Naturally, it was something said for Geomseon to hear.
Geom Muguk rose from his seat and greeted Geomseon with a respectful cupped-fist salute.
“I was unable to pay my respects properly earlier. It is an honor to meet you.”
Geomseon sized up Geom Muguk with a sharp gaze. He had done so when they first met as well, but once again, he admired Geom Muguk’s eyes and bearing.
*To think his eyes are so clear despite having trained in the demonic arts? Truly astonishing.*
Geomseon’s gaze turned to Hyeolcheon Doma, who stood behind Geom Muguk. He remembered what Hyeolcheon Doma had said earlier.
—It may yet change.
Had those words, spoken as if he had changed his life, been about this Young Cult Leader?
Geomseon asked again in a low yet grave tone.
“Repeat what you said earlier.”
“I had assumed you were unaware. Had you known, you would not have tolerated it.”
Geomseon had only accompanied Jin Hagun at the request of Martial Alliance Leader Jin Paecheon to protect him; he did not know what business Jin Hagun had come out for. He had not been interested in the first place.
“Do you mean what you said earlier is true?”
“That is correct. That man there, Seo Cheong, murdered a passing traveler simply because he wished to kill, and he also killed a martial artist of our cult. There were other victims as well. I happened to be in Honam and was about to punish Seo Cheong when the Martial Alliance stepped in to stop me.”
Geomseon turned a cold, settled gaze toward Jin Hagun and asked.
“Lord Jin, are those words true?”
If he answered yes, given Geomseon’s temperament, it would not matter whether he was the grandson of the Martial Alliance Leader or the Martial Alliance Leader himself—Geomseon would give a ruthless order.
Jin Hagun could see Geom Muguk’s intent. He meant to use Geomseon to escape the situation.
“It is true.”
In an instant, rage surged from Geomseon.
Jin Hagun quickly added.
“However, there is one fact that was left out.”
Jin Hagun looked at Seo Cheong and spoke.
“I, too, was about to give Seo Cheong a fitting punishment for his crimes.”
Jin Hagun realized. This was the most natural way to cut ties with Cheonhwamun.
“What punishment?”
“I intended to confine him in the Noeok. He would have been imprisoned for life.”
Geomseon looked at Jin Hagun with a doubtful gaze. It was possible Jin Hagun was hastily making excuses because Geomseon had intervened.
Jin Hagun met Geomseon’s gaze unflinchingly. Truthfully, he might or might not have done so. But he chose to believe in himself. He would have punished him somehow.
Only then did Geomseon’s expression relax.
“Yes, I should have known you would do that.”
Geomseon put his weight behind Jin Hagun because he believed him. He had watched Jin Hagun grow up from a young age. He knew better than anyone that the boy had lived diligently and was upright.
“I believe you.”
“I will strive further so as not to disappoint you.”
Jin Hagun considered it fortunate that matters had not progressed toward absorbing Cheonhwamun. Thinking back now, he had truly been blinded by greed.
Of course, this did not mean Geomseon’s anger had vanished. Only its target had changed.
Geomseon’s gaze turned toward Seo Cheong. He should have rushed over to Geomseon upon being looked at, but Seo Cheong stood frozen in place, terrified.
Seo Baekjung called out in a loud voice.
“Why are you just standing there instead of coming here?”
Geomseon was already angry. If his mood was further provoked, one could lose their life on this very spot.
“Hurry up and come here!”
Seo Baekjung shouted abruptly and sent a voice transmission.
—Do as Geomseon says. Come here and beg for forgiveness as though I died!
—Please save me, Father! I can’t go to the Noeok! I’ll die if I go there!
—Shut up! This is no time to indulge in childish whining!
When Seo Baekjung exploded in anger, Seo Cheong walked toward Geomseon with a face full of fear.
Seo Baekjung’s urgent voice transmission flew to Jin Hagun.
—Please mediate!
—Now that Geomseon has intervened, there is nothing even I can do. As the Sect Leader knows, is he not the Martial Alliance Leader’s sworn brother and a man who has walked the path of righteousness his whole life?
—Surely you won’t let this go? Will that man simply overlook this matter?
Seo Baekjung mentioned Jin Hagun’s master.
Indeed, his master was the part that weighed most heavily on Jin Hagun’s mind.
But with Geomseon having stepped in, and having already resolved to cut ties with Cheonhwamun, Jin Hagun believed his master would surely understand his decision.
—Even he cannot go against Elder Geomseon’s will.
In the meantime, Seo Cheong stood before Geomseon.
Geomseon asked him with a cold gaze.
“Is what I heard from the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult earlier true?”
Seo Cheong hesitated, not knowing how to answer. His gaze once again turned to Seo Baekjung.
Had he been innocent, he would have denied it and complained of his grievances. This action alone was tantamount to admitting everything he had done.
Seo Baekjung stepped forward on his behalf.
“It is an incident still under investigation; the truth has not yet come to light.”
He was trying somehow to escape this moment. He expected that Jin Hagun would feel sorry toward him and answer accordingly.
But the one Geomseon asked was Geom Muguk.
“Young Cult Leader, are this man’s words true?”
“They are not. All his sins have already been brought to light.”
Thereupon, Geomseon berated Seo Baekjung with a cold gaze.
“Dare you speak falsehood to me?”
For Geomseon, even imprisoning Seo Cheong in the Noeok was unsatisfactory. He had made it his life’s work to execute those who killed the innocent, regardless of their status.
Seo Baekjung lowered his head as if admitting fault and sent a voice transmission.
—Hurry up and kneel to beg!
Only then did Seo Cheong fall to his knees. He was terrified.
*Anything but the Noeok!*
Seo Cheong pleaded with Geomseon.
“I was drunk and made a mistake. I cannot remember what happened that day. Please forgive me.”
In an instant, Geomseon’s expression grew even colder. Not a word of wrongdoing came out—only the word “mistake.” And to blame it on alcohol?
As the saying goes, to see one is to know ten. Geomseon could immediately grasp what kind of person Seo Cheong was.
“It was a mistake?”
“Yes, it was a mistake.”
“Then why did you kill the others?”
“That is….”
He could think of no excuse. He raised his head and pleaded.
“Please forgive me just this once.”
“I am asking you why you killed them.”
At the scathing rebuke, Seo Cheong’s mind went blank.
In that dazed, blank state, a single emotion welled up from deep within Seo Cheong’s heart. The one he had used most often in his life toward others: rage.
Seo Cheong was furious. Never had anyone pushed him into a corner like this.
In the next moment, he shouted.
“Because I wanted to kill them!”
In an instant, silence fell over the place.
“Because killing people was thrilling.”
Seo Cheong raised his head, looked around, and shouted even louder.
“You all know that feeling, don’t you? You’ve killed far more than I have! Why are you doing this to me alone!”
Everyone there simply looked at him with cold eyes.
The one who rushed to him was Seo Baekjung.
Slap!
Seo Baekjung ruthlessly struck Seo Cheong’s cheek.
“Shut up!”
“Why are you hitting me? Did I say anything wrong?”
He should have known he was being hit to save him, but the excited Seo Cheong saw nothing before his eyes.
“Why is that old man trying to punish me? This is not the Martial Alliance’s territory, but the Demonic Cult’s, is it not? If I am to be punished, it should be by them!”
Slap! Slap!
Seo Baekjung struck Seo Cheong mercilessly.
Whom could he blame? It was his own fault for raising his son this way.
Seo Baekjung could feel it. Geomseon’s fury had reached its peak. He realized that if things continued this way, Geomseon might kill Seo Cheong.
He quickly sent a voice transmission to Bi Sain.
—We will stand together with the Demon Path Alliance.
Bi Sain did not reply immediately to his desperate message. Because he now held the upper hand.
Bi Sain admired Geom Muguk. To think he brought in Geomseon and drove matters to this point? Looking at the result alone, it might seem like something anyone could think of, but this was not something just anyone could accomplish.
While Seo Baekjung sent a voice transmission to draw in the Demon Path Alliance, unable to endure the wait, Seo Cheong stirred up trouble.
He was angry at his father. He misunderstood that the man who should have saved him by any means was keeping his mouth shut to save himself alone. And he was even hitting him.
With no affection or trust between parent and child in normal times, in this extreme situation, only extreme thoughts came to mind.
Driven by the misunderstanding and fear that his father had abandoned him, Seo Cheong blurted out something he should never have said.
“Father, you killed people too, didn’t you?”
Flustered, Seo Baekjung quickly spoke to Geomseon.
“He is frightened and spouting nonsense; please pay him no mind.”
Seo Baekjung turned to Seo Cheong and scowled.
—Shut up! Do you really want to kill your own father, too?
He spoke in haste, but it was a slip of the tongue. Seo Cheong interpreted those words as, “If someone has to die, you die alone!” Seo Cheong shrieked like a madman.
“You poisoned Sadogeom and buried him in the bamboo grove behind the mountain, didn’t you? You killed the Honam Samrang too, and Myeoljeolgeom!”
Silence arrived in an instant.
Names that should not have been spoken came out. The Honam Samrang and Myeoljeolgeom were figures who walked the line between the orthodox and unorthodox, but Sadogeom was a martial artist belonging to the Demon Path Alliance.
Seo Baekjung looked at Bi Sain with a panicked face.
—So the missing Sadogeom was buried behind your mountain, Sect Leader Seo.
—It is a misunderstanding.
—There is no need for excuses. Sadogeom was not one of my people anyway.
—Then will you join hands with us?
—Regrettably, that is difficult. No matter how unorthodox we are, do we not have our pride?
They could not accept them knowing they had killed an unorthodox martial artist. There were more than a few watching eyes.
Geom Muguk had rolled a ripe pumpkin straight to his feet, yet it tumbled away and slipped through his grasp.
In the end, Seo Baekjung clung to the side farthest from himself.
“We will join hands with the Heavenly Demon Cult. Please accept us.”
Seo Baekjung did not even send a voice transmission. He had no leisure to coordinate the situation through voice transmission now. His son was one thing, but now his own life was in danger as well. The only place he could rely on was the Cult.
At that sight, Bi Sain let out a sigh, thinking, *So it comes to this, after all.* When Geom Muguk had jokingly told him never to choose the Cult, Bi Sain had a premonition that it might end up this way.
And indeed, it happened.
“Did I not clearly say I did not want that? I told you not to choose our Cult.”
“Please accept us.”
“I said no! Go to the Martial Alliance that you favor so much.”
“Please!”
“The Lesser Alliance Leader of the Demon Path Alliance may have a fearsome face, but he is a good man. Go to him.”
“Please accept us into the Divine Cult! I beg you!”
Seo Baekjung grabbed Geom Muguk’s pant leg and pleaded.
“This is troublesome.”
It did not deviate from Bi Sain’s prediction in the slightest.
In the end, pretending he could not win against him, Geom Muguk spoke nonchalantly.
“Very well, but there is one condition.”
“Speak it.”
“Your son is bound for the Noeok. As long as Cheonhwamun’s loyalty does not falter, his execution will be postponed.”
It was not forgiveness. Life in the Heavenly Demon Cult’s Noeok would bring agony greater than death.
At those words, Seo Cheong shrieked and began thrashing about again.
“Save me! Why me! I only killed a few worthless people, so why me! Father, please save me!”
He had lived his whole life doing as he pleased, but now was the moment he would taste the true terror of the world.
“You hypocrites! You kill people left and right, so why can’t I kill anyone!”
Seo Baekjung let out a sigh. His son looked as though he were shouting the words a grim reaper whispered in his ear.
In the end, Seo Cheong poured curses upon Seo Baekjung as well.
“What father in the world abandons his child! And you dare lead a sect, you villain!”
It was the moment the bond between the two was completely severed.
Seo Baekjung thought that this might be the better path for Cheonhwamun. Cheonhwamun would continue to operate well, and his son was alive, at any rate. That was enough.
Seo Baekjung composed his heart in that way.
Then Gwangseom, who had not uttered a single word until now, strode up and called out to Seo Baekjung.
“Sect Leader Seo.”
The moment Seo Baekjung turned toward him carelessly.
Swish!
Shhk.
Gwangseom cut him down with a single stroke. It was such a swift sword that his blade was not even visible.
No one had thought he would kill Seo Baekjung, so everyone was startled. In particular, Seo Cheong, his son, was engulfed in shock. Terrified that he might be next, he sank to the spot, his face turning ashen.
Gwangseom bowed his head to Bi Sain and spoke briefly.
“Sadogeom was my sworn younger brother. I will gladly accept punishment for acting without orders.”
Even Geom Muguk had not known this fact. When the indifferent heavens turned their gaze to the world, there were never any gaps through which to escape.
Geomseon, who had been watching this scene, sent a voice transmission to Hyeolcheon Doma.
—Did you create this situation?
He had thought Hyeolcheon Doma had been sending voice transmissions and setting plans throughout today’s gathering. To Geomseon, Hyeolcheon Doma was remembered as such a person.
—I wish that were the case, but….
Hyeolcheon Doma was not a man to lie about such matters.
Geomseon’s gaze turned to Geom Muguk.
—I shall have to live long.
He realized belatedly that even he had moved according to Geom Muguk’s will.
—If you meddle so much, you won’t hear good things from the younger folk.
—It is fine.
And so, Cheonhwamun was resolved.
With Seo Baekjung dead and Seo Cheong imprisoned in the Noeok, the new leader of Cheonhwamun would now be one who followed the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Everyone’s gaze naturally focused on Geom Muguk.
Today, Geom Muguk had accomplished everything. He had absorbed Cheonhwamun and exacted punishment for Seo Cheong’s crimes. Standing there with a faint smile and no tension, he now felt like a different person.
They say rumors are nine parts exaggeration out of ten, but at least the people gathered here would shake their heads and say this: that Geom Muguk is the remaining one part.
Jin Hagun and Bi Sain slowly walked up to Geom Muguk and stood facing each other in a circle.
Just as their meeting had been, it was the moment the first parting of three successors—unprecedented in the history of the martial world—was about to begin.