Chapter 115: Lost Sword of the Great General (5)
Bringing the lost sword of General Lee Sunsin was like… retrieving the lost soul of the country. And Haejin was honored to be given that opportunity.
The car kept going, and when it arrived at Niigata Port, it was around 10 p.m. Momoko went to the ship, checked it, and gestured it was okay. Haejin unloaded the artifact only then and put it on the ship.
Then, he explained to Eunhae what he had to do now as she must have been dying to know.
Actually, he could work on his own from now, but telling her to go back alone would make her suspicious. Just as he thought, she offered to help until he finished excavating.
After half an hour, everything was done. The ship left quietly.
“Where are you going to go now?”
Momoko sat in the driver’s seat again.
“First, let’s go to Narita, Chiba.”
“But his family lives in Tokyo. Why are we going to Narita?”
“That’s his hometown. I’ll start from there.”
“Okay.”
You should undo the entangled thread at first. When there are few clues, you should not approach without care.
From now on, Haejin had to follow Ogura’s life and get information about the place where he could protect his family.
The car didn’t stop on the way. Eunhae was tired and fell asleep, she leaned on Haejin’s shoulder and Haejin also closed his eyes.
After he got his magic from his father he didn’t feel much tired even if he didn’t sleep as long as he didn’t use magic, but as he had a lot to do as soon as he arrived, he tried to preserve his strength.
They arrived in the morning and immediately checked in at a nearby hotel. As Momoko had driven for a long time, Haejin told her to get some sleep; however, even if she had huge bags under her eyes, she still followed Haejin.
“If you need things, you should tell me now. Things that are hard to get might require some time.”
“Hmm… I don’t need much. Personal excavation tools including a pickaxe, small LED lantern, a long pole at least 3m long, a pickup truck, and a subminiature camera would also be good… but it isn’t necessary.”
Momoko wrote down everything Haejin said and asked, “No more?”
“Oh, a bamboo knife would also be good, just in case. And mineral water. You must get me the pole in three days max. I can’t work without it.”
“That is a lot.”
She spoke as if she was thinking she had been right at asking.
“Khmm… now that I think about it, yes. I’ve never done grave robbing before… I might need more equipment later.”
“But what material that pole should be? Should it be wood?”
“It would be hard to find a wooden pole more than 3m long. Aluminum or iron would be fine. But it has to be at least 3m long.”
Haejin said that again and again. So, Eunhae chimed in, “Does that count as excavating equipment?
What are you going to do with it?”
“Umm… it’s a little funny, but I will poke it into the ground to see if there are artifacts buried under. It’s a very simple method, but it works the best…”
He couldn’t use X-ray out in an open field, and he couldn’t be sure if that would be a tomb or not.
You would think tombs are like small hills, but tombs that are supposed to be hidden are in a flat area or in unexpected spots.
The way to check them is to stab a long pole in the ground.
It must be a pole at least 3m long, and the grave robber can feel whether it hits a rock or an artifact.
Haejin’s father could even feel whether that artifact was a gilt bronze buddha or an earthenware with the sensation he felt as the pole hit it.
“Wow… impressive. I see why there are experts in grave robbing.”
Eunhae was truly impressed, but Haejin was somewhat embarrassed. It was like confessing how to pickpocket well and get complimented.
“Anyway… you know, right? I’ve never done this before.”
“I know. You’ve told me that multiple times, so stop telling me. You keep stressing that makes me think ‘maybe he did it’.”
That was a joke, of course, but Haejin flinched.
“Khmm… okay. Anyway, Ms. Momoko, you don’t have to come with me for a while. I must look around the area at least for a few days. We shouldn’t draw attention.”
“Okay. I will get your equipment by the weekend.”
Momoko left, and Haejin immediately left the hotel with Eunhae. He had told her to sleep, but she said she had slept in the car and wanted to follow him. Haejin thought it was good as going around alone would be boring.
Finding Ogura Takenoske’s house wasn’t easy. Momoko had even given to him its location.
It would have taken a while alone, but as the NIS was helping, Haejin thought he might be able to solve it sooner than he had thought.
However, when they arrived there, they found streets full of shops.
“Is that it? Oh… it has changed too much.”
Eunhae smiled hollowly and looked back at Haejin. She was asking what he was going to do now.
“A lot of things change in time. There’s no need to focus on the present.”
Haejin had anticipated lots of changes, so he wasn’t surprised by those franchise restaurants and bars.
He had gone through this before.
“Then, how are we going to find it?”
“We use our imagination. This area is a shopping district now, but what it looked like 80 years ago? And 50 years ago? We should imagine it and take time to find it.”
Now things are different, but old people are attached to their hometown. The older you get, the more you miss the time when you used to play with other children without worries and loved by your parents.
Because of that, it is a common factor for all human beings to rest in their hometown when they are about to die.
Especially those who have a strong love and pride for their families. They want to be buried near their family’s house.
“Oh…”
Eunhae looked at Haejin, thinking ‘I didn’t know he was so awesome!’.
“I’m not saying we can surely find it. But starting this way is the best thing we can do.”
Haejin parked the car at a public parking lot and started to move. He looked around the place where Ogura Takenoske’s house used to stand and went to a small river that wasn’t far from there.
Then, they had lunch and moved around to know more about the area. It was both boring and tiring.
It wasn’t that hard to Haejin as he had done that with his father, but he thanked Eunhae who followed quietly without showing how tired she was.
They spent the whole day studying geographical features, and the next day, they started to ask people who had lived in that region for long.
They searched like that in a circle as Ogura’s house as the center. On the third day, Haejin chose a spot.
“I should look around here.”
It was a small mountain north of Narita. It was barely 200m tall.
“Here? Hmm… but the clue said he is protecting his family, then, wouldn’t he be somewhere with mountains that surround his tomb? This mountain is no different than other ordinary mountains and a little far from the house…”
“You’re right. But you should understand well about protecting the family. It means he would become a ghost and protect his family, but actually, Korean ghosts and Japanese ghosts have different ways of acting.”
“What? What are you talking about? Different ways of acting in ghosts?”
“Umm… this also has to do with the living conditions. First, Korean ghosts wander in this world with wishes that must be fulfilled. So, when those wishes are fulfilled, they move on. They have no reason to stay more. In fact, dokkaebis are not described to harm people seriously. Even Gumihos (nine- tailed foxes) are described to be relatively kind. They wish to be humans.”
“Then what about Japan?”
“Japanese ghosts are strange. Maybe it’s because this country consists of islands and there’s no place to run to. When a person meets an unfair death, he or she becomes a ghost and hurts everyone, no matter who that is. Japanese ghosts torment or kill everyone that intrudes into one’s territory, but they don’t even tell why. There’s no reason. So, Japanese don’t really make tombs near houses or in the so-called spots with good energy from nature like Koreans do. They think a passerby might get hurt.”
“Oh…”
“And Ogura wouldn’t want to harm his family after death, so being buried near his family’s house would be the opposite of what he said. He chose this mountain because it is between Korea and the house, so his tomb acts like a shield that stops Korea’s energy from reaching the family. As he said he would become a ghost to protect, I think it is more likely he was buried here, a little away from his family.”
“I think it makes sense. Busan, this mountain, and Ogura’s house are all in a straight line.”
“I’ll do it on my own from now. You have done enough, so you should take some rest.”
“But you must be tired, too…”
“I am strong. Not tired.”
“Umm… okay.”
Eunhae wanted to tag along, but she knew she wouldn’t be of any help. She was disappointed and gave up.
Haejin thought it was good that she gave up without protesting. Hiking is different from walking in a flat land.
Additionally, as it wasn’t a paved mountain road but wandering around a mountain without any road, an accident could happen, even though the mountain was barely 200m high.
Haejin took the pole Momoko had gotten him and left the hotel. He didn’t need larger tools like a pickaxe or shovel. He could use a truck to bring them and start digging once he found the spot.
He had explored the cave in China with only simple tools, but at the time, all he had to do was to dig the entrance.
Excavating a grave requires a considerable amount of time, effort, and patience.
Haejin thought he could find it in three days. The mountain was neither big nor steep. However, when he couldn’t find it in three days. He started to get agitated.
He felt ashamed as he knew his father would have found it already, and he started to think maybe it wasn’t in this mountain.
He wandered around like that for some time. Then, he got thirsty and went to the water spring at a small temple.
Although Japanese temples are in a little different style, the mood was the same. It was quiet and reserved.
Haejin drank cold water with a wooden bucket. Then, he started to look around the temple.
However, there was a stone statue of someone wearing clothes, similar to the ones worn by monks, standing in the middle of the temple. It wasn’t a buddha and it wasn’t a bodhisattva.
Haejin wondered who he was and took a closer look. As the face and clothes were depicted so realistically, he could guess it had been made to look like a real man.
Haejin tried to think why such a statue was there, but then he heard an unfamiliar voice from behind.
“Are you here to donate?”
Haejin looked around. It was a monk, he was smiling, and his hands were put together.
“Oh, I came to hike and got thirsty, so I drank some water. Then, I got curious about this statue. But who is this? I think he must be a very famous monk.”
The monk smiled and said, “This is Ogura Takenoske, the man who founded this temple.”
At that moment, Haejin felt like lightning struck his head.
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