Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 27 - Death Aura (2)
Chapter 27 – Death Aura (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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This was Mok Eun-pyeong’s residence.
-Slurp!
Having finished breakfast, Mok Eun-pyeong elegantly sipped Junshan Silver Needle, a famous tea from Hunan Province.
One of his bodyguard warriors, Jeon Yang-pyeong, who had reached the level of a first-rate master, spoke to him carefully.
“Young Master.”
“What is it?”
“However, judging from Guard Gam’s reaction earlier, it did not seem like he was lying. Do you truly think he was deceiving you as a desperate measure?”
-Tap!
Mok Eun-pyeong set down his teacup and answered briefly.
“No. Half and half. There must have been something even Guard Gam did not know. Even if it were a desperate measure, would he really do something suspicious enough to be doubted after only a single day? No matter how much of a fool that bastard Mok Gyeong-un is, he must have hidden at least one trump card.”
“Pardon? Then why did you……”
“Why did I say I’d take his life if he failed to find Jo Il-sang within a mere two shijin?” “Yes. Did you not want Guard Gam that badly?”
For a long time, Mok Eun-pyeong had wanted to make Guard Gam, who served the Third Young Master Mok Gyeong-un, his own man.
Even after learning that the man had once been an assassin, that desire had not changed.
Rather, he had even remarked that such a man would be all the more useful.
“If you had instead looked into it separately and shown him trust……”
“That would not do.”
“By saying that would not do, you mean……”
“If I had shown him unquestioning trust, rather than being grateful he would have looked at this young master as soft or easy. So I meant to instill an appropriate level of tension.”
“You mean?”
“Do you think this young master would throw away talent of that caliber so easily?”
Mok Eun-pyeong grinned.
Even if the two shijin passed, he had never truly intended to kill him.
“This young master must first show that I am demanding and severe to this extent, then once the truth is understood, I should show forgiveness. People are always more affected when you act harshly and then treat them well once.”
That was how Mok Eun-pyeong handled people.
At this, though inwardly unconvinced, Jeon Yang-pyeong feigned admiration and said,
“As expected of you, Young Master. To think you had such insight.”
“So wait quietly. When people become impatient, that is when their spirit is easiest to break. It is regrettable to lose Bodyguard Jo, but because of that very sense of responsibility, he will only become more loyal.”
“Your words are correct.”
“What pretty words.”
“However, please do not drive him too hard.”
At this, Mok Eun-pyeong raised one eyebrow.
“What?”
“Did you not learn it while investigating Guard Gam’s past?”
“Ah…… that matter?”
“Yes. Guard Gam may be from ‘that place.’ If he truly is from ‘that place,’ then no matter that he is retired, if you provoke him carelessly, it may become dan….. no, troublesome for you.”
He had nearly said it might become dangerous.
But he changed his wording because Mok Eun-pyeong had subtle pride.
Those who came from assassin groups were all the more dangerous as subordinates.
Especially if they were from ‘that place.’
-Slurp! Tap!
“You said may be. We do not know whether he is or not.”
“Yes.”
“More importantly, think about what to do with that bastard Mok Gyeong-un. If he truly did lay a hand on Jo Il-sang, I absolutely cannot let him go.”
“……….”
Judging by the reaction, he seemed already offended.
Saying more of the same here would only worsen his lord’s mood, so bodyguard Jeon Yang-pyeong stopped.
It was then.
They heard the sound of someone hurrying toward them.
-Knock knock!
“Young Master. It is Han-saeng.”
“Enter.”
Han-saeng.
He was one of Mok Eun-pyeong’s three bodyguards and the weakest among them in martial ability.
Like Gochan, he was only at the second-rate level.
Because of that, he handled the greatest share of odd jobs.
Seeing Han-saeng hurry inside, Mok Eun-pyeong asked in puzzlement,
“It has not even been long since I sent you to look into the situation. Judging by that expression and the way you came running, something has happened?”
“Th, that…..”
“Speak.”
“Guard Gam has disappeared.”
“What?”
At the sudden news, Mok Eun-pyeong’s expression hardened.
What was this nonsense out of nowhere?
With a voice that said he could not understand, Jeon Yang-pyeong asked,
“What are you talking about? What do you mean Guard Gam has disappeared?”
“Th, that…..”
“Don’t tell me he disobeyed the Young Master’s order and ran away?”
“That is not it.”
“Then what in the world are you saying? Speak clearly!”
Pressed by Jeon Yang-pyeong, Bodyguard Han-saeng said with a troubled look,
“A huge commotion has broken out.”
“A commotion?”
“Yes. The outer-hall warriors were guarding the place, so I could not go near, but from what I heard, Guard Gam killed the three workers in the medicine hall and then tried to kill the Third Young Master too, but was injured and fled.”
‘!?’
At those words, Mok Eun-pyeong was dumbfounded.
What in the world did that mean?
He had told him to find his bodyguard Jo Il-sang, so why in the world would Guard Gam suddenly try to kill that bastard Mok Gyeong-un?
‘Could it be…..’
Had he tried to prove his loyalty to him that way?
Or had he tried to threaten Mok Gyeong-un into revealing where Jo Il-sang had disappeared to?
It was impossible to guess.
At that moment, bodyguard Jeon Yang-pyeong asked in the same stunned tone,
“Are you sure? Why would Guard Gam do such a thing?”
“I do not know either. But if the injuries to Young Master Mok Gyeong-un were grave enough that his life may have been in danger, then it may really be true. But that is not the problem.”
“If not that, then what?”
“It shames me to report this, but…..”
“Speak quickly!”
At Mok Eun-pyeong’s sharp demand, Han-saeng finally parted his lips.
“It seems Young Master Mok Gyeong-un has told the outer hall’s investigators that Guard Gam was incited to betray him and that the one who ordered him to kill him was you, Young Master.”
‘!!!!!’
No sooner had those words ended than Mok Eun-pyeong’s face twisted fiercely.
At the sight of his rage, bodyguard Jeon Yang-pyeong hurriedly tried to soothe him.
“Young Master. Please calm yourself. Even if that bastard Mok Gyeong-un spreads such false rumors, there is no way the outer hall will believe them.”
-Bang!
At those words, Mok Eun-pyeong slammed the table and raised his voice.
“Whether they believe it or not is not the issue. What will the vassals think of this young master if I become entangled in idle talk before even being chosen as a successor?”
Mok Eun-pyeong’s body trembled.
The outer hall could not use this incident to pressure him, since he was not the Manor Lord, but neither would they simply overlook it.
If that happened, the support of the vassals might weaken.
“That bastard Mok Gyeong-un!”
-Pat!
Unable to bear it any longer, Mok Eun-pyeong sprang to his feet.
He could not endure unless he went to find Mok Gyeong-un at once and turned everything upside down.
Bodyguard Jeon Yang-pyeong stopped him.
“Young Master, calm yourself!”
“Calm myself? Does it look like a time to be calm? That damned bastard has stabbed this young master in the back twice now, and you would have me sit still?”
This was the second time, after Bodyguard Jo Il-sang.
This one in particular had truly infuriated him.
“However, if you go now, you will only draw further suspicion. And if the outer hall is guarding the place, then the vassals’ eyes will inevitably turn there as well.”
-Gnash!
At those words, Mok Eun-pyeong ground his teeth.
Though angry, bodyguard Jeon Yang-pyeong was right about this.
If he went to Mok Gyeong-un now and vented his anger or harmed him, it would negatively affect the struggle over succession.
But leaving it like this was enough to make his stomach burst.
Just how pleased with himself would that bastard be?
The eldest young master, Mok Yeong-ho, or the First Madam, might even laugh at him.
As Mok Eun-pyeong still failed to calm his anger, bodyguard Jeon Yang-pyeong said in a low voice,
“Young Master. Since it has come to this, how about moving ‘them’?”
“Them?”
“The group that Guard Gam once belonged to.”
“………You mean that place?”
“Yes.”
“What do you mean, move them?”
“As I understand it, they are extremely proud when it comes to assassination, and they have a strict rule.”
“A strict rule?”
“Yes. Whether one has retired or not, they say they do not tolerate an assassin from their own school failing.”
“And if they do not tolerate it, what do they do?”
“They say they complete the assassination by whatever means necessary.”
At those words, Mok Eun-pyeong’s frozen expression gradually softened.
“Did he not say with his own mouth that Guard Gam had tried to kill him? Then it is rather fortunate. This subordinate will leak the matter to them.”
At bodyguard Jeon Yang-pyeong’s words, the corner of Mok Eun-pyeong’s mouth rose.
* * *
Mok Gyeong-un sat still with his eyes closed, as if meditating while seated cross-legged.
At this moment, Mok Gyeong-un was trying something called a breath cultivation method.
No matter how strong his recovery was, a dagger had been embedded between his ribs and in his thigh, so there was no way those would heal instantly.
Thus, since things had come to this, he was trying to form a dantian.
‘Only then will I be able to do something about this.’
Below Mok Gyeong-un’s navel there had gathered cold, yin death aura, that is, the energy of death.
It was the energy he had absorbed from the dead Jo Il-sang and Guard Gam.
Yet despite absorbing it, unlike the internal power he had handled after absorbing it through the Form of Attachment, it only accumulated in his stomach and would not move.
So he was attempting this because he thought that if he formed a dantian with it, something might become possible.
But,
‘Is this how it normally is?’
The Wood-Transforming Heart Cultivation Method contained a detailed explanation of the breath cultivation method, that is, the proper way of breathing.
Of course, it also included the corresponding methods for circulating qi and regulating breath, as well as the essentials of qi circulation.
In any case, in order to perform proper qi circulation, one had to take in the energy in the air through the breathing method and gather it toward the dantian to form a small seed.
Yet something was strange.
‘Why does the energy I take in through breathing scatter?’
The energy gathered through the breathing method was extremely faint.
It was far smaller than when he had absorbed power with the Form of Attachment, but the heart-method manual had said that was normal.
So he regarded it as gathering dust into a mountain and guided it below his navel.
-Seureureu!
But the moment it entered, it scattered.
Just as internal power absorbed through the Form of Attachment naturally scattered away, it simply vanished.
‘Why?’
He could not understand.
Was it simply the nature of energy to scatter so easily?
There was no one to ask, and since he had no choice but to follow the book, Mok Gyeong-un could only proceed by its instructions.
“Hoo……. hoo…….”
Through the breath cultivation method he gathered energy while reciting the essentials of the heart method.
He kept at it for as long as half a day, until the sun was nearly setting, yet the faint energies that entered continued to scatter the instant they reached below his navel.
‘……..What is this?’
Why was that?
The secret manual said that forming a seed, no, forming a dantian, was extremely difficult.
From that perspective, it certainly was difficult.
But it did not say that the gathered energy would scatter as soon as it was collected.
It said it would scatter gradually.
‘But it vanishes immediately.’
Yet unlike what the book said, the energy disappeared the instant it entered.
Why was that?
Was martial arts not something one could learn alone through self-study after all?
‘Hmm.’
Mok Gyeong-un cast a sidelong glance at Guard Gochan, who lay on the bed beside him sleeping like a dead man.
Having had the ring finger and little finger of his left hand cut off and been tortured with tendon-splitting, bone-twisting methods, he had been locked in Mok Gyeong-un’s annex while unconscious.
Mok Gyeong-un had asked the outer-hall warriors to bring him here.
He had thought of leaving him alone, but now he decided he should wake him.
“Guard Gochan.”
“………..”
“Guard Gochan.”
“……….”
“Hmm.”
-Shhk!
Mok Gyeong-un raised his palm over Gochan’s face.
Then,
-Pak!
Gochan’s eyes flew open, and he quickly sat up and answered in a rush,
“Yes!”
“How interesting. Weren’t you asleep?”
“I, I was asleep.”
In truth, Gochan had awakened nearly one gak ago.
After waking up, he had kept his eyes shut while feeling out the situation because he had no idea what had happened.
Thanks to that, he had learned that this was the medicine hall and that Mok Gyeong-un was right beside him.
Because of that, he had found himself unable to open his eyes.
It was a kind of escape from reality.
To him, Mok Gyeong-un said in a whispering voice,
“There was something I wanted to say once you woke up.”
“Th, that is what?”
-Gulp!
Gochan could not hide his tension.
For no reason, anxiety welled up in him.
To him, Mok Gyeong-un gave a faint smile and said,
“Contrary to my expectations, your mouth is fairly tight.”
“……..Ha.”
Gochan let out a sigh of relief.
The truth was, he had thought dying this way or that way would not make much difference, but he had endured because dying at Mok Gyeong-un’s hands seemed as though it would be the most painful of all.
“I’m starting to like you more and more, Guard Gochan.”
“Th, thank you.”
That was a relief.
It seemed his choice had not been wrong after all.
‘……..Wait. But is this really something to be happy about?’
It felt as though he was gradually being tamed by Mok Gyeong-un.
The moment he became conscious of that, Gochan felt a kind of self-loathing.
Then he suddenly remembered something and, thinking he had made a mistake, apologized while watching Mok Gyeong-un’s expression.
“But, Young Master……. forgive me. I was discovered by Guard Gam midway, and the thing you entrusted to me was taken away…..”
“Ah, I got that back.”
“Pardon?”
What did he mean, he got it back?
To the puzzled Gochan, Mok Gyeong-un smiled softly and whispered,
“Only you should know this, Guard Gochan. I killed Guard Gam and took it back.”
‘!?’
At those words, Gochan’s eyes widened.
Had he heard that correctly just now?
He had killed Senior Brother Gam?
Even if retired, that man had been a mid-level assassin of the Flying Assassin Sect, one of the three great second-generation assassin groups of the Central Plains.
“H, how…..”
“Shh.”
Mok Gyeong-un gestured with his eyes toward the entrance of the medicine hall.
Outside the paper door, their shadows showed about four warriors.
And on the opposite side, another four were standing guard as well.
They were warriors of the outer hall of Yeon Mok Sword Manor.
“Those men think Guard Gam attacked me and then disappeared. So you should roughly understand it that way too, Guard Gochan.”
At those words, Gochan lowered his voice and whispered,
“Is that truly so?”
“Do I have any reason to lie about something like this?”
“………”
Gochan swallowed dryly.
True enough, that bastard who was like a demon had no reason to lie about something like this.
‘Impossible……. just what is this bastard?’
He clearly had not learned martial arts.
Yet now he had even killed a first-rate master?
By common sense, that was completely impossible.
No, was such a thing even possible?
To the still disbelieving Guard Gochan, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“I have something to ask.”
“Ye, yes? What is it you wish to ask?”
“I want to form a dantian, but it doesn’t come easily. I thought I had good comprehension, but it seems I don’t understand the contents of the secret manual very well.”
“…….A dantian, you say?”
Gochan frowned and asked back.
Was this bastard still trying to learn martial arts?
But Mok Gyeong-un was no longer young enough to be considered early for beginning martial arts.
‘Seventeen…… impurities have already built up in his meridians, so even if he practices the breath cultivation method, taking in energy properly will be difficult.’
That was why one started the breath cultivation method as early as possible.
Leaving aside comprehension, forming a dantian would naturally be difficult.
He was at a loss as to how to say it.
‘I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but it’s already too late for you to learn martial arts.’
He did not dare say that.
After thinking for a moment, Gochan said,
“Wo, would you be able to tell me what part is difficult for you?”
For now, he would help him.
If he simply said it out loud, it would only sour his mood.
It would be better to let him discover through experience that it was already too late to learn martial arts.
Unaware of those thoughts, Mok Gyeong-un explained the point at which he had become stuck.
“….And because of that, no matter what I do, the energy scatters.”
“……..”
At those words, Gochan went blank for a moment.
Had he heard wrong?
He had only just begun the breath cultivation method, and already he knew what qi was and had even gathered it below his navel through the circulation route by himself?
Even if it scattered afterward?
‘No. He must be joking right now.’
No matter how one looked at it, there was no way a man who did not even know the first character of martial arts could get that far with only a heart-method secret manual and his own study.
This was impossible no matter how one thought about it.
Even if one handed over the Three Talents Heart Method, which could be called the very foundation, unless one first learned the basics necessary to practice martial arts, it would be difficult to easily understand what qi even was.
“Guard Gochan?”
“Ye, yes!”
“Why are you making that face?”
“Th, that is……”
“Is there something strange?”
“No, it isn’t that so much as……”
“As?”
“Young Master…… did you truly sense qi through breathing?”
You sensed that in not even half a day?
“Yes. Why?”
“Young Master. This is something that truly needs to be made certain……”
“If I felt it, I say I felt it. Do I have a reason to joke around?”
“………..”
This is driving me mad.
From Gochan’s point of view, it was exactly this.
It was as though Mok Gyeong-un were saying with his own mouth that he was a genius of the ages.
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