Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 138 – Shadow Clan Master (2)

Just an hour and fifteen minutes ago,

Mok Gyeong-un sighed lightly as he looked at the window paper, illuminated by the surrounding torches.

Things were unfolding just as he had anticipated.

Mok Gyeong-un glanced at the scroll he held in his left hand.

It was something that the evil spirit possessing Byeok, the bodyguard of the Shadow Clan Master, had secretly brought.

Every day at the same time, the Shadow Clan Master repeatedly read this scroll.

[Hmm. I think I should read it now.]

-You should.

Judging by the situation, it seemed there wouldn’t be an opportunity to examine it leisurely.

And if he were to be caught with it during a room search, things would escalate further.

With that, Mok Gyeong-un unrolled the scroll.

-Rustle!

It was quite worn, indicating how much it had been handled.

The half-unrolled scroll.

The evil spirit possessing Byeok frowned upon seeing it.

[This is…]

The evil spirit had only seen the Shadow Clan Master reading it but had never seen its contents.

So he had no idea what it was about.

However,

-This… It’s not our language.

Surprisingly, the scroll was not written in Hanyu (Chinese) but in an utterly unrecognizable script.

Cheong-ryeong, seeing it for the first time as well, tilted his head while holding his pipe.

The curvy writing was difficult to find any regularity in, making it unlikely to be a secret code.

If that was the case, it might not be a language from the Central Plains…

[Oh, this looks like the language of Persia.]

-What?

Cheong-ryeong’s eyes widened as she stared at Mok Gyeong-un.

The country known as Persia, or Parsa, was a place he knew to be located on the northern coast beyond the Western Regions, not in the Central Plains.

-Kid, can you read this?

[Roughly, yes.]

-What?

How could this kid read it?

As she was puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un scratched his head and said,

[My grandfather taught me.]

-Grandfather?

[Yes. He taught me a few languages besides Hanyu. He said it would be helpful for studying medicine from the Western Regions.]

-Hah…

He taught the language of Persia, which might never be used in a lifetime, just to teach medicine?

Cheong-ryeong became curious about what kind of person Mok Gyeong-un’s grandfather was.

But that wasn’t important right now.

-What does it say?

[Well, it seems to be some kind of poetic verse. This body, burned in the sacred fire, has no attachment to life and death. On the path I wish to take, I illuminate the light…]

-Enough.

[Pardon?]

-… I understand.

[You do?]

-Yes. I thought it might be a martial arts verse, but it’s not. This is a scripture.

[Scripture?]

A scripture, like a Buddhist sutra, isn’t it a text used for religious prayers?

What kind of scripture was this?

As Mok Gyeong-un was puzzled, Cheong-ryeong clicked his tongue and said,

-It’s truly deplorable. The head of the confidential information department in the sect is a worshipper of fire.

[Worshipper of fire?]

Something came to Mok Gyeong-un’s mind as he tilted his head.

It was the word “Baehwa” mentioned in the conversation between the Shadow Clan Master and the External Affairs Director.

Baehwa literally meant bowing to fire.

Could it be related to this scripture about worshipping fire?

[Worship… Baehwa[1]…]

-Huh? How do you know about the Baehwa Faith?

[Baehwa Faith? What’s that?]

-This scripture. It seems to be a scripture of the Baehwa Faith.

[Baehwa Faith?]

“Ah…”

Unlike Mok Gyeong-un, who was questioning, the evil spirit also nodded as if he knew something.

Cheong-ryeong puffed on his pipe and explained to the puzzled Mok Gyeong-un,

-They’ll likely break in soon, so I’ll give you a brief explanation. The Baehwa Faith is literally a religious group that reveres fire. They worship a god from the Western Regions that you’ve never heard of.

[A god from the Western Regions?]

-Yes. It’s a kind of impure heresy. Well, it’s tiresome to discuss such things. At one point, this Baehwa Faith entered the Central Plains and spread among the common people.

[Hmm.]

Most religions were like that.

They started from the lowest class, the commoners.

Those who had nowhere to rely on and were impoverished wanted to hold onto something and rise.

-As the doctrine of the Baehwa Faith spread, it suddenly grew rapidly and became a threat to those who believed in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism as their core principles.

‘A threat?’

Rather than a threat, wouldn’t they have viewed it unfavorably?

Anything new was bound to face rejection in some way.

[… Listening to the story, it doesn’t seem to have had a good outcome.]

-That’s right. They were accused of deceiving the world and misleading the people, leading to a massive crackdown. That was about a hundred years ago. But I didn’t know there were still people who believed in the Baehwa Faith, let alone someone in charge of information and secrets in the Heaven and Earth Society.

Cheong-ryeong spoke as if disappointed.

From this, it seemed that she also didn’t view the Baehwa Faith favorably.

If a dead spirit like her felt this way, it could be imagined how most people would think about this religious group.

At that moment, a shout was heard from outside.

-Intruder, listen up. If you don’t surrender immediately, we will shoot to kill.

Mok Gyeong-un tried to roll up the scroll again.

But as he did so, something fell out from inside and was about to hit the floor.

He caught it as if snatching it mid-air.

-Tap!

‘Hmm?’

What was this?

[اهریمن]

Along with this word, something was written below.

Rather than a doctrine, it seemed to be giving a strong warning.

Mok Gyeong-un stared at it intently, then inserted the paper with that word back into the scroll and handed it to the evil spirit.

***

Back to the present.

The Shadow Clan Master gripped the blade’s handle, ready to exert force.

It was at that very moment.

“But you know, if you behead me, everyone will find out that Master is a worshipper of fire. I wonder if that would be alright.”

‘!?’

At those words, the Shadow Clan Master’s expression stiffened.

Seeing his reaction, a glimmer of surprise flashed in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.

His prediction was indeed correct.

When he mentioned reciting the scripture at a similar time every day, Cheong-ryeong had said that the Shadow Clan Master might be a believer of the Baehwa Faith, a religion that worships fire.

-Slam!

At that moment, the Shadow Clan Master grabbed Mok Gyeong-un by the collar and roughly shoved him against the wall.

-Bang!

His characteristic demeanor that seemed infinitely light had completely vanished, and he glared with eyes filled with murderous intent as he spoke,

“You bastard… Where did you hear such a rumor?”

“A rumor?”

-Slice!

The blade slightly dug into Mok Gyeong-un’s neck.

If he slashed here, his neck would be cut.

Mok Gyeong-un chuckled and said,

“If it’s a rumor, you could just laugh it off. Why are you overreacting like this?”

“You…”

-Stab!

The blade dug deeper into Mok Gyeong-un’s neck.

It was to clearly show that he could kill him.

However,

‘This kid?’

The Shadow Clan Master’s eyes sharpened.

Even when his life was in immediate danger, Mok Gyeong-un still maintained a smile.

It wasn’t because he was confident that the Shadow Clan Master wouldn’t slash him.

It seemed as if he had no attachment to his life or wasn’t afraid of death at all.

This was the first time he had seen someone like this.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of what?”

“That you might die at any moment.”

“If I die, I die. If I live, I live. What more is there to think about?”

“…”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Shadow Clan Master fell silent.

Then, after glaring at Mok Gyeong-un for a moment, he spoke again,

“You said everyone would find out if you killed me. Have you told this to anyone else?”

The Shadow Clan Master’s eyes trembled slightly as he asked this.

He was worried that someone else might already know.

Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said,

“Who knows? Maybe I said that because those who should know already know?”

-Thud!

“Ugh!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Shadow Clan Master’s hand struck Mok Gyeong-un’s abdomen.

It looked like a simple strike, but the impact spread inward, causing pain throughout his internal organs.

But it didn’t end there.

-Twist!

The Shadow Clan Master grabbed Mok Gyeong-un’s abdomen with his five fingers and twisted it as if turning.

As the muscles twisted, immense pain surged through him.

“If you don’t speak properly right now, you…!”

The Shadow Clan Master frowned as he spoke.

This technique was something he had personally devised as a master of torture, maximizing pain by inducing internal pain and then twisting the muscles.

It was a method as painful as bone-breaking and muscle-tearing.

But there was no change in Mok Gyeong-un’s expression.

‘This kid?’

Except for briefly holding his breath the moment the internal pain was inflicted, he maintained a smile amidst this tremendous pain.

What kind of person was he?

-Drip!

At that moment, blood flowed from Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth.

It was a natural phenomenon since he had suffered internal injuries.

He was such a vicious person that his expression didn’t change even when he was in pain and bleeding.

The more he learned about him, the more he realized that this kid was truly unique in many ways.

From his martial arts talent to everything else.

Although it was a pity, this secret must never be revealed.

“… Tell me who you told. Then I’ll spare your life.”

“You shouldn’t do that.”

“What?”

“If you find out who I told, you’ll have to kill that person and me too. That’s how a secret disappears, right?”

-Twist!

The Shadow Clan Master twisted Mok Gyeong-un’s abdominal muscles even more.

And he pressed on in a low voice,

“Who are you trying to teach?”

“I’m not trying to teach you. I just said that because you were telling such an obvious lie about sparing my life.”

“You…”

Mocking him in this situation?

It was incomprehensible what he was doing in a situation where provoking the other party would bring no benefit.

Even if he wasn’t afraid of death, this was going too far…

It was then.

“This body, burned in the sacred fire, has no attachment to life and death. On the path I wish to take, I illuminate the light. Joy and sorrow shall remain as mere dust. Pity the troubled sentient beings.”

‘!!!!!!’

At the scripture recited from Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth, the Shadow Clan Master’s expression froze.

How did this kid know the scripture, the doctrine of the Baehwa Faith?

The Shadow Clan Master couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

‘How could it be?’

It was absolutely impossible for him to have seen his scripture.

Even if he had seen it, it was written in the language of Persia, the predecessor of the Baehwa Faith, so only a handful of people in the Central Plains, let alone within the Heaven and Earth Society, could read it.

Even among the few remaining believers of the Baehwa Faith, who had barely survived the persecution, most couldn’t read it properly, so how could this kid recite it?

That was absolutely not the case.

But how could he recite the contents of the scripture so fluently and accurately?

Unless he already knew…

-Release!

The Shadow Clan Master hurriedly removed his hand completely from Mok Gyeong-un’s abdomen and said,

“You… Could it be that you’re a believer of our faith?”