Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 92: Flute Of Foreboding (12)

When Seol Young suddenly spoke, everyone looked at him.

Seo Geom went stiff as he said,

“Seol Young-rang, shouldn’t you just step back? You almost died at the hands of that beast!”

“Why would I die? I have many seniors looking after me, and it was not a failure but a success.”

Seol Young blinked and looked at the Governor.

“On this matter, I agree with the words of Lord Euljae.”

Euljae was surprised. He couldn’t believe such words had come out of Seol Young’s mouth.

Jin Rim tilted his head.

“What are your thoughts?”

“The story behind the sound of Seo Jun-rang’s flute.”

Seol Young answered.

“Before the Governor came, I visited the Sword Tomb here and examined the sword of Hae Cheon-rang, one of the six Hwarangs who died in the past, and discovered something. Something happened on their way back from the mission.”

Seo Geom intervened.

“Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that my hyung killed people.”

“That is true, but the facts and the truth are different things. We only know a part of it.”

Seol Young spoke to Jin Rim again.

“So if we catch Seo Jun-rang, can you give us a moment? To reveal the truth.”

“Ha….”

Seo Geom shook his head.

“You are still after that even when things have come to this? Aren’t you exhausted?”

“No. Seo Jun-rang wants to tell us something. I have no intentions of backing down until I hear it.”

“Governor. Seol Young-rang is not involved in this, so he can say such things without a thought. Just to satisfy his own curiosity! However, if this becomes known to the public, it will be difficult for us…”

“I will take responsibility.”

Zaha said.

Everyone was shocked.

“A dead person came back with such a strange appearance. And now the flute has been taken away, and we couldn’t stop him from escaping. I will say it is all my fault and give up my position so no one will blame the Blue Dragons.”

Silence fell.

Seo Geom spoke in shock,

“But High Governor…”

“What ‘But’?”

Zaha said angrily.

“Your brother might not be precious to you, but he is to me. And he is a Hwarang! Even if he is dead, he is one of us!”

“…”

“So give him a chance. He returned to tell us something, so we should shut up and listen!”

And then silence fell.

“There is nothing more to talk about. If the High Governor wants it, we shall follow him.”

Jin Rim ended it simply like that.

“I understand. We will not punish Seo Jun-rang right after catching him and give Seol Young-rang enough time. Seol Young-rang, do you have anything else to ask for?”

“At that time, two Hwarangs from the Black Tortoises and two Hwarangs from the Vermillion Birds accompanied him. I need to check their swords too.”

“And?”

“I would like to know if there was a paper that recorded something among the belongings of those six Hwarangs.”

Seol Young recalled the contents of the memory and said,

“And except for Seo Jun-rang and Hae Cheon-rang, were there any odd items that the four Hwarangs had in common? That is important too.”

“Hm…”

Jin Rim listened.

“At that time, I know that all their belongings were sent back to their homes. It will take some time, but we will get them as soon as possible.”

He called his subordinates and gave them the instructions.

Euljae came forward.

“Since Seo Jun used a lot of energy to fight and ran away in fear, he might not do anything for a while… Still, it will be better to let the kids go and find them.”

“Let’s do that.”

Jin Rim moved along with Euljae, Seo Geom, and the other Hwarangs.

Once they had left, Song Ok asked,

“High Governor, are you really giving up your position?”

“Did you not hear it? If it goes wrong, I will. And that responsibility will lie with the White Tiger Troops.”

“Eh…”

“Does it sound like a joke? Baek Eon-rang, as their leader, you should guide your juniors well. Why didn’t you teach Seol Young-rang the right melody?”

“…”

All of them went silent.

Seeing Seol Young play the pipa, Zaha could tell right away.

Baek Eon lowered his head.

“I apologize. Seol Young-rang had a lot to learn since he joined us late, so he didn’t get much…”

“It was my mistake.”

Seol Young spoke honestly.

“I let the lessons pass through my ears, and I thought I could play pretty well, so I made excuses to skip the classes. Which is why I only know how to play folk songs.”

That was the problem.

To play the Song of Peace, one needed to use a lot of spiritual power to continue its force. But Seol Young only knew folk songs, which didn’t require any spiritual power. It was just music.

“Even so, I went up against it, and I ended with nothing more than coughing up blood.”

Zaha shook his head.

“It cannot be helped. At least be thankful for the fact that I exist. I’ll roughly arrange one for you to play.”

Baek Eon said.

“Seol Young-rang cannot read sheet music. He plays with just his thoughts…”

“What?”

Zaha didn’t notice it until now and shouted with an absurd look on his face,

“What did you do when you weren’t even learning how to read music when you were supposed to?”

“I will learn it right now.”

Seol Young answered right away.

“I know the theory in mind. The letters on the sheet are not even real letters, but letters created by artists. It tells you how to hold the string and how to play it. The spacing of the letters expresses the beat, and there are unique words that indicate how to play…”

“Despite knowing all of that, you mean to say you didn’t study? Do you have to be this difficult?!”

“It is my fault.”

Baek Eon apologized again.

“First of all, Seo Jun-rang’s task is important, so it would be better for everyone to gather their strength.”

Hyo Wol spoke quickly,

“Ten Thousand Waves is the song that the Blue Dragons play, so it cannot be leaked outside. However, making a pipa play something that can counter it isn’t against the rules.”

“Right. If that is the case, Lord Euljae is our best bet.”

Baek Eon immediately turned around, with Song Ok and Hyo Wol following.

Zaha opened his mouth right then,

“By tomorrow morning…”

“I will study it all.”

“If you cannot…”

“Thirty whips…”

“No drinking for one hundred days.”

“No.”

“That is the penalty.”

Seol Young was speechless at this. His heart felt rushed.

“Why don’t you guys come here…”

“While waiting, talk about the Memory Projection.”

Ah, right.

He spoke of the memory of Hae Cheon-rang’s sword earlier. There were also things he wanted to discuss.

Seol Young spoke,

“When I contacted the spirit of Hae Cheon-rang’s sword, I saw six Hwarangs….”

Dead civilians, an old man being the sole survivor, the reaction of the Hwarangs, what happened in the hut….

Seol Young told Zaha all of it.

“All of the scenes the sword showed me are important. None of them should be neglected.”

“First, the old man must have said something. Something very bad.”

“You are right. That is why the vision faltered right then. The sword pushed me away. It wanted to say something like, ‘Don’t watch such harmful things’.”

Seol Young thought deeply.

“Then the group split into two. The Hwarangs shared a certain small object that couldn’t be seen. The first was of four, and the second of two.”

“And the object? Did it have something to do with the old man’s death?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, Seo Jun-rang didn’t know what it was, and after that, he began to kill the Hwarangs in the hut.”

“Then, was the object a guardian to ward off evil? Or did Seo Jun-rang turn into a demon because he didn’t have anything to ward off evil?”

“Then Hae Cheon-rang? He didn’t have one either, but he was fine until the end. At least, in the memory.”

“On the contrary, the object was a curse that drove people crazy…?”

Zaha’s words made Seol Young nod.

“That makes sense. The others went insane because they shared the curse, so Seo Jun-rang and Hae Cheon-rang were normal until the end.”

“But Hae Cheon-rang was killed by Seo Jun-rang.”

“Maybe Hae Cheon-rang picked up that object in the mess? So, then, Seo Jun-rang had no other choice but to kill…?”

“Then he was the one who stayed sane until the end…”

“It seems like it. That must be why he is obsessed with the melody. In order to protect himself from the energy of the curse, he whistled until his death.”

“Then, it is the same…”

Zaha said with a puzzled face.

“Why commit suicide?”

“To end the curse.”

Even though he said that, Seol Young wasn’t so sure about it.

How could he still choose to commit suicide when he was cursed and had lost his sanity?

If he was sane, then there was no reason for him to die. He could have returned and told everyone the truth.

It was weird either way.

“For now, let’s keep these theories to ourselves.”

Seol Young shook his head.

“What were the two Hwarangs from the Vermillion Bird thinking as they wrote down something? Excluding Seo Jun-rang, what items did the other four Hwarangs have? A curse or a guardian? Wouldn’t knowing that solve the mystery?”

It felt as if the truth was no longer so far away.

Soon, they felt the signs of people moving through the darkness.

“Lord Euljae is here.”

Euljae appeared with the three Baek-Song-Wol.

Baek Eon said,“We talked about everything. He said he would be happy to cooperate in making a melody for a pipa that could counter it.”

“I will do my best to help.”

He never thought that such a day would come when he had to work alongside Seol Young.

At that moment, their gazes met.

“Okay, then, let’s start.”

Zaha said.