Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: The Price That Must Be Paid
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Lecherous bastard slung over my shoulder, Hwa Ryeon and I returned to the Zhuge family branch.
The gatekeeper eyed us suspiciously for showing up so late at night, but when I told him I’d captured the Jade-Faced Lecher Demon, his eyes went wide and he hurriedly let us in.
“G-Goon young hero. What in the world happened?”
We’d barely reached the hall with the office when Je Gal Geun-yeong came rushing out in a panic.
His clothes weren’t even properly straightened, likely because he’d dashed out upon hearing the gatekeeper’s report.
His wandering eyes fixed on the humpbacked figure slung over my shoulder and nearly popped out of his head.
“I-Is that really Je Gal-seon…?”
Startled awake by the commotion, no doubt, two elderly men appeared next, equally shocked.
The old Yeon man in particular let out a cry of horror upon seeing Je Gal-seon.
“Seon-ah—!”
Whoa, hold on—even so, that reaction’s a bit much… What’s going on!?
I stole a glance at Je Gal-seon and couldn’t help but be startled myself.
“His hair…?”
The hair draped over the lecherous bastard’s face like a shroud had turned as white as an old man’s.
It had been jet-black just moments ago…?
When did this happen!?
Flustered, I set Je Gal-seon’s body down on the ground, and the two sorcerer elders examined his condition.
“Heavens, this…!”
“Aigoo, you fool Seon!”
The old Gok man sighed as if he’d pieced something together, while the old Yeon man nearly broke into sobs.
I stood there awkwardly, clueless about what was going on, when the grim-faced old Gok man approached me.
“…Young hero, might we hear the full story?”
“Y-Yes. But… what about him?”
I glanced at the still-unconscious Jade-Faced Lecher Demon and the old Yeon man.
The lecherous bastard had taken an acupuncture point strike, so he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.
The problem was the old Yeon man.
Honestly, judging by his reaction, I half-expected him to whisk the lecher away with some escape art and bolt right then and there.
The old Gok man read the wariness in my eyes and shook his head.
“No need to worry. It’d be pointless anyway.”
“…What do you mean?”
Ignoring my question, the old Gok man approached the lecher again, extended a hand, and muttered something under his breath.
Soon, a small cluster of light emanated from his outstretched hand, enveloping the lecher’s body and lifting it into the air.
“Whoa…!”
I nearly blurted out “Void Grasping Technique.”
In martial arts tales, the only technique that levitated objects in midair was Void Grasping.
But since the old Gok man was a sorcerer, it was probably some kind of spell rather than true Void Grasping.
Still, seeing it in person was downright magical.
“Let’s head inside and talk first.”
While I gawked, the old Gok man turned to lead the floating lecher into the hall.
Seeing this, the old Yeon man scrambled to his feet and called out to him desperately, eyes bloodshot.
“G-Gok, Gok old man…!”
“…It’s already too late. You know that.”
At the old Gok man’s quiet words, the old Yeon man’s face crumpled as if the sky had fallen.
He nearly collapsed, limbs going limp, but I quickly caught and supported him.
With me helping the old Yeon man, we all finally entered the office.
Je Gal Geun-yeong lit the lamps, banishing the room’s darkness, and the old Gok man gently placed the lecher’s body on the table.
Somehow, we ended up seated in a circle around the lecher at the center.
“Now then, please explain. What exactly happened?”
At the old Gok man’s prompting, I recounted the events.
Right after returning to the merchant house, I sensed Hwa Ryeon—who’d gone to her room—leaving again with someone.
I tailed them discreetly.
Before long, I spotted someone who looked exactly like me walking with Hwa Ryeon.
Realizing at once that the lecher was using an illusion spell, I swallowed my boiling rage and bided my time for an opening to strike.
After walking for a while, the lecher arrived at a deserted hall and tried to lure Hwa Ryeon inside.
Fortunately, she saw through his disguise and ambushed him in time, but failed to subdue him. He countered by conjuring an illusion of himself to pressure her.
That’s when I ambushed him from behind and severed his right arm.
The shock from losing his arm must have been immense; soon after, the illusion spell unraveled, revealing his true form.
Screaming not to look, not to laugh, he suddenly dissolved into black smoke, which spread everywhere and blocked out all light.
“Black smoke and loss of senses…! Is that truly what happened?”
When I mentioned the loss of senses that followed, the old Gok man and old Yeon man reacted strongly.
Guessing I’d identified the spell he’d used, I asked what it was, and he answered gravely.
“…It’s called the Dark Night Sense Severing Spell. One of the highest-tier illusion spells. Hah, countless sorcerers spend their lives pursuing spells and never master it, yet this young one…”
The old Gok man stared at the lecher with eyes full of shock and awe.
He then turned to the old Yeon man.
“So that’s why you abducted him.”
“…I knew it the moment I saw him. A once-in-a-millennium prodigy in sorcery. Born with a malformed body, he had an innate talent for spells instead.”
The old Yeon man replied gloomily.
So, this lecherous bastard was a sorcery genius?
Hm, that Dark Night Sense Severing Spell was indeed dangerous.
Without my Mechanism Net, I wouldn’t have taken him down so easily.
Evidently, I wasn’t the only one thinking that, as the old Gok man turned to me.
“But young hero, how exactly did you escape the Dark Night Sense Severing Spell?”
Doubt filled the old Gok man’s face.
Knowing the spell well, he couldn’t fathom how I’d emerged unscathed.
“No idea. It just unraveled on its own before I knew it.”
Judging that explaining the Mechanism Net would fall on deaf ears, I brushed it off vaguely.
The old Gok man eyed me silently for a moment.
He clearly wasn’t buying my answer.
Unlike him, though, the old Yeon man nodded readily.
“With his upper dantian sealed, he couldn’t properly draw in the energy needed for spells. That’s why it ended up like this…”
The old Yeon man trailed off, staring at the lecher’s snow-white hair.
The two sorcerer elders seemed to know exactly what had happened to him.
“Looks like you two know what caused the Jade-Faced Lecher Demon to end up like this. Care to explain?”
Instead of the old Yeon man, who grimaced and bowed his head, the old Gok man laid it out.
“…Spells draw on natural energy entering through the upper dantian. But with his seal, the Jade-Faced Lecher Demon’s intake was limited.”
A body that could only handle basic illusions had cast a highest-tier spell like the Dark Night Sense Severing Spell.
So where did he get the energy from?
The Jade-Faced Lecher Demon wasn’t a martial artist.
Naturally, he hadn’t stored any qi in his body either.
Which meant he had no energy he could draw on… Ah.
A realization hit me.
Staring at the lecher’s white hair, I muttered.
“…Innate True Qi.”
Innate True Qi, or Primordial True Qi.
The vital force humans are born with.
The root power you must never touch lightly if you want to live.
Unable to store qi in his lower dantian or draw external energy through his upper one, the only energy the Jade-Faced Lecher Demon could tap was his Innate True Qi.
The old Gok man nodded solemnly, confirming my guess.
I nearly blurted out, “Is he insane?”
I’d already thought he was unhinged from his screaming fit, but his own Innate True Qi!?
“How much did he use…?”
“…He won’t last more than a few days. Three at most.”
In other words, he’d burned through most of his Innate True Qi.
He’d truly staked his life to kill me…
Why?
Was I such an eyesore for thwarting his lechery?
Enough to throw his life away just to kill me?
We weren’t even blood enemies—why go that far?
I couldn’t make sense of the lecherous bastard’s actions at all.
Probably wouldn’t until he explained it himself.
“…I think I’ve got the gist. It’s too late tonight, so how about we regroup tomorrow and interrogate him then?”
Je Gal Geun-yeong, who’d been listening quietly, made the suggestion to everyone.
He also asked Hwa Ryeon and me to stay the night at the family branch, just in case.
“There are two empty rooms next to old Yeon man’s. You can stay there.”
Hm, keep an eye on him overnight so the old Yeon man doesn’t pull anything?
I nodded, glancing at the old Yeon man, who seemed dazed by the looming death of his sole disciple.
And so, Hwa Ryeon and I ended up spending the night at the Zhuge family branch.
*
Je Gal Geun-yeong’s concerns proved unfounded; even as dawn broke, the old Yeon man hadn’t budged from his room.
Around noon, word came that the lecherous bastard had woken up.
We gathered again and headed to the branch’s prison (no idea why they had one), where we found the lecher in an even more wretched state.
“Huff… huff…”
The Jade-Faced Lecher Demon lay on the prison floor, gasping raggedly for breath.
Snow-white hair, limp limbs, skin dried and flaky like sand.
He looked every bit the dying wretch.
“…Seon-ah.”
Heartbroken by his disciple’s horrific state, the old Yeon man clutched the bars and sank to the floor.
But he was the only one pitying the Jade-Faced Lecher Demon there.
The old Gok man, Je Gal Geun-yeong—even Hwa Ryeon and I, nearly victimized ourselves—saw it only as just deserts.