Ghost City (10)

The leader of the Blue Dragon True Troops took out his divine object.

The flute contained the power to subdue the evil. Wanting to show off the results of his training in front of Zaha, Seo Geom infused spiritual power into it right from the beginning.

There was immediately a muffled sound that spread from the flute. It was a sound that stimulated the evilness within its body and would make it explode from the inside.

‘But those things aren’t even monsters. Are they even creatures?’

Seol Young was a little puzzled.

Even though there was no way Seo Geom didn’t know that, he continued to pressure the opponent.

At some point, the air began to sparkle.

Aha.

Seol Young finally realized Seo Geom’s intentions.

It was true that those poisonous things were just creatures. However, as they worked for the Devil Lair Lord, they must have come into contact with evil energy.

Seo Geom tried to find the Gu insects through the traces.

Pat!

The mighty flute sound ignited sparks. The bugs that were floating in the air wriggled in pain, but they didn’t disappear.

Zaha said,

“Seo Geom-rang, there is no need to waste your spiritual power.”

“I will handle the back.”

Seol Young stepped out.

White smoke began to rise in response to Zaha’s aura, which seemed thick. It was telling them where the colorless and odorless poison was.

Seol Young hurriedly ran around to escape the Gu. He activated the ring and then held his sword.

Then darkness instantly took over his sight.

The baby dragon opened its mouth wide.

Gulp.

It sounded like an auditory play to him. The Gu insects that were attacked by the flute disappeared right then.

And that wasn’t all. Senior Oni gulped down everything he could. Everything was disappearing, as if nothing was even there.

“How dare you…”

Zaha raised his sword and used spiritual qi.

A golden halo-like light spread. It spread out evenly everywhere without leaving any gaps.

“Good. The poison in the air has disappeared.”

Zaha lowered his sword.

“A colorless, odorless poison. It is a shame that I knew that the Devil Lair Lord was using it and prepared for it in advance. If I hadn’t known, we would have been dead in an instant.”

Then they looked at Seo Geom.

“Exploding is good, but swallowing it is a lot cleaner.”

“Yes.”

Seo Geom looked down at the young dragon that was seated on the ground with its legs spread out.

“It is quite a lot.”

He knew the ability it had, yet his gaze looked like he was reevaluating it.

“Senior Oni is truly amazing.”

Seol Young replied.

“The only problem is that it is too young to crawl, and I have to show him what to eat every time.”

He lifted Oni and put it into the ring.

This was the second time he had dealt with the technique of the Gu poison, and now he felt confident.

“Now you know that he won’t stop.”

The spiritual qi was moving in his hand. While he was dealing with the Gu insect, the qi was moving in his hand without him realizing it.

Seol Young drew something similar to a talisman on the air, but it didn’t form correctly.

Instead, a silvery glow stretched out and illuminated the front.

The walls turned transparent. Scenes were unfolding simultaneously in multiple rooms. Many voices and many forms… Then they overlapped at once.

At the end of it, there was a long shadow.

“Devil Lair Lord!”

Seo Geom clenched his sword.

The next moment, Seo Geom’s bamboo leaf righteous weapon rushed towards the Lord, but the shadow vanished.

“As expected, it wasn’t his real body.”

Zaha walked forward through the countless overlapping spaces.

A long curtain began to hang over the spot where they saw the Lord, and it had the image of a snake biting its own tail.

The symbol was clear.

“What is beyond that?”

He gazed at it with his golden eyes. It seemed like he wanted to see through it…

“I have no idea what that is.”

And he soon gave up.

Seol Young approached him and said,

“We all have to be careful. This entire place is messed up.”

“Keep your thoughts and head straight.”

Seo Geom also said,

“Nice. Then open it? Let us see what is behind there.”

Zaha lifted the curtain at once, and his eyes shone.

A roaring noise came over them.

Under the tent, there were rows of stalls where people were busily moving.

“The market again…?”

After saying that, Seol Young turned back.

But he couldn’t see anyone. He was shocked.

“High Governor? Seo Geom-rang?”

He called for them but couldn’t hear anything. Not only did his sword also vanish, but even the ring wasn’t in his hand.

‘Even Senior Oni?’

He couldn’t figure out what happened.

Seol Young looked around and then stopped. He saw a flag and the word ‘alcohol’ written in large letters. Workers were busily coming in and out with jars of alcohol.

A familiar middle-aged man was standing at the entrance, which surprised Seol Young.

“Am I back again?”

Seol Young was more confused.

It was the first time he had come to the city and the alcohol house.

“Do it right! Do not spill it!”

There was Su Ryun, who was supervising the workers, and then she looked at Seol Young. She was also surprised.

“Hey, newbie, I don’t know what you said, but I found the Ghost Room.”

The flags fluttered behind her as she said that.

It had the snake biting its own tail. It was the symbol of an eternal time that circulated.

‘Have I come back to the starting point then?’

However, this wasn’t the first place. It was just that the alcohol bar was here. Seol Young looked around and hesitated.

The people who were busy buying and selling things were familiar.

‘…!’

And he immediately remembered something.

When he was a child, he lived on Mount Toham. Sometimes he had been abused, both physically and verbally, and there were times he clung to people, asking them for help.

Everyone knew about him.

And he was horrified by that fact.

‘Market of Memories.’

Those words popped into his head. It didn’t feel right. It seemed like he had to find everyone quickly.

Seol Young looked around as he made his way through the people in the market.

But then….

Among the crowd, someone suddenly grabbed his arm.

“…!”

It was so sudden.

He tried to shake the arm off, but the opponent held on to it tightly.

“Let us talk.”

The opponent said.

“You don’t know how long I have been looking for you.”

The voice made him go stiff.

Suddenly, he realized that he was back to being a child. A child who had dull hair and was dressed in silk clothes. He was a henchman of the Devil Lair Lord.

Seol Young was dragged away by his opponent.

Finally, he was released in a dark place behind a clothes shop.

“Do you recognize me?”

The opponent lifted off his wide black hat.

The neat and nice face of a young man who seemed to have a boyish innocence left in him was revealed. When he heard his voice, he recognized him right away.

The sight of him made his heart flutter.

From his first meeting with him in the swamp of demonic beings to when he puked blood.

The things of the past came rushing in.

‘Why didn’t you keep your promise? Why did you abandon me?’

He thought he had forgotten the resentment within his heart, but he hadn’t.

However, Seol Young didn’t say anything on the outside.

“Hwarang Baek Eon.”

He bowed his head and said.

“What business do you have with me?”

Baek Eon looked at him.

The wild child had transformed so much that he couldn’t recognize him, and he greeted him so politely without any emotion.

His face was full of mixed emotions.

“In the end, you…”

Baek Eon bit his lip.

‘What about it? It is all your fault that this has happened. This wouldn’t have happened if you had taken me in!’

Seol Young clenched his fist, and the nails dug into his skin.

“If you have nothing else to say, I need to head back.”

After saying that, he looked at Baek Eon’s hand, which was holding his.

“Let go of me.”

But Baek Eon seemed to have no intention of doing so, and he only held him tighter.

“It is all our fault.”

“Let go…”

“Father is in critical condition.”

At those words, Seol Young hesitated, but then he went back to normal.

“I feel for you. I hope Mister Baek Sang recovers.”

“That won’t happen.”

Baek Eon’s voice trembled, and Seol Young realized it.

His desperate way to hide the traces of agitation beneath his face. He could even smell medicine coming from him.

“I am sorry that I couldn’t keep my promise. I really am. But it wasn’t that we didn’t come to pick you up, but more like we couldn’t.”

Baek Eon spoke silently.

“I was supposed to come with Father, but then he disappeared, so we frantically searched for him everywhere and found him collapsed on the side of the road on the verge of death. At the same time, unknown enemies attacked us. After barely managing to escape, I sent Hyo Wol to go find you, but you had vanished.”

His calm words hit Seol Young like a shock.

‘Lies.’

He looked at Baek Eon.

And he calmly said,

“He has been treated in every way, but Father hasn’t regained consciousness yet. And I only recently found out that he had been poisoned by some strange colorless, odorless poison.”

“Colorless and odorless…”

“The poison has been barely taken out. However, he is already weak with serious injuries, and he is not any different from a disabled person now.”

Seol Young’s mind thought back.

Baek San fought against countless enemies on the snowy field. To think such a brave man is now like…

‘It has to be a lie.’

“My father continues to look for you even after losing everything. He told me numerous times to get you back. If that doesn’t happen, those words will turn into his dying wish.”

Each word from Baek Eon seemed to be carefully spoken, like a truth to the dead.

Seol Young remembered meeting Baek San at the inn for the first time and traveling with him. He was going insane, and he wanted to scream out loud.

“A lie. It has to be a lie. How did that happen? I want to see it with my own eyes, so I can believe it.”

He wanted to follow Baek Eon right away.

But…

There was this voice in his head that said,

‘You are the subordinate of the Lord. How can you do that? With the head of the White Tiger Troops, you will be bringing disaster there.’

His clenched hand began to bleed, and Seol Young said,

“I hope he recovers.”

He repeated his emotionless words.

“…”

Baek Eon looked at the child and slowly let go of his hand, then left without a word. His figure vanished in the crowd, and Seol Young stared blankly.

Was this what it meant to have his heart broken?

Baek Eon-rang came for him despite the situation, yet he couldn’t go with him.

‘I shouldn’t have done that.’

He suddenly thought.

“Great-rang! Great-rang!”

He ran without hesitation, pushing through the crowd.

At that moment, a ghastly feeling spread.

“…!”

Seol Young was startled, which brought him to his senses, and before he knew it, he was standing on the symbol of the snake biting its tail.

‘A trick!’

He quickly moved away, pulled out his sword, and swung it. He used his aura, which seemed like a curved slash.

But he couldn’t avoid the many things that came his way.

Pat!

An invisible killing qi slashed through his arm, and blood gushed out with a sharp sound.