Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 280 - Sacred Fire Leader (2)
Chapter 280 – Sacred Fire Leader (2)
===================
Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
“The doctrine of our cult reveres the sacred fire, practices good, and removes evil.”
“And?”
“Yet no matter how I look at it, you are evil itself.”
Along with those words, the Sacred Fire Leader glared coldly from inside the forbidden prison.
Mok Gyeong-un let out a faint laugh and said to the old woman,
“If I am evil, well, that may be so.”
“That may be so? To practice good and keep far from evil is an ever-present trial for the followers of our cult and what sustains us…”
“Forget the stale talk. Who decides the standard of good and evil?”
“What?”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Sacred Fire Leader’s eyes narrowed.
Who decides the standard of good and evil?
It was an absurd question.
“Why ask such a moral and obvious thing? Can you not even distinguish right from wrong?”
“And who decides what is right and what is wrong?”
“Ha… Are you trying to argue with this old one now?”
“Not exactly. I simply find it laughable when people take something for granted.”
“You find taking things for granted laughable?”
“Yes.”
“In the end, are not right and wrong, and the standard of good and evil, all things set by someone?”
“What?”
“I mean, the ones who set those standards were people in the end, were they not?”
“…”
The Sacred Fire Leader could not deny that.
After all, it had surely been people of old who set those standards, and what they laid down had come down through time as custom and morality.
The doctrine of the Fire Worship Sect was no different.
It too had simply been inherited as it was from Persia.
Yet if one began tracing first principles like this, there would be no end to it.
“What exactly is it that you mean to say? Do you wish to deny standards merely because someone set them? But do you think that can be done?”
“Why do you say that?”
“There are things the majority believes to be right, and there are things the minority believes to be right.”
“And?”
“In the end, the world moves according to what the majority deems right, and what is called morality, and likewise what is called wrong, cannot help but be drawn by the will of the majority.”
“So because both good and evil, right and wrong, are opinions determined by the majority, those who belong to the minority must follow them?”
“This old one cannot give you that answer. In the end, it is something you yourself must come to accept. But for the majority to reach such a decision, there must have been much deliberation, conflict, and trial and error.”
“Ah, I see.”
The Sacred Fire Leader believed that teaching as well could only lead to enlightenment once the person accepted it for himself.
One could babble about first principles all day and try to force all manner of ideas into someone, but it meant nothing.
Not if he did not accept it himself.
Then Mok Gyeong-un smiled brightly and said to her,
“Then the Fire Worship Sect must be an absolute evil that should not exist in this world, and something absolutely wrong.”
“What? What do you mean by that…”
“You said it yourself. The reason the minority must follow the opinion of the majority.”
“That is…”
“Since the Fire Worship Sect and its teachings are rejected by the great majority of the people of the Central Plains and therefore belong to the minority, then should they not naturally be denied?”
“…”
At those words, the Sacred Fire Leader could not answer at all.
She had been turned around instead.
Because of the evil she felt from him, she had tried to teach him the doctrine and reform him, yet she had only exposed the flaws in her own words.
‘…What a cunning brat.’
If she raised a counterargument for the sake of the cult here, she would only end up repeating a debate in which she overturned her own words.
Clicking her tongue, the Sacred Fire Leader said,
“It has been a long time since this old one has found herself cornered in words like this.”
“Has it?”
“And yet thanks to that, one thing has become clearer.”
“Clearer? What do you mean?”
“I can no longer be certain that one who questions the teachings of our cult is truly a follower of our cult.”
Her eyes were full of suspicion.
Seeing that, Mok Gyeong-un decided he ought to provoke her just enough.
There was much he wanted to learn from her, but there was too little time, and if he stirred up even more wariness in her, freeing her from prison might become troublesome for no reason.
“Ah. It seems I have failed to earn the Sacred Fire Leader’s trust. Then how about this?”
Mok Gyeong-un pulled something from his clothes.
It was none other than the ring that Shadow Sect Master Hwan Ya-seon had handed over.
He had said it was a proof token identifying a cult member.
Showing the proof token, Mok Gyeong-un respectfully crossed both hands before him, bowed, and paid his respects.
“A follower of the Fire Worship Sect pays respects to the Sacred Fire Leader.”
At that greeting, the Sacred Fire Leader, whose head had been full of suspicion just moments before, now looked confused.
‘How does he have that?’
That was because the ring Mok Gyeong-un showed was a proof token that only a godfather, a high-ranking office within the Fire Worship Sect, could possess.
Even within the Fire Worship Sect, there were not many godfathers.
So she asked,
“From whom did you receive that?”
Judging by his face, he was not yet even twenty, so it could not possibly be his own.
For that reason, she was certain Mok Gyeong-un must have received this proof token from someone else.
“I received it from my master.”
“Your master? Tell me the honored name, or at least the cult name, of the one from whom you received instruction.”
Shadow Sect Master Hwan Ya-seon had told him that if he ever met a cult member, he should introduce him without using his family name.
Apparently that surname was one inherited from the previous Shadow Sect Master.
So Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Ya-seon.”
“Godfather Ya-seon!”
At those words, excitement entered the Sacred Fire Leader’s voice for the first time.
Mok Gyeong-un watched her closely.
He had expected Shadow Sect Master Hwan Ya-seon to be someone of rather high standing in the Fire Worship Sect, but seeing even the Sacred Fire Leader, who was virtually second only to the cult leader, react like this, it seemed he truly was an important figure.
“You say Godfather Ya-seon sent you? Where is he now?”
“Do you happen to know of an organization called the Heaven and Earth Society?”
“The Heaven and Earth Society? Is it not one of the greatest organizations in the martial world? How could this old one not know of it? Then does that mean Godfather Ya-seon remained there until now?”
Thanks to her reaction, Mok Gyeong-un realized that Shadow Sect Master Hwan Ya-seon had remained within the Heaven and Earth Society far longer than he had expected.
Then she said,
“That Godfather Ya-seon survived all this time and still exerted himself like this… truly, the great fortune of our cult has not run dry.”
‘…’
A strange light entered Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes at those words.
Was it really true that the Sacred Fire Leader could foresee the future?
If she truly possessed such an ability, then she ought to have been able to predict whether Shadow Sect Master Hwan Ya-seon was alive or dead, along with many other things she might have wanted to know, yet none of it made sense.
Just as that doubt was about to deepen,
-Kururururur!
suddenly a tremor rose from the floor, and at once the entire cave shook violently.
The scale of the tremor could not even be compared with the one from when Mok Gyeong-un and one of the Six Blood Saints, Dam Baek-ha, had fought.
“Wh-what?”
It was so violent that the Sacred Fire Leader staggered and had to grab the iron bars.
‘What is this?’
Mok Gyeong-un pressed a hand to the floor in puzzlement.
Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the violent shaking of the entire cave stopped.
He could not understand what sort of phenomenon this was.
As he wondered, the Sacred Fire Leader said,
“Let us leave this place first. If we do not get out quickly, we may meet disaster.”
“Do you know why?”
“Not precisely. I only know that this is the first time the entire cave has shaken so violently.”
“If you say this is the first time this badly, then does that mean it has shaken before, just not as much?”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the Sacred Fire Leader recalled something.
“Not to this degree, but I remember that whenever it shook even a little, like there had been an earthquake, the Embroidered Uniform Guards who came here would hurry out. Ah, no, not all of them. Come to think of it, the only one among those who questioned me who did not leave, but instead came inside the forbidden prison and shut the door, was the man who said he was the overall person in charge of this underground forbidden prison.”
“Even though this place was shaking?”
“Yes.”
“And he told me to remember it. He said that leaving the Avici Prison alive was absolutely impossible.”
“Impossible?”
Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin at those words.
From what he had seen, escaping from the Avici Prison did not seem impossible to that extent.
In fact, it almost made the claim that no one could ever escape this place seem ridiculous.
If so, was there something else hidden here?
Lifting his hand from the floor, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Let us leave first. Then we can see whether it is truly impossible or not.”
“…Godfather Ya-seon is always cautious, but you are more confident than you look.”
“I belong to the sort that prefers colliding with things over worrying about them. More importantly, would you mind stepping back a little?”
“Step back?”
“It will be hard to cut the iron bars if you are right against them.”
“Ah!”
At his words, the Sacred Fire Leader stepped back about five paces.
Then Mok Gyeong-un formed the sword-finger sign and lightly drew it across the bars.
-Sseuk!
The Sacred Fire Leader could not hide her puzzlement when he simply traced the iron bars barehanded, as though he were not even using the sword of that dead man.
How could iron bars possibly be cut simply by drawing one’s fingers across them…
-Seogeong!
At that moment, the bars where Mok Gyeong-un’s sword-finger had passed were severed and toppled away.
Seeing that, the Sacred Fire Leader swallowed dryly.
He looked not yet even twenty, yet he was enough of a master to cut iron bars barehanded. She was inwardly astonished.
‘So he is the disciple of Godfather Ya-seon. His martial ability truly is remarkable.’
Was Godfather Ya-seon himself really this strong as well?
Once he dealt with the restraints on both her arms and legs, the Sacred Fire Leader was finally able to step out of the forbidden prison.
“…I have not escaped completely yet, but you have my thanks.”
She expressed her gratitude to Mok Gyeong-un.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un merely shrugged lightly.
It was just then.
-Kurururururur!
Once again, as though an earthquake had struck the underground forbidden prison, the entire cave shook violently.
But this time it was even worse than before.
It was so intense that cracks ran along the cave walls and a bizarre pressure accompanied the tremors.
Pressing his hand to the floor, Mok Gyeong-un frowned.
‘So that is why.’
-Kurururururur!
Staggering and clinging to the cave wall, the Sacred Fire Leader asked,
“Wh-what in the world is happening?”
Mok Gyeong-un answered in a tone of disbelief,
“It seems the ground beneath us has completely collapsed. The stratum we are standing on appears to be falling with it.”
‘!?’
That was the cause of the impossible shaking and the pressure that made it feel difficult even to stand.
Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue at a situation he had never experienced before.
It was called the Avici Prison, but he had never imagined that an entire level of ground would be made to collapse and drop.
* * *
-Kurururururur!
“Th-this…”
The passage leading up from the Avici Prison to the third level of the underground forbidden prison.
Im Gyu-wol, Deputy Thousand-Household Commander and head of the Office of Penal Service, stared at the collapsed section in utter despair.
He had only half believed it, but it seemed the final mechanism formation had truly been activated.
“Damn it!”
Unable to endure it, Im Gyu-wol shouted aloud in anger.
Because too many prisoners had come out of the forbidden prison, he had hurried here in fear that the final mechanism formation might activate, but it was already too late.
-Kurururururur!
The pressure that made it difficult even to stand was the result of the ground below collapsing, causing the entire level of the Avici Prison to fall downward.
As far as he knew, it would drop nearly one li.
At the same time this place fell, the ground it vacated would be instantly filled in, making the structure such that there was absolutely no way to climb back up.
-Eudeuk!
He ought never to have come down at all.
If not for the pressure from Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom, none of this would have happened in the first place.
Grinding his teeth in misery over the situation, Im Gyu-wol suddenly pulled himself together.
‘There is no time for this.’
If he remained idle, he would die in the end.
Now that the final mechanism formation had activated, the only way even a little of them could survive was for everyone to combine their strength.
Whether prisoner or Embroidered Uniform Guard, the only answer was for every single person to lend a hand and dig their way upward.
Moreover, the final mechanism formation did not end with this.
According to the information he had received about the underground forbidden prison, once it fell, a hidden prison chamber would open and the thirty-six bronze men inside it would be released to attack indiscriminately anyone who had escaped.
-Tatatatatak!
So Im Gyu-wol hurried toward the inner reaches of the Avici Prison.
‘If they wish to live, they will cooperate.’
* * *
“Oh. So you subdued him alive after all?”
Mok Gyeong-un spoke in surprise to Dam Baek-ha, one of the Six Blood Saints of the Old Blood Cult.
He had inwardly expected that Ju Un-hyang, seized by the demon sword Calamity Bane, would lose his life while fighting her.
Yet perhaps heaven had favored him.
His complexion was somewhat haggard, but Ju Un-hyang was lying facedown unconscious before Dam Baek-ha, who was leaning against the wall, sleeping peacefully.
And on the floor beside him, Calamity Bane Sword was half buried in the ground.
As befitted a demon sword, even embedded in the floor it trembled faintly and radiated demonic nature.
At that moment, Dam Baek-ha opened her mouth in a tone edged with irritation.
“Forget whether I saved him or not. What do you intend to do now?”
“What do you mean, what do we do?”
“Are you really asking because you do not know? If it had only been you and me, we could have gone out earlier and none of this would have happened.”
The reason Dam Baek-ha was angry was simple.
She too had sensed that the ground itself had fallen away below them.
“Trying to save that mere old hag has gotten us trapped here, waiting to die.”
“A mere old hag?”
At Dam Baek-ha’s words, the Sacred Fire Leader frowned.
Who was this woman, calling her a mere old hag?
In the first place, attaching the word young to old hag was complete nonsense.
Still, because the situation was so terrible, she assumed the words had simply slipped out in anger.
Then Mok Gyeong-un walked over to the embedded Calamity Bane Sword.
Dam Baek-ha tried to stop him.
“Hey. Stop.”
“Yes?”
“I only just separated that thing from the boy, so what are you trying to do by taking it yourself?”
Even subduing someone with comparatively weak energy had been rather troublesome.
If, by any chance, someone who had surpassed the wall were seized by the demon sword’s demonic nature, something dreadful would happen.
That was why she was warning him not to take it.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and said,
“It would be a waste to leave it behind.”
“A waste to leave it behind? Is this really the time for such talk? We do not even know whether clawing through the earth until our nails break will get us out or not… What are you doing right now?”
Dam Baek-ha stared at Mok Gyeong-un in incomprehension.
That was because he suddenly took something from inside his clothes, slipped it over his index and middle fingers, and then began rotating his hand in a circular motion.
She wondered what nonsense he was up to at a time like this, when,
-Seuseuseuseu!
suddenly smoke flowed through the air, space rippled, and an entrance appeared.
Seeing this, everyone was stunned.
What kind of wonder was this?
‘!!!!!’