Volume 1 Chapter 16 – Mask

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Any excellent system, or fine law, is bound to rust and become useless unless it is constantly observed and maintained.

Before his father collapsed, the last work they did together had long since become famous in name only.

“Do you know anything more about Geum-jil or Geum-ju?”

At Yeon So-hyeon’s voice, which had become somewhat chilly, the mask craftsman bowed his head even further.

“Even if people like us try to find out, how much more would we know. It is only that we picked up rumors, so it will only disturb the sir’s ears.”

“I understand.”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded and stood up from his seat.

Then, the mask craftsman stood up hastily and stopped Yeon So-hyeon.

“Are you leaving just like this? So that we can definitely repay you someday, at least the sir’s honorable name…”

The wife also chimed in.

“No matter how ignorant we are, we are not people so shameless as to send our benefactor away like this.”

The children also chimed in, not knowing what it was.

“Great man!”

“Great man!”

Yeon So-hyeon let out a sigh at the confusion of this family that had started once again.

At that moment, a white mask that was stuck haphazardly in the messy corner of the room entered his eyes.

“Then I will take even this.”

As he reached out his hand, the mask was sucked into his hand and caught.

At that mysterious sight, the mask craftsman and his wife’s eyes went round, and the children clapped.

“With this, let us consider all favors and grudges settled.”

The mask craftsman had a slightly awkward expression.

“…Actually, I did not make that mask.”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

“It seemed so.”

That mask was completely different from the other masks lying around in this space.

“That mask is the last work of my deceased father, but that…”

“If it is a family heirloom, I will not take it.”

The mask craftsman waved his hand hastily.

“No, it is not in that sense. I was only curious about the reason why you specially wanted that mask…”

It was a reasonably valid question.

That mask had no eye holes and no nostrils.

The surface was rough because it was not properly finished, and the paint also felt strongly half-done.

It was because, to anyone, it was nothing more than an unfinished product or a work below standard.

“That mask was made by my father, who had gone senile in his later years, until he drew his last breath. He was in a state of not being in his right mind. So we left it neglected in this mess.”

The mask craftsman scratched his head.

“Moreover, since I heard from a mendicant monk not long ago that the mask was an ominous object, I was about to destroy it soon.”

Even at those words, Yeon So-hyeon slowly looked around the mask in his hand and gave a smile.

“What kind of meaning do you think your father gave to this mask?”

The luster of the mask reflecting the candlelight in Yeon So-hyeon’s hand looked all the more ominous.

The mask craftsman shuddered and shook his head.

“It is an object made by a madman. What kind of thought would he have had?”

“Is that really so?”

Yeon So-hyeon’s white teeth were revealed.

“Yes? What do you mean by that…?”

“Was there not some mishap before your father gained madness?”

At that question, the couple’s eyes went wide.

“How do you know that…? No. That is not what is important.”

The mask craftsman spoke with a darkened complexion.

“Actually, I had an older brother. He was an older brother who had far superior talent than me. But one day, he was falsely accused of an absurd charge and was jailed.”

As his voice trembled, his wife grabbed his hand tightly.

“My father, my father was a craftsman who had made a name for himself, and at the time, he also had a connection with the inspector of Luoyang. So my father went to find that inspector.”

Tears poured down from his eyes, which were swollen from being beaten.

“…Clearly, he was an inspector who knew my brother’s circumstances and promised his release.”

The children, who felt sorry for their father crying, approached and hugged him.

He continued his words, hugging the children.

“But what returned was my brother’s cold corpse. I wonder how many times he was beaten with a paddle, his lower body was turned to mush.”

His body trembled.

“I heard that it was that inspector who directly executed the sentence.”

The wife handed him a cup of water.

He emptied the cup of water in one breath.

“…When I found out the circumstances later, it was dumbfounding.”

He roughly wiped the water that had half run down with his sleeve.

“It is said that a high official of the imperial family who came to sightsee in Luoyang and a high official of Luoyang who usually did not get along made a bet.”

Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes narrowed.

“The two made a bet on comparing the value of the valuables they possessed, and it is said that one of the two put forward my father’s masterpiece.”

“…And so?”

A sneer appeared on the mask craftsman’s lips.

“I do not know. But someone would have won. And the one who lost became angry.”

So his brother became the target of someone venting anger and died.

“From then on, my father visited the government office every single day. My father…”

The mask craftsman’s voice gradually drifted away from Yeon So-hyeon’s ears.

Instead, the mask held in his hand whispered, showing him the story.

Or, was the Scripture of Controlling Darkness and Shaking the Heavens reading the story contained in the mask?

In Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes, the sight of the old craftsman protesting at the main gate of the government office was seen.

At first, the government soldiers only felt troubled.

But as one day passed and two days passed, there was no rest in the old craftsman’s steps.

From above, fiery commands were handed down to the government soldiers.

Gradually, the government soldiers protecting the main gate became harsh.

Meanwhile, rumors about the old man shouting every day in front of the government office spread on the streets of Luoyang, and soon reached the ears of the inspector.

‘That wicked old man is trying to block my path!’

The old craftsman, who had lived a life clear before heaven his entire life, shouted to the inspector.

‘Do you not even fear heaven! Heaven knows your sin, and earth knows it!’

The inspector arrested the old craftsman and inflicted severe punishment on him.

It was on the charge of fabricating facts that did not exist and daring to tarnish the honor of an official.

The old craftsman fortunately returned with his life, but he gained madness after that and died not long after from the aftereffects of the punishment.

“…My father died like that.”

The father was crying, the mother was crying, and the children were also crying.

Yeon So-hyeon tilted his head.

“Even so, do you not know the meaning contained in this mask?”

After contemplating for a long time, the mask craftsman bowed his head and asked Yeon So-hyeon.

“It is an object that is as good as my father’s keepsake. Please teach me, who am so foolish that I cannot even understand that.”

A low laugh leaked from Yeon So-hyeon’s lips.

The laughter that leaked out like that gradually grew and rang through the room.

That laughter felt like a sneer, and also like a sob.

The mask craftsman felt that the laughter was similar to the laughter of his father who had gained madness.

The laughter that used to burst out in the room like a fit, like a scream!

Yeon So-hyeon saw.

The inspector had beaten and shattered both of the old craftsman’s hands.

He handed down the most cruel punishment so that he, who had only made masks his entire life, could never make a mask again.

The old craftsman, who was carried back by the village youths, was mad.

His hair was disheveled, and saliva drooled from his mouth.

He babbled unknown words, smeared feces on the workshop walls, stripped off his clothes, and crawled around the village.

Then, from one day, he shut himself in his workshop.

He carved a mask, singing a mournful song.

It was natural that the mask was bound to be clumsy.

Instead of his lost arms, he carved the mask with his toes.

His feet became covered in blood from clumsy knife strokes.

However, he did not stop.

Drinking the rainwater that leaked through the gapped ceiling, it had been a long time since he had cut off grain intake.

What held him to this mortal world as he was dying was anger filled with hatred and pain toward the world.

And simultaneously with the completion of the mask, he died.

In that way, a cursed object was born.

It was not that he could not carve the eye holes.

He chose not to carve them.

Yeon So-hyeon’s laughter, which had been laughing for a long time, subsided.

He opened his eyes and slowly looked around the room.

The room, submerged in pitch-black darkness, was no different from a ruin.

The household goods were all smashed, and fresh blood was splattered on the floor.

The appearance of the mask craftsman’s family, who had been there until just now, was nowhere to be seen.

It was bound to be so.

Yeon So-hyeon opened the dangling door and slowly walked out to the inner yard.

There lay the cold corpse of the wife holding the children tightly.

The blood that flowed due to being treated ruthlessly reflected the faint moonlight on the ground.

Yeon So-hyeon slowly approached and brushed aside the hair of the children covered in white frost.

The mouths of the children were all torn, and their tongues hung down long, resting on their mother’s shoulder.

He laid the corpse of the mask craftsman, which he had carried, next to them.

From the beginning, he had been in a state where his breath was cut off from being beaten too much.

Yeon So-hyeon had reached this place by following his resentful soul.

Around the time he was being assaulted, the wife was suffering a harsh ordeal, and as the children also ran out and resisted, the culprits killed them accidentally.

The father who died with his limbs twisted, the mother who died from being strangled after spilling blood below, the children who died with their mouths torn.

Their family met again in death like that.

Yeon So-hyeon slowly put on the mask.

And he looked up at the sky.

Why on earth did the old craftsman make a mask without even eye holes?

Yeon So-hyeon replied.

“…Indeed, I cannot bear to open my eyes and look at this world.”

Something shiny ran down beneath the mask.

* * *

“Have you heard the name of Geum-ju, who is known as Geum-jil’s daughter?”

At Yeon So-hyeon’s words, Jeong-ah traced back her memory.

“…Come to think of it, I think I read that name in my sister’s letter last time.”

Yeon So-hyeon slowly nodded.

“Your sister is an information merchant?”

“Yes, master.”

Yeon So-hyeon closed the book he was holding.

“It must have been a long time since you saw her.”

Jeong-ah’s eyes took on a lonely light.

“Yes, very…”

Yeon So-hyeon smiled brightly at her.

“Let us go to meet your sister tomorrow.”

Jeong-ah’s eyes went wide.

“Is that true?!”

“Yeah.”

Jeong-ah was at a loss for what to do, her face full of color.

“Even if we cannot stay overnight, we will be able to stay for about half a day, so catch up to your heart’s content.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand toward her as she repeatedly bowed, and pulled out a small jar from his robe.

“What is that?”

Without replying, Yeon So-hyeon opened the lid of the sealed jar.

Then, a truly humble amount of tea leaves revealed their appearance inside.

Jeong-ah looked at it and said.

“…Looking at it, they are tea leaves of nameless low grade. The storage condition is also a mess.”

Yeon So-hyeon shook his head at Jeong-ah’s words.

“No. These tea leaves are very precious.”

“…Is that so?”

The smile on his lips looked somewhat sorrowful.

“It is a precious gift received as the price of a grace that was not even properly bestowed…”

The two brewed and drank tea with tea leaves that would not even make up one person’s share.

For some reason, that tea was exceptionally warm.