The roadside to the capital had houses with tiled roofs on both sides.

Because of the heavy rain from the night before, puddles of water remained, and the procession of the Hwarangs could be seen.

People came out on the road and whispered.

“The beast on Mount Danseok has been captured.”

“What? The demonic beast?”

Someone pointed to the large lump of iron at the end of the procession. They were escorting an iron box.

It was sealed up in layers of chains and locks the size of a forearm.

Because it was made of iron, what was inside couldn’t be seen.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The only thing they could hear was the sound from inside of it.

“Mom.”

Some kids who were close to it were startled and backed out.

“Be careful.”

The Hwarangs smiled.

Slowly, the number of Hwarangs decreased, and the people watching noticed it. Among the Hwarangs who were dressed in blue were two men with odd clothes.

One of them looked like a high-ranking Hwarang who had a black robe with a golden pattern, and the other one just wore a white robe.

The two men had contrasting clothes and moved a bit far from the group.

“What could it be? They are…”

Seol Young lowered his voice.

“Not yet.”

Zaha replied with a snort. On their way, he handled everything well.

The iron box and the symbols.

While everyone was devastated by Seo Jun’s sudden appearance, Zaha remembered that Danseok was a place for the Hwarangs to train. So they headed there to imprison the demonic beast.

Thanks to this, they managed to hide Seo Jun and bring him back to the capital. But they had to overcome many more things.

Seo Geom approached him.

“High Governor, what should we do now?”

He asked, pointing his head. With no time at all, they began to move toward the palace.

Zaha said,

“What do you mean? Everyone will behave normally, and I will handle it with the Governor.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Seo Geom moved and completely trusted him.

“Do you see that?”

“Yes, such great…”

Seol Young clapped his hands a couple of times and glanced back. Seo Geom was moving farther from the procession.

“But about Seo Geom-rang. Isn’t he being strange?”

“Strange how?”

“His reaction. It just feels cold…”

“The two of them didn’t get along.”

“But the other Hwarangs are also being strange. It seems like they are hiding something.”

“You think so? What is there to hide?”

“It must be about his death. I heard he was killed by the demonic beast at that time, but is that really true?”

“Well.”

Zaha’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Come to think of it, I have only received reports about it. I didn’t actually see the scene.”

“Is that so?”

The conversation ended right there because they reached the capital. Outside the northern palace, Jin Rim and the officials of the Great Heavenly Pavilion were there.

They couldn’t enter the palace with a monster in their hands, so they came out instead.

“You have come?”

Jin Rim greeted Zaha and looked at Seo Geom.

“I heard you ended it safely.”

“Yes. It was a lot tougher than expected, and we also struggled for a while, but then the High Governor arrived and helped us out.”

“Is the thing in there the demonic beast, then?”

“No. We just captured it because it was unique.”

“Hmm.”

The Governor nodded. It was common to hunt and capture unique things.

“You did well, Seo Geom-rang.”

After congratulating him on his hard work, he turned to Seol Young.

“It is fortunate that Seol Young-rang also achieved his goal. But when you were away, Baek Eon-rang was looking for you.”

“Uh? For me?”

“I heard that about six months ago, the White Tiger Spirit troops sent someone to the Kigun district to order a similar jade for four people. And I heard that it has arrived.”

“Ah…”

Seol Young remembered.

Half a year ago, he never thought he would be pushed out of the group.

Thanks to that, they were able to find someone skilled enough to do it, but the times were not good.

“I will visit him soon.”

With Seol Young’s answer, Jin Rim seemed shocked.

It concerned the White Tigers, yet Seol Young was delaying the visit.

That was the kind of look he had. At the same time, Zaha glanced back.

Jin Rim recognized it.

‘Something happened.’

No matter how naïve he was, he wasn’t the type to not notice it. In the past, when Zaha was the Governor, and Jin Rim was his assistant, they would often exchange eye signals.

“Then.”

And so Jin Rim took the officials and turned around.

“The Pavilion also seems worried with…”

His voice faded. Together with the officials of the Great Heavenly Pavilion, they quickly disappeared into the palace.

And the Blue Dragon troops were dismissed.

Seo Geom approached them.

“Then let’s go.”

“Ah, yes.”

“We will lead the path.”

The Blue Dragons turned around and surrounded the iron cage, and on Seo Geom’s command, they headed to the east of the palace.

“Come to think of it, Seol Young-rang.”

Looking at them moving away, Zaha asked,

“It is a pity that we couldn’t run to Mount Seondo right away, so are we going to another town instead?”

‘He seems excited.’

Seol Young threw him a cold glance.

‘They say that what happened to the Ghost Demon King was a disgrace to the Hwarangs. So I don’t know why this man is so happy about it.’

The destination of the procession was now Mount Toham.

Mount Toham was the mountain on the eastern side of the city. It was said that its name came from the fact that it would swallow or hold onto the clouds and mist that thickly covered the Eastern Sea.

Seol Young could walk around such a place with his eyes closed.

Of course, he knew very well where they were going. It was the main base of the Blue Dragon True troops.

A magnificent gate stood overlooking the spectacular view, and a large drum was hung on the door.

When people who needed help visited, they would beat the drum, and the Hwarangs inside would help them.

The two disciples who stood by the drum to guard it were about to shout, but when they noticed Seo Geom, they hesitated.

“Governor?”

Then, when they saw Seol Young walking next to them, their eyes doubted it.

Why did the ‘Ghost Demon King’ set foot in this place? They were stunned and almost yelled out.

However, the expressions of Seo Geom and the others were odd.

“…”

Then the two realized the situation and guided them inside.

“What? Who is coming?”

Seo Geom’s uncle jumped out in shock the moment he met Seol Young in the middle of the yard.

He was surprised and embarrassed to the extent that his eyes looked like they would pop out.

He had focused on helping his nephew and teaching the Hwarangs, so he had never set foot outside this place.

He had only seen Seol Young again after seven years, but he recognized him right away.

“This person….”

He had a puzzled expression. He opened his mouth wide to say something, but Zaha quickly intercepted him.

“Euljae.”

“Ah, yes, High Governor…”

Euljae exchanged glances with Zaha and then threw a look of doubt and confusion at his nephew.

Seo Geom avoided his gaze and ordered the others.

“Tell everyone to gather in the basement of the training room.”

“Yes.”

They carried the iron box and went into the training room in the basement. It was a place where they kept the demonic beings and Yokais that they had caught and observed.

“Everyone in a circle.”

At his command, everyone went around and held a chain with hooks in their hands.

“Do not give it a chance.”

In Seo Geom’s words, everyone was nervous without knowing why. Inside the iron box, there was a thumping sound.

And the iron box was reaching its limit in its ability to restrain what was inside.

“You need to catch it the moment it is opened.”

After saying that, Seo Geom looked at Zaha.

“Then please.”

Zaha nodded as he stood at a distance and threw his sword.

The sword flew towards it and broke the lock. Then the chain that wrapped around it was undone.

“Ah!”

Came a scream.

The beast came out with a thump, breaking down the lid.

Its hair was scattered, and it prepared to attack by showing its long nails.

“Catch it!”

Everyone from the Blue Dragon troops threw chains with hooks. Some of the chains snapped, but they managed to catch it.

“Kuak!”

Immobilized, it screamed and struggled. They could glimpse a human’s face beneath its scattered hair.

And at that moment, everyone was shocked.

‘That face…?’

It was only then that the beast’s clothes became visible. It was torn and damaged, but it was the same blue robe they were wearing.

“Seo Jun-rang…!”

Everyone was shocked.

A dead person came back to life as a monster that had lost its reason. Of course, they were surprised.

‘But is that all?’

Seol Young looked at their reactions. He didn’t miss this moment because of his instinct.

And as he thought, they weren’t just shocked.

“…”

A heavy silence fell.

There was a strangely uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere.

It couldn’t be simply explained by the fact that Seo Jun and Seo Geom weren’t on good terms.

‘Look now. They are all hiding something.’

There was definitely a secret hidden behind Seo Jun’s death. And he had to figure it out.

Seol Young turned to Zaha.

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