Work Text:
Settings: Early-Joseon Era
Metal copper chime pendant engulfed the darkness of the night accompanied by the cold wind that seeps through the window of a small hanok near the heart of the mountain, a young man named beomgyu with a delicate feature rocking a luxurious shoulder-length two-toned black gray hair living with his step-grandmother.
A shaman lady named Hyora considered beomgyu as her lord. Later on, she found out beomgyu is the chosen one of caishen (God of fortune) who can produce rare a diamond called blue moon that is being sold at a higher price in the market. Beomgyu is the remaining descendant from the superior clan of Caishen who vanished five years ago, according to the officials of oryun who work for righteousness and justice in Daegu, it was the Choi clan who assassinated their superior to steal their wealth and keep the diamonds to themselves and they ordered their servants to kill every member of Superior. Even so, the Choi clan was not overthrown to their title as a yangban since major and minor caishen did not order anyone to evict them which leads to deeper doubt on why these remaining refused to punish the family. Hours after the murder, beomgyu came home from his trip to Jeolla-do; he donated diamonds to commoners there. Unfortunately, it was the last time he had helped humans after knowing that a family of yangban murdered his family.
Beomgyu got informed that the head killer of superior clan has a scar on his forearm—a servant of Choi’s confirmed that munsik; the grandfather of yeonjun has a scar on his forearm.
Little did they know, it was Yoo Jaemyung (the head of oryun) who assassinated the superior with the help of two branches of caishen because believers neglected the purpose of the other gods; they are also a source of wealth for the people worshipping them, however, they can’t produce golds and diamonds which made them furious on why worshippers tend to value beomgyu’s clan ability than theirs which made them helped jaemyung to kill superior clan.
People used to gather gifts for each god as an offering but the superior clan overshadow them due to people’s greed for wealth.
At superior’s hidden temple that used to be a vacation home for his family is now being used as beomgyu’s permanent home. The young heir spends his day alone without any guidance, the darkness inside his heart also grows whenever he heard people chanting words of worship to the gods.
Due to pending hate towards humans, beomgyu seeks revenge. He started to consume human’s soul which is a forbidden rule by the gods. He often consumed humans who are from the lower class; a human living alone in old age is a treasure for beomgyu because no one will suspect him if the person died in strange death. Despite his cruel behavior for killing an innocent person, he is the last descendant of his great superior—the chosen one to continue the heredity of Superior Caishen.
∞
Hyora, a mere old woman was found crawling on the muddy ground as best as she could to avoid getting killed after running from her debt. She’s from the social class of cheonmin; the lowest social status in the Joseon system.
She lived her life as a con artist insisting, she was a great shaman in town.
A 70-year-old woman desperately crawling on the pile of mud near the small waterfalls in the mountain—hiding from the guards of a noble she has a debt with. She looks pitiful in her current state and it made beomgyu snicker watching her.
“Hey, were you trying to eat the mud? It might be bland though” Beomgyu uttered obviously insulting the old lady.
Hearing the voice, hyora looked up to him—she saw a young man wearing an expensive hanbok while playing with a rock-sized diamond in his hand--even though with beomgyu’s insult hyora chose to crawl where beomgyu sits begging for mercy.
“Lord! Help me! I’ll serve your clan without asking anything! Just help me this once” Hyora addressed beomgyu as noble thinking he belonged to a yangban class in town.
Swirling a blue moon diamond between his thumb and index finger, beomgyu smirked at the lady.
“I sensed your fear. But what can I say? I don’t accept a mere commoner but a shaman”
Hyora tried to continue her lies by introducing herself as a shaman
“My lord! I’m a shaman at a neighboring village!”
Beomgyu tilted his head; expecting hyora to confess more.
“Really? Why did you run away? Running from debt? Going after someone’s wealth?”
Hyora’s lips went colorless, indicating that beomgyu’s prediction was right.
Beomgyu stood up—ending their talk
“You’re seeking a chance yet you cannot offer your loyalty by simply stating your job. What a shame”
Hyora started to cry—grasping the edge of beomgyu’s hanbok.
“I won’t ask for morsel of wage until I die, my lord. I beg for your generosity just this once. I’ll serve you until my last breath”
The last heir thought for a second about whether to accept hyora as his servant. Beomgyu could kill her in a snap but this might be the right opportunity to use a commoner as his fake relative to gain access inside Choi’s household if lord munsik offer at least 3 bronze coins to buy beomgyu to serve as their servant.
Beomgyu faced the lady again—wearing his wicked smile.
“I’ll give you a task. You have to sell me to Choi’s household in Otgol village as your grandchild. Pretend that you are my grandmother burdened by huge debt. Until then, I shall grant your wish”
She didn’t bother to ask further questions as she was in a desperate situation, hyora did it right away and it was a successful mission due to munsik’s kindness.
Hyora has been kneeling meters away from beomgyu’s throne at his household hours after they visited lord munsik.
Beomgyu smirked at hyora who is still kneeling—face facing the floor showing her respect to the last heir.
“You’ve proven yourself to be useful, shall I grant you a reward now?” Beomgyu hummed while staring at hyora as if testing her patient.
He stood up from his seat walking toward hyora. Beomgyu kneeled in front of hyora—left palm holding a red diamond almost the same size as an average apple. Ready to reveal his true identity.
“Stand up, your reward is here”
Hyora slowly lifted his upper body from kneeling; she was greeted by the presence of a red diamond. She couldn’t believe the situation she is in since she only thought beomgyu is a wealthy yangban
“Master, are you---how did you—are you the last descendant of superior?” She almost couldn’t form a sentence upon seeing the red diamond.
Beomgyu raised his eyebrows; amused at how hyora knows a lot “You knew! I thought humans already forgot about the boy who ran for his life while escaping the worshippers’ cruel intention”
Their talk was interrupted by two voices wandering around the mountain, beomgyu’s gray eyes glistened—alert to possible intruders.
Before midnight gets deeper, beomgyu unintentionally met yeonjun before his official day started working for Choi.
Still clad in the dirty white hanbok that he wore as a commoner, beomgyu walked closer to the two. Yeonjun is with a little boy who seems to be a servant.
The kid spotted beomgyu—he smiled in delight from seeing the last heir.
“Lord Yeonjun, someone is here! Let’s ask him for direction”
Before anything else can happen, beomgyu changed his eye color to hazel brown to appear human.
Beomgyu bowed to them; offering his kind smile
“Were you lost? I’m willing to help you”
Baekdo, the little boy let go of yeonjun’s hand to stand beside beomgyu.
“Hyung, you’re kind. I’m thankful you live here. can you lead us in the market’s direction? From there we could navigate our way home. Master yeonjun lives at Choi’s residence”
Beomgyu glanced at yeonjun, the young man gave him a timid smile—hiding his embarrassment from being lost.
“Lord yeonjun” he called the young man.
Yeonjun watched beomgyu as he offered his charming smile once again “This way, lord”
Taking the lead, beomgyu escorted them until they reach the market. Baekdo thanked beomgyu and warned his lord yeonjun not to get lost again and urge him to go home. The two adults were left alone as they both watched baekdo from afar.
“My lord” Beomgyu uttered which made yeonjun confused. He usually doesn’t chitchat with strangers but this shorter guy helped him earlier.
“Why are you calling me that? You’re even not my servant” Yeonjun doesn’t know why he felt nervous around beomgyu—he has this aura of a menace yet yeonjun mustn’t accuse anyone. He’s trying to neglect observing people based on what his guts telling him. When yeonjun was 12 years old he saw an old man at the tavern drinking rice wine—judging by his unwashed hair, tanned and slim appearance he must be a butcher, a butcher he mustn’t trust. Yeonjun thought how can he be so cruel—judging people based on their appearance and behavior even after meeting them once. However, there was an incident of sexual harassment that made yeonjun believe in his instinct. The slim butcher harassed a female servant at the tavern in broad daylight by forcefully undressing her chima jeogori when he was under the influence of alcohol.
The moment he saw beomgyu—the hair all over his body stood up. Beomgyu creeps him out. He isn’t sure if he wanted to know why.
“I’ll be your servant starting tomorrow morning, my lord”
It’s comical how yeonjun immediately turned his head back looking at beomgyu in disbelief. He wasn’t informed that his grandfather hired a new servant. He knows it has been difficult for them to accept servants due to their falling status as a yangban without caishen but he mustn’t question his grandfather’s choice for helping a commoner.
Yeonjun did not look back as he wanted to calm his heart—nervous about what awaited him.
“Yeah, okay. Thank you for helping us again. Have a safe trip” Yeonjun mumbled before speeding his way out of the market. The last heir yelled at yeonjun a ‘goodbye’ while waving his hand above his head. Beomgyu stopped his façade after he made sure that yeonjun is out of sight
“Choi Yeonjun, member of Choi family who assassinated my clan…interesting. I shall serve you death”
∞
Under the searing heat of summer, there’s a man in his mid-30s crossing the rice field in an attempt to reach the downtown in no time. However, he has been walking for nearly three hours now since he traveled from the other town before going back here. The heat makes him dizzy and he feels like fainting any time soon.
“Endure the heat, sung rok. Endure it” Sung Rok chanted to himself as he desperately drags his feet moving forward to the north. His lord jaemyung is waiting for him to come back since he went to major caishen’s respective shaman-- in hope to receive their reward for being a faithful worshipper.
Due to the remaining strength in his legs, he soon gave up—sung rok fell on the ground where the rice had been harvested. There’s also an unfinished rice straw mat sitting on the ground, without a thought he rests his arm on the top of the pile of rice straw mat—a shining object fell on his lap from the straw mat beside him.
Sung Rok’s eyes widen from what he saw. He found a shattered piece of a diamond!
All of the energy was brought back to his exhausted body.
He looked around the area—he soon noticed that this rice field is owned by Choi Munsik. The land where lord jaemyung longed for.
“Lord jaemyung’s right! The choi’s must hid some treasures here. I’ll let my lord know”
Sung Rok ran fast as he could—harassing a waitress at the tavern he saw to get some free drinks before meeting Yoo Jaemyung.
He carefully slid a shattered diamond he found earlier onto jaemyung’s desk—wearing his smug smile waiting for his lord to praise him.
Jaemyung’s face cannot deny that he was shocked when his servant placed a piece of diamond onto his desk since there’s no superior caishen in sight for five years.
“I found it at the rice field owned by Choi. I assumed that his faithful servants might be hiding the treasure. Shouldn’t we forcefully claim their land at this rate?”
Jaemyung clasped his hands together as he leaned on his table; revealing the scar on his forearm under the hanbok he’s wearing—thinking of a possible smart move to oust munsik from accessing yangban’s privilege and stealing the land under Choi’s possession.
“We’re going to use his grandchild, yeonjun” Jaemyung uttered. The commoner thought for a minute before clarifying what his lord had said.
“Yeonjun-ssi? Your assistant, my lord?” Jaemyung just smirked at him—sporting a menacing aura.
∞
A messenger of oryun clad in black hanbok arrived at Choi’s household to deliver news to lord munsik as the old man had finished his journal for this afternoon. Lord munsik personally greeted the messenger—inviting him inside his house for a tea. The female servant serves the dessert called yakgwa first before settling the tea kettle on the round desk where the messenger and munsik sit in between.
Munsik offered his smile—indicating the messenger to eat. He bowed at lord munsik and sips the tea.
“Lord, this may be unusual to you but I was instructed to deliver this letter. A local official from Hanyang wanted to meet you there, this letter contains further details”
A local official indeed wanted to have a private talk with lord munsik but jaemyung used this chance to take his cruel plan into an action after learning that lord munsik will be out of town for a month. He ordered his soldiers to follow lord munsik as they are impatient with killing the head of Choi’s family. Meanwhile, Yeonjun will soon experience his worst nightmare as a falling yangban.
Yeonjun mindlessly tapped a teacup he has been holding ever since he visited his commoner’s friend tavern after his duty at the oryun office to order baekju and mandu as side dishes—thinking of how judgemental he is for disliking beomgyu when they first met.
Taehyun noticed his friend’s behavior as he walked past his table. After serving maekju to the other customers, taehyun came back to yeonjun’s table to get his attention—cleaver in hand.
Taehyun tapped the cleaver at yeonjun’s table which successfully earned his friend’s attention. Yeonjun retreated his hand away from the table and hide it on his lap.
“Lord, I thought you’re here to drink but you seem to be asleep with opened eyes” Taehyun sat across yeonjun as he wipes his cleaver with a cloth.
Confusion is written on yeonjun’s face; he cannot sit still either. He doesn’t know where to start without hurting the dignity of commoners.
“Taehyun, grandfather hired a new servant. He’s doing his job well but I couldn’t help to distance myself from him. You knew about my instinct, right? They are proven true before I knew it. This is also the case now! I feel threatened about our new servant’s presence because of the way he looks.”
Taehyun thought for a while, he’s the type of person of giving unbiased statements.
“Lord yeonjun, do you remember when an official of oryun Jung was arrested for fraud? You once sided with him because his behavior and appearance passed your instinct while the witness of the opposing team behaves rudely—it turns out that you were siding with the wrong person. Lord, sometimes you need to stop leaning on your instinct.”
∞
Beomgyu’s silver knife pendant clashes through the oak wood cellar inside the prison—footsteps making a soft sound as it hits the rugged rice straw mat shattered on the floor. An old prisoner acknowledges beomgyu’s presence whose situated in the middle jail—alone.
Beomgyu put the lid cap back on his knife; he stopped in front of the old man’s jail. He smiled while looking down at the man who seems confused upon beomgyu’s visit.
“Who are you?” The old man asked
Instead of giving him an answer, beomgyu holds onto the thick barrier made from oak wood as he pouts at him. Pity doesn’t exist in beomgyu’s gaze.
“Ahjussi, you must be lonely. Do you want me to help you? I feel broken seeing an old man spending his last moment in this dirty cellar”
The old man scoffed in disbelief—coughing between his laugh.
“Bastard young man, I thought you were here to give me a morsel of food. That’s the least you could do! Get out! Don’t ever bother me again”
His laugh was long gone, it was replaced by agony as beomgyu gripped his hair—eyes turned gray.
“Ahjussi...don’t be mean. I’m here to end both of our sufferings. I’ll get you anything—you know, the caishen festival is coming. Do you want a reward?”
The prisoner still trying his best to untangle his hair out of beomgyu’s grip—he feels like his scalp de-attaching itself from his head because of beomgyu’s strong grip.
“ARGH! How can I be sure that you would help me? What are you going to do? Kneel in front of caishen’s statue asking for a reward? They only prioritize yangban and royals so stop harassing me! Just bring an ax, young man! Unlock this door”
Beomgyu spotted an ax from the further room—he let go of the old man’s hair striding towards the said ax
“Ahjussi, didn’t your yangban master reward you before? How cruel. Commoners are entitled to receive caishen’s wealth too, don’t you know?”
“Only a former worshipper of superior would reward their servants. Superior caishen made sure to prioritize commoners, unlike the other caishen. Hence! The last heir of the superior couldn’t face their worshippers. That heir became unresponsible! How could he neglect his duty as the last descendant of caishen? He’s the chosen one!”
Beomgyu became quiet—but his grip on the ax didn’t waver.
“How could I?” Beomgyu mumbled
The memory of his past came back to him.
“All I knew was that a group of commoners was ordered by a yangban family to evict my clan. Mom died from drinking poison when she attended a banquet for caishen, all of the humans there unite to kill my mother—Minor caishen gave her that poisonous drink while their worshippers raided our temple for diamonds. Butchers murdered my dad—stripping off his hanbok because of its expensive appearance. I learned how humans treated my dad’s body like it was some kind of animal after seeing him lifeless inside our home. Don’t you regret killing the headmaster of superior?”
Stating the last sentence, beomgyu directed it to the old man inside the cellar. The old man flinched—still wearing the hanbok he stole from beomgyu’s dad.
Beomgyu approached the man’s cellar; breaking the lock in range with an ax while the prisoner trembled in fear—he couldn’t think of anything to escape the superior’s heir.
“Please, let me live! I’m sorry for what I did! I repent now! Please accept my apology!” he rubbed his trembling palm together—an action of begging for mercy.
But it’s too late
Beomgyu chopped off his hands. A demonic grin appeared on beomgyu’s face
“Ahjussi, I’m very considerate. I have my way to let you live a peaceful life. Your wife will receive your reward once midnight comes. Now, Ahjussi. Can you honor my kindness? Chant gosure”
Gosure is a chant for caishen as humans honor their gods for giving them a good fortune as well as asking for caishen’s blessing. It symbolizes good intention but for beomgyu—it’s only a way of human being greedy.
“GOSURE! GOSURE!” Even with a trembling voice, the prisoner granted beomgyu’s wish—chanting gosure directly to him.
“Obedient worshipper! You shall receive my form of gratitude; your soul will be with me forever”
Wind pendant chimes, another soul has been consumed
Beomgyu stuffed the prisoner’s mouth with diamonds—lips almost ripped.
∞
Jung Woong-in; a servant of Choi’s household fetched yeonjun at the tavern where he usually teaches baekdo some Chinese characters as well as spending time with his commoner friend taehyun. Woong-in rushed his way here—desperate to deliver the news. Also, it has been two weeks since lord munsik traveled to Hanyang.
“My lord!”
All of the people at the tavern stared at woong-in—seeing the man’s nervous self they can’t help but to worry—while others just want to catch some fresh gossip.
“What made you act this way?”
Woong-in held onto yeonjun’s arm as he leans his face closer to yeonjun’s ear
“There’s a rumor about the last heir of superior caishen, he might attack you! You need to follow lord munsik in Hanyang, hide there!”
Yeonjun used to investigate the murder being linked to their clan where munsik allegedly ordered his people to assassinate their superior—He refused to believe that his grandfather could kill their god for wealth. He’s also aware that the last descendant of the superior is still alive.
No one believes him when he stated that the scar lord munsik has was because of an attack in Busan. All of the royals and yangban laughed at his petty excuse. Fortunately, Yoo Jaemyung took him under his care; he’s like a father to yeonjun even though his son saero wanted to oust yeonjun from his position as an assistant in oryun and Yoo Jaemyung was the head judge to accuse Choi’s clan of murdering superior.
“I won’t hide. I must meet the last descendant of my superior to tell him the truth about my grandfather”
“My lord, he might not believe you. You don’t have concrete evidence that lord munsik did not order his people to kill superior clan” Woongin insisted.
“There’s a way” Taehyun butted in “I know a shaman. We must do a ritual there to summon the last heir” he added—looking at his friend with an evident determination in his eyes.
∞
Farmers preparing the soil for the next seeds for tomorrow when one of them spotted a glistening object covered by dirt. The old lady picked it up—inspecting further. Her eyes widen upon seeing a red diamond. And there's sung rok spying their every move.
“There’s a red diamond buried here!!” She shouted. Her words gained a fast reaction from her co-workers; trying to catch a glimpse of the diamond in her hand
Sung rok's eyes went wide; like a hawk seeing its prey. He cursed “Hey, slaves. You said you found a red diamond? You seemed perplexed. I thought you are aware of lord munsik’s treasure here. Didn’t your lord reward you with diamonds?” Sung Rok walked closer to the workers; all of them stood in line—heads low. He snatched the diamond to them—smirking at newfound evidence to expel choi’s clan in yangban privilege. The farmers exchanged a look of shock at each other and confessed that lord munsik did not tell them about the hidden treasure.
“Look at this, your lord has been hiding the treasure from you. It’s been five years since you receive a reward, right? Come to think of it—they didn’t bother to tell you about diamonds buried on this farm! Don’t you remorse them? Remember when Lord Yoo Jaemyung and lord saero wanted to buy this land from Choi Munsik? It’s because he wanted to rule this farm righteously! If he only succeeds to buy this land from your lord, you should’ve received rewards for a long time now. Look at me, I’ve been receiving a huge reward from my lord because he’s not a selfish person”
Unfortunately, Song Ruk’s lies led the farmers to neglect choi’s authority as their lord.
The farmers started to plan a strategy to cut their ties with Choi and form an alliance with lord jaemyung—a promise of owning choi’s land to yoo jaemyung is already a path to a dark alliance. Song Ruk informed jaemyung that he successfully convinced those farmers to side with them
Jaemyung can’t help but chuckle; nodding along as he is delighted by the news.
“Give the farmers a small number of gifts as a reward for their promise, we must please them as they are hungry for luxury” Yoo Jaemyung instructed his servant. He raised his right hand to alert the servant that he is not yet finished commanding them.
“Execute munsik before he could pass the border of Daegu, we don’t need him alive”
∞
“Is this your new servant?” Taehyun questioned. Staring at beomgyu—analyzing the new face in sight.
Yeonjun gave him a silent yes, he and beomgyu stroll around the area to buy the herb for the shaman to use. He also considered buying peppermint since his grandfather said that the superior’s wife likes the smell of it.
Meanwhile, as taehyun secretly studied beomgyu’s face, he slowly questioned why yeonjun feels treated and uneasy around his new servant when this young man over here is gorgeous that has an angelic face—almost like a prince of spirit mountain. He didn’t find any fault in his action either. Beomgyu is polite around everyone. The three of them are supposed to shop for yeonjun’s attire at the upcoming caishen festival to honour their gods—yeonjun also has an idea in mind that he should talk to a Chinese merchant from yuan to buy condiments and porcelain vases. Taehyun predicted yeonjun most likely avoid his new servant so he made a move to leave the two alone before they went to the tailor. Taehyun tapped beomgyu’s shoulder—when beomgyu looked at him he made a hand gesture pointing to the opposite path of the corner
“I’ll depart now. Take care of lord yeonjun, you have to gain his trust” Taehyun whispered before making his way out of beomgyu’s sight. Yeonjun is busy picking which colour to use for his new hanbok; the tailor is still inside his shop.
“Taehyun-ah, what do you think about this---” Yeonjun called for taehyun but he was faced with beomgyu—no taehyun in sight.
Beomgyu smiled at yeonjun, inspecting the colour of the fabric
“It’ll look good on you, my lord” Beomgyu complimented yeonjun even though the young man’s face bathed in confusion as he looked around for taehyun’s presence.
“He went home, my lord. Taehyun said that we need to get along”
Yeonjun halted his action—he cleared his throat before addressing the issue.
“There’s nothing to worry about, I’m just cautious with you since you radiate a different feeling”
Beomgyu gave his most innocent face—convincing yeonjun that he is harmless
“I don’t know why you must feel that way, my lord. I’m here to serve you; I won’t do you harm”
Yeonjun never had his chance to voice out his concern anymore because of the sudden chaos nearby.
One man dragged the cart on the road while three other men assisted him; taking care of the baggage in the cart. As the cart pushed closer to where the two are standing, yeonjun saw that it wasn’t a baggage that they are carrying. It’s a dried corpse barely covered in white cloth. Yeonjun couldn’t let out any sound of fear—his eyes focused on the corpse in terror.
A hand covered his eyes—drifting his eyes away from the horrific view. He soon realized that this hand belongs to beomgyu.
“If you want to sleep peacefully, don’t stare at the corpse like that” He uttered. Yeonjun let out a sigh—trying to let go of the creepy scenario he had seen. Why is it almost occasional to find a dead person that appeared to be dried out of blood? Villagers made up their own stories after an occasional report about a dried dead body was found. Some said that it is caishen’s revenge for not prioritizing offers and prayers for the last 3 months while some believe that it is a curse to provoke the remaining caishen to their greatest ability to protect their worshippers. Nevertheless, it made yeonjun’s skin crawl in fear.
As they went back to Choi’s household, yeonjun is greeted by an argument. His servant woongin had a heated conversation with the leader of farmers under Choi’s influence.
“Who are you to decide? Give us your taxes! What kind of bribe did you take to disobey our Lord?” Woongin argues. He must be convincing the farmer for too long now since he loses his calm composure but the farmer still stood on his ground—disobeying the Choi.
“We won’t pay our tax anymore! Lord munsik hid his treasure without any of us knowing! We worked for him for five years despite the accusation of murder! We never asked him for a reward for the past years! He knew that his workers are struggling to live every day due to a lack of supply! How can you be loyal to lord munsik even after realizing that he is keeping the treasure for themselves? Servants under his influence must be granted a reward too! We need those diamonds!”
Beomgyu titled his head to the side—observing the unfolded scene in front of him. He spoke to yeonjun without looking at him directly.
“Your servants are greedy for wealth just like everyone else, my lord”
Yeonjun turned to look at him “I don’t even know what they’re accusing us of. I’ve never seen a diamond in the past years. We don’t keep any piece of diamond here—let alone buried it.
A butcher suddenly attacked yeonjun from his left side—he’s dragged to the ground; tackled by the butcher. Woongin cried for yeonjun’s name, sprinting his way to help yeonjun.
“I don’t care if I get arrested for this! I will beat lord yeonjun for deceiving us!!”
In the middle of the chaos, beomgyu recalled what taehyun says. He doesn’t really care if yeonjun got beaten but he must gain his trust now. Beomgyu joined as they try to separate the butcher from his strong grip—choking yeonjun to death.
“Enough!!” Beomgyu used his immortal strength to drag the butcher off.
“You won’t please the remaining caishen for hurting your lord. They may neglect you for hurting a person”
The farmer counterfeit beomgyu’s statement “we don’t need the blessings of remaining caishen! Superior’s heir is somewhere here—hiding! Servants are entitled to receive diamonds! That’s what we want! A fair share!”
Yeonjun regained his steady breath; he wanted to save his family from this accusation. He stood up and faces the farmer.
“As your lord, I must consider your request”
The farmer’s ears perked in interest. He bravely stood in front of yeonjun “We want to dig the farm for the treasure. Song ruk and sena found a diamond buried there. This is a matter of fair share, my lord”
Beomgyu interferes “Will you dig every piece of diamond and keep it to yourself instead of attending caishen ceremony to pray for the last heir of superior? You’re threatening our lord at this point—stealing their wealth before his eyes”
A new voice joined them
“Calm down, young man. Lord yeonjun will get his share after the servants got theirs. We’ll inform yeonjun about it while he’s in prison”
Yeonjun looked at jaemyung—the one who arrived. “Learned sir, what do you mean? What are you implying?”
Jaemyung nodded at the waiting oryun guards—they both cornered yeonjun to tie his hands.
“Yeonjun, I treated you as my son but I won’t tolerate your greediness for wealth, hiding your wealth from your servants. As a yangban you mustn’t neglect their needs. Spend a night at the prison for a while, my son. I’m the head of righteousness and justice, I shall do my job” Jaemyung faked his empathy; tapping yeonjun's shoulder. He's smiling in triumph deep inside his dark soul.
Jaemyung raised his hand as if saying yeonjun to lead the way out of his own house. Jaemyung likes to wear light fabric which makes the sleeve of his hanbok follow the path of the wind—it reveals his forearm as the wind passes by. Beomgyu saw the scar.
This man and lord munsik have scars on their forearm. Beomgyu sported a confused face—thinking about the possible misunderstanding. What if it is not lord munsik who ordered people to assassinate his parents? Was the Choi framed?
∞
Due to the head judge of oryun, Yoo Jaemyung. It’s been two days that yeonjun has been sleeping inside his cellar as a prisoner--sleeping in the cold. A shaman whose being accused of lying sat next to him from the neighboring cell—it gave them heat staying close to each other-- back to back. The man hasn’t spoken to him ever since yeonjun got here, all he does was analyze yeonjun.
The shaman finally shifted his gaze to him—calling yeonjun my lord to get his attention. Yeonjun faces him waiting for the man to talk. The man appears to be 70 years old as his beard appeared white.
“Are you a grandchild of lord munsik?”
Yeonjun slowly nodded, he doesn’t have a single clue why this shaman asked him an obvious question.
The man tries to reach out for his shoulder to pat him but he could only brush his knuckles at yeonjun’s shoulder since both of his hands are tied together. He—the shaman uttered a blessing for the decease.
“I was with lord munsik when he traveled to Hanyang, but I was the only one returned in our town. My lord, your grandfather was killed at the border of Daegu”
There’s a moment when we processed devastating information we heard and it feels like choking in our breath, throat constructing as we tried to keep our pain to ourselves. We tend to cry after cries as we remembered our favorite and last moments with the deceased person. Regret is always linked to our mourning.
Yeonjun mourned for so long that he lost counts, the man didn’t bother to speak to him as he cries. He also doesn’t have energy when a group of guards forcefully grab his hand to seal the land of ownership by dipping his thumb in red ink as a sign of transferring Choi’s property to Yoo Jaemyung’s possession—officially evicting the Choi clan in yangban privilege. He may lose his ancestor’s house as well.
After a while, the shaman tries to get his attention.
“Do you know why I was arrested? I helped lord munsik to form a ritual trying to locate the last heir of superior”
Yeonjun shrugged—smirking at no one. “Why did you bother to locate the last heir when he clearly doesn’t want to help my clan?”
“It’s because he is blinded by range—he wanted revenge. You should be careful, the last heir thought it was your clan who assassinated his family. You were the last hope of your clan to reconcile with superior. It's all in your hands now, young master”
As the shaman stated his last sentence, it got yeonjun’s full attention; he started to ask the man.
“Is it true? Is there a way to prove my clan innocent? Who ordered to kill superior?”
“It’ll be tough to gain evidence since major and minor caishen favoured the plan of evicting superior. They protect their worshippers too. We can’t oust any of them. Lord jaemyung ordered Choi and his servants to execute superior caishen but jaemyung failed to kill the last heir. I was with them when they invaded my superior’s household. I was only a senior student of a shaman when lord jaemyung asked for direction leading to the superior’s house”
“You spilled too much” Jaemyung’s voice echoed inside the prison. He surely heard the whole confession of the shaman because jaemyung strides to where the shaman is and chopped his head.
“My dear son, yeonjun. I didn’t expect you’ll learn the truth at first light in the morning. Despite that, you’re a mere commoner now. You can’t do anything to oust me” Jaemyung let out a disgusting laugh, mocking yeonjun at his current life situation before exiting the cell.
Today is the day of offering for the caishen, yeonjun’s smile laced in bitterness. Why does he need to suffer because of the caishen? All of the banners he could barely see from his window cell are bright colors welcoming the joyful ceremony for their respective caishen—yeonjun couldn’t feel everyone’s sincerity. Perhaps he’s bitter, perhaps he knows the truth under this pretend ceremony. It’s just for continuous wealth peace offering and nothing more.
The guards left the post to give respect for their caishen, this is the time when taehyun came into the view—carefully sliding inside the jail to look for his friend, yeonjun.
“Lord yeonjun!! You must know this! It’s beomgyu”
“What about him?”
“He’s the last heir of superior caishen”
FLASHBACK: two days ago
Song Ruk shoved a diamond at beomgyu’s face—bribing him for luxury. A tiny bottle of poison is present as well. Song ruk gave beomgyu a smug face. They’re inside a storage room of meat, a rice straw mat covering all of the fresh meat, and a jar of kimchi along with other condiments.
“Take this poison with you. Kill your lord yeonjun, if you succeed, I shall grant you a reward” Song Ruk looked back at the other person inside the room—taehyun being tied, a cloth in his mouth to prevent him from making a noise. “This man here couldn’t do it himself, he even tried to kill me” Song ruk spits as he recalled taehyun’s attempt to stab his eyes with a knife.
Beomgyu yawned—uninteresting song ruk’s plan.
“Why don’t you kill yeonjun by yourself? What will you gain for using me?” Beomgyu pointed out at the diamond before speaking again “and keep that diamond to yourself”
Song ruk appears to be provoked by beomgyu’s behavior. He feels like a lowlife man greedy for a reward
“You! How can you be so arrogant? The two of you are dumb! This is a blessing laying in front of you! A diamond!!!”
Beomgyu slightly picked his nose—just to tease song ruk that he is uninterested in his offer. “I can give taehyun or myself a thousand diamonds. So please, stop wasting your time song ruk-ssi”
Beomgyu turned his back (makes him face where taehyun is) to song ruk mumbling “childish plan” insulting song ruk which made the lad to lost his mind in humiliation—holding the side of his head not knowing whether to laugh or hit beomgyu first.
“Damn, you know what. I’ll just kill both of you”
And there it is…Taehyun witnessed an unbelievable sight before his eyes.
Beomgyu’s eyes turned into dust gray—glistening fierce eyes. Song ruk suddenly choked as if losing his breath; he held his neck trying to survive.
“Song ruk-ssi. Your damn mouth cannot hold back, it’s making me angry”
As a caishen, beomgyu’s cruel. He shoved song ruk at the pile of rice straw mat while the latter still doing his best to breathe—all of a sudden beomgyu shoved five pieces of diamond onto song ruk’s mouth—killing him from suffocation before consuming his soul. Taehyun saw how song ruk’s body became dry like a withered plant.
Beomgyu turned to taehyun, wearing his unfriendly smile. “Say, do you want me to help you?”
Taehyun did his best to look beomgyu in the eyes. He mumbled despite the gag in his mouth—beomgyu released him. Taehyun spoke again “I’ll be the one to help you, I know something about the killer of superior”
The festival for the caishen started but taehyun chose to help beomgyu to find the truth regarding the murder. He led beomgyu to a humble house of the senior shaman that is prisoned with yeonjun—the wife of the shaman greeted them, immediately recognizing beomgyu as the last heir.
“First, allow me to perform a ritual of gratitude, superior caishen”
The lady chanted gosure while throwing a morsel of food on the ground. Lastly, she offered beomgyu a drink—beomgyu rejects it, pouring it on the ground before giving the cup back to the lady with a provoking smile. Due to the shaman’s kind nature, beomgyu’s action did not bother her. Taehyun gave beomgyu an unpleasant gaze as he witnessed the heir’s rudeness. The lady assured taehyun that she is fine even after encountering rude behaviour from the guest.
“You must understand him, he despises humans” she reminded taehyun.
∞
In an average-sized room full of talismans on the wall and windows, the shaman sat across the table where she gathered beomgyu and taehyun before preparing all of the things she’d use for the ritual.
She draped a piece of hanbok sleeve on beomgyu’s palm, she stated that it was from late lord munsik. As a caishen, beomgyu cannot touch a dead person since their duty as a caishen shall give humans a well-spent life—health and wealth. The shaman aimed to let beomgyu see an event five years ago when the assassination occurred—what was lord munsik doing when the murder happened while taehyun has a talisman paper on his forehead to see who ordered to kill beomgyu’s father.
Lord munsik was leading the caishen festival
At the corner of the last step of the staircase,
There was lord jaemyung—drinking
Yoo family never leads a festival for the caishen because they are not tied with the superior caishen’s blessings—jaemyung despises the rule. The three branches of caishen were made to help people—that’s the only thing why they exist. Caishen is bonded with their mortal clan until the end of their lifetime.
Therefore, beomgyu cannot harm any family member of the Choi clan.
It angers beomgyu when he learned that he cannot harm yeonjun since his clan existed because of Choi. The lady told beomgyu to calm down as taehyun is still under the spell of the ritual.
Taehyun finally blinked—he woke up from the spell. He immediately turned to look at beomgyu as he spills the truth “Lord jaemyung ordered his servants along with unfaithful servants of Choi to kill your parents. Major and Minor Caishen are involved. They used lord jaemyung’s desire to kill superior since they cannot harm them as they are also a part of caishen”
Beomgyu turned to ask the shaman “Didn’t lord munsik have a scar on his forearm? I remembered the killer have one”
The shaman gently smiled at beomgyu “You’ve missed an important detail, young superior. You already saw how lord jaemyung hates the authority of Choi in this village and how his clan cannot lead the festival. You also saw his scar, am I right? Doesn’t it give you a hint on who ordered the servants to kill superior?”
Taehyun filled the silence with another piece of information “Lord jaemyung will lead the ritual tomorrow for the festival but you mustn’t kill him”
Beomgyu scoffed as he processes all of these in his head. “What’s the point of knowing the real culprit when I myself cannot harm him?”
∞
Noises of delight cover the market—merchants are busy calling their potential customers as they lured them with cheaper prices for any item they want. All of the items are on sale—dropping the price to 80% as they also practice kindness today because of the ongoing festival for the caishen. Someone raised a coin bag made of silk and shouted I possessed a diamond! I’ll be rich now!! A few merchants came up to him asking if he want to own a business in exchange for diamonds; they are making effort to bribe the man who happened to be a former farmer of Choi’s while there are also kisaengs who walked up to him lending their service—desperate to own a diamond as well.
“PAY YOUR RESPECT! LORD JAEMYUNG IS COMING!” A merchant shouted alarming everyone about the yangban’s presence. They all chanted after you, my lord as respect. Commoners bowed—heads touching the ground as they show how powerful yangban holds to peasants.
“Let us gather and enjoy the night for the caishen” Jaemyung uttered before making his way going to the ritual site.
“GOSURE! GOSURE! GOSURE!
Yangban, merchants, and low-life commoners continuously bow to the vertical wood situated at the top of the shelf inside a large space of the room inside the temple which has been opened—exposed to the public’s eyes ever since the festival started. Two vertical blocks of wood between a twice sized of the two are in the middle—the largest frame with a Chinese character named superior sculpted on the wood. This area held a festive atmosphere as the commoners threw rice crackers everywhere while yangban families offers sweet desserts and a bottle of drinks meters away from the caishen shelf.
Jaemyung stood up—creating everyone’s attention for himself as he stood at the last step of the staircase; a shrine behind him.
“Once again, I ask for everyone to bow to our caishen with their all heart, mind, and body. Let us celebrate the generosity of our caishen!”
It’s like a falling domino when the first row at the back of the temple occupied by commoners started to bow followed by the row in front of them. It’s pleasant to see—jaemyung almost feels like he is the god whom they served as he watched all of the people bow…until he spotted someone walking towards his direction from afar—the young man doesn’t pay respect to caishen—he’s only consumed in his mission.
∞
Yeonjun looked up from blankly staring at the ground when he heard small footsteps coming in his direction. A shadow first came into the view before revealing its identity.
“Baekdo, why are you here?” the kid he used to teach came—holding a key to the cell.
“Lord yeonjun-Hyung, taehyun-nim gave me this key to help you escape”
Without uttering more explanation, baekdo reaches for the lock. He also gave back yeonjun’s wooden name tag in usual vertical wood as a sign of identification.
Taehyun is waiting for them outside the jail, he revealed himself from hiding behind the cart when he spotted the two. Yeonjun ordered baekdo to go home before it gets dark, taehyun grabbed his hand dragging him to the temple.
“Hyung, we need to hurry. Beomgyu ran away earlier from the shaman’s residence. He must be at the temple where lord jaemyung is. Yeonjun-hyung, he’s going to kill him”
∞
We knew that revenge always ends up committing harsh action, hurting people throughout the process—even those innocent ones. Yet, the one who sinned may not feel any remorse because they are blinded by their furious action.
Beomgyu killed all of jaemyung’s servants and jaemyung himself…in front of hundred eyes of witnesses. The crowd went hysterical, running away from the area. The sky darkens—forming a clap of thunder before the cloud cries; raining diamonds.
“We failed hyung, we supposed to seal beomgyu’s eyes with this ritual paper because he is bound to enter the painting of caishen at the shaman’s house—he shall spend his life there lock away from here”
Yeonjun and Taehyun got startled when a dried corpse landed in front of them—they recognized the body belonged to lord jaemyung. They sensed a person walking towards them—beomgyu’s gray eyes glistening after the glow of sunset.
The last heir smiled at both of them. “I succeed evicting a person who turned me like this. Who’s next?” Still wearing his smile, beomgyu’s gaze shifted to both of them.