Chapter 93 – Flute Of Foreboding (13)

“Did you hear about it?”

The people passing by the southern gate of the Moon Palace whispered. Rumors were going around that a ghost playing a pipa had appeared in the capital.

A haunted house, under a bridge, the bamboo forest, and a pavilion that no one could see…

Suddenly, in a place where there were no people, the sound of a pipa’s string being plucked could be heard.

When one approaches it, it suddenly stops. When one got farther away, it could be heard playing again.

But for now, that’s all.

“It doesn’t seem to have harmed anyone.”

“It is still creepy.”

The people walked and whispered. And there were some people looking at the back.

They were the members of the Golden Ring Troops. They briefly exchanged glances and headed in the same direction.

It was the forest near the Moon Palace. They were able to find it soon after walking carefully among the old trees that were said to have existed since the founding of Silla.

At first glance, it was easy to overlook, but they could see something white through the trees.

‘He really doesn’t seem like a human at times like this.’

The men approached it.

Seol Young fell asleep while leaning against a tree and holding a pipa. Not a single hem of his clothes moved.

“….”

The men looked at each other. They thought he would notice when they got closer.

Because they had been training since they were young, their steps were much lighter than those of ordinary people. But it was unusual for it to go unnoticed for this long.

‘He must be very tired.’

In order to not be disrespectful, one of them made a noise by stepping on a tree branch on purpose. Seol Young woke up right away.

At that moment, the pipa almost slipped, but he quickly caught it.

‘I fell asleep for a second.’

To be precise, he was homeless. The accommodation he had with the monks was open, but he couldn’t play the pipa there. So he had to practice day and night, wandering around in places where there were no people.

As a result, he strangely became a pipa ghost.

When the rumors started to spread, he couldn’t go out and decided to stay in the forest.

“Seol Young-rang! You are here!”

The men approached him as if they had just found him, and Seol Young asked,

“Did Seo Jun-rang show up?”

“It isn’t that.”

Everyone shook their heads. Seo Jun’s whereabouts have been unknown for several days now.

It wasn’t an easy task to find him when he was outside the constraints of space.

“But the Governor told us to call Seol Young-rang. The Sword Spirits of the deceased Jae Tae-rang, Nap Oh-rang, Cheon Jin-rang, and Juk Hyung-rang have arrived.”

“Ah…”

This finally woke him up. Seol Young thanked them and headed right for the Hwarangs’ Hall.

Zaha and Jin Rim were waiting for him there.

When Seol Young holding a pipa, walked in, the two looked at each other, and Jin Rim said,

“Seol Young-rang, you have been working so hard.”

“No. It is nothing.”

Seol Young looked at the table. There were four long wooden boxes. Two of them had black tortoises on them, and two had vermilion birds.

“Are these the Sword Spirits?”

“Yes. Originally, they were going to send it much earlier, but then we were told they had to handle it carefully because there was a commotion when they were removed from their shrines.”

Seol Young’s face changed.

“A commotion?”

“The wind blew out the candles, and the swords’ bodies trembled.”

“All four of them?”

“I heard so.”

The signs weren’t looking good. Seol Young let go of the pipa and sat down. After politely bowing to them, he tried to touch the first one.

And as expected, the entire scene in front of his eyes was black, as if ink had been spilled. It was like that with all four swords.

“It looks like they have been damaged.”

“What?”

Zaha asked, raising his eyebrows.

“You mean someone tampered with the evidence?”

“Sometimes it can be thought so, but that doesn’t seem to be the case now. The fact that there was a commotion when they were removed from their resting place means that the Sword Spirits were unable to get proper rest.”

Seol Young recalled what had happened in the Sword Tomb.

“When I touched Hae Cheon-rang’s sword for the second time, during the last scene, someone shouted, ‘Open your eyes!’ and then I was kicked out of the Memory Projection. At that time, I thought it was the voice of the sword…”

“But?”

“Now that I think about it, it seems to have been Seo Jun-rang’s voice. It seemed like an unknown force acted on the other swords as well, blocking us from seeing what had happened. Maybe Seo Jun-rang doesn’t want me to look into the other swords…”

“It’s like destroying evidence.”

“But it wasn’t in that tone. The voice was anxious, desperate, and rushed.”

Jin Rim frowned.

“Something definitely happened. I put hopes on these swords, but….”

The only clue left was the rest of their belongings. Seol Young was nervous.

“When will their keepsakes arrive?”

“Seon Jong-rang decided to bring what he had gathered from various places within two or three days. I will call you when they arrive.”

“Please don’t do that. I will wait outside the palace and pick them up since we don’t have time.”

“Seol Young is right. I think their other belongings need to be investigated right away.”

Zaha nodded, and Jin Rim did too.

“All right. I will inform Seo Geom-rang.”

And then he tried to remove the Sword Spirits, but Seol Young….

“Wait. Do you mind if I try it a few more times?”

“I don’t see a reason why you can’t.”

Jin Rim gladly handed over the swords.

Meanwhile, at that time, Seo Geom, who had just finished the morning search, was just entering the palace. He went to report to the Governor, and inside, he heard Seol Young was with the four Sword Spirits, not having any success.

“I will inform him that Seo Geom-rang has arrived.”

“No, it is fine. I will come back later.”

Seo Geom immediately turned around. A Blue Dragon Hwarang kept glancing at him. During the entire search, he noticed that Seo Geom was thinking hard about something.

When they stepped outside the gate, they noticed two kids under a pine tree hanging from the branches.

They were kids from prestigious families. It seemed like they were playing, and their clothes showed that they were siblings. They talked a lot.

Seo Geom stopped and looked at them for a moment.

“….”

As he walked back, his expression suddenly changed. Sa Hyun, the fourth member of the Blue Dragon Troops, asked.

“What is it?”

Seo Geom, who was deep in thought, didn’t even hear him.

That night, at a drinking house in the south, a server was left to clean the place.

He was sweeping the broom vigorously so as not to be caught by the owner for being lazy, when he heard something outside.

It was a sad melody played on a flute.

He remembered the ghost story he had recently been hearing about—the sound of a musical instrument suddenly resonating here and there in the capital.

‘But it was a pipa.’

If it were a pipa and not a flute, he would have been scared. And the moment he turned around, with that thought in mind, he saw a customer standing in front of the drinking house.

It was a person with wide sleeves.

“Business hours are over.”

The server said that, but there was no response. The customer just stood there, looking at him.

‘It is kind of strange…’

At that moment, the customer’s eyes widened. His eyes took up half of his face.

“…?!”

The server was so startled that his heart almost stopped.

Euk.

He staggered, and the number of customers increased one after another. In an instant, the front of the drinking house was filled.

Everyone stared at him with the same eyes as the first one.

He remembered something he had heard before.

Ghosts could change their faces according to what they wished for. When their mouths get bigger, it means the ghost is trying to speak. When their ears grow, they are trying to hear. When their limbs grow, it is because they are trying to dance, and their eyes get bigger when they want to see.

“D-Don’t look!”

The server took a step back. Everyone’s eyes moved at the same time and followed him.

“Ahhhh!”

The moment he sat down, screaming…..

Puk!

The sound of bamboo being hit resonated, and the eyes of the ghosts, which were wide, became smaller.

At the same time, the back door burst open, and Hwarangs in the Blue Dragons’ robes cut down the ghosts.

And they immediately went after the sound of the flute.

In a pavilion in the north, someone was playing the flute with their back to the moon. The melody was sad, and a thick red mist spread on the ground.

“…”

The Hwarangs looked at each other.

They couldn’t send a signal now because people would notice. They had to solve this themselves.

“Do not be afraid and follow our advice.”

The Hwarangs used Ice Arts as their weapons, which they were provided with in advance.

After two men with bows hid in the bushes, the rest of them went around the pavilion.

“Seo Jun-rang!”

But then Seo Jun’s figure disappeared.

“Where is he?”

As they were looking around, a group of patrolling guards arrived.

“Why is it so noisy here? Aren’t they the Blue Dragons? What is happening?”

“It is nothing.”

One Hwarang took out a small silver rat from his sleeve and showed it to them.

“I was trying to catch this one because he ran away.”

The guards nodded and went away.

“We need to report this fast! Seo Jun-rang is moving again!”

The Hwarangs ran in the dark.