As Giju Wishes Chapter 3.7

At what seemed like the final option, Giju gulped.

“If we search until tomorrow and still don’t find it, we’ll have to find it by force.”

Thud-

Just then, they heard footsteps approaching from outside the door. As if on cue, Giju and Choi Geon fell silent and exchanged glances.

Thud-

The footsteps grew closer and closer, and then the door opened.

Screech-

Baekryeon stared down at Giju and Choi Geon. A strange tension filled the silence.

“Tomorrow.”

His tone was heavy with importance.

“We will go to the Cosmic Tree and receive the power of the earth god through spiritual training to build virtue, wisdom, and body. Go to sleep early.”

With those words, Baekryeon disappeared like the wind.

“What’s he saying?”

Choi Geon asked, hearing such plausible-sounding nonsense for the first time since coming to this temple.

“I think he’s going to take us to a place on this mountain that’s full of energy tomorrow to stabilize your soul. Wow, I think he’s finally going to give us the ritual tool!”

At the sudden change in the labor routine, Choi Geon blinked dubiously.

“Did someone report him to the labor board or something?”

“I think Monk Baekryeon recognized our efforts. What a relief.”

“…Is he really giving it to us?”

Choi Geon muttered skeptically, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Definitely. This is the first time we’ve heard him say anything like that.”

Giju was right. Until now, all they had talked about was farming-related matters; today was the first time he had said anything else.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get it soon.”

Giju, relieved that they wouldn’t have to do anything bad, smiled and spread out his bedding. Although he didn’t quite understand, at Giju’s words that they would be able to get the ritual tool, Choi Geon also let go of his on-edge temper.

“Should’ve done this from the start.”

His complaints having rapidly vanished, Choi Geon lay down and leisurely tapped his foot. His eyes also sparkled with an unavoidable sense of anticipation. As much as he had suffered, he wanted to get his hands on that damned ritual tool quickly.

Swoosh-

Just then, the sound of rain came from outside. Before, he would have thrown a fit about it raining on top of everything else, but now that he thought it was over, the sound of the rain was quite refreshing. He even thought it was a good thing since it had been hot, and a grin spread across his face.

In contrast, Giju seemed happy yet a little disappointed.

“I wanted to see the tomatoes ripen, it’s a bit of a shame.”

Tending to the vegetable garden, a new addition to his monotonous life, always excited Giju. It was because he felt a sense of reward and wonder that was as great as the hardship. Until now, Giju had thought that chili peppers and tomatoes grew on trees.

“He’s still not in his right mind. Your hands are on the verge of amputation because of that con man who stole the bells, you know?”

At the words of disappointment, Choi Geon’s smile vanished, and he scowled at Giju’s scarred fingertips.

“Ah, but Geon. You said you didn’t have a guardian earlier. When it comes to your soul, think of me as your guardian. I’ll be your guardian until the problem is solved.”

It was out of the blue, but at the rather resolute declaration of guardianship, Choi Geon stared blankly at Giju with an unreadable expression.

“Can something that would die if I hit it once be a guardian?”

“If you hit me, someone like my grandmother might appear instead.”

It was a reply based entirely on fact. Choi Geon, who was preparing to mock him to his heart’s content, was left speechless and turned away, grumbling.

“Guess you have to die if you don’t have connections, sigh, fuck….”

Then, with his brow deeply furrowed, he closed his eyes.

“Are you going to sleep? I’m really going to be your guardian….”

When he didn’t answer, a blanket was placed over his body a moment later.

“Sleep well, Geon.”

At those words, the wrinkles on Choi Geon’s brow deepened. The word ‘guardian’ lingered in his mind like an afterimage, even more so than the sound of the heavy rain.

🔖⛩️📿

Swoosh-

The rain that had fallen all night showed no signs of stopping. They had waited for the rain to stop and set off in the afternoon, but the rain did not weaken. The flimsy vinyl raincoat, which felt like it would tear with a little force, didn’t do much to cover their bodies, and their rain boots were caked in mud.

Clatter, clatter-

What was more annoying were the tools needed for the spiritual training. The bucket contained not only a pickaxe and hoes, whose purpose he didn’t know, but also ceramic bowls and a broom, as well as some unidentifiable things wrapped in cloth, which seemed to contain rocks just to piss him off. The weight was one thing, but the memory of being hit with the broom made him feel even filthier.

“Should I carry some of that?”

Giju, from beside him, asked Choi Geon, who had an expression like he was about to commit murder.

“Have you no conscience?”

In fact, the person who had first carried the bucket was Giju. He had gallantly stepped up to carry it first for his friend, but only for a few minutes; Giju, who had fallen behind due to the weight, had asked for help from his self-proclaimed friend, Choi Geon.

‘We’re going to lose Monk Baekryeon. Let’s take turns carrying it.’

Then, only when Choi Geon was carrying the bucket, he would run, saying they should go faster to catch up. In effect, for every 1 meter Giju walked, Choi Geon went 10 meters. Unable to stand it any longer, Choi Geon was now carrying it himself after demanding it before resorting to violence.

But now, Giju was once again stoking his violent tendencies.

“I’ll carry this for you, Geon.”

To lighten the load, Giju took out two hoes from the bucket.

“Oh, we’re getting far from the monk. Hurry up!”

Then, afraid of losing Baekryeon, he abandoned Choi Geon and ran. Choi Geon desperately suppressed the urge to throw the bucket at the back of Giju’s head and quickly followed. Solely with the thought that this was the last time, Choi Geon was stubbornly keeping his mouth shut and following those devils.

“Do you hear the whisper of the mountain welcoming the rain?”

Baekryeon, who was walking at the very front, asked loftily.

“The old man has lost his mind, mmph!”

Giju covered Choi Geon’s mouth with his hand.

“Yes, Monk. I can feel the energy of Dobongsan Mountain well.”

Choi Geon glared, telling him to get his hand off right now. Giju shushed him, putting his index finger to his lips. Just then, Baekryeon, who had reached a fork in the road, naturally went left.

“Huh? Monk Baekryeon, the right….”

“Today’s training will be perfect.”

Giju’s questioning words were drowned out by the sound of the rain and did not reach Baekryeon. Giju stopped dead in front of the fork and stared at Baekryeon’s back, bewildered.

“Why is he going that way?”

“Because he’s lost his mind, that’s why he’s going that way.”

Choi Geon, beside him, muttered soullessly and followed Baekryeon. Choi Geon no longer harbored any questions or thoughts. The only important thing for him now was to receive the ritual tool as soon as possible and get off this mountain. The accumulated stress had brought his patience to rock bottom, and he was seeing red.

Giju glanced at the large tree on the right before silently following Choi Geon.

After walking like that for 10 minutes, Baekryeon finally stopped.

“You there, the one with the ugly soul. Are you ready to receive the energy of Dobongsan Mountain?”

“I am still lacking, but I believe I am sufficiently prepared, Monk Baekryeon!”

Giju, answering in place of Choi Geon, looked at Baekryeon with sparkling eyes. Baekryeon gazed at Choi Geon and Giju with a solemn air, then took a ceramic bowl from the bucket, collected rainwater, and suddenly began to bow toward the north.

Giju shrewdly followed suit, bowing, and tugged on the hem of Choi Geon’s clothes. It was a signal to follow quickly. At that, Choi Geon squeezed his eyes shut and bowed.

“Ah, this really fucking sucks.”

“Shh, shh!”

“Everyone, pick up your ritual tools.”

Baekryeon, having finished his bows, turned around and spoke again with solemnity. At the word ‘ritual tools,’ Choi Geon automatically looked at Giju. He didn’t know where the ritual tools were, or what they were. But strangely, Giju, who usually understood everything perfectly, this time just blinked his eyes slowly and looked at Baekryeon. Because there were no ritual tools here.

“Tsk.”

When the slaves made no move, Baekryeon clicked his tongue, came over, and personally placed the hoes and pickaxe from the bucket into their hands. Then he gently cleared away the bushes with his hands. And then, a vast expanse of short-leaved plants, each with a single red berry, was revealed.

Leaving the two who were standing there stupidly at the sight, Baekryeon took the pickaxe, went over, and began to dig the ground himself. His touch was very careful and gentle. A moment later, what was in his hands was ginseng.

“This was not made by me, but by nature, a kind of cosmic tree filled with the energy of the earth god. Dig it all up and build your virtue, wisdom, and body. Ahem, a word of caution, the earth god is fragile, so handle it as carefully as you would a baby, ack!”

Rumble!!

Along with Baekryeon’s loud, short cry, lightning struck. In front of him stood Choi Geon, holding a hoe like a murderer.

“Oh my goodness, Monk!!”

Giju, whose jaw had dropped in shock, belatedly rushed over to the fallen Baekryeon. Baekryeon, who had been hit squarely on the head with the flat side of the hoe, was unconscious. The assailant, Choi Geon, did not seem to be coming back to his senses anytime soon.

Even his own family’s ginseng farm, the richest in Chungnam, was smaller than this. The CCTVs hanging everywhere showed that he was anything but sloppy. This guy was crazier than Shin Giju.

“Monk, Monk! Wake up! G-Geon, what are you going to, huh…?”

Just then, Giju, who was shaking Baekryeon relentlessly, stopped talking when he saw something shiny on his chest. He reached out his hand without thinking, and what he pulled out was a shaman’s ritual knife. And one with an incredibly sacred energy at that.

Giju felt it instinctively. The ritual tool of Manshin Bari was not the bells, but this.

“Wow… I found it….”

Giju, who had forgotten about Baekryeon for a moment in his excitement over the legendary ritual tool, shot up and showed the ritual knife to Choi Geon, who had lost his senses and was about to swing the hoe again.

“I found the ritual tool, Geon!”

“I’m going to set this place on fire and burn all the ginseng, what…?”

“Look at this!”

At the sight of the ritual tool they had been searching for so long, his sanity slowly began to return.