* * *
Tammi Bang.
That was the name of the organization Jinhagun had recently been investigating. Contrary to its name, which suggested a desire for beauty, it was an utterly hideous organization.
The first time Jinhagun learned of them was while investigating a series of disappearances.
When women of the martial world began disappearing one after another, Jinhagun and the Demon-Slaying Unit began digging into the matter in earnest.
In the process, they discovered a name.
Tammi Bang.
It was a secret organization, not an official martial sect. They abducted women from across the martial world and sold them off—a human-trafficking ring.
They primarily abducted beautiful women, but their heinous crimes extended to young girls as well as adults.
After pursuing them, they managed to capture the men employed to abduct the women, but they were nothing more than underlings acting on orders from above.
They were an utterly compartmentalized organization. The men received only money and written orders, and did not know who was giving them their commands.
Once the low-level members were arrested, the bastards stopped abducting women. They intended to wait for the Demon-Slaying Unit’s investigation to end.
Jinhagun was furious and despairing.
The Demon-Slaying Unit had other matters to deal with besides them, and if things continued this way, they would eventually have to bury the case and move on to other business.
They would be unable to catch the bastards until they committed another crime. Moreover, they would move even more covertly, meaning countless more victims would have to appear before a clue emerged that would allow them to track the organization again.
*We should have caught them at the very beginning, no matter what.*
And yet Geom Mugeuk had brought up Tammi Bang.
Then, even more astonishing words flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“The master of Tammi Bang is in this room.”
“!”
Clack-clack-clack-clack.
Every member of the Demon-Slaying Unit raised their qi and pointed their swords in all directions, going on guard.
They had followed Jinhagun and experienced enough of Geom Mugeuk to know him well. Even when he said something absurd, they all knew he was not the sort of person to joke or play around about matters like this.
Jinhagun’s gaze turned toward the man hanging on the wall.
“Is it him?”
He naturally assumed it had to be that man, but Geom Mugeuk slowly shook his head.
*Not him?*
It could not be the master of the Chuga Sword School or his son.
Just as Jinhagun was wondering if it might be one of the fallen sword-school warriors—
*No.*
Jinhagun suddenly realized that Ian had beaten the second son, Chujung, mercilessly. She had even said there would be no chance to beat him later.
“Don’t tell me…”
At Jinhagun’s astonished words, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
Jinhagun’s gaze shifted toward Chujung, who stood behind them. At last, the answer to his earlier question—*What have you done?*—had emerged.
Jinhagun and all the members of the Demon-Slaying Unit were stunned. The son of a prestigious family was the master of Tammi Bang?
Naturally, the person most shocked was his father, Chuyeom.
“You lunatic!”
Just as Chuyeom reflexively drew his sword and tried to step forward—
Click.
The sword, half-drawn, slid back into its sheath.
Someone was pressing down on the end of the sword hilt with one finger.
It was Ian. In the instant she flashed forward, she had closed the distance and was now standing right beside Chuyeom, gazing at him as she calmly spoke.
“I understand how you feel, but you are not in a position to point your sword at anyone.”
Chuyeom realized that this young woman was far more skilled than he was. He had been agitated, certainly, but even so, there was no way he should have allowed her to approach this close so easily. Furthermore, despite her pressing down on the hilt with one finger, he had been unable to draw his sword.
“Who are you people?”
At Chuyeom’s trembling question, Ian took a small step back and replied,
“Who we are isn’t important. What matters right now is who your son is.”
She was completely different from the woman who had been tearing into a chicken leg moments earlier.
Jinhagun could tell. The woman she was now was different from the woman he had seen the last time.
*She’s become much stronger.*
Moreover, while traveling, she had continued discussing martial arts with Geom Mugeuk whenever they had the time, and her cultivation realm was still rising.
Jinhagun gave a signal with his eyes, and two members of the Demon-Slaying Unit rushed in from either side and sealed Chuyeom’s acupoints.
“What are you doing?”
He shouted belatedly, but his acupoints had already been sealed. It was for his own sake. If he flew into a frenzy because of his son, he would only be the one to suffer in the end.
Jinhagun calmly spoke to him.
“Please remain calm. I will uncover the truth of this incident.”
Chuyeom flinched, then looked at him suspiciously.
“Don’t tell me… Is the Martial Alliance plotting to destroy our school?”
It was an understandable misunderstanding. An unidentified pair of male and female experts had abducted his son, while the commander of the Demon-Slaying Unit, who had come to rescue him, appeared to know the culprits.
Understanding this, Jinhagun did not become agitated despite the rude accusation.
“If the school master has committed crimes heinous enough to warrant his disappearance at the hands of the Demon-Slaying Unit, then ultimately, your words will be correct. But if that is not the case, then watch a little longer.”
Chuyeom said nothing more. His words just now had clearly been a slip of the tongue. He had insulted the Alliance, the Demon-Slaying Unit, and even the Vice Alliance Leader.
Jinhagun looked toward Geom Mugeuk once more.
*School Master Chu, how could you know? Whenever that friend before you does something like this, all preparations have already been completed.*
“Do you have evidence that Young Master Chu is the master of Tammi Bang?”
“Of course.”
“Then do you also know where the women he sold are now?”
In truth, this was the most important question to Jinhagun. Rescuing the women was their highest priority.
He assumed that Geom Mugeuk would certainly have discovered the answer.
“Not a single one of them was sold.”
“Not a single one?”
In response to Jinhagun’s bewilderment, Geom Mugeuk revealed a shocking fact.
“Tammi Bang never existed in the first place.”
“!”
One astonishing statement after another continued to emerge.
“Tammi Bang is a fictitious organization created to throw you into confusion.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward Chujung.
“When you began investigating the disappearances and closing in on him, he created the fictitious organization known as Tammi Bang. He paid several men and made use of them as though they were members of a compartmentalized organization. He had them actually abduct the women, then allowed you to capture them.”
“Why would he do that?”
“As long as you believed that the perpetrators were a human-trafficking ring, you would never catch him.”
It made sense. No one could have imagined that the heir of a prestigious orthodox sect—especially a young successor known for being kind and intelligent—would be operating such an organization.
But there was still one part Jinhagun could not understand.
“Even without creating such an organization, you would never have suspected that Chujung was capable of such things.”
As though it were a fitting question, Chuyeom also nodded and waited for the answer.
The next answer was just as astonishing.
“He didn’t create it to protect himself. He created it to protect his master.”
At the word *master*, Chuyeom shouted,
“It’s becoming clear that this is all nonsense. I am Jung’s master.”
Jinhagun, however, realized who Geom Mugeuk was referring to.
His gaze naturally shifted toward the man hanging on the wall.
“That man is his master.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded and extended a hand forward.
Whoosh.
When Geom Mugeuk used his art of seizing objects from the air, the man who had been hanging his head raised it of his own accord. He was still asleep, but he no longer had the handsome face of the middle-aged man they had encountered at the inn.
He had become a much older elderly man. He had revealed his true appearance.
At that moment, Jeong Gyeong of the Demon-Slaying Unit recognized who the old man was.
“It’s the Lustful Demon.”
Everyone was shocked by his identity.
He was a notorious lecher. He had been declared a public enemy of the martial world for assaulting countless women. He was infamous for murdering women after draining away their vital essence.
The Martial Alliance had pursued him relentlessly, and last year had even driven him into a corner by laying a net inescapable as heaven and earth. Yet they had ultimately failed to capture him.
And now the Lustful Demon had been caught here.
The Lustful Demon had approached Geom Mugeuk and Ian at the inn by buying them alcohol and food.
Earlier, when they saw him walking toward them, Geom Mugeuk had asked Ian with his eyes whether she recognized him. Ian had nodded to indicate that she did.
He had actually been asking whether she had recognized the Face-Retaining Art the man used to make himself look younger.
Geom Mugeuk had reached a level where he could recognize practitioners of the Face-Retaining Art at a glance, and he had taught Ian how to identify its unique aura and characteristics as well.
Jeong Gyeong of the Demon-Slaying Unit belatedly recalled something and spoke.
“Come to think of it, the place where the Martial Alliance lost him was near here.”
Jinhagun’s expression darkened. If the Lustful Demon had been involved in this incident…
“Then all the abducted women must be dead.”
The Lustful Demon Jinhagun knew never left his victims alive.
Just as he had expected, that was indeed the case. Geom Mugeuk sighed and said,
“They all died after having their vital essence drained.”
Jinhagun and all the members of the Demon-Slaying Unit let out groans. They had wanted to rescue the women who had been sold away. Naturally, their gazes grew fierce.
Now, the last thing Jinhagun wanted to know was this:
“How did you capture that man?”
“I didn’t capture him. He came looking for me of his own accord.”
Jinhagun could tell that the Lustful Demon had been drawn to Ian’s beauty and had attempted to commit lewd acts before being captured. He had chosen the wrong target in spectacular fashion. The two of them were natural disasters to lechers like him.
“We caught him when he tried to drug us, and discovered that he was the Lustful Demon. Truthfully, until then, I had no intention of handing him over to you, despite how busy you are. I was going to punish him and kill him. Then the bastard said this: if we would please end his suffering, he would tell us who the master of Tammi Bang—the organization causing such a commotion in the martial world these days—was.”
Only now could Jinhagun understand the entire truth of the incident.
“You can hear the rest directly from him.”
Geom Mugeuk sent a bolt of finger qi and woke the man, whose acupuncture point had been sealed to keep him asleep.
Upon awakening, he blinked and looked at the people standing before him.
Even when faced with Jinhagun and the assembled members of the Demon-Slaying Unit, he showed no fear. Instead, a sneer instinctively rose at the corners of his mouth.
Jinhagun asked him,
“Did you threaten Chujung and take him as your disciple?”
The Lustful Demon sneered.
“What nonsense are you spouting now?”
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk spoke from beside him.
“Answer properly.”
The Lustful Demon absentmindedly turned his head and met Geom Mugeuk’s eyes.
After blinking for a moment, he was suddenly terrified.
“Urrrgh!”
The composure in his eyes vanished, replaced by fear. Only then did he remember what had happened before he fell asleep.
“Shh.”
When Geom Mugeuk told him to be quiet, the Lustful Demon clamped his mouth shut like a clam.
“He is the Vice Alliance Leader of the Martial Alliance. Answer respectfully.”
At the words *Vice Alliance Leader*, the Lustful Demon’s eyes widened, but the person he continued to fear was Geom Mugeuk.
“I understand.”
It was the first time anyone had ever seen the Lustful Demon being so obedient.
“I’ll tell you everything honestly, so make sure you keep your promise.”
The Lustful Demon reminded him of their agreement once more, and Geom Mugeuk readily nodded.
“What did you ask me just now?”
“I asked if you threatened Chujung and took him as your disciple.”
The Lustful Demon’s gaze turned toward Chujung.
“That child rescued me when I was dying from severe injuries within the net inescapable as heaven and earth.”
The next part of his testimony was even more shocking.
“Even after learning who I was, he wanted to become my disciple.”
Everyone there was stunned by the revelation that Chujung had not been forced to become his disciple. In fact, the opposite was true.
“The moment I saw that child, I knew. He was born with a lustful heart and a vicious heart stronger than anyone’s. He had not a trace of mercy in him. He was a child who would one day surpass me. What a pity.”
Of course, Chujung vehemently denied it.
“That’s a lie. He’s slandering me to frame me.”
The Lustful Demon sighed as he looked at him.
“It’s all over, disciple. We… picked the wrong targets.”
At the Lustful Demon’s lament, Chuyeom shouted furiously,
“Shut your mouth! What sort of filthy nonsense is a lecher like you spouting? Vice Alliance Leader, surely you don’t believe the words of that lowlife lecher? Everything is merely his testimony, is it not? There is no evidence. You cannot brand our son a criminal based on this.”
At that moment, the Lustful Demon spoke to Chuyeom with a cold gaze.
“The energy of the lust technique he learned from me is flowing through your son’s body. You can tell immediately by checking his internal energy. He has already drained the essence from nine women.”
At the mention of nine, Chuyeom was stunned.
“You could have forcibly infused it into him!”
Leaving aside the fact that it was absurd, what Jin Ha-gun wanted to know was this:
“Then why didn’t your son say that first? That the man hanging there on the wall had forcibly made him his disciple.”
Chu Yeom flinched. It was true. If he were innocent, the first thing he would have said was that he had been forcibly made a disciple and that the man had forcibly infused his body with energy.
“He must have been too flustered to think of it.”
Geom Muguk drove the nail home.
“Since Tammi Bang was run as a cell-based organization, there must be evidence recording its activities. If we search that man’s residence, there should be a secret safe, and evidence related to the organization will be there. We can determine the truth by comparing the handwriting.”
“They must have planted forged evidence there, too!”
As Chu Yeom desperately tried to protect his son, Jin Ha-gun asked him,
“Master Chu, will you be able to handle your son from now on?”
“!”
Silence descended upon the place.
Chu Yeom slowly turned toward his son.
“I will never let you be falsely accused⋯⋯.”
At that moment, Chu Yeom could not continue.
His son was not looking at him. His furious gaze was fixed on the Lewd Fiend, and it was different from the anger of a man who had been falsely accused.
As though he had decided there was no longer any point in hiding it, Chu Jung revealed his true nature.
“You fucking idiot! I told you not to make a move for the time being! You couldn’t even endure a few measly days, and you ruined everything!”
Chu Yeom was startled by the icy gaze and tone. The sight was so unfamiliar that he could hardly believe this was his son.
The Lewd Fiend burst into loud laughter.
“Disciple, even if I was going to die, how could I simply stand by and watch such a beauty?”
The Lewd Fiend spoke to Geom Muguk as though he had finished everything he had set out to do.
“You must keep your promise.”
Geom Muguk waved his hand, and the Lewd Fiend’s pressure points were subdued once more, putting him to sleep.
“What promise did you make to him?”
Surely Geom Muguk could not have promised to set such a villain free.
“I promised not to drag him back to the Main Church. I frightened him a little while punishing him. I told him I would drag him to the Main Church, continue treating him so that he would remain alive, and make him suffer this pain for the rest of his life.”
At times like this, Jin Ha-gun felt something beyond anger—a sense of his own limits. Whenever he saw a villain who scorned justice and chivalry, yet could not withstand the fear inflicted by an even greater evil, flames surged up in his chest.
“I tried to at least find out where the women’s bodies were buried, but apparently only that man knows the location.”
Jin Ha-gun walked over and stared fixedly at Chu Jung.
“Where did you bury the bodies of the women you killed?”
Chu Jung’s eyes were empty, with only a single point of malice embedded within them.
The moment Jin Ha-gun saw the strange smile forming at the corners of Chu Jung’s mouth, he knew. The man would never reveal where the bodies were buried.
No matter how much they interrogated him—even if they tortured him—they would never get the answer they wanted. Instead, he would enjoy one final amusement by refusing to reveal it. He was someone born this way.
Geom Muguk, standing behind him, seemed to feel the same.
“Send him to us.”
Jin Ha-gun turned around and looked at Geom Muguk.
Just as Chu Jung had revealed his true nature, in this moment Geom Muguk, too, was revealing exactly who he was.
“It’s because none of you have been dragged into the underground of the Main Church yet.”