Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 40
>Chapter Title: Covert Sect Leader (3)
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After nearly a hundred years of relentless persecution, even among the Blazing Flower Cult's believers, few could read the original Sacred Scripture.
The Covert Sect Leader never imagined that Mok Kyung-un could read the original text in the Pasa Kingdom's language.
The Pasa Kingdom's tongue was surprisingly difficult to master, and experts on it across the Central Plains were exceedingly rare.
'Ah!'
If all this held true, it meant Mok Kyung-un had known the Sacred Scripture's doctrines from the start.
-Pak!
The Covert Sect Leader hastily withdrew his hand completely from Mok Kyung-un's abdomen and said,
"You... could it be you're one of our cult's believers?"
'Believer?'
At the Covert Sect Leader's question, Mok Kyung-un's eyes sparkled.
He had predicted various reactions if he recited the scripture, and this one was quite intriguing.
-...You're not planning to pretend to be a believer, are you?
Cheongryeong clicked her tongue.
She didn't like the idea of Mok Kyung-un getting tangled up with the Blazing Flower Cult.
And,
-It's your choice if you want to deceive him. But how far do you think you'll get with just the scripture? That suspicious eunuch will see through it in no time.
'Well. If that's all, you might be right.'
He was, after all, the head of the covert branch that handled intelligence and spies.
No matter his hidden background, as a deeply suspicious man, any half-baked claim of being a believer might get exposed just as Cheongryeong warned.
Deception was a gamble.
To raise the odds, it had to be grounded in as much truth as possible.
With that, Mok Kyung-un replied,
"Who knows."
"What?"
"I've received teachings on the scripture before, but it's hard to call myself a believer based on that alone."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, one of the Covert Sect Leader's eyebrows arched up.
What was this kid saying?
Teachings on the scripture?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just what I said. I received the scripture's teachings, but I'm not a believer. If anything, you'd call me a devotee."
"Devotee?"
Believers and devotees were strictly different.
Believers were fully subservient to the cult, working for it.
Devotees, on the other hand, simply believed in the cult and its doctrines.
'Devotee...'
The Covert Sect Leader asked in a voice thick with doubt.
"...You call yourself a devotee, so who exactly taught you our cult's scripture?"
"I don't know."
"What? You don't know?"
What was this now?
Mok Kyung-un shrugged and said,
"The elder who taught me the scripture never told me his name."
"Didn't tell you his name?"
"Yes... He absolutely refused. He said if I learned it, I'd end up in the same dire straits as him."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, the Covert Sect Leader's eyes narrowed.
The Blazing Flower Cult had faced severe persecution for so long that most believers operated in fragmented cells, often not even knowing each other's identities.
'It makes sense.'
There was no reason to reveal one's true identity to a non-believer.
But as a high-ranking Doctrine Father, he had some grasp of the key believers in each stronghold.
"Do you remember what that elder who taught you looked like?"
To this, Mok Kyung-un casually replied,
"He was covered in age spots on his face, with thick gray beard reaching down to his chest."
"Any other distinguishing features?"
It was too vague to pinpoint anyone.
What he'd described were just natural signs of old age.
Mok Kyung-un shrugged again and said,
"His bushy beard and long eyebrows covered half his face, and he was dressed in shabby clothes, so it's hard for me to point out any specific traits."
"That's not enough to identify anyone."
"Of course not. Would someone who won't even share his name show his true appearance carelessly?"
At Mok Kyung-un's words, the Covert Sect Leader's eyes narrowed further.
It was logical, but he couldn't bring himself to trust it.
He spoke in a sharp voice.
"Do you think I'd blindly believe you learned our cult's scripture from some nameless, faceless elder?"
"Of course it must be hard to believe."
"Then why should I take your word as..."
"I learned the scripture from him in the original text."
'!?'
The Covert Sect Leader furrowed his brow.
Learning the scripture in the original meant studying it in the Pasa Kingdom's language, not Han script.
To know the original text meant no ordinary believer.
But there was no solid proof.
As if reading his mind, Mok Kyung-un turned his head, gesturing with his eyes to the desk.
On the desk lay brush, ink, and paper.
Seeing this as an offer to write, the Covert Sect Leader stared intently at Mok Kyung-un's face before releasing the hand still gripping his collar.
"...Write it once."
Mok Kyung-un went to the desk, poured water to ink the stone, dipped the brush, and began writing on the paper.
-Ssusuk!
"I harbor no regrets for life or death, for this body is consumed by sacred flame.
>Let light illuminate your chosen path; joy and sorrow alike shall turn to dust.
>Pitiable are these sorrowful mortals."
'!!!!!!'
The Covert Sect Leader's pupils trembled rapidly as he watched.
The skepticism in his eyes before the writing shifted in an instant.
'How can this be?'
This wasn't some crude imitation of the script—it was properly learned calligraphy.
You couldn't write it like this by just mimicking shapes like drawings.
Having studied the Pasa Kingdom's language for years himself, he was all the more certain.
'He must have learned from a believer above Doctrine Father rank.'
No one could write Pasa script this fluently otherwise.
Gazing in awe at the scripture in Pasa tongue, the Covert Sect Leader turned to Mok Kyung-un.
This was undeniable proof.
What use would a scion of a prestigious Anhui martial family, only seventeen years old, have for the Pasa language?
'Ahh.'
Cheongryeong clicked her tongue at the sight.
Thanks to mastering the Pasa language, this suspicious eunuch was gradually lowering his guard.
Who besides sanctioned merchant caravans or interpreters crossing into the Western Regions would ever need to learn it?
It was quite the coincidence that he'd supposedly learned it from his "grandfather."
At that moment, the Covert Sect Leader spoke.
"The believer who taught you the Pasa language must have been at least a Doctrine Father."
"Doctrine Father?"
"A high-ranking believer in our cult authorized to teach the scripture."
"Ah... I see."
"Yes. There aren't many left who can teach the original text, so it would have been better if you'd known his name."
The Covert Sect Leader clicked his tongue with genuine regret.
Then he promptly asked,
"Did that one teach you only the scripture and the Pasa language?"
At the question, Mok Kyung-un pretended to ponder for a moment, as if he'd been waiting.
"Ah... Come to think of it, he mentioned searching for something."
"Searching?"
"Yes. My memory's fuzzy, but I recall... Ah! Right. He was looking for the Incarnation of Ahriman."
At those words, the Covert Sect Leader's eyes widened in shock.
Mok Kyung-un had anticipated this reaction.
And for good reason.
[Ahriman]
The writing at the top of that slip of paper tucked between the original scripture pages.
It spelled Ahriman.
He hadn't even told Cheongryeong the interpretation:
[The Incarnation of Ahriman shall appear in this world—be wary.]
It seemed like some prophecy within the Blazing Flower Cult.
He'd seen value in using this too, and the Covert Sect Leader's reaction confirmed its success.
Then—
-Pak!
The Covert Sect Leader grabbed Mok Kyung-un's shoulder, unable to hide his excitement, and said,
"I think I know who taught you the original."
"Yes?"
What?
He knew who the imaginary teacher was?
It was absurd—he'd made up a fictional person.
But Mok Kyung-un didn't show it.
Regardless, the Covert Sect Leader's face was flushed with elation.
'Only I and the two Protectors heard that prophecy of the Sacred Flame. Among us, only Elder Jang Protector is over sixty.'
If Mok Kyung-un's words were true, it had to be Elder Jang Protector.
He had despaired when Elder Jang went missing, assuming both Protectors dead.
But if this was real, it was a blessing beyond measure.
"If you received teachings from him, you can't be dismissed as a mere devotee. You could even qualify as a Doctrine Father yourself."
'Hmm?'
Qualify as a Doctrine Father?
Who had he shoehorned into this role to react like that?
Puzzled but composed, Mok Kyung-un humbly demurred.
"I've only learned the scripture—how could I qualify as a Doctrine Father? But you said you might know who it is..."
"Since he kept his identity secret from you to the end, it's hard to say outright. But he's undoubtedly a very high-ranking figure in our cult."
"Ah..."
"After teaching you the scripture, do you know where he went—his whereabouts?"
"...I'm sorry, I don't. He vanished suddenly one day."
"Aaah."
The Covert Sect Leader couldn't hide his regret at Mok Kyung-un's words.
Even so, he resolved to take solace in the fact that a Protector he'd thought dead was alive.
As he did, Mok Kyung-un leaned in and whispered softly,
"But before the elder vanished, he left something behind."
"Left something?"
"Yes."
"What was it?"
Sensing a clue, the Covert Sect Leader urged him on with eager anticipation.
"It was a phrase written in the Pasa language—something vague; I couldn't make out the meaning."
"Written in the Pasa language? Write it down."
Mok Kyung-un took up the brush and wrote a single phrase.
[Sword of the Soul]
'!?'
The Covert Sect Leader furrowed his brow at it.
Then he murmured softly,
"Soul Sword?"
A direct translation from Pasa was just that.
What could it mean?
Pondering briefly, he suddenly realized something and said,
"Ghost... Sword?"
The Soul Sword could also be called the Ghost Sword.
If it was as the note said, the first that came to mind was the Ghost Sword—one of the Eight Stars, hailed as the supreme master of the current martial world.
At the Covert Sect Leader's guess, the corner of Mok Kyung-un's mouth twitched upward.
'Ha!'
Cheongryeong was genuinely astounded watching this.
What an absurd guy.
He'd tailored plausible lies from the intel he had to fit the Covert Sect Leader's reactions, and now he was steering the situation exactly as intended.
'...He's scheming to make this eunuch mortal go hunt down the Ghost Sword.'
[End of Chapter 40: Covert Sect Leader (3)]