The Legend of the Fox Yokai of Jirisan

This is not a legend.
This is the personal memory of a fox yokai,
A veil she would rather not lift.

(Omitted)

In a snowy field, struck by a hunter’s arrow or perhaps a wicked sorcerer’s spell, the blue-furred fox lay wounded all over her body.
Shortly after, the fox fluttered her eyes open and spoke to a man approaching her with a hobbling gait.

[…If you spare my life, I will surely repay your kindness. A hundredfold, no, a thousandfold. I pledge this upon my name.]

“I have heard you are the demonic fox that devours human livers. If I spare an evil yokai like you and it brings harm to the village, would that not be my responsibility? Thus, to kill you here is the path for the greater good.”

[I shall swear to the heavens never again to devour a human liver.]

“My master cautioned that fox yokai are cunning tricksters not to be easily trusted. I cannot believe your words.”

[I too have a mind. You do not seem the cold-blooded sort to mercilessly take the life of one with a mind.]

Watching the fox yokai shamelessly begging for its life,
He, the first Martial Artist and king of Yuldo Nation, gradually began to pity it.
Compassion.
His only weakness.

Pitying the fox yokai, the king used ki to heal its wounds, then continued:
“Very well. However, I cannot leave you be, a threat to my people. I shall take away all your yogi.”

Upon the king’s words, the blue-furred fox yokai replied in great distress:
[Not that, I beg you. I am but a yahoe (wild fox) unable to ascend as a seonhoe (celestial fox). If you take my yogi, I shall lose all chance of ascension.]

“You are fated to become an akhoe (evil fox), not a seonhoe.”
[That is incorrect. According to the Taejasinggi, even a yahoe like myself can ascend.]

“Then that text must be mistaken.”

Exhausted by the king’s continued denials, the fox finally burst out in anger:
[The Taejasinggi is the truth! Does the king of Yuldo Nation not know this?! I am destined to ascend as a seonhoe by devouring a thousand human livers!]

“Even if all you say is true, have you not considered that your means are gravely mistaken? Who will save my people whose lives you have taken?”

[I shall! After ascending, I shall embrace those thousand people! Once I ascend, reviving the paltry lives of mere humans is…]

“Enough.”

Judging the fox’s words no longer worth listening to, the king of Yuldo Nation gathered ki into his hands and continued:
“Arrogant. Even I, the king, do not carelessly claim to embrace others, yet how can a mere yahoe like you embrace a thousand people?”

[I, I can! This one’s vessel is…]
“I shall take your yogi. Just enough for you to barely cling to life, for even a ten-year-old girl could not harm you then. You shall die unable to endure this winter, so spend your remaining days atoning to the humans you killed.”

The conversation ended there.
The king of Yuldo Nation took away all of the fox’s yogi except the bare minimum to sustain her life,
And the blue-furred fox became a feeble existence that could no longer be called a yokai.

However,
While the king purified her yogi, he could not purify her wicked heart.
As the weakened fox prepared to hibernate,
She fortunately encountered a kind-hearted scholar and devoured his liver.
After 500 years of hibernation, she once again
Began plotting to devour a thousand human livers for ascension.

This was not a legend,
But an unforgettable past of one yahoe (wild fox).

[…A foul, ugly, abhorrent memory.]
Momentarily lost in old memories, the blue-furred demonic fox gazed at the brilliantly shining full moon and let out a low wail.

The man who introduced himself as the king of Yuldo Nation had, on that day 500 years ago, robbed her of everything.
The blue-furred demonic fox had never lied to him.
She had truly been on the cusp of ascension.
Though not a nine-tailed fox like Daji, the concubine of the ancient Chinese Shang Dynasty,
Having devoured the livers of the staggering number of 900 people, 500 years ago she had been a formidable existence rivaling even the dokkaebi.

Yet the king of Yuldo Nation was an otherworldly being far surpassing not just her, but all those grotesque monsters, easily exterminating them.

If she had any downfalls, the first was her misfortune of encountering the king of Yuldo Nation.
The second was her arrogance.
She should have boldly devoured human livers.
She should have cunningly devoured human livers.
Thus, having awoken from 500 years of hibernation, though weaker than before, she had become a far more dangerous being, bolder and more cunning.

[In this era without Yuldo Nation’s king to stop me, I shall surely ascend this time.]
“Ugh…”
[Hmm? You were alive. Surprising.]

She looked towards the direction of the groan.
Where the blue-furred demonic fox’s gaze landed was a woman with long black hair, collapsed and bleeding.
Not a man, but a woman.
The Martial Artist, Ha-neul.

The blue-furred demonic fox licked the woman’s blood from her claws and spoke:
[A woman’s blood is indeed tasteless.]

Though she could have easily finished off the fallen woman, the reason she did not was simple:
She had questions to ask.

[Get up, woman.]
“Well I was… ugh… cough cough cough… trying to get up anyway…!”
[Hoh.]

Despite being on the verge of death, Ha-neul’s eyes still burned with fighting spirit, not having lost her will.
After observing Ha-neul’s face with interest, the blue-furred demonic fox asked her:

[Woman. That power you wield is very familiar to me.]
“You… know bakryeok…? Yet you’re still alive…? That’s impossible…”
[Bakryeok? Is that what you call that power?]

The blue-furred demonic fox knew exactly what that power was.
She could never forget it, no matter how much she tried.
For it was the very power used by the king of Yuldo Nation 500 years ago to destroy her yogi.

The blue-furred demonic fox opened her mouth again, full of curiosity:
[Back then, the situation was too urgent for me to discern it, but seeing it up close now. It is the mysterious power of gathering the earth’s ki and channeling ryeok.]

“H, how do you…!”
Ha-neul was dumbstruck by the demonic fox’s answer.
This fox yokai before her had precisely deduced the secrets of bakryeok.
To grasp the principles of bakryeok from mere observation was entirely unconventional.

The blue-furred demonic fox intently observed the bakryeok for a while, then nonchalantly remarked as if losing interest:
[So it is a power left behind by that man of Yuldo Nation who disdained me. However, compared to him…]
[Woman, the power you possess is paltry. So primitive that merely looking upon it feels blasphemous.]
[This assures me. In this era, there exists no formidable being capable of stopping me.]

“…You, what did you just…”
[Once more, show me that repulsive power of yours, woman.]

Ha-neul did not respond to the demonic fox’s words.
Having been insulted to her face, Ha-neul grew enraged.
All-out.
Knowing this was her last chance, Ha-neul began gathering every ounce of her bakryeok.

[Oho, this time is somewhat…]

As she channeled her bakryeok, Ha-neul thought:
If only she had not chased after that white three-tailed fox,
If only she had conserved her ki,
If only she had preserved her stamina, perhaps she could have subdued this demonic fox.

‘…No, it still would have been difficult.’
A Grade 4 yokai?
Preposterous.
The fox yokai before Ha-neul’s eyes was no mere Grade 4 fox.
At the very least, it had grown to Grade 3… No, it may even pose a threat at Grade 2, a calamity for all humanity.

Ha-neul staked everything.
It was impossible for her to survive these wounds anyway.
She would die here.
In the end,
She would breathe her last without learning what a yokai’s mind was.
No.
No, today, Ha-neul realized that yokai could indeed have minds.
Why, she did not know,
But the being that surfaced in Ha-neul’s mind now was not
Her parents, nor
The master who taught her bakryeok, nor
A close friend with whom she could speak openly.
It was the white three-tailed fox,
The ten-year-old girl, whom she had met just minutes ago.
She thought of her.

‘…I would have liked to converse a bit more, but this is enough.’
Indeed,
The monk’s words that yokai could have minds were true.
Her hesitation was gone.
The bakryeok of a Martial Artist without hesitation was of an alarming magnitude.
Perhaps at this level of bakryeok,
Even the blue-furred demonic fox would be unable to fully defend herself.
Evidence of this was how the previously arrogant blue-furred demonic fox was now visibly trembling in distress.

…Wait.
No matter what, this degree of distress seemed excessive.
Sensing something amiss, Ha-neul briefly surveyed her surroundings while maintaining her bakryeok.
It was then
That she finally realized why the blue-furred demonic fox was so distressed.

[You, you, you, what exactly are you…!]
“Eh.”
[A three-tailed fox… Surely, you couldn’t be…!]
“…”
Swish. Swish.
The adorably cute teenage girl who had been glancing back and forth between Ha-neul and the blue-furred demonic fox finally mumbled:
“I’ll just be going then.”