Subdued Soul Chronicle

‘Why is it not cutting?’

Many thoughts crossed his mind, but in reality, it was just a brief moment.

Still, considering the speed of Dead Slayer, it should have been an instant. For some reason, the sword that was supposed to cut down the spirit was stuck.

The owner seemed lost.

In the silence where time seemed to have stopped…

The laughter of a child could be suddenly heard and they came to their senses.

It was as if he finally realized the darkness in front of him was an illusion.

“The joke has gone too far.”

His face was stiff.

It seemed like he misunderstood it as Seol Young playing a prank. Since he was at a loss for words, Seol Young just held out the earrings. And in the dark, one of Zaha’s earrings glowed.

His expression changed once he figured out the thief.

‘Phew…’

After clearing up the misunderstanding, it seemed like he was finally ready to let go of the sword, so Seol Young reached for the goblin.

Even though the goblin was young, it wasn’t like what it did was unintentional. It knew everything and thought that it was fun for him to die, and it almost got Seol Young killed.

‘So bye.’

Seol Young destroyed it right there. The situation ended, and for some reason, he got chills once it ended.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid of death. He thought he could get revenge by becoming a spirit.

Death meant death.

So maybe that was why his body trembled at the thought of what just happened.

He looked at Zaha.

“Do not tremble. The misunderstanding has now been cleared.”

“I know.”

Seol Young’s voice cracked.

“But why didn’t you cut me down?”

“Right.”

Zaha shrugged his shoulders.

“I thought you would.”

“…”

He was speechless.

He said that he would kill anyone who would change, but when the same thing happened after Jeok Ryun-rang’s soul transfer….

It was possible because it wasn’t a real situation.

However, if it actually happened, he wouldn’t go stiff. He himself seemed to have realized that now.

“It’s because the house is so big. There is a lot of space for the dead.”

Seol Young spoke without much hesitation.

“It’s because a lot of people have to live in it, but it doesn’t. So others try to fill this place, and if nothing is done…”

“Right.”

Zaha looked at Seol Young with a stiff face and turned around.

Then Seol Young asked him again,

“Where are you going?”

“I am tired.”

“I brought drinks.”

“I’m not in the mood today.”

His tone was calm, but not his eyes. He had always thought he could cut down a Disfigured Spirit right away, and not being able to do it was such a shock to him.

And the target which he had to kill was….

Wasn’t it Seol Young whom he was supposed to work with to take down the God of Cataclysm?

It was more shocking.

‘I didn’t want to surprise him like this.’

Seol Young frowned.

He said that no one knew why a person’s soul became disfigured. But in the despair brought by the God of Cataclysm, he heard that it happened so frequently.

Seol Young never experienced it, so he couldn’t be sure of anything, but weren’t they dangerous?

It felt like he shouldn’t leave Zaha alone, but the man was already heading out.

Seol Young hurriedly followed him, and said,

“I saw it when the confrontation with Jeok Ryun-rang began. First, you spoke insensitively, and then you spoke about taking down a Disfigured Spirit. If one saw that, they would think that you were trying to…”

Zaha just walked away.

‘Whether you listen or not, it is up to you. And I will just continue talking.’

Seol Young continued.

“This is why you shouldn’t make other people misunderstand. You saved Third-rang and woke him up from the curse of the Devil Lair Lord. You joked around as if it were nothing even if his head would fall yet eventually you helped… So it seems like you are alright.”

So even in the situation where the evil spirit who lost its sanity seized the chance to kill Seol Young, Seol Young could stay calm because he believed him.

But didn’t those beliefs push Zaha to death?

He couldn’t forget that.

“Still, compared to 8 years ago, things seem to be better. At that time, I heard that many Hwarangs died.”

“…”

“I don’t know if it is because its power has been taken away, or maybe its plans changed but for now, the evil spirit is focusing on us two alone. And touching the people around us is its way to attack us. So it isn’t as messy as it was in the past, even though I hated it, thanks to the things we did.”

“…”

“I wanted to talk about that. While dealing with Jeok Ryun-rang’s spirit this time, I think I found out why the technique you used eight years ago failed.”

He continued to walk down the long hallway, but Zaha slowed down a little.

“Even if it is a failure, it is just the technique that failed. And it had dealt enough damage. Because that evil spirit hadn’t been able to do anything for the last eight years.”

Seol Young said while walking.

“I can no longer see the book, which is said to hold the secret technique of the monk, but I tried to think about it in my own way. The technique seems to summon an evil spirit and then imprison it in a body by making the evil spirit possess it. After that, the soul of the caster gets offered as a sacrifice, and the evil spirit will be taken down.”

“….”

“But that technique was incomplete. It would have worked on an ordinary goblin, but the God of Cataclysm was too strong, so it was able to break down the powerful technique.”

“….”

“As the technique got nullified, the caster’s soul didn’t return. Even though you didn’t wake up, you must have been fighting the evil spirit again, and thanks to that, it seems like you had caught its demonic energy before it escaped.”

“….”

“Because of that mysterious spirit, the corpse must have come back to life. Despite being clearly dead, you still came back to life. So aren’t we probably dealing with a spirit that we have never witnessed before? Well.”

The moonlight began to shine into the dark hallway, and the shadows of the old items in the room became visible.

“Honestly, neither of us knows. After dealing with the God of Cataclysm, what happened to the demonic energy inside the body?”

Seol Young let out his thoughts.

“You are moving like a living person right now, but I don’t know what will happen when the source of the demonic energy vanishes. There is no way that such a thing could have been thought about.”

“…”

“So I figured out that the solution is to learn sorcery.”

Finally, Zaha stopped, and he turned around with a face that said it was absurd.

It seemed so absurd that he forgot he was revealing his emotions.

“You want me, the Hwarangs’ High Governor, to learn sorcery?”

“I can see that you were listening.”

Seol Young responded.

“Honestly, aren’t you a little bit curious? You can find out more about the things that have been happening in the capital. For a Hwarang, you already know a lot about sorcery, and besides, seeing as you imitated something like a talisman on a paper the other day, you have talent in it.”

“Are you being real?”

“Yes. This isn’t just about suppressing the demonic energy but using it.”

“I have already used it a few times.”

“Not that way.”

Seol Young glanced at the pond outside.

“If you forcibly suppress flowing water, won’t the pressure build up and cause the dam to burst? If you set it free, you can use the water to move a big ship. Maybe with the state of your body close to being healed, the demonic qi within your body is being suppressed too much, and you might experience strange sights and visions. Like, do you think anyone can come up with anything more than this?”

“…”

“Since the Great Mother is helping you, it would be fine for you to use the demonic qi and control it. Which is why I am asking you to learn it.”

Seol Young sighed as he knew he had spoken too much…

“Finally, I said all I knew. I was planning to tell you this and surprise you in order to get revenge for the alcohol ban you did the last time.”

He thought back on the words he said, and Zaha looked at him with a puzzled look.

Ignoring him, Seol Young opened the door, and the couple were waiting in the study.

“We found the earring.”

He summarized it in one word, and the couple smiled.

“As we thought!”

“We had such a hard time finding it. My throat is dry.”

“We will get you something to drink.”

The couple left, and Seol Young sat on the chair.

Zaha frowned.

“You can leave.”

“I need to teach you sorcery.”

“Stop talking nonsense and head home.”

“I had a hard time finding it, and I don’t want to walk. My throat hurts from talking too much, and I think I am getting a fever….”

Seol Young picked up a fan on the table and smiled bitterly.

“Come to think of it, Hwa Un-rang dropped his fan.”

“To get drunk before even drinking. It is a righteous weapon, and something that a hand shouldn’t lose.”

“Really. When I apologized for what I did seven years ago, he was so surprised that he dropped his fan.”

“What?”

Zaha asked with a doubtful face.

“Did you apologize to Hwa Un-rang first?”

“Yes. I think it was too much to throw him into the pit.”

“Pit? You said the troops were lost and wandering around?”

“Ah, was that a secret?”

Seol Young opened the fan and stood up.

“Wait! Were you surprised? Twice? That is the 100-day ban.”

And the couple came in right then and prepared several dishes with just one glass.

Seol Young wondered and asked.

“I was planning to give back one of the two glasses. How did you know only to bring one?”

“Uh?”

“How did you know that the High Governor lost a bet and should not drink for another one hundred days?”

“….?”

The couple seemed shocked.

“You made such a bet… You have been fooled again. Our master gave up drinking a long time ago.”

“Uh?”

“After returning to the capital, he said he would stop drinking, singing, or partying to cultivate, and he refused to speak more.”

The couple smiled at Seol Young.

“Seol Young-rang must be feeling thirsty, so we prepared the alcohol first. We will get the tea soon.”

And they hurried out.

“…”

Seol Young sat down.

“Like a fool.”

Zaha spoke.

“If you had thought about it, you would have realized. When I came back to the capital, I couldn’t control the demonic qi. So what would have happened if I was drunk?”

“…”

“You didn’t know that, and I tried to imitate your actions and pretended to be afraid of not drinking, and you believed it? How ridiculous you were for doing all that just to win. This is why I said you were in my palm. Just give up.”

And then he smiled. It was the first time he smiled after seeing the vision of the Disfigured Spirit.

“What? Save your Third-rang, wake the curse of the Devil Lair Lord, being careful of not getting you killed, but in the end… weren’t they all just things you did to mislead me?”

The fan was now in Zaha’s hand. And with an arrogant face, he said,

“How perfect can I be? To be less perfect, I don’t know how to do that!”

“…”

Seol Young bit his lips. It was fortunate that he was expressing it shamelessly, but why was his stomach burning?

‘This…’

His anger was rising, so Seol Young took the bottle and gulped it down.