Chapter 12 - Let Me Dance with My Sword

I practiced the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, which I had already mastered completely, over and over again.

Despite all the years I had spent honing it, performing it in my rejuvenated body felt different. Perhaps this was why people said that even a lifetime of dedication could never bring one to the end of martial arts.

Alongside the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, I practiced the qi emission Father had taught me. I also worked to bring my external training into balance with the internal energy I had gained from the Demon Essence Pill.

After all that relentless training, by my ninety-seventh day here, I could control my increased internal energy perfectly. I had also grown more adept at qi emission and could emit more strands of qi. They did not yet form a spiderweb, but I could already send out more than ten strands at once.

"That will do. I'll stop here."

I spent the remaining three days quietly settling my mind and organizing what I needed to do next.

On my hundredth day inside, I pushed the stone tablet aside. The door leading outside opened.

"Ah, this fresh air! Goodbye, fasting pills!"

Stretching luxuriously, I walked out.

A martial artist from Heavenly Demon Hall was waiting at the exit of Lesser Heaven Cave.

"Oh! Young Master!"

He stared at me in surprise.

"Why are you so startled?"

"I was ordered to escort you straight to Heavenly Demon Hall when you emerged, Second Young Master. But I never expected you to come out so soon. I was told I would have to wait at least another hundred days from today."

"When did you start waiting?"

"I was first posted here today."

Father had expected me to emerge somewhere between one hundred and two hundred days. That was his assessment of my talent.

That was quite a high opinion of me, wasn't it?

And there was something else: at least he hadn't expected me to die.

As I followed the martial artist, I wondered whether sending me into Lesser Heaven Cave had been a reward rather than a punishment.

* * *

Father was alone when I arrived at Heavenly Demon Hall.

I walked slowly along the red carpet toward the grand chair where he sat.

People called this carpet the "Path of Blood." How much blood did one have to spill to reach its end? How much blood had Father seen before he could sit there? And how much more would have to flow to keep that seat?

"Exactly one hundred days."

His words left me itching to speak. I had cleared the trials in a single day. That was what his son was capable of now. Perhaps I really ought to find a bamboo grove on the mountain behind us and shout my secret into it.

"I struggled with all my might, but I couldn't beat your record."

"Did you cut the sphere properly?"

"I cut it cleanly, without getting heated. After all the clues you left me, of course I had to do it properly. And I didn't rest in the final illusion formation."

Then I saw it: a smile forming on Father's lips. It wasn't the sneer I had seen before. It was a smile of genuine pleasure. Unfortunately, it vanished as soon as it appeared. Father's smiles were like mirages.

"So you're not a complete idiot."

"Of course not. Whose son do you think I am?"

Before my return to the past, I had believed Father enjoyed watching his children stake their lives on the struggle for succession.

Now, though, I thought I understood. He was someone who would endure even his children's deaths for the Cult's future—not someone who enjoyed their fighting.

"But why did you summon me?"

Before telling me what he wanted, Father summoned someone else.

It was Sima Myeong, the chief strategist, whose authority within the Cult placed him below one man and above ten thousand.

"It's been a while, Strategist Sima."

"To clear Lesser Heaven Cave in only one hundred days. Impressive, Second Young Master."

Besides serving as chief strategist, he headed Heaven-Reaching Pavilion, the brains of the Cult. He was a man of real power who held all the intelligence on the Central Plains in his hands and enjoyed Father's complete trust.

"A punishment that lasted a full hundred days."

"Was it a punishment? Or a reward?"

Sima Myeong gave me a knowing smile.

"Perhaps he meant to punish me and failed?"

"Hahaha."

Sima Myeong laughed, and I joined him. Once the greetings were over, he got down to business.

"I asked to see you today to discuss a matter within the Cult, Second Young Master."

They had summoned me rather than my brother to handle Cult affairs? And immediately after I left Lesser Heaven Cave? This was certainly different from the past. Normally, such matters went to my brother. Even while he was away, they would have sent him a letter assigning the task.

My gaze passed beyond Sima Myeong to Father in his grand chair. Ultimately, this decision reflected Father's wishes.

"Please, go on."

"Not long ago, we received an anonymous letter alleging corruption within the Demon Army."

The Demon Army was one of the Cult's armed organizations, and its demonic martial artists were infamous for their rough dispositions.

'Ah!'

I groaned inwardly because its commander was the Blood Heaven Saber Demon's younger brother. Once again, the Saber Demon was involved.

"We received another letter last year, and Yellow Springs Pavilion conducted an investigation."

Yellow Springs Pavilion investigated treason, misconduct, and corruption. By its very nature, it was an organization everyone hated—but it had the authority to take precedence over them all.

"That investigation failed, however. No one would give any relevant testimony, and the special investigator we dispatched was murdered. The Demon Army soldier who killed him then took his own life."

I remembered it too; it had been a major incident. To anyone watching, it looked as though someone within the Demon Army had obstructed the investigation, but no proof had been found. In the end, the case had simply been swept under the rug.

And now, after some time had passed, another anonymous letter had arrived.

"We would like you to serve as special investigator and handle this matter, Second Young Master."

There was no need to ask, Why me?

This assignment, which practically reeked of danger before it had even begun, was Father's test.

In an elite organization like the Demon Army, involvement in corruption meant beheading. Whoever was guilty would do anything to conceal their crimes, and they would not spare an investigator simply because he was the Heavenly Demon's son.

Besides, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had already warned me, and now I was to meddle with an organization headed by his brother?

"You're sending me to my death."

Sima Myeong nodded in acknowledgment.

"Yes. You will have to risk your life on this mission."

I looked at Father. He had been watching me with a stony expression when he suddenly said something entirely unexpected.

"Didn't you say you would bring them to heel and hold their leashes?"

Those were the words I had spoken to him on our hunting trip.

"That was for when I became the Heavenly Demon."

"So you're too frightened to do it now?"

"Well, if you put it that way, how am I supposed to refuse...?"

Father had preserved the Blood Heaven Saber Demon's dignity by sending me into Lesser Heaven Cave, and now he was using this test to keep him in check. What was Father really thinking?

Suddenly, I remembered what he had said that night on our hunting trip.

["Could you kill me for your own sake, Father?"]

["If that gives you pause, you shouldn't speak so lightly of ruthlessness."]

Our gazes met across the room.

His impassive eyes were the same as when we had gone hunting, the same as when he had sent me into Lesser Heaven Cave.

Seen another way, this wasn't Father's decision alone.

I had approached him as a changed man, and his choice was the result. In the end, this was also the path I had chosen.

"I said it beneath those magnificent stars. I ought to stand by my words. I'll take the assignment."

At my ready acceptance, Father gave an inscrutable smile.

'I don't know what you're planning, Father, but I'll put on a splendid sword dance for you.'

Sima Myeong, on the other hand, seemed surprised by my acceptance.

"Are you sure? As I said, this is extremely dangerous."

"That doesn't mean we can leave the bastards robbing the Cult's coffers alone, does it? But I have one condition."

"What is it?"

"Give me not only investigative authority, but the authority to carry out summary executions."

The authority to carry out summary executions.

It meant the privilege of killing a suspect without being held responsible if doing so proved unavoidable during the investigation.

As this was unprecedented, Sima Myeong looked at Father. Father gave a slight nod of permission.

"Very well. But please exercise that authority only when you have clear evidence, wherever possible."

"Of course."

"Thank you for agreeing to undertake this difficult task."

"If I should die, please engrave 'Mugeuk was brave' on my gravestone."

Sima Myeong chuckled.

"Tomorrow, I will send an investigator from Yellow Springs Pavilion to assist you."

"Preferably a beautiful woman, please."

"Hahaha. I've heard you have been showing a new side of yourself lately, Second Young Master. You really have changed."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Then I'll be going. I should have a drink, in case it's my last."

After respectfully cupping my fist in my palm, I started to leave, then glanced back at Father.

"Father, how about a drink with your son, in case it's our last—"

Without even hearing me out, Father sprang to his feet and left.

I grinned at Sima Myeong.

"He's prickly on the outside, but he's good to me in his own quiet way."

"It certainly doesn't look that way to me."

With that smiling remark, Sima Myeong also left.

I called after him.

"You're becoming more like Father by the day, Strategist!"

He didn't look back either.

In front of those two, I tried to joke and play around. To them, I was a fresh-faced young man. I always reminded myself not to drag the darkness of my past into this life. I had been born anew.

Outside Heavenly Demon Hall, I stretched deeply.

I would pass this test and move one step closer to becoming the successor.

* * *

The next morning, Yi An informed me that the investigator from Yellow Springs Pavilion had arrived.

"Young Master, I'll come along and help."

She knew full well how dangerous investigating the Demon Army would be.

Instead of giving permission, I asked a question.

"Is she pretty?"

"Pardon?"

"The investigator waiting outside. Is she pretty?"

"Pardon?"

"Don't spoil our private time together! No jealousy allowed!"

Yi An looked at me as though she had no idea what I was talking about.

"The investigator is a man."

"What?"

A moment later, Yi An showed in someone noticeably short, with gloomy-looking eyes. And he was indeed a man.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Seo Daeryong, special investigator of Yellow Springs Pavilion."

His name meant "great dragon," but his build was the exact opposite. Even his voice was quiet.

"Why did they send you? I asked the chief strategist to send the most beautiful woman in Yellow Springs Pavilion."

After looking awkward for a moment, Seo Daeryong shrugged.

"Perhaps I was the most beautiful woman in his eyes."

Standing beside him, Yi An let out a little laugh at his joke.

"You're laughing? At a tragedy like this?"

Yi An quickly schooled her expression.

"No, sir."

"Ah, and here I thought I could finally spend some time alone with a beauty."

I heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Fine, let's get to work. Tell me what you know about the Demon Army. Just try stumbling over your words. I'll show you the tragic fate of a man sent in a beauty's place."

In response to my joking words, Seo Daeryong explained as though he had been waiting for the chance.

"The Demon Army consists of six squads under its commander. It carries out only the cult leader's direct orders. Each squad has thirty members, making one hundred eighty-one in total, including the commander. There is no deputy commander. The First Squad Leader fills that role and is the commander's trusted confidant."

"You've memorized that well."

"Here are the records on the Demon Army's members."

He handed me a thick stack of documents containing all their physical descriptions and personal histories.

I pulled out a sheet at random.

"Tell me about Jong Pyo."

I thought there was no way he could have memorized this, but he answered without hesitation.

"He belongs to the Demon Army's First Squad and is in his seventh year of service. His signature martial art is a palm technique called Soul-Seeking Palm, and he has an extremely cruel temperament. His fondness for drinking and gambling has caused several incidents, but the Demon Army has covered them up."

Startled, I asked, "What? How do you know that? Is he a friend of yours? An enemy?"

"Neither."

I pulled out another sheet and asked about its subject. Again, he knew the man precisely.

"Don't tell me you memorized all one hundred eighty people here?"

"Yes. One hundred eighty-one, to be exact."

"You're a genius!"

"I've been investigating this for a long time."

"No, no. If you've memorized all this, you're a genius. A genius."

"I'd prefer you give my hard work the credit."

"Oh, modest too. I'm starting to see you differently."

He was short and rather gloomy-looking, but now that gloomy air felt like a genius's prickliness.

"Surely there was a reason they sent me besides my beauty?"

"Oh, being modest all the time is no fun, so you're showing off a little too. You ranked first when you joined Yellow Springs Pavilion, didn't you?"

"How did you know?"

"That's it! Yi An, did you hear? When someone asks whether you ranked first, 'How did you know?' is exactly the sort of answer you should give. Impressive, very impressive. Unfortunately, I doubt you have a girlfriend."

"Why do you think that?"

"Don't you have a mirror at home?"

"It pains me to admit it, but no."

"No what? A mirror? A girlfriend?"

"No courage to stand up to a rude superior."

"Hahaha."

I laughed heartily. For some reason, I liked this fellow.

Now, then, let's see how good he is at his job.

"Then what sort of man is the Demon Army's commander?"