Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Run Away, Young Sect Master
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Dang Gon felt like he understood Un Hwi, yet at the same time found him hard to comprehend.
‘Aren’t you bothered at all? It was basically like being judged.’
Dang Gyujin was too kind-hearted.
In contrast, Dang Yuchang was consumed by ambition and overflowing with pride.
That was why Dang Gyujin couldn’t handle the pressure of the ‘evaluation,’ while Dang Yuchang always found it offensive.
No, it was more than offensive.
He’d even lost his temper over it.
He acted as if it was only natural for the retainers of the Nine Dragons Branch Family to follow him.
Even when Dang Gon didn’t support him, instead of trying to persuade, he’d just shown his displeasure—and that was exactly why.
Rather than proving himself through his own skills, he tried to validate himself with his birthright, which left Dang Gon quietly furious.
Yet Un Hwi showed the complete opposite.
He accepted the evaluation as a matter of course.
No, to be precise, he didn’t seem to care about it in the slightest.
Just look at him now.
Even with Dang Tae and Dang Jin simply leaving, he wasn’t fazed at all.
Dang Gon wondered if it was just pride making him pretend not to care, but having watched him closely from the side, he knew it wasn’t that.
It was confidence that they wouldn’t be able to stay away from him.
Self-assurance that no matter what, he would score perfectly.
‘...Maybe the one truly doing the evaluating here wasn’t us, but Young Master Un Hwi.’
Un Hwi had said he’d noticed them even amid the intense spars with the Dang siblings.
He probably couldn’t hear their conversation amid the roaring cheers, but he might have observed their expressions and actions.
If that’s where he’d evaluated Dang Tae and Dang Jin.
And if that gave him certainty that they had no choice but to follow him, then this attitude made perfect sense.
And.
From what Dang Gon knew, this wasn’t something you could just possess.
It was the vessel of a ruler who had once placed others beneath their feet and moved them like limbs.
Dang Hosan.
And the Dark Venerable.
Why were their faces coming to mind?
* * *
“Aaaagh! Aagh!”
“Y-Young Master! Please calm down first—”
“Get out! All of you, get the hell out!!”
“Kyaaak!”
The Red Hall was a scene of chaos.
After his defeat in the spar with Un Hwi, Dang Yuchang had been screaming like a madman, venting his rage on everything around him.
Objects and furniture shattered, while maids and servants fled in terror.
“Un Hwi! Un Hwiii!! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!!”
Dang Yuchang still couldn’t forget the look in Dang Hosan’s eyes from atop the training ground.
Emotionless.
It was the gaze one might give a mere stone rolling on the roadside.
Dang Yuchang knew exactly what that look meant.
Wasn’t it the same one his father always gave that bastard son?
This wouldn’t do.
He was destined to one day surpass the Nine Dragons Branch Family and become the head of the Sacheon Tang Clan.
He couldn’t remain defeated by some lowly wretch.
“...Sorcery! Yeah, sorcery! That’s the only way that bastard son could’ve beaten me! Otherwise, it makes no sense!!”
Dang Yuchang chewed his nails until they bled, then suddenly brightened as if he’d uncovered some great secret.
“Those behind him must’ve cast some vicious sorcery on the bastard. That’s how he could even match up against my sister. To dare use tricks in front of all those retainers! As expected of baseborn scum—they can’t help it!”
Dang Yuchang racked his brains for a long time on how to strip away Un Hwi’s evil disguise and regain his father’s attention.
Time was too short.
The Dark Venerable’s visit was less than a month away.
“I need to send word to Mother.”
Namgung San-yeong was currently away from the estate on some errand.
He’d tried not to burden her with worries, but now there was no time for that.
He quickly rang a bell to summon a maid.
* * *
At that moment.
「Where the hell is this?」
The giant spider, clinging to Namgung San-yeong’s carriage, had traveled nonstop for two days and now entered a forest on the outskirts of the Nine Dragons County.
「Damn it, I can’t go too far...!」
The spirit bound by the Golden Chain Shackles must never stray far from its master.
Otherwise, the soul link would break, leading to dissipation.
The carriage finally stopped just as the giant spider was agonizing over whether to turn back now.
A dilapidated shrine deep in the woods.
It was a miracle it hadn’t collapsed yet.
But Namgung San-yeong descended from the carriage as if perfectly familiar, straightening her attire.
“Wait here.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As she stationed the escort warrior she’d brought from the South Palace Clan outside, the shrine’s main gate creaked open.
“The Divine Lord awaits within.”
“I didn’t send word this time, yet it’s uncanny.”
“The Divine Lord always gazes a thousand li from his place and peers into a thousand days ahead. He knew Lady Namgung would soon come seeking him and thus sent me.”
“Hohoho. No wonder I keep coming back to the Divine Lord with such divine connections.”
The one who opened the door was a pageboy with a deathly pale face.
A red script etched on his forehead glowed ominously.
‘A jiangshi! And a live one at that!’
The giant spider was greatly startled by the sight.
Live jiangshi were those among jiangshi that retained memories from life and could discern situations.
Their creation was extremely difficult, so most sorcerers avoided attempting it.
Yet they used one as a mere servant?
‘Just what is this place?’
It reeked of danger.
The giant spider hesitated again.
Just reporting what he’d seen so far would please the Young Sect Master greatly.
But that would be it. They wouldn’t break the Golden Chain Shackles for that alone.
‘If I can just find out who these people are...!’
So the giant spider decided to take the risk.
Gaining more intel could yield a huge payoff.
Besides, in life, he had been an elder of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Though now in dire straits, he shouldn’t fear such danger.
Shh-shh-shh!
The giant spider followed the two, keeping just enough distance to barely evade the live jiangshi’s senses.
Namgung San-yeong arrived at the innermost hall of the shrine.
Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling—
There, a middle-aged man with sunken eyes like a wastrel was wildly shaking a rattle, his hair disheveled.
“I beseech you, I beseech you. Grant me more divine powers. Bestow brighter miracles upon me. I beseech—”
“I greet the Subordinate Divine Lord.”
When Namgung San-yeong bowed politely, he abruptly stopped shaking the rattle.
“You’ve come because something didn’t go as planned again!”
“Why else would I visit the Subordinate Divine Lord?”
“So full of greed! The divine one looks kindly upon the devout in daily life, but despises those who barge in only when they need something, demanding this and that!”
“But what of those who pay such lavish offerings—amounts ordinary folk wouldn’t dare dream of?”
“They’d find them adorable! Ehihi! Ehihi!”
Namgung San-yeong nodded in satisfaction and gestured to her accompanying pageboy.
Thud!
The pageboy dropped the heavy load on his back to the ground, kicking up dust with a loud noise.
“Now, let’s see just how adorable the divine one finds this?”
The one called the Divine Lord twisted his head grotesquely as he approached the load.
It looked eerie, like a broken-jointed doll moving.
The pageboy hastily backed away in fear.
But Namgung San-yeong remained composed.
‘Mosan Sect lineage? But even more sinister... perhaps a splinter faction from them?’
The giant spider racked his brains, drawing on all his knowledge to identify the Divine Lord.
From live jiangshi creation to the formations arrayed throughout the shrine.
Someone of this caliber must have a reputation in the martial world.
But nothing came to mind immediately.
The edge of his mind itched, as if it was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t recall.
“O divine one, do you like it? You do? Ehihi! I think so too. Looks like even the divine one is most pleased.”
The Divine Lord opened the chest on the load and grinned widely. It was filled with silver taels.
But.
Bang!
Namgung San-yeong strode over and slammed the lid shut with one hand.
“Then you’ll have to deliver proper results in return, right?”
“Even in the secular world, they pay an advance for one or two parts of the work.”
“If you succeed, I’ll add another chest.”
“Ehhhihihihi! Now that changes things.”
The Divine Lord cackled madly for a while before suddenly stopping.
Then a chilling glint flashed in his eyes.
His previously flailing limbs snapped into place, stiffening, his back straightening to exude an extraordinary presence.
He suddenly carried the air of a different person altogether.
“What can I assist with?”
Namgung San-yeong’s eyes sparkled.
Whenever the Divine Lord showed this side, it meant her wishes would come true.
“Do you remember the favor I asked before?”
“The donor’s son—”
“Not my son.”
“Then let’s say the bastard of your house. Anyway, wasn’t the brainwashing request already underway?”
It was about the Young Sect Master.
The giant spider crept closer to hear more.
“You know that trick isn’t fully taking hold, right? I want you to strengthen it.”
“Hmm, brainwashing isn’t enough?”
“I don’t think that’ll fully break my seal.”
“Tell me more details.”
“A live jiangshi—possible?”
Namgung San-yeong’s eyes gleamed coldly.
Ever since her argument with Dang Gyujin, her thinking had completely changed.
‘I can’t just use him up and discard him before the Dark Venerable! If Hwa-a really tells that bastard the truth... I need to make sure he can never escape my grasp.’
Moreover, on the way here, she’d received new word from Dang Yuchang.
—The bastard and his backers used wicked sorcery to shake my position, even my own sister...
If that was true, she absolutely couldn’t let it slide.
“You mean to use him for life.”
Kekekeke! The Divine Lord burst into loud laughter.
‘These lunatics?’
The giant spider spat curses inwardly and began to back away stealthily.
He didn’t know the Divine Lord’s exact identity yet, but he was clearly high-ranking.
Even Un Hwi, not yet recovered to his past level, might struggle against him.
He needed to warn them of the danger.
Reporting what he’d seen here would let them uncover the true identity quickly.
After all, the Young Sect Master was an expert in such matters.
They could prepare countermeasures easily.
But.
Grrr—
The giant spider froze, his back crawling as he halted.
A beastly growl carried through the air.
Not from wolves in the forest.
It belonged to something far more ferocious and sinister.
‘Death qi? No, this is close to demonic qi! Then... beast jiangshi!?’
Beast jiangshi were jiangshi made from dead animals, as the name implied.
Stitched from various corpses like rags, they boasted unique traits like legendary yokai.
They were upper-tier in jiangshi arts, with few sects capable of creating them... but given they used a live jiangshi as a servant, it seemed plausible.
The giant spider quickly scanned the surroundings.
Glowing eyes lit up one by one in the darkened shrine corners.
One, two, three...
The eyes multiplied to over a dozen pairs.
A nauseating rotten stench filled the air.
Every one of them was glaring at the giant spider, drooling hungrily.
Live jiangshi, beast jiangshi, shrine, Divine Lord, ominous atmosphere.
There was one place that matched all these traits.
Black Bone Ghost Valley.
Starting as a mere offshoot of the Mosan Sect, they had served the Divine Cult loyally for centuries after pledging allegiance, but recently clashed with the Young Sect Master and caused a stir by trying to defect from the Demonic Alliance.
‘Damn it...! Not the South Palace Clan, but Black Bone Ghost Valley! As the Young Sect Master said, possessing this spider must’ve dulled my wits too. How could I forget Black Bone Ghost Valley?’
Black Bone Ghost Valley specialized in demonic and ghostly sorcery even among the demonic paths.
The mistake was that they rarely left the Tianshan Mountains, so it hadn’t occurred to him.
Moreover, hadn’t the Divine Cult been in civil war with the Demonic Alliance?
But if they were breaking free and advancing into the Central Plains, Un Hwi was in immediate danger.
The problem was... there was no visible escape route here.
He was already trapped amid the yokai.
Oblivious to the giant spider’s anxiety, only the voices of the Divine Lord and Namgung San-yeong filled the quiet estate.
“If you pay properly for the materials, there’s nothing difficult.”
“And after all those offerings, you say it’s not enough?”
“Offerings are offerings, material costs are material costs. But Lady Namgung is a longtime patron, so I’ll do it at cost, no profit. Shall we proceed?”
“Fine. I’ll add another chest. That enough?”
“That’ll do!”
The Divine Lord grinned broadly.
“Then first, we should deal with the tail Lady Namgung brought.”
Before the giant spider could flee, the Divine Lord shook the rattle in his hand.
Woof! Woof-woof!
In that instant, the waiting yokai tore through the darkness and pounced on the giant spider, tearing into it.
Each had a grotesquely bizarre form.
「Run away, Young Sect Master...!」
The giant spider’s final words weakly transmitted through the spirit link to Un Hwi.