Chapter 218
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: The Story of the Ancestor Gods
“Those who need to add a Sealing Talisman, do so. For those who cannot conceal their power, I will personally carve the formation diagram to suppress it.”
Mu-heun immediately carved additional diagrams onto the Sealing Talismans, concealing the group’s energy to a level the giants would not be able to perceive.
Afterward, as a precaution, Mu-heun used Myriad Fragrance to create several dozen humanoid figures, infusing each with a different amount of energy.
‘This has to work.’
As he approached the main gate, Mu-heun sent a telepathic message to his companions.
[ Now. We enter! ]
[ Yes, Cult Leader. ]
While Mu-heun's party made their move, the humanoid figures he had created with Myriad Fragrance simultaneously began to swarm around the giants.
*Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!*
The giants ruthlessly attacked the figures, and the incense-made silhouettes were brutally annihilated.
However.
In the moment the giants were distracted by the fake figures.
Mu-heun and his party passed through safely and entered the royal palace.
Once inside, Mu-heun’s senses picked up things he hadn't felt at all from outside the main gate.
Powerful Rakshasas near the palace walls. And, scattered throughout the palace, weak monsters and ghost spirits engaged in labor.
Mu-heun quickly led his companions toward the outermost edge of the royal castle, a place he judged to have a low risk of detection.
Resembling the outskirts of a large city in the Central Plains, the area was lined with crumbling, abandoned houses. He had the group wait inside one of them.
“I will go scout the situation outside for a moment.”
“Cult Leader, we will go with you.”
“You all will have tasks to perform later, so for now, stay here. Moving as a group when we don't even know what kind of place this is carries too great a risk.”
“...Yes. Understood.”
Mu-heun went out alone and stealthily surveyed his surroundings.
Just then, something caught his eye.
*Kkeugeuk—*
No, it would be more accurate to say he heard it.
Mu-heun had spotted a monster, a Mang-ryang, trapped in a cage.
Unlike the Mang-ryang he had met in Okwha County, this one looked extremely weak. Surrounding it were evil ghosts dressed in black, and Mu-heun listened intently to their conversation.
“Seriously, what’s the use of these weak, worthless monsters? Heh heh.”
“I’m not sure, but I heard Gou-mang-nim catches these things and sends them to Hou-tu-nim.”
“Tsk tsk. So they’re just creatures that can’t even die properly.”
“They’ll probably become sacrifices for the resurrection once they get to Hou-tu-nim.”
“Then they can’t ever die and will be captured and worked to the bone forever.”
“That’s right. Heh heh. What hope could creatures like this possibly have?”
The Mang-ryang was gagged.
Mu-heun recalled the ghost spirits he had killed back in Hubei. They had been trapped by Mahoraga's spell, unable to even die by their own will—miserable souls writhing in eternal agony.
When Mu-heun had used the Dream of a Butterfly to grant them a true, final death, they had looked relieved, as if they had found peace.
“Perhaps it will be easy to get information.”
Mu-heun waited for the black-clad evil ghosts to leave, then approached the caged Mang-ryang. The monster was bound by a powerful ghostly art, and the cage itself was sealed with the evil ghosts’ spell.
However, Mu-heun simply touched it with the Dream of a Butterfly, shattering all of it to enter.
Immediately, the Mang-ryang looked at Mu-heun as if pleading for rescue.
*Kkeugeuk! Kkeugeuk!*
“Silence. I did not come to save you. I came to kill you.”
*Kkeugeuk-geugeuk.*
“If you understand my words, nod your head. First, I can kill you, regardless of their bindings. I have previously killed beings in Hubei who were trapped by Mahoraga’s spell, unable to die. This is the proof.”
Mu-heun showed the Dream of a Butterfly wrapped around his wrist.
“I deciphered this divine object to grant them a complete death. Do you understand?”
The monster nodded.
“Second, if you fail to properly answer my questions, I will leave just as I came. You will be used for eternity, unable to even die.”
It nodded again.
“Do you want to be handed over to them? Or do you want to meet your end at my hands? If you desire a true death, nod twice. If not, nod once.”
Nod, nod.
“Good. I will now release you and take you with me. I apologize, but I will have to cut off all your limbs. Understand?”
Nod.
Mu-heun drew his Sun and Moon Sword and swiftly severed the Mang-ryang’s arms and legs.
*Chwarak!*
*Kkeugeuk! Kkeugeuk!*
He could see the Mang-ryang was in pain.
But it didn't matter. He was going to kill it anyway.
Before the evil ghosts returned, Mu-heun took the dismembered Mang-ryang and returned to the abandoned house where his companions were hiding.
Then, he used Myriad Fragrance and a barrier of energy to seal off the space, ensuring no sound or energy could leak out, making it difficult for anyone to notice them even if they looked this way.
After constructing the formation with Myriad Fragrance, Mu-heun began to dispel the curse carved into the Mang-ryang’s soul.
A purple mist flowed from Mu-heun’s body. Upon closer inspection, the mist was filled with some sort of characters. This technique was a formation Mu-heun had created after studying the divine object, the Dream of a Butterfly, and it was specialized in undoing formations and spells.
“Dispel.”
The purple mist began to envelop the Mang-ryang.
*Pasasasa.*
An unknown current of energy sparked, and a translucent, soul-like form of the Mang-ryang rose up.
Soon, the eternal curse etched into that soul, the characters of the curse, began to be erased one by one.
*Paseuseuseu.*
*Kkeueeeek!*
Once the curse was fully lifted, Mu-heun questioned the Mang-ryang.
“Unless you want to be captured by them again right this instant, answer my questions.”
Tears were streaming from the Mang-ryang’s eyes. It looked relieved, as if a great boulder had been lifted from its back.
“Kkeuuu, if I answer, will you kill me?”
“Of course. It is said, ‘The cycle of life and death is endless suffering.’ How fitting that phrase seems for souls like you, who repeat life and death in a cycle of reincarnation. Choose. Will you accept endless suffering, or will you speak the truth here and die?”
“Wh-what do you wish to know?”
“About the Evil God.”
“I… I will tell you everything I know. The story I am about to tell you is one that monsters have known for a long time… a tale from the distant past.”
The Mang-ryang explained that the Evil God Mu-heun spoke of was in fact a fallen deity. A long time ago, it had incurred the wrath of the Central Emperor and was cast down from the heavens. That was the evil being now threatening the Central Plains.
The ‘ones’ who fell from the sky over 300 years ago were the banished Flame Emperor and the corpses of the Five Elements Gods he had brought with him.
Mu-heun felt his head spin.
Deities he had only ever heard of in ancient history.
Mythological gods were now making their appearance.
***
The story of the ancestor gods.
Before the mortal realm was separated from the celestial realm.
The Central Plains were said to be ruled by the Five Directional Emperors.
The Eastern Emperor was Tai-hao Fu-xi,
The Southern Emperor was the Flame Emperor Shen-nong,
The Western Emperor was Shao-hao Jin-tian,
The Northern Emperor was Zhuan-xu Gao-yang,
And the Central Emperor was the Yellow Emperor Xuan-yuan.
Among them, the foremost was the Central Emperor, the Yellow Emperor Xuan-yuan.
Each of them had subordinate gods,
who were called the Five Elements Gods.
The Eastern Emperor's subordinate was the Wood God, Gou-mang.
The Southern Emperor's subordinate was the Fire God, Zhu-rong.
The Western Emperor's subordinate was the Metal God, Ru-shou.
The Northern Emperor's subordinate was the Water God, Yu-qiang.
Finally, the Earth God, Hou-tu, was the Central Emperor’s subordinate.
Among them, there was a time when the Central Emperor, the Yellow Emperor Xuan-yuan, and the Southern Emperor, the Flame Emperor Shen-nong, clashed on the Plains of Banquan for control of the Central Plains.
This was called the Battle of Banquan.
There, the Flame Emperor, leading the Fire God and Sun God, Zhu-rong, fought the Yellow Emperor with fire. At that time, Zhu-rong rode two red dragons into battle against the Yellow Emperor.
The Flame Emperor and Zhu-rong fought with all their might, but they were no match for the Yellow Emperor, the god of thunder and rain.
By the Yellow Emperor's side were the other Directional Emperors, save for the Flame Emperor. Though the Flame Emperor killed all the Five Elements Gods, the subordinates of the other Directional Emperors, with his sun-like flames, he was ultimately defeated by the other Emperors.
In the end, the Yellow Emperor banished Shen-nong to the farthest reaches of the south, where Shen-nong met a miserable end.
Later, the Flame Emperor’s descendant, Chi-you, stole the corpses of the dead subordinate gods to once again challenge the Yellow Emperor, king of the celestial realm.
Chi-you used ghost spirits and monsters to fill the corpses of the Five Elements Gods with the souls of tens of millions of humans, resurrecting them. They now called Chi-you the Heavenly King Chi-you and were preparing for their next grand scheme.
In short, the identity of the Evil God was the Heavenly King Chi-you and the Five Elements Gods he had resurrected with human souls.
“The monsters have not forgotten that day. After the one called the Southern Emperor, the Flame Emperor Shen-nong, was defeated by the Central Emperor, the Yellow Emperor Xuan-yuan, he accepted his defeat and returned to nothingness.”
“But now his descendant, Chi-you, is preparing another rebellion?”
“That is correct. For over 300 years, since we monsters were captured by the Five Elements Gods resurrected by Chi-you-nim, we have been enslaved. For a long… long time… We knew the whole truth during that time, but we could not escape.”
“...”
Mu-heun realized the situation was extremely dire.
The Five Elements Gods, resurrected in defiance of the laws of heaven and earth. And commanding them was the Flame Emperor's descendant, the Heavenly King Chi-you.
His enemies had been preparing for far longer than he had thought, and they were far more dangerous.
“Tell me everything you know about the Five Elements Gods.”
“...First, there is the Wood element. He is called Gou-mang-nim, and he is the master of this royal castle.”
Gou-mang. The god of wood, who controlled the life force of trees and plants. Before he died and was resurrected, he was the god of spring, responsible for regulating the energy of the season when all things come to life.
“Second is the Fire God, Zhu-rong-nim. As the god of fire, he is known to wield a sun-like fire energy.”
“Is Zhu-rong also in this royal castle?”
“A-as far as I know, only Gou-mang-nim is here.”
“...”
“Next is the Earth God, Hou-tu-nim. This god of the land is currently believed to be in the Central Plains' Imperial Palace. From what I overheard the evil ghosts who imprisoned me say, they plan to use worthless monsters like me as sacrifices to resurrect the Flame Emperor's power.”
“Resurrect the Flame Emperor's power…”
“Yes. Fourth is the Metal God, Ru-shou, and fifth is the Water God, Yu-gang. They were the gods who presided over metal and water, respectively.”
“...Do you know the general layout of the royal castle?”
The Mang-ryang gave a detailed description of the castle where it had been bred for over 300 years. And then.
“This is everything I know…”
“I understand. I will grant you death now.”
“Th-thank you.”
Mu-heun raised his Sun and Moon Sword and, in a single motion, struck down the Mang-ryang.
*Seogeok.*
*Hwarurururu—*
The Mang-ryang, split in two, was instantly engulfed in purple flames.
Soon, it vanished, leaving behind only a handful of dust.
After returning the Mang-ryang to nothingness, Mu-heun looked at his companions.
Except for Seol Ha-ryeong, who had heard some of what was to come from Mu-heun… everyone else wore looks of utter confusion.
What had they just heard?
What was going to happen now?
How did their Cult Leader know all of this?
They seemed lost in chaos, unable to find the words, simply standing and staring at Mu-heun.
However, Mu-heun’s actions were nothing but resolute and swift.
“Cheon-hyang.”
[ Yes, Master! ]
“I will give you more beads from the Dream of a Butterfly. Go outside and deliver my message.”
[ Sir! ]