Subdued Soul Chronicle

Hyo Wol asked with red eyes.

“What does it say?”

“I need to look.”

Seol Young opened the first page, but there was nothing.

On the outside, it clearly held his name.

But unlike the others, there was nothing left behind. It was just the same on every page.

“I think that the keepsake is the robe he gave me. And there’s no will either…”

Still, he wished something had been written. Perhaps the High Governor didn’t have enough time to write to everyone individually.

Seol Young looked down at the book and closed it.

Various Hwarangs were coming in through the wide-open door, receiving the books and going through them. They were crying and laughing as they looked through them.

“It seems like making fools of all of us for eight years wasn’t enough. He had to make us cry like this.”

Jin Rim sighed for a long time.

“I don’t know how to deal with this overwhelming feeling. It should have been something I had shouldered as the Governor but I was stupid and didn’t even notice it. If we had known the truth, none of us would have stayed silent… But perhaps he didn’t want us to act like that, knowing us so well.”

And then he shook his head.

“Even though we want to honor the will of the High Governor, we just think that we don’t know his heart and intentions. Still, at least Seol Young-rang is here. It would be nice if Seol Young-rang took care of matters not mentioned in the will.”

“Yes. I will do that.”

Seol Young bowed his head and responded.

Everyone was taking their respective books and reminiscing about the past.

The absence left by the departed was too vast to handle yet, but they believed that by reminiscing, they would eventually reach a point where they could accept it.

And there was nothing more to do for him.

Seol Young left behind the people lost in memories.

And he moved to the Sun and Moon Troops’ basement.

He went in and took out the ring, which he kept in his pocket. As it was activated by magic, the small baby dragon appeared.

“Senior should also leave.”

But Oni looked strange.

He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids kept drooping. His head kept bowing down. He seemed overwhelmed by drowsiness and didn’t know what to do.

“Senior, wake up.”

Seol Young put his hand on Oni’s head, and that was when he realized it.

Oni was a being powered by the qi of the Sun and Moon Troops. When Zaha was around, he handled all of this, but Seol Young lacked proficiency in it, so Oni was falling into hibernation.

“This cannot happen.”

If left alone, Oni would disappear.

Seol Young changed his mind and put the ring back on his finger. He wanted to make sure Oni would turn back to normal.

‘Senior Oni will also allow this.’

After looking around once more, he went out and locked the door. There would probably be no reason to come here again.

Seol Young left the Hwarangs’ Hall.

“Didn’t I tell you not to wear that?! Take those clothes off!”

As he walked, he heard the sharp cries of children and turned around. In the distance, he could see the Queen, the two princesses, and the Great Heavenly Pavilion Head. Seeing the Hwarang in mourning clothes, the two princesses burst into tears.

“No one died! No one died!”

The Queen didn’t try to calm her daughters, and put her hands together in the direction of Seol Young.

Seol Young bowed his head to them and left the Moon Palace.

The winter sun was blinding his eyes. Before entering the golden-roofed mansion, Seol Young looked at the gate.

The view of this house riding high in the sky among the clouds.

He didn’t realize it until now, but it was a nice sight.

The gate opened without a sound.

“Seol Young-rang!”

The couple rushed out, and he was speechless at this.

Did no one tell them about what happened? How were they even able to speak?

But then, he looked at the tears flowing down their eyes.

“We thought Seol Young-rang would never visit this place again.”

“Not at all. Why?”

Seol Young ushered them inside.

The garden, the building—everything he saw was familiar, as if it were his own home. This reminded him how often he would come here.

Seol Young looked at the two and apologized to them.

“I apologize for not saying anything about the High Governor’s situation all this time and deceiving both of you.”

“No. even if we knew, nothing would have changed. Rather, we would have made our master uncomfortable with cries and screams…”

The couple wiped their tears and shook their heads.

“Actually, we were people who learned from the same teacher, but after living a life of sin by using sorcery, we settled down with the young master. He said that all we had to do was look after the house.”

“We have been doing our best to serve him despite being unsure of the tasks, but now we don’t know what to do. We cannot stop the tears from flowing. Seol Young-rang, what do we do?”

Seol Young looked at them for a moment and then moved to the main hall.

“There surely must be something left. I will look for it.”

He opened the door, which had been broken and repaired, and went in. The first thing he saw was an empty chair.

He passed by it and stood at the desk. The papers were all scattered around as if saying, ‘Touch them, and I will find out’.

When he lifted them up, there were two envelopes.

One was a letter to the couple, and the other to Zaun.

Seol Young handed the envelope to the couple.

“Read this.”

“Oh my…”

The couple read the letter with tears falling down.

“This house will be left for the Hwarnags, so he wants us to take care of it.”

It was a decisive decision.

Soon, this place would be bustling with activity, just like he had seen in the other world.

He wasn’t sure if it would be good, but the thought of the familiar surroundings disappearing made him feel strange.

Seol Young got lost in thoughts for a moment before snapping out of it.

“Hand this over to the lady.”

He handed them the other letter and then entered the house through the door on the other side of the study. He walked alongside the corridor and stopped in front of a vase full of peonies.

He reached out to it, and a piece of bamboo leaf, which was hidden in them, came out.

Now, it was time to use sorcery and call back the energy used to protect the owner of this house.

Otherwise, there could be a disaster. If the target of the spell disappeared, the flow of energy would lose its direction.

Seol Young walked around the mansion and collected the talismans and bamboo leaves. The long and winding hallway. The table where everyone gathered to drink tea. The pond they brought out the water ghost…

He circled around them and finally climbed onto the roof. After removing the talisman hidden there, he paused for a moment and looked down.

The streets of the city.

Everyone seemed happy for the coming new year.

On the other side of the snow-covered streets, he could see women walking in long skirts and fur coats. The image of the God of Cataclysm, who had such similar outfit, shone over them and then vanished.

A world where curses had disappeared.

‘We achieved what we wanted to, but he cannot even look at it.’

Seol Young got down the roof and went back to the study.

Another empty chair caught his eye. He turned his gaze to see the Go board on the desk.

‘Are you happy?’

As he stared blankly, he heard footsteps running somewhere. And through the half-open door, he saw a Hwarang dressed in the Sun and Moon Troops’ uniform pass by.

Did he just see the memories left in this house?

‘Have you ever been happy?’

Tears ran down his cheeks, and once they started to flow, they didn’t stop.

“As expected, I just can’t do it. Even if everyone is having a hard time now, they will accept this one day, but not me.”

Seol Young mumbled.

“You wanted to live. I know you didn’t want to die this time. So that is why I was trying to…”

His voice was low in the empty room.

“You said you wanted to live by your own rules when everything was done? You said you wanted to live freely and play Go in your free time or wanted to travel to India…. Why did you do that then?”

His eyes blurred, unable to see anything. Still, tears didn’t stop. No matter how many times he saved and helped him, Seol Young never greeted him with a smile.

“I did wrong…”

Tears fell down so much that his heart hurt….

Then, suddenly, there was a sound of hands being clapped.

“Seol Young-rang, calm down.”

A clear voice that made him jerk his head back in surprise.

He wiped his tears and looked around, but there was no one there.

The chair was still empty. The place was empty. Even the painting there that shone brightly didn’t even cast a shadow.

Not a single person was around.

But it was clear that someone was there.

He heard the voice clearly. Even for a moment, the smell of wood incense passed through his nose.

“High Governor?”

Seol Young asked.

“Are you in here?”

The sound of running footsteps echoed around. He could hear someone laughing, so he looked back.

But there was nothing other than the slightly open door. The moment he turned his head lightly, a light flashed in front of his eyes.

[I think I found the reason why the first time failed. The real reason.]

A clear voice again.

[You were right. One shouldn’t hold hatred or anger within his heart. Otherwise, flaws will inevitably arise. Then, they will sneak out unnoticed. Everything is essentially empty—no sense, no thought, no action, no remorse. Only in a state of no thought can we enter the world of complete Nirvana. Even though I knew that, I couldn’t practice it.]

Seol Young finally realized what was happening. He was reading the clear thoughts left behind in this house. As if the house were being projected.

[It is different this time. Complete Nirvana. The end. I will drag it into that and finish it with my sword.]

Seol Young said,

“Then you too will be hit by the Dead Slayer Sword and perish forever.”

[Which is why I need to be careful and stab it.]

The voice came back.

[You said the goal is to live? If one dies, then it doesn’t count as a win.]

“But is there a way not to die?”

[Of course, I will cease to exist. Because it is inevitable. But if I finally win, even if I fight thousands of times with the demonic qi which swallowed my body…]

“Then?”

[Whether it is the middle scale, the three thousand worlds, or the lotus field world, I’ll find my way back from anywhere.]

“Is that even possible?”

He could hear laughter.

It was only then that Seol Young knew what happened. The qi of the Sun and Moon Troops.

The silver qi remaining in this space was headed toward one point.

The Go board. Seol Young quickly approached and turned the board over, and he saw glittering letters there.

‘Should we make a bet?’