Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 261 – Clue (1)

-Stab!

“Uuugh!”

Gyeom-chang let out a pained groan as the needle pierced through the center of his toenail.

He wanted to scream in agony, but he couldn’t even do that because of the ball of cloth stuffed in his mouth.

He had tried to steel himself, but he couldn’t endure the relentless pain.

He prided himself on having a strong willpower that could cross the threshold, but it took less than a quarter of an hour for it to crumble.

“Mmph… mmm… mm…”

“What was that?”

-Yank!

Mok Gyeong-un pulled the ball of cloth out of his mouth.

Gyeom-chang barely managed to speak, exhaling rough breaths.

“Haa… haa… plea… please… kill… kill me…”

“That’s the fifth time now. It’s still too early.”

-Stuff!

“Mmph.”

Mok Gyeong-un shoved the ball of cloth back into his mouth.

Then he slowly pushed another needle next to his toenail.

-Stab!

“Uuugh.”

Gyeom-chang writhed in pain, appealing for mercy.

However, Mok Gyeong-un, without even a change in his expression, shook and tilted his toenail with the inserted needle.

Unable to bear the suffering, Gyeom-chang eventually lost consciousness.

-Slump!

Just as his head was about to droop down…

-Slap!

Mok Gyeong-un slapped his forehead with his palm, forcing it back up.

With this, Gyeom-chang, who had been about to faint, regained his senses.

Upon waking up, Gyeom-chang’s heart nearly stopped at the sight of Mok Gyeong-un’s face through his hazy vision.

For a fleeting moment, he wished he wouldn’t wake up again, but that was a futile hope.

‘This… this guy is truly a demon.’

He had never seen someone so vicious before.

He himself had interrogated others many times, but he had never gone this far.

This guy was torturing him to the brink of death, not giving him any chance to rest or reprieve.

It was as if he was venting his anger.

So he had no choice but to desperately wish for death.

After all, with both arms severed and his body so ruined, he realized that death was the only rest.

“Mmm…”

He mumbled in a feeble voice.

Then, without a word, Mok Gyeong-un ripped off one of the toenails he had stabbed with needles.

-Rip!

“Uuugh.”

The human body was truly amazing.

Even though the pain continued, one would think he would get used to it, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Each new pain only compounded the existing pain, multiplying the suffering.

Mok Gyeong-un sweetly whispered into his ear.

“You want to die, don’t you?”

“…”

“Don’t you want to close your eyes peacefully like this?”

“…”

It was indescribably strange.

Never had the words about letting him die sounded so sweet.

If only he could escape this pain right now, he felt like he could do anything…

-Clench!

At that moment, Gyeom-chang bit down on the ball of cloth filling his mouth.

For a moment, he had weakened and almost succumbed to the guy’s temptation.

No matter how painful it was, he couldn’t do anything for the one torturing him and driving him to death.

Then, through his hazy vision, he saw Mok Gyeong-un’s face.

The corners of his mouth were stretched to his ears.

-Shudder!

The moment he saw this, a chill ran down Gyeom-chang’s spine.

Even as he was struggling to muster his resolve, Mok Gyeong-un wasn’t showing disappointment but rather joy.

Why the hell was he so happy?

Why was he smiling with such a demonic face?

As he was filled with questions…

-Shwip!

Mok Gyeong-un placed his hand on his shoulder and gently whispered.

“I’m glad. I was worried you might weaken and give up.”

‘What?’

“Please endure a little longer. I want to see you suffer and be in agony. The night is still very long, after all.”

‘!!!!!!’

The moment he heard those words, Gyeom-chang felt like his heart would shatter from pain.

It seemed that what this guy wanted wasn’t simply to extract the desired information from him.

He was enjoying his pain and suffering itself.

‘Demon… This guy is a demon who crawled up from the depths of hell, the embodiment of evil.’

He couldn’t think of it any other way.

As fear engulfed his entire body and mind, the resolve he had built up crumbled in an instant.

Even if he endured, who would acknowledge it?

In the end, wouldn’t everything end with his death?

At that moment, he choked up.

Why did he alone have to suffer like this?

Even if he maintained his loyalty and righteousness here and died in agony until the very end, would they even know?

In the end, even if he died, wouldn’t they be the only ones enjoying the glory and benefits?

As his thoughts reached this point, Gyeom-chang’s body went limp as if he had given up.

“Hmm. It would be troublesome if you gave up already.”

“…”

Seeing Gyeom-chang’s limp and unresponsive state, Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue as if disappointed.

He had hoped for him to endure a little longer, but it seemed meaningless now.

So he removed the ball of cloth stuffed in his mouth.

-Yank!

“Haa… haa…”

As the ball of cloth was removed, Gyeom-chang feebly opened his mouth, catching his breath.

“Whaa… yoo waa… juss… tell me… I won… endoo… anymore…”

-Grab!

“Ugh?”

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un gripped his jaw.

Then, with one hand, he fixed his head in place and pushed his jaw inward and upward.

With that…

-Crack!

Along with the sound of bones creaking, Gyeom-chang’s dislocated jaw joint was realigned.

Not only were all his teeth broken when his face was torn, but his jaw joint was also dislocated.

That’s why he couldn’t pronounce properly.

But now that his jaw joint was realigned…

“Let’s talk now.”

“Haa… haa… juss… how much…”

Although his pronunciation was still slurred due to his missing teeth, it was at a level that could be understood better than before.

However, he wasn’t happy at all.

In the end, whether this way or that, he had to tell the guy what he wanted to hear in order to meet his death comfortably.

But before that, there was one question he wanted to resolve.

“…Before answering… I want to ask… one thing.”

“It seems you’re not ready yet.”

At that question, Mok Gyeong-un tried to shove the ball of cloth back into his mouth.

Gyeom-chang was startled and hurriedly spoke.

“I, I was just curious about how the Sichuan Dang Family managed to uncover our existence.”

“Sichuan Dang Family?”

At his words, Mok Gyeong-un furrowed his brows.

What was this about now?

Why was this guy suddenly associating him with the Sichuan Dang Family?

As he was puzzled, Gyeom-chang cautiously said:

“In the current martial world, the only ones who have reached the level of Poison Master are Guyang Sa-oh, the Eight Poison Snake Staff, and Dang Inhae, the Head of the Sichuan Dang Family, the Thousand Poison Hands.”

“So?”

“Among them, Guyang Sa-oh… couldn’t possibly be here, so naturally, the only one left is the Thousand Poison Hands.”

“Why do you assert that Guyang Sa-oh wouldn’t be here?”

“That’s…”

Seeing him hesitate, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

Thanks to his attitude, he could easily figure out one thing.

“Ah. You seem to know Guyang Sa-oh very well. Or perhaps he’s on your side.”

“…”

‘Damn it. I did something stupid.’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Gyeom-chang blamed his own foolishness.

He didn’t need to mention Guyang Sa-oh of the Eight Poison Snake Staff, but in trying to confirm that his guess was correct, he ended up revealing unnecessary information.

“Don’t worry. I’m not particularly interested in this. Rather, there’s something else I’d like you to tell me.”

“Something else?”

“The mark on your scabbard, what is it?”

At this question, Gyeom-chang furrowed his brows.

He thought the guy was asking because he knew something about the mark, but did he not know anything?

But then Mok Gyeong-un pressed down hard on his shoulder and said:

-Squeeze!

“Ugh.”

“I’d like you to answer immediately when asked. Don’t try to be clever.”

“It, it’s a mark symbolizing the organization.”

“Organization?”

“Ye… yes.”

‘As I thought, it is a group.’

This aligned almost perfectly with his expectations.

So Mok Gyeong-un asked another question.

“I understand it symbolizes an organization, but what does this mark actually mean?”

“…That’s…”

“This won’t do. It seems you’re not ready yet.”

As he said that, Mok Gyeong-un tried to shove the ball of cloth back into his mouth.

Gyeom-chang was startled and hurriedly spoke.

“I, I don’t know the exact meaning either. I only know that it adds one to two.”

“Adds one to two?”

What did that mean?

Mok Gyeong-un ruminated on those words.

Since he said it adds one to two, the part that was originally [二] with the lower part of the stroke being longer indeed meant two (二).

But what did it mean to add one vertically penetrating the line?

‘Why not just add one horizontally?’

That way, it would become the character three (三), and the meaning would make sense.

But why did they say it had that meaning when the line penetrated vertically?

Was there a hidden meaning?

“There’s also the character three (三), so do you really think that makes sense?”

“…I really don’t know. I was just told that something that couldn’t exist was added.”

“Something that couldn’t exist was added?”

“Hmm.”

Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin.

It was too vague, so it was difficult to understand the meaning just from this.

But it didn’t matter.

If he found out what they were doing, the answer would naturally come out.

So Mok Gyeong-un tried to ask what he was most curious about.

This was the most urgent matter above all else.

“Is the one called Ghost Blade also on your side?”

‘!?’

At those words, Gyeom-chang’s expression slightly distorted.

“It seems so.”

‘Who the hell is this guy?’

The reason Gyeom-chang reacted this way was that until now, no one had ever figured out that Ghost Blade was related to them.

To the flustered Gyeom-chang, Mok Gyeong-un said what he wanted to ask the most.

“When Ghost Blade kills someone or something, does he leave your organization’s mark?”

“When he kills someone or something?”

“Yes.”

If this was confirmed, the culprit would undoubtedly be Ghost Blade.

Mok Gyeong-un stared intently at Gyeom-chang.

However, to Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Gyeom-chang gave a completely unexpected answer.

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“What?”

“Why would he leave a mark if he deliberately killed someone?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“The dead can’t speak. And a dead corpse is meant to rot and disappear. But our organization doesn’t leave traces. So why would we leave a mark on someone we killed?”

‘!?’

At those words, one of Mok Gyeong-un’s eyebrows raised.

That was because what this guy said wasn’t wrong, even if he was lying.

There was no reason for a secretive organization to leave traces as if boasting.

So Mok Gyeong-un asked:

“Then why did they leave such a mark on those they killed or someone?”

“…I think there’s some misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“We don’t leave our organization’s mark on those we have already killed. And the one who leaves such a mark as a scar is…”

“The one who leaves it is?”

“Only the one you know as Ghost Blade.”

-Pak!

As soon as he finished speaking, Mok Gyeong-un grabbed Gyeom-chang by the collar, pulled him close, and said in a menacing voice:

“Are you messing with me right now? You’re saying Ghost Blade left a mark on someone who was already dead, and you want me to believe that?”

“It, it’s not a lie. Ghost Blade leaving that mark is a kind of warning.”

“Warning? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know exactly either. I just heard that Ghost Blade leaves such scars as a warning to those involved in our affairs. If they ignore the warning, he makes them pay with their lives and erases the scar…”

-Bam!

“Ugh.”

Before he could even finish speaking, Mok Gyeong-un pushed him to the floor.

Startled, Gyeom-chang said:

“It’s true.”

“I’ve already confirmed that he left the scar and then killed someone, yet you keep trying to deceive me.”

“Left the scar and then killed? How could that be?”

“How could that be? I saw it with my own eyes.”

“That’s impossible. Didn’t I tell you? Why would Ghost Blade leave a trace that could be tracked or used as a clue in such a place? This is… aaaagh.”

A scream of pain burst out from Gyeom-chang’s mouth.

Mok Gyeong-un’s fingers had dug into his collarbone.

As he was suffering like this, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed to the point of sharpness.

‘…He doesn’t leave traces on the dead?’

Mok Gyeong-un’s mind became complicated.

Based on the clues he had pursued so far, Ghost Blade should be the one who killed him.

But Ghost Blade said he doesn’t leave traces on the dead.

Yet there was a scar-like mark left on his dead grandfather’s body.

‘It wasn’t left a long time ago.’

The blood on the scar was clear evidence that the wound was inflicted at the moment of death.

But this guy was strongly denying it.

That meant one of two things.

Either this guy was lying to deceive him, or…

‘…Could it be?’

The focus of Mok Gyeong-un’s pupils shrank.

Eventually, Mok Gyeong-un grabbed Gyeom-chang’s collarbone with his fingers and pulled him close.

Directly grabbing the bone and pulling, it couldn’t be anything but painful.

“Aaaargh!”

Regardless, Mok Gyeong-un asked:

“If Ghost Blade is from your organization, you should at least know well whether he killed someone or not, right?”

At this question, the suffering Gyeom-chang shook his head vigorously.

“Aaagh. I, I don’t know.”

“Shall I make you know?”

“It’s true. We are a cell organization to begin with, so we can only move according to the orders given and can’t know exactly what each of us is doing.”

“…You can’t know? Are you certain?”

“Ye, yes. If it’s not information we absolutely need to know, it’s not even shared.”

“Hmm.”

It was too desperate to be a lie.

So Mok Gyeong-un stared at him and said:

“Then you must have never heard the name Mun-no.”

“Mun-no? Did you just say Mun-no?”

“Didn’t you just say that information isn’t shared?”

At those words, Gyeom-chang trembled.

Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un found it strange and asked:

“You know something?”

At that question, Gyeom-chang hesitated for a moment with a frown before opening his mouth.

“…If the Mun-no you’re talking about is the same name we know, it’s the old name of Medicine Immortal Hae Yeong.” immortal

‘!?’