Exorcism Specialist Company: Ghost Soul Trading - Chapter 88

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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 88

7:00 PM.
Hamseung Mountain Parking Lot.
After parking, Ye-rim immediately opened the trunk and stepped out of the car.
Tae-woo gathered his equipment and moved toward the trunk as well.
“Since your right hand needs to wield the Ghost-Slaying Blade, take this. It’s a left-handed holster. This model can also fit extra magazines.”
“Thank you.”
Ye-rim handed over the pistol holster.
Tae-woo attached the holster to the left side of his belt and inserted the USP pistol Ye-rim had given him.
He also carefully secured the extra magazines in the holster.
As a result, his left side now carried both the Ghost-Slaying Blade and the pistol, while his right side bore the Blood-Crimson Blade.
Though his waist felt heavy, the thought that he now had one more weapon to exorcise spirits brought him reassurance.
He made sure to adjust the holster position so the pistol wouldn’t interfere when he performed his quick-draw technique with the Ghost-Slaying Blade.
“Now you really look like a Guihon Trading Trainee Team member. You look good.”
Ye-rim smiled and gave a thumbs up, then picked up the shotgun and pistol to sling them across her body.
This was because she had switched her weapon from a submachine gun to a shotgun previously.
The significantly larger size seemed burdensome for her petite frame, but it would provide better range and firepower in return.
“Is it okay to carry all these weapons on a mountain trail like this?”
Tae-woo asked cautiously, glancing around.
The parking lot was completely empty and dark as the sun had set, so there was no one to see them.
“They closed off the mountain trail after the accident. No one will be going in. Besides, it’s nighttime.”
Ye-rim answered without concern.
While she armed and checked her weapons, Tae-woo activated his smart glasses and ghost microphone.
“All set?”
Click—
Ye-rim pulled the charging handle of the shotgun as she asked.
“Yes, all done.”
After confirming that all his equipment had booted up, Tae-woo nodded.
“Gas efficiency drops significantly in winter for GBB airsoft guns. Keep the magazines as warm as possible.”
“Understood.”
“Let’s go.”
She took the lead, walking toward the entrance of the mountain trail.

The Mountain Trail entrance was barricaded.
We climbed over the barricade and began ascending the mountain.
In the darkness, the tactical flashlight mounted on Yoon Ye-rim’s shotgun and the flashlight on my smart glasses illuminated the path ahead.
Of course, street lamps had been installed at the base of the trail, casting a soft glow, but just a little higher up, an impenetrable darkness descended—visibility reduced to mere inches.
Yet neither of us hesitated, continuing our steady climb up the mountainside.

Whooooosh— Whiiiiish—

The bitter winter wind swept across the mountain with brutal force.
I swept my surroundings with the Ghost Radar.
Small blue dots flickered all around us.
Wandering Spirits drifting across the mountain had been detected.
“There are quite a few spirits, aren’t there?”
Yoon Ye-rim asked first.
When I nodded, she continued.
“Mountains have Wandering Spirits especially concentrated here. Many people have been buried in these mountains since ancient times. That’s why operations on mountains are always so difficult. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which spirits we’re supposed to eliminate.”
Of course, if a blue dot displayed strongly on the Ghost Radar, it would likely be a spirit that definitely needed to be eliminated.
And just as I could gauge the intensity of spectral energy by the brightness of the blue dots on the Ghost Radar, a strong intuition would allow me to quickly distinguish which spirits needed to be eliminated.
But regardless, if I sensed countless minor spectral presences all around us, it would certainly hinder our operation.
After climbing for about an hour while exchanging various remarks, the temple entrance came into view.
A street lamp had been installed above the entrance prepared beside the mountain trail, so locating it wasn’t particularly difficult.

[Temple stays and temple visits are temporarily prohibited.]

A notice had been posted at the Temple Gate entrance.
It appeared to be one of the measures taken following the death incident.
Of course, since entry to the mountain itself was forbidden, no one would be visiting the temple.
“Let’s go in.”
Yoon Ye-rim passed the notice without hesitation and entered through the Temple Gate.
I followed her through the gate.
That was the moment.

Huuuuuuung—

Warm air and cold wind blended together in a peculiar mixture.
It felt similar to when Ji-seok had wielded the fan at the girl in Unit 902, Building 8 of Jinang Apartment.
Ding—ding ding—
As the wind blew, the gentle chime of wind bells enveloped the temple.
Soon the Main Hall door opened, and an elderly man emerged bathed in the soft glow of yellow bulbs.
Tae-woo found that light strangely sacred.
“You’ve come from Guihon Trading?”
The old man’s voice reached them through the beams of light.
“It’s our first time meeting. I’m Yoon Ye-rim, Manager of Guihon Sangsang Trainee Team 4. This is Kim Tae-woo, our Chief.”
“Welcome.”
The elderly man pressed his palms together in greeting and bowed slightly.
Ji-seok and Tae-woo reciprocated with their own bows.
“It’s cold and you’ve traveled far. Please, come this way.”
The old man guided them toward a separate building beside the Temple Gate.
Click—
As the elderly man who entered first flipped the switch, fluorescent lights illuminated a reception room furnished with a table, refrigerator, and vending machine.
“I’m afraid we haven’t prepared anything special for such honored guests. The situation being what it is, we’ve had difficulty even bringing in supplies.”
The old man retrieved two canned coffees from the refrigerator and placed them on the table.
“Yes, I heard mountain access has been completely restricted.”
Ye-rim replied.
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s truly unfortunate.”
After responding, the old man fell silent for a moment before his eyes widened as if remembering something.
“Oh my. I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m the Head Monk of this temple. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Ah yes, the pleasure is ours.”
The elderly man, having belatedly introduced himself, took a deep breath and continued.
“In any case, let me explain what’s happened. It was about two months ago. When autumn arrives, many people apply for temple stays. We’ve held them every year. That time, we simply accepted applicants normally and proceeded with the temple stay as usual.”
The Head Monk began explaining the situation from that time in a hushed voice.

Two months ago.
During the autumn temple stay program, a total of eight people visited the temple.
Among them were middle-aged couples and families with children.
But there was one Young Woman in her twenties who came alone with a sorrowful expression on her face.
However, since it wasn’t uncommon for people to attend temple stays alone, the Head Monk and the other instructors didn’t find it unusual and proceeded with the program.
The temple stay lasted two nights and three days.
The problem erupted on the second night.
Around two in the morning, that Young Woman left the temple grounds alone.
Why she left, what her reason was—nothing could be determined.
They discovered she had left at five in the morning during a headcount when her room was found empty. They hastily searched the surrounding area, and after checking the temple’s CCTV footage, they confirmed she had left at two in the morning.
So all the monks at the temple launched a search, and the police were immediately notified.
They also contacted the missing person’s family to inform them of the situation.
After an extensive search, ultimately—
that Young Woman was discovered drowned in a pond near Hamseung Temple.

“My tip was decisive at that time. After searching this area thoroughly for a week with no results, I thought she must have either gone down the mountain or fallen into the Mysterious Pond and drowned. So I suggested to the monks that they search the Mysterious Pond, and sure enough… she was found there.”
The Head Monk spoke.
“The Mysterious Pond…?”
I tilted my head and asked back.
“Yes. We call it the Mysterious Pond because strange things happen there frequently.”
Upon hearing this, Ye-rim asked seriously.
“I’ve heard rumors about that pond near Hamseung Temple, but I couldn’t find any information about it online. What kind of pond is it?”
“Hamseung Temple has existed since the late Joseon period, so it’s been around for at least two hundred years. During that time, more than ten people are known to have died in that Mysterious Pond.”
“…”
While ten deaths over two hundred years might not seem like a large number, for a small pond near a temple to have continuously claimed lives like that, it was certainly significant enough to be recorded.
“Were all the bodies recovered?”
Ye-rim asked.
“Yes. We believe we recovered most of them. We even deployed divers to thoroughly search the pond’s bottom. But no additional bodies were found.”
The Head Monk answered.
“Is there any folklore passed down about why so many people die there?”
Ye-rim asked again.
The Head Monk paused thoughtfully, stroking his chin before speaking.
“There is a folk tale about how that Mysterious Pond came to be.”
Upon hearing this, Ye-rim leaned forward slightly with great interest.
The Head Monk, watching her, began to unfold the folk tale like a grandfather telling stories of old.
“So it would have been during the late Joseon period. During a time when civil uprisings were rampant, there was a woman called Lady Jung.”
“I see.”
“She was the eldest daughter-in-law of a yangban family and was said to be extremely filial. The problem was that the family Lady Jung married into was apparently a household of corrupt officials.”
“…”
“When the civil uprising occurred, angry people attacked that house, and The Governor and his family fled to Hamseung Mountain. They wandered the mountain and eventually found Hamseung Temple, where they hid.”
The Head Monk continued his explanation with a grave expression.
“However, angry villagers came to Hamseung Temple, and The Governor and his daughter-in-law barely escaped with their lives. But Lady Jung’s husband—that is, The Governor’s son and The Governor’s legitimate wife—burned to death in the yard of Hamseung Temple, or so the story goes.”
“Good heavens.”
If people had been burned to death in a temple that forbade killing, one could only imagine how immense the villagers’ fury must have been.
“However, The Governor began questioning how those angry people could have found their way to the temple at all. He insisted there must be a traitor among his companions—and he pointed to Lady Jung as the culprit and had her killed, according to the accounts.”
“No. But would a daughter-in-law really do such a thing?”
“We knew that Lady Jung had taken an interest in Western learning.”
The Head Monk spoke.
Ye-rim pressed her lips together and nodded.
“In any case, they buried the daughter-in-law in what is now the location of the Mysterious Pond. Then one day, lightning struck and the earth split open, and a pond formed where Lady Jung was buried—or so the legend tells.”
The Head Monk added further.
“What happened to The Governor?”
Tae-woo interjected with a question.
“He tried to sneak down the mountain but was stoned to death by the villagers, or so the story goes.”
The Head Monk answered.
Ye-rim nodded, her expression thoughtful for a moment.
“Even now, this legend is inscribed at the Mysterious Pond. Though entry is now forbidden.”
The Head Monk added.
“Since when has it been forbidden?”
“For quite some time. Deaths occurred periodically, so they put up a fence entirely.”
At those words, Ye-rim and Tae-woo exchanged glances.
Based on everything they had heard so far, they both sensed the presence of a particularly vicious Wandering Spirit.

Guihon Trading Chapter 88

Author
Chau Renz
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover
Lee Chi

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260318158.0088

ⓒ2026, Chau Renz

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of this work may be reproduced or modified in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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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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