Mok Gyeong-un's pupils were as still as a dead man's. Occultist Myo Shin couldn't tear his gaze away for a moment, for he had never seen a living person with such eyes. 'How can a human possess such ghostly...' But he soon came to his senses at the sound of someone's voice.
“What? What is all this?”
It was Guard Go Chan. Guard Go Chan, who had guided Mok Gyeong-un, looked at the Manor Lord's room, filled with red threads strung with silver coins, and couldn't make sense of it. He had just been thinking it was strange that there was no one around the main building.
But who on earth was this man to be doing such a bizarre thing?
“Hey. Who are you to be doing this here...”
“He certainly doesn't look like a physician.”
Mok Gyeong-un said, looking around the room. At this, Occultist Myo Shin waved his hands hastily and said, “I don't know who you are, but you must not have received the Great Madam's message. This is a critical moment, so please leave at once.”
“The Great Madam?”
“I said it's a moment that must not be disturbed.”
It was indeed a very important moment. In the middle of controlling the anomaly digging into the Manor Lord's heart, a reversal had occurred due to a killing curse. When this happens, the killing curse actually makes the anomaly even stronger.
“Get out now!”
There was no time for this. At Myo Shin's urging, Guard Go Chan frowned and muttered.
“Don't tell me... an Occultist?”
“Hoo. That's right. I am an Occultist, so quickly...”
“Why is he like that?”
Just then, Mok Gyeong-un asked, gesturing with his head toward the bed. At that, Occultist Myo Shin turned his head.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
There, someone was bent backward like a bow, coughing and gagging.
“Ma-Manor Lord?”
'Manor Lord?'
Mok Gyeong-un looked puzzled. The state of the Manor Lord, whom he was seeing for the first time, was utterly bizarre. His back was arched so that his chest faced upward, and his throat was bulging and contracting, looking quite painful.
“Hey. Why is the Manor Lord like that?”
“Get out! I told you to get out!”
Myo Shin screamed and tried to push Mok Gyeong-un and Go Chan out the door. It was at that very moment.
Gulp!
A loud swallowing sound, audible to everyone, came from the Manor Lord. Looking at the Manor Lord, his back was still arched like a bow, but the bulging in his throat had vanished. The Manor Lord's pained expression seemed to relax.
But then, the Manor Lord, who had his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open.
“Huh? Manor Lord?”
Could it be that the Manor Lord had regained consciousness? Just then, Myo Shin let out a small, rough sound.
“Dammit!”
Then, he hastily pulled a talisman with the character for 'Suppression' written in red from a pouch at his waist and tried to run toward the seemingly awakened Manor Lord. Just then, the Manor Lord's head suddenly twisted to the side in a bizarre way.
Crack!
‘!?’
Go Chan's eyes widened. The Manor Lord's horrifying eyeballs were so bloodshot that they were completely red except for the pupils. With his back arched like that, turning only his head in such a manner was downright terrifying.
At that moment, Occultist Myo Shin formed a single-hand seal with his left hand and chanted an incantation.
“Ilbongtucheonjeong Ilseogwisingyeong Taesanghwasamcheong Geupgeupyeoyullyeongchik!”
Fwip!
The yellow talisman held between Myo Shin's right fingers straightened stiffly. Myo Shin tried to press this straightened talisman onto the forehead of the Manor Lord, whose head was twisted. But then, “Kaaak!”
The Manor Lord let out a bizarre sound and screamed.
“Ugh!”
As the deafening scream echoed, Myo Shin staggered and was pushed back. He wasn't the only one affected by the scream. Go Chan also clamped his hands over his ears from the sudden pain in his eardrums.
'In-internal energy was imbued in it.' The Manor Lord was an internal energy master, so his internal energy was profound. His shout naturally carried internal energy, and its shockwave inflicted pain on those who heard it.
Guard Go Chan, still covering his ears, looked at Mok Gyeong-un. But, 'What, this kid hasn't even trained in internal energy, how is he unaffected?' Mok Gyeong-un was merely frowning slightly.
Could he be just enduring the pain? In that moment of confusion, the Manor Lord, who had screamed, turned his head and tried to straighten his back to get up from the bed.
But, Twang!
The red threads wrapped around the Manor Lord's wrists and ankles pulled taut, preventing him from standing up properly and forcing him into an awkward posture.
Sssssss!
From the areas where the red threads were tied, a faint haze rose along with a pungent smell.
“Kaaaaaaah!”
The bloodshot-eyed Manor Lord roared like a beast, not a human. Then, he pulled his right hand with all his might. Just then, Crash!
The open door was torn from its hinges, and the red thread snapped.
“Damn it!”
Occultist Myo Shin, still staggering from the scream, couldn't hide his dismay. He had secured the red thread firmly, but they had ruined things by opening the door and coming in.
Throb! Throb!
Black veins bulged on the bloodshot Manor Lord's forehead and face. 'To be completely possessed by the anomaly.' This is what they call being possessed.
Now that it had come to this, finding the Manor Lord's official seal and secret manual as requested by the Great Madam Seok was out of the question.
Jingle! Jingle! Snaaap!
While he was dismayed, the Manor Lord tried to break all the red threads strung with silver coins.
“Kuh!”
This was no time to be thinking about the request. Occultist Myo Shin once again rushed toward the Manor Lord to place the talisman on his forehead.
But, Thwack!
“Ugh!”
A careless swing of the Manor Lord's hand sent Occultist Myo Shin tumbling to the floor. 'Wh-what kind of strength...' Myo Shin was utterly bewildered.
While those possessed by anomalies do become stronger than ordinary people, this was on a whole different level. He couldn't muster the strength to restrain the Manor Lord at all.
Creak!
The red thread tying the Manor Lord's left wrist looked like it was about to snap. At this, Occultist Myo Shin looked at Mok Gyeong-un and Go Chan and shouted.
“You-you two, help me. Grab the Manor Lord so he can't break the threads!”
“You want us to grab him?”
Though he didn't understand what was happening, Go Chan could tell the situation was serious. There was no time to think it over. Go Chan hastily rushed toward the Manor Lord.
Mok Gyeong-un did the same.
“Do we just need to hold him?”
“Even if you grab him, never make eye contact. And if your hands feel cold and a chill runs down your spine while holding him, let go immediately!”
Depending on how one heard it, it was quite ambiguous advice. In any case, it felt like something terrible would happen if they didn't restrain the Manor Lord now, so Go Chan didn't ask any more questions and quickly grabbed the Manor Lord's freed right arm.
Grip!
He wanted to grab the restrained left hand, but he couldn't bring himself to tell Mok Gyeong-un to do it. But then a problem arose. The Manor Lord might have been weakened, but he was an internal energy master that even his senior brother, Guard Gam, couldn't face.
Even Go Chan found the Manor Lord's strength difficult to handle.
Smack!
He shook off Go Chan's hand with great ease and instead grabbed his wrist.
“Huh?”
CRUNCH!
The grip was so strong it felt like his wrist would break at any moment. Panicked, Go Chan instinctively tried to twist the Manor Lord's wrist using a grappling technique.
Tap!
At that moment, the strength in the Manor Lord's hand gripping his wrist weakened.
“Huh?”
He was wondering why, when he saw that Myo Shin had already placed the talisman on the Manor Lord's forehead. And forming a hand seal, he chanted an incantation.
“The Northern Emperor bestows upon me a talisman to strike down evil spirits! As I spread the divine scripture, any who dare disobey shall be confined to the Ghost Capital! By my command, act with haste!”
Shudder!
As the talisman was placed, the Manor Lord's body began to convulse. Taking this chance, Go Chan tried to pry the Manor Lord's hand off his wrist. But the moment he tried, the grip tightened again.
Crack!
Go Chan's wrist was snapped. The bone pierced through the flesh and jutted out.
“Kuaaaaaaah!”
A scream erupted from Go Chan's mouth. It was a wonder he could even stand, with the bone not just broken but protruding from his skin. But as the blood that gushed from the pierced flesh touched the Manor Lord's hand, Squirm!
Squirm!
The anomaly, which had been a black bulge centered on his heart, began to creep toward the Manor Lord's right arm with the force of a raging wave.
“Hiiik!”
Go Chan was horrified as it swarmed toward his wrist at an incredible speed. Just then, Myo Shin chanted the incantation once more, more forcefully.
“The Northern Emperor bestows upon me a talisman to strike down evil spirits! As I spread the divine scripture, any who dare disobey shall be confined to the city of Fengdu! By my command, act with haste!”
At that, the creeping anomaly convulsed violently, moving back and forth between the wrist and the elbow. Guard Go Chan urged him on as he tried desperately to get the Manor Lord's hand off him.
“Pl-please, do something!”
“The killing curse has made the Impurity too strong. Bear with it for a little longer. If the anomaly transfers, you will be in danger too.”
“You should have said that earli...”
Creep! Creep!
Just then, the anomaly that had been moving back and forth tried to surge toward the wrist again.
“Huk!”
Startled, Go Chan tried to break free by twisting the Manor Lord's unyielding hand with a grappling technique, but— Shing!
Swish!
In that moment, the unexpected happened. The Manor Lord's wrist, which was gripping Go Chan's, was severed.
‘!?’
The one who had cut off the wrist was none other than Mok Gyeong-un. The sharp sword in Mok Gyeong-un's hand was one of those that had been hanging on the wall. Go Chan was utterly dumbfounded.
Although he was in danger because of the strange phenomenon, he had never expected someone to cut off the Manor Lord's wrist. Occultist Myo Shin was the same. 'Cutting off the Manor Lord's wrist?
What on earth is this kid?' The Manor Lord was the head of this Lotuswood Sword Manor, yet there was not a hint of hesitation.
Creep! Creep!
Just then, as the wrist was severed, the anomaly that had advanced that far tried to move back into the Manor Lord's body.
'Good!'
Another chance had come. If the anomaly targeted the heart again, he intended to control it with talisman arts and somehow suppress the rampaging energy along with the killing curse.
But, Swish!
It was the moment the anomaly was about to move past the elbow toward the shoulder. Mok Gyeong-un suddenly swung the sword down before the anomaly could even travel up, severing the arm below the shoulder. Occultist Myo Shin was so stunned he was flustered and shouted.
“You! You!”
He wanted to say something, but he was too dumbfounded to speak. Mok Gyeong-un spoke to him nonchalantly.
“Isn't this better than forcing it back into the body?”
Spurt! Spurt!
From the Manor Lord's severed arm lying on the floor, black veins bulged wildly as it flapped and thrashed about like a fish out of water. In contrast, color was gradually returning to the Manor Lord's pale face.