Episode 16: Sihyeolgok (1)
A dark forest.
She was an alluring looking woman wearing a bamboo hat hanging from the top of a tree staring in a certain direction.
A very faint light visible from afar.
The place about 100 miles away was the camping site of the Cheonjihoe.
‘shit. What is this doing?’
Her true identity as she grumbles inwardly is Ha Chae-rin the Munju candidate of Bisalmun.
No it was Go Chan the guard warrior who was possessed by Ha Chae-rin’s body.
He had been tracking Mok Gyeong-un ever since he was captured and almost kidnapped by King Myeongdo.
Normally if it were a chase the distance would have been narrowed further than this but because of the monster-like expert known as the King of Myeongdo I kept it at this level out of fear of getting caught if I got too close.
‘I roughly know the location so I can at least follow it.’
The problem lay elsewhere.
Since he was a food spirit he was able to instinctively know where Mok Gyeong-un was.
But she had no way of getting closer.
In fact if it weren’t for the food spirit it would have been a perfect opportunity for her to get away from Mok Gyeong-un but the further away she got the more anxious she became and she couldn’t run away.
No it’s impossible in the first place.
If Mok Gyeong-un dies he himself will be destroyed.
‘Whew. ‘How did this happen?’
Even if she thought about it her situation was really funny.
She has no talent. Her goal was to retire and live a quiet life but not only did she die so absurdly she is now trapped in this woman’s body and acting as a slave.
‘I am truly blessed.’
It would be difficult for a seller to be this fierce.
In any case if I wanted to stay in this world at all I had no choice but to help Mok-gyeong-un well.
‘I have to find a way to infiltrate somehow.’
Even though I was doing this now to keep an eye on King Myeongdo I couldn’t just keep following him around at a distance.
I needed a way to naturally infiltrate the Cheonjihoe.
‘okay. Instead of continuing like this we need to find a way first.’
He was famously a former assassin.
He had a knack for sneaking into places.
And if you remember Chae-rin Ha there was a method of infiltration that he had never tried before.
‘Beauty world?….is a total mess.’
I got chills while trying to remember for no reason.
No matter what I wanted to protect my last bit of pride.
* * *
-Rattle rattle!
Just like that 15 days have passed.
The method of movement was repetitive.
They stopped by somewhere every two days and each time the masked men brought in boys aged 15 to 18.
After repeating this the number of people has already increased to about 100.
I was curious why this was happening so I asked Bangsang Joui-gong a couple of times but the answer I got was that it wasn’t something you should worry about.
“Why is that so?”
In response to Mo Kyung-un’s question a voice rang out from the wooden doll on his shoulder.
-I don’t know.
“I heard you were at Cheonjihoe.”
– Almost a hundred years have passed since it left my hands. How can I know how the organization is running now?
It was hard for her to know why too.
She had one guess but the method was very strange.
I wonder if she really needs to attract her manpower in this way.
“I feel it every time. “The way you say it every now and then makes it sound like Cheonjihoe belonged to the Blue Spirit.”
-……
“You don’t deny it?”
-What a useless thing.
She was a young woman who strangely did not like to talk about her past.
Is it because I feel angry even recalling her memories?
Or is there something you want to hide?
Mo Kyung-un was puzzled by this but it was only for a moment and he soon erased the question from his mind.
What was more important was starting now.
“We’ll be arriving soon.”
-Why are you nervous?
“well.”
-You’d better relax. Even if I learned Wolmaek’s sword technique from my instructor it is only a first-class pull-up at the level of you sentient beings.
Entrance to the first class.
Mokgyeongun was currently in a state of martial arts.
Just 15 days ago it was just a step from third-rate to second-rate.
However by absorbing and embodying a significant amount of morale gained from the fight that took place at Yeonmokgeomjang a Danjeon equivalent to a half-gapja was formed.
He has reached the top level based on his internal skills alone.
It would have been shocking if other people knew about this.
In fact he was talking casually but deep down Cheongryeong was quite surprised.
‘I can’t just chalk it up to luck.’
Even though he encountered various situations in succession that were nothing short of extraordinary starting with the Passapal style which is said to be the highest level it was difficult to deny the fact that it was amazing.
It was truly amazing to become a first-class fighter after only learning martial arts for a month.
Since I started late it might have been bad luck.
‘There is still a long way to go.’
Even though the growth was amazing the situation was still bad.
Considering that there were quite a few top-notch experts within the Cheonjihoe when he was alive there might be more of them now than then.
With Mo Gyeong-un’s current skills it was impossible to even carry on Wol’s work let alone take revenge on his grandfather.
‘I need to get stronger faster.’
To do that there was a need to push harder.
Starting from the first level it was the realm of enlightenment.
If you don’t achieve enlightenment what could have been a year could take you ten years and if you’re unlucky you could remain stagnant for the rest of your life.
* * *
There are countless mountain peaks that can be seen at a glance and a river like a vein flows between them.
The place where you could see the sunset below was quite spectacular.
With the river as a base the mountain peaks formed a natural wall and formed a large city.
This was the base of the Cheonjihoe (天地會) which divided the current Jungwon Wurim region into three.
The inner city is located in the middle of the city.
-Kkeeeeeek!
As the castle gate opened and the sight of a tall man riding in like a triumphant general the warriors who lined up in the inner city cheered.
“Waaaaaaah!!!!”
The leading man was King Myeongdo Son Yun one of the five kings of the Heaven and Earth Council.
A procession of about 300 people followed behind them.
The men dressed in black were the warriors of the Cheonjihoe and about a hundred of them were the boys they had brought with them this time.
The boys startled by the cheers flinched and walked forward one step at a time.
In this way the procession passed through the main street of the inner city and continued into a large square.
‘Hoo.’
Son Yun King of Myeongdo who arrived first caught the eye.
That was because an unexpected person was waiting.
-widely!
Son Yun lightly got off the horse.
And he gave a salute to someone waiting.
“King Myeongdo Son Yun sends greetings to Mong Vice Lord.”
A man with snake-like eyes who appeared to be in his early forties with white hair and no beard responded to the greeting with a similar wave of arms and spoke.
“Thank you for your hard work. King Myeongdo.”
The man who responded was none other than Vice President Mong Seo-cheon the second-in-command of the Cheonjihoe.
It was quite rare for the Vice President to personally meet Son Yun even if he was one of the five kings.
Son Yun smiled brightly and answered.
“Hahahaha. What’s the point of suffering? “I went there to get some fresh air after a long time.”
“It is a mission that may be dangerous as it requires crossing the territory of the Alliance of Justice but the only person who would go there to get some fresh air is King Myeongdo.”
“Someone would think that we fought a war and made improvements. I’ll leave the greetings here. “Where is the Lord?”
He was given a special mission: he had to report.
At that question Vice President Mong let out a light breath and then opened his mouth.
“King Myeongdo. “But that’s why I came out in person to carefully convey the Lord’s orders.”
“What do you mean conveying orders carefully?”
Son Yun the King of Myeongdo asked in confusion.
He sent all the way to Jeonseo-gu and informed them of the general situation but I don’t know what’s going on.
Vice President Mong spoke to him in a whispering voice.
“The Lord of Hoe told me to send all the people he brought to Sihyeolgok right away.”
“It was quick as soon as it arrived. Well of course that’s what I brought you here…..”
“It’s not just them.”
“What?”
“I told you to send the child of the Yeonmok Swordmaster who was said to have learned what I said in Jeonseo-gu and the child who was brought in as a hostage to Sihyeolgok together.”
‘!?’
At these words King Son Yun frowned and said.
“…What do you mean? “Did he really order that?”
“exactly.”
Son Yun was momentarily speechless at the firm answer.
Even though his secret rank itself could not be recovered in just 100 years a person appeared who read the cursed secret code and learned the sword technique of Wolmaek whose life line was cut off.
But send it to Sihyeolgok without even verifying it?
“That can’t be possible. “I will go and have an audience with Lord Hoe right away.”
“I can’t meet Hoeju now.”
“What are you talking about? This is a command given directly by the Lord of the Lord. If that’s the case I’ll have to at least get the phrase out of his head and then send it to him…”
“King Myeongdo. “He said it was an order issued by the authority of the congregation.”
“…….under!”
Son Yun the king of Myeongdo was truly dumbfounded.
However the command of the congregation was absolute.
* * *
-thud!
Someone came in roughly opening the door of the cart.
He is none other than Bangsa Joui-gong.
Mok Gyeong-un said this.
“It has arrived…”
“Things went wrong.”
“yes?”
Mok Gyeong-un was puzzled by Jo Eui-gong’s sudden words and asked back.
“What do you mean things went wrong?”
Jo Eui-gong answered that question in a somewhat absurd tone.
“The Lord of the Association told me to send you to Sihyeolgok.”
“Sihyeolgok?”
“Hah… such a ridiculous thing is happening.”
“….I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
“I don’t have time. “Take this first.”
What Joe took out of his pocket and handed over was a ring with a small letter engraved on it.
When Mok Gyeong-un saw the letters engraved on the ring a strange thing appeared in his eyes.
They were incantations used on specific talismans.
“Some of the things engraved here can be used to perform magic with a beastman even without an amulet.”
“How can I do this…”
“Listen carefully. “The odds of going to Sihyeolgok and surviving unscathed are slim to none.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Survive somehow. “I will tell the governor and we will get you out of there somehow so just hold on no matter what.”
“Holding on is…”
It was right then.
“That’s it.”
-Rurrrrrr!
Before Mok Gyeong-un could finish speaking warriors wearing red belts and red headbands stormed into the wagon.
* * *
“you!”
Mo Yu-cheon came to his senses and glared at Mo Gyeong-un.
He was bloodshot and had been unconscious for fifteen days except for two meals a day and one opportunity to run errands.
Of course I couldn’t help but be angry at Mok Kyung-un for doing such a thing.
“What the hell is wrong with me….”
-puck!
“Tsk!”
However I was unable to say anything because the warrior was hitting me from behind with a baton.
Although he was freed from the blood and blood demon blood he was unable to resist as his internal energy was restricted due to the needles called Geummunsae (禁門鎖) being driven into the six kimun.
“hey. “Close your mouth and walk.”
“…”
Mo Yu-cheon who was twitching his lips in displeasure soon closed his mouth and complied with the command.
For now I had no choice but to follow their orders.
‘shit.’
As soon as I woke up I had no idea what kind of disaster this was.
Is this the Cheonjihoe’s way of dealing with hostages?
We were walking single file down a dark narrow slope following the person in front of us and it felt like we had been taken prisoner and were going to do hard labor.
‘What on earth are you trying to do?’
Unlike Mo Yu-cheon who was confused Mo Gyeong-un was extremely calm.
It was also because he already knew something was wrong through Bangsa Joui-gong’s warning.
‘What is Sihyeolgok?’
That was the only question right away.
Why on earth are they sending it there with a gold stamp?
Even Cheongryeong didn’t know what Sihyeolgok was.
With that question in mind I walked for about three hours without stopping and eventually a wide shallow valley with torches lit up everywhere appeared.
‘Was there this much?’
Many boys were waiting there sobbing.
Mok Gyeong-un and Mo Yu-cheon and about 100 others joined in so at first glance the number seemed to be around 800.
As soon as they arrived a loud voice rang out.
“Welcome to Sihyeolgok.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to that place.
There was a large incense burner and a huge rock.
On the rock a person wearing a gray demon mask stood arrogantly with his back to him.
As everyone looked the demon mask opened its mouth.
“You guys have work to do from now on.”
With those words he took something out of his pocket.
It was none other than an iron bead the size of a fingertip.
‘what?’
‘What are you trying to do?’
Everyone was wondering something but the demon mask spoke.
“The set time is Lee Gak. There is an iron bead similar to this in the water of the valley. Find this and come to the front of this main street. “Anyone who doesn’t find it dies.”
‘!!!!!!’
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
