WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 15: Proposal (1)
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‘How?’
Astonishingly, Mok GyeongUn was moving without issue. As if that were not enough, he had even untied the ropes binding him.
How had this bastard undone the acupoint sealing?
As Mok YuCheon stared in confusion, Mok GyeongUn lightly struck his chest.
Tatatatatak!
His Mute Point was released, and his voice returned.
“You...”
Mok GyeongUn whispered to Mok YuCheon.
“Shh.”
Mok YuCheon lowered his voice and whispered.
“...How did you undo the acupoint sealing?”
Mok GyeongUn did not answer.
To begin with, he had never truly been affected by the acupoint sealing.
It had worked for a brief moment, but the Saber King Son Yun's life energy had soon dispersed beneath Mok GyeongUn's cold deathly aura.
Mok GyeongUn had merely watched the situation unfold.
“You don't need to know.”
When he evaded the question, Mok YuCheon frowned.
“Are you... trying to escape?”
Mok GyeongUn smiled silently.
It was an affirmation.
Mok YuCheon asked in disbelief.
“How? The Heaven and Earth Society's warriors must be guarding every direction.”
“Now's our chance. Almost everyone, including the Saber King, has gone. There are only four guarding outside the wagon, and six more keeping watch nearby.”
‘!?’
Mok YuCheon was suddenly puzzled.
Like him, Mok GyeongUn had been blindfolded and had his acupoints sealed. How could he possibly know that?
Moreover, this bastard was only Third-rate. He should have struggled to sense even presences within a few jang.
Mok GyeongUn spoke to the skeptical Mok YuCheon.
“If you tell me one thing, I'll let you escape too.”
“What?”
“That's why I only released your Mute Point.”
‘Huh?’
Come to think of it, Mok YuCheon's body was still numb.
It was not because the ropes remained tied, but because his paralysis point had not been released.
“What are you doing? If you're going to release me, do it properly...”
“Sorry, but I don't need to cater to you out here either. Just answer what I ask.”
There was a subtle killing intent in his voice.
His expressionless face and indifferent gaze gave off a peculiar air.
He felt completely different from usual.
“You... who are you...”
“Who is Ghost Sword?”
“What?”
“I asked who Ghost Sword is.”
Mok YuCheon furrowed his brow.
Was Mok GyeongUn really asking because he did not know who Ghost Sword was?
No martial artist could be unaware of that person's infamous name.
“...Are you really asking because you don't know?”
“Yes.”
“Are you playing games with me...”
“Just answer the question.”
Though Mok GyeongUn said nothing further, his pressure made it seem as if he would kill Mok YuCheon for refusing to answer.
He had wondered before, but was this bastard really that cowardly Mok GyeongUn?
“Are you not going to answer?”
“...One of the Six Heavens and Eight Stars.”
“The Six Heavens and Eight Stars?”
“What... are you really?”
Mok YuCheon could not understand Mok GyeongUn's response, which truly seemed ignorant.
There were six Grandmasters considered the pinnacle of the current martial world.
Their martial prowess was said to be heaven above heaven, so martial artists of the Central Plains called them the Six Heavens.
Though they had not reached the level of those people, there were eight masters who had attained the highest realm.
They were the Eight Stars.
“How can you not know the Six Heavens and Eight Stars...”
“I don't care about the Eight Stars or whatever. Where is this Ghost Sword?”
Mok YuCheon stared at Mok GyeongUn, then sighed.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“How would I know where someone who vanished seventeen years ago is?”
“Vanished?”
“Yes. And no one has ever discovered Ghost Sword's identity.”
“No one discovered it means no one knows?”
“That's what I said.”
“Hmm.”
Mok GyeongUn rubbed his chin as if troubled.
The scar left on his dead grandfather and the scar on the Yeonmok Sword Manor Lord's side were remarkably similar.
That was why Ghost Sword was the most likely culprit.
But if no one knew that person's identity, it would be difficult to know where to begin looking again.
Yet one question remained.
‘You said they disappeared seventeen years ago... so why did they target Grandfather?’
If the scars had been inflicted by the same culprit, it had to be Ghost Sword.
But he could not understand why someone who had supposedly vanished had suddenly targeted his grandfather.
As he pondered that, Mok YuCheon spoke.
“Maybe we could learn something if we go to the Heaven and Earth Society.”
“What?”
“I heard that everyone Ghost Sword targeted was a master renowned among the forces of justice and evil. There were rumors Ghost Sword might be a master from the Heaven and Earth Society or the imperial court.”
“The Heaven and Earth Society or the imperial court?”
“That's right. I don't know why you're asking, though.”
Mok GyeongUn's eyes sharpened.
Then perhaps the enemy who had killed his grandfather was in one of those two places, the Heaven and Earth Society or the imperial court.
A voice then rose by his ear.
- Mortal. Hurry.
It was Blue Spirit's voice.
Mok GyeongUn spoke.
“I'll keep my promise.”
He reached out to release Mok YuCheon's other acupoints.
But then,
“I'm grateful that you're releasing my acupoints, but don't do anything foolish.”
“...Foolish?”
“If we escape now, Yeonmok Sword Manor will be put in danger.”
“In danger?”
“We're hostages. You know what that means too. What do you think they'll do to Yeonmok Sword Manor if we disappear?”
Mok GyeongUn gave a derisive snort.
Mok YuCheon frowned.
What kind of reaction was that?
Mok GyeongUn spoke coldly.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“What?”
“Then stay here.”
“You!”
Thud!
Mok YuCheon was struck on the back of the neck with a hand chop and lost consciousness.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have allowed Mok GyeongUn to land such a blow. But with his acupoints sealed, he could not circulate his internal energy and had no way to resist.
Mok GyeongUn carefully laid Mok YuCheon on the floor.
It might have been an infuriating thing to say from Mok YuCheon's perspective, but it truly had nothing to do with him.
Whether Yeonmok Sword Manor fell or everyone there died, it was not his concern.
It was the real Mok GyeongUn's concern.
And besides,
‘It's a shame. I was going to use him as bait.’
That was why Mok GyeongUn had intended to release Mok YuCheon's acupoints.
‘The Heaven and Earth Society...’
Mok GyeongUn looked down at Mok YuCheon and thought.
If Ghost Sword was truly in the Heaven and Earth Society, as Mok YuCheon had said, this might also be an opportunity.
But the risk was considerable.
They were interested in the secret manual inside his head.
Once they had learned it, they might kill him without hesitation.
‘It's better to prepare properly before approaching them.’
That was the sensible choice.
With his current martial prowess, he might be the one caught if he approached carelessly.
Shall I leave first, then?
Mok GyeongUn carefully walked to the door of the baggage wagon.
Blue Spirit had rendered the four masked warriors guarding the area temporarily unconscious, so he only had to leave.
Creeeak!
Mok GyeongUn opened the door.
But then,
Flinch!
The instant he opened it, he felt something strange, if only for a moment.
As he paused, Blue Spirit appeared and spoke.
- Go northwest. Do not stop. I will deal with anyone watching.
“Very well.”
Whoosh!
Mok GyeongUn launched himself forward.
He had trained in the Body-Lightening Technique for four days, but this was his first time truly using it.
The Body-Lightening Technique could basically be divided into steps and movement skills.
A movement skill was a technique for traveling long distances more quickly or closing the distance to an opponent.
Papapapat!
As deathly aura flowed through his Yongquan point, his body shot forward at great speed.
It was incomparably faster than ordinary running.
The surrounding scenery changed rapidly.
It seemed he had traveled a considerable distance in only half a gak.
But then,
- Mortal, why are you making that expression?
“I think it's the same.”
- The same?
“It keeps repeating.”
- Repeating?
Tap!
Mok GyeongUn stopped his movement skill and pointed at a tree wrapped in vines.
“I believe this is the fourth time I've seen that tree.”
Blue Spirit, who had been right beside him, furrowed her brow.
Then she said,
- Are you not mistaken?
“There's no way.”
- If this were occult arts or sorcery, there is no way I would fail to notice it.
“...That's true.”
- It may be because you are tense. Hurry.
Blue Spirit tried to move forward.
But Mok GyeongUn did not move from where he stood.
Blue Spirit grew irritated.
- Why again? If you do not hurry, you will not be able to leave this place.
Mok GyeongUn stared at Blue Spirit and spoke.
“Who... are you?”
- What?
“I asked who you are.”
She looked dumbfounded.
- Mortal, have you gone mad? You are asking me who I...
Whoosh!
Before she could finish, Mok GyeongUn reached out.
It was the movement of Adhesion.
Blue Spirit's body was forcibly pulled toward him, and her neck was soon pressed into Mok GyeongUn's palm.
Ghk! W-What is this...
“You chose the wrong person to imitate. Or if you were going to imitate someone, you should have done it properly.”
The real Blue Spirit would never have overlooked his claim that the tree was the same.
No, someone of her high standing would never be so easily caught in something like this to begin with.
- Mortal. You are making a mistake...
“I don't think so.”
A strange energy flowed into his palm.
It was far removed from the unique deathly energy possessed by a vengeful spirit.
And if it had truly been Blue Spirit, she would not have been drawn in by the movement of Adhesion. Rather, she would have easily flung him away.
Wooooong!
At that moment, something strange happened.
Blue Spirit's body rippled, then dispersed, revealing a wooden doll in his palm.
A talisman bearing the words Wood-Seizing Spell was attached to the doll.
Fwoooosh!
The talisman in his palm immediately burned to ash.
Papapak!
Mok GyeongUn immediately brought both hands together and formed the hand seal of the Immovable Heart Seal.
He closed his eyes and chanted a spell.
“Heaven's essence, Earth's essence. Essence of sun and moon. Heaven and Earth, unite your essence. Sun and moon, unite your light. Gods and ghosts, unite your forms. The twenty unite with my heart, my heart unites with your heart. Heaven's heart, myriad hearts, ten thousand myriad hearts. Intent, unite with my heart. Supreme Lord Lao, Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law!”
The scattered ashes flew somewhere.
They swiftly circled the vine-entangled tree.
Swish.
Then they were drawn into the tree.
Mok GyeongUn launched himself toward it.
Whoosh!
He charged at the tree tangled with vines. The moment he collided with it,
Swish.
His vision changed.
A bonfire appeared, along with the middle-aged Taoist occultist Jo, wearing an eyepatch and perched on a large boulder.
Ash dust clung to Jo's clothes. Jo brushed it away and twitched their lips.
‘Ha... Look at this brat.’
Jo was sincerely impressed.
Jo had already confirmed at Yeonmok Sword Manor that the boy's talent was extraordinary.
However, Jo had not fully believed that the child of a martial family had learned occult arts alone. So, taking this opportunity, Jo had tested Mok GyeongUn with the Willow Spirit Cultivation Method and formation techniques.
Willow Spirit Cultivation Method.
It was a technique that used a willow doll to transform into someone the target trusted or felt close to.
It was an advanced technique that deceived the target's five senses, making them perceive the willow doll as someone else. It was effective for lowering the target's guard and obtaining information.
Yet this brat had not only recognized the fake in only half a gak, but also escaped the Formation Array.
‘To find the way out like this...’
There was an orthodox method for finding a path out of a Formation Array.
But Mok GyeongUn had forcibly broken the Willow Spirit Cultivation Method, then used the fleeting remnants of the talisman with a tracking technique called the Summoning Harmony Method to find the Life Gate and Jo's location.
‘His adaptability is extraordinary.’
Such exceptional talent was truly difficult to find.
Mok GyeongUn could not be compared to any of Jo's previous disciples.
Jo raised the corner of their mouth and spoke to Mok GyeongUn.
“You... be my disciple.”
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