“The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable had five disciples in all, but among them, judging by age and ability, the strongest candidates in the succession struggle are the first disciple, Liang Dao, and the third disciple, Cheongseon. For reference, Cheongseon is a woman.”
At Seo Daeryong’s report, I asked,
“What is the reputation of the two of them within Seohwanjin?”
“Given his age, Liang Dao has the edge in experience and martial skill, but Cheongseon is more popular within Seohwanjin. Compared to her, young and beautiful as she is, Liang Dao has a violent temperament, and several ghost-art practitioners have already been injured by him. Some have even died. Even so, the late Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable favored him, so he had a high chance of becoming the successor, but now the situation has changed.”
“Investigate the two of them thoroughly. Their martial arts, wealth, abilities, hobbies, and personal relationships. Don’t leave out a single thing.”
“Understood.”
“I wonder whom Cult Leader Pungcheon will choose.”
At my question, Seo Daeryong’s eyes went round.
“Cult Leader Pungcheon is going to choose one of them?”
“Yes. That’s why I sent him the information on the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable’s disciples.”
“Why?”
“Because I told him to jump into Seohwanjin’s succession struggle.”
“Good heavens! What are you plotting this time? Don’t tell me?”
Seo Daeryong, as if struck by a thought, sent a voice transmission.
—Are you going to kill Cult Leader Pungcheon too? Or Liang Dao? Even Cheongseon?
—Am I some kind of murderer? Why would I kill them all?
Only then did Seo Daeryong look relieved.
“That’s a relief.”
“So this is what I’ve become these days. Everyone worries about whom I might kill.”
“Who else was worried? Your master?”
“My master?”
“Ah! Elder Blood-Heaven Blade Demon.”
“You still don’t call him Master, do you?”
“No, he hasn’t permitted it.”
And yet it seemed Seo Daeryong already regarded him as his master. Seeing how the word slipped out without him realizing it.
I could feel Seo Daeryong falling deeper and deeper for the Blade Demon. Well, the moment he saw the Blood-Heaven Blade Demon reading a book, Seo Daeryong had probably already plunged in headfirst.
“So whom will Cult Leader Pungcheon choose?”
“How would I know?”
“If even you, a genius who entered at the top of the class, don’t know, then how would anyone?”
“I entered at the top because I studied hard. I’m not a genius.”
“You said you were a genius, didn’t you?”
“That was what you said, Pavilion Master.”
“You nodded back then, acting all smug.”
“I admit it. I admit that there is a vanity within me that even I can’t help. So please lower my assessment from genius to a fellow merely competent at practical affairs. In exchange, I will investigate the two of them thoroughly.”
Seo Daeryong bowed and left the office.
* * *
“So, whom should we support?”
At Cult Leader Pungcheon’s question, the shackled man only stared at the Yin Thunder Bell.
“Why are you staring at that bell like that? Does the evil spirit carved into it speak to you or something?”
At that, the shackled man suddenly said,
“How did you know?”
“Why are you making this frightening?”
“It speaks to me from time to time.”
“What does it say?”
Staring blankly at the evil spirit, the shackled man said,
“Why do you live like that?”
A brief silence flowed between them.
“So what did you answer?”
“In the past, I used to answer that I lived like this because of one narrow-minded, greedy human being.”
“And now?”
“I answered that perhaps… it might not be entirely because of that human being.”
“What did it say to that?”
The shackled man said nothing. When urged once more, the shackled man looked at Cult Leader Pungcheon as if he were pathetic.
“Why do you keep asking? What would a carving say? Are you insane?”
Cult Leader Pungcheon wore an expression of disbelief.
“Of course. It would be strange if I weren’t insane. Before long, I’ll be sitting there, having a conversation with that carved evil spirit. ‘Why do you live being looked down on like that?’ Why do you think? You evil-spirit bastard, you’ve been watching all along, so you should know!”
“Cheongseon.”
“You startled me! Please, at least take a stance before you stab me!”
The shackled man was impossible to predict, but because he gave answers like this when needed, he was precious.
“Why Cheongseon? From what I see, Liang Dao seems more likely to become the successor.”
“Then choose that person.”
The shackled man closed his mouth as if he had nothing more to say.
Cult Leader Pungcheon sidled over beside him.
“I’m asking why Cheongseon.”
“Just choose Liang Dao according to your own convictions. How long will a man who is even a cult leader keep following someone else’s words?”
“Very well. According to my convictions, I choose Cheongseon.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon trusted the shackled man absolutely. He needed no reason. There was the past he had shown him until now.
“Cheongseon, you say? Then how can I take her as my disciple?”
“That, I do not know.”
“What do I do if you don’t know?”
“Would it not be stranger if I knew even that while being tied up here like this?”
“True. That is true.”
Even so, Cult Leader Pungcheon did not say he would release his shackles. Though they had exchanged all manner of words until now, he had never said those words.
If he released the shackles, the man would fly away from him. Who in the world would remain out of fondness for someone who had made him like this? The moment he freed him, it was over. That was why speaking of removing the shackles was Cult Leader Pungcheon’s absolute taboo.
“Should I go find Cheongseon?”
“What will you say when you go?”
“Become my disciple. Is that too overbearing? I shall permit you to become my disciple. How is that?”
“And she will become your disciple so very readily.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Put yourself in her position. An inscrutable old man from beyond the borders suddenly comes and tells you to become his disciple. If you were in her place, Cult Leader, would you fall for that?”
“Not a chance.”
“Others are the same. It cannot be done for nothing.”
“Don’t tell me you mean I have to pay a price?”
The shackled man nodded.
“I’m going to become her master and teach her martial arts, aren’t I? If a price is to be paid, it should be paid by the other side.”
“That is an outdated way of thinking. The price is paid by the one who is more desperate.”
“I refuse. Now I want to receive, not give. I am, by nature, a person who likes receiving far more! Tell them to come learn after bringing heaps of things to fill my collection of divine relics! Tell them to kneel in the courtyard all day and beg!”
The shackled man had told him to give everything, but that was not as easy as it sounded.
“If you must pay a price, the target should not be Cheongseon.”
“Then who?”
“The Second Young Master will want more of the divine relics here. When he looked around the relics last time, there were some he was eyeing.”
“Damn it!”
“The Second Young Master will bring the answer this time as well.”
“The Second Young Master again?”
To the sighing Cult Leader Pungcheon, the shackled man said calmly,
“It will be the Second Young Master until the very end.”
* * *
Just as Seo Daeryong had boasted, he was at least undeniably capable when it came to practical affairs.
He had investigated Liang Dao and Cheongseon in exhaustive detail. Not only their families and households, and not only their level of martial arts, but their personalities, interpersonal relationships, and even the foods they liked.
“However, in the course of investigating Cheongseon, I discovered one strange point.”
“What kind of point?”
“Cheongseon has met Sa Ujong several times.”
“Sa Ujong?”
An unexpected name had surfaced.
“Yes. Since there does not seem to be any connection between them, I am reporting it just in case.”
Because Seo Daeryong knew that I had also formed ties with the Ilhwa Sword Venerable, he was reporting it separately.
I recalled Sa Ujong’s end.
He had been caught under a soul-capturing art and tried to kill the Ilhwa Sword Venerable, only to be killed in return. It was a death in which whose soul-capturing art had been used was never ultimately revealed.
‘Ah! So that was Cheongseon’s soul-capturing art!’
A single conclusion was naturally drawn.
“The two of them were lovers!”
At my words, Seo Daeryong was startled. Not because the two had been lovers, but because I had guessed the truth on the spot.
“How did you know?”
Sa Ujong had been in love with the Ilhwa Sword Venerable. If Cheongseon had discovered that while they were together? His death was surely the result of Cheongseon’s jealousy and rage. Especially since Cheongseon was young. If her man loved an older woman, the wound to her pride would be deep enough to pierce through her body.
That was not the only reason I judged that they had been lovers.
The person who had earlier revealed the place where the corpses from the Mind-Soul Great Art had been buried, and the person who had stolen Neunghyu’s fan and placed it there, was surely Cheongseon. These were things that could not be discovered or accomplished unless one was the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable’s disciple. Moreover, if she had not been in a relationship with Sa Ujong, there was no way she would have leaked such important information.
All the pieces fit together, but I could not tell Seo Daeryong these facts.
I sprang up from my seat.
“You’ve thought of something that will change the situation again, haven’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“Your eyes changed. Pavilion Master, why do you look for a genius? You yourself are a genius.”
“I’m not a genius. I’m only the sort to use petty tricks and not let profitable things slip by. Not this kind of mind. I need someone who can think on a grand scale. There’s a big difference between an organization having such a person and not having one.”
“I don’t really understand, but in any case, you are remarkable.”
“What do you mean you don’t understand? I figured this out thanks to your investigation. Even if I find a genius, I won’t trade that person for you.”
“Of course you won’t. You’ll have both anyway. But where are you going?”
I was already walking out of the office.
‘To earn a divine relic!’
This, too, was something I could not tell him.
* * *
I went straight to meet Cult Leader Pungcheon.
His residence was the scene of the incident, and as the Master of Hwangcheon Pavilion, I had justification to come and go officially at any time.
“Welcome.”
“Have you been well?”
“I looked over the materials you sent. Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
As we exchanged greetings, I glanced at the shackled man.
He kept his head lowered and did not look at me, but whenever I saw him, I felt that this was not a connection I would simply brush past.
My gaze returned to Cult Leader Pungcheon.
“Have you found a way to jump into Seohwanjin’s succession struggle?”
“Not yet.”
“You must hurry. Soon the Demon Venerables will intervene and choose a successor.”
“As you know, here I wear shackles just like that man. Even meeting Seohwanjin’s successor candidates is not easy.”
I nodded as if I understood.
“Whom among the candidates would you like me to take as my disciple?”
“Cheongseon.”
Seeing that he was not surprised by my answer, it seemed he had already reached the same conclusion with the shackled man. Indeed, that was the case.
“We also judged Cheongseon to be suitable.”
For me, it was because of Sa Ujong, but for what reason had that shackled man chosen Cheongseon?
“But I have no way to persuade her.”
“What if I can make Cheongseon come directly to you, Cult Leader?”
“And after she comes?”
“She will ask to become your disciple. I will cook the rice and spoon-feed it to you.”
“If you can do that, I could ask for nothing more.”
“In exchange, give me one divine relic.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon’s expression, which had brightened, darkened again.
“You truly are shameless.”
“It is not shamelessness. It is only natural. Ordering someone to work by putting friendship or loyalty first without proper compensation was something that only worked in my father’s era.”
“I, too, am a man of that era.”
“You must acknowledge that times have changed. And that I, sitting before you, am a man of this era. If you dislike that, then you must harden like a fossil and live looking only at what pleases you.”
Of course, because Cult Leader Pungcheon did not want such a life, his expression stiffened.
I persuaded him in a gentle tone.
“This matter involves dealing with young people, so please leave it to me. I will produce a result that makes the divine relic worth it.”
“Let me think for a moment.”
“Of course.”
Pretending not to notice, I looked around at the divine relics, giving the shackled man and Cult Leader Pungcheon time to exchange voice transmissions.
At length, Cult Leader Pungcheon said to me,
“Fine. I accept your proposal.”
Though his face was full of displeasure, in the end, it seemed he had been persuaded by the shackled man.
“My role goes only as far as having her come to you and ask you to accept her as your disciple. Raising her to the position of Demon Venerable will be your ability, Cult Leader.”
“If I need help then as well, you will come again and demand another divine relic. Why not just take them all now!”
“I wish I were capable of that. For my sake, and for yours as well.”
I rose from my seat. To Cult Leader Pungcheon I was courteous, and to the shackled man I gave a fleeting nod with my eyes before leaving.
From there, I went to find one person.
The person holding the key to this matter—Sa Ujong.