Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 220 - Artisan (3)

Chapter 220 – Artisan (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The butchers all stared in confusion at the sight of Mok Gyeong-un suddenly vanishing.

Of course, the advance and rear groups, who were part of Mok Gyeong-un’s own people, knew that he had used incredibly fast lightness skill, so they were astonished in a different sense.

Then Ganyang, who stood as the leader of the advance group, looked awkwardly toward Mong Mu-yak and Seop Chun of the rear group and spoke in a low voice.

“Shouldn’t you have stopped Young Master Mok?”

“Stopped him? And how exactly were we supposed to do that?”

He had vanished before anyone could even say a word.

How was anyone supposed to stop him?

“At this point, making the mask is already impossible. If conflict breaks out with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the whole plan could go even further awry.”

Ganyang had already assumed that with the artisan’s arm severed, the making of the human-skin mask was now impossible.

And if matters escalated by clashing with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, infiltrating the imperial palace itself might become impossible.

At those words, Seop Chun said in a tone meant to reassure him,

“Let us wait and see for now. My lord is not the sort of man who acts without thought. And as for the mask…”

Seop Chun hesitated over how to say it.

He had wanted to explain that if his lord Mok Gyeong-un could simply recover the artisan’s severed hands, he could reattach them with mysterious occult arts.

But it seemed doubtful these people would believe such a thing.

After all, the reattachment of severed limbs was not something anyone could accept easily.

Just then, someone suddenly came rushing breathlessly into the room.

“Pant, pant! T-there’s trouble!”

“Brother Mo!”

The bearded man recognized him and called him Brother Mo.

The man so called looked at the butchers with tears in his eyes, as though apologizing, and said,

“M-Miss Song-ah was taken by the Embroidered Uniform Guard for obstructing official business.”

“Wh-what? Obstructing official business?”

“Brother Mo, did you really just stand there and watch?”

The butchers were both shocked and furious at the sudden news.

Then,

“Those damned bastards!”

Pak.

The bearded man, his face twisted with rage, snatched one of the butcher’s knives hanging on the wall.

He looked ready to charge out immediately.

Then someone sharply stopped him.

“Stop!”

The bearded man halted mid-step with a scowl.

The one who stopped him was none other than the artisan himself.

Rising with difficulty, the artisan said,

“Haa… haa… And what exactly do you think you can do by joining in?”

“But Song-ah…”

“Do you intend to make things even worse?”

After rebuking him, the artisan looked toward Seop Chun and the rest of the group and said,

“Haa… haa… You people are martial artists, aren’t you?”

To that, Ganyang, the leader of the advance group, nodded.

“We are. But Artisan… your bleeding is severe, so before anything else, you should sit back down and stop straining yourself…”

Thump.

Before he could finish, the artisan dropped to his knees.

“Artisan!”

“How can you…?”

The butchers, aghast at his action, fidgeted helplessly.

Even so, the artisan ignored them and said what he needed to say.

“Haa… haa… I am fine. More importantly, I wish to make a request of you.”

“A request? What request?”

“Please help us.”

At that plea, Ganyang looked troubled.

It was already awkward enough with Mok Gyeong-un having moved on his own. If they too became entangled with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, then their mission might truly be jeopardized.

“Artisan… I understand that you want to save your daughter, but…”

“Haa… haa… Cough, cough… That girl… is not… my daughter.”

“What?”

Hadn’t all the butchers been calling her Miss?

Then surely she had to be the artisan’s daughter. What was he saying?

But at that moment, the bearded man holding the butcher’s knife suddenly dropped to his knees beside the artisan.

“Please help us.”

“Brother Song!”

The other butchers, alarmed by his sudden behavior, rushed to stop him.

Then Ja Geum-jeong, the vinaya-breaking monk, looked back and forth between the artisan and the bearded man known as Brother Song, and then burst out laughing.

“Hahahahahahaha. Now I understand.”

* * *

Chaaang.

The droop-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard officer could not hide his shock.

‘This bastard… is a master!’

He himself was a Baekho of the sixth rank and a master at the entrance to absolute mastery.

If his full seven-star powered sword strike could be stopped with a single finger like that, then this masked man before him was clearly far beyond him in martial skill.

‘With someone at this level, the four of us must attack together, or Cheonho himself will have to step in.’

Paat.

Realizing he could not handle the man alone, the droop-eyed guard hurriedly widened the distance and lowered one hand behind his back, giving a signal to the others to assist him as he spoke.

“Who are you, to interfere in the business of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?”

He deliberately emphasized their identity.

There was no one in the Central Plains who did not know that the Embroidered Uniform Guard were the emperor’s direct guard warriors.

He meant to put the man on guard by reminding him how dangerous it was to lay a hand on them.

At those words, the masked man, no, Mok Gyeong-un with his face covered by a black cloth, smiled faintly and said,

“Oh? So you were with the Embroidered Uniform Guard?”

The Embroidered Uniform Guard officer furrowed his brow at Mok Gyeong-un’s tone, which feigned ignorance.

Was this bastard doing it on purpose?

There was no way someone could look at their golden belts and flying-fish robes and still not recognize them as the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

So the guard said,

“If you truly did not know, then stop here and withdraw. If you do, we will not inquire into the circumstances or hold you guilty…”

Before he could finish,

Shhk.

Mok Gyeong-un closed the distance in an instant and appeared directly before him.

“Huh!”

Startled, the guard swung his sword backward and tried to throw his body away, but Mok Gyeong-un moved with lightning speed and struck the man’s acupoints.

Tatatatatak.

Once his acupoints were sealed, the guard’s eyes closed and he collapsed unconscious on the spot.

Thump.

The other Embroidered Uniform Guards, who had dismounted and were approaching while suppressing their presence in order to help their companion, could not hide their shock.

One of them immediately tried to shout toward the carriage.

“Cheon…”

Pak.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un clamped his hand around the droop-eyed guard’s neck as though he might snap it and raised the index finger of his other hand, wagging it from side to side toward the remaining guards.

The meaning was unmistakable. Shout, and your companion’s neck breaks.

‘T-this bastard is taking a hostage?’

With their comrade held like that, the guards immediately hesitated and stopped themselves from shouting.

At that very moment, Mok Gyeong-un’s body dispersed like smoke.

Srrk.

‘Shifting Form and Swapping Position?’

Shifting Form and Swapping Position.

A phenomenon in which someone moved so quickly that the body itself appeared like an afterimage.

The startled guards tried at once to put their backs together and brace themselves.

But before they could even fully turn, one of them, the bearded guard, seemed to take a strike to the jaw.

Thud.

“Urgh!”

His head snapped upward, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed face-first to the ground.

Thump.

‘This is bad!’

With yet another comrade taken in an instant, the two remaining guards pressed their backs together and rolled their eyes in every direction with desperate tension.

But not even Mok Gyeong-un’s shadow entered their field of vision.

The pressure closing in on them slowly drained the color from their faces.

* * *

The name of the girl with thick eyebrows, freckles, and a braided ponytail was Song-ah.

She was the artisan of Hongbong Meat’s daughter, and also the one who oversaw the inner affairs of the slaughterhouse.

With a thick cloth stuffed into her mouth as a gag, Song-ah glared angrily at the masked Embroidered Uniform Guard sitting opposite her with his arms folded.

She had chased after the guards screaming for them to return her father’s severed hand, and as a result she had ended up bound and trapped in a carriage like this.

The masked guard said to her,

“Have you calmed down a little?”

His was a heavy baritone.

The kind of voice that made him seem like a man of very few words.

Song-ah stared fixedly at him for a moment, then finally nodded.

At that, the masked guard removed the gag from her mouth.

“Puhah… haa… haa…”

She had clearly been stifled, for she let out heavy breaths at once.

After catching her breath, she glared at the masked guard again and said,

“So a great officer of the mighty Embroidered Uniform Guard not only cuts off my father’s hand but now kidnaps me too?”

“…”

“Where exactly are you taking me?”

Most women would have been terrified after being taken by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but Song-ah instead argued brazenly.

After staring at her for a moment, the masked guard spoke.

“Let us speak accurately. It was you who caused a disturbance by following our procession.”

“You call that a disturbance? You took my father’s hand after he had fulfilled your superior’s request, and I only tried to stop you from carrying it off like a trophy. That’s your disturbance?”

“Lower your voice.”

“I won’t!”

“Then perhaps you’d like that gag back in your mouth.”

“Try it. I’ll go right on making that disturbance until you return my father’s hand. Kyaaaaaa…”

Tatatak.

The moment Song-ah tried to scream, the masked guard struck her mute acupoint.

Then he let out a sigh and shook his head.

She was not merely bold. She was outrageous beyond belief.

“Mm! Mm!”

Even with her mute acupoint sealed, she still desperately struggled to make noise.

Watching her, the masked guard said,

“You’re trying hard.”

“Mm! Mm!”

“But enough.”

“Mm! Mm!”

“I understand that you want to make yourself look like a devoted daughter coming for her father’s severed hand. But you’ve gone too far.”

“…”

At those words, Song-ah stopped straining to make noise and stared at him.

The masked guard then picked up the leather sack lying on the floor.

Holding it out toward her, he said,

“If you’d made some noise and left, it might have looked convincing. But why were you so desperate to get this back?”

“…”

“Strictly speaking, this isn’t even the artisan’s real hand, is it?”

At that, her eyes trembled ever so slightly.

Seeing her falter, the masked guard became even more certain and released the acupoint sealing her mute point.

Tatatatatak.

Then he said to her,

“I’ve wrapped this carriage in true qi, so no sound goes in or out. Screaming is useless now, so tell me the truth.”

At those words, Song-ah clamped her mouth shut.

Seeing that, the masked guard shook his head and said,

“I see. It would be inconvenient for you to tell the truth here. But it is already obvious.”

“…What is obvious?”

Setting the leather sack back on the floor, the masked guard answered,

“This isn’t really the artisan’s hand, is it?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? You cut off my father’s hand and now you’re saying it isn’t really the artisan’s hand…?”

“For the hand of a craftsman who makes human-skin masks, the calluses are distributed too evenly.”

“What do you mean?”

“As far as I know, making human-skin masks is more difficult than people imagine, and the hands of the artisan are usually damaged by glue and various chemicals. But the owner of this hand has the hand of a man who has done butchery all his life, nothing more.”

“…”

At those words, Song-ah’s expression stiffened even more.

The masked guard, now certain, continued,

“The artisan whose hand was cut must be a fake. I never believed they would expose the real artisan so easily.”

At that precise and cutting deduction, Song-ah’s words failed her. At last she swallowed dryly and said,

“…That’s right. That person isn’t the real artisan.”

“Only now are we speaking plainly.”

At that, Song-ah gave a sharp snort and said in a mocking tone,

“Then I suppose you also figured out that I’m not really his daughter ei…”

“Of course you are not that man’s real daughter. But that doesn’t make you false either.”

“What?”

“Your hands.”

The masked guard nodded toward them.

The skin of Song-ah’s palms was peeled, callused, and scarred all over, to the point that not a single smooth patch remained.

That alone had convinced him that she truly was a craftsman’s daughter.

‘Tch.’

Realizing there was no point in hiding things any further, Song-ah could do nothing but bite her lip and glare at him.

“So what are you going to do with me? Use me as a hostage to find the real artisan?”

“Do you wish that were the case?”

“If you try, I’ll bite off my tongue and die right here.”

“You’d throw away your life for your father…”

Turning those words over in his mind, the masked guard gave a faint smile and said,

“If I truly meant to use you as a hostage, do you think I’d still be sitting here having this conversation with you?”

“…What are you talking about?”

She looked at him, thoroughly confused.

He had said that he had blocked the sounds in and out of the carriage, yet now, lowering his voice even further, he said,

“I had no choice but to cut off the fake artisan’s wrist because of my orders. But if it had been the real one, I would not have done it.”

“What?”

“I am saying that I had no intention of making enemies of your real father, the artisan.”

At those words, Song-ah frowned.

Was this man testing her?

His sudden change in manner was hard to accept.

“Do you think I’d believe that?”

“Of course not. But I have circumstances that force me to obey someone’s orders. I won’t ask you to understand that.”

“…Even if you do have such circumstances, I still can’t believe you.”

“I know. Even so, if I were lying, then this conversation itself would be meaningless.”

That only made Song-ah more confused.

Was this man’s true intent really what he was showing now?

Seeing that she still could not free herself from suspicion, the masked guard said,

“I am going to let you go soon.”

“What? Let me go?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t I just tell you? I have no intention of becoming enemies with you or your father.”

“…”

“I won’t force you to trust me. But once I let you go, take your real father and leave Kaifeng within four days. Not immediately, but someone with a sharp eye will eventually notice something is wrong with this hand. Still, I can buy you four days.”

“Why… why are you helping us?”

At the unexpected goodwill in his tone, Song-ah asked in confusion.

The masked guard answered in a low voice,

“Not for nothing. I need your help as well.”

“My help?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Make me a human-skin mask.”

“A human-skin mask?”

“Yes.”

“For what in the world…”

“It is simple. Just make again the same human-skin mask that was originally commissioned.”

At that request, Song-ah asked in puzzlement,

“Why would you want that same mask made again?”

“I have no obligation to explain that to you. This is a bargain that benefits both of us. All you must do is make the same mask. Can you do…”

Flinch.

At that moment, the masked guard cut himself off.

“What is it?”

“…The carriage has stopped.”

Although he had sealed the sound between the inside and outside with true qi, that did not mean he could no longer feel the vibration of the carriage.

He had become too focused on their conversation and only now realized that the carriage had been motionless for rather a while.

So,

Shhk.

He withdrew his qi, opened the carriage door, and stepped outside.

Then,

‘!?’

All the constables and all four Embroidered Uniform Guards were down.

‘When did this happen?’

Even though he had blocked the sounds, it had not been for that long.

And yet in that short interval, this had all happened?

Judging the situation immediately abnormal, the masked guard moved without hesitation to press both thumbs to the acupoints beneath his ears.

Then a voice sounded behind him.

“Waiting has grown tedious. So then, are your secret conversations finished?”

‘A master…’

Even though he had sealed off his senses, the fact that someone had approached behind him without the slightest hint meant his opponent was, at minimum, beyond peak mastery.

Still holding his thumbs at his acupoints, the masked guard said evenly,

“Who are you?”

Instead of answering, the voice behind him replied with a strange question.

“Which version do you think would be better?”

“What?”

“That the Embroidered Uniform Guard Cheonho killed his own men and the constables before fleeing? Or that I strip the skin from all your faces and make use of it myself?”