1440 - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10
The warmth of sun-dried cloth clung to him—that gentle, linen-like scent he’d carried with him always. Yes, even in years past, he’d been wrapped in this kind of warmth.
The man who had buried his cheek against Yeon-su’s outer robe startled at the sound of his footsteps returning, lifting his head quickly. The moment his eyes rose, he saw Yeon-su striding toward the Main Hall to step outside. When their gazes met through the threshold, Yeon-su smiled softly.
From the Main Hall, Yeon-su passed into the Inner Courtyard—a view that was visible even from the man’s room, since the courtyard stretched in an unbroken line from the Main Hall through to his veranda.
The modest but substantial courtyard had been bare of its Jar Stand until now. Yeon-su began moving fermentation jars one by one to fill the empty space.
Even empty, the jars were impossibly heavy, yet Yeon-su lifted and carried them as though untiring, growing visibly more pleased with each one he set in place. His satisfaction only deepened as the stand filled.
The Jar Stand was never merely a place to store fermented goods. It was one of the Kitchen Spirit’s domains—that guardian deity who judges fortune and misfortune—and a sacred space where the vital energy of home and ancestors dwelled. It also served as a spiritual boundary, a threshold to keep all manner of corruption from entering the household.
The malice was evident from the moment those jars had been forcibly removed.
To neglect the Kitchen Spirit and the Ground Spirit—the guardian of the very land—was to say that spirit disturbance could not be avoided, that one didn’t care if it came. In an ordinary household, perhaps it wouldn’t matter. But in a family that lived by borrowing divine power, such a thing should never occur.
In every corner of this Annex Building, one could feel the determination: no longer to treat that man as a sacred being, to drag him down as a subordinate and possession of the Baek Family heads.
Yeon-su was clearing away these remnants one by one, filling the space with clean energy. He was trying, by any means, to purify this Annex—this dim, oppressive place laden with wrongness.
Perhaps, if he continued this way, that man might one day escape this place. At the very least, Yeon-su might eventually find a clue that would give him the means to set the man free. With such thoughts, he carried the jars diligently on.
Moving the weighty vessels with careful silence, one jar after another, he soon filled the entire courtyard wall as if they had always stood there, a complete line of fermentation jars.
Yeon-su gazed at his work with satisfaction, wiping away the sweat. Here it was mid-November and he wore short sleeves, yet this exertion had drawn his perspiration freely.
Then, sensing a gaze upon him, he turned. Through the wide-open doorway, the man watching him caught his eye. Yeon-su’s satisfied smile shifted into something bashful and tender.
He was about to ask if the man had found it boring when heavy footsteps sounded in the Annex entrance.
“Ahem.”
It was In-eum. He seemed startled, as though he hadn’t expected Yeon-su to be in the Annex.
Yeon-su’s eyes narrowed with amusement as he smiled. There was only one reason his father would come to the Annex so early in the morning.
He swallowed the revulsion rising in his throat, masking it with a practiced smile. Then he offered his father a respectful greeting, maintaining appearances.
“Good morning, Father. Is something the matter?”
After brushing dirt from his hands at the Jar Stand and climbing into the Main Hall, Yeon-su watched as In-eum stood awkwardly between the veranda and the man’s room, studying him.
Yeon-su bowed again before his father, who had grown slightly smaller than himself over the years yet still cut an imposing figure.
“What brings you to the Annex so early?”
“What are you doing here? The Jar Stand?”
In-eum frowned as he looked past Yeon-su’s shoulder at the jars filling the stand. Yeon-su’s expression remained innocent and gentle as he smiled and offered an explanation.
“Yes. Since I’ve now established my Shrine here, I should tend to the cleaning and care myself. The Jar Stand space happened to be empty, so I’ve filled it with old, quality pieces.”
He tilted his head as if asking what objection there could possibly be. In-eum’s frown deepened as he asked again.
“You’ve established a Shrine in the Annex?”
10
“Yes. I received Mother’s permission on my first day home. I thought surely she would have mentioned it to you. Didn’t she?”
In-eum, recalling his wife Mi-ju—outwardly demure but inwardly possessing a sharp, cutting edge—let out an awkward cough.
The reason she had permitted Yeon-su to stay in the Annex was obvious: it would make it inconvenient for him and his other son to go about taking Evil Reception.
And Yeon-su understood her intentions perfectly. He’d anticipated that he might eventually cross paths with In-eum or Yeon-hyeong, but he hadn’t expected it quite so soon.
He must have something on him—some kind of curse, at the very least.
Suppressing the bitter taste on his tongue, Yeon-su smiled brightly and picked up the cleaning tool he’d set aside. With Yeon-su’s renewed determination to sweep and wash the Main Hall floors, sunlight flooded the entire Annex.
In just a single day, the stale, oppressive atmosphere that had hung over the place began to dissipate entirely, replaced by warmth and freshness.
There was no way In-eum could burst into that man’s room and hold him in such an environment. In-eum bit his tongue inwardly and crossed his arms.
“Do you mean to say you’ll truly clean and maintain this entire place yourself?”
Yeon-su responded with a respectful bow.
“Yes. I was taught that such diligence is the proper conduct of one who serves the spirits. Please don’t worry, Father. During my Spiritual Training, I managed all the household work alone, so I’m not lacking in skill.”
Yeon-su had deftly transformed his father’s displeasure into mere concern about whether his son could manage the housework by himself. In-eum found nothing else to say. He only coughed awkwardly a few more times before stealing a glance into the open doorway at the man.
The man paid no attention to whether In-eum looked at him or not—he sat on his veranda, contentedly watching the warm sunlight illuminate the Jar Stand.
His delicate hand, which seemed almost insubstantial as it stroked a cat, belonged to a small, lean frame that rested comfortably against the doorframe.
The clean lines of that body made saliva catch in his throat. But maintaining dignity before his son, returned home after five years, was now far more pressing.
Ultimately, In-eum had no choice but to step back.
“Haven’t you thought of moving the Shrine to the Main Residence? This place is cramped and it’s an old two-story building—with your build, climbing the stairs would be uncomfortable.”
Yeon-su matched his father’s show of concern with an easy smile and his own response.
“It would look rather conspicuous for a Possessed Shaman’s Shrine to stand openly in a Hereditary Shaman family home. I’m not sure what it might look like to those clients who’ve trusted us with their concerns over the years. For now, I want to do my work well and perhaps even approach my brother’s level of skill before reconsidering. Then I’ll think about it.”
What he meant was that, as an illegitimate child, he would knowingly keep his place. In-eum couldn’t very well add more words when his son was showing such consideration for the family’s standing of his own accord.
In-eum swallowed his disappointment inwardly, though outwardly he could only praise his thoughtful son.
“You’re right. Yeon-su, you think deeply about such things. Then I hope I’ll soon have the chance to see your abilities firsthand.”
“I’ll do my very best.”
Yeon-su bowed respectfully once more and deliberately picked up the cleaning tool again. As the whirring sound of the cleaning tool began, In-eum found nothing more to say.
Yeon-su maintained his smile as he pushed the tool across the floor. When the door closed behind his father’s exit, he finally straightened, then exhaled a long breath.
“Thank goodness I was here when he came.”
If In-eum had found the Annex empty, he surely wouldn’t have simply left. Yeon-su fought the urge to immediately change the lock outside and continued with his cleaning.
What he’d said about maintaining his Shrine as part of his spiritual practice was no lie. He spent a long time cleaning the first floor, wiping away every neglected corner he hadn’t managed yesterday and discarding useless objects.
The first floor contained an unusually large number of occult items. Among them, bindings and seals were by far the most prevalent.
Whether these bindings confined the Annex itself or that man specifically, he couldn’t determine—but they were, in truth, poorly made trinkets of little real power.
Then what on earth is binding him to this place?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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