep the child safe.”
“But… the child has already stopped breathing….”
“I told you clearly to keep the child safe.”
Wudam tightly hugged the back of the motionless child’s head and replied that he understood.
As soon as Young-pa finished speaking, he dove into the dark water. The monsters that had filled the surroundings had long since fled in fear. He drove the fish and descended to a quiet spot.
The rotten water grew colder the deeper he went. On the deep bottom, human objects like spoons and bronze fragments lay scattered. Moving in one direction, a pitch-black wall appeared.
Young-pa let go of the fish he was riding and examined the wall for any signs of patching. The wall, dominated by thick mucus and worn down, was so old that its age was impossible to gauge.
He found the entrance to the submerged waterway without much difficulty. The passage, barely wide enough for a person to pass through while crouching, was filled with earth. In his heart, he wanted to summon a house-sized whirlpool and smash it all away, but he couldn’t for fear that the wall would collapse and block the passage entirely.
When he scraped the surface with the fish’s horn, dirt powder fell away. He judged that even if it had hardened long ago, it was worth trying to pierce. Young-pa concentrated his spiritual energy into his fingers and dug out the patched area. As he diligently dug, the earth fell away, and the passage gradually revealed itself. However, hope began to fade. He had no way of knowing how long the passage was; at this rate of digging, it might take days. There was no chance that Wudam, who was already on the brink of death, could hold on.
‘Everyone will die at this rate. I need a tool.’
Young-pa dove deeper. He felt that if he had a shovel—or even a rice bowl—the speed would be much faster.
While circling the bottom in search of a useful tool, he saw a place where human objects were piled like a mountain. It seemed some monster had collected them, and Young-pa quickly grabbed a shovel he spotted. While checking for better tools, he felt the flow of the current.
Turning his gaze, he saw a monster the size of a hill. It was a hybrid with the head of an eel, the body of a fish with sharp fins, and the four legs and long tail of a lizard. Seeing that Young-pa had touched its things, it bared its teeth.
‘Damn it, I don’t have time to waste.’
Young-pa pulled a rusted sword from the pile of tools. He glared at the monster, determined to kill it in one blow by piercing its heart.
The beast opened its house-sized maw and swam toward him like an arrow. Young-pa coated the sword in spiritual energy and sharpened its edge. He intended to wait for the monster to lunge and then move toward its belly to pierce the heart.
However, when the monster was within reach, he saw a glittering light in its throat, and another thought flashed through his mind. Young-pa threw away the sword he had been gripping tightly. Then, before the monster could snap him in half, he leaped into the black maw.
Because the monster slammed its mouth shut, Young-pa was sucked into a vortex. Just before being swept down the esophagus, he brushed past the gold object he had seen earlier. The golden ornament was firmly embedded in the gums.
Young-pa tumbled and turned as he floated down the narrow passage. When he was flung into a large cavity, he realized he had reached the monster’s stomach.
He stood up and looked around. Countless glittering valuables lay scattered on the squishy floor. This monster seemed to love shiny things and swallowed them whenever it found them.
‘Storing treasures in its belly; this thing actually knows a thing or two.’
The undulating stomach walls were like a crudely made suspension bridge. Young-pa walked unsteadily and spotted something in the distance.
A black object was buried deep in crimson folds. Even though it wasn’t gold or a gem, it emitted a faint energy.
As if possessed, Young-pa approached and picked up the object. The palm-sized disc was a tool made of bronze, with fine ripple patterns on the back. The surface was covered in sticky slime and heavily rusted, but the moment Young-pa saw it, he knew it was the object he had been searching for.
‘I heard that when a great calamity struck the nation, my great-great-grandfather jumped into the waterway, taking only the most important items.’
The Changjingyeong was the foremost treasure of Pacheondang. In a situation of urgent flight, it would have been the first thing he packed. If Wudam’s ancestor had lost the treasure while swimming in the waterway….
Young-pa’s heart beat rapidly. He took a deep breath and wiped the bronze mirror with his sleeve.
With every movement of his arm, the warmth emanating from the mirror grew stronger. In his haste, Young-pa scrubbed the surface vigorously. Then, at one moment, his gaze met his own eyes reflected in the mirror.
Suddenly, Young-pa trembled violently, as if struck by lightning. Then came a shock, as if someone had split open his skull and poured cold water inside.
Young-pa saw himself within a brilliant radiant light.
‘Now that I see, you are the famous brat of Bipung. Let’s see you show those tricks before me as well.’
A stern-looking old man examined him as if testing him.
‘Young-pa, you only need to trust me. I, Yeogo, will assist you forever.’
A youth with a longing appearance reached out his hand toward him.
‘I am sorry, Yeongparang. There is someone else in my heart.’
A woman whose mere sight made his heart ache broke Young-pa’s heart.
‘No matter how many monsters we kill, we must still tremble in anxiety; when will we ever live in safety? What on earth have those who call themselves deities done for us? Have they ever protected us? Do they not just bring disasters according to their whims?’
As Young-pa spoke passionately, the people around him gasped in fear.
‘If it’s a heavenly gift of four gods… it’s a deity’s object, right? You’re collecting those? How?’
A large man asked with a naive expression.
‘You… you finally cannot abandon that wicked intent. To dare to perform an exorcism on a deity, I will not allow it. If you must go, you shall pass only after breaking me!’
The old man who had passed everything down to Young-pa stood in his way, his eyes narrowing.
‘Aaaagh! Hu-husband…. Aaaagh!’
A woman, driven by desperation, wailed before a pile of ashes. Young-pa was sobbing beside her.
‘Look! Here is the divine artifact I obtained by performing an exorcism on the Vermilion Bird! Follow me. I shall liberate humanity from those vicious beasts.’
The person delivering the speech before the crowd of humans gathered like clouds was none other than Young-pa himself.
‘Vile thing…. To dare challenge this body, it is unforgivable!’
A giant tiger with snow-white fur roared so loudly that the entire world shook.
Countless figures appeared and disappeared before Young-pa’s eyes. He felt joy, anger, sadness, and pleasure. The corners of his mouth curled up only to be followed by tears; he ground his teeth in rage, then burst into song with delight.
Following that, he found himself kneeling before an enemy. Crushed by a heavy murderous intent, he couldn’t move a single finger, but his eyes remained defiant.
‘You have only broken me with strength; do not dare think you have made me kneel. For even after I die, humans who challenge the gods will continue to appear.’
In the next scene, Young-pa lay collapsed in a valley of Manisan, his body hacked to pieces, barely clinging to life. In his dying ears, he heard the most hateful voices in the world.
‘To say we should not kill him…. What do you mean by that, White Tiger.’
‘Look, Black Tortoise. Such high spirit and dignity are rare; he is a human who appears perhaps once in a thousand years.’
‘Indeed, he is someone you could fall for.’
‘I admit I am fascinated. However, that human’s irredeemable baseness and vulgar greed are utterly loathsome.’
‘Are you saying you wish to take only half of his nature?’
‘That is so. Yeongparang is a leader-hero who united humans, a man of calm and dignified character, a noble figure who looks toward high places, a man who loves the one he has given his heart to for a lifetime. I desire only those aspects.’
‘Fine. I will take this one to the underground and remove the dregs you do not want. The price I desire is….’
Young-pa saw himself writhing in pain within the mirror.
A defeated soldier being split as punishment for losing a war. A hero paying the price for a bold challenge that failed. A human destroyed by the greed of a deity. A soul robbed of its wholeness.
Terrible pain, unbearable agony, and unspeakably severe suffering continued. The hand gripping the mirror trembled violently with rage.
Young-pa was sprawled in a familiar prison. Before him stood a man whose face was hidden in shadow.
‘Do you know who you are?’
‘I, I am….’
‘You are the villain of the century, a trickster who betrays as naturally as eating, a demon mad for power, an unforgivable teacher-slayer, a vicious god-slayer…. You are the dark side of Yeongparang!’
‘I am… Young-pa…. The dark side….’
‘I have taken you in, whom no one wanted; thus, I am your benefactor. Now, call me Master.’
Ji Seo-gu reached out toward Young-pa’s face. As the pale finger softly touched his cheek, Young-pa turned his head and pressed his lips to the finger. Ji Seo-gu responded with a low, satisfied laugh.
Young-pa slowly took the finger into his mouth. Then, he waited until it had entered deep enough and bit down with all his might. A scream that shook the cave poured into his ears.
As all the scenes ended, the bronze mirror returned to a dingy blue light. Young-pa was kneeling, shedding tears.
He had seen it through the Changjingyeong. The version of himself from a time he didn’t know, the world that surrounded him, and the ones who made him this way. Everything.
Young-pa put the mirror in his robe and stood up unsteadily. As he crawled upward, the monster seemed uncomfortable and kept swallowing water. Young-pa struggled not to be swept away by the pouring current as he climbed up the esophagus.
When he reached the throat, he grabbed and pulled the ornament embedded in the gums. As the object came out, blood surged from the old wound. The monster made a low, rumbling sound as if satisfied.
Young-pa walked out through the mouth the monster gently opened. After the monster spun around once and swam away, Young-pa swam toward the surface.
“Y… Young-pa Master…. As… as promised, you have… come back alive….”
Wudam, who had been hugging the child tightly, burst into tears as if the tension had finally snapped.
Young-pa shook the girl’s shoulder. Since she still did not breathe, he held her cheeks and persistently blew breath into her mouth. Then, the child opened her eyes halfway.
“Young… pa Uncle?”
“Child, you’ve awakened! I thought something had gone wrong, how on earth did this happen, ugh-hu-hu….”
Wudam wailed and hugged the child. The girl frowned and looked as if she were about to cry along. Young-pa turned her face toward him and spoke softly.
“Listen carefully from now on.”
“Huh?”
“No matter what form you change into in the future, you must not forget me. Because I helped you, you also have an obligation to help me.”
“What? What… does that mean?”
“You will find out soon. Before I return your true form to you, will you promise to help me in the future?”
“If it’s helping Young-pa Uncle… yes, I promise.”
Young-pa took the mirror from his robe and held it out to the child. Her lips parted wide, and her pupils spun violently.
A startled Wudam accidentally let go of the child, but she did not sink into the water.
The small, thin body emitted a bright radiance, and her hair stood straight up toward the ceiling. Young-pa watched as the girl’s hair and eyes turned red.
The child laughed joyfully as Young-pa had, then bit her lip in anger, then distorted her face in sadness, then burst into laughter with delight. Eventually, her eyes slowly closed.
“Ah, aaa…. I, I am….”
The child breathed heavily, appearing confused. Soon, a solemn expression appeared on her face as if she had realized everything. When she opened her lips, the voice that flowed out was not that of a weak, young human, but that of a transcendent being of unfathomable depth.
“I am the one who cycles according to the laws of nature. The eternal flame and the bird of birds who governs the raw elements of the air.”
It was an existence on a completely different dimension from the shivering child of a moment ago. When she snapped her eyes open, pupils like crimson flames shone brilliantly in the darkness.
“My name is… Yeon Mu-geum!”
Young-pa bowed his head toward the Vermilion Bird of the South.
≋ ≋ ≋
Wudam’s eyes were on the verge of popping out. Forgetting even to tremble, he looked back and forth between Young-pa and Yeon Mu-geum with a vacant expression.
The Vermilion Bird put the Changjingyeong in their robe and looked around with an irritated gaze, as if wondering what kind of unpleasant place this was. As they floated up, a warm energy poured out as if the sun had risen. Wudam let out an ecstatic moan.
“I greet the King of the Skies.”
Young-pa spoke with his head bowed. Hearing this, Wudam made a sound like a startled mouse and bowed his head until his forehead touched the water.
“It has been three hundred years, Yeongparang.”
The Vermilion Bird’s voice was cold.
“I don’t know why you’re still alive, but your aura has changed in the meantime? Your attire looks like a beggar’s, too.”
“In three hundred years, the landscape would have changed dozens of times; what does it matter if a human has changed?”
“Still as shameless and silver-tongued as ever! You lured me with wicked tricks. You trapped me and killed me!”
The Vermilion Bird exploded in fiery rage, but Young-pa didn’t even blink.
“You are a bird that is constantly reborn. There is no way in this world to kill you.”
“Stop playing with words. Because of you, I was trapped in a human body and suffered terrible agony for three hundred years.”
“Please remember that it was also I who finally ended that agony.”
Young-pa spoke calmly and looked at the Vermilion Bird.
“What were the other divine beasts doing while you suffered? The insidious Black Tortoise and the prideful White Tiger were your competitors fighting for hegemony. They must have clapped in joy upon your disappearance. The selfish Azure Dragon turned a blind eye to your pain.”
“Those lot were untrustworthy to begin with. Black Tortoise is disgusting, White Tiger is unlucky, and the last time I saw that Azure Dragon fellow was about five hundred years ago. Even so, that doesn’t erase your sin!”
The Vermilion Bird trembled in the air.
“You know the reason why I deceived you, O Vermilion Bird.”
“What are you babbling about, as if harming a deity was some great achievement!”
“Did you not kill my friend? He was like a brother to me. How could I have forgiven you?”
The Vermilion Bird hesitated. Avoiding Young-pa’s eyes, they spoke quietly.
“I made a bet. Ji Seo-gu said that even for me, who possesses the sight of the entire sky, it would be impossible to find where you were… To prove him wrong, I flew to the house of the one you called your friend.”
Was the Black Tortoise’s scheme behind Yeogo’s death as well? Young-pa’s fist clenched tightly.
“But that fellow refused to reveal where you were hiding until the end and instead insulted me. A mere human, daring to insult a deity!”
Young-pa saw the body of his friend, turned to ashes, in the mirror. He also saw himself, weeping and swearing revenge before those ashes. He had vowed time and again that he would return unimaginable pain to Yeon Mu-geum, and that he would gift a world without gods to Yeogo’s wife and children.