"Get up. Get ready. Time to go be a sacrifice."
A man in a white tracksuit strolled forward with a cigarette between his fingers, two men in blue tracksuits trailing behind him.
Jewoo stepped forward. "Who are you people?"
Taebong followed. "The shaman's underlings?!"
Before anyone could move, one of the men in blue was already there. He grabbed Jewoo's head and yanked it down, driving his knee straight up into the boy's jaw.
Taebong and Hyungjae charged together. The two men in blue put them both down without breaking a sweat. One of them glanced back at the man in white. "Kill them?"
The man in white took a slow drag. "Kill them."
Mary Kim surged forward, grabbed the man in white with both hands, and threw her weight into the technique.
It connected.
He flipped through the air and landed on his feet, steady as if he'd stepped off a curb. He brushed his shoulder. "Well now... you're strong."
The two men in blue turned toward the downed Jewoo and the others.
Two skewers shot in from a distance and punched through their palms.
Both men hissed through their teeth. "Who—"
A tall figure stepped into view. "Who else would it be? This is my mountain."
Yuk Seongji looked around the yard. "Who gave you permission to cause trouble on my ground? The kids you're about to kill are my students."
One of the men in blue scoffed. "So what if we kill them? What are you going to do about it?"
Both of them rushed him at the same time.
The moment they entered his range, Seongji's hands found their ribs. He gripped, unhurried and precise.
Two dull sounds.
Both men crumpled to the dirt and stayed there.
The man in white watched it all, cigarette held loosely between his fingers. "Didn't expect you to get involved. Cheonliang's monster — are you looking to start another war?"
"A war?" Seongji's voice was level. "You're the ones who walked onto my ground, Yamazaki Shigeaki. Don't make this bigger than it needs to be. Take your men and go down the mountain. You still remember, don't you? Why people call us the monsters of Cheonliang."
Shigeaki bent down and picked up a skewer from the ground. "Monsters? All I see is you. Where's the Ogre?"
Seongji let out a breath. "Trust me. You don't want that one here."
"Is that so?"
Shigeaki flicked the skewer toward Seongji. It moved fast.
Seongji grabbed a nearby apple and held it up. The skewer punched straight through the fruit and stopped.
Shigeaki looked at that for a moment, then shifted his tone. "Every person in this village belongs to the shaman. You know that. And yet you hid Vin Jin from us. The way I see it, you made the first move."
"I didn't hide anyone," Seongji said.
"Don't play dumb."
"What would I be playing dumb about?"
Shigeaki sighed. "Come down the mountain. Become a Yaksha."
Seongji looked at him. "Aren't you the Yaksha?"
"The shaman's son has grown up. He needs a new Yaksha for the future. Come down and take the role, and the shaman will forget your past offenses."
Seongji's expression darkened. "Shigeaki... looks like I didn't hit you hard enough last time."
Both men shifted into their stances.
Then a voice cut through from the side.
"Let's go."
Vin Jin was already on his feet, looking directly at Shigeaki. "Let's go, Japanese mister. If we get late, don't look at me."
He was already heading down the mountain.
Shigeaki looked at Seongji one last time. "How much longer are you going to waste yourself up here? Come down, and I'll take it as your agreement to serve as Taejin Cheon's Yaksha."
He turned to the boy beside him. "We're done here. Let's move, Young Master Taejin."
Taejin looked at Seongji, then at Vin Jin's retreating back. Something shifted in his expression — something that wasn't quite a smile — before he turned and followed.
---
Cheonliang Mountain Cave.
"I'm a little worried," Mary said, looking out at the darkening sky.
Jewoo looked up. "Worried about what's for dinner?"
Mary cut him a look. "Say that again."
The grin faded from Jewoo's face. "...I'm worried about Vin Jin too. The way he walked out of here, it looked like he was trying not to drag us into it."
Nearby, Seongji crouched by the stove and turned the food without looking back. "Don't worry about him. That kid is tough."
Jewoo didn't answer. After a while he looked over at Taebong. "I still feel bad for him."
"Why?"
"He came from Seoul," Jewoo said. "His mom brought him here to get treated for something. He was born with a rare condition — double irises. But they got caught up in the shaman's scam, and his mom ended up killing herself. Left Vin Jin here alone."
Taebong went quiet. "Then he's the perfect sacrifice."
"Yeah. No mother, no one to protect him. So he became the offering."
Wooseok frowned. "What do you mean, offering?"
Hyungjae answered before Jewoo could. "You didn't know? Vin Jin gets dragged to the ritual sites by the shaman. Has been for a while."
The ladle in Seongji's hand went still for a moment.
Nobody noticed.
---
A while later, Baki came down the mountain carrying an armful of wood. He looked around the yard and found Mary and Wooseok wrapping bandages around Jewoo and the others. Seongji was nowhere.
"Hey." He looked over their injuries. "Did I miss something?"
Jewoo lifted his head. "No, hyung. You didn't miss anything."
Baki looked at him for a moment. "Is that right. So someone else beat up those two guys in blue tracksuit." He walked inside carrying his wood and said nothing more.
---
The ritual site.
A crowd of villagers surrounded a naked boy, kicking and hitting him from every side. Vin Jin lay on the ground. One man hefted a large stone over his head.
A small rock flew in and shattered it.
The crowd stirred, voices dropping to murmurs.
"Isn't that Seongji Yuk? Why did he come down? He never leaves the mountain."
The shaman, Shinmyung, raised his eyes. "I knew you'd come. Taejin needs a guard. No matter how many times I think about it, you're the right person."
Taejin watched Seongji approach, something lighting up in his expression.
Then he saw something he hadn't expected.
The two guards blocking the path — Seongji got both hands on their heads and drove them straight into the ground. Two sounds, dust rising, neither man moving again.
Seongji walked through and crouched down in front of Vin Jin. He looked at him for a moment. "I didn't come to be anyone's Yaksha. There's only one reason I came down this mountain, and it's because my student Vin Jin is here."
He met Vin Jin's eyes. "You walked in here on your own. So I'll only take you if you ask me to."
Vin Jin shot up and grabbed Seongji's collar. "Take me where?! Did I ask you to come save me?! Stop sticking your nose in and go back! I'll die here, that's fine!"
Seongji looked at him. One beat of silence. Then he let go, turned around, and started walking back. "...Alright. Then I'm going."
He actually walked.
Vin Jin stared at his back. His fists tightened.
He couldn't name what was moving around inside him, but his eyes were burning, and things he hadn't thought about in a long time were rising to the surface all at once.
The tears came without him deciding to let them.
He ground his teeth. His voice came out wrecked. "Save me."
Then he screamed it. "Save me, Teacher! But... why would you come for a monster like me...!"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, a guard came rushing in from the side, weapon raised, driving it toward Seongji's back.
Seongji caught the wrist, locked the collarbone, and put him in the ground in one motion.
Then he turned back. He smiled — not the easy kind, something slightly pained. "Because I was the same."
The smile settled into something steadier. "And you're not a monster. That's a cool eye you've got, isn't it."
He turned to face the row of guards gathering behind him. He didn't look at them directly. "Listen. I'm taking Vin Jin with me. I'm not asking for your permission."
He began wrapping thin white cloth around his fingers, one loop at a time. "I'm tearing up the peace agreement right now. Come at me or stay where you are — your choice. I'm giving you that much."
He settled into his stance and said quietly, "But if you come, every one of you is going to spend tonight vomiting."