Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 71
>Chapter Title: Mark (4)
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A refreshing sense of satisfaction washed over Cheonho Mara-hyeon.
In this moment, he felt a thrill greater than anyone else.
But soon, he snapped back to reality.
It was because Mok Kyung-un, disguised in the human skin mask of Eunuch Ho Gonggong from the Western Depot, had cornered his opponent with no escape, leaving him wondering just how he planned to steer the situation.
‘If he pushes this hard, the one behind this guy might just use the gu worm to kill me.’
It was as obvious as daylight.
There was no way he could remove the gu worm inside him right now—what was his plan?
As he puzzled over it, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“If you don’t want your remaining eye and ear damaged too, you’d better start giving me the answers I want.”
“…….”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, the goatee Embroidered Uniform Guard Cheonho hesitated, his eyes trembling.
He couldn’t tell if the man before him was truly the Western Depot’s Eunuch Ho or not.
But one thing was certain: he was stronger than him and seemed to know a great deal.
‘What should I do?’
There was actually a set protocol for this exact situation.
[Cheonho, what will you do if you’re ever caught?]
[No need to worry. I’m tighter-lipped than I look.]
[Anyone can say that. But this old eunuch wants certainty.]
[……What would you have me do?]
[Nothing much. Just keep this on you at all times.]
[That?]
In the goatee Embroidered Uniform Guard Cheonho’s upper right molar was a tiny poison pill.
This poison pill, laced with a highly corrosive acid, could burn through his tongue, throat, esophagus, and melt all his internal organs in an instant.
It was safe to say death came before he could even count to three once it touched his tongue.
*Tremble!*
The goatee Cheonho’s hand shook violently.
He knew he should follow orders, but how many could end their own lives without hesitation?
No matter the training, fear was inevitable.
“Hoo…. Hoo…. Hoo…”
‘I have to do it. I have to.’
Otherwise, this man would keep torturing him.
His breathing grew ragged as he tried to steel himself.
“You’re breathing all over the place, your pupils keep twitching like you’re about to make a big decision, and on top of that, your tongue keeps fidgeting toward your upper left molar.”
“What?”
Mok Kyung-un leaned in close to his mouth.
He sniffed, then curled his lips in a sinister grin.
Cheonho Mara-hyeon, watching from behind, wondered what he was up to.
“To hold a strong acid poison, you need a tough stomach lining treated with special chemicals. I can smell it coming from your mouth. Hmm. I’ve heard of hiding poison pills between teeth like that, but this is my first time seeing it.”
‘!?’
The goatee Cheonho’s right eye widened at those words.
What the hell was this guy?
He was already paralyzed by fear, unable to bite down, and now the poison pill’s existence was exposed, leaving him utterly flustered.
*Swish!*
In that instant, Cheonho Mara-hyeon’s form blurred, and he appeared behind the goatee Cheonho.
*Thwack!*
“Urk.”
Mara-hyeon grabbed his cheeks from behind, yanking his jaw down and forcing his head back.
His eyes widened as the mouth was pried open.
There it was, in the upper right molar—a poison pill.
‘Thorough as hell.’
Mara-hyeon inwardly clicked his tongue.
He’d thought this man was a close confidant, yet even he was rigged to kill or be killed at a moment’s notice.
As Mara-hyeon stuck out his tongue in admiration and reached to extract it with his finger,
Mok Kyung-un stopped him.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Just leave it.”
“……Leave it? What if he bites down and kills himself?”
That would mean learning nothing, and if he died here in the Six Investigations Office, it would make things even harder to handle.
Yet Mok Kyung-un said nonchalantly,
“If he wants to, he will.”
“No. How can you say that…”
“First, let go of his jaw. How’s he supposed to talk with you gripping it like that?”
“…….”
Mara-hyeon’s eyes filled with utter incomprehension at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
Anyone carrying a poison pill like that would surely use it.
Yet Mok Kyung-un acted like it was no big deal.
Mara-hyeon wanted to rip it out right then, but he released the jaw and stepped back.
The goatee Cheonho’s mind reeled, drool spilling from his gaping mouth.
Deep down, he’d hoped they’d force it out.
‘Damn it.’
At least then he’d have the excuse that it wasn’t his own will. Now he felt oddly disappointed.
But separately, a sliver of hope emerged.
Now that they knew about the poison pill, they probably wouldn’t torture him as harshly.
Then Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly and said,
“Go on. Bite the poison pill and die.”
“W-What?”
The goatee Cheonho’s face froze.
“Isn’t that what you’ve got it in your mouth for? In case things go south?”
“…….”
It was true, but for this guy to urge him to die without extracting any information—it was absurd.
Mok Kyung-un continued,
“Someone with the resolve to carry a poison pill in their mouth won’t answer my questions anyway, so let’s cut the time short. Go ahead and kill yourself.”
‘Huh?’
The goatee Cheonho was speechless.
This wasn’t what he’d expected.
Things were veering completely off course from what he’d hoped.
As he floundered in confusion, Mok Kyung-un leaned in close to his ear, whispering with a smiling face that showed no concern whatsoever.
“If you kill yourself, I promise one thing. I’ll track down your kin, family, and anyone connected to you, and send them all to join you—not a single one left behind.”
‘!!!!!!!!’
His face drained of color the moment the words ended.
Mok Kyung-un grinned ear to ear in the face of Eunuch Ho Gonggong from the Western Depot, as if thrilled at the mere thought, sending chills down his spine—he could hardly bear it.
* * *
A short while later.
The goatee Cheonho lay unconscious, and Mok Kyung-un held the poison pill pouch from his molar.
Cheonho Mara-hyeon, staring at it, inwardly clicked his tongue again.
As someone from an investigative bureau, he’d interrogated plenty using all sorts of methods.
But this Mok Kyung-un had driven the man to the brink in a way he’d never anticipated.
It was like he knew exactly what would terrify him.
“You almost made Mara Cheonho the spark that sets off a feud between Second Prince Zongwang and Consort Seo of the West.”
“……Yeah.”
Those were the orders the goatee Cheonho had received.
Disguised as Jang Sogam, a eunuch close to Consort Seo of the West and Mara-hyeon’s colleague, he was to target the life of Second Prince Zongwang.
Not to actually kill him, but to ignite war between them.
“With that gu worm in your gut, it must piss you off just sitting back and taking it.”
“Just taking it?”
“Isn’t that right?”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Mara-hyeon snorted and headed to a corner of the office.
He opened a safe with his name on it and pulled something out.
It was another human skin mask case.
Mara-hyeon flipped open the lid.
*Click!*
“Oh?”
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes gleamed.
Inside was one identical to the mask the goatee Embroidered Uniform Guard Cheonho had brought—the face of Jang Sogam, the eunuch from the Eastern Depot.
“You had a backup plan.”
“Not the best one. It assumes throwing my life away.”
“Fair point.”
The extra mask would serve as evidence even if the culprit discarded the one used in the incident.
But the moment he presented it, that man would use the gu worm to end Mara-hyeon’s life.
In the end, Mara-hyeon’s prepared mask was a mutual destruction play.
Looking at Mok Kyung-un, Mara-hyeon cautiously spoke.
“If I had no weakness, I could request his transfer to the Six Investigations Office with just his belongings and this evidence.”
“And?”
“I’m not trying to sabotage your work, stab you in the back, or betray you. I’ll stamp my seal on the documents and swear an oath if you want.”
“So you want the gu worm removed?”
“……Yes.”
“But here’s the thing—I’m a coward, super cautious too.”
“You!”
Mara-hyeon raised his voice but held back.
Cautious? He just didn’t fully trust him.
In a subdued tone, Mara-hyeon said to Mok Kyung-un,
“Then what’s your plan? Keeping his confidant locked up will raise suspicions, and releasing him means the obvious outcome. Are you hoping I die like this?”
“As if.”
“Then you’ve got some scheme?”
“You’re asking like I’m holding some bundle for you.”
“Haa…….”
Mara-hyeon sighed.
Being in the weaker position, he couldn’t even get mad at Mok Kyung-un’s attitude.
At this rate, mutual destruction before things spiraled might be better.
As those extreme thoughts crossed his mind,
Mok Kyung-un suddenly stood and handed him the poison pill.
“Why give me this?”
“Hold onto it. I’ll be off.”
“Off? After leaving this mess…”
“I never said ‘just leaving.’”
“What?”
“I’m going to meet the one who’s been troubling Mara Cheonho—the Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo.”
‘!?’
Mara-hyeon froze, hand outstretched to grab him.
Sang Ik-seo, Fourth Rank Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
If the North and South Commanders handled operations, above them were the Commander, Assistant Commander, and Deputy Commander wielding authority.
Sang Ik-seo, the Deputy Commander, was the Guard’s third-in-command—and the one who’d planted the parasitic gu worm in Mara-hyeon’s gut.
‘What’s this guy thinking?’
Heading straight to Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo out of nowhere—Mok Kyung-un’s intentions were impossible to read.
As he moved to ask why,
“What are you going to do when you meet him…”
*Swish!*
But before he could finish, Mok Kyung-un’s form blurred and vanished.
“Damn it!”
What a completely self-willed bastard.
Mara-hyeon could only fret.
He knew Mok Kyung-un wasn’t just going to meet the man—he planned something.
But there was a huge problem.
Mok Kyung-un was no ordinary fighter, but by Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo’s side was a mysterious supreme master who’d defeated him in a few moves.
[End of Chapter 71: Mark (4)]