Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 135 - Encroachment (2)
Chapter 135 – Encroachment (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Mok Gyeong-un smiled and, taking the old scroll that Jade held out, asked,
“How is the new body, Demon Monk?”
At that, Jade answered with a satisfied face,
“It seems fairly usable.”
That was right.
Astonishingly enough, the body of the man called Jade had already been possessed by the Demon Monk.
This was something that had happened only three days earlier.
After the guards and attendants had been replaced for the third time, Jade had secretly come, seemingly to inspect Mok Gyeong-un’s detached residence.
But this was not his first visit, but his third.
Mok Gyeong-un had already sent the Demon Monk through the Shadow Sect for four days, making him investigate how things operated and what level of strength the Shadow Sect possessed.
[Good.]
Mok Gyeong-un had already determined that this man called Jade was no different from the Shadow Sect Master’s right-hand man and trusted confidant.
So as he waited for an opportunity, he subdued him when he infiltrated the detached residence.
No matter that his martial prowess had reached the extreme of the peak realm and that he was skilled at hiding his presence because he came from Soundless Sorrow-Kill Sect, there was no way he could handle the eyes of a vengeful spirit and Mok Gyeong-un’s martial prowess.
Mok Gyeong-un judged that the use value of capturing Jade was high.
So he had the Demon Monk possess his body.
Thus, having taken over Jade’s body, the Demon Monk had spent the last three days watching from beside the Shadow Sect Master under Mok Gyeong-un’s orders.
“Hmm. So this is the thing that the Shadow Sect Master reportedly looks at every day?”
Mok Gyeong-un asked while lifting the old scroll.
At that, the Demon Monk, possessing Jade’s body, nodded and answered,
“That is correct. Without fail, every day during the Dog Hour, he looked at it for about half a shijin.”
Once he heard this report, Mok Gyeong-un grew curious about the scroll and ordered it brought to him for a moment.
After all, whatever was written there, he could memorize everything in a single glance.
At that moment the Demon Monk glanced at the man whose head was being gripped in Mok Gyeong-un’s hand and asked,
“Master, but who is this one?”
-Ah, is it that mortal you mean? It seems that blind bastard sent him last time. Hoo.
The one who answered that question was none other than Blue Spirit.
Only inside the detached residence, she was free to come out of the wooden doll and leisurely smoke from her pipe.
“By blind man, you mean that one?”
-Yes. That troublesome bastard.
It was Wi Maeng-cheon, the blind man, one of the Five Peaks Assembly and a close confidant of Jang Neung-ak, the Society Leader’s second disciple.
Unlike Jang Neung-ak, who had withdrawn, he had shown a strange wariness, so Mok Gyeong-un had thought he would try something troublesome in the near future, and that expectation had proven correct.
Boldly enough, he had sent someone into Mok Gyeong-un’s detached residence in the middle of the night, in the Shadow Sect’s own manor.
Of course, the moment he entered the detached residence, he was caught.
“His mouth was quite tight.”
At those words, the Demon Monk looked at the hands of the unconscious man.
Both hands were a mess.
All of his fingers had been bent backwards, and even needles had been driven under his fingernails.
He had been properly tortured.
“I had hoped he would endure a little longer, but he opened his mouth by the sixth fingernail.”
Mok Gyeong-un smacked his lips as if regretful.
He had been planning to tear off the fingernails and toenails after pricking him with needles.
No matter how strong one’s endurance, after having one’s inner force sealed, it was difficult to endure torture that continued without stop.
Mok Gyeong-un released the man’s head and said,
“Do you know what he said at first as he approached?”
“……..”
“He said he came from Dark Tread of the Alliance of Justice.”
‘!?’
From Dark Tread of the Alliance of Justice?
Did he truly think that made sense?
If anything, would it not have been easier to avoid deeper suspicion if he had named some other person within the Heaven and Earth Society instead? So why had he answered in that manner?
To the puzzled Demon Monk, Blue Spirit exhaled a long stream of smoke and said,
-Hoo. Can you not tell just by looking? He was playing little tricks.
“Little tricks?”
-He likely did it because he was aiming at the fact that this mortal came from the orthodox hostages. Unlike his lord, that blind bastard suspected this mortal and was wary of him.
“Ah…”
-Tsk tsk. Use your head. Your head.
At her rebuke, the Demon Monk scratched his head.
Though he had a straightforward side to him, he was far from being the type to scheme.
Blue Spirit said to Mok Gyeong-un,
-But I do not know what nerve that blind bastard had, openly sending a fellow like this here. He might easily have been discovered.
At her words, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin.
“Hmm.”
Now that she mentioned it, that too was true.
This place was none other than the Shadow Sect’s manor.
Since it was where secrets, information, and spies were managed, security was particularly strict even within the inner castle.
So how had he gotten into the detached residence without being discovered…
“Ah…”
In that instant Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes sharpened.
-What is it?
“They left the granary open on purpose.”
-They left the granary open?
What did that mean?
To the puzzled spirit, Mok Gyeong-un shook his head and said,
“If you leave the granary open, you can see what the thief who entered wants. And if you follow the thief, you may even discover his base.”
-Surely not?
“Yes. It seems they let him in on purpose.”
There was no chance the security of a place handling secrets could be breached this easily.
Not unless they had let him in on purpose.
That meant that, quite literally, they had most likely already noticed that this man had infiltrated, but allowed him in to learn what his purpose was.
“As expected of the Shadow Sect. They are turning someone’s intrusion around on them like this…”
-Rumble!
The sound of many people was felt outside.
Before long, the paper screens of the windows and doors lit up from the south one by one with torchlight.
The sudden flood of presences seemed to have already surrounded the detached residence so there would be no escape.
Blue Spirit looked at Mok Gyeong-un with bright eyes.
Her prediction had been exactly right.
* * *
In a dark alley between walls about thirty zhang away from the Shadow Sect manor.
On the other side of that wall stood a middle-aged man with long hair, using a bamboo cane and wearing a black cloth over both eyes.
He was none other than Wi Maeng-cheon, one of the Five Peaks Assembly and the Second Peak.
Why was he here, not far from the Shadow Sect?
Soon, some masked figure of unknown identity leapt over the wall, came to his side, and whispered,
“Just as you said, they seem to have swarmed toward the bastard’s detached residence.”
“Then things have gone according to plan.”
“Yes.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Wi Maeng-cheon let out a small laugh.
Everything was unfolding exactly as he wished.
By now, he could already picture Mok Gyeong-un thrown into confusion.
Since he was an excessively crafty fellow, by now he must have realized Wi Maeng-cheon’s true aim.
Only a few shijin earlier,
[Pardon? Is it really fine to do that?]
[Yes. But you cannot do it immediately. Endure for as long as you can.]
[When you say as long as I can?]
[Until the bastard lowers his suspicion.]
[…Understood. But would it not be better, just in case, to disguise myself as being from the First Young Master’s side or from the woman’s side instead of yours, Unit Leader?]
[No. Since he is crafty, if you mention someone he has never even had contact with, he will notice at once.]
[……..]
[On the contrary, if he thinks I sent you, he will not kill you immediately.]
[Will that truly be the case?]
[Trust me.]
[Understood. But if the bastard learns that you sent me, Unit Leader, how do you think he will respond?]
[If he has truly defected to this Society and become a proper man of the Shadow Sect, then he will report it to his own master, the Shadow Sect Master. If not, he will worry over how to respond. But that does not matter.]
[Because the Shadow Sect will move first anyway.]
[Exactly.]
Since the Shadow Sect handled secrets, its outer and inner security was strict.
Of course, that was not true of the entire manor, but if someone tried to infiltrate from outside, they would notice at once.
Once he had entered, getting caught was merely a matter of time.
[If the Shadow Sect’s guard warriors move on a large scale…]
[Yes. At that time I will again become a Dark Tread spy of the Alliance of Justice and die.]
This was Wi Maeng-cheon’s true aim.
To create the picture that Mok Gyeong-un was in contact with a Dark Tread agent of the Alliance of Justice.
If that happened, the Shadow Sect Master would have no choice but to suspect Mok Gyeong-un, who came from the orthodox hostages.
[I leave it to you, Ji Hang.]
[I will certainly complete the mission.]
[…I will never forget this loyal heart.]
[Yes. Please take good care of the family in Danyang.]
[I will.]
From the beginning, this had been a scheme built on the resolve to lose a life.
Confessing the truth to Mok Gyeong-un on the way was merely to buy time until the Shadow Sect’s warriors moved.
If he lost his life before that, then the plan could not proceed as intended.
‘I must apologize to my lord, but that fellow Mok Gyeong-un is not someone who can be trusted. If he is taken in, he will only become poison and never a gain.’
So it was better for him to fall from favor as an orthodox spy.
And if luck was poor and he died, so much the better.
Even if he really had defected to the Heaven and Earth Society, Wi Maeng-cheon could never trust Mok Gyeong-un.
“Then let us return.”
Thus, after confirming that the Shadow Sect’s warriors had swarmed toward Mok Gyeong-un’s detached residence, Wi Maeng-cheon, the Second Peak, left this place together with the masked man.
* * *
Wi Maeng-cheon lay on his bed with a somewhat eased mind.
He trusted his senses.
There was nothing as accurate as the sound of a heartbeat.
A being whose heartbeat remained ordinary and whose emotions never changed under any circumstance was far removed from an ordinary human being.
Such an existence was surely twisted somewhere.
He had relayed this opinion of his to his lord, Second Young Master Jang Neung-ak, several times, but the young master’s greed toward Mok Gyeong-un had already grown too great, and he had ignored it all.
So what else could he do?
He had no choice but to resolve it on his own level.
Fortunately, after going blind, what he had gained was not only the amplification of his other senses, including hearing, but also a deeper capacity for detached observation and insight.
This was a strategy he had constructed over the course of no less than seven days through dozens of simulations.
No matter how crafty Mok Gyeong-un was, he would not be able to escape, and in the end he would be dealt with by his own master, the Shadow Sect Master.
‘Now that my chest feels lighter, I feel refreshed.’
With that, Wi Maeng-cheon drifted pleasantly off to sleep.
How much time had passed since he fell asleep?
‘!?’
Soon Wi Maeng-cheon quietly lifted his head from the bed.
Since he had been blind from the start, all of his senses, which did not rely on sight, had reached twice the level of ordinary people, and his hearing was brighter still.
Even in sleep, those developed senses had always allowed him to detect danger.
‘What is this?’
At some point, it had gone quiet outside.
It was so silent that it felt unnatural.
Four warriors took turns standing night guard around his quarters.
Yet he could not sense their presences.
-Swoosh!
Suppressing his presence, Wi Maeng-cheon rose from his place and gripped the handle of the bamboo cane containing the Jukmyeong Sword.
Then he carefully opened the door and went out.
Quietly suppressing his presence, Wi Maeng-cheon walked toward where the warriors had been standing guard.
-Hhhk! Hhhk!
He could hear breathing.
The steady sound of it was not the sort made while awake.
‘Are they sleeping?’
Wi Maeng-cheon frowned.
These men were not the sort to work carelessly, since they stood guard in shifts.
Yet no matter how he listened, all of their breathing sounded like sleep.
At this, for some reason Wi Maeng-cheon felt uneasy.
How could it make any sense that all the guard warriors around his quarters were asleep?
As he stood there puzzled, he heard footsteps from somewhere.
They were approaching while suppressing their presence as much as possible, yet to his hearing they rang out clearly.
-Step, step!
Wi Maeng-cheon gripped the handle of his cane and took the stance to draw his sword.
These footsteps.
He had heard them somewhere before.
It had only been once, but he had remembered them clearly.
‘Impossible.’
By now, that bastard should have been locked inside the Shadow Sect’s prison and undergoing interrogation.
Then how…
-Pap!
At that instant the presence reached right in front of him at tremendous speed.
-Clang!
In an instant Wi Maeng-cheon drew his sword and immediately blocked the sharp sword intent flying toward him.
The metallic sound of sword striking sword rang hard at his ears.
-Tremble!
With their swords pressed together, the two clashed several exchanges like lightning, then opened the distance.
-Cha cha cha clang! Pa pa pak!
Once the distance had widened somewhat, Wi Maeng-cheon opened his mouth.
“…How did you come to this place?”
“You must be very startled.”
The owner of that voice was none other than Mok Gyeong-un.
Wi Maeng-cheon truly could not understand it.
He knew that the Shadow Sect’s guarding warriors had stepped out and surrounded Mok Gyeong-un’s detached residence.
Then how had he come here?
As Wi Maeng-cheon stood in bewilderment, he drew up his inner force.
‘First I have to subdue him.’
He did not know how the bastard had come out of the Shadow Sect and reached his quarters, but subduing him came first.
But then,
“Ah. Before that, you should take this back.”
“What?”
-Whoosh!
Something heavy cut through the air.
The weight felt far too substantial to call it a hidden weapon, so Wi Maeng-cheon lightly retreated about two steps and avoided what Mok Gyeong-un had thrown.
It rolled across the ground and came to a stop at Wi Maeng-cheon’s feet.
“What are you doing?”
“I brought back what you gave me. Is there a problem?”
“What do you mean, what I gave…!?”
At that instant Wi Maeng-cheon stopped halfway through his words.
After losing his sight, his senses had become twice as keen as those of ordinary people.
Naturally, that included his sense of smell.
At the scent of blood rising from his feet, Wi Maeng-cheon, seized by a sudden suspicion, stretched out his foot and flicked up what Mok Gyeong-un had thrown.
And caught it in his left hand.
-Tap!
‘!!!!!!!’
In that instant Wi Maeng-cheon’s expression froze.
By cruel coincidence, what he felt in his palm was the face of a head.
And the owner of that face was none other than,
‘Ji Hang?’
It was Ji Hang, the man he had sent to frame Mok Gyeong-un as an orthodox spy.
More precisely, it was Ji Hang’s severed head.