NTH 84

“How can a human! How can a human be in the dwelling of a great spirit!”

“I am human, but I am also a longtime friend of the Nine-tailed Fox Lord who is here. I have come to see you because there is something I must ask the Blue-Robed Boy.”

The Giant-Mouthed Spirit rolled its enormous eyeballs around like water wheels. Even Hwon, who was also a spirit, frowned at the bizarre sight, but Jeha paid it no mind at all.

“The Blue-Robed Boy is inside my mouth. This means that if you want to meet him, you too must enter my mouth. If he does not like you, or if you get on his nerves, you will not be able to leave my mouth until you die. Is that still acceptable to you?”

At the Giant-Mouthed Spirit’s words, Jeha glanced up at Gu Minho beside him. He couldn’t read any expression on his fox-like face, but Jeha was confident that Gu Minho’s fickle friendship would not let him die.

Jeha thought of Jin being dragged away in tears and silently nodded his head.

“It is acceptable. Please let me meet him and talk to him.”

As Jeha finished speaking, something curled up emerged from the Giant-Mouthed Spirit’s lower lip. The Giant-Mouthed Spirit unrolled the thick thing all the way to where Jeha was standing, as if laying down a red carpet, and spoke.

“Step on it and come in.”

The thick, squishy, and wet thing was none other than the Giant-Mouthed Spirit’s tongue. Jeha stepped onto it and began to walk slowly toward the cave-like interior of the Giant-Mouthed Spirit’s mouth. Once Jeha was completely inside, the Giant-Mouthed Spirit rolled its tongue back up and slowly closed its mouth. The ear-splitting scraping sound echoed once again.

As the surroundings gradually darkened, Jeha looked at Gu Minho and Hwon one last time. He thought that the sudden, brilliant blue glow in Gu Minho’s eyes might have been an optical illusion created by the fear of being cut off from the outside world.

Thump.

Finally, the Giant-Mouthed Spirit’s mouth closed without a gap. Jeha closed his eyes for a moment to get used to the darkness, then opened them. Then, surprisingly, the surroundings were clearly visible, as if a lantern had been lit.

Jeha walked slowly through the seemingly endless mouth to find the Blue-Robed Boy. Along the way, there were skeletons scattered here and there that were clearly human.

If the Giant-Mouthed Spirit had eaten humans, the skeletons should have been in its stomach, not its mouth like this, so it seemed that what it said about not being able to leave its mouth until death if one displeased or annoyed the Blue-Robed Boy was true.

He had been walking for a while when an unidentifiable voice echoed from deep inside.

“What is the food that should not be offered to the Giant-Mouthed Spirit?”

Jeha was momentarily taken aback, but he soon collected himself and answered.

“It is bean sprouts.”

“What is the reason?”

“The name of the easily spoiled bean sprout dish originated from the betrayal of Shin Suk-ju, and since the Blue-Robed Boy was said to be a close friend of Mr. Shin Suk-ju, it is unlikely that he would find that food agreeable.”

“It is surprising that you know that.”

It was something he had read in a book collecting various unofficial histories from the Joseon Dynasty while searching for records about the Giant-Mouthed Spirit. He hadn’t known it would be so useful for the Blue-Robed Boy’s test.

The voice asked another question.

“What is the reason why a person does not need to fear death?”

Jeha wasn’t very confident if it was the answer the Blue-Robed Boy wanted, but he answered as calmly as possible.

“Because as long as one is breathing, one will never experience death, and after one has actually experienced death, one can feel nothing. But that is just a saying; when it actually comes, death is probably a fearful thing for anyone.”

“Is even someone like you, who has experienced multiple lives over a long period of time, afraid of death? Even knowing that a new life will follow after death, are you still afraid?”

At the voice’s words, Jeha briefly recalled his past lives.

“I was not very afraid until my last past life, but now, I am very afraid.”

“What is the reason?”

“I have found someone I want to protect, even at the cost of my life. And I am afraid that if I die, I will not be able to protect him. I came here to borrow wisdom that the people of this world do not have, in order to save him.”

“I would like to hear more of that story.”

“I can tell you the story as much as you like. But before that, there is something I would like to ask first. At what speed does time flow inside the Giant-Mouthed Spirit’s mouth? Is it the same as the outside world, or is it faster or slower?”

“That depends on my will. It is as I decide.”

“In that case, could you make it so that the time outside flows as slowly as possible while I am here? There is an urgent matter of life and death for someone in the world I left behind, so my heart is anxious.”

“What can I gain by doing so?”

The Blue-Robed Boy had no obligation to help Jeha, so it was perhaps natural for him to ask such a question. Of course, what the Blue-Robed Boy could gain had to be something he would be greatly pleased with.

What would someone living for eternity inside the Giant-Mouthed Spirit’s mouth want the most?

Having reached a conclusion in a short moment, Jeha spoke loudly to the still-disembodied voice of the Blue-Robed Boy.

“The stories of the strange connections from my past lives that I have experienced over the past several hundred years will be able to relieve your Lordship’s boredom, if only for a moment.”

The greatest enemy of those without death is none other than ‘boredom.’ That was a fact that could be understood just by looking at Gu Minho’s disposition, without having to look far.

After a long while, the voice of the Blue-Robed Boy, who had been silent at Jeha’s words, was heard.

“Are you certain?”

“Of course.”

Jeha’s loud and clear voice, without a hint of hesitation, echoed through the cavernous mouth of the Giant-Mouthed Spirit. And a moment later, a black silhouette of someone appeared in the farthest distance that Jeha could see with his naked eye.

The silhouette soon stood before Jeha. Befitting the name ‘Blue-Robed Boy,’ he had the face of a boy of about fourteen or fifteen and was wearing blue clothes. Jeha bowed his head politely in greeting.

“I am honored to meet the Blue-Robed Boy.”

Jin came out onto a main road and blended in with the crowd.

He wanted to run away as quickly as possible, but he didn’t have the energy since all he had eaten for days was milk. Even when he had been living well-fed at Jeha’s house, he couldn’t run for long before getting out of breath.

Cheon Sagang would return to the Cash Loan office sooner or later today, and as soon as he got there, he would check on Jin. Carrot might have come to his senses quickly and somehow contacted Cheon Sagang. For now, the first priority was to get away from there in a hurry.

Jin found a bus stop and checked the route map to figure out his location. He was now in a remote neighborhood on the outskirts of Seoul. If he transferred buses once, it was possible to get off in front of Jeha’s house.

The pockets of his outerwear were empty, so Cheon Sagang must have taken his cell phone and check card. But thankfully, the few thousand-won bills that Chief Jeong had given him half-jokingly to buy snacks were still in his inner pocket. That money was enough to take the bus.

First, he had to go to Jeha’s house. But he wasn’t sure if going there was the right choice.

The image of Jeha being surrounded and beaten by the gangsters Cheon Sagang had called came to mind. His heart ached uncontrollably, as if salt had been sprinkled on a raw wound.

If he hadn’t met him, if he hadn’t taken him in and saved him, Jeha would not have been caught up in such a violent incident. He would surely have been quietly reading a thesis and studying in the cozy study of his spacious house right now.

Jeha and Cheon Sagang were people who stood at opposite ends of this society, people who would never have crossed paths in their entire lives. With himself as the point of contact on the apex of that long straight line, they were instantly pulled together in a circle and clashed.

In that case, if he just disappeared, wouldn’t they separate again and return to their original places? If he just disappeared to a very far and remote place where neither Cheon Sagang nor Jeha could find him…

“No.”

Jin shook his head. First, it was right to check if Jeha was okay and to let him know that he had escaped safely.

Jeha was kind, but he was by no means a pushover. If the various fatigues caused by being involved with Jin grew larger than his love for Jin and made him want to break up, he was the type of person who would honestly say so in a calm and polite manner.

It was unimaginable that he would be held back by misplaced pity or indecisiveness and reluctantly turn a blind eye to Jin. So for now, talking to Jeha was the right answer.

Of course, what took precedence over all those rational thoughts was his longing for Jeha. He wanted to see Jeha alive and well, in one piece, as soon as possible. It didn’t matter what Jeha said. Even if he were to announce their breakup on the spot, Jin felt he could accept it.

He looked around to try and make a phone call, but there were no pay phones in sight. If he loitered around here any longer, he might run into Cheon Sagang returning to the office. Jin quickly got on the first bus that arrived.

Would Jeha be home? What if he was in a coma and hadn’t woken up?

Staring at the unfamiliar scenery passing by the bus window with unfocused eyes, Jin just trembled with anxiety.

“…And so, I lost him in all seven of my past lives, and it is only in this life that we have finally become lovers.”

When Jeha finished his long story, the Blue-Robed Boy had a faint smile on his lips. His expression seemed like that of a pure boy, or perhaps a sage who had mastered all the affairs of life.

But Jeha had no room to smile with him. Unable to bear his impatience, he continued speaking.

“I don’t know why Jin and I had to so regretfully pass each other by in every life. And it is also very strange that until I had the dream of my past life, I couldn’t remember anything related to Jin, as if only those memories had been carved out.”

“So what is it that you, my lord, wish to ask me?”

“I want to know how to recall the older past lives that I have not seen in my dreams. Also, a way to completely extinguish the parasitic soul without harming the host. Other than that, I would like to hear any advice you can give me.”

The Blue-Robed Boy raised and lowered his eyebrows slightly, pausing for effect. Jeha soothed his anxious heart, clenched his fists tightly, and waited patiently.

After a long wait, the Blue-Robed Boy finally opened his mouth.

“It is rare to find a case where a first-class soul like yourself, who can be reincarnated with all memories of past lives, is reborn with only specific memories missing. It is an unnatural occurrence.”

“In that case?”

“Someone has intentionally cast a spell to have the memories erased.”

“Does such a spell really exist?”

“It exists, but not just anyone can use it. One must have that much spiritual power. Moreover, because it is an act of going against the natural order to meddle with another’s soul, the life of the caster is also endangered.”

Jeha was at a loss for words and could not answer immediately.

To summarize the Blue-Robed Boy’s words, it meant that someone with tremendous spiritual power had cast a spell on Jeha, risking their own life, so that only the memories related to Jin would be completely forgotten.

Who, and for what purpose?

Jeha told the Blue-Robed Boy the first hypothesis that came to his mind.

“Could it be the parasitic soul? Could it have cast a spell to make me forget everything about Jin in order to interfere with me saving him?”

At those words, the Blue-Robed Boy let out a scoff.

“Do you truly believe that a bug that cannot even exist by its own power and has to parasitize others to nibble on their souls has such an ability?”

“That’s true, but…”

Other than that, no one came to mind who would benefit from erasing Jeha’s memories of Jin. As Jeha’s words trailed off, the Blue-Robed Boy narrowed his eyes and made a cold expression.

“My lord, you are currently captivated by a strong preconception, relying on a flawed premise as if a rotten staff were a steel pillar.”

“I admit my shortcomings. Please enlighten my ignorance.”

“I do not like the behavior of lying down with one’s mouth open, waiting for a persimmon to fall. It seems greedy, lazy, and pathetic.”

“I will do my best to try, so please have mercy and allow me to grasp even a clue.”

At Jeha’s earnest plea, the Blue-Robed Boy’s expression softened somewhat.

“Are memories something that are always good to have?”

“…Pardon?”

“Use your head. Are there not times when it is better to forget something?”