Subdued Soul Chronicle

Unlike the noisy mansion, the streets were silent, and the celebration was done so there were no more people around.

The wooden spirit in the form of a wooden doll guided the way under the moonlight. Its movements were stiff, but its limbs were swift.

Zaha whispered as he watched it,

“I think she is hiding something from us. Maybe only from us.”

“And what could it be?”

“I need to find out after meeting her. I will refute her words so you find out what we are missing. Keep your mind straight.”

“Why do you keep saying that? You were the one drinking.”

“if you are going to listen to me, just stay here. From the looks of it, I seem more vicious than a ghost in this place.”

“It isn’t that, but the Seol Young-rang of this place is too gentle. Because both of his parents and teacher are alive.”

“Both of them are on my side, though, not yours.”

“You are mistaken. They think you are educating me and are just putting up with it.”

“How do you know?”

“I can tell at the sight of them. The carriage accident happened, and it seemed like I had gone lost at that time and went back to the Devil Lair. So how affectionate will they be? Even at the age of 20, if I arrive home late, they still greet me with lanterns in their hands. But if they find out that this is all the Governor’s prank, then they won’t let you live in peace.”

“Sure. Still, the one whom they trust is me, not you.”

“Do you want to bet?”

“I don’t understand why you like to bet this much despite not being a goblin.”

“I can do it.”

While talking, they moved and followed the doll. Eventually, they reached the southern side of the kingdom.

The place the doll was leading them to was the Southern Mount. It took the lead and climbed up the path it knew.

“Is this the destination?”

Seol Young looked around.

This place was where the Vermillion Bird Troops’ base was. Even at this time, the place seemed to shine.

They were careful, not wanting to bump into any Hwarangs who may be around. Meanwhile, the wooden doll continued to move.

And at some point, it finally stopped.

The four sacred lands in Silla that determined important events and the Four Spiritual Lands.

One of them was the Understanding Rock.

It was the rock that oversaw the capital, and where the officials held meetings to decide the fate of the nation.

And an octagonal table was there beyond that. Someone was there, looking down on the capital.

Seeing the darkness, Seol Young felt it.

“To think she protected this entire world, serving the last Tree God. She is amazing.”

“No.”

Jung Myung shook her head.

“I just did what I could do from the shadows. The people from the Hwarang troops do everything else. Even things that I couldn’t do.”

She took off her mask and gestured for them to sit.

“Sit.”

There were wooden tablets on the table. One was ‘for,’ which meant YES, and the other was ‘against,’ which meant NO.

Zaha turned his plank and said,

“I heard that officials come here and voice out their opinions. Right? Even if you leaked the secret of the heavens here, you would be able to avoid it because it would be a national affair. Is that why you called us here?”

“Yes.”

Jung Myung replied.

“Since the two of you are officials of the nation, it can be considered a place where you came for a shaman’s advice.”

Seol Young nodded.

“Good thinking. We always need to be careful.”

“Yes. Let’s get to the topic.”

Jung Myung lowered her voice.

“For the past one hundred years, I have been researching things. There is a wall of time and space between worlds, so moving between them may have seemed impossible, but there is a passage connecting the two. Well, maybe that’s how we were able to come here.”

She whispered.

“The oldest case in history was Heo Hwang Ok, the Queen of King Sura of Gaya. Empress Heo was said to have come from this distant kingdom called Ayuta, but according to the scholars at that time, such a kingdom didn’t even exist. That is why it was said that she had come from an unknown world.”

“What? Is that one of the three thousand worlds?”

“Right. I think she came here accidentally through the passage of the other world to this world. For example, like a ghost bridge.”

“Are you talking about the legend?”

Seol Young asked,

“The bridge between this world and the world of the ghosts?”

“Yes. That is the one. Of course, I know that if it were opened, it wouldn’t be something that could have been handled. All the evil spirits will come over and make this land a world of the dead.”

Jung Myung further lowered her voice,

“But there are safer ways, like little doors that can be secretly opened and closed with my eyes.”

Her eyes shone.

“I will open one for you two. And you can sneak out.”

Aha.

Seol Young and Zaha exchanged glances at that. They never thought that they would find such a comfortable way out.

But would this work?

Not even a three-year-old would be fooled.

“Our shaman is doing such boring tricks.”

Zaha stretched out his hands and turned the planks over. Seol Young did the same.

Two AGAINST appeared, and Jung Myung’s eyes widened.

“Are you saying you will not go out of the door I will open?”

“Yes.”

Zaha spoke, looking at Seol Young.

“Look here. Didn’t I say she would be fooling us?”

“Fool?”

Jung Myung was shocked.

“No! I did not lie to you!”

“Who said you lied? Leaving out what you have to say is also fooling.”

Zaha spoke in a cold manner.

“Everyone keeps forgetting things, but I was a priest too. How much insight do you have into such things? Where the hell is a door that a shaman can open at her will?”

“…”

Jung Myung looked embarrassed.

“The answer there is in your own story. I heard that when you first came to this world, the dying tree was in front of you, right? That must be the door. The door that you passed through.”

Zaha continued.

“Why was the door there? You can understand it just by thinking a little. Seol Young-rang, what is the root of the Tree God?”

“A singular thing.”

“What is a singular thing now?”

“A very long time ago, even before people lived, there was one giant tree that protected the land.”

“And?”

“And to the place where Emperor San’s son descended from heaven and established his capital….”

Seol Young stopped as he thought.

‘I see.’

His eyes widened in shock.

‘I should have thought about it a bit sooner…’

His parents, Teacher, and Hyungs were distracting him so much that he didn’t notice it.

Zaha said,

“According to the legend, the place where the son came down is under this one tree. In this way, the divine tree has played the role of a door connecting one world to another since ancient times. At the same time, it serves as a gatekeeper. It kept people from crossing the two worlds.”

Jung Myung’s face turned pale.

“Even if you were the last shaman of the world to hear the voice of the tree, the Divine Tree will not open the path and violate its duties. The tree will be punished for it.”

“…”

“Then how did the shaman come here? Simple. At that time, the tree lost its followers and was dying, so even if it tried to stop it, it was powerless.”

“….”

“But not now. Thanks to your efforts, the tree has life and is strong, so we cannot just go when we want to. If we go out, we have to do one of the two. Either kill the tree or push it to death.”

That was the problem.

This world only had one tree left, and it was the only path from this world to the other. And it was also the source of power that could suppress the God of Cataclysm.

What if such a tree was killed?

The answer was obvious.

“To get us out, the God of Cataclysm will have to be brought here.”

Seol Young looked at her.

“Is this right?”

“…”

She couldn’t deny it.

“Was this your plan? In exchange for letting us go, you were going to make it descend here?”

“Wait. It wasn’t something that I said without thinking.”

Jung Myung spoke with a pale face.

“There is a way. Even if it seems like I can’t, I can defeat it.”

Zaha asked,

“Is there a way to defeat it?”

“Yes.”

Jung Myung was eager.

“I was late because I was looking for it. There is just one way to kill it without the power of the Tree God.”

“And what is that?”

She shook her head.

“I cannot talk about it. But it is a sure way to help.”

Zaha looked at her.

“Shall I guess?”

“I cannot answer.”

“One life for another.”

Jung Myung was shocked.

“H-How did…”

People always thought such things. Seol Young’s face stiffened.

“It doesn’t work.”

“It is fine. Never mind. I am a cursed body. I don’t know what I am, but I am not a living person, so….”

“It isn’t that.”

Zaha cut off her words.

“It is true that I don’t intend to let you do the same, but the method itself is wrong.”

“Why?”

“Because I had tried and failed.”

“What?”

Jung Myung was shocked.

Suddenly, it felt like she was hit with something. She stared intently at him and finally saw it.

“No…”

She was too dumbfounded to even speak.

“Attack the tree, open the door, and let us out. Then, when it appears, know it and do the spell. That seems like your best plan….”

Zaha picked up another wooden plaque and turned it over.

“I am against it.”

“Me too.”

Seol Young also did the same.

“…”

Jung Myung didn’t know what to do. She looked at the sky, then at the ground, and then at both of them.

“Then what now?”

“What else? We will live here.”

Zaha said.

“Seol Young has parents and a teacher, and I can live as the Governor with an Aide in a world where nothing happens. How nice is this?”

After all, there was nothing this man’s mouth couldn’t say.

Seol Young looked at Zaha with frowning eyes.

“The High Governor can live here. I am leaving.”

Jung Myung asked.

“How?”

“As expected, there was an answer in the shaman’s words.”

Seol Young said,

“Isn’t there a gate that isn’t being guarded but a passage connecting the two worlds?”

“Ghost Gate?”

“It would be bad if it were opened. There should be another place. The boundary between the other world and this. I heard people did something there.”

Only then did it strike Jung Myung’s mind, as she said,

“… The tomb of the God of Cataclysm.”