“Could it be that in those eyes, she sees Hye Rim?” Juwon pondered. Despite not having uttered a word since his arrival, her ability to grasp things with an iron grip sent a chill down his spine.
Even though he hadn’t said a word since arriving here, Juwon was genuinely spooked by her ability to grasp things like a vice.
Juwon hadn’t informed anyone about his visit to the shrine today. While Dr. Choi had recommended this place, in front of him, Juwon had pretended not to have the slightest interest. It was because if by any chance Dr. Choi leaked information to the shaman, the purpose of his visit here would vanish.
However, the Sea Goddess Priestess had discerned the “deceased woman” just from Juwon’s face.
Now, it was no longer a joke. He couldn’t afford to take anything lightly.
“I sense the spirit of the deceased woman,” she said, turning her prayer beads and narrowing her eyes. Juwon reflexively glanced around and realized how foolish his actions had been.
“Are you by her side right now?”
“Whether it’s there or not, we’ll only know if we ask. Close your eyes and extend your hand,” she said.
As Juwon extended his hand, the Sea Goddess Priestess placed a red pebble in his palm. It was warm, resembling both a large red bean and a gemstone.
As the priestess chanted a spell, the pebble began to heat up. Juwon was surprised inwardly but didn’t show it.
“For some reason, Yeong is attached to Lee Seung.”
The priestess muttered with lowered eyes.
“I sense the presence very close by. Could it be that she carries some memento of him on her?”
“No, there’s nothing like that.”
“No, there must be. We have to find it.”
Juwon intensely searched his memories, but nothing came to mind.
Hyelim’s letters and small gifts they exchanged in the past were all burned right after her funeral. It was due to the superstition that keeping the belongings of the deceased with grudges could bring bad luck.
Lady Sunwoo Yeon, who was also Hyelim’s mother, had burned everything Hyelim had touched right after the funeral, and Juwon had been by her side the entire time, so he remembered it vividly.
Certainly, at that time, not a single item belonging to Hyelim had been spared from the flames.
“No matter how I think about it, there doesn’t seem to be anything that could be considered a memento.”
“It doesn’t have to be something intentionally left behind. If it contains traces of the deceased woman, it could serve as a conduit for us.”
“Well…”
Juwon nodded hesitantly.
He had only tutored Hyelim for a few months. After all her belongings, including the test papers she touched, her desk, and even a single pen, had been reduced to ashes, there couldn’t possibly be anything left.
“Should we perform a Gut*?”
Juwon asked with a hopeful tone. He believed that the shaman who had instantly sensed Hyelim’s presence around him would surely find a solution.
However, Haeyin, the shaman, brutally shattered his expectations with her response.
“I’d rather deal with a vengeful spirit, tsk!”
Haeyin retrieved the red stone from Juwon’s palm and clicked her tongue.
“When a young woman commits suicide, she usually doesn’t rest peacefully. The reason we perform a Cheondo Gut is often to help the deceased spirit depart safely. In cases where there’s intense grudge, sometimes even a Cheondo Gut can’t make them leave. However, she doesn’t seem like a vengeful spirit.”
“You mean she’s not a vengeful spirit? But the way she appears in my dreams…”
*Gut: A Korean shamanistic ritual often performed to pacify spirits or seek guidance from the spiritual world.
“It doesn’t matter how she appears in your dreams. What the spirit of the deceased woman can do is haunt your memories. In other words, your nightmares are born from guilt,” Haeyin explained.
Juwon felt a sharp pang in his chest. Whenever Hyelim’s face faded from his dreams, it hurt him. He felt guilty for living comfortably and for the fading scars day by day.
People who didn’t understand would ask, “Why blame yourself for it? Move on.” They would say that every choice was hers, and in a way, he was a victim too.
At one point, Juwon had tried tirelessly to think that way.
But after the nightmares began, he slowly realized that if the last person Hyelim thought of before taking her own life was himself, he could never be completely free from the weight of her death.
“For some reason, the spirit of the deceased woman is bound to Lee Seung Oh. It seems like she’s hovering around you even without knowing the reason.”
“Please tell me the way. How can I escape from these nightmares?”
“Find an heirloom.”
“As I mentioned earlier, there’s nothing like that.”
“Then I have nothing more to say.”
Haeyin stubbornly closed her lips.
Juwon, who had thought there must be some method, whether it was a talisman or an amulet, couldn’t help but feel dejected.
To be told to find an heirloom when there was nothing to call an heirloom was no different from a sentence that he could never escape from this nightmare.
With the determination to catch at straws, Juwon asked various methods, but Haeyin simply shook her head in silence.
“I have a woman I love.”
Juwon spoke with a resigned tone.
“The nightmares have become worse, haven’t they?”
Haeyin simply said as if it were obvious.
“You must have felt like you were going to be devoured in your dreams. Unable to sleep in peace and even when you manage to fall asleep, you must have been tormented by nightmares. The reason the nightmares suddenly intensified, you must have some idea.”
“…….”
“The presence of your lover is triggering the soul of the deceased woman.”
“But…!”
“Until now, you’ve been suffering alone. But soon, the anger will reach her, I guarantee it.”
The thunderous words made Juwon’s eyes widen.
Anger reaching Hyeju too? Does that mean it might not just end with nightmares?
He had imagined not being able to sleep and turning into a ghost, but he had never thought that it could also affect Hyeju.
Juwon clenched his teeth so hard that they made a clicking sound.
“What should I do?”
He seemed ready to kneel down at any moment.
The poker face that had remained composed even when he heard that neither talismans nor rituals could resolve the nightmares crumbled.
Haeyin, with her face turned pale, glanced at Juwon and licked her lips.
“We have to break up. What else can we do?”
It was such a straightforward answer.
“Don’t provoke the deceased woman. That’s the only way to avoid anger! Remember that!”
Its simplicity made it even more cruel.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
