NTH 98

“Isn’t that Meoru? Why are you out at a time when you should be in His Highness the Crown Prince’s quarters?”

“Mr. Gukbok said that today’s ritual is over. More importantly, I have a message to deliver to His Highness the Crown Prince. Where is he now?”

“He is in the temporary quarters behind the Main Buddha Hall.”

“Thank you.”

As Meoru bowed his waist to them, the guards nodded their heads and passed him by indifferently. Meoru quietly lowered his body and picked up a sharp piece of stone from the ground. Meoru, running without making a sound, grabbed a guard’s hair and swiftly slit his throat with the stone. He collapsed with a thud, spurting blood like a fountain without even being able to scream properly.

“You, you bastard, why…!”

The second guard, too, breathed his last in the same manner, without knowing what was happening. Meoru tossed the stone piece onto the courtyard ground and drew the sword that the guard had been wearing at his waist.

The Parasitic Soul had existed as a malevolent thought for an eternity, yearning with a burning heart, yet unable to stir even a breeze. A hundred years ago, when his main body was sealed by the Gukbok of that time, it had seemed as though he would never be able to become human.

That things had been resolved so easily in just a few hours, he simply could not believe it. However, Meoru’s body, innately possessing too much yang energy, was not suitable for him to parasitize. The host whose soul he would devour had to be a human full of yin energy.

A perfect prey, born with the misfortune of the Great Misfortune, was waiting for him. He had not the slightest intention in the first place of yielding the position of Crown Prince to some half-brother or whatever. If the Crown Prince safely passed his twentieth year, he would become king without any incident. The Parasitic Soul wanted to become the king of humans.

When he arrived at the Crown Prince’s temporary quarters, he saw guards standing watch in front of the door. Perhaps because of Sonyeong’s barrier, no other ghosts were visible. Meoru concealed his presence and approached them.

“Gack!”

Without being able to even let out a proper scream, the two soldiers had their throats slit in succession. Meoru opened the sliding door and entered without even taking off his shoes. The Crown Prince, who saw him, was startled. He had been up all night with his eyes wide open, unable to take the sleeping medicine due to Meoru’s switch. In a trembling voice, the Crown Prince asked.

“Wh-who are you…!”

With his dirt-stained shoes, Meoru trampled on the Crown Prince’s silk blanket. He forcefully struck the nape of the neck of the Crown Prince, who was unable to even breathe properly due to fear, with the side of his hand. The Crown Prince could not resist at all and fainted, collapsing onto the floor.

Meoru slung the Crown Prince over his shoulder and went outside. He ran with agile movements into a bamboo forest where there was not a single light, laid the Crown Prince flat on the ground, then lowered his body and gazed down at him intently.

“The moment has finally come.”

Meoru’s black pupils contracted, and the whites of his eyes on three sides surrounding the iris glinted. He used his hand to pry open the Crown Prince’s mouth, intending to possess his body. Just at that moment, a burning talisman flew toward him, and a sharp voice rang out.

“Vanquish!”

Meoru shot up and snatched the talisman out of the air with his hand. With a sizzling sound, black smoke billowed up between his fingers.

“Come out of him at once.”

Sonyeong, who had revealed himself, shouted at Meoru. When Meoru opened his fist, the ashes of the burnt talisman fell to the cave floor with a patter.

“You should know well. You cannot stop me, who now has a physical body, with a mere scrap of paper like this.”

Meoru retorted, narrowing his eyes. Although the outward appearance was the same, the glinting three-white-eyed gaze and the chilling expression felt endlessly unfamiliar. The fear that he might lose Meoru forever assailed Sonyeong. He suppressed his anger and replied.

“That is not a body for the likes of you to inhabit. This is the last warning. Come out of Meoru.”

“As it happens, I was just about to switch bodies. Now that I have my hands on the child of the Great Misfortune I have waited for for so long.”

In that gap, Sonyeong quickly formed a hand seal with his fingers and muttered an incantation, and Meoru suddenly wrapped his arms around his head, groaning and rolling on the ground.

“Ugh, shut up, right now, you shaman bastard…!”

When Sonyeong did not stop, Meoru pointed the guard’s sword he was holding at his own neck. Flustered, Sonyeong stopped the incantation.

“Stop! Do not harm Meoru’s body!”

“It’s a body I’m going to discard anyway, so I don’t care if it croaks. If you don’t stop that vicious incantation, this fellow will lose his life.”

“Promise that you will come out of Meoru and never approach him again. If you do, I too will not seal you and just let you go.”

“That is a tearfully grateful offer, but what to do? It seems you can no longer seal me with your power.”

“What?”

Meoru rose from his spot and looked straight at Sonyeong.

“For an eon so long I can’t even remember, I have existed only as a resentful thought, yearning to become human. While wandering in search of a human to be my host, I was caught and sealed by your predecessor Gukbok. The time I was trapped in the crucible of yang energy underground, unable to move a muscle, was a full hundred years.”

“…”

“Taking advantage of the gap when your lifespan was being chipped away and your power weakened from protecting this lowly creature’s body, I was able to pull only my consciousness out of the cave, leaving my main body behind. I took advantage of the moment this foolish fellow switched the medicines and put you to sleep to lure him with sweet words. Now, I will possess the Crown Prince’s body and become the king of this country in the future.”

“A being of the underworld should not covet the mortal realm, how dare you harbor such excessive greed beyond your station! Begone to the place where you belong!”

“If you go down quietly, I will return this lowly creature’s body. But the Crown Prince is mine. No matter how many times he is reborn, this fellow will not be able to escape me. For a hundred years, or a thousand, until I have devoured all of his soul and become a complete human.”

Cold sweat ran down Sonyeong’s forehead. When a parasitic soul inhabits a human body, the only way to stop it is to cut off the breath of the human vessel. Even if he did that, they might be reborn in the next life and endlessly continue the relationship of the soul being devoured and the devourer.

Meoru’s sanbaku-eyes glinted as he lowered his body toward the Crown Prince. The moment he was about to forcibly pry open the Crown Prince’s mouth again, he suddenly heard the sound of people rushing in.

“There he is! Shoot!”

The Grand Tutor’s voice echoed through the dark forest. Simultaneously, a dozen arrows lodged themselves in Meoru’s body. Meoru, flinching, lifted his head, and his eyes caught sight of the Crown Prince’s guards who were guarding the temple.

“Now! Cut him down!”

“Ah, no!!!”

Before Sonyeong’s scream could stop, a sharply honed silver blade cut deeply through Meoru’s chest.

“Meoru!!!”

Meoru’s hot blood gushed out onto Sonyeong, who ran like a madman. The Grand Tutor commanded the soldiers.

“Quickly, escort His Highness the Crown Prince to his bedchamber!”

The guards carried the Crown Prince on their backs and exited clamorously. The Grand Tutor, with a displeased expression, bellowed at Sonyeong.

“To put His Highness the Crown Prince in such danger, for what purpose on earth do you exist! I will certainly not let this incident pass quietly!”

It meant that he would place the blame for this entire incident on Sonyeong. When Sonyeong gave no reply, the Grand Tutor turned his back and completely left the forest.

Sonyeong laid Meoru, who had been deeply cut by the sword from his chest to his navel, on the dirt ground. His complexion was pale from having shed too much blood. The shadow of death already loomed so heavily that there seemed to be no way to turn it back.

Sonyeong took out a small silk pouch from his sleeve. Inside it were grains of five different colors. He tossed all five into his mouth at once, chewed, and swallowed them, then fiercely bit his own finger. Sonyeong, who had drawn a character on Meoru’s forehead with his blood, formed a hand seal and began to chant an incantation.

‘Kuhk…, what are you doing…! Stop it at once! Aaaaargh!!!’

The Parasitic Soul’s pain-filled scream assailed his ears as if to pierce them, but Sonyeong did not stop chanting. He occasionally changed the hand seal and repeatedly drew a character on Meoru’s bloody palm. Sonyeong’s body was soon drenched in sweat.

Just as Meoru’s thread-like breath was about to stop, Sonyeong spread his hands wide to his sides, then brought his palms together with a powerful clap, joining his hands. At that moment, what looked like translucent golden threads flowed out from both of their mouths. The threads, which crossed in mid-air, soon seeped into each other’s bodies.

Sonyeong collapsed on the spot with a thud.

A moment later, Meoru regained consciousness in Sonyeong’s body.

He looked at his own form, lying on the ground, covered in blood. He briefly looked down at his clothes and palms, and soon realized that he had woken up in Sonyeong’s body.

“What on earth is this…, what happened!”

Meoru had no memory of anything after taking the jar from under the cave shrine and breaking the seal. Sonyeong, from within Meoru’s body, coughed up a mouthful of blood and barely managed to speak.

“The Parasitic Soul inhabited your body, and you were gravely injured…. So, I switched our bodily vessels.”

“Sonyeong!!!”

“My body, which you now inhabit, is not safe either…. When the Crown Prince dies, the nation will hold me responsible and try to execute me…. Before that happens, please flee far away….”

“How could this happen! No! Why is Sonyeong suffering because of me!”

“In the first place…, it was wrong of me to have dragged you into this…. Please leave quickly….”

“I won’t! Let’s switch back! How can we switch back!!!”

“Hah…, it is too late. And if I live… this creature inside me will also be revived….”

“No, that can’t be! Sonyeong, please! I don’t want to live even a single moment longer without you!”

At that moment, Sonyeong realized. Switching bodies was not the answer. As long as he carried the memories of him, every single day of Meoru’s life would undoubtedly be no different from a living hell.

“Meoru. Your hand, please give it to me….”

When Meoru barely extended his trembling hand, Sonyeong squeezed out his last ounce of strength and drew a character on his palm. After drawing it seven times in repetition, he pressed the center of the palm as if stamping a seal.

In an instant, Meoru’s face, which had been stained with tears and contorted in agony, gradually became expressionless.

“Now, the moment you leave this cave, you will forget all memories related to me…. Even if you are reborn, even if we meet again countless times, you will never be able to recall the memories related to me….”

In a voice that had become unbelievably devoid of emotion, Meoru asked him.

“……Until when will I forget.”

“…”

“Please tell me. Until when.”

“…”

“If I endure until when! Can I regain my memories and recognize you! Just how long do I have to wait!!!”

Anger that could not be contained even by the spell erupted from Meoru’s heart. Sonyeong, with the last smile of his life, answered.

“Yes…. Then…, let us make it a thousand years….”

A thousand years. It was a statement no different from a joke. Would people still be born, die, and live even then? If so, would the endlessly continuing fight with the Parasitic Soul have come to a conclusion of some sort by then? No matter how tenacious their bond was, there was no way the Meoru of that time would be able to recall a past life from a thousand years ago.

Sonyeong did not regret giving his life to protect Meoru. It was because he had come to know what it was to love someone so much that he would not fear even throwing his whole body into a pit of fire. The one who had taught him that precious feeling was none other than Meoru.

“A thousand years. That’ll be quick. See you then.”

Meoru murmured in a voice thick with gloom.

Whether it’s a thousand years or ten thousand, there’s no way I’ll forget you. I will reclaim it, even if I have to risk my life a hundred times. And on the day we meet again, no matter what happens, I will not let go of your hand.

Sonyeong smiled. The head of Sonyeong, who wore Meoru’s face, finally dropped limply to the side. Meoru, who wore Sonyeong’s face, walked out of the bamboo forest as if bewitched.

Beyond the dark blue mountain ridge, the red sun was slowly rising.

Sunlight poured down onto Meoru’s body. Along with the pouring sunlight, the memories also scattered in the wind. His chest ached with a stinging pain, but he could not know the reason. His mind was filled only with an obsession, like an instinct, that he had to get far away from that place as quickly as possible.

Meoru took a powerful step toward the rising sun.

The flame of the candle turned blue.

The eyes of the Blue-Robed Child, who had been resting his head on his arms by Jeha’s bedside, sparkled. He had been watching the incense candle the whole time, his chin propped on his hands. The wick of the candle, symbolizing the life of the Byeongjong soul, had less than half a finger’s length left. The Blue-Robed Child summoned a flame to the tip of his finger.

“Looks like it’s over. Time to bring him in.”