Chapter 49
Chapter 49
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 13
>Chapter Title: Ambush (4)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Can this simply be expressed as having changed?
No matter how bad their relationship was, Mok Kyung-un was casually suggesting they sacrifice Great Madam Seok, who was nominally no different from his mother.
At his words, Mok In-dan felt a chill run through his entire body, utterly shocked.
It went beyond mere change—it was as if the person himself had been replaced.
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un whispered in a sweet voice.
“She’s the woman who tried to let the Clan Head die and give everything to her own son. Is she worth hesitating over?”
‘This kid...’
Whether it was true or not didn’t matter.
Mok Kyung-un was providing an emotional justification for making a cruel choice against him.
It was justification enough to tempt any leader trying to save his group—or any person.
However,
‘No.’
Mok In-dan bit his lip hard.
He released his grip on Mok Kyung-un’s wrist and quietly scolded him.
“I can’t trust your words.”
“It’s the truth.”
“...Even if what you say is true, it’s not right to sacrifice one person to save others. And...”
Clan Head Mok In-dan looked at Great Madam Seok, who was stepping back.
Her terrified eyes showed strong denial.
As her husband, he knew her well.
If she had done something wrong, she would feign innocence rather than react like this.
‘As I thought, it’s not her.’
Which meant,
“If you’re the one behind this, I’ll tell you it’s a foolish thing to do.”
“A foolish thing?”
“Yes. And now’s not the time to deal with you.”
*Pat!*
With those words, Mok In-dan tried to block Son Yun, the Sword King, who was approaching Great Madam Seok.
But before he could,
*Kwachik!*
Son Yun, who had been walking toward her as if to do something, gripped the earring in his hand hard and crushed it.
He dropped the shattered earring to the floor and said,
“It seems someone here dislikes the Clan Head’s wife.”
“W-what?”
Overwhelmed by the intense killing intent radiating from Son Yun, she broke out in cold sweat and stammered a response.
Son Yun snorted and said,
“It looks like someone inside Timber Sword Manor framed you or wanted to borrow a knife to kill.”
Borrowing a knife to kill.
It meant using someone else’s blade to murder.
At Son Yun’s words, the terrified woman relaxed in tension, her legs giving out as she collapsed to her knees with a thud.
Son Yun unleashed waves of killing intent, glaring sharply at the Timber Sword Manor people, and said,
“Do you think we’d fall for such a petty trick?”
At those words, Clan Head Mok In-dan gritted his teeth and shot Mok Kyung-un a look.
‘See?’
This was the foolish thing he had mentioned.
Looking at the forest instead of the trees made the situation clear.
What criminal would leave their tracks so blatantly?
It only exposed that it was the work of an enemy.
‘A blunder.’
No matter how cleverly he pretended to be, it was the limit of a scheme from the mind of someone barely seventeen.
Mok In-dan scowled at Mok Kyung-un and whispered,
“This is getting bigger. No more. Hand it over.”
“Unfortunately not.”
“What?”
“I was hoping for some luck.”
“How can you say that now...”
It was right then.
*Chak!*
The Sword King Son Yun swung his sword, decapitating one of Timber Sword Manor’s warriors.
It happened so fast there was no time to stop it.
“Sword King!”
*Chaeng!*
Enraged, Clan Head Mok In-dan drew his sword and shouted.
Son Yun shrugged his shoulders with a smirk and said,
“You’re the ones who broke the agreement, yet you vent your anger at me? I announce to the people of Timber Sword Manor.”
*“Announce! Announce! Announce!”*
His voice, infused with internal energy, echoed like thunder.
Those nearby clutched their ears in pain from the ringing in their eardrums.
‘That wasn’t even his full power.’
Mok In-dan’s expression darkened.
His internal energy was far deeper than he had guessed during their earlier exchange at midday.
Even in perfect condition, he couldn’t win against this opponent.
Ignoring him, Son Yun continued,
“I’ll give you one last chance. If you want to live, hand it over. Otherwise, tell me who benefits most from the Clan Head’s wife dying.”
At his shout, Great Madam Seok, who had been kneeling and regulating her breathing, felt her lips tremble.
She never imagined she’d suffer such humiliation because of that damned Mok Kyung-un.
Normally, she would have kept quiet out of regard for the Clan Head, but now that the boy had gone this far, she had no choice but to speak.
Great Madam Seok parted her lips.
“Son Dae...”
But before she could speak,
Someone raised their hand and shouted.
“I know who did this!”
It was none other than Ho-ang.
At her appearance, Great Madam Seok swallowed her words.
It was better for her guard warrior Ho-ang to reveal the truth out of loyalty than for her to speak up.
“You know who?”
“Yes.”
The Sword King Son Yun wiped the blood from his sword and spoke in a murderous tone.
“If it’s a lie, you’ll pay with your life.”
“If the Great Madam dies, it puts the position of the manor’s eldest young master in jeopardy. That’s why those who benefit from the succession struggle have motive.”
Unintentionally, her words drew the eyes of Timber Sword Manor’s warriors to two people.
They were none other than the second son, Mok Eun-pyeong, and the youngest, Mok Yu-cheon.
As humans, they couldn’t help the instinctive glances.
Mok Eun-pyeong shouted in panic.
“W-what nonsense is this?”
Mok Yu-cheon was the same.
“How rude, Guard Ho. Why would I do such a thing?”
Both showed reactions of outrage.
Naturally so.
Since they hadn’t done it.
But ironically, not a single person looked at Mok Kyung-un when Ho-ang spoke.
‘This...’
Clan Head Mok In-dan frowned.
If Mok Kyung-un had schemed this to bargain with him, this child was surely behind it.
Yet she mentioned those favored in the succession, so no one in Timber Sword Manor looked at Mok Kyung-un.
And rightly so—he was the weakest and least likely.
At that moment, the Sword King Son Yun alternated glances between second son Mok Eun-pyeong and youngest Mok Yu-cheon before speaking.
“It sounds plausible, but how can we believe it?”
“There’s something that could serve as evidence.”
“Evidence? Ho, tell me, wench.”
‘Evidence?’
At her guard Ho-ang’s words, Great Madam Seok furrowed her brow.
Was there really any evidence?
As she wondered, Ho-ang said,
“In the underground medicine storage, along with the item Sword Expert Son is seeking, there were also secret manuals that only Timber Sword Manor’s Clan Head can learn. The one who has them must be behind this!”
‘!!!!!!’
At Ho-ang’s words, two people couldn’t hide their shock.
It was youngest Mok Yu-cheon and Great Madam Seok, who possessed the original secret manuals Timber Transforming Heart Method and Timber Forming Sword Art—though only the covers and two pages each.
The flustered pair shouted simultaneously.
“No!”
“Ho-ang, you!”
Realizing eyes were on them after shouting together, they panicked, not knowing what to do.
They shouldn’t have reacted this way to Ho-ang’s words.
Now it was obvious they would search their quarters.
‘Ha!’
Seeing this, Clan Head Mok In-dan looked at Mok Kyung-un.
His eyes trembled at the sight of him watching as if it were amusing entertainment.
[If we’re lucky and can save everyone by sacrificing just that one woman, isn’t that a good thing in its own way?]
[Unfortunately not. I was hoping for some luck.]
Mok Kyung-un’s words flashed through his mind.
The “luck” he mentioned wasn’t the kind he had interpreted.
“You...”
Mok Kyung-un smiled at the corner of his mouth and whispered.
“This is a real mess. Instead of ending it with one, now everyone’s tangled up, and that scary guy might go on a rampage killing everyone, manuals or not.”
* * *
[What? Put this earring in that wooden box?]
[Yes.]
[Are you an idiot, brat?]
[What’s that supposed to mean?]
[Who would believe it was that old nun wench? They’d suspect it’s someone targeting that Seok woman.]
[Yes. That’s the point.]
[What?]
[Why else would I give them those near-empty secret manuals?]
[You... don’t tell me?]
[If the Clan Head wakes up, it’s just a little preparation. A light prank, really.]
[A light prank? You sure know how to scheme petty tricks.]
* * *
Originally, it was preparation in case the Clan Head awoke and checked the secret location.
Though not as intended, it had deepened the chaos.
Mok Kyung-un curled his lips slyly and said,
“Wouldn’t it be better to talk about that wound now, before you lose one by one and regret it?”
*Kkuk!*
Clan Head Mok In-dan gritted his teeth.
‘This bastard...’
He no longer thought of him as his son.
He had never seen anyone so terrifyingly cunning.
The way he used Timber Sword Manor’s peril as a hostage to get what he wanted left him speechless, even awed.
“What will you do?”
There were no more choices.
Mok In-dan said,
“...Bring the manuals and hand them to him. Then I’ll tell you.”
“That’s not how bargaining works.”
“You dare!”
“We don’t have much time.”
Glaring at Mok Kyung-un with a twisted face, Mok In-dan’s cheek twitched as he forced out the words.
“The wound from seventeen years ago in Yongmun, Guangtong Province, against the one called Ghost Sword.”
“Ghost Sword?”
“You... don’t tell me you don’t know Ghost Sword?”
Of course not.
Mok Kyung-un, who had only recently begun learning martial arts, knew nothing of the martial world’s ecosystem.
“Who is Ghost Sword...”
Before he could finish,
*Ding-a-ling!*
The sound of bells rang out.
All eyes turned there instantly.
“Sorcerer Jo.”
Sword King Son Yun called out to someone entering past the hall.
It was a middle-aged man with a snake-patterned eyepatch, leaning on a staff.
But more curious than his appearance was the bell at his waist, ringing on its own without shaking.
‘What is that?’
Then the eyepatch-wearing middle-aged man called Sorcerer Jo spoke.
“A monster is playing tricks.”
“Monster?”
“It’s trying to steal a human skin.”
*Pak!*
At that moment, the middle-aged man swung his staff into the air and formed a hand seal with his left hand, chanting an incantation.
“Divine brushes dance, messenger descends, evil spirits retreat, anti-demon guardian, Five Peaks Supreme Elder commands, hasten and heed!”
*Taaang!*
As soon as the incantation ended, he slammed his staff into the ground.
An invisible wave erupted, whipping up a fierce wind around them.
*Paaaang!*
“Aaahhhh!”
Ho-ang, Great Madam Seok’s guard hit by the brushing wind, suddenly clutched her head and screamed madly.
Those around her couldn’t hide their shock.
Black veins bulged grotesquely around Ho-ang’s neck.
“W-what?”
*Crack!*
Ho-ang’s eyes rolled back, her body convulsing wildly.
Everyone pulled away from her in alarm.
*Urk! Urk!*
No one was as bad as Ho-ang, but one person felt nauseous—Go Chan.
The moment the wind brushed him, an unpleasant feeling and urge to vomit hit him.
He circulated his internal energy to form a protective aura, which helped.
“Huu... huu...”
Go Chan looked at Ho-ang.
In Go Chan’s Ghost Eyes, he saw the Demon Monk suffering inside her body.
Her second-rate flesh couldn’t endure the recent possession.
In the end,
*Paaaak!*
It was ejected from the possessed body.
Ho-ang, convulsing in agony, collapsed unconscious on the spot.
*Thud!*
Seeing this, the corners of Sorcerer Jo’s mouth rose.
“I shall exorcise you.”
He pulled a imperial talisman from his waist and attached it to his staff, then shouted.
“True demon destruction, Five Peaks Supreme Elder imperial command, divine soldier transforms, hasten and heed!”
With that, he threw the staff.
*Shuk!*
Incredibly, the staff shot straight like an arrow.
To everyone’s eyes, it flew toward empty space, but there the Demon Monk staggered, not yet free of pain.
But before the mystically empowered staff reached the Demon Monk,
*Pak!*
Someone caught it midair.
“You’re making things difficult.”
It was none other than Mok Kyung-un.
At this sight, Sorcerer Jo, the eyepatch man, couldn’t hide his surprise.
‘No?’
Catching a staff infused with imperial talisman and incantation barehanded—even a martial artist wasn’t ordinary.
But the real shock wasn’t that.
Sorcerer Jo frowned, glaring at Mok Kyung-un, and said,
“You... can see the vengeful spirit.”
At his words, the surroundings buzzed.
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────