Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 36: Lion Dance (4)

In Hyesa was a small temple near Mt. Myung Hwal.

Since there were just a few monks there, they were quickly able to find the young monk, and his given name was Do Cheol.

Do Cheol was a monster in a legend, so maybe it was meant to be his name. In addition, his chubby cheeks and big body made people think of that monster whenever they saw him.

However, he had a different personality from his appearance.

“Uh? Do Jeong was murdered?”

Upon hearing the news of his old friend, the monk was so shocked that he dropped his rosary beads.

His eyes, which looked as innocent as a cow, were watery, and he hurriedly picked up the rosary.

“Amitabha. Amitabha. It seems like just yesterday we were studying Buddhism together, and Do In died of illness, and now Do Jeong suffered a terrible fate. What kind of a heinous person did that?”

“A Hwarang.”

Seol Young’s response was met with silence.

“…!”

The monk’s face turned blue, and his hand holding the rosary became weak.

“So we came to the right place.”

Zaha’s eyes shone at his reaction.

“Did the monk see it too? The Hwarang in jade clothes?”

“J-Jade…!”

Do Cheol nearly screamed, and Seol Young was ready to catch the rosary, which seemed to fall at any moment.

But this time, the monk stood tall, and he felt lost hearing the word ‘jade.’

“The heart is a lot more delicate than a glass marble.”

Zaha evaluated, and Seol Young agreed with him.

“Amitabha… Amitabha…”

After chanting the Buddha chant, Do Cheol finally spoke.

“I had a dream three days ago. Usually, I don’t dream, but on that day, for some reason, I saw a Hwarang. He was standing under an old tree, staring at me. I thought it was strange, but then I soon forgot about it.”

This gave them a glimpse of how simply this man lived.

“But on the next evening, a Hwarang was standing right behind the people who came to pay their respects, and as expected, he was staring at me with an expressionless face, and the next evening, you know what happened?”

“Did the distance get closer?”

“How did you know? It was yesterday. As soon as I opened my eyes, I looked around and checked. I was so relieved that I couldn’t see the Hwarang, so I forgot about it.”

Do Cheol quenched his thirst with some tea and continued.

“But when I woke up after the evening service, there were some distinct footprints on the floor bed. It meant that someone stood there and watched me for a long time. The moment I realized it, I screamed out, running…”

“Did you see the face of the Hwarang?”

“Right! He was right behind me, and I almost fainted. I made up my mind that even if I were scolded for acting out despite being a monk, I would speak to the head monk. But today, nothing had happened until now, so I thought that if I saw something…”

Do Cheol’s face was filled with fear again.

“That Hwarang killed Do Jeong! And then he came to see me! Why? What resentment does he have?”

“I don’t know.”

Seol Young shook his head.

“That ghost is Sa Daham, a very famous Hwarang who died a long time ago. There must be a story behind it, but there are so many legends regarding him that we cannot guess what this is about.”

He looked at the monk and asked,

“I heard that an old man took in the three of you as monks, so what did you hear from him?”

“I don’t know.”

Do Cheol was a bit taken aback.

“For me to be the last one left, I am the stupidest of the three. I even forgot almost everything I was taught as a child. I will try to think hard about…”

‘I cannot believe my own mind’ was what his expression said.

“Anyway, you need to be alert from now on, monk.”

Seol Young decided that it was critical to make him cautious.

“Your life is at stake now, monk.”

Zaha said.

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“The first time was a dream, the second time was in reality, and the third time he appeared behind your back, and at this rate, doesn’t it mean he is coming to kill you?”

Seol Young nodded without saying anything.

He didn’t show any expression in front of Do Cheol, but his heart sank as he listened to the story. If they hadn’t rushed here, the monk would have been in big trouble.

“So it’s tonight, right?”

Zaha frowned.

“It is starting.”

His golden eyes felt strange to look at—like those of an animal that had been messing around for far too long and had decided to hunt for real.

‘He is more daunting than the Hwarang spirit.’

What should this be phrased as?

Should it be called avoiding the wolf only to know a tiger is waiting?

Seol Young thought for a moment as he opened his mouth.

“I have something to say, so listen to…”

Zaha’s expression seemed to say, ‘huh?’ Then, Seol Young looked up.

“That I should go? Right from the start, I had to endure the boredom of following you around! I would even speak of your efforts to the Governor so that there would be no hurdles in your work! You man, do you have any conscience?!”

“Who told you to go?”

Seol Young hated him for that.

“You don’t really go because you are told to go, right? No matter how much I say that I will not give up my spiritual energy, you will not listen. Why bother talking about it?”

“Then what is it about?”

“The monk.”

Seik Young spoke softly.

“That monk doesn’t know your real face. He probably seems to think of you as someone who came to save him. Isn’t it pitiful? Even though he is so innocent, he is about to die with a single slash from an evil spirit.”

“Well…”

“Sa Daham is known to be strong, and there might be a situation where I cannot protect the monk. When that happens, can you protect him? I do realize that I shouldn’t be asking you this. However, if you still have at least a few memories remaining when you fought against spirits and protected people…”

“Well….”

Zaha spoke with a sullen face.

“I guess I will be busy as I am.”

Something snapped in Seol Young’s mind.

He hated bowing his head to someone, especially if it was to someone who gave up his humanity.

Still, he bowed and pushed down his pride for the sake of the innocent monk.

‘As expected, this is pointless.’

The door swung open, and the monk, Do Cheol, hid behind it as he looked at them.

It seemed like he was curious about something, and Seol Young called him.

“This is good. Come out.”

“Uh?”

“You should think as if this person doesn’t exist. So find a way to live.”

Seol Young took the monk outside the temple.

“First, you need to understand the situation here. The spirit will come to us if we stay in a certain place. In this place, we can set up a trap.”

Seol Young untied the stones in his belt and buried them in equal intervals at the entrance of the room where Do Cheol was.

“A trap?”

“No.”

Seol Young went into the room.

He sat down and took out twelve talismans that he had made in advance. They were talismans that would rip apart if a ghost walked past them.

Seol Young placed all of the talismans, one by one, in a round circle.

He was sweating profusely from concentrating as he worked meticulously to capture a powerful ghost.

Eventually, he had finished preparing the talismans and concealed them.

“…”

Do Cheol continued to watch him.

“No wonder! I heard that ghosts can see what I am doing in my dreams so clearly! Do you have a mysterious talent or something? Then the Hwarang over there….”

“Do not look at that person!”

Seol Young grabbed Do Cheol and made him sit. The room began to turn dark.

A loud sound could be heard from outside in the midst of silence, enough to hear the sound of a needle dropping.

The monks of the temple were reciting mantras. They had heard about the situation, so Seol Young knew that the monks were doing this for a cause.

Seol Young was grateful for the support of the monks and prepared his sword.

“Listen to me…”

The voice of the monks grew louder and louder. He was memorizing each word heart by heart.

A mantra against demons.

It contained the power to subdue evil spirits. The holy power of Buddha rose like a tower and surrounded them on all sides.

‘Come to think of it….’

Seol Young looked at the side. He had ignored him since their conversation earlier.

The mantras against demons were not good for those with demonic energy. Usually, the pain was enough to make them want to puke blood.

‘He has a strong energy, so he won’t take much damage…’

But Zaha surely seemed uncomfortable. Depending on the wavelength of the mantra, his golden aura seemed unsteady.

After seeing that, Seol Young went back to ignoring him, but he was reminded of something when he saw that golden aura.

So, he asked,

“Why don’t you use it?”

“Use what?”

Zaha pretended not to know.

“What do you think? The golden light…”

“Monk.”

He ignored Seol Young’s words and looked at Do Cheol.

“Nice. Because I am a good person, if things get dangerous, come behind me.”

Um?

Seol Young doubted his ears.

Did this devil change his mind?

‘It cannot be that, so…’

He sent him a doubtful look.

It was then…

Rustle!

A sharp burst of sound resounded everywhere. The stones buried in the ground seemed to be broken.

Do Cheol screamed,

“What do I do? Everything seems broken!”

“We buried them so that they would break.”

Those stones couldn’t block anything. They played the role of an alarm when the ghost would start to move.

‘As I thought, it is fast.’

Seol Young immediately raised his spiritual power to the maximum, and his blue sword burned brightly.

At the same time, someone strode into the room.

A Hwarang in a jade-colored robe.

The evil aura rising from his body was too thick and vivid.

He could see that everything around him was turning black. It was as if this man had committed a terrible massacre.

How did Sa Daham turn into such an evil spirit?

Seol Young tried to look back on what he could remember about the man.

But everything was dark. It was as if the man was blocking anything regarding him from coming out.

It was the same as when he handled the painting. The strong tenacity of the spirits.

Sa Daham’s eyes flashed and turned to Do Cheol.

He didn’t even look around. It was like he could spot the monk, and Seol Young swung his sword.

Pat.

Seol Young’s talisman technique activated when Sa Daham walked past them, and Seol Young accurately hit Sa Daham’s body.

But what is this?

The sharp blade from the center of the talismans he swung was bright, but Sa Daham simply pushed it back and countered it.

‘It cannot be!’

It was fast…

Chachacha

….and three to four of the talismans were knocked down.

Sa Daham’s sword was moving so fast that even Seol Young’s Blue Rainbow couldn’t handle it. The blade almost touched his neck.

Was this possible?

Seol Young couldn’t believe it, despite seeing it with his own eyes.

How could he get pierced like this?

At that moment…

“Ack!’

Do Cheol made sure to run, and with his huge buddy, he hid behind Zaha.

“What? You said I should hide behind you if I were in danger!”

The room was already a mess.

Sa Daham was only interested in Do Cheol. He pushed Seol Young back and immediately swung his sword. As if Zaha didn’t even matter, he was ready to cut through Zaha and get Do Cheol.

“Do you not see the people here?”

Zaha looked angry. After blocking the sword, a doubt crossed his eyes.

“…?”

Sa Daham wasn’t a Sword Spirit but a Sword God.

All of his attacks were swift and constantly changing, making them impossible to predict. Zaha was also only able to block them from time to time.

“Ack!”

Do Cheol screamed.

He had to move because Zaha and the spirit were constantly moving, and now Sa Daham’s sword was pointed at him.

“I am going to die from this!”

Zaha quickly pulled back his sword and managed to evade the attack, so his robe was cut instead. The hem of his robe fluttered.

For a moment, Seol Young had an idea.

“Monk! Come here!”

Pulling him beside him, he cut the other talismans.

Sa Daham was focused on Do Cheol alone. As the circle activated, his range of concentration was shaken.

It was very short, but it was enough to cast the right trick.

Seol Young began to recite a mantra while protecting Do Cheol.

“… heed the call!”

At that moment, Sa Daham’s sword pierced the end of the circle.

A gigantic being with great power appeared. Its entire body was made of muscles, and it held a sword with both hands.

Seol Young didn’t miss the chance and pushed Sa Daham with all his might toward the exact center of the circle.

Bang!

The two talismans exploded. In an instant, his vision turned white.

Everything would finally end.

Seol Young was sure.

He clearly saw the spirit’s black form getting caught up in the middle of the circle.

But….

Before the flash faded, a shadow went out of the circle.

Nonsense!

Seol Young was shocked.

Sa Daham’s body was engulfed in white fire. It meant that the circle worked fine.

But he was able to get out of the circle. He managed to get his spiritual body out of it before being caught in the explosion.

This meant…

‘His movement is a lot faster than when the spell activated?’

In the blink of an eye, Sa Daham’s sword moved toward Do Cheol’s head.

“Kuaaak!”

Do Cheol screamed and covered his head.