NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22
1.
Early in the morning, Yun Chunxi prepared clear water, steamed rice cakes, vegetables, and fruits, offering them respectfully before the gods, and then rubbing her hands together as she prayed.
The Yuns are a hereditary shaman family in Cicada Hiding Town’s Goryeo Village. After the death of her parents, Yun Chunxi took over as the shaman, revered by the villagers as “Manshin.”
【Note: Manshin is a Korean term for a female shaman.】
Her younger sister, Autumn Moon, excels in singing and dancing, and her younger brother, Summer Kui, is skilled in playing shamanic music, complementing their older sister perfectly.
For Confucian rituals unsuitable for women, men over 40 in the village would act as officiants.
When there was nothing pressing, the three siblings learned some basic medical skills from the neighboring village’s old Chinese medicine practitioner and medical students doing free clinics. Although they couldn’t handle serious cases, they were sufficient for minor injuries and illnesses, earning them respect as shaman doctors.
In mid-July, when the institute began its summer break, a familiar elder they often talked about hadn’t shown up yet.
“Big sister, isn’t Minakawa Sensei coming this month?” Summer Kui was puzzled.
【Note: Sensei is a term for a respected elder or someone of high academic or moral standing. In ancient Korea, those who passed the civil service exams were also respectfully called Sensei.】
“Sensei is training at the town central hospital in July and August. He’s not always free to come here. And stop pestering him with questions all the time!” Chunxi gently smacked her brother’s head.
“Sensei is a good person; he won’t mind my thirst for knowledge.”
Autumn Moon chuckled: “You really don’t understand, little brother. Even so, we shouldn’t bother him unnecessarily.”
“Second sister, I’ve already had my coming-of-age ceremony, I’m not a little kid!”
As the siblings were playfully arguing, a middle-aged couple rushed in, carrying a boy about eight or nine years old, gasping for breath without concern for formalities:
“Shaman… Master! Our child is in severe discomfort, can you please help him?”
【Note: In Korean culture, female shamans are called Manshin, male shamans are called Boksu, Hwarang, Langzhong, or Liangzhong. Together, they are collectively referred to as Mudang.】
Seeing the couple’s disheveled state, the Yuns knew the situation was urgent and quickly prepared a mat for the child to lie on.
The boy’s face and neck were flushed, and his eyes bloodshot. His forehead was burning hot, and he had scratch-like bleeding spots on his chest and underarms.
Chunxi was startled at the sight, something she had never seen before: “What happened?”
“A few days ago, he suddenly got a high fever, vomiting and diarrhea, covered in red spots, crying about headaches, back pain, and sore eyes. We wanted to take him to the town hospital, but some strangely dressed people in white at the village entrance turned us away. We had to rely on a kind passerby to bring back some fever and stomach medicine, but it didn’t help.”
“How long has it been?”
“Three or four days since the onset.”
“Did he eat anything unusual?”
“Where would we find anything unusual? You know, our village is forbidden to farm or fish. We’re only able to eat because the deity’s descendant generously gives us some food…” The parents wiped away tears as they spoke.
“This illness is too severe for us…” Chunxi shook her head.
Before she could finish, the parents knelt down, kowtowing deeply to the Yuns.
“Hey, don’t do this!” The siblings quickly helped them up.
Autumn Moon instructed Summer Kui to run to the basement and carefully brought out three jars of aged wine, securely tied to a carrying pole. She carefully instructed her brother:
“Summer Kui, you’re the clever one. Get an introduction letter from the village chief and quickly bring Dr. Pak from town.”
Summer Kui nodded and ran off with the carrying pole.
But he returned shortly after.
“Big sister! Second sister! Bad news, the village chief isn’t home!”
“Where did he go at such a crucial time? Why is he missing?” The sisters rushed to help their brother unload his burden.
“He went to Soshie Town to collect relief food for everyone and won’t be back for a while!” Summer Kui collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
2.
The couple’s sobbing and the child’s labored breathing made the Yuns sigh repeatedly.
With no other options, Chunxi leaned down and asked the child: “Little brother, did you go somewhere strange to play?”
“
Ruined… house…” the boy half-opened his eyes, struggling to respond.
Goryeo Village has a severe aging problem, leaving many abandoned houses. According to shamanic belief, spirits of the deceased with no descendants to perform funerals wander restlessly, sometimes attaching themselves to the living, causing sudden severe illnesses.
Chunxi sighed heavily: “Given the sudden onset, it might be a case of ‘impurity possession’. No choice, we’ll have to try ‘expelling the unwelcome ghost’.”
The siblings asked the parents to take the child home, then began vigorously twisting straw ropes, hanging paper slips on them to create “banned ropes.”
They changed into colorful shamanic attire, gathered exorcism tools, and went to the patient’s house. They surrounded the low thatched cottage with the ropes and spread yellow earth around it, creating a sacred space for the ritual.
After a whole day of preparation, as the sun set, the optimal time to expel the unwelcome ghost arrived.
Chunxi first had the feverish child lie in the room, brandished a shiny kitchen knife above his head three times while murmuring incantations.
Then, she cut three strands of his hair and put them in a ladle, asking him to spit into it three times. The boy struggled, managing only a few drops of saliva.
“That’s enough,” Autumn Moon patted his back, letting him lie down again.
The shamans extinguished the lights inside, closed the door with a loud bang, and scattered salt and beans outside.
Chunxi stood in the yard, throwing the kitchen knife towards the road outside the gate.
After numerous throws, when the knife finally landed with the tip pointing outwards, she sighed in relief:
“It seems the unwelcome ghost has been expelled. Let’s check inside.”
However, while the child’s temperature slightly decreased, he suddenly fell unconscious. The room was filled with a foul smell of vomit and feces, making the siblings cover their noses and mouths.
Autumn Moon, fighting nausea, checked the boy and whispered to her sister: “This looks like erysipelas?”
Chunxi nodded, beginning to give orders: “Summer Kui, notify the villagers, we need to capture the erysipelas ghost. Autumn Moon, take the jars and ‘beg for grains’ from five different families. I’ll clean up here. Go!”
Each sibling went about their tasks, preparing for the erysipelas exorcism ritual late into the night. They bent and bowed, searching every nook and cranny of the room, not wanting to miss any clue.
Suddenly, Chunxi felt dizzy, pointing to a corner and shouting: “Here! It’s the erysipelas ghost!”
She chanted towards the corner, while Autumn Moon and Summer Kui lifted the jar filled with grains, preparing to trap the ghost inside.
Chunxi, struggling against the invisible ghost, began convulsing, rolling her eyes back, and foaming at the mouth.
After the struggle, she collapsed to the ground. Autumn Moon rushed to her side, while Summer Kui tightly closed the jar lid, tying it up and instructing the parents to bury it underground.
Grateful, the parents hurried out with the jar.
“Big sister, wake up! It’s over!” Autumn Moon shook Chunxi, but she remained unconscious.
Summer Kui pinched her philtrum but to no avail. Scratching his head, he muttered: “What’s going on… It’s just an erysipelas ghost, isn’t it?”
“Could it be something worse than an unwelcome or erysipelas ghost?” Autumn Moon inhaled sharply, wiping sweat from her forehead, “Should we gather the whole village for a larger shamanic ritual?”