Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 184 - Submission (2)
Chapter 184 – Submission (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Hmm?”
Seeing Go Chan, possessing Ha Chae-rin’s body, and Wi Maeng-cheon, possessing Jong-im’s body, raise their hands at the same time, Mok Gyeong-un raised one eyebrow.
Then, realizing that each had raised a hand, the two men looked at each other.
Both Go Chan and Wi Maeng-cheon wore expressions that said they were in a foul mood.
To them, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“It seems both of you want this body.”
At those words, Wi Maeng-cheon hurriedly opened his mouth.
“I want it no matter what. Please grant me this body.”
“Hold on, that will not do. We may have skipped introductions, but even cold water has an order of up and down. You look like a newcomer who came in late, so who gave you the right to set your sights on this body?”
He had become a shikigami even before Mok Gyeong-un was dragged into the Heaven and Earth Society.
And now this newcomer shikigami who had just come in was trying to touch it before the senior could even lift his chopsticks first?
Yet,
“Woman, stay out of it.”
Wi Maeng-cheon snapped angrily at Go Chan in a sharp voice.
At that sight, Go Chan was dumbfounded.
“What? Woman? Who are you calling a woman right now?”
“I mean you, of course. Who else would I mean? As a mere woman, stop being greedier than your station and be satisfied with that body…”
“Hey!”
Go Chan shouted furiously.
Even already, every moment had been painful for him because he had been possessing Ha Chae-rin’s female body.
And this bastard was touching exactly the sore spot of his temper?
“You bastard, do you think I am in this body because I want to be? How dare you spout off so casually and call me a woman when you know nothing? Want to die?”
“Hoo. Woman. Do not provoke me any further.”
“Provoke you? This bastard really cannot see what is in front of him, huh? Fine. Then let us try it, you bastard.”
-Swoosh!
Before anyone knew it, a needle hidden weapon was in Go Chan’s fingers.
Having possessed Ha Chae-rin’s body for quite a long time, he had completely adapted to her body.
Now he was confident he could make use of more than ten-tenths of this body’s power at the absolute peak.
-Shing!
Just like Go Chan, Wi Maeng-cheon too drew his sword halfway.
Though the martial power of this body was much lower than his original body, there was such a thing as one’s original instincts.
At the very least, he had enough confidence to subdue the wench in front of him.
Just then,
“That is enough from both of you.”
Mok Gyeong-un’s voice rang in their ears.
As soon as they unconsciously glanced toward Mok Gyeong-un, their expressions stiffened.
He was smiling, but the vast spell power flowing from him was pressing down as though it might swallow them at any moment.
Thus Go Chan and Wi Maeng-cheon, who looked ready to fight at any second, soon withdrew their weapons.
Even if they wanted to preserve their pride, as shikigami they could not refuse their master’s command.
“I meant to give you a choice, but it seems better if I simply decide myself.”
-Thud!
At those words, Wi Maeng-cheon hurriedly dropped to one knee, brought both hands together, and pleaded.
“Master. Please, give me Young Master Jang Neung-ak’s body.”
He looked very desperate.
Seeing that, Mok Gyeong-un asked in puzzlement,
“You seem to want it very badly. Is it because Young Master Jang Neung-ak is the higher-ranked person?”
“…”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Wi Maeng-cheon could not bring himself to reveal what was truly in his heart.
At a glance, as Mok Gyeong-un suggested, it might have looked as though he wanted it simply because Young Master Jang Neung-ak was higher-ranking than Ho Jong-hyeok of the Five Peaks Assembly, but that did not mean much to him.
It was only because, in this way, he wanted to protect the former lord he had once served.
But,
‘If I reveal that, this monster-like man will probably dislike it.’
That was why he could not say what he truly felt.
And he also did not want to watch that wench possess the body of his former lord.
But then,
“Master.”
Go Chan approached Mok Gyeong-un with tears in his eyes.
“Did you not promise? That if there was a suitable body, you would move me into it.”
“Ah. That did happen.”
“I cannot stay in a body like this any longer. So please, give that body to me.”
At the sight of Go Chan clutching his arm and pressing himself against him while pleading, Wi Maeng-cheon shouted in disbelief.
“Wench! How dare you act charming here!”
“Act charming? What sort of nonsense are you spouting right now? Who is acting charming…”
“If what you are doing right now is not acting charming, then what else is it?”
“What?”
In that instant, Go Chan realized what he was doing.
‘Th-this…’
Because of that, he jerked back in surprise and let go of Mok Gyeong-un’s arm.
It seemed that because he had given up thinking for himself and gone on living as a woman for so long, he had adapted far too much.
He had done something he normally never would have done.
‘Damn it. I got too immersed.’
His face burned hot because it was so embarrassingly shameful.
At that sight, Blue Spirit, who had been watching from inside the wooden puppet, burst into laughter.
-Puhahahahaha! This bastard has completely become a woman.
Mok Gyeong-un gave a faint laugh and shook his head from side to side.
It seemed that if a soul entered a body of the opposite sex, it was influenced considerably even without the person realizing it.
“It would not seem all that bad for you to remain in that body.”
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Go Chan sprawled flat on the floor and pleaded.
“Master, no. That cannot be. Did you not promise? You said you would move me back into a man’s body.”
‘A man? Surely not?’
Wi Maeng-cheon frowned as he looked at Go Chan.
He had been wondering why this wench was so out of place in desperately wanting to possess a man’s body, but she had not been a woman at all?
Once he learned that, Wi Maeng-cheon looked at Go Chan as though looking at an insect.
That was only natural, because even before he had become a vengeful soul, he had known that Ho Jong-hyeok kept that wench at his side like she was his woman.
‘No, he said it was not a wench.’
Because of that, Wi Maeng-cheon’s gaze became close to contempt.
Wi Maeng-cheon once more pleaded with Mok Gyeong-un.
“Master. In any case, if this man’s goal is simply to enter a man’s body, then surely Ho Jong-hyeok’s body is fine as well. So please give me Young Master Jang Neung-ak’s body…”
“No! I am the one who is going into this body.”
“How dare a perverted bastard like you…”
“Perverted? Who are you calling perverted? Master, please ignore this bastard’s words.”
Go Chan desperately defended himself.
No matter what, Go Chan wanted to possess Young Master Jang Neung-ak’s body.
Just imagine if that bastard took Jang Neung-ak’s body while he was forced to go into the body of one of Jang Neung-ak’s subordinates.
Then he would end up in a position where he had to do whatever that bastard ordered.
That alone had to be prevented at all costs.
“Master. Are you truly going to entrust the body of Young Master Jang Neung-ak, who occupies such an important position, to a perverted bastard like this? I am the one who has been watching Young Master Jang Neung-ak closely for a long time, so I would be much more…”
Wi Maeng-cheon too desperately tried to preserve Jang Neung-ak’s body no matter what.
At the impassioned speeches of the two men, Mok Gyeong-un made a face that said this was bothersome.
Then Blue Spirit’s voice rang through his head.
-So it turns out you are not good at everything.
-Pardon?
-Well, of course. You would need to have handled subordinates before to know how to deal with a thing like this.
-It sounds like you have something in mind.
-Not something in mind. There is a proper way to handle subordinates.
-A proper way?
-Yes.
-What is it?
-Make the hierarchy clear.
-The hierarchy…
-Yes. Even if each one obeys your commands, an organization only functions when a structure is set. And in that structure, there is such a thing as rank and order.
-Ah… As expected, you have a great deal of experience. It must be because you handled many subordinates.
-…Ahem.
Mok Gyeong-un gave a faint laugh and opened his mouth.
“Wi Maeng-cheon.”
“Yes!”
Wi Maeng-cheon, who had been making an impassioned case in order to gain Jang Neung-ak’s body, stopped and answered.
At that response, Go Chan’s eyes widened.
‘Wi Maeng-cheon? Wi Maeng-cheon, the Second Sacred Mountain?’
He had indeed been curious about this bastard’s true identity.
But he had never imagined it was the dead Wi Maeng-cheon.
That meant,
‘…He really is bold.’
It meant the culprit who had killed Wi Maeng-cheon had not been another faction among the Society Leader’s disciples, but Mok Gyeong-un.
Go Chan, who had stayed attached only to Ho Jong-hyeok’s side, had naturally assumed, just like the others, that Wi Maeng-cheon had been killed by either the eldest young master Na Yul-ryang’s side or the youngest disciple Wi So-yeon’s side.
But to think he had died at Mok Gyeong-un’s hands and had become a shikigami, there was no way not to be startled.
‘Ah…’
This suddenly felt somehow unsettling.
If it was Wi Maeng-cheon, then there was no one who knew Jang Neung-ak and this Five Peaks Assembly better than he did.
If that was the case, then it seemed likely that Mok Gyeong-un would give Jang Neung-ak’s body to Wi Maeng-cheon rather than to him.
Yet,
“Guard Go Chan here is no different from my right arm, so treat him as your superior.”
‘!?’
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Go Chan looked at him with startled eyes.
Even if Wi Maeng-cheon was dead, in the current situation he could be called an exceptional asset.
Had he not been an absolute-peak master in life?
And he was telling that man to treat Go Chan as his superior?
No, more than that…
‘His right arm?’
-Gulp!
Go Chan swallowed dryly without realizing it.
He had thought that to this monster-like bastard, he was merely a disposable card to be used and thrown away whenever needed.
But hearing him speak like this made it feel as though all the hardship he had endured until now had been rewarded a little.
Perhaps because of that, Go Chan’s shoulders rose in pride for no reason.
‘…He is getting puffed up.’
At the sight of Go Chan like that, Wi Maeng-cheon ground his teeth.
To be told to treat a fellow like that, neither clearly man nor woman, as his superior was enough to make his insides burst.
However,
“Why is there no answer? Surely you do not simply wish to be extinguished?”
“Th-that cannot possibly be the case.”
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Wi Maeng-cheon was so startled he waved both hands.
Even if one rolled about in a dung field, life in this world was still better.
Moreover, since he was already a vengeful soul, if he were extinguished in this state, it would be no different from returning to nothingness.
-Thump!
“I will serve him as my superior.”
Though it was beyond his dignity, Wi Maeng-cheon lowered his head in accordance with Mok Gyeong-un’s command.
Seeing that, Go Chan’s lips twitched as he failed to hide his satisfaction.
Though he came from the Flying Assassin Sect, he had ultimately retired as no more than a low-ranked assassin, and now a future great master like Wi Maeng-cheon of the Heaven and Earth Society was treating him as a superior.
‘Heh heh heh.’
One truly could never know what life would bring.
* * *
‘Khup.’
Jang Neung-ak, no, Go Chan, who was possessing him, could not contain his joy and even his emotion.
Since possessing Ha Chae-rin’s female body, every day had been so shameful and difficult that he had felt he might gradually lose even his gender identity.
And yet it turned out there had been value in enduring all of that.
Now that he had returned to a man’s body, he felt proud and upright.
“How does the body feel?”
Mok Gyeong-un asked him.
At that question, Go Chan barely calmed his excitement and said,
“It is… truly the best.”
There were no words that could properly describe it.
Even when he had entered Ha Chae-rin’s body, an absolute-peak expert, the only thing that had satisfied him was that he had gained a sensation he had never felt as someone who had been nothing more than second-rate.
But Jang Neung-ak’s body was incomparable from the outset.
‘Amazing. How can a body like this even exist?’
Jang Neung-ak’s flesh, having reached the extreme of the transcendent peak, could literally be called monstrous.
The internal power Ha Chae-rin had possessed was no more than a drop from a bird’s foot.
This body was so strong that it felt as if, should he so choose, there was nothing he could not do.
‘But…’
Looking at Mok Gyeong-un, who had so easily subdued such a tremendous body, he again felt the man was even more monstrous.
Was this not the fellow who had known nothing at all about martial arts only a month ago?
He truly was a monster itself.
“And is that side all right?”
This time Mok Gyeong-un asked Wi Maeng-cheon, who had entered Ho Jong-hyeok’s body.
At that, Wi Maeng-cheon nodded and answered,
“I think I will adapt quickly.”
Wi Maeng-cheon too inwardly could not hide his amazement.
He had known that the hidden true First Sacred Mountain, Ho Jong-hyeok, was strong, but after taking over his body, that strength was at a level difficult to compare to his own previous body.
Even among those in the transcendent peak, the difference between the entrance and the extreme was truly stark.
‘Ho Jong-hyeok… truly remarkable.’
Had he wished to, he was at a level where he could have taken one of the seats among the Five Tigers at any time.
He had reached the point of becoming curious what sort of result would come if he fought that man, who was called by far the greatest among the Five Tigers, using this body.
-Fortunately, it seems the bodies fit to some degree.
-It does.
The stronger the body, the more it tended to reject vengeful souls.
That was why he had worried, but fortunately it appeared that both Go Chan and Wi Maeng-cheon had settled well into their bodies.
Now that they had taken possession of the bodies of Young Master Jang Neung-ak, the leader of this force, and Ho Jong-hyeok, the hidden number two, he thought there would be no difficulty in bringing this place under control.
-But is Blue Spirit really all right? Even taking that woman’s body…
-It is fine. I do not particularly like that wench.
Mok Gyeong-un had intended to give Blue Spirit the body of Seo Hye-in, the Fourth Sacred Mountain of the Five Peaks Assembly.
However, Blue Spirit refused.
The reason was that she did not particularly like the body.
If she herself refused, what else could be done?
-More importantly, what will you do with that wench?
At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok Gyeong-un’s gaze naturally turned toward Ha Chae-rin, lying collapsed.
Once Go Chan had left the body of the successor of Flying Assassin Yeom-gaek, that body had become empty.
‘Hmm.’
Mok Gyeong-un stared at her intently.
He had conveniently used her until now as Go Chan’s vessel, but now she was no longer needed.
That was because there were now many more useful pieces within the Heaven and Earth Society.
So then, with a grin, Mok Gyeong-un casually said,
-Well then, let us kill her.
With a grin and as if it were nothing, walked over to kill Ha Chae-rin.
At that, Go Chan, who had been delighting in his new body, was startled and came over as he said,
“You mean to kill her?”
“Yes. There is nowhere to use her immediately, after all…”
“Would it not be a waste to simply kill her?”
At those words from Go Chan, Mok Gyeong-un looked at him in puzzlement.
Then he asked,
“Why would it be a waste?”
“W-well…”
“Have you perhaps grown attached because you stayed in that body for so long?”
“No. Of course not.”
Though he said so, perhaps because he had stayed inside Ha Chae-rin’s body for so long and had also read all of her memories, Go Chan felt strangely as though she was somehow himself.
That was why, even though he denied it strongly, he still felt reluctant about simply killing her.
It was like killing himself.
“Then there should be no issue with simply killing her, should there?”
“That… that is true as well, but still, she is the successor of the Flying Assassin Sect, one of the four great assassin groups. I thought it might be a waste to just kill her…”
“Hmm.”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin.
Even if she was the successor of the Flying Assassin Sect, she was not a piece he could make use of right away, so was there any need to keep her alive?
Then, after glancing once at Go Chan, who was watching nervously, he gave a faint laugh and said,
“Do you think you can make her submit in a way that makes her usable?”
“I will try.”
“If it does not work, deal with it yourself.”
“Underst…”
Go Chan was just about to answer.
Then, once Go Chan’s vengeful soul, which had been possessing her, withdrew and her own soul settled back into place, Ha Chae-rin seemed to regain consciousness and opened her eyes.
“Huhk!”
Ha Chae-rin looked around with a startled face.
“Wh-where in the world is this?”
The surroundings were unfamiliar.
She frowned.
The last thing she remembered was dozens of blood-soaked hands suddenly bursting up from the ground, grabbing her and dragging her down.
After that, she remembered nothing at all, so what in the world had happened?
“It seems you have awakened.”
At the familiar voice, Ha Chae-rin turned her head.
“You!”
The owner of the voice was none other than Mok Gyeong-un.
The instant she saw him, the final offering of the Hundred Days, Hundred Kills and the very target she had needed to kill to become the leader of the Flying Assassin Sect, Ha Chae-rin instinctively fired the Jade-Glow Flying Needles in her complete ring.
-Pshushushushushu!
But then,
‘Huh?’
Her eyes widened.
The Jade-Glow Flying Needles she had fired stopped in midair just like that.
What in the world was this?
As she stood there bewildered, Mok Gyeong-un made a light motion with his head,
-Tut tut tut tutuk!
and the Jade-Glow Flying Needles hanging motionless in the air fell to the floor.
‘!!!!!!!’
At that sight, Ha Chae-rin’s two pupils trembled madly from how shocked she was.
Just how deep an internal power did he possess, to block the flying needles she had launched using true qi without even touching them?
As if he did not care about the bewildered her in the slightest, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head, smiled at Go Chan, and said,
“Do you think you can make her submit?”
“I will try!”
“If you cannot keep her under control, tell me. Now that I think about it, it might not be so bad to use her as Gyu So-ha’s body.”