Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 69
>Chapter Title: Consort Ho (2)
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Ordinary yokai are typically recorded only in books known exclusively to sorcerers, such as the *Shanhaijing Initial Record of Strange Beings*.
However, this being with its nine golden tails was different.
Its records appeared not only in ancient tomes but even in the *Records of the Grand Historian*.
It first appeared in the official histories during the Yin Dynasty.
[King Zhou's concubine Daji, a fox yokai who devoured Su Daji and took her form, corrupted the king, leading him to build the Deer Terrace Pavilion and indulge in extravagance and debauchery. This tyranny caused the Yin Dynasty to fall to King Wu of Zhou.]
This fox yokai, true to its moniker of Hundred-Faced Person, was known by countless names.
Daji of the Yin Dynasty.
Baosi of the Zhou Dynasty.
Lady Huayang of Tianzhu Kingdom.
Wakamo of Dongying Kingdom.
Tamamo-no-Mae.
It manifested in myriad forms and names, manipulating the fate and history of nations.
The sorcerers and yokai with any sense of justice called this worst of calamities, this great disaster:
Hundred-Faced King, Golden-Furred Nine-Tails.
-Squelch!
Nine golden tails emanated an ominously immense yokai aura.
The yokai itself, with golden hair and golden eyes to match, was mysterious and breathtakingly beautiful.
‘To think... it’s this powerful.’
Possessing Prince Kyungchin, Cheongryeong was left speechless.
The yokai power emanating from Consort Ho—no, the Hundred-Faced King Golden-Furred Nine-Tails, now revealed—was beyond comprehension.
It was incomparable to the tanuki monster Sea-Slaying King she had seen in Blood River Valley.
The Sea-Slaying King had been sealed, its power weakened.
But this supreme calamity, known as a divine beast, crushed not just fighting spirit but all will to resist.
‘......There’s no way we can fight this.’
Even transcending the walls of martial arts to reach the pinnacle would be impossible.
This yokai before them had existed since ancient times; its very existence was on another level.
It was utterly perplexing.
How could one encounter such a being in the imperial palace of all places?
‘Ah!’
Cheongryeong’s pupils trembled.
Come to think of it, this Golden-Furred Nine-Tails, called a great calamity, often appeared when a nation’s fortune reached its end.
The Central Plains were in exactly that state now.
Plagued by prolonged famine, the land lay in ruins everywhere, yet the emperor and his ministers reveled in luxury, fought for power, and squeezed the people dry.
Even the martial world, once opposed to the court for the sake of justice and valor, now colluded with them to exploit the common folk. The Central Plains teetered on the brink of rebellion.
Which meant this worst yokai might have appeared to deliver the final blow to the declining fortunes of the realm.
-Grip!
Cheongryeong bit her lip hard.
Unlike the Sea-Slaying King, which had been partially sealed and trapped, this was a completely different situation.
No escape, no chance of victory even in battle.
She had never felt such utter despair.
Yet,
-Shff!
Mok Kyung-un was steadying his stance.
Gripping his sword manual, he gathered demonic qi once more into a single point.
Seeing this, Cheongryeong couldn’t hide her bewilderment.
‘You, mortal......’
Was he not afraid?
Even breathing was labored under this crushing yokai pressure, yet he intended to fight?
‘What are you thinking?’
Mok Kyung-un was always cold and rational.
He must have realized they were powerless against this ultimate being.
Yet his fighting spirit burned undimmed. She couldn’t understand it.
“Hoh.”
Consort Ho—no, the Golden-Furred Nine-Tails—felt the same intrigue.
Even after unleashing her full yokai power—though not her true form—this human showed no faltering hostility toward her.
She spoke.
“You drew a single drop of my blood, so I’ll kill you.”
“Do as you please.”
“Not afraid, human?”
“If the weak fall to the strong, it’s just the natural order. What’s there to fear?”
Her eyes gleamed at his nonchalant words.
Over endless ages, she had encountered countless humans.
Among them were some so mighty they barely qualified as human.
Yet even they, when crushed and facing death, revealed their ugliness, baring fear and agony.
“Hmm.”
The Golden-Furred Nine-Tails’s lips twitched.
It had been ages since she’d seen a human seemingly devoid of fear. Curiosity stirred alongside her interest.
She wondered if this one, so casually invoking the natural order, could maintain that composure before true pain and torment.
‘I’ve never seen such a thing.’
For millennia of amusement, the endings were always the same.
All beings were alike in the end.
Humans crumbled endlessly before desire, always submitting to fear and death.
The Golden-Furred Nine-Tails smiled radiantly and spoke.
“Human, I wonder how long that boldness of yours will last.”
-Shff!
She pointed her index finger at Mok Kyung-un.
In that instant, a white orb of yokai power rippled forth, hurtling toward his head in the blink of an eye.
-Pah!
Mok Kyung-un dodged by shifting his neck at the last moment.
‘Hoh.’
He dodged it?
She had calibrated the speed to his movements.
Yet he evaded with ease.
“Not bad. Then try this.”
-Shff! Pah-pah-pah-pah-pang!
The Golden-Furred Nine-Tails fired yokai power bolts from her fingers in rapid succession.
They were so fast the naked eye couldn’t track them.
Yet,
-Shff! Shff! Shff!
Mok Kyung-un evaded them with minimal motion, by the narrowest margins.
‘I can’t look away.’
His eyes never left her fingers.
Though faster than superhuman speed, by keeping his gaze fixed, he predicted their paths.
The Golden-Furred Nine-Tails’s lips curled up.
“Oh? Dodging by watching my fingers? Clever child. What about this?”
-Shwaaaaa!
In an instant, countless fist-sized yokai orbs surrounded Mok Kyung-un, too many to count.
“Try dodging this.”
She clenched her fist,
-Pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pang!
And the encircling orbs surged toward him all at once.
So numerous they blanketed him instantly, obscuring his form.
‘Mortal!’
-Chew!
Even one orb piercing the ground hinted at devastating power. To endure a bombardment of such numbers...
It was impossible to dodge or withstand.
Cheongryeong hesitated in despair, her expression twisting to fury.
-Shrrk!
She abandoned Prince Kyungchin’s body.
Then slammed all her spiritual power into the floor.
‘Blood Realm.’
-Gooooh!
Blood pooled from her palm, spreading across the floor.
-Drip drip!
Blood droplets rose upside down.
They surged through Prince Kyungchin’s chambers, dyeing everything red.
This was her ghost intent domain, forged by powerful will.
She knew she couldn’t win, but she refused to vanish without aiding Mok Kyung-un.
However,
-Pah-chah-chah-chah-crack!
Cracks spiderwebbed through the blood-soaked chamber.
In moments, her Blood Realm vanished as if it had never been.
The Golden-Furred Nine-Tails sneered mockingly.
“How insolent—unfurling a domain before me? Do you wish to be the first resentful spirit to perish?”
-Shff!
She reached toward Cheongryeong.
A mighty suction pulled her spirit body forcibly toward the hand.
Cheongryeong’s face contorted.
‘Too strong.’
She knew she was outmatched, but the gap was overwhelming.
To the Golden-Furred Nine-Tails, she was no more than a crawling insect.
-Pak!
-Ugh!
Grabbed by the throat, Cheongryeong’s spirit face twisted in agony.
The yokai power was so intense that even slight pressure could erase her.
But at that very moment,
-Kwang!
A black line erupted from the floor upward.
-Slash!
It sliced the back of the Golden-Furred Nine-Tails’s hand.
Her grip on Cheongryeong’s throat loosened in shock.
‘Mortal?’
Cheongryeong’s eyes widened in the instant.
There stood Mok Kyung-un, drenched in blood.
Despite the barrage leaving him a mess, his gaze burned fierce.
-Pahng!
-Ah?
Mok Kyung-un thrust his left hand; Cheongryeong’s spirit body flew backward.
Immediately after, he swung his right hand blade toward the Golden-Furred Nine-Tails’s head.
But,
-Pak!
One tail bound his body beforehand, another wrapping his wrist.
-Grip! Tremble!
His bound hand shook violently.
The Golden-Furred Nine-Tails’s eyes gleamed at the sight.
‘Well now.’
Even restrained by her tail, the power in his hand blade was no joke.
She instantly knew why.
Immense yokai power concentrated in his right hand.
Her own yokai power.
“You’re amusing.”
Her lips twitched.
She didn’t know how he absorbed it, but amid the onslaught, he had gathered as much as possible.
And the moment her attention flicked to the resentful spirit, he burrowed underground for a surprise attack.
-Drip drip drip!
Blood trickled from the wound on her right hand.
Seeing it, she let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha!”
She had meant to push him to the brink and show him the terror of death.
Instead, he counterattacked in that desperation and wounded her again.
This was truly unprecedented.
-Lick!
She licked the flowing blood, fixing Mok Kyung-un with a cold smile.
Through her golden eyes, past disheveled hair, she saw his bloodied face.
Upon seeing it, her eyes gleamed.
“You?”
She knew he hid his face, but she hadn’t expected someone so young beneath.
He couldn’t even be twenty.
And this child had wounded her ancient body twice?
‘He’s a real mad one.’
More intrigue than displeasure welled within her.
-Crack! Crack!
Veins bulged on his right hand as if to burst.
Overloading one hand with unbearable yokai power had strained his meridians.
-Pfft!
Unable to release it, blood vessels ruptured across his right hand, blood flowing freely.
Yet Mok Kyung-un’s expression never changed.
Only a hint of regret in his eyes.
At this,
-Grip!
The Golden-Furred Nine-Tails tightened the tail around him.
The force was so great that blood vessels stood out on his already bloodied face, threatening to burst.
Yet,
‘Well now.’
On the verge of death, he didn’t even groan, staring her down squarely.
Not a flicker of change in his face. She spoke.
“Are you truly unafraid of death?”
“......”
Mok Kyung-un silently glared.
No fear in his eyes.
Watching him, her lips twitched.
She had seen countless humans over millennia, but none had overcome fear at the end.
This was the first.
Her lips curled as she said,
“In thousands of years, I’ve seen countless humans, but you’re the first who truly seems fearless before death.”
“......”
“That unwavering gaze piques my curiosity.”
“......Curious about what?”
“I wonder if even a human like you would resist corruption before desire.”
“Corruption?”
No sooner had the word left her lips than the luxurious robes enveloping her body slipped away.
Revealing a naked form of breathtaking beauty.
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