The martial artists of the Demon Extermination Unit took the children out of the boxes and carefully carried them to the carriages waiting outside.
Geomugeuk and Jin Hagun stood side by side, watching.
“What on earth are you thinking?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why did you call even the Sado Alliance?”
With the force he had shown earlier, enough to make even the Blue-White Twin Swords back down, he could have simply taken Tae Jo away. Yet Geomugeuk had deliberately called the Sado Alliance.
“He says he’s been wronged so badly, so I’m trying to handle this fairly.”
“As if you would be so considerate of a villain’s feelings.”
Jin Hagun could sense it. There was definitely another reason Geomugeuk had called the Sado Alliance.
‘Could it be that he wants to see Bi Sain?’
He could only guess as much; he could not know Geomugeuk’s exact intention.
This time, Geomugeuk asked,
“What do you intend to do about the Black Serpent Corps?”
The ones who had kidnapped the children were the Black Serpent Corps. They must have made a fortune from it, and even without the Yugeom Sect, they would surely continue kidnapping children.
“Once we secure evidence through the Yugeom Sect Master this time, we will see that they are dealt with properly.”
Jin Hagun declared his resolve firmly, but it would not be easy.
The Black Serpent Corps was a vast organization rooted all across the Central Plains. With the enormous profits they made by involving themselves in all manner of interests, they had recruited many experts, and they were also known to provide large sums of money to the Sado Alliance.
“It won’t be easy.”
“Even so, can we simply leave those who kidnap children alone?”
Geomugeuk smiled at Jin Hagun’s spirit. Sensing that it was a smile of acknowledgment, Jin Hagun felt pleased inwardly.
There is a thrill in being acknowledged by an enemy. And if that enemy was Geomugeuk?
“Let’s start by changing the name of the Demon Extermination Unit. How about the Evil Extermination Unit or the Wickedness Extermination Unit? Is there really any need to exterminate us when we’ve been so well-behaved lately?”
At Geomugeuk’s banter, Jin Hagun looked dumbfounded. Yet inwardly, he agreed. If the Demon Cult was led by Geomugeuk, then the phrase “demon extermination” did seem unnecessary. Of course, he did not reveal that thought.
“You may be well-behaved lately, but how do I know when you people will stir up trouble again?”
“You don’t know? How much I love peace?”
“I don’t. I only know that wherever you go, blood overflows.”
“That’s because wherever I go, villains are swarming.”
Even as they spoke, Jin Hagun had that thought. If things continued like this, they might truly have to change the name of the Demon Extermination Unit. Certainly, the Demon Cult of today was different from before.
While the martial artists of the Demon Extermination Unit escorted the children away, only three or four of them remained beside Jin Hagun.
On the other hand, the experts of the Yugeom Sect were still numerous. An invisible battle of nerves unfolded between them and the martial artists of the Demon Extermination Unit, but despite being outnumbered, the latter showed no sign of fear at all. It was clear how well trained they were.
Tae Jo walked over to the two of them.
“I have sent an urgent message to the Sado Alliance, so someone from the alliance will arrive as quickly as possible.”
Unlike when he had been pleading earlier, Tae Jo now seemed at ease.
Jin Hagun said to him,
“Until then, Sect Master, I think you will have to stay with us.”
“I wouldn’t leave even if you pushed me out the door and told me to run.”
His attitude had changed from when he had been begging them to please call the Sado Alliance.
“It will take quite a while for someone to come from the Sado Alliance, so I will host you comfortably in the meantime. Please come inside and have a drink first.”
He was certain that once someone from the Sado Alliance arrived, this matter would be resolved. Since he had explained the situation here, at the very least, someone of division leader rank or higher would come.
The Sado Alliance would absolutely not allow him to be dragged away by them.
“It’s stifling. Let’s get out of here first.”
Geomugeuk walked out of the warehouse.
The Yugeom Sect martial artists gathered near the entrance outside split to the left and right, making a path.
Among them were the Blue-White Twin Swords. They were the ones who had rebuked Tae Jo for making them step forward without even knowing the other party was the young cult leader of the Demon Cult. It seemed they might have stormed off somewhere in anger, but they had remained near Tae Jo.
Whether it was for money or some other reason, Geomugeuk guessed that they were deeply connected to the Yugeom Sect.
The Blue-White Twin Swords still could not believe that Geomugeuk had overwhelmed them with his aura alone. Had they perhaps fallen victim to some trick? Or had they been mistaken for a moment?
As he walked out, Geomugeuk glanced at the two of them. The moment their eyes met, all the doubts of the Blue-White Twin Swords vanished. Their instincts for danger scolded them. For experts like you, wasn’t it enough to have felt it once?
Jin Hagun followed behind him and came outside. In the meantime, the carriages carrying the children departed, escorted by some of the Demon Extermination Unit’s martial artists.
Tae Jo casually asked Geomugeuk,
“Why has the young cult leader not called his demonic practitioners?”
“That is because of you, Sect Master Tae.”
“Because of me?”
“The fewer people there are, the more options you have, don’t you think?”
“Options?”
“The option of killing us.”
“No matter how bold I may be, how could I dare do such a thing?”
Tae Jo was inwardly startled. The question of why the demonic practitioners had not come had contained, if only slightly, the very intent Geomugeuk had mentioned. One had to prepare for even the slightest possibility.
“It seems like just the opportunity to me. Many of the Demon Extermination Unit’s men have left their posts to escort the children, too. What do you say? You could kill us all, then insist that the young cult leader of the Demon Cult and the leader of the Demon Extermination Unit fought each other and both sides suffered grievously. You seem to have a talent for shamelessly forcing the issue.”
Had the Blue-White Twin Swords not been suppressed by Geomugeuk’s aura, perhaps that might have become the final option.
“How could I dare do that? Now then, the weather is cold, so please come inside.”
Jin Hagun said,
“We will stay here.”
“It is cold. Please come in.”
“We’re fine.”
The Demon Extermination Unit set up tents in the Yugeom Sect’s training ground and made lodgings there.
They had no desire to be entertained by members of the unorthodox faction, and it was safer to remain in an open place like this, with the surroundings clear, than to enter the enemy’s interior.
“Then, young cult leader, please come inside.”
“I will stay here as well.”
Jin Hagun nodded to his subordinate and ordered,
“Prepare a place for the young cult leader to rest as well.”
The martial artists of the Demon Extermination Unit lit a campfire in the training ground.
Though he had given the order himself, Jin Hagun found the scene utterly unfamiliar. Camping with a campfire in the training ground of an unorthodox sect? He truly felt that ever since meeting Geomugeuk, he had been experiencing all sorts of things.
The more one came to know a man named Geomugeuk, the more astonishing one’s experiences became. Perhaps that was why. In a situation like this, where in the past his nerves would have been so on edge that he could not sleep a wink, his heart felt at ease.
And through this night’s encampment, Jin Hagun learned one thing for certain.
Geomugeuk did not waste even a moment of time. Judging from his usual behavior, Jin Hagun had expected him to loiter around and tease the Yugeom Sect martial artists, or come over to pester him to drink together. But Geomugeuk shut himself inside his tent and quietly immersed himself in cultivation, circulating his qi and regulating his breath.
His composure and confidence must come from this effort. This man was truly not simple.
* * *
At last, news reached Tae Jo that someone had arrived from the Sado Alliance.
“Who came?”
His close aide, Man Hong, reported with a startled face.
“The young alliance leader has come.”
“What?”
Tae Jo was shocked. He had requested that they send someone of high status, but he had not imagined the young alliance leader would come in person.
“Why has the young alliance leader come?”
“It seems he heard that the heirs are here and came personally.”
“But why?”
For him, who did not know the relationship among the three of them, it was a natural question.
Originally, if a division leader-level figure had come, he had intended to escape this crisis even if he had to shower him with bribes.
‘Is he going to abandon me?’
An inexplicable suspicion bloomed in Tae Jo’s heart.
“Let us go out for now.”
Tae Jo hurried outside together with Man Hong.
A group of martial artists entered the Yugeom Sect.
The one at the front was Bi Sain, the heir of the Sado Alliance, and those who followed him were the Thirteen Wolves of the Sado Alliance.
The scars on Bi Sain’s face—cut, crushed, and distorted—were terrifying enough to be difficult to look at directly. His aura, too, was dark and cold. He looked unchanged. Only his eyes were different from when he had last met Geomugeuk. They were far more mature than before.
“We greet the young alliance leader!”
The Yugeom Sect martial artists all prostrated themselves at once and paid their respects. The Blue-White Twin Swords were no exception. To martial artists of the unorthodox faction, the heir of the Sado Alliance possessed absolute authority.
Tae Jo also prostrated himself and welcomed him.
“It is truly an honor to meet you, young alliance leader.”
“It is good to meet you. Rise, all of you.”
Tae Jo and all the Yugeom Sect martial artists rose to their feet.
“I do not know whether you remember me, but I met you at the Sado Alliance when you became the heir.”
“I remember.”
“I am deeply honored that someone as esteemed as you has come personally.”
Tae Jo bowed deeply once more. Though an unexpected person had come, in any case, his life and death now depended on this Bi Sain.
Bi Sain’s gaze turned toward Geomugeuk.
Geomugeuk was crouching in the yard, warming himself by the campfire.
He had come knowing that Geomugeuk was here. If not for him, he would not have come personally. Even though he had known, the moment he saw Geomugeuk, he could not stop his heart from surging.
“It’s cold. Come warm yourself by the fire.”
Geomugeuk waved his hand and smiled brightly.
Tae Jo, who had no way of knowing their relationship, raised his voice.
“This is the young alliance leader of the Sado Alliance. Show proper respect!”
Geomugeuk looked at Bi Sain and said,
“Your young alliance leader isn’t the only precious one here. We’re precious people too.”
Seeing his eyes sparkle with the desire to play a prank, Bi Sain felt that he had indeed met Geomugeuk again.
Geomugeuk sprang to his feet and offered an exaggerated salute.
“It is an honor to meet you, young alliance leader!”
At the prank of him bending deeply at the waist, Tae Jo fell into a great misunderstanding.
‘Good! He’s frightened! The young alliance leader’s foul face worked.’
He never imagined that the two of them were exchanging sound transmissions like this.
—Are you eating a balanced diet? Not being picky?
His first sound transmission was worrying about picky eating? Truly, one day he would push this man off a cliff.
—Seeing that your tiresome nagging is exactly the same, you must not be a fake young cult leader.
—You’ve become more impressive than before.
—What are you trying to ask of me now, laying the groundwork like this?
—You and Leader Jin both know me far too well now!
Just then, Jin Hagun walked out of the tent. Of course, Bi Sain knew Jin Hagun was here as well. But he had not expected them to have pitched tents like this.
Bi Sain and Jin Hagun silently exchanged fist-and-palm salutes. They were not close enough to treat each other as comfortably as they did Geomugeuk. Of course, with their eyes, they did exchange a conversation like this.
—Have you been swept up by this man again and ended up like this?
—You know it too, don’t you? That avoiding him does not mean he can be avoided.
—True. If it did, I would not be here either.
After thus exchanging greetings with their eyes, Bi Sain walked over to the campfire.
Then he took a seat in front of it.
“Sect Master, you come here as well.”
“Yes.”
Feeling bewildered, Tae Jo headed there. Why the campfire, of all places? He had a bad feeling.
And so they all sat around the campfire. Behind Bi Sain stood the Thirteen Wolves of the Sado Alliance, and behind Jin Hagun stood the Demon Extermination Unit. A taut tension flowed between them. Regardless of the relationship between their leaders, they were like mortal enemies.
“What happened?”
At Bi Sain’s question, Tae Jo explained the situation. Of course, it was an explanation favorable to himself.
“My subordinate made a mistake while seeking out children with martial talent. He failed to confirm that the Black Serpent Corps had handed over kidnapped children. I knew nothing of it. Yet they are trying to pin that crime on me and drag me away.”
Bi Sain looked at Geomugeuk.
“That is a lie. I personally heard the Yugeom Sect Master speaking with his subordinate. That man knew the children had been kidnapped.”
Tae Jo flatly denied it.
“That is a lie. I knew nothing of it. This is a conspiracy by the orthodox faction and the Demon Cult to eliminate our sect.”
He tried by any means to expand this issue into a conflict between the orthodox and unorthodox factions.
“Young alliance leader, do you believe me? Or do you believe the young cult leader of the Demon Cult?”
“Of course I believe our sect master.”
But Bi Sain’s gaze turned toward Geomugeuk. He believed Geomugeuk.
—What exactly do you want?
If Geomugeuk had called him, there was surely a reason.
Then, instead of answering, Geom Mugeuk asked Taejo a question he had not asked until now.
“Why did you buy children with talent for martial arts?”
“I intended to raise them as elites of the main sect from a young age.”
“Then let’s see the children you bought before.”
At that moment, Taejo flinched.
“This is the first time I have bought a child.”
Geom Mugeuk fixed his gaze on him and spoke.
“It isn’t your first time, is it?”
“It is the first time. Why do you think otherwise?”
“Because I heard the sect leader conversing with his subordinates.”
Their conversation had not been that of people buying a child for the first time. It was undoubtedly a frequent occurrence.
“Where are the children you bought previously?”
“Did I not say this was the first time?”
At that, truly unexpected words spilled from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“If we confront the Heuksadanju, the truth will be revealed.”
At the mention of summoning the Heuksadanju, Taejo was startled. Bisain and Jin Hagun were also surprised.
“The Heuksadanju will come here?”
Even Jin Hagun, who had asked the question, did not think he would come.
“If we call him, he will never come. However, did not someone capable of summoning him just arrive?”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Bisain.
“If the Young Leader of the Sado Maeng commands his presence, could he truly ignore it?”
Only now did Jin Hagun understand.
Why Geom Mugeuk had brought Bisain here. It was to make her summon the Heuksadanju directly.
By summoning him directly, he intended to prevent the kidnapping of children. He was trying to handle both the Yu Geommun matter and the Heuksadan affair at once.
Because if he could persuade just one person, he could stop both the sellers and the buyers.
‘This person, truly…’
It occurred to him that this was someone who thought of things that never crossed his own mind.
Meanwhile, Bisain’s expression grew grave.
—Do you know how difficult a position that puts me in?
—Isn’t it an even more serious matter that your people are kidnapping and selling children?
There was no trace of playfulness left in Geom Mugeuk’s expression or voice.
Bisain remembered. That look in his eyes was the same as when he had asked that question in the past.
What is your path?
Now he was waiting for the answer. Was her path one that permitted the kidnapping and selling of children?
As the atmosphere shifted to summoning even the Heuksadanju, Taejo grew desperate. If the Heuksadanju came and revealed that he had sold children on numerous occasions, his guilt would be established. And there was a matter even graver than that.
Taejo sent a desperate voice transmission to Bisain.
—It absolutely cannot happen.
To Bisain’s questioning gaze, an unexpected voice transmission followed.
—Those children were being sent to the Sado Maeng.
Absolute Regression — Chapter 342