Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Thirteen Palms - Sichuan, Conclusion (8)
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It was strange.
He had never even been near Sichuan in his life, yet a sense of longing welled up, filling him with bewilderment. And since that energy wasn't malevolent, it felt all the more uncanny.
If it had been demonic qi, he could have chalked it up to his Extreme Demonic Body reacting. But even that wasn't the case.
Mok Ri-won narrowed his eyes and gazed toward the secret cave.
‘This is….’
What should he call this energy?
It was more than simple nostalgia—his heart thrummed with it.
His throat tightened for some reason, and his eyes stung.
“Young Hero Mok?”
“…No, it's nothing.”
Mok Ri-won shook his head.
He took a deep breath to steady his emotions and lifted his gaze.
“Let's go.”
He urged the group onward, convinced that reaching the secret cave would reveal the truth.
And so they set off.
*
He encountered two more spirit beasts.
Jegal San spotted one, and Hye-un the other. Before anyone else could step in, he captured them and extracted their inner cores.
The mood lightened a bit more, and the valley housing the secret cave came into view before long.
With it, Mok Ri-won felt his emotions surging even wilder.
Sss—
The sound like a snake slithering came again.
‘What is it?’
No answer came to his inner question.
His chest tightened, radiating hot energy.
For some reason, Mok Ri-won fixated on uncovering the source of this longing.
And so they pressed on until they reached the secret cave.
“…It's sealed.”
A massive stone wall blocked the cave entrance.
Dang Hwa-seo tapped it lightly, then grimaced.
“We can't break through. It's too thick.”
“How did you pass before?”
“…We never did. We waited at the valley entrance last time, and only the Clan Leader entered alone.”
Dang Hwa-seo sighed and turned to Jegal San.
“Any way to clear it?”
“Hmm….”
Jegal San stroked his chin, scrutinizing the wall from all angles.
His narrowed eyes and intense focus were so unlike him that it stood out.
Then Jegal San replied.
“It's not opened from here.”
“Hm?”
“The entrance is correct. But the mechanism to open it is elsewhere.”
Jegal San stood, twisting his waist with a series of cracks.
“Spread out and search for the device. It's probably somewhere in this valley. I don't know the shape, but look for spots that show signs of human hands.”
“Agreed, spreading out is best. No real threats here anyway.”
Dang Hwa-seo scanned the group.
“Let's search, then. Success or failure, meet back here in two hours.”
“Then I'll head out first.”
Namgung Jincheon turned and vanished into the trees.
Hye-un and Il-un followed.
Dang Hwa-seo stayed put, while Jegal San paused as he left and asked Mok Ri-won.
“Brother Mok, you alright? You don't look well.”
“It's nothing. Just….”
Mok Ri-won mumbled vaguely and shook his head.
“…I'll go search too.”
With that, Mok Ri-won departed from the cave entrance.
He headed toward the source of the thrumming in his chest.
*
He didn't wander lost.
Once in the valley with the secret cave, his senses pointed unerringly in one direction.
Left alone, Mok Ri-won no longer held back his tears.
They streamed from his eyes down his cheeks, so hot his face burned.
‘What is it?’
What could make his heart ache like this?
What lay at the end to stir his soul so?
Questioning himself endlessly, Mok Ri-won faced the entrance to a colossal cavern.
Its grandeur evoked the gates of an imperial palace, inspiring awe, but he couldn't linger.
He simply clenched his fists and advanced.
The interior was mystical.
Though deep in a midnight cave, faint light from somewhere gleamed off stalactites and stalagmites, illuminating the space.
The air was cool, sounds echoing.
As he followed the path, Mok Ri-won halted.
A vast chamber opened before him, far wider than the path so far.
‘Here it is.’
Darker than before, he couldn't see clearly, but his senses spoke.
What he sought was here.
Mok Ri-won wiped his tears with his sleeve and stepped forward.
In that instant.
[Have you come for a reason?]
The words echoed—not in his ears, but in his mind.
“Who's there!”
Shing—!
Startled, Mok Ri-won drew his sword and unleashed his energy.
Yet he sensed nothing.
Bewildered but alert, he shouted.
“Stop hiding and show yourself!”
Then the space lit up.
Roar—!
By a cluster of crimson flames rising in the air.
In the now-bright cavern, Mok Ri-won gasped.
[I asked, have you come for a reason?]
There was a snake.
No, too massive for a mere snake.
Its body filled the entire chamber, coiled tightly as it raised its head.
Its glossy black scales gleamed, its eyes blazing yellow fixed on Mok Ri-won.
The moment he registered its presence, his body froze.
The aura he finally sensed was beyond vast—transcending what any living being could hold.
No supreme master in the world could match even its toe.
His body trembled.
Overwhelming pressure crushed him.
He should flee now.
‘…Why?’
But his body refused to turn.
No, it yearned to advance.
Toward the snake, toward the presence it exuded.
Instinct told him.
The longing he'd chased was for this snake.
Tears flowed anew.
Mok Ri-won's expression crumbled.
Unable to resist, his feet inched toward it.
[Stop.]
The snake spoke, and he froze.
His eyes widened in shock.
The snake continued.
[Come no closer.]
Mok Ri-won's heart tore at the words.
Like a child abandoned by parents, utter despair.
Trembling, he asked.
“Why…?”
[Because it is a discarded attachment.]
“What does that mean?”
[Severed killing intent. I have no desire to reclaim it.]
Mok Ri-won stared at the snake.
Severed killing intent.
The phrase sparked a thought, and he asked.
“…Is this Heavenly Slaughter Star yours?”
Somehow, it felt right.
After all, what else in his body could stir emotions like this, make him crave endlessly?
The snake affirmed.
[A past flaw, now unwanted.]
The snake lowered its head onto its coiled body.
It half-closed its eyes.
[Do not offer it to me again.]
Mok Ri-won was bewildered.
By the snake's existence, its words, the situation, his own feelings.
Countless questions swirled in his mind at the snake's reply, then faded.
Yet the pain of rejection brought fresh tears.
Finally, he asked.
“…Who are you?”
Spirit beast.
That came first.
But it didn't fit what he knew of them.
Spirit beasts couldn't speak human tongues—at best, animal cunning beyond their kind.
They gathered natural qi, but not with such immense presence.
This defied everything he knew.
The snake gazed down languidly.
It fell silent for a long time.
At last, it spoke.
[…A foolish beast, perhaps.]
“That's not the answer I want.”
[A pilgrim dreaming beyond his station.]
“Nor that.”
That wasn't his question.
He craved the reason for this heart-wrenching emotion, why the snake rejected him.
“What are you?”
Somehow, he sensed the answer held why he'd been born to this fate.
-I shouldn't have saved you.
Recalling the words from the formation, he desperately wanted to know why such a thing might happen.
Unable to approach further, he stood rooted, looking up.
And the snake answered.
In a tone like a sigh.
[A ghost seeking immortality.]
“Ghost…?”
[Once a demon faithful to instinct, slaying lives. Now atoning for those days, enduring nine hundred ninety-nine years of penance—a lowly thing.]
Mok Ri-won's brow furrowed.
“That means….”
[I am the original owner of the fate within you. It is the grudge I cast off.]
Mok Ri-won stilled.
[Here is your answer: I am the first Killing Star.]
The snake extended its head.
Its perpetually tilted gaze now fixed straight on him.
Its glossy black scales dazzled his vision.
Mok Ri-won asked.
“Why did you do it?”
[Do what?]
“Why release your grudge into the world?”
[I did not release it. Someone unearthed the flaw I buried.]
Mok Ri-won pondered the snake's words.
The Heavenly Slaughter Star was the snake's.
It had severed and buried its killing intent, and someone dug it up.
And he knew those who bore it.
Even who first.
“…I Mu-baek.”
I Mu-baek, one of the Three Great Heavenly Demons.
The fiend always named among history's worst.
The living calamity that etched the Heavenly Slaughter Star into this land.
The snake closed its eyes slowly as he stared expectantly.
[Was that the name?]
A phrase that could be taken as affirmation.
Mok Ri-won clenched his fists.
He bowed his head.
“…You said it was yours.”
[Indeed.]
“Then take it back.”
[Impossible.]
“Why? This star still yearns for you. My longing proves it, just by bearing it.”
Rage filled Mok Ri-won's voice.
Suppressed fury from all this time.
He lifted his head, eyes gleaming red.
“Take it. I never wanted this star.”
He had never wished to harbor killing intent toward anyone.
“Even if it granted me martial talent, it means nothing to me.”
He could have lived as a commoner.
That life would have satisfied him.
“I….”
His voice grew wet.
Fresh tears welled on his already tear-streaked face.
“…I want no part of the slaughters born from me. Why must I bear this?”
Why him?
The resentment he'd harbored for so long spilled from his lips.
Resentment he'd never voiced to anyone, not even his master who knew of this curse.
[…Because heaven wills it.]
“Why is heaven so cruel to me? Why torment me like this?”
Petulant words.
No, he was indeed acting petulant.
Only thus could he quell his burning insides.
His glare at the snake softened into collapse.
“Please, take it back….”
A plea.
“How can I erase this star?”
Hot breaths escaped.
Sobbing, he wiped his face.
“I don't understand. What heaven's will creates such a star? Why must I bear it?”
The snake remained silent.
Mok Ri-won's head burned, thoughts scattering.
Long after, his sobs echoed in the chamber, then the snake spoke.
[…I cannot reveal heaven's secrets. But.]
Its tone softened.
[Know that all heavenly mandates have purpose.]
The illuminating flames flickered faintly.
[Slaughter lies ahead, but I cannot say it ends in slaughter.]
Mok Ri-won looked up.
The snake was expressionless.
Yet he knew it comforted him.
[Simply press on.]
As it spoke.
Rumble—!
A roar echoed.
From outside the cave—a vibration from the secret cave.
[Then heaven's mandate will follow you.]
In that moment, a strange force yanked Mok Ri-won out of the cavern.