Jiho, who had been quietly peeling scallions, looked out at the rain falling in the yard and spoke.
“It’s raining a lot more than I thought. At this rate, it feels like it’ll keep raining until this evening.”
“Yeah. It seems like the rain has gotten heavier than before.”
Just as Dae-woong said, the rain was pouring down much more fiercely than a short while ago.
Seeing that, Jiho asked with a worried expression.
“If it rains this much, will the stream be okay?”
“The stream?”
“Yes. A few days ago, you remember how I caught freshwater snails with Darong-nim and Baekseol and cooked them, right?”
“Yes.”
“Actually, that day I met someone called Ureongseobang.”
“Ureongseobang?”
“Yes.”
“Hm. Those fellows live deep in the stream, so you rarely run into them… You were lucky to meet one.”
“That day, he briefly came out of the stream, and Baekseol picked up Ureongseobang in her mouth and brought him to me.”
“Huh? Baekseol did?”
“Yes.”
“Hahaha! Ureongseobang must’ve been very startled.”
“Yes. He seemed quite angry too. I did apologize, but it didn’t seem like he fully calmed down.”
“Yeah. I imagine so. But why bring that up all of a sudden?”
“With all this rain, if the stream swells a lot, I was worried they might be in danger.”
“They live in the water anyway, so nothing should happen. There were times when it rained even harder than this, and they were fine.”
“That’s a relief. And… do they not eat food?”
“Hmm. As far as I know, they live off water plants inside the stream.”
“Ah… then do they not eat human food at all?”
“There isn’t a yokai who can’t eat human food, so they probably eat both. But why do you ask?”
“Ah… It just didn’t sit right with me that we’re the only ones eating delicious food. If they eat too, I wondered if it might be nice to bring them some.”
At Jiho’s words, Dae-woong shook his head.
“There’s no need. Those fellows rarely interact with us either, and they especially dislike humans.”
“I did hear from Darong-nim that they dislike humans. But why do they hate humans so much?”
At Jiho’s question, Dae-woong set down the fully peeled scallions and spoke.
“It’d be better to clean this up first before talking about that.”
“Oh, yes. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”
“I’ll take this into the kitchen.”
As Dae-woong carried the basket of peeled scallions inside, Jiho cleared the table.
When he went into the living room shortly after, Myorang, Darong, Baekseol, and Yeonho were sitting on the sofa watching TV.
Seeing their warm and adorable sight, a smile spread across Jiho’s face.
After washing his hands cleanly, Jiho brought out wild raspberries and tea and set them down on the living room table.
“Have these while you watch.”
“We should’ve helped, but sorry we couldn’t, squeak.”
“No, it’s fine. The Chief peeled almost everything, so I didn’t really do much either.”
“You both worked hard, meow. You and Dae-woong should hurry and sit down and rest, meow.”
When Dae-woong and Jiho sat down on the sofa, Myorang turned off the TV and spoke.
“We ate a lot this morning, so I’m not hungry yet, meow. Let’s take our time making the pancakes, meow.”
“Yes, understood.”
“But I overheard you talking about Ureongseobang…… was that right, meow?”
“Ah, yes.”
Jiho told them about the conversation he had shared with Dae-woong.
“What Dae-woong said is right, meow. It’s best to just leave those fellows alone, meow.”
“Since they dislike humans unlike other yokai… did something bad happen to them because of humans?”
At Jiho’s question, the yokai nodded.
“Yes. Do you know the story of Ureong Gaksi?”
“Uh… yes. I don’t know it in detail, but I know the gist. A farmer happened to bring home a snail and kept it in a jar, and later that snail turned into a person who cooked delicious meals and cleaned the house. Is that right?”
“Yes. Then do you know the ending as well?”
“Hmm. I don’t remember it clearly, but I think it ended as a happy ending?”
At Jiho’s words, Dae-woong shook his head.
“That must be an adapted version. As far as I know, several versions of the story are known in the human world.”
“Yes, probably. But the version most people know is the happy ending one, like the one I know. And humans think of Ureong Gaksi as just a folktale. If I hadn’t come here and met Ureongseobang, I probably would’ve kept thinking that way too.”
“That’s right. Most stories related to us yokai are now regarded as simple folktales. The beginning of the Ureong Gaksi story is similar to what you know. Ureong Gaksi, who was a yokai, became curious about the human world and one day set off on a journey without much thought. The place she happened to arrive at was the edge of a rice paddy in a village. Around the time Ureong Gaksi began her journey, there was a severe drought. Unable to enter the water for a long time, Ureong Gaksi collapsed on the paddy ridge, exhausted.”
After speaking up to that point, Dae-woong took a sip of the tea in front of him, as if his throat was dry, and then continued.
“A young farmer happened to find her and, feeling sorry for her, brought her to his home and placed her inside a jar filled with water. After recovering her strength inside the jar, Ureong Gaksi began cooking meals and cleaning the house to repay the farmer. In the farmer’s home lived his sick and elderly mother, whose health was so poor that she could barely move. Because of that, the housework had always been done by the farmer himself, but one day he began to find meals cooked and laundry done, and the house spotless, which he found strange.”
“I think I would’ve thought so too.”
“So the farmer pretended to go out to work but secretly returned home. That’s when he discovered Ureong Gaksi coming out of the jar and doing the housework. At first, the farmer was shocked, but soon he came to love Ureong Gaksi, who was a yokai, and afterward, as you know, the two became husband and wife.”
“Ah… up to here, it’s similar to the story I know.”
“Yes. But their happiness didn’t last long.”
Unlike before, Dae-woong spoke with a darkened expression.
“The farmer’s elderly mother deeply resented the fact that her son had formed a marital bond with a yokai. So whenever her son went out to work, she tormented Ureong Gaksi by making her do this and that. But when Ureong Gaksi carried out every task flawlessly, the old mother eventually thought of another way.”
“Another way?”
“Yes. One day, the old mother said to Ureong Gaksi, ‘If you truly love my son, then heal me, who am sick. If I, his mother, become healthy, how happy would your husband be?’ Not all yokai can save humans. But Ureong Gaksi, who loved her husband dearly, had no choice but to nod at her mother-in-law’s words. She agonized for many days over how to save her. And in the end, she came up with one method—she decided to give her mother-in-law her yokai power, which was as precious as her own life.”
At Dae-woong’s words, Jiho asked in shock.
“Yokai power? You mean the same thing Yeonho gave me last time? W-wait a second! You just said yokai power is as important as life itself—then what happens to Yeonho, who shared his power with me? Is he okay? Before, you made it sound like he just shared some strength… but according to what you’re saying now, yokai power is directly tied to life, isn’t it?!”
“Yes. If a yokai loses all of their yokai power, they cease to exist.”
“Chief!”
As Jiho shouted in distress, Yeonho quickly cut in.
“Jiho! I’m fine. Like Dae-woong said, a yokai only disappears when they use up all of their yokai power! Like you saw last time, I still have three tails left. So I won’t disappear. And as long as I’m in Yoiri, I’m safe. There’s no place with stronger natural energy than this one.”
“Yeonho…”
“What Yeonho says is right. A yokai with power as strong as his won’t have any issues just from giving you some of his yokai power. As I said before, it’ll only take him a bit longer to become a complete nine-tailed fox.”
“Why would you even say that? I’m already much stronger than other nine-tailed foxes even though I’m younger, thanks to Lord Zhuque! I still have three tails even after giving Jiho my power, you know? Normally, I might’ve only barely grown a second one by now!”
“Enough. You’re being noisy, so stop talking.”
“Hmph!”
Jiho patted Yeonho, who turned his head away as if sulking, to comfort him.
At Jiho’s touch, Yeonho’s mood eased, and he went over to Baekseol, the two of them licking each other affectionately.
After watching them for a moment, Dae-woong opened his mouth again.
“Now, back to the story. For a strong yokai like Yeonho, sharing yokai power doesn’t cause major problems. But Ureong Gaksi was different. Giving her yokai power to a human was a matter directly tied to her life. Still, for the sake of her beloved husband, Ureong Gaksi made her decision and gave her yokai power to her mother-in-law while her husband was out working.”
“…So what happened then?”
“Fortunately, she didn’t disappear. But she became extremely weak. Weaker than an ordinary human, Ureong Gaksi could no longer manage the housework as easily as before. After regaining her health, the mother-in-law began to torment Ureong Gaksi in earnest. Though the harsh married life continued, Ureong Gaksi didn’t let it show to her husband. However, at some point, the farmer noticed that his mother was tormenting his wife.”
“Ah…”
“So after that, he tried to step in himself, doing the housework and protecting his wife. But the more the son did so, the more the mother-in-law’s hatred toward Ureong Gaksi grew. The son, who had initially been happy to see his mother healthy again, gradually grew weary of her mistreatment of his wife. And eventually, the farmer decided to take his wife and leave for somewhere far away.”
“Without his mother knowing?”
“Yes. But around that time, a government official was newly appointed to the village. While making rounds of the village, he happened to see Ureong Gaksi. And upon seeing her beauty, he developed wicked intentions.”
“Ah…”
At Dae-woong’s words, Jiho could easily predict what would happen next.
“The official decided to take Ureong Gaksi, the farmer’s wife. So he deliberately created work and sent the village men outside the village. Once the men were gone and only women remained, the official led soldiers and stormed into the house where Ureong Gaksi lived. Claiming he would punish a yokai who was disturbing the human world, he took Ureong Gaksi away.”
“What? How did he know Ureong Gaksi was a yokai?”
At Jiho’s question, Dae-woong let out a sigh.
“The mother-in-law told him.”
“What? The mother-in-law?”
“Yes. At some point, the mother-in-law realized that the way her son looked at her had changed. She also realized that he was going to abandon her and leave with Ureong Gaksi. Thinking that everything about her once-filial son changing was Ureong Gaksi’s fault, the mother-in-law was consumed by rage. Then she noticed that the new official who had come to the village looked at Ureong Gaksi strangely.”
“Haa…”
“As soon as she realized that, the mother-in-law went to the official, thinking she could remove Ureong Gaksi from her son’s side, and told him that Ureong Gaksi was a yokai. She pleaded that her innocent son had been bewitched by a yokai and begged him to help her son come to his senses.”
“Sniff… It’s so sad no matter how many times I hear it, squeak.”
“Sniff… Poor Ureong Gaksi!”
The yokai who had been listening to Dae-woong’s story along with Jiho shed tears in sorrow.
Seeing them, Dae-woong asked with a baffled expression.
“You’ve heard this story plenty of times before—why are you crying?”
“It’s sad every time I hear it, squeak.”
“That’s right, meow. Ureong Gaksi’s mother-in-law is really awful, meow. She’s worse than any evil mother-in-law I’ve seen on TV, meow!”
“That’s right!”
“Hah! Honestly!”
With a hollow laugh at the yokai’s words, Dae-woong continued the story.