Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 50
>Chapter Title: Jo Tae-cheong (3)
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- Gasp!
The girl looked at Mok Kyung-un with startled eyes.
‘Who is this guy? He sensed this yokai energy even before I did?’
Among the fox spirits, those that reached the greater yokai grade were cunning enough to completely conceal and suppress their own yokai energy.
Even ordinary sorcerers would struggle to detect it if such greater yokai deliberately hid their power, so she couldn’t hide her surprise that he had noticed it first.
‘No way he’s a Moon Guard rank or higher?’
At first, she had taken Mok Kyung-un for a martial artist.
That was why she had helped him, hoping that if she saved his life, he might assist her in return.
But once she peeled back the surface, it turned out he wasn’t a martial artist—he was from the same line of work.
In that case, they might actually communicate well.
The girl whispered.
“You sense yokai energy well.”
“Do I?”
“I only just noticed it myself. If you’re this sensitive to yokai energy, you’re no ordinary sorcerer. Which sect are you from...?”
“Shh!”
She held her breath again and clamped her mouth shut.
Even as she chattered on, she followed instructions promptly.
At that moment, Qing Ling spoke to Mok Kyung-un.
-You mean the To-ru?
-To-ru?
-The one from earlier that tried to stomp you flat with its hooves.
-Ah... But there seems to be another one besides that.
-Another? Ah! It’s Heum-won.
-Heum-won?
-Yeah. It’s a fox spirit from the Kunlun Mountains, just like To-ru. In some ways, it’s far trickier and more dangerous to deal with than To-ru.
-Two greater yokai-grade fox spirits...
It was a more troublesome situation than expected.
He had fought monster-grade fox spirits before, but this was his first time facing greater yokai-grade ones.
That made it hard to gauge just how strong they were.
Of course, having broken through the wall to reach the Transformation Realm, he had no illusions about being pushed back by greater yokai.
He would simply proceed with caution.
The girl clicked her tongue and murmured in a small voice.
“Two? So the rumors were true after all.”
“Rumors?”
“Yeah. There were stories that the Three-Eyed One commands two greater yokai-grade fox spirits as his familiars.”
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes gleamed at her words.
This girl seemed to possess quite a bit more information than expected.
He asked her.
“But how did you get in here?”
“Huh?”
“From what I heard, you’re not from Soul Slaughter Hall. You said something about Disaster-Cutting Pavilion? So why are you here dressed like that?”
“Uh, well, that’s...”
At Mok Kyung-un’s question, the girl suddenly grew fidgety.
And for good reason—she wasn’t supposed to be here, nor was her identity supposed to be exposed.
She racked her brain for an excuse but couldn’t come up with anything, so she hurriedly changed the subject.
“B-but what about you? You’re just as suspicious.”
“Suspicious?”
“Yeah. You’re not from Soul Slaughter Hall either. And the Three-Eyed One sent familiars to kill you. How do you explain that?”
“No idea.”
“Huh?”
“I only tried to kill him because he came after my life first.”
“Ah, so that’s why... Wait, what? You tried to kill the Three-Eyed One?”
The girl’s eyes widened as she shot back.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It’s not wrong so much as shocking that you even tried to kill him.”
“Is it that surprising?”
“It is. How dangerous do you think that freak is? And you went after him alone?”
“Is he that dangerous?”
“Of course. Three hundred sorcerers who tried to subdue him ended up brutally massacred overnight.”
‘!?’
Three hundred sorcerers dead?
Did he possess enough power to handle that many sorcerers single-handedly?
No, come to think of it, he had single-handedly subdued and sealed a spirit beast, so it was only natural that ordinary sorcerers couldn’t handle him.
“If I hadn’t helped you earlier, you might’ve been dead.”
“Ah. Thanks for that.”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, she huffed with a pout.
“...That’s a pretty dry way to say thanks.”
“No it isn’t.”
“Whatever. You’ve got some guts, I’ll give you that. Thinking of taking down a monster like him alone. Even I, with the protective charm my master gave me, can only watch from afar.”
Mok Kyung-un chuckled at her words.
Without realizing it, she had revealed her purpose here.
Noticing this, the girl flushed red and stomped her feet.
“Argh. Is it okay to trick info out of people like this?”
“I didn’t trick you—you said it yourself.”
“No, that’s not...”
“Shh. Stay quiet. Keep making noise like that, and the yokai outside will notice.”
“......”
She stopped stomping and tightly sealed her lips.
Any racket could alert the fox spirits.
Mok Kyung-un said to her.
“Anyway, so you’re here on your master’s orders to monitor this Three-Eyed One.”
“......Yeah.”
What was the point of denying it now that she’d spilled it herself?
She answered straightforwardly.
“Is it revenge by any chance?”
“Revenge?”
“Yeah. Didn’t he kill a hundred sorcerers?”
That many sorcerers—surely some were connected to her or her master.
But she shook her head.
Mok Kyung-un asked, puzzled.
“If not revenge, then why monitor the Three-Eyed One?”
“Because he’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“I don’t know the details. My master just said the Three-Eyed One would soon disrupt the heavenly order, so he ordered me to keep watch.”
“Heavenly order?”
The heavenly order referred to the energies of heaven.
In sorcery, it meant fate, the principles of the world, or its flow.
This order was meant to proceed in a fixed sequence; disrupting it would endanger the world.
“Yeah, the heavenly order. Anyway, I’m here for the greater good, not some personal grudge. So don’t get in my way.”
“Have I?”
“Things got messed up because I tried to save you. Do you know how hard it was to sneak in?”
She gestured to her maid outfit.
He could somewhat guess how she’d infiltrated.
“Ah... I see.”
“......That’s all you have to say? Sigh. Should’ve just let you die.”
She clicked her tongue.
Mok Kyung-un chuckled and asked.
“By the way, I don’t know your name.”
“My name? Oh, right. Mine’s... Wait. If you’re asking a lady’s name, shouldn’t you give yours first?”
“Mok Kyung-un.”
“Mok Kyung-un?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s an unusual family name. I’m Yeo Su-rin.”
“Yeo Su-rin? Pretty name.”
“Pretty?”
“Yeah.”
“Y-you think flattery will make me happy?”
Contrary to her words, she covered her flushed cheeks with both hands, embarrassed.
-She’s a simple one.
-Yeah.
Her emotions showed plainly on her face.
Mok Kyung-un didn’t mind and quickly shifted to the main topic.
“Miss Yeo. You said this is the kitchen earlier—how far is it from Soul Slaughter Hall’s main hall?”
“Huh?”
“The fox spirits caught up quick, so it doesn’t seem far.”
Yeo Su-rin’s eyes sparkled as she replied.
“You’re sharp. Right. It’s about a hundred zhang from the main hall.”
“A hundred zhang?”
Not too far, not too close.
Mok Kyung-un asked.
“Couldn’t you have gone farther with that spell that makes entrances?”
“Ugh, does it look easy? I barely managed this with the treasure tool my master gave me.”
Yeo Su-rin showed the two connected rings on her finger.
Silver in form, each embedded with two lustrous green jades.
The extraordinary energy emanating from them explained why she called it a treasure tool.
“You used that to create a space gate shortening the distance here?”
“Exactly.”
“Looks convenient.”
“It has some drawbacks, even if it seems convenient.”
“Drawbacks? Like what?”
“You have to pre-set an anchor point at the desired location ahead of time. Otherwise, you can only cover about twenty zhang.”
“Twenty zhang? That’s a big drop.”
Not even half—more like down to a fifth.
“That’s what I said—drawbacks.”
“Right. Any others?”
“Other drawbacks? Yeah, after two uses in a row, you need at least an incense stick’s time before you can use the treasure tool again.”
“Hmm.”
It came with restrictions proportional to its convenience.
Makes sense—if there were no limits on distance or time, it’d be the most dangerous item imaginable.
But used well in the right situations, it could be incredibly useful.
‘Nice item.’
Sensing Mok Kyung-un’s gaze, Yeo Su-rin removed the rings and tucked them away, warning him.
“Just so you know, don’t get any ideas. No one but me can use this treasure tool.”
“Can’t use it?”
“Yeah. If it gets more than a zhang away from me, the energy drains and it shatters. So don’t even think about it.”
‘Ah...’
Mok Kyung-un inwardly clicked his tongue at her words.
He’d briefly considered killing her and taking it, but that made it pointless.
No wonder she’d so innocently explained the treasure tool to a stranger.
She had safeguards in place.
Which meant,
‘......She might be hiding some drawbacks.’
Talkative and moody as she was, this girl wasn’t stupid.
Sorcery was a profoundly complex discipline—one needed solid intellect to master even the basics.
She was surely holding something back.
Mok Kyung-un’s creed: the more openings someone showed, the more guarded you had to be.
Yeo Su-rin said quietly then.
“Looks like an incense stick’s time has passed.”
“Ah? You can use it now.”
“Yeah. The fox spirits outside still seem to be looking for us, but we can move twenty zhang at a time. Luckily, there are buildings nearby within twenty zhang, so with some time, we can get out of Soul Slaughter Hall.”
“Got it.”
“With how furious the Three-Eyed One must be, better to stay out of his sight for a while.”
With that, Yeo Su-rin slipped the treasure tool onto her index and middle fingers.
She channeled energy to activate it, but then—
“Wait.”
“Huh?”
“Does this work too?”
“With this?”
Mok Kyung-un smirked at her question.
* * *
-Thud!
Jo Tae-cheong’s foot sent the rolling head of sorcerer Jo Uigong across the floor.
Kicking his head, Jo Tae-cheong spoke with a slightly flushed face.
“Same guy.”
His facial muscles twitched, and soon a raspy voice emerged.
“I see.”
Sorcerer Jo Uigong, bound in the subjugation chamber.
He had tried to use the Blood Dissolving Worm to identify who cast the spell chains on Ju-eon.
But the man’s throat had been slit—he was already dead.
That led to one conclusion.
‘It was one person.’
All of it—the work of a single individual.
While Jo Tae-cheong was away, this fiend manipulated his greedy junior brother Jo Uigong to control Soul Slaughter Hall; it was connected to a wrathful ghost at least Qing Ling-grade; and it had boldly come for his life.
-Crunch!
As his face returned to normal, Jo Tae-cheong curled his lips viciously and muttered.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had worthy prey to hunt.”
He had hidden himself in the shadows all this time.
For this fool to touch him—it had lost all fear.
Time to enjoy a hunt after so long.
‘Run if you can. You’re still in the palm of my hand...’
-Slash!
It happened then.
Jo Tae-cheong’s eyes shook.
Something sharp and black burst from the floor, grazing his right elbow as it surged upward.
A burning sensation followed...
-Thud!
His right arm dropped to the floor.
“Grrraaah!”
His face twisted in agony from the severed limb.
In that instant, he was dumbfounded.
He thought it had fled, but it came back?
‘This bastard?’
Incredibly cunning.
Normally, one would hide or keep running after a failed assassination to save their skin.
But it reappeared, attacking from below the lower floor at a distance.
What kind of lunatic was this?
-Grit!
‘I’ll kill you.’
As Jo Tae-cheong glared at the floor, his facial muscles bulged, his forehead beginning to split.
But then—
-Hummm!
‘!?’
A bizarre energy pulsed from above.
Jo Tae-cheong instinctively looked up,
-Whoosh!
Someone dropped upside-down from above, stabbing a dagger into his splitting forehead like lightning.
-Stab!
‘!!!!!!!!!!!’
Black blood and white fluid oozed from the split forehead.
In that gap, the falling figure flipped in midair and landed on the floor.
-Thud!
Face shrouded in black cloth—it was Mok Kyung-un.
“Whew.”
Mok Kyung-un smirked viciously at Jo Tae-cheong, who staggered with a dagger in his forehead.
‘Ha......’
Yeo Su-rin watched the scene in a daze through the open round space gate near the fourth-floor ceiling.
[Chapter 50: Jo Tae-cheong (3)] End