Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 118: Palanquin (3)

“How did this happen?”

Zaha asked.

The face of the Great Heavenly Pavilion’s head turned white as she spoke,

“I don’t know, the guy was inside to pull the spiderweb out, but then the door suddenly closed in…”

Everyone looked down at the body in shock. The wounds on the body looked as if they had been hit with an arrow. However, there was no arrow, and there were just wounds.

It seemed like the action of a ghost.

To think that the harp box kept under the safety of the Great Heavenly Pavilion was here and someone died in such a bizarre way like this.

“This is a supernatural calamity too!”

The Great Heavenly Pavilion head questioned Seol Young,

“Seol Young-rang! How will you take responsibility for this? You will never be able to get away from this!”

Seol Young’s blood went cold.

Right. This had to be a supernatural calamity.

But he had lost his spiritual power. How was he going to solve this case now that everyone was watching?

He remembered how stern the King looked.

If he couldn’t solve this, then it would mean his death. His head felt dizzy, and at that moment,

“What nonsense is that?”

Zaha asked.

“This harp box has been kept in your pavilion for generations, though? In addition, this happened right in front of you, the head of the Great Heavenly Pavilion. How can you hold the Hwarangs accountable for it?”

“How does holding Seol Young-rang accountable mean holding the Hwarangs accountable? Right! I knew that the High Governor would protect him at all costs. I knew it!”

“Why would I be obsessed with protecting him? Aren’t these individuals around you those whom you have taken under the pavilion and strictly supervised? There is no one who doesn’t know how they are trained.”

Zaha didn’t give up and continued,

“But the person who is the head of such a pavilion, who reads the will of the heavens and acts as the agent of God, cannot even protect one of her cherished people? And before an important festival happens? Let’s find out then. Who will be losing more from this incident?!”

She couldn’t answer back.

The arrow she threw seemed to be coming back for her. Everyone followed the procession of the King, and the officials went back.

So they were the only ones who witnessed it.

“There is no need to make a deal out of this. Let us settle this quietly, and after it is solved, you can speak about what happened.”

Zaha said.

There seemed to be a sound of chattering from somewhere, and this startled the Great Heavenly Pavilion head.

Whatever happened, Zaha was right.

Even she, who believed that God was omnipotent, wasn’t free from this horrid situation, and she couldn’t accept it.

“… Hm.”

She groaned as if she couldn’t help it. Then she motioned to her people.

“Kids.”

“Yes.”

The officials put the corpse inside the harp box and closed the door with trembling hands.

“…”

Seol Young and Zaha looked at each other.

They seemed to have stopped the situation from escalating.

But, of course, at this moment, something strange still happened. Besides, they got involved with the Great Heavenly Pavilion because of the death of one of them, and now the harp box for the festival was tainted.

It wasn’t good.

If Seol Young couldn’t use his spiritual power like usual, then the attempts of the Great Heavenly Pavilion head to harm him would work.

‘I can never get caught.’

He couldn’t help but be nervous again.

“One, two.”

The officials lifted the harp box, and it was heavy.

Four people had to bring it here, and now eight people have to bring it back. They barely managed to put some strength into lifting it.

Seol Young, Zaha, and the head of the Great Heavenly Pavilion crossed the gate through an unpopulated road.

Seol Young looked at the octagonal building surrounded by trees.

It was a shrine.

It was the place of the Great Heavenly Pavilion and the heavenly officials. It was treated like a sanctuary and wasn’t accessible to everyone.

The two officials guarding the entrance stood up and were shocked to see the Hwarangs, but they didn’t say anything and just opened the door.

Seol Young and Zaha followed the officials of the pavilion, and they all went inside. It was broad daylight, so the hallway was brighter. On the other hand, the rooms were dark.

Candles were burning everywhere, and there were astronomy-related things inscribed on the walls. The heavenly officials, who were standing around, lowered their heads and greeted the head of the Great Heavenly Pavilion.

‘This is like being in the middle of the enemy lines.’

Seol Young thought as he was walking, and he stopped when they reached the inner chamber.

An octagonal room.

The walls were filled with books and calendars, and above them were lanterns that cast a mysterious light.

“Enough.”

At their head’s words, everyone except for a few went out. And then they put up the curtains.

“Open it.”

“Yes.”

Hwa Ryeong, her confidant, opened the door of the harp box.

The body was revealed, and she told Seol Young,

“Take a look at the body, then.”

Seol Young stepped forward, trying not to show his nervousness. He first bowed to the dead man, who was lying on his back.

“Great Heavenly Pavilion member. You were brutally murdered in front of many people. I will definitely reveal the truth and uncover the injustice done to you.”

And he added to himself,

‘Even if it is difficult right now, I will do anything to help you once I have recovered my strength.’

After bowing, Seol Young looked at the officials.

“Someone roll up the sleeves of the dead man, please.”

A person went close to the body and folded the sleeves of the man twice around his wrist.

Seol Young glanced at Zaha. He approached the body and kneeled down as he put his fingers to the wrist.

His fingertips glowed, and it seemed like he was doing it correctly.

But it was an illusion.

It was the light that Zaha was sneakily helping him with.

It was sneaky.

There were scammers who deceived people by pretending to have spiritual powers even though they really didn’t have any.

When Seol Young was young, whenever he met such people, he would feel hatred toward them. But he never thought he’d be doing such a thing here.

‘Life is unpredictable.’

Instead of flowing memories, he could only feel the coldness of the corpse, and then he withdrew his hand at the right time.

Seol Young sighed.

“Something powerful is blocking me from seeing it. I cannot see anything.”

“What?”

“You shouldn’t be that surprised. This happens often.”

Seol Young then projected a fake action onto the harp box.

“As expected, this side is also blocking my attempts.”

The head frowned.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. But…”

Seol Young looked at the harp box.

“Until now, every year during the festival, there was never a problem like this, right?”

“Right.”

This harp box was made of wood. There was a golden clasp in the middle that could be locked and was decorated with gold. And when he opened the door, everything was covered in gold inside.

“Hmm…”

Seol Young took a good look at every corner of it. Even though he had no spiritual energy, he could feel some evil energy.

“The festival is tomorrow…”

Zaha told the head,

“You have to somehow get a harp box similar to this one. This should be strictly stored in the depths of the shrine and never brought outside. For now, let us safely pass the festival and then conduct a proper investigation.”

“Haa…”

The head sighed.

“Why the hell did this happen to our shrine object?”

“There has to be some reason?”

Zaha looked around at the walls engraved with writings and various books.

“Head, aren’t there any ghost stories or legends about the shrine?”

“Ghost story? Legend?”

“It might have something to do with the evil energy this thing has. I heard there are records that hold the history of the shrine and the events that happen every day. Can I take a look at them?”

She frowned at his question.

“It is something that cannot be disclosed to outsiders. If you tell me exactly what you are curious about, I will find it.”

“Alright. I will tell you when I think of it.”

With that, their discussion ended.

Zaha went out with Seol Young.

“Now that this has happened, she won’t be able to move ahead of us, and we will at least be safe until the holidays end.”

Zaha said while looking back.

“So do not worry about it, and do your task well. I don’t want you to get caught.”

“I understand.”

The two hurriedly got out of there.

Finally, it was bright on the day of the festival.

In front of the yard, a place was prepared for the Princesses to show off their achievements.

Beneath the splendid awning sat the King, Queen, Crown Prince, and twin Princesses.

Seol Young and Yeon Je each stood behind the Princesses.

According to tradition, the two wore feathers on them and wore robes of the same color but more colorful than usual.

“The winner of the weaving competition is the older Princess! Princess, come out and receive your reward!”

There was a dance performance, some songs were sung, they compared and judged what they wove for a month, and there was a dance performance and some songs again…

And then the archery began.

“Come, two Princesses.”

At the words of the eunuch, who served the King, both Princesses got up. They wore a small crown of gold on their heads, and they had light pink skirts and light blue robes.

It was very nice to see the two little Princesses walking together.

Even the eunuch, Hwang Soo, smiled.

“Princesses, tell the two Hwarangs to stand in front of the targets.”

“Yeon Je-rang, stand in front of the target.”

“Seol Young-rang, stand in front of the target.”

Everyone’s eyes focused, and Seol Young stood tall.

Zaha watched with a face that said,

‘I can finally see the end.’

Meanwhile, Jin Rim was blunt as usual.

Only the Vermillion Bird Troops watched with a frown, while the other troops were rather calm.

Among them…..

“Well, honestly, just looking at this…”

There was a clear voice. It was Baek Eon.

“I think our fourth will never fall out, no matter where he goes or who he is compared to.”

He spoke in a humble tone, but the face of Baek Eon said,

‘My child is the best.’

There were more loud voices.

“Ah, right. Our fourth will never fall out.”

“If anyone disagrees, I will gouge out their eye.”

Song Ok and Hyo Wol said.

The White Tiger Troops were the most polite of the troops, but their voices were the loudest.

They were so excited that even Zaha and Jin Rim turned back and looked at them.

Zaha glanced back at Seol Young.

‘They get along well.’

With that, he smiled.

Everyone looked at the White Tiger Troops and then at Seol Young. Seol Young just stood there, pretending nothing was wrong, but his face was red.

‘I need to end this fast.’