CG Chapter 191: Mother, Please Wake Up
On the far edge of the Li Clan territory, inside the servant quarters. A figure stood inside a shabby, nearly ruined house as he battled his own ideals, an internal war between himself and his other self.
An Ku clenched the wilted hand of his mother with all the force he could muster, given his frail body. He appeared to be in pain and internal turmoil, his face shifting expressions with each second that passed.
He opened his eyes, laden with dark circles from exhaustion, as he looked at her. Unsure of his own feelings or desires, he wanted to speak but closed his mouth far too many times.
She never replied, no matter how many times he spoke, no matter what he said, and no matter how hard he tried. And only he knew that he tried everything he could to hear her voice one more time.
He dug his nails into his own skull with the other hand, ripping out a bunch of hair strands, which only made his appearance look more ghostly.
In a hoarse, raspy voice, he spoke in the empty house. "I... Please, I beg of you, just speak. Just say anything."
His gaze shook seeing her remain silent. Suddenly, his voice rose. "I said speak! Damn you, you are too cruel!"
In that moment, the same delicate hands of the boy, which had clenched so lovingly against his own mother's, now violently slapped against her face. However, he did not seem satisfied with just a single slap, as each strike was followed by another more violent one.
Unfortunately, no matter how he slapped or what he said, the corpse remained silent.
One of the gravest sins for a man is the simple act of desire: when one does everything they possibly can only to be left with a cold corpse, this desire turns into obsession. And aimless obsession only leads to one's own demise.
An Ku's mind wandered as he appeared to have regained some of his calmness. He held his mother's face. "Do not worry, I will fix you again. No matter how many times you break. I... I will complete my pledge. My perfect masterpiece."
As these words came out of his mouth, he remembered the scene he saw: a boy returning from the dead, the perfectly controlled Marionette. More importantly, he felt a cold sensation, as if his spine was about to freeze in its place, as he thought of the man who easily controlled him.
An Ku, who was raised amongst the corpse refiners, understood best how hard corpse control truly was, and a corpse that had its own consciousness? This was difficult, nay, impossible.
He felt akin to a fly hovering near a fire. If he approached that man, he felt like he was going to burn, before turning to ashes from his brilliance. Yet, he could not stop himself from approaching such a flawless master.
Lost in thought, he appeared as if he had finally given in, saying, "Mother, I shall learn even if it is from King Yama himself. Even if I need to go through the netherworld and back, nothing shall stop me from awakening you from your dream."
The words seemed to have turned into reality, as if his fate was written in the words coming out of his mouth. An Ku, who was lost in his thoughts and desires, suddenly heard a strangely familiar voice coming from behind.
He wanted to face the intruder, but his body did not submit to his command. He wished to turn his head, but his neck remained frozen in place. He desired to speak, but his lips felt too heavy. His lungs appeared as if all the air had been yanked from them.
"To your misfortune, King Yama is not my title, as the cost of making a deal with me is much grander."
With the man leaning on the wooden wall, the room seemed to have been split into two disconnected parts. On one side, the man was casually placing his weight against the wall as if this was a regular occurrence. And on the other, the scared An Ku, his frail body barely holding him in place.
He stood there frozen; droplets of sweat were flowing from his forehead as they seeped into the old wooden planks below.
The man spoke once more, uncaring of An Ku's fear, "To welcome a visitor as if he were your own father, to place a cup of warm wine and the food of the day, are not those the traditions of the prominent clans?"
This man was Aretius, who had planned on visiting the servant from the very first moment he noticed him. This, however, was not due to any supreme talent he noticed in him or any grand power.
It was far from it; in fact, An Ku's talent did not even match Manager Li's in Aretius's eyes, not to speak of his current prowess. Yet, he saw something more important than the previous two, as talent and power could both be granted through the seed, and in An Ku he saw the desperate fertile soil of obsession on which he could lay his demonic ideals.
A person the Li Clan would never suspect of acting as a rat of sorts, providing information and gnawing at the foundation of the clan before transforming it into his own.
"You called me here, yet when I answered the call you remained frozen in fear? Does your heart only carry so much courage? What dreams can you claim with such a meager, pathetic heart?"
Creak!
In that instant, An Ku seemed to have broken from his fear, as he turned his body. Without a moment of hesitation, he knelt.
"I am at your service, my lord. Please, all I ask is to learn from you."
An Ku did not dare to look at Aretius as he internally thought of how this was his only chance to rise. He understood that he did not have a choice from the moment this man came knocking; thus, he decided to kneel before knowing why the man had come to his door in the first place.
To kneel in front of the fiend, or to die by his hand.