Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 24 - Form of Attachment (3)
Chapter 24 – Form of Attachment (3)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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‘Damn it. At this rate, I won’t keep my life.’
Guard Gochan was on his way to Hyewha Hall, the First Madam’s residence.
In the end, he had not been able to sleep.
No, after hearing that, it would have been strange if he had been able to fall asleep.
Gochan had not managed to demand from Mok Gyeong-un why he had done it, but he was at a loss as to what he should do now.
‘That madman. I clearly told him just to send him away.’
He had never imagined that he would kill Jo Il-sang, the Second Young Master’s bodyguard warrior.
He had thought he would at least have enough judgment for that much.
Just what was he thinking?
‘If that bastard Mok Eun-pyeong finds out that his bodyguard warrior has been killed, there will definitely be an uproar.’
And would it stop at just an uproar?
With that fellow’s personality, he might immediately try to take revenge on Mok Gyeong-un.
The Manor Lord was still alive, so he would not be able to kill him, but he might break his arms and legs, or he might try to kill a bodyguard in return.
‘This is driving me mad.’
Gochan felt the back of his neck stiffen.
Why had he gone and killed that man, only to make things this much worse?
[What about the corpse?]
[I took care of that myself, so you don’t need to worry.]
How had he taken care of it?
Had he hidden it somewhere like the secret place where he had found the secret manual?
Even if he had, how long could that possibly last?
To begin with, that man had been sent with a purpose.
If he did not show up, suspicion would naturally arise.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
If he had not killed him, that would be one thing, but in the present situation, delivering this hollow shell of a secret manual to the Second Young Master felt deeply unsettling.
Once again, he regretted it all over.
He wished he had just told everything to Senior Brother Gam.
But that chance had already passed.
He had concealed too much from Guard Gam out of fear of Mok Gyeong-un, so if he revealed it now, the man would no longer trust him.
Senior Brother was that sensitive and that distrustful of others.
‘He was even worse when he was still active.’
Thinking back to that time, the gap between then and how he was now was enormous.
He had been like that toward enemies, but even more merciless toward traitors.
‘But this is truly strange.’
Even remembering what Guard Gam had been like, why was that bastard more frightening to him?
He did not know how things had ended up like this.
“Hoo.”
Come to think of it, where had Senior Brother gone?
When he was with the real Mok Gyeong-un, he would not leave his post except when they were rotating for rest or when there was a serious emergency.
Yet yesterday he had been away for almost half a day.
‘What?’
Could it be that he was carrying something out without Gochan knowing?
Gochan’s eyes narrowed.
* * *
At the same time.
The residence of the Second Young Master, Mok Eun-pyeong.
Mok Eun-pyeong sat perched on a desk, arms folded, glaring at Guard Gam with cold eyes.
Having been summoned suddenly without knowing why, Guard Gam found it hard to guess the situation.
One thing was certain: Mok Eun-pyeong was extremely angry.
At that, Guard Gam carefully began to speak.
“Young Master. Why are you like this?”
“That is what I would like to ask.”
“Pardon?”
“What a curious coincidence. I tested it with a perhaps-so sort of feeling, and every time that slight sense of foreboding turns out to be right, it leaves me deeply displeased.”
Just what was he talking about?
Guard Gam frowned slightly.
‘Has he noticed that he’s a fake?’
But if that were so, the way he was speaking did not fit.
Mok Eun-pyeong’s tone right now clearly revealed open hostility toward him.
-Thud!
Guard Gam dropped to one knee on the floor, brought both hands together in a clasped-fist salute, and said,
“Young Master. This subordinate truly does not know what you mean. If you would tell me why you are acting like this…..”
“Why? Ha!”
With that, Mok Eun-pyeong hurled the inkstone that had been on the desk.
Guard Gam could have dodged it easily, but because he had to endure Mok Eun-pyeong’s anger, he took the blow as it was.
-Puk!
-Jureureuk!
Blood ran from Guard Gam’s forehead.
It hurt because he had not protected his body with internal power, but since he had learned how to endure pain through controlled breathing, Guard Gam gave away as little as possible.
Staring at Guard Gam, Mok Eun-pyeong said,
“I sent one of my bodyguards to confirm whether that bastard Mok Gyeong-un had truly lost his martial arts.”
‘…….I see.’
So there had indeed been a reason.
But something was odd.
‘If that were all, there would be no reason for him to be this angry.’
The fake Mok Gyeong-un had not learned martial arts.
If that had been confirmed, then rather than becoming angry, he ought to have set aside his doubts, so why was he showing such hostility?
As he was thinking that, Mok Eun-pyeong continued,
“But that bodyguard did not return.”
“Pardon?”
Flustered, Guard Gam lifted his head.
What was that supposed to mean?
“Do you not understand what I am saying? The bodyguard I sent to check whether that bastard had lost his martial arts or not disappeared without a trace.”
‘!?’
That could not be.
Guard Gam moved his eyes and looked at the guards in the room.
One of the three was missing.
‘Jo Il-sang.’
He was a man on the verge of reaching first-rate.
In terms of skill alone, Gochan, who was guarding now, was someone who absolutely could not handle him.
Then how could it be that he had disappeared?
Guard Gam parted his lips.
“That is impossible.”
“What?”
“This subordinate absolutely did not lie. That brat….. no, Young Master Mok Gyeong-un is in a body that cannot use martial arts. And the one guarding Young Master Mok Gyeong-un, a fellow named Gochan, is no more than a second-rate fighter, so he cannot handle Bodyguard Jo Il-sang.”
He could say that with certainty.
But there was not a shred of trust in Mok Eun-pyeong’s eyes.
They had not built trust to begin with, and now that the bodyguard had not returned, his suspicions had only grown.
“If you were in my place, would you believe those words?”
“It is the truth. If you cannot trust me, I can stake this arm on it.”
Guard Gam said this as he rolled up the sleeve on his right arm.
For a martial artist to stake his own arm was little different from staking everything.
At his forceful attitude, Mok Eun-pyeong sneered and said,
“Stake your arm? Fine. Then prove that what you said is true.”
“What do you mean by prove it?”
“If what you say is really true, then a man like Bodyguard Jo could not have been taken down by such weaklings. So I will give you about two shijin. Find Bodyguard Jo and bring him to me.”
“…….Understood.”
Guard Gam’s voice dropped low.
It felt as if something had gone very wrong.
It seemed he would have to confirm with his own eyes what had happened.
To him, Mok Eun-pyeong gave a warning in a voice steeped in murderous aura.
“If you fail to find him, you would do well to prepare to forfeit not only your arm but that paltry life of yours as well.”
“I will keep it in mind.”
* * *
Thus Guard Gam came out from the residence of the Second Young Master, Mok Eun-pyeong, with his face grimly set.
He barely restrained these emotions of his and hurried his steps toward the medicine hall.
Then, on the way, he ran into someone.
“Huh? S, Senior Brother?”
“You!”
It was Guard Gochan.
Gochan could not hide his embarrassment.
Of all times, just as he had been secretly carrying out Mok Gyeong-un’s order, he had run into Guard Gam like this.
Upon seeing Gochan, Guard Gam lowered his voice with an angry face and said,
“Why are you here? I clearly told you not to leave that brat’s side for even a moment.”
“Well, that is……”
At his inability to answer properly, Guard Gam’s eyes sharpened.
Placing a finger against the dagger hidden at his wrist, Guard Gam said,
“Have you perhaps been plotting something with that brat?”
“Pl, plotting?”
“Then why are you disobeying my order?”
“It’s not that…….”
Gochan’s mind went blank, and he was at a loss as to what he should say.
He could not very well tell him right now about the secret manual shell with the contents hollowed out that he had tucked away in his clothes to give to Mok Eun-pyeong.
‘Damn it.’
There was no helping it.
In the end, Gochan lied.
“Actually, the inner hall master summoned me because he had something to ask about what happened at the main hall yesterday…….”
“What? The inner hall master?”
Guard Gam frowned.
If one went down this path, it was true that one could reach the inner hall master’s office.
And while they were bodyguard warriors, they were also members of Yeon Mok Sword Manor, so if the inner hall master summoned them, they naturally had to move.
However,
‘This bastard?’
He could see Gochan’s eyes trembling faintly.
Ordinary people might not be able to detect it, but he, being trained, could.
He was clearly nervous.
If the inner hall master had called him, then even if Guard Gam had given an order, leaving his post would not be something to fault, so there was no reason for him to be this tense.
Guard Gam moved his eyes and looked around.
There were a few traces of people some distance away, but there was no one obvious or near them.
After confirming that, Guard Gam pressed one of the vital points in Gochan’s neck and slammed him against the wall.
-Pak! Bang!
“Kh!”
“You bastard, you must have a death wish.”
“S, Senior Brother?”
“Speak. What are you hiding?”
“Hiding? I truly am not hiding anythi…..”
-Shhk!
Guard Gam aimed the dagger toward the area near Gochan’s heart and said,
“One of that Second Mok Eun-pyeong brat’s bodyguards has disappeared.”
“………”
“The target he went to find was that fake brat. And you would still try to deny knowing even this?”
‘D, damn it…..’
To think he would be found out this quickly.
The very situation he had feared had happened.
No, was this truly merely the situation he had feared?
How had Senior Brother learned this fact when he had not even been there last night?
“W, wait a moment. How does Senior Brother know tha….. could it be that you’ve already made contact with the Second Young Master’s side?”
He had already known it was a fact that Guard Gam was trying to switch allegiances.
But he had not yet decided to whom.
Yet if he knew the circumstances on the Second Mok Eun-pyeong’s side, then that meant he had already gone over there.
“Why would you do that without even discussing it…..”
-Clench!
“Hk!”
Strength entered the hand with which Guard Gam was gripping the vital point on his neck, and Gochan could not continue.
To the struggling Gochan, Guard Gam said,
“Am I in a position where I have to discuss and report every little thing like that to the likes of you? And in the first place, do you think you are in a position to question me about such things right now?”
“P, please let go of this…..”
As the pain worsened, Gochan pleaded.
At that, Guard Gam loosened his grip and spoke into his ear.
“What are you hiding? Confess the truth. Otherwise…..”
-Thunk!
The tip of the dagger pierced into his chest.
As the dagger entered inward, Guard Gam frowned at the strange sensation.
He had only meant to lightly prick the flesh, but it felt like something else.
At that, Guard Gam thrust his hand into Gochan’s chest inside his clothes.
“W, wait….”
-Clench!
“Kek!”
Before long, what appeared in Guard Gam’s hand was the secret manual of the Wood-Transforming Heart Cultivation Method, with only two pages of contents remaining.
At the sight, Guard Gam’s eyes widened.
“This is?”
‘I’m finished.’
Gochan squeezed both eyes shut.
* * *
-Bang!
The door to the medicine hall burst open, and Guard Gam came inside with a fearsome face.
There were as many as three medicine-hall workers inside, but without paying them any mind at all, Guard Gam strode straight toward Mok Gyeong-un, who was propped up in bed reading a book.
Guard Gam walked right up to him.
In a low voice that only Mok Gyeong-un could hear, he parted his lips.
“What did you do?”
At those words, without taking his eyes off the book, Mok Gyeong-un answered,
“What do you mean?”
“Hoo.”
Guard Gam let out a deep sigh.
Then he subtly showed a book from inside his robes.
[Wood-Transforming Heart Cultivation Method]
It was the secret manual of the Wood-Transforming Heart Cultivation Method.
Guard Gam said in an irritated voice,
“Where in the world did you get this?”
At that, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head slightly, looked at the Wood-Transforming Heart Cultivation Method secret manual, and let out a faint laugh.
“You’re laughing?”
“It seems Guard Gochan had bad luck.”
“What?”
“If you brought that here, then it means you took it from Guard Gochan, doesn’t it?”
“………”
For a moment, Guard Gam was dumbfounded at the sight of Mok Gyeong-un not losing his composure in the slightest.
His insight aside, this brat never lost his calm.
Even after being caught by him in the fact that he had plotted something, he still maintained this attitude, which made him a truly audacious brat.
Then again, with nerves this swollen, it made sense that he would have killed the real Mok Gyeong-un as well.
But he could not forgive having the back of his head struck like this.
-Shhk!
At an angle no one else could see, Guard Gam drew a dagger and aimed it at the left side of Mok Gyeong-un’s ribs.
Then in a low voice he said,
“What in the world did you do to Gochan?”
“What do you mean, what did I do?”
“If you had not done something to him, then why would that brat keep his mouth shut so tightly?”
Before coming to see Mok Gyeong-un, Guard Gam had taken Gochan back to the quarters and interrogated him.
He had used bone-and-tendon torment and even cut off two of his fingers.
Yet he still had not opened his mouth until the very end.
[Speak.]
[……..]
[I said speak!]
[…….]
At the sight, a genuine question had arisen in Guard Gam’s mind.
Though this brat was admittedly different from ordinary people, Gochan was not someone he could not handle, so he could not understand why Gochan was so afraid.
If he had had his way, he would have liked to torture him all day to find out the reason.
However, he had no time.
[I will give you about two shijin.]
‘Damn it!’
The time the Second Young Master Mok Eun-pyeong had given him was no more than about two shijin.
Within that time he had to find Jo Il-sang, the man’s bodyguard warrior.
Otherwise Mok Eun-pyeong would surely try to kill him.
So in the end, he had left Gochan behind and run here to the person concerned, Mok Gyeong-un.
However,
“I truly have no idea what you are talking about.”
Mok Gyeong-un consistently played dumb.
Even the way he shrugged up to the shoulders made anger surge in him.
-Clench!
Grinding his teeth, Guard Gam changed the question.
“Fine. What you did to that brat Gochan, I will find out later. So answer me. Have you seen Jo Il-sang, the bodyguard warrior of Young Master Mok Eun-pyeong?”
Jo Il-sang, the bodyguard warrior of the Second Young Master Mok Eun-pyeong.
He was an expert on the verge of first-rate, so there should have been no way for Mok Gyeong-un, who had not learned martial arts, and Gochan, who was no more than second-rate, to deal with him together.
Clearly that was the case, so what was this uneasy feeling?
At that moment Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Ah, you mean that man who came to see me last night wearing a mask?”
“……..Yes. That man.”
“I’ve seen him.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Guard Gam steadied his breath and asked,
“You didn’t do anything to that man, did you?”
“Come on, do anything? What strength do I have?”
Mok Gyeong-un lightly waved his hand.
At that, Guard Gam had been thinking that apparently he had not harmed him after all.
However,
“How could someone who lost his martial arts because his dantian was damaged possibly do anything to such a person?”
‘!?’
Guard Gam frowned.
What was this supposed to mean?
The fact that this brat knew he had spoken as if Mok Gyeong-un had lost his martial arts meant that……
“You…….”
Into his ear, Mok Gyeong-un laughed quietly and said,
“You finally switched over to the Second Young Master…… and this fake brat didn’t play along and killed the Second Young Master’s bodyguard. What should we do about this?”
‘!!!!!!’
In an instant Guard Gam’s expression turned rigid.
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