Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 54 - Proposal (2)
Chapter 54 – Proposal (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“You… become my disciple.”
‘!?’
At those words from Occult Practitioner Jo, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes sharpened.
He was already in a considerably foul mood because he had been toyed with by occult arts.
‘Did I do something pointless.’
Mok Gyeong-un shifted his gaze and examined his surroundings.
For the moment, he could see no one, and he felt no particular presence.
Had the man lured him here with occult arts because he was confident he could handle him alone?
‘About ten paces.’
At this distance, it seemed he could suppress him well enough.
After learning lightness skill, he had become faster than before.
And compared with martial artists, occult practitioners were markedly inferior in physical ability.
‘If I kill him before he uses his arts…’
“If you think you can do something to me just because there is no one around, let me tell you that you are mistaken.”
“……..”
He was not as dull-witted as expected.
Still, there was clearly no presence.
And he had not drawn a talisman or taken out anything of that kind either.
There was no harm in trying once…
-Start!
Mok Gyeong-un halted.
The moment he was about to lift his foot slightly from the ground, he felt the surrounding energy twist.
The same alien energy he had felt when he let go of the wagon.
It was similar to that, but this one was sharp, as though someone were brandishing a weapon.
“You are quite sensitive.”
A strange light entered Occult Practitioner Jo’s eyes.
He had naturally expected that if the boy were smart, he would surely break out of the formation one way or another.
That was why he had prepared in advance.
“If you want to survive in this rough world, your preparations must be thorough. That is the first lesson I will give you.”
“……..”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un looked around.
He saw no talisman or anything like it.
Then why had he felt such ominousness the moment he tried to take a step?
The deeper one dug into occult arts, the deeper they truly became.
Mok Gyeong-un looked at Occult Practitioner Jo and said,
“…I do not recall ever saying I would become your disciple.”
“Do you think you have a choice?”
“I can tell you are very interested in me, but I have my own position too.”
“Position? Ha.”
Occult Practitioner Jo let out a sneer.
Then he took something out from his waist.
It was a carved wooden doll with a talisman attached to it bearing the character Seal.
Tossing it up and catching it, Occult Practitioner Jo said,
“Do you not wish to get this back?”
Seeing it, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head slightly.
Then, on a hunch, he sent death aura into his eyes and looked at the wooden doll, and it seemed something was inside it.
But its energy barely showed, so it was hard to tell unless he concentrated.
“Is this not what you were trying to protect? Have you forgotten already?”
“Do not tell me that is…”
“That is right. That. Did you think I would have left such a dangerous thing there?”
“……..”
“What an interesting fellow. Even among outstanding occult practitioners, there are hardly any who make a vengeful spirit into a shikigami.”
Occult Practitioner Jo had learned that only after sealing the demonic monk into the wooden doll.
Not only had he learned occult arts alone by himself, he had even kept a vengeful spirit as a shikigami, something difficult even for outstanding occult practitioners.
He was talent that could not help but look desirable as a disciple.
“I do not know how you did it, but if you obediently agree to become my disciple, I can return this to you.”
He thought it was a fairly good offer.
This fellow must have done a great deal of his own research in order to make that vengeful spirit into a shikigami.
So he assumed the boy would not want to lose his shikigami so easily.
But then,
“You do not have to return it.”
“What?”
“It has already left my hands, so what can I do?”
“…Hah?”
Look at this brat.
He must have gone through considerable hardship to turn that vengeful spirit into a shikigami, yet he was giving it up this easily?
Was he just deliberately acting tough?
“Then are you saying it is fine if I destroy this vengeful spirit?”
“Do as you please.”
He did not show the slightest sign of regretting it, to the point of absurdity.
His way of thinking was different from other occult practitioners.
Or was it because he had come from a martial background in the first place?
“Hmm.”
If he truly destroyed this vengeful spirit just as the boy said, it would make him seem small-minded.
And a master’s vessel had to appear large.
Occult Practitioner Jo threw the wooden doll toward Mok Gyeong-un.
“Catch.”
-Tak!
“…Why are you giving it to me?”
“Do you think my vessel is so small that I would covet what belongs to the one who will become my disciple?”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un sneered inwardly.
This man truly wanted to accept him as a disciple.
What should he do?
For now, there were three choices.
Although he did not know what kind of trap it was, should he take some risk, kill Occult Practitioner Jo, and escape?
Or should he pretend to become his disciple, deal with him, and then escape?
The last was,
‘…Dangerous, but to become his disciple and infiltrate the Heaven and Earth Society.’
It was the most dangerous of the three.
If he happened to meet the one who had appeared after noticing his tracking that time, he might be killed for certain before he could even take revenge.
‘The second is still better.’
That method appealed to him the most.
It was also the method he had always liked to use the most.
Then Occult Practitioner Jo said,
“If I were you, I would not refuse the proposal.”
“Why?”
“If you become my disciple, your chances of preserving your life will rise even a little, so what reason is there to hesitate?”
“……..”
“After you learned the Society’s secret manual on your own, do you think the odds are high that you will survive if you go there? No. It is a place where your life hangs by a thread based on nothing more than the moods of the Society Leader and the executives. If you become my disciple instead, at least that probability can be raised a little.”
“……..”
Mok Gyeong-un’s expression did not change.
Seeing him like that, Occult Practitioner Jo clicked his tongue inwardly.
Was this method meaningless to this boy?
Then again, he was the one who had put a sword to his own neck and bargained even against the Fate Blade King.
‘Does he have no attachment to life? Or is he thoroughly calculating?’
If it was the latter, then he needed to change methods.
Occult Practitioner Jo clicked his tongue and said,
“You are the sort who will not just bend if I push hard. Fine. Then what about this? You will learn it anyway once you become my disciple, but I will teach you an occult art that can place a shikigami inside a medium.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Just as I said. It is a little different, but is there not a similar example in your hand even now?”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the wooden doll in his hand.
No energy at all could be felt from the carved doll with the Seal talisman attached to it.
As he stared at it, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes lit up.
“It seems you are interested in something like this.”
Occult Practitioner Jo smirked.
He had naturally thought the boy would show interest.
‘If he wants to carry that vengeful spirit around intact, then of course he will need it.’
Otherwise, every occult practitioner who saw it would try to exorcise it without even realizing it was a shikigami.
He judged that this occult art was what Mok Gyeong-un needed right now.
And that prediction proved correct.
‘So it can hide a shikigami’s energy…’
Mok Gyeong-un had already been seeking a method like that.
It was a proposal he liked more than the one that brought up his life.
If there were outstanding occult practitioners or tremendous masters like the Fate Blade King around, he could not keep Blue Spirit or the demonic monk close at hand.
Seeing Mok Gyeong-un show such interest, Occult Practitioner Jo said,
“What do you think? Do you now feel like becoming my disciple?”
“If I become your disciple, can I learn that thing you just spoke of?”
“Of course.”
At this, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Then teach me that occult art first. After that, I will become your disciple.”
“Teach you first? Hahahahahaha! What is difficult about teaching it? But if you want to know it, you must first swear.”
There was no way he would yield that easily.
Since he had expected he would not yield easily, Mok Gyeong-un smacked his lips slightly.
Then Occult Practitioner Jo took something else out from his waist.
It was a small iron chain ring.
“Take it.”
-Whoosh!
-Clink!
Mok Gyeong-un caught it and looked puzzled.
Then he said,
“Put that on your wrist and say this. I, Mok Gyeong-un, will become Jo Ui-gong’s disciple and carry out his will.”
“……..”
Suspicion colored Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes at those words.
“While wearing this chain?”
“Yes.”
“…It does not seem like you are just making me do it for nothing.”
“Naturally. How could I simply trust and take as a disciple a boy who is almost the same as a hostage and still tried to run away?”
“Then what happens if I make that oath?”
At that question, Occult Practitioner Jo, or rather Jo Ui-gong, answered with a smile.
“A restriction will be placed on you.”
“A restriction?”
“Once you make that oath, you will become unable to harm me in any way. It is almost absolute.”
‘Of course, you will also become unable to refuse the orders I give.’
When accepting someone he liked as a disciple, Jo Ui-gong handed over this Chain of Commanding Words.
If someone swore upon themselves through the Chain of Commanding Words, then they would become absolutely unable to refuse his commands.
But if he explained that, there was no way that brat would comply easily, so he did not say it.
‘How will you respond?’
But the boy was so suspicious by nature that he was not sure he would swear easily.
As that thought passed, Mok Gyeong-un put on the chain and spoke.
“Please keep your promise. I, Mok Gyeong-un, will become Jo Ui-gong’s disciple and carry out his will.”
It was the moment those words ended.
The chain gave a subtle rattling tremor.
Seeing this, Jo Ui-gong lifted the corner of his mouth in satisfaction.
‘Now I have him.’
He was the sort of man who had to possess whatever he wanted.
Jo Ui-gong pulled something folded in calfskin from his robes.
“Take it.”
-Whoosh! Tak!
Mok Gyeong-un snatched it with one hand.
These words were written on it.
[Secret Text of Questioning the Dead]
“What is this?”
“It is an occult art created by this master. Memorize all of it and return it while we are going back to the Heaven and Earth Society.”
“…Are you not going to keep your promise?”
“Why would I not? The occult art you want is inside it as well.”
“Thank you.”
“Call me Master.”
“Thank you, Master.”
At the word Master, Jo Ui-gong made a pleased expression, got down from the boulder he had been leaning on, planted his cane, and walked off somewhere.
At this, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“Will you not undo the occult art you set in place?”
If it was not undone, he could not even take a single step.
At that question, Jo Ui-gong smiled broadly and said,
“I will give you about one shichen.”
“What?”
“The means to dispel the occult art are inside that as well, so search well. If you do not find it and return within that time, something quite troublesome will happen. Hahahahaha.”
With those words, Jo Ui-gong entered the forest to the southeast and disappeared.
At this, Mok Gyeong-un gave a faint snort.
Was he already trying to teach him?
‘Interesting.’
He did not care what method it was.
He only needed to squeeze out whatever he could.
-Srrr!
As that happened, before long someone floated gently down from above.
It was none other than Blue Spirit.
-At last the practitioner has left your side.
Mok Gyeong-un looked at her with suspicious eyes.
“You are not a fake, are you?”
-A fake? What nonsense is that? More importantly, it was quite amusing to watch you get caught in occult arts and run in place by yourself. You should have kept going a bit longer.
“Then you are the real one.”
-…On what grounds are you so certain I am real?
“Well… there is something like that.”
Should he call it a feeling?
Blue Spirit asked him,
-But sentient being, why did you do something so unlike yourself?
“What do you mean?”
-That chain seems to carry rather strong occult power, so I am asking why you made that oath.
“To get this.”
Mok Gyeong-un waved the Secret Text of Questioning the Dead at her.
At that, she snorted and said,
-You did that just to obtain something like that? Did you become a fool in an instant? Or did you do it because you are confident you can escape that binding?
“There is no need to escape it in the first place.”
-What?
Mok Gyeong-un casually slipped the chain off his arm.
At this, she frowned and asked,
-Does it come off that easily to begin with?
“No. In the first place, commanding speech is an oath that has to be made on one’s own real name.”
-Ha!
At those words, Blue Spirit finally understood why Mok Gyeong-un had made such an oath.
To begin with, Mok Gyeong-un was not his real name.
Naturally, the commanding speech could not possibly take effect and bind him.
‘So that is how it was.’
There was no way this sly fellow would do something disadvantageous to himself just to learn occult arts.
-Then now that you have obtained what you wanted, are you going to try escaping again?
“…I was thinking of it, but I am conflicted.”
-Changed your mind?
“Yes. I am wondering whether it might be better to go right under the lamp.”
Though the risks there were great, in another sense it was the darkest place.
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, a strange look appeared in Blue Spirit’s eyes.
Mok Gyeong-un then asked,
“It seems you have something you want to say. As it happens, there was something I wanted to ask too.”
-What nonsense is it to say it seems I have something to say and then claim you have something to ask?
“It means I want to ask first.”
-And what is it?
“Why do they think it is real when they see that sword move you showed, instead of the Eight Forms of Mind-Breaking?”
He had wanted to ask that for some time already.
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Blue Spirit closed her mouth.
-………
“Do you not want to tell me?”
-Hoo.
Without a word, she drew on her smoking pipe and exhaled smoke.
Usually, when she reacted like that, it meant she had no intention of telling him.
So Mok Gyeong-un shrugged.
“Well, then there is nothing to be done.”
-………
“I should look through this first. That way, for the demonic monk and for Blue Spirit as well, I can keep you both by my side…”
-Are you truly going to go there?
“What?”
-The Heaven and Earth Society.
At her rather serious question, Mok Gyeong-un recalled the eyes he had seen up on the roof.
Those blood-red eyes had seemed as though they might dye everything with blood.
But even now, that fury showed itself slightly.
“Depending on the situation.”
-…How very ironic.
“What do you mean?”
-The situation, that is.
“Hm. What is it you want to say?”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Blue Spirit exhaled a long stream of smoke and held out her hand to him as she said,
-If you truly mean to go there, then become my disciple.
“…Hm.”
Mok Gyeong-un scratched his head.
For some reason, he seemed to be hearing people tell him to become their disciple from every direction today.
To think he would even hear it from Blue Spirit.
“Uh… I do not know what the reason is, but between us, disciple or not…”
-The weight is different.
“Pardon?”
-To become this one’s disciple means that you, sentient being, must bear the karma of the Moon and carry out a bloody purge.
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