Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 85 - Corpse Blood Valley Master (4)

Chapter 85 – Corpse Blood Valley Master (4)

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Blue Spirit, having noticed Mok Gyeong-un’s intention, clicked her tongue inwardly.

What kind of bastard was this?

This was the Li Clan, who had preserved their loyalty to her across generations for over a hundred years.

Yet as she watched him trying to snatch away that loyalty in this manner, anger surged up within her.

She felt as if she wanted to break the wooden doll she had been sealed inside, burst out, and smash that mortal bastard’s skull over and over with her pipe.

But that anger did not last long.

‘What are you trying to do, mortal?’

Rather, she grew curious about Mok Gyeong-un’s intention.

He could have borrowed the Li Clan’s strength through her, so was there any need to seize it in this manner halfway through?

Just then, Mok Gyeong-un opened his mouth.

“You have realized that I am that person and that person is me, so why are you just standing there?”

“That is…”

At those words, Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, hesitated for a moment.

He knew very well what possession meant.

Was it not, literally, being possessed by a ghost?

‘That person’s possession vessel?’

Then was he supposed to think of Mok Gyeong-un as the master of the Moon Meridian?

The Heaven and Earth Society had occult advisers, but because he had never placed much trust in such strange matters, he hesitated.

It also felt oddly unpleasant somehow.

Then Mok Gyeong-un said,

“Even after seeing the spirit body directly, you still cannot believe it?”

-If everything from the atmosphere onward is different, then if you suddenly lie and say you were possessed, would anyone believe you?

Blue Spirit clicked her tongue and cut in.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said,

“You were certain that loyalty would have been carried on across generations, and that was why you revealed even this secret. How disappointing.”

“I, no, it is just that…”

“Then if I keep the promise from back then, would that make it more believable?”

“If you say back then?”

“The Red Flame Sword Method.”

“Surely not?”

Yi Ji-yeom’s eyes trembled.

And no wonder, because he remembered what had been said when he learned the Red Flame Sword Method from his grandfather.

[The Awaiting Flame Skill was originally a circulation formula that that person and this grandfather devised together. We had meant to create a heart-method best suited to the Red Flame Sword Method. But before we could complete it, that tragedy happened.]

Just as with him, Mok Gyeong-un also recalled what Blue Spirit had said.

[Once, I made a promise with the head of the Li Clan, the fellow’s grandfather Li Hwamun. We promised to complete the unfinished Awaiting Flame Skill together.]

But that promise could not be fulfilled while alive.

It had been fulfilled after death.

Over the long years, as she rose in rank as a resentful spirit, she regained reason, and one by one came to realize things she had not understood while alive.

One of those was the Awaiting Flame Skill of the Red Flame Sword Method.

Mok Gyeong-un held out a hand to Yi Ji-yeom with a smile and said,

“Though I have returned as such a resentment-filled spirit, if the Li Clan follows me once more, I will tell you the completed circulation formula of the Awaiting Flame Skill, which I came to understand only after death.”

‘You damned mortal bastard!’

At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, irritation surged up in Blue Spirit.

She had already told him what in the formula had been wrong and what needed to be changed.

An ordinary person would have heard that once and forgotten it, but

‘This bastard would have memorized it, wouldn’t he?’

Mok Gyeong-un’s memory surpassed common sense.

She had grown angry and decided to watch how he would persuade the man without her help.

Yet it now looked as if he really was going to seize that loyalty.

‘The completed circulation formula…’

At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Yi Ji-yeom’s eyes shook even more.

From his grandfather’s time to his own, they had tried to complete that formula somehow, but failed.

In truth, it had been hard to complete from the outset.

That was because one had to bear the great risk of sending blazing yang energy through the body’s acupoints and verifying it directly, which could cost one one’s life if one was careless.

[If I had been with that person, I might have completed it.]

‘Grandfather…’

[But you may be able to do it.]

Thinking of his grandfather again, Yi Ji-yeom felt his chest tighten painfully.

So, looking at Mok Gyeong-un’s face, he struck his tingling chest with his fist and dropped to one knee.

“It is not because of the completion of the formula that this subordinate kneels.”

“Then what is it for?”

“It is because you did not forget the promise you made with my grandfather, no, with our family, and because of that I wish to swear loyalty once again.”

“A promise…”

“How could this subordinate dare to doubt you, when you have returned even as a resentful spirit full of regret to fulfill the long-cherished wish of my grandfather and our Li Clan?”

-Thud!

Then Yi Ji-yeom lowered himself fully to the floor.

“Yi Ji-yeom, head of the Li Clan and Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, once again swears loyalty to the master of the Moon Meridian. Please accept this subordinate’s bow!”

With that, he struck his forehead against the floor three times and displayed the salute of loyalty.

Looking down at this, Mok Gyeong-un lifted the corner of his mouth as if satisfied.

Then Blue Spirit’s voice rang in his ear.

-You insane mortal bastard. This is not just snatching away loyalty, so what in the world are you doing?

“……..”

-I am already dead, so it is not as if I could drag him around forever, and you already became the direct disciple, so if you stayed still you would naturally have inherited this loyalty. Did it feel satisfying to rip it away by force?

She must have been quite angry.

This was the first time he had seen Blue Spirit talk this much.

Well, aside from resentment, it would have been stranger if she were not angry, after he had snatched away the loyalty of a loyal retainer who had waited for her for a hundred years.

She was probably thinking of him as trash.

But,

‘I understand how you feel, but my purpose is not to be led by your hand.’

There was only one reason Mok Gyeong-un had come here.

That was revenge upon the one who killed his grandfather.

He had come to find the one called Ghost Sword, who might have some connection to it.

But if Blue Spirit stepped to the forefront, moved her old subordinates, and wielded that power, then everything would flow only in the direction she wanted.

Mok Gyeong-un did not want the situation to be shaped in that way.

‘At the end of the day, it is only secondary for me.’

Relieving Blue Spirit’s resentment was never his priority.

If they had not been bound in a shikigami relationship, she too had been a resentful spirit that had tried to devour him.

Now, because of the absolute bond called fate, they had even formed a master-disciple relationship, but fundamentally, Mok Gyeong-un trusted absolutely no one.

That was why he had not the slightest intention of giving Blue Spirit the initiative.

* * *

“This is… the formula Your Lordship completed?”

Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, received the written formula with trembling hands.

For three generations they had tried to complete it, and it was one of his family’s long-cherished wishes, so he could not hide his excitement.

As Yi Ji-yeom read down through the formula, an exclamation escaped his lips.

“Ah!”

How could one even have approached the circulation method in this way?

In astonishment, Yi Ji-yeom said,

“It truly is remarkable. This subordinate never even imagined the method of immediately revolving blazing yang energy from the Stirred Valley point to the Yang River point. But if this works, then it seems one could control the energy that enters the ninth star. To think you devised this so easily.”

-As if it were devised easily. I only realized it after dying and opening my Ghost Eyes.

Blue Spirit, apparently still not calmed down, grumbled in an angry voice.

From the beginning, a heart-method like the Awaiting Flame Skill, which could directly handle blazing yang energy, was one with immense risks, and could be completed only through countless trial and error and sacrifice.

In a sense, from Yi Ji-yeom’s perspective, it could be called nothing less than a fortuitous encounter.

As he continued reading down through the formula, Yi Ji-yeom furrowed his brow.

Then he cautiously said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“However, my lord. If it would not be discourteous, it seems you did not write down the entire formula.”

“That’s right.”

“Pardon?”

“I only wrote half of it.”

At those words, Yi Ji-yeom was about to ask why, but soon shut his mouth.

Looking at Mok Gyeong-un’s smiling face, he could guess what the intent had been.

“…….Did you do that on purpose?”

“That’s right.”

“May I ask why…”

“Even if the formula has been completed, one still has to be careful. I was worried that perhaps the Valley Master here might rush too much and suffer harm again.”

“Ah…”

At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Yi Ji-yeom let out a small exclamation.

Was it because he feared that if he learned the completed formula recklessly, he might once again end up devoured by blazing yang energy?

It seemed he had misunderstood.

He had even thought that perhaps Mok Gyeong-un still did not completely trust him.

Blue Spirit snorted.

-After taking even a vow of loyalty from him, you still don’t trust him much at all.

She knew Mok Gyeong-un well.

She was certain that the reason he had not given the whole formula had absolutely nothing to do with worrying about Yi Ji-yeom.

‘Yes. Correct.’

Of course, that was exactly right.

Even though Yi Ji-yeom had sworn loyalty, Mok Gyeong-un did not trust him completely.

That was why he had only given him just enough bait.

-Be suspicious in moderation. I swear it. The Li Clan can be trusted.

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un wore a faint smile.

Trust in an old loyal retainer was her freedom.

But not his.

Until he was certain, he intended to maintain a measure of vigilance.

It was then that Yi Ji-yeom tucked the sheet with the written formula into his robe and opened his mouth.

“However, my lord. If it would not be discourteous, might this subordinate dare to ask what happened on that day at the Great Battle of Hoeryeong a hundred years ago?”

‘The Great Battle of Hoeryeong?’

What was that?

At this question, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

He had not expected Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, to suddenly ask about Blue Spirit’s past, of which he knew nothing.

At that, Blue Spirit spoke in a mocking voice.

-Handle it well. Whatever else may happen, when it comes to matters related to the Li Clan, I will absolutely not help you or coach you, mortal.

Having had the Li Clan’s loyalty snatched away, she had no intention of giving him information.

It meant she wanted him to suffer for it properly once.

‘The Great Battle of Hoeryeong.’

That was a memory she could never forget.

That memory was what had made her become a resentful spirit.

From the start, she had not intended to tell this mortal bastard immediately anyway, so she thought this had worked out well.

It was then.

Mok Gyeong-un opened his mouth as if it were nothing.

“Do you want to know that?”

At that, Blue Spirit was dumbfounded.

Knowing nothing, what did he mean by asking whether he wanted to know?

Then Yi Ji-yeom answered.

“That is correct. This subordinate, no, my grandfather believed in you to the end, but because of the events of that day, he was demoted from King to Valley Master, and our main house was expelled from the castle and has remained confined here in Corpse Blood Valley for three generations.”

‘Ahhh.’

At those words from Yi Ji-yeom, Blue Spirit felt a stabbing pain.

The Li Clan was one of the founding families that established the Heaven and Earth Society, and yet to humiliate them in this way.

How far had that bastard intended to insult her and ruin the Heaven and Earth Society?

As expected, she could never forgive him.

Then Mok Gyeong-un said,

“How does this Valley Master know what happened that day at the Great Battle of Hoeryeong? I am curious to know how you, and the Society, understand it.”

‘Hah!?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Blue Spirit inwardly clucked her tongue.

No matter what, this bastard always found some sort of way through.

She had not expected him to throw the question back in this manner.

Or perhaps, since he felt absolutely no difficulty in lying in the first place, he could make something up no matter what?

‘You truly are…’

While she was left in disbelief, Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master, said cautiously,

“……..I am sorry, but I do not know if I ought to speak of this exactly as it is.”

“That’s fine. You have to tell me things exactly as they are if I am to tell you what happened that day at the Great Battle of Hoeryeong.”

Mok Gyeong-un said it as though he did not mind.

As he did so, he glanced toward the wooden doll in his robe and twitched his lips.

‘You should have coached me after all.’

Then it would not have been led this way.

But would this mean he would now be able to learn what connection Blue Spirit had to the Heaven and Earth Society and what secret she carried?