Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 28

Inside Hyehwa Hall, the residence of Lady Seok.

Lady Seok sat with her chin resting elegantly on her clasped hands, looking at a woman with doubtful eyes.

The woman had a truly peculiar aura about her.

At most, she looked to be twenty-two or twenty-three years old, quite young.

However, perhaps because one of her eyes was white, she exuded a somewhat heavy and unapproachable atmosphere.

‘If not for that unpleasant white eye, she would have quite enchanted many men.’

The white eye was considerably irritating.

The guard Ho-aeng beside her seemed to have a similar feeling, as she was slightly furrowing her brows.

That’s how unusual it was.

But what was that on her shoulder?

She had a bird platform made by weaving cowhide and oak branches.

Usually, such a thing was made for trained carrier pigeons or falcons to perch on with their talons.

But she had no bird.

No, not even the scent of one.

As she was finding it strange, the woman pretended to stroke the empty platform with her hand and muttered to herself,

“It’s alright. We’ll be leaving soon.”

Seeing her like that, Lady Seok clicked her tongue inwardly.

‘It’s hard to find a proper person among the diviners.’

Why did she find this one even less trustworthy than the diviner Myo-sin who came last time?

She had informed them of the news of Myo-sin’s death, so she thought the Ghostly Spirit Pavilion, the group of diviner in Mengcheng, would send someone more skilled, but she was quite displeased.

However, without showing it, she spoke.

“You said your name was Sak?”

“Yes.”

“…If you don’t mind me asking, may I inquire about your age? You look younger than you appear.”

“Age is not important.”

“Alright. I suppose you can’t reveal it.”

“I’m nineteen.”

“Pardon?”

She was even younger than expected.

Not even in her prime.

The guard Ho-aeng, having learned that Sak was young, carefully interjected.

“Shall we request Ghostly Spirit Pavilion again?”

At her words, Sak silently rose from her seat.

Then she stretched out her hand and spoke.

Guard Ho-aeng frowned and asked,

“What’s with that hand?”

“You’ll provide the travel expenses, right?”

“…What have you done to deserve travel expenses?”

“It wasn’t us who broke the agreement, but your side.”

“It’s not a breach of contract.”

“Since it’s a replacement of the dispatched diviner, I’m only requesting the travel expenses, excluding the penalty.”

“……”

It wasn’t just her aura that was irritating.

Lady Seok snorted as if dumbfounded and spoke.

“My family has had a connection with Ghostly Spirit Pavilion since my maiden days and maintained a good relationship, but this matter is hard to accept. For such a serious case where the diviner you sent died a strange death, you send a young friend who’s not even in her prime…”

“Diviner Myo-sin is my teacher.”

“Pardon?”

At Sak’s words, Lady Seok furrowed her brows.

Looking at Myo-sin, he seemed to be a middle-aged man who had honed his divineric arts for many years.

But this woman named Sak was merely nineteen.

Yet she says diviner Myo-sin is her teacher?

As she found it strange, Sak spoke.

“A diviner receives six levels of titles according to their skill. From top to bottom, it’s Shin, Il, Wol, Gi, Myo, Su. My teacher Myo-sin is at the lowest level, Su, having just completed 5 years.”

“The lowest level?”

As far as Lady Seok knew, diviner Myo-sin was quite renowned in Mengcheng.

But he was a diviner of the lowest level?

“Then what about you?”

“I am at Gi.”

It was the fourth out of the six titles and two levels higher than Myo-sin.

At Sak’s words, Lady Seok looked at her for a moment.

Her appearance still seemed young, and her strangely brazen and arrogant attitude was irritating, but if this was true, she wouldn’t be worse than Myo-sin, even if not better.

“Madam, I will go again…”

-Swish!

Lady Seok raised her hand, cutting off guard Ho-aeng’s words, and spoke.

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“Alright. I will entrust you with the task.”

“Madam?”

“Since this diviner is said to be skilled, let’s see.”

For now, she decided to entrust it to her.

If it failed, the silver would freeze just like with Myo-sin.

And she would have grounds to protest at the Ghostly Spirit Pavilion.

Lady Seok rose from her seat.

“I have something to show you, so follow me.”

With those words, she went outside and guided them to a place like a warehouse located behind Hyehwa Hall.

Entering there, there was another door, and a waiting servant opened it and lit a lantern.

-Flicker!

As they entered, Lady Seok covered her nose with her sleeve.

It was because of a terrible stench.

Lady Seok pointed to a corpse covered with a straw mat, leaving only the feet exposed.

“This is diviner Myo’s corpse.”

The identity of that corpse was none other than the deceased Myo-sin.

It was made to look as if it had been burned, but it was hidden to show to another diviner.

-Step, step!

Sak approached the corpse of the dead Myo-sin.

And she removed the straw mat.

“Teacher.”

Sak stared intently at the face of the dead Myo-sin with trembling eyes.

Although there was said to be no great affection between diviner, the death of someone she knew was still unpleasant.

Lady Seok asked her,

“How do you think he died?”

A straightforward question.

To this question, Sak replied in a low voice,

“The cause of death is not judged by what is seen. Only the dead can tell.”

-Swish!

Then she brought her hand to the face of the dead Myo-sin.

Seeing this, Lady Seok and guard Ho-aeng frowned and slightly turned their heads.

They couldn’t imagine touching a foul-smelling corpse with their bare hands.

Sak touched Myo-sin’s face with her eyes closed.

And then,

-Clench, clench!

With her left hand, she made hand seals.

‘Gye! Tu! Jeon!’

The Baek, Ja, followed by the Byeong.

Sak, who had made the hand seals of the Nine Character Dharani, chanted something in a small voice.

“Three-Person Joint Technique. The Northern Emperor has granted me authority. So reveal all that you have experienced. Urgently, urgently, as the law and decree command!.”

The atmosphere was getting eerie.

The air seemed to grow heavy.

What is she doing?

Both Lady Seok and guard Ho-aeng held their breath and watched her.

Soon, a bizarre scene unfolded before their eyes.

-Tremble, tremble, tremble!

‘!?’

The entire body of the dead Myo-sin began to shake on its own.

‘The, the corpse is moving by itself?’

Guard Ho-aeng was so startled that he covered his mouth and unknowingly took a step back.

On the other hand, Lady Seok only furrowed her brows at this sight, not greatly frightened.

Rather, she focused on how the Fang Arts were being performed, as she couldn’t see it up close.

“Reveal all. Urgently, urgently, as the law…”

-Clench!

Sak bit her lip tightly, and her expression instantly distorted.

‘As expected.’

It didn’t deviate from her expectations.

As Sak pulled her left hand, which was maintaining the hand seal, the dead Myo-sin’s mouth opened with a creak and closed.

After that, the movement subsided.

Sak opened her eyes slightly and released the hand seal on her left hand.

“What happened?”

To that question, Sak said nothing.

But soon she opened her eyes, removed her hand, and spoke.

“I asked my teacher.”

“Asked? As if a dead person would really answer…”

“Of course not. Unless the spiritual remains in the corporeal part of the soul, they won’t directly answer.”

“……”

Was she making a joke now?

Didn’t she clearly say she asked?

As if reading her thoughts, Sak continued,

“All the dead have traces.”

“Traces?”

“In the spirit of a corpse that hasn’t been dead for forty-nine days, spiritual traces remain. If you awaken those traces, you can see how the owner of the soul met their death.”

“Then did you see who did it?”

“I didn’t see.”

“What do you mean? You just said a moment ago that within forty-nine days…”

“If one loses their life by Sal (murder), only a fragment of the last moment remains, so no matter how skilled a diviner is, it’s difficult to accurately confirm how they died.”

‘Fear…’

The last fragment of diviner Myo-sin that she saw was extreme fear.

That’s why she had bitten her lip tightly.

This in itself wasn’t particularly special.

But would a person living as a diviner have been this terrified just from being killed?

Of course, if it was a vengeful spirit of the Yellow Sprit level, it might have been difficult to handle with just the title of Su-ranked diviner, so it was quite possible.

Lady Seok asked,

“…Then you’re saying we can’t know anything?”

“That’s not the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dying by Sal means it was a death by supernatural phenomena. Seeing how the blood vessels of the corpse are so grotesquely protruding, it’s not an ordinary vengeful spirit.”

At those words, Lady Seok’s eyes sharpened.

This was the very point she had doubts about.

“So you’re saying it’s true that he died like this because of supernatural phenomena?”

“Yes. It’s a very strong vengeful spirit.”

“I knew it. That child did it after all. Ahhh.”

The desired answer came out.

Then it meant that Mok Gyeong-un used supernatural phenomena to kill diviner Myo-sin and even threatened the life of Sohwa, her maid.

As everything became clear, she trembled with rage.

What kind of bastard was he that even such vengeful spirits were helping him?

Lady Seok spoke sharply with a voice filled with anger,

“You can handle it, right?”

To her question, Sak asked back,

“If you promise one thing clearly, it’s possible.”

“What is it?”

“Not all supernatural phenomena are the same. Vengeful spirits are the opposite of cultivating life, so they can’t be tamed as Devouring supreme-rulers in the first place. So in the end, we have to consider it as possession.”

“And?”

“If what was mentioned in the request is true, that young master named Mok Gyeong-un may have already lost his corporeal part of the soul to supernatural phenomena and lost his spirit. Taking this into account, during the exorcism…”

Lady Seok cut off the complicated explanation,

“Just get to the point.”

“…There is a high probability of death. Is that alright?”

At Sak’s words, the corners of Lady Seok’s mouth curled up slightly.

Rather, it was what she wished for.

“I don’t mind.”

Seeing her like that, Sak sneered inwardly.

It was truly ridiculous to see a family coveting each other’s lives for the sake of the succession competition.

But it wasn’t something for her to concern herself with.

She took out a wooden dagger from the waist belt made of leather.

“What are you trying to do?”

“First, I’ll return the Sal to weaken the vengeful spirit and the host.”

“How?”

“Receiving a reverse Sal is an excruciating pain that makes one wish for death. Watch.”

-Swish!

Sak took out a talisman from her bosom.

On the talisman, it was written in red ink:

[逆(Reverse)]

She wrapped it around the wooden dagger and then unhesitatingly stabbed it into the chest of the dead diviner Myo-sin.

-Stab!

“The Northern Emperor grants me the talisman to drive away evil spirits, so urgently act according to the command!”

-Wriggle!

At that moment, the corpse of the dead diviner Myo-sin twisted.

***

–Phew. Damn bastard.

Smoke flowed from Cheong-ryeong’s red lips.

She glared at Mok Gyeong-un, who was circulating qi, with a displeased expression.

what the …. was that fellow’s identity?

If one reversed the qi circulation, it was normal to fall into qi-deviation, become a cripple, or face death.

But the death qi was gathering.

Those who could be affected by or sense death qi were the dead, in other words, vengeful spirits like themselves.

But Mok Gyeong-un was a living human.

Was this possible?

-…A living human attracts the qi of death.

It was an unprecedented sight.

But she still didn’t know.

Since it was an unknown realm that living humans hadn’t explored yet, even if he gathered death qi, it was hard to guarantee that he could circulate and control it like the qi of cultivating life.

Controlling the qi of death was no different from entering the realm of the dead.

–Whew.

Curiosity filled her crimson eyes as she exhaled thick smoke.

Could a living human really gather and even control the qi of death?

This was quite interesting and greatly stimulating.

However,

-Smolder, smolder!

One of Cheong-ryeong’s eyebrows, who had been looking at Mok Gyeong-un, raised.

-This is?

Cheong-ryeong stared in the northeast direction.

Then, Demonic Monk also flinched and looked northeast, and soon stood as if guarding Mok Gyeong-un’s breathing technique that was gathering death qi.

Tension filled Demonic Monk’s eyes.

At that moment,

-Thud!

Demonic Monk clutched his chest and was pushed back.

-Whoosh!

As if receiving immense pressure, Demonic Monk crossed his arms and distorted his expression.

-Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!

Wounds like something appeared all over Demonic Monk’s giant body.

Even his blood vessels grotesquely protruded.

Then, the eyelids of Mok Gyeong-un, who was concentrating on the reverse qi circulation with his eyes closed, trembled.

At this rate, he would be hit by Sal.

Seeing this, Cheong-ryeong’s crimson eyes deepened.

-How dare a lowly bastard.

-Rustle!

Cheong-ryeong, who was on the ceiling, lightly descended as if flapping her wings.

Then, swinging her pipe toward where the reverse Sal was flying, she parted her red lips.

-Begone.

-Swooosh!

As soon as those words ended, the gray smoke flowing from Demonic Monk’s wounds gathered into one and rushed toward the northeast direction.

****

-Stab! Stab! Stab!

Sak, who had made a hand seal with her left hand, was repeatedly stabbing the corpse with the wooden dagger wrapped in a talisman.

Lady Seok felt a strange thrill at Sak’s appearance, trembling her body.

Thinking that this would make that devilish fellow Mok Gyeong-un suffer, her excitement wouldn’t subside.

‘More! Suffer more!’

-Stab! Stab!

Stabbing the corpse relieved her anger.

Sak, who had been stabbing the body recklessly, now raised the dagger to pierce the dead Myo-sin’s brow.

At that very moment…

-Whoosh!

Sak’s body was flung backward and soon crashed into the warehouse wall.

-Bang!

“Ugh!”

Sak, who had hit the wall, dropped the dagger with a groan.`

She looked at her palm that had dropped the dagger, and it was swollen in the shape of the dagger as if she had suffered a burn.

-Drip, drip!

Then, black blood flowed from her mouth.

“Diviner Sak!”

The startled Lady Seok supported her.

It was hard to understand what was suddenly happening.

“Why is this happening?”

“……”

To her question, Sak couldn’t give any answer.

It was because the shock she had suddenly received was so great that she was experiencing the pain of her internal organs twisting.

‘Reverse Sal… to strike back with reverse Sal…’

Sak’s heterochromatic eyes trembled.

This was a completely unexpected situation.

In the middle of it, something so evil and powerful that it gave her goosebumps had intervened.

‘…It’s not just Yellow Spirit level.’

It was a vengeful spirit of an even higher class.