Chapter 74 – Praying For Rain (22)

“Do not cry and talk to me slowly.”

Zaha handed her a silk towel.

“Yes.”

The shaman, Jung Myung, wiped her eyes.

“I have no parents, siblings, or even an aunt to teach me. But I know what it means to be a shaman. A shaman is someone who sees the invisible God and relays his message.”

“But you cannot see that God nor hear his voice?”

“Yes, it is all my fault. Sometimes he appears and says something, but I just don’t know…”

Her voice was trembling now.

“As a result, I couldn’t even read fortunes correctly, and when people asked me questions, I didn’t know the answer. I couldn’t do anything right. No one says it out loud, but deep down, they think I can’t achieve anything.”

Jung Myung shook her head, bursting into tears. The two of them just let the girl vent her pent-up emotions.

“It is quite an unfortunate thing.”

Seol Young said softly.

“The Tree Spirit God doesn’t read fortunes or answer questions. He is a powerful God who holds great power over rituals and exorcises evil spirits.”

“Even though I have such a great God to serve, this happened because no one taught me.”

“That is right. Still, if you’d had a few more years, you would have found your way on your own. You are too young. The Tree Spirit God is already disappearing from this world, and it couldn’t spend much time with you.”

The girl could have become a great shaman if she had had a couple more years.

She stopped crying and looked up.

“Still, everyone in this village is kind. They never hated me, so I was able to live happily with them… The problem started half a year ago.”

Jung Myung said.

“Six months ago, a powerful shaman named Sabiso arrived in our village. With his unique powers, he won the hearts of the people. And then came the drought, which didn’t stop…”

“Did Sabiso say he would hold a rain ritual?”

“Yes. He told us that he had a wishing bead, and if we made a genuine wish for seven days, the Dragon God would grant it.”

She bit her lip.

“But isn’t it quite strange? A shaman is a being that connects the Gods and the people. All we need to do is connect the link between the two… Then why use a bead? A wishing bead out of everything? Then, isn’t it the bead and not the God that is taking the prayers of the villagers?”

Seol Young nodded his head.

“You are right.”

“It would be great if everyone listened to me as you did. I went around the village and held everyone’s hands, but they all laughed at me. They thought I did that because I was envious of Sabiso.”

Jung Myung let out a sigh.

“In the end, they continued with the ritual, and yesterday was the sixth day. I get anxious with each day, and last night I had this vivid dream.”

“What kind?”

“I do not have a perfect recollection of it… It was a dream in which a terrible disaster came upon us. I don’t know what it was, but everyone will suffer terribly. I couldn’t do anything and woke up in tears.”

Her eyes were red again.

“As soon as I opened my eyes, I had this scary thought. ‘Prevent the disaster that is about to come at any cost, and stop the ritual.’ It was as if someone had ordered that in my head. However, with my strength and power, I couldn’t stop them.”

“So the wishing bead of Sabiso…?”

“Yes. That’s how it happened.”

She said that, and Seol Young looked at her.

“But you cannot steal it.”

“Sorry. I really am sorry.”

She couldn’t raise her head.

“No. I didn’t mean that.”

Zaha lifted the girl up.

“What this man is saying is that a good shaman like you shouldn’t get your hands dirty. You are different from the fake Sabiso, so why bother?”

Jung Myung raised her head.

“Then?”

Instead of answering, Zaha turned to Seol Young.

“I was wondering why we were called here hundreds of years ago, but such a thing happened?”

“Right. If that is the case, then we will have to stop the ritual by following the order of the person who summoned us here.”

And the two turned to the girl.

“Be confident and kick them. You need to prove to everyone who the real shaman of this village is.”

“You are right, but…”

The thought of doing it seemed to scare her.

“It’s fine. We are here.”

They pushed her ahead and led her out. At the same time, the ritual was in full swing.

“Let it rain heavily! Let the water take over this dry land!”

The sound of everyone praying together echoed everywhere. And together with that sound, the seventh flag was raised.

“Ah!”

Jung Myung was restless.

“I will talk to them first.”

“What will you say?”

Seol Young threw his sword at the altar.

Blue Rainbow flew over the villagers’ heads and went straight for Sabiso.

However, the opponent wasn’t a normal person.

“…?”

Sabiso didn’t even blink an eye in the face of death. He just responded with the long, red-tipped blade in his hand.

A metallic sound rang out.

The sword that bounced was embedded in the altar.

“What…?”

The villagers were shocked. They looked around, wondering what had happened, and found the maiden.

“Jung Myung! What is happening? Who are those warriors with swords? Why are you trying to spoil Sabiso’s ritual?”

“T-That…”

Jung Myung was shocked when all the villagers turned to her.

“I will explain. For now, stop the ritual…”

“Insolent child!”

Sabiso shouted.

“How dare you disturb the sacred altar and the ritual?!”

He pulled out a bundle of talismans from his sleeve and threw them. The talismans flew around, and fierce energy shot out like arrows.

“Soldiers! Tie up those insolent people!”

Numerous skeleton soldiers rose from the ground and wielded spears.

“Ghost soldiers?”

Zaha’s sword swept them away. All of them collapsed in the blink of an eye, but they rose again.

“What?”

“Sabiso is the strongest person in this world of consciousness, and no one can match him. In reality, he couldn’t have been this strong.”

“So he has stronger power here? Shit.”

“I will stop the soldiers, so…”

Seol Young turned to Sabiso.

“Okay.”

The ghost soldiers attacked again, and Seol Young swung his sword to knock down five to six of them.

He has dealt with a lot of them in the past, so he was used to how they moved. He couldn’t use his spiritual power, talismans, or summoning spells, but he was able to read their movements beforehand.

In the meantime, Zaha attacked Sabiso.

“Come on!”

Sabiso swung his long blade and counterattacked. The blue blade gleamed, and its red tassel fluttered wildly.

His sword skills were quite good, which meant he must have learned the sword from somewhere, but even so, he couldn’t be Zaha’s opponent.

Sabiso had been performing such a splendid sword dance, but when Zaha fought him seriously, his defeat was revealed after a few clashes.

Shiiing!

Sabiso’s longsword was pushed back, and the back of its blade was touching his forehead. His posture gave way, revealing a loophole in his right leg.

Zaha kicked that leg and knocked him down. Before he could even pick himself up, Zaha’s sword went for his head.

The villagers screamed.

“Mr. Sabiso!”

In an instant, Sabiso’s eyes flashed. His eyes seemed to have an eerie glow.

“You…”

He was angry and dodged the sword as he screamed at Zaha.

“Now that I see it, you are someone who should have disappeared a long time ago!”

The moment he pulled his hand out, something flashed, and black smoke rose.

“Are you trying to run away?”

Zaha stabbed the sword right in the middle of the smoke.

Then he went stiff. For an instant, his eyes were fixed on the black smoke.

Seol Young was puzzled.

‘What is it?’

He opened his eyes wide and looked through the smoke.

A shape loomed, and a voice could be heard from inside.

[Will you kill me again?]

[Are you going to kill us with that sword again?]

It was the voice of many men and women of all ages. They seemed to be weeping, full of resentment.

Seol Young was surprised.

What was that sound?

All he had to do was subdue the guy and cut him down, but now Zaha was giving him the chance to kill him, and Sabiso wasn’t going to miss that.

“You!”

A sharp blade protruded from the black smoke, and a red tassel was attached to it.

“…?”

Zaha moved and avoided it, but it was too late. The dagger that came through the smoke struck him on the shoulder.

“Die!”

Sabiso yelled.

A powerful energy rose from his hand, then an aura like a bright red snake hit Zaha’s body.

And Zaha fell to the ground right away.

Jung Myung screamed,

“Mr. Spirit!”