Requiem of Subdued Souls

“I will do it again.”

Seol Young spoke to someone he didn’t know.

“It would be better to skip the part that hurts too much.”

He closed his eyes and began to retrace the memories.

“After the three Hwarangs went back…”

“Who did you meet next?”

“S…”

The words wouldn’t come out of his mouth.

… a middle-aged man in a gray robe. He met him in the inn and was kidnapped. The man was strong and seemed to know something about the skull mask that captured Seol Young.

What did he say then?

Seol Young searched through the memories in his head and found it.

“… the power of the law of causality.”

Using those words as the coordinates, he positioned himself in the fog.

What place did he hear about?

He soon remembered it.

The middle-aged man put him on a rock in a secluded place.

Seol Young concentrated further.

‘Then on top of that rock. I need to go there.’

It felt cold and hard. There was a bird chirping in the distance.

He was back, and Seol Young opened his eyes.

“I know that you are disappointed…”

The middle-aged man in a gray robe was talking in front of him.

“We don’t exactly know how this causality works. But keep one thing in mind. Causality isn’t something you can eradicate. The more you try to escape it, the stronger you get bound to it. So there is no way to deal with it.”

What does that mean?

It felt too difficult for the young Seol Young to understand, so he blinked.

“But with that Red Blood Disease, I think we can do something about it. With the help of many people I know, we can get rid of it. If you repent of what you did and promise to walk on the right path, everyone will be willing to help you.”

The middle-aged man said.

It could be removed?

Seol Young knew the red thing was hiding in his body, but how could he believe him?

He was doubtful, but then he suddenly felt this coldness.

“Already?”

The man clicked his tongue and lifted Seol Young up.

“If you cannot make up your mind, then I will give you some time to think.”

And they rode the horse, with the middle-aged man holding Seol Young with one arm.

“Put me down! Now!”

Seol Young shouted, but he slapped him on the butt. The movement was so swift that he couldn’t avoid it.

The hands of this man hurt, making him almost tear up.

“Why are you hitting me?”

Seol Young protested, but then another hand flew to the same spot.

“Why am I hitting you? I need to take you with me for a couple of days to buy time. If you continue to act like this, I will lose it! Know that getting through this situation is a hundred times better than having your ass smacked.”

When Seol Young cursed, he raised his hand again, and Seol Young thought it would probably hit the same spot.

So when he thought about that, Seol Young decided not to talk.

“Will you be polite from now on?”

“…”

“Answer when an adult asks you!”

“… Yes.”

Seol Young reluctantly replied, and the man laughed,

HAHAHA!

“As expected, you are a smart guy. If you dress neatly and speak well, no one will look down on you.”

And then he asked,

“What is your name?”

Seol Young was silent for a moment.

According to the ghosts, when they first found him, he had a necklace around his neck with the words ‘Seol Young’ engraved on it. That must have been his name.

But he didn’t want to give him that name.

“Why are you not speaking? It isn’t like the Ghost Demon King is your actual name. Don’t you have a real name?”

Seol Young thought that the opposite of snow was spring, and the opposite of shadow was light. 1

Then it could work.

“Chun Kwang.”

The middle-aged guy glanced at him.

“Chun Kwang?”

It didn’t suit the kid, so he mumbled his name.

By this time, Seol Young’s hands were now free.

For the first time, he couldn’t help but think that he had evaded the shadows.

And if he could get away with this chance now, he might take it as a blessing. So he decided not to use sorcery.

The man didn’t paralyze Seol Young again, as if he knew the kid wouldn’t do it.

‘I need to get away from this person.’

Seol Young looked around and began to think, but the man didn’t seem to be willing to let him go.

‘What is this man’s work?’

He had modest behavior, but all of his belongings were exquisite, and he had no shortage of money. It seemed like he was of high class. But he had a cheap sword on him that guards normally use, which meant that he didn’t want to reveal his identity.

‘Then if he loses me, he will chase after me, and it would be hard for me to escape then.’

Seol Young pretended to be silent and obedient, so the strange journey began.

The middle-aged man offered to give Seol Young some time to think, but he didn’t say anything else about the Red Bone Disease or the skull mask being.

Instead, he first brought Seol Young to a street.

They went to an inn, washed their bodies with hot water, and bought clean clothes to put on.

And the man seemed satisfied.

“A lot better! So much better!”

On their way, the two of them looked like father and son, so no one bothered them.

Soon, the two were back on the road again.

The man seemed to have an easygoing personality and didn’t care about anything. He only made sure Seol Young was given meals at the right time.

Of course, ghosts don’t eat rice. If Seol Young was hungry, he would normally go and find something to eat, and if there wasn’t any food, he would starve.

However, this man took care of his every meal, and so Seol Young had to eat all of them. When he had no appetite and chewed on the same thing, the man would find local delicacies and make sure to get him something tasty.

He ate really nice meals and would fall asleep in exhaustion. As a result, his sensitive and careful attitude softened.

Going around with this man didn’t make him angry anymore. Sometimes, he would sit on the horse for hours admiring the roads.

He saw unfamiliar lands and strangers.

Seol Young was also curious, so when he saw something new, he couldn’t take his eyes off it. 𝗯𝐞𝗱𝐧𝗼𝐯𝐞𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The middle-aged man seemed to know a lot of things, and he would explain them to him.

“This area is where the people of Goguryeo live, so even children can shoot arrows here. Do you know how to shoot arrows? At my house, children get together and learn how to shoot arrows, play music, and ride horses too.”

The orange sun setting over a river appeared before his eyes. When he heard the man talking, he raised his neck.

When he hesitated in fear, the man put Seol Young on his shoulder and crossed the river.

“I don’t hear ghosts singing at my house. At night, everyone gathers and sleeps in one room. It is cool in the summer with trees surrounding it, and it is warm with a fire in the winter. When spring comes, they come to train and then leave for their own tasks…”

Seol Young listened to such stories from the man as he was being carried on the man’s shoulder. Were there really people who lived like that?

He felt strange and moved his legs, which made water splash onto the man.

“Is it because you are worried I will be thirsty? I don’t think I can find another son as filial as you!”

He burst into laughter as he spoke to him.

His body was shaking, and Seol Young felt like he would fall into the water, so he grabbed the hem of his clothes.

‘If you want to forget the past and go the right way, I will take the responsibility of settling the grudges you brought onto yourself.’

The words of the man kept repeating in his head.

The surface of the water shook.

However, it wasn’t really the river.

Seol Young lowered his eyes.

‘I am lonely… if someone treats me a little nice, my heart gets shaken.’

He would follow the man and see what would happen. If what he said was a lie, then he would run away by stabbing him.

That was what he thought.

But…

He was reminded of the various ghosts who followed him because they had no one to rely on.

What would happen to them if he left?

If this man settles the grudges, it wouldn’t be like he could clear all of them. The mess with the Blue Dragon Troops, how could he get him out of that situation?

… it seemed like there was no going back.

Seol Young was silent.

‘I need to look for a chance and run away.’

It was cold in the north, with snowflakes falling.

“Let’s get your clothes changed.”

The man turned toward a city, but as the horse was running, it suddenly slipped, and they crashed to the ground. However, the man hugged Seol Young as he fell.

The space twisted, and dozens of beings with black lips appeared. They looked like humans, but they weren’t.

Watchers!

Seol Young froze.

‘As I thought, I cannot escape!’

The man drew his sword.

“Go and hide!”

He pointed to the rock that had a crevice, and Seol Young quickly hid there.

In the midst of the snow, those with black lips attacked the man. As soon as one was hit and fell, two or three attacked him.

The middle-aged man dodged their attacks, grabbing whatever he could find and throwing it to the ground. Blood gushed out wherever his sword struck.

They weren’t a match for him.

Seol Young thought that as he looked at the scene.

‘This is it!’

He barely got a chance to escape. He got out of the rock and began to run away.

“Kid!”

The man called out. He sounded like he was genuinely concerned, as if he didn’t think Seol Young would run away.

Seol Young looked back without realizing that the man was fighting fiercely, but something felt strange.

The man stabbed his opponent in the chest with his sword, but it was suddenly trembling.

There was a gap.

Puak!

He was kicked in the chest, and the man had to get up from the ground and throw himself like the wind to stab them.

But he staggered and fell.

The last remaining enemy attacked. The moment they clashed, the man’s sword broke in half.

On the snow field, with his broken sword, he brought the enemy down and fell.

He wasn’t moving.

Seol Young watched from afar. The snow continued to pile on top of the man’s body, but he wasn’t moving.

‘I will not be fooled.’

Seol Young thought.

‘If I go to check him, he will catch me again.’

He turned around and ran away.

But he gradually slowed down and stopped.

He hesitated and went to the spot where the man fell.

‘He must have gone by now.’

But no.

He was still there, with the snow thickly falling on top of his body. Even so, he still didn’t budge.

“…!”

Seol Young was shocked and ran.

TL/N: Seol Young means snow shadow or something, so as an opposite to his name, he chose heavenly light.???