Chapter 60 – Peach Blossom Girl (16)

“Governor! Is it true?”

Hwang Soo, the eunuch who served the king from morning to evening, came over to the Hwarang’s building.

“Is it true that there is a terrible evil spirit that is committing murders here in the capital? What other information do you have besides Kim Yeo-chun’s son? This news has reached others too! His Highness wants the truth, so speak, without leaving out any details!”

“I came here to report too.”

Governor Jin Rim answered.

“The evil spirit was already cast out last night. The families of Park Si-ryang, Bae Myeon, and Kim Heon-hwi, were related too. If we call them and investigate, His Highness will be able to find out the truth.”

“Is that true?”

“The supernatural calamities happened because of the brutal murder of a young girl by the seven sons of nobles from the capital thirty years ago. The seven people involved were Kim Yeo-chun, Park Si-ryang…”

With this, the events that happened thirty years ago were revealed, and this time, everyone stayed silent.

Years had passed since the crime, and the criminals were all dead too.

But the people knew their names, and now they knew the brutal things they did. They tortured an innocent girl by using dice for days together, and then they used her for entertainment and killed her. The story was covered for decades.

This was not something they could just ignore.

Even more so because people of all ages, genders, and social standing believed in Buddhism.

The King’s mother was furious.

Seven families were immediately demoted. The four people, including those who were dead, and the jobs given to their children, were also dismissed.

And any assets they had were seized. Incidentally, the marriages of the children were called off, and their chance of holding an official position was blocked.

There were families that complained of unfairness, and there were those who said it was fortunate that their lives were spared. And there were those who believed in repenting for it.

And in the middle of this noisy palace, Seol Young ran to the Great Heavenly Pavilion.

And the face of the woman, the head of the pavilion, hardened.

“I made sure to warn you, and yet you decided to ignore it?”

“It isn’t that.”

Seol Young replied.

“I tried to open the pouch several times, but I was too afraid to do it.”

“What are you so afraid of?”

“The High Governor is someone respected by the entire Hwarang troops, and he is now praised more after he came back from his eight-year absence. On the other hand, I am just a Hwarang in a white robe who doesn’t belong to any troops.”

“What does it have to do with uncovering the truth?”

“Everything. No one will believe me. They will think that I hold a grudge because I had an argument with the High Governor in front of the Black Tortoise, and I was the only one who was called out and reprimanded.”

Seol Young said without blinking.

“My lady. Is it true that there is strong evidence?”

“Just open it. You will find out something right away. If I share my opinion along with Seol Young-rang’s, no one will be able to harbor thoughts that you are suspicious. I can tell His Highness that we should verify it in public.”

She skillfully left out that the High Governor was tainted.

After all, she believed that Seol Young was the real evil here. This time, she was employing a ruse in which she used poison to get rid of poison.

“Then…”

Seol Young opened the pouch and pretended to be confused.

There was a piece of paper inside, and he took it out and opened it.

“…”

And the old woman watched him, but nothing happened. Seol Young didn’t seem confused or shocked, so she asked, feeling puzzled,

“Do you not realize what it is? It is a paper with the name of the High Governor, his date of birth, and time written on it.”

“I can read it too.”

“How come you aren’t saying anything then? I have seen with my own eyes the number of times you made those dolls to read fortune…”

“My lady. Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t speak of this?”

“I know that your knowledge isn’t so shallow, so how are you not surprised? Reading the chants of the dead brings harm, so shouldn’t we ward off the evil being right away?”

“Dead?”

Seol Young sighed.

His expression said, ‘How should I explain?’ and as if remembering something, he pulled out a small wooden doll. And on top of it, he wrote Zaha.

And then he clapped his hands once, making the wooden doll jump up.

“…?”

Her face went stiff at this, and Seol Young calmly said,

“Since you also have some knowledge of folk magic, instead of giving a full explanation, I am showing it to you. Isn’t this the common one? ‘If you engrave a dead person’s fortune on a doll, it will not move.’”

“…”

“This is not a dead person’s doll.”

“…”

“It looks like you have checked in several places, and I am not saying that the shamans are wrong. If we just read the paper, then it is right to think that he is dead. But…”

Seol Young quickly put the wooden doll away before anyone could see it.

“Sometimes, some souls transcend their destiny. Even though he was destined to die, he somehow survived.”

“…”

“I really want to get rid of the High Governor somehow. But how can I falsely accuse someone who is alive? How do you plan on dealing with the aftermath?”

“….”

“You are so established that you might be fine if you make a mistake once in a while, but if I do this, I will be thrown out right away. I will pretend that this didn’t happen.”

“…”

She said nothing until the end, and Seol Young turned around and walked away.

It was evident that he hadn’t opened the pouch until then. Then what kind of reaction was that?

She couldn’t even catch him if she wanted to.

Seol Young headed to a place without any people and took out the wooden doll again.

“Good work.”

When he touched it with his hand, a small firefly came out.

Seol Young summoned it into his palm.

“I won’t see you for a while. Instead, take care of the other side.”

And the firefly in his hand flickered as if it understood.

Seol Young hid it again.

Even when some things were over, some things would remain.

For example, this.

As he walked, he took the dice out and looked at it.

Usually, it was natural for objects like this to vanish, but this one didn’t, and one day it could suddenly disappear.

Or he could use it.

Just like when the decisive moment happened and when the evil spirit went after his life, it was this spirit tool that he used out of fear…

Seol Young knew several shamans who died that way. It was the price for touching an object belonging to an evil spirit.

However, he was sure and determined to handle it correctly.

Seol Young hid the dice. There was a place he had to visit.

When darkness fell, he crossed the streets of the capital.

And he knocked on the door of a mansion engraved with flying angels descending on clouds.

After a while, the door opened, and a middle-aged couple with unfamiliar faces appeared.

The wife seemed skinny and black. The husband was white and round. But they weren’t humans.

‘But so much like humans.’

As he stared at them, the wife said,

“Are you Seol Young-rang?”

Seol Young nodded.

“We have been in charge of this house for a long time, and we are the family spirits. The owner comes to visit for business sometimes, but…”

“When the sun goes down, no one sees him. He locks the door and doesn’t turn on the light. He doesn’t step outside the doors and never lets an old man or a servant in. Is that right?”

“How did you know?”

The faces of the two changed.

“Where is that room?”

When Seol Young asked, they hesitated.

“Tell him that I threatened your lives.”

When Seol Young said that, the couple guided him in. The mansion was huge, and it was impossible to guess how big it really was at a glance.

Following behind the couple, he went inside the main building.

There was a large garden, but it was dark, and he couldn’t see how it was tended.

The space in the middle of the garden seemed like a large room. It was dark, like a cave without light.

“Then…”

The couple left right away. It was someone else’s house, but Seol Young went ahead and opened the door.

But it didn’t open since it was locked.

“Open it.”

Seol Young shook the door.

“Open it.”

“Do not come in.”

A low, muffled voice could be heard.

“If you come in, I will kill you.”

Dark energy rose from the cracks in the door. He wasn’t shocked by this.

‘He dug his own grave.’

He did the same thing that he taught Seol Young.

At the same time, he struck the gap between the doors with the handle of his sword and broke the latch.

And went inside.

He was sitting in the dark.

It looked like he would collapse with both of his arms on the ground. In the dark, he could also see the tendon-like things coming out through his skin.

And right next to him was his sword.

Unable to move under the weight of the chains on him, his sword wriggled as if it were pleading to be released immediately.

It was because something was happening to its owner’s body.

The darkness that was stolen from the evil spirit and the golden aura he had from his own training—the two of them intertwined and fought like snakes in his body.

Seol Young knew that feeling.

The pain of both sides pulling each other inside of you. One side was hot, and the other was cold, and you would feel the pain of your body being slowly sliced from within your skin.

No human body could withstand it, and there was no solution for it either.

If one tried anything, the pain would increase, so they had to wait for it to pass.

“…”

And even after seeing Seol Young arrive, he couldn’t do anything. And he just glared with his golden eyes.

“I knew you would be doing this.”

Seol Young said.

“I didn’t choose to learn sorcery on my own. It is because when I opened my eyes, I felt it inside my body. Your body is only one, yet it holds two energies, so it must be more painful. But still, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong on the outside, so I thought there was some way you were controlling it.”

“…”

“I guess not. You just hid it well until now?”

Zaha glared at Seol Young with his bright eyes.