Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 58 - Corpse Blood Valley (3)

Chapter 58 – Corpse Blood Valley (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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There is a saying that if you are overwhelmed in momentum, it is over.

The burly-faced boy had been completely cowed by Mok Gyeong-un’s brutal hand and no longer even had the thought of charging in.

No, it would be more accurate to say that he felt fear and terror.

Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said to that boy,

“If you do not hurry, you will not find one of these.”

Mok Gyeong-un shook the blood-soaked iron bead.

Seeing that, the burly-faced boy suddenly seemed to realize something and turned his body to run back toward the valley.

But then his legs gave out and he fell.

The boy, after falling like that several times, barely managed to force strength into his body and return to the valley.

-Splash splash!

But he was not the only one turning around like that.

About three others, their faces startled, returned to the valley, and they too had been the ones aiming for the first iron bead, like the burly boy.

But just the same, they too had been frightened by Mok Gyeong-un.

‘…He is completely insane.’

‘No matter what, this is…’

‘To kill someone without hesitation and steal it just so he can live.’

And even the way he killed made them click their tongues.

They were struck by the fear that if they rushed in carelessly, they too might end up the same way.

“Ha…”

There was someone who let out a cry of admiration as he watched this scene.

It was the man in the demon-ghost mask, called the Valley Master by the red-belted warriors.

The warrior beside this demon-ghost mask said,

“…A real piece of goods has come in.”

“Indeed.”

“I think this is the first time things have proceeded in this way. That one iron bead was supposed to be the real starting gun for the culling.”

This was not simply about who found the iron bead first.

The fact that there were fewer iron beads than people, and that the torches were extinguished, had all been arranged by calculation.

The first iron bead was the signal flare for the real culling.

People would fight to take that one, and through that everyone would realize something.

That simply finding an iron bead was not the end of it.

Rather, the real key was how one protected it and carried it all the way to the incense burner.

But the opening pattern had changed.

“Leaving aside how ruthless his hand is, that boy’s strength is no joke. His qi gates were sealed with Forbidden Gate Lock, yet he tore out that throat so easily.”

Most of the warriors were astonished by Mok Gyeong-un’s brutality and strength.

But the demon-ghost mask was interested from a different perspective.

‘To obtain an iron bead without getting even a drop of water on his clothes.’

It was the first time since he had taken charge of Corpse Blood Valley.

That anyone had obtained an iron bead without even entering the water at all.

Because one person had been killed as an example and a time limit had been set with the incense stick, no matter how cunning someone was, they would ordinarily jump into the valley water first.

But that boy had kept his place alone while everyone else ran.

‘So he was aiming for this from the beginning… interesting.’

Had there ever been such a cunning boy during all the time this gate had been run?

One could not do such a thing without considerable nerve.

Thinking of it this way, it even seemed possible that his brutal hand had all been deliberately calculated as well.

Meanwhile, Mok Gyeong-un approached the front of the incense burner.

“Will this do?”

Mok Gyeong-un showed the bloodstained iron bead to the demon-ghost mask seated against the boulder.

At this, the demon-ghost mask nodded and shouted.

Then he opened his mouth.

“You… what is your name?”

‘!!!’

At that question, a strange light entered the eyes of the warriors around them.

That made sense, because even at the first gate of Corpse Blood Valley, cases where the demon-ghost mask, that is, the Valley Master, showed interest enough to ask someone’s name were extremely rare.

Then Mok Gyeong-un answered.

“Mok Gyeong-un.”

At those words, the eyes visible through the gaps in the mask narrowed.

‘Mok Gyeong-un?’

Because there were more than eight hundred people here, he had not memorized exactly who each one was.

But he remembered the name Mok Gyeong-un.

Because he had received an order to include him at the last moment.

‘…One of the two Mok family boys they said had been brought as hostages.’

This surprised him once again.

He had naturally thought he would be from Mirrored Scenery Gate, Crimson Kill Valley, Mo Hwa House, or some other group known for a rather evil reputation.

But to think he was from Yeon Mok Sword Manor, said to be a prestigious martial family of the righteous path.

The demon-ghost mask recalled what had happened only half a shichen ago.

[Pardon? You mean the boys of Yeon Mok Sword Manor who were brought as hostages are also to be thrown into Corpse Blood Valley?]

[It is the Society Leader’s order.]

[If it is an order, then of course I will follow it, but are you sure? This is not a place that weak righteous-path boys can endure.]

[That is not something you need concern yourself with, so carry out the order.]

[Understood.]

If they meant to torment them a bit and then kill them, he had thought it would not matter.

But now that he saw this, his thoughts changed.

As expected, the Society Leader would not have sent him for no reason.

‘So that was it. Still, unexpected.’

If he had not known he was from Yeon Mok Sword Manor, he never would have thought him a righteous-faction boy.

That was how everything about him, starting from the atmosphere he gave off, was closer to this side instead.

‘I will know if I watch.’

If he was the sort of boy closer to this side, then he would survive one way or another in Corpse Blood Valley, which was called hell.

The demon-ghost mask stared fixedly at Mok Gyeong-un, then took something from his robes.

Then,

“Take it.”

He flicked it toward Mok Gyeong-un with his finger.

-Whoosh!

What he flicked flew accurately toward Mok Gyeong-un’s chest.

Mok Gyeong-un caught it in one hand.

‘This is?’

It was a thin, round silver token engraved with the character one.

“It is the proof token for passing this gate in first place. Keep it together with the iron bead you brought.”

‘Gate? First place?’

Looking at the silver token, Mok Gyeong-un was inwardly puzzled.

From the fact that he had used the expression first place, he could infer one thing.

‘A competition?’

[Listen well. Once you go to Corpse Blood Valley, your chances of surviving intact are less than one in ten.]

If he judged based on what Occult Practitioner Jo had said, then it seemed to be a structure where one survived through competition.

Even now, two people had already died.

No, if his guess was correct, then before long a bloody competition would begin in earnest.

-Splash splash!

Mok Gyeong-un’s expectation proved exactly right.

Someone else had found another iron bead.

Because some had seen the first boy foolishly cheer and bring disaster upon himself, this time there was no celebration.

The moment he found it, he dashed straight out of the valley water.

It was definitely the right choice, but

“Looks like that bastard found one!”

“Get him!”

he stood out too much.

Since he ran out of the valley water alone, there was no way he would not be noticed.

More than ten boys charged at him at the same time to catch him.

“Damn it!”

He fled, and chaos broke out.

But then someone jumped out from the water, grabbed his neck, and snapped it just as Mok Gyeong-un had done.

-Udeudeuk! Splash!

In that way, the second death occurred.

After taking the iron bead from the dead one, he gestured toward the boys charging at him and warned them.

“Those who want to die, come.”

The eighteen-year-old boy who had stripped off his upper garment had a sturdy body, and strange patterns were drawn all over his upper torso.

The boys who recognized it became frustrated but could not rush him.

“Damn it!”

“It is Crimson Kill Valley.”

Crimson Kill Valley.

Among the subordinate groups of the Heaven and Earth Society, it was one of the three with the most notorious evil reputation.

Even though they had only around thirty disciples, each and every one of them was a tremendous expert, and because of their unique secret martial techniques, everyone found them eerie and frightening.

“A bunch without guts.”

The boy ran a hand through his hair once, spoke in a disappointed tone, and strode toward the incense burner.

As he passed Mok Gyeong-un, he whispered,

“Do not think you will stay ahead in the next gate as well.”

It was a clear declaration.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged.

He had no desire to waste energy on something pointless.

‘If he becomes troublesome, well…’

He licked his upper lip with his tongue as if savoring the thought.

This place really was good.

Unlike when he had been at Yeon Mok Sword Manor, there was no need to watch people’s reactions simply because he killed.

The Crimson Kill Valley boy, unable to see Mok Gyeong-un’s expression, went before the incense burner and showed the iron bead to the demon-ghost mask.

“Pass!”

Meanwhile, chaos broke out here and there in the valley water.

One after another, boys found iron beads, and as they ran toward the incense burner, the desperate boys who had not found any rushed at them, and fighting broke out.

And that fighting went beyond merely subduing one another and became a situation of killing and being killed.

“It has begun.”

At the warrior’s words, the demon-ghost mask nodded and looked that way.

Already, now that two had died, the boys no longer hesitated to harm and kill each other.

The valley water had become a complete battlefield.

-Pu pu pu pu puk!

“Kuhk!”

Among that chaos, a few stood out.

A beautiful short-haired girl with a pale face had found sharply shaped stones from somewhere, and with those she moved forward without hesitation, stabbing those who rushed at her.

Even though she could not use internal power, her movements were so quick that the boys charging at her were helplessly cut down.

“I know who that girl is.”

“Mo Hwa House.”

“So you recognized it.”

How could he fail to?

That fast, efficient dagger art aimed only at vital points.

It was chain killing, of Mo Hwa House.

Now they were called a third-generation assassin group, but once Mo Hwa House had been called a fourth-generation assassin group.

But they quit the assassin trade and entered under the Heaven and Earth Society.

“Excellent.”

For her to be at that level with nothing more than a single sharp stone in hand, he could expect much once the seal on internal power was removed.

As that was happening, the demon-ghost mask pointed at someone with his hand.

“That one must be Mirrored Scenery Gate.”

“Huh?”

A cry of admiration spilled from the warrior’s mouth.

A massively built, muscular boy charged forward like a bull, and every boy he collided with was unable to endure it and was flung away.

-Peopeopeopeok!

Mirrored Scenery Gate was famous for an external art called Iron Manifestation Skill, and perhaps because he had trained external arts rather than internal power, the strength of his body was tremendous indeed.

“Huff huff.”

The boy of Mirrored Scenery Gate, having thrown off all the boys rushing him, arrived at last.

“Pass!”

And soon after, the Mo Hwa House girl arrived as well.

“Pass!”

Besides them, one by one other boys also reached the incense burner after bloody struggles to seize iron beads.

Among them was one boy who had been aiming for this exact moment.

This boy had in fact obtained an iron bead before anyone else, but because he feared becoming a target if he stepped forward when no one else had found one yet, he had waited for the chaos to break out.

The boy barely ran before the incense burner, raised the iron bead, and shouted,

“I found one.”

The corners of the boy’s mouth twitched with delight.

In truth, he had stealthily taken the iron bead lodged in the center of the brow of the boy whom the demon-ghost mask had killed for questioning things before the search began.

‘Idiots. There was such an easy way.’

Seeing that no one had noticed, they all seemed like fools.

Then the demon-ghost mask shouted.

“Fail.”

“Pardon?”

“Exactly what I said.”

What was this?

Why was he not being passed?

He could not understand.

“W-why? I clearly found an iron bead, so why…”

-Slash!

At that moment, something sharp brushed past his neck.

Then the boy’s head fell to the ground.

“I clearly said not to raise questions.”

-Clang!

The red-belted warrior who had cut his neck muttered that and sheathed his blade at his waist.

-Thud!

As the decapitated boy collapsed, the iron bead rolled from his hand across the ground.

The rolling iron bead stopped before Mok Gyeong-un, who had passed first and was sitting near the incense burner.

Seeing that, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the iron bead in his own hand and let out a short laugh.

[Sixty-three]

On Mok Gyeong-un’s iron bead, the number sixty-three was engraved in small letters.

But on the bead of the beheaded boy, nothing at all was engraved.

He had tried to be clever, and by bad luck, it had cost him his head.

On the other hand,

‘Should I say I was lucky?’

In truth, Mok Gyeong-un too had intended to pull the iron bead from the forehead of the boy who died for questioning things before the start.

But because someone had already taken it in that brief interval, he had changed methods.

Because of that, one could say he had enjoyed good fortune.

But the feeling did not last long.

Rather, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the sumptuous feast spread out before his eyes, licked his lips, and felt regret.

-Seumul seumul!

As the number of dead rose one after another from the bloody struggle over the iron beads, death aura overflowed everywhere.

If only the Forbidden Gate Lock had not sealed his qi gates, he would have begun reverse-flow circulation on the spot.

‘Hm.’

But did he really need to gather this energy by circulation?

On a whim, Mok Gyeong-un stretched his arm slightly toward the empty air in the direction from which the death aura was flowing and recited the formula in his head.

‘Mujeolmangnyeoseo… ihyeongwisimyang…’

It was the Form of Attachment.

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