Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 37 – Lion Dance (5)

At the last minute, Seol Young had to improvise.

There was a bundle that was kept separately from the talismans he used, and he immediately took one out and threw it.

And the talisman stuck to Do Cheol’s body.

At that moment, Sa Daham’s sword stopped in mid-air. He was about to slit the monk’s throat but then stopped as if the path was wrong.

It was because of the talisman.

Seol Young barely came to his senses, and his first emotion was anger.

Breaking the sorcery spell and holding the sword to the monk’s throat, facing too many crises in a short moment, and the spirit escaping from the trap he had worked so hard.

The resentment was welling up inside of him.

What was he? What were these recent evil spirits? Why were they this strong?

Before learning the sword, Seol Young used his hands to overpower, force, and suppress things in order to catch them.

It was a habit from childhood.

He was able to hit Sa Daham, but his attacks were too slow. Seol Young was unable to catch up to his speed, and he was constantly pushed back.

But what was this weird harmony?

Seol Young felt a sharp pain in his hand.

“…?”

Sa Daham was very vicious. Even when his spiritual body was on fire, he tried to grab Seol Young.

Puak.

A sound was heard! And with this sound, the Dead Slayer sword was lodged in his chest.

If it were a normal evil spirit, it would have been subdued right then, but Sa Daham was on a whole different level. His spirit form was distorted, but he didn’t disappear.

AHHHH!

He screamed and ran away. His cry slowly trailed off before disappearing.

Do Cheol slumped to his knees.

“W-What is this…”

It looked like the soul of the monk was about to leave his body with what he had witnessed. His face was white, and his robe was all torn like a man caught in a typhoon.

Seol Young wasn’t in bad condition, but he was distracted, and it was his first time coming across something this dizzying.

It made him think of Zaha again. In any case, if this man had chosen not to intervene, Do Cheol would almost certainly have been killed.

But why did he help?

Did Seol Young’s words have an effect on him? Was there even a tiny piece of conscience left in his dried-up heart?

It was when he was about to thank Zaha…

“You almost got taken down by Sa Daham.”

He spoke first.

“I thought all my hard work had gone in vain. You should have been more careful.”

After all, there was a ‘spiritual power hoarder’ sign above his head.

The words of gratitude went down Seol Young’s throat.

Seol Young sighed.

“This was no rash act, just a bit too risky. Just as a good butcher slices his knife into the space between the bones so his blade doesn’t get damaged, an evil spirit can be subdued without getting in direct contact with it.”

“But you missed the hit, let alone subdue it.”

“Because it couldn’t be helped.”

Seol Young raised his hand, and Do Cheol gasped.

“I-It is bleeding!”

The gentle-hearted monk hurriedly searched for something with a worried expression.

Right, there were huge scars from his palm to his fingers. They were very sharp wounds.

Only then did Zaha’s expression change.

“It sure is so strange. I am sure you grabbed the body of Sa Daham, but then the scars appeared on your hand?”

“It is not uncommon in this world to have a different appearance and a different identity.”

Seol Young said this while wrapping his wounds with the towel that Do Cheol gave him.

“I was able to notice it only when I made contact. The reason why the opponent was able to unleash such strong sword techniques and movements. It is not Sa Daham’s spirit.”

“Then what is it?”

“The body is the sword. We just fought with the sword.”

This was the secret.

Seol Young had never heard of a sword being slow. And he couldn’t hold onto the opponent either. And that was because the opponent was a sword.

No matter how fast a person’s sword technique was, it couldn’t be faster than the sword itself.

No matter how many changes were made to the technique, it couldn’t surpass the movement of a sword.

And the sword moved by itself. This was the state of true unity with the weapon, where an item and a soul become one.

“Besides, judging from the appearance of Sa Daham, there is a high chance that it was the sword he used.”

“It cannot…”

Do Cheol mumbled, looking blank.

And then he said, ‘Ah!’ and hit his bald head, making Seol Young look surprised.

“Monk?”

“I remember! This dull head could barely recall it!”

Do Cheol shouted.

“There is this story I heard from the old monk when I was young. He said that it was a story he had heard in his childhood. There was a legend in our temple. Not In Hyesa, but at the temple that the three of us went to. Temple Jang Ansa, which is now closed.”

He spoke, seemingly excited.

“Once upon a time, among the monks, there was one monk named Yo Sung. Do you know what ‘Yo Sung’ actually means? A monk who pretends to study dharma but secretly does evil things. This specific monk was trying to get his hands on forbidden power.”

Seol Young glanced at Zaha.

‘Looks like someone I know.’

Zaha pretended to be innocent.

“So this fake monk hurt his fellow monks without the other monks realizing it, and if he was able to kill all of them, he could make the perfect plan for doing the taboo and gain tremendous power.”

As the memories kept rushing in, Do Cheol talked softly.

“The monks found out about this and asked a certain Hwarang for help. The Hwarang challenged the fake monk to a fight. The fake monk was being stubborn and fought back, and eventually died from his stubbornness as he got stabbed in several places. The soul that escaped his body was trapped in the sword of the Hwarang, but it was so frightening that it couldn’t be let out.”

When he heard that story, something came to his mind.

Zaha said,

“That is the legend around Sa Daham. The temple’s name wasn’t handed down in the stories, so it was this?”

“It is a story that I know. I remember hearing about it.”

Seol Young also agreed.

He finally found a link to the ghost story. At least some part of the mystery was solved.

“Right. Now that I think about it, it seems that the name of the Hwarang had three distinctive sounds. Sa Daham.”

Do Cheol said.

“The Hwarang shattered his most cherished sword so that the evil spirit of that fake monk wouldn’t hurt anyone any longer. He pulled out the root of the problem.”

This was a similar incident to the painting.

For some unknown reason, something that had once disappeared has now been resurrected with great power.

“And so the murder happened.”

Seol Young was finally able to see the big picture.

“Now that the temple is closed, the monks there—the young ones and the old… moved. And the three youngest monks were left. Among them, one died of illness, and monk Do Jeon was killed by the sword. If monk Do Cheol is killed, it can complete the number of killings that the soul wanted. That is why it is adamant on trying to get them killed.”

It seemed like the path was finally visible.

“He was so sly that it would have been difficult to find out if we hadn’t come into direct contact with him. I found a very important secret by sacrificing my hand. The weakness of the evil monk.”

Seol Young was confident.

“If someone takes the form of Sa Daham and appears in front of him and uses the sword techniques of Sa Daham too, then he would be bound to be agitated.”

“So Hwarang Seol Young can do it?”

Do Cheol asked. He seemed to have complete trust in Seol Young.

“But I have a question. A disguise might not be important, but what about the sword technique? Didn’t Hwarang Sa Daham die a long time ago?”

“That cannot be that difficult. Sa Daham passed away, but the sword techniques he used during his lifetime are passed down in the form of the Sword Dance. Our…”

Seol Young, who was being careless, changed his expression.

“Baek Eon rang, the head of the White Tigers, is well versed in all kinds of strong sword techniques. If I ask him about teaching me Sa Daham’s sword technique, he will gladly teach me.”

“Aha! Thank God.”

Do Cheol understood and looked relieved.

Zaha looked at him from the other side. It was a ‘really?’ kind of expression.

Seol Young looked at him.

‘What? Why?’

He shrugged his shoulders and got up to open the door, and walked away.

After walking some distance across the place, he stopped and looked around as if measuring the distance.

He picked up an iron pitchfork with a long handle for vegetable farming and tossed it.

The pitchfork, with a distinct killing force, swung straight at Seol Young.

“…”

Do Cheol, who saw it, went back to sitting down as if making no sound.

Srng!

A metallic sound rang out. Seol Young raised his sword and struck it.

The iron pitchfork flew off with great force and crashed into a pile of greens.

“Around this much?”

Zaha said.

“When the opponent is attacking with such speed and strength, you have to block it and use Sa Daham’s sword technique to have a chance.”

“We just need to practice.”

Seol Young responded.

But then his right hand holding the hilt of the sword throbbed. He could feel the lukewarm blood on the other side of the cloth.

Seol Young untied the cloth.

He struck so hard to slash down the iron rakes that the wounds reopened. Black blood gushed out.

Do Cheol’s complexion turned pale again.

“Amitabha… I will go and get some medicine to apply to the wounds.”

“It is fine.”

Seol Young shook his head.

Any medicine was useless. These were not wounds that could be healed.

The only cure was to kill the spirit. Until then, there was no way out.

He looked at Zaha.

He would know that very well. That was probably why he had a strange smile on his face.

Because he knew.

Seol Young received a new towel from Do Cheol to wrap his hand with and stop the bleeding. Then he took out the pill that Baek Eon had given him and swallowed it.

“Anyway, I cannot cause any more trouble in the temple, so I will leave. It will be nice if the monk comes with us. For the time being, you must stay where I am and avoid the evil spirits.”

“Ah! Yes!”

Do Cheol silently followed him. He straightened his messy robe, and the talismans swayed.

It was the talisman that Seol Young had attached to Do Cheol when the spirit almost split his head. It could be called a lifesaver.

“Ouch…”

Do Cheol quickly attached the talisman back to his body.

“What is this talisman anyway? Seems rather powerful.”

“Ah, that…”

Seol Young slightly averted his gaze.

“What is it?”

Zaha was also curious.

“Let’s talk as we move.”

And Seol Young walked first.