Chapter 62 - Give What You Least Want to Give

That was unexpected. I had never imagined the Blood Heaven Saber Demon would ask whether I would kill him too.

How should I answer? After a moment’s thought, I settled on this.

“My Demonic Path doesn’t break tavern tables, nor does it kill friends.”

For a moment, he was speechless. He looked at me with a complicated expression, then asked quietly,

“Am I your friend?”

“Yes.”

Even without an explanation, he would know I hadn’t meant a friend in the ordinary sense.

“What would I do then? I’d speak freely too. Without watching my words or sparing your feelings, I’d simply tell you. I don’t like this about you. You’re too stuck in your old ways! You’re getting tiresome. What happened to all that charm you used to have? Find it again! Then we’d put our heads together and find a way to like each other.”

“And if we can’t find a way? If I still don’t change?”

“If you try and still can’t change, there’s nothing to be done. We’ll have to live on our old memories. But if you won’t even try? Then we’ll have to fight. Whatever either of us did wrong, whatever we’re unhappy about, wouldn’t beating each other up help us feel a little better?”

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon stared at me for a moment, then laughed loudly.

“Ha ha ha ha!”

It was the most wholehearted laugh I had heard from him since we met.

After laughing for a good while, he abruptly stopped and said,

“There’s something I told you before that I need to take back.”

“What is it?”

“That my life was filled with nothing but misfortune... It seems that isn’t entirely true.”

At that moment, I distinctly heard it: the sound of the door to his heart opening a little wider.

I would keep listening for that sound. Each time I heard that door open, often and from many different people, I would grow. It would become a weapon as important to me as the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. Hwa Mugi, what sounds are you listening to now?

* * *

Late that night, after the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had left, I received an unexpected visitor.

To my surprise, it was the Wind Heaven Cult Leader.

“What brings you here at this late hour?”

“I came because I have something to tell you.”

“Please come in.”

“It’s a private matter. Let’s go here instead.”

Our surroundings darkened, then brightened, and we found ourselves in another space. It was the very demonic art the Soul-Seizing Demon had used several times. He too knew this art of the Blood Cult tradition.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader looked at me and asked pointedly,

“Well? Doesn’t this martial art look familiar?”

His eyes told me that he knew everything, so I should be honest.

“This is my first time seeing it.”

“Surely not? Didn’t you see this space when you fought the Soul-Seizing Demon?”

“What do you mean?”

His expression turned cold.

“You killed the Soul-Seizing Demon in this space.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I denied it flatly, but he continued his assertions with complete confidence.

“Because he died in a space created for soul-seizing sorcery, it looked as though he had died of qi deviation. You cannot fool my eyes.”

“Do you have any evidence?”

“No. I can’t even guess how you did it. But I am certain you killed him.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because I can’t read you.”

Inwardly, I was startled. I had never underestimated the Wind Heaven Cult Leader, but I hadn’t expected him to believe I had killed the Soul-Seizing Demon for such a reason. That conviction came from his confidence in his own instincts.

“You killed the Soul-Seizing Demon. Since I can’t read you either, I could die too.”

“I never expected someone as wise as you to make such an error in judgment.”

He truly had understood me with remarkable accuracy.

“Relax. I’m not trying to provoke you. I don’t want to die in a place like this, as the Soul-Seizing Demon did.”

Nor was he overconfident in his own abilities.

“As I said, you are mistaken.”

Ignoring me, he continued.

“There can be only one reason the sinister soul-seizing sorcery failed. You must have been taught the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.”

“If you’re so certain, why didn’t you tell the Demon Supremes? If you announced that Father had secretly taught me the Nine Calamities Demonic Art without their knowledge, there would have been an uproar. I hear you’re particularly close to the Demonic Buddha.”

“Where are there friends in Murim? We meet because we need something from each other at the time. I imagine the Demonic Buddha feels the same.”

“Then what do you need from me?”

“This was a favor. I came tonight to claim credit and make sure you don’t forget it.”

The moment I heard that, I knew something had gone wrong between the Wind Heaven Cult Leader and the seven Demon Supremes. Either that, or they had never been as close as I had imagined.

“Let’s make one thing clear. You haven’t done me any favors yet.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t that you chose not to tell the seven Demon Supremes. You couldn’t tell them, because you have no evidence. Were you going to go to them and say, ‘I can’t read the Second Young Master, so he’s the killer!’? Your pride alone would keep you from saying that.”

“I could at least tell them I suspect it might be you.”

“That would actually work in my favor. That brat is strong enough to kill the Soul-Seizing Demon? The Cult Leader might already have taught him the Nine Calamities Demonic Art? With no evidence, they couldn’t be certain, but they’d still feel they couldn’t treat me carelessly. It would help me take control of the situation going forward. If anything, you’ve hindered me.”

“What?”

Apparently he hadn’t anticipated this turn of events, for he could find no reply.

“If you offer me a favor, I’ll gladly accept. But make it a real favor.”

Though briefly put on the defensive, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader did not lose his composure. He knew well the lesson life had taught him: never make a decision when at a disadvantage.

“Let’s meet once more before I leave.”

The moment he finished speaking, our surroundings changed, and he left immediately.

Watching him go, I smiled. Rather than sensing a conspiracy, my first thought was this:

‘Our dear Cult Leader has come to me of his own accord, trying to do me a favor.’

* * *

In the large, lavishly decorated room provided by the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon were only the Wind Heaven Cult Leader, the sacred relics, and the shackled man.

“What do you think?”

The shackled man, who had been sitting like a stone statue before the Thunderous Sound Bell, raised his head toward the Wind Heaven Cult Leader. Words no one else could have imagined uttering spilled from his mouth.

“You fucking idiot, why are you asking me?”

Insulting the Wind Heaven Cult Leader like that was an offense punishable by being torn limb from limb.

Yet he smiled as though this were perfectly routine and held up one finger.

“You’re the only one in this room. Who else should I ask?”

“Ask the reaper standing behind you. Ask when you’re going to fucking die.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader raised another finger.

“I asked, and the reaper says this: I’ll die after you do, so unfortunately, you won’t get to see my death.”

“Lucky you, living so long, you fucking pig.”

Raising a third finger at the man’s insult, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader laughed cheerfully.

“Two left now!”

The man was allowed to insult the Wind Heaven Cult Leader or address him disrespectfully five times a day.

Of course, this was not because the cult leader had some peculiar taste for being insulted. Nor was it because the shackled man possessed a sense of smell superior to anyone else’s.

The reason the Wind Heaven Cult Leader kept him alive despite his outrageous insolence was his extraordinary intelligence. At first, he hadn’t known the man was so clever.

But after sharing a room with him for a long time, he learned that the man’s true worth lay not in his sense of smell, but in his excellent judgment and intelligence.

From the day he discovered the man was smarter than the Wind Heaven Cult’s strategist, the shackled man became its true strategist.

He listened to the man’s advice while enduring his insults. Most of that advice proved accurate and yielded benefits in time.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader did not try to force him into obedience through pain. He knew the shackled man had little attachment to life and would gladly choose death if pressured that way.

Yet despite that lack of attachment, the man did not kill himself. Once, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader had asked him why, but he had refused to say a single word about it.

“Why are you in such a bad mood?”

“Would you be happy in my place?”

As the Wind Heaven Cult Leader raised a fourth finger, the man picked up his shackles and shook them. Their clanking filled the room.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader snapped his fingers. Their surroundings darkened, then brightened, and the scene changed to a green field.

There he unlocked the man’s ten-thousand-year cold-iron shackles. He wore the key that opened them around his neck.

As the shackles came off, the man’s expression relaxed too.

Free at last, the man ran wildly about like a puppy on a snowy day, then flopped onto his back and gazed at the sky.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader came over and looked down at him.

“You big-headed bastard of a cult leader, get out of the way! You’re blocking the sky!”

“It’s a fake sky.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader raised his fifth and final finger.

With all five chances used up, the man’s speech became polite.

“Cult Leader, I miss that fake sky terribly. Please step aside.”

His manner changed in an instant, as though he were acting.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader stepped aside and asked,

“I showed the Second Young Master goodwill, as you advised. But he demanded a more concrete favor.”

The man was gazing up at the sky. His eyes, visible between the long strands of hair cascading down, were utterly clear.

“Will the Second Young Master really become the successor?”

“You said he killed the Soul-Seizing Demon, didn’t you?”

“I’m certain of it.”

“If someone like that doesn’t become the successor, who will? A young man barely twenty shouldn’t be able to kill the Soul-Seizing Demon.”

“His abilities are extraordinary, but...”

“Are you afraid? That the Second Young Master might kill you too?”

Had anyone else said that, their head would have been severed on the spot. But the Wind Heaven Cult Leader readily nodded.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. If he can kill a Demon Supreme, who can’t he kill?”

At some point, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader had begun speaking openly with the shackled man.

“There is another reason you must win the Second Young Master over.”

“What is it?”

“Do you really think the leader of the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon doesn’t know it was the Second Young Master who killed the Soul-Seizing Demon?”

“He knows?”

“Of course he does. The current Heavenly Demon is an exceptional man, with great ambitions. Why do you think such a man has remained quiet all this time?”

“Why has he?”

“Think! Don’t just sit there eating your fill!”

“Wasn’t that an insult just now?”

“No. I merely raised my voice.”

“Be careful.”

“I will. I was asking you to think.”

“I don’t want to. You do the thinking. If I thought as well, there would be no reason to keep you alive, would there?”

The man looked at the Wind Heaven Cult Leader with undisguised irritation. His words, however, remained polite.

“When an exceptional man stays silent, it means he is preparing a decisive strike.”

“To unify the Central Plains?”

“I couldn’t say that much. In any case, the Heavenly Demon either ordered this or knew about it and turned a blind eye. Of the Eight Demon Supremes, the Soul-Seizing Demon was the one the Orthodox Martial Alliance found most troublesome—just as the people of the Central Plains fear you. Yet he allowed his son to kill him? That means the Heavenly Demon has decided to replace the Eight Demon Supremes one by one. Once he has replaced them with his own loyal followers, where do you think he will strike?”

“At us?”

“The current Heavenly Demon will not wage war on the Orthodox Martial Alliance with us at his back. He will either force us into the vanguard or eliminate us before starting the war.”

“Damn it!”

“The winds of change are blowing through the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon. If you fail to feel them, you’ll fucking die. The Soul-Seizing Demon died because he stayed holed up in another world and never felt those winds. We must decide whether to shelter from them behind the wall of the Eight Demon Supremes or behind the wall of the Heavenly Demon.”

“You favor the Heavenly Demon?”

“His side will win.”

“Why?”

“Because a man as extraordinary as Geom Ujin would never have begun a fight he had no chance of winning. So side with the Second Young Master, no matter what. Start by giving him a gift to win his favor.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader nodded.

“What should I give him?”

“Give him what you least want to give. That is how we survive. Now, enough advice!”

Still lying on his back, the man shouted,

“Stop disturbing me and step away!”

This space was the only place where he could feel free. Gazing up at the fabricated sky, he let out a cry.

“Aaaaaah!”

While the man tried to relieve his stifled feelings however he could, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader stood with his hands clasped behind his back, lost in other thoughts.

A little later, having decided what to give, he told the man,

“That’s enough!”

The fabricated space began to vanish.

Alarmed, the man sprang up and shouted,

“No! Please! Just a little longer! You goddamned bastard! I said no!”

Despite his desperate cries, which broke even the rules, the man’s freedom vanished along with the green field.