Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 53 - Proposal (1)
Chapter 53 – Proposal (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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‘How?’
Astonishingly, Mok Gyeong-un was moving perfectly fine, and on top of that, he had even untied the ropes that bound him.
How in the world had this boy released his acupoints?
As Mok Yu-cheon stared in confusion, Mok Gyeong-un lightly struck the area of his chest.
-Tatatatatatak!
Soon, it seemed the mute acupoint had been released, because his voice started to come out.
“You…”
Mok Gyeong-un whispered to him.
“Shh.”
At that, Mok Yu-cheon lowered his voice and whispered back,
“…How in the world did you release your acupoints?”
Mok Gyeong-un did not answer his question.
Because in the first place, the acupoint strike had never truly held.
No, it had held for a very short time, but Son Yun’s true qi had soon dispersed because of his yin death aura.
Mok Gyeong-un had merely stayed still and observed the situation.
“You do not need to know that.”
When he evaded the answer, Mok Yu-cheon frowned and said,
“Are you trying to… escape?”
Mok Gyeong-un smiled silently.
It meant yes.
At this, Mok Yu-cheon asked in disbelief,
“How? Heaven and Earth Society warriors will be guarding every side.”
“Now is our chance. Everyone from the Fate Blade King down is gone. There are only four men guarding outside the wagon and six more standing watch a little farther off.”
‘!?’
For a moment, a question arose in Mok Yu-cheon’s mind.
His eyes had been covered the whole time just like his own, and his acupoints had also been struck, so how did he know this?
Moreover, this fellow was only third-rate, so it should have been difficult even to sense presences within a few zhang around him.
To the man who could not easily believe him, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“If you tell me one thing, I will make it so that you can escape too.”
“What?”
“That is why I only released the mute acupoint.”
‘Huh?’
Come to think of it, he still had no feeling in his body.
It was not because the ropes had not been untied, but because the numbing acupoint had not been released.
“What are you doing? If you are going to release me, then do it properly…”
“Sorry, but there is no need for me to indulge you outside as well, so I would like you to answer only what I ask.”
A subtle killing intent hung in his voice.
And there was a strange atmosphere in his expressionless face and indifferent gaze.
It felt completely different from his usual self.
“What in the world are you…”
“Who is Ghost Sword?”
“What?”
“I asked who Ghost Sword is.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Mok Yu-cheon furrowed his brow.
Was he really asking because he did not know who Ghost Sword was?
If one was a martial artist, there was no one who did not know that person’s evil reputation.
“…Are you really asking because you do not know?”
“Yes.”
“You are joking with me right now…”
“Answer only what I ask.”
He had added nothing more after that, yet Mok Gyeong-un gave off the oppressive feeling that he might kill him if he did not answer.
He had found it strange before as well, but was this boy really the cowardly Mok Gyeong-un?
“Will you not answer?”
“…He is one of the Six Heavens and Eight Stars.”
“The Six Heavens and Eight Stars?”
“You… what in the world are you?”
At the reaction that really seemed to show he did not know, Mok Yu-cheon could not understand it.
There were six grandmasters at the peak of the current martial world.
Because their martial might was said to be a heaven above heaven, the martial artists of the Central Plains called them the Six Heavens.
Beneath them, though they had not reached that level, there were eight masters who had attained the highest realm possible.
Those were the Eight Stars.
“How can you not know the Six Heavens and the Eight Stars…”
“I do not know what Eight Stars or whatever means, but where is this Ghost Sword?”
At that question from Mok Gyeong-un, Mok Yu-cheon stared at his eyes for a moment, then sighed and said,
“I do not know.”
“You do not know?”
“How would I know where someone who vanished seventeen years ago is?”
“Vanished?”
“Yes. And no one has discovered Ghost Sword’s true identity to this day.”
“When you say no one discovered it, do you mean that no one knows?”
“That is what I said.”
“Hm.”
At Mok Yu-cheon’s words, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin as if troubled.
The scar left on his dead grandfather and the scar on the side of Yeon Mok Sword Manor’s lord had been extremely similar.
That was why this man called Ghost Sword had been the most likely enemy.
But if no one knew his identity, then it became difficult to know where to begin approaching the matter again.
Yet there was one question here.
‘You said he vanished seventeen years ago… then why did that man target Grandfather?’
If the scars were from the same culprit, then it was surely Ghost Sword.
But if so, he could not understand why someone who had supposedly disappeared would suddenly target his grandfather.
As he found that point strange, Mok Yu-cheon opened his mouth.
“Maybe if you go to the Heaven and Earth Society, you might learn something.”
“What?”
“I heard there were rumors that all the people Ghost Sword targeted were masters famed in both the righteous and evil factions, so some said he might be a master from the Heaven and Earth Society or the imperial court.”
“The Heaven and Earth Society or the imperial court?”
“Yes. Though I do not know why you are curious.”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes sharpened.
If so, then the bastard who killed his grandfather might be either in the Heaven and Earth Society or in the imperial court.
At that moment, a voice rose in his ear.
-Sentient being. Hurry.
It was Blue Spirit’s voice.
At this, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“I will keep the promise.”
With those words, he reached out to release the other acupoints as well.
But then,
“I appreciate you releasing the acupoints, but do not do anything pointless.”
“…Pointless?”
“If we escape now, Yeon Mok Sword Manor will be put in danger.”
“Put in danger.”
“We are hostages. You know what that means too. If we disappear, what do you think they will do to Yeon Mok Sword Manor?”
At Mok Yu-cheon’s words, Mok Gyeong-un let out a mocking snort.
Mok Yu-cheon frowned.
What kind of reaction was that, he thought, but then Mok Gyeong-un said in a cold voice,
“What does that have to do with me?”
“What?”
“Then stay here.”
“You!”
-Thud!
Mok Yu-cheon, struck on the back of the neck with a hand strike, lost consciousness just like that.
Ordinarily, with his level of martial ability, he would never have allowed Mok Gyeong-un to land a blow, but since his acupoints had been struck and he could not circulate internal power, there was nothing he could do.
-Rustle!
Mok Gyeong-un carefully laid Mok Yu-cheon down on the floor.
From his perspective, those words might have been infuriating, but it truly had nothing to do with him.
Whether Yeon Mok Sword Manor fell or they all died, it was not his concern.
That was the real Mok Gyeong-un’s business.
And,
‘It is a pity. I had meant to use him as bait.’
That was the reason he had been about to release Mok Yu-cheon’s acupoints.
‘The Heaven and Earth Society.’
Mok Gyeong-un looked down at Mok Yu-cheon and thought.
If what he said was true and that Ghost Sword was really in the Heaven and Earth Society, then this might also be an opportunity.
However, the risk was quite great.
These people were interested in the secret manual in his head.
So after finding out its contents, there was a real possibility that they would kill him without hesitation.
‘It is better to prepare properly and approach.’
That was the rational choice.
With his current martial ability, if he approached carelessly, he might be the one who got taken instead.
Then shall I go out for now.
Mok Gyeong-un cautiously walked toward the wagon door.
Blue Spirit had dealt with the four masked men guarding this area and made them lose consciousness for a while, so he could simply leave.
-Creeeak!
Mok Gyeong-un opened the door.
But,
-Start!
The moment he opened it, he felt that something was strange, if only for an instant.
As he paused, Blue Spirit appeared and said,
-Head northwest. Do not stop. I will handle the one watching.
“Very well.”
-Pap!
With those words, Mok Gyeong-un shot his body forward.
He had trained in lightness skill for four days, but this was his first time truly using it.
Lightness skill could broadly be divided into footwork and qinggong.
Qinggong was a running technique used to move long distances more quickly or close distance.
-Papapapapat!
As death aura flowed into his Yongcheon acupoints, his body surged forward at high speed.
It was speed that could not even be compared to the way he normally ran.
The scenery around him changed rapidly.
It seemed he had already covered a considerable distance in less than half a gak.
But then,
-Sentient being, why are you making that face?
“It seems the same.”
-The same?
“It keeps repeating.”
-Repeating?
-Tak!
Mok Gyeong-un stopped his qinggong, pointed a finger at a tree wrapped in vines, and said,
“I think this is already the fourth time I have seen that tree.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Blue Spirit, who had been right beside him, furrowed her brow.
Then she said,
-Are you not mistaken?
“There is no way.”
-If this were some kind of occult or evil art, there is no way I would not have noticed it.
“…That is true.”
-You may just be tense. Hurry.
With those words, Blue Spirit tried to move ahead.
But Mok Gyeong-un did not move from that spot.
At this, Blue Spirit snapped irritably.
-Why now? If you do not hurry, you will not be able to leave this place.
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un stared at Blue Spirit and opened his mouth.
“Who… are you?”
-What?
“I asked who you are.”
At those words, she made an incredulous face and said,
-Sentient being, are you mad? Asking who I am right now…
-Slide!
Before she could even finish speaking, Mok Gyeong-un reached out his hand.
It was the Form of Attachment.
Then Blue Spirit’s body was forcibly dragged over, and before she knew it her neck had been placed into Mok Gyeong-un’s palm.
-Ghk! Wh-what is this…
“You chose the wrong person to imitate. No, if you were going to do it, you should have done it properly.”
If it had been the real Blue Spirit, she would not have overlooked his statement that the tree was the same.
No, in the first place, someone of her rank would never have been caught up in something like this so easily.
-Sentient being. You are making a mistake…
“I do not think it is a mistake.”
A strange energy flowed in through his palm.
This was far removed from the death energy unique to a vengeful spirit.
And if it had been Blue Spirit, she would not have been dragged in by the Form of Attachment and would instead have lightly batted him away.
-Wooooong!
At that moment, something bizarre happened.
Blue Spirit’s body wavered, then dispersed, and a wooden doll appeared in his palm.
A talisman reading Wood-Drawing Incantation was attached to the wooden doll.
-Fwoosh!
The talisman in his palm immediately went up in flames and turned to ash.
-Papapak!
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un brought both hands together and formed the hand seal of the Immovable Mind Seal.
Then he closed his eyes and recited an incantation.
“Stability of heaven, stability of earth, union of heaven and earth’s qi, brightness of the sun and moon’s joined qi, form of spirit and ghost’s joined qi, your heart joins mine, my heart joins yours, the heart of heaven, ten thousand hearts, myriad hearts, intention joins my heart, Supreme Elder Lord, swiftly, swiftly, by decree!”
Along with that, the ash that had been scattering flew off somewhere.
Then it spun rapidly around the tree tangled with vines,
-Srrrrk!
and was drawn into the tree.
Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un shot his body toward that spot.
-Pap!
He rushed toward the vine-entangled tree, and the moment he collided with it,
-Srrr!
his field of vision changed, and Occult Practitioner Jo, the eyepatched middle-aged man, appeared sitting against a large boulder beside a campfire.
There was ash on his upper robe, and after brushing it off, Occult Practitioner Jo’s lips twitched.
‘Ha… look at this kid.’
Occult Practitioner Jo was sincerely impressed.
At Yeon Mok Sword Manor, he had already confirmed that the boy’s talent was not ordinary.
But because he did not trust much that a child of a martial family had learned occult arts on his own, he used this chance to test Mok Gyeong-un with the Willow Spirit Cultivation Method and formation arts.
The Willow Spirit Cultivation Method.
It was a technique that used a willow doll to transform into someone the target trusted or was close to.
It was an advanced technique that deceived the target’s five senses so that the target himself recognized the willow doll as some imagined person, and it was effective for relaxing the target’s guard and learning information.
But this boy not only realized it was fake in less than half a gak, he also broke out of the formation.
‘To find the route of escape like this…’
There was a standard method for finding a formation’s route of life.
Yet Mok Gyeong-un forcefully broke the Willow Spirit Cultivation Method, then in that brief instant used the remnant of the talisman and a tracking art called the Joyful Summoning Harmony Method to locate the Gate of Life and his own position.
‘His adaptability is no ordinary thing.’
It was truly difficult to find talent this outstanding.
It could not be compared to the disciples he had accepted until now.
Occult Practitioner Jo curled up the corner of his mouth and said to Mok Gyeong-un,
“You… become my disciple.”
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