Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 129: Harp Case (14)

He was right.

It was self-evident that he was pierced with an invisible arrow.

It was Baek Eon and Song Ok who looked into his wound and treated it, and it was Hyo Wol who almost got killed when he was trapped inside the harp box.

But why did Seol Young fall down?

“I am sorry.”

Seol Young got up right away. Baek Eon brushed off the dirt from Seol Young’s clothes and lowered his voice,

“So this harp box killed the official?”

“Yes.”

Seol Young replied.

“I will tell you now. It was not a coincidence that the White Tiger Troops were entrusted with the ancestral ritual. I saw a strange vision when I was dreaming during the festival.”

“Is that why you ran out so suddenly? And worked overtime?”

“I apologize. I was so shocked that I felt so lost. I just thought that I had to respond quickly to save my hyungs. But in the end, I couldn’t do anything…”

Seol Young sighed and looked at Zaha.

“Phew…”

Hyo Wol sighed.

“I really thought that was the end, I couldn’t believe that the White Tiger Spirit Troops’s Third would die like that, but the High Governor suddenly rushed over, and…”

He blocked the arrow shot by the Second hyung.

He couldn’t bear to say that, so he lowered his head.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Baek Eon, Song Ok, and Seol Young also bowed their heads.

Instead of trying to answer, he moved his injured arm around.

“I can still use this.”

“Still, it would be hurting and uncomfortable for a while.”

Baek Eon said,

“I’m not sure what to do because the High Governor suffered instead of us as a result of our lack of understanding.”

“No.”

Zaha shook his head.

“No matter how proud you are, your troops or the other Hwarangs couldn’t have stopped this. I was the only one who could stop it.”

“You mean to say that it was that strong?”

Hyo Wool was a bit taken aback by Song Ok’s question.

Baek Eon, however, seemed to have guessed it to some extent.

But Song Ok was not like that.

His personality was simple and easygoing. He wasn’t the type to keep unpleasant thoughts in mind for a long time.

He didn’t pay much attention to the fact that he had shot the top of the harp box and that blood flowed from there.

“Do not say anything.”

Hyo Wol shrugged.

“It was like some amazing archer had shot the arrow to pierce the target. I don’t even want to think about it anymore.”

“Do not think about it.”

Seol Young said that right away, and he looked at Hyo Wol’s hand that was holding the righteous weapon that he had picked up from inside the harp box.

“Show me that.”

He asked him and looked at it. The small, plum blossom-shaped weapon no longer shone.

There was no trace that it had sucked up the owner’s blood. It now looked the same as when Seol Young first took it out of Hyo Wol’s room.

It felt strange.

It was as if Hyo Wol’s blood had completely vanished.

Was that normal? Well, Hyo Wol wasn’t the one shot by the arrow—it was Zaha.

‘Then the blood that was smeared onto the harp box during the festival day…?’

Did it turn into Zaha’s blood?

If Zaha was hit by the arrow instead inside the harp box, what happened to Zaha during the time of the festival?

One person couldn’t be in two places. If they went back and looked at the past, would Zaha and Hyo Wol vanish from the festival?

His head felt so confused with those strange thoughts.

He couldn’t go back to the past now, so he wouldn’t know the answer either.

“Well, this is what you should know.”

Zaha spoke.

“Take it slow. You never know what will happen, when, and where. You need to be careful in the future.”

“Yes, High Governor.”

Seol Young didn’t answer as he was lost in thought, so Hyo Wol patted him on the shoulder a couple of times.

“It seems I haven’t said anything to you yet.”

“…?”

“Did you forget? If it weren’t for you, it would have been horrible. You sent out your spiritual qi to stop the harp box from closing at the right time. Thanks to that, the High Governor was able to follow me.”

“Ah.”

Seol Young remembered that and looked down at his left hand. At that time…

“High Governor, Hwarangs. We have finished cleaning.”

The soldiers approached them and reported.

“Ah.”

The ones who were lost in their own thoughts were brought back to their senses.

“Then we will wrap things up and go to the Governor to tell him about all of this. High Governor, please head home, and Seol Young, you should take a rest too.”

“Yes.”

Baek Eon, Song Ok, and Hyo Wol once again bowed their heads to Zaha and turned around. As they disappeared….

“Ah, I cannot do this anymore.”

Zaha slumped down on the stone next to him.

“I pretended to be sane for so long. It was truly so long.”

“…”

Seol Young looked at him.

When he thought of the horrible situation earlier, several emotions ran through his mind. But he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Ha.”

First of all, what came out was a sigh.

“Blocking it with your body? With your body? Was that your best plan? Why didn’t you tell me if you were going to do that? You should have said something instead of doing it alone!”

“What would change then?”

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Zaha asked him.

“It isn’t so strange when you think about it. I didn’t know what else to use, but your third hyung was bound to die in any way, so I had to use my body to block his. And if I told you that, what would have changed?”

“…”

“Then you wouldn’t have stepped aside because of your pride, and you would have said something like wanting to save him because it is your own business. But you cannot go in there. Because it was me, only because it was me, I could go inside and stop it.”

Seol Young, who wanted to say something, tried to open his mouth, but Zaha beat him to it.

“I made a promise and kept it. Isn’t that what happened?”

“…”

“Thank you. There was nothing you could do. Is it because you were thinking something else about me? Or maybe it’s because I cared enough to put my body on the line?”

“…”

“But why did I have to use my body to take the arrow? It was because it was one of those situations that would have blown out if I had stayed still. Because it was obvious that the child, which is you, would have rushed in like a mindless person and done something crazy.”

He worded it so clearly that Seol Young couldn’t say anything.

He was the one who brought up the subject for no reason, and now he couldn’t even say anything back. And this has always happened since they first met. Zaha was always better at talking.

If he had known in advance, would Seol Young have stopped him? But was there even another way?

That was a question that he couldn’t answer.

“…”

Zaha made Seol Young go silent and said,

“Show me your left hand.”

Seol Young undid the cloth tied around his sleeve.

‘As I thought.’

He tried to check it earlier, but he couldn’t see it clearly. The characters on his hand had changed. It wasn’t gold but silver now, and the shape disappeared and gathered together as one mass.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, they scattered and gathered along his pulse. No matter how one looked at it, it was a form of spiritual power.

Seol Young thought it was strange and took a closer look.

“What happened?”

“It seems like….”

Zaha carefully looked at him as he said,

“Your Spirit Meridian was pierced.”

“Spirit Meridian?”

Seol Young asked in shock.

The Spirit Meridian was the path through which spiritual qi flowed through the body. It was like a blood vein, so it was called the Spirit Meridian. And only when it was open could the qi be freely used.

“My Meridians were open since I was little.”

“Not the old ones, but the new ones.”

Zaha said.

“Didn’t I teach you how Miss Dohwa’s dice worked? With that, you were introduced to a higher level of the world. You learned how to use your spiritual qi in a new way.”

“But I never even considered thinking about the situation after that.”

“When you learn how to swim, you float without even thinking about it. You improved your qi by learning from me, and you unconsciously continued to use it. Then it seems like your meridian was pierced during a crisis.”

In other words, it seemed like a new path had opened up while something was still tightly shutting it down.

It didn’t seem like it would be of any use since it was only the second or third day compared to everyone who had been training for dozens of years.

“This solves one question.”

Seol Young looked at his right wrist, and it also seemed to be changing. When he broke the harp box, he did feel a strong shock.

He was about to take off his sleeve and untie it, but then Zaha said,

“Wait…”

He paused for a second and frowned.

“What is it?”

“I spoke too much, so it hurts.”

Seol Young flinched.

The man got injured while saving his hyung. He couldn’t help but think about that fact again.

“Shouldn’t you head home and lie down without pushing your body to the limit?”

“Right.”

After moving his shoulders a couple of times, Zaha put one hand in front of him. Seol Young stared at him, not knowing what to do.

“…?”

“Get up.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seol Young helped him up.

“Should we borrow a palanquin or a carriage?”

“What are you talking about? Is this something that I can go around talking about?”

Zaha walked out of the palace on foot, and he walked as if he were fine. And the injury wasn’t obvious through his robe.

He pretended it was nothing and walked home.

The married couple came out and greeted them.

“Did the ritual go well?”

“Yes.”

Zaha didn’t show his injury even in front of them.

Was he really not going to take care of it? Seol Young was puzzled but still followed him without saying a word.

Zaha calmly entered the main hall like usual.

Could it be that he was truly fine?

It didn’t look like anything serious, so he even had that thought. But of course, it wasn’t like that.

The moment they reached his room,

“This is it.”

Zaha laid down on the chair as if he would collapse, and then he said,

“Ah.”

And then he got up.

“The wound hurts.”

“Then…?”

“A cushion.”

Seol Young looked around the room.

“Here.”

He brought some cushions and put them behind Zaha.

“This is better.”

He said, stretching himself.

“Water.”

‘You didn’t say anything to the couple, though.’

He thought so, but he couldn’t do anything about it now.

“Yes.”

Seol Young quickly went to fetch water.

The water bottle was filled with clean water that the couple gave him.

Seol Young poured water into a glass and brought it to Zaha.

“Here.”

He drank the water and wanted to lie down again.

“I can live a little longer now. It isn’t something a dead person should say, though.”

And he closed his eyes.

“I cannot get used to being hurt for the first time after eight years.”

“Get some rest.”

“No.”

Zaha opened his eyes again.

“It is playing with other people’s thoughts. This is actually the most important moment.”