Chapter 168 Cho Tae-cheong (2)

-Clang! Clang!

The Toru’s hooves were blocked by some invisible barrier.

‘What is this?’

Curse power could be felt from the barrier.

It was at that moment.

“Hey you!”

‘!?’

A pretty short-haired girl in maid attire, with one hand forming a seal, urgently said to Mok Gyeong-un while gesturing.

“Follow me right now!”

“Who are you?”

“Is this the time to ask that? Hurry up!”

At the girl’s words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

The curse power emanating from the girl was almost equivalent to the level of Moon-level diviner.

But why was this girl dressed like this?

As he was puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un looked up.

-Roar!

-Clang! Clang!

The Imaemangnyang Toru roared and tried to break through the barrier with its hooves.

Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue inwardly.

Things had already escalated, so it seemed wrong to kill the beast.

With this level of commotion, people would gather from the surroundings, and there would soon be chaos.

So, Mok Gyeong-un said to the girl,

“Alright. But where do you want me to follow you?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the girl, while maintaining the seal with one hand, took something out from her waist with the other hand.

She put it on her finger and then rotated it in the air.

-Swish!

‘Ah?’

Surprisingly, something like smoke flowed out in the air, creating a circular entrance.

“I can’t maintain it for long. Hurry.”

With those words, the girl entered the circular entrance first.

So, Mok Gyeong-un, puzzled, followed her inside.

-Swish!

Then, the smoke dispersed, and the entrance disappeared.

Shortly after, red haze rose mysteriously from the 1st floor, and then sand grains surged upward all at once, filling the place where Mok Gyeong-un had been.

-Boom boom boom boom boom!

***

An irritated voice flowed from the mouth of the diviner Cho Tae-cheong, who had his right hand forming a seal.

“Look at this fellow.”

The voice was quite hoarse.

The diviner Cho Tae-cheong shook his head and clicked his tongue.

He had tried to make the one who dared to target him pay the price, but he had disappeared somewhere.

‘…Was it a diviner?’

He had felt considerable curse power from below for a moment.

With this level, it could be seen as a skill almost reaching the level of a Moon-level diviner.

Then, could it be that this was also an exorcism technique?

-Swish!

Cho Tae-cheong touched the back of his neck.

The foreign sensation felt in his palm.

It was because the flowing blood had stained his palm.

-Crunch!

Cho Tae-cheong gritted his teeth and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“If I hadn’t switched, you would have had your neck sliced and died.”

At his words, Cho Tae-cheong’s body trembled.

As if reacting to anger.

Cho Tae-cheong snorted and looked at the hole in the floor.

‘Is it that guy?’

While struggling to protect himself, he couldn’t properly see the guy’s face.

Cho Tae-cheong looked at the hole in disbelief.

“Haa…”

Who the hell was this guy?

Although he had been released from the Time-Space All Deception Technique thanks to the unexpected variable of the wandering soul in the old shrine, he couldn’t accurately perceive what had happened until then because all his senses and consciousness had been taken away.

But he had come here right away?

Could it be that he was conscious?

‘Or… Did he notice because of that wandering soul?’

Whatever the case, one thing was certain: the guy had noticed what had happened in the old shrine and targeted him.

Then, he needed to find this guy quickly.

If he were an ordinary person, he wouldn’t dare to target him recklessly, but seeing him commit such a brazen act, he was quite a nuisance.

Then, someone hurriedly ran up the stairs and appeared.

“Are you alri…”

It was a guard warrior guarding the stairs leading to the 3rd floor.

The warrior, who had been startled by the sudden roar and come up, couldn’t hide his perplexity upon seeing Cho Tae-cheong’s face.

“What’s that on your forehead…”

“Oh my… You saw it.”

“Pardon?”

It was right after those words ended.

-Stab!

“Urgh!”

Something sharp pierced through the guard warrior’s chest and protruded out.

The warrior, with his chest pierced, gasped for breath with eyes wide open as if they would tear apart, and then his head drooped as if he had lost all strength.

Cho Tae-cheong, who had been coldly watching him, looked up at the sky and said,

“Find the guy. He couldn’t have escaped far.”

-Flap!

As the order was given, the shadows that had been covering the surroundings disappeared with the sound of giant flapping wings.

***

-Swish!

‘Hmm?’

Mok Gyeong-un looked puzzled as he watched the entrance disappear like smoke.

He had learned various exorcism techniques, but this was the first time he had seen such a technique.

As he was amazed, the girl spoke from behind.

“What’s your identity?”

At that question, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head.

The short-haired girl in maid attire was standing with her arms crossed, looking at him with wide eyes as if in disbelief.

So, Mok Gyeong-un looked around.

“Where is this?”

“It’s the kitchen.”

Even without an answer, it seemed obvious that this place was the kitchen.

With the pots hanging on the walls and the chimney, anyone could tell this was the kitchen.

“Yes, it seems so.”

“Is that all you have to say? Despite experiencing the Disconnected Space Technique… No, that’s not important. More importantly, I asked about your identity first… Hmm. But you’re quite handsome, aren’t you?”

“Pardon?”

Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head at the girl’s incoherent words.

Then, the girl approached Mok Gyeong-un and stared at his face intently without hesitation.

-What’s with this mortal wench?

Cheong-ryeong spoke as if she was dissatisfied.

So, Mok Gyeong-un asked in puzzlement.

“Are you going to keep staring like that?”

“It’s not like your face will wear out from looking. Can’t I take a look?”

“…”

Mok Gyeong-un shrugged his shoulders at her assertive attitude.

Then, he focused his spiritual sense and checked for any approaching presences.

However, no presence was felt in the surroundings.

Meanwhile, the girl smacked her lips and said,

“Ahh. What a pity. What a shame. Your face shows that you won’t even reach adulthood and will have a short life.”

“What?”

“I said you have the fate of a short life. Your neck will either break or be cut off. If it weren’t for that, you’d be the perfect husband for me.”

With those words, the girl giggled as if embarrassed, covering her flushed face with both hands.

Cheong-ryeong was annoyed by her unpredictable attitude.

-I don’t like this mortal wench for some reason.

-Is that so?

In Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes, she just seemed like a lively girl.

Of course, calling her a girl wasn’t quite accurate given her curvaceous figure.

She had a cute face and seemed to be around 17 or 18 years old at a glance.

She appeared to be around the same age as him.

Then, the girl spoke.

“Anyway, what’s your identity? Judging from your attire, you’re not from the Primal Killing Pavilion, and you seem like an ordinary person, so why did it target you?”

“By that, you mean?”

“That? Ah… How should I explain this? It’s really bothersome to explain this to an ordinary person, and they don’t easily believe it, so it’s difficult.”

“Just tell me, and I’ll understand it in my own way.”

“It’ll be hard. Ordinary people usually can’t accept such things.”

“If I couldn’t accept it, I would have had no reason to follow you through that smoke-made entrance earlier.”

“Ah! Is that so? What made you trust and follow me?”

“…”

Didn’t she tell him to follow her?

She seemed to have a rather inconsistent personality.

So, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“Your attire is that of a maid, but considering the technique earlier, are you perhaps a diviner?”

“Oh? It seems you’re not an ordinary person.”

At her question, Mok Gyeong-un smiled brightly and replied.

“I know a little.”

“A little? You’re just at the beginner level, yet it targeted you?”

“By that, do you mean the evil spirit from earlier?”

“…It’s not just a little. You’re also someone from this field, right?”

“This field?”

“Yes, this field. Seeing as it targeted you, you’re not from the Primal Killing Pavilion, right?”

Although her way of speaking was difficult to understand, Mok Gyeong-un could deduce two things from this question.

“This field” seemed to refer to those who dealt with exorcism techniques.

And she didn’t seem to be from the Primal Killing Pavilion.

If she were, she wouldn’t have helped him in the earlier situation.

So, Mok Gyeong-un nodded and said,

“No, I’m not.”

Strictly speaking, he could be considered to be from here since he was a disciple of the current Pavilion Master of the Primal Killing Pavilion, the deceased Jo Ui-gong.

However, saying so in this atmosphere would only make the girl more cautious of him.

Mok Gyeong-un’s response was well-timed.

The girl let out a sigh of relief and said,

“Phew. That’s a relief. I was worried that I might have gotten involved in an internal conflict at the Primal Killing Pavilion.”

“Is that so? It’s not like that.”

“It seemed that way. Otherwise, there’s no way that cursed Three-Eyed bastard would try to kill you.”

“Three-Eyed?”

Mok Gyeong-un asked in response to her words.

Did she just say Three-Eyed?

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the girl nodded and said,

“Yes, Three-Eyed. The Red Falling Star of Mount Kunlun, the evil spirit from earlier, is also a servant ghost controlled by that Three-Eyed bastard, right?”

‘!?’

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

The diviner he had tried to kill earlier, no, Cho Tae-cheong was called Three-Eyed?

Mok Gyeong-un suddenly recalled an incident from the Corpse Blood Valley.

[So, what exactly is this Three-Eyed thing?]

-It’s literally what it means. A three-eyed being. It’s a malformed vessel born from a human womb. There are stories that when it’s born, it brings misfortune.

[Misfortune?]

-But it’s quite interesting. Even in ancient times, a Three-Eyed being would have been killed within a day of being born.

[I don’t quite understand what you’re saying, but are you saying that the diviner with the Taoist robe who has the Three-Eyes left you here?]

-Yes. I don’t know what that bastard did, but after he visited, no one could perceive me.

That was the conversation he had with the monster raccoon dog that had been sealed in the scroll.

Then, was Cho Tae-cheong, the chief disciple of the former Primal Killing Pavilion Master In Seo-ok, the one responsible for trapping that monster raccoon dog with tremendous demonic power?

At that moment, Cheong-ryeong’s voice echoed in his ear.

-…Mortal. If what this wench is saying is true, it seems we’ve messed with quite a big shot.

-A big shot?

-A spiritual beast. A diviner capable of sealing a spiritual beast is definitely not an ordinary person. With that level of skill, they would be considered a monster worthy of being called a Divine diviner, the pinnacle of diviners.

-Divine diviner?

Diviners are given titles according to their curse power and the level of their techniques.

supreme, Sun, Moon, Technique, Profound, and Conveying.

The title bestowed upon only the six at the pinnacle.

That is the title of Divine.

Diviners who received this title were limited to only six throughout the Central Plains, and they were known as the Six Divine diviners.

‘Divine diviner…’

Was Cho Tae-cheong truly at the level of a Divine diviner, as Cheong-ryeong said?

As he was puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un asked the girl,

“Has the person you mentioned, the Three-Eyed, reached the level of a Divine diviner?”

“What are you talking about?”

Suddenly, the girl pouted her lips and said,

Why was she reacting like this?

“How can a malformed vessel no different from an evil spirit be placed on the same level as my master?”

“What?”

One of Mok Gyeong-un’s eyebrows raised.

Could it be that her master was a Divine diviner?

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the girl suddenly shrugged her shoulders and spoke with a proud expression.

“Hmph. Well, yes.”

“…”

He had suspected it, but it was really true.

He had guessed that she wasn’t an ordinary girl, but to think she had a Divine diviner, the pinnacle of diviners, as her master.

This was more surprising than he had thought.

Then, the girl said,

“Since you work in this field, you’ve probably heard of it. Have you heard of the Harmonious Immortal Pavilion^[1] Master?”

“Harmonious Immortal Pavilion Master?”

Mok Gyeong-un had no way of knowing.

Although he had learned basic common sense through Moon-level diviner Jo Ui-gong, he hadn’t learned about which diviner groups were famous or who the Six Divine diviners were.

Naturally, he didn’t know, but when he didn’t, the girl spoke in disbelief.

“What? You really don’t know? Scarlet-Tailed Old Immortal^[2] of the Harmonious Immortal Pavilion?”

“Scarlet-Tailed Old Immortal?”

“No way. You really don’t know? Are you sure you’re from this field? Which pavilion are you from that you don’t even know who my master is…”

“Shh!”

“Huh!”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the girl unconsciously held her breath and closed her mouth.

Wondering why he did that, Mok Gyeong-un looked towards the northeast.

Then, before long,

-Startle!

The girl furrowed her brows.

That was because of the very faint demonic power felt from outside the building.

This was the demonic power emitted by an evil spirit.

The girl looked at Mok Gyeong-un with surprised eyes.

‘What’s with this person? He noticed this demonic power even before me?’