Chapter 136: Harp Case (21)

Chapter 136: Harp Case (21)

Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

A huge dark hole.

Something that could only be expressed like a void appeared in the air. It grew in an instant, trying to swallow Seol Young.

“...?”

He was ready to attack if needed. But if he moved too hastily, he would provoke this thing he had brought out. So he gave it a chance to realize what it was.

With that thought, he brought out the spiritual qi within him and looked at the black hole. And the hole stopped.

And then it began to get smaller and smaller.

“I see.”

Zaha’s voice came from beyond the darkness.

“It is the Dragon Born Nine Sons!”

Dragon Born Nine Sons? A dragon with nine kids?

Seol Young only realized it then.

This dark hole was in something’s mouth. The darkness began to get smaller and smaller, and then there was the sound of a mouth closing.

With that, a small thing appeared at his feet. Its body was covered in black scales, and it had blue eyes on its big head.

It was a small baby dragon.

“It must be Do Cheol, the fifth child.”

Zaha said.

This was a different Do Cheol from the Do Cheol monk they knew. This one means to be greedy.

According to the legend, there were nine kinds of strange divine beasts that were said to have been born from a dragon.

The fifth of them was Do Cheol, and it loved to eat and swallow anything.

Seol Young finally understood it.

“Onso-rang made a tool that borrowed the power of Do Cheol, so he wanted it to swallow the Gu poison.”

At that moment, the baby dragon slumped to the ground. Like a human baby, it stretched its legs forward and sat on its hips, and it blinked when their eyes met.

Where did the thing that was about to swallow everything go? The final weapon had such an innocent look.

“Such a young thing.”

Seol Young reached out his hand, and Zaha said,

“Young? This dragon is born with your spiritual qi, and in terms of ranks, it is higher than you. Seol Young-rang, hurry up and bow to your senior.”

“...?”

What now?

It was a thing, not a person. Wasn’t that thing, which is made of qi, on the list of names of the Hwarangs?

Seol Young thought Zaha’s words were a bunch of nonsense.

But looking at the eyes of the young dragon, it seemed like it was also asking for a bow. Could it be because Seol Young’s energy felt weaker?

He seemed to be looking at Seol Young like a trainee who had just started yesterday.

Seol Young was being pressured by its intense gaze and had no choice but to bow.

“Hwarang Seol Young greets you, senior.”

The young dragon’s face didn’t change, and it was like its expression said,

‘This is how it works.’

Zaha said,

“Give a name to your senior.”

Seol Young thought for a moment and said,

“Senior Onso made it, so it will be called Oni.”

Oni meant to be perfect without lacking anything, and he thought it was a short, nice name.

“Senior Oni.”

When Seol Young called it that, the baby dragon crawled and began to move. It sniffed Seol Young’s scent and climbed up to him.

Seol Young went stiff.

“What is it now?”

“I think it is trying to find the Gu poison in your body.”

‘I will use this well.’

He bowed to his deceased seniors and left that place.

On the next day, the heads of the Hwarang troops gathered.

When Seol Young entered, everyone except Zaha and Baek Eon were puzzled.

Jin Rim, the Governor, said,

“I called him because he is going to give us an important report.”

He looked around and got straight to the point.

“Recently, during the ancestral ritual, the top of the harp box broke on its own after showing another auspicious sign. It is officially known like that, but according to Seol Young-rang, that isn’t the truth. Another supernatural calamity happened, and Hyo Wol-rang’s life was in danger.”

Mu Won of the Black Tortoise Troops, Seo Geom of the Blue Dragons, and Hwa Un of the Vermillion Birds were all surprised.

“Hyo Wol-rang?”

“Right.”

Jin Rim turned to Seol Young, who stepped forward and bowed to them.

“There was a powerful evil spirit dwelling inside the harp box, and it will show up again. If my guess is right, I think it might appear with something else this time.”

Everyone looked at him. Each of them seemed to have different thoughts, but not a single person spoke.

Jin Rim spoke again,

“It is autumn, and it is the time when the Hwarangs would train. All the troops should dispatch the Hwarangs and trainees to find out if there is anything strange related to this, as Seol Young-rang said. We need to respond quickly so that no civilians are harmed.”

Zaha added.

“As much as possible, do not inform the others about this.”

“Yes.”

All the heads of the troops responded.

As soon as the meeting was over, each of them was dispatched to various places for training. With that, they diligently gathered information.

And so they finally obtained some information.

At the Taehwa River.

The largest trading port in Silla was located there, and the Blue Dragon Troops caught a rumor.

They brought a witness to the palace, so Seol Young and Zaha immediately went there.

The witness was a military officer working in Gyebyun-seong.

While patrolling as usual, he noticed something strange in the waters.

“My feet hurt a bit when I was walking, so I took off my shoes to brush them, thinking a crab got inside them. Then, when I stood back up, the light was bright on the beach, which had been empty until just then. Suddenly, a magnificent floating market appeared.”

There used to be a market there.

In addition to selling exotic goods, it also served as an entertainment venue. Crowds of people came in and went out.

Then one day, a big fire broke out, and the people were unable to escape and burned to death. The once amazing market had vanished.

But...

Suddenly, the burned market reappeared in its place.

The people who had died inside were selling goods and entertaining guests.

People who didn’t know the story were attracted to the market and went inside, but they never came back.

All kinds of strange ghosts and beasts gathered inside.

It slowly got called the Ghost City.

Jin Rim told Zaha,

“This ghost incident. This was a case that was settled by the Hwarangs a long time ago. It is said that the ghosts had been taken down, and the cursed place had been cleansed. But then they appeared again. Everything is the same as the records from the past, but there is one difference....”

And then he looked at the military officer.

“Show him that.”

“Yes.”

The officer took out a crumpled piece of cloth from his chest.

“There was a strange flag hanging in the city. I didn’t know what it was, but it seemed to have some meaning, so I drew it.”

He unfolded the cloth, and it was a snake trying to bite its tail in a circle.

Seol Young looked at Zaha, and their eyes met.

“...”

As expected, that guy reappeared, and he was calling them to go there.