Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 209 – Karma (6)

The resentful soul Ha-yoon had already lost the will to fight against Cheong-ryeong’s Ghost Realm that ignored even his unique territory and covered it.

Although his rank had reached the Indigo Spirit level, he thought that since this was his territory, even if he couldn’t harm her, he might be able to drive her out.

However, that was nothing more than a faint hope.

Cheong-ryeong said to the resentful soul Ha-yoon, who had a dejected expression, with a sardonic smile,

“Foolish one. If the great me sets her mind to it, it’s nothing to drive out you and the evil spirits in this area.”

“…I suppose so.”

“So I’ll give you one last chance.”

“…”

“Return that body to its original owner and leave this area. Then, neither this seat nor these mortals will interfere any further and will leave.”

Cheong-ryeong bestowed her final mercy.

In any case, her goal wasn’t to destroy or drive out the resentful souls in this area.

Her purpose was simply to bring the estate owner, the boat owner, to his senses so that Mok Gyeong-un and his party could cross the river.

Right then, the resentful soul Ha-yoon opened his mouth.

“Why is a great resentful soul of your high rank following the orders of a mere human?”

“A mere human?”

“Yes. I’m curious about that.”

The resentful soul Ha-yoon had already realized that fighting Cheong-ryeong with power was futile.

So he decided to change his approach.

It seemed that this high-ranked Indigo Spirit level resentful soul was following that human bastard.

However, even after being a resentful soul for a long time, he had never seen a resentful soul of this high rank, let alone one filled with grudge, being tied to a human.

In the first place, it was because of that grudge that they maintained their spiritual body and remained in this world.

So the resentful soul Ha-yoon tried to somehow touch Cheong-ryeong’s pride and create a rift in their relationship.

Cheong-ryeong took a puff from the long pipe and exhaled.

“Hoo.”

Then,

Bang!

She suddenly appeared in front of the resentful soul Ha-yoon, who was dwelling in the estate owner’s body, grabbed his neck, and pushed him against a wooden pillar.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

“I tried to bestow mercy, but you’re trying to scheme, huh.”

Squeak!

As Cheong-ryeong raised her spiritual power, the resentful soul Ha-yoon groaned in pain.

“Kuuk.”

“The reason this seat tried to show mercy to you was because I understood the deep grudge you held for staying in this world for such a long time. But if you’re going to pull this kind of nonsense, the story changes.”

“H-how…”

“Do you think destroying a bastard like you is a big deal for this seat?”

“Uuugh.”

“I’ll destroy you right now.”

A crimson haze flickered from Cheong-ryeong’s hand gripping the neck of the resentful soul Ha-yoon.

She was really trying to erase the resentful soul Ha-yoon with a strong spiritual power.

Then, feeling the crisis of destruction, the resentful soul Ha-yoon gritted his teeth and shouted,

“Fine. If you’re going to be like that, I will be with this person’s soul.”

“What?”

At those words, Cheong-ryeong frowned.

Mok Gyeong-un asked, puzzled,

“Why is he doing that?”

“He’s trying to perish together.”

Perishing together.

It means to walk the path of destruction together.

“Hmm. This is troublesome. Can’t we get rid of him before that?”

“If a resentful soul of this high rank earnestly tries to attach to the original owner’s soul of the body and cause harm, it will have an impact in some way.”

“For example?”

“Even if he avoids death, he may suffer damage to his soul and live as a vegetative person who only breathes for the rest of his life.”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue.

If he was going to be destroyed anyway, this meant that he would at least take the owner of the body with him.

Their goal from the beginning was the estate owner.

Since he was the owner of the large boat and the one who could control it, they were trying to save him somehow, but if he acted like this, it would become quite troublesome.

So Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue and then sent a telepathic message to Cheong-ryeong.

“Please stall for some time. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll have to bind his soul with monastic techniques so it can’t attach.”

If a resentful soul of this high rank forcibly possessed someone, it was difficult to forcibly separate them with monastic techniques.

However, temporarily binding them was a separate issue.

If they could just bind him for a while, Cheong-ryeong could destroy him.

Cheong-ryeong lowered her spiritual power without revealing Mok Gyeong-un’s telepathic message and said,

“Why are you so obsessed with them to the point of even accepting your own destruction?”

“…”

“It wouldn’t be related to your fundamental grudge, right?”

The fundamental grudge referred to the real reason this existence became a resentful soul.

At Cheong-ryeong’s words, the resentful soul Ha-yoon opened his mouth.

“You don’t know.”

“What do I not know?”

“You don’t know how great a karma they have committed.”

“You keep saying karma, karma, but did this Woo family do something hateful to you or the resentful souls?”

At Cheong-ryeong’s question, the resentful soul Ha-yoon pointed to the surroundings with his eyes and said,

“Why do you think this place is my territory?”

“…Isn’t this area related to your grudge or where you lost your body?”

“That’s right.”

“Wait, if this entire area is your territory, then not only the Woo family but also the people of the surrounding villages are equally invading your territory, aren’t they?”

“They are different.”

“What do you mean they are different?”

“The residents of this village have been managing my tomb and shrine, which had been neglected for generations, and they set up an altar here to commemorate the souls of the dead.”

“Oh? They are admirable people.”

Even those who become resentful souls due to deep grudges are comforted when someone honors their souls.

Being comforted means that even if the grudge is not fundamentally resolved, the grudge they held is gradually released through the holding of rituals.

“Then what exactly is the problem? What did they do to make you so angry to this extent?”

At that question, the resentful soul Ha-yoon said with fierce eyes, trembling,

“They demolished my shrine that had been on this hill for over a hundred years, dug up my grave, and built their own estate.”

“What?”

At these words, Cheong-ryeong frowned.

She had only asked to stall for time.

But the moment she heard these words, she found it ridiculous.

“Then are you saying that the location of this estate is where your shrine and tomb that people held rituals for you were?”

“That’s right.”

“Ha!”

Cheong-ryeong was astounded.

She now understood why the resentful soul Ha-yoon was trying to take revenge on this family even at the risk of his own destruction.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

“That’s not all.”

“If that’s not all, then what else is there?”

“Yes. The owner of this estate was a military officer in the Heavenly Defense Unit[1] belonging to the nearby Navy Regional Command.”

At these words, the eyes of Mok Gyeong-un, who was inwardly chanting a spell, narrowed.

As Cheong-ryeong predicted, the estate owner was indeed a military officer.

Moreover, he was from the navy.

“Did you see the meritorious service plaque at the front gate?”

“Yes. Wasn’t it written as Meritorious Retainer of Quelling Turmoil, Fourth Rank?”

“Do you think that merit was earned by suppressing rebels who started an uprising?”

“What do you mean by that?”

The resentful soul Ha-yoon pointed to himself and said to the puzzled Cheong-ryeong,

“A few years ago, due to the ongoing famine, people were starving to death throughout the country, and not long after, a plague began to spread.”

“Plague?”

“Originally, there was a prefecture near here where over a thousand people lived.”

“And?”

“When the plague broke out among some people there, even the Heavenly Defense Unit of the nearby Navy Regional Command was mobilized to prevent it from spreading.”

“Don’t tell me being mobilized means…”

“It’s exactly what you think.”

“…”

“The mobilized government troops brutally slaughtered the villagers.”

“…”

“And Woo In-yeom, the owner of this body, drove thousands of innocent people fleeing here and drowned them all. Even though most of them were not infected with the plague.”

‘!!!!!!!’

At the resentful soul Ha-yoon’s words, not only Cheong-ryeong but also Seop Chun, Mong Mu-yak, and even the exiled monk Ja Geum-jeong, who were listening, had dumbfounded expressions.

They had guessed that they must have done something to provoke the resentful souls, but it surpassed their expectations.

Right then,

“Th-that’s a lie! Lord Woo did not do such a thing!”

It was the young man who was supporting Woo-hyang, the unconscious daughter of the estate owner.

The young man shouted with a pale face,

“Do you believe the words of that evil spirit, dear guests? Lord Woo is a meritorious subject who killed rebels and prevented the plague! That evil spirit is slandering him to deceive you!”

It was right after those words ended.

The resentful soul Ha-yoon burst into mad laughter.

“Hahahahahahaha! Not only did they commit an act that would anger both heaven and man, but they even destroyed the altar where the souls of the villagers who were unjustly drowned were commemorated and prevented them from doing so, and yet you say such things? Hahahahaha.”

He was laughing, but it wasn’t a genuine laughter.

It was anger bordering on lamentation.

As the laughter of the resentful soul Ha-yoon spread in all directions, before long, the cries of resentful souls were heard from the surroundings, sounding like wails.

“Woooooo!”

“Huuuuuu!”

It was as if the resentful souls were responding to his anger.

Even though they were suppressed and driven away by Cheong-ryeong’s tremendous spiritual power, they kept flocking.

As if they were prepared for destruction like the resentful soul Ha-yoon.

Seeing this, Cheong-ryeong sighed and glanced at Mok Gyeong-un.

She had engaged in conversation to buy time until he completed the spell, but she now understood why they called it karma and were trying to take revenge on the Woo family.

‘Haa.’

Honestly, she didn’t want to interfere with what they were doing.

This was literally karmic retribution.

They had to bear the karma of what they had done.

However,

‘The boat…’

Right now, Mok Gyeong-un and his party needed to cross this river.

Although it was covered by the Ghost Realm, the river that was flooded and had heavy rain pouring down was close to being uncrossable for a while.

If they failed to meet the deadline and Mok Gyeong-un couldn’t complete his secret mission, it might hinder her own resolution of grudges.

It was a moment of conflicting interests in many ways.

‘But will this guy be swayed by such things?’

Having been together for a long time, Cheong-ryeong knew Mok Gyeong-un better than anyone.

She didn’t know about others, but Mok Gyeong-un, who had a different line of thinking, never wavered for the sake of others’ stories or affection for the sake of his own purposes.

Even in this case, no matter how much she understood their grudge…

Right then,

“This is quite a tragic story.”

‘!?’

An unexpected remark came out of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth.

Could it be that this emotionally numb guy sympathized with their grudge?

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the resentful soul Ha-yoon said in an earnest voice,

“Human who has a connection with a high-ranked resentful soul. If you truly understand even a little of the feelings of me and the resentful souls who died unjustly, can’t you just back off like this?”

“I’m sorry, but that seems a bit difficult.”

“What?”

“No matter how many died, that’s your circumstance.”

Pak! Pak! Pak!

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un formed a hand seal and then, faster than the eye could see, placed a talisman on the forehead of Woo In-yeom, the estate owner possessed by the resentful soul Ha-yoon.

Then,

“Th-this is…”

“I’d appreciate it if you could stay in that state for a bit. It will be over soon.”

Mok Gyeong-un raised the corner of his mouth sardonically.

Seeing that, Cheong-ryeong said in a somewhat disapproving tone,

“Are you really going to destroy them?”

“Yes. Because this is their story, not something related to me.”

“…”

“We need to hurry and cross the river, and if there’s a setback in the task due to their story and I fail the mission, the position of being the fourth disciple will also be lost. Isn’t that right?”

“Hoo.”

At those words, Cheong-ryeong shook her head with a sigh.

As expected, this guy wasn’t swayed by such things.

If there was a human who lacked compassion, it would probably be this guy.

There was no other way.

‘Resent me as well.’

Cheong-ryeong tried to raise her spiritual power.

Then, the young man who was supporting Woo-hyang, the daughter of Woo In-yeom, who had been watching with tension, let out a sigh of relief as if it was fortunate.

He was worried that they might side with the resentful souls.

‘No matter what, they are dead things. Does it make sense for Lord Woo and the young lady to die because of these things that were infected with the plague and caused harm to the country?’

Anything that threatened the living was an evil spirit, no matter what.

The young man expressed his gratitude to Mok Gyeong-un.

“I sincerely thank you. If you deal with all those damn evil spirits, Lord Woo will greatly reward you.”

“I’m not doing this for your sake, so there’s no need to thank me. I’m just doing what aligns with my interests.”

“…”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s curt words, the young man inwardly clicked his tongue.

In the end, he was being arrogant despite needing Lord Woo’s help.

Then,

“Ah, Cheong-ryeong, wait a moment.”

“Why?”

Cheong-ryeong, who was about to raise her spiritual power to destroy the resentful soul Ha-yoon, paused for a moment.

Then Mok Gyeong-un said,

“On second thought, it doesn’t seem necessary to do that.”

“What do you mean it’s not necessary?”

“It was Ha-yoon, right?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Ha-yoon glared at him without answering.

It was a natural reaction.

However, Mok Gyeong-un said without minding it,

“You should be able to read the memories of the possessed body, so can’t you control the boat with that body?”

‘!?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the expression of Ha-yoon, who had been engulfed in anger, changed.

Because he immediately understood what this human meant by saying that.

But it wasn’t only the resentful soul Ha-yoon who understood this.

The young man, who had been relieved, shouted in a startled manner,

“H-hey. What are you saying? Don’t tell me you’re going to ask that evil spirit to control Lord Woo’s boat?”

At his words, Mok Gyeong-un smiled and replied,

“You catch on quickly.”

The young man said in disbelief,

“No. How can you entrust a task that can be asked of a living human to such a wicked evil spirit…?”

“It’s possible.”

Right then, the resentful soul Ha-yoon spoke.

At these words, the anxious young man hurriedly tried to dissuade him somehow.

“Don’t fall for the evil spirit’s words! How can that evil spirit navigate Lord Woo’s boat? Please, dear guest, that evil spirit…”

“Can you make us cross the river right away?”

But Mok Gyeong-un was already not listening to the young man’s words.

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the resentful soul Ha-yoon replied,

“Although the downpour is severe, if the resentful souls combine their strength, we can safely get the boat across.”

“Oho. Is that so?”

The young man, angered by Mok Gyeong-un ignoring his words and conversing with the resentful soul, shouted,

“How can you believe what such an evil spirit says? If you’re in your right mind, such…”

“Aah. So noisy. Seop Chun.”

“Yes. My lord.”

“Behead him.”

‘!?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the young man’s eyes widened.

What did this man just say?

Right then,

Shwing!

It was right after those words ended.

Shing!

Seop Chun’s Wind Demon Blade was unsheathed, slicing through the pouring rain, and then,

Slice!

“Urk!”

It beheaded the young man in a single stroke.

As the severed head of the young man fell to the ground,

Splash!

Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said to the resentful soul Ha-yoon,

“There was a brief friction between us due to differences in positions, but since we’ve reached an agreement, please accept this as a small token of sincerity from me.”