Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 427

Chapter 427 – Soul and Spirit (5)

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go. You’re already my life, Cheong-ryeong.”

‘!!!!!’

The moment she heard Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Cheong-ryeong’s dark red eyes briefly returned to normal, if only for an instant.

However, it didn’t last long.

When the connection was intact, she often resonated with Mok Gyeong-un’s emotions.

While their time together played a part, the influence of their connection couldn’t be ignored.

But because Cheong-ryeong’s very existence was formed from resentment, from the moment the connection was severed, even if she wavered emotionally for a moment, her inherent nature as a vengeful spirit was bound to intensify.

‘No.’

Cheong-ryeong gritted her teeth, holding back her heart that almost wavered for a moment.

Then she shook off Mok Gyeong-un’s hand gripping her wrist with all her might.

-Pak!

‘!?’

At her cold rejection, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes trembled slightly, though barely noticeable.

Seeing this, Cheong-ryeong recalled what the Society Leader had said.

***

[The northern edge of Shaanxi Province. Where there are ruins of a collapsed fortress.]

-…Are you certain the sorcery to unite soul and spirit is there?

[Cough, cough… The Ghost Blade has been searching for traces of the old martial world where alchemy was long practiced. Though it was right under our noses, we didn’t expect it to be there, but it should be certain.]

-…

Without the alchemy, Bi Yong-heon couldn’t achieve what he wanted.

Then, naturally, she could draw him out using this as bait without needing to find him.

Finally, she could settle things with him.

The moment to end this long grudge was not far off.

Then the Society Leader spoke.

[But you should hurry. They too have dug close to those traces.]

-I’ll do so without you urging me.

[Cough, cough… Haa… And there’s one more thing to be cautious about.]

-What should I be cautious of?

[Ryu So-wol… I understand your grudge is deeper than anything else, but this fight is absolutely disadvantageous to you.]

-No. Not anymore.

Though she was angry, she wasn’t alone.

She had tried to fight alone, but there was a reliable ally by her side.

‘Mortal.’

With him, she felt she could overcome anything.

His potential had surpassed her expectations and he had overcome numerous adversities.

And,

-There’s nothing particularly disadvantageous. Even if he’s obtained a body containing the soul, he can’t achieve what he wants unless the other two conditions are met.

Cheong-ryeong thought that if she used this situation, they could gain an even more advantageous position.

But then,

[…That’s not what the Society Leader means.]

Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul, trapped by the blood, interjected cautiously.

She asked curiously.

-What are you trying to say?

To her question, Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul hesitated for a moment before speaking.

[…Wi So-yeon, or rather, the body containing your soul, may be in its last life.]

-What are you talking about?

The body containing the soul is in its last life?

It was hard to understand what he meant.

[As I mentioned earlier, the soul ascends to heaven and goes through a purification process by passing through the celestial gate.]

-So?

[But your soul has been forcibly placed into wombs and reincarnated for a hundred years without going through that process.]

-What’s your point? Is there something else besides being born imperfectly?

[It’s not just the physical body that deteriorates.]

-What?

[The soul too will deteriorate if it doesn’t undergo purification, and eventually it will cease to exist.]

Cheong-ryeong’s expression hardened at Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul’s meaningful words.

What could it mean for the soul to cease to exist?

Wasn’t the soul originally one with the spirit?

If one of them, the soul, disappears, does that mean something will happen to me, the spirit, as well?

To her, at a loss for words, Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul spoke as if regretful.

[If the soul completely ceases to exist instead of ascending to heaven, you, the spirit, will also cease to exist. Because the soul and spirit are born with one fate.]

‘!!!!!!’

For a moment, Cheong-ryeong seemed shocked and didn’t know what to do.

If the soul ceases to exist, she too will completely cease to exist?

Doesn’t that mean there will be no afterlife, nothing at all?

It literally meant the end of existence.

‘If the soul ceases to exist… the spirit dies. If the soul ceases to exist…’

Cheong-ryeong’s mind became complex.

She had thought that everything would end once she resolved the grudge she had built up for a hundred years and stopped his madness and obsession.

But this…

-Drip!

Tears of blood flowed from her eyes.

‘…It’s too cruel.’

Beyond anger, Cheong-ryeong could only shed bloody tears and sigh at the frustration of everything seeming blocked.

Although he had taken everything precious from her, she thought she could escape this cycle if she just took her revenge, but he was pushing her to the edge until the very end.

If Bi Yong-heon were to come out in desperation at the last moment and kill Wi So-yeon, who had her soul, everything would be in vain.

She looked at her trembling palm.

For a moment, his image and Mok Gyeong-un’s flashed by simultaneously.

[You were beautiful… So beautiful, like a single red peony.]

[I can’t help that I’ve already come to like you.]

-Clench!

Cheong-ryeong bit her lip hard.

If her grudge is resolved and she leaves this world, could she meet him again?

Would it be good to give up everything and be with the mortal?

She had thought many things.

But all of that was in vain.

If he doesn’t get what he wants and thinks the game is up, he will eventually make an extreme choice.

If that happens…

‘…Mortal.’

She would cease to exist before him.

She wasn’t afraid of death or ceasing to exist.

She had long since transcended such things.

But what would happen to Mok Gyeong-un after she ceased to exist?

-Drip!

Would she never be able to see him again?

That was too frightening and sad.

Cheong-ryeong clutched her chest and bent over.

It was too painful.

‘…Is it a predetermined tragedy no matter what I do?’

In the end, he would make that choice, and she would cease to exist.

No matter how many strategies she thought of, she couldn’t find a clear answer.

The ending was the same.

Now she understood why he went to such lengths to take Wi So-yeon away.

If Wi So-yeon were in their hands it would be different, but if she fell into his hands, he would hold the final card.

‘Bi… Yong… Heon!’

She was at a loss for words at his madness and obsession.

What should she do?

If the ending was the worst no matter which path she took, the only choice left for her was to choose the lesser evil.

The only move that came to her mind was one.

It was to resolve the situation by herself alone.

‘Draw him in with the alchemy and end all of this together.’

That was the only answer.

It could be said to be an ending where they would perish together.

-Clench!

‘Mortal…’

She couldn’t drag Mok Gyeong-un into this path of carnage.

If Mok Gyeong-un were with her, it would provoke him even more, and in the worst case, she might cease to exist in front of him before even taking her revenge.

If she showed such a sight before him, it would be too tragic.

‘I must cut ties.’

Only then could she end it as just her own tragedy.

She couldn’t bear to see him grieve over losing someone again.

Cheong-ryeong then looked at Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul and the Society Leader.

‘He will try to help somehow.’

Then she had to block that in advance.

If she killed them, the only ones who knew about the Ghost Blade’s whereabouts and this secret, even he would have no choice.

Then Cheong-ryeong approached them, revealing her killing intent.

****

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go. You’re already my life, Cheong-ryeong.”

Though she wavered momentarily at Mok Gyeong-un’s sincere words, she soon cut off all her emotions with resentment and anger.

-…I’m not.

“Don’t lie. You’re wavering, aren’t you?”

-It’s not a lie. If I hadn’t been bound by the connection, I would have left you long ago.

“…”

-To me, you were just a tool for revenge.

“That’s not…”

-No, it is. The man I loved no longer exists in this world. You can never replace him.

At those cold words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes wavered.

For the first time, Cheong-ryeong read the change in Mok Gyeong-un’s emotions and her heart surged.

But she had no choice.

She had to detach him emotionally as well to resolve the situation alone.

‘I’m sorry, mortal.’

Swallowing her bitterness forcibly, Cheong-ryeong concentrated all the spirit energy of the blood realm of the ghost domain and fired numerous swords made of blood towards Mok Gyeong-un.

-Swish swish swish swish swish swish swish swish!

“Cheong-ryeong!”

While cutting through the swords flying at incredible speed with his Invisible Sword, Mok Gyeong-un tried to grab her, but,

-Swish!

The blood whirlwind surrounding her suddenly shrank and then disappeared.

Cheong-ryeong, who had surpassed even the purple spirit level, disappeared as if blending with her surroundings when she attempted to escape in earnest, making it difficult to find her.

-Rustle!

Eventually, the blood that had filled the surroundings disappeared.

The blood realm had been dispelled.

Mok Gyeong-un, who was about to open his qi sense and unleash all his eye power, stopped.

Rationally, he felt he should catch her, but strangely, he couldn’t do it seeing her trying to push him away continuously.

Why?

What made her forcibly push him away?

There must be something.

But with all of them dead, it was difficult to guess what had happened.

If they were alive, maybe something…

-Flinch!

Mok Gyeong-un turned his head somewhere.

He saw a man and a woman collapsed in a corner.

They were Na Yul-ryang, the Society Leader’s first disciple and chief disciple, and Mo Yak, his loyal subordinate and the woman he cherished most.

As Mok Gyeong-un looked at them, his eyes narrowed, then,

-Suk!

He reached out to one of them.

It was Mo Yak.

The moment Mok Gyeong-un made a gesture of pulling, her body rose up on its own and was sucked into Mok Gyeong-un’s hand.

-Pak!

Grabbing her neck, Mok Gyeong-un whispered in her ear.

“You… Why are you pretending to be unconscious when your acupoints have been unsealed?”

-Gulp!

Caught off guard, Mo Yak unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.

***

In a deep valley about thirty li east of the Heaven and Earth Society’s main compound.

There, a group of masked people were catching their breath.

One of the masked figures was carrying a backpack, on which something that looked like a coffin was loaded.

One masked person tapped the coffin with their hand and muttered.

“She won’t wake up, right?”

To this question, the masked person carrying the backpack on their shoulders answered.

“They said she’d be in a state of suspended animation for two weeks, so she won’t wake up for a while. If it seems otherwise, we can just keep applying acupoint seals periodically, so what’s the problem?”

“I guess so.”

The masked person who seemed to be the leader approached them and said.

“Enough chatter. We’re leaving now.”

At this, the masked people stood up with regretful looks in their eyes.

As they stood up, someone somewhere was pondering this situation.

That somewhere was inside the coffin.

-Tak!

The being who should have been in a state of suspended animation inside the coffin opened their eyes wide.

That being was Wi So-yeon, or more accurately, Guard Go Chan who had possessed Wi So-yeon.

Go Chan clicked his tongue as if in a difficult situation.

‘I managed to succeed in possession because of the suspended animation, but what do I do now?’