WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 8: Deathly Aura (4)

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First Madam Seok's residence, Hyehwa Hall.

Lady Seok sat with her chin resting elegantly on her clasped hands, studying a young woman with suspicious eyes.

The woman had a most peculiar air about her.

She looked no older than twenty-two or twenty-three, even if one were generous.

Yet perhaps because one of her eyes was completely white, she carried a heavy, unapproachable presence.

‘If not for that unpleasant white eye, she would have charmed quite a few men.’

The white eye was particularly off-putting.

Her bodyguard warrior, Ho Aeng, who stood beside her, seemed to feel the same way. Her brow was faintly furrowed.

The woman was that unusual.

But what was that on her shoulder?

She wore a claw perch woven from cowhide and oak branches.

Such things were normally used to let trained carrier pigeons or hawks perch with their claws.

Yet there was no bird with her.

There was not even a smell.

As Lady Seok wondered about it, the woman pretended to stroke the empty perch and spoke to herself.

“It’s all right. We’ll leave soon.”

Lady Seok clicked her tongue inwardly at the sight.

‘It is difficult to find a proper person among Taoist occultists.’

Why did this woman seem even less trustworthy than the Taoist occultist called Myo Shin who had come before?

Lady Seok had informed Ghost Shadow Pavilion, Mengcheng's group of Taoist occultists, of Myo Shin's death. She had expected them to send someone more capable, yet this was deeply displeasing.

Still, she did not show it.

“You said your name was Sak?”

“Yes.”

“If it is not too rude, may I ask your age? You look rather young.”

“Age is not important.”

“Very well. It seems you cannot disclose it.”

“I’m nineteen.”

“What?”

She was even younger than expected.

She had not even reached manhood.

Having learned that Sak was so young, Ho Aeng cautiously intervened.

“Should we make another request to Ghost Shadow Pavilion?”

At those words, Sak silently rose from her seat.

Then she held out her hand.

Ho Aeng frowned and asked,

“What is that hand for?”

“You will cover my travel expenses, correct?”

“...What have you done to earn travel expenses?”

“You are the ones canceling, not us.”

“This is not a cancellation.”

“Since you are replacing the dispatched Taoist occultist, I am waiving the cancellation fee and only requesting travel expenses.”

“...”

It was not only Sak's atmosphere that was irritating.

Lady Seok snorted as though dumbfounded.

“My natal family has maintained a good relationship with your pavilion for a long time. But this matter is difficult to accept. The Taoist occultist you sent died an unnatural death, yet you sent someone who has not even reached manhood...”

“Taoist occultist Myo Shin was my junior martial brother.”

“What?”

Lady Seok's brow furrowed at Sak's words.

Myo Shin had been a middle-aged man who looked as though he had spent many years studying occult arts.

Yet this woman called Sak was only nineteen.

And Myo Shin was her junior martial brother?

As Lady Seok wondered about this, Sak said,

“Taoist occultists receive one of six titles according to their skill. From highest to lowest, they are Divine, Sun, Moon, Skill, Obscure, and Conveyance. Junior martial brother Myo Shin had now completed five years and held the lowest rank, Conveyance.”

“The lowest rank?”

As Lady Seok knew it, Taoist occultist Myo Shin had been quite renowned in Mengcheng.

Yet he had been at the lowest rank?

“Then what rank are you?”

“Skill.”

It was the fourth of the six titles, two ranks above Myo Shin.

Lady Seok stared at Sak for a moment.

Sak still looked young, and her strangely bold, arrogant manner annoyed Lady Seok. But if what she said was true, then Sak would at least be no worse than Myo Shin.

“Madam, I will go back and...”

Swish!

Lady Seok raised a hand, cutting Ho Aeng off.

“Very well. I will entrust this matter to you.”

“Madam?”

“If this Taoist occultist is as skilled as claimed, let us see it.”

Lady Seok decided to leave it to Sak for now.

If Sak failed, Lady Seok would save silver coins, just as she had with Myo Shin.

And she would have grounds to protest to Ghost Shadow Pavilion as well.

Lady Seok rose.

“I have something to show you. Follow me.”

She led Sak outside, toward a warehouse behind Hyehwa Hall.

Inside was another door. A waiting servant opened it and lit a lamp.

Fwoosh!

As she entered, Lady Seok covered her nose with her sleeve.

The stench was overwhelming.

Lady Seok pointed to a corpse covered in a straw mat, with only its feet exposed.

“This is Taoist occultist Myo's body.”

The corpse was the dead Myo Shin.

Lady Seok had made others believe it was burned, but had hidden it so she could show it to another Taoist occultist.

Step. Step.

Sak approached Myo Shin's body.

Then she removed the mat.

“Junior martial brother.”

Sak stared fixedly at Myo Shin's face, her eyes trembling.

Taoist occultists were not known for deep bonds between one another, but seeing someone she knew dead was still unpleasant.

Lady Seok asked,

“How do you think he died?”

It was a blunt question.

Sak answered in a low voice.

“One does not judge the cause of death by what can be seen. One asks the dead.”

Swish!

She reached toward Myo Shin's face.

Lady Seok and Ho Aeng both frowned and slightly turned their heads.

Neither could have brought themselves to touch a reeking corpse with bare hands.

Sak placed her hand upon Myo Shin's face and closed her eyes.

Then,

Clack! Clack!

She formed a hand seal with her left hand.

‘All! Battle! Front!’

Sak formed the hand seals of the Nine Syllable Revival Method, including the Outer Binding Seal, Outer Lion Seal, and Treasure Vase Seal.

Then she quietly chanted,

“Three Seals Life Invocation Method. The Northern Emperor has granted me authority. Reveal all that was experienced. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law.”

The atmosphere turned ominous.

The air seemed to grow heavy.

What was she doing?

Lady Seok and Ho Aeng watched her while holding their breath.

Then a strange sight unfolded before them.

Shudderrr!

“!?”

Myo Shin's entire corpse began trembling on its own.

‘The corpse is moving by itself?’

Ho Aeng was so startled that she covered her mouth and unconsciously stepped back.

Lady Seok, on the other hand, merely frowned at the sight. She was not greatly frightened.

Rather, since she had never watched occult arts being performed up close, she focused on how it proceeded.

“Reveal all that was experienced. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law...”

Bite!

Sak clenched her lips tightly, and her expression suddenly twisted.

‘As expected.’

It had gone exactly as she expected.

Sak pulled back the left hand maintaining the seal. Myo Shin's mouth opened wide, then shut.

After that, the corpse lay still.

Sak opened her eyes halfway and released the hand seal.

“What happened?”

Sak did not answer.

Then she opened her eyes fully, removed her hand, and spoke.

“I asked my junior martial brother.”

“You asked him? Are you saying a dead person truly answered...?”

“Of course not. Unless the soul remains within the corporeal soul, the dead cannot answer directly.”

“...”

Was she playing with words?

Had Sak not just said that she asked him?

As if she had read Lady Seok's thoughts, Sak continued.

“All dead retain traces.”

“Traces?”

“The corporeal soul of a corpse that has not been dead for forty-nine days retains spiritual traces. If those traces are awakened, one can see how the owner of that corporeal soul met death.”

“Then did you see who did it?”

“I did not.”

“What do you mean? You just said that before forty-nine days...”

“When someone loses their life to malign force, only fragments of their final moments remain. Even the most skilled Taoist occultist would find it difficult to determine exactly how they died.”

‘Fear...’

The final fragment Sak had seen from Myo Shin was extreme fear.

That was why she had bitten her lip.

There was nothing unusual about that by itself.

But could someone who lived as a Taoist occultist have been this afraid merely because they were struck by malign force?

Of course, if it had been a Yellow Spirit-ranked vengeful spirit, even someone of the Conveyance rank might have found it difficult to handle. That was certainly possible.

Lady Seok asked,

“...Then does that mean we can learn nothing?”

“That is not the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Since he died by malign force, it was ultimately a death caused by an aberration. Judging by how grotesquely the veins have risen on the corpse, this was no ordinary vengeful spirit.”

Lady Seok's gaze sharpened at those words.

This was precisely what she had wondered about.

“So he really died because of an aberration?”

“Yes. A very powerful vengeful spirit.”

“I knew it. That child was responsible. Ah, ah, ah.”

She had received the answer she wanted.

That meant Mok GyeongUn had used an aberration to kill Taoist occultist Myo Shin and had even threatened the life of Lady Seok's own maid, So Hwa.

Once everything became certain, Lady Seok's teeth ground together.

What sort of wretch was he, that even such a vengeful spirit would aid him?

Lady Seok asked sharply, anger in her voice.

“You can resolve this, correct?”

Sak responded with a question.

“It can be done, if you promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Not all aberrations are alike. Vengeful spirits are fundamentally incompatible with the living, so they cannot serve as spirit familiars in the first place. Therefore, we must assume that it has possessed him.”

“So?”

“If what was stated in the request is true, then young master Mok GyeongUn may have already lost his soul after the aberration took his corporeal soul. Taking this into account, during the exorcism...”

Lady Seok cut off the complicated explanation.

“Just tell me the point.”

“...There is a high chance that he will die. Is that acceptable?”

The corners of Lady Seok's lips slowly curled up at Sak's words.

It was exactly what she wanted.

“I do not mind.”

Seeing this, Sak sneered inwardly.

How laughable, that members of the same family coveted one another's lives over a succession struggle.

But it was none of her concern.

Sak drew a wooden Dagger from the leather belt around her waist.

“What are you going to do?”

“First, I will return the malign force and weaken both the vengeful spirit and its host.”

“How?”

“To suffer reversed malign force is pain so terrible that it makes one want to die. Watch.”

Swish!

Sak took a talisman from her robes.

Written upon it in red ink was:

[Reverse]

She wrapped it around the wooden Dagger, then drove it without hesitation into the dead Myo Shin's chest.

Thud!

“The Northern Emperor has granted me authority to use this talisman to strike the evil spirit. By command, act swiftly. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law!”

Crackkk!

At that moment, Myo Shin's corpse twisted.

* * *

Puff.

“Damned mortal.”

Smoke flowed over Blue Spirit's red lips.

With a displeased expression, she circulated her ki and glared at Mok GyeongUn.

What exactly was that wretch?

If someone circulated their ki in reverse, they would normally suffer Ki Rampage, become crippled, or die.

Yet deathly energy, known as deathly aura, was gathering around him.

Only the dead, such as vengeful spirits like herself, could be affected by or sense deathly aura.

Yet Mok GyeongUn was a living human.

Was such a thing possible?

“A living human gathering deathly energy...”

It was a sight without precedent.

Still, it was too soon to know.

This was an unknown domain which no living human had entered. Even if Mok GyeongUn gathered deathly aura, there was no guarantee that he could circulate and control it like the energy of the living.

To handle deathly energy was no different from stepping into the domain of the dead.

Puff.

Curiosity shone in the bloody light of Blue Spirit's eyes as smoke poured from her lips.

Could a living human truly gather and even control deathly energy?

It was both intriguing and deeply stimulating.

Then,

Creeep...

One of Blue Spirit's brows rose as she watched Mok GyeongUn.

“What is this?”

Blue Spirit looked northeast.

The Demonic Monk flinched and looked northeast as well. Then it moved in front of Mok GyeongUn as though standing guard over him while he gathered deathly aura.

Tension filled the Demonic Monk's eyes.

At that instant,

Thud!

The Demonic Monk clutched its chest and was pushed backward.

Ripple!

As though crushed by immense pressure, it crossed its arms and grimaced.

Rip! Rip! Rip!

Wounds appeared all over the Demonic Monk's huge body.

Even its veins rose grotesquely.

Mok GyeongUn, who had his eyes closed as he concentrated on circulating his ki in reverse, had his eyelids tremble.

At this rate, he would be struck by the malign force.

Blue Spirit's bloody gaze darkened.

“How dare a pitiful mortal...”

Flutter.

Blue Spirit descended lightly from the ceiling, as though beating wings.

Then she swung her pipe toward the place from which the reversed malign force flew and parted her red lips.

“Begone.”

Whoooosh!

The gray smoke flowing from the Demonic Monk's wounds merged into one and surged northeast.

* * *

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With a hand seal formed in her left hand, Sak repeatedly drove the talisman-wrapped wooden Dagger into the corpse.

Lady Seok's body trembled as though she felt a strange thrill from the sight.

Thinking that Mok GyeongUn, that demonic wretch, would be suffering because of it left her unable to contain her excitement.

‘More! Suffer more!’

Thud! Thud!

Watching Sak mutilate the corpse relieved Lady Seok immensely.

Having repeatedly stabbed the body, Sak raised her Dagger to stab between Myo Shin's brows.

That was when it happened.

Bang!

Sak was flung backward and slammed into the warehouse wall.

Crash!

“Ah!”

Sak groaned as she struck the wall and dropped the Dagger.

She looked at her palm. It was red in the shape of the Dagger, as though burned.

Drip.

Black blood flowed from her mouth.

“Taoist occultist Sak!”

Startled, Lady Seok supported her.

She could not understand what had happened so suddenly.

“Why is this happening?”

...

Sak could not answer.

The sudden shock had been so great that pain twisted her Five Viscera and Six Bowels.

‘The reversed malign force... It sent the reversed malign force back...’

Sak's mismatched eyes trembled.

This was entirely unexpected.

Something terrifyingly wicked and powerful had intervened.

‘...It is not merely Yellow Spirit-ranked.’

It was a vengeful spirit of a far higher rank.

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