Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 67 - Gu Poison (2)
Chapter 67 – Gu Poison (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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‘Is it the difference in rank?’
Seeing the pale white hands retreat back into the water at a single warning, an odd light appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.
Certainly, once one’s rank reached that of Blue Spirit, even mere pressure was enough to overwhelm most vengeful spirits.
“As expected, you really are impressive.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s praise, Blue Spirit, who had driven off the water spirits, said in a voice mixed with irritation,
-Do you think I said it was dangerous because of low-grade things like these?
“Of course not.”
Mok Gyeong-un shrugged.
Naturally, if they had only been Red Spirit or Crimson Spirit class, she would not have given a warning.
What she had warned him about was that thing over there, which was devouring the others and corrupting into the worst kind of gu poison.
-Gooooooo!
A place some forty-odd jang away was covered in thick fog.
It was so dark that one could not see inside it at all.
If it had merely been ordinary fog, that would have been one thing, but the pitch-black fog was swirling like a gigantic raging current, and merely looking at it made it seem extremely ominous.
-That alone is not the problem.
“…Are you referring to those as well?”
There were other things besides that one which swallowed an entire space whole.
Those also formed little clumps of fog and were chaotically tangled together, and something about them did not seem ordinary.
Blue Spirit looked at them and said,
-Low-grade vengeful spirits of an ordinary sort feel fear toward me and are too busy fleeing like those things from a moment ago. But those are different.
“What do you mean by different?”
-The vengeful spirits that have become obsessed with devouring each other can see nothing else.
“What do you mean by that?”
-They are devouring one another in order to survive and grow stronger. They can see nothing now. They have only a single obsession, that they must devour.
That was why Blue Spirit advised him not to go near them.
No matter how much lower and weaker than her they were, if things that had gone mad and become hungry ghosts came all at once with intent, it would become hard to protect him.
-Hey, sentient being. Do you truly think you can break through those and absorb that thing?
“I have to try.”
-A fellow without any plan.
That was far too dangerous.
Since this was a situation where he could be devoured instead, she wanted to forcibly drag him back up even now.
While she was thinking that, Mok Gyeong-un looked around.
The place was filled only with ominousness, and there was not the slightest trace of any human presence.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un muttered,
“It seems this place will do.”
-What do you mean?
At Blue Spirit’s question, Mok Gyeong-un suddenly reached back to the spine at his lower back and placed his palm there.
Then he pressed hard on one point with his finger.
“Hoo.”
-…What are you trying to do right now?
“It was something I had been wondering whether to try or not, so I suppose you could say I was doubtful.”
-What?
It was in the middle of her asking back.
Mok Gyeong-un’s back arched, and he slightly furrowed his brow.
He was someone who would not even blink at most pain, so just how much pain must it be for him to react like this?
-What in the world are you…?!
An odd light appeared in Blue Spirit’s eyes.
What dangled from Mok Gyeong-un’s fingers was none other than a needle about the length of one finger joint.
-Ha!
The hook-shaped tip of that needle was none other than the Forbidden Gate Lock.
It was used to block qi gates and seal internal power.
Ordinarily, the Forbidden Gate Lock could only be removed by using a special instrument with powerful magnetic force, but Mok Gyeong-un had removed it with the Form of Attachment.
‘To make use of the Form of Attachment in this way.’
The qi gate near the spine where the Forbidden Gate Lock had been embedded was extremely dangerous.
So it could be risky, yet he adjusted the Form of Attachment and pulled it out without the slightest hesitation.
It could only be called bold.
-Sentient being, you truly are…
“Wait a moment. I should remove the other two first.”
-………
As he had just done, Mok Gyeong-un also removed the remaining two Forbidden Gate Locks.
The Forbidden Gate Locks embedded in the acupoints along the spine were painful enough when inserted, but removing them was even more agonizing, yet even on the second attempt there was no change in his expression.
It could only be called astonishing endurance.
-Pak!
The moment Mok Gyeong-un removed all of the Forbidden Gate Locks that had been embedded in him,
-Shwaaaaaaa!
the blocked qi gates opened and the seal was released.
The death aura he had gathered until now circulated through his whole body, and his energy steadily became full.
‘Now look at that.’
Blue Spirit’s eyes narrowed.
While the qi gates had been shut, his energy had not been expressing itself, so she had not been able to estimate how much death aura he had gathered, but this was beyond expectation.
It had already exceeded twice the amount of death aura he had originally possessed.
If he could fully digest that, then from internal power alone he would reach the threshold of peak state.
‘It is astonishing.’
Death aura ran on a track completely different from ordinary energy.
It could be said to be close to the exact opposite, so the only human who possessed that much death energy would be Mok Gyeong-un.
No, was that fellow really human?
To begin with, the fact that he was fine even while holding that much death energy was bizarre.
-Flinch!
Blue Spirit looked around and let out a faint snort.
The low-grade vengeful spirits around them were feeling fear toward the tremendous death aura wafting from Mok Gyeong-un.
Stretching himself, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“That feels refreshing. It was stifling having these things stuck in me the whole time.”
-So you endured it on purpose?
“Yes. Just in case.”
He had heard that masters with sharp energy sense could perceive the energy of lesser fighters.
That was why Mok Gyeong-un had thought of this method from the moment the Forbidden Gate Locks were first embedded in him, but had continued to hold back.
Blue Spirit clicked her tongue and said,
-So you did not come down here recklessly.
At this point, aside from that huge one, there were only a few entities here that could directly threaten Mok Gyeong-un.
Of course, the ones devouring and being devoured would still aim at him indiscriminately.
“Risking one’s life and committing suicide are different things.”
-You speak well. But it is still dangerous all the same. Even if it is not yet complete, in a certain sense that thing may be more dangerous than I am.
Its purpose was not possession.
It was to devour indiscriminately and complete its corruption.
It would try to eat him one way or another.
-Will you begin with the ones around it first?
Blue Spirit asked, gesturing with her chin toward the smaller whirlwinds.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un shook his head.
Then he looked at the giant whirlwind and said,
“There is a saying that the head is the finest part. You should eat from the head first.”
-Mad bastard. Is that a fish?
To look at that and describe it as the finest fish head.
That saying meant the fish head was the tastiest part.
If he was only saying indirectly that he would start with the strongest one first, then it was perfectly like him.
-If desire goes too far, it becomes greed. But as you said, if you can make that thing yours, it will shorten things by ten years.
“Can you help me?”
-Do you think, shikigami or not, that I would let my disciple die?
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly and said,
“If that disciple dies, then Master Blue Spirit dies too.”
-…Stop spouting unlucky nonsense.
“Yes, yes.”
-Hoo.
Blue Spirit took a long draw on her pipe, exhaled smoke, and pointed at the giant whirl of fog as she said,
-I will draw their attention to this side. Keep your eyes only forward and run.
“I leave it to you.”
-Try your best and devour it.
The moment those words ended, Blue Spirit brought the pipe down toward the ground.
Then, her blood-colored eyes flashing, she opened her mouth.
-Blood Boundary.
-Gooooooo!
At that instant, bloody water began to gather on the ground around her palm.
-Drip, drip!
Droplets of blood that rose as though falling upward.
The blood droplets shot into the air in a shower, and all directions were dyed red.
Watching it, Mok Gyeong-un thought inwardly,
‘The Domain of Ghost Intent.’
A barrier formed by the strong thought-force of a high-ranking vengeful spirit.
That was what the Domain of Ghost Intent could be called.
Unlike the barriers spread by occult practitioners, the Domain of Ghost Intent was formed by a vengeful spirit building a space through the concentrated sum of resentment and madness.
‘Was it at this level?’
Nearly dozens of jang all around were dyed blood-red.
Within this Domain of Ghost Intent formed by the spread of her resentment, the low-grade vengeful spirits nearby trembled violently in spirit form.
Some even scattered because they could not endure it.
-Paseuseuseuk!
-Pak! Pak!
At that moment, the small whirlwinds that had been busy devouring the nearby vengeful spirits suddenly moved.
-Uuuuuuuu!
Their target was Blue Spirit.
Because she had deliberately opened up her domain and revealed her power, the corrupted vengeful spirits that had been focused only on devouring abruptly turned their attention to her.
-Go.
-Pat!
At Blue Spirit’s word, Mok Gyeong-un changed direction to the side.
The attention of the corrupted vengeful spirits had focused on Blue Spirit, but if he passed right in front of them, they might switch targets.
That was why he had no choice but to go around them from the side.
-Tatatatatatak!
When he unfolded his lightness art, the speed was extraordinary.
The surroundings slid past him, and before long he arrived in front of the giant whirlwind.
The blood-red domain did not reach this place by the narrowest of margins.
If it had, then this thing too would have turned its attention to Blue Spirit.
‘Impressive.’
-Shwaaaaaaaa!
Watching the black fog whirl like a violent current, Mok Gyeong-un marveled inwardly.
It inspired the fear that if one were swept into it, one would never return.
Most people, no, even most occult practitioners would never dare enter this.
But Mok Gyeong-un possessed one other thing.
He did not have the emotion called fear.
-Pat!
Mok Gyeong-un stepped into the rushing torrent of vengeful spirits.
The moment he entered, screams rang out as though they would tear his eardrums.
-Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaak!
And the vile stench of rotting corpses vibrated all around him so strongly that it felt as though his nose would go numb.
His entire skin felt as though it would be sliced apart, so it hurt even to move a little.
“Hoo.”
So this was why Blue Spirit had warned him.
He felt as though he would be swept away by the evil and savage energy, which far exceeded his expectations.
But to avoid being swept away by it, Mok Gyeong-un circulated death aura through his whole body by running his qi in reverse.
It was right at that moment.
-Clang!
Suddenly, a chain shot out from somewhere and wrapped around Mok Gyeong-un’s waist.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un concentrated death aura into the knife-hand of his hand and chopped down.
-Chaenggang!
The chain broke.
‘Hm?’
But that was not the end of it.
-Chwaaaaaaaaaaa!
Countless chains came flying in and instantly bound Mok Gyeong-un’s limbs.
It happened so suddenly that there was no chance to dodge it.
-Tight!
‘This… this strength…’
Chains wrapped around his entire body except for his head.
Their binding force was so powerful that no matter how much strength he exerted and no matter how much he drew up death aura, they would not budge.
-Chwareureureu!
The chains that had bound Mok Gyeong-un began dragging him toward the center of the black fog whirlwind.
This was not something he could resist by force.
As he was being dragged, screams sounded from somewhere.
-Aaaaaaah!
-Save me!
-Please! Please!
They were screams close to pleading.
But as those cries drew nearer, something began to appear within the blurred field of vision.
-Ugjeok! Ugjeok!
There came the sound of something being eaten there.
He wondered what it was eating, but then
‘!?’
he saw the lower half of a human-shaped vengeful spirit kicking upside down.
But its upper half was inside the massively opened mouth of a grotesque being covered in chains.
It was a sight chilling enough just to look at.
-Eoghk! Eoghk!
The sounds of the vengeful spirit being eaten came from inside its mouth, but they did not last long.
That was because even the lower half was instantly sucked into the mouth.
To say it devoured was not a figure of speech.
It truly meant it literally ate them.
-Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The grotesque being covered in chains, which had swallowed a vengeful spirit alive, let out a roar.
All directions shook as though an earthquake had struck.
-Save me!
-Please!
At that, the vengeful spirits bound by chains screamed and pleaded even more desperately.
They were terrified out of their minds.
It was then.
-Parrrrrr!
Mok Gyeong-un’s entire body trembled.
Was this the first time in his life that he was feeling the emotion called fear?
At that, the grotesque being covered in chains, which had been roaring, slowly turned its gaze.
-Uuuuuung!
Two lights like eyes showed through the gaps in the chains.
-I eat you.
Its chilling voice resounded in all directions.
Then Mok Gyeong-un, whose body had been trembling, raised his head.
But his face was not one sunk in fear.
As if all of this excited him, his lips twitched, and the corners of his mouth spread all the way to his ears.
-!?
An odd light appeared in the pale white eye-glow.
Mok Gyeong-un said to that grotesque being covered in chains,
“We are of one mind there.”