Chapter 286 – Entangled (5)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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When Dam Baek-ha, one of the Six Blood Saints of the Old Blood Cult, suddenly showed him such courtesy, Mok Gyeong-un asked in puzzlement,

“Why are you suddenly doing this?”

At the question, Dam Baek-ha raised her head and said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“Forgive the discourtesy I have shown until now. Dam Baek-ha, one of the Six Blood Saints of the Blood Cult, now formally pays her respects to the elder’s disciple.”

It was somewhat awkward, but she had shown proper courtesy.

Yet she was not the only one.

After hesitating for a moment, even Deputy Thousand-Household Commander So Ye-rin, though not quite like Dam Baek-ha, respectfully brought both hands together and bowed at the waist toward Mok Gyeong-un.

-Swish.

“Hmm. I really do not understand.”

As Mok Gyeong-un looked puzzled, Dam Baek-ha answered,

“Though our cult venerates the law of the strong, that does not mean we can ignore rank and seniority.”

“Rank and seniority?”

“Yes. If no one less than the elder personally transmitted martial arts to you, then within our cult as well, you are no different from one of our highest seniors.”

“A highest senior?”

At those words, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head.

It was not that he knew nothing of etiquette, but Mok Gyeong-un was not someone who knew the widely accepted rules or customs of the martial world particularly well.

As a result, this turned into something very strange, though not by his intention.

It was not as though martial artists were ignorant of courtesy.

Regardless of whether they belonged to the orthodox or unorthodox factions, martial artists also formed groups and passed down their martial arts, so there were times when they valued etiquette even more.

This was such a case.

‘Hmm.’

The old man Mok Gyeong-un had met in the rainstorm, carrying a bamboo fishing rod.

Unlike his shabby appearance, everything about him, beginning with his martial arts, had been extraordinary.

Yet for someone from the old martial world to treat such a man with this level of deference, just how long had he lived, and what exactly was he?

So Mok Gyeong-un asked,

“Who exactly is this elder you speak of, for you to say I am practically one of your highest seniors?”

At that, Dam Baek-ha asked him back with a puzzled look,

“Do you mean to say you do not know who the elder is?”

“It is not that I do not know. He simply never told me. Other than matters of enlightenment, that is.”

“Ah…”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Dam Baek-ha turned to look at So Ye-rin.

So Ye-rin wore a similarly strange expression and then nodded.

Only then did Dam Baek-ha turn back and speak.

“Did the elder truly tell you nothing at all?”

“Yes. He refused to tell me to the very end.”

“I see. If that was the elder’s intention, then I too cannot tell you.”

“What?”

“Exactly as I said. There must be a profound reason why the elder chose not to reveal his identity to you, young master.”

“Is there really some reason he should not say it?”

Mok Gyeong-un said it as though he could not understand.

At that, Dam Baek-ha carefully replied,

“There must surely have been some intention behind the elder not telling you.”

“An intention? Do you have some guess?”

“The elder left the martial world long ago.”

“By left, do you mean he retired?”

“Yes. It could mean that as well. The elder turned his back on the martial world a very long time ago. Even when I was still young and immature, that was already the case. If not for that incident, he likely would never have shown himself again.”

“That incident?”

“…The day of the great catastrophe.”

Since he had been curious about it from before, Mok Gyeong-un asked after hearing those words from Dam Baek-ha,

“Come to think of it, while the two of you were talking earlier, you said the boundaries of the martial world were divided because of the day of the great catastrophe. Could you tell me what that means?”

“You mean… the day of the great catastrophe?”

“Yes.”

At that question, Dam Baek-ha let out a sigh that was almost a lament and said,

“I suppose for people of your generation, young master, and for the current martial world, the day of the great catastrophe has become far too distant a past.”

“If it is called a great catastrophe, then it must have been a very major event?”

“Even those words are insufficient. Because of that day, countless people of the Central Plains died, and more than eighty percent of the martial artists perished.”

“More than eighty percent of the martial artists?”

+Eighty percent.

It meant that nearly all the martial artists had died.

What in the world could have happened for that many martial artists to have lost their lives?

Was it because of that dragon turtle, that strange spirit beast they had mentioned earlier?

“Was it that spirit creature, the dragon turtle, that caused it?”

“Not the dragon turtle alone.”

“If you say not the dragon turtle alone, then it sounds as though there were other things as well.”

“Yes. All across the Central Plains, strange anomalies and all kinds of spirit creatures suddenly emerged all on the same day and turned the whole of the Central Plains upside down.”

‘!?’

On the same day, countless anomalies and every sort of spirit creature had overturned the Central Plains?

Mok Gyeong-un frowned.

Was something like that even possible?

Then,

“I heard that even here in the imperial capital of Kaifeng, a strange spirit creature called the Fire Qilin appeared and slaughtered countless people, spewing flames like flowing lava.”

So Ye-rin added from the side, as if helping to explain.

“A Fire Qilin? Was that captured too?”

“I do not know. I also went through many records in the imperial palace, but there was no record saying the Fire Qilin had been captured or killed. It simply disappeared midway. In any case, far too many people died because of the day of the great catastrophe. You understand now why the boundary arose between the old martial world and the current martial world, do you not?”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un voiced what he had inferred.

“Was it a matter of transmission?”

“Yes. That is right. The founders and masters of each sect all died, so their entire lineages were severed. There were not even people left who could use Secret Voice Transmission, so the basic structure of martial learning collapsed.”

“Exactly as my lady says, because of that, the level of the martial world regressed to a point that cannot even be compared to what it was before, starting from the day of the great catastrophe. Though while I was confined here in the Underground Forbidden Prison, it appears to have recovered quite a bit.”

Dam Baek-ha clicked her tongue as she spoke.

She was the only one who had personally lived through both the old martial world and the era after that turning point.

That was why, when she thought back to that day, she shuddered even more.

To her, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin and said,

“How strange. Anomalies and spirit creatures that one might only see once in a lifetime, if that, suddenly appearing all across the Central Plains on the same day and carrying out slaughter… It certainly deserves to be called a great catastrophe, but somehow…”

“It seems strange, does it not?”

So Ye-rin cut in.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un nodded.

Since he had read the Classic of Mountains and Seas and many books on occult arts, Mok Gyeong-un had come to know a fair amount about anomalies.

Among the anomalies he had learned of, with only a very few exceptions, they were not beings that displayed group behavior like humans or beasts.

And yet the fact that such anomalies and spirit creatures had appeared in the world as if they had united under one will and brought about a catastrophe made no sense to him.

“It is almost as though…”

“As though it was intentional, correct?”

“…Yes. As far as I know, those so-called demons and monsters are not beings with group behavior. Moreover, I heard they do not usually stray far from their fixed territories.”

“Demons and monsters? So you even know that much… Ah!”

So Ye-rin, who had been puzzled by Mok Gyeong-un’s words, suddenly recalled what she had seen earlier.

That strange smoke gate Mok Gyeong-un had created.

It seemed this man was not only skilled in martial arts but was also well versed in strange and mystical occult arts.

So So Ye-rin said, as though she had found it convenient,

“Then perhaps Young Master Mok may be even more of an expert in this field than we are.”

“I merely learned a little bit from the surface.”

“That was not the level of skill one could dismiss as just a superficial taste. In any case, there was something I wanted to ask if there was someone who knew this much about anomalies.”

At those words, Mok Gyeong-un gave a slight shrug.

“I do not know whether I can give an answer that will help all that much.”

“I only wish to ask.”

“What is it?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, So Ye-rin opened her mouth with a meaningful look in her eyes.

“Young master. Do you think those anomalies and spirit creatures, the ones called demons and monsters, could be controlled artificially and made to carry out slaughter?”

“…Controlled artificially?”

“Yes.”

At that question, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

To control the demons and monsters known as anomalies artificially meant only one thing.

‘Shikigami.’

Shikigami were karmic bonds that allowed such beings to be commanded.

The stronger their self-awareness, the harder they were to command, but among those occult practitioners with especially great spiritual power or mastery of occult arts, there were at times some who commanded anomalies as their shikigami.

Of course, the higher the grade of the anomaly, the stronger its selfhood, and the harder it became to command as a shikigami.

“If we are speaking purely in terms of the concept, then no, it would not be impossible.”

“Not impossible?”

“Yes. If we are speaking only in terms of the concept.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Commanding them is one thing, but I do not know whether commanding that many anomalies all on the same day would be possible.”

“?”

“To command anomalies as shikigami, the occult practitioner connected to them, that is, the caster, must possess spiritual power of a certain level. The greater the spiritual power and mental strength, the higher the anomaly one can subjugate. But as far as I know, even subjugating a single anomaly as a shikigami is usually difficult. To begin with, such a bond is no different from one soul becoming linked to another.”

“Which means?”

“If one takes that into account, then artificially controlling all those anomalies that appeared throughout the Central Plains would have to be regarded as virtually impossible.”

“Ah…”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s conclusion, a sigh escaped So Ye-rin’s lips.

It seemed to be a disappointed answer, different from what she had been hoping for.

To her, Mok Gyeong-un raised a finger and said,

“Even so, as Deputy Thousand-Household Commander So said, it is hard to shake the feeling that there was something artificial about it.”

“But did you not just say they could not be controlled?”

“Control and creating conditions are two different things.”

“Creating conditions? What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Even if one cannot control them one by one, making the conditions that would stimulate anomalies and drive them berserk seems to me a separate matter.”

Mok Gyeong-un had already seen something similar at the Old Blood Cult’s Corpse Blood Valley in the Heaven and Earth Society.

It was not a matter of commanding something as a shikigami, but he had seen anomalies handled through conditions.

That had been the monster beast Galjeo.

When the Galjeo, which normally lived in the Northern Sea near Mount Bukho, was let loose in the mountains of Corpse Blood Valley, it rampaged through the place and killed many of the trainees.

“Then you mean there is a possibility?”

“If looked at from that angle, then yes, there is at least a faint possibility. Especially since you said it all happened almost simultaneously. That said…”

“That said what?”

“To drive every sort of anomaly berserk across the entire Central Plains, one would need occult practitioners deeply versed in occult arts and anomalies, or an enormous amount of manpower. Yet if no trace has been found even until now after the great catastrophe, then that possibility too is extremely faint…”

“Would this count as a clue?”

At that moment, So Ye-rin cut off Mok Gyeong-un’s words.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un looked puzzled and asked,

“A clue?”

“Yes. My father found a clue.”

With those words, So Ye-rin loosened the golden belt at her waist and very carefully peeled something away from its inner side.

It was an extremely old piece of paper, covered everywhere in burn marks.

She handed it over to Mok Gyeong-un.

“This is?”

“It is badly damaged, but unfold it first.”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un carefully unfolded the brittle paper as if it might crumble.

As he unfolded it, a strange light entered his eyes.

That was because in one of the burned portions there appeared to be something drawn in red, like part of a pattern, and below it were the words,

???….

(Rapidly, rapidly, as…)

The remainder had been burned away.

‘…By ordinance.’

Since the beginning was missing and only rapidly, rapidly, as remained, and even the pattern was only a fragment of the whole, it was impossible to tell what sort of occult art had been cast.

But this was unquestionably a spell formula of occult arts.

“How did you find this?”

“I do not know the exact circumstances, because my father was the one who found it. But the place where he found it was here, in the imperial capital Kaifeng.”

“In the imperial capital?”

“Yes. My father said that after following clues all along, he found someone who claimed to possess a clue related to the day of the great catastrophe.”

“And this was the clue?”

“Yes.”

“I see. This certainly seems to be an occult formula, but since most of the wording has burned away, I cannot tell exactly what it is. Did you hear anything else related to it?”

“No. I believe my father did hear something from the man who gave him the clue. Because of that, he said he would visit an occult practitioner in Kaifeng and ask for advice.”

“Ah, that was probably because there are traces of a spell formula on it, however small.”

“Yes, but…”

“But?”

“My father was murdered on the very night he went to see the famous occult practitioner said to be in Kaifeng.”

‘!?’

“How could such a thing happen!”

-Crunch.

At those words, Dam Baek-ha could not contain her anger.

This was rage over the fact that, of all people, the survivor of the peerless line and another blood descendant of that person had lost his life in such a futile way.

As Mok Gyeong-un stared expressionlessly at So Ye-rin, whose eyes had reddened as if remembering that day, he asked in a flat voice,

“Did you ever find that occult practitioner?”

“…No. I could not find him. After my father was murdered, I went there, but no one was there. More than that, all the occult practitioners said to be in Kaifeng disappeared overnight.”

“All the occult practitioners disappeared?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

It was far too strange to be coincidence.

Mok Gyeong-un looked at the burned and damaged scrap of paper that served as the clue.

Then he asked,

“What happened to the person who gave your father this clue?”

“…We never found him.”

“What?”

“At that time, only my father met the person who gave him the clue. We knew nothing except that he was somewhere in the imperial capital, so…”

“And that is why you have been searching up until now?”

“That is right.”

That was the very reason So Ye-rin had entered the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

If she became a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, she could gain access to the records of every resident of Kaifeng and the imperial capital and could also have the authority to investigate, so this had been the measure she devised.

She had been making every effort in her own way to find clues.

‘So this is all there is.’

Judging that this alone could not become any useful clue, Mok Gyeong-un seemed to lose interest and began folding the clue paper So Ye-rin had handed him.

It was when he folded the paper once, then a second time.

‘!?’

Suddenly, Mok Gyeong-un stopped.

There was something he had not seen when the paper was fully spread, because part of it had been hidden.

On the reverse side of the damaged paper, there was yet another mark engraved there.

It was none other than,

‘a symbol?’

It was a symbol in which a single vertical line pierced straight through the center of the character for two.