“We will rest here today.”
Jeokyeon, having received Geom Mugeuk’s order, announced it to everyone.
At his shout, the large transport wagons racing at the front slowed and came to a stop.
Not only did Geom Mugeuk know the roads well, he had abundant experience camping in the field, and he knew exactly where such a large group should rest.
The wagons left the road and stopped in a wide field. There were too many people for them to enter a village.
The Demon Army’s large wagons formed up as if building a wall around the outside, and within them, Geom Mugeuk’s carriage and the Demon Venerables’ carriages were likewise arranged in a circle.
The Demon Army had the greatest numbers, but they were quiet and swift. They were men who had truly experienced every kind of battle in the field.
Without being told, Ian watched them take their positions and gave orders to her Ghost Shadow Squad subordinates.
“We’ll take position over here.”
Pretending not to watch, Jang Ho observed them. Since Ian had never moved and managed troops on this scale before, Jang Ho had expected her to flounder somewhat.
So she had intended to inform her through sound transmission, but unexpectedly, Ian handled the placement of her subordinates splendidly.
What was even more splendid was this.
“Team Leader Sa.”
She called for Jihan.
“Yes, Unit Leader.”
“To be honest, much of what I know comes from books rather than experience. Since Team Leader Sa served as leader of the Soul-Chasing Unit, I imagine you’re more practiced at this sort of thing than I am. Is this deployment correct?”
She did not pretend to know what she did not. She showed a willingness to learn, and she did not let such matters wound her pride.
“Yes, it is better than what I would have done. However, I think the spacing between teams could be widened a little. Because when a surprise attack comes from outside…”
Ian listened intently to his explanation.
Watching her, Jang Ho thought she was doing well.
‘You are doing well, Unit Leader.’
And so the Demon Army and the Ghost Shadow Squad took their places on the outside, while Geom Mugeuk and the Demon Venerables settled in the center.
Campfires sprang up here and there, and Geom Mugeuk and the Demon Venerables also sat around a campfire in the middle.
Behind Geom Mugeuk, the warriors of the guard unit took position. Applying what they had trained in actual practice, they guarded Geom Mugeuk without the slightest gap.
Geom Mugeuk called the head of the guards, Jeokyeon.
“Jeokyeon.”
“Yes, Young Cult Leader.”
“To be honest, you wish someone would attack, don’t you?”
Jeokyeon was flustered by the sudden question.
“No, sir.”
“You do, don’t you? You trained so hard for this day. Someone has to attack for you to show what you can do, right?”
“Of course, as long as we are here, they won’t be able to touch so much as a hair on the Young Cult Leader’s head.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Demon Army and Ghost Shadow Squad outside.
“An enemy who made it through those people? And you’re saying you’re stronger? I’ll have to tell the Demon Army to work harder.”
“That’s not what I…”
The one who saved the flustered Jeokyeon was the Drunken Demon. He took a bottle of liquor from his carriage and came over.
“Young Cult Leader, why are you tormenting an innocent man?”
The Drunken Demon did not speak to him as a sworn brother in front of everyone. He treated him respectfully as the Young Cult Leader.
“When you speak so politely, it makes it seem like I really am tormenting him.”
Looking at the other three Demon Venerables seated before the campfire, the Drunken Demon said,
“Let us each have just one cup before we sleep.”
After pouring liquor for Geom Mugeuk first, the Drunken Demon also poured for the Demon Buddha, the Extreme Evil Soma, and the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable. This was the first time the four of them had shared drinks together out in a field like this.
Ever since leaving the cult, the Drunken Demon had been drunk the entire time. Everyone could sense it. The Drunken Demon was in the midst of martial training. The fact that he continued training even while traveling meant that the training he was undergoing was that important.
“This liquor is delicious too, Drunken Demon.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s admiration, the Drunken Demon lifted the bottle and said proudly,
“It is battle wine I saved for an occasion like this.”
“This isn’t exactly a departure from the cult worthy of such a grand meaning.”
The Drunken Demon looked around. The gesture seemed to say, You brought out enough troops to wage a war, and yet you say it is not?
The Demon Buddha looked at the warriors of the Ghost Shadow Squad and said,
“When did you raise such an excellent organization?”
“It wasn’t me. Ian raised them.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward Ian. Standing with her subordinates, she looked quite the unit leader. Though she complained that it did not suit her, she was doing well.
“They are the ones who will lead our cult after we retire.”
At those words, the Demon Buddha looked utterly dumbfounded.
“You are already thinking of retirement before you have even begun?”
“I cannot live like my father, after all.”
“And if you cannot?”
The Demon Buddha pressed him with a sharp gaze, but Geom Mugeuk did not explain in detail.
“I intend to live while enjoying myself. Now, let us have another drink.”
This time, Geom Mugeuk filled everyone’s cup. As he poured for the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable last, the Demon Buddha, who had received his drink first, abruptly asked,
“Have you no desire to unite the murim?”
At the Demon Buddha’s question, everyone’s eyes turned to Geom Mugeuk.
When he had gone to see the Drunken Demon before, the Drunken Demon had asked the same question. Recently, with the power of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult overflowing, the unification of the murim kept being mentioned.
Seeing an opportunity, the Drunken Demon joined in and sounded out Geom Mugeuk.
“I am curious what a murim led by our Young Cult Leader would look like.”
After a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk said,
“What is there to look forward to in a murim built by killing my friends?”
Everyone knew well of his relationship with Bisa-in and Jin Hagun, so the Demon Buddha took up those words.
“Just as you succeeded in the struggle for succession with your elder brother, could you not achieve the unification of the murim without bloodshed?”
If the person listening to those words had not been Geom Mugeuk, they would have been dismissed as nonsense. But if it was Geom Mugeuk? Everyone waited for his answer.
“You overestimate me far too much. Even if I conceded a hundred times and assumed that impossibility came true, could that peace continue to be maintained?”
Just as the Dark Palace had spent three hundred years nurturing its strength in darkness to seize the murim, the righteous and unorthodox factions would do the same. No, they would be even more vicious.
“There would be countless attempts to reclaim the fallen righteous path, to recover the lost unorthodox path, and in the end, as much blood would be shed as if a war had broken out.”
Geom Mugeuk added calmly,
“This murim has been divided into demon, righteous, and unorthodox for far too long. Becoming one is nothing more than an ideal.”
The Demon Buddha gazed at Geom Mugeuk and said,
“Depending on whose ideal it is, it may become reality.”
Geom Mugeuk could tell the Demon Buddha had said it with his father in mind.
“The moment will come when I must persuade all of you on this issue.”
Geom Mugeuk raised his cup and said,
“When that time comes, I will be in your care.”
A brief silence flowed.
The first to raise his cup was the Extreme Evil Soma. This toast was his will to follow Geom Mugeuk, even if it meant defying his father’s order.
Until now, the Extreme Evil Soma had been the only act of defiance.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable raised his cup.
Though last time he had been unable to defy Geom Woojin’s will and had crossed over to the other side, now he intended to follow the Young Cult Leader’s orders. The Young Cult Leader was someone worth that much.
The Demon Buddha did not raise his cup until the end, and the Drunken Demon drank alone without making a toast.
“One day, the day will come when I toast with the two of you as well!”
With an expression that said the situation to unfold in the future would be amusing just to imagine, the Demon Buddha emptied his cup.
“That would be your ideal.”
* * *
Mak Chung, the chief of Dahu Stockade, had dreamed the previous night.
It was a dream of a gigantic golden whale swimming toward him. It was so vivid that even after waking, he remembered the scene clearly.
And now he was looking at that golden whale. No, to be precise.
“It really is a golden carriage.”
Standing atop the gorge, Mak Chung stared in rapture at the golden carriage racing toward them from far away.
When he had first received the report from the subordinate sent out to scout, he had thought it was a carriage painted yellow. What madman would go around coating a carriage in gold?
But judging from the way it reflected the sunlight, it had to be a carriage truly plated with gold.
As the dream came to mind, Mak Chung felt that the once-in-a-lifetime chance for a windfall that came to every bandit of the Green Forest had finally found him.
“How rich must one be to ride in a carriage made of gold?”
This was the moment to risk his life. There was only one thing that bothered him.
“They’re not from the Demon Cult, are they?”
The subordinate who had led the scouts was his right-hand man, Gong Pei.
“Chief, never once have we heard of demonic practitioners riding in golden carriages.”
“What are the chances they’re from a famous martial clan?”
“Look at the wagons at the very front. Martial clans do not use large transport wagons like those. It must be a merchant group moving expensive goods, or a tycoon relocating.”
“How many guards?”
“Quite a lot.”
At those words, Mak Chung was instead relieved. A martial organization with genuine experts did not travel in such a swarm.
It had to be a tycoon or a merchant group hiring a great number of wandering warriors to show off their might.
“On top of that, their formation is a mess. Look there. There are no guarding warriors around the large wagons, and the riders are trailing behind. They’re frightened and have merely filled out their numbers.”
“Still, there should be one or two real experts.”
As Mak Chung hesitated, Gong Pei said with an expression telling him not to worry.
“If we ambush them in the gorge, they will have no choice either.”
His hesitation did not last long. They had lived their whole lives as bandits of the Green Forest.
“No matter how dangerous it is, how can we let a golden carriage pass?”
* * *
The wagons traveling in a line through the narrow gorge slowed and came to a stop.
Jang Ho got down from her wagon and walked toward Geom Mugeuk’s carriage behind them.
“It’s the Green Forest.”
Then came Geom Mugeuk’s cheer, who had said about a hundred times that riding separately from the Demon Venerables was far too boring.
“Finally!”
As if he had been waiting, Geom Mugeuk quickly hopped down from the carriage. Up ahead, bandits of the Green Forest could be seen blocking the road. And atop the gorge on both sides, dozens of bandits had arrows aimed at them.
The arrows were not the problem. They had prepared more than ten enormous boulders with levers, ready to roll them down at any moment. If those fell, the people could dodge, but the wagons would be the problem.
“I’ve finally met them! Even though I went in and out of the cult so many times, I never met these fellows once. I was so bored I kept hoping I’d meet them just once, just once, and yet I never did. But now that I’ve brought everyone out like this, they appear? Are these blind bandits?”
As Geom Mugeuk looked dumbfounded, Jang Ho smiled and said,
“They seem to have seen the large transport wagons and thought a merchant group was moving cargo.”
Moreover, because there were so many people following behind, they had likely looked down on them instead.
“This is all the Demon Buddha’s fault. With such a glittering golden carriage running along, how could the Green Forest endure it? Even I couldn’t.”
Geom Mugeuk was not one to miss such a fine opportunity to tease the Demon Buddha.
“Really, what is someone of the Buddhist path doing with a golden carriage?”
From inside the carriage came the Demon Buddha’s awkward cough.
“What will you do? Will you send all those people to Buddhahood? Take responsibility.”
Then a single phrase came from inside the Demon Buddha’s carriage.
“That is not something I cannot do.”
As if he truly intended to kill them all, the Demon Buddha opened the carriage door and tried to come out.
Geom Mugeuk closed the door with remote manipulation.
“Our Blood Buddha will wait for a moment. Commander Jang, if those fellows see you, they’ll run away without even breathing. Hurry and hide. Guards, you withdraw behind there too! Everyone, don’t stand out! Absolutely not!”
Jang Ho climbed onto a large wagon with a laugh, and the guards withdrew behind them with expressions that seemed to ask, Are we really hiding?
In the meantime, the Green Forest bandits approached. The man at the front was Mak Chung, with Gong Pei close beside him. Behind them followed the most skilled men of Dahu Stockade.
Mak Chung first examined what sort of people his opponents were, and how great their skills might be.
‘The drivers are nothing special.’
The warriors who came out of the convoy looked like coachmen to anyone. In truth, they were men who could freely drive these large wagons even into narrow places.
‘It really is a tycoon’s procession.’
Was it because he wanted that to be true? Or because of the dream of the golden whale? He came to that hasty conclusion.
After passing more than ten large wagons, they found Geom Mugeuk waiting for them.
Because of that, they could not reach Geom Mugeuk’s carriage and did not see the picture drawn on it.
“Pleased to meet you, everyone of the Green Forest! This is my first time seeing you!”
Such a bright greeting? Mak Chung had never seen such a naive young fool before.
“I am Mak Chung, chief of Dahu Stockade.”
“Oh! So you are Hero Mak!”
Why is he so happy? We’re the Green Forest, you fool!
Mak Chung lowered his voice with dignity.
“This gorge is so dangerous and rugged that it is easy to be attacked here. We will protect you until you pass through.”
“I know, I know. Then we give you a protection fee, right? Right? I know this well too.”
Ah, what a naive young fool! Mak Chung thought he might truly seize the greatest fortune of his life. No matter how he looked, the young man’s martial skill seemed pathetic.
“Our young hero knows very well.”
Ordinarily, bandits of the Green Forest did not rob people of their goods and kill them. If they did, they would be attacked by the merchant alliance or the escort agency alliance.
Thus, it was the custom of the jianghu to tacitly receive a toll and let each other pass on amicable terms.
Of course, today’s glittering procession stirred a desire in him to take everything.
Even now, Mak Chung’s gaze was fixed on the sparkling golden carriage behind them.
He was so absorbed in it that he passed right by the words “Demon Army” written on the side of the large wagons. Then again, even if he had seen them, he would never have dreamed that this Demon Army was that Demon Army.
“How much should we give you as a toll?”
“Usually, we take ten percent of the value of the goods.”
Of course, they did not normally take that much. He had simply thrown it out there first, even if he later had to lower the price.
“Oh, ten percent! It does feel a bit expensive, but since this is my first time paying, I should give it to you!”
If he had known this would happen, he should have asked for thirty percent.
As Mak Chung felt regret, Geom Mugeuk let out a sigh.
“But what shall we do? I did not bring that much money with me.”
At that, Mak Chung spoke as if being generous.
“Originally, we only accept money, but today I will make a special exception. Since you have more than ten wagons loaded with goods, would it not do to hand over one of them?”
“Ah, would that be all right?”
When Geom Mugeuk readily agreed to give one, Mak Chung inwardly cried out in delight. Then greed was added to it.
“Now that I think of it, I’ll have to choose two. Counting the wagons, there are far more than ten, are there not? And since I am making a special concession by accepting goods, young hero, you should make a concession as well.”
This time too, Geom Mugeuk readily permitted it.
“Very well. Choose two. There are large wagons up front, and there are several other carriages back here. Take your time looking around and choose just two.”
With a bright smile, as if something pleased him greatly, Geom Mugeuk said,
“But you must take the carriages you choose!”