WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 9: Guyeo (4)
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“Aah!”
“M-My lady!”
The maids screamed in pain.
The veins on their faces bulged as though they might burst at any moment.
“You bitch!”
Ho Aeng, Lady Seok’s bodyguard warrior, grew even angrier and tried to rush forward.
“Ho Aeng! Stop!”
“What?”
At Lady Seok’s urgent shout, Ho Aeng had to stop after only three paces.
She glared furiously at Sak, who was chanting a spell.
Sak had accurately grasped Lady Seok’s weakness.
Lady Seok cherished the maids she had brought from her maiden family and Ho Aeng, her bodyguard warrior, as dearly as her eldest son.
They shared her nostalgia for home.
But being manipulated like this only gave Sak an opening.
“My lady...”
Swish!
Lady Seok raised a hand, her face cold.
It was an order not to interfere.
Glaring at Sak as if she wished to kill her, Lady Seok said,
“Taoist occultist Sak. Stop this at once. If you do not, I swear that I will use every connection and all the power at my disposal to erase you and Ghost Shadow Pavilion from this world.”
She meant it.
Sak had touched something that should never have been touched.
Betraying Lady Seok was not enough. Sak had dared make Lady Seok’s people suffer.
Sak did not show it, but she could not hide her bitterness at Lady Seok’s rage.
In the end, things had gone exactly as Mok GyeongUn wanted.
[You said you would do anything. You can at least do that much, right?]
[..........]
She had never seen anyone so cunning.
She had thought he was merely a foolish seventeen-year-old young master who knew nothing of the world, but he was a little devil.
To think he would come up with such a scheme.
Now First Madam would hate both Sak and Ghost Shadow Pavilion.
From Ghost Shadow Pavilion’s perspective, a client they had worked with for a long time had become an enemy.
‘Haa...’
She let out a deep sigh.
This was no time to worry about Ghost Shadow Pavilion.
What would happen to her when they learned of this?
She had broken several of the pavilion’s rules merely to save one spirit familiar. It would not be strange if she were stripped of membership, expelled, or made to pay an even greater price.
‘Is it time to leave?’
Clench!
Biting down hard on her lip, Sak stopped chanting the spell.
Then she shouted at Lady Seok.
“If you try to follow me and harm me, you will lose the two maids.”
‘How dare she!’
Lady Seok’s rage surged to its peak, but she barely suppressed it.
Having seen occult arts threaten lives from afar with her own eyes, she could not easily dismiss Sak’s threat.
Flinch!
Lady Seok frowned as she looked somewhere.
She could hear many people within the Manor converging on Hyehwa Hall.
They were likely warriors from the Outer Hall.
Still glaring at Sak, Lady Seok finally made her decision.
“...Leave before I change my mind. Now.”
Sak let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Phew.”
The method she had used was called the Six Male Slaves and Female Servants Method, an occult art that could directly harm or control people.
Ordinarily, it required a part of the target’s body, the time of their birth, six offerings, and two talismans.
Only with all those things could one inflict malign force or anything else upon the target.
What Sak had done now was only a temporary use of several special talismans and a special artifact called Hwanjeong.
Crack!
The Hwanjeong in her robes had shattered, so she could no longer perform sorcery.
It had been a gamble from the start.
‘Let’s leave quickly.’
If she did not hurry, she might be found out.
* * *
Creeeak!
Sak carefully opened the door to the Medicine house and stepped inside.
Mok GyeongUn, who was sitting on the bed, raised a hand and casually asked,
“Did it go well?”
“...Yes. I did as you ordered.”
Mok GyeongUn asked again,
“Is that true?”
“Yes, young master. I confirmed it.”
At the voice from behind her, Sak turned with a slight frown.
The one who had answered was none other than Go Chan, Mok GyeongUn’s bodyguard.
‘As expected, he had someone watching me.’
Sak clicked her tongue inwardly.
Someone as cunning as him would never have failed to keep her under surveillance.
Still, she did not particularly care.
For Guyeo’s sake, she had done exactly as he ordered.
Looking at Guyeo, whose emaciated body panted in Mok GyeongUn’s right hand, Sak said,
“Now keep your promise.”
“Of course. A promise is a promise.”
Even at Mok GyeongUn’s words, Sak did not relax.
He was younger than her, but she had no idea what he might do next.
She could not let her guard down.
Mok GyeongUn gripped Guyeo by the neck and approached her.
“Ah, there is one thing I want to ask.”
Sak flinched.
Surely he was not changing his mind and about to demand something else?
Though suspicious, she hid it as best she could.
“...What is it?”
“Are there others in Ghost Shadow Pavilion besides you who keep spirits and goblins, or vengeful spirits like this Demonic Monk, as spirit familiars?”
At Mok GyeongUn’s question, Sak looked at the Demonic Monk, a Yellow Spirit.
No matter how she looked at it, that soul was undoubtedly a vengeful spirit belonging to the realm of aberrations.
She truly could not understand.
Vengeful spirits were beings that remained in this world solely because of their lingering resentment.
Their obsession with that resentment and their grudge toward those they wished to harm made it impossible to subdue them as spirit familiars.
No, they could not become spirit familiars at all.
‘They are only targets for exorcism.’
How was that man controlling a Yellow Spirit as a spirit familiar?
She could not understand it at all.
Furthermore, he was not even a Taoist occultist.
“Do you not wish to answer?”
Startled by Mok GyeongUn’s prompting, Sak answered quickly.
“No. There are three Taoist occultists in Ghost Shadow Pavilion, including me, who can keep spirit familiars.”
‘Though there will soon be only two.’
Not only had she broken Ghost Shadow Pavilion’s rules, she had made an enemy of the First Madam of Yeonmok Sword Manor. She would have no choice but to leave somehow.
At worst, they might try to kill her or curse her.
In any case, that was not what mattered right now.
“That is not very many.”
“...Within Ghost Shadow Pavilion, no.”
“Within Ghost Shadow Pavilion? Then are there other groups of Taoist occultists?”
Sak blamed herself inwardly.
She had said something she did not need to say.
She would need to find another place to belong after leaving Ghost Shadow Pavilion, so it had been a mistake.
She gave a vague answer.
“Just as there are many martial clans in the martial world besides Yeonmok Sword Manor, there are also many groups of Taoist occultists.”
“I suppose that is true.”
“Do you have any more questions?”
“Can you tell me what spirits and goblins the other two Taoist occultists handle?”
“.........”
Sak was truly at a loss for words.
It seemed this man had not lowered his guard against Ghost Shadow Pavilion.
He had not only driven a wedge between Ghost Shadow Pavilion and First Madam, who wanted to kill him, but was also preparing for what might come next.
Sak glanced at Guyeo, which looked at her pitifully from Mok GyeongUn’s grip.
After some thought, she finally spoke.
“Taoist occultist Go, who has served the Pavilion Lord for a long time, keeps Gujo, a monstrous beast from Green Crow Mountain, as a spirit familiar.”
“What abilities does that spirit or goblin possess?”
“I do not know exactly. But I remember its appearance. It has a body like an eagle’s and strangely shaped horns.”
“You are not pretending not to know, are you?”
“...A spirit familiar is practically a secret art to a Taoist occultist, so most hide what abilities theirs possess.”
That was true.
Even among Taoist occultists, they neither revealed nor asked about each other’s occult arts or spirit familiars.
It was an unspoken rule among them.
Mok GyeongUn nodded and asked,
“What about the other person?”
“The Pavilion Lord. Even I do not know what spirit or goblin the Pavilion Lord has.”
“You do not know?”
“Yes. But there is a high chance it is at least a top-ranked spirit or goblin.”
‘After all, the Pavilion Lord is one of the leaders of the Sixty-Four Taoist Pavilions.’
The Sixty-Four Taoist Pavilions.
They were sixty-four groups of Taoist occultists spread throughout the Central Plains.
Their leaders, the Pavilion Lords, were Taoist occultists renowned in the hidden world.
They were said to be somewhere in the middle, even if they did not rank among the Six Taoist Gods, so they would be highly skilled.
“Do spirits and goblins have ranks too? Like vengeful spirits?”
Sak nodded at Mok GyeongUn’s question.
“Yes.”
“How high is the top rank?”
“Spirits and goblins can be classified as ferocious beasts, monstrous beasts, demon beasts, demonic beasts, Spirit Beasts, and Divine Beasts.”
Guyeo, Sak’s spirit familiar, was also described as a ferocious beast in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
In truth, ferocious beasts were relatively docile among spirits and goblins and tended to avoid humans.
But some monstrous beasts even ate people.
That was why, starting with monstrous beasts, it became extremely difficult to subdue or handle them as spirit familiars.
“Hmm. Then the Pavilion Lord must handle a Spirit Beast or Divine Beast.”
“No, no. That is not the case.”
“It is not?”
“Yes. Spirit Beasts and Divine Beasts are calamities in motion. Even the finest Taoist occultists find it nearly impossible to make them spirit familiars.”
Spirit Beasts and Divine Beasts were beings called calamities or legends.
Even Sak had never seen one in person.
She had only encountered records of them in ancient texts and the Classic of Mountains and Seas while studying occult arts.
‘The Six Taoist Gods really are remarkable.’
The Six Taoist Gods were the six Taoist occultists known as the pinnacle of their kind.
They had received the title of divine beings.
She had heard that two among them had subdued Spirit Beasts as spirit familiars.
Only two among countless Taoist occultists had reached that realm, so they deserved their divine title.
“Then it must be a demon beast or demonic beast.”
“Probably.”
Even if they were not Spirit Beasts or Divine Beasts, demon beasts and demonic beasts could be considered top-ranked among spirits and goblins.
They were beings that had gained tremendous infamy in a region or possessed extraordinary demonic power.
Mok GyeongUn’s lips twitched as he muttered quietly.
“I hope it is a demonic beast.”
“Yes?”
“Ah... It is nothing.”
Sak frowned.
What had this man just said?
As she wondered, Mok GyeongUn handed Guyeo to her.
“Here. You may go now.”
“.........”
With trembling eyes, she accepted the panting Guyeo.
* * *
After Sak left, Go Chan spoke anxiously.
“Young master... was it all right to let her go?”
“I promised to let her go.”
At Mok GyeongUn’s words, Go Chan grumbled inwardly.
‘Since when have you been merciful?’
But Go Chan did not let it show.
Perhaps Go Chan had simply grown used to Mok GyeongUn.
“Will it be all right? I only worry that the Taoist occultist woman may hold a grudge and seek revenge...”
“It will be fine.”
“Are you not concerned?”
There was always a possibility.
Go Chan had not seen anything, but from what Go Chan had heard, Mok GyeongUn seemed to have threatened the Taoist occultist woman with something precious to her.
There was a chance she would resent him for it.
Mok GyeongUn smiled strangely.
“You are right, Go Chan. But she probably will not be able to do that. Probably.”
“.........”
Go Chan found Mok GyeongUn’s words strange.
Go Chan had no idea what Mok GyeongUn was relying on.
* * *
Tremble!
Sak held the panting Guyeo in her arms.
Her heart hurt terribly.
They had spent years together, and Guyeo was her only friend and family.
Yet Guyeo was nearly dead.
Guyeo seemed to have expended most of its energy. It would not have been strange if it died at any moment.
If Sak could not somehow replenish or restore that energy, she might lose Guyeo.
Grit!
Her grief became anger.
She had been recognized as a brilliant talent, enough to receive the rank of Skill at a young age.
Yet she had suffered such humiliation.
Sak turned to look toward the Medicine house where Mok GyeongUn was.
‘...I will retreat for now, but before long...’
“It seems you are vowing revenge, mortal.”
Shudder!
Startled, Sak hurriedly tried to pull away from the voice behind her.
But someone wrapped both arms around her head.
Swish!
‘No...’
She did not know what to do.
The cold ki she felt behind her chilled her spine.
Even Guyeo, in her arms, trembled like a leaf.
It was not because Guyeo had grown weak. Guyeo was truly afraid.
‘Th-this feeling...’
She could never forget this sensation.
It was the presence that had repelled her Reversal of Malign Force and injured her white eye. Cold sweat beaded across Sak’s forehead.
Then the droplets rolled down her cheeks.
Trickle...
‘This is impossible.’
Now that she was in direct contact with it, she was certain.
This was absolutely not some mere Green Spirit.
‘How can this be...’
She could not believe it.
Could anyone truly control something so evil and horrifying?
Throb!
“Ahk!”
Her white eye, which reacted to aberrations, felt as though it were being torn apart. Bloody tears flowed down her face.
She could no longer see anything through her white eye.
Creep...
Then, through her dark eyes, she saw someone looking down at her upside down.
‘!!!!!!!’
A beautiful face.
In contrast, blood-red eyes filled with madness.
The moment she met that gaze, she could no longer breathe.
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