Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 154 - Same Kind (1)
Chapter 154 – Same Kind (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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[Ever since Corpse Blood Valley was instituted, there has been exactly one person who obtained every single head plaque.]
Those were the words Valley Master Yi Ji-yeom had spoken before the final gate of Corpse Blood Valley.
At the time, Mok Gyeong-un, who had not been greatly interested in who had obtained all the head plaques, had asked only one thing.
[May I ask what benefit is given to the one who obtains all the head plaques?]
[You may receive the Society Leader’s instruction.]
At that answer, everyone had been unable to hide their surprise.
The reason was simple.
[Is receiving the Society Leader’s instruction really something so astonishing?]
Mo Ha-rang had satisfied the curiosity of the puzzled Mok Gyeong-un.
[The Society Leader is one of the Six Heavens, called the summit of the current murim. Setting everything else aside, to receive instruction from one of the six people said to be the strongest under heaven means…]
She had not even been able to finish what she was saying.
That was how supreme the prestige of the Six Heavens was in the Central Plains.
If one could gain the chance to receive instruction from such a magnificent being, who would not risk his life for it?
But ever since Corpse Blood Valley was instituted, there had been only one such person.
And that one person was precisely,
‘Is it this man?’
‘This man whose eyes were meeting Mok Gyeong-un’s.’
The Society Leader’s first disciple, the Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang.
Mok Gyeong-un too had only recently learned this fact.
The one who had told him was the Shadow Sect Master.
[Both the Second Disciple Jang Neung-ak and the Third Disciple Wi So-yeon possess heavenly martial talent. But compared to Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang, even they may be said to fall short.]
[To that extent?]
[Yes. If I put it this way, you will feel it more clearly.]
[What do you mean?]
[Great Young Master became the Society Leader’s disciple after becoming the first and last person since the institution of Corpse Blood Valley to obtain the head plaque of every gate.]
‘!’
‘He became a disciple by obtaining the head plaque of every gate in Corpse Blood Valley?’
Was that one and only person Valley Master Yi Ji-yeom had spoken of really the Great Young Master?
It was truly astonishing.
[If the Second Young Master and the Third Young Lady were selected because of their talent, then the Great Young Master is one who climbed up from the bottom and established his present position himself.]
[…That is admirable.]
[Yes. He has venom in him, and he is admirable. But more than that, he is also a truly frightening man.]
[A frightening man?]
The Shadow Sect Master had evaluated the Great Young Master as frightening.
Compared to how he had evaluated the Second Young Master Jang Neung-ak as someone with craftiness and brutality who had to be watched carefully, he had shown a considerable degree of wariness toward the Great Young Master.
Why was that?
As he wondered, the Shadow Sect Master said,
[In truth, if one were to consider only talent in both letters and martial arts, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Great Young Master has already secured the position of next Society Leader.]
[If that is not an exaggeration, then why are the disciples still competing over the successor’s position?]
[He truly could not understand it.]
If he was such an outstanding person, was there really any need to make them compete?
Had it not been said that he had the greatest number of supporting forces among the disciples, and that he was acknowledged by all as exceptional in both letters and martial arts?
Then why was it that the Society Leader, though said to be lying ill, still had not made him the successor?
To Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the Shadow Sect Master gave an unexpected answer.
[…The Society Leader may also be wary of him.]
[Pardon?]
[…Is there really any reason to be wary? If it is because of his talent, then since he is the next successor, should that not rather be a matter for joy?]
The Society Leader of the Heaven and Earth Society, one of the Six Heavens said to be the strongest in the world, was wary of his own first disciple?
Something was strange.
[Ordinarily, yes.]
[Is there some other reason?]
[If there is a reason, then there is.]
[What is it?]
[If he possesses such overwhelming martial talent that he passed every gate of Corpse Blood Valley at the very top, and is so outstanding that he has mastered both letters and martial arts, why is it that only forty percent support him?]
[Hm?]
[Come to think of it, that was true.]
Until hearing it from the Shadow Sect Master, since there was a succession struggle, he had assumed that all three must be outstanding or nearly equal in level, and that was why it had not been decided.
That was why he had thought, as many as forty percent, but as the Shadow Sect Master said, if he was such an overwhelming figure, and moreover the Society Leader’s chief disciple, then it would not have been strange even if he had eighty or ninety percent support instead of forty.
If so, one thing could be inferred.
[Does he have some disqualifying reason that could overturn all of that?]
Unless there was something decisively flawed about him, there was no reason for the Society Leader not to make him the successor.
To Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the Shadow Sect Master said in a meaningful tone,
[He is different from ordinary people.]
[What do you mean by different?]
[Exactly what I said. Great Young Master’s standards of thought, the way he thinks, and his emotions are all very different from those of ordinary people.]
[…]
[I do not know whether he was born lacking something, or whether environmental factors made him that way, but it seems that his difference has made even the Society Leader unable to make up his mind.]
[Difference…]
In what way was he different from ordinary people?
One thing was certain: because of that difference, there were many who were repelled by the Great Young Master.
Those following the Second Disciple Jang Neung-ak, those following the Third Disciple Wi So-yeon, and those remaining neutral were probably such people.
* * *
“How did you know?”
At the question of Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang, whose one pupil was black while the other was gray-white, the words the Shadow Sect Master had once said suddenly came to Mok Gyeong-un’s mind.
[He is different from ordinary people.]
[Hmm.]
‘The corners of Mok Gyeong-un’s lips twitched faintly.’
He had not especially understood in what sense the Shadow Sect Master had said such a thing.
Rather, for the first time, he felt a strange emotion.
It was a kind of sense of kinship.
“How strange.”
‘For the first time in his life, he had received such a feeling from someone else.’
But Mok Gyeong-un was not the only one to feel such an emotion.
The moment Na Yul-ryang’s eyes met Mok Gyeong-un’s, he too was overtaken by a peculiar feeling.
“Ho.”
A strange feeling he had never sensed from ordinary people.
That was welling up from this one.
Even after learning who he was, and even though their eyes had met, from those eyes that did not waver in the slightest, Na Yul-ryang could instinctively tell.
“Interesting.”
“What do you mean?”
“You…are the same kind as me.”
At Na Yul-ryang’s words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.
Had this man also felt the same thing from him?
Kinship, same kind.
[Cough, cough…promise me.]
[What are you speaking of?]
[That you will absolutely never…reveal your true nature…]
[His grandfather had warned him until the very end.]
Not to reveal the true nature that was different from ordinary people’s.
When his grandfather had been by his side, he had tried as much as possible to do that, but after seeing so much blood, the nature he had suppressed woke.
His grandfather had called that killing nature, but Mok Gyeong-un did not think so.
It was a kind of liberation of his confined self.
‘Different, is it.’
‘If this was the reason Na Yul-ryang had been called different from ordinary people, then did that mean he too fell into that category?’
How very interesting.
Then Na Yul-ryang said to Mok Gyeong-un,
“I had been wondering why a fellow brought as a hostage to the righteous sects surrendered to our Society, but now I think I know the reason.”
“…”
“A fellow like you does not suit an old-fashioned place that prattles on about justice and such.”
“At his words, Mok Gyeong-un was about to reveal his true thoughts, but then turned his answer another way.”
It is merely that the Heaven and Earth Society suited me better.
“Quite apart from feeling kinship, there was still a difference in position.”
The other party was the Great Young Master, the Society Leader’s first disciple.
Even if he gave a similar feeling, in both position and martial ability he was not someone to be treated carelessly.
Swish.
-At that moment Na Yul-ryang clasped his hands behind his back and slowly circled around Mok Gyeong-un.
He was surveying him from head to toe with his eyes.
Quite apart from being of the same kind, being observed like that was not a particularly pleasant feeling.
It is quite strange that even at this distance, I still cannot properly sense your aura. Where did you learn such a method?
“At the direct question, Mok Gyeong-un lowered his head and answered,”
“I learned it from the Shadow Sect Master.”
“The Shadow Sect Master?”
“Yes.”
“How peculiar. Though the Shadow Sect Master’s aura, unlike others, does indeed have a dense yin tendency, it is not something that reaches the level of completely controlling and concealing oneself.”
“…”
“Judging by Na Yul-ryang’s tone, he spoke almost as though he himself stood a level above the Shadow Sect Master.”
Yet it was difficult to dismiss that outright, because the aura felt from Na Yul-ryang was powerfully condensed into a single spot in his dantian, to the point that it could not leak outside.
Though condensed, the faint aura leaking from there seemed as though it could erupt explosively at any moment.
He is strong.
‘He could not even guess to what degree.’
At present, he even felt that Na Yul-ryang might perhaps be comparable to the level of the Five Kings.
Now he understood why the Shadow Sect Master had said that he was more outstanding than the Second Disciple Jang Neung-ak and the Third Disciple Wi So-yeon.
Then Na Yul-ryang said with a twitch at the corner of his mouth,
“You are trying to hide things already.”
“That is not so. How would I dare do that to Great Young Master?”
“Really?”
“It truly is so.”
“Very well. As a martial artist, this may be something you would want to hide. Since it is the first time, I will let it pass. Besides, that is not my real business here anyway.”
“With those words, Na Yul-ryang suddenly stroked his chin.”
Then, as though pondering something, he looked at Mok Gyeong-un before finally opening his mouth.
“Earlier, how did you know?”
“If by earlier, you mean?”
“How did you know who this young master was? I altered my voice, and there should have been no occasion for you to encounter me.”
“Since he had entered as a disciple under the Shadow Sect Master, who handled information and objects, one might say he could have received information about appearances, but he had guessed correctly without seeing him.”
Na Yul-ryang wanted to resolve that question.
To that question, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“It was just a guess.”
“A guess?”
“Yes.”
“So, in a situation where there was nothing at all, you guessed who this young master was based on mere conjecture…”
“It was not that there was nothing at all.”
“Not so?”
“The only one who had not visited Lord Annihilation Poison King was Great Young Master, and it caught my attention that the confidants of the Second Young Master and the Third Young Lady, who had tried to contact me, had both been knocked unconscious, so I made that guess.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Na Yul-ryang held out a hand and said,
“Even if I did not know that the Third Junior Sister’s disciple had been knocked unconscious, where is the Second Junior Brother’s confidant?”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un pointed toward the corner of the wall with his hand.
It was the place where the aura that had been leaking out had abruptly lessened for an instant.
“Did you not knock unconscious Seo Hye-in, the unit leader of Choyeon Unit and subordinate of the Second Young Master?”
“!?”
‘At those words, interest flashed in Na Yul-ryang’s eyes.’
He was more surprised that Mok Gyeong-un had guessed who it was than by the fact that he had noticed through aura-sensing that someone was secretly observing him.
“You…have extremely sharp aura-sense.”
“That cannot be. I had no idea at all that Great Young Master was there.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Na Yul-ryang let out a faint snort.
It was a reaction as if it were only natural.
From one point of view, it might have seemed arrogant, but rather, that appearance suited him very well.
“Well, leaving that aside, you guessed based on my knocking them unconscious?”
“Yes.”
“There is no way the Second Young Master or the Third Young Lady, the masters they serve, would suddenly knock unconscious those trying to contact me and draw me under their banners…”
“And if they were other executives, then there would be even less reason for them to knock those people unconscious, is that what you mean?”
“Yes.”
“I had thought only your martial ability was decent, but your head turns rather well too.”
“…You flatter me.”
“If I handed you over to my junior disciples, it might have been fun enough to watch them contend, but now that I have seen you directly, I can no longer do that.”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un thought,
As expected, Great Young Master is also trying to draw me under his banner.
But what came from his mouth was different from what he had expected.
“You too felt that you yourself are the same kind as this young master, did you not?”
“…”
“And because of that, I have changed my mind. A fellow like you, unless I can control him for certain or something of that sort, ought to be killed right now.”
-Whoooosh!
-The moment those words ended, blue sword energy gathered at Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang’s sword-fingers.
That was sword astral energy.