Chapter 441
Chapter 441
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 114
>Chapter Title: Ghost Sword (4)
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-Kuduk!
“Khuh.”
Twisting the formless sword that had burrowed into his collarbone elicited a groan from the Ghost Sword’s lips.
He had thought himself accustomed to and tolerant of most pains, but this was like the essence of a blade itself, delivering an indescribable agony.
To him, Mok Kyung-un spoke in a voice laced with killing intent.
“I know that the prophecy, the incarnation—all of it is being watched by Mok Gan, the leader of the Secret Society. That’s why you targeted Grandfather, claiming he smuggled away the incarnation.”
At those words, the Ghost Sword furrowed his brow and replied.
“Haa… Haa… You’ve figured out so much without even awakening or realizing yourself as the incarnation.”
“You’ve been talking about awakening this whole time—are you referring to the thing inside me?”
“If you’re this self-aware, then why haven’t you awakened yet?”
Rather, the Ghost Sword countered with a question of his own.
Mok Kyung-un scoffed and said,
“I don’t know what’s inside me, but it and I are different beings.”
“Different beings?”
“That’s right.”
The Ghost Sword scoffed right back at Mok Kyung-un’s response.
“If it was some unrelated entity with no connection to you, do you think your grandfather—no, the Sea Eagle Herb Sage—would have staked everything to protect you all this time?”
“…”
Those words struck like a dagger to the heart, causing Mok Kyung-un’s eyes to chill as he clamped his mouth shut.
It was one of the doubts that had plagued him the closer he got to the truth.
Had Grandfather raised him because of that prophecy from the Sacred Fire of the White Lotus Cult?
If not, would Grandfather have died such a miserable death?
Had it all stemmed from him?
Was that the reason?
“…What the hell am I?”
“Haa… Haa… A meaningless question. If you awaken and realize yourself as the incarnation, won’t the truth come naturally?”
-Kkig!
“I… I’m just me.”
Mok Kyung-un vehemently denied the existence within him.
Seeing this reaction, the Ghost Sword clicked his tongue and muttered,
“He truly kept his word to the very end. Sea Eagle Herb Sage.”
“What did you just say?”
Mok Kyung-un drove the formless sword even deeper and twisted the blade.
-Kuduk!
“Kuhuhp. Enough… Already… Even without… This… I was… Planning to… Continue the conversation.”
“Is that so? Then speak. What did he keep?”
“You… Already… Know… Don’t you?”
“You keep saying the same thing. I’m just me, and the incarnation…”
“No. You are the incarnation. But the Sea Eagle Herb Sage tried to make you a complete human.”
“What?”
Mok Kyung-un couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
What was this supposed to mean?
Make him a complete human?
“If you’ve gotten close to the truth, you must know he was a master of supreme martial arts.”
“…Yes.”
Sea Eagle Herb Sage Jang Mun-no.
Unknown to most in the Central Plains, he was a supreme expert who had learned from Hwa Cheon Dok-su Tang Yeon-jong, the previous previous head of a branch of the Sichuan Tang family.
Even Mok Kyung-un hadn’t known this truth until Jang Mun-no’s death.
It was only after passing through the Heaven and Earth Society, the imperial palace, and the Sichuan Tang family that he had approached Grandfather’s secrets.
Yet even knowing so much, gaps remained in the truths about Grandfather, the incarnation, and himself.
“What does hiding his martial arts have to do with that?”
“Do you think there’s no connection? In the White Lotus Cult, they revere you, the incarnation, as a divine being—both sides of a coin, Spenta the benevolent god and Ahura the malevolent god—but your root is demon.”
“Demon?”
“Yes. A demon. The being everyone fears and reveres… That’s you.”
Mok Kyung-un’s expression grew strange at the Ghost Sword’s words.
[Cough, cough… Promise me.]
[Promise what?]
[Never… Let your true nature… Show…]
True nature.
Grandfather had said there was a dark side within him.
All humans had one, but since he hadn’t mingled with people, he wouldn’t be able to control it.
That was why Grandfather had always taught him to suppress it.
While Grandfather lived, he had tried to keep it in check, but after his death, Mok Kyung-un realized his true nature was never aligned with good.
He had thought of it as simply suppressing the urge—not able to do good, but at least not committing evil.
But it wasn’t for that reason?
To the silent Mok Kyung-un, the Ghost Sword steadied his breath and said,
“In your hideout, there were only books on herbology, rites, propriety, righteousness, and justice. Sea Eagle Herb Sage Jang Mun-no kept you far from everything to prevent your awakening as the incarnation.”
“…”
“At first, I thought it was just to secretly protect you until conditions allowed you to regain your strength without being discovered.”
“Regain my strength?”
“Yes… According to the Sacred Fire’s prophecy, you, the incarnation, had lost all your former power. So I thought that was his judgment. But it wasn’t. He truly intended to raise you as a human.”
“Then shouldn’t I be grateful instead?”
“Grateful?”
“Yes. The Secret Society feared the incarnation enough to alter even the prophecy, didn’t they? Then Grandfather eased their worries, didn’t he?”
“Worries… That would ease their worries. What I need is your awakened existence.”
“My awakened self?”
“Didn’t you say it yourself? They fear the incarnation. Mok Gan fears your very existence.”
“But because of Grandfather, things didn’t go your way?”
“Who knows.”
“What?”
“Whether raising you as human to the end was purely the Sea Eagle Herb Sage’s will, or if your own will was at play—who can say.”
“…What are you talking about?”
At Mok Kyung-un’s baffled reaction, the Ghost Sword let out a deep sigh and answered.
“Though the Sea Eagle Herb Sage possessed brilliant medical skills, he didn’t have the power to implant you into a human or create such an existence.”
“…”
“Whether it was to protect himself from mortal enemies or for some other will, devolving into a human of your own accord was entirely your choice, Incarnation.”
‘!?’
My choice?
No—this implied the existence inside him had chosen to become him.
Mok Kyung-un denied it, unable to believe.
“How can you be sure that this so-called incarnation became a human—became me?”
To that question, the Ghost Sword replied in a meaningful tone.
“Your current form is the proof.”
“This form?”
“Yes. You may not have met him yet, but there’s someone with your exact face. If you can’t believe it, go to Timber Sword Manor. You’ll see the being you took as the model for your human form…”
-Kkig!
Before he could finish, Mok Kyung-un grabbed his collar with bulging eyes and squeezed hard.
Someone with the exact same face at Timber Sword Manor?
For the first time, Mok Kyung-un showed an emotional response.
He had dismissed it as mere coincidence upon coincidence.
With countless people in the world, it was just an uncanny stroke of luck that someone bore such a similar face.
But these words from the Ghost Sword muddled his mind.
Not a coincidence?
Still gripping his collar, Mok Kyung-un demanded,
“Seventeen years ago… No, eighteen years ago—how do you know about that?”
“…Because these two eyes saw it.”
‘!?’
* * *
Guangdong Province, Dragon Gate.
[Guhk!]
Having subdued Timber Sword Manor’s Clan Head Mok In-dan—who blocked his path—in a single technique, the Ghost Sword looked down indifferently at the man clutching his pant leg and begging.
[Still… He’s still a baby. Please… Please… Spare him.]
-Pak!
After knocking him out, the Ghost Sword approached the shattered carriage.
This had to be the place.
He had followed the incarnation’s traces, and the presence was here.
-Pareureureu!
With trembling hands, the Ghost Sword touched the eyelids covering his forehead.
The thing was still dormant, and he held control.
He had to hurry before then.
-Wahhh! Wahhh!
But why were there only cries from inside?
Doubts filling his eyes, the Ghost Sword flung open the door of the broken carriage.
And there,
‘What is this?’
Lying beside their bloodied, unconscious mother were two babies who looked like twins, identical down to the last detail.
The Ghost Sword couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
He had definitely sensed the chaotic aura of the incarnation emanating from within.
So why was there no incarnation, only the mother and twin babies…
‘!?’
Then, as he looked at the twins, the Ghost Sword examined the floor where they had lain.
On the ground were sticky, black fragments.
He sensed the residual energy from them.
‘No way?’
The Ghost Sword stared intently at the two babies.
He then placed a finger on the chest of one crying infant.
[The incarnation has a core. Like a human heart, but the source of its power.]
That’s what he had been told.
If his guess was right, the incarnation might be among them.
In its extreme weakness, it could have transformed to hide from him.
-Thump! Thump!
The faint heartbeat of a small heart.
This one wasn’t it.
Then the one beside it must be the incarnation.
The Ghost Sword placed his palm on its chest to sense its energy.
But,
‘No… This can’t be?’
This baby too had only a small heartbeat—no core, the incarnation’s source of power.
What in the world was going on?
Something was definitely hidden here, yet he couldn’t figure it out.
Neither had a core; they were utterly ordinary humans.
‘Damn it.’
He was in a bind.
He still held control, but it wouldn’t last—the thing would awaken soon.
He needed to identify the real one before then, but how?
‘…’
Should he just take both and examine them?
But taking them blindly, where would he hide the babies?
Time was short—how to find out?
After a moment’s hesitation, the Ghost Sword pulled something from his bosom.
It was a wooden box covered in talismans.
[Take this with you.]
It had been given to him by Bi Jung-seon, the Heaven and Earth Society leader of that time.
[What’s this?]
[The secret manual of the Moon Meridian.]
[Moon Meridian manual? Then that…]
[Yes.]
[But how did you get this?]
[If what we know is certain, this might convince the incarnation.]
Inside this wooden box was the Moon Meridian secret manual.
If kept close, the incarnation might reveal its true form on its own.
But then,
-Ugh!
A headache struck, his forehead throbbing.
A sign the thing was stirring.
Of all times, now?
Staring at the two identical babies like twins, the Ghost Sword clutched his forehead and staggered out of the carriage.
There, Timber Sword Manor’s Clan Head Mok In-dan—the one he had knocked out—was shakily rising.
He hadn’t hit him that hard, and it seemed his internal energy cultivation was substantial.
“Haa… Haa… The… The baby and her… What did you… Do to them?”
Staring at him, the Ghost Sword asked,
[One baby? Or two?]
[W-What are you… Talking about? Two babies?]
At that, the Ghost Sword fell silent.
His judgment had been correct.
The real incarnation was among those babies.
But with the thing about to awaken, he had no time.
Thus,
-Tak!
The Ghost Sword tossed the talisman-covered wooden box to him.
Mok In-dan caught it reflexively, his face a mask of confusion.
To him, the Ghost Sword said,
[I was chasing something, but I seem to have made a mistake. Take this instead.]
[This?]
[One of the Heaven and Earth Society’s secret manuals.]
“What? Heaven and Earth Society secret manual? H-How did you…”
-Sreuk!
As Mok In-dan reeled in shock at the mention of a secret manual from the colossal organization that divided the martial world into three, the Ghost Sword appeared behind him and kicked his ankle.
-Kung!
[Kuhk!]
Looking down at the fallen man, the Ghost Sword drew his sword,
-Sring!
-Cha cha chak!
And carved a wound into his side.
The mark resembled a brand.
Leaving it, the Ghost Sword warned Timber Sword Manor’s Clan Head Mok In-dan.
[Remember this wound’s mark.]
[Mark?]
[If someone who knows of or bears this mark approaches soon, tell them you know nothing.]
[Chapter 114: Ghost Sword (4)] End