NOVEL NEXT chapter 1024 - Missing (6)
The red mist wrapped around Jeok Ho as he made his way to Hwang Ho's mansion.
Jeok Ho's mission this time was to tail the Earthquake Knight.
Originally, the other Hojo family members had been watching the hotel where the Chinese team was staying, but when the Earthquake Knight started moving, Jeok Ho took over the task.
Though it was said the Earthquake Knight had been struck by a plague, he was still one of the top ten team leaders in the world, and deceiving his senses would require someone like Jeok Ho.
Normally, Jeok Ho would have performed his task indifferently, but this time, his thoughts were filled with more complexity.
There were two reasons for this, both deeply connected to the Hojo family.
‘How dare that rotten bastard, both in face and mind, try to toy with Cheong Ho’s body…!’
Jeok Ho swallowed a stream of curses that would have left Kim Shin-rok speechless.
Had he not been engaged in a covert operation, he would have openly cursed, but he had to hold it in.
Although Jeok Yeon had somewhat muffled the sounds, Jeok Ho knew he still had to be cautious.
The basics of infiltration were to act as if you weren’t there, to hide your presence as though you were dead. He couldn’t afford to be recklessly cursing aloud.
Suppressing his urge to curse, his mood became even more complicated.
It was because of the “omission of existence” that had been mentioned recently among the Hojo family.
‘It’s hard to believe, but Eun Ho’s words are likely true. He’s been clever at plotting since the old days. Something is missing, I suppose.’
Jeok Ho recalled the ancient myth of Gaechun.
When he had been bound in the red frame and punished, he endured by thinking about those times and his son.
Because of that, Jeok Ho was confident that he remembered Gaechun's myth more vividly than anyone else.
Although he hadn’t paid attention to many things, his memories of the orders Eun Ho had given him and the state of affairs were quite detailed.
Eun Ho had never given Jeok Ho a mission to infiltrate.
‘It’s strange that Eun Ho, usually so ruthless and indifferent, didn’t send anyone among the external forces when things seemed dangerous. Since I didn’t go, someone else must have gone in my place.’
Jeok Ho didn’t doubt the existence of a scout, but after pointing it out, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.
It wasn’t just Jeok Ho—other members of the Hojo family also seemed to feel the same way.
Though Jeok Ho had tried to relieve his friends’ burdens by coming up with something on his own, he found nothing.
Like always, Jeok Ho found that he preferred to act after receiving orders rather than coming up with plans himself.
If he didn’t like an order, he’d curse or refuse it, of course.
Rustling.
In front of the annex of Hwangmyeongho’s large mansion.
Just before Jeok Ho opened the door, he noticed something.
At first glance, it had looked like a lump of ink, but it was a Mountain Spirit.
The Mountain Spirit was pacing around the entrance, seemingly unsure whether to enter.
Normally, Jeok Ho would have ignored it and passed by, but today, he decided to observe the Mountain Spirit, as if whimsically.
‘Its form is clearer than before. Is it the same size as Eun Jae-ho? No, it seems smaller. Definitely a child.’
Though still shrouded in shadows, the Mountain Spirit’s form became somewhat visible upon closer inspection.
It was holding something about the size of a fist, something resembling a combination of the number 1 and a star.
It seemed like a block toy that Jo Yi-shin had gifted.
The weak Jo Yi-shin had taken good care of the Mountain Spirit, and now, in return, it seemed like it had become the most significant contributor, making this gift.
Thinking about this, Jeok Ho decided to speak to it.
“What are you doing here? You’re in the way.”
“Ah!”
The Mountain Spirit jumped in surprise and turned around.
As it turned, the block toy it had been holding was hidden in the shadows and couldn’t be seen anymore.
Perhaps it was embarrassed and trying to hide its shabby gift.
“I came here to see them, but…”
“You came to see Baek Ho and the Divine Beasts? I’ve heard they’ve been training frequently. You must have come willingly.”
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than .net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
“No, I didn’t come to see them! I don’t want to train!”
At Jeok Ho’s teasing words, the Mountain Spirit jumped up in shock.
It was clear that the Mountain Spirit had come to meet Jo Yi-shin, but Jeok Ho had purposefully teased it.
Though the Mountain Spirit had been acting less disruptive recently, Jeok Ho wasn’t fond of how the Mountain Spirit had taught the descendants of Eun Ho to play with corpses.
Whenever he thought of Eun Ho’s descendants lying around, lifeless, he felt a crushing weight in his chest.
‘If I had been the lord of this mansion, I would have scolded and kicked it out, not allowing it anywhere near the descendants. Hwang Ho is too soft.’
Now, it had been a while since they’d been in the mansion, and since Eun Ho’s descendants and Jo Yi-shin liked the Mountain Spirit, it might have been fine to leave it be.
The Mountain Spirit fidgeted and rambled on about why it didn’t need to train.
Naturally, Jeok Ho didn’t listen.
Just as he was about to stop teasing the Mountain Spirit and suggest they enter the annex, it spoke up again.
“It said it’d buy me a new block toy next time. I wanna meet it!”
It seemed the Mountain Spirit had come to receive a gift from Jo Yi-shin.
The feeling of admiration Jeok Ho had felt when he saw the star-shaped block quickly dissipated.
‘So after all that, it came just to get a new toy? I don’t want to have Jo Yi-shin meet this sleepyhead.’
Jeok Ho had originally intended to have the Mountain Spirit visit Jo Yi-shin, but now he decided to kick it out immediately.
If Jeok Ho mentioned Baek Ho or the Divine Beasts, the Mountain Spirit would likely flee right away.
If needed, he’d simply say that he would personally train it.
Just as Jeok Ho made up his mind to kick the Mountain Spirit out, it spoke again.
“By the way, I think it’s sleeping, so I can’t disturb it. I was going to meet it when it wakes up, but it looks like it’ll be sleeping for a long time.”
The Mountain Spirit didn’t realize that Jeok Ho had changed his mind.
It truly seemed to believe that Jo Yi-shin was sleeping and didn’t want to disturb him, so it was waiting.
Jeok Ho felt as though he had almost been cruel to a child, but since he hadn’t acted on those feelings, he decided to brush off any guilt and continue with his intentions.
He asked out of pure curiosity.
“How did you know Jo Yi-shin was sleeping?”
“When he sleeps, I can feel a certain energy.”
“What nonsense is that?”
Jo Yi-shin was currently in a room in Eun Ho’s annex.
This annex was where Eun Ho stayed, and Jo Yi-shin often stayed there as well, which is why Hwang Ho paid special attention to it.
He had once even tried to break into the annex with force, but he had failed.
So there was no way the Mountain Spirit could know what was happening inside.
“Don’t you know? Every time he sleeps, there’s this certain energy….”
The Mountain Spirit’s explanation was so muddled it was of no help at all.
In less than five seconds of hearing the explanation, Jeok Ho felt like his head was about to explode.
Jeok Ho decided to accept that the Mountain Spirit was influenced by the energy of Cheon Ik-san and let it slide.
He gruffly said, “Enough. Let’s go in.”
“Ah? Oh! Okay!”
It seemed that the Mountain Spirit had been waiting to enter.
Jeok Ho, noticing this, asked, “Normally, you’d just shoot your way in, right? Why hesitate here?”
“It just felt weird to go in…”
Even the clueless Mountain Spirit quickly realized the awkwardness of the situation.
When Jeok Ho opened the front door, no one came out to greet them.
Normally, Eun Ho would have greeted him himself or at least someone would have said something, but there was no response.
Instead, Hwang Ho’s voice was heard.
“Baek Ho, are you really saying that you gave Jo Yi-shin a blessing under your true name?”
Upon hearing those words, all the reports and stray thoughts in Jeok Ho’s mind evaporated instantly.
He pushed the stunned Mountain Spirit aside and rushed into the living room.
“Baek Ho, what the hell are you talking about? Don’t just sit there and explain yourself!”
After Baek Ho spoke about chess and his true name, no one was able to respond properly.
Eun Ho, who had likely been expecting this with near certainty, didn’t lose his smile and looked at Baek Ho.
When Hwang Ho finally opened his mouth and asked again, just in time, Jeok Ho appeared and interrupted.
“Perfect timing, Jeok Ho. Using your words, Baek Ho’s been spouting nonsense, so it’s better we all hear it. He says he learned chess just so he could give Jo Yi-shin a blessing under his true name.”
“Please be quiet. Let’s at least hear what Baek Ho has to say first.”
Hwang Ho shut his mouth, and Baek Ho curled his lips into a smile.
Baek Ho’s smile seemed almost mocking, and both Hwang Ho and Jeok Ho couldn’t hide their frustrated expressions.
Only after seeing that did Baek Ho speak.
“Didn’t you hear the important part? I wanted to give him a blessing under my true name, and Jo Yi-shin set the condition that I had to learn chess. So when I played chess to his satisfaction, he allowed me to give it to him.”
“Ha.”
“Insane.”
The sighs of his friends echoed, but Baek Ho seemed unconcerned.
He calmly explained, as if he were describing a martial arts move, without any emotion.
“The Heavenly God gave me the power to go anywhere. But this power was limited to places where the heavens connected. What I was seeking was in a place detached from the heavens. So, using the shockwave from the otherworldly collision, I headed further.”
Baek Ho said absurd things with no care, just like when he taught his disciple that "if you swing your sword hard enough, you can block your opponent's technique."
Jeok Ho let out a sigh mixed with curses, but it seemed like his complaints were still more reasonable than Baek Ho’s words.
“Luckily, I reached a world where what I was seeking could be found, but I couldn’t stay long. So, I left my true name behind.”
“Ha.”
“Isn’t it more like leaving your brain behind? Baek Ho’s head is weird.”
The eloquent Hwang Ho was silenced, and the sharp-tongued Jeok Ho didn’t hold back his biting remarks.
But no matter how harsh Jeok Ho’s words were, Baek Ho didn’t seem to care.
Jeok Ho, breathing heavily, almost like a tattletale, shouted at Eun Ho.
“Eun Ho! Is Baek Ho even in his right mind? Did someone feed him something strange?”
“He’s been eating fine so far. I don’t know what will happen in the future, though. Keep talking, Baek Ho hyung.”
Eun Ho smiled and refilled Baek Ho’s cup with white tea.
Jeok Ho suspiciously eyed the tea, wondering if there was some kind of medicine mixed in, but so far, Eun Ho was treating Baek Ho like an older brother with respect, and the tea seemed fine.
“After admitting I lost my true name to the Heavenly God, I became a beast in the sacred land, but I could still cross worlds through dreams. So, I made crossing worlds my goal and crossed when I did…”
For a moment, Baek Ho’s words didn’t sound like the curses Jeok Ho had spat earlier.
Moving through dreams without a true name was like jumping into the deep sea without anything.
It wouldn’t have been strange if his existence had disappeared. It was insane.
Hwang Ho, whose childlike appearance showed his frustration, clenched his little fists, shut his eyes tightly, and pressed his temples.
But when Baek Ho continued, Hwang Ho’s eyes snapped open.
“I met Jo Yi-shin, who was facing nightmares.”