Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 17 - Bargaining (3)
Chapter 17 – Bargaining (3)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The Second Young Master, Mok Eun-pyeong, had great ambitions.
From when he was young, he had possessed fairly outstanding martial talent, enough that he mastered not only the swordsmanship of Yeon Mok Sword Manor but also the fist techniques of the Jang family of Hoebuk, the family of his mother, Madam Jang.
That was why he had naturally been certain that he would be the next Manor Lord of Yeon Mok Sword Manor.
He thought that the legitimate firstborn, Mok Yeong-ho, was greedy and given over to drink and women, lacking the qualities of a successor, so the line of succession would naturally come to himself.
But that had been a miscalculation.
‘Mok Yu-cheon.’
The Manor Lord’s favor was directed toward the youngest.
That was only natural, since by the mere age of fourteen he had already mastered all of the martial arts of Yeon Mok Sword Manor and possessed such innate martial talent that he had reached the realm of a first-rate master.
As Mok Yu-cheon began to stand out, the Manor Lord put off deciding the successor again and again.
Mok Eun-pyeong was certain that it was because the Manor Lord’s heart was leaning toward that brat.
‘I cannot miss this opportunity.’
He regarded the fact that the Manor Lord’s life was in danger as an opportunity.
Fortunately, Mok Yu-cheon was the son of a worthless concubine, so he had no strength around him at all.
Unless the Manor Lord himself formally declared him the successor, he was in a position where it would be difficult for him to rise to the seat of Manor Lord by his own power.
Therefore, the key was to eliminate the other successors.
‘Compared to those bastards, none of them can be my match.’
Both were incompetence itself.
The First Young Master Mok Yeong-ho knew only indulgence in women and drink, and the third, Mok Gyeong-un, was a powerless coward.
Still, behind the First Young Master Mok Yeong-ho stood the First Madam, Madam Seok.
Since she came from the Seok family of Geumhwa, she had considerable influence.
Moreover, there were still many old fools among the retainers who insisted on eldest-son-first succession.
‘Mok Gyeong-un…….’
At some point, that fellow, inferior to his brothers in every way except for a face like a pretty boy, had also begun coveting the position of successor.
The First Madam looked down on him and paid him no attention, but Mok Eun-pyeong was different.
‘Guard Gam, was it.’
That fellow had one bodyguard who was too good for him.
He was called Guard Gam, and when Mok Eun-pyeong first saw him, his martial skill was enough that he thought of asking the Manor Lord to assign that man as his own guard.
So he grew interested and investigated his background, and learned a very interesting fact.
No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was a fact that required caution.
Because of this, Mok Eun-pyeong had come to think he must not carelessly lower his guard against the Third Young Master Mok Gyeong-un’s side either.
Then something unexpected happened.
Was heaven aiding him?
“You wish to become my man?”
Mok Eun-pyeong barely restrained the corners of his mouth from twitching upward.
The man kneeling on one knee before him in respect was none other than Guard Gam, the bodyguard warrior of Mok Gyeong-un.
The man he had wanted so badly had come to him on his own feet.
At a remarkably convenient moment, no less.
“Please accept me, Young Master.”
Looking at Guard Gam like this, Mok Eun-pyeong stroked his chin and opened his mouth.
“Accept you…….that is very tempting indeed.”
At those words from Mok Eun-pyeong, Guard Gam inwardly thought the start was favorable.
Guard Gam had intended to watch the Manor Lord’s condition a little longer and then observe the surrounding currents before deciding, but in the end he chose the Second Young Master, Mok Eun-pyeong.
The first, Mok Yeong-ho, was too much under the influence of the First Madam, and the youngest, Mok Yu-cheon, had nothing beyond his personal martial strength.
‘He is crafty, but in a way that makes him easier to handle.’
That was why he chose Mok Eun-pyeong as the second-best option in place of the dead real Mok Gyeong-un.
Though he was crafty and suspicious, Mok Eun-pyeong had a great greed for talent, so Guard Gam was certain he would accept him.
However,
“But, you see, the situation is remarkably exquisite.”
“Pardon?”
“As you know, I value you highly, Guard Gam. But under ordinary circumstances that is one thing, whereas now, right before the succession struggle, you come asking to be accepted. That makes me suspicious.”
‘As expected.’
At those words from Mok Eun-pyeong, Guard Gam gave a slight nod.
Naturally, he had expected that a man so full of suspicion would not trust him at once.
“I understand. But I now have a reason why I can no longer continue serving Young Master Mok Gyeong-un.”
“A reason you can no longer serve Mok Gyeong-un?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“I cannot tell you immediately.”
At those words, Mok Eun-pyeong snorted.
If he could not reveal the very reason he could no longer serve him, what meaning was there in any of this?
As Mok Eun-pyeong looked at him as if he found it absurd, Guard Gam smiled faintly and said,
“That is only because it is one of Young Master Mok Gyeong-un’s weaknesses, which makes it difficult to reveal immediately. If you accept me, I can tell you all of it.”
“Ha. Are you bargaining with me now?”
“Please understand my circumstances.”
“Understand, is it…….then let us say what you just said is for later. Can you speak of another weakness?”
“Of course.”
“What is it?”
“Young Master Mok Gyeong-un currently cannot use martial arts at all.”
“What?”
One of Mok Eun-pyeong’s brows twitched with interest.
“Is that true?”
“There is not a single inch of falsehood in it.”
“Has he suffered deviation?”
“…….One could say it is similar.”
In truth, because he was a fake, he had never even learned martial arts in the first place.
But Guard Gam could not reveal that fact and thereby risk making the death of the fake Mok Gyeong-un public, so he glossed over it.
“Ha!”
At these words from Guard Gam, Mok Eun-pyeong’s face brightened.
It made sense, because Yeon Mok Sword Manor was a martial clan.
If the one who would become the head of a body that cultivated martial arts could not use martial arts, that was hardly different from being disqualified from being its leader.
“So that brat has lost martial arts.”
Originally he had lacked martial talent, but if he could no longer use martial arts at all, then the situation changed.
He did not even have the qualifications
to take part in the succession struggle.
To the Mok Eun-pyeong who could not hide his delight, Guard Gam said,
“If only you will accept this subordinate, I can offer information more useful still.”
At those words, Mok Eun-pyeong pretended to ponder, then grinned and said,
“I thought perhaps Guard Gam intended to play Huang Gai’s role at Red Cliffs.”
The stratagem of wounding one’s own flesh.
There is that story from the Battle of Red Cliffs where Huang Gai, a retainer of Sun Quan of Wu, pretended to be tortured and then offered false surrender to Cao Cao of Wei.
Because he had known for a long time that Mok Eun-pyeong coveted Guard Gam, Mok Eun-pyeong had considered that he might be a spy sent by Mok Gyeong-un.
At this, Guard Gam gave a small laugh and said,
“Though it shames me to say it of my former master, Young Master Mok Gyeong-un is not a vessel large enough to conceive even such a stratagem.”
“Hahaha. That would be true.”
“Then will you accept me?”
“I should. How could I miss such talent?”
At those words from Mok Eun-pyeong, Guard Gam lowered his head and expressed his thanks.
“Thank you for accepting me.”
“No. It is something for which I should be thankful, that Guard Gam has made the right decision for Yeon Mok Sword Manor. Still, I am sorry to make a request the moment you come under me, but I would like you to do one thing.”
At those words, Guard Gam thumped his chest and said boldly,
“Please give the order as you wish.”
For now, he had to make a good impression on Mok Eun-pyeong.
Yet what came out of Mok Eun-pyeong’s mouth was unexpected.
“I think that, for a man like Guard Gam who was once from the assassin trade, it should be entirely possible.”
‘!?’
Guard Gam’s expression hardened.
Though he had thought it might be so, to think Mok Eun-pyeong had investigated his past.
He had known he was clever, but had still regarded him as a mere youth for now, and it seemed he had let down his guard.
* * *
Late in the Rat Hour.
-It was the time when everyone slept, and even the guard warriors standing in front of the medicine hall were nodding off.
Rattle!
‘Oh.’
When he opened the medicinal drawer marked Oyang, the hidden entrance revealed itself.
Perhaps because it was a secret space, it did not make as much noise as he had feared.
-Mok Gyeong-un took up a lamp and entered through the hidden opening.
Shuffle, shuffle!
Quietly, he descended along the underground stairs.
The stairs continued much deeper than he had expected.
‘Deep.’
It was descending deeper than not just one story but two, which seemed suspicious.
For a space made merely to hide a Manor Lord’s seal and a secret manual, it was considerably deep.
It was when he had reached a depth of nearly three stories.
A cavern about one third the size of the medicine hall revealed itself.
‘Ah!’
There were four stone doors that looked like entrances in that cavern.
And above those stone doors, the characters Gap, Eul, Byeong, and Jeong were carved.
[The……me……di……cine…….hall…….basement…….jeong………stone………door…….inside……….]
Mok Gyeong-un recalled the words the Manor Lord had spoken.
He had said it was inside the Jeong stone door among the four passages, so it seemed there was no need to examine the others first.
Mok Gyeong-un walked over to the Jeong stone door.
When he opened it, a straight cave passage revealed itself.
‘About twenty paces?’
That was about the distance.
Mok Gyeong-un, who had been about to step directly inside, paused before setting his foot down.
That was because he had suddenly noticed something above the cave passage.
‘What is that?’
On the rough ceiling of the passage, he saw holes large enough that two or three fingers could be inserted if one reached up.
Had there been only one, that would have been one thing, but they were set all along the inside at fixed intervals.
At this, Mok Gyeong-un looked around, puzzled.
In one part of the cavern he saw several stones about the size of fists.
‘Just in case.’
-Picking up a stone and tossing it lightly in his hand, Mok Gyeong-un soon threw it inside the passage.
Clack!
-It was before the stone had even finished rolling after touching the floor.
Papapapak!
At that moment, sharp spear-like spikes shot out from both the right and left sides of the floor.
If he had gone in without knowing, the spikes would have pierced his leg or thigh.
Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un raised one corner of his mouth.
‘Interesting.’
Had they installed traps like this for fear that the seal and secret manual might be stolen?
For that, it seemed rather excessive.
Was it really true that the seal and secret manual were inside?
As he looked into the cave, Mok Gyeong-un repeatedly clenched and unclenched both hands.
‘I will know if I see.’
It seemed he would only know if he went inside first.
-Mok Gyeong-un bit the handle of the lamp between his teeth and, without hesitation, leaped upward and thrust three fingers into one of the holes in the cave ceiling.
Clench!
-An ordinary person would have trouble supporting his body with only two fingers, but to Mok Gyeong-un it was not difficult.
Ssk! Clench!
Mok Gyeong-un stretched his left hand to the hole ahead and inserted his index and middle fingers.
In that way, Mok Gyeong-un moved along the ceiling to a distance of about two paces.
‘As expected.’
It was just as he had anticipated.
If one did not touch the floor and instead inserted one’s fingers into the holes in the ceiling and moved along, the cave’s trap did not activate.
Having understood that, Mok Gyeong-un advanced with unstoppable force, without the slightest hesitation, inserting his fingers into the holes in the ceiling before the passage.
-Clench! Clench! Clench!
After moving about twenty paces like that, the cave passage ended and a space of about seven pyeong revealed itself.
A strange light entered Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes as he stepped inside.
‘What is this?’
There were several sacks inside, and traces were scattered everywhere.
‘Footprints?’
There were many footprints where the floor had been deeply pressed, and many marks on the walls where impacts had broken them.
Mok Gyeong-un walked over and looked inside one of the sacks.
There were small pellet-like things inside, and after sniffing them, Mok Gyeong-un realized what they were.
‘Fasting pills?’
Fasting pills.
They were pellets made by clumping pine pollen and various grains together, something Daoist practitioners made for closed-door cultivation in places like caves.
Their use was to supplement the minimum necessary intake of grain, but depending on the mixture, they could also help expel waste from the body.
Mok Gyeong-un, who had abundant knowledge of herbs, had often eaten the fasting pills Grandfather made as snacks.
‘Why are there sacks of fasting pills here?’
It looked as though they were meant for staying here a long while.
Had someone trained in martial arts alone here or something of the sort?
Mok Gyeong-un, who had been fingering the fasting pills inside the sack, soon turned his gaze elsewhere.
There was something like a cabinet standing against one wall, and inside it were several wooden boxes.
‘Is it that?’
Walking over there, Mok Gyeong-un opened one of the most conspicuous boxes.
Inside was a single book.
[Yeon Mok Sword-Binding Formula]
‘Is this what they mean by the secret manual?’
Mok Gyeong-un took out the book and flipped through it with a rustle, scanning it.
Inside were detailed numerous mnemonic formulas and movements related to straight-sword forms.
Though he had not learned martial arts, he could still tell that this was swordsmanship.
‘This must be it, right?’
He did not know if this was precisely the secret manual the First Madam was after.
To begin with, he had no conception even of what exactly the martial arts of Yeon Mok Sword Manor were, so there was no helping it.
Mok Gyeong-un opened another wooden box.
-Click!
When he opened it, inside there was
[Yeon Mok Mind-Transforming Method]
a book by that name.
Taking it out and flipping quickly through it, Mok Gyeong-un nodded.
It seemed to form a pair with the Yeon Mok Sword-Binding Formula before it, containing in detail breathing methods and qi-circulation techniques by which inner power could be gathered and handled.
‘I should take this too.’
Mok Gyeong-un proceeded to open the other boxes one by one.
There were no more books related to martial arts in the others, but there were several unexpectedly interesting items.
Still, the Manor Lord’s seal had not yet appeared.
‘Only this box remains.’
There was nothing else left around.
So Mok Gyeong-un pulled up the box near the floor.
Unlike the other wooden boxes, however, a piece of old paper with a pattern drawn on it was attached over the opening part of this box.
Seeing that the paper had been torn in half, it seemed to have been affixed as a sign not to open the box.
At this, Mok Gyeong-un opened it without much thought.
He had naturally assumed the Manor Lord’s seal would be inside, but,
‘!?’
Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head.
The Manor Lord’s seal that ought to have been there was not inside, and instead there lay an old book with a dreadful acrid smell, surrounded by red prayer beads.
What was surprising, though, was the cover of the book.
‘This…….is it human skin?’
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed to have been made from something like human hide.
An ordinary person, realizing it was made from human skin, would have recoiled in horror, but Mok Gyeong-un instead looked quite interested.
‘What could this be?’
It was just as he was about to reach out and touch it.
-Srrrrk!
At that moment, something appeared like smoke, passing down through the ceiling.
It was none other than the Demon Monk.
As with Bodyguard Gochan above, he had set him to keep watch, so for him to appear like this meant someone was approaching the medicine hall.
-……….
Sure enough, the Demon Monk was about to say something.
But upon seeing that thing inside the wooden box in Mok Gyeong-un’s hand, the Demon Monk at once,
-!!!!!
began trembling all over,
-then, thud!
threw himself flat to the floor, and with a face full of reverence began raising both hands up and bowing as if in worship.
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