In front of the door to the Manor Lord's room. Madam Seok, the great madam of Lotuswood Sword Manor, who had been waiting with a rigid posture, looked over at the sound of footsteps ascending the wooden floor.
She saw a middle-aged man with a goatee, wearing a shabby Daoist robe adorned with a yin-yang symbol and carrying a book chest filled with old books and tools on his back. He was the Occultist that Madam Seok had summoned. This Occultist, known as Myo Shin, was rumored to be quite skilled in Dream City.
Madam Seok scanned his appearance from top to bottom, then clicked her tongue with a look of distrust. Her attitude showed she didn't care in the slightest whether the Occultist was offended or not. Despite her attitude, the Occultist showed no particular reaction and instead played along with her mood.
“May I see the Manor Lord now?”
“Yes.”
“That is a relief. The longer an anomaly persists, the worse the situation becomes. In that case, please have everyone withdraw to a distance of thirty yards from the main building where the Manor Lord is staying. If they are too close, they might be afflicted by the Impurity on the Manor Lord.”
“I have already done so.”
Why would she leave onlookers around for something as unpleasant as calling an Occultist? She had already cleared the area with a suitable excuse.
“If you would also step back, Madam…” -Swish!
At that moment, Madam Seok casually raised her hand and spoke.
“You remember the favor I asked of you, don't you?”
At these words, the Occultist smiled warmly and replied.
“Of course.”
“Good. I will trust you, as they say you are so skilled, Occultist Myo.”
Then she lowered her voice and whispered.
“If you can just find out where the Manor Lord's official seal and secret manual are, I will give you three hundred silver coins as promised.”
“Oh, thank you very much.”
The Occultist, Myo Shin, bowed his head repeatedly, expressing his gratitude. Watching him, Madam Seok let out a shallow breath.
“Huu.”
In truth, she had never really believed in things like occult arts. It was just that a certain incident had changed things. She had called the Occultist with only a sliver of hope.
‘…If only you hadn't thrown your support behind that child, none of this would have happened.’
To think he would consider the child of a mere Courtesan, not even his proper wife, as his successor. Resentment filled Madam Seok's eyes as she stared at the door to the Manor Lord's room.
On the way to the main building of Lotuswood Sword Manor, where the Manor Lord was. Go Chan, who was guiding Mok Gyeong-un while walking beside him, kept glancing at him.
‘What is he thinking?’
It was true that the Manor Lord's life was directly tied to this fellow. But what could he possibly do by seeing the Manor Lord?
‘Don't tell me he's going to try and save him?’
If that was the case, it was even more impossible. He knew the man's knowledge of medicinal herbs was exceptional, but everyone from the manor's physician to all the renowned physicians nearby had already given up on the Manor Lord. They called it an anomaly, with symptoms and a cause that could not be precisely identified.
The moment they used the word anomaly, it meant there was nothing that could be done.
‘What on earth is his scheme?’
He just couldn't read this fellow's thoughts.
‘More importantly, isn't this guy worried at all?’
Go Chan was actually worried about something else. If he unnecessarily caught someone's eye and exchanged words, revealing he was an impostor, trouble could break out before he and Guard Gam could even switch sides. Just then, Mok Gyeong-un looked somewhere and asked.
“What is that place over there?”
“That is a training ground for practicing martial arts.”
The place Mok Gyeong-un indicated with a nod was the first training ground. Lotuswood Sword Manor had a total of four training grounds, including the Manor Lord's private training ground.
The third training ground was for the general martial artists of the manor, the second training ground was for the vassals to hone their martial arts, and finally, the first training ground was exclusively for the Young Masters.
“A place to train in martial arts…”
A hint of interest flickered in Mok Gyeong-un's eyes. Seeing this, Go Chan clicked his tongue inwardly. In a situation where his life hung in the balance, a desire for martial arts was nothing more than a foolish delusion.
‘Does he think he can catch up to Senior Brother Gam by starting now?’
He would have a hard time even taking his first steps, so the thought of learning martial arts to kill a first-rate master was frankly laughable. Just then, Mok Gyeong-un suddenly called out to him.
“Guard Go Chan.”
“Ye-yes.”
“Guard Go Chan, every time I see you, I feel that those darting eyes of yours are quite tempting.”
‘!?’
Startled, Go Chan momentarily stopped in his tracks. As he stiffly turned his head, Mok Gyeong-un slung an arm around his shoulder and said.
“It seems you're not my person yet.”
“H-how could that be?”
“You should look forward, Guard Go Chan. Is someone going to eat you?”
‘…You son of a bitch.’
He was truly anxious. Mok Gyeong-un's eyes were staring precisely at his left eye. He was even licking his lips, looking as if he was dying to pluck out his eyeball.
Go Chan's shoulders trembled as he started walking forward again. Mok Gyeong-un grinned at him and said.
“It's a pity, isn't it?”
‘Wh-what is?’
Cold sweat seemed to trickle down his spine. The more he got to know this guy, the more he felt he had provoked something he shouldn't have. Suppressing this anxious feeling as much as he could, Go Chan walked forward.
‘Ah…’
Then, Go Chan's eyes caught sight of someone in the training ground. In the training ground was a boy with a strong physique, bare from the waist up. The boy, whose bronze torso was well-muscled, was dripping with sweat as he held a horse stance.
‘Mok Yu-cheon.’
He was the youngest Young Master, Mok Yu-cheon. Despite possessing innate martial talent, his passion was so great that he invested all his time, except for eating and sleeping, into honing his martial arts. It was no wonder the Manor Lord favored him.
‘He practically lives here.’
It was no exaggeration to say the first training ground was for Mok Yu-cheon's exclusive use.
“There's someone training.”
At Mok Gyeong-un's words, Go Chan spoke in a whisper.
“It's the youngest Young Master.”
“The youngest? Is that friend Mok Yu-cheon?”
“That's right.”
“Is that how one learns martial arts?”
“He's building lower body strength through the horse stance. You could say the foundation of all martial arts comes from the lower body.”
“I see.”
“Young Master. It would be best not to look at the youngest Young Master. You might get unnecessarily involved with him.”
“Just by looking?”
Go Chan frowned and looked at him. He must have read the information sheet Guard Gam gave him. The real Mok Gyeong-un's martial arts skill was at the third-rate realm.
But since he was an impostor, if he did something foolish and they clashed, his true identity might be exposed. And there was an even bigger problem than that. Go Chan whispered.
“The youngest Young Master despises the real Young Master.”
“Ah.”
Mok Gyeong-un nodded. On the information sheet written by the real Mok Gyeong-un, it said: [I can't stand the sight of that lowly bastard acting arrogant just because he has martial talent. It's unlikely, but if you happen to run into him, refrain from speaking with him.]
He was wary enough to write something like this. Something must have happened.
“Why does he hate him?”
After a moment's hesitation at the question, Go Chan whispered into his ear.
“... The real Young Master belittled the youngest Young Master's mother, calling her a lowly Courtesan wench, and was beaten half to death.”
That was already two years ago. He still remembered it. The sight of the real Mok Gyeong-un crawling on the floor with his leg and rib bones shattered.
He was practically screaming to be spared. Because of that incident, the youngest Young Master Mok Yu-cheon genuinely hated Mok Gyeong-un.
“He must have a kind heart.”
"What?"
"I mean, seeing as he left his limbs intact."
‘…’
His brow furrowed. As expected, this guy's way of thinking is different. Even if he was an impostor, it was still his story, in a way.
In any case, this wasn't the time for this.
“Anyway, let's hurry. It's best not to run into the other Young Masters right now. It could get really dangerous.”
At Go Chan's urging, Mok Gyeong-un just chuckled silently. This was quite an interesting place. Seeing brothers bicker and fight like this.
And so, they passed the training ground and went to the main building where the Manor Lord was. Looking at the pavilion leading into the main building, Go Chan frowned.
‘What is this?’
Usually, the manor's Guards would be standing watch in front of the entrance pavilion to the main building. But there was no one. Come to think of it, the surroundings were too quiet.
Not a single shadow could be seen.
‘This is troublesome…’
Because the Manor Lord's condition was severe, even the Young Masters were forbidden from going to the main building by Madam Seok's order. That was why he had guided him without complaint, thinking they would surely be stopped and have to turn back anyway. But now, it looked like they were really going to see the Manor Lord.
Inside the Manor Lord's room. Around the bed of the reclining Manor Lord, a dozen or so red strings were stretched out, forming a boundary. Silver coins with holes in the center were sliding down between the strings. -Clang, clang!
The sliding silver coins clinked against each other.
“Hmm.”
The Occultist, Myo Shin, who had removed the Manor Lord's top and was staring at his chest, shook his head. Usually, when he was called for an anomaly, it was rarely related to one. So, he would just have to pass the time by pretending to perform some occult arts.
But this time was different. -Bulge!
Bulge!
Centered in the middle of the Manor Lord's chest, blackened blood vessels bulged out hideously. At a glance, it looked like a symptom of poisoning. But the strange thing was that the area was constantly moving.
‘It's heading toward the heart.’
The area where the black veins protruded, turning the skin pale, was moving toward the heart. But it hadn't reached it yet, as if blocked by something. The Occultist, Myo Shin, grinned.
‘A martial artist is a martial artist, I see. His vital energy is so strong that the Impurity cannot pierce his heart. With a killing curse this powerful, he should have been consumed already.’
He was holding on well. But that, too, had certainly reached its limit. Looking at the Manor Lord's condition, he had been afflicted by the Impurity for a long time and had grown weak.
‘It's fifty-fifty.’
At this stage, even if he purified the Impurity, the chances of survival were fifty-fifty. There was nothing more difficult than repelling both an Impurity and a killing curse at the same time. But there was no need for that now.
‘I just have to do what I was hired for.’
The request was not to save the Manor Lord from the anomaly. He just needed to make the Manor Lord spit out the location of the official seal and the secret manual before he died. The Occultist, Myo Shin, took a talisman from his book chest.
Holding the talisman, Myo Shin dripped red ink onto a pre-prepared inkstone. -Drip, drip! Myo Shin, having dipped his brush in the red ink, began to inscribe characters on the talisman. As he drew the strokes, it took the form of the character for ghost.
Myo Shin chanted something in a low voice.
“By the Heavenly Emperor's Chapter... Girded in Celestial Steel... Vicious ghosts of the five directions... Why do you not perish... With a single immortal's breath... Ten thousand ghosts lie hidden... Great Steel, Great Sage, enter the ghost's heart and take its qi.” -Shhhhhh!
It was strange. The edge of the talisman began to tremble on its own. The Occultist, Myo Shin, placed the trembling talisman on the anomaly in the center of the Manor Lord's chest, which was relentlessly moving toward his heart. -Thwack!
In that very moment. -Bulge!
Bulge! Bulge!
Centered on where the talisman was placed, the black veins began to recede. Then, the Occultist, Myo Shin, formed a hand seal. -Chak!
[Approach] Bringing the index fingers of both hands together while clasping the rest, the Approach seal signifies the Immovable Fundamental Seal.
[Soldier] Supporting his index fingers, he straightened and brought together his middle fingers, which had been clasped.
With that, he began to chant the Guardian Killing Incantation.
“I summon the Great General of the Profound Altar... manifest your divine presence... golden armor to bind my body... slay the great thunder god of the fierce tiger... hold the copper and iron shackles... control the malevolent ghosts and slay the demonic spirits... bring forth salvation from the highest heavens... let water and fire flow freely through the seven treasures…”
As he chanted the Guardian Killing Incantation, the Manor Lord's body began to convulse. A faint steam started to rise from the area where the talisman was placed.
[All] He clasped all of his fingers together.
This signified the outer binding seal. At that, the reclining Manor Lord's throat began to bulge grotesquely. His airway seemed to be blocked, as the Manor Lord's face turned red.
Seeing this, the expression on the Occultist, Myo Shin, hardened.
‘The killing curse is too strong.’
The Occultist, Myo Shin, who had been forming hand seals, stood up and raised his right hand, forming a sword seal, toward the Manor Lord's throat. And he continued chanting the Guardian Killing Incantation.
“I respectfully summon the Commander of the Profound Altar's Fierce Tiger to descend... slay the demonic spirits and leave no trace... divine soldiers, act with haste as commanded…”
Before the Guardian Killing Incantation was even finished. -Creeaak! At that moment, the closed door to the Manor Lord's room slowly opened. Because of that, three of the red strings tied to the door came loose, and silver coins showered onto the floor. -Clatter-r-r-r!
‘Damn it!’
It was in that instant. -Paang!
“Heok!”
With a powerful rebound, the Occultist, Myo Shin's body was thrown backward. The force was so strong, there was no telling how far he would fly, but just then, someone caught his back. -Thwump! The startled Myo Shin turned his head.
The one who caught him was a boy of exquisite, delicate beauty. The boy was none other than Mok Gyeong-un. Struck speechless for a moment by the boy's handsome appearance, Myo Shin, angered by the interruption, was about to lash out.
“I said to let no one in, how dare you—!?” -Flinch!
But the Occultist, Myo Shin, couldn't finish his angry outburst. It was because he saw Mok Gyeong-un's eyes, which were as still and unwavering as those of a dead man.
‘How can a living person have such eyes?’