Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 141 - Annihilation Poison King (1)
Chapter 141 – Annihilation Poison King (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The Shadow Sect Master softly placed a hand on Mok Gyeong-un’s shoulder and, wearing a benevolent smile, said,
“Now we are practically in the same boat.”
“I will bear it in mind. I will lend my strength to the restoration of the faith.”
The Shadow Sect Master nodded with a satisfied face, then crossed both hands to opposite shoulders, bowed his head slightly, and said in a reverent voice,
“May the Sacred Flame protect you.”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un followed suit.
“May the Sacred Flame protect you.”
“Ohohoho. Then rest well.”
“Yes.”
With that, the Shadow Sect Master left the detached residence.
The attitude of the Shadow Sect Master, who until just a moment before had seemed ready to kill him at once, had changed quite favorably.
That was because he had become convinced that Mok Gyeong-un, who could read and write the original scripture written in the Persian tongue, was a lay follower of the fire-venerating Fire Worship Sect.
After the Shadow Sect Master’s presence had completely disappeared, Blue Spirit’s voice sounded by Mok Gyeong-un’s ear.
-At any rate, your head really does work well.
With a single lie, Mok Gyeong-un had steered the situation exactly where he wanted.
By acting as if they were on the same side, he had made the Shadow Sect Master take an interest as well in Ghost Sword, the man Mok Gyeong-un sought.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un gave a small laugh and replied,
“The more helping hands there are, the better.”
Helping hands?
What he really meant was that the more useful pieces there were to exploit, the better.
Blue Spirit clicked her tongue and said,
-That is true enough, but you would do well to be careful.
“If by careful…you mean the Shadow Sect Master?”
-Yes. Those who worship fire were not persecuted as heretics for no reason.
“That is peculiar.”
-What do you mean?
“It is strange that someone who says she hates black-and-white thinking would get so heated over a single religion that came in from the Western Regions.”
-…
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Blue Spirit was left speechless.
The point had been sharp enough to strike directly at the heart of the matter, making it hard to refute.
She herself had said she loathed the black-and-white logic between orthodox and unorthodox, and yet the moment she saw a believer of the Fire Worship Sect, a group persecuted as heretics, had she not treated them with prejudice?
In a somewhat lowered tone, she said,
-…Yes. You are right. This too is a kind of prejudice.
At her ready admission, Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly.
That sort of thing about her he liked.
Of course, her words were not yet finished.
-Still, I lived through that era. Those people too treated all but their own faith as heresy. If you know that, you would do well to stay wary.
“I will keep it in mind.”
-In any case, even if you have made the Shadow Sect Master move, it changes little in the end, since it is still your own feet that must do the moving.
“That is true.”
Mok Gyeong-un had laid the board so that the clue regarding the incarnation of Ahriman might be connected to Ghost Sword, one of the Eight Stars and perhaps the very enemy who had killed his grandfather.
So he had thought the Shadow Sect Master might tell him something, anything, about Ghost Sword, but unexpectedly the man knew nothing as well.
[…If Ghost Sword may be the clue, then that is troublesome indeed.]
[Do you know something?]
[About Ghost Sword, you mean?]
[Yes.]
At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the Shadow Sect Master shook his head.
Because he was the head of the Shadow Sect, which handled intelligence within the Heaven and Earth Society, Mok Gyeong-un had thought he might know something.
Yet the answer, contrary to expectation, had drained the wind from him.
[…I have heard it said that Ghost Sword may be an expert of the Heaven and Earth Society.]
[Do you mean the rumor that the Society Leader’s royal-body guard may be Ghost Sword?]
[Yes.]
[For someone who has not even been inside the Society for long, you have heard all sorts of rumors. Yes, such a rumor did once circulate.]
[Is it only a rumor?]
[I do not know.]
[What do you mean by you do not know?]
[Rumors carry many shades. Some may truly be false, while others may spread precisely because they are close to the truth.]
[…Which way do you see it, Master?]
[I cannot say for certain.]
[Why not?]
[The only one who knows the royal-body guard’s identity is the Society Leader himself. I have heard that even the Vice Leader, who is called the Society Leader’s right arm, does not know.]
At those words from the Shadow Sect Master, Mok Gyeong-un instead felt that it smelled suspicious.
Rumors did not arise for no reason.
Still, even if he suspected it for now, directly approaching Ghost Sword would be difficult.
He had considered moving Blue Spirit and the other shikigami, but the qi-sense of masters above the transcendent peak could not be compared with those below, so it was hard to move them carelessly.
Moreover, he had heard that in the main hall where the Society Leader resided, even Jo Tae-cheong, the chief of Origin Kill Pavilion, someone said to surpass even In Seo-ok in occult arts, stood guard.
In many ways, he still lacked strength.
Even so, Mok Gyeong-un could not be content merely to wait while raising his power, so he cautiously said to the Shadow Sect Master,
[I have heard that Lord Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, once fought Ghost Sword. I know he is the only one who clashed with him and survived. Might he not know something?]
[…Most likely he does.]
[Then how about making contact with Lord Baek Sa-ha?]
[That would be difficult.]
[Pardon?]
What was the reason it would be difficult?
To the puzzled Mok Gyeong-un, the Shadow Sect Master clicked his tongue and said,
[The Annihilation Poison King’s mother passed away last year, and he is in the midst of the three-year mourning period, so he is living in seclusion and meeting no one unless it is a special circumstance.]
[Ah…]
The three-year mourning period was observed for three years after the death of one’s parents, as a way of repaying their grace and fulfilling filial duty.
After the funeral, one enshrined the parents’ spirit tablet at the spirit seat and dwelled in a mourning hut, offering food rites morning and evening.
Outside of the very earliest stage, there were cases where one received no guests but blood relatives during the three-year mourning period.
That was the custom of the Baek Clan, the house of the Annihilation Poison King.
This is unexpected.
He had thought that if he could move the Shadow Sect Master, he might obtain information much more easily.
But if things were like this, that would become difficult.
So Mok Gyeong-un said, thinking there was no helping it,
[…Then how about if I go?]
[You?]
[Yes. In any case, I have three head plaques, so I can request instruction from the executives.]
[You would use them here?]
[Yes.]
At those words, the Shadow Sect Master could not hide his surprise.
Among the Five Kings were two who bore the title of Eight Stars, said to be the greatest masters of the age.
It was a chance to receive instruction from such figures, yet he would cast that aside and instead request guidance from the Annihilation Poison King, a master of poison arts that departed from ordinary martial arts.
[Would that not be too wasteful?]
[It may be. But I too want to do something for our faith. Please allow me to lend a hand.]
[Ahhh…]
At those words, the Shadow Sect Master could not hide his satisfaction.
What believer would not be pleased to hear a lay follower say he wished to fulfill his duty to the faith?
[If you mean to do so, then nothing would please me more. Then, since the bull’s horn has already been grasped, tomorrow might be best.]
[Tomorrow?]
[Yes. As it happens, I hear that Baek Sa-ha’s grandson celebrates his first-birthday feast tomorrow.]
[His first-birthday feast?]
[Yes. Even during the three-year mourning period, he will not simply let the first-birthday feast of the grandson who will carry on the line pass by. Even if only among relatives, there will be a modest celebration.]
Since it was his grandson’s first-birthday feast, his mood would likely be better than usual.
The Shadow Sect Master said they should aim for that.
[I had been intending to send Lord Annihilation Poison King at least a gift. You can carry that gift and, while presenting it, cautiously request the privilege tied to your three head plaques.]
* * *
It was early dawn, before the sun had yet risen.
-Crack!
Jang Neung-ak, the Society Leader’s second disciple, received an urgent message and hurried to the residence of his trusted blind retainer, Wi Maeng-cheon.
When he arrived, Jang Neung-ak ground his teeth and could not contain his fury.
The head of Wi Maeng-cheon, lying there severed from the neck.
What sort of bolt from the blue was this?
-Grab!
Jang Neung-ak seized the collar of Jong-im, a confidant of Wi Maeng-cheon, and demanded,
“What in the world were you doing for this disaster to happen?”
“…My apologies.”
Jong-im could say nothing, only repeat that he was sorry.
At that answer, Jang Neung-ak flung him straight to the floor.
-Bang!
“Ugh.”
After throwing him down, Jang Neung-ak shot a sharp glare at the guard warriors lying prostrate as though performing total repentance.
Then he said,
“What kind of guards fail even to protect their own master? Cut off all their heads.”
“Yes.”
-Sshhk!
At Jang Neung-ak’s order, Ho Jong-hyeok, Third Peak of the Five Peaks Assembly and grand unit leader of the Bu Myeol Unit, lifted the gigantic axe resting on his shoulder.
At that, the four guards panicked and begged in tears.
“P-please spare us!”
“We too were taken by surprise all at once!”
At their pleas, Jang Neung-ak let out a snort.
All of them claimed they had fallen asleep in that very moment and knew nothing, yet now they dared cry to be spared.
“Kill them.”
-Crack!
“Urk!”
Despite their desperate pleading, they all ended up having their heads chopped off by Ho Jong-hyeok’s axe.
Even then, as though his anger still had not cooled, Jang Neung-ak considered killing Jong-im as well, the one called Wi Maeng-cheon’s right hand.
But the other confidants restrained him.
“Please restrain yourself. If you do that, there will be no one left to command Maeng-cheon’s men.”
“…”
There were more than fifty elite warriors personally raised by Wi Maeng-cheon.
If he killed even Jong-im, who was a squad-leader-class subordinate and had managed them, morale could fall and command could become difficult.
Knowing that, Jang Neung-ak barely restrained himself.
Still, this was not something that could simply be let pass.
To dare kill one of my trusted men.
The fellow had truly lost his mind.
Not anywhere else, but within the inner castle of the Heaven and Earth Society, he had committed such a bold act.
To touch one of his people, who might someday become the next Society Leader, was in the end no different from declaring war.
-Sshhk!
At that moment, someone touched the cross-section of Wi Maeng-cheon’s severed neck and spoke.
“This was not done by an ordinary person.”
“What?”
“With a single sword strike, he severed Maeng-cheon’s neck together with his sword.”
The man, who had an angular jaw and a fierce-looking face, pointed with his hand to the broken Jukmyeong Sword lying on the floor.
Because the culprit had been so meticulous, all the footprints on the ground had been erased, making it impossible to know exactly how the fight had been conducted, but from the broken sword and the cut surface of the neck, this one thing at least could be inferred.
Jang Neung-ak’s eyes sharpened.
With one sword strike he cut through Maeng-cheon’s sword and neck?
For that to be possible, the culprit had to be at the very least an overwhelming sword master who had reached the fully mature transcendent peak.
A brightly dressed woman with thick lips approached and said,
“Then the range of suspects narrows to some extent.”
Wi Maeng-cheon was a confidant of Jang Neung-ak, the Society Leader’s second disciple.
If someone had been bold enough to kill such a man in the night, then it had to be one of those who wished to seize and twist his ankle.
Na Yul-ryang…Wi So-yeon…
Naturally, the first figures to rise in his mind were his elder martial brother and younger martial brother, the rivals competing with him for the position of next Society Leader.
They too were tremendous experts of sword intent, so such a deed was possible for them.
Moreover, since they were in the midst of fierce factional struggle with him, they had ample motive to do such a thing.
Still, they would not personally sneak out like rats just to dispose of one mere confidant of his.
If so, the suspects narrowed much further.
Those two under the eldest young master Na Yul-ryang, and that bastard who was Wi So-yeon’s right hand.
Other than them, there was absolutely no one who could cut through Wi Maeng-cheon’s sword and neck in a single stroke.
-Creak!
“Find them. No matter what.”
“Loyalty!”
At his words, the remaining four members of the Five Peaks Assembly lowered their heads and answered with a cry of loyalty.
Amid all this, there was one person watching with frustrated eyes.
That was none other than Jong-im, the confidant of Wi Maeng-cheon.
Damn it…and he is not even on the list of suspects.
Jong-im knew the true culprit behind this affair.
Of course he did.
After all, he himself had moved together with Wi Maeng-cheon under Wi Maeng-cheon’s orders.
But aside from that, he could not reveal the truth.
The reason was that he was not really Jong-im at all, but Wi Maeng-cheon, who had become a shikigami and possessed the body of his own confidant.
My lord…I am sorry.
He could no longer serve Jang Neung-ak.
Now that he had become a shikigami, he could not disobey Mok Gyeong-un, and if he did, his wife and child would lose their lives.
At that moment, still grinding his teeth, Jang Neung-ak glared off somewhere and muttered,
“No. This works out well. I will see those bastards there.”
There?
Just where was this there that Jang Neung-ak meant?
* * *
It was around noon.
Mok Gyeong-un, with the guard warrior Seok-jung accompanying him, was heading somewhere.
That place was none other than the estate of Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, one of the Five Kings of the Heaven and Earth Society.
Damn it.
Seok-jung, who had been assigned to guard Mok Gyeong-un, found this situation extremely uncomfortable.
He had tried not to cross paths with him no matter what, but because he had received the order to carry the Shadow Sect Master’s gift, there was nothing he could do about it.
All he could do was match the boy’s temper as much as possible.
Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said to the stiffened man,
“Is your lover doing well?”
-Flinch!
To ask after his lover under the guise of polite concern made goosebumps rise all over Seok-jung’s body.
Rather than a greeting, Mok Gyeong-un’s words sounded like a warning delivered after a long time apart.
So Seok-jung said in a trembling voice,
“I, I absolutely will not do anything to bring harm to you, Young Master.”
“Did I say anything of the sort?”
“…”
Damn bastard.
If that was the case, then rather than asking about his lover, why not simply ask whether he had been well?
He felt a surge of irritation, but Seok-jung did not show it.
Mok Gyeong-un frightened him too much for that.
“Is that large chest you are carrying on your back the gift Master prepared?”
“It is.”
“I only hope the gift pleases him.”
“I understand a great deal of thought was put into it.”
“Then that is fortunate.”
In practical terms, however, the important thing was not the gift.
He had to coax Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, one way or another and draw from his mouth information concerning Ghost Sword, one of the Eight Stars.
But the timing was truly poor.
The fact that he was in the middle of the three-year mourning period, of all times.
Coax him…
For the time being, Mok Gyeong-un had received and memorized information from the Shadow Sect Master about Baek Sa-ha and his family.
But from what he had learned, Baek Sa-ha seemed to be a rather difficult personality.
So it did not seem that coaxing him would be easy at all.
At that moment, Seok-jung, who was walking ahead, tilted his head and pointed somewhere.
“There.”
Where he pointed, a grand estate came into view.
Compared only in size to the Shadow Sect, which handled the Society’s secrets and intelligence, it was smaller, but as befit one of the Five Kings, it was still imposing.
“Then shall we go?”
Mok Gyeong-un approached the entrance together with him.
There, two warriors in mourning garments stood guarding the gate.
However, before they could quite reach it,
Hm?
Mok Gyeong-un turned his head, and his eyes caught a group approaching.
At the very front of the group walked a woman wearing a bamboo hat with a face veil, and she was none other than,
Wi So-yeon?
It was Wi So-yeon, the Society Leader’s third disciple.
Why had Wi So-yeon come here?
As he wondered that, another group could be seen coming along a different path.
They were,
Ah…well, this is something.
Jang Neung-ak, the Society Leader’s second disciple, along with the Five Peaks Assembly, or rather now the Four Peaks Assembly after Wi Maeng-cheon’s death, were coming together.