Chapter 119

The entire auction hall stirred because of me.
It was only natural.
The seventh Little Demon who had been drawing all kinds of rumors lately had suddenly shown up, after all.

“…Does White Ghost Mask have something to say?”

Despite the sudden situation, the First Chief Steward responded expertly.
Without answering, I merely nodded and addressed the masked crowd.

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t know this face?”

I slowly swept my gaze over them.
I couldn’t see their expressions, but since no one stepped forward, it seemed they all knew.
“No one, then. That makes this easier. I’m Baek Su-gyeong, the Heavenly Demon’s seventh disciple.”

The eyes visible behind the masks wavered.
They probably had no idea what exactly I was trying to do right now.

“Um, Seventh Young Lord.”

The First Chief Steward approached me.
Im Yeon, who had come up onto the auction stage with me, stepped in front of him.
Blocked from moving forward, the First Chief Steward craned his head to the side and said,

“I don’t know what you intend to say, but the Golden Resonance Vault has rules of its own.”
“Rules?”

I snorted.

“That only means something when I came here of my own accord. Go complain to your superior. He’s the very culprit behind this.”

The First Chief Steward blinked.
Leaving him to Im Yeon, I turned my gaze back to the masked bidders.

“You.”

I pointed at one of them without warning.

“You, you, and you too.”

Every time my finger pointed somewhere, the masked bidders flinched.
Including Lord Yong and Gal So-ye, I indicated a total of eight people. All of them were people who had bid on the Defeated-Spirit Paste.

“Let me ask you something. Did you all know that raising soulless puppets is forbidden in our cult?”

Silence spread through the auction hall.

“And do you know why it was forbidden?”
“W-Well, that is…”
“The previous Cult Leader eradicated it. So that filthy, stinking things like soulless puppets would never gain a foothold in the great Divine Cult.”
“…….”
“And what is Defeated-Spirit Paste? It’s an essential elixir for raising soulless puppets. You didn’t bid without knowing that, did you?”

The masked bidders I had pointed out looked flustered.
It seemed they sensed that the direction of the conversation was anything but ordinary.
One of them hurriedly offered an excuse.

“It was only because it was a rare item, so I-I merely wanted to collect it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You buy an elixir worth several hundred taels and then just store it away? Who would believe that?”

The richer people were, the more they hated letting money rot.
It wasn’t something like a painting or calligraphy you could keep and admire for years, nor was it an elixir whose value rose with time. There was no way they would just leave it alone.
I spoke slowly and clearly.

“There’s only one reason you bid. That you harbor treasonous intent.”
“T-Treasonous intent?”
“W-What do you mean by that?”

The flustered masked bidders stammered.

“You tried to go against the dying will the previous Cult Leader left behind while coughing up blood! If that isn’t treasonous intent, then what is?”
“C-Coughing blood…? A-Anyway, I had not the slightest such intention!”
“Indeed. Seventh Young Lord seems to have misunderstood something-”

“Calm yourselves.”

At that moment, a split, rasping voice rang through the auction hall.

“Seventh Young Lord does not know our identities.”

The agitated masked bidders quickly regained their composure.
They had probably realized that no one could identify them while they wore masks.
The owner of the voice, Lord Yong, rose from his seat.

An imposing Azure Dragon mask.
A cold gaze showing beyond it.
An aura that called to mind the drifting chill right before a snowstorm.
At a glance, he was no ordinary man.
That was why he dared to funnel the items he won to the Heaven Rebelling Society.
He spoke.

“Then let me ask Seventh Young Lord as well. What exactly is the problem with wanting to win the bid on the Defeated-Spirit Paste?”
“Have you already forgotten that raising soulless puppets is forbidden in our cult?”
“Are you saying the Defeated-Spirit Paste can only be used for raising soulless puppets?”

For an instant, Ak Mu-jin’s face came to mind.
A body that gave off the stench of a rotting corpse because of the side effects of the Corpse-Body Reinforcement Art.
He was the only exception.

‘I have to get the Defeated-Spirit Paste no matter what.’

If I missed this chance, he might remain shut away in the mountains for a very long time.
There was no guarantee I could get it again.
I looked at Lord Yong and nodded.

“That’s right. That is its only use.”
“Then you too are a traitor. Didn’t Seventh Young Lord also take part in the bidding!”

Lord Yong let out a sneer.
The masked bidders let out exclamations one after another.

“That’s right!”
“There’s not a single flaw in that reasoning!”

The mood turned in an instant.
Even the horse-mask man, who had been chatting with me so familiarly before the auction began, was nodding along.

‘You all sure are enjoying this.’

I smiled inwardly.
Among all the masked bidders, the one who wanted the Defeated-Spirit Paste most was Lord Yong himself.
I had expected him to react the most aggressively.

“That’s right. I bid too. But there’s a crucial difference.”
“A difference?”
“I bid in order to stop the Defeated-Spirit Paste from falling into the hands of a real traitor.”

The auction hall began to buzz.

“A real traitor?”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Orthodox martial arts, hidden weapons, antidotes, armor materials, elixirs for raising soulless puppets. What do you think all those are?”

I paused briefly, then continued.

“As you all saw, these are some of the items one person won today. What does that make you think?”
“That would be me, but what of it?”

Lord Yong asked coldly.

“They are all used in combat. No, it would be more accurate to call it warfare.”
“……!”

The masked bidders’ gazes all turned toward Lord Yong at once.

“What would one individual do by gathering all those things? Train his allies with martial arts manuals, arm them with hidden weapons, raise their survival rate with antidotes, reduce losses with armor, and increase their combat power with soulless puppets. Because ten properly made soulless puppets are enough to deal with even an expert at the beginning of the Transcendent Peak Realm.”

I swept my gaze over the masked bidders.

“In simple terms, this means someone is carrying out a systematic and meticulous plan. Namely, to overthrow our cult with-”

[Please do not mention the Heaven Rebelling Society by name. We don’t want to startle the snake in the grass.]

I stopped speaking.

“With?”
“With what? Why did he stop in the middle?”
“…It means he’s in league with some cockroach-like outside force! The reason I deliberately entered the auction and revealed my identity is because I obtained that intelligence.”

Confusion spread among the masked bidders.

“Intelligence? What in the world is going on here?”
“It’s hard to believe Lord Yong is working with an outside force.”
“And what outside force are you even talking about?”

Lord Yong snorted.

“In all my life, this is the first time I’ve seen something this absurd. Can Seventh Young Lord take responsibility for what he’s saying?”
“Of course.”
“Then present your evidence.”

Right, there was no way he would admit it so easily.
But I had no intention of meeting his demand.
More precisely, I had no firm physical proof.
If we’d had something like that, Gal So-ye would have already dealt with him.
Smiling, I answered.

“Evidence? There’s more than one or two pieces, but rather than something so stiff, I’ll let everyone here judge for themselves. Does anyone here know who Lord Yong is?”

The auction hall buzzed once again.

“…….”

No one stepped forward.

“No one. Isn’t that strange? Lord Yong is someone who has poured tens of thousands of taels into auctions by now. If he were really that rich, his identity should have been figured out long ago. At the very least, there should be rumors saying he seems to be so-and-so from such-and-such a place. But nobody knows? That makes no sense.”

Some of the masked bidders nodded at my words.

“Hmm. Certainly, I’ve been coming to the Golden Resonance Vault for a long time, but I don’t know Lord Yong’s identity.”
“The same goes for me.”

On the other hand, there were also people who objected.

“But that alone isn’t enough to brand Lord Yong a traitor.”
“Surely clear evidence is needed.”

It was almost split fifty-fifty.
I furrowed my brow.
I’d expected about eighty percent of them to be angry over treachery against the cult, and it was only fifty?
Did these people not even have any love for the cult?

‘Not that I do either.’

I fell into thought for a moment.
These people followed the logic of money. If so, rather than appealing to their love of the cult, I needed to directly provoke that very logic.

[It would be better to appeal to profit.]

As expected of Gal So-ye.
She’d arrived at the exact same thought.

‘I’ll show them what incitement really is.’

“Lord Yong’s problem has been building up for a long time already. Do you know how many items he has won over the past dozens of auctions?”

The horse-mask man muttered.

“About seventy percent, I’d say.”
“That’s right. Exactly seventy percent.”

I immediately took his words and continued.

“How many things have all of you lost because of Lord Yong? Aren’t there still items that come to mind every now and then, whether you’re awake or asleep?”
“Huh. There’s more than just one or two.”
“Almost everything I was after got snatched away. It wasn’t just once or twice that I wondered what I even came to the Golden Resonance Vault for.”

The masked bidders began nodding one by one.
I spoke with emphasis.

“Even if Lord Yong is not an outside spy and truly is just someone with a great deal of money, it’s the same. If he keeps monopolizing things like this, who is going to compensate you for all the anger and grief you’ve built up, for all the tears and pain you’ve swallowed down?”
“That’s right!”
“Lord Yong really has gone too far!”

The auction hall began to heat up.
Lord Yong opened his mouth to rebut me, but I didn’t stop.
Instead, I raised my voice and drowned him out.

“We must not hand the Defeated-Spirit Paste over to Lord Yong. We have to prevent both danger to our cult and the miserable situation all of you have suffered through!”
“How laughable!”

Lord Yong’s voice thundered through the auction hall.

“This is an auction house. In an auction house, should not everything be decided by money? There will be plenty of time later to argue over what my identity is.”

A chillingly composed attitude.
Judging by how utterly flat his tone remained, he truly had not lost his composure in the slightest.
That made him even more threatening than if he’d been shouting and raging.

‘Hm?’

At that moment, the First Chief Steward’s expression turned grave. He was bowing his waist reflexively.
It seemed he was receiving instructions from Gu Cheong-won by voice transmission.
A moment later, the First Chief Steward shouted,

“My master has said that Lord Yong’s view aligns with the Golden Resonance Vault’s policy! Furthermore, those who cannot agree are free to leave!”

I gave a small smile.
I’d expected Gu Cheong-won to come out like this, and he hadn’t missed by even an inch.

‘I’ll leave the Golden Resonance Vault with plenty of profit today.’

Of course, I’d take it all back soon enough.
As long as he was in this place, Gu Cheong-won probably thought of himself as a god, but I’d make him realize that not everything went the way he wanted.
Calmly, I asked the First Chief Steward,

“How far has the auction gotten again?”
“The final bid so far was Madam Bong’s nine hundred ninety taels.”

Lord Yong really was one of the Heaven Rebelling Society.
His bid had already gone beyond the amount Gal So-ye predicted.

“Will Lord Yong bid?”
“Of course.”
“Then the bid is one thousand taels-”
“Wait.”

I halted the auction once again.

“Haa. What is it this time?”

The First Chief Steward let out a sigh.
He looked very different from the composed man he had been earlier.

“I still have something to say.”
“Private conversation is forbidden.”
“Did I have a private conversation? I was discussing a matter of great importance that concerns the Golden Resonance Vault’s loyal customers and our cult’s future.”

Snorting, Lord Yong said.

“Hmph. Discuss it all you like. Before that, I’ll win the bid and leave. Two thousand taels.”

At the final words, the auction hall fell silent.
The First Chief Steward asked again.

“Did you just say two thousand taels?”
“I did. Rather than drag things out over something absurd, I’d rather end this quickly.”

At Lord Yong’s declaration, the auction hall froze.
Two thousand taels.
Was Defeated-Spirit Paste really worth that much by itself?
Even I, knowing he was with the Heaven Rebelling Society, found it strange, so it was only natural everyone else was stunned.

“Two thousand taels…”
“Isn’t that too much?”

I spoke calmly to the shaken masked bidders.

“Why are you all so frozen? If we unite, we can win easily.”
“What do you mean, unite…?”
“Two thousand taels is a lot, but it’s not impossible.”

There were twenty masked bidders gathered in the auction hall.
Excluding Lord Yong and Gal So-ye, that left seventeen.

“If each person put in just one hundred taels, that makes one thousand seven hundred. And on top of that, I will personally.”

I paused for a moment and smiled.

“Contribute three hundred taels!”
“O-oooh!”

Exclamations burst out here and there.
The reaction was that Seventh Young Lord really was different.
Right, I had even been prepared to throw in my own private hundred taels, so I was being impressive.

“There, that makes two thousand in total!”
“B-But…”
“If it’s the same amount, doesn’t that mean nothing?”
“Shouldn’t the amount be higher?”

The masked bidders began to waver.
That’s right. The same amount wouldn’t win.
Someone had to put up more.

“Do we have to put up more?”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”

One hundred taels was not a small amount.
No matter how well-off the masked bidders were, demanding more than this would be too much.

“It seems you’re all forgetting one person.”

I pointed at Madam Bong, Gal So-ye.
As I did, I gave a tiny wink.
It was a signal for her to add money.

[Didn’t you say earlier that you would make it so I wouldn’t have to spend any money?]

Without replying, I merely smiled.
It meant she should trust me.
Gal So-ye gave a small shake of her head. Then she slowly raised her hand.

“I…”

Every eye in the auction hall turned toward her.

“I’ll add five hundred taels.”

At those words, the auction hall exploded.

“Oooh!”
“Madam Bong!”
“As expected of Madam Bong!”
“T-Then how much is that?”
“Two thousand and five hundred. Two thousand five hundred taels!”

At the moment when everyone was rejoicing.
I spoke to Lord Yong.

“Hey. It’s two thousand five hundred. If you can’t match that, get out!”
“Yeah, get out!”
“Don’t ever show up again, you traitor to the cult!”

Lord Yong’s body trembled.
At last, it seemed his composure had broken.
He opened his mouth.

“How did you know?”
“You mean your identity?”
“That’s right.”
“There’s always someone in the cult keeping their eyes peeled and watching everything everywhere.”

Gal So-ye, someone always tired, always burdened with countless concerns, yet never letting even the smallest thing slip by.
Because she existed, I knew Lord Yong’s identity, and thanks to that I was able to win the Defeated-Spirit Paste with ease.

“So that is what Seventh Young Lord is. You really are dangerous. You, whom the Heavenly Demon has acknowledged as his successor…”

Pat!
Lord Yong and his guard kicked off the ground at the same time.

“I’ll eliminate you before it’s too late! In the name of Heaven Rebelling, we sever the old heavens!”