The Legend of the Fox Yokai of Jirisan

“I don’t know!”
“…Really?”
Disappointed by Depot’s response, I showed my dismay.
Depot was a squirrel yokai who had lived for quite a long time, a yokai with a vast wealth of knowledge on almost everything.
If even Depot didn’t know, then it could only mean one of two things:
Either that book called the Taejasinggi wasn’t as famous as I thought, or
It was an obscure book even unknown to Depot.
Either way, it wasn’t good news for me.

Seeing my apparent disappointment, Depot waved his burly arms and continued:
“But I know a yokai who might know!”
“…If you so much as mention Lord of the Mountain, I’ll really show you how hot fire can get this time.”
“Of, of course Lord of the Mountain! Even Miho acknowledges him!”

Yes, I acknowledge him.
What knowledge could that ancient beast lack?
In my eyes, that tiger is an existence akin to a deity, not just a yokai.
Why such a formidable being dwells in this gloomy inner realm still remains an unsolved mystery to me.
Perhaps he pissed off the Jade Emperor and got exiled here or something.

In any case, I absolutely decline asking the Lord of the Mountain.
The Lord views me with disdain.
I don’t know the reason. Could it be because of that gumiho ‘Daji’ who caused chaos thousands of years ago?
He wasn’t outright hostile towards me, but he wasn’t exactly friendly either, so I’d prefer not to ask him if possible.
Even if I did ask, I doubt he would answer anyway.

“Coward.”
“What?”
“Coward! In this inner realm, you’re the only one afraid of the Lord of the Mountain! You cowardly vixen yokai! Only your body and chest grew, not your guts!”
“…Depot, you’ve finally lost it.”

Slightly irked, I began tormenting Depot with Fox Fire sorcery.
Sometimes,
A bit of discipline was necessary for this disobedient squirrel yokai.

“Kkkk, kkkkk!”
“The one whose guts swelled is you, not me. Don’t you see these tails? This overflowing yogi?”
“Th, then, if Miho has so much yogi now, why are you afraid of the Lord of the Mountain? Kkkkk!”
“Who says I’m afraid? I’m not afraid at all!”

…Yeah, I’m actually afraid.
Just facing the Lord of the Mountain makes the pit of my stomach churn, and every time he speaks, I feel like my grip on sanity might slip away.
It’s so strange.
Other yokai like Depot don’t seem nearly as afraid of the Lord of the Mountain.
How could they not be terrified by that tiger’s ominous aura? It was so strange.

After toying with Depot for a while and growing bored, I decided to go around gathering information about the Taejasinggi directly from the yokai in this inner realm.
The first yokai I encountered was the giant tree that loved to sing, with a face on its trunk.
Jang Hwa Hwanno (張火喧鬧).
Looking up at its branches spreading wide enough to cover the sky, I spoke:
“Mister Tree.”

[Wheee-eeek, wheee-eeek. Fox, fox. Your appearance has changed. I, Jang Hwa Hwanno, shall sing a song for you.]
“No need for a song, I have something to ask…”

[Fox, fox. What do you think is the best kind of song?]
“…”

Communication doesn’t seem to work here.
It seems I’ll have to match his rhythm before we can converse.
I answered his question:
“Uh… I suppose a good song has strong vocals, a catchy melody, and is trendy?”

[Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!]
“…”
[The best kind of song is when you yourself become the protagonist!]
“Ah… I see.”
[In that sense, I shall sing a song solely for you in this world.]

[Ah, the fox is an exceptionally cunning beast!]
“…”
I didn’t like it from the very first line.

[The newborn three-tailed white fox!]
[The fox asked with longing, just where is this place?]
[To which the benevolent Lord of the Mountain replied,]
[This is the inner realm of Jirisan, your new home!]
[Newborn three-tailed white fox!]
[Though foxes innately crave human life force and livers,]
[This newborn three-tailed white fox]
[Did not lust after human males, truly a strange occurrence!]

It wasn’t strange at all, it was only natural for me.
As long as I maintain my humanity, I will never take a human life with my own hands.
…The same goes for craving life force.

[Kind-hearted fox, why do you not absorb yogi?]
[The troubled fox eventually fell into a deep slumber,]
[And as time passed, the fox’s life neared its end.]
[Oh, but what is this!]
[A new fox yokai has appeared!]
[Unlike the three-tailed white fox, that blue-furred demonic fox]
[With its wicked and exceedingly cunning ways, craved human male livers.]
[Enraged, the kind-hearted three-tailed fox]
[Subdued the blue-furred demonic fox and absorbed its yogi.]
[Newborn three-tailed white fox!]
[Now a full-fledged six-tailed white fox,]
[Ah, none can obstruct her journey!]

Clap clap clap clap clap.
As the song ended, I applauded him.
Jang Hwa Hwanno was a yokai with an unusually strong penchant for singing, and he appreciated audience reactions even more.
To obtain information about the Taejasinggi from him, humoring him to this extent was well within reason.
Well,
His vocals did have a charm that could captivate humans and yokai alike, so it was rather pleasant to listen to.
…Though the fact that I was the protagonist was a bit embarrassing.

In any case, judging from his lyrics, despite standing rooted in the same spot his entire life, he seemed quite knowledgeable.
Perhaps because his branches spread so wide, gathering information from various yokai and even birds, Jang Hwa Hwanno was that kind of yokai.
He might know about the Taejasinggi as well.

So I outright asked him:
“Mister Tree, have you by chance heard of a book called the Taejasinggi…”

I couldn’t finish my words.
Ddul-ddul-ddul-ddul-ddul-ddul-ddul-ddul.
Ddal-geu-rak, ddal-geu-rak, ddal-geu-rak, ddal-geu-rak.
Suddenly, the ground started shaking as if an earthquake had struck.
The singing tree began screaming, not singing.
The face of Jang Hwa Hwanno began grotesquely contorting, and soon he was shedding tears of blood. Where his mouth had been, an eerie spiral pattern now resided, the source of his screams.
The horrific screeching noise was piercingly assaulting my eardrums. The tree began dancing. Its sharp branches stretched towards the full moon as if to touch it, then instantly split into countless branches that slammed back into the ground.

Even amidst this bizarre spectacle, I was able to keep my wits about me. Perhaps it was thanks to the overwhelmingly powerful yogi I had received from the blue-furred demonic fox that I could maintain my sanity.

Jang Hwa Hwanno’s spiral began rotating clockwise and counterclockwise. From within the infinitely spinning spiral, a chilling voice flowed out:

[Never again.]
[Never again, before me,]
[Mention that, filthy, book,]
[Kind-hearted, white, fox.]

I could sense it instinctively.
If I mentioned the ‘Taejasinggi’ before him again, something truly dreadful would occur.
I could sense it instinctively.
That was the end of it.

In the blink of an eye, the screaming tree had reverted to the singing tree, and he innocently resumed singing:

[Fox, white fox.]
[You were sufficiently adorable as a ten-year-old cub, but your current form is not bad either.]
[I, Jang Hwa Hwanno, shall sing a song for you.]
[Fox, fox. What do you think is the best kind of song?]

“…I’ll be going.”

I turned away from him.
Something was amiss.
To elicit such a reaction just from mentioning the book Taejasinggi.
Evidently, in this world,
There was still so much I did not know.

Even after witnessing that shocking sight, I did not feel discouraged in the slightest.
No, rather, I felt riled up.
Having come this far, it felt like I wouldn’t be satisfied until I saw this Taejasinggi book with my own eyes.

However, I could not ask the Lord of the Mountain.
If the gentle yokai Jang Hwa Hwanno reacted like that,
Then the Lord of the Mountain…
If I mentioned the Taejasinggi to the Lord,
…Who knows, he might just tear me to shreds on the spot.

It was an exaggeration, of course, but my fox yokai instincts were ringing alarms.
Absolutely, absolutely do not ask the Lord of the Mountain.

Yet apart from him, there were no other suitable yokai to inquire with.
I would need to ask a yokai who had lived for a considerably long time to obtain meaningful information.

“Haah…”
I let out a sigh.
There was only one yokai that immediately came to mind, but it was an existence I was utterly reluctant to approach.
No helping it.
I’ll have to ask Old Monk Bangta.