Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 5
>Chapter Title: Haggling (2)
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-**Thud!**
Great Madam Seok stormed back into her quarters in Hyewa Pavilion and kicked a chair with savage force.
The chair split in half from the kick infused with internal energy.
Her face flushed red as she huffed in rage.
“How dare he!”
Back at the pharmacy, she had done her utmost to suppress her anger.
But now that things had turned out like this, she could no longer hold it back.
“Madam, please compose yourself.”
Her escort warrior, Ho-ang, cautiously tried to calm Great Madam Seok.
In response, she snapped in an irritated tone.
“Compose myself? Do I look like I can right now? I went to all the trouble of bringing in that skilled sorcerer, and instead, some random impostor gets his hands on the Clan Head’s seal... Aaargh!”
“Madam!”
Great Madam Seok clutched the back of her neck.
Her blood pressure surged, bringing on dizziness, so she squeezed her eyes shut.
Truth be told, among the Mok Clan’s children, she had kept an eye on the cunning second son and the youngest, whom the Clan Head doted on so prettily—but the third son, Mok Kyung-un, had never even been on her radar.
He had no talent for martial arts, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say his maternal clan was practically ruined.
So she had paid him no mind at all.
Who could have guessed that this nobody would turn out to be such a hidden threat?
-**Grind!**
Great Madam Seok gnashed her teeth.
She never imagined the boy would haggle so boldly over the Clan Head’s seal.
She had thought a little intimidation would make him spit it out on his own.
“...Was he always like this?”
The Mok Kyung-un she knew had never shown such sly cunning.
If anything, he had seemed cowardly and spineless.
There were plenty of anecdotes to back that up.
“Was he hiding his true nature?”
Come to think of it, until his mother died, people had always said he was fairly sharp-minded, if not a genius.
“Maybe afterward, he started acting that way to protect himself.”
If that were the case, he might be an even greater threat worth watching.
He had drawn a line in his own words, claiming no interest in the Clan Head position—but those who knew how to hide themselves and had strong patience were all the more dangerous.
“And that power of his...”
That bizarre power nagged at her.
The maid So-hwa had suddenly come to mind, her veins bulging as she gasped on the verge of death.
Watching that had reminded her of the dead Sorcerer Myo-sin.
It was strikingly similar to So-hwa’s state.
Which meant...
“...It has to be that boy who killed Sorcerer Myo-sin.”
“That bastard Mok Kyung-un, you mean?”
“Yes.”
It all fit together perfectly that way.
She had brought in the sorcerer because of his renowned skill, so there was no way he would have been possessed by some monster and gone berserk on his own.
It had to be Mok Kyung-un’s doing.
At Great Madam Seok’s firm conviction, her escort warrior Ho-ang jumped up in outrage.
“How dare he kill someone you summoned, Madam? Leave it to me. Before he can use any of his sorcery, I’ll make him vanish without a trace...”
“Enough.”
“But...”
“If that seal really ends up in the hands of the second son Mok Eun-pyeong or the youngest Mok Yu-cheon, my son will be the one who has to deal with the fallout.”
“But letting that boy lead us around...”
“Who said anything about being led around?”
“Huh?”
Great Madam Seok took something from a white porcelain vase on a decorative shelf in one corner of the room.
It was a small bead made of jade.
The bead bore a unique pattern, and she handed it to her escort Ho-ang.
“What’s this?”
“Take this to the Ghost Shadow Pavilion in Mongseong. Inform the pavilion master that Sorcerer Myo-sin was murdered.”
“Ah!”
Ho-ang nodded, grasping her intent.
Ghost Shadow Pavilion.
That was the group to which the deceased Myo-sin had belonged—a collective of sorcerers.
* * *
-**Slap!**
The slap whipped Go Chan’s head to the side.
Gam Escort clicked his tongue in disappointment as he glared at him.
“Tsk tsk. Was keeping tabs on one measly kid really that hard?”
“N-No, sir.”
“I permitted you to subdue him if needed, and you took him to the inner hall? Are you in your right mind? Could you even do something like that?”
Go Chan had no response to Gam Escort’s scolding.
Deep down, he wanted to reveal everything that had happened while he was away.
That had been his original plan.
But now, he hesitated.
“...Why am I so uneasy?”
In terms of martial arts, if his senior wanted to, he could take out the boy anytime.
And yet, after dealing with the fake Mok Kyung-un, he had grown afraid of him.
Not just the poison in his blood or that eerie sorcery—more than that, the boy didn’t feel human.
Crossing him rashly seemed like it would end badly.
“Damn it.”
What a mess this had become.
He had been thrilled when they found someone suitable to impersonate Mok Kyung-un, but now he was stuck dancing to that impostor’s tune.
[I trust you’ll keep your mouth shut.]
“...”
Those words left a bad taste.
He was outside the pharmacy, so the boy couldn’t possibly hear—yet Go Chan felt watched somehow.
It was an uncanny sensation, like eyes on him.
Why was this happening?
Lost in that strange mood, he heard Gam Escort, who had been clicking his tongue, speak up.
“If he pokes around even one more time, I won’t let it slide.”
“...His thigh’s pierced anyway, so he won’t be walking much for a while.”
“Thigh or whatever, just keep him out of sight.”
“Understood.”
“You’re certain Great Madam hasn’t caught on?”
“Yes, absolutely. I was right there the whole time. Though she was displeased about him visiting the inner hall.”
[More precisely, because he got a hold of something over Great Madam and haggled with her.]
Go Chan’s mouth went dry.
Even he wasn’t sure whose side he was on anymore.
Hiding half the truth from his senior, whom he should be telling everything to.
“Tsk tsk.”
Gam Escort shook his head.
That boy really wasn’t cut out to be a body double.
They had spotted the real Mok Kyung-un when they killed him on the spot, but as time passed, he would only grow harder to control.
[We need to hurry.]
Even after the warning, if he kept acting on his own, things could go south later.
He needed to quickly decide whom to switch sides to.
“Don’t take your eyes off him for a second. Keep watching.”
“You won’t warn him yourself?”
“There are too many eyes.”
The pharmacy held pharmacists and attendants.
They were mere servants, but as escorts themselves, they couldn’t boss them around—and even if it was a fake, they couldn’t reprimand him openly in front of others.
And...
[He’s too sly. No good comes from talking long with that one.]
Better to keep him in the dark about how things were turning.
That way, switching sides later would be smoother.
* * *
Oblivious to the conversation outside, Mok Kyung-un leaned back comfortably and flipped through a book.
It was the *Brief Accounts of the Philosophers: Yin-Yang School Original Text*.
As he skimmed through, one passage caught his eye with a spark of interest.
‘When the soul of the dead becomes a monster, its rank varies based on several conditions.’
The Yin-Yang School text described monsters in surprisingly detail.
By this, the Demon Monk was a type of lost soul that had turned into a vengeful ghost or specter.
‘Low and weak souls take the form of earthbound spirits, able only to stimulate the senses of the living to that extent. Hmm.’
According to the text, soul ranks divided into seven stages.
Setting aside the conditions, simply by rank:
The first was Red Spirit... an earthbound spirit, capable of giving the living chills or goosebumps.
The second was Vermilion Spirit... could possess others, weighing down their bodies or causing feverish illness.
The third was Yellow Spirit... from here, it required exorcism, described as highly dangerous.
At the Yellow Spirit rank, it became lethal, going beyond weakening the possessed to outright killing them.
‘...By rank, the Demon Monk is a Yellow Spirit.’
Even among Yellow Spirits, danger levels split into three tiers.
Low: could manifest visibly, instilling direct fear in humans.
Mid: could directly affect or inflict pain on the living.
High: could kill the possessed host.
-**Shhhrk!**
At that moment, someone slipped through the pharmacy’s entrance wall like smoke.
It was the Demon Monk.
Unbeknownst to Mok Kyung-un, the Demon Monk seemed a higher-ranked monster than expected.
‘So “affecting the living” meant something like this.’
Now he understood why the Demon Monk couldn’t touch Sorcerer Myo-sin’s corpse.
It was already dead.
A lifeless body couldn’t be influenced.
‘I see.’
Yet he had learned facts not mentioned in the text.
Through the Demon Monk, he had targeted Great Madam Seok.
But she had instantly reacted to the slightest touch and repelled him.
‘They said that woman’s a first-rate expert.’
In contrast, her maid hadn’t noticed a thing until the Demon Monk threatened her life, succumbing helplessly.
What was the difference?
Was it because the maid hadn’t trained in martial arts?
‘Do monsters not work on those who’ve trained in martial arts?’
The text said nothing on that.
-**Creak!**
Then the pharmacy door opened, and escort Go Chan entered.
Mok Kyung-un’s lips curled slightly as he muttered.
“A fine test subject.”
“Huh?”
Go Chan glanced back, puzzled.
“Oh, not talking to you, Go Chan Escort. Shall we try lightly lifting your arm?”
“Young Master, what are you—”
It happened in that instant.
-**Flinch!**
Go Chan felt a chill crawl over his entire body.
It was something eerie, beyond the realm of his five senses.
-**Thwack!**
“Huh?”
Go Chan’s arm suddenly jerked upward.
‘Urk!’
Startled, he channeled internal energy to resist.
But his trembling arm couldn’t hold out long and was forcibly lifted high.
‘What the hell...’
Go Chan was utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend.
But he soon realized the cause.
“Y-Young Master?”
Mok Kyung-un casually flicked his hand.
Then, as if someone gripped his wrist, the forcibly raised arm dropped back down.
Though it lowered, still shaken, Go Chan demanded of Mok Kyung-un.
“What was that just now?”
“Just confirming something.”
“Confirming?”
“Yeah.”
“Why on me...”
“You were just right for it. You’re a second-rate warrior, right, Go Chan Escort?”
“That’s true, but what exactly were you confirming...”
“No need to know.”
“...”
Of course you wouldn’t tell me nicely.
Go Chan stood before the bed, unable to hide his unease.
‘Damn brat.’
He slightly regretted not telling Gam Escort everything as it happened.
Meanwhile, Mok Kyung-un nodded to himself as if he had learned something.
‘It works on Go Chan Escort’s level.’
Go Chan had noticed instantly when the Demon Monk grabbed his wrist.
Having trained in internal energy, his senses were sharper than an ordinary person’s.
He had resisted a bit but couldn’t overcome the Demon Monk’s power.
‘So it works smoothly on regular folk up to second-rate warriors.’
That was the stable threshold.
Not fully verified yet, but perhaps first-rate experts wouldn’t be greatly affected by a Yellow Spirit-rank monster.
If so, that would be a shame.
‘Well, doesn’t mean it’s useless.’
The monster Demon Monk had plenty of uses.
Like eavesdropping on the conversation between Go Chan and Gam Escort earlier—perfect for surveillance at close range, or scouting sealed areas ahead of time.
How handy.
As that thought crossed his mind, Mok Kyung-un read on in the text.
‘Getting a stronger monster wouldn’t be bad.’
Fourth: Green Spirit... extremely dangerous. Exorcism mandatory.
Souls persisting over decades. Can influence surroundings, cause hallucinations to disorient the living.
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