Delicate C1

Chapter 1

1. The Evil Spirit of Sangok (Mountain’s Lament)

Do not go into the Wailing Valley.

It was a warning Dam Yun had heard so often in childhood that his ears had nearly grown calluses from it.

Until the age of twelve, Dam Yun lived in a small village within Yeongnyeong Prefecture, north of Junggyeong, the capital of Cheonrang Kingdom. The village faithfully worshipped the Heavenly Wolf, Cheonrang, and lay beside a moonstone mine, with a valley ravaged by violent winds stretching behind it. The gales were so fierce that everyone simply called it the Wailing Valley.

The village women would often gather the notoriously mischievous Dam Yun and warn him over and over again.

“Don’t set foot in that valley. It will steal your soul. Your eyes will become empty, and you’ll never sleep again. Even if you do fall asleep, you’ll be trapped in nightmares and never wake.”

So don’t go.

The valley is still hungry.

In truth, however, none of those threats had ever been necessary.

The child who slipped over fences instead of using gates, wandered through the mines as though they were his own backyard, and fearlessly climbed the grand altar the Dam Clan had erected for the Heavenly Wolf God had never once ventured anywhere near the Wailing Valley.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he never even glanced in its direction, not even by accident.

Some instinct deep inside him understood.

If even the valley’s wind brushed against him, there would be no turning back.

And now…

More than ten years later, thousands of li away from that freezing valley, Dam Yun suddenly found himself seized by the same chilling intuition while stationed at Sangok Fortress.

“The evil spirit will appear again.”

Was it because Sangok—Mountain’s Lament—carried a meaning so similar to the Wailing Valley?

For several days, the same eerie sense of dread he’d felt as a child whenever he accidentally looked toward the valley had continued to haunt him. Suppressing the unsettling feeling, he continued his report.

“The corrupted spirits strengthened by the evil spirit’s miasma are blocking the southern wall.”

Dam Yun was reporting to his new commanding officer at Sangok Fortress, General Tae.

The evil spirit had first manifested physically in the middle of the wasteland.

The Wasteland—or simply the Wilds.

A desolate land beyond the reach of the Divine Beasts, long occupied by evil spirits. Across the barren plain yawned countless pits where stone and earth had collapsed inward, as though the land itself had rotted away.

As the bottomless cavern came to mind, Dam Yun shivered.

The wind echoing through it sounded hauntingly familiar. Again and again, it overlapped with the icy whispers that had lingered in his ears long ago.

There was no possibility that evil spirits existed in his homeland, which was protected by the Heavenly Wolf’s blessing.

The terrifying presence of the Wailing Valley wasn’t even comparable to the miasma of an ordinary evil spirit.

Then what exactly was the source of this foreboding?

“We may be able to drive them back and reach the cavern. But that is all.”

Dam Yun recalled the evil spirit he had encountered within the darkness.

All beings born from twisted souls intertwined with the world’s corrupted energies—creatures that defied the natural order of death—were collectively known as Saryeong, or evil spirits. Ordinary people commonly referred to them as ghosts. Within the military, however, those of exceptional strength were classified separately as Akryeong, evil spirits.

Yet the one that had appeared this time was exceptionally vicious.

The instant Dam Yun first saw it within the cavern, he couldn’t even breathe.

A freezing chill drained the blood from his body, sending pain racing down his spine. Merely realizing that the thing before him truly existed left his mind blank.

And that was despite the fact that he had always possessed an unusual resistance to sinister, malevolent energies.

Had he not barely managed to steady himself and immediately ordered a retreat like a clap of thunder, every soldier present would have become the monster’s prey.

“Enough.”

General Tae, who had been listening with obvious reluctance, waved a dismissive hand.

His brows were tightly furrowed as he absentmindedly twisted the ornament attached to the iron whip resting at his side—a clear sign that his patience had run out.

“Commander Dam.”

“How many times have you come before me only to tell me something cannot be done?”

“Aren’t you the Heavenly Ghost, the Asura?”

General Tae smacked his lips.

“And you’re a member of the Dam Clan. Your family’s prestige has never been greater. My brother-in-law couldn’t be more pleased.”

Dam Yun’s father was Dam Ik-cheon, Lord of Yeongnyeong Prefecture. General Tae was the full-blooded brother of Lord Dam’s principal wife, Lady Tae. Strictly speaking, that made the man before him his maternal uncle by marriage.

Though his words had begun as praise, their tone quickly turned.

“I won’t waste any more words. Prepare to march.”

“Allow me to repeat myself. The soldiers will not survive an encounter with that evil spirit. It has already devoured hundreds of men. What if it belongs to the Predation Class?”

The Predation Class was one of the classifications used in spirit arts, referring to evil spirits that grew stronger by consuming living beings.

“I cannot lead these men to certain death. At the very least, each soldier should be issued a Moonstone Protection Talisman.”

“The lives of common soldiers are none of your concern!”

General Tae slammed the iron whip against the table. Though he had lowered his voice, he made no effort to conceal his anger.

“If you’re so desperate for moonstones, then go steal Hwanguk’s supply!”

“You’re telling me to provoke a war? Against the master of the dragon?”

Seven days earlier, intelligence concerning the dragon had reached the military camp.

More precisely, it reported that Yeo Hee-rim, the Crown Prince of Hwanguk, who commanded the dragon itself, had personally traveled to the frontier.

The Azure Dragon of Dawn, which had manifested above Hwanguk’s Jaha River, was a Divine Beast whose full majesty had not appeared in the mortal world for nearly a century.

Just as Cheonrang Kingdom revered the Heavenly Wolf, Hwanguk worshipped the Dragon God. Rumors had spread throughout the world that the Dragon of Dawn—its earthly incarnation—personally protected Crown Prince Yeo Hee-rim.

Cheonrang lay to the northwest, while Hwanguk bordered the east, separated only by the vast Wasteland.

Although the evil spirit had appeared closer to Cheonrang, the surge of corrupted spirits would undoubtedly affect Hwanguk as well.

But had the situation truly become so dire that even the dragon had to intervene?

Dam Yun silently shook his head.

Hwanguk had always been a nation plagued by endless troubles. There could very well be another reason the Crown Prince had come to the frontier himself.

“Are you speaking seriously?!”

General Tae roared.

“All I’m saying is to stop arguing and kill the evil spirit! If those soldiers die, then it merely means their fate was ill-starred!”

So mentioning Hwanguk had only been bait.

Even here, deep within the military headquarters where spirit arts prevented conversations from leaking beyond the room, the general did not hesitate in the slightest to weigh the value of human lives.

We’re going in circles again.

Is it because every member of the Tae family is like this?

Dam Yun felt as suffocated as the Foolish Old Man standing before Mount Taihang.

“Didn’t I already tell you? His Highness Prince Mokjin has approved this himself!”

General Tae finally invoked the Crown Prince’s name.

Prince Mokjin, heir to the throne of Cheonrang, currently governed the kingdom in place of the bedridden king.

The moment the prince’s name was mentioned, Dam Yun’s expression hardened.

Seizing the momentum, General Tae struck the table repeatedly with the iron whip.

“They’re nothing more than condemned criminals anyway! Every last one of them deserves to die! They were fated to lose their heads on the execution grounds from the beginning. If they can be used up before then, all the better!”

“Then send only those who truly deserve such a fate!”

Dam Yun refused to yield.

There was something fundamentally wrong with General Tae’s reasoning.

Although Dam Yun had been stationed at Sangok Fortress for barely two months, it was true that an unusually large number of soldiers had been transferred there after receiving death sentences.

But a closer look revealed that each of them had their own story.

There were ordinary men forced into service because of debts their fathers had incurred.

Traveling merchants sold into bondage through forged labor contracts.

Illiterate peasants who had posted prohibited notices simply to earn enough rice to survive.

Even with Dam Yun’s limited knowledge of their circumstances, countless tragic tales had reached his ears.

And now they were to be driven to their deaths alongside actual criminals.

Just as Dam Yun was about to voice another objection, something on the corner of the table caught his eye.

It was the object General Tae had carefully kept wrapped ever since Dam Yun entered the command chamber.

During the argument, the fine silk cloth covering it had slipped away, finally revealing what lay beneath.

“…Isn’t that my Red Crystal Pixiu ornament?”

The Pixiu was a Divine Beast said to bring prosperity and honor while also protecting travelers on long journeys.

It even appeared in Cheonrang’s founding legend as one of Baekmong’s loyal companions, making it a beloved creature whose likeness was often crafted into ornaments.

The flawless beast, carved from a single piece of brilliant crimson crystal, was unmistakably extraordinary.

Until this very morning, it had rested beside Dam Yun’s pillow.

“I intend to give it to Sosa.”

General Tae picked up the silk cloth once more, covering the Pixiu’s glowing crimson eyes.

“Your younger brother gave you your name. Can you not spare a single ornament for him?”

Dam Yun let out a hollow laugh.

“Hmph.”

“Besides, Sosa is the sole pillar of the Dam Clan’s future. This isn’t my personal decision. Do you know what the Pixiu symbolizes?”

He answered himself.

“Outer gentleness. Have some sympathy for Sosa. He has lost even his own name and spends his life confined within the clan.”

Dam Sosa, Dam Yun’s half-brother, was the Dam Clan’s only legitimate direct heir.

And it was in Sosa’s place…

…that Dam Yun had been sent to the frontier as a commander of the Spirit Extermination Corps.

• The distinction between Saryeong and Akryeong is important. All Akryeong are Saryeong, but not all Saryeong are powerful enough to be considered Akryeong.