WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 13: Ambush (1)
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A man in navy Taoist robes, with two Six Jia Master Talismans and a Thunder Duke Seal Talisman affixed to his forehead, chest, and abdomen, continued chanting a spell with a tense expression.
“Essence of Yang Brilliance, divine general of hidden form, draw in Yin spirits and conceal this human shape. With one sacred talisman, leave no trace in the four quarters. Gama Yuwiyeok, heavenly soldiers, march swiftly. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law!”
The spell he was chanting was the Concealment Chant, a form of stealth art.
Drenched in cold sweat, the man in navy robes constantly scanned his surroundings.
As long as he kept chanting, no one could find him.
Its drawback was that he could not move and had to chant without pause.
‘Damn it.’
He regretted coming.
He had believed that, with more experience than even Sak and command over Gujo, a monster-class spirit familiar, he could uncover the truth as long as he was careful.
But that had been a miscalculation.
‘How could this be...?’
It was not a Green Spirit.
It could not possibly be one.
If it had been a Green Spirit, he and Gujo could have managed somehow by combining their occult arts and strength.
Yet that being had broken the binding spell he cast in an instant and wounded him.
Blood soaked the man's back.
‘Gujo...’
Gujo had lured that being away.
To buy him time.
But another problem had arisen.
Thanks to his loyal spirit familiar, he had thought he could escape this situation. Yet what was this?
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
Who were these masked warriors?
He had avoided their notice with his stealth art, but they did not seem to be warriors of Yeonmok Sword Manor.
If they were, they would not have entered wearing masks in the middle of the night.
“Conceal this human shape. With one sacred talisman, leave no trace in the four quarters. Gama Yuwiyeok, heavenly soldiers, march swiftly...”
It was a difficult situation.
The blood loss from his back was steadily draining his strength.
He did not know what they were after, but the masked warriors were thoroughly searching the area.
He had to endure until they left, but it was becoming too difficult.
‘I have to hold on. Somehow.’
Then...
‘What?’
Someone different from the masked warriors searching the area appeared.
The person wore an eyepatch and leaned on a cane.
The moment he saw them, the man instinctively knew.
‘A Taoist occultist?’
An unusual aura radiated from them.
It was one of the traits displayed by those who had cultivated occult arts for a long time.
Even aside from that, the hand seal formed with their left hand was a basic technique of occult arts.
‘A Tracking Spell?’
It was a spell used to find a desired target.
The man's brow furrowed.
The masked warriors continued their tasks around the Taoist occultist as if it were natural, making it clear they were allies.
But Taoist occultists had one important rule.
Because they cultivated the principles of the Way and practiced occult arts, they did not directly collude with worldly groups or enter their command.
Until only ten years ago, that rule had been strictly observed.
But someone and a Taoist occultist group had broken it.
‘Could it be?’
These masked warriors were...
Swish!
‘Gasp.’
The man's breath grew ragged.
The eyepatched figure was standing directly before him.
He should have been impossible to detect while using stealth art. What was going on?
As he panicked, the eyepatched Taoist occultist spoke.
“If you wanted to use stealth art, you should have erased even your traces.”
‘Traces? Ah!’
Only then did the man realize it.
Blood from his back had been dripping onto the ground.
At that moment, the eyepatched man chanted a spell and struck the ground hard with his cane.
“Spirit Eyes, Water Manifestation, each awaken and know. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law! Release!”
Thud!
Shhhhhh!
The space around the cane twisted, and the man, who had been completely absent from view, was revealed.
Startled, he leaped backward and tried to cast another occult spell.
But then...
Clack! Clack! Clack!
“Approach! Soldiers! All! Array!”
As the hand seals of the Nine Syllable Revival Method followed one after another, the man's feet adhered to the ground.
At the same time, his body went limp and all strength left him.
His eyes widened.
‘To perform a spell of this level with hand seals alone?’
Occult arts were completed through various combinations.
Incantations, talismans, words, seals, and implements.
Those five elements harmonized exquisitely to form a technique.
A Taoist occultist of low ability needed all four methods to perform a technique, but those of greater skill could reduce the number required.
‘At least a Moon-ranked Taoist occultist.’
Taoist occultists received one of six titles according to their ability.
From highest to lowest, they were God, Sun, Moon, Skill, Obscurity, and Conveyance.
The man was certain.
This eyepatched man was a Taoist occultist with occult arts at least as formidable as a Moon-ranked Taoist occultist.
Tense, the man spoke.
“I am Mo Go, a Skill of Ghost Shadow Pavilion. And you are...”
Grab!
“Mmph!”
Before he could finish, the eyepatched man seized Mo Go of Ghost Shadow Pavilion by the mouth with one hand.
Then, curling his lips into a chilling smile, he said,
“You dared interfere with the work of my Origin-Killing Pavilion. You must have been prepared to die.”
‘Origin-Killing Pavilion...?’
Unfortunately, his ominous suspicion had been correct.
Though it was one of the Sixty-Four Taoist Pavilions, it was a Taoist occultist group that had entered the command of a major martial-world faction.
That was Origin-Killing Pavilion.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the same time...
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The area before the Main Hall was filled with the sound of weapons colliding.
Thud!
“W-What is this?”
The Mok Family brothers, who emerged from the room led by Manor Lord Mok InDan, could not hide their confusion.
The inside of Yeonmok Sword Manor, which had been quiet just moments ago, had become a battlefield.
Warriors of Yeonmok Sword Manor and unknown masked warriors were locked in combat. It was difficult to guess how this had happened.
“Madam, what is going on?”
The Manor Lord asked First Madam Lady Seok, who stood helplessly before the Main Hall.
The retainers and Estate Manager Jang MyeongIn were fighting the masked warriors, leaving only her and Madam Jang, the Second Madam, to ask.
Lady Seok answered in confusion.
“I-I don't know. It hasn't even been long since the Outer Hall warriors shouted that enemies were attacking, but masked warriors flooded in almost at once, and this happened.”
“Elder Sister is right. It happened so suddenly that we don't know what is going on either.”
The Manor Lord's expression darkened at the ladies' words.
Even for a nighttime ambush, any force capable of breaking through Yeonmok Sword Manor's Outer Hall defenses and charging in this quickly was no ordinary group.
Shing!
Manor Lord Mok InDan drew a sword with an unfamiliar left hand.
The Manor Lord did not know who they were, but the retainers and warriors alone would struggle to stop them.
The Manor Lord roared and generated a ki sword.
“Who dares attack Yeonmok Sword Manor? You had best be prepared to throw away your lives!”
“Waaaah!”
The warriors facing the masked warriors cheered at the Manor Lord's appearance.
Their lord, who had been bedridden for so long, had appeared. Their morale could not help but rise.
“Come! Let us defend Yeonmok Sword Manor!”
Whoosh!
As Manor Lord Mok InDan rushed forward, the Mok Family brothers and the two ladies from martial families, apparently inspired by this, shouted and followed after him.
“Defend Yeonmok Sword Manor!”
Of course, not everyone did so.
Mok GyeongUn alone did not join the battle.
He pretended to follow naturally, then slipped aside and headed for a secluded place.
‘Is it about time to leave?’
There was no reason for him to defend this place.
He did not care whether they fought the masked warriors and died.
Only one thing troubled him.
‘That scar.’
The scar on Manor Lord Mok InDan's side.
It resembled that mark.
He wanted to ask how it had come to be, but an incident had broken out at the worst possible time.
‘Would it be better to help?’
He hesitated.
Then Mok GyeongUn felt something strangely abundant.
‘This is... Ah!’
It was deathly aura.
Mok GyeongUn closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, savoring the rapidly increasing deathly energy.
‘Good.’
It seemed that many people had died in a short time.
Otherwise, deathly aura could not possibly be overflowing everywhere like this.
He could not ignore it.
‘I want to absorb it.’
Such opportunities were rare.
But masked warriors were appearing everywhere, and a moment of carelessness could be dangerous.
Whoosh!
Someone appeared beside him.
It was Go Chan, Mok GyeongUn's guard, occupying Ha Chae-rin's body, a beautiful woman with a captivating appearance.
“Young Master, are you all right?”
Go Chan had hurried to find Mok GyeongUn after the sudden attack.
It had not been difficult to find him because of their bond.
Mok GyeongUn gave a faint laugh.
“Good timing. Can you guard me for a moment?”
“What?”
“Then I'll leave it to you.”
With those words, Mok GyeongUn sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
Then, through the Reverse Circulation Breathing Technique, he began absorbing the deathly aura continuously flowing in from the surroundings.
‘What is he doing now?’
Go Chan was dumbfounded for a moment.
No matter how little attachment Mok GyeongUn had to Yeonmok Sword Manor, this was truly bold.
He intended to circulate his ki in a place no different from a battlefield.
Still, Go Chan seemed to understand why Mok GyeongUn was doing this.
‘He was absorbing this instead of ki?’
Though Go Chan had possessed Ha Chae-rin, Go Chan was a vengeful spirit.
Thus, Go Chan possessed Ghost Eyes and could see the energy of the dead flowing in from all directions and being absorbed by Mok GyeongUn at a rapid pace.
To Ghost Eyes, the Yang ki and living vitality of living humans appeared clear and warm.
But Mok GyeongUn, absorbing deathly aura, looked nearly the complete opposite.
‘Is he really human?’
To only learn this bastard's true nature after dying.
For some reason, Go Chan became even more afraid.
Then...
Slide...
‘Huh?’
A huge monk wearing a skull-bead necklace appeared from somewhere.
It was the Demonic Monk who had occupied the Quartermaster's body.
But why had the Demonic Monk appeared once again as a vengeful spirit?
‘You startled me.’
Startled by the sudden appearance, Go Chan recalled that Mok GyeongUn had said he possessed another spirit familiar besides Blue Spirit.
‘I heard the Demonic Monk possessed the Quartermaster's body.’
Puzzled, Go Chan asked,
“A-Are you Senior Demonic Monk?”
“...”
The Demonic Monk nodded and mumbled something.
It was difficult to hear clearly, but Go Chan understood the words.
“You lost your body to a powerful foe?”
Did losing its body mean the possessed body had been defeated?
As far as Go Chan knew, Quartermaster Sang Ung-baek was a master at the beginning stage of Expert.
If the Demonic Monk had lost the body, just how strong could the opponent be...?
Crunch!
“Urgh!”
A dying scream erupted with the sound of something being crushed. Then a tall, scar-covered man with a great saber slung over his shoulder vaulted over the hall.
He radiated an extraordinary presence. The Demonic Monk frowned and pointed at him.
“...”
“What? Him?”
That man had killed the Demonic Monk's possessed body?
Then the scar-covered man met Go Chan's eyes.
At that moment...
Flinch!
‘W-What is this?’
Ha Chae-rin's Expert-level Ki sense issued a powerful warning.
The man before them was an incredibly formidable master.
If Ha Chae-rin's body instinctively regarded him with such extreme caution, what level could he be?
Go Chan could not begin to gauge it.
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