When Geom Mugeuk returned to the An estate, preparations for departure were well underway.
The luggage had already been loaded, and Hwi was inspecting the horses and carriage.
His father stood in the courtyard, hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the sky.
Geom Mugeuk approached his father's side.
"I have finished the matter with the Golden Dragon Family."
As always, Geom Mugeuk reported everything that had happened in detail to his father. Though his father occasionally made an expression as if asking why he had to go into such exhaustive detail, he reported as thoroughly as possible.
Geom Mugeuk knew that these reports had greatly helped his relationship with his father thus far. At least he was now accustomed to the act of conversation itself.
"I left the cleanup to the parties involved."
Fortunately, the Murim Alliance had also actively lent its aid in this matter. Since they had agreed to handle the forces behind the scenes together through a trilateral meeting, they had gladly acceded to the Heaven-Piercing Pavilion's request.
"In the end, it was resolved by pressing through with our cult's authority and power."
Geom Ujin, who had been staring up at the sky, turned his gaze toward his son.
"Our cult's power is your power."
Geom Mugeuk smiled happily. It was a statement acknowledging the authority of the Young Cult Leader. But the important thing was not such a thought.
Thank you, Father. For expressing it in this way.
Geom Ujin boarded the carriage first, and Geom Mugeuk followed after him.
"Farewell, Seomseo!"
At the signal of Geom Mugeuk's farewell, the carriage driven by Hwi departed from the An estate and began racing toward the Heavenly Demon Cult.
"Father and I had agreed to compete once to see who was more popular with the young ladies in Seomseo, yet we're leaving without having done so. Father, if the opportunity arises next time, let us formally compete."
Geom Ujin did not say he would not do it. He did not say it was a contest advantageous to the young one, either.
'This is my father.'
A lofty arrogance revealed itself on Geom Ujin's face.
It was a minute change in expression that others would have difficulty noticing, but Geom Mugeuk could now sense it.
His father was a man, too.
Geom Mugeuk stuck his head out the window and shouted to Hwi in the driver's seat.
"Mister. Don't forget we have to stop by Jungyeong on the way."
They had to visit the treasure vault that Eunha Sangdanju had given as a gift.
"I said I'd pick thirty items from there, didn't I?"
Immediately, Geom Ujin's voice rang out.
"I never made such a promise."
"Right? Even I think thirty is too many. I'll pick just ten items."
"..."
"Actually, ten is too many as well. As if I'm the very incarnation of greed. Very well. I'll happily pick eight. After all, by fate our cult also has eight Demon Lords."
"..."
"Right? What do Demon Lords have to do with gifts? I'll just take five. No, Father! Then just three! Please!"
A smile formed at the corners of Hwi's mouth as he listened to the conversation coming from behind. Had he ever smiled this much in his life?
This journey had been an incredibly precious time for him. It had been a journey of the Cult Leader and the Young Cult Leader, but at the same time, a journey for himself as well.
The Cult Leader and the Young Cult Leader had made it so.
Today on the road, the Cult Leader had let him stop by his hometown, and the Young Cult Leader had let him earn a large sum of money by dividing it into equal thirds. He had also given him the opportunity to kill the Slaughter King himself. And the Cult Leader had personally given him the Geumchang medicine.
And instead of concealing themselves in the shadows, the three of them had always walked together.
Had any guard in the history of the Heavenly Demon Cult ever had such an experience? Hwi could swear. Absolutely none.
'Thank you, both of you.'
A short while later, Geom Mugeuk—who had failed to obtain even three treasures—pouted and leaned his body out the carriage window to feel the wind.
"This is too much! How can you be so cold-hearted!"
Hwi glanced back. Contrary to his complaining words, Geom Mugeuk's face as he gazed at the distant scenery was smiling pleasantly.
In truth, at this moment, Geom Mugeuk was feeling regretful.
When would he be able to come out with his father like this again? Now that they were returning, his father wouldn't be able to come out for some time.
Why did time flow so quickly? They had only just departed, yet they would surely arrive before he knew it.
"Mister, let us go back slowly. Slower than when we came. If you see bandits robbing people on the way, stop the carriage. If you see thieves, stop as well, and a hostage crisis is fine too! Don't pass by a thirsty traveler on the road or a lost cat. Please, let us go back slowly!"
He wished his father felt the same regret as him, but his father said nothing.
Only a fishing rod poking out of the carriage window swayed gently in the wind.
* * *
The carriage arrived at the foot of Mount Okhwa in Jungyeong.
Eunha Sangdanju had told them to seek out Jungsong, who gathered medicinal herbs in this area.
After asking after his whereabouts in the village and arriving at his house below the mountain, Jungsong had been waiting at home for Geom Mugeuk's party to arrive.
"I heard the news that the owner of the key has appeared."
Eunha Sangdanju had sent word that someone would come before long. So he had not gone out to gather herbs recently and had been waiting at home for his guests.
"I shall guide you. Let us go."
Perhaps he had been waiting for this moment even more than the one who would obtain the treasure. For it was the moment he would gain freedom from bonds he had not even known were tying him down.
Jungsong led the three up Mount Okhwa.
Having reached the peak, he looked down below the cliff.
"You must jump down this way. As you descend, you will see a protrusion about midway down the cliff face. You must land precisely there."
"Go down first."
Jungsong looked at Geom Mugeuk with somewhat worried eyes. The young Geom Mugeuk seemed to worry him more than the other two.
Geom Mugeuk reassured him.
"Do not worry. I have a father who raised me by throwing me off cliffs."
At Geom Mugeuk's words, Jungsong could tell his assumption had been correct.
'As expected! Those two were father and son.'
They resembled each other, yet their auras were different.
Jungsong leaped off the cliff. Falling rapidly, he waved his arms and legs to reduce his speed.
Down below, there was a jutting space about midway down the cliff.
He was confident in his lightness skill, but he tensed up every time. Landing on a protrusion after leaping off a cliff was by no means an easy task, though it looked simple enough to watch.
One needed a high level of lightness skill, and above all, guts. One also needed experience. Moreover, the wind was blowing strongly today, making it an even harder day.
Jungsong landed on the protrusion.
'Will they be able to descend safely?'
Worried, he looked up.
Geom Mugeuk plummeted down with a whoosh and landed lightly beside him.
"Huh?"
Jungsong looked at him with a surprised face.
"Why are you so surprised?"
"It is nothing."
He had literally dropped straight down. Normally, one would spread one's lightness skill and move one's arms and legs to reduce speed.
But Geom Mugeuk had fallen as fast as a falling rock, yet when he landed, he had come down as light as a downy feather. He had not even moved his arms or legs.
'This is the first time I've seen such lightness skill. If the young one is like this, what of the others?'
Then, Jungsong happened to glance at the other side and was startled.
'Gasp!'
Hwi was already standing beside him. There had been no sound, no presence at all. It was enough to make him wonder if Hwi had leaped down together with him from the start.
The one who delivered the final surprise was Geom Ujin.
Geom Ujin, who had descended at some point, was floating in midair, his clothes billowing.
With a face as comfortable as if he were standing on the ground, he floated in the air before the protrusion.
At the martial arts prowess of the three, Jungsong conveyed words he had not originally intended to say.
"The Sangdanju would come every year and give me new treasures and keys, and I would enter this place and fill it. So this place was known only to the Sangdanju and myself. At first, I thought it was the Sangdanju's personal vault, but one day he told me. He said this was a place to gather gifts for my benefactor. I could not understand it. Just what kind of benefactor would warrant going this far?"
Jungsong lightly bowed his head to the three and spoke.
"Now I understand."
They were far from ordinary martial artists. It was a moment in which he was meeting masters he could not hope to encounter once in his entire life as a martial artist, and three of them at that.
"There were difficult times while waiting, but looking back, it seems it was a worthwhile wait."
He was a master who could gauge an opponent's level to some degree through lightness skill alone.
Then Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude to him.
"Thank you for waiting."
"There is no need to thank me. I only undertook this because of my friendship with the Sangdanju. I was also paid handsomely."
"Still, I know how hard it is for a martial artist to be tied down to one place. You have truly suffered."
Through this journey, Hwi could now be certain. That such expressions of gratitude were Geom Mugeuk's true heart. That the one charging forward with that sincerity was the Young Cult Leader of the current era's Heavenly Demon Cult.
Hwi's gaze slid briefly toward Geom Ujin.
'I think I finally understand. Just how difficult a battle the Cult Leader has been fighting.'
Against the heart of Geom Mugeuk that he had shown on this journey.
'I think I have already lost.'
It was not because of dividing the money into thirds. He had already lost when Geom Mugeuk brought it, saying it was for him. When he laid out the leather mat for him while camping, he had already lost. When he dragged him to eat together, he had already lost.
'Will the Cult Leader be able to win? There are still five years left.'
Meanwhile, Jungsong pulled out a small stone embedded in the cliff wall.
There was a hole there, the kind commonly found in cliffs.
"Insert the key here and turn it."
No one in the world could know that this place was the entrance to a secret vault. Even if someone were to fall from the cliff and miraculously land on this protrusion, they would never imagine that this small hole in the wall was a keyhole.
"Then I shall take my leave."
Jungsong bowed respectfully and leaped down below the cliff. His body, having found freedom, flew away as light as the wind.
Geom Ujin walked through the air to the spot where Jungsong had stood and alighted.
He took out the Myriad-Year Coldiron Key he had received from Yong Jamyeong and handed it to Hwi.
When Hwi inserted the key into the hole and turned it.
Rumble.
A door hidden in the cliff wall opened.
"I shall wait here."
Then Geom Mugeuk would not have it.
"Isn't this journey supposed to be together unconditionally?"
Geom Ujin nodded.
"Enter together."
"Yes."
And so the three entered the cave.
There were no separate mechanical traps to defend against intruders. Because it was in a location absolutely impossible to find, the core of this treasure vault was trust in the man called Jungsong.
If he set his mind to it with ulterior motives, he could break through the wall and enter.
Geom Mugeuk could understand. That there was a reason Eunha Sangdanju had become the wealthiest person in the Murim.
He had trustworthy people to whom he could entrust treasures, and once he trusted someone, he had the faith and daring to truly leave matters in their hands.
The interior was bright thanks to night-illuminating pearls embedded all around, and air circulated from somewhere, making the inside comfortable.
The first thing to catch the eye was the bronze mirror in the center. It was a large mirror that could reflect one's entire body.
Treasures were displayed on either side of it.
Clothes hung on the left wall. Of course, they were not ordinary martial uniforms.
"Father, isn't this the Black Dragon Flying Armor?"
The treasure armor embroidered with a black dragon was a very famous treasure armor in the Murim.
It was not the only one. The treasure armor hanging beside it was no less impressive.
"This is the Flying Tiger Iron Garment. Ah! That one is the Adamantine Divine Armor."
From treasure armors recognizable at a glance like these.
"What is this?"
"It is the Smiling Proud True Armor. A very old treasure armor."
To treasure armors only his father could recognize.
In an ordinary vault, such treasure armors would be displayed splendidly on the walls. The most precious item in the center, the rest around it.
But here, there were so many treasure armors that they were hung stacked atop one another like ordinary martial uniforms.
If treasure armors were gathered like this, how could there be no weapons?
The treasured swords displayed on one side were gleaming, as if their moment to shine had finally arrived.
"The Taiji Divine Sword, the Lotus Sword, and that one is the Bloodwind Radiance Sword, right?"
Not only treasured swords but also treasured blades, spears, and daggers. All kinds of treasures filled the place.
That was not all.
Martial arts secret manuals were also shelved there, and judging by the level of the treasured swords and armors, the martial arts techniques would likewise be difficult to obtain.
In addition, there were poison-warding pearls, night-shining pearls, and all manner of other priceless treasures. They were treasures whose value could scarcely be converted into money.
It was clear that Yong Jamyeong had gathered them over many long years. They were not things one could obtain overnight simply because one had money.
“My father really did save the right man.”
Here were gathered the things the richest man in the Central Plains had prepared his entire life for his benefactor. It was also a moment in which one could feel the dignity of the richest man in the martial world.
“This robe here seems to be the White Dragon Martial Armor (白龍武甲). I heard it was one of the treasured garments orthodox martial artists liked best, and it was here all along. Father, look at this. Huh?”
Geom Mugeuk turned around and flinched in surprise.
His father had already put on a treasured garment and was standing before the bronze mirror.
It was a black robe that suited his father truly well.
“What is that outfit?”
His father answered.
“It is the Soul-Startling Armor (驚魂甲). I had wanted to try wearing it for a long time, but I could never obtain it. So it was here.”
He had seemed like someone who would refuse to wear such things, saying, What need does a martial artist have for treasured garments?
But his father possessed deeper knowledge of martial treasures than anyone.
His father extended his hand again. Then something that had been hanging there flew toward him.
Clack, clack.
His father fastened them around both wrists. They were guards that protected the wrists.
“They are Traceless (無痕).”
Even Geom Mugeuk had heard of them. Legendary wrist guards said to be impossible to cut with any sword energy.
When his father extended his hand again, this time a dagger flew over.
“It is the Heart at World’s End (天涯丹心).”
It was a dagger ranked among the top five in the martial world. He inserted it into Traceless. Traceless had been made from the start so that a dagger could be fitted into it.
Watching this, Geom Mugeuk did not forget to joke.
“Now I know why I always wanted treasures whenever I saw them. The blood of the original incarnation of material desire was flowing in me!”
At Geom Mugeuk’s joke, a sneer formed at the corner of his father’s mouth.
Seeing that sneer after so long put Geom Mugeuk in a good mood.
Yes, this was the kind of man his father was. He was peerlessly impressive when he stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky, but that was not where his father’s essence lay.
He was someone who wanted to try on treasured garments when he saw them and wanted to wield treasured swords when he saw them. When he saw a strong opponent, he wanted to fight, and if he fought, he absolutely wanted to win.
What made this moment precious to Geom Mugeuk was that his father was now showing him that side without restraint.
As his father looked into the bronze mirror and equipped himself with the treasures, he suddenly said,
“What are you two doing, not choosing anything?”
Geom Mugeuk opened his eyes wide with joy and asked,
“We can choose too?”
From within the mirror, his father spoke as though it were only natural.
“Both of you are to equip yourselves properly. Don’t think about giving anything to others. Think only of yourselves.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 495