WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 14: Heaven and Earth Society (1)
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What was the talent of a Taoist occultist?
There were likely many requirements.
Naturally, one of them was sensitivity to spiritual energy.
For example, everyone had surely experienced getting goosebumps or a sudden chill for no apparent reason.
It could be a natural bodily reaction, but it was also the foundation of spiritual perception.
When one came into contact with something spiritual, the soul within the body reacted and affected the five senses.
Ordinary people, however, found it difficult to notice.
That was because the boundary between the living and the dead was clear.
Such sensitivity had to be innate or developed through training.
Yet among the requirements for this talent, there was a supreme gift possessed by only a very few.
‘He has the eyes.’
It was sight.
Unlike the other senses, these eyes could accurately peer beyond the boundary.
Taoist occultists regarded the ability to distinguish such things as the greatest talent.
The blindfolded, middle-aged Taoist occultist Jo had seen Mok GyeongUn look directly at the aberration before catching the staff Jo had thrown after attaching an Edict Talisman and infusing it with a spell.
‘There is no doubt.’
That boy possessed the greatest qualification for a Taoist occultist.
Even Jo, who had trained under the finest master and only barely managed to discern forms with the naked eye, did not possess that talent. Yet a child of a martial family did.
“You... can see vengeful spirits.”
A murmur ran through those gathered.
What did that mean, he could see vengeful spirits?
‘A vengeful spirit means a ghost or an aberration, does it not?’
Manor Lord Mok InDan and the Mok Family brothers frowned as they looked at Mok GyeongUn.
Most people reacted much the same way.
‘This is troublesome.’
Mok GyeongUn clicked his tongue inwardly.
He had acted on impulse because he did not want to lose the Demonic Monk, but it seemed he had complicated matters.
Perhaps he should have simply given it up, however regrettable that might have been.
But it was already too late.
‘A Taoist occultist?’
That seemed likely.
He had seen part of the spell Jo had recited earlier in books on occult arts left behind by Taoist occultist Sak.
It was sorcery typically used to exorcise aberrations, spirits, and goblins.
But part of the spell was different.
Which meant...
‘They belong to a different group from that woman, Sak.’
They were probably part of the organization called the Heaven and Earth Society.
Then the blindfolded, middle-aged Taoist occultist Jo spoke.
“Since when have you been able to see vengeful spirits?”
“Pardon?”
“Can you not see vengeful spirits?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
At Mok GyeongUn's feigned ignorance, Jo raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.
Did the boy wish to hide his eyes?
If so, he should not have intervened in the first place.
Jo gave a derisive snort and changed the question.
“How interesting. Very well, I will ask something else. Why did you stop me from exorcising the vengeful spirit?”
“Hmm. I truly have no idea what you have been talking about.”
Mok GyeongUn shamelessly played dumb.
Jo chuckled, then formed a hand seal.
“You do not know? Then I may exorcise that strange thing again.”
Pak! Pak! Pak!
Soldier! Fight! Rend! Array!
They were the hand seals of the Nine Syllable Revival Method.
‘Different.’
Mok GyeongUn narrowed his eyes.
He had memorized every book owned by Taoist occultist Myo Shin and Sak.
Yet he had never seen these hand seals before.
Moreover, though Jo formed only hand seals without reciting a spell, the surrounding spiritual energy was growing strangely dense.
Flutterrrrr!
But no one else could see it.
To them, it merely looked as though Jo were folding, unfolding, and intertwining the fingers of both hands.
Then Jo formed a square with the index and middle fingers of both hands and aimed it forward.
Then,
Fwoooosh!
Four invisible pillars rose around them.
The pillars precisely surrounded Mok GyeongUn and the Demonic Monk, steadily thickening.
Jo muttered softly.
“Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique.”
In that instant, surfaces formed between the four thickened pillars.
Trapped within walls that left nowhere to flee, the Demonic Monk looked around in visible confusion.
“Shrink!”
Jo extended an open palm toward the Demonic Monk.
Then Jo mimed clenching a fist.
Fwoooosh!
At that moment, the four walls of the Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique imprisoning the Demonic Monk began compressing and slowly closing in.
If they fully contracted, the Demonic Monk might be crushed.
Mok GyeongUn's eyes sharpened.
Jo was clearly on a different level from the Taoist occultists he had seen until now.
He had never encountered occult arts like this.
‘There is no other way.’
Since he did not know what kind of sorcery it was, there was only one way to break it.
Attack the caster, the occult arts practitioner.
Thud!
“Take this back.”
Mok GyeongUn gripped the staff like a throwing spear and hurled it toward Jo, who was performing the occult art.
Whoosh!
If the caster was interrupted or killed midway, most occult arts would unravel.
But the other masked warriors would not simply stand by.
Clang!
One of the masked warriors beside Jo shot forward with swift movement skill and struck down the incoming staff with the flat of a sword.
“Where does this insolent brat get off?”
The masked warrior was about to charge straight at Mok GyeongUn for targeting Jo.
But Jo stopped them.
“Enough!”
“Yes?”
“There is no need to intervene.”
“Understood.”
Without a single question, the masked warrior stopped the attack.
It was clearly a group with strict obedience to orders.
Jo spoke to Mok GyeongUn.
“You do not appear possessed or bewitched. If you tell me even now why you are protecting the vengeful spirit, I can halt the technique for a while.”
‘In the end, he will have no choice but to yield.’
The situation was entirely in Jo's hands.
Even if Mok GyeongUn had the eyes, they were useless without training.
From the look of him, the boy had not received training as a Taoist occultist.
Jo could tell that much at a glance.
Moreover, the Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique was a high-level occult art that only a Moon-ranked Taoist occultist or higher could perform, making it difficult to break even with lesser sorcery.
But then,
‘!?’
Jo's expression stiffened as they looked at Mok GyeongUn.
It was because of Mok GyeongUn's hand seals.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
They were identical, without the slightest difference, to the hand seals Jo had formed moments ago.
Soldier! Fight! Rend! Array!
‘No?’
They were the hand seals of the Nine Syllable Revival Method.
Jo was dumbfounded at the hand seals Mok GyeongUn formed.
No matter how Jo looked at him, the boy was an ordinary person who knew nothing of occult arts.
Yet he was replicating the hand seals with perfect accuracy?
‘What an absurd child.’
Did he think he could stop it merely by copying the hand seals?
If it were so easy, everyone would do it.
‘Occult arts that rely on hand seals alone, without spells or talismans, can only be performed by someone Moon-ranked or above...’
Fwoooosh!
At that moment, Jo doubted their own eyes.
Four small pillars formed, invisible to ordinary people.
Their shapes were blunt and rather crude, but they were unmistakable.
“Hah...”
A quiet exclamation escaped Jo's lips.
It was a level of occult arts Jo had reached only after long training.
Yet Mok GyeongUn had watched it once, copied it, and actually succeeded?
‘...Could this brat have learned occult arts?’
Then Mok GyeongUn murmured.
“Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique.”
Surfaces connected between the four pillars.
It was an unbelievable sight even as Jo watched it.
But what was even more astonishing was where Mok GyeongUn had performed the Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique.
Popopopopop!
Mok GyeongUn deployed the Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique inside the one that was closing in through Shrink.
As a result, the compressing technique collided with the second Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique created within it and stopped shrinking.
‘This brat... look at that.’
Copying the technique had not been enough. Mok GyeongUn had even blocked it in this manner.
It was an impressive application.
At this point, Jo could not help but wonder.
“Who taught you occult arts?”
“Is there... really a need... to learn something like this?”
It was not a lie.
Mok GyeongUn had not learned from anyone. He had merely taught himself through books on occult arts.
Flutterrrrr!
Mok GyeongUn kept both hands trembling in the Array seal of the Nine Syllable Revival Method.
He was struggling to hold back Jo's shrinking Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique.
He had managed to block it through quick thinking, but the difference in their power could not be ignored.
Jo's gaze turned strange as they watched him.
‘Has he truly never learned?’
His skill at application, and his ability to immediately imitate and manifest the hand seals.
Without an outstanding master, all of this was nearly impossible.
After staring intently at Mok GyeongUn, Jo finally,
Snap!
released the hand seal and spoke.
“Release.”
With those words, the shrinking Four Peaks Chain-Locking Technique vanished completely.
Mok GyeongUn looked at Jo in confusion.
Then Jo burst out laughing.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
What was this all of a sudden?
As Mok GyeongUn wondered, Jo turned to Son Yun, the Saber King, and spoke.
“Saber King. Kill all the others if you wish, but hand that child over to me.”
‘!?’
Everyone's eyes widened.
Jo seemed to be a Taoist occultist of the Heaven and Earth Society, so what did it mean to suddenly demand Mok GyeongUn?
Son Yun clicked his tongue.
“You are doing something pointless again.”
“I should have authority enough for that.”
The Saber King, Son Yun, shrugged in assent.
Then Son Yun raised the great saber and pointed it at the people of Yeonmok Sword Manor, raising his voice with killing intent.
“I was going to leave peacefully if you handed that over, but that is over now. You brought this upon yourselves, so regret it in the next world.”
Son Yun thought there was no need to determine one by one who had taken the secret manual.
If they beat everyone senseless, someone would eventually talk.
The secret manual was in the Manor anyway.
Son Yun shouted.
“Kill them all...”
“The secret manual that was wrapped in prayer beads inside the wooden box is with me.”
Someone interrupted with a shout.
It was none other than Mok GyeongUn.
“Haa...”
A sigh of relief escaped Manor Lord Mok InDan, who had been tense, fearing Mok GyeongUn would not keep the promise.
If they handed over the secret manual, they could overcome this situation.
Then Son Yun strode toward Mok GyeongUn with a fearsome air.
“You have it?”
“Yes.”
“If you are lying again, I will tear off your limbs, regardless of Taoist occultist Jo's request.”
“Would I deny having it when I do?”
Mok GyeongUn showed no fear at all, and a strange light flashed in Son Yun's eyes.
But it lasted only a moment.
“Then hand it over. No, tell me where it is.”
Mok GyeongUn might play another trick, so Son Yun asked for its location.
But then,
“I believe I should apologize first.”
“Apologize? You little...”
“You seem to want it badly, but I burned that martial arts book.”
“What?”
The masked warriors were the ones who erupted in anger.
It was a treasure of the Heaven and Earth Society.
It would have been stranger not to grow enraged at the claim that such a martial arts book had been burned.
But Son Yun raised a hand slightly to restrain them and gave a derisive snort.
“Ha! They said this was a prestigious martial family, but it is full of nothing but swindlers. Do you think that thing can be burned?”
What did that mean?
This time, both the masked warriors and the people of Yeonmok Sword Manor were puzzled.
Did Son Yun not believe that the martial arts book had been burned?
Then Son Yun,
Swish!
pointed the great saber directly at Mok GyeongUn's neck.
“You know nothing. You have never even seen the martial arts book. You have wasted our time with your childish tricks, so as promised...”
“Does it sound like a lie?”
Son Yun's face twisted fiercely, and he raised the great saber high.
“How dare you speak so insolently to this elder...”
“Only the human-skin cover does not burn. The sheets inside, where the contents were written, burned quite well.”
‘!?’
The fury in Son Yun's face changed at once.
The fact that the outer cover was made of human skin was known only to a few high-ranking members of the Heaven and Earth Society.
“You...”
“Oh, and the contents are all in here.”
Mok GyeongUn tapped his head with his index finger.
Son Yun's expression hardened.
‘!?’
Was it because Mok GyeongUn had not only burned their treasure, but claimed to have memorized it as well?
As Mok GyeongUn wondered, Son Yun spoke in apparent disbelief,
“You... read it?”
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