Even at the words suggesting a martial contest, Seo Cheong did not back down and remained standing where he was.
He was the sort who lived and died by his pride. With Seok Pung watching, and the others watching too, he did not want to kneel alongside them.
Geom Mugeuk returned to Seo Cheong the very words he had spoken when they first met.
“You have a strong sense of pride? Well, for a martial artist, pride is life itself.”
The instant he heard those words, killing intent surged up in Seo Cheong. He pictured himself stabbing Geom Mugeuk before him to death with his sword. He imagined cutting down even the demonic cultists who rushed at him. The thought of standing tall, drenched in blood, while everyone looked on in shock and admiration, was thrilling enough by itself.
He did not like Geom Mugeuk’s clear yet deep eyes, which seemed to see right through that desire of his.
“How could I dare cross swords with the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult?”
No matter how wounded his pride was, he was not foolish enough to charge at the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.
“When someone begged you like this, did you grant his request?”
At first, Seo Cheong wondered what he meant. But soon, he remembered. Not long ago, the man he had forced into a martial contest and smashed apart had begged in the exact same way. He had said he was no match for him. He had begged to be forgiven just once.
“Why on earth are you doing this to me?”
“Didn’t that fellow explain the reason earlier?”
“Everything that bastard said is a lie!”
At that, Seok Pung, who was kneeling, shouted.
“I know where the bodies were buried.”
Seeing him come at him as if to drag them both down together, Seo Cheong ground his teeth.
“That brainless son of a bitch!”
The two glared at each other as if they would kill one another.
Seo Cheong’s gaze turned back to Geom Mugeuk.
“They were all people of no importance. Low-ranking martial artists, passersby on the road. I will compensate them all.”
Geom Mugeuk opened his aura and released demonic energy.
In that instant, Seo Cheong plunged with a splash into seawater of unfathomable depth.
The pressure that constricted his entire body in an instant left Seo Cheong unable to breathe.
He tried to resist, but it was useless. The internal energy method he had trained in since childhood, his sword art, the methods of controlling his mind—nothing worked.
A scream slipped from his mouth. It felt as though he would either be crushed to death as he was, or suffocate.
‘You bastard! Why the hell are you doing this to me? You must have killed all kinds of people too!’
Unable to endure it, Seo Cheong cried out.
“Please stop!”
Then, as if it had all been a lie, the demonic energy crushing him vanished.
Seo Cheong opened the eyes he had squeezed shut. He saw Geom Mugeuk’s legs before him. While enduring the demonic energy, he had unknowingly fallen to his knees.
His face flushed with humiliation, and he sprang to his feet.
Honestly, Seo Cheong could not understand it. No, he felt wronged. If it were anyone else, perhaps, but shouldn’t the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult understand him better? To him, they should be even more insignificant.
“I said I would compensate them. I will compensate their families with money they could never touch in their entire lives. Wouldn’t that make their deaths all the more valuable?”
Geom Mugeuk looked at him and smiled.
Because Seo Cheong did not know what sort of person Geom Mugeuk was, he naturally misunderstood that smile. He did not know that his fate had already been decided as death, or as suffering even greater than death.
‘Yes, that’s it. No matter how mighty the Demonic Cult is, they can’t touch our Cheonhwa Sect.’
His father had once said it. Our Cheonhwa Sect is a proud sect desired by the Demonic Cult, by the Unorthodox Alliance, and even by the Martial Alliance.
“Call my father.”
“Very well, I will.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s ready answer, Seo Cheong felt relieved.
‘It’s done. I’m fine. It’s nothing. Nothing will happen to me just because I killed a few worthless things. That demonic cultist was a low-ranking martial artist too.’
Thinking it truly fortunate that he had not killed anyone important, Seo Cheong shook off his fear. As always, once his father came, everything would be resolved.
Next, Geom Mugeuk approached Seok Pung.
Seok Pung, still kneeling, trembled in fear as Geom Mugeuk came near. He was confused. Had this situation arisen because of the Young Cult Leader, or had he survived the crisis of nearly being killed by Seo Cheong thanks to the Young Cult Leader? He could not make sense of anything.
“You just need to go and testify exactly as you said earlier.”
At that, Seok Pung’s gaze turned to Seo Cheong, who stood ahead.
Geom Mugeuk drove a wedge into Seok Pung’s heart.
“Yes, you might be afraid of the Cheonhwa Sect and change your testimony. Now, from that moment on, who should you be afraid of?”
Geom Mugeuk slowly clenched his fist in front of his face.
The instant the fist was clenched tight—
Boom!
The sound of thunder rang out from his fist.
“Aaaagh!”
At the thunderclap that burst right before his eyes, Seok Pung nearly lost his soul. It was the sound of real thunder. Thunder came from a fist? If he were struck by that fist, his whole body would be reduced to powder.
“No, I’ll tell everything honestly. There are more evil deeds that bastard committed.”
He thought that if he ratted out all of Seo Cheong’s crimes, he himself would be able to slip away unharmed. Burying bodies together, beating a young man who worked here one-sidedly until he had nearly been crippled—things like that did not even register to him as crimes. Geom Mugeuk did not bother correcting that misconception.
“As expected. You looked clever from the first moment I saw you.”
Watching this, Seo Cheong snorted.
‘Even so, he can’t touch me. If he could, he would have done it already.’
Places like the Soya Gang could be frightened and touched. The thunderclap only made him more certain.
When Geom Mugeuk gave a signal, the demonic cultists of the Hunan Branch came in, sealed the internal energy of Seo Cheong, Seok Pung, and all the others there, then led them out.
Seo Cheong shook off the hands of the martial artists who tried to seize both his arms.
“I will walk on my own feet!”
Seo Cheong remained dignified to the very end.
Because he was so composed, the expressions of the others being dragged away with him also loosened somewhat. They had been terrified, but once they were being taken away without anyone getting hurt, they began to think, ‘This isn’t such a big deal, is it?’ They knew nothing.
In the empty banquet hall, only Geom Mugeuk and his guards remained once again.
Jeok Yeon said to Geom Mugeuk,
“You resolved it without lifting a finger.”
“I told you, didn’t I? This matter is nothing grand.”
“I thought you would challenge Seo Cheong to a martial contest and smash him to pieces.”
“His father is going to come see me. How could I do that?”
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk was thinking of two fathers.
This matter had begun with the father of Haejin, who had been assaulted here, and would end with the father of Seo Cheong, who had assaulted him.
“Let us see how this father comes out.”
* * *
Seo Baekjung (徐伯仲), the Sect Leader of the Cheonhwa Sect, was in the middle of a meeting.
Possessing an intense gaze and a cold impression, he was a self-made man who had raised the Cheonhwa Sect, once nothing more than a small sect in Hunan, into the foremost sect of the province. Having spent his entire life running toward success, he was working even today to make the Cheonhwa Sect stronger.
At that moment, his trusted aide Yu Maeng (柳孟) hurried in and reported through sound transmission.
—The young master has been taken to the Hunan Branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
At Yu Maeng’s report, Seo Baekjung showed no agitation at all.
—Have him wait until the meeting is over.
Even after receiving the report that his son had been taken, Seo Baekjung remained calm. He finished the meeting he had been conducting to the very end. His emotions changed so little that it was hard to believe he had received Yu Maeng’s report.
After the meeting ended and he sent everyone who had been with him out, only then did he ask,
“Was it the Young Cult Leader who took him?”
“Yes, that seems to be the case.”
After Yeo Sogwang’s death, rumors had spread widely throughout Hunan that the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was at the branch.
“Did he take him knowing that he is my child?”
“He did.”
For an instant, an undisguisable displeasure passed around Seo Baekjung’s eyes.
“How did it happen?”
Yu Maeng reported carefully.
“It seems the young master committed murder.”
Seo Baekjung was not surprised at all. His reaction made it impossible to tell whether he had already known, or whether he simply did not care about such a trifling matter.
“Whom did he kill?”
“Several people. The problem is that among them, there seems to have been a martial artist from the Demonic Cult’s Hunan Branch.”
“Foolish!”
He did not mean that killing was foolish. His anger was at the fact that Seo Cheong had killed them and failed to handle the aftermath properly.
“It was revealed in a place where everyone was present, so it seems it will not be easy to smooth this matter over.”
“Then why was he taken by the Demonic Cult?”
“The Young Cult Leader was apparently present.”
“Did my boy invite him?”
“That much has not been confirmed. What has been confirmed is that a fight broke out at the banquet with Young Master Seok of the Soya Gang, and in the process, Young Master Seok seems to have leaked everything.”
Yu Maeng was always amazed by Seo Baekjung’s composure. Even in a situation where his child had been taken by the Demonic Cult, he did not respond emotionally. One might expect him to reveal rage and killing intent toward Seok Pung, but he showed no sign of it whatsoever.
And what was even more astonishing was that he invariably remembered the matters that seemed as if they would be buried and forgotten within that composure, and took revenge for them. Once this matter was over, Seok Pung would never remain unharmed.
“Prepare the carriage.”
* * *
“I pay my respects to the Young Cult Leader.”
Seo Baekjung greeted Geom Mugeuk courteously.
“It is our first meeting, Sect Leader.”
Inwardly, Seo Baekjung was surprised by Geom Mugeuk’s appearance. First, he was surprised by the fact that he was so young, and he was also surprised by his looks, which would stand out anywhere.
“I did not know the Young Cult Leader was such a handsome man.”
“Fortunately, because I did not take after my father, I often hear that.”
At the mention of the Heavenly Demon, Seo Baekjung grew tense inwardly.
“If the Cult Leader hears that, he will feel hurt.”
“In truth, if I had taken after my father, life would be easier. Our Sect Leader would not be able to treat me so comfortably either.”
“It seems I have been rude upon our first meeting.”
“Not at all. Please do not misunderstand. I like things to be comfortable.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly.
Inwardly, Seo Baekjung sensed that the Young Cult Leader was not an easy man to deal with. If one threw out such words before a conversation, the other party was bound to feel uncomfortable, and he could naturally seize the initiative in the conversation and stand in a superior position.
‘Not bad.’
Then again, no matter how young he was, one must not take the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult lightly.
“I heard that my child caused trouble.”
“It would have been better if I had met you over a more pleasant matter.”
“It is my fault. I have been busy with work and failed to educate my child properly.”
Seo Baekjung rose from his seat and respectfully offered a cupped-fist salute.
It was an apology that hoped Geom Mugeuk would also stand and say that it was all right, that such things could happen when one was young, but Geom Mugeuk remained seated. He even said this:
“So it seems.”
Seo Baekjung bowed his head respectfully once again.
‘Look at this little bastard.’
He felt offended, but his tone became even more courteous.
“As you know, our Cheonhwa Sect is the foremost sect in Hunan. We have the greatest number of disciples, and the greatest number of experts.”
After displaying his power in this way, he apologized once more.
“Because of that, I failed to look after my household. I ask that you please understand and show leniency.”
“I would like that as well, but the crimes committed are too great, so it is difficult.”
“There must be many things our sect can do for your cult. We will carry them out and spend a lifetime repaying this debt of sin.”
He had spoken indirectly, but he meant that he would pay money. Since most of the serious problems he had encountered in his life had been solved with money and blades, he was trying to solve this one with money as well. After all, he could not face the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult with a blade.
‘In the end, what you want is money, isn’t it? How much do you want? Two hundred thousand taels? Three hundred thousand taels?’
Then Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.
“I understand you did plenty of that work with Branch Leader Yeo.”
When the dead Yeo Sogwang was mentioned, Seo Baekjung flinched in surprise.
‘So this was it.’
Now Seo Baekjung understood. In this world, could his child be the only one who had committed sins? Yet the reason he had specifically seized his son was to pressure him into revealing what he had done with Yeo Sogwang.
‘So it isn’t one hundred thousand taels or two hundred thousand taels, but several million taels he wants me to cough up!’
He did not know Geom Mugeuk’s intentions. Even if they were explained, he would not understand. He would not understand that this matter had begun for the sake of a boy who carried liquor in the banquet hall, and that the matter related to Yeo Sogwang was an example meant to establish discipline in the branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Even if he were told, he would suspect there was another hidden meaning.
“I apologize, but I do not quite understand what you mean.”
“When it becomes a situation like this, without fail…”
Geom Mugeuk added with a bright smile,
“Everyone says they don’t understand.”
Their gazes intertwined in midair.
Seo Baekjung realized this was not a problem that could be resolved this way. The other party wanted something he could not give.
“I have taken too much of your valuable time. I will withdraw for today.”
After respectfully offering a cupped-fist salute, Seo Baekjung left the room.
Jeok Yeon entered the place he had left behind.
Geom Mugeuk said to Jeok Yeon,
“I should have beaten that Seo Cheong bastard black and blue.”
“What do you mean?”
“He left without even seeing his son’s face.”
“Perhaps it was because he was angry?”
Geom Mugeuk rose from his seat and walked to the window.
“No. It is because he did not come for his son’s sake.”
No matter how angry he was, no matter how much he hated him, if his son had been taken by the Demonic Cult, it was only proper that he at least see his face and check whether he was injured.
And yet, right now, Seo Baekjung was consumed entirely by how he would deal with me from this point forward. So you two are not looking at each other either. Truly, you are not looking at each other in the most dreadful way.
He could see Seo Baekjung walking away in the distance.
“If he had come as a father, my fight would have been much harder.”
At that moment, Seo Baekjung briefly stopped and looked back this way.
Geom Mugeuk waved from the window. Seo Baekjung bowed his head politely and turned away.
“Instead of this meaningless greeting, you should have met your son.”
Whether to scold him, beat him, or promise to save him, he should have met his son.
Then again, if they had been that kind of father and son, perhaps this would never have happened in the first place.
* * *
Late at night, Seo Baekjung sat alone by the riverside, fishing.
From beyond the thick fog came the sound of footsteps.
Step, step.
With even strides, sounding as if he would walk this way no matter what happened in the world, someone approached.
A man emerged, parting the fog.
His bamboo hat was pulled low, so his face could not be seen, but he gave off a strange impression.
Looking at the lake where his fishing rod was cast, Seo Baekjung said,
“My son was taken by the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”
The words Demonic Cult had been spoken, and so had the words Young Cult Leader. Though those two terms combined into the most dangerous phrase in the martial world, the man wearing the bamboo hat answered without hesitation.
“We will resolve it.”
The man vanished into the fog with the same sound of footsteps as when he had come.