In ancient times, in the Iron-Eating Forest.
Gungun had returned here from the Northern Sea. At that moment, the bear was sitting on a swing, directing the Iron-Eating Beasts nearby to beat up an elk spirit.
"Beat him! Beat him until he smokes!" Gungun ordered.
At those words, the Iron-Eating Beasts pummeled the ill-intentioned elk spirit even harder, beating him until he cried for his father and mother in agony.
"Spare me! Lord Ancestral Bear, spare me!" he shouted.
"Hmph. Stop. Hang him upside down from a tree," Gungun snorted and ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The Iron-Eating Beasts promptly obeyed, tying the elk spirit up and hanging him upside down from a tree.
Gungun had already sealed all the elk spirit's magic power. He was now no different from an ordinary elk, with absolutely no chance of breaking free on his own.
"My lord, please spare me," the elk spirit begged Gungun, his face swollen and bruised, blood flowing from wounds all over his body.
"We'll talk when I've had my fun. For now, just stay there and take it." Gungun tilted the bear's head and spoke bluntly, then began swinging.
After a few swings, snap! The rope broke. Thud! The whole bear crashed to the ground.
"Your Majesty!" The Iron-Eating Beasts hurried over to help.
At noon, after lunch.
Gungun lay sprawled in the pool behind the Crouching Bear Hall, basking in the sunlight and snoring away.
The Black Tortoise's words had stirred some anticipation, but when exactly would that goddess arrive?
With that thought, Gungun soon drifted into a dream.
Unbeknownst to the bear, the moment sleep came, a barefoot woman clad in animal hide, with a bracelet around each wrist, stepped into the Iron-Eating Forest.
*I wield the Law of Earth and can influence mountains and