Chapter 45

Chapter 45 – Peach Blossom Girl (1)

The night streets were lined with bars selling alcohol, and a young man came out of one of them. A noble dressed in rich silk.

Several prostitutes were following after him.

“It isn’t even midnight yet, but you are already leaving?”

“Young Master, do you know? They say that if a person changes suddenly, then it means something bad will happen!”

The young man sighed as he said,

“I need to go home and wake up early tomorrow, my mother is not feeling well these days. I might end up being kicked out without a penny to inherit.”

“Then come to our brothel. We will feed you and put you to sleep too!”

“Are you asking me to work here?”

“Work? Would we? You can be a musician!”

“The only thing I know is to knock out rice bowls.”

“Young Master, seriously!”

Everyone smiled, and a servant brought him his horse, but he waved his hand.

“I will walk tonight. That way, the smell of alcohol will go away.”

All the women burst into laughter.

“I didn’t think she would be such an angry person!”

“Don’t even get me started.”

The young man sighed. He couldn’t stop, even with such cute beauties around him.

“Phew, my situation…”

The young man walked with his back straight in the splendid night.

All the pedestrians passed in the other direction, and occasionally, some horse riders would pass by too.

“I don’t have a companion! It would be nice if a beautiful woman could fall from somewhere. Then it wouldn’t be boring to walk around while looking at her.”

As he turned the corner, the young man hesitated. It was just something he said.

A woman walked in front of him. She had jet-black hair that reached her waist and a slender body with silk wrapped around it.

She was a typical royal beauty, and his eyes widened.

‘If I cannot take a look at her face, I might not be able to sleep tonight!’

He walked faster, but it was strange.

No matter how fast he walked, he couldn’t get close to her, and he was now almost running, but the woman was still ahead of him.

‘Am I too drunk?’

He realized it at that point. So he pulled his clothes up to run.

“Hello! Miss! Please stop! I have something important to say!”

The woman didn’t turn back, and she walked quickly to the side of the river where the boats sailed.

As she rode a boat alone, the young man also rode one to follow her. In the middle of the river was a small artificial island made of stone and soil. And the woman stopped her boat there.

She went into the pavilion built on the artificial island. It looked like a celebration hall. The young man opened the door and followed her.

“Miss!”

At that moment, a cold wind hit his body, making the man sober up.

The sight in front of him felt ominous. The whole place was full of cobwebs. The walls and floor were covered with dark red marks.

‘This isn’t it.’

It was so terrifying that he couldn’t stay there. So he tried to leave, but right then, he saw a beautiful woman with her back to him standing near a window. And the man once again forgot about his fear.

“Oh! You were there!”

The moment he approached her with joy, something small fell from the woman’s body, and it rolled.

A dice?

One that had fourteen sides and was used for setting penalties at drinking parties. And it rolled until it halted.

The young man read the dice without a thought.

‘Laugh out loud?’

It meant drinking alcohol and laughing loudly. And when he looked up, the woman slowly turned back.

The moment he saw her face, his legs gave out as he stumbled back.

“Ack! What is this?!”

Even if he tried, he couldn’t run.

His eyes were wide enough to reflect her image.

As soon as dawn came up, people who lived near the riverside came out. It was noisy, and they had to catch some fish until one of them stopped and then another.

They saw something strange.

“Is that a person?”

Just looking at the figure, it seemed like someone was lying down by the river, and it looked like his expensive silk clothes were soaked.

“Someone fell into the water!”

“Is he alive or dead?”

People hurriedly ran and turned the body over, only to be startled.

“Ack!”

All of them were shocked, as some stumbled while others pushed the body away.

Only the corpse that was turned over was motionless.

The sky that was just beginning to brighten was reflected upside down in the body’s cloudy eyes.

It was in the dark.

Seol Young tried to get up, but his body wouldn’t move.

His right hand was tied, and he just realized that he was chained.

‘A dream.’

He wasn’t as young as back then, but he couldn’t move.

Dozens of red lights appeared in the darkness. They were the eyes of evil spirits.

They slowly approached him, and he knew what would happen after that.

He wanted to escape, even if it was a dream, but the chain wouldn’t budge.

It felt like his spiritual power was sealed right now, and he couldn’t use any talismans or other items.

‘Do not come!’

He struggled against them, and at some point, he could move a finger.

The chain became loose, and he jumped to see a familiar room come into view.

A meditation cushion.

Phew.

He sighed and stretched out his hand. He pulled out the blue sword that was next to the futon and held it.

‘To have that nightmare again.’

It was the first time since he climbed Mount Seondo while holding his teacher’s hand.

He would dream of the same scene every now and then, but it wasn’t a real nightmare. It just made his head dizzy.

Even now, Seol Young wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision.

‘But I have been following my beliefs until now…’

He decided to do the same this time.

The night passed, and he heard the sound of people preparing for the dawn service.

Seol Young listened to the sound and picked up his sword. He even inspected all his belongings.

And then he headed to the Moon Palace.

He was going to meet the Governor, but he ran into someone.

The person had elegantly styled hair. Even in the palace, colorful clothes were rare. And even though the woman seemed to be over sixty years old, her face looked like that of a young woman.

It was the head of the Great Heavenly Pavillion.

‘I must be out of luck already.’

Seol Young stepped aside so she could pass, but she didn’t.

“…?”

Only then did he realize. She was alone, and there were no other officials who followed her.

It meant she wasn’t going anywhere and that she had been waiting there.

And the person… was maybe him?

Seol Young bowed his head.

“Great Heavenly Head.”

“Seol Young-rang.”

She bowed her head very lightly, and Seol Young asked,

“What business do you have with me?”

The woman stared at him and then smiled.

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“Seol Young-rang proudly said he would solve the supernatural calamities that I foresaw, and you actually did solve them a couple of times, which is nice. Actually, I thought that you were acting ignorant since you are a careless person, but this is unexpected.”

She looked like she was scanning Seol Young.

“It seems like you are afraid of something.”

The woman’s eyes were sharp, and she had her own opinion.

Seol Young was nervous, but he answered without hesitation,

“Of course. I am always afraid of things.”

“Um? What?”

“As you must have already known, isn’t sorcery something that borrows power from the other side? Those who wish to practice it always have a fear in their hearts, and first of all, the fear of Gods is what we call…”

As she listened, her face contorted.

“Seol Young-rang, I didn’t mean that.”

She looked at Seol Young.

“Aren’t you also suspicious of the identity of the High Governor?”

This struck a chord. But Seol Young said nothing.

If he had just noticed that, he wouldn’t have spent so much time with him. He frowned slightly as he said,

“I don’t understand what you mean. Do you have any doubts regarding the High Governor’s identity? If it isn’t him, then did some fox disguise itself as him? Don’t you think the Hwarang troops would have discovered it?”

“Hmm.”

She smiled.

“Seol Young-rang, where did we first meet? Do you think I don’t know anything about you? Even though you are calmly putting on this pretense, you are worried inside. You are no idiot, and I know you must have already figured out a couple of things about the High Governor.”

She continued before Seol Young could respond.

“‘I do not want outsiders to meddle in the affairs of the clans.’ Are you going to fall for his words and cover them up? You should think carefully about whether that is a wise decision. You are already being fooled.”

“‘You are already fooled.’ Isn’t that the favorite phrase of the one who wants to deceive others?”

“Shut up and listen, young man. The High Governor must be helping you little by little to avoid the eyes of others. In that way, he makes you depend on him. That is his method.”

A strange smile appeared on her lips.

“I am someone who cares about this nation. Think about it. Everything I hold in my hands now comes from this nation, so would I want this nation to be shaken?”

“…”

“There is no doubt that there is a revelation from heaven, but after thinking, I realized something.”

“…?”

“Maybe the real problem maker is elsewhere. Disguised in an identity, no one would suspect.”

She looked Seol Young right in the eye.

“I just want to give you a chance to choose. If you think there is some truth in what I am saying…..”

She pulled out a pouch of red silk from her sleeve.

“Then open this. You will learn an important secret about the High Governor.”