Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 198 - Loyalty (4)

Chapter 198 – Loyalty (4)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Having seen the true face of Mok Gyeong-un, filled with pure malice, Seop Chun, Third Guard Captain of the main hall, was so overcome by the chill rising from his spine that he lost his words for a moment. It seemed he had mistaken things. Seop Chun had felt that Mok Gyeong-un resembled Na Yul-ryang, the Society Leader’s great disciple. But that was not it. Certainly, both of them were definitely unlike ordinary people. Yet whereas Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang gave the cold impression of someone without emotion who moved only toward the path of the hegemon, Mok Gyeong-un looked like pure evil itself. How could such a person even exist? A tremor rose up from inside him. It was then.

-Thud! Mong Mu-yak collapsed. His eyes had rolled back and his body was trembling, and his condition did not look good. It seemed that, on top of having his arm severed, nearly having his neck cut as well had left him in extreme shock. Thanks to that, Seop Chun, who had been seized by fear for an instant, was able to regain his senses.

“You went too far.”

“Pardon?”

“I said you went too far!”

“What do you mean?”

“If it was about loyalty, then what happened just now proved it well enough. So why did you push it this far? As you said yourself, if it had ended there…”

“I told you that pretending carries no meaning.”

“That…”

“If you had received an order from the Vice Society Leader to watch me, or if you had been working for some other successor, is there any other way you could have proved it in this place?”

“……” At that, Seop Chun could not answer a single word. Even if it had crossed the line, Mok Gyeong-un’s words were correct. No, should he say it was wise?

‘Thanks to it, I have ended up riding in the same boat with this bastard whether I like it or not.’ That had been true from the moment he attacked Mong Mu-yak, the Vice Society Leader’s son. From his position as a man without backing, he now had no choice but to follow Mok Gyeong-un if he wanted to avoid becoming an enemy of the Vice Society Leader.

“Haa.” Still, he could not help but feel confused. Until just a moment ago, he had wanted to accomplish great things together with Mok Gyeong-un and make both his clan’s name and his own name resound beyond the Heaven and Earth Society and throughout all the Central Plains. But now that he had seen the true face of the evil residing inside Mok Gyeong-un, he was afraid. Was this really someone he could trust and follow? Would this not become the worst possible choice?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…To speak honestly, I am afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“Yes.”

“Of what?”

“I am afraid of you as well, and just now I was wondering whether choosing you was truly the right decision for me.”

“You are very honest.”

“Even if I steeled my resolve, after seeing your true self, I could not help it.”

“My true self…” Mok Gyeong-un let out a short laugh. Then he approached Seop Chun, lightly tapped him on the shoulder, and said,

“I like that. The fact that, even after looking directly at someone like me, you do not turn away deserves praise.”

“……” It was a truly peculiar form of praise. Was he even supposed to take that as praise? Yet what was this strange thing by which the words of this fellow, who was younger than himself, kept stirring him? Was it because of this fellow’s qualities as a leader? Or was it because of the breadth of his vessel? Seop Chun opened his mouth.

“I have something I want.”

“Was there something more you wanted besides becoming the right arm or the left arm?”

“Yes, there is.”

“And what is that?”

“Fear is fear, but I would like there to be some reward in following you.” At those words, the corners of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth twitched. Reward. From the moment he joined him, he would be walking a road stained with blood, but could this man truly come to feel a satisfying reward in that? As he found himself wondering, Blue Spirit’s voice was heard.

-There is no need to think so complicatedly.

-…?

-There is no master-servant relationship in which nothing passes in either direction. There is no need to think grandly about this thing called reward. One only needs to satisfy what the other appropriately wants.

-I see. I learn something again like this. At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Blue Spirit gave a dry cough and said,

-Ahem. What do you mean, learning something again all of a sudden?

Mok Gyeong-un let out a short laugh and said to Seop Chun,

“Do not worry too much.

If you are faithful to your role, then you will certainly obtain what you desire.

That, I can promise you.”

At those words, Seop Chun let out a faint breath.

Hearing words like those from Mok Gyeong-un, his heart felt much lighter.

He hoped it would truly be so.

Only then would this choice not become the worst one.

-Pak!

Now that things had been settled in his mind, Seop Chun dropped to one knee, clasped both hands, and cried out to Mok Gyeong-un,

“I, Seop Chun, Third Guard Captain of the main hall, swear loyalty to Young Master Mok Gyeong-un.

Please accept me.”

“……”

Mok Gyeong-un stared down fixedly at Seop Chun as he offered his oath of loyalty.

A strange light entered Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes as he looked at him.

Seop Chun was a different kind of piece from the people Mok Gyeong-un had drawn beneath him until now.

He had come to him on his own two feet.

And even after seeing something close to Mok Gyeong-un’s true nature, he had not turned away from it, and had even shown honesty about the fear he felt.

-This is not bad either.

-It is because you have gained a subordinate by a proper method.

-Is that so?

At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok Gyeong-un let out a short laugh.

A proper method.

On this point, he did not particularly agree with Blue Spirit.

He merely always chose the optimal course suited to the situation before him.

“I accept.”

Mok Gyeong-un said that to Seop Chun.

Then Seop Chun bowed his head to the ground in a deep salute.

Since his loyalty had been accepted, he was showing the proper etiquette.

There was a saying that king, teacher, and father were one.

The lord one served, the master one followed, and the father who gave one birth were all no different from one another, and so one showed courtesy with a bow.

After completing that show of respect, Seop Chun rose and said,

“Since I have decided to serve you as my lord, from now on I will address you with full propriety.

My lord may speak comfortably.”

“I will gradually do that.”

“You do not need to be distant.

You can just speak eas…”

“When the time comes, I will.

For now, this is still more comfortable.”

Seop Chun could not hide his puzzlement.

But if his lord, Mok Gyeong-un, said he would do so, then what could he do?

He could only follow his lord’s will.

Rather, it seemed this was the more urgent matter.

Seop Chun examined the condition of the unconscious Vice Society Leader’s son, Mong Mu-yak, and said with a sigh,

“Hoo.

The bleeding is severe, and his condition is not good.”

As expected.

-Tatatatatatak!

After pressing the hemostatic points, Seop Chun quickly lifted Mong Mu-yak’s severed left arm above the level of his heart, tore a strip from his clothing, and tied it tightly so that no more blood would flow.

Having taken those measures, Seop Chun clicked his tongue and said,

“My lord, do you have some plan?”

“A plan?”

“Yes.

I do not want to blame what is already done, but he is the Vice Society Leader’s son.

On top of that, he was selected for this mission.

Is this really all right?”

Seop Chun was sincerely worried.

Would Mong Mu-yak, now missing an arm, really still try to carry out the mission with them?

No, he might instead return as he was and report all of this to the Society Leader or the Vice Society Leader.

If that happened, everything would be ruined.

However,

“Are you worried?”

Mok Gyeong-un did not seem to be worried in the least.

When things might yet explode into disaster, did he truly not find even a little of it concerning?

To Seop Chun, who was frowning, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“Rather than that, search his body and see what he has on him.”

“Pardon?”

“Search him.”

“…Understood.”

Though he was puzzled for a moment at Mok Gyeong-un’s order, Seop Chun searched through the belongings of the unconscious Mong Mu-yak without further complaint.

Aside from silver coins and his Heaven and Earth Society identity token, there was nothing much of note.

But unexpectedly, he found something inside a small pouch hidden in the inner side of one of his leather shoes.

-Rummage, rummage!

“Hm?”

What is this?

Inside was a small red bottle.

What in the world was this, that he had hidden it inside his leather shoe?

While looking at it with doubtful eyes, Seop Chun brought it over to Mok Gyeong-un.

“He had this hidden.”

“Is that so?”

Holding the small bottle, only about the size of two fingers, Mok Gyeong-un shook it.

From that alone, it was hard to guess what was inside.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un gestured toward Mong Mu-yak and said to Seop Chun,

“Wake him.”

“Will it really be all right to wake him immediately?”

“Why would it not be?”

“Understood.”

Seop Chun pressed one of the acupoints on Mong Mu-yak’s body and sent his qi into it.

At that, Mong Mu-yak, who had lost consciousness, opened both eyes.

“Heuk!”

The instant he woke, Mong Mu-yak jerked his upper body up, then looked toward Seop Chun with a flustered expression as he coughed.

“Cough, cough…”

For a moment, Mong Mu-yak wondered if perhaps he had been dreaming.

But then he noticed his severed left arm and realized it was reality.

Mong Mu-yak’s features twisted horribly, as though he could not bear the pain.

Seeing that, Seop Chun could not hide the guilt within him.

‘…Because of me, he ended up losing his arm for no reason.’

If he had attacked from the beginning in a way that truly sought to kill, then perhaps, as Mok Gyeong-un had said, the arm would not have been severed.

For a martial artist, to lose one arm meant problems with balance, with everything, and amounted to a sharp drop in fighting strength.

He could fully understand Mong Mu-yak’s state of mind.

Then Mong Mu-yak opened his mouth with a look in his eyes filled with a tangle of emotions.

“Have you betrayed the Society?”

At that question, Seop Chun hurriedly waved his hands and said,

“How could that be?

Why would we betray the Society?”

“Then why!”

Mong Mu-yak’s voice rose.

Filled with rage, he glared at Seop Chun, then turned his gaze toward Mok Gyeong-un and said,

“Why did you do this?”

He held up the place where his arm had been severed.

In his heart he was overflowing with the desire to cut off their arms in the same way, but, knowing he was in the weaker position, he barely suppressed that fury and lowered his voice.

To him, Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said,

“Are you bitter because your arm was cut off?”

“You!”

The anger he had only barely suppressed sharpened again at that mocking tone.

At him, Seop Chun said warningly,

“Calm yourself.”

“Calm down?

If you were in this situation, do you think you could stay calm?

If you two are not spies or infiltrators, how could you do something like this?”

“……”

Seop Chun could not answer that at all.

He felt too sorry to tell him that it had all happened as proof of loyalty.

But Mok Gyeong-un seemed to have no such feeling whatsoever.

Still wearing a smile, he walked toward Mong Mu-yak.

Then he suddenly held out the red bottle and said,

“Leaving that aside, what is this?”

‘!?’

Until just a moment ago, Mong Mu-yak had been unable to control his anger, but now his agitation at once subsided.

‘How does he have that?’

That was the very thing his father, Vice Society Leader Mong Seo-cheon, had given him.

[If that fellow makes contact with righteous-path people or shows suspicious signs, then use this.

You know how to use it, do you not?]

Instinctively, Mong Mu-yak crossed his ankles and checked whether the bottle hidden inside his leather shoe was still there.

But it was gone.

‘Damn it.’

There was no doubt they had searched through his belongings.

And the very person against whom his father, Vice Society Leader Mong Seo-cheon, had told him to use this was Mok Gyeong-un.

So with Mok Gyeong-un holding it in his hand, there was no way he could fail to be shaken.

To him, as he remained speechless, Mok Gyeong-un asked again,

“Since it was something you had on you, you are not going to say you do not know, are you?”

“……”

“Why no answer?

Do you not know what this is?”

Pressed by the repeated questions, Mong Mu-yak improvised,

“…It is something needed for this mission.”

“For the mission?”

“Yes.”

Thinking it over, it had not yet been used, and if he simply evaded by saying it had a use for the secret mission, that ought to be enough.

What could they really do to him over this?

But then Mok Gyeong-un let out a short laugh and said,

“Something needed for the mission?”

“Yes.

It is nothing important.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Once the mission begins, you will learn…”

“Since it is already as good as begun, would it not be fine to know now?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s persistently probing attitude, Mong Mu-yak responded as calmly as he could.

“The advance party will explain its exact use later, so I truly do not know either.”

“The advance party?”

“Yes.”

If he evaded like this, then they would no longer be able to question him.

And yet

“Hmm, so that is what you are saying?”

Nodding his head, Mok Gyeong-un pulled the stopper from the red bottle he was holding.

-Pop!

“W-what are you doing?

Close it at once!”

In an instant, the flustered Mong Mu-yak shouted at Mok Gyeong-un.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head and said,

“Why are you so shocked?”

“Close it quickly!

Close it!”

“This is strange.

You say you do not know what it is, but the moment the cap opens you panic and tell me to close it.

Why is that?”

“Th-that…”

“Do you really not know?”

“I… I only heard that it was dangerous.

That is why, so please close it.”

At Mong Mu-yak’s nearly pleading request, Mok Gyeong-un instead moved the bottle closer to him.

At that, Mong Mu-yak thrashed wildly, trying to pull farther away.

“You really!”

“Hold him.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s command, Seop Chun pressed down on Mong Mu-yak’s shoulder.

“L-let me go!”

Seeing him recoil to the point of convulsing in fear, Mok Gyeong-un became sincerely curious what was inside that bottle.

That was why he brought it closer and said playfully,

“Even if it is dangerous, surely using just a little should be fine, no?

Since with that body you will struggle even to carry out the mission, for our sake…”

“It is a Bursting Blood Worm!”

“Pardon?”

“What is inside is a Bursting Blood Worm.

It is so small it can enter the mouth or the nostrils, so please close it.

I beg you.”

In the end, Mong Mu-yak spilled the truth.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un gave a short laugh and closed the bottle again.

“You said you did not know, yet you did know?”

“……”

“Do not shake so much.

I had already blocked the opening with qi.”

At those words, Mong Mu-yak clenched his teeth.

This bastard was toying with him completely.

But no matter how much emotion he showed here, there was not the slightest benefit to himself.

“…I was told to keep it secret for the mission.

I did not hide it out of personal hostility.”

“Of course you did.

What exactly is a Bursting Blood Worm?”

This was something even Mok Gyeong-un had never heard of.

At this, Mong Mu-yak said,

“It is an insect that lives naturally in the remote deserts of the Western Regions.”

“Since it is called a worm, that is only natural.

But judging by your reaction, it must be extremely dangerous?”

“…Yes.

If it enters the body, it burrows into the blood vessels and roams through the blood channels.”

‘Burrows into the blood vessels?’

At those words, Seop Chun clicked his tongue.

Even hearing of it alone, it sounded like an extremely ghastly and dangerous insect.

But just what were they meant to do with something this dangerous on a retrieval mission?

While he was wondering, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“Just roaming through the blood channels would already be dangerous enough, but I doubt that is all.”

“……”

“There are other problems too, are there not?”

‘Sharp bastard.’

It was difficult to deceive him even a little.

Since in the first place there was no longer any way to deceive him, Mong Mu-yak revealed the truth.

“…This insect is extremely vulnerable to sunlight.”

“To sunlight?”

“Yes.

That is why, in the Western Regions, it is also called the desert night-killer.”

“Desert night-killer?”

“It takes no more than one or two siju from laying eggs to reaching adulthood.

But this insect is so vulnerable to sunlight that the moment it receives even a little light, it bursts and dies.”

“Which means…”

“Yes.

If one is infected with a Bursting Blood Worm, the moment he is exposed to sunlight, the blood channels throughout his entire body burst and he dies.”

“Ha!”

At Mong Mu-yak’s words, Seop Chun shook his head.

In a certain sense, this seemed even more dangerous than the ultimate poisons.

With poison, there was still at least some room for an internal martial artist to force it out by circulating qi and detoxifying himself.

But would it be possible to individually catch tiny insects so small that they flowed through the blood vessels within the body?

It might well be impossible.

“It is impressive enough that someone managed to find such an insect.”

“I do not know how it was found either.

I heard that because it is weak to light, it lives by parasitizing moles, earthworms, and insects deep underground in the desert, so it is difficult to discover.”

“And yet here it is?”

Mok Gyeong-un shook the bottle again.

At that, Mong Mu-yak, unable to stay calm, said,

“Be careful.

No matter how strong the bottle is, if it breaks even by accident, it will truly become a disaster.”

“I am sure it would.

But why did the son of our Vice Society Leader bring something this dangerous?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Mong Mu-yak let out a sigh and answered,

“Did I not tell you?

I brought it because of the mission.”

“The mission…

Of course.”

With those words, Mok Gyeong-un leaned to Mong Mu-yak’s ear and whispered,

“But that mission would be to use it if that righteous-path hostage, Mok Gyeong-un, makes contact with other righteous-path people in the imperial palace or shows suspicious behavior, would it not?”

‘!!!!!!!!!’

At that instant, Mong Mu-yak’s face turned deathly pale and froze.

How in the world does this bastard know that?