Chapter 115

Preparing cabbage involved removing wilted or torn leaves by hand and cutting off the stem with a knife. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but handling three thousand heads of cabbage made it no easy task.

Shhhk! Shhhk! Chhk!

Kang Jin peeled away the outer leaves, cut off the root, then tossed the trimmed cabbage aside before grabbing another one.

‘Despite practicing this skill in the cooking training room, it’s still tough.’

Feeling his neck and back stiffen, Kang Jin stretched to ease the discomfort.

Krick-krick!

As he rotated his neck, he glanced at the ghosts preparing cabbages next to him. They chatted and laughed while working as if they didn’t feel any fatigue.

Kang Jin felt sorry for them and spoke to one of the grandmothers next to him.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“What? Tired?”

“My neck and back hurt a bit.”

“We’re ghosts.” The grandmother waved her hands through the air sympathetically.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The cabbage leaves clinging to her hands fell away. She then moved behind Kang Jin and started massaging his shoulders.

“Oh! You don’t have to.”

“It’s fine; just relax.”

Feeling rejuvenated by the grandmother’s touch, Kang Jin smiled and turned around after a moment.

“I’ll return the favor.”

“That sounds great.” Smiling, she sat down as Kang Jin took hold of her shoulders.

Feeling a cool sensation from her hands, Kang Jin gently applied more pressure with his fingers.

But do ghosts actually feel good massaging someone?

“Ahhh! That feels nice.”

“It does?”

“Yes. My daughter-in-law Sonju used to massage my shoulders often… It feels just as refreshing now.” Smiling, the grandmother gently grasped and patted Kang Jin’s hand.

While the ghost’s touch felt cool, it conveyed warmth beyond that chill.

“That’s enough for now.”

“I can continue if you’d like.”

“No, thank you.”

Seeing the grandmother’s content smile and gentle patting, Kang Jin withdrew his hands.

“If you get tired, chew on some cabbage. It’s quite sweet and delicious.”

The grandmother tore off another cabbage leaf and handed it to Kang Jin. Seeing her carefully remove the inner yellow leaves for easier consumption, Kang Jin accepted it and put it in his mouth.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome…”

Smiling at Kang Jin eating the cabbage, she continued, “I thought I wouldn’t make kimchi this year since Bok-rae passed away. But thank you for helping me with this tradition.”

“I should be thanking all of you for your help,” replied Kang Jin.

The grandmother chuckled at his words. In truth, many ghosts here were worried about not being able to participate in making kimchi this year. This annual event allowed them to feel alive once more, reminiscing their past lives.

“So we’re grateful to each other?”

“It seems so.” Kang Jin smiled, then glanced around before speaking again.

“But this village…”

Kang Jin trailed off, and the grandmother smiled gently.

“It feels desolate, doesn’t it?”

“A bit, yes.”

The grandmother shook her head as she gazed at the houses around them.

“Our village was unaware of the war.”

“The war?”

“Yes, that one.” Kang Jin furrowed his brow at the mention of ‘that’ war but soon realized which conflict she meant.

“You mean the oxtail war?”

For Koreans, “war” immediately brings to mind the Oxtail War.

“That’s right.”

“You didn’t know about the oxtail war?”

“From what I saw on TV, we weren’t the only ones,” replied the grandmother.

A middle-aged woman nearby nodded in agreement. “In that movie, people from the village were also oblivious to the war.”

“I thought that was from a movie?”

Kang Jin wasn’t aware of this incident, but it could be true since there were stories about people living in mountains in Gangwon-do who didn’t know about the war. It’s not like it couldn’t happen just because someone mentioned a movie scene.

Regardless, Kang Jin continued speaking to the grandmother.

“Most villagers fled here into the mountains after being chased by those Japanese bastards during our independence movement. No, all of us came here for the same reason. We escaped together.”

“You’re descendants of independence fighters?”

“What descendant… I also participated in the independence movement and ran away here to escape those Japanese bastards.”

“Oh!” The grandmother seemed pleased as Kang Jin expressed admiration.

“At that time, if you were caught during independence movements, you’d either end up in a mental hospital or die right there. That’s why villagers never ventured down from this mountain and lived isolated here.”

“So, they didn’t even know about Korea gaining independence?”

“No, they didn’t.” Kang Jin nodded at the grandmother’s words. If they were living cut off without knowing about independence, it made sense they wouldn’t be aware of any wars either.

“One day, Dol-seok went to gather medicinal herbs and found injured people. The villagers then brought them back and treated their wounds.”

“And…that seems to have caused problems?”

“How did you know?”

“It just seemed like the story was heading that way.”

The grandmother nodded at Kang Jin’s words and continued peeling cabbage leaves.

Thud! Thud!

As she peeled off the outer leaves, she explained:

“They were children.”

“Children?”

“There were three injured children, around seventeen years old each.”

“I see.”

Seeing Kang Jin nod, the grandmother continued her story.

“After we treated them, it was maybe two seasons later when soldiers arrived.”

“Soldiers? Which soldiers?”

“They claimed to be from South Korea.”

“And then what happened?”

“We fed them because they seemed hungry…but then they spotted the wounded children.”

“The wounded children…were North Korean soldiers, weren’t they?”

“We initially thought their language was just a dialect. To us, whether they were from North or South Korea, they were all part of the same Korean Dynasty.”

“Then…did South Korean soldiers do this to your village?”

The grandmother sighed and nodded at Kang Jin’s question.

“Yes.”

“How could fellow countrymen… Wait, isn’t there a saying that even dogs don’t bite those who feed them?”

If what the grandmother said was true, did it mean the national army destroyed her village? The villagers had given food out of kindness because they looked hungry.

As Kang Jin felt surprise mixed with anger, the grandmother continued:

“I spoke later with some of the South Korean soldiers who died here. They claimed they had no choice. They believed this place was a stronghold for communist guerrillas. Those young men acted out of fear, thinking they were trapped.”

Kang Jin let out a sigh upon hearing the grandmother’s words.

‘Was it fear of life or death that paralyzed their rational thinking?’

As Kang Jin pondered this, he noticed the grandmother’s mood turning slightly somber. To change the atmosphere, he asked about Kim Bokrae.

“What was Madam Kim Bokrae like?”

The grandmother’s face brightened at the mention of her.

“Bokrae was a wonderful person. Ah! In her youth, she was incredibly beautiful.”

“When did you first meet her?”

“I think when Bokrae was around twenty? She came here all by herself.”

“Here to this village?”

“She approached us and spoke… Oh, how surprised we were!”

While listening to the grandmother fondly recount memories of Kim Bokrae, Kang Jin began trimming cabbage leaves.

While processing three thousand cabbages, Kang Jin befriended many of the village ghosts. His social skills and ability to quickly read people allowed him to easily bond with both humans and ghosts alike.

However, his back pain was unavoidable.

“Ahh!” As Kang Jin twisted his sore body to stand up, the ghosts chuckled at him.

“Kang Jin-ah, take a break.”

“But everyone else is still working.”

“Oh, come on! We’re ghosts, so we don’t get tired like this. If you keep going at this rate, you won’t be able to move tomorrow. It’s okay; why don’t you go for a walk?”

“I’m fine.”

“Well then, how about gathering some medicinal herbs from the hill behind us?”

“Medicinal herbs?”

“It will taste better if you add some herbs to the boiled pork.”

Then the ghost grandmother shouted at Manbok, who was playing with his steel toy nearby:

“Manbok! Take your elder brother and gather some herbs!”

“Me?”

“Yes, it’s up to you. Your hyung doesn’t know the way here.”

“You can just order Ho-na or Yong to do it.”

“They have their own tasks here. Will you run errands for them?”

At her words, Manbok looked at Shin Suho and Shin Soo-yong. They were frantically moving around, running errands for the ghosts. Observing this, Manbok turned towards Kang Jin.

“Follow me.”

“Use honorifics.”

“I’m younger than you!”

Despite being referred to as a boy ghost, he had been dead for several decades. By age, he would be considered more like Kang Jin’s grandfather.

“This brat!”

“I don’t care!” Manbok then turned to Kang Jin. “Follow me.”

“Yes.” Without realizing it, Kang Jin bowed his head and followed behind Manbok.

“Hey!”

“Yes?”

“If you’re going to pick herbs, at least bring some tools with you.”

“Oh…right.”

As Kang Jin hurried toward where the ajummas were gathered, Shin Su-jo handed him a bag and a sickle.

“Manbok knows this area well, so stick close to him.”

“Understood.”

Kang Jin accepted the items from Shin Su-jo and approached Manbok, who had already started walking up the mountain. As he trailed after him, Kang Jin was surprised by how steep the climb was—there wasn’t even a proper path. This made sense considering they were deep in the wilderness, devoid of human presence, but despite that, Manbok scaled the mountain effortlessly.

Despite considering Manbok’s ghostly nature, Kang Jin couldn’t help but marvel at how effortlessly she scaled the mountain.

“Hurry up,” called out Manbok.

Kang Jin nodded in response. “Yes, ma’am.”

He placed his foot where Manbok had and started climbing the mountain while holding onto tree branches for support.

As he ascended, various medicinal herbs popped into his mind.

I need angelica, paeonia, rhubarb, licorice root, and deer antler to make jujube meat stew. But I can’t find rhubarb or licorice root now because it’s not the right season.

While these ingredients could be purchased from herbal markets, they were hard to come by in this wild terrain during off-seasons, much like trying to buy rice in spring.

With this thought, Kang Jin asked Manbok, “What kind of herbs are we gathering?”

“Whatever you see.”

“What do you mean, whatever I see?”

“Our mountain has plenty of medicinal herbs. Just select those that are edible and gather as many as possible.”

As they continued climbing the mountain, Manbok suddenly stopped.

“Dig here.”

Kang Jin raised his hoe to dig as instructed by Manbok but was interrupted.

“Be careful when you dig.”

“Why is that?”

“Dandelion roots.”

Following Manbok’s advice, Kang Jin cautiously started digging. After excavating some soil, he uncovered dandelion roots. However, these were not like any ordinary dandelion roots he had seen before.

“Wow!”

What emerged from the ground resembled ginseng rather than dandelions. They were significantly larger and thicker, standing out distinctly compared to typical market dandelion roots. It was akin to the difference between sardines and mackerels.

With wide-eyed amazement, Kang Jin observed the dandelion roots while Manbok crossed his arms and remarked:

“It’s slightly over thirty years old.”

“Thirty years?”

“At this age, its medicinal properties are comparable to wild ginseng.”

“Wild ginseng?”

“You don’t watch TV?”

“I don’t have time to… Do you often watch TV, boss?”

The term ‘boss’ seemed to please Manbok as his face lit up. Despite Kang Jin being older chronologically, he still had the appearance of a teenager due to dying young. Hearing someone who looked younger address him with respect made Manbok feel somewhat mature despite his youthful mind.

“I live deep in the mountains, but I stay informed about the outside world through television.”

Then, Manbok turned towards the dandelion root.

“It’s hard to find this type of dandelion root nowadays.”

“Yes, it is. This is my first time seeing one like this.”

“Do you like dandelion roots?”

“They’re delicious.”

Kang Jin nodded at Manbok’s words.

“It tastes good, doesn’t it? Whenever Bokrae comes here and grills them over fire with seasoning, they’re delicious.”

“I’ll do that for you when I go down there.”

“You know how to cook them?”

“Of course.” Kang Jin knew how to prepare dandelion roots since it was included in the cooking practice room.

“Well then, let’s dig up some more.”

“Huh? There are more of these?”

“They’re everywhere.”

Kang Jin looked surprised at Manbok’s statement.

“Everywhere?”

“Yes, no one digs them here. Kick your foot anywhere, and you’ll find dandelions; trip, and you might stumble upon wild ginseng.”

“Wild ginseng?”

“Wanna try some?” Manbok’s eyes twinkled with curiosity as Kang Jin eagerly agreed.

“I definitely want to taste it!”