Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 35: Lion Dance (3)

As expected.

“A Hwarang killed a civilian?”

“An ordinary man who didn’t even sin?”

The Moon Palace was in a mess. As the information passed from one person to another, the rumors became more detailed.

‘A certain Hwarang went to someone’s home and stabbed an innocent person to death.’

‘His family is complaining about injustice.’

‘They say that they can even point out the Hwarang who did it and they are earnestly pleading.’

Stories like this spread.

And the Hwarangs, who valued honor, couldn’t stay still at this.

The Governor was angry.

“It is impossible. Every move of the Hwarangs has been transparent until now, so how can one sneak out and do such a thing? If that is true, I will cut myself down!”

He immediately accepted the family’s request.

“Coincidentally, everyone in the troops is preparing for the Sword Dance. So call for the family who had their child murdered and let them point the person out.”

As a result, an unexpected confrontation was going to break out in the sacred forest.

The old mother and her sons pulled a cart and went to the forest. The card was loaded with a corpse, which was covered in mats.

The Minister of Justice, who was in charge of the inspection, also attended, and there were many onlookers.

“Look at that. Didn’t they say that there was a Hwarang who did something wrong?”

The officials of the Great Heavenly Pavilion were all gathered. It was held in the name of looking into the possibility of the premonition they had received.

Did a Hwarang kill a civilian?

Or was it a false accusation planned by someone?

Everyone was busy expressing their opinion. Seeing this, Seol Young thought to himself,

‘It is fortunate that I found out in advance.’

When he looked at Zaha, he and the Governor were talking. Anyway, he was the supreme leader of the Hwarangs, so he had to act like he was doing something.

Also, the sooner Seol Young gets entangled in a mess, the better it is for Zaha. So, for now, he was deliberately cooperating.

Seol Young looked away.

On the other side, the White Tiger Spirit Troops were standing together. Their eyes met.

‘Do not worry. I will make sure to reveal the identity of the killer.’

Seol Young had such a look, and amidst all of these, an administration official said,

“Governor Jin Rim, the head of the Hwarangs, has accepted the request of the victim’s family and summoned all the Hwarangs here. Now let us know who the murderer is.”

“Yes.”

The bereaved family came forward.

They looked at each of the five troops that had gathered there. They all looked very carefully at the Hwarangs.

Everyone was made to stand in a line for the family to get a clear look. After a while, they said,

“None of these people here.”

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“Did you look at the current Governor, the High Governor, and the former Hwarang, too?”

“Yes. None of the three, either.”

The Ministry of Justice turned to the Governor.

“Is it true that every one of the Hwarangs has gathered here?”

“Yes. No one has been left out.”

“But according to the family, there must have been some Hwarang who went and killed their sibling, right? They definitely said that the Hwarang’s sword had a mark too. Someone has to be lying…”

That was when Seol Young stepped forward.

“I will try to find out which Hwarang it is.”

All the whispers stopped at once, and all eyes turned to Seol Young. Through this confrontation, it was revealed that no one here was the culprit. He just had to stay still, so why do this now?

Was it really possible to figure it out?

In the deafening silence, Zaha and Jin Rim looked at each other.

“Are you going to use that method again?”

“Yes.”

“Can that really bring out the killer?”

“I will try.”

Jin Rim looked at everyone.

“Not all of the Hwarang troops will agree with that technique. But right now, there is no other way, and Seol Young-rang had indeed saved a lot of people trapped in the painting last time, so it is worth trying.”

“Yes, Governor.”

Seol Young approached the family.

The mother of the dead young man was silent. She was just looking at everyone with eyes of resentment.

Seol Young went up to her and said,

“I will reveal the truth and let your son’s soul have a nice end.”

“…”

She didn’t answer.

But she didn’t scream either. She just stared at Seol Young.

“I’ll take that as your permission.”

Seol Young walked to the cart. Dark red hands were drooping, and he knelt down as he held them.

The entire place was turning noisy.

“Noisy. Only speak up if you have a better alternative.”

Zaha said.

They must have guessed that Seol Young would summon an evil spirit. Even if he didn’t order it, the atmosphere played an important role, so everyone went silent.

Seol Young looked at the hands of the dead body.

The dead young man’s soul had left. But there must be something left in the body, so he closed his eyes and began to wait.

Memories of the dead man flowed into him.

“Maha prajnaparamita sutra…”

He heard the voice of someone chanting, and Seol Young looked down.

The hands of the young man were carving out a piece of wood, and judging from the voice and the movements of this illusion, the person seemed well.

Clack.

The door opened up, making the young man raise his head in surprise.

Someone suddenly entered the room, and all the lit candles in the room were flickering in unison. In the swaying shadows, someone was heading toward him.

A Hwarang in a jade robe.

He had such a beautiful appearance, and there was nothing strange in his expression. If his pupils hadn’t moved slowly and looked to the other side, then he would have mistaken this person for a painting.

“Who are you…”

The young man asked, a bit confused, and the next moment…

A black light shone, and red blood gushed out.

Thud.

The young man’s body collapsed with a dull sound, and in the blurred vision, the inside of the room was shown—there was no one there.

‘… as I thought.’

Seol Young opened his eyes.

Thanking the deceased for showing this memory, Seol Young slowly let go of his hand.

“That Hwarang was not a living person but a ghost.”

When Seol Young heard the story from the family themselves, he had this lingering thought, but there was no evidence to support it.

The people were whispering again, and the official said,

“Then it can be said that this is not an issue for those gathered here. But how can you prove what you just said?”

He was ready to tackle their questions.

Seol Young took out a piece of yellow paper in silence, lightly sprinkled red cinnabar powder on it, and then applied spiritual power before the traces of the memory of the corpse vanished.

The power moved on its own.

And it looked like it had gathered and begun to form into a shape, making the family of the victim scream.

“That’s him!”

“The Hwarang who killed my brother!”

Several of the Hwarangs were shocked.

It was because the portrait drawn by Seol Young’s power was not an unfamiliar one.

“Sa Daham?”

“Isn’t that Young Lord Sa Daham?”

He was someone famous among the Hwarangs and after showing it to everyone, Seol Young thought, ‘It was him.’

“Right. I get it now.”

Zaha nodded his head.

“The victim’s family said that it was a Hwarang dressed in jade. According to legends, Young Lord Sa Daham liked wearing blue bamboo clothes.”

The two colors were quite similar, too, even if they had different names.

The bereaved family pointed with their chins, and the color of the robe’s secret was revealed. Given the circumstances, they couldn’t help but believe Seol Young’s words.

But this raised a bigger question.

“Young Lord Sa Daham is an honorable hero of the Hwarangs! Why would his spirit commit murder?”

“Could there have been a reason for him to go to a civilian’s house and kill him?”

No one could understand it. The same was true for the victim’s family.

“Young Lord Sa Daham? I have heard of him from the old stories. We have never touched his shrine or relics. We don’t really have any relationship with him.”

They were all equally shocked.

“Yes.”

Seol Young agreed with them.

“According to what we have seen, it was the first time that the murdered man saw Young Lord Sa Daham. He was killed immediately without knowing why he even visited him.”

He thought back on the scene he saw.

The young man who died had no spiritual power. And that was why he didn’t feel anything special when the ghost appeared in front of him. But this was no ordinary ghost.

“The spirit is quite strong.”

Seol Young said to Jin Rim.

“I cannot be certain since this is a vision I saw through the soul of another person, but it seemed like it held a lot of power. Governor, this looks like a supernatural calamity. It will not end just with this.”

“You mean the spirit will harm another person?”

“Yes.”

Jin Rim’s face turned serious.

“Well, it is clear now.”

Zaha said.

“Since this case involves a ghost killing a person, the Ministry of Justice can no longer get involved, and this matter will be resolved by the Hwarangs.”

And he looked at Seol Young.

“This incident will not end with this, so what do you plan to do?”

“The most important thing is to stop it before another victim surfaces.”

“And will that be possible?”

“We have to make it possible.”

Seol Young turned to the victim’s family.

“This incident was so unclear that even the person concerned didn’t know the cause of his death. However, since the spirit came to harm a person, there must have been something that happened.”

“We are really not guilty of anything. We don’t even have anything to do with that Hwarang.”

“Calm down. We don’t mean to interrogate you. I just want to hear the story.”

After calming them down, he asked what had been bothering him earlier.

“The victim had one difference from the rest of the family. It was the fact that he studied in a temple.”

“Yes. Yes.”

The family responded incoherently.

“The elder of that temple passed. In addition to my younger brother, there were two other monks who moved away.”

“No. One of them is said to have died from an illness.”

“Right, right. One of the three died from an illness, one returned home in a state of despair, and only one of them stayed back. The last friend must be the monk staying in the temple…”

Seol Young’s eyes shone.

Then wouldn’t the spirit be visiting that place next?

“Where is this temple?”

The brothers looked a bit embarrassed. It seemed difficult for them to remember considering that their brother had just died.

“My younger brother said he would visit it once he was free from work, but he said it was a temple in Sorabeol…”

“Since there are so many temples, the name is…”

He was trying to remember something, but their mother, who had been silent until then, suddenly said,

“In Hyesa.”

She said it very clearly.