Subdued Soul Chronicle

While staring blankly at it, the vision was slowly disappearing. And the top of the table and the floor looked normal again.

Everything seemed like a lie, and only red afterimages remained.

Seol Young looked down at the pocket knife, which was cut into two. And when he moved his hand, the metal felt so brittle that it turned to powder at the touch of his finger.

“How am I fine?”

“Be grateful to the enemy and me as well. In case you didn’t know, my excellent method of breaking it down worked.”

“Well. Wonderful.”

Seol Young wasn’t being sarcastic, he was being honest.

If he were even a little bit late, then the dice would have stopped and it would have decided how he would die.

Seol Young mumbled,

“That woman again.”

“Woman?”

Zaha immediately asked. He just told him what he saw through the vision.

A woman threw the dice.

Was she the same woman who cast a shadow and the one behind the mask incident within the palace? The one with the same energy as Zaha?

He couldn’t figure it out, but one thing was certain.

“I am not sure who it was, but it must have something to do with peach blossoms.”

“Peach blossoms.”

Zaha mumbled.

“We cannot leave this be. We need to head to the Gul Yeon River soon.”

He got up and pushed the curtain, but he didn’t go outside.

“Why are you going inside?”

“Seol Young-rang, just how shameless can you be?”

He sighed and pulled out a money pouch.

“Get it cashed out.”

“That is my money. The pouch I gave you at the inn.”

Strictly speaking, it was Song Ok’s money. Anyway, when Zaha went outside, Seol Young sat back down.

And when he was alone, he took out the Ghost Face Wooden Mask and looked at it. The monster had both of its eyes closed. It seemed like it had fallen asleep.

‘You will need it, so sleep more.’

Seol Young stroked its head and put it back.

He felt bad. But if he didn’t stop the attack of the mask on Zaha, he wouldn’t have gotten help from the Dead Slayer sword.

Both sides played a good role.

He lifted the curtain.

“Let’s go quickly. Before someone sees us.”

And at Zaha’s urging, they left the gambling house.

Alcheon flowed to the north of the city, and Moryangcheon streamed on the west side.

The point where the two rivers met was called ‘Baby Cleansing.’ It was a place where deep blue water overflowed all year. And the river that flowed from there and into the sea was called the Gul Yeon River.

And there was a pavilion on the cliff that overlooked it.

The Golden Hidden Tower.

It was a famous spot in the city for its scenic beauty. Nobles would gather there every spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

But the sky was cloudy that day, and even the tower seemed quiet.

There were several fishing boats on the water. The Baby Cleansing was deep, and it always brought in a lot of fish, so it was usually a noisy place.

When Hwarangs carrying swords appeared, they all went silent, and they all looked at each other with stiff faces.

It wasn’t that they were unfamiliar with Hwarangs. They were just on guard.

“They seem hostile?”

“You caused the change in the atmosphere.”

Zaha confidently replied and then handed Seol Young the money pouch. The people immediately moved away.

“I did change it.”

Seol Young couldn’t say anything because of his shamelessness.

Apart from that, it made sense for people to run. Just a few days ago, a murder occurred on the same river, and like these fishermen here, they were the first to discover the corpse.

So wouldn’t they be surprised?

It was natural for them to be wary of Hwarangs carrying swords.

“It cannot be helped.”

“What are you going to do?”

Instead of answering, Seol Young put his hands together.

‘Teacher, just this once.’

First, he asked for forgiveness from his teacher in the sky and then approached a middle-aged woman who was tending a fish trap.

Even though she was quite busy, she kept glancing at them. And when Seol Young approached her, she went stiff.

And Seol Young told her.

“Mother, I am sorry. I hid it in a pile of straw in the kitchen.”

She was taken aback.

“What did you say just now?”

“Mother, I am sorry. I hid it in a pile of straw in the kitchen.”

Seol Young said it again.

“Can’t you hear it? She’s been repeating it behind your back.”

The woman was surprised.

“W-Who?”

“A woman.”

Of course, there was no one there. But her expression had changed, and it felt like she knew something.

“…!”

The woman hurriedly ran home.

After a while, she ran back again with her hand holding something.

“What does this child look like?”

“A long face and a dark blue wart on her left temple.”

“Bok Ryeom!”

The woman wept loudly as she stroked a white jade ring. Listening to her, it seemed like she had a daughter who was mischievous and died.

“It is nice to get this lost ring back…”

Zaha lowered his voice and asked,

“Her daughter wasn’t really behind her, right?”

“…”

“Is it okay to do this?”

“Of course not.”

Seol Young replied. It wasn’t the child’s soul that told him.

Actually, there was no soul. It was something dark enough to be a thought and light enough to be called a spirit that was hanging thinly behind her back.

That was what Seol Young looked into.

His late teacher strictly forbade him to peek into such things. And if he continued to do such a thing, his teacher told him that he wouldn’t be able to continue to live normally. And young Seol Young nodded at his teacher, but he asked,

-What if I had to do it to survive?

And his teacher answered,

-Then there is nothing you can do about it.

That is the case now. The people who had fled earlier gathered one by one.

“Is there a child who died without having any children? It is said that he hid some of his properties to pass them on to his offspring, who would hold an ancestral rite….”

“My grandmother said that it isn’t him, not him, another son-in-law…”

Everything Seol Young said matched their situations. Everyone was too excited about this.

“Are you the Bodhisattva? I hear you often appear in the form of a Hwarang!”

“Ehh, why would such a person be here? He is a Hwarang.”

“Then, what does the Hwarang need to come to such a place?”

The words spread.

Seol Young wanted this to end and winked at Zaha, who was watching.

“Actually, we came to ask a couple of things from the people of this village.”

For now, they are lucky.

“We are looking for a woman. It is likely she once lived around here or died here, and someone deeply related to peach blossoms.”

“Maybe her name is Dohwa.”

Zaha added, and the atmosphere suddenly shifted.

The people, who were asking many things, went silent. They all had terrified expressions on their faces.

“I don’t know! I know nothing!”

Everyone tried to leave, but Zaha was already blocking their path.

He quickly opened the pouch and began to give silver coins to those who seemed a little more willing to talk.

“You realize we are not suspicious people. We are doing this to relieve the grudge of a ghost.”

“…”

The people exchanged a couple of glances with a terrified look on their faces. They began to talk amongst themselves, and then they finally came to a conclusion.

“If you want to release the grudge… follow me.”

The villagers took the lead.

Eventually, they arrived at the house of the village elder.

“In this village, when high-ranking people come to us, we first set our guard against them, so you must have felt upset.”

The elder served them tea and spoke very cautiously.

He seemed like a well-educated person, and the way he served tea felt like he was used to it.

“Thirty years have passed, but when I see the blue water in the river, I remember that incident so clearly. But I never thought such a thing would happen again! Servants from a high-ranking family had come to threaten us and tried to destroy our things…”

“Of course, they must have been the servants of that lady, right?”

Zaha spoke with a sneer.

“Didn’t she say that your tongue would be cut off if you spoke anything about the body found here?”

“Yes.”

This much was expected.

Seol Young, recalling the lady of the house, said,

“But we aren’t here to know about the body of the young master.”

“Yes, yes, I know. You two want to know about the incident that happened thirty years ago.”

Even though he said that, he didn’t seem like he was willing to speak right away, as if he was still frightened.

“Wait a second.”

Before speaking, he bowed in four directions, lit an incense stick, and then prayed.

Amidst his prayer, only one word was spoken clearly,

“Dohwa?”

“Yes, yes.”

The elder spoke.

“Since ancient times, women who are exceptionally pretty, like peach blossoms, have been called Dohwa.¹ The same went for the wife that a certain king fell in love with in the past.”

“King Jinji and Do Hwa-rang.”

“Yes. Right. Even though she had a husband, she was the most beautiful woman in the capital, and even after the king’s death, she didn’t give up and eventually went to see her child in the body of a ghost, but the story was…”

The elder looked around once more and lowered his voice.

“But the woman we speak of is not that woman. It is the evil spirit that throws dice and kills people according to it.”

1. TL/N: Peach blossom flower ️