Only Geom Mugeuk and his guard warriors remained in the place where the banquet had ended.
After having only the corpses cleared away, he had deliberately sent everyone else out. He wanted to have a drink with his guards.
I sat on the edge of a table and picked up a bottle of liquor.
“Your shift changes soon, doesn’t it? Come on, everyone, have a drink.”
Jeogyeon and the guards silently accepted their cups. They no longer said, “We cannot do that while on guard duty,” in response to my orders. A relationship unique to us was forming.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
When I raised my cup high, everyone raised theirs and emptied them.
A cup of liquor drunk in the empty banquet hall after a storm had swept through it had a strange charm.
‘Rest a little, at times like this at least.’
Some people say guard warriors are impressive, but without a sense of duty, it is truly no easy task. They are neither the leads nor the supporting cast, not even bit players. They do work that requires them to become the background.
“Do you ever drink before sleeping?”
At my question, Jeogyeon answered.
“Sometimes. On a day like today, I probably would have.”
“A day like today?”
Instead of answering, Jeogyeon asked me a question.
“Do you not grow tired of punishing evil?”
“That’s why we lose. Because we get tired. That side is like weeds that have grown back the moment you turn around, while this side is a farmer who has to pull them out one by one.”
Jeogyeon’s eyes trembled slightly. Soon, his gaze turned to the bloodstain left where Yeo Sogwang’s corpse had been.
“When I first saw Leader Yeo, I did not know he was that sort of person.”
“You mustn’t be fooled by first impressions. Petty men are skilled at disguising themselves. If someone gives you an oddly excessive feeling of pleasantness at first glance, you should be wary of them for the time being.”
“In that sense, I suppose I am fortunate.”
With his single eye, he had a strong first impression. He could not compare to the Fist Demon, and could be called a gentler version of Jangho.
“When you take off your eyepatch, you’re actually quite handsome, aren’t you? Manly, too.”
“I am? That is the first time I have heard that.”
Just as Jeogyeon’s mood was about to improve slightly, I quickly added,
“That is exactly the sort of thing you should watch out for. Being made to feel good for no reason!”
Jeogyeon and the guards laughed together.
“Will you be leaving for the Jiangxi Branch tomorrow?”
“I’d like to, but… I should finish up the matters here before I go.”
Cutting someone down and getting rid of them is not difficult. It is always the cleanup afterward that is hard. You have to clean up what the bastard left behind, and find someone to replace him.
“There’s no hurry. Let’s go slowly.”
Would it be any different there? Good people and bad bastards would be living all mixed together.
* * *
The next morning, the rumor that the branch leader had died spread through the Honam Branch.
Because there had been so many people present when Yeo Sogwang died, the reason for his death was also made known in detail. Today it was only a rumor within the branch, but within a few days, it would spread throughout the Honam region.
Now all the branch leaders and division chiefs in the Central Plains would fear me. I did not think that was bad. Only if they were thoroughly cowed and tense would discipline be properly established.
That afternoon, the person in charge of the Honam region from Tongcheongak came to see me again.
“We have recovered all the assets Yeo Sogwang had hidden in Yanghosa. How should this money be handled?”
“Send all the money to the main sect.”
“Understood.”
Father, your son is working hard out here to earn money! I really should joke around with Father about it once.
“Until the higher-ups appoint an acting branch leader, at the very least, the Young Cult Leader will have to remain here at this branch for the time being.”
Since I had cut down the branch leader without even deciding on a successor, it could not be helped. Even if the Tongcheongak warrior had not said it, I had intended to stay and help settle the aftermath.
Just as he had entrusted the selection of the Hwangcheongak Lord to me, there was a possibility Father would accept my suggestion for the successor to this branch leader as well.
“When you return, immediately send me information on the executive-level personnel under the branch leader. Send all possible information.”
“Understood.”
After receiving information from Hwangcheongak as well, I immediately held interviews with the warriors who seemed suitable to become the next branch leader.
It was impossible to know what sort of person someone was from a single interview, but his past conduct allowed me to guess what kind of person he might be.
After recording my impressions and thoughts on each person one by one, I sent the contents to Tongcheongak. Whether they sent down a new person or chose from among those I had interviewed, the rest was for Father and Tongcheongak to handle.
After finishing what I had to do, I trained in the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art at the training ground. Lately, whenever I practiced the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art, I had instinctively felt a certain ticklish sensation, as though the time had come to cross into the next stage.
As expected, my prediction was correct. On the third day after I began training, the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art reached the next stage. Now only one stage remained before Great Completion. Once I crossed just one more stage, I would possess two lives.
Ordinarily, it was difficult to know the reason behind an advancement in such profound martial arts, but this time I could tell.
It was because of the Ninefold Demon Art. Learning the Ninefold Demon Art had undoubtedly influenced my training in the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art.
I immediately displayed the First Form of the Ninefold Demon Art. I was curious as to what effect the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art’s advancement by one stage had conversely had on the Ninefold Demon Art.
The First Technique, Annihilation Form.
The Eastern Ghost, Western Ghost, Southern Ghost, and Northern Ghost appeared all at once and simultaneously tore through space.
The terrifying one, the handsome one, the mysterious one, and the clever-looking one. All four were the same as ever.
And something had changed as well.
The time they remained had become just a little longer than before. As the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art rose by one stage, it had also influenced the Ninefold Demon Art.
Of course, that did not mean I was having an emotional exchange with them. For now, it was still the stage of my one-sided courtship.
East, west, south, and north, I look forward to working with you from now on as well!
Would the day ever come when those evil spirits responded to these feelings of mine?
It was already different now, but that day would be when my Ninefold Demon Art became a Ninefold Demon Art completely different from Father’s.
* * *
On the day Geom Mugeuk finished training and came out of the practice field, two men had come looking for him. One of them introduced himself first.
“My name is Chungsik. I have come here despite my discourtesy because I have an earnest request to make of the Young Cult Leader.”
Perhaps because he was nervous, Chungsik’s voice trembled.
And Geom Mugeuk recognized him.
“You were the one playing music at the banquet hall that day.”
When Geom Mugeuk recognized him, Chungsik was startled.
“You recognize me?”
“I do. I do not easily forget someone I have seen once. What brings you here, musician?”
At that, Chungsik looked back at the middle-aged man who had come with him.
“This friend here is my friend.”
The man who had come with him introduced himself.
“I am Haesong, and I sell vegetables in the market here.”
Haesong was even more nervous than Chungsik.
“Good to meet you. I am Geom Mugeuk.”
“It is an honor to meet someone so noble.”
“What brings you to me?”
Haesong could not easily speak. Even though he had practiced what he would say, when the moment came to actually speak, his heart trembled so much that the words would not come out.
Unable to watch any longer, Chungsik spoke in his place.
“Before the Young Cult Leader came here, this friend’s son suffered an unjust assault. He was injured so badly that the physician said he might become crippled.”
Haesong bit his lip tightly. That was the reason he could not bear to say it with his own mouth. Whenever he thought of his son, anger burst inside him, and his heart welled up so fiercely that tears threatened to fall.
“Who did it?”
“There is an organization made up of young warriors in the Honam region. They call themselves the Musinhoe.”
“Who led the assault?”
“The son of the Cheonhwamun Sect Leader and the son of the Soyabang Gang Leader.”
Cheonhwamun and Soyabang. They were sects that had joined hands with the dead Yeo Sogwang. They were also sects that had to be investigated because of this incident, and now they had revealed themselves through an unexpected matter like this.
Seeing that the heavens were not allowing those sects to slip through the net, I thought that perhaps their wicked deeds were even greater than they appeared.
“We know how discourteous it is for lowly people like us to come see the Young Cult Leader and make such a request. But that day, I saw the Young Cult Leader step forward for Yakran. I thought that if it were the Young Cult Leader, you might resolve this friend’s injustice as well.”
Chungsik’s gaze turned to Haesong.
“I am someone who has lived my entire life doing nothing but playing music. This friend bought instruments for me when I was poor and made it possible for me to learn music. I want to repay that grace even if I must stake my life on it.”
Haesong lowered his head. Though he was nothing more than a vegetable merchant in the market, he knew well how burdensome and difficult it was to come before the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. For his sake, his friend had come here risking his life. In truth, he himself had also risked his life by coming. If it had been anything else, he never would have come.
Haesong opened his mouth in a trembling voice.
“To be honest, I had given up. How could someone like me, a mere market merchant, stand against Cheonhwamun and Soyabang? But this friend said that the Young Cult Leader’s arrival at this time was a chance the heavens had granted me.”
Haesong looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“I want to make them pay for their crimes.”
He had been trembling all along, but in that moment, his eyes were those of a father.
* * *
Haesong’s wife was startled. Even when the musician came and told her husband they should go meet the Young Cult Leader, she had thought it would be a wasted effort. She believed there was no way the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult would meet a mere musician. She had worried that they might go for nothing and only come back after being beaten.
But when the Young Cult Leader came in person and the guards stood watch around the house, she was so astonished she could hardly think straight.
When they entered the room, Haesong’s son Haejin lay there, groaning in pain.
At a glance, his injuries were severe. A physician had come and treated him, but he was still lying there unable to move at all. In his current state, let alone living as a warrior, even living as an ordinary person seemed difficult.
At the sound of the door opening, Haejin forced himself to endure the pain and said,
“Mother, I’m fine. I’m much better.”
Haejin was desperately holding back the pain so his mother would not worry. Haesong’s wife sat beside her son, suppressing her tears.
“Jin, a noble person has come to see you.”
Only then did Haejin open his eyes. But he was in too much pain to see properly.
“Let me examine him for a moment.”
Geom Mugeuk turned Haejin’s body to the side and placed his palm on his back.
After injecting true qi for a moment to regulate the qi and blood in his body, Haejin’s ragged breathing quieted.
At the sight, Chungsik, Haesong, and his wife were relieved and greatly delighted. It was the first time since his injury that he had appeared so peaceful.
Geom Mugeuk opened the blocked qi and blood channels and properly reset the broken bones. He carried out that difficult treatment in an instant with the least possible pain. If not for the cracking sounds, no one would have known what he was doing.
“What happened?”
Now Haejin, his face eased, answered about what had happened.
“I went to work at a banquet hall. If you carry wine and food at banquets for prestigious families, you can earn more money than working at an inn.”
Haesong let out a sigh. His son had gone to a martial academy with the money he earned by working so hard like that. If he himself had had more money, his son would not have had to go do such work. Chungsik had told him not to blame himself, but as a parent, how could he not?
“My dream is to become a warrior.”
“You have naturally good bones and muscles, so you will be able to become a good warrior. Be grateful to your parents.”
“Really?”
Haejin, now somewhat in his right mind, looked at his parents. The couple forced smiles while hiding their sorrow.
Geom Mugeuk asked again.
“What happened there?”
“I carried the liquor to be used at the banquet for a long while, and when I had a break, I practiced the footwork I had learned. I shouldn’t have practiced…”
After letting out a sigh full of regret, Haejin continued.
“At that time, Young Master Seo was passing by, saw me, and asked if I had learned martial arts. So I told him I attended a martial academy, and then he told me to have a spar with Young Master Seok, who was with him. I refused over and over, but…”
Haejin’s expression filled with resentment, and then fear appeared in his eyes. It seemed that when he thought of that moment, fury surged up in him so intensely he could hardly endure it. The terror of being beaten nearly to death had also left a deep wound in him.
Now it was clear what had happened. Since they had used a spar as an excuse to assault him, no one could hold them responsible. It was likely not something they had done only once or twice.
“How is my body?”
“Fortunately, your important blood vessels were not damaged. I just opened the vessels that had been blocked by your injuries. You do not have to give up on your dream.”
“Thank you so much.”
Tears flowed from Haejin’s eyes and ran down his cheeks.
Chungsik, Haesong, and Haesong’s wife were also greatly delighted. They had only hoped he would not become crippled, but now their son could dream of becoming a warrior again. They were even happier than their son.
“Are banquets held often?”
“They are held once every three or four days.”
“Now sleep deeply.”
When Geom Mugeuk tapped Haejin’s sleep acupoint, he fell comfortably asleep.
“Leave the rest to me, and focus only on treating your son.”
The three people bowed deeply to Geom Mugeuk. They had truly never imagined the Young Cult Leader would so readily help them to this extent. It felt like a dream.
Before leaving, Geom Mugeuk said to Haesong,
“I came because I saw the look in your eyes. You are the one who saved your son.”
When Geom Mugeuk came outside, the sound of Haesong’s sobs, which he had endured and endured, came from inside. His wife’s crying and his friend’s crying joined it.
Geom Mugeuk said to Jeogyeon, who had been waiting.
“Contact Tongcheongak again and tell them to send information on Cheonhwamun and Soyabang. And find out when the banquet is being held.”
“Yes, understood.”
As they walked together toward the carriage, Jeogyeon added,
“You are truly remarkable.”
“What is?”
“The fact that you personally look after each and every one of these matters.”
“I came in a carriage you people drove, treated him with a stream of true qi, then I’ll ride in another carriage you people drive to the banquet hall and scold some bastards who can’t tell shit from piss. Now, where in any of that is something remarkable? What is remarkable is the courage of that musician who suggested they go find the Young Cult Leader for his friend’s sake. It is the courage of a father asking that the children of great sects be made to pay for the sake of justice for his son. It is the endurance of a son pretending not to be in pain for his mother’s sake. That is where the word remarkable belongs.”
But Jeogyeon firmly shook his head and said,
“No. No matter what anyone says, the Young Cult Leader is more remarkable.”
Jeogyeon opened the carriage door. As Geom Mugeuk climbed into the carriage, he said,
“Now you’re being stubborn, too. You’re changing. You’re becoming somewhat rebellious.”
As he closed the carriage door, Jeogyeon said,
“And whose fault would that be?”
Looking at Jeogyeon through the window, Geom Mugeuk smiled. He could feel color gradually filling those who had once been a gray background.
And so the carriage began to run off to handle something remarkable, and yet not remarkable at all.