Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 285 – Entanglements (5)

As Nine Blood Sect’s Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha suddenly paid her respects, Mok Gyeong-un, who became puzzled, asked,

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

At that question, Dam Baek-ha raised her head and said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“Please forgive my previous rudeness. Dam Baek-ha, the Blood Demon of the Blood Sect, formally greets the disciple of the Elder.”

Although it was somewhat awkward, she paid proper respects.

However, it wasn’t just her.

Six Offices Commander So Yerin, who had been hesitating for a moment, also bowed respectfully to Mok Gyeong-un with her hands clasped together, though not as much as Dam Baek-ha.

-Swish!

“Hmm. I don’t understand at all.”

As Mok Gyeong-un expressed his bewilderment, Dam Baek-ha replied,

“Although our sect reveres the strong, we cannot ignore the distribution of authority.”

“Distribution?”

“Yes. If none other than the Elder himself imparted martial arts to you, it’s no different from being the most senior in our sect.”

“Senior?”

At these words, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head.

It wasn’t that he was ignorant of etiquette, but Mok Gyeong-un wasn’t well-versed in the widely known rules or principles of the martial world.

As a result, this turned out to be quite coincidental, contrary to Mok Gyeong-un’s intentions.

It wasn’t that martial artists were unaware of etiquette.

Whether in government or private affairs, martial artists also formed a group and inherited their martial arts, so they sometimes valued etiquette even more, depending on the situation.

This could be considered one of those cases.

‘Hmm.’

The old man Mok Gyeong-un had met in the pouring rain, holding a bamboo fishing rod.

Unlike his humble appearance, everything from his martial arts was extraordinary.

But for a figure from the old martial world to treat that old man with such respect, just how long had he lived, and what was his identity?

At this, Mok Gyeong-un asked,

“Who is this Elder you mentioned that you say he is no different from being my most senior?”

At his words, Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha asked back with a puzzled look,

“Could it be that you don’t know who the Elder is?”

“It’s not that I don’t know, but he didn’t tell me. Anything other than enlightenment.”

“Ah…”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Dam Baek-ha glanced at So Yerin.

As if So Yerin had the same thought, she made a peculiar expression and nodded.

Then Dam Baek-ha turned her head again and said,

“Didn’t the Elder tell you anything?”

“No. He never revealed it in the end.”

“I see. If that was the Elder’s intention, I also cannot tell you.”

“What?”

“It’s exactly as I said. If the Elder didn’t reveal his identity to you, there must be a great reason behind it.”

“Is there a reason why it shouldn’t be revealed?”

Mok Gyeong-un said as if he couldn’t understand.

Then Dam Baek-ha carefully said,

“There must be a purpose behind the Elder not revealing this to you.”

“Purpose? Do you have any idea?”

“The Elder had already left the martial world a long time ago.”

“Leaving means retirement?”

“Yes. That could be one meaning. The Elder had turned his back on the martial world for a very long time. It was even when I was young and inexperienced. If it weren’t for that incident, he would have revealed himself even less.”

“That incident?”

“…The day of the Great Calamity.”

At Dam Baek-ha’s words, Mok Gyeong-un, who had been curious anyway, asked,

“Come to think of it, I heard you two talking earlier that the boundary of the martial world was divided based on the day of the Great Calamity. Can I know what that is?”

“You mean… the day of the Great Calamity?”

“Yes.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Dam Baek-ha sighed, almost like a lament, and said,

“Indeed, for someone of your generation and the current martial artists, the day of the Great Calamity has become too much of a distant past.”

“Judging by the term ‘Great Calamity,’ it must have been a huge incident.”

“Even that is an understatement. Because of that day, countless people in the Central Plains lost their lives, and more than 80% of the martial artists died.”

“80% of martial artists?”

More than 80%.

It meant that the vast majority of martial artists had died.

What on earth happened that so many martial artists lost their lives?

Was it because of the demonic creature called Dragon Turtle, Yong-gwi (龍龜,용귀) that they mentioned earlier?

“Did that spiritual creature Dragon Turtle cause that?”

“It wasn’t just the Dragon Turtle.”

“Saying it wasn’t just Dragon Turtle sounds like there were other things as well.”

“Yes. Because on the same day, strange monsters and all sorts of spiritual creatures suddenly appeared in various parts of the Central Plains and turned the entire region upside down.”

‘!?’

Numerous monsters and spiritual creatures appeared in the Central Plains on the same day and turned it upside down?

Mok Gyeong-un frowned.

Is such a thing even possible?

Meanwhile,

“I heard that even here in the imperial capital Kaifeng, a bizarre spiritual creature called Flaming Qilin (불기린, 麒麟), which spewed flames like lava, appeared and slaughtered countless people.”

So Yerin added as if to chime in.

“Flaming Qilin? Was it also caught?”

“I don’t know. I also searched through various records of the imperial palace, but there was no record of Flaming Qilin being caught or killed because it disappeared halfway. Anyway, too many people died because of the day of the Great Calamity. You understand why the boundary between the old martial world and the current martial world was created, right?”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un stated his guess.

“Is it a matter of transmission?”

“Yes. That’s right. As the disciples and masters of each sect all died, their lineages were completely cut off. Even those who could transmit teachings through whispers were gone, so the basic system of martial arts collapsed.”

“As the Young Miss said, because of that, the level of the martial world regressed incomparably to the past, with the day of the Great Calamity as the turning point. Although it seems to have recovered quite a bit while I was imprisoned here in the underground golden prison.”

Dam Baek-ha clicked her tongue and said.

She was the only one who had directly experienced the old martial world and the turning point after that day.

As a result, she trembled even more as she recalled that day.

To her, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin and said,

“Strange. Monsters and spiritual creatures that you might see once in a lifetime suddenly appeared in various parts of the Central Plains on the same day and carried out a massacre… It’s indeed worthy of being called a Great Calamity, but something…”

“It’s strange, right?”

So Yerin interjected.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un nodded.

After reading various divination books, including the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Mok Gyeong-un had learned quite a bit about monsters.

Among the monsters he learned about, with the exception of a very few, there were virtually none that exhibited group behavior like humans or beasts.

However, it was incomprehensible that such monsters and spiritual creatures seemingly united in purpose and revealed themselves to the world, causing such a Great Calamity.

“As if…”

“It seems intentional, right?”

“…That’s right. The so-called spiritual creatures are known not to have group behavior. Moreover, I heard they don’t even leave their designated territories.”

“Spiritual creatures? You even know about that… Ah!”

So Yerin, who had been puzzled by Mok Gyeong-un’s words, suddenly recalled the earlier event.

It was the strange smoke door Mok Gyeong-un had created.

In any case, this man seemed to be proficient not only in martial arts but also in bizarre and miraculous divination arts.

At this, So Yerin said as if it was fortunate,

“Rather, Young Master Mok, you might be more of an expert in this field than us.”

“I only learned the basics.”

“Your skill in divination arts is not something to be dismissed as just the basics. Anyway, I had something I wanted to ask if there was someone knowledgeable about monsters.”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged.

“I don’t know if I can provide an answer that would be of much help.”

“I’m just asking.”

“What is it?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, So Yerin opened her mouth with a meaningful look.

“Young Master. Can those spiritual creatures called monsters and spiritual beings be artificially controlled to carry out a massacre?”

“…Artificially controlled?”

“Yes.”

At her question, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

Artificially controlling the spiritual creatures, the so-called monsters, ultimately meant this.

‘Familiars.’

Familiars were the connection that allowed these beings to be commanded.

The stronger the self-awareness, the more difficult it becomes to command them, but occasionally, among diviner masters with outstanding curse power or divination arts skills, there were those who used monsters as familiars.

Of course, the higher the level, the stronger the monster’s self-awareness becomes, making it more difficult to use as a familiar.

“If we only consider the concept of commanding, it’s not impossible.”

“It’s not impossible?”

“Yes. If we only consider the concept.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Commanding is possible, but I don’t know if it’s possible to command so many monsters at the same time in such a way.”

“?”

“To use a monster as a familiar, the curse power of the connected diviner master, the sorcerer, must reach a certain level. The greater the curse power or strong mental strength, the higher-level monster one can subdue, but I know that usually, it’s difficult to subdue even one monster as a familiar. Because in the first place, a connection is no different from a soul being linked to another soul.”

“That means?”

“Considering this, it can be seen as virtually impossible to artificially command the numerous monsters that appeared in various parts of the Central Plains.”

“Ah…”

A sigh escaped So Yerin’s mouth at the conclusion Mok Gyeong-un reached.

She seemed to have a sense of disappointment, as if the answer was different from what she had expected.

To her, Mok Gyeong-un raised his index finger and said,

“Well, even so, as Officer So said, the feeling of artificiality cannot be erased.”

“But you said it can’t be controlled, Young Master.”

“Control and creating a situation are different.”

“What do you mean by creating a situation?”

“Even if they can’t be controlled one by one, creating conditions that stimulate the monsters and making them go on a rampage seems to be a separate issue.”

Mok Gyeong-un had already seen it at the Blood Cave Valley of the Heaven and Earth Society.

Although not commanding as familiars, he had seen them manipulate monsters through conditions.

It was none other than the Monstrous Beast Gal-jeo.

Originally, when the Gal-jeo, which inhabits the North Sea near Mount Bukho, was released into the mountains of the Blood Cave Valley, it rampaged and harmed numerous disciples.

“Then is there a possibility?”

“If we consider it in that direction, there is a slight possibility. Moreover, since you said it occurred almost simultaneously, even more so. However…”

“However what?”

“To make all sorts of monsters in the Central Plains go on a rampage to the extent of encompassing the entire region, diviner masters or tremendous manpower knowledgeable in divination arts and monsters would be needed, but considering that no clues have been discovered even after the Great Calamity occurred until now, this is also extremely slim…”

“Could this be a clue?”

At that moment, So Yerin interrupted Mok Gyeong-un’s words.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un asked with a puzzled expression,

“Clue?”

“Yes. My father found a clue.”

With those words, So Yerin untied her golden belt and very carefully detached something attached to the inside.

It was an extremely old piece of paper with traces of being burned in various places.

She handed it to Mok Gyeong-un.

“This is?”

“It’s heavily damaged, but try unfolding it first.”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un carefully unfolded the paper that seemed like it would crumble.

As he unfolded it, a gleam flashed in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.

That’s because in the burned part, there was something that looked like a red pattern drawn, and below it was

急急如…… (Geup-geup-yeo…)

The latter part was burned off.

‘…Incantation.’

With the beginning missing and only “geup-geup-yeo” remaining, and the pattern being only a small part of the whole, it was impossible to know what divination art they were trying to use.

However, this was definitely an incantation for divination art.

“How did you find this?”

“I don’t know exactly since my father found it. But the place he found it was here in the imperial capital Kaifeng.”

“The imperial capital?”

“Yes. My father said he had been searching for clues and found someone who had a clue related to the day of the Great Calamity.”

“Is this that clue?”

“Yes.”

“I see. This definitely seems to be a divination art, but most of the text is burned off, so I can’t know exactly what it is. Do you have anything you heard related to this?”

“No. It seems my father heard something from the person who gave him the clue. That’s why he said he was going to consult a diviner master in Kaifeng.”

“Ah. He probably did that because there are traces of a divination technique, even if only a little.”

“Yes, but…”

“But?”

“On the night my father went to find the famous diviner master in Kaifeng, he was murdered.”

‘!?’

“How could such a thing happen!”

-Clench!

At her words, Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha couldn’t contain her anger.

It was anger at the fact that none other than the survivor of the Matchless Clan and another descendant of that person had lost his life in such a futile way.

Staring intently at So Yerin, whose eyes had reddened as if recalling that day, Mok Gyeong-un spoke in a dry voice,

“Did you find that diviner master?”

“…No. I couldn’t find him. After my father was murdered, I went to searchin that place, but there was no one. Even all the diviner masters said to be in Kaifeng had disappeared overnight.”

“All the diviner masters disappeared?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

It was truly coincidental.

Mok Gyeong-un looked at the burned and damaged paper called a clue.

Then he asked,

“What happened to the person who gave this clue?”

“…Couldn’t find him.”

“What?”

“At that time, only my father had met the person who gave the clue. Since he only knew that the person was in the imperial capital…”

“So you’ve been searching until now?”

“That’s right.”

That was the very reason Six Offices Commander So Yerin became an Embroidered Uniform Guard.

If she became an Embroidered Uniform Guard, she could access the information of all residents in the imperial capital and Kaifeng and also have investigative authority, so it was a measure she had devised.

In her own way, she was making every effort to find clues.

‘Is this all?’

However, judging that this alone was not much of a clue, Mok Gyeong-un seemed to have lost interest and tried to fold the clue paper So Yerin had given him.

As he folded the paper once and then twice,

‘!?’

Suddenly, Mok Gyeong-un stopped folding.

There was something he hadn’t seen when he unfolded the paper because a part was covered.

It was another thing engraved on the back of the damaged paper.

It was none other than,

‘A symbol?’

A symbol of a single line vertically penetrating the center of the character two (二).