Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 19 - Possessed by Evil (2)
Chapter 19 – Possessed by Evil (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Y-you, what in the world did you do to my body?”
At that question, Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly and said,
“Who knows. What could I possibly have done?”
-Shiver!
The corners of his mouth were certainly smiling.
Yet his pupils did not move, like those of a dead person.
Seeing this, for the first time in his life Jo Il-sang felt a chill.
‘This bastard…….is he really that Mok Gyeong-un?’
The Mok Gyeong-un he had known was hardly an exaggeration to call the most pathetic among the Mok brothers.
Yet he had never expected anything like this.
The atmosphere was completely different.
It felt as though he were standing before some being that had gone off the track of ordinary humans.
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un walked up before him and opened his mouth.
“You seem to be trembling quite a bit. Well……don’t worry. If I had used the usual method, I would have cut off somewhere first before starting, but for now I used Mochwisan instead.”
“Mochwisan?”
At Jo Il-sang’s question back, Mok Gyeong-un pointed upward with his finger and said,
“This is quite a nice place.”
“What?”
“Before, if I needed certain medicinal ingredients, I had to search through the mountains to find them, but with medicinal ingredients overflowing like this, I can combine them however I need.”
“Combine medicinal ingredients? What did you do to me?”
“Nothing much. If you grind up Bigwi, Yeongmasan, and the root of Yeongcho and mix them well, you can paralyze everything except for this place where the head is.”
‘!?’
Mok Gyeong-un said it as though it were nothing.
At the sight of him like that, Jo Il-sang swallowed with trembling eyes.
What in the world was this bastard?
Since when had he possessed knowledge of medicinal ingredients like this?
As if puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un bent one knee slightly, met Jo Il-sang’s eyes, and then grabbed his head and said,
-Clench!
“In truth, things like that are not very important. More important is why my second elder brother, Mok Eun-pyeong, sent you.”
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Jo Il-sang shut his mouth.
If he had meant to tell that, he would never have come wearing a mask in the first place.
Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un gave a small laugh.
“Your mouth has become heavier. Naturally, since you came wearing a mask, you never intended to talk nicely, did you? Now then, what shall I do.”
* * *
Only a single gak earlier.
[……..This man is called Jo Il-sang, one of the Second Young Master’s guards. But, Young Master, just how did you catch this man?]
Gochan had been dumbfounded.
Jo Il-sang was a skilled man standing on the verge of first-rate.
And yet Mok Gyeong-un, whose thigh had been pierced through and who should not have been able to move properly, had subdued such a man?
How many things in the world had this bastard been hiding?
He simply could not understand it.
[You mean he belongs to the Second Young Master?]
[That is correct.]
[Why would he have sent him?]
[I do not know either. Since he came wearing a mask like this, the reason does not seem to be a good one.]
[So you have no guess?]
[The Manor Lord has not died yet, so even if he is the Second Young Master, he could not have gone so far as to attempt an assassination. But why he sent him, I truly do not know either.]
[Then I suppose I will have to find out directly.]
[Pardon? If you mean directly, do you intend perhaps to torture him?]
[That sounds like a good method too.]
[Y-Young Master! It would be better simply to let him go.]
[Let him go?]
To the puzzled Mok Gyeong-un, Gochan warned him.
[The Second Young Master has retainers who follow him and has built up his own faction. If you meddle carelessly with one of the Second Young Master’s people……]
[There may be trouble later, is that what you mean?]
[……Yes. I know you may be angered, but if you provoke him for no reason, you may place yourself in danger.]
[Hmm.]
‘Hmm?’
Gochan looked at Mok Gyeong-un uneasily.
His head turned quickly enough to be frighteningly cunning, yet there was no knowing where he might spring next.
Still, there was one thing Gochan could say with certainty.
Even if the Second Young Master had sent a masked night visitor, in Mok Gyeong-un’s present situation there was nothing he could do.
Other than endure it, that was.
[Well, I will think about it.]
[…….You really must not meddle with him.]
[Yes. I understand well enough what you mean, Bodyguard Gochan.]
Yes.
No matter how impossible it was to predict where he might leap next, now that he understood the present situation, Gochan thought he would no longer do something as reckless as making an enemy for no reason.
Unlike the First Madam, who was arrogant but cautious in every matter, the Second Young Master was crafty, but still young and therefore emotional.
* * *
Jo Il-sang, who had been tense, seemed to have calmed a little, and after steadying his breath opened his mouth.
“Do you think you can really do whatever you want?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If you know who I am, it would be better to release me.”
“Better to release you?”
“Yes. You have already gone too far, but if you harm me further, do you think the Second Young Master will remain still?”
Jo Il-sang intentionally brought up the power behind him.
Whatever the reason this bastard had captured him like this, this was the end of it.
Now that his identity was known, what did he think could change?
He had worn the mask only to handle the matter quietly.
The Second Young Master, Mok Eun-pyeong, had a strong pride, and if one laid hands on one of his people, he would never forgive it.
Jo Il-sang said to Mok Gyeong-un, whose one eyebrow had risen,
“Since it has come to this, let us make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes. Release me, and if you hand over the secret manual of the Yeon Mok Sword Secret Art, I will speak to the Young Master and tell him to leave you, the Third Young Master, alone.”
“Leave me alone, meaning…..”
“Meaning that even if you become the Manor Lord, you will be allowed to live in peace.”
“And the price is the secret manual of the Yeon Mok Sword Secret Art.”
“Yes.”
Though inwardly tense because the situation was unfavorable, Jo Il-sang pressed hard.
That was because he believed that with this type, it was better to make the hierarchy clear.
He thought that if he showed weakness, the other would only come on stronger.
‘In the end, he will have no choice but to bend.’
The Yeon Mok Sword Secret Art was pearls around a pig’s neck so far as Mok Gyeong-un was concerned.
His maternal family had fallen, and not one retainer supported him.
If the thing was already too much for him anyway, then handing it over to preserve his single life was by no means a bad condition…..
-Clench!
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un tugged sharply on the hair he had been gripping.
“Huh? You?”
“Interesting. In a situation where your body might not remain whole, you still trust the power behind you enough to make a counterproposal.”
“You bastard……”
“I listened well enough. From here I will start with your fingers, one by one.”
With those words, Mok Gyeong-un pulled out a strangely shaped blade.
‘!?’
“This is a tool called a hasak, a blade used when trimming medicinal herbs. It is meant for cutting hard things, so it cuts off fingers and toes quite easily.”
“What?”
“It has been thoroughly tested, so you can trust that.”
He had used it quite a lot.
At this, flustered, Jo Il-sang hurriedly spoke to Mok Gyeong-un.
“Y-you! Did you not understand what I said? I came under the Second Young Master’s orders. If you harm my body, the Young Master will……”
“Yes. You talk too much, so I will cut off one first and begin.”
Having said that, Mok Gyeong-un immediately took hold of one of Jo Il-sang’s wrists, which hung limp from paralysis.
Then he inserted the right index finger into the hole of the hasak.
Watching this, Jo Il-sang’s face turned deathly pale.
“S-stop. Are you really mad? This is……”
-Crunch!
At that moment came the sound of something hard being severed.
Jo Il-sang’s face hardened, and he moved his head to look at what had fallen to the floor.
It was the top two joints of his own index finger.
“………”
No words came from Jo Il-sang.
From the start, apart from his head, he had no sensation anywhere, so it did not hurt.
Yet looking at the finger that had been cut off, he was so dumbfounded and absurdly shocked that he could not speak.
To such a man, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile,
“Since it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t feel real, right? That is why normally when one uses the hasak, one does not paralyze the body with Mochwisan but simply ties the person down. That way they can feel a bit of pain. But since you have cultivated martial arts, there was no helping it.”
That was why Mok Gyeong-un had no choice but to use Mochwisan.
And so, to at least produce a visual effect, he had held it directly before Jo Il-sang’s eyes and cut off the finger.
“That was a bit too much chatter. From now on, until you talk, I will simply cut them off one by one.”
-Tap!
With those words, Mok Gyeong-un seized Jo Il-sang’s second finger.
It was the middle finger of his right hand.
For a moment Jo Il-sang blanked out at having the middle finger seized, then in his panic said,
“S-stop!”
“……..”
-Crunch!
Even when he said stop, Mok Gyeong-un simply cut off Jo Il-sang’s middle finger with the hasak.
Jo Il-sang could see the severed middle finger twitching on the floor.
Being forced to stare straight at it, he felt as if his mind would turn over.
Into his ears came Mok Gyeong-un’s voice.
“Shall we do the thumb next?”
No sooner had those words ended than Mok Gyeong-un seized the thumb and at once slipped it into the hole of the hasak.
Seeing this, Jo Il-sang could not hide his panic.
He was right-handed.
If even the thumb were cut off here, he would no longer be able to do anything with the right hand.
“S-stop…..”
The rest of the words would not come.
No matter what he said, this madman would cut it off anyway.
-Press!
At that moment, strength began to enter the hand of Mok Gyeong-un holding the hasak.
At that very instant, a voice burst from Jo Il-sang’s mouth.
“Y-Young Master Eun-pyeong sent me to confirm whether it is true or not that you lost your martial arts!”
At those words, the strength went out of the hand holding the hasak.
It had dug slightly into the flesh of the thumb, but fortunately it had not been severed.
-Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Though his body was paralyzed, Jo Il-sang felt his heartbeat loudly.
It was strange.
He had been tortured before in the past.
But Mok Gyeong-un’s method pushed him toward the brink far too quickly.
“Haa…..haa……”
“You say he sent you to confirm whether I had really lost my martial arts?”
“T-that is correct.”
Without realizing it, because his fear had grown so great, Jo Il-sang’s tone had become remarkably polite.
Whether or not he did so, Mok Gyeong-un could not hide his puzzlement.
That was because, since his true identity as a fake had not been exposed, the fact that such an order had been given made him suspicious.
‘Hmm.’
Here, Mok Gyeong-un’s thoughts rapidly approached the truth.
‘If such an order was given though my identity was not exposed, it means someone provided that information. But there are only two people who know I am a fake.’
Bodyguard Gochan and Guard Gam.
Of those two, Bodyguard Gochan had been attached to him the whole time.
The corner of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth rose.
‘He changes sides quickly enough.’
Mok Gyeong-un became certain that the source of this information was Guard Gam.
From the start, his betrayal had been a fixed thing.
But he had not expected him to change sides so quickly.
Thanks to that, things had become troublesome.
‘Still, he used his head.’
It seemed that, in case some responsibility might arise later, while changing sides he had notified them only that Mok Gyeong-un had lost his martial arts so that the truth that he was a fake would not be exposed.
Giving a small laugh, Mok Gyeong-un said to Jo Il-sang,
“Was the one who told you that perhaps Guard Gam?”
Jo Il-sang’s eyes widened slightly.
Mok Gyeong-un should not yet know that Guard Gam had sworn loyalty to his lord, so how had he guessed it in one shot?
‘Had he suspected him from the beginning?’
Puzzled, Jo Il-sang soon answered.
“……..That is correct.”
“As expected.”
It had not strayed from expectation.
Nodding his head, Mok Gyeong-un stared fixedly at Jo Il-sang.
“Now what shall I do.”
At those words, Jo Il-sang said in a pleading voice,
“P-please spare me. I will absolutely keep my mouth shut about today. I will never tell Young Master Eun-pyeong either, so……”
“Ah…..what should I do?”
“Pardon?”
“It seems I have injured you too much for that.”
Jo Il-sang himself had not realized it, but his face was nearly ruined.
His nose was crushed from the broken bone, and his cheekbones and forehead jutted strangely where the bones had broken.
On top of that, two fingers had been cut off.
Mok Eun-pyeong would learn of it one way or another, and would be greatly enraged.
“Y-Young Master……even if I disappear, Young Master Eun-pyeong will surely seek revenge.”
“Well, probably. But you do not need to worry about that.”
“Why?”
“Everyone treats this secret manual called the Yeon Mok Sword Secret Art as something precious, so if necessary I will simply bargain with it. Does that not sound fine?”
“……….”
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Jo Il-sang’s mind went black.
As Mok Gyeong-un had said, if he bargained using the Yeon Mok Sword Secret Art, which was the sword art reserved for the Manor Lord, then no matter how much Mok Eun-pyeong treasured his subordinates, there was a high chance he would let it go.
Blank and flustered, Jo Il-sang hurriedly spoke.
“Young Master…..I truly did not know that you were so wise and outstanding. Therefore, like Guard Gam, I too wish to swear loyalty to you.”
“To me?”
“T-that is correct. Please, grant me a chance. I will devote this one life to you.”
All kinds of words came out.
It was to preserve his life.
“You say you will even devote your life?”
“T-that is correct. So please……”
“Hmm. So that is what you mean.”
At this, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head slightly and went somewhere.
“Young Master? Young Master?”
At this, Jo Il-sang, growing anxious, called out to Mok Gyeong-un.
It did not take long.
Not long after, Mok Gyeong-un reappeared holding a wooden box with the traces of something unusual once having been affixed to it.
Mok Gyeong-un set the wooden box beneath the head of the upside-down hanging Jo Il-sang.
“This is?”
As he looked puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un at once opened the lid of the wooden box.
When he opened it, he saw something like a book bound in old prayer beads.
Why was he showing this to him? He could not make sense of it, but then Jo Il-sang’s eyes shook.
‘No way?’
That was because he had realized that the material of the book was not paper.
To the flustered man, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Before you woke up, I tried to read this book, but strangely enough the part bound by the prayer beads was fixed in place so that no matter what I did, they would not come off.”
“H-how could you…..”
“I saw it in the Foundation of the Yin-Yang School. It said there are things filled with righteous energy that seal up impure things. These prayer beads seem to be one of those.”
“Y-Young Master?”
Ignoring his words, Mok Gyeong-un continued his own.
“But it says that if another impure thing is added to something used for sealing, its power weakens.”
“Wh-what in the world are you trying to do?”
“Like this.”
-Slash!
“Kuh!”
No sooner had the words ended than Mok Gyeong-un slashed Jo Il-sang’s neck with something sharp.
The death cry was the last voice Jo Il-sang let out.
Perhaps his Adam’s apple had been cut, because only choking sounds came from his mouth.
Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly and said,
“You said you could even give your life, didn’t you?”
‘Y-you son of a bitch……’
Who had ever said he would give it in this way?
Jo Il-sang glared at Mok Gyeong-un with eyes full of resentment.
It was too bitter to lose his life like this.
-Whoooosh!
Red blood streamed from Jo Il-sang’s cut throat.
That blood poured over the human-skin book tied with prayer beads inside the wooden box.
And it soaked the beads and the book.
The blood of one who was dying.
Blood filled with resentment.
As it soaked the book, a bizarre phenomenon occurred.
-Thump! Thump!
Without even touching the book directly, the sound of the pulse grew louder.
As though it were a heart, vein-like things began to rise from the outer surface of the book.
‘Oh.’
-Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Then the pulse grew louder and faster still, and then,
-Kigigigigigik!
Cracks began to appear in the prayer beads that had bound the book.
Then,
-Kwadudududuk!
The prayer beads, trembling as if in agony, were compressed as though something had gripped them, and then shattered apart.
The broken fragments were sucked into the pool of blood gathered in the wooden box.
And at the same time, a bizarre thing happened in the cavern.
-Kwaaaal!
Blood began pouring like a waterfall from the entire walls of the cavern by way of the ceiling.
It was a sight that made one doubt one’s own eyes.
The corner of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth lifted to his ears as he watched.
[The fifth, Blue Spirit…..extremely dangerous. At least ten occult practitioners required for exorcism. An old resentful spirit that has existed for over a hundred years. It can exert enormous influence over a fixed radius and even inflict pain by causing phantom sounds and hallucinations.]
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