Episode 12
Chapter 4: Squad Thirty (3)
The other squads that had rushed like madmen to seize Squad One’s quarters continued to drop away one by one.
Squad Thirty did not involve itself in their fierce, covert struggle.
After twenty or so days passed, not a single squad remained willing to step forward to claim Squad One’s lodging.
Now sensing that it was about time for them to move in, Seonu called the squad members into the room.
“The time has come.”
At Seonu’s words, the squad members’ faces brightened.
In truth, Squad Thirty’s lodging had been unsatisfactory—the dining hall was far, the training ground was small, and the atmosphere was so gloomy that they had never liked it.
“Now, are we taking over Squad One’s quarters?”
When Murong Jing asked with a face full of joy, Seonu shook his head.
“We aren’t the clear-cut owners just yet.”
“Why is that?”
“Think about it. If we move in and live comfortably, what will the others think? Unless they’re idiots, they’ll figure there’s some other reason. Then won’t those Squad One bastards kick up a fuss demanding their quarters back?”
There was sense in Seonu’s words, so the other squad members fell silent, but Murong Jing did not.
“Then can’t we just put the talismans back up?”
“What a bother. Do you think using talismans is easy? You lot will have to live with the ghosts for the time being.”
“No, that’s a bit...”
Doyeong, who had always silently followed Seonu’s orders, replied softly with a troubled face.
“You, scared of ghosts? Just pretend you don’t see them. Ghosts can’t really harm people. At my level, I can harmonize with ghosts, but you lot can’t. Just think of it as... right, courage training.”
Courage training?
The squad members looked at Seonu with dark faces as he spouted whatever came to his mind. Even if ghosts couldn’t truly cause great harm, this was too much.
“Just do as I say. If ghosts strike up a conversation, talk to them comfortably. Crack jokes with them, too. They’re not as scary as you’d think. Especially the passionate ones... ahem. Pretend you didn’t hear that. Anyway, it will help you too, so follow my lead.”
It was practically a one-sided declaration, but the squad members had no choice but to follow.
Because their futures lay in that man’s hands.
Squad Thirty walked boldly into Squad One’s quarters—which no one else dared approach—with their luggage packed.
The other squad members sneered when they saw them.
It was a sneer born of arrogance, the belief that if they themselves couldn’t endure that place, how could these people possibly withstand it?
When a day had passed, the squad members pleaded with Seonu.
A flood of pleas to get out of there poured forth.
Naturally, Seonu shook his head.
The faces of Squad Thirty as they ate in the dining hall were so yellow they almost looked jaundiced.
The other squad members had expected Squad Thirty to last less than a day.
But a day passed, then two, then three.
Squad Thirty showed their faces in the dining hall looking like death, yet they did not leave Squad One’s quarters.
At their appearance, the other squad members muttered among themselves.
“They’re holding out quite a while, aren’t they?”
On the night of the fourth day, Seonu called the squad members outside.
When the squad members came out with deeply apprehensive faces, Seonu had them sit on the grass.
Though they didn’t know what was going on, the squad members sat in a circle on the ground.
“Hey! Come on out, all of you!”
When Seonu shouted toward the empty air, the ghosts began to show themselves.
There were easily more than ten.
The squad members were terrified, unable to even raise their faces.
There was a ghost dripping blood, a ghost carrying its head, and even one swinging a large blade.
“Don’t scare them too much. I’ll perform a rite of ascension for you later.”
At Seonu’s words, the ghosts looked at him and asked.
“Truly?”
“Can you really help us ascend?”
Seonu answered the ghosts’ questions with a smile.
“I have plenty of experience. So don’t torment my squad members too much.”
“Understood. What would you like us to do?”
One ghost readily answered and asked a question.
“Show them what you’re good at.”
The moment Seonu finished speaking, a female ghost took a seat in the center of the squad members.
“I am skilled at playing the pipa.”
A pipa quickly appeared before the female ghost.
And the beautiful sound of the pipa reached the squad members’ ears.
The squad members, who had been trembling in fear, turned their heads one by one to look at her.
Her hair was disheveled and blood flowed from the corners of her mouth, but the sound of her pipa was truly beautiful.
When the female ghost’s performance ended, a vagabond ghost took the center wielding a large blade.
“I am skilled at the blade dance.”
The vagabond danced lightly, blade in hand.
The eyes of the squad members, once full of fear, were now taking in his dance.
On a midsummer night, a feast of ghosts unfolded, and the squad members watched their banquet.
A few days passed after that incident.
Peng Mijin, who was doing her business in the outhouse, was startled when the female ghost suddenly appeared before her, but she soon shouted,
“Why are you trying to scare me?”
“This isn’t a scary face? Talk with me for a bit.”
Peng Mijin answered while doing her business.
“Wait just a moment. Let me finish up here.”
Peng Yuguang was chatting with the vagabond ghost.
“A vagabond must dance the blade dance well. Only then can dying men lose themselves in my dance and die without pain. But there isn’t a vagabond in the world who can dance well enough to overcome the terror of death.”
“I did not know there was such meaning to it.”
“Fake vagabonds deliberately shove their blades right under dying people’s chins to scare them, but that is a grave mistake. Just as there are wild prickly ashes among edible ones and poison ivy among lacquer trees, there are fake vagabonds among vagabonds.”
“You seem to have been an excellent vagabond.”
“Thank you.”
Murong Jing was conversing with a female ghost who had taken her own life after losing her lover.
“You possess a truly beautiful heart, young lady.”
“Thank you, young master. Had I been alive, I would have sought you out.”
“I shall gratefully accept your words alone.”
“Are you saying I am not pretty?”
The female ghost asked with a sullen face, eyes upturned, and Murong Jing waved his hands in surprise.
“That is not what I meant. How could I harbor such greed when you long for your beloved?”
“The young master is not only handsome but kind-hearted as well.”
While ghosts and squad members chatted here and there, Seonu was sleeping in his room, snoring away.
* * *
Ten days after Squad Thirty occupied Squad One’s quarters, Muryeong Hall was abuzz again.
Rumors of all sorts circulated through the hall—that the ghosts had retreated, that someone had witnessed Squad Thirty secretly bringing in a renowned Taoist priest, and more.
Squad One, hearing these rumors, was so nauseated they could barely keep their food down.
So the squad members pressed their leader, and the leader went to find the warden.
“The petty ghosts have retreated now, so shouldn’t we, Squad One, return to those quarters?”
It was a shameless statement, but the warden could not ignore the leader.
Not only was Jeo Chanseong a master in his own right, but the families of Squad One’s members were the Baili and Huang houses.
Even so, something gave him pause.
“What will you do if the Murong Clan protests later?”
“The Murong Clan is not what it once was. Although Murong Jing may be called a talent, how can they compare to the Baili and Huang houses?”
After much deliberation, the warden permitted Squad One’s return.
When the Squad One members who had been sharing quarters with another squad, along with their leader, packed up and returned, Murong Jing fumed with anger.
He had expected it after listening to Seonu, but wasn’t this going too far?
“Is this truly acceptable?”
When Murong Jing seethed and pressed Jeo Chanseong, perhaps feeling somewhat embarrassed, the latter only coughed and made excuses.
“Ahem! It is the warden’s orders. We must follow them.”
Following the leader, Hwang Suhao spoke with a bitter smile.
“The world has always been this way, Brother Murong.”
As Hwang Suhao spoke, Murong Jing tried to say something more, but Seonu intervened.
“Leader. This time, it will not end quietly.”
At Seonu’s words, the leader flushed red and shouted.
“What is the meaning of this? Surely you don’t mean to protest to the Northern Alliance?”
“That is not it. I am telling you that the ghosts here will be ferocious. Let us go, disciples.”
As Seonu finished speaking and led his squad members out, Baili Yuha tilted her head.
She was seeing him for the first time, yet didn’t he somehow look familiar?
Just then, her older brother Baili Zhong muttered beside her, breaking her train of thought.
“They have no skill, yet they certainly have persistence.”
Seonu heard Baili Zhong’s mocking words from afar, but he was not in such a bad mood.
How long will that arrogance last?
They won’t get through tonight.
“Brother, what if they get friendly with the ghosts like we did?”
At Murong Jing’s words, Seonu laughed heartily.
Hahahaha....
Ghosts generally cannot connect with humans.
There must be someone acting as an intermediary for them to begin speaking.
“Why are you laughing, Brother?”
“I laughed because what you said was funny. They are going to suffer greatly tonight. It will be a night they never forget for the rest of their lives.”
“But you said ghosts cannot harm people.”
As Murong Jing voiced his worries, Seonu asked.
“Who said that?”
“You did, Brother. You said ghosts cannot cause harm.”
“It depends on the person. They play pranks because Taoist priests annoy them. It was just a lie to reassure you.”
The squad members looked at Seonu with bewildered faces as he answered so shamelessly.
There were plenty of other things he could have lied about, yet he told that lie?
Fortunately, the result had been good, but what if it had gone badly?
Then Seonu’s voice reached the squad members’ ears.
“No matter how scary ghosts are, can they be worse than people?”
At Seonu’s words, the squad members could no longer say that ghosts were scary.
“We must secretly come and remove the talismans during dinner time.”
“Yes? What do you mean by that?”
When Murong Jing asked curiously, Seonu answered with a smile.
“So the ghosts can leave this place and stretch their wings freely.”
“What if they run away?”
“They won’t run.”
Because it was Seonu who said it, the squad members believed him, but they did not know the reason.
“Because I and you all are here, they will not go elsewhere. You’ll see.”
Squad One, having unpacked the luggage they had brought with them, looked around their quarters anew.
Perhaps because they thought the ghosts had left, smiles never left their faces.
“Leader, dinner time is soon. It would be better to eat first and then unpack.”
At Wang Suhao’s suggestion, the leader gladly permitted it as if it were a good idea.
“I was thinking the same. Let us finish eating first and then unpack.”
At the leader’s words, Squad One’s members headed to the dining hall.
Not long after entering the dining hall, getting their food, and beginning their meal, members of other squads came in to offer congratulations.
“Congratulations on your return to the quarters.”
At the congratulations from the other squad members, Squad One’s members smiled and returned fist-and-palm salutes one by one.
“Thank you. It is all thanks to everyone here worrying as if it were their own affair.”
While Squad One’s members were elated with joy, Seonu removed two talismans that had been stuck to the main training ground.
“I’m counting on you.”
And he did not forget to entrust a request to the ghosts as well.
Once Seonu returned, Squad Thirty finally headed to the dining hall.
As they entered the dining hall, those who had been congratulating Squad One glanced around cautiously and took their seats.
After all, it was Squad Thirty who had remained in Squad One’s quarters until the very end.
The other squad members also knew this fact, and in their hearts, they had been thinking that Squad Thirty should be the owners.
But they could not show it because they feared the power of the Huang and Baili houses.
Squad Thirty acted boldly no matter what looks others gave them.
Murong Jing and Peng Doyeong especially directed scathing ridicule toward Squad One.
Those drunk on a fleeting victory were almost pitiful.