Chapter 50. Dream of the Jade-Blue Sea (7)
While Cheongyeon and Bam were escaping from the plague village, Seongha and Hyeon were running through a secluded alley inside the royal palace.
The two men moved quickly.
They leaped onto a wall, ran across the roof of a large palace building, then jumped into the backyard.
A strangely shaped red gate stood there.
Beside it was an ordinary well that looked no different from something found in a common village home.
When they looked inside, they saw a black hole with a strange whirlpool turning within it.
The space felt similar to the opening that had once appeared in the sky of Cheonhui Kingdom.
Seongha turned toward Hyeon.
“What do we do now?”
Hyeon grinned.
“The dead spirits the king released inside the palace will soon gather here.”
His smile sharpened.
“Then we force them into the well and seal it.”
Hyeon looked toward the grand royal hall towering beyond the high wall.
A cold wind passed through the trees.
Branches shook.
“In simple terms...”
He smiled.
“We are stabbing my father in the back from his own backyard.”
Hyeon created a barrier around the well, separating the space from the outside world.
Then he pulled out a book and set it on fire.
The title read:
[The Book of Hell]
Hyeon spoke toward the burning pages.
“The blood contracts you made with King Nampyeong are now invalid.”
His voice rang through the space.
“Return to the place where you belong.”
A terrible wail exploded around them.
It was loud enough to tear at their ears.
The sound was so horrible that Seongha could not tell whether it was coming from inside the burning book or from somewhere outside it.
Hyeon drew his sword.
A cruel smile appeared on his face, cold enough to freeze the world.
“Shall we begin the hunt?”
Dark energy spread from the burning book.
As if drawn by it, evil spirits began gathering.
They crawled out from rooftops.
Railings.
Building shadows.
Some walked upside down on their hands.
Others crawled on all fours.
Some carried their own severed heads in their hands.
Hyeon swung his sword.
The ghosts charging toward him collapsed while spraying blood.
It looked almost like someone setting fire to a field.
Seongha was also busy fighting the endless spirits.
He lightly waved his fan.
A current of wind swept through the area.
Flower petals scattered.
A gentle energy of harmony spread through the battlefield.
Some ghosts tried to flee from the two men.
But whenever they attempted to escape, they crashed against an invisible wall created by the powerful barrier.
The worlds inside and outside the barrier had become completely separated.
Because of that, nobody inside the palace knew what was happening here.
Only the toad-shaped decoration carved into the roof tiles above seemed to watch the battle like a silent witness.
Meanwhile, the Black Sword Ghost sat in front of the well with both legs stretched out.
He watched the fight as casually as someone enjoying a fire from the opposite side of a river.
Seongha glared at him while breathing heavily.
“Your Highness, why is that creature simply sitting there?”
He frowned.
“Is he trying to ruin this?”
The Black Sword Ghost looked offended.
“Hey, Scholar...”
He tilted his head.
“Don’t you think you’re looking down on me a little too much?”
His grin widened.
“I have responsibilities as an official of the underworld too.”
Unable to remain lazy after Seongha’s criticism, the Black Sword Ghost twisted his neck.
Crack.
Then he suddenly jumped to his feet like a puppet.
He pulled a red silk scroll from inside his clothes.
Using a brush dipped in white paint, he began writing on it.
The moment he did, ropes flew out from behind him at tremendous speed.
They wrapped around the ghosts.
The spirits struggled desperately as they were dragged toward the well.
Hyeon explained while cutting down a huge ghost standing in front of Seongha.
“That scroll is a Jeokpaeji, an official document of the underworld.”
He swung his sword again.
“He is writing the names of the dead on it.”
“You could say he is conducting their funerals according to the laws of hell.”
The massive ghost’s jaw separated from its face.
Its severed head rolled across the ground with its teeth exposed.
Black blood splashed across Seongha’s face.
He frowned slightly.
But there was no time to wipe it away.
He continued fighting.
One man gathered the dead with the power of darkness.
Another purified and weakened them.
The final member collected their souls and sent them back to the underworld.
In a strange way...
The three of them worked surprisingly well together.
However, as time passed, the killing intent inside the barrier grew stronger.
The battle became increasingly difficult.
King Nampyeong had opened the gates of hell and brought so many evil spirits into the capital that even the entire night did not seem long enough to deal with them.
Worse, the barrier gradually became faint.
The palace wall began shaking.
Roof tiles trembled.
The damage from the battle was starting to reach the outside world.
Seongha turned toward Hyeon.
“There is no point continuing the battle like this.”
His voice was decisive.
“I will hold them in place.”
He raised his fan.
“Your Highness, seal them inside the well.”
Seongha lifted the fan toward the sky.
Then he snapped it open.
Fwoosh.
Pure white light poured down over the dead.
Straight pillars of light fell like heavy rain.
They resembled an endless white bamboo forest.
The scene was holy and magnificent.
Thanks to the prison of light, Hyeon could deal with the trapped spirits far more easily.
He moved closer to Seongha until their backs touched.
Hyeon spoke in a low voice.
“Not bad.”
Seongha answered calmly,
“You flatter me.”
After exchanging only those brief words, both men adjusted their grips on their weapons.
They prepared for the final attack.
Then...
Rustle.
Someone approached.
The instant that figure appeared, every ghost suddenly froze.
They stood completely still, like beings from whom time itself had been stolen.
The newcomer had a human shape.
But its entire body, from head to toe, was covered by a yellow paper bag.
Its eyes and mouth were deep black holes.
Strange red words had been written across the paper in crooked handwriting like that of a child.
Gate.
Samadhi.
Light and Darkness.
Hyeon stared at the paper ghost.
“So you are the first creature Father summoned into the palace with the Book of Hell.”
The paper ghost was the first otherworldly being King Nampyeong had successfully summoned.
Its form was barely being maintained by crude black magic and layers of talismans stuck to its body.
It had been hidden inside a palace storage room for years, carrying the secret behind the darkness of an entire kingdom.
Now it had answered Hyeon’s call.
When Nampyeong was young, he studied death through the Book of Hell.
