Myst, Might, Mayhem - Chapter 89

“Do you still not want to take the opportunity?”

The moment he heard this, chills ran down his entire body.

That smile reaching up to his ears looked so full of malice.

‘…….I took this guy too lightly.’

He had thought of him as a novice with outstanding talent but still had much to learn.

But now that he looked at him, that wasn’t the case.

This guy was no different from a beast that would tear into you the moment you showed the slightest weakness.

Jo Ui-gong’s eyes darted back and forth.

-Kkkkkk!

The three Willow Spirit Generals still bound by the iron chains and unable to break free.

In Seo-ok, his master and the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, who had become a Living Corpse Ghost through the Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique and lost his own will.

The strength gradually drained from Diviner Jo Ui-gong’s clenched fists.

He did have a hidden trump card.

But strangely, he felt it wouldn’t work on that guy.

‘I had a disturbing dream.’

Something like today’s events must have been the reason.

A turning point in life, so to speak.

It seemed to have occurred.

After briefly looking up at the sky and letting out a long sigh, Diviner Jo Ui-gong lowered his head and parted his lips.

“……..If I accept the opportunity, what do I gain?”

“You’ve made a good choice.”

At his words, Mok Gyeong-un nodded as if it was natural and tried to approach,

“Don’t come closer. I haven’t made a decision yet. Answer my question.”

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? I said I would help you become the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing.”

Mok Gyeong-un pointed at In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, with a nod.

At this, Diviner Jo Ui-gong’s eyes narrowed.

It seemed to imply that he would control the master and make him hand over that position to him.

But there was a problem here.

“Do you think my senior brother won’t notice that our master has become a Living Corpse Ghost?”

“Will he notice?”

“With just his spiritual power and magical skills, senior brother is already on par with my master. If they meet in person, he will definitely notice.”

Senior brother Jo Tae-cheong.

It was said that In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, accepted him as a disciple thirty years ago.

His talent was so outstanding that it was no exaggeration to say he was already selected as the next Pavilion Master of Primal Killing due to his excellent spiritual power.

It wasn’t easy to deceive the eyes and senses of such a senior brother.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile,

“Shouldn’t you make sure they don’t meet in person until the Grand Master hands over the position, Master?”

“What?”

“I’ve set the table for you, do I need to spoon-feed you too? I think you should naturally be able to do that much.”

At these words from Mok Gyeong-un, Diviner Jo Ui-gong silently stared at him.

Was he saying to be prepared for this level of risk?

Jo Ui-gong silently clicked his tongue inwardly.

Then he said,

“I understand. If you transfer part of the control over the Living Corpse Ghost to me as well, I’ll somehow manage that.”

“Is that all?”

“No. There are two more things.”

“Two things?”

“Yes. Cooperating with you means I also have to be prepared to lose everything I’ve built up until now.”

“So you need more compensation for that?”

Mok Gyeong-un’s voice became somewhat softer.

It signified that he was becoming emotionally uncomfortable.

But Diviner Jo Ui-gong had no intention of backing down either.

He thought that if he didn’t firmly establish it here, he would end up being dragged around by the guy in an ambiguous manner.

“So what do you want?”

“The Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique.”

“The Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique?”

“I want the secret you possess.”

Mok Gyeong-un’s Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique that succeeded without fulfilling the condition of the negative energy of the dead.

Seeing this, Diviner Jo Ui-gong was inwardly shocked beyond words.

What kind of trick did he use to make this possible?

This purely stimulated a strong curiosity as a diviner.

‘I want to know.’

Mok Gyeong-un’s Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique could be said to have compensated for the existing weaknesses, to put it mildly.

If the numerous sacrifices required to create a single Living Corpse Ghost could be omitted, there was no technique with higher effectiveness.

‘Will he really teach me?’

To be honest, he was half in doubt.

If it were himself or his master In Seo-ok, they wouldn’t share this secret with anyone.

However,

“If that’s what you want, I’ll teach you.”

“What?”

For a moment, Jo Ui-gong stared at Mok Gyeong-un with a blank expression.

He would teach this?

He had just blurted it out, thinking it was worth a try.

His real goal was what came next.

But he never thought Mok Gyeong-un would really say he would teach the secret of the Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique.

At this, Jo Ui-gong asked with a somewhat excited, trembling gaze,

“…….Is that true?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted that as compensation?”

“Yes!”

Seeing the strength in his voice, Mok Gyeong-un smiled with a snort.

It seemed he really wanted the secret.

Of course, teaching that wasn’t a difficult task.

However,

‘Will he be able to do it just by knowing?’

Only he himself, with a unique constitution capable of absorbing the negative energy (死氣) of the dead, could do it.

If what the Blue Spirit said was true, living beings couldn’t accept negative energy into their bodies.

Therefore, even if he knew, it would be utterly useless.

“What is the last third compensation?”

At this question from Mok Gyeong-un, Diviner Jo Ui-gong, who couldn’t hide his excitement, composed himself and said,

“Since we’ve agreed to work together, make an oath to me.”

“An oath? What do you mean?”

“If you swear not to harm me or seek my life, I will sincerely help you.”

This was more important than the other compensations.

Seeing this guy, he had no hesitation in killing someone if necessary.

Therefore, he wanted to firmly establish it here.

Of course, even if he made that oath here, he would never believe it.

It was just that if he made the oath, he would try to maintain it for a while according to his needs, so he was just trying to buy time.

‘And since I’ve demanded this much compensation, he’ll believe I’ll faithfully follow him.’

His real goal was here.

He would devise a plan after making the guy trust him.

By what means could he trust and follow a guy who nonchalantly killed even the Grand Master?

Diviner Jo Ui-gong said, hiding his true intentions,

“What will you do?”

“If you’re uneasy, of course I should do it for you.”

“……….”

Somehow, this guy’s words sounded polite, but there was something that subtly grated on his nerves.

But since it was a situation where he had to lower himself, he didn’t show it.

It was truly coincidental how the situation had reversed in just half a month.

As he was thinking that,

“There’s a way to make you feel most at ease, Master.”

“A way to feel at ease?”

What was he trying to say?

As he was puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un took off the incantation shackle on his wrist, shook it, and said,

“If you wear this and make an oath to me, it should be fine.”

“What?”

For a moment, Jo Ui-gong was dumbfounded.

Was he telling him to wear that and make an incantation oath now?

“You bastard, are you seriously saying that…..”

“Bind him.”

-Whoosh!

As soon as he finished speaking, the iron chains of the Green Spirit Gyu Soha erupted from the ground and restrained his body.

‘Damn it!’

At this, Jo Ui-gong tried to move his fingers to quickly form a hand seal,

-Tap!

But it was at that very moment.

“Huh?”

What the? As he was thinking that, Mok Gyeong-un had already reached him.

The distance was about ten steps, but he arrived in the blink of an eye, startling Jo Ui-gong, who hurriedly tried to complete the hand seal.

However, before that, Mok Gyeong-un grabbed his wrist first.

-Grip!

“Ugh!”

He gripped it so tightly that he was seized by pain as if his wrist would break.

Unable to breathe properly due to the agony, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“I’m telling you this because you seem to have some misunderstanding, but I’m giving you the opportunity so that you can be a more voluntarily loyal dog.”

“Let, let go of this……”

-Clank!

Mok Gyeong-un put the incantation shackle on the wrist of the agonized Jo Ui-gong.

Then he smiled brightly and said,

“If you trust and follow me, Master, why would I need to harm you? So make the oath like I did last time.”

-Kkkkkk!

Jo Ui-gong, whose wrist was grabbed, writhed in pain.

It really felt like it would break.

“Or you can keep enduring. It would be fun to break them one by one.”

‘This, this bastard…..’

He looked at Mok Gyeong-un in agony, but he was smirking at him as if enjoying this.

Seeing that, Jo Ui-gong realized he had no choice.

This guy was enjoying this situation.

If he didn’t make the oath, he would really do as he said.

At this, Jo Ui-gong barely endured the pain and said,

“I…..I, Jo Ui-gong, will follow the will of Mok Gyeong-un……”

“Ah. Don’t say Mok Gyeong-un, but Jeong, will do.”

“What!?”

Jo Ui-gong’s eyes trembled.

‘Ha!’

Now the question was solved.

The incantation contract could only restrain one’s will if it was made with one’s real name.

Naturally, since he was the son of the Yeon Mok Sword Manor and they all called him Mok Gyeong-un, he had never doubted it.

But he had lied about his name?

‘To fall for such an absurd trick……’

It was utterly disheartening.

“Now, stop being surprised and do it properly, shall we?”

-Kkkkkk!

Mok Gyeong-un applied more strength to his hand.

At this, Jo Ui-gong hurriedly said,

“Kkkkk. I…..I, Jo Ui-gong, will follow the will of Jeong.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the shackle rattled and trembled.

Then, Mok Gyeong-un released the wrist he was holding.

“Gasp….Gasp…..”

Jo Ui-gong, whose face had turned bright red and was drenched in sweat from the pain, gripped his wrist and gritted his teeth.

To even make an incantation oath to the guy he had accepted as a disciple.

How did it come to this?

As he was agonizing, Mok Gyeong-un placed his hand on his shoulder and said with a smile,

“I’m so grateful that you’re helping your disciple like this, Master.”

‘………What have I done?’

It seemed he had accepted a demon as a disciple.

***

This place was Honghyebang, a brothel located on the outskirts of the outer city of Heaven and Earth Society.

There, a seductive and beautiful woman was squinting her eyes and trying to look at the distant mountains.

She was Ha Chae-rin, a candidate for the sect leader of Flying Killing Sect, one of the three major assassination groups, or rather Go Chan, who was possessing her body.

‘Damn it. Where should I set my eyes?’

Go Chan was truly distressed.

With the help of a makeup artist, he had successfully applied makeup.

When the skills of the brothel’s makeup artist, who could be considered a master, touched Ha Chae-rin’s face, which was quite beautiful even without makeup, it transformed into an even more radiant flower.

‘It’s driving me crazy.’

But there was only one reason why Go Chan was so distressed.

There was nowhere to look.

The place he was in now was the common room where the courtesans of the brothel waited, and their clothes were all so thin that the inside was completely visible if you stared a little.

“Oh my. Sister. Aren’t you putting too much effort there?”

“You fool. If you don’t put in effort on a day like today, what will you do? You’re also fully prepared, with your skin showing through.”

“Hehehe. You’re right. How could I miss an opportunity like today?”

At the conversation of the courtesans who were overflowing with enthusiasm, Go Chan only pricked up his ears and turned his head toward the ceiling.

According to what he heard, a tremendous guest had made a reservation today.

He had asked to prepare the courtesans who were the most skilled in entertaining and had the best looks, so this was the situation.

[I heard someone with a quite high position in Heaven and Earth Society is coming.]

At the makeup artist’s words, he thought it made sense and asked to be included, but this was truly a difficult situation.

Out of the forty or so courtesans here, only six could go inside.

So, they were checking each other while calling each other “sister,” and it was no joke.

They were smiling and engaging in a battle of energy, and it was exhausting.

Even the thought of having to go this far and infiltrate Heaven and Earth Society for the sake of his master, Mok Gyeong-un, crossed his mind.

As he was thinking that, someone approached Go Chan.

“Hey, you.”

“………”

“Newbie. I’m talking to you.”

At that call, Go Chan pointed at himself with his hand.

Then, the mature-looking courtesan who appeared to be in her mid-20s snorted and said,

“You’re not even answering when your sister is talking to you. What an amazing newbie. Who told you to come into this room?”

“Uh…..um…..”

What should I say about this?

For a courtesan, mid-20s was quite old, but his actual age was different from this body.

So, he couldn’t readily say anything.

He definitely had to act, but his male pride wouldn’t allow him to say “sister.”

‘Damn it.’

At this, Go Chan bowed his head to avoid unnecessary trouble.

“You’re not answering until the end?”

As soon as he did that, the courtesan in her 20s suddenly tried to slap Go Chan’s cheek.

There was no way Go Chan, possessing the body of a Peak Realm master, could be slapped.

-Swish!

He lightly dodged the courtesan’s flying wrist.

At this, the courtesan raised her eyebrows and raised her voice.

“Oh my. You dodged your sister’s hand?”

Go Chan, who thought it would be tiresome to deal with her further, waved his hands and said,

“Look here, young lady. I have no intention of fighting with you. So let’s stop here.”

At these words from Go Chan, the courtesan’s expression turned blank.

“What’s with…….that uncle-like way of speaking?”

“………”

At the courtesan’s words, Go Chan realized his mistake.

He should have tried to imitate the way young women spoke to some extent, but he had made a mistake in trying to avoid trouble.

Then, the courtesan said,

“If you dodge your sister’s hand again this time, you better be prepared.”

The courtesan seemed to need to slap him somehow to feel satisfied.

At this, Go Chan said with a serious expression,

“You keep calling me sister, sister, but young lady…..no, I’m probably older than you.”

“What?”

“Even though I look like this, I’m twenty-seven.”

Go Chan spoke an age that seemed older than her.

Seeing how she kept calling him “sister” and asserting hierarchy, he thought that if he mentioned an older age, she might let it go.

He couldn’t ruin the plan by unnecessarily causing a dispute here.

Then, the courtesan snorted and said, “Aha. Is that so? You’re a newbie, but you’re quite old despite your appearance.”

“Ahem. So let’s stop this pointless battle of energy here…..”

-Swish!

The courtesan rolled up both her sleeves and spoke as if she wanted everyone to hear, “Watch closely.

This is a fight between sisters.”

“………”

Go Chan seriously contemplated whether he should change this plan.