Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 163 - Proposal (2)
Chapter 163 – Proposal (2)
===================
Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
If one were to choose the strongest in martial prowess among Wi So-yeon’s close aides, it would undoubtedly be Wu Ho-rang, the eldest disciple of Son Yun, the King of the Fate Blade, and the Great Unit Leader of Jue Que Corps.
His martial prowess was acknowledged by all, as he was included even among the Five Tigers, who were called the greatest rising talents of the Heaven and Earth Society.
However, the one among her close aides whom she opened her heart to the most was Gi Ok-ryeon, another woman.
Gi Ok-ryeon was the eldest daughter of Nurturing Rock Valley Master Gi Hae, and she was Wi So-yeon’s closest friend and no different from her true right hand.
-Slide!
Gi Ok-ryeon pulled out one of the needles lodged in Wi So-yeon’s back, where she sat with her upper garment lowered and half naked.
The sharp tip of the needle she pulled out had turned black.
“As expected, a bit of poison energy still remained. But seeing that only part of the needle has changed color, it looks like the detoxification is nearly finished, miss. Do you feel a bit better now?”
“Thanks to you.”
Because Nurturing Rock Valley Master excelled in medicine, Gi Ok-ryeon had inherited that skill as well.
Thus, she was helping by means of acupuncture so that the remaining traces of poison inside Wi So-yeon’s body could be driven out more quickly.
“It seems the Annihilation Poison King’s poison really is formidable. In internal power alone, miss ought to be no less than the Annihilation Poison King himself.”
“That may no longer be true now.”
“Ah… he crossed the wall, didn’t he.”
It was truly an ironic coincidence.
On the very day they had gone to see him, Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, had ascended to the realm of transformation.
Because of that, his importance had risen much higher.
If Baek Sa-ha, now a master who had entered the realm of transformation, were to support them, it would be no different from gaining an army of a thousand.
The key, however, was how to draw him in.
‘Mok Gyeong-un…’
Persuading Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, directly had become difficult.
That was why the only route by which they could now secure Baek Sa-ha’s support was Mok Gyeong-un.
Because Baek Sa-ha had taken Mok Gyeong-un in as his disciple.
Because of this, Mok Gyeong-un’s value had risen tremendously.
Since Mok Gyeong-un was the shared disciple of the Shadow Sect Master and the Annihilation Poison King, if they could only take him in as a subordinate, they would be able to draw in both the Shadow Sect and the Baek Family.
They absolutely had to bring him over, but she was worried inwardly.
“I’m worried second senior brother might even resort to dirty tricks.”
“The Second Young Master?”
“Yes.”
“…Because of that matter, right?”
“That’s right. Second senior brother’s anger looked immense.”
“Even so, would he really do something openly? It’s not as if we were actually the ones who did it.”
“When the roots of suspicion grow deep, people are bound to lose sight of what lies ahead.”
“That may be true, but… sigh. What kind of bolt from the blue is this? Why did something like that have to happen so that we would be suspected like this… Huh? Wait a moment… miss, could it be a divisive scheme?”
Gi Ok-ryeon raised the question.
At her words, Wi So-yeon’s eyes narrowed.
That was because during the night, Wi Maeng-cheon, Second Sacred Mountain of the O’ak Association and a close aide of second senior brother Jang Neung-ak, had been murdered by someone.
Because of this, second senior brother had flown into a fury.
Though their master was bedridden, his eyes were still open and watchful, and so up to now the three disciples had never crossed the line or clashed greatly.
Yet this time that balance had broken.
Given second senior brother’s temperament, having lost a close aide he treasured, he would seek revenge in one way or another.
But what mattered here was that this was not something they had done.
“Why do you think it’s a divisive scheme?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Because Wi Maeng-cheon died, we’re the ones second young master is suspecting. At this rate we’re bound to collide.”
“So that’s why you think it’s a divisive scheme?”
“If it isn’t a divisive scheme, then what else could it be?”
“If it is a divisive scheme… whose doing do you think it is?”
To Wi So-yeon’s question, Gi Ok-ryeon answered in a voice full of certainty.
“Obviously wouldn’t it be the Great Young Master or his close aides?”
“Eldest senior brother?”
“Yes. The only side that benefits most here is theirs.”
“…”
At Gi Ok-ryeon’s words, Wi So-yeon rested her chin on the backs of her interlaced hands.
Judging only by the circumstances, as Gi Ok-ryon guessed, the probability that it was eldest senior brother was high.
Because they truly were not responsible for it.
But,
“…Would it really be eldest senior brother?”
“Pardon?”
“It feels somewhat unlike eldest senior brother’s way.”
“Unlike it? If it isn’t the Great Young Master, there would be no reason to do such a thing. It’s undoubtedly a move to make our side and second young master’s faction fight.”
At those words, Wi So-yeon gave a small shake of her head.
Of course, there was reason in what she said as well.
Because the reason second senior brother suspected her rather than eldest senior brother in Wi Maeng-cheon’s death, and the reason she herself found the whole situation suspicious, overlapped.
That reason was,
‘Eldest senior brother… eldest senior brother doesn’t even regard us as rivals.’
If that were not so, he would long ago have moved to check them somehow.
Eldest senior brother was thorough to the core, so if he regarded someone as an enemy, he crushed them completely.
And yet he had merely watched as though observing from afar while they gathered support in order to become the successor.
He had not interfered in the slightest.
Even though he might well have found it unpleasant.
‘If eldest senior brother had truly set his mind on checking us, he would never have left us alone all this time in a way like this.’
Na Yul-ryang, eldest senior brother, was somehow different from ordinary people.
Whenever she spoke with him, her chest would feel stifled, and she would even feel fear for no clear reason.
That was why, ever since master had taken to his sickbed, she had avoided meeting him.
The same was likely true of second senior brother Jang Neung-ak.
Other than master, the person he feared most was surely eldest senior brother.
With that in mind, Wi So-yeon carefully began,
“Perhaps a variable we never expected may have arisen…”
-Flinch!
At that moment, Wi So-yeon stopped speaking halfway and looked toward somewhere.
“Miss?”
“Something has happened outside.”
“Something?”
“Pull out the rest of the needles quickly.”
“Y-yes.”
Gi Ok-ryeon hurriedly removed all the needles that had been stuck in Wi So-yeon’s acupoints.
After quickly putting her upper garment back on and straightening her appearance, Wi So-yeon hastily opened the door and went outside.
Naturally, Gi Ok-ryeon followed right behind her.
When Wi So-yeon came out at the sound from outside, she could not hide her shock at the sight unfolding before her eyes.
‘!?’
-Thud! Boom!
Yang Il of Misty Sea Sword House, its young deputy house master, collapsing in an instant after being struck by Mok Gyeong-un’s kick.
Gi Ok-ryeon, who had come out after her, was equally astonished.
Who was Yang Il?
In martial prowess, he ranked second among Wi So-yeon’s close aides, a master at the entrance to the transcendent peak realm.
And yet such a man had been sent flying by a single blow?
‘Impossible.’
How could something like this happen?
But then Gi Ok-ryeon’s eyes caught sight of someone else.
That person was none other than,
‘W-Wu oppa?’
It was Wu Ho-rang.
He had collapsed in a bloody heap, as if grievously wounded.
‘Why is oppa like that?’
Gi Ok-ryeon, who had secretly cherished feelings for him for a long time, was so startled by the sight that she was about to run out at once.
Wi So-yeon stretched out a hand and stopped her.
After holding Gi Ok-ryeon back that way, Wi So-yeon shouted in a loud voice,
“Stop!”
Wi So-yeon’s cry rang out thunderously.
At her shout, Mok Gyeong-un, who had been gripping Yeop Wi-seon’s neck, turned his head.
“Ah. So you’ve come out.”
“You… what kind of outrage is this?”
To her question, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and replied,
“Outrage? I merely came because miss called for me, but these people blocked me.”
Mok Gyeong-un indicated, one by one with his gaze, Yang Il lying unconscious on the floor and Yeop Wi-seon whose throat he held in his hand.
“Keh, keh.”
Yeop Wi-seon struggled, his face red as though it might burst with bulging veins standing out all over.
Pointing at him with a finger, Wi So-yeon said,
“Take your hand off him at once.”
“Ah, this?”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly and loosened the strength in his hand.
Then Yeop Wi-seon fell with a plop onto his backside on the ground.
As if he had been unable to breathe while his throat was held, Yeop Wi-seon coughed harshly and tried to say something to Wi So-yeon.
“Cough, cough… m-miss… cough… this bastard…”
Smack!
Mok Gyeong-un lightly chopped the back of his neck.
Then, perhaps because the blow jarred his brain, Yeop Wi-seon simply pitched forward and collapsed.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
“Enough.”
Wi So-yeon restrained Gi Ok-ryeon, who, unable to contain her anger at seeing her companions treated this way, was about to step forward.
Then she said to Mok Gyeong-un,
“You are going to have to explain exactly what happened. Otherwise, no matter who you are, I will not be able to forgive this.”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un scratched his head as though embarrassed.
“This is rather awkward. I only came to see miss, but these two insisted that I could not be allowed to meet you and blocked me.”
“They blocked you?”
“Yes.”
“Why would they?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask. Their mistress called for me, after all.”
“…”
At the sense that he was somehow poking at her, Wi So-yeon’s eyes sharpened.
He had always been bold to the extreme in front of her, but there was something subtly different from before.
This was not the boldness of someone acting fearless before a stronger person, but something truly born of confidence in himself.
Because of that, a question arose in her mind.
No matter how one looked at it, this man seemed to have advanced yet another step in the meantime.
‘What is this?’
Wi So-yeon could not hide her bewilderment.
Even before this, when she had seen him in the Corpse Blood Valley report, his martial arts had become vastly stronger than before, and that alone had greatly astonished her.
But now his martial prowess had progressed yet again?
While she found this rapid advance strange, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“If you truly find it hard to believe, wouldn’t it be enough to wake them up again and ask them?”
“…”
Seeing him speak this far, it certainly seemed true that they had blocked Mok Gyeong-un.
But the reason seemed to be that.
With a tilt of her head, Wi So-yeon indicated Wu Ho-rang lying collapsed on the ground and said,
“Why is Great Unit Leader Wu in that state?”
“This gentleman? He fought me.”
“What?”
At that, Wi So-yeon furrowed her brow.
What did he mean, they fought?
“That can’t be. Great Unit Leader Wu went to bring you here under my orders. He would never fight you without my command.”
Moreover, Wu Ho-rang knew how important Mok Gyeong-un was.
He knew better than anyone that if they won him over, the whole pattern of the successor struggle would change anew, so why would such a man go to fetch Mok Gyeong-un only to fight him?
It made no sense.
Then could it be,
“…Did you challenge Great Unit Leader Wu first?”
“How could that be? He was the one who requested a spar with me, giving two reasons.”
“Two reasons?”
“Yes.”
“What were they?”
“The first reason is difficult to say because I promised him. As for the second, he said he had to take revenge because, thanks to me, this fellow disciple here got into trouble.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Gi Ok-ryeon cried out with a heated face,
“Revenge? What nonsense are you spouting! Why would Wu oppa disobey miss’s orders just to do such a thing to you…”
“Ok-ryeon. Enough.”
“Miss. But that man is lying and falsely accusing Wu oppa…”
Before her words could even finish, Mok Gyeong-un cut in.
“If you truly cannot believe it, then wouldn’t it be enough to wake him as well and ask him?”
“What?”
“You said you can’t believe whether or not he was the one who picked the fight first, didn’t you?”
At those words, Gi Ok-ryeon snapped sharply,
“Do you know why I can’t believe your words? Because it makes no sense that Wu oppa, one of the Five Tigers, would be defeated by someone like you…”
“Ok-ryeon!”
Wi So-yeon finally raised her voice.
Sensing that her mistress was displeased, Gi Ok-ryeon trembled with a flushed face and at last shut her mouth.
“Forgive me.”
“Calm yourself and step back. I know your heart well.”
Because she alone knew that Gi Ok-ryeon was in love with Wu Ho-rang, she stroked her shoulder as if comforting her and told her to step back.
Watching them, Mok Gyeong-un shook his head from side to side.
Seeing that, Wi So-yeon spoke in a chilled voice.
“What exactly is that attitude of yours just now?”
“Attitude?”
“Your attitude just now looked as though you were mocking me.”
“Hmm. Rather than that, you’ve simply made me even more certain.”
“Certain?”
“Yes.”
“Certain of what?”
In answer to Wi So-yeon’s question, Mok Gyeong-un said with a twisted smile,
“I thought you merely had no luck with your subordinates, but it seems miss herself also treats her subordinates very indulgently.”
“How dare you!”
Thinking that he had insulted her mistress, Gi Ok-ryeon flared up and raised her voice once again.
That very moment,
-Swoosh!
‘!?’
Mok Gyeong-un’s figure blurred apart like mist and vanished.
At the same time Wi So-yeon, her expression shocked, hurriedly turned and reached out her hand, but
-Thud!
“Ah!”
Before her hand could reach him, a dull blow sounded and Gi Ok-ryeon’s eyes rolled back as her body pitched forward.
Behind the collapsing Gi Ok-ryeon stood Mok Gyeong-un with his knife-hand raised.
Clicking his tongue as if disappointed, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Why is it that every last one of them keeps ignoring the words their mistress says?”
“You…”
“Still, this works out well. I wanted to have a conversation alone with you.”
Looking at Mok Gyeong-un smiling faintly, Wi So-yeon spoke with startled eyes.
“…How do you know Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step?”
That high-speed movement art Mok Gyeong-un had just displayed.
If her eyes had not deceived her, it was Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step, the unique body-lightening art of eldest senior brother Na Yul-ryang.