Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 223 – Mixed-blooded (4)

“I’ll try to make it so that the Embroidered Uniform Guards apprentices can also be deployed to the underground Golden Jade.”

“Hoho.”

At the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard’s words, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin.

It was a better proposal than he had thought.

Infiltrating as an Embroidered Uniform Guard was a prerequisite, and the next most necessary requirement was a justification to enter the underground Golden Jade.

The plan devised by the advance team was to go through Noble Imperial Concubine Seo.

Noble Imperial Concubine Seo had an elder brother.

Seo Geum, the elder brother of Noble Imperial Concubine Seo, who was originally a common soldier from a small county, had risen to the position of commander thanks to the emperor’s favor during her time as a Noble Consort before her child became the crown prince.

However, it was impossible for everything to go smoothly.

Assigned to the northern Ningxia region, he was merely a former common soldier, so his commanding experience was inevitably lacking. He failed to stop the Great Xiongnu, losing thirty thousand soldiers and even the territory.

[Strip Commander Seo Geum of his position and execute him.]

Naturally, countless impeachment memorials poured in.

However, the emperor, who cherished Noble Consort Seo, couldn’t bring himself to kill her elder brother.

As a result, he was stripped of his position as commander and exiled to a remote island.

A few years later, when the child born to Noble Consort Seo ascended as the crown prince, he was moved to the underground Golden Jade of the imperial palace under the pretext of being the maternal uncle of the next emperor.

[Your Majesty, my elder brother is also deeply repenting for his sins.]

[Your Majesty, my elder brother no longer has any ambition for official positions.]

Noble Imperial Concubine Seo had been working tirelessly to pardon her elder brother Seo Geum, but due to the severity of his crime, her efforts were repeatedly thwarted by opposition from other factions.

It was a regrettable situation for her, but it naturally served as a suitable justification to enter the underground Golden Jade.

‘Attempt to visit the underground Golden Jade accompanied by Noble Imperial Concubine Seo and rescue the imprisoned Guardian of the Fire Faith Order.’

That was the original plan and had the highest probability of success.

However, if another method of infiltration emerged here, there would be no need to persuade Noble Imperial Concubine Seo or fulfill her unnecessary demands.

‘It can avoid troublesome situations, but…’

At this point, Mok Gyeong-un had to take another step further.

It was because, in addition to the secret mission from the Society Leader, there was also a confidential order from the Shadow Clan Master.

[If the escape is successful, seize the Guardian again.]

As a member of the Fire Faith Order, the Shadow Clan Master had given Mok Gyeong-un a confidential order.

This was currently a very contradictory situation.

To become the fourth disciple of the Society Leader, he needed to safely rescue the Guardian, and through this, he could approach the Society Leader.

However, if he failed the mission, that opportunity would be lost.

‘Hmm.’

Mok Gyeong-un continued to ponder over this.

If he ignored the Shadow Clan Master’s confidential order without any countermeasures, he would surely become enemies with him.

That would lead to another troublesome situation.

‘What should I do?’

However, now that there were two routes to infiltrate the underground Golden Jade, there was room to devise something along the way.

After staring intently at the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard, Mok Gyeong-un seemed to have sorted out his thoughts and spoke with a slight smile.

“Alright. Let’s accept that proposal.”

“Is this enough?”

“No. Of course, this alone is insufficient. In the end, I’ll be the one taking the risk of entering the underground Golden Jade.”

“…Then what do you want?”

“Naturally, you’ll have to cooperate with me until I accomplish that.”

“Cooperate with you?”

“Yes. That much should be done to balance the scales, don’t you think?”

“…”

Although he was inwardly dissatisfied with Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard had no choice but to silently accept them since he was not the one holding the reins.

The blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard nodded and said.

“Fine. Then…”

The blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard silently glanced at his abdomen.

Mok Gyeong-un chuckled and said.

“If the task is completed without incident, I’ll remove the Poison Gu for you.”

“What?”

“Is this your first time making a deal? Have you ever seen someone pay the price before receiving the goods?”

“…”

The blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard, who had been clenching his fists and trembling, finally let out a long sigh and replied.

“Understood.”

In any case, he had no other choice.

Although it was close to a gamble, he had to hope that the fellow would keep his promise.

“Well then, now that the deal is made…”

-Step step!

Mok Gyeong-un approached Song-ah, the daughter of the Hong Bong Meat craftsman, to release her acupuncture points.

The blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard, watching Mok Gyeong-un, suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“Go ahead and ask.”

Mok Gyeong-un readily agreed as if it didn’t matter.

The blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard then asked.

“Do you happen to have the surname Jin?”

“The surname Jin?”

“Yes.”

At his question, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“No.”

“Then is it the surname So (肖) or…”

“All sorts of surnames are coming up. It’s the Mok family.”

“The Mok family?”

‘Ah…’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s answer, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard’s eyes trembled.

He had asked out of curiosity, but it wasn’t the case.

That meant he had truly learned it just by observing his martial arts. He was truly a monstrous fellow.

Well, one had to be at this level to be considered to have the talent of a True Grandmaster.

The blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard clicked his tongue and said.

“You really stole and learned the lightness skill.”

“Ah, that lightness skill? It was quite useful. May I ask the name of the footwork?”

“You have no conscience after taking someone else’s technique.”

“I’m asking because you acknowledged it.”

At those words, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“…Wind Cloud, no… Wind God Step[1].”

“Wind God Step? The wind god… It’s an arrogant name, but it suits it in a way.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s evaluation, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard inwardly apologized to his master.

‘I’m sorry. I had no choice.’

Originally, the true name of the footwork was Wind Cloud Step.

However, he couldn’t accurately reveal the details of the lightness skill, so he changed the name.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un said.

“Since we’ve already exchanged one thing, can I ask one more question?”

“What is it?”

“I heard that people from the Western Regions have brown or blonde hair. But your hair is black. Did you dye it with ink or something?”

‘As expected.’

At this question, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard’s eyes sharpened.

As expected, this fellow was no different from others.

Judging by how he suddenly showed interest in his unique appearance, which differed from others.

However…

‘!?’

When he unintentionally looked at Mok Gyeong-un with disappointment, contrary to the question he had asked, he had a dry and indifferent expression, as if he had no particular feelings.

‘What?’

Was it truly a question out of pure curiosity?

Looking at the look in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes, it was neither more nor less than that.

It seemed quite different from other people.

He even remembered the look in his master’s eyes when he first saw him.

Come to think of it, that fellow had shown no particular reaction upon seeing his face. It was no different from how ordinary people looked at him.

Because of that, he felt strange.

‘…’

He was truly a peculiar fellow.

In this case, he would have normally ignored it, but this time, he answered.

“…It’s because I’m mixed-blood.”

His mother was from the Central Plains, while his father was from the Western Regions.

As a result, he was born different from both the people of the Western Regions and the Central Plains, resenting his parents throughout his life.

“Mixed-blood? Ah, I see. So that’s why.”

However, that was all there was to Mok Gyeong-un’s reaction.

As soon as he heard the answer to his question, he turned his head as if his curiosity had been satisfied.

‘Is that all?’

The response was so underwhelming that he even wondered if he had been unnecessarily sensitive.

-Tatatap!

Mok Gyeong-un soon released Song-ah’s acupuncture points.

As the acupuncture points were released and she could hear sounds again, she distanced herself from Mok Gyeong-un with a disgusted face.

This was why she didn’t want to get close to martial artists.

Regardless of her attitude, Mok Gyeong-un paid no heed to it and reached out his hand somewhere.

Then…

-Swish!

The leather pouch on the ground flew into Mok Gyeong-un’s hand.

Seeing this, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard spoke in a startled manner.

“Wait. I need to take that.”

“I said it was not possible. I also need to take the craftsman’s severed hands.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard pointed to Song-ah and said.

“Those aren’t the craftsman’s hands.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Exactly as I said. They used a fake instead of the real craftsman.”

“A fake?”

At this, Mok Gyeong-un looked at Song-ah.

Song-ah nodded and replied.

“…The Embroidered Uniform Guard mister is correct. The master whose arms were severed is just an ordinary butcher.”

“An ordinary butcher? Then, could it be that you’re also a fake?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard said.

“That young lady is not a fake.”

“How do you know whether she’s a fake or not, Thousand-men Commander?”

“You can tell by looking at her hands.”

“Hands?”

At this, Mok Gyeong-un looked at Song-ah’s hands.

Every joint of her fingers was peeled to the point where fingerprints were not visible, and there was not a single intact spot.

Just by looking at this, one could tell that she was not an ordinary person.

“My father is the real craftsman.”

“So, in conclusion, I was deceived by the fake one.”

“…Yes.”

She replied in a groveling voice.

“Oh my.”

At this, Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue lightly.

Then, there was no need to go through the trouble of finding the severed arms.

However, there was no need to blame this.

Thanks to being deceived like this, a new route to enter the underground Golden Jade had emerged.

You could say it was a blessing in disguise.

“Then, there’s no need to take these hands, right?”

“…Although it’s unfortunate for him, it seems this is the best way to prevent the situation from escalating.”

“That’s reasonable.”

At Song-ah’s words, Mok Gyeong-un threw the leather pouch he was holding to the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard sighed as he caught it.

If he didn’t take this with him, things would get complicated, and that fellow would throw a fit.

-Tak!

“Eek! Wh-What are you doing?”

Song-ah, who was suddenly picked up and carried on Mok Gyeong-un’s shoulder like a sack, was flustered and didn’t know what to do.

Regardless, Mok Gyeong-un paid no attention to her.

“I can’t match the young lady’s walking pace. So let’s head back quickly. Then, Thousand-men Commander, I’ll see you later.”

Mok Gyeong-un gave a light bow to the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard and was about to leave.

As he was about to take a step, Mok Gyeong-un paused for a moment and said.

“I almost forgot. I said I’d see you later, but I don’t even know your name.”

“…”

“My name is Mok Gyeong-un. What is your name, Embroidered Uniform Guard Thousand-men Commander?”

At his question, the blue-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard briefly replied.

“Ma Ra-hyeon.”

***

-Swish swish!

“Ugh.”

Song-ah closed her eyes tightly, feeling frightened by the movement that was so fast that her surroundings were not visible.

Mok Gyeong-un, who had been using his lightness skill, suddenly stopped midway after a short distance.

She wondered why, but it was because he had encountered someone along the way.

It was none other than Seop Chun.

“My lord!”

Mok Gyeong-un asked him with a puzzled expression.

“I told you to wait, so why did you come all the way here?”

“There was something urgent to inform you about, and I thought I should come and assist you.”

“Something urgent to inform me about?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Seop Chun glanced at Song-ah, who was being carried on his shoulder, and said.

“It’s about that young lady.”

“This person?”

“Yes. My lord, you may feel displeased, but the master whose arms were severed was not the real craftsman.”

“Ah, you mean that? I already know.”

“You already know?”

“Yes. As you can see. So, did you come to inform me about that?”

“Ah, yes. That’s one thing, but the real craftsman urgently requested me to save that young lady, his daughter.”

However, contrary to his concerns, seeing that Mok Gyeong-un had rescued her was a relief.

In fact, he had rushed over because he thought his lord might only bring back the severed hands.

Still, it was a good thing that he had saved the craftsman’s daughter.

Just then, Mok Gyeong-un asked.

“Well, since I ended up fulfilling the request, that’s fortunate. So, who did you say the real craftsman was?”

“Do you remember the man with a lot of hair who was guiding us?”

“Ah, that person?”

“Yes. He was the real craftsman.”

At Seop Chun’s words, Mok Gyeong-un shook his head and suddenly chuckled.

Puzzled by his laughter, Seop Chun asked.

“Why are you laughing?”

At that question, Mok Gyeong-un suddenly put down Song-ah, whom he had been carrying on his shoulder.

Song-ah also looked at Mok Gyeong-un, unable to understand the situation.

Mok Gyeong-un then said to her.

“Perhaps because your work is secretive, deceiving people seems to have become a daily occurrence for you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I have an exceptionally good memory.”

“Having a good memory, what does that…”

“Among the hairy man and the butchers there, no one had the same palms as the young lady.”

‘!?’

At these words, Song-ah’s expression stiffened, seemingly startled.

Mok Gyeong-un then placed his hand on her shoulder, smiled brightly, and said.

“I thought the craftsman who made human skin masks would be a man with some age, but that wasn’t necessarily the case.”

Seop Chun’s eyes widened at those words as he looked at Song-ah.

“My lord… could it be?”

“Yes. It seems this young lady is the real craftsman.”

‘!!!!!!’