If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 83

It was not precisely known where the coexistent relationship between ghosts and spiritual warriors first began. There was no way that the relationship between a living person and a ghost, who is nothing but a remaining soul after death, could be good. From ancient times, ghosts viewed spiritual warriors, who deliver the will of heaven and see dead souls, as a thorn in their side. Walking upon the land of the living while alive was offensive enough, but how dare they borrow and use the power of heaven? To a ghost who used to cackle about humans being short-lived and foolish prey, the appearance of spiritual warriors must have seemed like a kind of mutation. A mutation that took away their lives and interfered with their hunting at that.

The precedent of beginning to form contracts with those ghosts among them who were clear-headed or sharp in business was passed down by word of mouth among spiritual warriors. The young Chaehwa, upon hearing that origin from the landowner of Nanjubeol, wailed for three days and three nights before falling asleep.

The protagonists in the story handed down like a legend were a lowly ghost and a female spiritual warrior. A ghost who loved to tease people by appearing in the living world had fallen in love at first sight with a woman walking down the road. And that woman, fatefully, was a shaman and a spiritual warrior trusted by the king. An utterly incomprehensible, irrational, and illogical emotion had come upon the ghost. When he lay down looking at the moon to go to sleep, the woman would come to mind, and planning pranks was no longer as fun as before.

A pitiful soul that became a ghost, unable to even leave entirely for the underworld after death. A foolish soul that did not even know how it ended up becoming a beast called a ghost. Yet, the woman was the light of the living world, receiving the respect of the village with nothing left but to celebrate. It was a time when the ghost was lovesick, wondering how he could approach her just to strike up a conversation.

“Why is this so difficult…”

The woman was unmatched when it came to singing and growing flowers, but she found threading a needle truly troublesome. The ghost, who was stealing glances at the woman while hiding behind the wall, gulped. Threading a needle was something the ghost could manage even with his eyes closed. Watching her cautiously, the ghost’s arm bravely and stealthily slipped over the wall.

[I’ll… do it for you.]

“Huh?”

It was an era when ghosts had never done anything good for humans, whether hurting, ignoring, or insulting them. Wasn’t it cute what the ghost, who was treated no differently from a wild beast, said as he climbed over the wall on a moonlit night? For some reason, the woman didn’t feel like being on guard, so she covered her lips with her fingers and chuckled. Perhaps it was because she saw the shy mouth of the ghost trying to approach.

“Here. If you help me, I’ll give you delicious honey.”

It was a comment thrown out like a joke, feeling bad about ordering the ghost around for nothing. However, from the moment those words came out, a promise was set between the two. It was the first day a change occurred between a ghost and a human, whom heaven had decreed could not mix.

The day he threaded the needle, it was no different from threading a bond that leaped across species and species. Exchanging other promises and replies filled with affection, the ghost and the spiritual warrior grew dear to each other before long. It was only natural that heaven grew furious at the spiritual warrior who, instead of taking a husband she was supposed to have, spent her days waiting only for the ghost who climbed over the wall. When the ghost fearlessly held and fiddled with the spiritual warrior’s hand, heaven delivered a punishment. Thunder came down and burned the ghost’s body, and the spiritual warrior became a body that could no longer hear the words of heaven.

It is acceptable to make a contract with a ghost, but if one harbors emotions beyond that, heaven will surely punish them. Regardless of alliances or affections, what is strictly forbidden for a spiritual warrior would be playing around with private emotions with a ghost.

“So they said one must not love… and that even friendship is dangerous. I don’t know how much I cried after hearing that story.”

“Why did you cry?”

“Because it was pitiful. I wondered if they couldn’t just leave the two alone to live. They liked each other, so what could be done? Don’t you agree?”

As the time rushed past midnight, I sat side by side with the talkative Chaehwa in the wine cellar and lowered my voice. Yirok, who became calm out of concern that their words might leak outside, had his eyes caught by Chaehwa, who was suddenly sniffing. He knows well enough that sticking together at night under the pretext of helping with a ghost contract is not justifiable. If Ms. Yeonrye or the other adults found out, they would fly into a rage and tear the two apart. In that sense, the ghost in the story and Yirok himself had parts that resembled each other. Isn’t even the fact that heaven would punish them later similar?

The spiritual warrior who scoops out honey out of gratitude for threading a needle resembled Chaehwa. A woman who tries to return the favor with a bright smile as long as someone is kind to her, whether that someone is a ghost or a beast. Down to her disposition of feeling pity for a ghost who died thousands of years ago, that spiritual warrior was Chaehwa to the core.

“They must still be longing for each other even now, right? The spiritual warrior would have gone to the underworld after dying… and since a ghost vanishes upon death. If heaven took pity, they would have been reborn. I feel so bad for the ghost.”

“If it were me…”

As if her words about crying for three days were not a lie, the tip of Chaehwa’s nose was turning the color of a wild raspberry. It was heartbreaking that Chaehwa’s tiny hand pulled at the edge of her skirt, trying to hold back her tears. Therefore, Yirok utilized his lacking eloquence to slowly open his mouth.

“If I were the ghost, even if I were to vanish, I would have liked holding that woman’s hand even for a moment… probably. Since he won the heart of the woman he could only gaze at, wouldn’t he have vanished with a smile? Saying he was glad his karma was you. Even if you don’t cry…”

Perhaps deeply absorbed in the story Chaehwa told, his words grew long. Chaehwa, who was listening to Yirok’s slow words, suddenly grabbed his wrist, making his speech stop abruptly. Yirok looked alternately at his grabbed wrist and Chaehwa’s tear-brimming eyes. It seems the words started to make her smile instead of cry had brought about Chaehwa’s tears.

“Yirok-ah. This is perhaps the best thing I’ve ever heard. Because everyone tells me not to have private emotions with a ghost… they say it like that.”

Aren’t those words not wrong, controlling one’s heart is the destiny of a spiritual warrior. Even though he knew the words to push Chaehwa’s hand away, Yirok wanted to be selfish for this moment at least. He wanted to possess a different position from others, that kind of special word.

“Thank you, Yirok-ah. I’m sorry for acting meanly to you in the past. You remember it all, right?”

“…To put it correctly, the mean one wasn’t you, it was me. Forget it. Shall we stop writing letters of apology to each other and get to the main point?”

Chaehwa smiled and quietly nodded. Running through the moonlit night, Chaehwa had brought the ghost registry, candles, and Ms. Yomyeong’s special incense candle. It was akin to preparing to enter the abyss. Since there was only one copy of the ghost registry, the setup was such that Yirok would turn the pages and Chaehwa would stick close to his side to look together. Because of that, Yirok’s wrist that she grabbed earlier became a support. A bookrest, an arm support for Chaehwa’s upper body to lean over—it meant they didn’t let go of each other even after the words of gratitude ended.

“Which ghost do you feel like contracting with? Since it’s your first time, how about this one? Yirok, you said you already made a contract with a water earthworm… since a water earthworm is a ghost that helps you move freely. I think this one that protects Yirok’s body is good.”

Chaehwa didn’t know it in her wildest dreams, but Yirok was barely breathing right now. The scent of Chaehwa chattering right under his chin scattered his concentration. Even if Yirok harbored just a slight alternative thought, the lips of the two would lock. Pressing the back of his head against a crock that provided no help at all, Yirok held onto his reason. Meanwhile, Chaehwa’s finger, which was flipping through the registry this way and that, pointed to a name. However, Yirok already had a name decided long ago during his warrior training hours.

“This one.”

“This one?”

Even if he trained for a hundred years, it was impossible to oppose Sarira and take his brother back. He also knew well the fact that the sacrifice in that process would be his brother’s life. However, he wanted to stop just helplessly taking it. He wanted to stop just helplessly being a detriment to Chaehwa. There are many things he wants to do but nothing he knows, so how about borrowing the power of a ghost? He had found a ghost that fit perfectly right there.

“Saunryeong?”

Saunryeong was a ghost whose entire body was covered in snake scales, yet like a divine spirit, rode upon clouds and wore a white scholar’s robe. Not only was the difficulty of the contract high, but its compatibility with Yirok was also not significantly good. Chaehwa’s eyes, worrying whether it wouldn’t be better for Yirok, a training Haenang, to choose a safe ghost, came to him.

“There are many other gentle and good ghosts besides this one.”

“Are you going to help me?”

However, knowing that Yirok had made up his mind, Chaehwa could only back down. Chaehwa, who struck a match she brought to summon fire, dimly lit the pitch-black wine cellar. Lighting the incense candle, Chaehwa held up two fingers.

“There are several methods to contract with a ghost. Principally, there are two. One is summoning the ghost into my abyss to make a contract, and the other is sending only my spirit to the place where the ghost is to make a contract. Usually, people prefer the former out of concern that there might be danger… but it’s good to learn the latter too. What do you want to do?”

It was strange. It was a situation where he had to choose quickly. Yirok looked at Chaehwa’s eyes, listened to her words, and because he liked the moment when she, the only one, focused on him, he deliberately delayed. Truly, he is in a state of envying the dead ghost in that legend. At any rate, the fact that the spiritual warrior received heaven’s punishment meant her heart had also gone to the ghost. Even if she incurred heaven’s displeasure and could not be reborn, she would have been satisfied.

“Hmm?”

Chaehwa tilted her head and shook his wrist that she was holding as if playing a prank. Yirok chuckled and chose one.

“The one that’s good to learn. Since everyone says you’re the best spiritual warrior… you’ll teach me well.”

At the words ‘the best spiritual warrior,’ Chaehwa chuckled softly. As if due to the fragrant smell of the incense candle, Yirok naturally touched his lips and hid his smile. Coughs, love—things that cannot be hidden were wriggling under the small match light.