How could U Sochu not be confused?
There was only one reason he had hesitated.
The very same question Gong Chan had asked himself.
‘Is this man really the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult?’
Fine. Let us concede a hundred times over that the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had come alone. Let us also say that he could have ended up in a miserable state.
But he had rushed here to save the tavern owner and his family? He had remained standing while those lowly people sat in chairs? He had even brushed the snow from the porter’s shoulder?
According to U Sochu’s common sense, such things were absolutely impossible.
‘He isn’t the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. There’s no way.’
He was certain of it.
But he could not refuse the man’s demand. The martial arts he had displayed while subduing Gong Chan earlier had not been fake. U Sochu had been unable to observe the details from inside the building, but he had seen Gong Chan get beaten without being able to land a single blow. That was no ordinary level of skill.
“If the Young Cult Leader tells me to come down, then I must come down.”
As he watched U Sochu slowly descend the stairs, Geom Mugeuk said coldly,
“You shouldn’t come down just because I told you to. You should come down because one of your subordinates has his life hanging in the balance below. Instead of coming down so leisurely, you should have jumped down and checked on your subordinate first.”
Irritation surged within U Sochu.
The words calling him by name and telling him to come down had already been humiliating enough, but so were these words now, which he could not even refute. His anger welled up because the escorts were watching, and even the villagers were looking on.
That was why the five people sitting behind Geom Mugeuk particularly offended him.
‘Worthless trash!’
This was the first time he had ever suffered such humiliation at the hands of his inferiors. Once this matter was over, he would never let them off easily.
The three people other than Jo Chunbae and Yang In could not even dare meet U Sochu’s gaze.
The person who wielded the greatest power in this region was the chief of the Yellow Dragon Escort Agency. Yet right now, they were seated while the chief stood.
“It hurts.”
Yang In spoke to her younger sister. U Sochu’s gaze was so frightening that she had gripped her sister’s hand too tightly.
“Sorry.”
“Seon-a, it’s all right now.”
Though U Sochu was listening, Yang In spoke confidently. Had she not known the truth, she might have been uncertain, but she believed everything was truly all right, because the man who had come was certainly the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.
Yang In looked at Jo Chunbae and asked with her eyes,
‘It really is all right, isn’t it?’
Jo Chunbae nodded firmly, reinforcing his wife’s reassurance.
“Don’t worry, Sister-in-law.”
“Brother-in-law!”
“This is a moment that will never come again in your life, so you may enjoy it.”
Jo Chunbae knew what kind of person the man standing before them and shielding them like a fortress wall was. He also knew that even if the wall crumbled, that back would never buckle.
He was the one who had brought Demon Venerables to his shabby Pungnyu Tavern and made them leave writings on its walls. He was the one who had brought the Heavenly Demon to his tavern.
That was a strength entirely different from martial prowess. A unique Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, one who had never existed before and never would again.
In that sense, Jo Chunbae developed a desire to live a long life. What would the Young Cult Leader look like once he became the Heavenly Demon? What would the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult led by him be like? What would the martial world be like with him as the Heavenly Demon? He wanted to see all of it.
Yang In quietly gazed at her husband.
Her husband had never once spoken about the tavern business. How could she not know how difficult it was to deal with drunkards?
But he had changed ever since the Young Cult Leader came to the tavern. Whenever Geom Mugeuk or a Demon Venerable visited, her husband’s eyes would shine like stars as he excitedly recounted everything that had happened that day. He was looking at Geom Mugeuk with that same expression now. Today, the star was shining brighter than ever.
Geom Mugeuk once again returned to his polite and composed manner. His foremost goal here was to clear Jonghak of the false accusation before exacting punishment.
“Now that you have come down, let us hear everything together. Chief, are you not curious? Why did Escort Leader Gong try to silence an innocent porter by killing him?”
U Sochu immediately retorted,
“He was not trying to kill him. He was trying to cut off the hand that had stolen from us. And what do you mean, ‘silence him by killing him’? A severed wrist does not necessarily mean death, does it?”
Geom Mugeuk was certain that Gong Chan had tried to kill Jonghak.
“Could he leave this place with both hands cut off and still make it alive to a physician? Let us suppose I cut off both your hands. Do you think you could run to a physician without using qinggong and survive? Someone who has never learned martial arts would faint the moment his hands were severed.”
U Sochu could not refute him. The bleeding would be so severe that even he would have difficulty surviving without proper assistance.
The watching villagers turned to one another and began whispering. They had been summoned under the impression that someone had stolen something and that his hands were to be cut off as punishment. Yet a truth they had never anticipated was being revealed.
The escorts had already begun to suspect that there was some conspiracy behind the incident from Gong Chan and U Sochu’s reactions. For the moment, they simply watched. Their opponent was an exceptionally extraordinary demonic practitioner, after all.
Geom Mugeuk said to Gong Chan and U Sochu,
“You tried to kill not only a man’s life, but also his honor.”
Jonghak let out a long sigh. When Geom Mugeuk said those words in front of everyone, it felt as though something tightly lodged in his chest had finally been cleared away. What had tormented him most was being falsely accused of theft. It hurt all the more because he had lived his entire life without ever coveting what belonged to others.
Geom Mugeuk approached and once again brushed the snow from Jonghak’s shoulder.
Madam Yun silently watched the sight before quietly speaking to her eldest daughter.
“He may be young, but he is a man like an elder.”
There was something visible only to the eyes of an old person who had weathered every storm the world had to offer.
In the meantime, Geom Mugeuk was raising a question before U Sochu.
“Chief U, there is something I am curious about. Looking at this man, Escort Leader Gong, he is hot-tempered and cruel. So why did he not kill this man during the escort journey? He certainly has the kind of personality that would do so.”
Gong Chan watched Geom Mugeuk and U Sochu with a face full of fear.
Geom Mugeuk stared directly into Gong Chan’s eyes and asked him,
“Did you perhaps have to return and report to someone?”
Who would an escort leader have to report to? Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned toward U Sochu.
“Was that person Chief U?”
Gong Chan did not answer. His reaction alone already gave them the answer.
“You are not immediately denying it.”
U Sochu quickly spoke up.
“You have not received an admission, either. How can he give a clear answer when you are threatening him as if you intend to kill him?”
Geom Mugeuk could sense that U Sochu had sent Gong Chan a voice transmission at the very moment he was about to answer.
“What did your chief say to you through voice transmission? Did he threaten you with your life? Did he promise you a huge sum of money if you got past this crisis? Did he promise to make you deputy chief escort leader? Or all three?”
Gong Chan stared at Geom Mugeuk with a startled expression.
‘What in the world is this man?’
Amazingly, all three were true.
The person Gong Chan had returned to report to was U Sochu. This entire affair had been carried out entirely under the chief’s orders.
It was also true that the chief had threatened him through voice transmission moments ago. He had threatened to kill Gong Chan with his own hands if he confessed, while promising him a large sum of money and the position of deputy chief escort leader as a reward.
Of course, since the opponent was Geom Mugeuk, there was no way it would work.
“I am sorry to say this, but even if you offered me not ten million gold, but a hundred million, it would be useless. If you do not tell the truth here, you will die by my hand.”
U Sochu tried to persuade Gong Chan.
“If that man really is the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, he absolutely cannot kill you. A demonic practitioner killing the escort leader of an orthodox escort agency? And the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult at that? The martial world would be thrown into an uproar. Trust me.”
In the end, Gong Chan did not open his mouth. If he could only get past this crisis, he would gain both an enormous amount of money and the position of deputy chief escort leader. U Sochu would save him, if only to ensure his own survival.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned cold as demonic energy emerged.
“Indeed. If he were the sort of person who would listen to reason, he would never have done something like this in the first place.”
The demonic energy flew toward Gong Chan alone, ignoring everyone else.
Gong Chan looked around. He was standing in the sea. For a brief moment, he thought it beautiful. Then he began to be dragged beneath the water.
A pitch-black abyss awaited him, and he could see nothing. This was no illusion. It was truly like drowning; he genuinely could not breathe. How could a prayer do this?
The pain was unbearable. He wished he would simply lose consciousness, but Geom Mugeuk’s prayer reflected Geom Mugeuk’s intentions exactly.
The excruciating pain continued. Whenever he was about to die, he was given a few more breaths of air and brought back to consciousness, only to be dragged into the agony of suffocation once more.
‘Please! Please! Just kill me!’
He must have been in such agony that, instead of asking to be spared, his first plea was for death.
Then Geom Mugeuk’s voice reached him.
―Do you want to live?
Willpower? Loyalty? If he could only breathe right now, he would offer even his soul.
‘Yes, please save me!’
―Then tell me the truth.
Gong Chan, who had been gasping for breath, suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted,
“The one who gave the order was the chief!”
U Sochu could not say a word. He looked as though he were confessing.
But he was not confessing. Without anyone noticing, Geom Mugeuk had subdued his speech-sealing acupoint and his demonic meridian acupoint.
It was exactly the same situation as before, when Geom Mugeuk had subdued those acupoints while Gong Chan was trying to cut off Jonghak’s hand, making it appear as if he were admitting his guilt.
U Sochu was aghast. No matter how powerful his opponent’s martial arts were, it was impossible for his acupoints to be subdued without him even sensing it.
‘He really is the Young Cult Leader!’
Meanwhile, Geom Mugeuk continued questioning Gong Chan.
“Then who was the man with the mole on his forehead?”
“I do not know, either. The chief told me to meet him, so I did. I returned after learning from him when and where to receive the next consignment.”
“Do you know what the consignment was?”
“No.”
“When were you supposed to receive the next consignment?”
“We were to receive it at Cheongsurim in three days.”
Geom Mugeuk asked about something more important.
“Why did you try to cut off Porter Jong’s hands?”
“When we reported that Jonghak had seen our contact, the chief said we should cut off his hands and deal with him.”
It was the moment Jonghak was completely cleared of the false accusation.
The escorts and villagers turned their gazes toward the chief. His face had gone crimson, but he could not say a word.
“Which escort was involved in this affair?”
“Only me. The other escorts merely did as they were told. No, I am the same. I only acted according to the chief’s orders.”
He shifted all the blame onto the chief.
“I have told you everything, so you will spare my life, won’t you?”
Gong Chan was not the only one who waited tensely for the answer. Jo Chunbae’s family behind Geom Mugeuk was even more anxious.
Jonghak, in particular, prayed in his heart, ‘Please, do not spare him!’ He feared that if Gong Chan were left alive, he might seek revenge against him later.
“Why would I?”
When Geom Mugeuk asked in return, Gong Chan raised his voice.
“Didn’t you say you would spare me if I told you everything?”
“You did not speak when I told you to, did you? You only spoke because I pressured you with demonic energy and you had no choice, didn’t you?”
Gong Chan understood. Geom Mugeuk had never intended to spare him from the beginning. The moment Gong Chan had tried to hurl insults and curses at him, his speech-sealing acupoint had already been subdued. It was a level of skill that could make even ghosts weep—or rather, even a ghost would be rendered helpless if its speech-sealing and demonic meridian acupoints were subdued.
There was no parting advice to be a good person in his next life. Geom Mugeuk utterly rejected Gong Chan’s entire life.
Hwoooooong!
Geom Mugeuk’s merciless fist flew toward him.
Kkwa-reu-reu-reung!
At the same time, thunder rang out like heaven’s punishment descending.
Ppeo-eok.
Gong Chan’s ribs shattered in a single blow, and he was sent flying into the wall of a distant building. He was already dead before his body struck the wall.
“You tried to cut off an innocent man’s hands, and went so far as to try to cut out my friend’s tongue. You were already a dead man.”
He said this so the villagers and escorts could hear. They needed to understand exactly what these deaths meant. Only then could Jonghak’s family continue living here.
The watching escorts and villagers thought it a fitting result.
Jonghak let out a relieved sigh.
Knowing what he must be feeling, Yang Seon embraced her husband tightly.
Yang In felt it. The moment Geom Mugeuk called Jonghak his friend, the hand she was holding tightened in her husband’s.
Jo Chunbae spoke in a trembling voice.
“You are far too good a friend for me.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk turned to him and smiled.
“Of course I am. I’m going to become the Heavenly Demon, after all. I’m a friend who’s too good for anyone.”
Jo Chunbae felt better at Geom Mugeuk’s lighthearted banter, which put his mind at ease.
“You have no idea how grateful I am.”
Jo Chunbae would live the rest of his life with gratitude in his heart.
Then Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.
“I’m the one who should be grateful.”
“What?”
“If anything, innkeeper, you were the one who saved me.”
Geom Mugeuk gave the wide-eyed Jo Chunbae, who clearly had no idea what he meant, a faint smile before turning away.
Thank you for allowing me to protect my demonic path, innkeeper.
Geom Mugeuk walked toward U Sochu.
“Fortunately, it seems we’ve managed to distinguish right from wrong, as we intended.”
That was not the only thing that had been released. U Sochu’s sealed acupoint had also been freed without him realizing it.
“You! Do you know what you’ve done? You just killed the chief escort of the Yellow Dragon Escort Agency!”
He shouted as he looked at the escorts.
“This is a separate matter from Gongchan’s crimes! A demonic cultivator has killed an orthodox martial artist! This is an attack by the Demonic Cult against the orthodox sects!”
His cries rang hollowly through the air. Not a single person agreed with him. The moment it was revealed that he had ordered Jonghak’s wrist to be cut off, the authority of the Yellow Dragon Escort Agency’s chief had already vanished. He was nothing more than a hypocrite who had tried to kill an innocent man for his own benefit.
“If you lay a hand on me, the War Between Good and Evil will break out! Countless people will die because of you!”
While U Sochu was worked into a frenzy, Geom Mugeuk remained calm.
“It’s already been established that you can’t understand the situation and that there’s no point speaking to you nicely, so I’ll do things my way. No—in your way, I suppose.”
U Sochu was wondering what he meant when—
Swoosh.
His left hand stretched forward of its own accord. His demonic acupoint had already been subdued, leaving him unable to resist.
“What are you trying to do?”
“What you were trying to do. You gathered all these people here to show them that those who commit crimes are punished, didn’t you?”
When Geom Mugeuk held out his hand, the sword at the waist of Gongchan’s corpse in the distance was drawn. It flew across the air and landed in Geom Mugeuk’s hand.
“My sword is too sharp. It might hurt less.”
Realizing Geom Mugeuk’s intention, U Sochu was seized by terror.
“Stop! Don’t do it! Stop!”
“It’s all right. You said it yourself, didn’t you? Losing a wrist won’t kill you.”
“Why are you doing this, Young Cult Master? Young Cult Master! Please!”
“Fine, then. I’ll give you a chance.”
A frightening statement, as cold as the look in Geom Mugeuk’s eyes, spilled from his lips.
“If you don’t answer my question by the time I count to three, I’ll cut off your left hand first and ask again.”
Holding the sword high, as though he might bring it down at any moment, Geom Mugeuk asked,
“Who is the man with the mole on his forehead? One, two…”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 338