“What are you doing here?”
Even at his older brother’s voice from behind, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze remained fixed on the nightscape of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I heard you came up here every night.”
The place where Geom Mugeuk sat was the palm of a gigantic fiend statue, one that held aloft the brazier from which the demon fire rose.
“Every night? Hardly. This is only the third time.”
Now that he thought about it, it was already the third time. Whenever the demon fire flared up, Geom Muyang had stood here and gazed earnestly in the direction of Maga Village, where his father and younger brother had been fighting.
He did not know what feelings drove him, but even now, after the battle was over, he kept finding himself drawn here.
“So? You came to see me?”
“Don’t just stand there. Sit. I can see why you’d come up here often. The night view is incredible.”
Geom Muyang slowly walked over and sat beside Geom Mugeuk. The two of them perched on the tips of different fingers of the fiend statue, looking down over the full view of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Geom Mugeuk handed Geom Muyang the wine bottle he had been holding.
“Here. A gift.”
The wine given by the Drunken Demon was being handed out, one bottle to each person.
“It’s precious wine, so drink it on a special day.”
No sooner had he said it than Geom Muyang poured the wine and drank.
“You’re not ignoring what I said. This moment with me is special, right?”
Only one corner of Geom Muyang’s mouth lifted; he gave no answer.
The brothers sat like that in silence for a long while. The one who broke the long silence was Geom Mugeuk.
“What if I stop Father’s unification of the murim? Whose side will you take?”
“Of course…”
He had expected him to say Father’s.
“I’d have to take your side.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at his brother in surprise.
“You’d take my side?”
“If I get on the wrong side of the next cult leader, won’t I suffer for the rest of my life? I have far more days to live with you.”
He was not the same brother as before. He even knew how to joke like this.
“I wonder if you could really defy Father in front of him.”
Geom Muyang looked at Geom Mugeuk and said something unexpected.
“I could. If anyone couldn’t, it would be you.”
As though he meant it sincerely, Geom Muyang’s expression was serious.
“You think I can’t defy Father?”
Geom Muyang nodded.
“You’ve become too close to Father.”
Geom Mugeuk could not refute his brother’s words.
He let out a light sigh and held out his hand, and the wine bottle in Geom Muyang’s hand flew through the air into his own through Void Grasping.
As if his insides were burning, Geom Mugeuk drank deeply.
“Don’t you have anything to tell me, Brother?”
“No.”
“Tell me one secret method for your younger brother’s sake. Is there some weakness of Father’s only you know?”
“There are quite a few weaknesses of yours I could tell Father.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk laughed. Even if his brother had a way, there was no chance he would tell him something that went against their father.
“This is enough. The fact that you’re listening to me like this is already enough to turn the world upside down.”
When Geom Muyang held out his hand, the wine bottle flew back to him. This time, Geom Muyang drank.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t stop Father. If Father unifies the murim, we’ll gain the world.”
“True. Maybe I should pretend I can’t win and just not stop him. Should I inherit the world later?”
Perhaps because he believed Geom Mugeuk would never do that, Geom Muyang merely stared silently at the night view.
Not all of the nightscape seen from here was beautiful.
Far in the distance, the place where the lights of the original Maga Village should have been was dark as pitch.
Then Geom Muyang suddenly asked.
“I heard you asked about Mother?”
“Who told you? I asked so many people.”
“Father told me.”
“So Father is the only one who looks after our eldest son, after all.”
Geom Mugeuk could tell that his brother’s expression had stiffened slightly.
“Why does everyone get like that whenever Mother comes up?”
“Who else did you ask?”
“Master, and the Sword Venerable too. The Sword Venerable remembered Mother’s flower-patterned palace dress.”
Of course, Ilhwa Sword Venerable likely remembered far more than that, but she had said no more about his mother. After parting from her, he had come to meet his brother.
“If you were going to ask about Mother, why didn’t you come to me?”
Geom Mugeuk looked toward the distant Heavenly Demon Hall and said,
“Because I thought the mood would get serious if I talked to you. Look, judging by your face right now, it’s an emergency where we need to light the demon fire again.”
Even at Geom Mugeuk’s joke, Geom Muyang did not laugh.
“When we were little, you told me I must never talk about Mother. To me, that came down like a prohibition. I grew up truly thinking I wasn’t supposed to.”
Perhaps Geom Muyang remembered that incident; he said nothing and only looked out at the view.
“That doesn’t mean I intend to resent you.”
After all, not only he but his brother as well had been very young then.
“What good would it do to talk about someone already gone? It would only have hurt.”
Mother, your second son speaks so coldly, doesn’t he?
Even these cold words came far too late. As you saw, Mother, my life before regression was too difficult, and my life after regression has been consumed entirely with saving everyone. I am sorry, Mother.
“I have never spoken of Mother since that day either.”
It was the first time his brother had brought up their mother.
“I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but I once asked Father about Mother. That was when I saw it. Father’s face stiffened all at once and changed. Even as a child, I could tell. That was pain.”
Perhaps his brother, too, had thought from that moment that he must not bring up their mother. And he had told his younger brother that. Perhaps back then, he had still had the heart to care for his younger brother.
Geom Mugeuk tried to recall again in that moment, but no memories of his mother came to him.
“To be honest, I don’t remember Mother. She died when I was three, right? At three, you’d think I’d remember at least faintly, so how can I not remember a single thing? Did she never even hold me?”
At that moment, a sentence slipped abruptly from Geom Muyang.
“She liked you more.”
A single scene rose in Geom Muyang’s mind. Their mother holding his young brother. He himself had been beside her. Their mother had smiled brightly and said to him, Yang-ah, from now on, you must protect your brother well.
“You remember everything, don’t you, Brother?”
Geom Muyang said nothing.
“For me, since I can’t think of anything, it’s only a vague longing. But it’s not like that for you, is it?”
Geom Mugeuk thought his brother must miss their mother more than he did. If there was sorrow or a wound there, it would be far deeper.
“Are you all right, Brother?”
Given his brother’s personality, the part he had never spoken of to anyone was likely the matter of their mother. Surely he must have wanted, at least once, to pour out the story to someone.
A small sigh escaped Geom Muyang’s lips.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned once more toward the distant Heavenly Demon Hall.
“If you ever want to talk about Mother, come find me. I want to hear it.”
Then Geom Muyang said something he had not expected.
“When I became cult leader, I intended to investigate Mother’s death.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Geom Muyang in surprise. His brother was serious.
“I couldn’t believe she died of illness.”
His brother could not believe that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had failed to save their mother from sickness.
Geom Mugeuk could tell. His brother missed their mother so much that he needed to place responsibility on someone just to endure it.
For him to say this must also mean that he wanted Mugeuk, at least, to uncover the truth.
“Yes, there may have been another story behind Mother’s death. But I won’t concern myself with it.”
Geom Muyang looked at him with an angry face, but Geom Mugeuk had a firm reason for answering that way.
“Father surely did everything he could to save Mother. If he still couldn’t save her, then it must have been something that couldn’t be helped. Even if there was a conspiracy behind Mother’s death as you think, Father would already have completed his revenge. She was the only person Father ever loved.”
Another thin sigh escaped his brother’s mouth. His brother was desperately holding back the surge of emotion rising in his chest. Geom Mugeuk could feel that longing for their mother filled his brother’s heart.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward the night sky. Searching for his mother’s star, wherever it might be.
Mother, I’m all right, so please look after Brother first.
* * *
It was well past midnight when Geom Mugeuk came to find the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable.
She was inwardly surprised by the late visit.
“Welcome, Young Cult Leader.”
“Soul-Seizing, I apologize for coming so late.”
“Not at all. I was awake.”
“Let’s get some air together.”
Geom Mugeuk walked inside Seohwanjin with the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable. The ghost arts practitioners standing guard bowed respectfully to the two of them.
“Are your injuries all right?”
“Yes, they have already healed completely.”
Geom Mugeuk raised the wine bottle in his hand and said,
“Then you should be able to drink this. It is wine I received from the Drunken Demon. I brought it because I wanted to drink it with you, Soul-Seizing.”
“Thank you, Young Cult Leader.”
As they walked, Geom Mugeuk looked around and asked,
“Does it seem different from when I came before?”
The old Seohwanjin had been filled everywhere with traps and ghostly energy, and ghost fires capable of plunging people into heart demons had bloomed throughout.
But the surroundings he saw while strolling with her were an ordinary, beautiful garden.
“We pulled up the existing ghost flowers and redecorated it.”
It was not merely for the sake of making it look nice.
“Ghost arts practitioners handle souls and meet ghosts every day, so I thought at least the place where they live ought to be ordinary and beautiful.”
This was why young blood was needed. The old Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable would never have thought this way.
“Are you preparing for tomorrow’s fishing competition?”
“I have never fished in my life. I’m simply hoping I’ll be lucky enough to catch at least one.”
“Come out early tomorrow. I will teach you at least the basics.”
“Thank you, Young Cult Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk forced himself to hold back the urge to boast that his was a skill that had even defeated his father.
At the end of the beautiful path lined with Soul Lamps, there stood a large tree.
“It is a tree called the Soul-Spirit Tree. It is said that when one is here, the ghostly energy of ghost arts practitioners stabilizes, and their minds become clear.”
Geom Mugeuk looked up at the Soul-Spirit Tree. Simply seeing it gave him a mysterious feeling.
“I had no idea there was such a tree here.”
“They say ghost arts practitioners do not lie beneath this Soul-Spirit Tree.”
At those words, Geom Mugeuk looked at the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable with an expression that said this was his chance and asked,
“Soul-Seizing.”
“Yes, Young Cult Leader.”
“Whose side are you on?”
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable smiled as well. They had spoken about this issue once before. Now it was time to put an end to it beneath the Soul-Spirit Tree.
“I am on your side, Young Cult Leader.”
She meant it sincerely.
That was why, in the fight against the Dark Palace Lord, she had been glad, thinking they had won as the young cult leader’s first Demon Venerable.
“Then now the ones firmly on my side are Soma and you, Soul-Seizing.”
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable was even happier because the Extreme Evil Soma was on the young cult leader’s side.
Among the Eight Demon Venerables, she liked the Extreme Evil Soma the most. She liked the unique yet lonely feeling he gave off.
“At tomorrow’s fishing competition, I will announce it in front of Father as well. From now on, Father has only six Demon Venerables!”
It was a situation that would be awkward just to imagine.
“Yes, you may do so.”
“Before, when Father persuaded you, I sent you across to the other side. But now I will not send you away.”
“Now, even if you push me from behind, I will not go.”
The two looked at each other and laughed.
Only then did the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable truly feel that she had become Geom Mugeuk’s person. Someone needed her, and that someone was Geom Mugeuk. How could she not be pleased?
“To commemorate our moment, let us have a drink.”
“Yes, Young Cult Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk drank first, then handed it to the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable. The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable also drank the wine heartily.
“Over the past few days, I have met with the Demon Venerables and spoken with them about Father. I asked for advice on stopping Father’s unification of the murim.”
She wondered if he could possibly be about to ask her.
“Soul-Seizing, what must I do to stop Father?”
For a moment, the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable was flustered.
“I still lack experience, so I likely cannot say anything that would be of help.”
Geom Mugeuk shook his head.
“Even so, please tell me. If you, my first Demon Venerable, do not, then who will? I absolutely need your help, Soul-Seizing.”
It was a burdensome thing to hear, but it was far more gratifying than not being asked at all because she was young.
The Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable seemed to ponder for a moment as she looked up at the Soul Tree.
“The only thing I know is the Soul-Subduing Art.”
She spoke of what she had felt while learning the Soul-Subduing Art.
“When one first learns the Soul-Subduing Art, one begins by learning how to suppress a soul. In that process, the soul may scatter, or conversely, the practitioner may be overcome by the soul and go mad.”
Geom Mugeuk listened to her with a calm gaze.
“Once one becomes a master of the Soul-Subduing Art, one comes to understand what the soul desires. You gently soothe the soul and guide it down the path you want. Since every soul has its own story and nature, one’s skill in the Soul-Subduing Art is determined by how well one can soothe them.”
He had known that she was the type to curse well and provoke well, but she could also speak this calmly and eloquently.
“When one reaches the final realm of the Soul-Subduing Art, words are no longer needed, nor is soothing. If you stand before the soul with a strong will, the soul will naturally be drawn to that strong heart. Just as swordsmanship reaches Sword-Body Unity (劍身合一), the will of the one performing the Soul-Subduing Art and the soul that must be controlled become one.”
The Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable looked at Geom Mugeuk and said,
“Do not try to persuade the Sect Leader. Show him your will, Young Sect Leader.”
Her words struck deep into Geom Mugeuk’s heart. Yes, this was not a battle of persuasion. It was a battle between the world his father wished to show and the world he himself wished to live in—a battle between world and world.
Seeing Geom Mugeuk lost in thought, the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable grew needlessly embarrassed.
“I spoke out of turn when I know nothing.”
“Do not say that. Your words were of great help.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
As the night had grown late, Geom Mugeuk bade her farewell.
“Soul-Subduer, I’ll be expecting a big catch tomorrow!”
“To be honest, knowing that the Sect Leader will be joining us makes me nervous.”
Geom Mugeuk said with a smile,
“Do not worry. Fishing is just an excuse for everyone to gather. As for Father, he simply wants to spend a pleasant time with the Demon Venerables.”
* * *
At the same time, the lights were lit in Geom Ujin’s residence.
A suffocating tension hung over the place.
Geom Ujin was awake.
As though tending to the Heavenly Demon Sword before going out to the battlefield, Geom Ujin handled the thing in his hands with utmost care. His gaze upon it was colder and sharper than anything, like a martial artist dreaming of revenge.
Hwi, watching while concealed, knew that the Sect Leader had not been this tense even when he went out to face the Heavenly Killing Star.
Sssk, ssssk.
Long past the hour when he should have been asleep, Geom Ujin was carefully tending to a fishing rod.