Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 78
>Chapter Title: Getting Entangled (5)
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>When the Blood Cult's Six Blood Star Dan Baek-ha suddenly showed proper respect, Mok Kyung-un, puzzled by this, asked,
"Why the sudden change?"
At his question, Dan Baek-ha lifted her head and said to Mok Kyung-un,
"Forgive my past rudeness. I, Six Blood Star Dan Baek-ha of the Blood Cult, formally pay my respects to the elder's disciple."
It was a bit awkward, but she had done it properly.
And she wasn't the only one.
After hesitating for a moment, Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin also clasped her hands together politely and bowed to Mok Kyung-un, though not quite as formally as Dan Baek-ha.
-Swish!
"Hmm. I really don't understand this."
As Mok Kyung-un voiced his confusion, Dan Baek-ha replied,
"Even though our cult reveres the strong, we cannot ignore matters of seniority."
"Seniority?"
"Yes. For someone personally taught martial arts by the elder himself, that makes you the highest senior in our cult as well."
"Highest senior?"
Mok Kyung-un tilted his head at those words.
He wasn't ignorant of etiquette, but he wasn't well-versed in the widely known rules and customs of the martial world.
As a result, this had turned out to be quite coincidental, contrary to his intentions.
Martial artists weren't ignorant of propriety.
Regardless of the righteous sects, martial artists formed their own groups and passed down their martial heritage, often emphasizing etiquette even more than others at times.
This was one such case.
'Hmm.'
The old man Mok Kyung-un had met in the pouring rain, holding a bamboo fishing rod.
Unlike his shabby appearance, everything from his martial arts to his demeanor had been extraordinary.
For someone from the ancient martial forest to treat such an old man with this much deference—what did that mean about how long he had lived, and what was his true identity?
Mok Kyung-un asked,
"Who is this elder you speak of, that you call me his equivalent to the highest senior?"
At these words, Six Blood Star Dan Baek-ha looked at him with puzzled eyes and asked back,
"You don't know who the elder is?"
"It's not that I don't know—rather, he didn't tell me. Anything beyond the enlightenment, that is."
"Ah..."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, Dan Baek-ha glanced at So Ye-rin.
So Ye-rin wore a strange expression, seemingly sharing the same thoughts, and soon nodded.
Dan Baek-ha turned back and said,
"The elder told you nothing at all?"
"Yes. He never revealed it, right to the end."
"I see. If that's the elder's will, then I cannot tell you either."
"What?"
"Just as I said. There must be a profound reason why the elder chose not to reveal his identity to you."
"Is there really a need to keep it hidden?"
Mok Kyung-un said, as if he couldn't comprehend.
Dan Baek-ha cautiously replied,
"There must be some purpose behind the elder not revealing it to you."
"Purpose? Do you have any guesses?"
"The elder left the martial world long ago."
"Left—do you mean he retired?"
"Yes, that would be part of it. The elder turned his back on the martial world a very long time ago. Even back when I was young and inexperienced. Had it not been for that incident, he likely never would have appeared again."
"That incident?"
"...The Day of the Great Catastrophe."
At Dan Baek-ha's words, Mok Kyung-un, who had been curious about it anyway, asked,
"Speaking of which, earlier when you two were talking, you mentioned that the Day of the Great Catastrophe was when the boundary between the ancient and present martial forests was divided. Could you tell me what that was?"
"The Day of the Great Catastrophe...?"
"Yes."
At Mok Kyung-un's question, Dan Baek-ha let out a sigh close to a lament and said,
"Well, to your generation and the current martial artists, it's become too distant a past. The Day of the Great Catastrophe."
"It must have been an enormous event to be called a 'great catastrophe.'"
"Even that doesn't do it justice. On that day, countless Central Plains people lost their lives, and over eighty percent of all martial artists perished."
"Eighty percent of martial artists?"
Over eighty percent.
That meant half—no, more than that—of the martial world had died.
What on earth had happened to claim so many martial artists' lives?
Was it because of that dragon ghost or spirit thing they mentioned earlier?
"Did that dragon ghost spirit cause it?"
"Not just the dragon ghost."
"Not just the dragon ghost? That sounds like there were others."
"Yes. Bizarre monsters and all sorts of spirits suddenly emerged across the Central Plains all at once, turning the entire land upside down."
'!?'
Countless monsters and spirits erupting simultaneously across the Central Plains, wreaking havoc?
Mok Kyung-un furrowed his brow.
Was such a thing even possible?
Then,
"Even here in the imperial capital of Kaifeng, a bizarre spirit called the Fire Kirin, which spewed flames like molten lava, appeared and massacred countless people, they say."
So Ye-rin added casually in the middle.
"Fire Kirin? Was that one captured too?"
"I'm not sure. I looked through various records in the imperial palace, but there's no mention of the Fire Kirin being captured or killed—it just vanished midway. In any case, so many died on the Day of the Great Catastrophe. Now you understand why the boundary between the ancient and present martial forests arose?"
At her words, Mok Kyung-un voiced his guess.
"An issue of transmission?"
"Yes, exactly. With all the patriarchs and masters of each sect dead, their lineages were completely severed. Even those who could use sound transmission into secrecy were gone, so the foundational systems of martial arts collapsed."
"As the young lady said, from the Day of the Great Catastrophe onward, the level of the martial world regressed to a point incomparable to before. Though it seems to have recovered quite a bit while I was locked away in this underground Golden Prison."
Dan Baek-ha clicked her tongue as she spoke.
She was the only one who had personally experienced both the ancient martial forest and the era after that turning point.
Recalling that day made her tremble even more with rage.
Stroking his chin, Mok Kyung-un said to her,
"It's peculiar. Creatures and spirits that one might see once in a lifetime suddenly bursting out all over the Central Plains on the same day to slaughter... It deserves the name 'great catastrophe,' but something feels off..."
"It's strange, right?"
So Ye-rin interjected.
Mok Kyung-un nodded in agreement.
Having read texts like the Classic of Mountains and Seas and various books on exorcism, Mok Kyung-un knew quite a bit about such monsters.
Among the monsters he had learned about, aside from a very few, none exhibited group behavior like humans or beasts.
Yet these monsters and spirits appearing all at once as if united in purpose, causing the great catastrophe—it didn't make sense.
"It feels almost like..."
"Like it was deliberate?"
"...Yes. So-called elusive spirits are known not to have group tendencies. Moreover, they rarely stray from their fixed territories."
"Elusive spirits? You even know about those...? Ah!"
So Ye-rin, who had been puzzled by Mok Kyung-un's words, suddenly recalled something from earlier.
The mysterious door of smoke that Mok Kyung-un had created.
This man seemed proficient not only in martial arts but also in the strange and profound arts of exorcism.
Seizing the opportunity, So Ye-rin said,
"Perhaps Young Master Mok is even more of an expert in this field than we are."
"I've only skimmed the surface."
"That's not something to dismiss as mere skimming. Anyway, I've been wanting to ask someone knowledgeable about monsters."
At her words, Mok Kyung-un shrugged.
"I'm not sure I can give answers that helpful."
"Just hear me out."
"What is it?"
At Mok Kyung-un's question, So Ye-rin opened her mouth with a meaningful look.
"Young Master. Could elusive spirits—those monsters and spirits—be artificially controlled to carry out a massacre?"
"...Artificially controlled?"
"Yes."
At her question, Mok Kyung-un's eyes narrowed.
Controlling so-called elusive spirits artificially ultimately meant one thing.
'Familiars.'
Familiars were bonds that allowed one to command such existences.
The stronger the ego of the entity, the harder it was to control, but among exorcists with exceptional spiritual power or exorcism skills, some did bind monsters as familiars.
Of course, the higher the tier, the stronger the monster's ego, making it harder to use as a familiar.
"Conceptually speaking, it's not impossible."
"Not impossible?"
"Yes. If we're just talking concepts."
"What do you mean?"
"It's possible to control them, but I'm not sure about mobilizing so many monsters all at once like that."
"?"
"To bind a monster as a familiar, the exorcist— the caster whose bond connects—needs a certain level of spiritual power. The greater the spiritual power or mental strength, the higher-tier monsters one can subdue. But even normally, subduing one monster as a familiar is said to be difficult. After all, a bond is essentially a soul linking to another soul."
"So that means?"
"Considering that, artificially commanding all those monsters that appeared across the Central Plains would be virtually impossible."
"Ah..."
A sigh escaped So Ye-rin's lips at Mok Kyung-un's conclusion.
It seemed different from what she had hoped, leaving her with a sense of emptiness.
Raising his index finger to her, Mok Kyung-un said,
"That said, as Sixth Division Leader So mentioned, the artificial feel can't be shaken off."
"But you said it can't be controlled?"
"Control and creating the situation are different."
"Creating the situation— what do you mean?"
"Even if direct control isn't possible, setting up conditions to provoke the monsters into rampaging is a separate matter."
Mok Kyung-un had already seen something like that in the Heaven-Earth Society's Blood Groove.
Not as familiars, but manipulating monsters through conditions.
It was the beast known as the Kaljo.
When Kaljo, which originally inhabited the northern seas near Mount Bukho, were released into the Blood Groove mountains, they rampaged through, slaughtering countless initiates.
"So there's a possibility?"
"If we're considering that angle, then yes, a sliver of possibility. Especially since it happened almost simultaneously everywhere. However..."
"However, what?"
"To make all sorts of monsters across the entire Central Plains rampage would require exorcists deeply versed in exorcism or monsters, or enormous manpower. Yet no clues have surfaced even after the catastrophe— so this seems highly unlikely too..."
"Could this be a clue?"
At that moment, So Ye-rin cut Mok Kyung-un off.
Puzzled, Mok Kyung-un asked,
"A clue?"
"Yes. My father found a clue."
With those words, So Ye-rin untied her golden waist sash and carefully peeled off something attached to the inside.
It was an extremely old piece of paper, charred in places.
She handed it to Mok Kyung-un.
"What is this?"
"It's badly damaged, but take a look."
At her words, Mok Kyung-un cautiously unfolded the fragile paper.
As he did, a glint appeared in his eyes.
Part of the charred section had what looked like a red pattern drawn on it, and below that,
急急如······.
(Hurry hurry like······.)
The latter part was burned away.
'...Rate Command.'
The front was missing, only "Hurry Hurry Like" remained, and the pattern was just a fragment of the whole, so it was impossible to tell what spell it was meant for.
But this was clearly an exorcism incantation.
"How did you find this?"
"I don't know exactly—my father found it. But the place was here, in the imperial capital of Kaifeng."
"The capital?"
"Yes. My father had been tracking clues and found someone who claimed to have information related to the Day of the Great Catastrophe."
"And this was the clue?"
"Yes."
"I see. It definitely looks like a spell, but most of the text is burned, so I can't tell precisely what it is. Have you heard anything related?"
"No. My father seemed to have learned something from the person who gave him the clue. That's why he went to consult an exorcist in Kaifeng."
"Ah, probably because there were traces of the incantation formula."
"Yes, but..."
"But?"
"That very night he went to meet the famous exorcist in Kaifeng, my father was murdered."
'!?'
"How could such a thing happen!"
-Crush!
At her words, Six Blood Star Dan Baek-ha could not contain her anger.
It was fury over the fact that another survivor of the Peerless Star and blood heir of that one had died so meaninglessly.
Mok Kyung-un stared blankly at So Ye-rin, whose eyes reddened as she recalled that day, and spoke in a dry voice.
"Did you find that exorcist?"
"...No. I couldn't. After my father was killed, I went there, but no one was around. Even all the exorcists in Kaifeng had vanished overnight."
"All the exorcists vanished?"
"Yes."
"Hmm."
It was all too coincidental.
Mok Kyung-un looked at the charred, damaged paper called the clue.
Then he asked,
"What happened to the person who gave you this clue?"
"...Couldn't find them."
"Pardon?"
"Only my father met the person who gave the clue at the time. We only knew they were in the capital..."
"So you've been searching ever since?"
"Yes."
That was precisely why Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin had become a Golden Guard.
By becoming a Golden Guard, she could access all resident information in the capital and Kaifeng, and wield investigative authority—it was a strategy she had devised.
'Is this all?'
However, judging that this alone wasn't much of a clue, Mok Kyung-un lost interest and tried to fold the paper So Ye-rin had given him.
As he folded it once, then twice,
'!?'
Suddenly, Mok Kyung-un stopped.
There was something he hadn't noticed when unfolding it, hidden by the damage.
It was something else engraved on the back of the damaged paper.
None other than,
'A mark?'
A mark of the character for two (二) pierced vertically through the center by a single line.