Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 31: Nirvana Painting (14)

On the way back to the city, there was a place called the Three Foxes Building.

It was well-known for its fragrant alcohol and quick serving of delicious food.

The Three Foxes Building got its name because three foxes were said to be hidden within the kitchen.

The seats on one side of the bar were already buzzing since the evening.

The White Tiger Spirit Troops’ four Hwarangs gathered together after a long time.

The swords of Baek Eon, Immortal God, Song Ok, New Flame, Hyo Wol, Wind and Thunder, and Seol Young, Blue Rainbow, had gathered. Only the Blue Rainbow didn’t have a Yin-Yang plaque, yet they felt harmonized.

It was a happy time for both the people and the swords.

“Now, have this drink, Seol Young-rang!”

“Want some chicken? It’s my first time here, so I don’t know the taste.”

Song Ok and Hyo Wol scrambled to offer Seol Young drinks and snacks.

‘We haven’t forgotten about the other people here.’

It was as if they were conscious of others eavesdropping on their conversation.

But after drinking alcohol to some extent, they stopped acting like before.

“Yah! Look here!”

Song Ok picked up a large bottle and set it on the table.

“This is called Hama alcohol. I had difficulty getting it from the winery, so I am opening it now.”

The Hama alcohol was famous for being strong. It got its name because the toads living on the moon apparently get drunk on it.

“Should we deal with this first, then start our drinking earnestly?”

When he tried to drink from the bottle, Hyo Wol freaked out.

“Second hyung! Wait! Calm down! It looks like you are already drunk!”

“Drunk? Me? What are you even saying? I am way off.”

“Then memorize the phrases of the Baopuzi.”

“Present is the nature….”

“You said it correctly, which means you are not yet drunk.”

“That’s what I told you!”

Song Ok said so and emptied the bottle in one breath.

He had one peculiar taste, and it was said that whenever he got drunk, he would turn lucid.

His eyesight would improve, his ears could hear better, and his memory would improve as well. When he was young, he memorized things to avoid getting scolded, but now he could memorize things that would otherwise be forgotten. The words he learned would come out on their own, and he could not control them either.

It was a sight to see, but this didn’t happen often. It was because Song Ok was a heavy drinker.

Seol Young learned to drink from him.

“I am fine.”

He poured the last drink from the bottle into the glass with a calm expression.

As he learned to drink from his second hyung, he came to resemble the amount of alcohol he drank too, but their drinking habits were quite different.

When Seol Young gets drunk, he loses his memory of what he did later. According to those around him, he turns calm at some point. According to Hyo Wol, ‘He wouldn’t care even when someone touches him.’

They said that he would sit still and close his eyes to fall asleep in the same position, but he never remembered any of it.

“Take it slow. We cannot carry you back to your room.”

Baek Eon advised him.

“I think I am still fine, but from the looks of it, I think my limit will be just ten glasses for now. I will count well and drink.”

He didn’t even drink alcohol. He was busy slicing the fish that had just been served and putting it in the bowls of his three hyungs.

The reason Baek Eon didn’t drink was not that he didn’t want to get drunk.

But because he couldn’t take it.

Shortly after taking over the position of leader, there was a time when they had to fight with a group of wild bandits outside the Moon Palace.

At that time, Baek Eon had drunk three large wine jars by himself. Even though his face hadn’t changed, nor did his words slide, he managed to take down the bandits.

‘It is meaningless if I don’t get drunk.’

So he didn’t drink.

On the other hand, Hyo Wol was the problem because he had a low alcohol tolerance.

“Great-rang and Second-rang, am I the only one feeling hot?? Seol Young, are you not feeling hot?”

He was already drunk from smelling the alcohol the two were exchanging. And his words kept repeating over and over again.

“I cannot be the only one hot…”

Everyone burst into laughter when he finally hit his head on the table.

They talked about this and that, and the topic naturally moved in one direction.

“But what happened that time?”

Hyo Wol asked while fanning his face.

“The contents of the letter you sent us were so serious, I thought some nine-headed demon was after you.”

“Ahh…”

Seol Young responded.

Song Ok wore an expression as if he wanted to know too.

“I am just glad the misunderstanding has been resolved. Actually, we can only roughly imagine it, but since the Governor said not to talk about…”

“Right. Fortunately, it didn’t end up wrong… Well… I still feel like I need to have a talk with him once.”

“No!”

Seol Young jumped up.

“Great-rang! Don’t! Never! Do not meet!”

“I will have to meet him sometime.”

“I will go!”

He shouted urgently.

All he thought about was protecting his hyungs from that devil at all costs.

The three of them looked at Seol Young with strange looks on their faces. As Baek Eon said,

“Right. It might be better to share a few more words about him directly.”

“…”

“I guess I should have told you more about him. It must have been awkward to be with someone higher than the Governor to appear so suddenly and then tell you to do this and that.”

Baek Eon spoke softly.

“I will tell you the stories one by one. Is there anything about the man you are curious about?”

“No…”

Seol Young, who was trying to stop them, paused.

As he listened to Baek Eon’s words, he thought of something.

The moment he appeared at the ancient tombs, he suppressed the evil spirits with strange magical tools.

He moved so swiftly and secretly that even Seol Young couldn’t figure out what they were. He barely saw a thin golden line.

In preparation for the rematch, wouldn’t it be better to know in advance what he had?

Seol Young thought and asked,

“Actually, there is something I am curious about.”

“Oh?”

Baek Eon looked happy. It was a face that said, ‘this is good.’

“What is it?”

“That… does he use other weapons?”

“Weapon?”

Baek Eon asked, and the other two also tilted their heads.

“Did you see him use any technique? I don’t remember.”

“I remember him saying that they are troublesome to carry around.”

So he did that after taking the path of evil?

Baek Eon asked,

“Did you see him use them?”

“N-No. I must have been mistaken.”

Seol Young changed the topic. And as he looked at the glass, another thought came to his mind.

And Baek Eon asked,

“Anything more you are curious about?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Go on.”

“That… he has a sister, right?”

“Za Yun-rang?”

“Yes. The one whom I visited and congratulated in the past.”

“You remember.”

“But does she have a bad relationship with the High Governor?”

For a moment, Baek Eon’s face was shaken.

Seol Young was a bit shocked by it. Zaha’s emotionless eyes felt odd to him, so he asked, but the man didn’t respond.

“I was being too much.”

“No. It’s good to know. Because you are the only one in the entire Hwarang troops who is unaware of this.”

Baek Eon’s face was normal now.

“But it doesn’t seem like something I need to tell you, though. Wouldn’t it be better to hear it directly from her?”

“Uh?”

“I think meeting once would do you good. I am sure you and her should meet once, and I am sure she will like it when she sees you.”

“Yes. She will find you very fun.”

“Yes. Yes. There is no way she wouldn’t like you.”

Seol Young was puzzled at their words.

Baek Eon, Song Ok, and Hyo Wol were Hwarangs. But there was one problem.

It was that all three of them firmly believed that when other people met their youngest, they would all like him.

Seol Young changed the topic.

“I want to hear more about your cave stories and what you solved recently. I should have been…”

When Song Ok started his story, they were back to being noisy.

“How many have we drunk by now?”

“Seven cups.”

Seol Young and Song Ok were giving and receiving…

The door of the bar opened, and a certain Hwarang entered.

Seol Young’s eyes met his, and he immediately went back.

Song Ok asked,

“Who is that?”

“Mo Cheon.”

Seol Young said, making Song Ok snort.

“Mo Cheon, isn’t that the youngest in the Black Tortoise? You took a knife for him, and he doesn’t even say thank you. Man, I am so dumbfounded.”

“I don’t really want to take sides, but it might be because he was shocked…”

Hyo Wol said.

“Anyway, should we be careful now? Doesn’t the fact that Mo Cheon-rang is here means that the Black Tortoise men are also lurking around?”

“Right.”

It wasn’t that they shouldn’t drink together, but they didn’t want others to see them, at least now in such messy times.

“Do we have to go to Mo Cheon-rang and talk to him? Or maybe just greet him?”

Baek Eon asked for water, and Song Ok and Seol Young moved.

Both of them were still in good condition.

Still, Seol Young got up from his seat and prepared.

“I am going to get some fresh air.”

He thought that death would be a lot better than showing himself disheveled in front of the other Hwarangs.

Seol Young went out and walked around, looking at the moon. He was far from being drunk.

But at some point, he felt dizzy.

‘What is this?’

He reached out and tried to grab onto a railing, but there was just empty space.

“…?”

Seol Young looked shocked.

At some point, he was no longer near the bar but in a different space.

A tall building loomed ahead. And someone turned around from there.

A woman.

She didn’t even look like a human at first glance.

‘Maybe?’

Seol Young pulled himself together.