Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 57 - Corpse Blood Valley (2)
Chapter 57 – Corpse Blood Valley (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The Heaven and Earth Society.
Walking side by side down the walled path leading toward the main hall were two men.
They were Son Yun, the Fate Blade King, one of the Five Kings and one of the eight executives of the Heaven and Earth Society, and Occult Practitioner Jo Ui-gong.
As they walked, Jo Ui-gong spoke in a frustrated tone.
“You should have told the Vice Leader that I had taken him as my disciple.”
At those words, Fate Blade King Son Yun clicked his tongue and answered,
“Even if I did, it would not matter.”
“Why is that?”
“Have you ever seen the Society Leader withdraw an order once he gave it?”
“……….”
At those words, Jo Ui-gong could not open his lips.
As Son Yun said, the Society Leader never took back an order once he had given it, and if one failed to carry it out, he sometimes imposed severe punishment instead.
Taking that into account, there was no way persuasion would work.
“Good grief… I had only just found someone useful.”
“Useful, is he.”
He had read that cursed secret manual for the first time.
How many people had died after trying to read it?
And moreover, he had learned the Moon Lineage’s sword formula, which had been severed a hundred years ago, yet they had sent such a boy to Corpse Blood Valley without even seeing his face.
Even if the Society Leader had done it, it was a decision that could not be understood.
Even when they drafted moderately useful boys from each faction and sent them there, roughly eighty or ninety percent died in Corpse Blood Valley.
That was why it was not called a name meaning corpses and blood for nothing.
“At the very least, I should go and ask the Valley Master to hear me out. I cannot let such a promising boy die like this.”
At these words, a strange light entered Son Yun’s eyes as he looked at Jo Ui-gong.
Unless he liked him an awful lot, there was no way he would react like this.
He too found the boy a pity.
It would have been fine either to persuade him properly and make him an ally, or to draw the sword formula from his head and revive the Moon Lineage again, so why would they not do that?
To send him to Corpse Blood Valley, which could be called the worst selection process…
‘Surely not?’
Fate Blade King Son Yun’s eyes narrowed.
Was that perhaps why they had sent him to Corpse Blood Valley?
‘Are they trying to test him?’
* * *
Corpse Blood Valley.
“The set time is two gak. In the valley water there are iron beads that look like this. Find one and come before this great incense burner. Those who do not find one will die.”
-Murmur murmur!
At the words of the demon-ghost masked man, the boys stirred.
It was the middle of the night.
Though warriors wearing red belts were holding torches here and there, there was no way the inside of the valley water could be seen properly.
To search for that tiny iron bead in this dark place full of countless pebbles?
It was truly like looking for a needle in the sand.
At that moment, one boy who looked to be around seventeen years old, standing in the front row, raised his hand and said,
“Is it not too much to kill someone for failing to find a single iron bead? Everyone gathered here was drafted from the various factions, so no matter what…”
“Do you not want to?”
The demon-ghost mask cut him off and asked.
At that, the boy hesitated with a tense face, then soon spoke.
“It does not seem that the selection process should be based on whether one finds the iron bead or no…”
-Tak! Thud!
“Ghk!”
At that moment, before he could finish speaking, the boy collapsed with a dying scream.
‘!!!!!!’
Those beside him could not hide their bewilderment at the sight.
That made sense, because an iron bead had sunk deep into the center of the boy’s brow, and it seemed he had died instantly because of it.
As they stood in shock, the demon-ghost mask said in a loud voice,
“Those who question what they are told to do, or those who give up, also die.”
The murmur of the crowd turned into silence in an instant.
Now that one person had lost his life, everyone had realized how real this was.
‘This is insane.’
Mok Yu-cheon cursed inwardly.
It was absurd enough for them to suddenly order this, but to say that those who failed to find the iron bead would die?
He was someone who had come as a hostage for the sake of his family.
And yet he did not know what sort of thing this was that they were doing to him.
‘If only they had not sealed my qi gates…’
If he could at least focus into his eyesight, then it might have been easier to find.
But with his internal power sealed, this was truly nothing but needless suffering.
As that thought passed, the demon-ghost mask spoke.
“For your information, there are not as many iron beads inside the valley as there are people here. So you would do well to hurry.”
‘!?’
There were not enough iron beads for the number of people here?
None of them could hide their bewilderment.
Did that not mean that some among them would die no matter what?
“The moment the incense stick burns down, two gak will have passed. Light it.”
At the command of the demon-ghost mask, one of the red-belted warriors waiting beside the great incense burner lit a large incense stick.
-Chiieeee!
Then the boys, who had been murmuring helplessly, all rushed toward the valley at once.
As more than eight hundred people ran at the same time, the earth nearly seemed to shake for an instant.
Because all of their qi gates were sealed, not a single one used lightness skill.
For the moment, it could be said to be a fair situation.
“Damn it!”
At this sight, Mok Yu-cheon glared at Mok Gyeong-un, then ran like the other boys.
-Splash! Splash!
In the present situation, there was no other method.
He had to find an iron bead first.
If not, he would die.
Following the others into the valley, Mok Yu-cheon looked down.
‘Damn…’
How in the world was he supposed to find it?
It was dark.
No, he could barely even see the rippling of the water, and he could not see what was inside it at all.
It was impossible to find it with the naked eye.
-Papapapapapak!
“Ugh! Where in the world is it?”
“Aaaaah!”
Voices full of irritation rang out from here and there.
Like him, they too could not see into the water, so they seemed to be searching by plunging their hands into the valley water and rummaging through the pebbles.
As a result, naturally,
“Ughhh!”
“My, my hand…”
their hands could not help but be damaged.
Some boys even broke their nails while turning over stones wildly.
If one could use internal power to protect one’s hands, such things would at least be rare, but with bare hands it was natural to get hurt.
-Shrrr!
Mok Yu-cheon’s fingers too were scratched by sharp stones and pebbles, and it hurt.
But there was no helping it.
There was no way to find the iron bead other than using his hands.
What if he could not find it within one gak?
-Thump thump!
As his heart grew impatient, it began to beat rapidly.
It was the first time in his life he had experienced such tension.
Then Mok Yu-cheon, glancing to the side, made an incredulous expression.
‘What is that bastard doing?’
Everyone else was busy diving into the valley water and searching.
But that bastard Mok Gyeong-un was merely standing there with his arms folded, watching.
He was acting as though it were someone else’s problem.
‘That crazy bastard.’
Rather than coming into the valley to look around and see what there was, what in the world was he doing over there?
Had he gone mad wanting to die?
Dumbfounded, Mok Yu-cheon soon turned his gaze away.
Half-brother or not, if he failed to find the iron bead allotted to him, he would die.
-Papapapapapak!
As everyone searched the valley water like mad, the incense stick had already burned nearly halfway down.
Almost one gak had passed.
Only half the allotted time remained.
It was then.
“Put them out.”
With that shout, the red-belted warriors who had been holding torches between the valley waters thrust them into the stream and extinguished them.
It was already dark enough, but once the torches over the water went out, it became difficult even to make out the people around them.
“Damn it!”
“How are we supposed to find it like this?”
Complaints burst out from every side.
But even as they cursed, they did not take their hands out of the water.
Because if they did not find one, they would lose their lives.
“Valley Master, more than half may be weeded out this time.”
One middle-aged warrior standing beside the demon-ghost mask spoke in a whisper.
That was understandable, because not a single person had found one even by the time one gak had nearly passed.
Until now, at the first gate there had always been at least one or two people who found an iron bead within one gak, but this time there had been none.
“So there are no stubborn bastards among them.”
The demon-ghost mask, called the Valley Master, nodded as though agreeing.
This might become the smallest number ever selected.
By now, one or two people should have found an iron bead and brought it over, which would make the others more desperate and focus their senses with even more madness.
This was a gate that stimulated the five senses and the instinct for survival.
Those who failed even here were things not worth letting survive.
‘They said Mirrored Scenery Gate, Crimson Kill Valley, and Mo Hwa House had sent talent, but were they only chaff worse than expected?’
It was then.
“I found one!”
At last, for the first time among this batch, someone found an iron bead.
He was an eighteen-year-old boy, and the hand holding the iron bead was a bloody mess, but he was smiling brightly, so happy was he.
The others around him could not hide their envy at the sight.
But they soon realized there was no time and dug through the pebbles in the water even more frantically.
-Splash! Splash!
“Huff huff…”
Perhaps somewhat exhausted, the boy who had found the iron bead walked toward the bank, breathing roughly.
‘I did it. I did it.’
To think this kind of luck would come to him.
Not only would he survive, he had even found it first.
This would be enough to stamp his face into their memory.
It was while he was rejoicing like that.
-Splash splash!
He heard something running up behind him.
When he looked back, a boy with a rough, burly face was charging toward him.
“Give it here!”
He was shamelessly aiming for it.
It looked like he meant to steal it before the boy could get out of the water.
It had seemed likely that there would be at least one such person.
‘Damn it!’
Though exhausted, the boy ran like mad.
Even after getting out of the water, the burly boy seemed to have no intention of giving up and shouted as he came running,
“You bastard! If I catch you, I will pound you into a bloody pulp!”
-Papapapapak!
For a large fellow, he was too fast.
The boy had not expected the distance to close by this much.
If he got caught now, that fellow would steal the iron bead he had found with so much difficulty.
The boy, who had turned his head to look back, faced forward again and tried to run with all the strength he had left.
But then,
‘!?’
What?
When had this fellow gotten in front of him?
Was there someone who had not gone into the valley after all?
The startled boy tried to change direction, but
-Pak!
at that moment, the boy in front of him rushed at him with terrifying speed.
He was caught before he could even change direction, so fast was the charge.
‘You damned bastards!’
Their internal power was sealed too, so how could he be this fast?
It was literally a situation with no path forward or back.
Enemies in front and behind.
As the situation turned desperate, the boy made an unexpected choice.
‘You think I will let trash like you steal this?’
On the spot, the boy shoved the iron bead into his mouth and gulped it down.
Seeing this from behind, the burly boy shouted in extreme annoyance.
“You son of a bitch!”
How was he supposed to steal it now?
The boy smirked mockingly.
But then,
“You are making this quite troublesome.”
-Pak!
“Huh?”
The boy’s head was seized in two hands.
Then,
-Udeudeuk!
his neck was snapped on the spot.
The boy whose neck had broken died where he stood without even being able to scream.
‘!?’
The burly-faced boy who had run up to within five paces could not hide his shock.
He too had intended to steal the iron bead, but he had not planned to kill the boy before his eyes.
But that was exactly what had just happened.
Yet something even more horrifying followed.
-Kwachik!
‘!!!!!!!!’
As if killing the boy were not enough, he tore out the boy’s throat with his bare hand.
Then he forced his hand below the neck and shoved it in,
-Ugeugeuk! Paak!
and pulled out the iron bead the dead boy had swallowed.
A hand soaked in blood, and the iron bead.
-Drip drip!
Blood wet the ground.
‘Th-this crazy…’
The moment he saw this, the burly-faced boy lost all words.
What kind of monster was this?
While he stood shocked, the beautiful-faced boy, no, Mok Gyeong-un, turned his head, shook the blood off his hand once onto the ground, and spoke.
“What is it? Do you want it?”
-Shiver!
At that question, the burly-faced boy shook his head wildly.
The moment their eyes met, it felt as though his heart would burst, and all strength left his legs so that he felt he might collapse at once.
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