Hongseong Mountain is a gathering place for spiritual energy, attracting many ghosts in search of it.
As such, those from the Hongseong clan, who have mastered the Hongseong Divine Art, reacted more sensitively to the eerie energy than members of other sects, and this was also true for Heavenly Bright Moon.
To participate in this event, aside from gaining approval from the management or military, others had to complete certain preliminary tasks.
First, they needed to obtain equipment that could respond to the eerie energy, and they also had to gather things like peach tree branches to fight against it.
However, Sayoon was different.
Her mastery of the Hongseong Divine Art allowed her to quickly discover Mack, who possessed the characteristic of ‘calling’ the eerie energy, enabling her to bypass several preliminary tasks and proceed immediately.
Was that the reason?
Hongryeon, Hyunhwi, and Sayoon, who had mastered the Hongseong Divine Art, quietly drew it up, reacting to the eerie energy felt from within.
“Eh? What is it?”
Chaeran, who had learned the Moonlight Technique centered around Moonlight Art, also had to perform preliminary tasks in Heavenly Bright Moon.
The same went for Chaejin, who had learned the Moonlight Style.
“I just feel a bit of an unsettling energy, though?”
Like me, Chaejin only responded slightly to the eerie energy present in Hongseong Mountain and seemed perplexed.
Therefore, Hongryeon calmly said.
“Stay close to the Innkeeper.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Chaejin wasn’t foolish enough to fight even in such a serious situation. She nodded and tightly grasped her Tao, gathering her energy.
“What do you mean, Mack? You’re talking about that thing that parasitizes a person to summon ghosts, giving them nightmares and draining their life energy, right?”
Jang Gweong asked with a frightened tone. It seemed that being under the Munsahgong allowed him some knowledge about evil monsters.
In response to his question, Hongryeon slightly nodded and then looked at Hyunhwi.
“Hyunhwi, protect the Innkeeper with Chaejin.”
“Yes.”
Hyunhwi, who replied with a stern expression, moved beside me.
Seeing me, protected by Chaejin and Hyunhwi, Hongryeon thought for a moment before saying.
“You stay here, Sayoon. Can you help me?”
“Of course.”
As Sayoon grabbed her sword, Hongryeon closed her eyes. Moments later, when her eyes gleamed, a tremendous force erupted from her, strong enough to lift her hair.
– Aaaah!!
An eerie wail reverberated through the once-quiet hall.
Simultaneously, Jang Gweong broke out in a cold sweat as the chilling energy intensified, and screams erupted from within.
“Honey! Honey!”
“Aaaah! Aaaaaaaaah!”
The nightmares inflicted upon the person parasitized by Mack were caused by the ghosts he summoned. As those ghosts, afraid of the Hongseong Divine Art, fled, the Munsahgong’s wife screamed in terror, awakening from her nightmare.
“Sayoon!!”
“Yes!!”
At Hongryeon’s shout, Sayoon drew her sword and rushed in. And then—
– Crash!!
The firmly closed door shattered, revealing what came bursting forth.
It was an elderly woman who perfectly fit the description of grace.
Seeing a woman of the same age as Yohwan lifted into the air with painful screams, Sayoon unsheathed her sword.
With the radiant, multicolored light emanating from the sword, a red blade of energy shot out, cleaving through the black smoke behind the woman.
It was a red sword aura, and what the aura split apart was the black smoke behind the lady.
-Keeeeeek!!
It was a bizarre and horrifying scream. As the black smoke divided by the sword aura began to disperse and vanish into the sky, Sayoon caught the lady falling from the air.
“Uuuhhh…”
As the black smoke disappeared, the lady, completely awake from her nightmare, groaned and lifted her head.
Watching this, Hongryeon stopped emitting energy and looked towards the old man standing in a daze, then cupped her hands in respect.
“Are you Munsahgong?”
“W-who are you! What is happening!! Just now, that was…”
Seeing the bewildered old man, Hongryeon hesitated for a moment and then glanced at me. It seemed she felt a bit pressured dealing with someone who used to be a high-ranking official, especially one who avoided Murim people.
Yeah. I guess this is something I should handle.
I stepped forward, cupping my hands, and said, “We came to hear what happened to Munsahgong and to lend our assistance, even if just a little.”
“Uh…”
“I am Yu Wol from Seomhwa Village.”
I introduced myself as the representative for now. Then, I handed him Cheonilhwa’s letter of introduction, and the startled Munsahgong sighed deeply after receiving it.
“Cheonilhwa… alright. Please, come inside.”
Although he claimed to avoid Murim people, Munsahgong was not rude enough to shun those who helped him.
Perhaps that was why, with a more relaxed expression, he looked at his sleeping wife and treated us with courtesy.
“I am Munsahgong. Just call me Mun Haksab comfortably.”
“I am Hongryeon, the Grand Disciple of Hongseong Clan and an inspector of Murim Alliance. And these are my fellow disciples.”
“I am Hyunhwi from Hongseong Clan.”
“I am Sayoon from Hongseong Clan.”
“I am Chaejin, the Grand Disciple of Moonjeong and a senior battle official of Murim Alliance.”
After the brief introductions, Munsahgong nodded. A moment of silence followed, which was broken by Hongryeon.
“I had to forcibly release the accumulated evil energy. I apologize for the fright it caused.”
“O-oh. No, no. It’s been ages since I’ve seen my wife’s face look so peaceful while sleeping. You said you’re from Hongseong? I’ve heard much about you. Surely, the Sword Saint…”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“I see. When I was in the imperial palace, the Sword Saint traveled the world and performed many good deeds… you even visited the imperial palace once.”
“I see.”
While he was easing into casual conversation, he let out a heavy sigh. It seemed he was about to get to the main topic.
“Do you have any idea why this has happened?”
“I heard your name is Yu Wol, right? Yes, Yu Seonsaeng. There’s something that has been bothering me.”
Just as in Cheonsangmyeongwol, it seemed he was aware of the circumstances surrounding how his wife came to be possessed by Mack.
“A few months ago, people appeared wanting to buy the mountain of our family. But that mountain is our ancestral land—how could we sell it? Shortly after that…”
“Your wife began having nightmares, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
He nodded with a gloomy expression and sighed heavily.
“I tried to stop my wife’s nightmares by inviting some shamans and monks for rituals, but it wasn’t effective. Yet, now, distinguished guests have come to resolve this for us. Thank you. I will never forget this grace.”
“However, I didn’t achieve much success. It’s great that the noble ones came to help me out like this. Thank you. I will never forget this grace.”
“If you had contacted the Shaolin Temple or the Wudang Sect, you might have received some help…”
“The martial arts of the Shaolin Temple possess the power to repel evil, and the Wudang Sect has its own members who fight against evil spirits.”
When Chaejin asked, Munsahgong nodded.
“I couldn’t bring myself to ask them for help as our relationship has not been good for a long time. My wife also strongly advised against it… However, as my situation worsened, I was planning to humble myself and go to them soon. But now, I have received help like this. Truly, thank you.”
Munsahgong rose from his seat and bowed. Hongryeon shook her head at him.
“It’s not over yet. So, I would appreciate it if you saved your thanks for later.”
“What do you mean by ‘not over yet’?”
“Yes. The Mack is an evil monster that reveals itself at night… We need to wait until night. So, let’s meet again tonight.”
“I see… If you prefer, you may stay here.”
“No, that’s fine.”
“If that’s the case…”
Munsahgong, clearly worn out, left as well. After things wrapped up and we returned to the inn, everyone gathered in my room. Hongryeon asked me,
“What do you think?”
“If you’re asking for my opinion… There’s really only one answer. And it seems like everyone has a similar thought.”
Upon looking at Chaejin, she nodded, and together we spoke.
“The Demon Cult.”
In this event, it was the Demon Cult that made Munsahgong’s wife host the Mack and demanded he sell the mountain.
Originally, in Heavenly Bright Moon, one could say that one-third of incidents were caused by the Iron Blood Clan, and one-third by the Demon Cult.
In other words, this too was the doing of the Demon Cult.
“But why would the Demon Cult want to buy that mountain?”
“Well… There are many possible reasons, but isn’t there really only one plausible explanation?”
I smiled at Sayoon, and Hyunhwi responded seriously.
“Is there something hidden in that mountain? But if they need to buy it instead of searching quietly…”
“It would likely require large-scale construction or manpower to uncover it. And such cases mostly involve…”
Chaejin continued my thought.
“A secret realm?”
“If so, what kind of secret realm would warrant attacking a good person like Munsahgong to obtain that mountain?”
As Hyunhwi muttered gruffly, everyone looked at me.
“Not that I know everything.”
“Still, I’m looking forward to it. Do you happen to know any good answers?”
Hongryeon smiled brightly, Chaejin nodded, and Sayoon’s eyes sparkled.
Hyunhwi remained stoic as always, but there was trust in her gaze.
“Even though they are from the Demon Cult, they are still people. People move because they each have their desires. So, what do you think is the Demon Cult’s greatest desire right now?”
Given that Hongryeon and Chaejin have been involved with the Murim Alliance, they likely have some understanding of the current situation with the Demon Cult.
Therefore, their eyes lit up at my question.
“…The position of the leader of the Demonic Sect.”
“Indeed. However, right now, the Demonic Sect is sharply divided among five clans, making it impossible for anyone to stand for the leader’s position. If one tries to dominate, the other four clans will unite to attack. But, there is a way to suppress that division all at once and rise to the leader’s role.”
Hyunhwi raised her hand slightly.
“The trace of Cheonma… perhaps?”
I smiled and nodded.
“I heard it when I was talking with Hano before. If someone can hold all the traces of Cheonma without the agreement of the five clans, or if they can complete a half-finished Cheonma martial art, they can become the leader. But as for the Cheonma martial art, the Demonic Sect is still at a loss, and the five clans, who are currently unwilling to go to war but possess similar strength, are desperate to acquire the traces of Cheonma.”
The traces of Cheonma sound grand, but in reality, it’s just a symbol.
In Heavenly Bright Moon, it has no real effect.
But the Demonic Sect, being a religious organization, tends to obsess over such symbols.
Anyway, it seems that Hongryeon and Chaejin were also aware of the story about the traces of Cheonma.
As they nodded, I tapped the table.
“They must want to take that mountain because it has the traces of Cheonma.”
“But if it’s the ancestral land of someone like Munsahgong, there should be many people managing it. If they are present, even the Demonic Sect would find it hard to search quietly, so were they planning to buy it outright to investigate…? Isn’t that a bit too obvious?”
“If they buy it and don’t immediately investigate or develop it, it should be fine. Both the Murim Alliance and the government have limited manpower, and they can’t just keep guarding and investigating that place forever. Also, the Demonic Sect is currently in a deadlock with the five clans, so it would benefit them to take their time looking for the traces of Cheonma when the watch has eased, thus they were likely planning to proceed slowly.”
“That’s true…”
Anyway, that decided what we needed to do.
“When things get complicated, they say to resolve the immediate matters first. Regardless of whether our assumptions are correct, let’s prioritize taking down Mack today. We can think about the next steps later.”
-Knock, knock.
Just then, there was a sound of knocking on the door. Who could it be? There shouldn’t be anyone here looking for us.
Feeling puzzled, Chaejin opened the door and gasped upon seeing the person standing there.
“…What are you doing here?”
“Oh? Well…”
Standing at the door was Chaeran. With a bright smile, she waved at Sayoon inside.
“I saw the letter sent from Hongseong and figured I should stop by the Murim Alliance first because my friend is experiencing it—how could I just sit back?”
“Uh… Really?”
Perfect timing.
“It’s been a while.”
“Hehe. It has been a while. How have you been?”
As Chaeran greeted warmly, I extended my hand.
“Since you’re here, why not join me for a task?”
“…What?”
Chaeran, puzzled, joined with all her might.
Great.
With the power overflowing, we should be able to easily crush the event with Mack.
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