Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 95: Flute Of Foreboding (15)

“Haven’t you decided on not doing this?!”

He reprimanded him right away. Seo Geom barely came to his senses and dropped the sword as he slumped to his knees.

“I am sorry, I came up with an idea and ran to this place… seeing that Hyung was hiding here, I got really angry…”

His voice trembled.

Seo Geom stopped talking and looked away. However, seeing Seo Jun run wild as he tried to cut off the rope made him feel terrible again.

“It ends here! Let me finish this!”

“No.”

Zaha flatly refused him.

“What was the reason you came here to meet your brother? Isn’t it because he was giving you a clue? Your brother has been trying to say something to you!”

“What is he even trying to say when he is in that state?”

“He isn’t attacking us.”

Seol Young said.

“It looks like you have taken back the flute, yet he is searching for it again.”

Indeed, Seo Jun-rang wasn’t staying still, as his hands were waving around as if he were looking for something.

“Let’s give the flute back to Seo Jun-rang.”

At Seol Young’s words, Seo Geom flinched.

“What are you talking about? I barely took it back!”

“But he has to play the flute for us to see what happened.”

“I know you are trying hard to find out what happened! But it is of no use! He is a dead man who did nothing all his life! I… do not want to see that memory again!”

Seo Geom didn’t want to see his brother kill five Hwarangs. It wasn’t something they couldn’t understand. But…

“We need to see the truth! This is our last chance!”

“Seo Geom-rang, we will look at it.”

Zaha spoke.

In the end, he put down the flute, which Zaha threw to Seo Jun-rang.

“Seo Jun-rang take it!”

Seo Jun grabbed it, and after holding it in his hand, he stayed still as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

‘Well, then…’

Seol Young decided to gamble.

He untied the pipa he was carrying and moved closer to Seo Jun. When someone suddenly approached him, Seo Jun swung his long nails, and a sharp wind blew.

“He is insane!”

Seo Geom shouted.

Seol Young didn’t care, and he put his finger on the pipa’s string. A series of clear sounds rang out.

The melody was playing so softly. It was the variation of the pipa for the Thousand Waves of Peace.

All this time, Euljae and the three Hwarangs of the White Tiger Troops worked hard to make the song and teach it to Seol Young.

It was a song that he practiced every day and night.

‘I will not fail this time. Because this is an instrument that contains spiritual power.’

Seol Young looked at Seo Jun.

Indeed, the man was listening, and the melody was causing a change. His long claws were gone, and his chest seemed to breathe normally, with his eyes turning softer.

Seo Jun looked down blankly at the flute in his hand. As if to react, he slowly brought the flute to his lips in line with the sound of the pipa. Instead of breathing, he began to infuse his energy into it.

A strong flute sound followed the rhythm of the pipa. Two different melodies began to flow side by side, and the melodies of the two instruments spread out like fog.

Among them, scenes like visions came into their sight.

The Memory Projection that failed the last time is now working again.

“…!”

Seo Geom was surprised. These were the memories left in a person’s soul.

Training with a wooden sword with small hands, running around with friends, receiving a Yin-Yang plaque, being appointed as a Hwarang…

Usually, the Memory Projection shows scenes from the perspective of the dead, but this time it was different. Perhaps because it was projected through the sound that they could all hear, Seo Jun was being projected like a third person.

The clear, distinct sound of the pipa moved through the memories. And it gently led them to his memory before his death.

At some point, the sound of music vanished.

Instead, they heard the sound of birds and insects. A mixture of noises filled the space. Suddenly, the waves of the world became a musical score.

Seol Young wasn’t shocked and just continued to play the pipa.

Suddenly, a clear voice was heard.

“… The day after tomorrow, we will arrive at the capital.”

The Hwarangs were walking.

“It worked.”

Zaha said softly.

Seo Geom said he wouldn’t watch it, but the moment the Memory Projection started, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

The Black Tortoises, Vermillion Birds, and Blue Dragons—there were two from each troop.

Six people were walking together. And then Seo Jun handed the bottle over to Hae Cheon, who said,

“Eik.”

And everyone burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Seol Young, Zaha, and Seo Geom continued to watch.

The six Hwarangs visited the village where farmers lived and found dead people rigid in fear.

“What happened here?”

Seo Jun mumbled.

At that time, the groan of an old man could be heard from the pile of corpses. Everyone flocked in that direction.

“He is still breathing!”

Seo Jun looked at him and headed to a house alone when he heard the sound of a door being scratched and something whining.

“Is someone else alive?”

He ran towards the house and opened the door. There was a puppy that seemed to be around three to four months old.

Behind the puppy were two dead children with the same terrified look on their faces. And three other puppies were dead near the children.

Seo Jun looked at the puppies, and a questioning look flashed over his face.

“What is it?”

Seo Geom mumbled.

“Their hair is falling out.”

Zaha answered.

As he said, the bodies of the dead puppies were experiencing hair loss. All three of them were in the same state.

Seo Jun pondered what it was about and then went outside. The puppy that was alive ran to the yard and began to sniff here and there and…

Thud. Thud.

“Wait.”

Seo Jun lifted the puppy and looked at it. He could now see that its eyes had a hazy blue-gray color.

“You cannot see.”

This made his expression change even more.

At that time…

“What is it? Did you find anything?”

Hae Cheon appeared, and Seo Jun’s gaze turned toward the house for a moment. But…

‘They will say that I am being a fool again.’

His thoughts were clear.

Seo Jun smiled.

“Just looking around. I was curious what a village house would be like.”

He went around and looked ahead. But when he returned, everyone had serious expressions.

“… It will be fine soon, Cheon Jin-rang, I have run out too. Share it with me.”

“Now, here.”

Cheon Jin was giving something to the other three Hwarangs, and Seo Jun asked,

“What is it?”

Cheon Shin turned to Jae Tae and Nap Oh.

“How about we show it to Seo Jun-rang and Hae Cheon-rang? I’m not sure. It may or may not be true.”

“They both wouldn’t know either. They were late earlier and didn’t even get a good look.”

“Enough. It is all because we are on edge about all of this. Let’s head back fast.”

Nap Oh said.

After a while, they set off when Hae Cheon asked Nap Oh,

“But what is it? What happened?”

Seo Jun pretended he couldn’t hear them, but he still listened.

‘It has to be something important.’

Seol Young was nervous. This was exactly where the Memory Projection cut off in the Sword Tomb.

‘I need to finish watching it this time.’

His fingers were pulling on the strings. The waves, which were slightly unstable, became clear again.

“It is nothing.”

Nap Oh shrugged.

“It was just that a small human-faced sore appeared.”

A human-faced sore?

Seol Young, Zaha, and Seo Geom looked at each other.

A human-faced sore is a swelling on the skin. It got its name because of its shape, which resembles that of a human face.

“It was the old man.”

Jae Tae, another Hwarang, intervened.

“He had this huge thing on his chest, and it looked so similar to a human face! I felt like it could even talk!”

Hae Cheon couldn’t believe it.

“Ah, I don’t think so. When I saw it, it just looked like a normal bruise.”

“See? Which is why I told you guys that Hae Cheon-rang and Seo Jun-rang wouldn’t believe us.”

Nap Oh said.

“The face disappeared as soon as the old man died. The two of us clearly saw it, right? Cheon Jin-rang and Juk Hyung-rang. I mean, it was so strange—could a sore on a human body vanish so suddenly?”

“Hmm.”

Hae Cheon looked at Seo Jun.

“So? Seo Jun-rang, have you ever heard of such a thing?”

“No. This is my first time.”

“If it’s Seo Jun-rang’s first time hearing it, then it cannot exist. I don’t know about anything else, but what you saw was weird. So did Cheon Jin-rang record it for the purpose of reporting it to the higher-ups?”

Hae Cheon asked the two Black Tortoise Hwarangs.

“But even Jae Tae-rang and Nap Oh-rang saw it too.”

“Right. My back was itching, and we looked at it only to find a swelling that looked like a human face. No matter how we looked at it, it’s very similar to what the man had.”

“Human-faced sores all look the same. Since we have been in this place for a while, we must have gotten something. It will be cured pretty soon since I already applied a golden paste to it. I feel less itchy already.”

“Thank God.”

The conversation ended there.

Seo Jun, however, was alone in his thoughts.

‘Dead people, dead animals. Among them, only a blind dog survived.’

What Nap Oh said was clear in his mind.

-The two of us clearly saw it. Cheon Jin-rang and Juk Hyung-rang.

He looked at them and hesitated. The two of them were walking ahead and scratching their chests.

“…”

Seo Jun looked blankly at them and then turned his gaze away.

Hae Cheon-rang was walking diligently. He seemed to have no idea.

“Hae Cheon-rang.”

“Uh?”

“About the human-faced sore….”

Seo Jun whispered.

“This is just my opinion, but even if those guys show you their bodies or their sores, I think it will be better for you not to look at them.”

“Uh? Why?”

Hae Cheon was confused. And at the same time, the Hwarangs looked up one by one.

Raindrops were falling.

Seo Jun touched his shoulders.

‘To make matters worse.’