The Nature of Possession

396 – EP.15 Compatible Tiger Trouble

***

There was an inn at the entrance to the mountain.

Some may ask who decided where the entrance to the mountain was.

However, since naming the nature created by God and dividing its use was a privilege that only humans could have, everyone called that place the entrance.

A wooden gate, added to match the fence woven from cedar, swayed in the wind.

It was the beginning of spring, when flowers were carefully lifting their buds, but the lingering winter winds that had been pushed out from the fields were temporarily settling at the foot of the mountain, along with the guests of the inn.

In the tavern, six men were sitting at tables. Four of them were fighting, and two were drinking a little way away.

Those who were fighting were peddlers who were coming down from Hanyang after buying goods.

“What, are you interested?”

As a man drinking alcohol glanced at the gambling board, the man shuffling the cards spoke up.

Normally, I would have gotten angry and asked what he was looking at, but I chose my words after seeing the behavior of the man across from the man watching.

It was because he was obviously a nobleman.

“Oh, I was just looking around. Haha.”

The man chuckled and picked up the bottle of alcohol, perhaps embarrassed at being caught staring.

“Your Majesty, would you like one more drink?”

That’s right, the nobleman was right. The merchant sighed in relief.

If you had offended a slightly drunk nobleman, something annoying would surely happen.

“Okay, follow me.”

The nobleman seemed uninterested in the gambling table and just looked at the alcohol welling up in his glass.

Clear liquor dripped from the spout of the bottle with a slosh.

The crescent moon was reflected on the clear surface. It was such an exquisite sight that anyone who knew the fine arts would write a poem.

“Wow… The moon reflecting in the glass of wine. Isn’t that truly romantic?”

The servant who poured the wine spoke, but the nobleman only smiled faintly.

“You damn fool, do you think I’m worth two hundred?”

The nobleman spat out curses with his twisted tongue.

“My lord, didn’t the old man tell you to be careful with your words?”

“Even if I’m careful with my words, I’m still just a bad son to my father. I’m just an idiot who fell into a big trap. They said my prenatal dream was of a dragon, but I guess it wasn’t a dragon, but a loach.”

The nobleman took another sip of his drink.

“Young Master Mongryong, you don’t have to worry too much. When has the Master ever scolded you about your studies? Didn’t he just tell you to be human?”

Despite the servant’s words, the nobleman named Mongryong continued to drink. His face was as red as a ripe persimmon.

“Bangjaya… I appreciate the comfort, but I don’t think that will make me feel better. Pour me some more alcohol.”

Mongryong said this to Bangja.

Bangja sighed and picked up the bottle. He shook the bottle lightly from side to side.

“I guess you drank it all.”

“Then I guess I’ll just order one more bottle.”

“This is already the fifth bottle, Your Majesty.”

Bangja tried to dissuade him by putting the bottle of alcohol down next to him, but Mongryong was firm.

As a servant, it would be a shame to speak further. Bangja called the hostess without hiding his complicated expression.

“Ma’am, please give me another bottle of alcohol.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s time to clear the place now….”

A woman with a harsh expression said.

“Clearing the spot?”

As Mongryong spoke with his still slurred pronunciation, the woman looked at him with a troubled expression.

“That’s because night is the time of the mountain lord.”

At the innkeeper’s words, the merchants who had been fighting also began to clean up and enter the room.

“Sangun? You mean a tiger? A tiger comes down here?”

Mongryong asked back.

“Yes. It’s wide open and the village is close, but it’s clearly the entrance to the mountain, so you’d better be careful.”

“Hmm- I want to drink more….”

“Your Majesty, we have to get over the mountain. If you drink too much, you will have a hard time tomorrow.”

Bangja, who received a nod from the hostess, cleaned up the place and took care of Mongryong.

Mongryong was led by the hand of his attendant and got up from his seat.

“I failed the exam and couldn’t drink as much as I wanted. I failed.”

The drunkard’s lament did not stop even on the way to his room.

Once all six men entered the room, the hostess cleaned up the place.

The owner checked the fence, which was erected but not completely, and then closed the gate.

The door shook in the wind.

***

“You’re a pervert.”

Mongryong, lying in the room, called his servant’s name.

“…….”

“Hey, Bangja. Are you sleeping?”

“I don’t catch it.”

“…What should I do now?”

“Can’t you just prepare again?”

“Do you think so?”

“That’s what I think, even though I’m a weak person…”

“Okay. Go to sleep.”

“Yes, yes….”

Bangja was worried about the master’s condition. However, her worries did not last long, as fatigue and intoxication quickly brought about sleep.

Mongryong, who had fallen asleep similarly to Bangja, woke up an hour later to urinate.

He looked around the room with his eyes still half-open, but he couldn’t find the chamber pot.

“eww….”

His mind, still floundering in a sea of ​​intoxication, was different than usual, and he eventually opened the door.

“It’s cold.”

The chilly night breeze made his body shiver. He closed the door to keep his servant warm.

I sat on the bench for a while and looked at the moon, then put on my shoes because I felt the urge to urinate again.

“I guess you can just lie down.”

Mongryong, recalling the foul-smelling toilet, opened the shaking old door and went out.

Anyway, there was no one to see me. It would be no problem to lie down in the grass.

As I pulled down my pants and aimed my penis at the grass, the alcohol I had just consumed began to drip down my body.

The falling water made a sound as it hit the grass.

“Ugh… It’s cold.”

After finishing urinating, Mongryong pulled up his pants and checked underneath to see if there was any leak.

When he raised his head after checking his clothes, two bright yellow lights appeared before his eyes.

“…uh?”

Those were his last words.

Something heavy, tearing through the night, rushed in and snatched Mongryong away, disappearing into the mountain.

The mountain at night was the domain of a mountain range.

***

Bangja opened her eyes to the sound of a rooster crowing, signaling a new day.

Bangja, who was squeezing her head, which was still aching from the hangover from the day before, looked to the side.

An empty bed.

Bangja tilted her head and got up from her seat.

Leaving behind his disheveled hair and the unpleasant feeling in his mouth, he wandered from one tavern to another.

“master?”

I called out to Mongryong, thinking he had gone to the bathroom, but it was one of the merchants who came out of the bathroom.

Bangja’s heart sank. An ominous feeling began to rise in him.

“master!”

The man who had kicked the door open called the owner’s name.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty Inho!”

The servant called out his master’s name, but his whereabouts were unknown.