It had been two days since we left the Central Plains and entered the frontier lands.
“Sandstorm!”
At Jeogyeon’s shout from outside, I quickly stuck my head out the carriage window.
Whooooooooosh!
A tremendous sandstorm was blowing in from far away.
Like a massive tidal wave, a wall of red sand was surging toward us. It was so terrifying that one might think this was the sort of sight we would see at the end of the world.
“West! Run at full speed!”
At my order, the carriage changed direction and began to race.
As if this was hardly his first time experiencing such a thing, the Pungcheon Cult Leader sat with a relaxed expression.
The Demon Buddha and I, on the other hand, watched nature’s wrath with startled hearts, inwardly preparing for the possibility of being swept up in the sandstorm.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader, the Demon Buddha, and I could somehow endure even if the storm caught us, but the horses, the carriage, and of course the guards might be blown far away. Even if we had to abandon the horses and the carriage, we had to save the people from harm somehow.
Whooooooooosh!
As I watched the massive wall of sand drawing closer and closer, a thought suddenly came to me.
I want to block that storm by raising the Third Form of the Nine Flames Demonic Art, the Great Demon Wall.
It was said that the higher one’s realm in the Great Demon Wall rose, the smaller the demonic wall became.
But I found myself wishing my demonic wall would be different. I wished that my Great Demon Wall, having surpassed Ten-Star mastery and reached Twelve-Star Great Completion, would be large enough to block that sandstorm.
I imagined the shield of Ten-Star mastery growing larger and larger until it became a colossal wall. I imagined it becoming an immense fortress wall that would not collapse before anything.
Fortunately, the carriage narrowly escaped the sandstorm’s area of influence. It was thanks to our quick judgment and sprinting away.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader said to me,
“Well? How does the frontier taste?”
“It’s spicy from the very beginning.”
We watched the sandstorm sweep past behind the carriage, devouring everything in its path.
I wondered how people could live in a place like this, but after traveling for a while, we saw a father and son passing by while driving livestock.
The young boy helped with his father’s work, herding the animals with a long stick. They were people who had known in advance that a sandstorm was coming and knew where they needed to move.
We stopped the carriage for a moment and watched them travel on.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader abruptly asked,
“Have I ever told you that I didn’t want to leave the frontier? I keep forgetting things these days.”
“What does it matter whether you have or haven’t? You can just tell me again.”
“I don’t want to. Saying the same thing again and again makes me seem like a senile old man, doesn’t it?”
“I’ll take it as a display of your humanity.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader’s gaze returned to the father and son driving their livestock in the distance.
“Gowol once said this to me. We sang endlessly of advancing into the Central Plains, advancing into the Central Plains, but had we ever truly thought about it seriously? I couldn’t deny those words then. To be honest, I liked living here. There’s an atmosphere here that you can’t feel in the Central Plains. Ah, of course, I admit it. It was probably because I lived without any worries. After all, sandstorms like that don’t strike the Cult Leader’s Hall.”
At that moment, the Demon Buddha suddenly spoke.
“It’s because you’re a country bumpkin.”
When the Pungcheon Cult Leader looked at him, the Demon Buddha continued.
“What useless reasons are you tacking on when a country bumpkin says he likes his hometown? Takes all the charm out of it.”
His rebuke was closer to hurt than scolding. He was asking why the man had to add at the end that he felt that way only because he had lived carefree as the cult leader. He could simply say it proudly. I like this place, and I didn’t want to leave.
The two of them had been like this throughout the journey here. They would go all day without saying a word, then suddenly engage in a war of nerves over something trivial. And at times like this, they would also care for each other.
He did not show it outwardly, but the Pungcheon Cult Leader was on edge and tense. If I could sense it, then of course the Demon Buddha could as well.
The reason the Demon Buddha picked unnecessary fights and said things like that just now was likely to ease the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s tension.
Someone who did not know him might wonder, Does the Demon Buddha have that kind of consideration? They might find it unexpected, but that was not the case. Among the Demon Venerables, the Demon Buddha was a deeply considerate man who valued loyalty.
That was why I had thought of him, who had remained loyal to my elder brother and kept his faith, as a small giant.
“Now then, let us set off again.”
The carriage began to speed toward the place from which the sandstorm had come.
* * *
Many things happened on the way to the Pungcheon Cult.
A band of bandits charged at us, trusting only in their numbers, and lost their lives, and several of the escort martial artists suffered stomach pains after drinking unfamiliar water.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader found medicinal herbs nearby and fed them to them. As he did, he said that young people these days were pathetically weak, and made the difficult-to-believe claim that when he was young, he had been perfectly fine even after drinking water mixed with blood and poison.
As always, the Demon Buddha threw in a remark.
“Why are you nagging so much? They say when you get old, you should close your mouth and open your purse.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader was not someone who would obediently shut his mouth.
“It’s because I’m lonely, lonely! What good is knowing everything at my age? None of the young ones ask me anything. What this herb is, what effects it has, when I learned about it.”
Knowing that it was not merely a joke, I looked at him and smiled.
That was not the only hardship of the journey. Jeogyeon lost the way and wandered several times. There were many places where the map and the actual terrain were different.
If anything, the Demon Buddha knew the roads better than the Pungcheon Cult Leader did.
“Isn’t this your territory?”
“That is precisely why I know it even less. My subordinates carried me around, so how would I know the roads?”
It was the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s subtle protest as someone with a poor sense of direction.
Another problem with traveling through the frontier was where to sleep. As we went deeper into the frontier, it became difficult to find inns.
“We will have to camp here tonight.”
Jeogyeon got down from the carriage and began preparing camp.
The guards divided their roles and moved in perfect order. While keeping watch over the surroundings, they lit a bonfire, dressed the game they had hunted, and prepared dinner.
I personally took care of the sleeping places for the Pungcheon Cult Leader and the Demon Buddha. I laid soft grass on the ground and placed smooth animal hides over it.
When he saw me paying attention to their bedding, the Demon Buddha said,
“Don’t worry about us. Take care of your own sleeping place.”
“I’m young, aren’t I? I’d be fine sleeping on a bed of gravel. Now, try sitting down.”
“You only look young on the outside. There are times when you feel more senior than that directionally challenged fellow over there.”
When the Demon Buddha teased him, the Pungcheon Cult Leader deliberately wriggled his backside like a child.
“It’s comfortable. Very comfortable.”
The Demon Buddha also looked pleased with the bedding.
Then I made mine even softer than the two of theirs. Watching this, the Pungcheon Cult Leader wore an expression of disbelief.
“Yours is practically a soft tiger hide, isn’t it?”
“I’m the Young Cult Leader, am I not?”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader shook his head as if dumbfounded, while the Demon Buddha looked as though he had expected as much. For the first time in a while, the Pungcheon Cult Leader and the Demon Buddha were of one mind.
“Did you see that shameless expression?”
“You said you could sleep on a bed of gravel!”
I lay down on the soft hide and laughed, then asked the Pungcheon Cult Leader,
“What kind of person is the next cult leader?”
“He is someone I chose as my successor from the very beginning and raised as such. A trustworthy man.”
Of course, he must be trustworthy. But with the Illusion King involved, there was no way to know whether that trust would remain intact. The bastard would surely be somewhere near the new cult leader.
“It is up to you, Cult Leader, to find him. You know the Pungcheon Cult better than anyone.”
I believed in him. There were not many people who could abandon the position of Pungcheon Cult Leader for the sake of friendship with someone. I believed in what made him special.
“Do not trust me too much. As you know, I am indecisive and emotional.”
“That is why I like you. I do not like people whose convictions are too rigid.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, What sophistry are you about to spout now?
“I like people who can change according to the moment, people who do change. People like you, Cult Leader. I like people who, when they lack confidence, can say outright that they lack confidence. Isn’t that better than pretending to know, pretending to be confident, and causing a huge accident for no reason? And you have already shown me, haven’t you? What kind of person you are in fields you know well, and what kind of person you are in your own world.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader looked at the Demon Buddha and shook his head.
“When I am with the Young Cult Leader, even not having rigid convictions can feel this good!”
Thus the night in the frontier only deepened.
* * *
At last, we arrived at the Pungcheon Cult.
When we reached the main gate, a grand welcoming ceremony awaited us.
Hundreds of martial artists were lined up, and a long red carpet had been laid out. It was an exceedingly dazzling reception.
Before them, the new Pungcheon Cult Leader, So Baekta (昭伯打), had personally come out.
“I greet the Cult Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk gave a cupped-fist salute as he greeted him.
“You have worked hard coming such a long way.”
So Baekta was wearing the colorful and splendid traditional attire unique to the Pungcheon Cult Leader, and his face was painted in various patterns used for illusion arts, all in vivid primary colors.
Was it because of that? Seen favorably, one could sense a meticulousness in him, as though he did not wish to reveal even the slightest bit of himself at their first meeting. Seen unfavorably, there was an indescribably eerie feeling about him.
“I have been looking forward to this, as rumors say the Young Cult Leader of the Divine Cult possesses the greatest talent in history.”
“Rumors tend to be exaggerated.”
“It seems the rumor that you are the greatest handsome man was not exaggerated at all.”
Contrary to his appearance, he was skilled at conversation.
After greeting Geom Mugeuk in that way, he greeted the Demon Buddha next.
“I greet the Demon Venerable.”
“I greet the Cult Leader.”
“I paid my respects to you when you visited last time.”
“I remember.”
At that time, even the Demon Buddha had not expected So Baekta to ascend to the position of cult leader so quickly.
Lastly, So Baekta greeted the Pungcheon Cult Leader. He ran over and clasped his hands tightly.
“Master, it has been a long time.”
“Have you been well, Cult Leader?”
Now that he had become the cult leader, the Pungcheon Cult Leader also observed propriety toward him.
They say that a position makes the man, and the disciple he met after so long was far more confident and composed than before. So Baekta was one of the disciples he had raised from childhood, and he possessed the highest martial skill among them, as well as deep loyalty toward him. That was why he had long ago marked him as his successor.
“I wanted to see you so badly that I could not wait in the Cult Leader’s Hall and came running out like this.”
Contained within those words was the implication that if the Pungcheon Cult Leader had not come with them, he would have received Geom Mugeuk in the Cult Leader’s Hall. It would be one thing if the leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had visited, but this was the Young Cult Leader’s visit.
“Now, please come in.”
The three of them walked together behind So Baekta.
As he walked, he introduced various buildings of the Pungcheon Cult to Geom Mugeuk and the Demon Buddha. He showed a cheerful and bright side, but for some reason, the Pungcheon Cult Leader felt a strange sense of incongruity from it.
‘Was he always like this?’
The So Baekta he knew had been calm and reticent.
In that way, the three of them entered the Cult Leader’s Hall.
At that moment, the Pungcheon Cult Leader flinched in surprise. The interior had changed greatly from when he had been cult leader. The throne chair was set higher and had been replaced with an even larger one. The color of the walls had been repainted, and the stone statues, paintings, decorations, and everything else were different.
“The interior has changed a great deal.”
“My subordinates suggested it would be better to change it, so I accepted their advice.”
“You did well. New wine should be put into new wineskins.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader showed no sign of it at all, but Geom Mugeuk could sense it. The Pungcheon Cult Leader was not in a good mood.
He could understand his feelings. It was a position he had handed over even though, originally, it had not yet been time to pass it on. Yet no sooner had So Baekta taken that position than he had freely changed the Cult Leader’s Hall like this. How could that feel pleasant?
On top of that, So Baekta went one step further.
After entering the Cult Leader’s Hall, So Baekta went up to the throne chair and sat down. As a result, he was looking down at the three of them.
Of course, his words remained courteous.
“For a long time, your cult leader’s family did not visit our cult. Yet now the Young Cult Leader has come like this, so it is truly an occasion to commemorate.”
There was a barb in those words, saying that until now, you people had not come to see us.
“Is that not all thanks to the former Cult Leader here?”
So Baekta’s gaze turned toward the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
“He is a treasure to our cult.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader smiled as he looked at him, but just as Geom Mugeuk expected, his mood was very poor.
The other party was the Young Cult Leader, and he himself was the cult leader, so he could receive him while sitting in the throne chair. But today, was he not here as well? They could have spoken from the guest seats below, yet So Baekta deliberately looked down from up there.
A few formal words were exchanged with Geom Mugeuk. After they spoke of hoping that the peaceful relationship between the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Pungcheon Cult would continue for a long time, So Baekta said,
“You must not have recovered from the fatigue of your journey, so please rest today and let us speak tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will hold a banquet to welcome the Young Cult Leader.”
“Thank you for your welcome.”
Geom Mugeuk and the Demon Buddha left the Cult Leader’s Hall first.
Now only the Pungcheon Cult Leader and So Baekta remained in the hall.
Then So Baekta descended from the throne chair.
“Please do not be angry, Master. Because the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult was here, I deliberately put on a show of authority.”
“Do you think authority is established by sitting in a high seat and looking down?”
A silence flowed for an instant. Soon, So Baekta lowered his head.
“This disciple’s thinking was shallow.”
When he lowered his head, the Pungcheon Cult Leader said,
“No. I did not say that to reproach our cult leader. Raise your head. The leader of the great Pungcheon Cult does not lower his head carelessly.”
So Baekta raised his head with a bright face. At times like this, he did resemble the disciple from before.
“I am so happy you came, Master. Please rest well before you leave.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader slowly left the Cult Leader’s Hall. He could not easily adjust to the changed hall.
* * *
When he returned to the guest hall, I sensed something unusual from the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s expression.
“How was it?”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader expressed the sense of disharmony he had been feeling all along like this.
“Something is subtly different. I cannot tell whether he changed naturally after becoming cult leader, or whether I feel that way because I suspect there is something behind him.”
I asked carefully,
“Could he have been subjected to a soul-capturing art?”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader firmly shook his head.
“That is not it.”
If the Pungcheon Cult Leader said it was not, then it certainly was not.
“Then from now on, there is one thing you must be sure to uphold.”
I told the Pungcheon Cult Leader the first principle I had established after my regression.
“Look at that person clearly. Do not look roughly—look properly. But you must cast aside your preconceptions as you look. My disciple was originally like this and that, he was originally this kind of person. Throw away all such thoughts.”
If he could look properly in that way, he would be able to find it.
“The answer does not lie within you, Cult Leader. Do not fall into the trap of thinking you must find something in your own heart. The answer lies in the person you are looking at.”