Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 327 – To Sichuan Tang Clan (4)

In a lavish room, a beautiful woman with an enigmatic aura, dressed in an alluring outfit that revealed her shoulders and cleavage, gently stroked the head of a scarred middle-aged man lying with his head on her milky white thighs.

As if enjoying this, the middle-aged man closed his eyes and hummed a tune.

While humming, the man reached out and caressed the woman’s hair.

Peculiarly, half of the woman’s hair was black, and the other half was white.

However, it did not seem to be due to aging; rather, it exuded a mystical atmosphere, almost like silver hair.

-Swish!

“The harmony of your black and white hair is a delight to the eyes.”

“You are the only one who would say such a thing while looking at my hair, my lord.”

“That’s because they don’t know your true worth.”

“Is that so?”

-Smooch!

The woman kissed the forehead of the scarred middle-aged man.

As if accustomed to it, the scarred middle-aged man grabbed her cheeks, pulled her face down, and kissed her lips.

The two people, indulging in each other, seemed to have gotten heated up as they let out rough breaths.

“Haa… haa…”

“Beautiful.”

The woman’s body, half-naked with her shoulders exposed, was nothing short of perfect.

The scarred middle-aged man traced his fingertips down her naked body as if tickling her.

“Aah.”

A soft moan escaped the woman’s lips.

At her moan, the man tried to strip off the rest of her clothes.

At that moment,

-Tak!

The woman grabbed the man’s hand.

The black and white-haired woman looked at the man and shook her head.

It wasn’t a forceful gesture, but when his wrist was grabbed, the man removed his hand from the hem of her lower garment that he had been holding.

Then, the man laughed and said,

“You’re really sharp. Is there no intimacy without a price?”

“Are you disappointed?”

“What an obvious thing to say.”

“But there must always be a price.”

“Yes. I must give you what you want to have you, the ultimate flower. You are truly an addictive woman.”

At the man’s words, the woman smiled and placed her hand on his chest.

Then, she whispered in his ear,

“The more beautiful a flower is, the more thorns it has and the harder it is to obtain.”

“Thorns… Even if that path is filled with thorns, it’s worth taking. Alright. What do you want this time? I’ll give you whatever you desire.”

At the man’s confident voice, the black and white-haired woman curved her lips and said,

“Is anything truly possible?”

“They say a man’s word is worth a thousand gold pieces. How could I say it lightly? Do I, Seok Pae-ung, the Green Forest Fighting King, seem to lack such capability?”

Green Forest Fighting King, Seok Pae-ung.

He was one of the Eight Stars, the leader of the Green Forest Alliance, and one of the top experts in the evil path.

He was also a monster who had received the title of Eight Stars solely based on his external martial arts.

“Ah, how manly.”

The woman then seductively licked the man’s ear with her tongue.

“Mmm.”

Seok Pae-ung swallowed his saliva, unable to hide his excitement.

As if enjoying Seok Pae-ung’s desperate state, the woman stopped tickling him with her tongue and said,

“Bring me a woman from a certain martial arts family.”

“A woman? From where do you want me to bring her?”

“The Tang Clan.”

At those words, Seok Pae-ung instantly furrowed his brows.

“The Tang Clan… You don’t mean the Sichuan Tang Clan, do you?”

It was natural for Seok Pae-ung to show this troubled expression.

The Sichuan Tang Clan was one of the Seven Great Families of the righteous martial arts world and a martial arts family known as the Overlord of Sichuan.

Of course, in terms of scale, the Green Forest Alliance could be considered superior, but the Sichuan Tang Clan belonged to the Righteous Alliance, so if they were not careful, the matter could escalate.

“This isn’t just a thorny path.”

“Could it be that even with my lord’s power, it’s difficult?”

“Difficult? Do you think I would be afraid of those who merely use poison or hidden weapons?”

“Then there shouldn’t be any difficulty.”

“…That’s not the problem. The problem isn’t defeating them, but if we do, the entire Righteous Alliance behind them might rise up.”

Seok Pae-ung spoke honestly.

No matter how strong his pride was, he was not someone who lacked discernment.

Even if he wanted to have this woman, known as one of the Four Beauties of the Central Plains, he had no choice but to avoid an all-out war with the Righteous Alliance.

To him, the woman touched his chest with her finger and said,

“What if there was a justification that the Righteous Alliance couldn’t intervene in?”

“Justification? For me, the Overlord of the Green Forest, to step in and for them to remain still, it would have to be no ordinary justification.”

“What if the Tang Clan was protecting a member of the Fire Faith Order?”

“Fire Faith… Order member?”

At these words, Seok Pae-ung’s expression changed.

The perception of the Fire Faith Order among the people of the Central Plains, regardless of righteous or evil, was not very good.

Who could possibly like a cult organization that the country suppressed for deceiving and misleading the people?

Seeing his reaction, the black and white-haired woman raised the corners of her mouth sardonically.

***

Not long after the Green Forest Fighting King Seok Pae-ung hurriedly left, a hunched old woman with a cane appeared beside her.

The old woman spoke to the black and white-haired woman in a respectful manner,

“He fell for it, Lady Chunchu.”

At the old woman’s words, the black and white-haired woman, or rather Chunchu, smiled radiantly and said,

“When given the right justification and desire, there is nothing easier to manipulate than a man.”

“Hohoho. Indeed. It seems that once a man falls for Lady Chunchu’s charm, he can never escape, regardless of who he is.”

“Naturally.”

Chunchu took pride in her beauty.

She believed that no woman could match her appearance, and no man could escape from desire once he laid eyes on her.

With her beauty, she had made many slaves.

Among them, the Green Forest Fighting King was a pawn she had truly invested a lot of time and effort into making.

As she took off her crumpled clothes and threw them aside, she gazed at her beautiful naked body reflected in the bronze mirror with a deep look in her eyes and muttered,

“Do you think they’ll just watch because I told them not to touch it? Hmph.”

-Swish!

She covered her face reflected in the bronze mirror with her hand and whispered,

“They’ll soon find out how tremendous that hidden power is.”

***

“It’s Guangyuan.”

‘Gua- Guangyuan?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the eyes of the Holy Fire Priestess widened.

Guangyuan was a small county at the northern entrance of Sichuan Province.

The Sichuan Tang Clan was located in Chengdu, which could be considered the center of Sichuan Province, so if they traveled diligently by carriage, they could arrive within ten days.

‘They’ve already come this far.’

She was utterly perplexed.

[Ah, come to think of it, you said you had a connection with the head of the Tang Clan and entrusted your granddaughter to them, right? What a coincidence. It seems that the head of the Tang Clan used poison on my grandfather.]

[G-Guardian Jang’s your grandfather…?]

[It would be so delightful to tear apart the limbs of the head of the Tang Clan and your granddaughter right in front of you.]

She had not forgotten those words Mok Gyeong-un had said.

This fellow would really do it if he said he would.

‘…Can the head of the Tang Clan deal with this guy?’

Originally, she did not fully trust Mok Gyeong-un.

That’s why she thought that if she went to the head of the Tang Clan, who was taking care of her granddaughter, she could receive protection.

However, after witnessing Mok Gyeong-un’s strength, her thoughts changed.

She realized that even the head of the Tang Clan might not be able to protect her and her granddaughter.

With this, the Holy Fire Priestess hurriedly prostrated herself before Mok Gyeong-un with her body that did not move well.

“Please… Please at least spare my granddaughter’s life.”

Mok Gyeong-un looked down at her pleading with an indifferent gaze.

Then, he lifted her head, smiled brightly, and said,

“Now that you’re this desperate, it seems you’re ready to faithfully answer what I want to know.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Holy Fire Priestess swallowed her saliva and nodded.

Nothing else mattered.

If she could save the life of her only blood relative, her granddaughter.

Mok Gyeong-un asked her,

“There’s one thing I’ve been wondering about since hearing from that man named Lee Gwang.”

“What is it that you’re wondering about?”

“They say the Formless Poison belongs to the Sichuan Tang Clan, so why was my grandfather addicted to that poison? Did they have a grudge against him or something?”

This was Mok Gyeong-un’s question.

He had also heard about the Formless Poison from his grandfather.

It was said to be the most perfect poison among all existing poisons.

The remarkable thing about this poison was not only its colorless and odorless nature but also the fact that when the addicted person lost their life, the poison components would completely dilute and disappear.

No physical evidence would be left behind.

That’s why his grandfather had highly praised it and told him to be cautious of the Formless Poison, even if he had a strong resistance to poisons.

[Don’t… come… closer. Stay… away.]

‘So that’s why.’

His grandfather had prevented him from touching him in his final moments.

At first, he wondered why.

But now that he knew the truth, it made sense.

It was probably to prevent him from directly coming into contact with the Formless Poison and becoming addicted.

Mok Gyeong-un coldly stared at the Holy Fire Priestess and asked again,

“Since you have a connection with the head of the Tang Clan and said that my grandfather was a guardian of the Fire Faith Order, you should know well, right?”

“Th- That’s…”

“Don’t try to think too hard and just answer as soon as you remember. Unless you want the arm that was reattached to be cut off again.”

‘He reattached the arm?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the eyes of the Holy Fire Priestess widened.

She had been wondering why her severed arm had returned to normal, but she never thought the answer would be this person.

Just how far did this person’s abilities extend?

-Tak!

When Mok Gyeong-un placed his hand on her shoulder, the startled woman quickly opened her mouth.

“I- I don’t know.”

“I don’t like this answer very much.”

-Squeeze!

“It’s true. I also don’t know why Guardian Jang was addicted to the Formless Poison. He was a branch family member of the Tang Clan, just like me.”

‘!?’

Mok Gyeong-un, who was about to apply force to the shoulder he was grasping, raised one eyebrow.

What did she mean?

What did she mean by his grandfather being a branch family member of the Tang Clan?

“What do you mean by a branch family member of the Tang Clan?”

“It’s exactly as I said. Although not to the extent of being an external branch like me, Guardian Jang, no, Jang Mun-no, was also a branch family member and was even taught by the previous head of the Tang Clan in recognition of his talent.”

The Sichuan Tang Clan focused on cultivating the art of poisons, so they could be considered a bloodline-centered family.

Therefore, unless it was an exceptional case, for the sake of future generations of their bloodline, they would often marry within close branch families.

“…What? So you’re saying my grandfather was from a branch family of the Tang Clan and was harmed by them?”

“Hmm, there could be a conspiracy. Since branch families are ultimately no different from blood relatives, it’s impossible for the Tang Clan to harm Guardian Jang.”

“Impossible?”

-Crack!

As soon as those words ended, Mok Gyeong-un applied force to his hand.

With the sound of bones breaking, the Holy Fire Priestess’s shoulder twisted.

“Argh!”

“It’s something that has already happened, so do you think saying it’s a conspiracy is an excuse? Then, my grandfather was betrayed by people who were essentially his blood relatives, whether they were branch family members or not?”

As Mok Gyeong-un’s voice grew colder, the complexion of the Holy Fire Priestess darkened rapidly.

She herself did not know the details of Guardian Jang’s death.

However, the hidden relationship between Guardian Jang and the Sichuan Tang Clan ended up provoking Mok Gyeong-un’s anger.