Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 140 - Shadow Sect Master (3)
Chapter 140 – Shadow Sect Master (3)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The Fire Worship Sect had barely survived after nearly a hundred years of continuous persecution, so even among its believers there were not many who could read the original text of the scriptures.
The Shadow Sect Master had never imagined that Mok Gyeong-un would be able to read the original written in the Persian tongue.
That was because the Persian language was far harder to learn than one might think, and experts in it were vanishingly rare even across the whole Central Plains.
Ah!
If all that were assumed, then it meant Mok Gyeong-un had known the doctrine of the scripture from the beginning.
-Pak!
The Shadow Sect Master hurriedly removed his hand entirely from Mok Gyeong-un’s abdomen and said,
“You…could it be that you are a believer of our faith?”
A believer?
At that question from the Shadow Sect Master, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes gleamed.
He had predicted various possible reactions if he recited the contents of the scripture, but this was a rather interesting one.
-…Do not tell me you intend to pretend to be one of them?
Blue Spirit clicked her tongue and spoke.
She disliked the thought of Mok Gyeong-un becoming entangled with the Fire Worship Sect.
And then,
-It is your freedom if you mean to deceive him. But how much do you think you can fool that suspicious eunuch bastard with one bit of scripture? He will see through it soon enough.
Well, if it were only that, perhaps.
The man was, after all, the head of the Shadow Sect who handled information and spies.
Whatever his hidden identity behind the scenes might be, he was a suspicious sort, so if he pushed too clumsily as a believer, as Blue Spirit warned, he might well be exposed at once.
To deceive was a gamble.
What increased the odds of that gamble was grounding it in as much truth as possible.
So Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Who knows.”
“What?”
“I have received teachings concerning the scripture, but I think it would be difficult to call myself a true believer on the basis of only that. If one insisted, would I not be closer to a lay follower?”
At those words, one of the Shadow Sect Master’s eyebrows rose.
What exactly was this boy talking about now?
That he had received instruction in the scripture?
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said. I received teachings regarding the scripture, but I did not become a full believer. If one must distinguish it, I suppose one would call me a lay follower.”
“A lay follower?”
A true believer and a lay follower were, strictly speaking, different.
A true believer was one who had fully submitted to the faith and worked for it.
A lay follower, on the other hand, simply meant one who believed in the sect and its doctrine.
A lay follower…
At that, the Shadow Sect Master asked in a voice filled with doubt,
“…You say you are a lay follower. Then just who was it that taught you the scripture of our faith?”
“I do not know.”
“What? You do not know?”
What sort of answer was that?
Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and said,
“The old master who taught me the scripture never told me his name.”
“He never gave you his name?”
“No. He stubbornly refused to tell me. He said that if I learned his name, I would fall into the same danger as him.”
At those words, the Shadow Sect Master’s eyes narrowed.
The Fire Worship Sect had long been subjected to harsh persecution, so most of its believers operated in compartmentalized cells, and in many cases they did not even know one another’s identities.
That makes sense.
There was no way a true believer would reveal his real identity to one who was not.
Still, he was a high-ranking officer of the faith, so he knew to some degree the backgrounds of the important believers in charge of each base.
“Do you remember the appearance of this old master whom you say you met?”
At that question, Mok Gyeong-un answered as if it were nothing at all.
“His face was full of age spots, and his bushy gray beard reached down to his chest.”
“Did he have any other distinguishing characteristics?”
There was no way he could identify someone from that alone.
What had just been described were no more than the natural marks of aging.
So Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and said,
“His bushy beard and long eyebrows covered half his face, and his clothing was shabby, so I do not think I can offer much more by way of distinguishing features.”
“By that description I cannot tell who he is.”
“Naturally not. But if he would not even give me his name, would he really show me his proper appearance so carelessly?”
At those words, the Shadow Sect Master’s eyes narrowed.
It was certainly true, but it did not inspire trust.
So the Shadow Sect Master said in a sharp voice,
“Do you think I will believe at face value your claim that you received teachings in the scripture of our faith from an old master whose name you do not know and whose face you do not properly know either?”
“Of course it would be hard to believe.”
“Then why should I believe your…”
“I received teachings in the scripture from the original text.”
!
The Shadow Sect Master frowned.
To say that he had received instruction from the original text meant, in effect, that he had learned it in the Persian tongue rather than in Chinese.
If he knew the original itself, then the one who had taught him absolutely could not be some ordinary believer.
Yet there was no proper proof.
At that moment, as if reading his thoughts, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head and indicated the desk with his eyes.
Ink, brush, and paper lay on top of it.
Seeing that he meant to write, the Shadow Sect Master stared hard at Mok Gyeong-un’s face, then finally released the hand gripping his collar.
“…Write it, then.”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un went to the desk, poured water, ground the ink stick, dipped the brush into the ink, and wrote across the paper.
-Scratch scratch scratch!
[من از مرگ و زندگی پشیمان نیستم زیرا این جسد با آتش مقدس سوخته است. بگذارید نور به راهی که می خواهید بروید تابد و شادی و غم همه جز خاک خواهد بود. چه موجود با احساس رقت انگیز]
[This body is burned in sacred fire, and thus regrets neither life nor death. Upon the road one seeks to go, let light shine forth, and joy and sorrow alike will remain as mere dust. Pitiful are the grief-laden sentient beings.]
!!!!!!
The eyes of the Shadow Sect Master trembled rapidly as he looked at it.
Up until before the writing, his gaze had been filled with disbelief, but in an instant it changed.
How can this be?
This was not someone clumsily copying shapes from memory.
It was handwriting that could only be written by one who had properly learned it.
If he were merely tracing the strokes like a drawing, he could not write like this.
Because the Shadow Sect Master himself had studied the Persian tongue for a long time, he could be all the more certain.
He must have learned from a believer at the level of High Father or above.
Otherwise there was no way he could write Persian so skillfully.
After staring in astonishment at the scripture written in Persian, the Shadow Sect Master looked back at Mok Gyeong-un.
This might well be proof enough.
What possible use would Mok Gyeong-un, only seventeen years old and born to a prestigious martial clan in Anhui, have had for learning the language of Persia?
Ahhh.
Watching this scene, Blue Spirit clicked her tongue.
Thanks to having learned Persian, that suspicious eunuch bastard was gradually lowering his guard.
Well, other than merchants granted permission to trade westward or interpreters, what occasion would anyone have to learn the Persian tongue?
It truly was uncanny that he had happened to learn it from the man he called his grandfather.
At that moment, the Shadow Sect Master opened his mouth.
“The believer who taught you the Persian tongue was likely at least a High Father.”
“A High Father?”
“A high-ranking believer within our faith, one permitted to bestow teachings in the scripture.”
“Ah…is that so?”
“Yes. There are not many left who could teach from the original text, so it would have been better if you had known his name.”
The Shadow Sect Master clicked his tongue as though sincerely regretful.
Then he asked,
“Was it only the scripture and the Persian tongue that he taught you?”
At that question, as if he had been waiting for it, Mok Gyeong-un pretended to think for a moment and then began to speak.
“Ah…now that you mention it, he did say something as though he were searching for something.”
“Searching for something?”
“Yes. My memory is vague, but I clearly heard… Ah, that is right. He said he was searching for the incarnation of Ahriman.”
At those words, the Shadow Sect Master’s eyes widened in surprise.
Mok Gyeong-un had expected that sort of reaction.
After all,
[اهریمن]
That word written at the beginning of the page tucked into the original scripture.
That word was none other than Ahriman.
He had not even told Blue Spirit what it meant, but on it was written the warning:
[The incarnation of Ahriman shall appear in this world, so be on guard.]
It seemed to be some kind of revelation within the Fire Worship Sect.
Mok Gyeong-un had judged that this too held value as something to use, and seeing the Shadow Sect Master’s reaction, it seemed to have worked.
It was then.
-Pak!
The Shadow Sect Master seized Mok Gyeong-un by the shoulder and, unable to hide his excitement, said,
“I think I know who it was that taught you the original text.”
“Pardon?”
What was this?
He was saying he thought he knew who had taught him this?
It was a rather absurd situation, to say he knew the identity of a person who did not even exist.
But Mok Gyeong-un did not show that outwardly.
Meanwhile the Shadow Sect Master wore an utterly elated expression.
It was only the two Dharma Protectors and I who heard the Sacred Flame’s revelation that day. Of them, the only one past sixty is Protector Jang.
If what Mok Gyeong-un said was true, then it could be none other than Protector Jang.
After that elder had gone missing, he had lamented that both Dharma Protectors must surely be dead.
But if what he had heard now was true, then it was a tremendous relief.
“If you received teachings from him, then you cannot be regarded as a mere lay follower. One could say that you too are qualified to be a High Father.”
Hm?
Qualified to be a High Father?
Just who had he forced this lie to match in his mind, to show such a reaction?
Though puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un blandly made a show of modesty.
“I only learned a bit of scripture. How could I be qualified to be a High Father? By the way, you said you think you know who it was…”
“You say that person kept silent with you to the very end, so it is hard for me to speak his name at once. But one thing is certain: within our faith he was a person of considerable rank.”
“Ah…”
“Do you perhaps know where he went after teaching you the scripture?”
“…I am sorry, but I do not. One day he simply vanished without a trace.”
“Ahhh.”
At that answer, the Shadow Sect Master could not hide his regret.
Even so, he decided he should take comfort in the fact that the Dharma Protector, whom he had thought dead, was alive.
While that was happening, Mok Gyeong-un said to him in a low voice,
“However, before the old master disappeared, there is something he left behind.”
“Something he left behind?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Thinking it might become a clue, the Shadow Sect Master urged him on with a voice full of expectation.
“It was a sentence written in Persian, but it was so vague that I could not understand what it meant.”
“Written in Persian? Write it for me once.”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un lifted the brush and wrote a single phrase.
[شمشیر روح]
!
Seeing it, the Shadow Sect Master frowned.
Then he opened his mouth and muttered softly,
“The sword of the soul?”
If one translated the Persian words directly, that was what they meant.
What in the world was that supposed to mean?
He pondered briefly, then suddenly seemed to realize something and said,
“Ghost…Sword?”
The sword of the soul could, in other words, be called the sword of spirits.
If it were as the phrase left behind implied, then the only person who came to mind at once was Ghost Sword, one of the Eight Stars and said to be the greatest master in the current murim.
At that speculation from the Shadow Sect Master, the corners of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth twitched upward.
Ha.
Seeing this, Blue Spirit clicked her tongue in genuine amazement.
He really was an absurd fellow.
He had built a plausible lie from information he knew, matching the Shadow Sect Master’s reactions, and now he was leading the situation exactly where he wanted it to go.
…He means to make this eunuch sentient being search for Ghost Sword.