Subdued Soul Chronicle

[Are you going to act like this despite knowing my unfortunate story?]

All the flowers were asking him. Each petal came rushing at him, and they were as sharp as blades. The fragments of the red blades seemed to attack in waves.

“I told you to stop!”

Seol Young countered them.

The shape of a blue talisman floated in the air. It collided head-on with the peach blossom petals.

Puak!

With a creepy sound, the petals were all crushed.

They occasionally scratched Seol Young’s body, turning it bright red.

[I will kill you!]

One could feel the resentment she held. The red and sticky petals began to clump together on the wall.

‘Park Si-ryang is dead, so I will kill his son.’

‘Because Bae Myung is dead, I will kill his nephew.’

‘Kim Heon-wei is dead, so I will kill his son.’

The bloody letters moved as if they were alive. The anger she had was so clear and strong that it felt like it was crossing the boundaries of the two worlds.

[I will kill them!]

The entire wall seemed like it was screaming in pain, and the talisman exploded.

“Then I will save them.”

Seol Young said this without blinking an eye.

“All three of them.”

The bloody petals and the blue talisman collided in the air. And neither of them backed down.

“Miss Dohwa. I understand your anger. It is true that they did not pay for their crimes.”

Seol Young said to her,

“But aren’t the children born into the men’s families born without a choice? They might not be great kids, but did they commit a sin enough for them to die so cruelly?”

The petals moved around and screamed. Even though the talismans were blocking them, she showed no signs of backing down.

Seol Young’s hand drew talismans in succession. All of them floated in the air.

“You no longer belong to this world. I will make the crime committed by those seven families public to the world, so do not mess with this place anymore, and….”

The talismans exploded, and Seol Young screamed,

“Leave!”

They were chaos-banning talismans meant to chase away evil spirits.

In front of this powerful force, Dohwa couldn’t stand it and was pushed back.

[I will definitely kill them!]

Her angry, resentful shout hurt their ears.

“Then I will definitely save them.”

Seol Young didn’t change his answer either. And then the red petals began to create a whirlwind as they went around him.

And slowly, the place returned to normal. Everything that happened is now gone, like it was all a lie.

Except for the tea cups, which were turned over…

“What is this now?”

Zaha, who had been watching with his arms crossed, looked down at his clothes.

A few small petals clung to the black robe he wore. Like leeches, they were sucking his demonic qi.

He had to squeeze them with his fingers and crush them down. And he calmly said,

“A while ago, I thought about this. If it was the Ghost Demon King who conquered Mount Toham, he would have sided with the lady here…”

“Right.”

Seol Young answered.

“I thought that those who believed in strength and trampled on the weak should be given a taste of their own medicine. I thought it was justice.”

“And so?”

“I finally figured it out. Just because you have been beaten by your opponent doesn’t mean you were wrong, and just because you weren’t touched doesn’t mean you are right. Everyone pushes for what they believe is right.”

Saying so, Seol Young put his sword back.

“That is why I want to save the children of these sinners. Not because of some great sense of justice or mercy.”

“For your own conviction?”

Zaha looked at the wall.

The letters on the wall began to disappear, but he remembered the names.

“Park Si-ryang’s son, Bae Myun’s nephew, and Kim Heon-wei’s son. If she had kindly informed us like this, it means, ‘Try stopping me if you can,’ right?”

They didn’t have enough time.

After speaking to the village elder about a couple more things, they immediately left that place.

“Hahaha! An ambassador! To think we were selected!”

Three sons of some nobles were having a good time.

Being an ambassador meant that the chosen noble would participate in important rituals with the Hwarangs despite not being one. Among the nobles, young ones with good families and great personalities were carefully selected.

All three of them were excited at being selected, so they all rushed to a warehouse by the river, hoping to look good and proud in front of many.

But…

In front of them, Seol Young pulled out a thick rope.

The three men were shocked.

“Why the rope…?”

“From now on, I want everyone to obey my words. If you don’t obey me, even by a little, I will tie you with this rope.”

The three wanted to leave, but the entrance was blocked by Zaha. And unlike how he kindly informed them earlier, he now had a cold face, which scared them further.

“What is this? What wrong did we do….”

Needless to say, the three were the two sons and the one nephew of those whom Dohwa wasn’t able to punish.

In order to protect their lives against the evil spirit, they had to secure these people first. But they couldn’t just talk about Dohwa with these young men.

One could tell just by the reaction of the lady of the house.

The incident happened before her marriage, but after living with her husband for a long time, the wife should have come to know about it. It was a disgrace to the family she was married to, so she was angry.

The other families would act the same, so even if they brought up the story of Dohwa, they wouldn’t say anything.

And so they had to lie to them to bring them here.

“What are you doing? Can you just bring us here and then threaten us like this? I will inform the Ministry of Justice right now!”

The three young men shouted, but no one cared.

Seol Young took off their clothes and plucked out some of their hair. And he also found out the date and time of their birth. Then he gave each of them a talisman.

As soon as they held it in their hands, the paper burned, and black letters appeared on their faces.

“Ugh! What is this?”

“These are the letters engraved in the registry of the underworld. It means that a person who is destined to die or is on the list.”

At his words, the three men were shocked.

“Destined to die?”

“Do you know that Kim Yeo-chun’s eldest son died not too long ago?”

“I did hear about it…”

Then Seol Young told them the story about Dohwa.

“My father… what?”

They were shocked. The crime they heard about their fathers and uncle had done was horrible, and now the person they killed wanted to get revenge…

It was the first time they had heard of this.

“The evil spirit is blinded by vengeance, so she will try to drag you three out. The only way to survive is to follow what I say. And most importantly, do not leave this place.”

“How long?”

“Until the exorcism is done.”

Seol Young said it coldly.

“If you go outside, you will die. Even Seol Young-rang cannot save you.”

Zaha added.

They left the frightened men behind, and they clicked the door to lock it.

Around this warehouse, there were golden talismans hanging, and they made a strong barrier to prevent any evil spirit from entering. Talismans were attached to the bolts of the doors too.

“This side is also ready.”

The village elder approached and informed them.

The villagers had mixed feelings about the spirit. They felt not only fear but also guilt. That was why, when the Hwarangs said they were trying to ease the grudge, they all came to help.

“The shaman from Mount Jiri had gray hair. Her face was tanned, and her eyes were like those of a tiger. Just the sight of her gave me goosebumps.”

The village elder remembered how the exorcism was done last time.

“There was a pavilion right in the middle of that river there. And they built an altar right ahead.”

“As the shrine maiden was dancing while blowing the flute…. Swish! There was this roar, and things fell down.”

“And finally, one of the spiritual items fell. The shaman brought spiritual knives, and when she lifted the first knife, she had a seizure.”

“The shaman roared like a tiger as she swung the knife with both hands to slash down Dohwa, but she didn’t budge, and after several strikes, she began to bleed from her mouth.”

“The second and third knives were the same. The shaman competed with Dohwa with the dice in the middle. It was shocking to see! The sky had turned dark with clouds rolling in, and the river…. it was flowing wildly.”

Everyone spoke about it, and Seol Young listened to them seriously.

The sun was setting now.

“What is everyone doing outside?”

One of the three young men peeked through a crack.

“They are making an altar. And some knives too?”

“They didn’t start it yet?”

Park Won’s face distorted.

“What kind of nonsense is this? I had an appointment today!”

They kept looking outside.

The sun was setting, and the people were building an altar, but the Hwarangs weren’t visible.

“Well, this is stupid. I am leaving.”

Park Won’s words surprised the two.

“Didn’t you hear what they said earlier? Kim Yeo-chun’s son died in that horrible way because of it!”

“I don’t know. Can you really believe what the Hwarangs told us? He must have died from an illness.”

Park Won said.

“Even if that is true, what about it? It must be safer at home than here. I have a hundred men to protect me.”

He slammed his whole body into the side door that he had been peeking at earlier. After hitting it a couple of times, the bolts with the talismans broke.

“And we are free!”

Park Won walked out of the golden line that was drawn and escaped. He could see the clothes that Seol Young had taken off of them and put them on.

The other two couldn’t stop him, but they stayed inside.

“Won! Won! Wait! They said not to go out!”

“Huh! Cowards!”

Park Won laughed at them, but then something felt strange.

No matter how much he ran, he couldn’t get out of the river, and the same scene kept happening.

And then a soft voice sang to him. It was a sad song that touched his heart, which made him turn around.

There was a boat on the river and a woman with her back to him.

‘Wait. A woman…?’

They said the evil spirit was a woman who was trying to kill them, and they asked him to be alert, but it was too late.

The woman raised one hand, and something was visible.

A dice.

“Ack!”

Park Won tried to run.

But an invisible force gripped his body. He was dragged with a strength he couldn’t counter.

“Help me!”

Park Won screamed, trying to hold onto something, and then he grabbed the leg of someone.

He looked up and saw a Hwarang standing there with a white robe, and as if his face was frozen in ice, his eyes looked cold.

Park Won shouted,

“Ack! Help me! I didn’t try to run on purpose….!”

“Shut up.”

Seol Young shot back.

“Did you think I don’t see you nobles often? You people never follow what you are told. I knew you would run away and planned to take advantage of that right from the start.”

And he kicked the clinging man away.