"Get up. Get ready. It's time to become a sacrifice."
A man in a white tracksuit took a long drag from his cigarette as he approached Vin Jin, followed by two men in blue tracksuits.
Jewoo suddenly shouted, "Who are you?"
Taebong chimed in, "The shaman's underlings?!"
Before anyone could react, one of the men in blue rushed forward, yanked Jewoo's head down, and drove his knee into the boy's jaw.
Taebong and Hyungjae attacked together in response, but the two men in blue tracksuits dispatched them with brutal efficiency. One of them turned to the man in white and asked, "Should we kill them?"
The man in white took another drag. "Kill them."
Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Mary Kim moved forward and attempted an overthrow on the man in white. He seemed oblivious to her approach at first.
But she actually succeeded—throwing him off balance. He flipped mid-air and landed on his feet, steady as if nothing had happened.
"Whoa, you..." The man in white dusted his shoulder. "You're strong."
Meanwhile, the two men in blue moved to finish off Jewoo, Taebong, Wooseok, and Hyungjae. Suddenly, two skewers pierced through their palms.
"Who is it?" they hissed.
A tall man stepped into view. "Who else but the master of the mountain?"
Seongji Yuk's presence alone seemed to change the atmosphere. "What business do you have in my territory? The kids you're trying to kill are my students, you know?"
"What if we kill them? What can you do about it?"
The two men in blue rushed at Seongji. The fight was over before it began. As soon as they entered his range, Seongji grabbed their ribs and broke them with casual precision, then performed a shoulder throw on both simultaneously. They crumpled to the ground.
The man in white watched all this unfold and said calmly, "To think you'd mess with our guys. Do you wish for another war, King of Cheonliang?"
"War? Aren't you the ones invading my territory, Yamazaki Shigeaki?" Seongji's voice was level but carried an edge. "Don't make this any bigger and head down the mountain. You remember, right? Why people call us the monsters of Cheonliang?"
"Monsters...?" Shigeaki picked up a skewer. "I only see you here, King of Cheonliang. Where's The Ogre?"
Seongji sighed. "Trust me, you wouldn't want that fighting maniac here."
"Is that so?"
Shigeaki threw the skewer at surprising speed. Seongji blocked it with an apple, the wood piercing clean through the fruit.
Seeing how easily Seongji deflected the attack, Shigeaki said, "Everyone in this village belongs to the shaman. You know that, yet you hid Vin Jin from us? If you look at it that way, isn't it you who made the first move?"
"I've never hidden anyone," Seongji replied.
"Don't play dumb now."
"Why would I do that?"
Shigeaki let out a sigh. "Come down the mountain. Become a Yaksha."
Seongji looked at him, confused. "Aren't you guys the Yaksha?"
"The shaman's son has grown up. We need a new Yaksha for the future shaman. Come down and become a Yaksha, and the shaman will forgive your past actions."
"Shigeaki... it seems I haven't hit you enough!"
Both men took fighting stances. The tension reached its peak.
"Are we going?"
Vin Jin's voice cut through the standoff as he looked directly at Shigeaki.
Both men were baffled. No one expected the boy to be brave enough to sacrifice himself.
Vin Jin was already heading down the mountain. "Let's go, Japanese mister. I won't take responsibility if the shaman gets mad at us."
Shigeaki looked one final time at Seongji. "How long are you going to waste your time here? Come down to the village, and I'll take it that you've agreed to be Taejin Cheon's Yaksha."
Then he turned to a boy nearby. "We're done here. We should move, Sir Taejin Cheon."
Taejin watched Seongji and Vin Jin's retreating figures for a moment, his face contorting into something devious before he quickly followed Shigeaki.
---
**Cheonliang Mountain Cave...**
"I'm worried," Mary Kim said, looking at the sky.
Jewoo grinned. "What's for dinner?"
Mary's expression darkened. "I'm gonna kill you. I meant I'm worried about Vin Jin."
"Definitely," Jewoo replied, his grin fading. "It looked like he was trying not to inconvenience us."
Seongji Yuk, who was cooking nearby, said, "Don't worry about him. He's a strong kid."
Hearing his words, Jewoo seemed unconvinced. He suddenly looked at Taebong. "I feel bad for him."
"Why?" Taebong asked.
"Don't you know? His mother died. Apparently, he was from Seoul. He had a rare condition, so his mother brought him here for a cure. But unfortunately, they got entangled in the shaman's scam and his mother committed suicide, leaving Vin Jin behind."
Taebong's eyes widened. "Oh. Then he'd be the perfect sacrifice for the shaman's scam."
"Yes. Because of his polycoria—he has double irises. With his mother dead and no one left to protect him, he became the offering."
Wooseok chimed in, "Offering?"
Hyungjae replied before Jewoo could. "You didn't know? Vin Jin—he's been forcefully dragged by the shaman to the ritual sites."
Hearing this, Seongji flinched slightly.
After a while...
Baki returned from the mountain carrying an armful of wood. Looking around, he noticed Seongji was missing. He found Mary Kim and Wooseok tending to Jewoo, Taebong, and Hyungjae.
"Hey, did I miss something?" Baki asked, eyeing the wounds on their bodies.
Jewoo, who was getting his wounds dressed, immediately replied, "No, hyung. You didn't miss anything."
Baki looked at him with suspicion. "Is that so? I guess someone else beat up those two guys in blue." He left with the wood, unconvinced.
---
**Cheonliang Ritual Site...**
A group of villagers were beating a naked boy. It was Vin Jin. One of the enraged villagers grabbed a large stone and raised it over his head, ready to smash Vin Jin's skull.
Suddenly, a small stone shattered the larger one. The man froze, surprised.
The villagers nearby started to mutter:
"Isn't that Seongji Yuk? Why did he come down? Wasn't he supposed to stay on the mountain?"
The shaman, Shinmyung, saw him too. "I knew you would come. Taejin needs bodyguards. No matter how much I think about it, you're perfect for the role."
Taejin, who had been watching Seongji approach, grew excited. Just as he was about to say something, he witnessed a horrifying spectacle.
Seongji Yuk grabbed the skulls of the two guards blocking his path and smashed them into the ground so hard that blood splattered across the dirt.
Seongji walked slowly toward Vin Jin. "I'm not here to become any Yaksha. The only reason I've come down the mountain is for my student, Vin Jin."
He looked directly into Vin Jin's eyes. "You came here willingly. So I'll take you with me only if you say so."
Vin Jin grabbed Seongji Yuk's collar and shouted, "Take me, my ass! Did I ask you to come here and save me?! Stop fucking around and go! I'm just going to die here!"
Hearing him, Seongji backed off and said as he started to leave, "...Alright. Sure. I'll go back."
Vin Jin looked at Seongji Yuk's retreating back, his face filled with anger. But as memories flooded through him, his expression morphed into something sadder. Tears began falling. He whispered, "Save me."
Then he shouted loudly, "Save me, teacher! But... why would you do that for a monster like me...?"
Suddenly a guard attacked Seongji Yuk with a pointed weapon. He caught the guard's wrist and slammed him onto the ground by grabbing his collarbone.
Then he looked back, flashed a pained smile, and said, "Because I was the same."
He flashed a beautiful smile. "And you're not a monster. That's a cool eye, isn't it?"
Rows of guards formed behind Seongji Yuk. Without looking at them, Seongji said, "Listen, Yakuzas. I'm taking Vin Jin with me. I'm not asking you to let us go."
He started wrapping thin white cloth around his fingers. "I'm breaking the peace agreement. Come at me or not—you decide. I'm giving you a chance."
Then he took a fighting stance and said, "But if you still come at me, I'll make you puke all throughout the night."