Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 178 - Jang Neung-ak (1)
Chapter 178 – Jang Neung-ak (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Yeo Su-rin’s expression froze.
For a moment, she doubted her own ears.
‘Become his woman?’
What in the world was that supposed to mean?
Thinking she must have misunderstood, Yeo Su-rin asked,
“Um… Listen, I thought maybe I heard wrong, but what you just said, surely you didn’t mean…”
“Yes. If you became my woman, wouldn’t that make you at least somewhat more trustworthy?”
‘!?’
Yeo Su-rin stared at Mok Gyeong-un as though he were absurd.
She had wondered what other method there could be to prove trust, but this was something she had never expected.
She was not the only one dumbfounded by what Mok Gyeong-un said.
-Ha! Human, are you in your right mind?
-Pardon?
-If she is that troublesome, you should just kill her. What are you babbling about?
-Is there some problem with that?
-A problem? Of course there is. Human, have you perhaps taken a liking to that girl?
-No.
How could that be?
Mok Gyeong-un felt no emotion whatsoever toward Yeo Su-rin.
Blue Spirit also knew that Mok Gyeong-un felt no special emotion toward women, which made the fact that he was making such a proposal all the more absurd.
-Ha! Then are you in heat?
-In heat?
-Yes, in heat. If not, why would you make a proposal like that? Do you think that would really be a way to build trust? At best, it would just be a way to satisfy your lust…
-I don’t really know what it means to want to satisfy such a feeling, but if entering into a relationship makes both sides feel good and causes that woman’s emotion called affection to focus on me, then what is so bad about that?
-…
Blue Spirit was so flabbergasted by how confidently Mok Gyeong-un said that that she was rendered speechless.
She wanted to argue back, but he was stating his reasoning so boldly that she did not even know what to say.
-So you are saying you would sleep with that worldly girl?
-If she wants to.
-If she wants to?
-Yes. Is there any better way to confirm trust than that?
-…Haah.
Had this bastard grown full of confidence just because he had slept with Wi So-yeon?
Or did he truly believe that a woman’s, no, a person’s emotions could be adjusted merely through such relations?
Whatever the case, he truly was something else.
So it seemed she had to make it clear to him.
-Human, you are seriously mistaken about something.
-Mistaken?
-Yes. Even if I have become a resentful spirit, I will still make this clear to you as a woman. You are taking women far too lightly.
-Taking them lightly?
-Yes!
-Hmm. Your voice sounds rather agitated. Are you perhaps angry?
-No!
-There seemed to be quite a bit of force in that denial too.
-I said no!
-…Well, if that’s the case, then fine, but I am not taking women lightly. I only thought that, in making emotions more secure, there is nothing particularly wrong with entering into a relationship…
-Smack!
At that moment a slap flew across Mok Gyeong-un’s cheek.
Of course, with so little force, there was no chance his head would actually turn.
-See?
Blue Spirit let out a snorting laugh.
Naturally, she had expected exactly this result.
Puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un looked at Yeo Su-rin, the one who had slapped him.
Unlike before, coldness now radiated from her.
“What are you doing?”
“Listen here, Young Master Mok. You go on about trust, but do you take me for some whore from the red-light district?”
“…Surely not.”
“And yet you still say things like that so easily?”
“What is wrong with it?”
“Ha! If we’re building trust, why do I have to become your woman? I didn’t know it before, but you’re far more lecherous than you look. Or is it because you’ve had some fun just because your face is decent?”
“Fun?”
“Yes. Otherwise how could words like that come out of your mouth so easily?”
“Hmm.”
“I should say this clearly. Apart from your face, absolutely nothing about you is to my taste. And I have no desire to get involved with someone who is fated to have his neck broken and die before he even reaches twenty.”
“Is that so?”
“…”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s dry question back, Yeo Su-rin clicked her tongue inwardly.
This man really was strange.
Judging from the way he looked at her, it did not seem as if he had made that proposal because he had fallen for her or felt lust.
Then why in the world had he proposed something so absurd?
Did he see her as easy?
“This is truly disappointing.”
“Disappointing? In what way?”
“You went on about trust and then started saying the sort of thing some rutting pig bastard would say.”
“Rutting… To begin with, what exactly is a relationship between a man and a woman?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking what exactly a relationship between a man and a woman is.”
“What do you mean, what is it? When two people feel mutual attraction and come to hold feelings of love…”
“Isn’t the fact that men and women are divided into opposite sexes, not to mention their bodily structure, fundamentally for the sake of propagation?”
“…”
At that moment, Yeo Su-rin was struck speechless.
He asked what a relationship between a man and woman was, and then did he not suddenly go far too fundamental with it?
Yeo Su-rin, her face flushed with irritation, said,
“Then what’s the difference between humans and beasts?”
“To begin with, if you look at relationships between men and women and the propagation of the species, humans are no different from beasts.”
“Oh, come on. What kind of nonsense is that…”
“It is not nonsense.”
“What?”
“Beasts too do not merely seek propagation. Females look for males with stronger seed, and males as well seek more suitable females for propagation.”
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Yeo Su-rin clicked her tongue.
This man’s way of thinking really did seem extremely one-dimensional.
Judging by how simply he reduced relationships between men and women to that.
“Listen. Do you even know what the emotion called love is?”
“Isn’t it simply that, whether because of appearance or something else, the opposite sex finds each other appealing?”
“That’s…”
When she tried to respond, it wasn’t exactly wrong.
So after pondering how she should put it, Yeo Su-rin said,
“Fine. Then we’ll use your logic. Do you actually find me appealing?”
“As the opposite sex?”
“Yes!”
At that question, Mok Gyeong-un answered without the slightest hesitation.
“If we exclude everything else, then as the opposite sex, I see no reason not to find you appealing.”
Yeo Su-rin had short hair and a face that was both cute and beautiful.
She had full breasts, a narrow waist, and pronounced hips as well. Her figure was excellent too.
Blue Spirit and Wi So-yeon were peerless beauties, so that set them apart, but Yeo Su-rin too was fully beautiful in her own right.
“…”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s answer, her expression turned odd.
At first she had thought this man was toying with her.
But if one calmly considered what Mok Gyeong-un was saying, it was no different from him saying he found her appealing as the opposite sex, in other words, as a woman.
‘No, does this man really find me appealing?’
Yeo Su-rin looked into Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.
But no particular emotion could be felt in his gaze.
How could he say something like that so casually with that kind of expression and eyes?
She simply could not understand it.
Then,
“It seems the conclusion has been reached. Then let us part ways here.”
“Pardon?”
“If you dislike both options, then there seems no reason for us to continue doing anything together. So would you leave this place now?”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s firm words, Yeo Su-rin’s cheeks puffed out.
She had no idea why the options were so extreme.
She had only intended to snap back properly and end things because she felt he had treated her lightly as a woman.
But because Mok Gyeong-un gave up so easily, a strange stubbornness arose in her instead.
After speaking as though he found her appealing as the opposite sex, what was this, giving up so easily?
“Isn’t your conclusion a little too quick?”
“I am busy with other matters too.”
“You said I appeal to you as the opposite sex. I feel awkward saying this myself, but in that case, shouldn’t you be more proactive?”
“Is there any need for that?”
“Pardon?”
“And the one who has more to lose here is you, not me.”
“Eek!”
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Yeo Su-rin’s cheeks trembled.
He really was toying with her.
If she simply did as Mok Gyeong-un wanted here, it would be no different from selling her body merely to receive his help.
So,
“Then let’s do this.”
“I will accept no other proposals.”
“Can’t you at least hear it before deciding?”
“No.”
Mok Gyeong-un rejected it flatly.
At that, she stamped her feet for a moment, then calmed herself and said,
“No, seriously, you’re too much. Then for now, let’s swear by the Immobility Spell-Power Weakening Art.”
“The Immobility Spell-Power Weakening Art?”
“You know it, right?”
“I don’t.”
“Ah… You don’t know this?”
“What is it?”
“The Immobility Spell-Power Weakening Art is a technique where both sides swear an oath using spell power as collateral.”
“Using spell power as collateral?”
“Yes. You said you can’t trust me, Young Master Mok. But the same goes for me. How am I supposed to trust a man I’ve known for less than a day when he tells me to offer up my body for the sake of trust?”
“And?”
“Just what I said. The Immobility Spell-Power Weakening Art is an oath technique based on command words and spell power. If either side breaks the oath, they lose all of their spell power.”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.
There was no reason for him to share in such a high-risk restriction.
But then,
“The art itself isn’t difficult. Each side simply stakes the name that will serve as the command word and their spell power.”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un stopped himself from rejecting it outright.
From what he heard, the principle resembled that of the Chain of Commanding Words.
Which meant,
“…Hmm. Not bad.”
The corner of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth twitched upward.
If it worked on a similar principle to the Chain of Commanding Words, then he had nothing to lose.
After all, it was not his true name.
Unaware of what he was thinking, Yeo Su-rin, her face slightly flushed, avoided his eyes and said somewhat shyly,
“For now, with the oath of the Immobility Spell-Power Weakening Art, we’ll prevent either of us from stabbing the other in the back for a set period. And if, during that time, some measure of trust grows between us, then I’ll consider that proposal once. Ahem. Is that enough?”
* * *
The residence of Jang Neung-ak, the Society Leader’s second disciple.
On a couch in the guest room of that residence, a woman with full lips was sitting up halfway, speaking of something.
She was Seo Hye-in, unit leader of the Choyeon Unit and Fourth Sacred Mountain of the Five Peaks Assembly, one of Jang Neung-ak’s confidants.
There was another person sitting beside her, listening to the report. It was her lord, Jang Neung-ak.
Jang Neung-ak’s expression was poor as he listened.
And not only him. Go Yeon-hu too, the Great Unit Leader of the Paegwon Unit and First Sacred Mountain of the Five Peaks Assembly standing behind him, was also frowning.
The reason was simple.
“Are you certain of what you saw?”
“Yes, Young Master. Surely I would never lie to you.”
“Ha!”
At those words, Jang Neung-ak looked as if he could not believe it.
Then he turned to Go Yeon-hu behind him and asked,
“What do you think?”
“…I do not know.”
“You do not know?”
“The first time I saw him was inside the Baek family’s manor. At that time, no matter how one looked at it, he was only at the entrance to the peak realm.”
“The entrance to the peak realm… No. Absolutely not.”
Jang Neung-ak shook his head.
He had already seen Mok Gyeong-un’s true worth there.
Namely, the sight of him enduring even the poison of Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, before reaching the state of Poison Person.
Perhaps because of that, Baek Sa-ha had taken a liking to him and accepted him as a disciple.
Still, this much was surprising.
“That bastard defeated Wu Ho-rang? Ha.”
Who was Wu Ho-rang?
Was he not one of the Five Tigers, the Heaven and Earth Society’s proud greatest younger talents?
And yet the very one whose victory or defeat even his own right hand, the Eternal Overlord Devil Fist Go Yeon-hu, could not predict had been beaten by Mok Gyeong-un’s skill?
If true, then this was a truly outrageous bastard.
“Heh heh heh.”
Yet what he felt was greater delight than surprise.
He had already thought something had gone wrong when Seo Hye-in had been carried over unconscious by warriors of the Baek family.
And now he was being told that Mok Gyeong-un had defeated Wu Ho-rang.
That meant he had fallen out with Wi So-yeon, the youngest disciple.
“What a delightful fellow. To prove his loyalty to me in such a way, ha ha ha ha ha!”
He could not help but laugh.
But then Seo Hye-in said in a careful voice,
“But, Young Master, there is a bit of a problem.”
“A problem?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, right. Then who was it that knocked you unconscious?”
He had already asked the Baek family warrior who had brought her here, but the man refused to say because of an order from the family head, the Annihilation Poison King Baek Sa-ha.
He had wanted to beat the truth out of him, but he needed Baek Sa-ha’s support at the moment, and since he could simply wake Seo Hye-in and ask her, he had let the matter pass.
“That would be…”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know who it was.”
“…I have a likely guess.”
“A guess? Don’t tell me you don’t even know who knocked you out.”
“…I believe it was the Great Young Master.”
“What?”
At that report, the expression of Jang Neung-ak, who had been looking as satisfied as though he possessed the whole world only moments ago, stiffened at once.
“Eldest Senior Brother?”
“…Yes.”
“That cannot be. Eldest Senior Brother made a move?”
Jang Neung-ak denied it, his eyes trembling.
There were words the man had said the last time he saw him.
[Struggle all you want. If you can, that is.]
He had not regarded him as a rival in the least.
Jang Neung-ak had even wondered if that had been mere words, yet all that time the man had barely interfered even as he gathered his own strength.
And now, suddenly, he had made a move?
This was impossible to believe.
But then,
“I thought I might as well let one or two things go to the younger disciples, because otherwise it would end too blandly. But it seems too wasteful to yield this one.”
“What?”
“That is what I heard right before I was struck at the acupoint and passed out.”
At those words from Seo Hye-in, Jang Neung-ak’s face heated and he ground his teeth.
If this was true, it meant that the bastard had caught his eldest senior brother’s eye.
-Bang!
Jang Neung-ak struck the arm of his chair and rose.
“That won’t do.”
Others might be one thing, but not Mok Gyeong-un.
Right now that bastard stood in the most important place possible.
He was the joint disciple not only of the Shadow Sect Master, head of secrets and intelligence, but also of Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, who had just reached the realm of transformation.
If the Great Young Master took in Mok Gyeong-un, he would at once gain a power bloc rivaling his own.
And now, at such an important moment, that man was interfering?
-Creak!
So it was not that he did not consider him a rival after all.
He had been watching the whole time.
Watching for the moment to destroy him like this.
“Come.”
“Pardon?”
“Seo Unit Leader, remain and recover. The rest of you will follow me.”
At that command, Go Yeon-hu, the Great Unit Leader of the Paegwon Unit and First Sacred Mountain, hurriedly spoke.
“My lord, do you intend to go meet the Great Young Master?”
“…Yes.”
At that answer, Go Yeon-hu could not hide his concern.
No matter how furious he was over this matter, Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang was a truly dangerous man.
His own lord, Jang Neung-ak, also had a tendency to be ruled by emotion, but Na Yul-ryang had gone beyond that to the point of not feeling like a person at all.
If he went to meet such a man in anger…
‘It is too dangerous. I must stop my lord.’
-Tap tap tap tap!
Just then, the sound of someone running came from outside.
Then came a knock at the door.
“My lord. It is I, Jeo Mo-pal.”
The one knocking was none other than Jeo Mo-pal of the Giant Rock Fist, one of the Five Peaks Assembly.
Jang Neung-ak, who had just been about to go out, flung open the door roughly.
-Bang!
“What is it?”
“Well, that is…”
“What about it?”
“Mok Gyeong-un has come to see you.”
‘!?’