Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 6
>Chapter Title: Where Evil Dwells (2)
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“You... what the hell did you do to my body?”
At his question, Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly and replied.
“Who knows. What do you think I did?”
A chill ran down his spine!
His lips were clearly curved in a smile.
Yet his eyes remained as still as those of a corpse.
Seeing this, Jo Il-sang felt an unearthly dread for the first time in his life.
‘This guy... is he really Mok Kyung-un?’
The Mok Kyung-un he knew was the most pathetic among the Mok family brothers—by no exaggeration.
This demeanor was completely unexpected.
The atmosphere was utterly different.
It felt like he was facing not an ordinary human, but some being on an entirely different plane.
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un stepped closer and spoke.
“You seem to be shaking quite a bit. Well... don’t worry. Normally, I’d start by slicing off a piece somewhere, but since I used Paralysis Powder this time...”
“Paralysis Powder?”
At Jo Il-sang’s puzzled echo, Mok Kyung-un pointed upward with his finger.
“This is a really nice place.”
“What?”
“Before, whenever I needed herbs, I had to scour the mountains. But here, with herbs overflowing, I can mix and match them as needed.”
“Mix herbs? What did you do to me?”
“Nothing much—just ground up viper glands used in medicine, mixed with Spirit Horse Powder and spirit grass roots, and it paralyzes everything except the head.”
‘!?’
Mok Kyung-un spoke so casually.
Jo Il-sang swallowed hard, his eyes trembling at the sight.
What the hell was this guy?
Since when did he know about herbs?
Puzzled, Mok Kyung-un bent his knees slightly to meet his gaze, then grabbed his head.
Grip!
“Honestly, that’s not important. What matters is why Second Brother Mok Eun-pyeong sent you.”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Jo Il-sang clamped his mouth shut.
If he were going to talk, he wouldn’t have worn the mask from the start.
Seeing this, Mok Kyung-un chuckled.
“Your lips are sealed, huh. Naturally, since you came masked, you had no intention of chatting nicely. What to do...”
* * *
Just a geng ago.
[...This man is Jo Il-sang, the escort of Second Young Master Mok Eun-pyeong. But Young Master, how did you subdue him?]
Go Chan was dumbfounded.
Jo Il-sang was a first-rate expert on the cusp of mastery.
For Mok Kyung-un, whose thigh was pierced and who could barely move, to take him down?
How much more was this guy hiding?
It was incomprehensible.
[Second Young Master’s man, you say?]
[Yes.]
[Why did he send him?]
[I don’t know. But coming masked like this... it’s probably not for a good reason.]
[No clues to guess from?]
[With the Clan Head still alive, even Second Young Master wouldn’t attempt something reckless like assassination. But why he sent him... I really don’t know.]
[Then I’ll find out directly.]
[Yes? Directly—you don’t mean torture, do you?]
[That could work.]
[Y-Young Master! Better to just let him go.]
[Let him go?]
Go Chan warned the puzzled Mok Kyung-un.
[Second Young Master has followers and has built his own faction. If you mess with his man needlessly...]
[There could be repercussions?]
[...Yes. I know you’re angry, but provoking him could be dangerous.]
[Hmm.]
‘Hmm?’
Go Chan looked at Mok Kyung-un with unease.
His mind worked with terrifying cunning, yet you couldn’t predict where it would lead.
One thing was certain.
Even if Second Young Master sent a masked intruder, in Mok Kyung-un’s current situation, there was nothing he could do but endure.
[I’ll think about it.]
[.......You really can’t touch him.]
[Yes. I understand what Escort Go Chan is saying.]
Right.
No matter how unpredictable, given his grasp of the situation, he wouldn’t foolishly make more enemies.
Unlike the cautious Great Madam, who was arrogant yet prudent, Second Young Master was cunning but still young and emotional.
* * *
Jo Il-sang, who had been tense, seemed somewhat calmed as he caught his breath and spoke.
“What do you plan to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you know who I am, it’d be wiser to let me go.”
“Let you go would be better?”
“That’s right. You’ve already done enough, but if you harm me more, do you think Second Young Master will stay quiet?”
Jo Il-sang deliberately mentioned his backing.
He didn’t know why he’d been caught like this, but this would end it.
Knowing his identity changes nothing?
The mask was just to handle things quietly.
Second Young Master Mok Eun-pyeong was prideful and would never forgive anyone who touched his people.
Jo Il-sang spoke to Mok Kyung-un, whose eyebrow arched.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes. Release me and hand over the Timber Forming Sword Art manual, and I’ll report to the Young Master to leave Third Young Master alone.”
“Leave me alone...”
“Even if the Young Master becomes Clan Head, you’ll live safely.”
“And the price is the Timber Forming Sword Art manual.”
“Yes.”
Though inwardly tense in this disadvantageous spot, Jo Il-sang pressed strongly.
He believed that with this type, you had to establish hierarchy firmly.
If he went soft, the other would push harder.
‘He’ll have to bend eventually.’
The Timber Forming Sword Art was a pearl around a pig’s neck for Mok Kyung-un.
His maternal clan was ruined, and no retainers supported him.
If it was excess for him, trading it to save his life was far from a bad deal...
Grip!
Then Mok Kyung-un yanked the hair he’d been gripping.
“Huh? You?”
“Amusing. In a situation where your body could be ruined, you rely on your backing to counter-propose.”
“You bastard...”
“I heard you out. Now, we’ll start with the fingers, one by one.”
With that, Mok Kyung-un pulled out a strangely shaped blade.
‘!?’
“This is a Herb Trimming Blade, used for pruning herbs. It’s for cutting tough things, so fingers and toes slice right off.”
“What?”
“It’s proven. You can trust that.”
He’d used it plenty.
Panicking, Jo Il-sang hurriedly said to Mok Kyung-un.
“You... you! Didn’t you hear me? I came on Second Young Master’s orders. If you harm me, he’ll...”
“Yes. You talk too much, so off with one to start.”
Saying so, Mok Kyung-un grabbed one of Jo Il-sang’s limp wrists.
He inserted the index finger of his right hand into the Herb Trimming Blade’s slot.
Jo Il-sang’s face drained white as he watched.
“St-stop. Are you really insane? Like this...”
Crunch!
Then came the sound of something solid being severed.
Jo Il-sang, grimacing, turned his head to look at the floor.
It was the top two joints of his index finger.
“.........”
Jo Il-sang was speechless.
His head had no sensation anyway, so it didn’t hurt.
But seeing his severed finger left him stunned and at a loss.
To him, Mok Kyung-un smiled and said.
“Doesn’t hurt, so it doesn’t feel real, right? That’s why with Herb Trimming Blades, you don’t use Paralysis Powder—you just tie them down. That way they feel the pain. But since you practice martial arts, no choice.”
Thus, Mok Kyung-un had to use Paralysis Powder.
To maximize visual impact, he’d cut the finger right in front of his eyes.
“Too much chit-chat. From now on, one by one until you talk.”
Clack!
With that, Mok Kyung-un grabbed Jo Il-sang’s second finger.
The middle finger of his right hand.
Jo Il-sang froze momentarily, then blurted in panic.
“St-stop!”
“........”
Crunch!
Despite the plea, Mok Kyung-un severed the middle finger with the Herb Trimming Blade.
The fallen finger twitched on the floor.
Forced to watch, Jo Il-sang felt his mind reeling.
Then Mok Kyung-un’s voice reached his ears.
“Thumb next?”
Without pause, Mok Kyung-un gripped the thumb and slotted it into the blade.
Jo Il-sang couldn’t hide his dismay.
He was right-handed.
Losing the thumb too would render his right hand useless.
“Pl-please stop...”
He couldn’t finish.
Whatever he said, this madman would cut it off.
Creak!
Mok Kyung-un’s hand on the blade tensed.
In that instant, a shout burst from Jo Il-sang.
“Second Young Master sent me to check if you’ve truly lost your martial arts!”
At that, Mok Kyung-un’s grip loosened.
It nicked the thumb’s flesh slightly, but thankfully didn’t sever it.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Paralyzed, yet Jo Il-sang felt his heart pounding wildly.
Strange.
He’d endured torture before.
But Mok Kyung-un’s method drove him to the brink terrifyingly fast.
“Haa... haa......”
“Sent to confirm if I’ve lost my martial arts?”
“Y-yes.”
Fear overwhelming him, Jo Il-sang’s speech turned deferential without realizing.
Ignoring it, Mok Kyung-un’s puzzlement showed.
He hadn’t been exposed as a fake, so why such an order?
‘Hmm.’
Mok Kyung-un’s mind raced toward the truth.
‘Not exposed, yet ordered that—means someone fed him info. And only two know I’m a fake.’
Escort Go Chan and Gam Escort.
Go Chan had stuck close.
Mok Kyung-un’s lip curled.
‘Switches sides fast.’
He was certain Gam Escort was the source.
His betrayal was inevitable.
But not this quickly.
It complicated things.
‘Still, he used his head.’
To avoid blame, he’d switched while framing it as lost martial arts, not fake.
Chucking, Mok Kyung-un said to Jo Il-sang.
“Was it Gam Escort who told you?”
Jo Il-sang’s eyes widened slightly.
Mok Kyung-un shouldn’t know Gam Escort pledged loyalty to his lord—how’d he guess instantly?
‘Suspected from the start?’
Puzzled but answering,
“........Yes.”
“As expected.”
His guess held.
Nodding, Mok Kyung-un stared at Jo Il-sang.
“Now what to do.”
At his words, Jo Il-sang pleaded desperately.
“Pl-please forgive me. I’ll keep today secret. Won’t breathe a word to Second Young Master...”
“Ah... what to do?”
“Yes?”
“Too many wounds for that.”
Jo Il-sang unaware, but his face was a wreck.
Broken nose flattened, cheekbones and brow protruding grotesquely.
Plus two fingers gone.
Mok Eun-pyeong would find out somehow and rage.
“Y-Young Master... even without me, Second Young Master will seek revenge.”
“Probably. But don’t worry.”
“Why?”
“Everyone covets the Timber Forming Sword Art manual. I can bargain with it if needed. Good, right?”
“..........”
Jo Il-sang’s mind went blank at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
As he said, bargaining the Clan Head’s exclusive sword art—even Mok Eun-pyeong, who valued men, might yield.
Stunned and flustered, Jo Il-sang hurriedly added.
“Young Master... I didn’t realize you were so shrewd and brilliant. Like Gam Escort, I wish to pledge loyalty to you.”
“To me?”
“Y-yes. Give me a chance. I’ll lay down this life for you.”
Every plea poured out.
To save his skin.
“You’d stake your life?”
“Y-yes. So please...”
“Hmm. Got it.”
Mok Kyung-un tilted his head slightly, then walked off somewhere.
“Young Master? Young Master?”
Anxious, Jo Il-sang called.
It didn’t take long.
Soon, Mok Kyung-un returned holding a wooden box with traces of something attached.
He placed the box under Jo Il-sang’s upside-down head.
“What’s this?”
Puzzled, Mok Kyung-un opened the lid.
Inside was a book-like object bound by old prayer beads.
Why show me this? As Jo Il-sang wondered, his eyes shook.
‘No way?’
He realized the “book” wasn’t paper.
To the bewildered man, Mok Kyung-un said.
“Before waking earlier, I tried reading this book, but oddly, the beads wouldn’t come off no matter what.”
“H-how did you...”
“Saw in the Yin-Yang Family Secret Records that things overflowing with pure energy seal impurities. These beads seem like one.”
“Y-Young Master?”
Ignoring him, Mok Kyung-un continued.
“But if something impure touches a seal, its power weakens.”
“Wh-what are you planning?”
“Like this.”
Slash!
“Gah!”
No sooner said, Mok Kyung-un slit Jo Il-sang’s throat with something sharp.
The dying scream was Jo Il-sang’s last utterance.
Throat cut, only gurgling escaped his mouth.
Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly.
“You said you’d stake your life?”
‘This... bastard...’
Who said to offer it like this?
Jo Il-sang glared at Mok Kyung-un with resentment.
Dying like this was too unjust.
Splash!
Blood gushed from the severed throat.
It poured onto the human-skin book bound by beads in the box.
Soaking the beads and book.
Blood of the dying.
Blood full of grudge.
As it drenched the book, strange phenomena occurred.
Thump! Thump!
Without touching it, the pulsing grew louder.
Veins like a heartbeat bulged on the book’s surface.
‘Ho.’
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The pulsing intensified and quickened,
Creeeak!
Cracks formed in the binding beads.
Then,
Crack!
The shuddering beads compressed as if crushed, shattering completely.
Shards sucked into the pooled blood.
With that, eerie events unfolded in the cavern.
Gush! Gush! Gush!
Blood rained like waterfalls from the ceiling along the walls.
A sight that beggared belief.
Mok Kyung-un’s lips stretched to his ears watching it.
[Fifth Azure Spirit..... Extremely dangerous. Requires at least ten exorcists for subjugation. Ancient grudge over a century old. Influences a wide radius, can induce auditory and visual hallucinations to inflict suffering.]
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