Chapter 50

A few more days passed after I met Ak Mu-jin at the stall.

Since then, I had been staying at the Demon Cult’s Shufu branch altar.

Because I had freed the Demon Cult members who were imprisoned here, I had become a complete benefactor.

“Ahem.”

It was a warm, sunlit morning.

I put on the long robe hanging in one corner of the room.

“Where are you going?”

“For an inspection.”

“Again?”

“Yes.”

Im Yeon’s gaze looked somewhat displeased, but I ignored it and stepped out of the branch.

The branch guards bowed so low their backs looked like they would snap.

“Please look around and return safely, Seventh Young Lord!”

My steps naturally headed toward the marketplace.

It was the place in Shufu with the heaviest foot traffic.

“Ah, it is the Seventh Young Lord.”

“It really is the Seventh Young Lord!”

As soon as I stepped into the marketplace, attention washed over me like waves.

Passersby stopped walking, and the merchants stopped selling their goods and looked at me with reverent eyes.

“Have one of these, young Young Lord.”

An old woman at a stall handed me her finest fruit.

“I was blind and believed in a false god. I will serve the Divine Cult with all my strength as you taught, Young Lord.”

A middle-aged man suddenly swore his loyalty.

“Thanks to you, Young Lord, all of us survived. We are truly grateful.”

A young couple expressed their heartfelt thanks.

I leisurely waved my hand to them.

By the time I had made one full round of the marketplace, my shoulders were spread as wide as the Tianshan Lake.

It honestly felt like Shufu as a whole had become my city.

Everyone here recognized me and liked me.

“Since the inspection is over, shall we head back?”

“Understood. But, Young Lord.”

Im Yeon, who had been looking at me strangely all this time, asked.

“How long do you plan to keep doing these inspections?”

“Why?”

“You seem to be coming out too often.”

“It is not that often.”

“For several days now, you have been coming out once in the morning, twice in the afternoon, and twice in the evening and at night.”

“…I did that? Ahem.”

I let out a pointless cough.

In truth, Im Yeon was right.

There was no need for me to come out for inspections this often.

But when in my life had I ever received this kind of welcome.

On top of that, they reacted as if meeting me for the first time every time they saw me, so how was I supposed to stop?

Because of how this felt, I kept stopping my training and coming back out.

“It almost feels like you have become the leader of a new religion, Young Lord.”

“Do I look that imposing?”

“Yes. I am worried you may become the next target of a purge at this rate.”

“……”

This was her taking a jab at me, right?

Im Yeon laughed awkwardly and added a word.

“It was a joke.”

“Do you not take your jokes a bit too seriously?”

“I am s… sorry.”

“No need to be that sorry.”

Thanks to Im Yeon, I did feel a bit more alert.

I could not afford to make a mistake while drunk on attention.

In any case, in the Demon Cult the Heavenly Demon’s dignity was absolute. It would not be good if I caused pointless noise.

‘From now on I will only come out three times a day.’

That was me compromising quite a lot.

“Oh dear, how was your inspection, Young Lord?”

No sooner had I returned to the Shufu branch altar than the branch leader rushed out.

Of all places, this was where they held me up the most.

The branch leader and his wife in particular were extremely devoted.

They were none other than the parents of the inn sisters, Myeong-ah and Ryeong-ah.

Freeing the branch had been one thing, but when they heard that I had taken care of their bullied children while they were imprisoned, they had even shed tears.

Thanks to that, they had given me a room in their own quarters inside the branch and were doing their utmost to treat me well at every meal.

It was to the point that even Im Yeon admired it, saying, “It seems blessings really do return when you perform good deeds, Young Lord.”

It was one such afternoon when I was spending these gratifying days.

“Get out here, Baek Su-gyeong!”

Someone appeared, smashing the Shufu branch gate.

It was Heuk Un-hwi.

Heuk Un-hwi’s group set foot on Shufu soil a full twenty days after leaving the main altar.

“Whew.”

Gwak Seok let out a small sigh.

The hardships of the entire journey flashed before his eyes.

The trip, which should originally have taken twelve days, had been greatly delayed purely because of Fourth Young Lord Heuk Un-hwi’s explosively hasty temper.

Looking back, it had not been smooth from the very start.

– What? Baek Su-gyeong slipped away in the middle of the night?

The moment the fact that Baek Su-gyeong had secretly left became known, Heuk Un-hwi became extremely agitated.

He tried to rush out alone, throwing away even the bare minimum preparations needed for the journey.

The household retainers tried to stop him, but there was no way they could.

– Out of my way, you bastards!

At least a dozen people were beaten and carried away. Knocking them out was the least of it, and there were plenty who had several broken bones.

His rampage had been so severe that the Patriarch of the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan had personally stepped in and ordered him to be confined for three days.

The reason was that haste would only cause even a sure thing to fail.

However, Heuk Un-hwi’s attitude did not change.

No, it actually grew worse.

The moment his confinement ended, Heuk Un-hwi rampaged like an uncontrollable beast.

– What are you doing! You are too slow!

He drove both horses and people to their limits.

The men were experts, so they endured through force, but the horses could not.

– At this rate all the horses will collapse. We need to rest, even briefly.

– Baek Su-gyeong has already run far ahead, so how do you expect us to rest! If you do not want to be beaten to death, keep running!

The result of the relentless forced march day and night was obvious.

The exhausted horses collapsed one after another, and because of that, Heuk Un-hwi’s subordinates foamed at the mouth running from village to village to secure fresh horses.

That was not all.

While running again on the new horses, they came upon a river.

– If we go downstream for about half a day, there is a ferry. We can get a boat there.

– We do not have time for that. Cross!

– But the horses…

– Dump them. We can get new ones after we cross.

Heuk Un-hwi made another foolish choice.

Claiming he did not have time to go around private homes, he robbed the horses of a passing merchant caravan.

The exalted Fourth Young Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had committed an act of robbery.

With a journey like this, it was only natural that their schedule was delayed.

Gwak Seok was at the point where he felt it was fortunate they had even reached their destination safely.

“Find where Baek Su-gyeong is. Now!”

However, whatever his subordinate thought was none of Heuk Un-hwi’s concern.

He only wanted to find Baek Su-gyeong right away and tear him apart alive.

Before long, his subordinates returned with Baek Su-gyeong’s whereabouts and a startling piece of news.

Heuk Un-hwi asked in disbelief.

“He dissolved the heretical cult and accepted those cultists into the Divine Cult? Baek Su-gyeong did?”

“Yes, Young Lord.”

“Hmpf. They must have been a pretty pathetic lot.”

Heuk Un-hwi snorted.

“Young Lord, this is no ordinary matter.”

“Of course it is no ordinary matter. He took in apostate scum who should be beaten to death as he pleased? He could not have done this unless he went insane.”

“That is not what I mean. It seems this region is under the Seventh Young Lord’s control, so we should first withdraw and then plan a counter–”

“What bullshit is that? You are telling me to tuck tail and run?”

“That is not what I–”

“Shut up and guide me. Now.”

“…Understood.”

Gwak Seok could not withstand Heuk Un-hwi’s temper.

They soon arrived in front of the Cult’s Shufu branch altar.

“So Baek Su-gyeong is holed up in here? Hehe.”

Heuk Un-hwi formed a sinister smile.

The moment he had longed for so desperately was right before his eyes.

He could not help but laugh, wanting to wrap his whip around the brat, terrify him, and then cut off the throat of a trembling Baek Su-gyeong.

“Young Lord, it is not too late. Since the Seventh Young Lord even gathered heretical cultists, this place is practically his den. Even now it would be better to pull back and reorganize–”

“Bah, shut it!”

Heuk Un-hwi slapped Gwak Seok across the cheek.

“If you are scared, get lost. I will go in alone. Whether there are a hundred or a thousand people inside, they are all as good as dead.”

Kwajik!

Without hesitation, Heuk Un-hwi kicked the main gate.

Unable to withstand his strength, the gate shattered into pieces.

“Crawl out here right now, Baek Su-gyeong!”

“You finally came? You took so long I thought you had died in some accident.”

Heuk Un-hwi’s head snapped toward the direction the immediate answer came from.

In front of the main hall in the center of the branch.

Baek Su-gyeong was sitting leisurely at a table, sipping tea.

“Grr.”

Seeing that brazen face, Heuk Un-hwi gnashed his teeth.

The afternoon sunlight was warm.

While I was watching the sisters Ryeong-ah and Myeong-ah running around in that warmth, Heuk Un-hwi appeared.

His appearance dealt a great shock to the Shufu branch.

“Fo… Fourth Young Lord has really come, Young Lord!”

Im Yeon whispered in a trembling voice.

I answered with a small laugh.

“I told you so many times he would follow. Do not tell me you have not trusted me until now.”

“I am s… sorry. No matter how much you said it was the Fourth Young Lord, this is not a reasonable course of action…”

Im Yeon’s face flushed slightly.

Well, it was a fair reaction.

It was very unusual to barge in openly declaring he would kill someone, rather than scheming from behind the scenes.

“By Fourth Young Lord, could you mean the Blood-Demon Mad Ghost?”

Im Yeon was not the only one surprised.

The Shufu branch altar lord of the Demon Cult, who was sitting at the same table as me, asked in shock.

Hearing that voice, Heuk Un-hwi puffed himself up and shouted.

“I am that very Blood-Demon Mad Ghost Heuk Un-hwi. Get on your knees right now, you worms. Then I will at least spare your lives.”

Look at him bragging about a nickname that is not even flattering.

This really was how a Demon Cult member should be.

“There is nothing to kneel for. You do not need to, so everyone stay put.”

“But it is still the Fourth Young Lord’s command.”

The branch lord looked very afraid of Heuk Un-hwi.

It was only natural, since his vicious reputation must have spread here as well.

“Guard Im.”

“Yes, Young Lord.”

“Explain who I am.”

Folding my arms, I tilted my head.

Im Yeon rolled her round eyes left and right.

“I fought Heuk Un-hwi before, remember.”

“Ah!”

Im Yeon clapped her hands.

“Everyone, you do not need to worry about a thing. The Seventh Young Lord has already crossed fists with the Fourth Young Lord. Naturally, the victory was the Seventh Young Lord’s.”

“That time, I did not have the Crimson Scaled Dragon Whip!”

Paang!

Suddenly, Heuk Un-hwi drew his whip and lashed it.

With a sound as if the air were being torn, the tip of the whip slammed into the ground.

An enormous wave of qi surged out, and the blue stone floor around it turned to powder and scattered.

It was brutish internal energy befitting the successor of the Seven Demonic Houses.

“Big sis, I’m scared…”

Myeong-ah grabbed tightly onto Ryeong-ah’s sleeve.

Ryeong-ah also seemed frightened, hugging Myeong-ah as she trembled.

Smiling at Myeong-ah and Ryeong-ah, I spoke.

“Do not be scared. Go inside with your father. It will quiet down soon.”

“That cannot be. Our benefactor seems to be in danger, so we will help as well.”

The answer came from the branch leader instead of the sisters.

His voice was full of resolve, but I shook my head.

“I appreciate the thought, but I will pass.”

“I know well how strong you are, Young Lord, but…”

The branch leader trailed off and glanced between me and Heuk Un-hwi.

Since the opponent was the infamous Blood-Demon Mad Ghost, I must have looked far too calm.

It seemed he had not listened at all to Im Yeon when she said I had beaten Heuk Un-hwi before.

“Forget everything else. I just have one favor to ask.”

“Please say anything.”

“The rear garden might get a bit wrecked, so please be understanding.”

“The rear garden… you say? Understood.”

“Good.”

Only then did the branch leader take the sisters’ hands and retreat inside the hall.

‘Now that I have his permission, that is fine.’

I turned my gaze away from the branch leader and looked at Heuk Un-hwi.

As if he had been waiting for it, he opened his mouth.

“Looks like their guts have swelled up. Just like yours.”

“There is nothing wrong with my guts.”

“I heard you brought heretical cultists into the main Cult. You did not even kill their leader. Are you trying to start a rebellion or something?”

“It is the opposite. Not that you would understand even if I explained it.”

“Traitors should be wiped out to the last seed. I will kill you and then wipe out not only those heretical bastards but this rotten branch as well.”

At those words that were so very like him, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

How could a person’s way of thinking be this crude?

In my past life, Heuk Un-hwi had been the one given the mission to subjugate the heretical cult.

He had supposedly charged straight into the Longevity Cult’s main base with only six people.

I did not know what was going through his head when he decided that, but even from the Longevity Cult’s side, it could not have been welcome.

It was said that because of those six, there had been casualties in the hundreds.

“Stop with the pointless talk and get to your real business. Why did you show up in Shufu? It is not like you chased me here because you missed me.”

At that moment, the corners of Heuk Un-hwi’s mouth curled upward.

“Kukuku. I came to teach my sajae a lesson. A lesson you can only grasp with your life.”

“Did you at least write a will before you came?”

At that single line, a terrifying murderous aura erupted from Heuk Un-hwi.