Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Cultivation Through Copulation.

Episode 40: Monster Uproar (2)

Originally, there would have been no opportunity for a mere outer disciple like Yuk-gyeong to step forward.

Sure enough, an inner disciple accompanying Elder Geum stepped forward and scolded Yuk-gyeong.

“How dare an outer disciple like you!”

At that moment, Elder Geum raised a hand to stop the inner disciple and asked Yuk-gyeong,

“Enough. Disciple Lee Yuk-gyeong. What do you have to say?”

That’s right!

Elder Geum seemed to have taken a liking to Yuk-gyeong from the moment he first joined the Sect.

Yuk-gyeong gambled on that slight favor.

And that gamble paid off.

Elder Geum looked at Yuk-gyeong and asked what was going on.

Yuk-gyeong bowed politely and began his careful revenge.

“As far as I know, there have already been frequent disappearances among the Servant Hall workers. Although they may not be disciples of the Dark Moon Sect, they too serve the Sect. Moreover, they are under the responsibility of Deacon Yeong Sun-il.”

“…Deacon Yeong Sun-il, is this true?”

“…Yes, it is.”

“Why did Deacon Yeong Sun-il hide this fact?”

Elder Geum asked Deacon Yeong with his characteristic expressionless face. It was hard to tell what he was thinking from his expression.

Deacon Yeong broke into a cold sweat at Elder Geum’s expressionless face and made an excuse.

“I wasn’t hiding it. I just didn’t know I had to report their disappearances as well.”

“Does Deacon Yeong Sun-il admit his responsibility?”

Yeong Sun-il’s eyes darted slyly.

At a time like this, blindly denying responsibility would only make him look worse.

“Yes, I admit it. However! This disciple named Lee Yuk-gyeong has a minor grudge against me! He is clearly trying to frame me!”

When it comes to covering up wrongdoings, nothing is as effective as diverting the issue.

Deacon Yeong Sun-il skillfully tried to shift the issue with Yuk-gyeong to one of personal grudges rather than a matter of responsibility.

I couldn’t just stand by and let that happen.

“Disciple Lee Yuk-gyeong1, it’s true there was friction with me and the Servant Hall Deacon, Yeong Sun-il. But does that relate to him failing in his duties?”

“If you were dissatisfied with the excessive tasks I assigned before, I apologize. I take this opportunity to express my regret.”

Crafty bastard.

Trying to make it seem like I was sulking over some heavy tasks? No way.

“What could be so burdensome about a few dirty tasks for a farmer’s son like me? I simply want to ask if there’s no issue with Yeong Sun-il’s embezzlement of contribution points and attempts to cover up the disappearances.”

The reason Yuk-gyeong had left Yeong Sun-il alone until now was simple.

It was to make sure he’d be able to deal with him thoroughly.

Yuk-gyeong had always kept an eye on what happened in the Servant Hall and never neglected to gather evidence of Yeong Sun-il’s misdeeds even during training.

Yeong Sun-il’s embezzlement of contribution points was a long-standing issue.

He would skim off some contribution points from the novice disciples who were temporarily working in the Servant Hall, satisfying his greed with the paperwork he managed.

What would novice disciples know about contribution points? Once they joined the Sect, they quickly forgot whether they received points matching their work.

He was very adept at embezzling the contribution points coming in for the disciples. Perhaps he didn’t even see it as wrongdoing.

And,

Yeong Sun-il considered the disappearance of people from the Servant Hall a bothersome matter. A nuisance that could negatively affect his performance evaluation.

So he tried to make the disappearances from the Servant Hall a non-issue, which consequently made initial responses difficult after the appearance of the monster.

Information regarding this was in Yuk-gyeong’s hands.

Yuk-gyeong handed it over to Elder Geum, who examined it thoroughly.

After reviewing all the documents, Elder Geum asked Deacon Yeong.

“Yeong Sun-il, what is all this?”

“This, this is slander! Lee Yuk-gyeong is slandering me out of personal feelings! This is not true!”

“Are you saying these documents aren’t true? Then I can verify them, right?”

“Verify…verify….”

Yeong Sun-il stuttered.

Of course, he couldn’t let him verify it. Everything he’d done would be exposed.

That’s why he was hesitating and stuttering, unable to give a clear answer.

“Yeong Sun-il.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Are all the things in these documents true?”

“It’s, it’s…”

If he didn’t admit it now and it was later revealed to be true, he would be charged with contempt within the sect, and if he admitted it, he would fall from grace.

Yeong Sun-il’s thoughts were as jumbled as his words.

He thought it would be forgotten… He thought the minor bullying he did would be forgotten… He was just disappointed at failing the task that was given to him by the Jang family…

The very novice disciple he had bullied was now tightening the noose around his neck.

“Yeong Sun-il!”

“It’s true! I’m sorry! But the contribution points, I only took a small portion, as is customary for a deacon. As for the disappearance of people….”

Sun-il admitted to his crime. With the evidence being clear, and the fact that he had failed his mission, it would be foolish to expect the Jang family to come and help him.

Yeong Sun-il was frightened. He was naturally a timid person. The fact that he had no one backing him made him tremble with fear.

If the Jang family had been supporting him, Sun-il wouldn’t have admitted to his crime even if it meant death.

Elder Geum waved his hand as if he had a headache and instructed his disciples.

“Escort the criminal to the Law Enforcement Hall. They will impose the appropriate punishment there.”

“Elder, Elder! I am innocent! Elder!”

Claiming his innocence, Deacon Yeong Sun-il kept shouting as he was dragged away.

Elder Geum didn’t even glance in the direction Yeong Sun-il was being taken. He looked at Yuk-gyeong and asked,

“Disciple Lee Yuk-gyeong, things have turned out as you wished. You no longer need to worry about Deacon Yeong Sun-il. Since the person responsible has been punished, I trust you also have the wisdom to resolve the situation, right?”

Yuk-gyeong nodded confidently.

Who could be the culprit behind the disappearance at the Dark Moon Sect?

If he knew, he would have caught them already.

Of course, it was now time to start deducing.

There were no lingering traces of Spiritual Qi left where the monster came and went, nor are there any traces of spells.

If there were traces like that from the cultivation world, the Core Formation elders would have already found them.

Yuk-gyeong focused on another aspect.

It’s that there is no such thing as a perfect crime!

The culprit must’ve surely left some traces.

Yuk-gyeong collected some physical evidence that cultivators might easily overlook, the broken part of a wall, remaining footprints, marks scraped on the wall, and so on.

‘Its height is about waist level. It’s not human. Judging by the footprints…six feet? It really seems like a monster or a demonic beast.’

The cultivators weren’t fools, so they wouldn’t have been unaware of the physical evidence that Yuk-gyeong discovered.

The difficulty lay in gathering these pieces of evidence and extracting meaningful information from them.

And above all,

Yuk-gyeong focused on the ordinary people, not the cultivators.

Cultivators were indifferent to ordinary people. So they wouldn’t have conducted any inquiries with them.

Why did cultivators disregard ordinary people?

Fundamentally, ordinary people emitted turbid Qi and had a stench that was difficult for cultivators to endure, and most importantly, they didn’t cultivate, so they were considered different beings.

Yuk-gyeong first went to the Servant Hall to ask the ordinary people there about various things.

“Yes, sir, indeed. Just until yesterday, people were disappearing. Since we don’t have the ability to fly like you, sir, we just thought we were struck by misfortune again.”

“When someone disappeared, I clearly saw it. A black shadow swooped! And snatched the person away.”

“Already a few people have quit their jobs out of fear for their lives. It’s clear that something evil is lurking around the Servant Hall.”

It turned out that the disappearances at the Servant Hall were continuing even recently.

This would only lengthen the list of charges against the deacon, Yeong Sun-il.

Yuk-gyeong went to the most recent site of a disappearance to examine the traces.

Indeed, in a secluded area near the Servant Hall, Yuk-gyeong could clearly find the traces of the beast he was looking for.

And following those traces…

‘Here it is! I can feel the strange spatial distortion here!’

Something caught Yuk-gyeong’s senses.

It was something very cleverly hidden.

This wasn’t simply an element that could be found just by having a strong fucking status window or a high cultivation level. That’s why even Core Formation elders couldn’t find it.

This anomaly could only be discovered with a very sophisticated understanding of formations.

It was only because Yuk-gyeong had mastered the Pure Land Mantra Technique that he could find it, otherwise, even Yuk-gyeong might have overlooked and passed by this discrepancy.

“Here it is.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by ‘here’?”

“A formation. [Reveal].”

At Yuk-gyeong’s incantation, a translucent dome-like barrier revealed itself.

The disciples who followed gasped in amazement. They thought Yuk-gyeong had just pointed randomly, but something actually emerged from there.

Elder Geum asked.

“What is this?”

“This is where the culprit is hiding.”

“The culprit?”

“Yes. It’s the reason he hasn’t been caught until now. It’s because of this concealment formation. [Shatter]!”

Crack!

The barrier cracked but didn’t completely break.

Inside the partially shattered barrier, a shadow could be seen sitting in a meditative pose, but it didn’t seem to have a human form.

Ommm—!

From inside the barrier, a mantra sounded as if a bell was ringing. Listening to this mantra continuously would make one’s mind go blank, and they might even forget the barrier was there.

But Elder Geum wasn’t just going to watch that happen.

As Elder Geum waved his sleeve, the effect of the mantra vanished as if washed away, and even more severe cracks appeared on the partially shattered barrier.

Crack!

Smash!

“Kiyaaaah!”

A black shadow burst out from inside!

It moved at a speed difficult to follow with the eyes, attempting to attack Yuk-gyeong.

Yuk-gyeong quickly tried to counter the shadow with footwork, but this time, Elder Geum was faster.

“You dare!”

Thud!

With a gesture from Elder Geum, the shadow was flung away faster than it had charged.

Screech!

The identity of the fallen shadow was shocking.

It was a beast with six legs. It vaguely resembled a dog but wasn’t exactly the same. Like a dog, it had a long snout, and its mouth revealed rows of gruesome teeth.

The beast, with its glossy black skin, was in a form Yuk-gyeong had never seen before.

The strange-looking beast exuded the pressure of the Foundation Establishment stage. Of course, it posed no threat, being suppressed by Elder Geum, who was at the Core Formation stage.

Unfamiliar to Yuk-gyeong, Elder Geum frowned upon seeing its form.

“Isn’t that a Devourer beast? Could it be Jang Su-gi?”

Footnotes:

1: TL/N: Yuk-gyeong is stating his name and rank/status like someone in the military does ↩️