Chapter 294 – Joining Forces (3)

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

-You really are sly, no matter what.

At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok Gyeong-un merely shrugged.

She called it sly, but if he had not laid out the conditions like this, there was no way of knowing what Mara Hyeon might have done while burning with thoughts of revenge.

It was better to promise a carrot like this than to create an unnecessary variable.

At the very least, in order to obtain that carrot, he would be unable to think of anything else.

-Even so, since I at least provided him with an opportunity, you should call it kindness.

-Kindness? When the chance might disappear if not now?

At those words from Blue Spirit, Mok Gyeong-un only smiled in silence.

She was right.

Once he obtained all the information he wanted from the Sacred Fire Leader, he intended to hand her over to the Heaven and Earth Society master so that he could make contact with him.

And the master of the Heaven and Earth Society, no less, was one of the Six Heavens.

Even if he was bedridden, he was still a grandmaster-class peerless master, and if the Sacred Fire Leader fell into his hands, then for Mara Hyeon there might never again be an opportunity like the present one.

Of course, Mok Gyeong-un did not particularly care about that.

-Swish.

Turning his head, Mok Gyeong-un looked toward the Sacred Fire Leader.

Now that she knew who Mara Hyeon was, she seemed anxious for some reason.

‘First, we should leave Kaifeng.’

There was quite a bit he wanted to ask the Sacred Fire Leader.

But this place was still not far from the imperial capital, Kaifeng, and so there was a risk of pursuit.

Without So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha, if Gu Seong-baek, one of the Six Heavens, were to appear again, it would be difficult to handle him at their current state.

So Mok Gyeong-un said to everyone,

“For now, let us leave Henan. Everyone, get onto the cart.”

“Understood.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Ohhh. So we get to ride that giant monster bird?”

“…That is not really something to be pleased about.”

As everyone was moving the leftover barrels aside and climbing up onto the cart, which now had more space because there were fewer people, the Sacred Fire Leader came to Mok Gyeong-un and quietly said,

“Disciple of the Night Immortal Priest.”

“That is a rather long way of addressing me. Just call me Mok Gyeong-un.”

“Mok Gyeong-un?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. Brother Mok. Are we really going to travel while riding this monster bird?”

“Yes.”

“Would it not be possible to simply find horses instead?”

“That would be fine too, but how exactly are we supposed to find horses in a mountain region this deep? And since this place is not very far from Kaifeng, if we do not hurry, the pursuit forces may catch up. Is that all right with you?”

“Ahhh…”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Sacred Fire Leader looked with a pale face toward the demon beast Qinyuan.

It was certainly fast, but depending on the talons of such a giant monster and flying through the air was hardly something she found pleasant.

Yet she had no choice, so she could only accept it.

“Well then, shall we go? If it is difficult to ride on the cart, you can stay inside the leftover barrel again.”

“…Very well. But before that, Brother Mok, I have something to say.”

“Something to say?”

“Yes. Before we do anything else, we must find the treasure bead.”

“The treasure bead… Come to think of it, what exactly is that treasure bead?”

He had been curious about that as well.

Not only the organization of the mark, but even the Embroidered Uniform Guard had been searching for that treasure bead under orders from their superiors.

It could not have been anything but an important object if they were going to such lengths over it.

The Sacred Fire Leader glanced briefly at the people riding in the cart, then leaned to Mok Gyeong-un’s ear and whispered,

“It is the Sacred Fire Token.”

“…The Sacred Fire Token?”

“Did the Night Immortal Priest not tell you?”

“No. I only received orders to snatch the Sacred Fire Leader from the prison beneath the imperial palace.”

“Ahhh. So the Night Immortal Priest instructed you well, according to the doctrine.”

‘Doctrine?’

From her words, it seemed that even among the followers of the Fire Worship Sect, only some knew about this Sacred Fire Token.

The Sacred Fire Leader said to Mok Gyeong-un in a secretive voice,

“Ordinarily it would be too early, but since you will inherit the position after the Night Immortal Priest, I will tell you. Only with the Sacred Fire Token can this old woman receive revelations.”

“By revelations, do you mean…?”

“The foresight you know of. That is precisely what we call revelations.”

‘Ho.’

A strange light entered Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes at those words.

He had already guessed that the treasure bead might be connected to the ability of foresight, but it seemed that was indeed the case.

So Mok Gyeong-un asked in a quiet voice,

“If you do not have the treasure bead, then you cannot receive revelations?”

“The treasure bead is a sacred relic that has been passed down in our cult for generations. Only with that can one receive the revelations of the Sacred Flame and open the way.”

“Then if one is to receive revelations, it would definitely be necessary.”

“Yes. And only with the Sacred Fire Token can one gather the followers again and the incarnation that has appeared in this present world… No. There is no need for you to know that yet.”

‘Incarnation?’

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

By the incarnation she spoke of, did she perhaps mean that same thing written in the language of the Kingdom of Persia which Shadow Sect Master Hwan Ya-seon had possessed?

[Beware, for the incarnation of Ahriman shall appear in the present world.]

He did not know what this incarnation was, but just as with Shadow Sect Master Hwan Ya-seon, it seemed to be a revelation of tremendous importance to the followers of the Fire Worship Sect.

Of course, Mok Gyeong-un had no interest in that.

His interest was solely in learning who had killed his grandfather and uncovering the power behind them.

Still, it seemed he would have to find that treasure bead.

The master of the Heaven and Earth Society would not have sent people all the way into the prison beneath the imperial palace to snatch away the Sacred Fire Leader simply because he wished to see her.

It had to be connected to that power of foresight.

‘I will need it.’

Without the ability of foresight, the Sacred Fire Leader would be no more than half-complete.

The Society master would not acknowledge her otherwise.

So Mok Gyeong-un asked,

“That treasure bead, or rather, the Sacred Fire Token. Where is it?”

“I entrusted it to my granddaughter.”

So she had a granddaughter.

Well, she was old enough that if she had not lived alone, it would have been entirely natural for her to have grandchildren.

“I see. Then where is your granddaughter?”

“I asked her to stay with a household whose head has had ties with me since long ago. It is a martial clan of the martial world. Since you too are a martial man, you should know it when you hear the name.”

“A martial clan of the martial world? Which one?”

“The Sichuan Tang Family.”

‘!?’

* * *

The Sichuan Tang Family.

A martial clan made up entirely of those with the Tang surname, it was one of the Seven Great Families of the martial world.

Though it was a prestigious martial family, it was also famed for hidden weapons, grappling arts, and poison. Alongside the Murong Family and the Namgung Family, the Sichuan Tang Family boasted the greatest power and influence among the Seven Great Families.

-Flap, flap!

Mong Mu-yak, holding onto the swaying cart suspended by Qinyuan’s claws, said to Mok Gyeong-un in a worried voice,

“My lord… the Sichuan Tang Family belongs to the Alliance of Justice. Will that really be all right?”

Since he had only learned of their destination once they were high in the sky, he naturally could not help being worried.

The mission in the imperial palace had certainly been dangerous too, but because it had been more or less neutral ground, they had at least been able to focus purely on the snatch-and-grab.

But if it was the Sichuan Tang Family, then matters were different.

The Sichuan Tang Family belonged to the Alliance of Justice, and so it stood in complete opposition to the Heaven and Earth Society.

Which meant they would be entering enemy territory.

And more than that,

“The Tang Family is one thing, but the whole of Sichuan Province is basically orthodox territory. There is the Qingcheng Sect, the Cangshan Sect, and even the Emei Sect there. If we make even one wrong step, a heavenly net may be cast.”

A heavenly net.

It was a large-scale encirclement and pursuit formation spread by more than a thousand martial artists.

Because that encirclement spread so widely, it was difficult even to break out of, and once caught inside, it pressured the target so relentlessly that one would not have even the slightest chance to regulate one’s qi or recover stamina.

A normal heavenly net was already like that, but if the Sichuan Tang Family, skilled in poison arts and hidden weapons, joined in, then it could only be called an even worse nightmare.

“It does not sound very good.”

“…It is dangerous. Even if, unlike the imperial palace, there is no grandmaster-class master of the Six Heavens there, the Sichuan Tang Family still has Tang In-hae, one of the Eight Stars, who is said to be comparable to that level when it comes to killing arts.”

Tang In-hae of the Thousand Poison Hands.

He was a master who, together with Gu Yang-so of the Eight Venomous Snake Staff, was known throughout the Central Plains and the outer lands as one of the foremost experts in poison arts, a man who had reached the level known as a Poison-Man.

Unlike ordinary martial arts, poison arts specialized, without exaggeration, purely in destruction and death.

That was why the prospect of going to the Sichuan Tang Family was especially hard to welcome.

Seop Chun, seeming to agree, also spoke up.

“Mu-yak is right. In some ways, the Sichuan Tang Family may be even more dangerous than the imperial palace. My lord, would it not be best to reconsider?”

“Reconsider? Even so, what choice do we have? If we do not have that treasure bead, then we might not have the state the Society master wants.”

“However, the command from the Society master did not include that treasure bead. More than that, unlike the mission at the imperial palace, the journey to the Sichuan Tang Family has not been prepared.”

At those words from Seop Chun, the Broken-vow monk Ja Geum-jeong, who had been listening in silence, took a swig from his gourd and said,

“Krrh. Why are you all so frightened? It is not as if we are going there to fight. We are simply going to fetch the granddaughter of that old madam.”

“That is because of the difference in our standing. The Alliance of Justice and our Society are enemies. No justification is needed for a fight.”

“If that is the case, then it cannot be helped. But if you are truly that worried, shall this bald monk go and bring that old madam’s granddaughter back myself?”

“What?”

“As of yet, word has not spread that this bald monk now serves Young Master Mok as his lord, so even if I go there, that should not matter, should it?”

“…”

At that, Seop Chun stared at him.

Was he serious?

Ja Geum-jeong, the Broken-vow monk, was known as one of the Three Mad Ones.

That was because, whether orthodox or unorthodox, he carried out outrageous acts all the same, earning the title of madman.

So if he were to head to the Sichuan Tang Family, would they really allow him to enter politely?

“…Tell me, do you truly think the Sichuan Tang Family would let you in?”

“Ahem. Well, if my luck is bad, they might throw me out.”

At least he seemed to have some sense of his own notoriety.

Seop Chun let out a deep sigh and then said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“My lord, please…”

He did not even have time to finish.

-Flinch.

Mok Gyeong-un suddenly drew Evil-Answering Sword from his waist.

-Shring.

“M-my lord?”

They were confused by the sudden drawing of the sword, but Mok Gyeong-un immediately leaped onto the handle of the cart and slashed downward.

At once, a sharp sword force erupted from the blade and cut through the air.

-Pakang!

When the sword force hit something, there came a metallic clang, blue sparks burst out, and it shattered.

They could not tell exactly what it was, but it was certain that it had come from below.

“What was that?”

“Pursuers?”

At that, Seop Chun, Mong Mu-yak, and Mara Hyeon all stuck out their heads and looked beneath the cart in alarm.

But at that very moment, flashes came from below in several places, and something shot toward them.

It was too blunt and short to be an arrow.

And what it was aiming for was none other than,

‘Qinyuan?’

At that, Mok Gyeong-un shouted to Qinyuan,

“Avoid it!”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s shout, Qinyuan glanced downward and, instead of avoiding them, beat its wings in an attempt to send them back with a reverse gust just as it had done to the arrows at the imperial palace.

-Baaaaang!

At the tremendous gale from Qinyuan’s giant wingbeat, most of the incoming objects were thrown downward.

But just as they thought it had repelled the bulk of them,

-Shoot!

Something pierced through the wind created by the wingbeat and flew toward Qinyuan’s torso.

At the very instant it was about to hit, Mok Gyeong-un leaped up and cut it apart with Evil-Answering Sword.

-Chaang!

By strange coincidence, the thing he had cut apart fell onto the cart.

Seeing the object fall there in two pieces, everyone thought its shape was unusual, but they could not tell what it was.

There was, however, one man who recognized it.

That was Ja Geum-jeong, the Broken-vow monk.

It was,

“A vajra?”

A vajra.

This was a ritual implement of the Buddhist path, symbolizing the bodhi mind that shattered worldly afflictions, and one that Buddhist monks used when cultivating the Buddhist way or subduing demons.

‘Surely not?’

Seeing it, Ja Geum-jeong started in alarm and tried to look below the cart.

But before he could do so, two more vajras flew toward them from below, and one of them pierced through Qinyuan’s right wing.

-Splurt.

As the vajra pierced its wing, Qinyuan let out a shrill cry.

-Kikegegegegegegek!

‘I only managed to stop one.’

Of the two vajras that had come flying in, he had used Evil-Answering Sword to stop one.

But the other had come at the completely opposite wing, so there was no way to deal with it.

Mok Gyeong-un stretched out his hand and made a grasping motion.

At once, Evil-Answering Sword, which had been flying away, changed direction and shot back toward him.

-Thwack.

The instant he caught the sword,

-Ooooooooh!

From Qinyuan’s right wing, where it had never been felt before, an immensely solemn power flowed out, and a strange sound rang by his ears.

-Om somani somani hum arihanna arihanna hum arihanna banaya hum banaya hum baabam baara hum batak.

It was a bizarre phenomenon.

How was it possible for the sound to be so clear?

He was still wondering about that, when Ja Geum-jeong, the Broken-vow monk, shouted urgently,

“My lord! It is the Demon-Subduing True Mantra of the demon-subduing monks!”