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Tonight is the eve of a full moon in the middle of summer, with the rainstorm in full swing outside.
Many of the Cheongjabea disciples residing in Baekmaegwan have gathered in the vast hall instead of sleeping.
All of them have faces full of excitement and curiosity, with more than a hundred candles lit in a row along the hallway, as if preparing for some strange ritual. It’s not exactly wrong.
According to Tang Soso's knowledge, this ritual from Ilbong is supposed to allow the performers to see the spirits of the deceased.
They say that if you tell 100 ghost stories and extinguish a candle for each story told, a spirit will appear.
The myth sounds ridiculous, but since the Cheongjabea disciples are still young and full of curiosity, it felt like it was worth a try.
Somehow, Cheongmyeong got involved in the play, too.
‘If you want to see a ghost, just look at me, you idiots. I'm a ghost too!’ Cheongmyeong muttered to himself, watching these little chicks get excited over something so trivial made him feel old. (Oh, never mind, I’m already an old man in the first place.)
Each disciple began telling their stories. Not all of them were scary; most were just mediocre or stories they had heard from others. Then it was Yoonjong's turn.
At first, Yoonjong was reluctant since he had only joined to keep an eye on his younger brothers, but after getting encouragement from Tang Soso and Jo Gul, he slowly spoke up.
“You guys know that Baekcheon sasuk is very eye-catching, and he’s often the first thing you notice when you look around, right?” Most disciples nodded—who would overlook their Daesasuk?
“But why is sasuk mentioned here, huh? Daesahyeong, aren’t we supposed to tell ghost stories?” Cheongmyeong complained, but Yoonjong knocked a fist on his head.
“Listen when people are speaking, you little rascal!”
“Alright, alright , geez~”
Yoonjong took a deep breath before continuing his story.
“The first year I was accepted into Hwasan, I was very young and often scared of thunderstorms. Our sasuk, mostly Baekcheon sasuk, always comforted me.
That day, it was raining heavily, and the thunder was frequent. I couldn’t sleep at all, and despite the rain, the temperature was scorching hot, so I had to open the window. Good thing that the old Baekmaegwan's roof kept the rain from splashing into my room.
I was thinking of going to one of the sasuks' rooms, and then I saw Baekcheon sasuk standing outside the window that on top of my headboard, looking at me.
I thought, ‘Oh, Sasuk is here,’ and somehow I fell asleep easily after that.
The next morning, I went to greet the sasuks and sago as usual, but I couldn’t find Baekcheon sasuk anywhere.” Yoonjong stopped to take a deep breath again, visibly troubled.
“When I asked Sasukjo where he went, Ungeom sasukjo told me that...”
“??” All the disciples’ eyes questioned him.
“...that yesterday, Baekcheon sasuk pushed himself too far in training, collapsed with a high fever, and had been unconscious since the evening until even then”
“W...what...?”
"Yeah, I was very confused back then, but because I was young, I didn’t think too much of it at the time. But now, when I think about it, it was a very strange event. It was very dark outside, raining heavily. Even if sasuk had regained consciousness in the middle of the night, the doctor would never have let him wander out of the medicine hall. And he didn’t say anything. He just stood on the other side of the window, staring at me. He stood there for a long time, his clothes—the white martial uniform—soaked wet. And now, I keep thinking, ‘What did I see that day?’” Yoonjong gulped, visibly shuddering at the memory.
“Maybe...maybe sahyeong confused him with another sasuk...?” Tang Soso shakily tried to reason.
No one answered her, but everyone, including Tang Soso herself, knew that her reasoning was unconvincing.
Baekcheon sasuk’s face wasn’t something you would mistake once you saw it.
The hall fell into silence.
Cheongmyeong himself felt uncomfortable with the atmosphere, a strange chill running down his spine.
As he was about to announce for Yoonjong to blow out the candle and move on to the next story, the sound of thunder struck loudly, and at the same time, the door to Baekmaegwan's hall suddenly slid open.
Too caught up in the atmosphere, all the Cheongjabea disciples present let out blood-curdling screams in chorus.
All eyes turned to the open door and the dark figure revealed.
“What the hell is going on here, you little punks?! Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?!”
A very alive, and very, very angry Baekcheon stood there in his sleeping clothes, his hair down, and his forehead ribbon nowhere to be seen, but it was unmistakably their Daesasuk.
“W...we were telling ghost stories...” Jo Gul stammered, making Baekcheon's face twist in anger.
“Ghost stories? Ghost stories?! In the middle of the night when you’re supposed to be resting?! Tomorrow, you all have to go down to help with the businesses in Hwaeum, and yet you’re here telling ghost stories?! And how come even Cheongmyeong and Yoonjong are joining in?! Aren’t you two supposed to be responsible?!”
The more Baekcheon shouted, the more it looked like he would spit fire with his scolding. All the disciples started sweating nervously.
“But...but once in a while, we want to listen to some scary things too—” Jo Gul, never able to hold his tongue even in a crisis, let his words slip before Yoonjong could stop him.
The words seemed to ignite the smoldering fire into an explosion. Baekcheon’s neat face now looked like that of a Yaksha.
“You want to hear scary tales? Let me tell you the story about how sasuk beat his sajil to death, then!” Baekcheon raised his hand.
All the disciples, even Cheongmyeong, shuddered. With survival instinct kicking in, they ran back to their rooms without looking back.
After a shi passed, Cheongmyeong, Jo Gul, Yoonjong, Tang Soso, and some brave disciples meekly peeked out of their rooms to find the hall covered in total darkness, the door closed, and their Daesasuk nowhere to be seen.
They sighed in relief and returned to their beds, surely feeling this was enough horror for one night.
The next late morning, after they finished morning training, bathed, and changed into clean uniforms, the Cheongjabea disciples prepared to go down the mountain.
At that moment, the front gate opened, and Ungeom walked in, along with Baekcheon, Baeksang, and Yu Isoel.
After a brief greeting, Cheongmyeong squinted at Baekcheon.
“What on earth brings sasuk and sasukjo out so early?”
The four adults made confused faces before Baekcheon spoke up.
“What do you mean early? We’ve just come back after the mission yesterday.”
“What? Mission?” Ungeom laughed lightly and said,
“Yesterday, I led the second-class disciples to help with bandit problems near Seoan. We only just reached Hwaeum this morning.”
And Baeksang chimed in, “Not all of us can run from Hwaeum to Seoan in one day like you, Cheongmyeong. We needed a break, but don’t worry, we’ll train extra today to make up for our absence yesterday.”
His words somehow didn’t reassure his sajil. For some reason, all the Cheongjabea disciples looked pale, as if they had seen a ghost.
“This place is haunted!! This place is haunted!!”
“Yoonjong sahyeong was really telling the truth back then!!”
“Call a Taoist priest!! Someone, anyone, call a Taoist priest!! We need to exorcise this sect!!”
“You idiot! WE ARE Taoist priests!”
“Cheongmyeong! Do something! Please do something!”
“How could I deal with a ghost?! I only know how to use a sword! How am I supposed to deal with ghosts?!”
The Cheongjabea disciples screamed at each other and ran around somewhere—maybe to the ancestral hall—leaving Ungeom and the three Baekjabea disciples baffled at their strange behavior.
“What’s wrong with these kids?” Baeksang muttered. Baekcheon could only shake his head in confusion.
“Isn’t this normal for them?” Ungeom said with a resigned smile, to which Yu Isoel nodded along.
These Cheongjabea are all crazy.
END.