Myst, Might, Mahem

Note: Parts of this chapter sound sus… comment when you reach it lmao…

Note 2: No comments, no power stones… do you guys even want to read this novel? Anyways, this is my second and last chapter for the day. I am off, I need to head out irl. See you guys tomorrow…

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The second Young Master, Mok Eunpyeong, had great ambitions.

In addition to the swordsmanship of Yeonmok Sword Hall, he has also mastered the fighting skills of his mother, Mrs. Jang's home, Hoebuk Sword Manor, and his talent in martial arts was quite outstanding ever since he was young.

Therefore, he was confident that he would be the next leader of the Yeonmok Sword Hall.

As the eldest son, Mok Yeongho was greedy and showed off his personality, making him unqualified as a successor, so he naturally assumed that he would be the next in line for succession.

But that was a miscalculation.

'Mok Yucheon.'

Jangju's favour was with him; the youngest.

What made this possible was that he possessed an innate martial talent that allowed him to master all the martial arts of the Yeonmok Sword Hall at the age of only fourteen and rise to the level of a first-class expert.

As Mok Yucheon rose to prominence, Jangju hesitated on deciding the successor.

'I can't miss this opportunity.'

He saw the fact that Jangju's life was in danger as an opportunity. Fortunately, Mok Yucheon was the son of a lowly concubine, so there was no power around her. It was difficult for him to ascend to the position of lord on his own abilities and non-existent connections unless the lord himself declared the position.

Therefore, the key was to beat the remaining successors.

'If you look at them alone, no one can be my opponent. Both are completely incompetent.'

The only thing First young master Mok Yeongho knows how to do is showing-off, and the third, Mok Gyeongwoon, is an incompetent coward.

However, behind First young master Mok Yeongho was Jangju's wife, Lady Seok. Because she was from Seokgajang Sword Manor, she was quite powerful. Moreover, among the vassals, there were still many old geezers who advocated the priority of the eldest son becoming the legitimate successor.

'Mok Gyeongwoon…'

Among his brothers, the one who was inferior in every way except his face, which looks like a parasite brother, has been coveting the position of successor for some time. The great lady thought the guy was funny and didn't pay any attention to him, but he was different.

'He had a Special personal guard?'

This guy had a Special guard who was very powerful. He was called Guard Kam, and it turned out that Mok Gyeongwoon has directly asked Lord Jangju for a personal guard, which turned out to be him.

So, he was interested and looked into it and found out some pretty interesting facts. Because of this, Mok Eunpyeong came to believe that the third child, Mok Gyeongwoon, was someone with whom he should not let down his guard too hastily.

But something unexpected happened.

'Is heaven helping me?'

"Do you want to be mine?" Mok Eunpyeong managed to calm the twitching corner of his mouth.

This man kneeling down on one knee in front of him and bowing was none other than Guard Kam, Mok Gyeongwoon's bodyguard warrior. The man who wanted it so badly came to him on his own. At a very odd time.

"Please accept me. Young Master."

Seeing this guard, Mok Eunpyeong stroked his chin and opened his mouth.

"This offer… it's really tempting."

Hearing Mok Eunpyeong's words, Guard Kam thought to himself that it was a good start. Guard Kam, who was trying to make a decision after observing Jangju's condition and the surrounding trends, eventually chose Mok Eunpyeong, the second Young Master.

The eldest, Mok Yeongho, was greatly influenced by the great lady, and the youngest, Mok Yucheon, had nothing but his strength.

'It's cunning, but it's better to deal with it this way.'

Therefore, Mok Eunpyeong was chosen as the next best alternative to the real dead Mok Gyeongwoon. Although he was cunning and suspicious, he was confident that Mok Eunpyeong, who was greedy for talent, would accept him.

"But. The situation is truly difficult."

"Yes?"

"As you know, I think highly of Guard Kam. However, I doubt that it would be normal, but since they are asking me to accept it in a situation where a succession competition is ahead, I am suspicious."

'As expected.' Guard Kam slightly nodded his head at Mok Eunpyeong's words. Naturally, he assumed that the young master, who had a lot of doubts, would not believe it right away.

"I understand. However, I have good a reason why I can no longer serve Young Master Mok Gyeongwoon."

"Why can't you serve Mok Gyeongwoon?"

"Yes."

"What is that?"

"I can't tell you right now."

Mok Eunpyeong snorted at those words. If you can't reveal the reason why you can't attend, what's the point? He thought it was absurd, but Guard Kam said with a grin.

"It's just that it's difficult to tell right now because it's one of Young Master Mok Gyeongwoon's weaknesses. I can tell you as much as I want if you accept me."

"Oh? Are you bargaining with me now?"

"Please understand the circumstances."

"Understand… Then, let's leave it for later. Tell me about his other weaknesses."

"Of course."

"What is it?"

"Young Master Mok Gyeongwoon is currently unable to practice martial arts at all."

"What?" One of Mok Eunpyeong's eyebrows twitched as if he was interested.

"Is that true?"

"There is not a single lie."

"Are you wearing a coin coat or something?"

"…You could say they are similar."

In fact, because he was a fake, he couldn't even learn martial arts in the first place. However, because we could not reveal this fact and make the death of the real Mok Gyeongwoon public, he glossed over it.

Mok Eunpyeong's face brightened at these words from Guard Kam. As expected, Yeonmok Sword Hall was from a military family. If the person who was supposed to be the head of a group practicing martial arts was unable to use martial arts, it was no different from losing the qualifications to be the leader.

"That guy lost his martial arts skills."

Originally, there was no martial talent, but the situation was different if one could not use martial arts completely. He was not even qualified to participate in the succession competition.

Guard Kam said to Mok Eunpyeong, who could not hide his joy, "If you would only accept me, I can give you more useful information."

Mok Eunpyeong pretended to be worried about his words and then said with a grin, "I wondered if Guard Kam trying to be Hwang Gai."

There was a story about Huang Gai, a vassal of Sun Quan of the Wu Dynasty, pretending to be tortured and falsely surrendering to Cao Cao of the Wei Dynasty in the Battle of Red Cliffs.

It was Mok Eunpyeong who thought it might be Huang Gai sent by Mok Gyeongwoon, who had known that he had been coveting these special guards for a long time.

At this, Guard Kam chuckled and said, "I am embarrassed to tell you this because I am the former owner, but Young Master Mok Gyeongwoon is not capable of even thinking of such a plan."

"Hahaha. I guess so."

"If I do, will you accept it?"

"Of course. How can we miss out on such a talented person?"

Guard Kam bowed his head and expressed his gratitude at Mok Eunpyeong's words.

"Thank you for accepting me."

"No. I am thankful that Guard Kam made the right decision for the position of Lord Yeonmok. But I'm sorry for asking you to do this as soon as you came under my wing, but I want you to do one thing for me."

At those words, Guard Kam pounded his chest and spoke loudly.

"Please give me as many orders as you want."

Right now, he had to show off to Mok Eunpyeong. But then something unexpected came out of his mouth.

"I think Guard Kam, who was once a Special guard, can do the job."

'!?'

Guard Kam's expression hardened. He never would have thought that Mok Eunpyeong would have investigated his past. He knew he was clever, but he still thought he was a kid, so he guess let his guard down.

…

At the end of the Zisi period.

It is a time when everyone was asleep and even the warrior guards guarding the front of the medicine hall were dozing off.

*Drur*

'Hoo~'

When he opened the medicine drawer labelled Oyang (梧凉), a hidden entrance was revealed. As he was worried, perhaps because it was a secret space, there was no loud noise. Mok Gyeongwoon held a lantern and entered the hidden entrance.

*Sabagsabag*

He quietly went down the basement stairs. The stairs went much deeper than he had thought.

'It's quite deep.'

He was walking down for more than two floors, and something felt suspicious. It was quite deep for a space created to hide the main seal and a secret book. It was around the time when he went into a depth of about three stories.

A cavity about one-third the size of the pharmacy appeared.

'Ah!'

There were stone gates in the cavity that appeared to be four entrances. And above the stone gate was engraved: Gapeul Byeong-jeong.

[About…Dang…Underground…Jeong Seok…Moon…Inside]

Mok Gyeongwoon recalled what Jang Ju had said. Since he said it was inside the main stone gate among the four passages, it seemed like he could just go in there without having to look at the other passages first.

Mok Gyeongwoon approached the front of the Jeong stone gate. When the stone door was opened, a straight cave passage was revealed.

'About twenty steps?'

It was about that distance. Mok Gyeongwoon, who was about to go straight inside, stopped as soon as he put his foot down on the floor. That was because I suddenly discovered something at the top of the cave passage.

'What?'

When he reached out to the top of the rugged cave passage, I saw a hole that could fit two or three fingers. However, he didn't know if there was only one, but it was located all the way inside the passage at regular intervals.

Mok Gyeongwoon became puzzled and looked around. I saw a few fist-sized stones on one side of the cavity.

Mok Gyeongwoon picked up a stone and clinked it in his hand, then threw it into the passage. Before the stone even hit the floor and rolled.

*Papapapap*

At that moment, something pointed and sharp like a spear protruded from the right and left sides of the floor.

If I had just gone in without knowing how to do it, my leg or thigh would have been pierced by the spear.

Mok Gyeongwoon saw this and raised one corner of his mouth.

'This is fun. Did you set up this trap because you were worried that your official seal and secret certificate might be stolen? For something like that, it seems quite excessive. Is it true that there are really official seals and secret documents inside?'

Mok Gyeongwoon, who was looking inside the cave, immediately closed and opened his hands repeatedly.

'I'll know when I see it.'

H felt like he had to go in to find out. Mok Gyeongwoon put the lamp's handle in his mouth, jumped up without hesitation, and put three fingers into the hole visible in the cave ceiling.

It would be difficult for an ordinary person to support his body with only two fingers, but for Mok Gyeongwoon, it was not that difficult.

*Sigh*

Mok Gyeongwoon extended his left hand into the hole in front and inserted his index and middle fingers. In that way, Mok Gyeongwoon climbed the ceiling and moved about two steps forward.

'That's right. It is as expected. You can move forward by inserting your fingers into the holes in the ceiling without touching the floor. Then the trap in the cave will not activate!'

Mok Gyeongwoon, who found out about this, without the slightest hesitation, pushed his fingers into the holes in the ceiling in front of the passage and advanced forward.

*Closely*

*Closely*

*Closely*

After moving about 20 steps, the cave passage ended and a space measuring about 23 sq. m. appeared. As Mok Gyeongwoon came inside, a strange look appeared in his eyes.

'What?'

There were several artillery-like objects inside, and there were numerous traces everywhere.

'Footprints?'

There were numerous footprints in the deep depressions in the floor, and there were many traces of damage on the walls as a result of impact. Mok Gyeongwoon walked over and looked inside the battery. There was something like a small kernel inside, and after sniffing it, Mok Gyeongwoon realized what it was.

'Fasting Pill?'

It is made by combining pine powder and various grains, and is a single ring made by Taoist practitioners for the closed-door cultivation in places such as caves. It is used to supplement minimal food intake, but depending on the combination, it can also play a role in expelling waste from the body.

Mok Gyeongwoon, who had a wealth of knowledge about medicinal herbs, always ate the Fasting Pills made by his grandfather as a snack.

'Why is a fasting pill here?'

'It seems like it was meant to be here for a long time. Did he do some sort of martial arts training here alone?'

Mok Gyeongwoon, who was fiddling with Fasting Pill, soon turned his gaze elsewhere. There was something like a decorative cabinet built on one wall, and there were several wooden boxes there.

'Is that it?'

Mok Gyeongwoon approached the place and opened one of the wooden boxes that caught his eye. When he opened it, there was a book inside.

[Yeonmok seong geom gyeol (然木成劍結)]

'Does this mean that it is an emergency document?'

Mok Gyeongwoon took out the book and flipped through it. Inside, numerous phrases and movements related to sword cutting were written in detail. Although he didn't learn martial arts, he knew at least that this was swordsmanship.

'I guess that's it?'

He don't know if this is exactly the kind of book that the great lady Seok was aiming for. In the first place, he couldn't help it because he didn't even know what Yeonmok Sword Hall's martial arts were. Mok Gyeongwoon also opened another wooden box.

*Sweet*

When he opened the wooden box, there was

[Soft Tree Transformation Method]

That was what the book was named. Mok Gyeongwoon took it out, flicked through it quickly, and nodded. It seems to be paired with the [Yeonmokseonggeomjeok] in front, and it contained detailed information on breathing and luck techniques for gathering and manipulating internal energy.

'I guess I should read this too.'

Mok Gyeongwoon opened other boxes one after another. There were no books related to martial arts in other boxes, but there were surprisingly some interesting ones.

However, the Jangju seal was not yet visible.

'All that's left is this box.'

There was nothing around anymore. In response, Mok Gyeongwoon took out the box near the floor and lifted it up. However, unlike other wooden boxes, there was an old piece of paper with a pattern attached to the opening of this box. Looking at the paper torn in half, it looked like it had been put on the wooden box as a sign telling people not to open it.

Mok Gyeongwoon opened it without much thought. Of course, he thought there would be the lord's official seal inside.

'!?'

Mok Gyeongwoon tilted his head. Inside, there was no seal that should have been there, and there was an old book with an extremely pungent smell surrounded by red prayer beads. But what is surprising is the cover of the book…

'Is this…skin?'

No matter how he looked at it, it looked like it was made of something like human skin. An ordinary person would have been shocked if they knew this was made from human skin, but Mok Gyeongwoon looked quite intrigued.

'I wonder what this is.'

It was just as he was about to put my hand on it.

*Sleep*

At that moment, something like smoke appeared through the ceiling. It was none other than Demon Monk.

Just like the guard Go Chan above, he was placed as a guard, and him appearing like this meant that someone was approaching the pharmacy.

…

As expected, Demon Monk was trying to say something. However, when Demon Monk looked at the wooden box in Mok Gyeongwoon's hand, he immediately exclaimed.

"!!!!!"

His whole body trembled.

*Park*

He fell flat on the floor and began bowing, raising his hands up with a look on his face full of awe.