Chapter 97. A Trade (1/2)
Chapter 97. A Trade
ED: Chrysanthemum
Nothing is free in this world.
If you want to gain something, you lose something as a result.
This was the same for Pian Mu.
In order to gain back half the power he had in the past, Pian Mu had to spend quite a lot.
Before meeting Cho Ryu Hyang, which was about a day ago, he had made a trade with someone.
“Oh? Who’s this? Why did you come here today, maybe…. Pian Mu?”
[Don’t pretend that you haven’t seen me, Jin Jiao. You always look at me, don’t you?]
Maksu was currently talking to a handsome man with a long, blue hair.
That man looked at the tiny rabbit in front of himself and smiled awkwardly.
“Were you able to feel my gaze?”
[Nope.]
“What the? You just guessed?”
[Yeah, you idiot. How would I ever be able to feel you looking at me?]
“You got me.”
The man called Jin Jiao lifted up his two hands with a bitter face.
Even he was surprised that he made a confession like this due to some small talk.
Right then, Maksu crossed his arms and spoke to Jin Jiao with a serious face.
[So are you still doing that useless play with humans?]
“It’s actually pretty fun, you know. It’s fun watching them.”
Jin Jiao played with his hair and grinned.
That grin seemed to contain a twinge of sadness for some reason.
“I’d probably go crazy if I didn’t even have a hobby, you know? Especially with an infinite age like mine… I’m pretty sensitive, you see…….”
[Useless talk.]
“Right, right. Just some mindless jibber-jabber from an old monster. Anyway, why’d you come here?”
[I came to make a trade with you.]
“As expected, it was that, wasn’t it? There’s no way you would come all the way out here otherwise. You hated moving around since a long time back after all.”
[Yeah.]
Jin Jiao. He was one of the few greater monsters left in the human world, and he was someone who valued neutrality and balance.
Maksu looked at the greater monster carefully and opened his mouth.
[Can you undo my curse?]
It would be an impossible feat for others, but for this guy, it might be possible.
The guy must’ve been accumulating energy for countless years, which probably let him become immensely powerful.
Therefore, Maksu ‘assumed’ that this guy could undo his curse.
However, Jin Jiao denied Maksu’s assumption immediately.
“Ei, not even I could do anything about that nonsensical curse. You think of me too highly.”
[So it’s impossible for you as well…….]
This was the curse created by the one and only Daode Tianzun.
There was no way such a curse was going to be undone so easily.
“But…….”
[But?]
Jin Jiao smiled playfully.
“There is a way to undo it at certain times.”
Maksu’s eyes widened.
He had never expected something even close to this being possible.
[How?]
Jin Jiao didn’t answer and shook his head.
He then stretched out one of his hands towards Maksu with a smile.
“You should tell me what you’re going to give me first. You know how I work, don’t you?”
Maksu ground his teeth.
[Of course I do. You never make a deal with anyone unless you get twice the amount you give.]
“Hahaha! I’ll take that as a praise.”
[What do you want from me?]
Jin Jiao’s eyes shone with a golden light at Maksu’s words.
“That sounds like you’d give me anything that I want. Did I understand that wrongly?”
[You did not.]
“Hoh? You’ll regret it though?”
[I regretted it already in the past. Tell me what you want before I change my mind.]
Jin Jiao looked at Maksu with a curious gaze.
“Your current name was Maksu, right? Are you perhaps doing this all for that kid who named you?”
[……Yeah.]
“Just what are you trying to get from the kid?”
Maksu did not respond. He simply looked at Jin Jiao with a complicated gaze.
Jin Jiao looked at Maksu’s eyes, which was a mixture of hurtfulness and a fighting spirit and shook his head.
“Never mind. I asked you something useless. I just want to make a deal and that’s all. I don’t really need to know about what happened to you.”
[What do you want?]
“You should know.”
[Say it yourself.]
“You know that I’ve only wanted one thing since the past. The mark of the beast king, Black Blood. I need that. You aren’t even going to use it, so why not give it to me?”
[……How laughable. You want to become a beast king? Now?]
“Useless question. Let’s not try to dig into our past, shall we? It just becomes stressful.”
Maksu nodded.
[Alright. I’ll give it.]
“Really?”
[Yeah.]
Jin Jiao smiled strangely.
He crouched on the ground, got to Maksu’s eye level, and spoke.
“I’m telling you this now, but I said this can only be done at certain times.”
[……Right.]
Maksu became nervous.
When he made a face of defeat, Jin Jiao grinned as if telling Maksu that he needn’t worry.
“It would be good when it’s the time when the full moon or a red moon rises. The curse should be undone at days like those when our power is the strongest. But you would only be able to use half your power at times like those.”
[That’s good enough.]
Right.
It was good enough.
Normally, Maksu wouldn’t even be able to use half of his power.
This was better than nothing.
After all, even if he had just half of his power, there were no beings in the human world who could beat him.
‘I should do something about my personality.’
Maksu rubbed the back of his head with a bitter face.
As Maksu swore that he would fix his impatience in the near future, Jin Jiao took something out from his pocket.
Maksu became slightly confused when he saw that thing.
[You knew how to make seals?]
“Of course I did. I have a lot of time, you know? You just have to activate this seal to undo it.”