Blood Shadow Gate Lord Geobaek immediately realized that the young man who had appeared was no ordinary person.
He could tell simply from the internal energy carried in his voice.
In the silence that hung over the place, Taesu's trembling voice emerged.
“Young Cult Leader?”
Taesu was truly astonished. He had never dreamed he would see Geom Mugeuk here.
“Is it truly the Young Cult Leader?”
Everyone was shocked by the words “Young Cult Leader.” Earlier, he had said he was a direct subordinate of the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader, yet now he addressed him as Young Cult Leader? The crowd of heroes murmured with surprised faces.
Geom Mugeuk greeted Taesu warmly.
“Taesu, have you been well?”
At those words, Taesu’s heart swelled. Tears that had retreated from shock now threatened to pour forth once more.
“No, I have not been well. As you can see, I have not been well. I’m sorry, truly sorry.”
Even after hearing the words “Young Cult Leader,” Geobaek did not believe it.
“Who is this young hero?”
“How can a parent fail to recognize their own child?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s jest, Geobaek’s expression stiffened. It was the most unpleasant and unnerving joke in the world.
For some reason, Geom Mugeuk readily revealed his identity before all these people.
“I am Geom Mugeuk, the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
A silence born of shock and astonishment hung over the place.
Geobaek surveyed Geom Mugeuk’s surroundings. There was no one who appeared to be a guard. The people around were also looking at him with surprised faces.
Geobaek reached one conclusion.
“These swindlers have put their heads together.”
He believed it was a scheme cooked up by the son to save his father. They were impersonating the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader to escape this situation.
“Did you think if you put on airs as the Young Cult Leader here, I would gasp, say ‘Oh my, Young Cult Leader,’ and let them go?”
There was a decisive reason Geobaek did not believe his opponent was the Young Cult Leader.
“Would the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader wander around alone like this?”
He must have found some young expert from somewhere to impersonate the Young Cult Leader and rescue his father.
As the crowd of heroes murmured in agreement with Geobaek’s words, Geom Mugeuk raised a question.
“If I were planning a fraud of this level, wouldn’t I have brought subordinates as well?”
It made sense when one thought about it, but how could he believe the opponent was the Young Cult Leader?
“He must not have had time to find anyone daring enough to do such a thing.”
Many of the watching heroes felt frustrated. They truly wished the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader would come and save that father and son.
But even to them, it didn’t seem likely the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader would come to rescue a father-and-son pair of thieves. Nor would he travel alone like that. If the Young Cult Leader was making an appearance, wouldn’t he bring at least as many people as were gathered here?
Geom Mugeuk slowly moved his feet and ascended the platform.
The Blood Shadow Gate martial artists on the platform stepped forward, trying to draw their swords.
“If you draw those swords, there will be no turning back. Have your subordinates stand down.”
Geobaek misunderstood that kind warning in the opposite way.
‘He is definitely a fake.’
If he were the real Young Cult Leader, he would have displayed his strength.
That was why Geobaek had his subordinates step back.
“It is fine. Step back.”
Geom Mugeuk, having ascended the platform, walked toward Taesu and his father without paying them any mind. They were kneeling together.
Geom Mugeuk raised the two of them up.
“Has my direct subordinate here done any wrong to you?”
Geobaek was dumbfounded.
“You insist on playing the Young Cult Leader to the end?”
Fine, I’ll play along with that tune. But you won’t leave here alive today either.
This stage was his stage anyway. No matter how great an expert his opponent was, he couldn’t withstand their combined assault.
“You have the misfortune of having been born to the wrong parents.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned to Taegon beside him. Taegon was looking at Geom Mugeuk with a surprised face. The moment he saw Geom Mugeuk’s clear and deep gaze up close—
‘He is no ordinary person.’
And he saw his son’s face looking at Geom Mugeuk from the side. He could tell from those eyes and expression full of respect and awe.
‘He really is the Young Cult Leader.’
His son was not someone who could make such an expression through acting.
‘Taesu truly became a direct subordinate of the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader?’
What on earth had happened? Even so, how had the Young Cult Leader come personally to rescue them?
Everything was confusing, but one thing was certain: there was goodwill in the Young Cult Leader’s gaze as he looked at him.
He thought it was because of Taesu, but Geom Mugeuk’s goodwill was actually because of him.
It has been a while, my friend.
In his previous life before regression, Geom Mugeuk had owed Taegon a debt. Back then, he had been running forward blindly, so he couldn’t fully repay that kindness. And fate had brought him before him once again.
“Have you been born to the wrong parents?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Taesu conveyed the feelings he hadn’t been able to express to his father.
“No. The greatest fortune in my life was meeting my father.”
At those words, emotion flashed across Taegon’s face. It was the first time he had heard such words from his son. They were words he would never forget for the rest of his life.
“Not meeting me?”
The nervous Taesu failed to realize Geom Mugeuk was joking and answered earnestly.
“No, Young Cult Leader, you are second.”
“I will let it slide because he is your father.”
Geom Mugeuk turned back toward Geobaek. Geobaek had been listening to their conversation with a scornful face.
“My subordinate does not seem to have been born to the wrong parents.”
“He was raised by parents who taught him thievery, so it doesn’t seem he was born to good ones either.”
“If I too have children, I will teach them to punish bad guys.”
In that instant, the corners of Geobaek’s eyes twitched. Before he could explode in anger, Geom Mugeuk rebuked him first.
“When you tried to kill my subordinate earlier, didn’t you say that? That watching your child die would be the most painful thing.”
Geom Mugeuk shook his head and spoke coldly.
“Even for the Demonic Path, this is excessive.”
Among those watching, everyone who had children empathized with those words.
Now Geobaek’s eyes were filled with killing intent. The more he looked, the more this brat dared to judge and scold him?
“Bring that bastard to his knees before me right now.”
The Blood Shadow Gate martial artists on the platform all drew their swords at once.
At that sight, the heroes felt regret. Even the youth who spoke rightly would die.
Then someone spoke again from among the heroes. This time, it was a woman’s voice, incomparably clear and beautiful.
“How dare you draw your swords on the Young Cult Leader!”
The moment the words ended, a woman from among the heroes soared through the air toward the platform.
“Protect the Gate Lord!”
The experts on the platform all drew their swords and rushed at the woman.
In a flash!
More than ten blade flashes gleamed.
The Blood Shadow Gate martial artists rushing from all directions stopped in their places, unmoving.
The watching heroes finally saw the woman standing among them, frozen like dolls.
Ian stood among them with her sword lowered.
She had unleashed sword qi to suppress their acupoints. Even the slightest misjudgment in force would cause flesh to be pierced by sword qi, so suppressing vital points with sword qi was a far more difficult realm than suppressing them with hands or finger wind.
Geobaek looked at Ian with a surprised face. The move she had just displayed was a realm that even he, the Gate Lord, could not imitate. If this was not a dream or an illusion—
‘…A Martial God!’
The watching heroes burst into cheers. They were amazed by her skill and admired her beauty.
Ian’s sword pointed at Geobaek’s throat. Geobaek had never offered his neck so helplessly before. She had suppressed his acupoints while subduing his subordinates.
Then Geom Mugeuk spoke with a smile.
“If I am not the Young Cult Leader, that would be an even bigger problem, wouldn’t it? According to your words, the experts of the Blood Shadow Gate were taken down by mere swindlers?”
Through this woman’s skill, Geobaek could understand.
“You truly are the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”
She was not someone a mere thief could bring along to commit fraud.
“May I take my subordinate with me?”
Under normal circumstances, he would have had to let them go. But Geobaek could not back down like this in front of so many people.
“You may take the subordinate, but you cannot take his father. He is a man who entered to steal our gate’s treasure. I cannot simply release him.”
He had something he believed in. They couldn’t kill him recklessly because he belonged to the Four Paths Alliance. If that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t have merely suppressed his subordinates’ acupoints—they would have already killed them.
“Surely the Young Cult Leader of the Divine Cult isn’t trying to violate the laws of the martial world?”
“Do you wish to sort out right and wrong clearly?”
“Only then will all these people remember the Divine Cult’s Young Cult Leader as one who knows the ways of the martial world, will they not?”
Geobaek felt pleased inside. Today’s events would spread throughout the Central Plains, and there would be no one who didn’t know the story of the Blood Shadow Gate Lord who faced the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader with dignity.
“Don’t forget that our gate belongs to the Four Paths Alliance.”
“Ah, I was actually just about to contact the Four Paths Alliance.”
Geom Mugeuk gave Ian an order.
“Send word to the Four Paths Alliance right now.”
Just as Geobaek wondered what kind of word—
“Relay that the Blood Shadow Gate Lord has committed a grave sin against our cult and is being punished.”
Geobaek was startled.
“What nonsense is this? I committed a grave sin?”
Geom Mugeuk looked at him with cold eyes.
“The sin of impersonating the Supreme Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!”
“!”
Even more shocking words followed.
“I shall execute you for the crime of impersonating the Heavenly Demon!”
Geobaek was shocked out of his wits at the words saying he would be killed.
“Was that not said in jest?”
“A jest? You dare make the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult into a subject of jest?”
Geobaek couldn’t argue back. If his opponent pushed like this, even the Four Paths Alliance wouldn’t be able to do anything. They might not care about other matters, but this involved the Heavenly Demon.
‘Damn it!’
Then Ian revealed her killing intent. It seemed she would kill him the moment the order fell.
Geobaek trembled in fear. He had never imagined he would die like this.
Then Geom Mugeuk’s voice transmission flew in.
—Do you want to live?
Geobaek didn’t dare act on his temper. He felt that if he pushed back here, they would really kill him.
Geobaek realized before he knew it that his acupoints had been released and he could use voice transmission. They were truly handling his body like a baby’s without the slightest hint of movement.
—I want to live.
—Sell the item that thief tried to steal this time and help people. There are many in this region who lost their homes to floods, so helping them should suffice.
From the moment he stepped forward, Geom Mugeuk had no intention of killing him. If Geobaek had committed excessively evil deeds, the Four Paths Alliance should punish him. That was courtesy toward Bisain.
Geom Mugeuk had Ian withdraw her sword.
“It was a joke. How could I kill someone of such renown in the Four Paths Alliance?”
Geobaek forced a smile as well.
“I was also joking. Since it is a request from none other than the Young Cult Leader, I should naturally comply. Please take them both.”
“Thank you.”
The two laughed together as if they had merely been exchanging jokes.
Geobaek spoke to the crowd of heroes.
“Since we have had such a precious meeting, I shall offer up the item the great thief tried to steal to help the victims who suffered flood damage this time.”
How could those watching not know? That Geobaek was performing a good deed because of the Young Cult Leader.
When one person clapped, everyone cheered as if taking it as a signal. It appeared they were cheering Geobaek’s act of charity, but most of the cheers were for the fact that he had submitted to the Young Cult Leader. It was a display showing just how excessive the Blood Shadow Gate’s usual evil deeds had been.
Geom Mugeuk bid him farewell.
“Well then, let us meet again.”
“Farewell.”
Without looking back, they knew what kind of gaze Geobaek was watching them with. Having survived this crisis, he would still commit evil deeds. He might even dream of revenge against Taegon and his son.
But he didn’t know. The flood that had befallen him hadn’t even begun.
This matter would naturally reach Bisain’s ears, and Bisain would not let this matter that he had involved himself in pass by. If investigation revealed that they had committed excessively evil deeds, Bisain would not let it go.
This, too, was the reason he had intervened by revealing his true identity rather than resorting to the sword.
* * *
Geom Mugeuk and Ian came to a nearby forest with Taesu and Taegon.
“Thank you, truly thank you.”
The two expressed their gratitude to Geom Mugeuk several times.
After offering his thanks, Taegon swept his son into his arms. He held him like that for a long while without a word.
At last, Taegon spoke honestly to Geom Mugeuk.
“Everyone calls me a righteous thief, a great thief, but the truth is, I don’t deserve such words. I kept a portion of what I stole for my son. I stored it in the money houses of the Central Plains under his name.”
Taesu was startled. He had known it too—that his father did not give everything he stole from villains to help the poor. That was why he had said those hurtful words to his father.
But he had not known that his father had left that money for him.
“You need not make excuses to me. Each person has his own life.”
Taegon lowered his head.
Geom Mugeuk asked Taesu,
“Will you become my subordinate?”
As if his mind was already made up, Taesu shook his head.
“Today was the first and last time I served as your subordinate, Young Cult Leader.”
He meant that he would not throw himself into the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I want to live with my father.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled and wished him well in life.
“If you live remembering the moment you risked your life for your father, you’ll do well from now on.”
“Why are you being so good to me?”
No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand why the Young Cult Leader had come to save him.
Then Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.
“I didn’t save your father for your sake.”
“What?”
Geom Mugeuk had learned what was happening here because he had been keeping watch on Taegon through Tongcheongak.
Geom Mugeuk said something to Taegon that he could not understand.
“Long ago, I owed you a debt. With this, I will consider the debt I owed you fully repaid.”
Naturally, Taegon did not remember. When on earth could the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult have owed him a debt?
But Geom Mugeuk did not tell him the details.
“My direct subordinate, live well!”
Leaving those words behind, Geom Mugeuk and Ian launched themselves away and vanished from that place.
Taegon, too, had made up his mind.
“I intend to stop stealing from now on.”
Taesu looked at his father in surprise.
“What you said before was right. Leaving money for you was ultimately no different from leaving it for myself. I justified my thievery.”
That was why his son’s words must have hurt all the more.
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“Let’s steal properly from now on.”
“What?”
His father and he had spent their whole lives learning to steal. What happiness would there be in living some other life?
“Let’s become true great thieves now. Great thieves who don’t regret it and aren’t ashamed. I think what happened today was heaven’s will, telling us to live that way.”
Taegon did not agonize for long. Yes, this was the path they should have walked from the beginning.
Taegon patted his son on the shoulder and nodded.
The two of them smiled together as they looked toward the place where Geom Mugeuk and Ian had disappeared. They were already gone, but Taesu shouted belatedly. He had forgotten one person—the friend with such a good nose.
“Please be sure to tell Jihan this!”
That the next time he met him, he would smell good.