WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 107: The Secret of the Jade Token (3)
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'He heard that?'
Ja Muk-hyun was not easily shaken, but this left him thoroughly flustered.
Though he had not acted directly, he had kept a close watch on Mumu's group through others.
'That's impossible.'
Masters who had reached a high realm through enlightenment or possessed deep internal energy had exceptionally sharp Ki senses and greatly heightened five senses. Ja Muk-hyun himself could catch faint sounds from nearly ten jang away if he focused.
This was on an entirely different level.
There had to be more than a hundred jang between them. The conversation had taken place inside a building, not somewhere open, yet Mumu had heard it from all the way over there?
'...Could there have been a spy?'
It was enough to make him wonder.
Seeing his confusion, Mo Il-hwa's lips twitched.
'Of course he doesn't believe it.'
At first, Jin-hyeok and she had also wondered what Mumu was doing. After Mumu turned the adjustment screws on the Ki-Restraining Bracelets around both wrists, the skin across his upper body turned pitch-black. Soon after, he said he could hear Ha Ryun and Ja Muk-hyun's conversation from where they stood.
They had only half believed him.
Yet it had astonishingly been true.
'Is this kid really human?'
She wondered that sometimes.
Mumu's physical abilities easily surpassed human limits. It was not just his strength, either. His five senses were absurdly sharp as well.
Ja Muk-hyun, unable to hide his surprise for a moment, soon regained his composure and spoke.
"You were so close, yet I never noticed."
Neither Mumu nor Jin-hyeok denied it. They had both been floor leaders in Northern Heaven Residence, yet neither had known the other existed.
At that moment, Ha Ryun, whose life was threatened by Ja Muk-hyun's sword, seemed to take this as an opportunity and hurriedly spoke.
"M-Master, how could you show such disrespect to the future Master..."
Poke!
"Ghk."
"Say one more word, and you die."
The blade pressed deeper into Ha Ryun's throat, leaving him no choice but to fall silent.
Mo Il-hwa gave Mumu a strange look. This differed somewhat from what they had expected before coming here.
[He knew Hae Ryang, the person who followed us, was your retainer, yet he still tried to kill him. That means he must have realized you aren't the real future Master they serve or whatever.]
[Then there's no need to keep pretending, right?]
[Probably not. That Ha Ryun guy must have realized by now that you aren't their real leader.]
[That's nice. I won't have to keep acting. Heh.]
[Even so, watch the situation and decide.]
[The situation?]
[What you want to know most is what that Jade Medallion means and what relationship your birth parents had with them.]
[Yeah.]
[So it would be better to play along enough to coax answers out of them.]
[Okay.]
That had been their plan, but the atmosphere was strange.
Why was Ja Muk-hyun trying to kill Ha Ryun?
One possibility came to mind.
'Even if they're part of the same group, they don't completely trust each other?'
Still, it was difficult to judge anything from that alone.
Mo Il-hwa decided Mumu would have trouble handling this situation by himself, so she spoke first.
"You attacked someone we sent and even threatened Ha Ryun. Isn't that disrespectful toward the future Master?"
'Is she acting again?'
Jin-hyeok clicked his tongue inwardly at Mo Il-hwa's response. When it came to quick tricks, she was the best among them.
It was quite clever. She vaguely referred to whether Hae Ryang was alive and showed that they still trusted Ha Ryun despite seeing the discord between the two. By saying that, she had made Ha Ryun seem like one of their side.
'Will it work?'
Jin-hyeok looked at Ja Muk-hyun.
Unlike before, his face remained expressionless. He always wore that same expression while reading from a book during roll call, making him difficult to read.
Then Ja Muk-hyun spoke.
"That's what I should be asking. If you possess the Jade Medallion, you should naturally place the Grand Plan first. Why did you interfere?"
Mo Il-hwa hurriedly racked her brain at his question.
The conversation had continued, but Ja Muk-hyun clearly remained dissatisfied that Mumu had ruined their work.
'What am I supposed to say?'
This was difficult.
Mumu had opposed their schemes too often for them to see him as one of their own. Finding a suitable excuse would not be easy.
Mo Il-hwa looked at Mumu, her eyes warning him once more not to blurt out an answer. Things had gone well last time, but there were two enemies now. If their words became tangled, it would only make them suspicious.
She had repeatedly warned him beforehand.
'He's dying to say something.'
Judging by the way his lips moved, he seemed eager to speak. Still, this time he was keeping his promise.
Then Ja Muk-hyun pressed his sword more deeply against Ha Ryun's throat.
"If you don't answer, your loyal retainer's life ends here."
'Tch!'
Mo Il-hwa bit down hard on her lower lip.
He was not giving them any opening.
Jin-hyeok stepped forward and spoke.
"Do you believe your life will remain safe if you kill Ha Ryun?"
Ja Muk-hyun's eyes narrowed.
'Good!'
Mo Il-hwa thought Jin-hyeok had answered well. It was better to be forceful than to let themselves be dragged along.
"That's right. If you don't release Ha Ryun, you'll be the one who needs to prepare yourself."
Mo Il-hwa added.
Ja Muk-hyun immediately snorted.
"Those prepared to die are always ready to give up their lives. I wonder if you two have made that same resolve."
"What?"
"Mo Il-hwa, daughter of Mo Yun, Minister of Justice. Yu Jin-hyeok, son of former Scholar Yu Yeop-kyung... You have taken in retainers with far too much to lose and obvious weaknesses."
'!?'
Jin-hyeok and Mo Il-hwa's faces hardened at the same time.
They understood exactly what he meant.
It was an outright threat.
Without a change in expression, Ja Muk-hyun said, "If I die, the people I sent outside will kill Mo Yun, Minister of Justice, as well as former Scholar Yu Yeop-kyung and his wife, without anyone ever knowing."
"You!"
Mo Il-hwa pointed at Ja Muk-hyun and shouted, unable to contain her anger.
Jin-hyeok could only be flustered as well. He had not expected Ja Muk-hyun to resort to something so despicable.
Crunch!
"How can you be so vile?"
"Vile? What is vile about it? Exploiting an enemy's weakness is the most basic strategy for winning a war."
Clench!
Mumu's hand tightened fiercely.
As Mo Il-hwa had said, he had planned to keep acting and draw answers out of them. But he could not endure this kind of threat.
Ja Muk-hyun spoke to him.
"I recommend that you do not move. I will warn you now, even if you possess the Jade Medallion, I do not recognize you as the future Master."
"...You're starting to annoy me."
The smile had vanished from Mumu's face, and Jin-hyeok grew alarmed inwardly.
He had seen Mumu make that face once before. It had been the day before the entrance ceremony, when Jin-hyeok had fallen into Ha Ryun's scheme and been put in a desperate situation.
"Calm down!"
Jin-hyeok urgently called to Mumu.
If he lost his reason with hostages involved, the situation would only become more complicated.
Perhaps sensing Mumu's anger, Ja Muk-hyun curled his lips into a cold smile.
"It seems this was quite effective."
"If you don't... stop right now, I might want to fold you in half at the waist, Senior."
"You place too much faith in that monstrous strength."
"I'm serious."
Mumu wanted to fold Ja Muk-hyun in half that instant.
But Ja Muk-hyun controlled the situation.
"Perhaps you still cannot judge the situation because they are precious to your retainers. Then how about this?"
"What?"
"Perhaps it's because you share the same blood, but both the future Master and you seem to have similar taste in women. Soon, the descendant of the Aberrant Blood Sect, one of the House of the Eight Villains, will bring back the Tang Clan girl."
"So-so?"
"Yes. Tang So-so. You seem to be quite close to that girl."
"..."
Mumu's expression turned completely cold.
Mo Il-hwa's father. His beloved adoptive father Yu Yeop-kyung and mother. And now even Tang So-so, whom he considered a friend.
His rising fury seemed to make every muscle in his body swell.
"Mumu!"
Mo Il-hwa shouted as if telling him to calm down.
If he became agitated now, he could truly lose the people precious to him.
'Damn it!'
Mo Il-hwa desperately turned her thoughts over.
The situation was terrible.
She did not care whether the bastard killed Ha Ryun, whom he believed was on their side, but targeting their families was another matter entirely.
'Think, Mo Il-hwa. There has to be some opening in his words.'
There had to be something she could exploit.
Then she recalled something.
'The same blood?'
The future Master he had mentioned earlier had to be Kang Mu-i.
But he had said Mumu shared the same blood as Kang Mu-i?
Did that mean Mumu and Kang Mu-i were brothers?
'Then why is he being this extreme?'
She truly could not understand.
If Mumu was Kang Mu-i's brother and the owner of that Jade Medallion or whatever it was, should he not be treating Mumu with the utmost respect instead?
'Tch.'
For now, she had to do something.
Mo Il-hwa spoke to him.
"Hey. Calm down. The future Master you serve and this side are practically family. Isn't this going too far?"
"Too far? Did you just say too far?"
"Y-yes!"
At Mo Il-hwa's words, Ja Muk-hyun spoke again, his face filled with rage.
"Are you not the ones who crossed the line? No matter how much you covet the Master's position, you are endangering the Grand Plan we prepared through seventeen years of bitter endurance. Yet you dare accuse us of crossing the line?"
'...Seventeen years?'
Jin-hyeok and Mo Il-hwa's expressions stiffened at Ja Muk-hyun's words.
They had suspected it, but his mention of seventeen years confirmed one thing.
'The force of evil.'
Seventeen years ago was when the Mighty Conqueror Council and the force of evil had fallen.
To speak of enduring hardship since that time was no different from admitting they were part of the force of evil.
Which meant...
'...Mumu, you really must be from the force of evil.'
It was now certain that Mumu had been born into the force of evil.
But that was no longer the issue.
Ja Muk-hyun was furious because the person he served was in danger. He was resorting to such vile methods because he knew Mumu's martial strength was no ordinary matter.
'I have to calm him somehow.'
Even if they had to deceive him for now, they needed to calm him down.
After thinking it over, Mo Il-hwa said, "So what are you trying to do? You prepared the Grand Plan through all those years of bitter endurance, and now you want us to fight among ourselves and destroy each other?"
Ja Muk-hyun snorted at her words.
Then he glared at Mumu.
"I'll give you a chance. If you do not wish to lose everything, there is only one thing you must do."
"...What is it?"
Ja Muk-hyun gestured outside as he answered Mumu's question.
"Go to the Academy Director and say that Kang Mu-i is not the culprit. Say that you and Hong Hye-ryeong killed Young Chun together."
"What?"
This time Jin-hyeok raised his voice in disbelief.
Ja Muk-hyun gave a mocking laugh.
"You still cannot judge the situation. There is only one way to set all this right. Since you have interfered with the Grand Plan, no one will recognize this person you serve as the Master."
"So you're telling him to take the blame?"
"The blame? No. I am giving him an opportunity to make a noble sacrifice for the Grand Plan."
"Hah!"
Mo Il-hwa was dumbfounded.
In the end, he intended to sacrifice Mumu in place of his own master.
If they fell for his scheme, Mumu and the rest of them would suffer in the end.
But if they refused, everyone around them would be sacrificed.
It was an impossible situation.
'Urgh!'
Jin-hyeok felt the same way.
At this moment, he could think of no solution.
As the situation reached this point, Mumu unconsciously moved his left hand toward the Ki-Restraining Bracelet on his right wrist.
"Stop!"
Ja Muk-hyun shouted.
Shaking his head at Mumu, he said, "If you so much as touch that artifact with one finger, I will kill every hostage, regardless of the offer I have made."
Mumu froze halfway through the motion at Ja Muk-hyun's warning.
Seeing that, Ja Muk-hyun smiled coldly.
Master Heo had been right.
This bastard had used the power of those artifacts to obstruct the Grand Plan until now.
[If this does not work, neutralize the artifacts he possesses. If you seize them or make them unusable, he will not be able to wield the same power as before.]
The time had come.
If he could only take the artifacts from the bastard, he would be able to neutralize him easily, even without threats.
Ja Muk-hyun looked at Mo Il-hwa, pointed at Mumu with his chin, and said, "Mo Il-hwa. Remove every artifact from your master's wrists."
"What?"
"Did you not hear me? Remove the artifacts! Now!"
'!?'
Forced by Ja Muk-hyun's demand, Mo Il-hwa tilted her head in confusion.
Was he seriously saying this?
Footnotes:
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