Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 50 - Heaven and Earth Society (1)
Chapter 50 – Heaven and Earth Society (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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What is the talent of an occult practitioner?
There would be many conditions.
Among those conditions, naturally, sensitivity to spiritual energy was included.
As a simple example, everyone has likely experienced a sudden outbreak of goosebumps or chills at least once.
It may be a natural bodily phenomenon.
But that too is the basis of spiritual sensitivity.
When one comes into contact with something spiritual, the souls within the body react and affect the five senses.
But ordinary people usually find it difficult to notice that.
That was because the boundary between the living and the dead was clear.
One could only be born with such things spiritually, or else cultivate them through training.
Yet among the qualifications for such talent, there existed a supreme gift that only an extremely small number were born with.
‘He has the eyes.’
That was sight.
Unlike the other senses, eyes that could accurately peer across the boundary.
Occult practitioners held the eyes that could distinguish such things to be the greatest.
The eyepatched middle-aged Occult Practitioner Jo had seen Mok Gyeong-un looking precisely at the strange entity before catching the staff that he had thrown with an imperial talisman and incantation attached.
‘Certain.’
That brat possessed the greatest aptitude possible for an occult practitioner.
To think that a child of a martial family possessed a gift that even he, who had trained under the finest master and could only barely make out forms with the naked eye, did not possess.
“You……..can see vengeful spirits.”
-Murmur, murmur.
At his words, the surroundings stirred.
What did he mean, he could see vengeful spirits?
‘If he means vengeful spirits, then does that mean ghosts or strange phenomena?’
Starting with Manor Lord Mok In-dan, the brothers of the Mok family all frowned as they looked at Mok Gyeong-un.
In truth, most of the people there reacted much the same way.
‘This is troublesome.’
Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue inwardly.
He had acted on impulse because he did not want to lose the demon monk, but thanks to that, things seemed to have become tangled.
Should he have simply given him up, even if it felt wasteful?
But it was already too late for that.
‘An occult practitioner?’
That was probably what he was.
Some of the spell he had memorized earlier was something he had seen before in books on occult arts left behind by the occult practitioner Sak.
It had been a typical art for subduing strange entities and yao spirits.
But part of the incantation had been different.
Which meant,
‘He belongs to a different group from that woman Sak.’
Most likely, he belonged to the organization called the Heaven and Earth Society.
Then the eyepatched middle-aged Occult Practitioner Jo said,
“Since when have you been able to see vengeful spirits?”
“Pardon?”
“Can you not see vengeful spirits?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s feigned ignorance, Occult Practitioner Jo raised one eyebrow in puzzlement.
Did that child want to hide his eyes?
But if that had been so, he should never have stepped in from the start.
Occult Practitioner Jo snorted and changed the question.
“Interesting. Fine, then I will ask something else. Why did you stop me from exorcising that eerie thing?”
“Hmm. I truly have no idea what you have been saying all this time.”
Mok Gyeong-un pretended ignorance with a completely calm face.
At that, Occult Practitioner Jo let out a short laugh, then formed hand seals and said,
“You do not know? Then I suppose it would be fine to exorcise that strange thing again.”
-Pak! Pak! Pak!
Soldiers. Combat. Rend. Display.
It was the hand seals of the Nine-Character Activation Method.
‘Different.’
Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.
He had memorized every book that the occult practitioners Myo-sin and Sak had possessed.
But the seals this man was making were ones he had never seen before.
And though he made only hand seals without any spoken incantation, the surrounding spiritual aura was swelling to an eerie degree.
-Parrrrr!
But the eyes of the others could not see that.
To them, it looked like nothing more than him bringing both hands together and folding, unfolding, and overlapping his fingers.
Then Occult Practitioner Jo made a square with the forefinger and middle finger of both hands and aimed it.
At that,
-Paaaaaaaa!
Four invisible pillars rose up all around them.
They encircled Mok Gyeong-un and the demon monk exactly, and they were gradually thickening.
The eyepatched middle-aged Occult Practitioner Jo muttered softly,
“Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique.”
No sooner had he said that than surfaces formed between the four thickened pillars.
Now walls had been created from which there was nowhere to flee, and the demon monk looked around in confusion.
“Shrink!”
Occult Practitioner Jo opened his palm toward the demon monk and thrust it forward.
Then he made a motion of clenching his hand.
-Paaaaaaaa!
At that instant, the four sides of the prison that had trapped the demon monk began to compress inward little by little.
If it fully shrank, the demon monk might be crushed flat.
Mok Gyeong-un’s gaze sharpened.
This man was clearly of a different level from the occult practitioners he had seen until now.
He had never seen an occult art like this before.
‘It cannot be helped.’
Since he had no way of knowing what sort of art it was, there was only one method of breaking it.
Attack the caster, that is, the occult practitioner himself.
-Tak!
“Take that back.”
Holding the staff as though it were a thrown spear, Mok Gyeong-un hurled it at Occult Practitioner Jo, who was in the middle of performing the art.
-Shuk!
If the caster was interrupted midway or killed, most occult arts would unravel.
But there was no way the other masked figures would simply leave that alone.
-Taenggang!
One of the masked men near Occult Practitioner Jo shot forward with swift footwork and struck the flying staff down with the flat of his sword.
“Insolent brat, how dare you!”
That masked man then tried to rush straight at Mok Gyeong-un for targeting Occult Practitioner Jo.
But Occult Practitioner Jo stopped him.
“Stop!”
“Pardon?”
“There is no need for you to step in.”
“Understood.”
Without even a hint of objection, the masked man halted his attack.
This was clearly a group where superiors commanded and subordinates obeyed.
Occult Practitioner Jo spoke to Mok Gyeong-un.
“You do not seem possessed or bewitched, so if you explain now why you are trying to protect that vengeful spirit, I can pause the art for a moment.”
‘In the end, he will have no choice but to yield.’
After all, the situation was completely in his hands.
Even if one possessed the eyes, without proper training they were of no use.
Looking at that child, it was obvious that he had not received training as an occult practitioner.
One could tell that much at a glance.
And on top of that, the Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique was a rather high-level art that only those of at least Square Moon rank could perform, so it was difficult to break through it with ordinary arts.
But then,
‘!?’
Occult Practitioner Jo’s expression stiffened as he stared at Mok Gyeong-un.
It was,
-Pak! Pak! Pak!
The hand seals Mok Gyeong-un was making.
They were exactly the same as the ones Occult Practitioner Jo had just formed, without the slightest deviation.
Soldiers. Combat. Rend. Display.
‘No?’
They were the hand seals of the Nine-Character Activation Method.
At the sight of the hand seals Mok Gyeong-un was making, Occult Practitioner Jo was left speechless.
No matter how he looked at him, that child was an ordinary person who knew nothing of occult arts.
Yet he was copying the seals with such precision?
‘What an absurd child.’
Did he think he could stop it simply by copying them?
If it were that easy, everyone would have done it.
‘An art that forms only hand seals without incantation or talismans can only be performed by someone of at least Square Moon rank…..’
-Swaaaaaa!
At that instant, Occult Practitioner Jo doubted his own eyes.
Four small pillars invisible to ordinary people were formed.
Their shape was crude and somewhat clumsy, but they were undeniably real.
“Ha…….”
A low gasp escaped from Occult Practitioner Jo’s mouth.
It was a level of occult art reached only after long years of training.
And yet this child had seen it once and truly succeeded in copying it?
‘……This brat, did he actually learn occult arts?’
Then Mok Gyeong-un muttered,
“Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique.”
At that, surfaces formed between the four pillars.
It was a sight one could scarcely believe even while watching it.
But what was even more astonishing was the position in which Mok Gyeong-un had cast the Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique.
-Papapapapak!
He cast his own Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique inside the one that was already shrinking inward under the command to contract.
As a result, the shrinking prison collided with the second Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique created inside it, and its compression stopped.
‘This brat…… look at that.’
Not only had he copied the technique, he had blocked it like this.
His adaptability was remarkable.
At this point, one could not help but suspect.
“From whom did you learn occult arts?”
“Why would I….. need to learn something like this?”
That was not a lie.
It was only that he had not learned it from anyone, but had taught himself from books related to occult arts.
-Parrrrr!
Mok Gyeong-un held the Nine-Character Activation Method in the formation state and made both hands tremble.
That was because he was struggling to hold back Occult Practitioner Jo’s shrinking Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique.
He had managed to stop it through improvisation, but the difference in spiritual force could not be ignored.
Watching this, Occult Practitioner Jo’s gaze turned strange.
‘Did he truly not learn it?’
His adaptability, and his ability to reproduce hand seals immediately after seeing them.
Without an exceptional master, all of that should have been nearly impossible.
Staring fixedly at Mok Gyeong-un, Occult Practitioner Jo then,
-Chak!
released the hand seals and said,
“Break.”
At those words, the Four Peaks Chain Locking Technique that had been shrinking inward disappeared at once.
Mok Gyeong-un looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Then Occult Practitioner Jo burst into laughter.
“Hahahahahahahat!”
Why all of a sudden?
As the people there stood confused, Occult Practitioner Jo turned his head and said to Son Yun the Fate Blade King,
“Fate Blade King. You may kill all the others, but hand this child over to me.”
‘!?’
Everyone’s eyes widened.
He appeared to be an occult practitioner of the Heaven and Earth Society, so what did he mean by suddenly asking that Mok Gyeong-un be handed over?
As they stood there in confusion, Son Yun clicked his tongue and said,
“You are doing something useless again.”
“I should at least have that degree of authority.”
Son Yun the Fate Blade King gave a shrug, which was effectively a sign of agreement.
Then he raised his huge tachi and pointed it at the people of Yeon Mok Sword Manor, raising his voice with killing intent.
“I had intended to leave quietly if you handed over only that. But even that is finished now. You brought this upon yourselves, so regret it in the next world.”
Son Yun thought it was simple.
There was no need to determine one by one who had taken the secret manual.
If he beat them all senseless, someone would eventually open his mouth.
After all, the secret manual was still within the estate.
Son Yun shouted,
“Kill them all…..”
But then someone interrupted him and cried out,
“As for the secret manual that was wrapped in the prayer beads inside the wooden box, it is with me.”
It was none other than Mok Gyeong-un.
“Haa……”
The Manor Lord Mok In-dan, who had been tense that Mok Gyeong-un might refuse to keep his promise, let out a breath of relief.
If they simply handed over the secret manual, they could overcome this situation.
Then Son Yun the Fate Blade King strode toward Mok Gyeong-un with a terrifying air and said,
“You are the one who has it?”
“Yes.”
“If this too is a lie, then I will tear off all four of your limbs, regardless of Occult Practitioner Jo’s request.”
“Why would I claim not to have something that I do?”
At the sight of Mok Gyeong-un showing not the slightest fear, a strange light entered Son Yun’s eyes.
But it lasted only a moment.
“Then hand it over. No, tell me where it is.”
Since the brat might play another trick, he asked for its location instead.
But then,
“I think I should first apologize.”
“Apologize? You brat, what are you…..”
“You seem to want it very badly, but I burned that secret manual.”
“What?”
At those words, it was the masked men who flared up in anger.
That was a treasure of the Heaven and Earth Society.
It would have been stranger if they had not become furious upon hearing it had been burned.
But Son Yun merely raised one hand slightly to restrain them and let out a cold laugh.
“Ha! So they call this a prestigious martial family, and all they keep here are frauds. Do you think that thing could be burned?”
What did he mean?
This time, both the masked men and the people of Yeon Mok Sword Manor looked puzzled.
Did he not believe the claim that the secret manual had been burned?
At that moment Son Yun,
-Pak!
pressed the tachi directly to Mok Gyeong-un’s throat and said,
“You know nothing. You have never even seen the secret manual. Since you have made us waste our time with such nonsense, as agreed…..”
“Does it sound like a lie?”
Son Yun scowled fiercely and lifted his tachi sharply upward.
“How dare you speak so insolently to your elder, whom you have just met…..”
“Only the shell made of human skin does not burn. The pages with the contents written on them burned just fine.”
‘!?’
At those words,
Son Yun’s expression changed.
The fact that the outer cover was made of human skin was something only a small number of executives within the Heaven and Earth Society knew.
“You……”
“Ah, and as for the contents inside, they are right here.”
Mok Gyeong-un tapped his head with his forefinger.
At that, Son Yun’s expression stiffened.
‘!?’
Was it because Mok Gyeong-un not only burned their treasure but had even memorized it?
As they all thought that, Son Yun said in disbelief,
“You bastard……you saw that?”