WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 19: Poison Parasite (2)
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‘Is this the difference in rank?’
At a single warning, the pale hands withdrew into the water. A strange light filled Mok GyeongUn’s eyes.
Having reached the rank of Blue Spirit, she could overwhelm most vengeful spirits with her mere presence.
“As expected, you’re impressive.”
Blue Spirit, who had driven off the water spirits, replied irritably to Mok GyeongUn’s praise.
“Do you think I said this was dangerous because of such lowly things?”
“Of course not.”
Mok GyeongUn shrugged.
If they had been Red Spirit or Vermilion Spirit rank, she would not have warned him.
What she had warned him about was that thing, devouring others and transforming into the ultimate Poison Parasite.
Grrrrrrr!
About forty jang away, dense mist covered the area.
It was so dark that nothing could be seen within it.
Ordinary mist would have been one thing, but this pitch-black fog was swirling like a massive torrent. Merely looking at it felt deeply ominous.
“That is not the only problem.”
“Do you mean those as well?”
Beyond the thing that had swallowed an entire space, there were smaller ones as well.
They formed small clouds of mist and tangled frantically together. Something about them was not right.
Blue Spirit looked toward them and spoke.
“Most low-ranking vengeful spirits fear me and are too busy fleeing, like those from before. But those are different.”
“What do you mean, different?”
“Vengeful spirits that covet and devour one another see nothing else.”
“What does that mean?”
“They are devouring one another to survive and grow stronger. Right now, they see nothing. They are consumed by the single thought that they must eat.”
That was why Blue Spirit advised him not to approach them.
No matter how far beneath her they were, protecting Mok GyeongUn would be difficult if those mad things, turned into hungry ghosts, decided to swarm them all at once.
“Hey, mortal. Do you truly think you can break through them and absorb that thing?”
“I have to try.”
“You reckless fool.”
That thing was too dangerous.
Since he could be devoured instead, she wanted to forcibly drag him back up even now.
As she thought that, Mok GyeongUn looked around.
The place was filled with nothing but ominous energy. There was not the slightest trace of human presence.
Mok GyeongUn muttered,
“This should do.”
“What should?”
Mok GyeongUn suddenly reached behind his back, near his spine, and placed a palm there.
Then he pressed a point firmly with his finger.
“Phew.”
“What are you trying to do?”
“I suppose you could say I was unsure whether I should try this.”
“What?”
Before she could question him further, Mok GyeongUn’s back bent, and he slightly furrowed his brow.
He would not blink at ordinary pain. How painful was this?
“What in the...?”
A strange light appeared in Blue Spirit’s eyes.
A needle the length of a finger joint dangled from Mok GyeongUn’s fingers.
“Hah!”
The needle, hooked at its tip, was a Golden Gate Lock.
It was used to block ki gateways and restrict internal energy.
Normally, Golden Gate Locks could only be removed with a special tool that possessed powerful magnetic force. Yet Mok GyeongUn had removed it with the movement of Adhesion.
‘He is using the movement of Adhesion like that?’
The ki gateway near the spine where the Golden Gate Lock had been embedded was extremely dangerous.
Removing it could have been dangerous, yet he had adjusted the movement of Adhesion and pulled it out without hesitation.
It was bold, to say the least.
“You truly are...”
“Wait a moment. I need to remove the other two as well.”
“...”
Just as he had done before, Mok GyeongUn removed the other two Golden Gate Locks.
The Golden Gate Locks embedded in the acupoints along the spine were painful to insert, but removing them was even more agonizing. Yet even the second time, his expression did not change.
His endurance was remarkable.
Pop!
The moment Mok GyeongUn removed every Golden Gate Lock embedded in him,
Whoooooosh!
The blocked ki gateways opened, and the restriction was lifted.
The deathly aura he had gathered until now circulated through his entire body, filling him with energy.
‘Well, well.’
Blue Spirit narrowed her eyes.
With his ki gateways closed, no energy had leaked out, so she could not tell how much deathly aura he had gathered. This was beyond her expectations.
It had already surpassed twice the deathly aura he originally possessed.
If he could digest it all, his internal energy alone would reach the beginning stage of Expert.
‘It is astonishing.’
Deathly aura differed entirely from ordinary energy.
It was nearly its opposite. There was likely no human other than Mok GyeongUn who possessed so much deathly energy.
No, was that boy truly human?
It was bizarre enough that he remained perfectly fine despite carrying so much deathly energy.
Blue Spirit looked around and gave a faint snort.
The low-ranking vengeful spirits nearby feared the immense deathly aura radiating from Mok GyeongUn.
Mok GyeongUn stretched and said,
“I feel refreshed. Having these things stuck in me all this time was suffocating.”
“You endured it deliberately?”
“Yes. Just in case.”
He had heard that masters with keen Ki sense could detect the energy of weaker people.
That was why Mok GyeongUn had considered this method from the moment the Golden Gate Locks were embedded in him, but had continued to endure.
Blue Spirit clicked her tongue.
“So you did not come down here blindly.”
At this level, only a few things here could threaten Mok GyeongUn directly, aside from that enormous one.
Of course, the spirits devouring one another would target him indiscriminately.
“Risking one’s life and committing suicide are different things.”
“You have a way with words. But this is still dangerous. Even incomplete, that thing may be more dangerous than I am in some ways.”
Its purpose was not possession.
It was to devour indiscriminately and complete its transformation.
It would try to eat him by any means necessary.
“Will you start with the nearby ones?”
Blue Spirit asked, gesturing toward the smaller whirlpools.
Mok GyeongUn shook his head.
He looked at the massive vortex and said,
“The head is the tastiest part of the fish. We should start there.”
“Madman. Is that a fish?”
To describe that thing with such an expression.
It meant that the head was the tastiest part of a fish.
If he meant that they should attack the strongest one first, then it was entirely like him.
“Excessive greed becomes overreaching. But if you can make that thing yours, you will shave ten years off your cultivation.”
“Can you help me?”
“Do you think I’d let my disciple die? I’m his master before I’m a spirit familiar.”
Mok GyeongUn smiled.
“If that disciple dies, then Blue Spirit, the master, dies too.”
“...Stop saying such unpleasant things.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Phew.”
Blue Spirit took a long draw from her pipe, exhaled smoke, and pointed toward the massive vortex of fog.
“I will draw their attention here. Keep your eyes forward and run.”
“I will leave it to you.”
“Let’s see how you manage to devour it.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Blue Spirit struck the ground with her pipe.
Her blood-red eyes gleamed as she opened her mouth.
“Blood Realm.”
Grrrrrrrrr!
At that moment, blood began to gather on the ground around her palm.
Drip! Drip!
Drops of blood rose as though falling upside down.
The droplets surged into the sky, staining the surroundings red.
Mok GyeongUn watched and thought,
‘Ghost-Intent Domain.’
A barrier created by the powerful intent of a high-ranking vengeful spirit.
That was the Ghost-Intent Domain.
Unlike barriers created by Taoist occultists, a Ghost-Intent Domain constructed its space from a vengeful spirit’s accumulated resentment and madness.
‘Was it this powerful?’
The area for dozens of jang around them was dyed crimson.
Within the Ghost-Intent Domain created by the spreading resentment of Blue Spirit, the nearby low-ranking vengeful spirits trembled.
Some could not endure it and scattered apart.
Crush...
Pop! Pop!
The small vortices that had been busy devouring nearby vengeful spirits suddenly moved.
Woooooo!
Their target was Blue Spirit.
As she intentionally opened her domain and revealed her power, the transformed vengeful spirits, once focused only on devouring, immediately took interest.
“Go.”
Whoosh!
At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok GyeongUn changed direction and moved to the side.
Even if the transformed vengeful spirits had focused on Blue Spirit, they might change targets if he passed right in front of them.
He had no choice but to circle around.
Tap tap tap tap tap!
Once he used his movement skill, his speed was incredible.
The surroundings slipped past him, and before long, he arrived before the massive vortex.
The crimson domain did not reach this place, almost as if by design.
If it had, this thing would have turned its attention to Blue Spirit as well.
‘Amazing.’
Whoooooosh!
Mok GyeongUn inwardly marveled at the black mist swirling like violent waters.
It inspired the fear that once he was swept inside, he would never return.
Most people, no, even most Taoist occultists, would never dare enter it.
But Mok GyeongUn possessed one thing others did not.
He felt no fear.
Whoosh!
Mok GyeongUn stepped into the raging torrent of vengeful spirits.
The moment he entered, shrieks that seemed capable of tearing his eardrums apart rang out.
Aaaaaaah!
The rancid stench of rotting corpses filled the air from every direction, as though it would numb his nose.
His entire body felt as though it were being sliced apart. Even the slightest movement hurt.
“Phew.”
Was this why Blue Spirit had warned him?
The wicked, vicious energy was far beyond what he had expected. It felt as though it would sweep him away.
But to avoid being swept away, Mok GyeongUn circulated his deathly aura through his entire body with reverse ki circulation.
At that very moment,
Clang!
A chain suddenly shot out from somewhere and wrapped around Mok GyeongUn’s waist.
Mok GyeongUn concentrated deathly aura in the edge of his hand and struck down.
Clang!
The chain broke.
‘Hm?’
But that was not the end.
Rattle!
Countless chains flew toward him and bound his limbs in an instant.
It happened so quickly that he could not even try to evade.
Clench!
‘This... strength...’
Chains wrapped around his entire body except his head.
Their binding force was so powerful that no matter how much strength he used or how much deathly aura he drew up, they did not budge.
Rattle...
The chains binding Mok GyeongUn began dragging him toward the center of the black vortex.
This was not something he could resist through strength.
As he was dragged away, another scream came from somewhere.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Save me!”
“Please! Please!”
They were screams bordering on desperate pleas.
As the sounds drew closer, something began to emerge through his hazy vision.
Crunch! Crunch!
Something was eating.
He wondered what it was eating, then,
‘!?’
He saw the lower body of a human-shaped vengeful spirit kicking upside down.
Its upper body had been swallowed by the gaping mouth of a bizarre being covered in chains.
The sight alone was horrifying.
Ghk! Ghk!
The sound of the devoured vengeful spirit came from within its mouth, but did not last long.
Its lower body was swiftly sucked into the mouth as well.
Devouring was not a figure of speech.
It was literal.
Roooooar!
The bizarre, chain-covered being that had devoured a vengeful spirit whole let out a roar.
The surroundings shook as though an earthquake had struck.
“Save me!”
“Please!”
The vengeful spirits caught in chains screamed and begged even more desperately.
They were terrified beyond reason.
Then,
Mok GyeongUn’s entire body trembled.
Was he feeling fear for the first time in his life?
The chain-covered being that had been roaring slowly turned its gaze toward him.
Hummmm!
Two lights that appeared to be eyes shone through the gaps in the chains.
“I will eat you.”
Its chilling voice echoed in every direction.
Mok GyeongUn, whose body had been trembling, raised his head.
But his face did not hold an expression of fear.
As though all of this excited him, his lips twitched. Then the corners of his mouth stretched toward his ears.
The pale lights flickered in surprise.
Mok GyeongUn spoke to the bizarre being covered in chains.
“Then we are in agreement.”
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