Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 211 - Aboard a Ship (1)
Chapter 211 – Aboard a Ship (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Most of the strong men in the manor were retired naval soldiers from the thousand-man post.
They were moving in perfect order, laying down wooden poles to serve as rollers and shifting the boat that had been fastened not far from the manor.
What was astonishing here was that resentful spirits were possessing those dozen or so soldiers.
Watching them, someone clicked his tongue.
“In all my life, this is the first time I have seen something like this.”
It was the occult practitioner Yi Mun-hae.
Originally, the reason he had come here was to save Wu In-yeom, the owner of the manor.
But with his skill, which at best was no more than tomb-tending level among the Divine Sun-Moon Mysterious Skill Transmission, he had not been able to subdue a high-ranked resentful spirit at the level of Blue Spirit, and had instead been overpowered and even had his body stolen by one resentful spirit.
Now, however, the resentful spirit had left his body, and through Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, he had heard what had happened up to this point.
“The outcome is truly bitter. It is.”
“Tsk tsk. How was I to know? It is all karma and retribution.”
With those words, Ja Geum-jeong, the vow-breaking monk, gulped down the liquor in his bottle gourd.
At first, he had thought only that the resentful spirits were the culprits.
But once he learned the true cause, there was no way he could defend the Wu family and their household.
“Kheu. The drink tastes bitter today.”
“You always said it tasted sweet, and now it suddenly feels bitter?”
“Tell me, Mun-hae. No, Mister Occult Practitioner. Do you know what this bald monk has been feeling these days?”
“What is that?”
“In the end, there is truly no such thing as right and wrong in living.”
“Right and wrong… yes. That is true. Is not the whole world like that?”
“When I lived in the mountain temple, I believed only what came from the scriptures was truth, and that everyone was merely passing through the process of awakening to truth, goodness, and beauty.”
He had truly believed that.
But after he was cast out and entered the world, Ja Geum-jeong saw much and experienced much, and realized it was not so.
The world held far more complexity and emotional entanglement than he had thought.
Was it not so even now?
It was not the living who were pitiable, but the dead whose hidden circumstances were enough to make one lament.
“Truth, goodness, and beauty my ass.”
The world was no different from rough waves.
Everyone was simply carried by those waves and swept here and there.
[Go see the world directly and experience it. Hearing with another person’s ears and reading books is no different from covering your own eyes and plugging your own ears.]
‘Great Master, your words were right.’
The words of that person, whom he could no longer call his master, came to mind.
Shaking his head, Ja Geum-jeong took another drink and then asked,
“More importantly, is your body all right?”
“It is fine. But tell me, was I really hurt that badly?”
“………”
Ja Geum-jeong stared fixedly at the occult practitioner Yi Mun-hae, who asked the question back.
His body truly was perfectly fine.
Originally, the bone of his elbow had been jutting out, and even the shin bone had been broken.
But that gigolo-faced bastard had told the possessing resentful spirit to fix the body before leaving it, and the injured places truly had been restored.
‘That bastard definitely knew this from the start and used force on purpose.’
If not, there was no way he would have used such severe force after saying he was saving the one possessed.
Whatever the case, since no harm had come to Yi Mun-hae, he had no intention of blaming him.
To the tongue-clicking Ja Geum-jeong, Yi Mun-hae said,
“But are you really all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard you told that man you would grant any request because of me.”
“There is no need to worry about it.”
“How can I not worry? If you get dragged into trouble because of me…”
“Enough. Think of it as repaying what I have received.”
“What could you possibly have received from me?”
At that, Ja Geum-jeong bared his yellow teeth in a fierce grin and laughed.
“A great deal. Yes. I received a great deal.”
Ja Geum-jeong was always grateful to Yi Mun-hae.
If it had not been for him, he might truly have become a lunatic by now.
He believed that the only reason he was still functioning as a human being at all was because this man had recognized his cursed eyes.
“Huh, you are making me embarrassed for nothing.”
-Pat pat!
Patting him on the shoulder, Ja Geum-jeong said,
“That is why I said it. In any case, do not worry. Do you think this bald monk cannot even look after his own body?”
“It is because you handle yourself too recklessly.”
“I told you not to worry. Heh heh heh. Anyway, I suppose I should go pay off my debt to that gigolo-faced bastard.”
With those words, Ja Geum-jeong folded his arms and walked over to Mok Gyeong-un, who was standing atop the hill.
As he approached from behind, Mok Gyeong-un spoke as though he had been waiting.
“Your friend is unharmed, yes?”
“Yes. Just as you said, he is fine.”
“He may have spent a little vital energy recovering, but he will probably be all right. Then will you settle the agreed compensation?”
“Yes. Of course I will. Speak what you want.”
He had already confirmed that Yi Mun-hae, the occult practitioner he regarded as his one and only friend, was unharmed, so he fully intended to keep the prior promise.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head and said,
“Then let me receive the mnemonic formulas of the Supreme Great Ability.”
“What?”
No sooner had those words ended than Ja Geum-jeong’s expression froze.
He had worried what exactly might be demanded of him.
But he had never imagined that the words Supreme Great Ability would come out of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth.
“You…”
“You did say that so long as it was not asking for your life, you would grant anything, did you not?”
“……..”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Ja Geum-jeong fell silent.
He had indeed said that.
But how could he have known that from the mouth of an internal martial arts master who could perform a supreme method like grasping objects through the void would come a demand that was no different from a taboo in the martial world?
Flustered, he finally opened his mouth.
“…….The Supreme Great Ability belongs to Shaolin.”
“Yet you learned it.”
“I am a vow-breaking monk. You know well enough what that means, do you not?”
“Yes. That is precisely why I am demanding that you teach me the Supreme Great Ability.”
“Haah…….”
“Surely you do not intend to break your promise?”
“It is not that I intend to break it. It is only that the matter is difficult.”
Ja Geum-jeong let out a sigh.
Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head and asked,
“What exactly is difficult?”
“Two things are difficult.”
“Two things?”
“Yes.”
“And those are?”
“First, even if I am a vow-breaking monk, I was still once a disciple of Shaolin. I cannot release Shaolin’s things to the outside. That would be the same for most sects, even outside Shaolin.”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un laughed faintly.
Then he asked,
“Hearing you say that makes me curious about one thing I had wondered about.”
“What are you talking about?”
“A vow-breaking monk is, in the end, someone expelled from the sect. So why were your martial arts left intact?”
“That is…”
There were circumstances behind that which he could not reveal.
It was also connected to Great Master Gongjeon, the head of the Scripture Pavilion and his former master.
Originally, just as Mok Gyeong-un said, Shaolin too severed the channels or destroyed the dantian when a warrior monk was expelled.
But Great Master Gongjeon had secretly sent him out of Shaolin five days before the date originally set for the expulsion ceremony.
As he sent him out, Great Master Gongjeon had earnestly instructed him.
[If anyone asks about the circulation art you learned, say it is the Supreme Great Ability.]
[What? But this is merely…]
[Yes. It is a fortuitous insight you gained from seeing the marks on the wall during wall-facing cultivation in Bodhidharma Cave. Even so, call it the Supreme Great Ability.]
[Why?]
[Only then will your whole person remain unharmed.]
‘!?’
[If it becomes known that not yet-restored Supreme Great Ability was learned by Gate of Virtue, no, by Geum-jeong, then even Shaolin will not be able to touch you easily. No, this humble monk will make it so.]
[……Master.]
Ja Geum-jeong had never had great attachment to martial arts.
He was being expelled from the sect anyway, so what difference would it make if he lost them?
Yet he could not help but be moved by such consideration from his master.
[Do not grieve too much over the fact that you came to possess such eyes. Everything has its reason. So live as steadfastly and freely as the pain demands.]
That had been the final conversation he shared with his master, Great Master Gongjeon.
After that, as Ja Geum-jeong roamed the martial world, whenever anyone questioned whether his martial art was the Supreme Great Ability, he neither denied nor affirmed it.
That was because he wanted to keep his master’s request, while also refusing to speak a lie that would bring disgrace upon his sect.
‘I thought that even without saying anything, that would be enough.’
He had never imagined that someone unrelated to Shaolin would demand the Supreme Great Ability like this.
After all, who in the world would dare covet one of Shaolin’s martial arts, something treated as if it were forbidden?
It was a truly bold demand.
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Then the rumor is true, is it?”
“Rumor?”
“Yes. I heard Shaolin cannot touch you because it has been unable to restore the Supreme Great Ability.”
“……….”
At that, Ja Geum-jeong gave no answer.
The rumor was half true and half false, but he could not reveal the facts for the sake of the promise to his master.
“The fact that you do not deny it means enough. Then what is the second difficulty?”
“That is…”
“That is?”
“The Supreme Great Ability has no mnemonic formulas.”
“What?”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un frowned.
Was it even possible to master a cultivation art while not knowing its mnemonic formulas?
But it was true.
‘I understood this by seeing the marks left on the wall of the cliff in Bodhidharma Cave’s wall-facing chamber. But no one except me could see those marks.’
It had been an utterly strange matter.
Even his master, Great Master Gongjeon, had been the same.
He had tried to show that insight to Great Master Gongjeon by taking him to the cliff of the wall-facing chamber, but even he could not see the marks.
[Can you truly see such marks?]
[I truly can.]
[Huh… Amitabha. What a strange thing.]
Through that, Ja Geum-jeong came to know one thing.
That only he alone could see those traces.
‘I cannot reveal that it is not the Supreme Great Ability, but once he learns there are no mnemonic formulas, he will no longer be able to make this demand.’
It did not matter if the other man did not believe him.
He was not lying.
As expected, Mok Gyeong-un looked at him with suspicious eyes.
Ja Geum-jeong did not avoid his gaze.
After staring for a long time, Mok Gyeong-un finally said,
“If there are no mnemonic formulas, then how did you learn it?”
“…….I do not know. I simply saw the traces left on the wall and suddenly understood.”
“You suddenly understood it?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
“Even if you cannot believe it, I cannot help that. I swear to heaven that it is true.”
At that vow, Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue softly.
In truth, Mok Gyeong-un did not believe in such things as swearing to heaven.
But seeing Ja Geum-jeong’s utterly steady bearing, not avoiding his gaze in the slightest, it did not seem to be a lie.
“To comprehend a cultivation art without seeing its mnemonic formulas…”
“Even aside from the first difficulty, the second reason makes it all the more impossible for me to teach it. I ask for your understanding on that point.”
“Understanding…”
“Yes.”
“And if I cannot understand?”
“What?”
“I very much want to learn it from you.”
“……..How could I teach something when I do not know the mnemonic formulas myself? And I clearly said I cannot hand over something that belongs to Shaolin.”
“Even if I kill that occult practitioner Yi Mun-hae?”
‘This bastard!’
The moment those words ended, Ja Geum-jeong’s face twisted savagely.
He could forgive many things, but never anyone touching his former master Great Master Gongjeon or the occult practitioner Yi Mun-hae, his sole friend.
“Then one of us will have to die here today.”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un laughed faintly and said,
“Will that really be me?”
Though he was smiling, his eyes shone with thick killing intent.
Feeling it, Ja Geum-jeong’s hands and feet began to tremble faintly.
How could a fellow not yet even twenty possess such overwhelming pressure?
“……..Even if this bald monk dies, if you touch Yi Mun-hae, I will never forgive it.”
His resolve was complete.
If he had cherished his own life above all, he would already have told him everything.
Watching Ja Geum-jeong’s reaction closely, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and said,
“So it really is true.”
‘Hm?’
Ja Geum-jeong, who had gathered aura into both fists and was prepared to fight at once, could not hide his puzzlement.
To him, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Judging by how desperately you treasure that occult practitioner’s life, and by the fact that you consider risking your own life the only answer, it does not seem you are trying to deceive me.”
“Ha! Were you testing this bald monk?”
“A test, if you want to call it that. I do not believe in those lip-service lines about swearing to heaven.”
“……..”
So he had been sounding him out?
Ja Geum-jeong clicked his tongue.
Still, if this was enough to make the fellow drop his demand for the Supreme Great Ability, then he did not care.
“Though I do not like being tested, the cause was that I could not grant your demand, so I will not blame you. Instead, name another request.”
“If you are going to hide behind one excuse after another, then it seems meaningless to make another request anyway.”
“Damn it all! I am not refusing on purpose. It truly cannot be helped.”
“Yes, yes. I am sure that is so. In that case, perhaps I should simply put the resentful spirit back into that man’s body again.”
“What?”
“Was that not our condition from the beginning? If you cannot grant it, then I simply return things to their original state.”
-Crunch!
At those words, Ja Geum-jeong ground his teeth.
He could not deny that there was truth in them, yet he could not help but be angry at being threatened like this.
So Ja Geum-jeong thumped his thick chest with his fist and said,
-Thump thump!
“Fine. Then I will swear clearly.”
“Swear?”
“Yes. So long as it is not asking for my life, or a demand concerning the Supreme Great Ability, or anything that harms Shaolin or Yi Mun-hae, I will grant anything. And if I fail to keep that, I will end my own life here on the spot.”
“Ho. Truly?”
“A man does not speak two words with one mouth.”
At that fierce vow, Mok Gyeong-un said as if it were nothing,
“Good. Then kneel here and swear your loyalty to me.”
‘!?’
At that utterly unexpected demand once more, Ja Geum-jeong found himself speechless.
Seeing his reaction, the corner of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth curled up in a bloody smile.
If he could not obtain the mnemonic formulas, then all he had to do was keep the man close and study him slowly.
As a bonus, he would also be gaining a useful slave.