“So even if this murim becomes a sea of blood, I will follow the Cult Leader’s Demonic Path.”
I could feel that the Fist Demon was speaking from the heart.
Yes, this was the kind of man the Fist Demon was.
His loyalty could not be swayed by persuasion or conciliation. No threat worked on him, and no human relationship could worm its way in.
Once he gave his loyalty, he was a man who went with it to the end.
Of course, that did not mean I believed those words were the Fist Demon’s true feelings.
How could he possibly desire to turn the murim into a sea of blood and kill people?
If anything, such a longing might be hidden in the blood of the Extreme Evil Young Demon, but I knew well that the Fist Demon was not that sort of man.
Suddenly, an image rose in my mind of the Extreme Evil Young Demon standing side by side with the Fist Demon. The two of them faced each other.
Both of them were showing a will that ran contrary to their own desires.
Out of loyalty to me.
Out of loyalty to my father.
If their ties had been reversed, they would have been saying the opposite things. Was that because they had no principles? Of course not! It was because they were passionate men who could bend their own desires for the one they were loyal to.
That was why I felt newly grateful to the Extreme Evil Young Demon. Through the Fist Demon, I realized anew just how great a source of strength he had been to me.
And I was grateful to the Fist Demon as well.
Because he was protecting my father with loyalty to this extent.
“I understand, Master.”
I answered respectfully. There was no need to speak of what was right or wrong.
My father, the Fist Demon, and I.
All of us held wishes and values forged over long years.
And the words he had spoken.
I respect your Demonic Path.
Those words were enough.
“Thank you, Master.”
Was it because I withdrew cleanly, and because I was sincerely grateful?
After silently gazing at me, he suddenly spoke.
“Do you think the Cult Leader is preparing for war?”
It was a question that made me flinch for an instant. A question that seemed as though something immense would follow.
“Is he not?”
Then, from the Fist Demon’s mouth came the most shocking words he had spoken since we met today.
“The Cult Leader has already begun the war.”
“!”
I looked at the Fist Demon with a startled expression, but he left only those words behind and strode away.
As I watched his broad back, I felt my heart begin to beat faster.
My father’s war had already begun?
* * *
After leaving the Eastern Fist Gate, Geom Mugeuk headed for Maga Village.
He felt like drinking, and he also wanted to see Jo Chunbae.
“Young Cult Leader!”
Truly, when it came to the joy with which Jo Chunbae welcomed Geom Mugeuk, he was second to no Demon Supreme.
“Have you been well, innkeeper?”
“Thanks to you, I have been doing very well.”
The customers drinking on the first floor of the tavern all rose at once and greeted Geom Mugeuk.
The people of Maga Village liked Geom Mugeuk. Because Geom Mugeuk had established a branch of the Yellow Springs Pavilion in this marketplace and frequently came and went from the Pungryu Tavern, this place had become safer than any village in the murim.
No one would believe it. That the tyranny and crimes committed by martial artists in front of the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were fewer than those committed in front of the main headquarters of the Murim Alliance.
Geom Mugeuk sat at his usual seat on the second floor. Jo Chunbae first followed him up with only wine and simple snacks.
“How is business these days? Haven’t customers been swarming in?”
After the three-party talks ended, the Pungryu Tavern became the most famous tavern in the murim.
It had become famous just from the fact that the talks had been held there, but it became even more famous because of the rumor that the Heavenly Demon, the Murim Alliance Leader, and the Unorthodox Alliance Leader had left writings there.
So I had expected that crowds of customers might be packed in front of the Pungryu Tavern.
“Customers do come from time to time to look at the wall, but not to the point that it interferes with business.”
It seemed that the irrepressible curiosity of martial artists had not managed to overcome the high wall of being right before the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
There were no martial artists from the righteous or unorthodox factions at all, and even the occasional visitors were mostly demonic practitioners or their families.
Then again, perhaps because the people who left the writings were too grand, it might actually make them uneasy.
If they came to look for no reason, what would stop them from worrying that a demonic practitioner who had been sitting there watching might leap up and say, “How dare you look at it with such irreverent eyes? I’ll gouge them out!”?
“Rather, people may line up for it later.”
Once all the people who left the writings were dead, only then would this place become a famous attraction. Just like how a painting becomes a masterpiece after the painter dies.
“By then, I won’t be here either.”
Jo Chunbae let out a deliberate sigh, but his expression was bright. He was a man who lived joyfully, making sure to boast at least once a day to drunkards about the writings left on the wall and the talks that had taken place there. Because he was happy, he felt younger. Jo Chunbae was, quite literally, being rejuvenated by a wall.
Jo Chunbae went downstairs to prepare food, and Geom Mugeuk drank alone.
His gaze naturally turned toward the writings left on the wall.
Murim Alliance Leader Jin Paecheon saw a new Demonic Path here.
He recalled the Alliance Leader’s appearance when he left those words. Then, the words written beneath them.
Unorthodox Alliance Leader Baek Jagang saw his disciple’s dance at the Pungryu Tavern.
He also recalled Baek Jagang.
He remembered the moment he had danced with him that day.
But if war broke out, what happened that day would become a cunning scheme of the Demonic Cult. They would think the three-party talks had been held to put them at ease.
At that moment, the words the Fist Demon had spoken rose in his mind.
—The Cult Leader has already begun the war.
What did he mean, that he had begun a war? Against the righteous or unorthodox factions? Or did he mean the force behind this recent affair?
Both were possible. One was Father’s dream, and the other had touched Father’s pride.
But if such movements had been taking place, Gowol should have noticed.
Did it mean they were moving so secretly that even Gowol’s eyes were being deceived? If not? Then who on earth was the target?
This was not something he could ask Father about either. Because the Fist Demon had told him specially for his sake.
As he drank several cups of wine, lost in such thoughts, Jo Chunbae brought up the dishes.
“Innkeeper, it has been a while. Receive a cup from me.”
“Oh my, I receive a precious cup.”
Jo Chunbae accepted Geom Mugeuk’s wine with an awed expression and gesture.
One of Jo Chunbae’s virtues was that he did not act carelessly just because they had grown close. He knew. Mistakes were always made when one let one’s guard down because they had become close. Even slips of the tongue caused by clumsy jokes ultimately came from the thought that one had become close.
Because he knew that, he always showed a consistent demeanor. Even if he received a cup of wine at the moment of death, he was the sort of person who would receive it apologetically. That was why he was someone one wanted to treat even better.
“Drinking wine given by the Young Cult Leader after so long makes it taste especially good.”
“Pour me a cup as well.”
As Jo Chunbae filled Geom Mugeuk’s cup, he asked cautiously.
“Do you perhaps have something troubling you?”
“Do I look troubled?”
Jo Chunbae gave a slight nod. Then again, how many years had he been in the wine trade? How could he not know? Just as we could tell a person’s skill by the way they held a weapon, he could probably discern a person’s emotional state just by the way they held a cup.
“I have many worries because I am opposing my father.”
At that, a low exclamation of “Good heavens” burst from Jo Chunbae’s mouth.
“I should not have asked, should I?”
“I heard nothing at all.”
As he shook his head and waved his hands, Geom Mugeuk poured him another cup.
“Still, I trust that our innkeeper is on my side.”
Jo Chunbae again let out a pained groan as he accepted the wine. Having grown close to Geom Mugeuk, he was now even experiencing what it was like to stand on the side opposing the Heavenly Demon.
Normally, he would drink exactly one cup and rise, but today he accepted one more.
“Do you perhaps remember what happened back then?”
“What happened?”
“When those esteemed people left their writings on that wall, I had many worries.”
What if the wall was damaged? What if someone stole it? It was truly a worry that kept him from sleeping even when he lay down.
“At that time, thanks to the advice the Young Cult Leader gave me, I have been able to live at ease.”
To the anxious Jo Chunbae, Geom Mugeuk had given this advice.
—If, at some particular time and day, someone damages the wall for one reason or another and disappears, that too will become a moment in history. Perhaps it may even become more interesting history.
That had been a great help to Jo Chunbae. If he had not said those words, he might have collapsed from nervous exhaustion.
What makes people anxious, and what puts them at ease, does not happen because something grand is at work.
A single casually thrown word can keep someone up all night. That one word can remain as a wound in the heart and torment a person for a long time.
But this time, he learned that the opposite was also true.
If the wall disappears, that would be even more interesting!
Amazingly, those words fought his anxiety and won. Because humans are hurt by a single word, they can also be healed by a single word. He had experienced that this time.
“Those words erased my worries as if by magic. Sometimes I even deliberately think extreme thoughts, like, why doesn’t someone steal that wall already?”
What Jo Chunbae wanted to say was this.
“The things I worried about did not happen easily. To the point that I wondered why I had worried so much. So please do not worry too much. Everything will go well, Young Cult Leader.”
And to that, he added his own method.
“Please wait a moment. I will make a special dish for the Young Cult Leader!”
Watching him go down to the first floor, Geom Mugeuk felt his heart grow at ease.
There was a sense of reassurance given by the Pungryu Tavern, by that Jo Chunbae. That was why this place was also a world within the real-life art of shifting time and space.
As he was drinking, someone entered the Pungryu Tavern.
The person who climbed to the second floor with a great saber on his back was none other than Seo Daeryong.
“For some reason, I strangely felt you would be here.”
“What brings you here at this hour? What about evening training?”
“We decided to rest for today.”
“Because of me?”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
He wondered if Seo Daeryong had heard about this matter from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, but that was not the case.
“Master said he was going to Daecheon Mountain and told me to rest today.”
“Why Daecheon Mountain?”
“He did not tell me the reason.”
Seo Daeryong added playfully.
“I am sure the Young Cult Leader, who knows all things in the universe, already knows the reason.”
“Of course I know.”
He had said it as a joke, but when Geom Mugeuk said he knew, Seo Daeryong’s eyes widened.
“You know? Why did he go to Daecheon Mountain?”
“To settle his troubled mind.”
If one looked at the night sky from the summit of Daecheon Mountain, the showering stars were truly a magnificent sight. He was probably standing there, sorting out his thoughts about Father and me.
“Why is his mind troubled?”
“Because I made it troubled.”
Since this involved the Young Cult Leader and his master, the two people closest to him, Seo Daeryong naturally became cautious.
“What on earth happened?”
“Yes, you are my right arm, so you should know the situation too.”
Geom Mugeuk told Seo Daeryong about the current situation. After hearing the whole story, Seo Daeryong put strength into his eyes and said,
“I wish I had the right to choose as well.”
“Then it would have been one against three instead of one against two, wouldn’t it?”
“How terribly quick-witted you are.”
He said it that way, but Seo Daeryong knew for certain.
If such a situation truly came, he would support the Young Cult Leader. Even knowing that one had to stake one’s life to defy the Cult Leader, he felt that he would support Geom Mugeuk.
Rather than being surprised at himself, he felt relieved.
The relationship between Geom Mugeuk and the Demon Supremes was one of equals, but he was different.
Geom Mugeuk had made a mere investigator into the Pavilion Master of the Yellow Springs Pavilion, and had made him the disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. No, leaving all that aside, he had led his gloomy, discontented self into a world of light.
And this was Geom Mugeuk.
“No matter what, we cannot defy the Cult Leader, can we?”
He felt relieved that he did not seem like someone who would say such cowardly words.
“With a matter this important, it should be done by secret ballot!”
He was grateful for himself, and proud of himself, for being able to make such a joke without hesitation.
“So who will you visit now?”
The Demon Supremes remaining now were the One-Flame Sword Supreme, the Demon Buddha, the Soul-Capturing Demon Supreme, and the Poison King. Seo Daeryong could not tell who would stand on the Young Cult Leader’s side.
“I tried to bring down a cliff, but it did not budge.”
Geom Mugeuk said as he drank.
“So while climbing the cliff, I suppose I should at least gather some poisonous herbs.”
* * *
There are many ways to make someone take your side. You can persuade them with sound reasoning, move their heart, or simply subdue them by force. Or you can draw them in through negotiation, giving what must be given and receiving what must be received.
And now, I had come to meet someone on whom none of those methods would easily work.
When I arrived at the Thousand Poisons Forest, it was not Sangseon, who always greeted me, but another poison person who received me.
“Young Cult Leader, Sangseon has entrusted me with guiding you. This way, please.”
I followed him through the Thousand Poisons Forest. Venomous snakes flicked their tongues atop the branches, and beneath them, poisonous insects rustled through the heaps of fallen leaves, making bizarre sounds.
“It has been a long time since I came here too.”
I asked the poison person guiding me.
“Does the Demon Buddha still come often these days?”
“Yes, I understand he comes often to gather medicinal herbs.”
The Poison King and the Demon Buddha. Whether in appearance or personality, they were truly two people who did not suit each other. And yet, the connection formed when the three of us gathered medicinal herbs together had led to a friendship between those two.
Between the Poison King and the Demon Buddha, the easier one to predict was the Demon Buddha.
He was my elder brother’s man from beginning to end. Above all, my brother’s opinion would influence him, and unfortunately, my brother would never defy Father’s will. I could not know for certain, but there was a high chance the Demon Buddha would also follow Father.
Even if not for my brother, the Demon Buddha was someone with great ambition for power. If one side called for war, he would be on the side that called for war; he was not someone who would raise his hand for peace.
Then I had to make at least the Poison King my ally no matter what.
After walking for quite some time, I arrived at the Poison King’s residence. Sangseon was standing in front of it.
“If he was here doing nothing, why did he send a subordinate?”
That question was soon answered.
“It seems you will have to wait a little.”
“Is the Poison King perhaps making an important poison?”
“No.”
An answer I had not expected at all flowed from Sangseon.
“The Cult Leader is here right now.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 439