I Decided to Give the Contract to the Male Vassal - Chapter 82

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 82

It was a person.

‘There’s a survivor in Mujingyeop?’

Since this was unexpected, Yeo Gyeong-o and I still didn’t lower our guard.

Thanks to the lamp casting its light, I could clearly see his face.

He had his eyes closed, but his face was youthful—a young boy who couldn’t have been even twenty yet.

His arms and legs were underdeveloped and gaunt, and his skin was as white as paper, as if he hadn’t seen light for a long time.

“My eyes hurt.”

The young boy frowned as if the lamplight bothered him and pulled his arm.

Snap!

The lamp that had lit up as soon as we entered went out.

Due to the sudden darkness, I had to channel internal energy to my eyes to see well in the dark.

Only after the light went out did the young boy open his eyes with a satisfied expression.

His eyelids trembled greatly once, like a beast unaccustomed to light opening its eyes for the first time.

His iris was pale and his pupils were abnormally dilated.

“Who are you?”

When I asked him first, the young boy tilted his head sideways.

“Two.”

In the darkness, the young boy’s foot tapped the floor.

“You’re human, right? This is the first time I’ve seen people other than the old man.”

His voice was clear, but his intonation was strange.

It felt as if he hadn’t conversed with people for a long time.

“Old man?”

This meant there was another person besides this young boy.

Before I knew it, the young boy slowly approached me.

I thought his movement was slow, but suddenly cold air brushed past my nape.

It was fast enough to make my vision flash.

At that movement, I reflexively tried to step back but stopped.

The back of the young boy’s hand was close to my throat. It was exactly the right distance to sever my meridians.

If he had come even an inch closer, my windpipe would have been severed.

Gulp, I unconsciously swallowed.

Just as Yeo Gyeong-o was about to step in front of me from behind, I raised my arm to stop his action.

“We’re human.”

I spoke in a low voice so the young boy wouldn’t be wary, but clearly.

The young boy had a calm expression. Rather, my breathing as I spoke sounded obviously tense even to my own ears.

“You really are.”

The young boy finally withdrew his hand and rolled his eyes.

“You’re not corpses. Your breath is warm too, and you smell good.”

“Smell?”

“So this is the smell of being alive.”

This time he turned his head toward Yeo Gyeong-o instead of me, then tilted his head as if he found it hard to understand.

“That one’s not so great though? Your smell is better.”

The way he looked at me again somehow felt like a young child who had just started talking.

“I’m Chung-rin. This is Yeo Gyeong-o. What’s your name?”

After introducing ourselves, I asked carefully, and the young boy blinked.

“I’m Yujumyeong. That’s what I was told.”

“I see, Yujumyeong. You mentioned an old man earlier… is there another person here?”

I deliberately called his name and asked carefully.

“Yeah. I don’t know his name. He’s just a crazy old man.”

Though he said that, it didn’t feel like he really disliked him.

“I came in here because I was hungry… I didn’t go out because I thought I’d get beaten again if I went back. I met that old man here.”

Yujumyeong spoke intermittently while searching his memory.

“Don’t tell me, that old man you mentioned…”

Yeo Gyeong-o muttered while looking at me.

Amhamason. I thought it might be referring to him, so I nodded as well.

“Is that person your master?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes he wakes up and beats me, teaches me, sleeps again, shows me how to eat when I’m hungry, forces me to eat if I don’t, stops my bleeding when I bleed… he’s an annoying old man.”

There was subtle affection mixed in that tone.

“Yujumyeong, did you operate the strange mechanisms of this ravine?”

“No. The old man did. I just learned how to fight here.”

That’s when it happened.

A small breathing sound leaked out from deeper inside the ravine.

“…Kuk.”

At the short groan, Yujumyeong’s expression changed instantly.

“The old man’s awake.”

The young boy immediately moved away from us.

It was as if he had no interest in Yeo Gyeong-o and me at all.

“Let’s follow.”

I told Yeo Gyeong-o and followed behind Yujumyeong deeper into the ravine.

After passing through the second strange mechanism, the air completely changed.

There was a smell of blood that was older and more densely concentrated than what I had felt before. Only darkness awaited us, where we could barely see our surroundings even with internal energy.

Where Yujumyeong stopped, there was a small cave.

The cave entrance was only wide enough for one person to barely pass through, and the inside was buried in darkness.

The moment I entered the cave, I instinctively held my breath.

I saw a figure sitting as if in meditation.

He was so emaciated that it was hard to call him human.

His skin was like the bark of an old tree, with only bones and tendons remaining instead of flesh, and the cloth draped over him was no different from rags.

However, the Amhamason emblem carved above those rags was clearly visible.

One of the Nine Great Demons of the Heavenly Sect.

Among them, this was Amhamason, who possessed martial arts most specialized in darkness.

Though faint, I could definitely feel his breathing.

Somewhere around his chest, very shallow life force mixed with dark internal energy was rising and falling very slowly.

Yujumyeong glared at us.

“Don’t touch him.”

It was a natural reaction. Amhamason would be like a parent to Yujumyeong.

The ability Yujumyeong had shown earlier was probably the dark arts that Amhamason had taught him.

“He’s alive, right?”

“He’s alive. Stubborn old man.”

Yujumyeong replied as if snorting.

“He hasn’t died for 4,018 days.”

That meant he had been alive for roughly 11 years…

It was a number that matched the timing of the Bloodsky Sect incident.

“May I take a look at him? I’ve learned medical arts, you know.”

“No.”

The refusal came immediately.

“People are dangerous. The old man was hurt by people.”

Eleven years ago, it seemed Amhamason had suffered considerable internal injuries and been trapped in this Mujingyeop.

“His breathing is weak. At this rate, he’ll die painfully.”

“Everyone dies.”

Yujumyeong’s reaction was like that of a young child.

I patiently tried to persuade him.

“That’s right, everyone dies eventually. But we can make it hurt less than it does now.”

A brief silence fell.

Yujumyeong’s gaze dropped to my hands.

“Such delicate hands… They don’t look like hands that hit people.”

He muttered, then reluctantly stepped aside.

“If you hurt the old man, I’ll split your face in half.”

Though the words were menacing, the emotion behind them seemed closer to anxiety than threat.

“I’ll try not to cause him pain.”

I carefully sat down beside Amhamason.

When I placed my hand on his exposed skin, it felt cold as ice.

However, deep inside, there remained a faint heat like dying embers.

I moved my hand to his wrist and felt his pulse.

Thump.

It was very slow and very irregular, but it was definitely beating.

“Evil energy… is embedded in his body.”

I spoke in a small voice as if talking to Yujumyeong, but actually to inform Yeo Gyeong-o of the situation.

His breathing, pulse, and internal energy flow were all twisted.

Traces of the Bloodsky Sect and Ma Ryeonghwa Family’s internal energy mixing and tearing apart his body from within.

“Can you save him?”

Yeo Gyeong-o asked with a serious expression from beside me.

“Complete recovery is impossible.”

I immediately shook my head.

“However, I can help him breathe a little more comfortably.”

I took out a small needle case from my chest.

It was something I had specially prepared by asking the chief steward just before leaving.

“Yujumyeong, I’m going to pierce his acupoints with this, so there might be some bleeding.”

“No. The old man has already lost a lot of blood.”

“I understand. I’ll keep it to a minimum.”

I changed my method according to his words.

Rather than drawing blood, I decided to gently open the blocked meridians.

Starting from the shallowest and safest points, I inserted needles inch by inch, redirecting the flow of evil energy embedded in his body.

As I gently channeled my internal energy inward, Amhamason’s chest moved slightly more softly.

“…”

It felt like someone who had been submerged deep underwater was rising up a little.

“That’s enough. If I interfere more, it might become dangerous instead…”

Just as I was about to remove the needles.

“Wait.”

A hoarse voice echoed through the cave.

Amhamason’s lips trembled very slightly, and the darkness surrounding his body rippled once.

Yujumyeong’s eyes widened.

“Old man!”

Amhamason’s cloudy eyes opened with difficulty.

His pupils first turned toward the ceiling, then slowly rolled toward us.

“Who are you?”

“I am Chung-rin. The Third Prince’s wife.”

At the mention of the Third Prince, Amhamason’s eyes widened. Having been trapped here for 11 years, he seemed unaware of the Third Prince’s existence.

Before I knew it, Yeo Gyeong-o had settled beside me.

“I am Yeo Gyeong-o, Leader of Chomundan. I came to this Mujingyeop while investigating the Bloodsky Sect, but I didn’t know that Amhamason was still alive.”

When Yeo Gyeong-o spoke respectfully, instead of answering, Amhamason only moved his eyes.

There was so little vitality in his body that it seemed he wouldn’t be able to talk for long.

“I want to know about the relationship between the Bloodsky Sect and the Ma Ryeonghwa Family.”

When Yeo Gyeong-o asked carefully, something that could have been either a smile or a spasm flickered at the corners of Amhamason’s mouth.

“Relationship?”

His voice, which seemed about to break, was clear.

“Those bastards were practically one body.”

His eyes seemed to recall events from the past.

“Do you happen to have any evidence to prove that fact?”

When I added my question, Amhamason looked at me again.

“If I tell you, what will you do for me?”

Watching his lips twist like dried tree bark, I answered as respectfully as possible.

“If it’s something I can do, I’ll do whatever you wish.”

Then his breathing became labored as if it might stop.

“Really? Then there’s one condition.”

Amhamason gathered all his internal energy and made a murderous expression.

Then he looked at Yujumyeong, who had been living with him.

“Kill that bastard in front of me.”

He said something completely unexpected.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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