Episode 20

A circular aura rose from Seol Young’s sword.

Puak!

It made a noise when it hit the wall right in the middle.

When Seol Young’s spirit qi combined with that of the spiritual power nearby, it gave out a tremendous power. The entire room trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.

But again, there was no response.

Seol Young lowered his hand.

“My technique didn’t work either.”

“Is that so? I thought it would be good enough with the combination of the spirit qi and sorcery.”

Zaha spoke with a serious face.

“Wait up. Let me try it.”

And he immediately left the room. This was odd.

His goal was to obtain Seol Young’s spiritual power. So helping him out would make no sense.

He must be aware of it too, but Seol Young didn’t say anything.

Because of the expressions of the Hwarangs of the Black Tortoise.

“…!”

Their eyes were glaring.

Since they were in front of the High Governor, they didn’t say or do anything, but their eyes were filled with hatred.

They couldn’t stand this any longer.

“Seol Young! What the hell did you just do?”

It was the fifth member, Beom Hyun, who shouted in anger, to which Seol Young responded.

“Sorcery.”

“Why does that resemble our Black Tortoise Divine Troops martial arts? Are you trying to make fun of us right now?”

“Fun?”

Seol Young snorted.

“I definitely didn’t say anything, right? If I wanted to make fun of anyone, I would have done it with my mouth. Why would I do such a bothersome technique?”

And he continued.

“I am sorry, but I am not interested in your troops. I just tried the best solution for this situation.”

“But…!”

“The technique of gathering the spirit qi and shooting it out like a ball can be found in the old books of sorcery too. Even if it looks similar to the one you trained in, it has nothing to do with it. I don’t know why you constantly come after me. In the end, didn’t your Thunder Ball already fail?”

The faces of all the Hwarangs present turned white in anger.

“You…!”

They immediately rushed forward but froze.

Before they knew it, Zaha was standing near the door.

He glanced at everyone, and he said to Seol Young,

“Come out.”

Seol Young went to him in silence, and he realized that Zaha had deliberately left them in the room.

“I don’t think such things happened eight years ago. Have the Hwarang troops changed this much?”

Zaha mumbled as if this were something interesting, and he looked at Seol Young.

“I cannot help but ask now. What kind of grudge do you even have against the Black Tortoise Troops?”

Seol Young coldly said.

“Why are you constantly trying to dig into this issue? Why does this even matter?”

“Why wouldn’t I care?”

Zaha was rather confident with his words.

“I just watched a scene that showed me a new possibility. The Black Tortoise Divine Troops would have killed you here first, right? Wouldn’t it be better to know the context before lighting up the fire?”

Seol Young raised his eyes in anger.

“We should head back soon.”

He tried to get back inside, but Zaha continued.

“If you tell me, I will give you important information about this house.”

“You want me to believe you? You want me to die, so I cannot believe that you will just give me the right information.”

“I don’t have any evil intentions in sharing this information. Use it if you want to, or don’t bother using it. You can tell the difference after hearing the information, right?”

“…”

“Well, I guess so. I can always handle it.”

Seol Young was a bit surprised.

“You must know it since you broke the leg of a certain person.”

He did run into a couple of people from the Black Tortoise. If one didn’t look closely, one wouldn’t know the issue.

So how did he figure it out so quickly, and how did he link it to what happened…

“What?”

“No.”

Seol Young replied coldly.

“I didn’t break it. It was an accident.”

“That is what someone who harms others on purpose would say.”

“Because I really didn’t!”

In the end, he went closer to Zaha and spoke.

“Seven years ago, when the disaster was happening…”

“The time when all the Hwarang troops tried to catch that Ghost Demon King?”

Ignoring how Zaha changed the term, he continued.

“At that time, they didn’t have any grudges against me. But as the problem got bigger, I was involved, and Mu Won-rang led the Hwarang troops to end it.”

“And they made up their mind to subjugate it?”

“We were confused in front of the power they held. And when I came to my senses, they were in danger.”

“But them being alive and well means that they managed to overcome the crisis, right?”

“It was because of the last-minute skill I used. I was able to reflect the attack back. And the numerous Thunder Ball spells that the Black Tortoise used….”

When he closed his eyes, it felt as vivid as yesterday.

The Black Tortoise Divine Troops bet everything on that attack.

Hundreds of Thunder Balls filled with spiritual energy covered the sky.

There was no way to retreat, and everyone had no doubt that this Ghost Demon King would be subdued.

However, their attack was stopped mid-air and reflected back.

Then a huge sound rang out.

“Their attacks had an incredible force. Even the cave they were hiding in had collapsed. I didn’t expect it to be that huge.”

Seol Young spoke in a firm tone.

“Mu Won-rang hurriedly saved the others that were present. And finally, he came out, but a rock fell, which is why his leg was injured.”

“Ah.”

Zaha lightly clicked his tongue.

“The Black Tortoise Divine Troops are quite proud of their Thunder Lightning Shot. To be beaten like that by a group of spirits living in the mountains. They must have felt their pride fall to the ground. And that wasn’t all.”

He glanced at Seol Young.

“And to think that the Ghost Demon King, who defeated the entire troops, was just a thirteen-year-old child. They couldn’t have handled the humiliation. Especially if it is someone like Mu Won…”

Seol Young had nothing to say.

“Now I understand. I wondered why the infirmary couldn’t treat his leg. Now that I know the entire scenario, it’s not that it couldn’t be cured, but the man didn’t get it treated, right?”

Yes.

Seol Young agreed.

“Mu Won-rang abolished the usage of the Thunder Lightning Shot technique, so that no one could use it. Also, worried about the injury worsening, he only took medicine and never let anyone touch it. With the words, ‘I will use it as a life long lesson,’ so the leg was not treated in the end.”

“It is so much like him.”

Zaha was convinced, and he looked at Seol Young.

“But if you think about it, if the same thing happened to Baek Eon, Song Ok, or Hyo Wol, wouldn’t you have gone to kill the opponent?”

“No.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Because if I kill the opponent, I will be scolded. I could at least break one of his legs pretending it was an accident, but…”

“…”

“So not running into each other is the best for us.”

Seol Young looked at Zaha.

“I have bad luck. So I constantly avoided meeting them until today, so forget about your empty dreams.”

He spoke coldly and turned.

Zaha continued to follow him.

When he returned to the scene, the Hwarangs were on their knees. The second member, Jeong Pung, bowed his head.

“We showed such an ugly sight to you. Please forgive us.”

He looked at Zaha.

“Enough, get up.”

“Yes.”

Everyone got up and straightened their clothes.

The awkward atmosphere dissipated, and Seol Young focused on his work.

‘I need to send these men away from here.’

Because they had to capture an evil spirit, no one here could be careless, yet it looked as if the case was half solved with the Hwarangs present.

But Seol Young knew the truth. This felt too much like the calm before the storm.

And he asked the Black Tortoise Divine Troops.

“Where is the evil spirit that was said to have possessed this house?”

“Here.”

Ji Hae, the seventh member, and Mo Cheon, the ninth member, brought in a spirit plaque.

The spirit plaque was an instrument in the shape of a long plaque. It was used to seal souls inside of it. Once sealed, no power could be used from the inside.

Mo Cheon explained.

“The Hwarangs who came first looked around and investigated the house, and they said that they caught the evil spirit. They said it was wandering around here looking for something, so they managed to catch it pretty quickly.”

What was it looking for?

Seol Young touched the plaque.

What is its identity?

He put it on the ground, and after infusing spiritual power through the sword, the shape of the soul was revealed.

What is this?

It seemed like his thoughts were right.

Human? Beast?

It looked so horrific and twisted that it was impossible to judge what it was. After looking at the bizarre shape for a long time, they were able to make out what it was holding in its hand.

It was an elongated thing that looked like a paintbrush.

Mo Cheon said.

“Even though it looks like that, it apparently gave them a tough time. They had a difficult time sealing it, and the Hwarangs said it was like the painter…”

“Mo Cheon-rang, what does it look like?”

“It looks like the painter.”

“And the others?”

“The painter.”

Everyone agreed.

But…

“Um…”

Zaha was the only one who grumbled.

As soon as he looked at him, it looked like he didn’t know anything. As he was afraid that Seol Young would notice something strange, he pretended not to know.

Seol Young lowered his voice and asked.

“You thought it was weird too, right?”

“No?”

“Don’t do that. The painter devoted his soul to the painting until the end. So how can his soul still roam around? That was what you thought, right?”

“Not really.”

“You thought I wouldn’t notice? In the first place, this was all very strange from the start.”

Seol Young stepped forward.

As he was suspicious of everything, he analyzed his thoughts.

“First, this is an old soul. It must have been dead for around a hundred years. And it also has the same energy as the evilness that fills this house.”

This was enough to say that this spirit was the painter, but he still felt odd about this.

There is a way to clear things up when things go wrong like this.

“I will ask the spirit directly to find out more about it.”

Seol Young attached a thin string to the plaque and hung it in the air, and a bell was attached to the end.

And he spoke to the soul.

“From now on, answer me. If the bell rings once, it is a yes, and twice means a no.”

He didn’t need to do any complicated procedures because it was easy to get the evil spirits to respond normally.

It was an indirect means of communication, but it was useful in this situation. Even evil spirits cannot lie, as they have restrictions placed on them.

“Then let’s start.”

In the silence that fell, Seol Young looked in front of him.

All the Hwarangs couldn’t take their eyes off the person who could help them in this situation.

And Seol Young asked the Spirit Plaque.

“Are you the painter?”