Chapter 64 - Come When Told, Go When Told

After the Wind Heaven Cult Leader left, I tried performing the Art of Space-Time Transposition for the first time. I was curious how quickly I could create a space.

I had no intention of spending decades honing this art, so all I hoped was that my first space would take as little time as possible to create.

Fortunately, his explanation of the mnemonic verses had given me a thorough grasp of the profound principles within the Art of Space-Time Transposition. I guided my true qi and put the verses into practice as adeptly as someone who had trained in the art for many years.

How much time had passed?

A clear, lighthearted sound rang in my ears, and I found myself standing in a new space.

Success!

It had taken exactly two double-hours. He had said even exceptionally talented people needed several days, so I had created a new space in an incomparably shorter time.

I was certain of it. Even Father could not have created a space this quickly.

Two double-hours.

I would keep shortening that time until the day inevitably came when I could use this art as freely as the Soul-Seizing Demon or the Wind Heaven Cult Leader.

Learning a new martial art always brought great excitement, but the thrill of the Art of Space-Time Transposition was entirely different.

I walked slowly, examining the space. There was nothing in this first creation.

Just as the Soul-Seizing Demon had created cliffs and the Wind Heaven Cult Leader a wasteland, someday I would be able to create whatever space I wished.

But even now, it wasn't bad.

Was it because this was a space cut off from the world, where I could be utterly alone? To my surprise, this empty place gave me a comfort I had never felt before.

A place where I could spend time alone without a thought, removed from the responsibilities I bore, my efforts, the succession struggle, Hwa Mugi, my relationships, and everything else in the world. That was why I liked it. I had a space of my own.

Unfortunately, I could not enjoy that freedom for long. Perhaps because this was my first attempt, the consumption of internal energy was immense.

As my mastery of the art improved, it would require less internal energy. At my present level, however, my reserves drained away like water poured into a bottomless jar.

Dissolving the space was easy. As soon as I recited the verses, the same lighthearted sound rang out, and the space slowly disappeared.

Back in the original world, I sat down and began qi-circulation meditation.

For that brief freedom, I had to replenish my internal energy through my mental cultivation method and invest two double-hours, but I did not hesitate.

Once my reserves were restored, I performed the Art of Space-Time Transposition again. This attempt also took nearly two double-hours, though it felt just a little faster than before. Yes, keep getting shorter. Then I, too, would be able to create this space in an instant.

And so I used the Art of Space-Time Transposition to create a space, dissolved it, then created and dissolved it again.

Until dawn, I remained utterly engrossed in creating my own space. The time it took was decreasing, however minutely.

Good heavens! Who knew a martial art could be this much fun? That was how I honestly felt.

* * *

While Geom Mugeuk was engrossed in the Art of Space-Time Transposition, a rather somber atmosphere hung between the Wind Heaven Cult Leader and the Demonic Buddha.

The Demonic Buddha had come to the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's quarters late at night without sending word.

Instead of joining him at the tea table, the Demonic Buddha took short, quick steps over to the shackled man and stopped before him. Being so short, he was almost at eye level with the seated man.

The shackled man had his head lowered, concealing his face. The Demonic Buddha bent at the waist to look, but the long hair cascading down still thwarted him.

He considered whether to lift the man's hair with his tiny hand.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader watched with displeasure. He did not like the Demonic Buddha treating the shackled man as a spectacle.

Still, he did not tell him to stop disrespecting his subordinate. If he did, the Demonic Buddha would surely begin with, “Who was it that shackled him and stopped treating him like a human being in the first place?” and go on and on until he made the leader's blood boil.

Just then, the Demonic Buddha turned and abruptly asked,

“I hear you met the Second Young Master.”

His yellow gaze probed for the other's thoughts, but the Wind Heaven Cult Leader remained completely unruffled.

“He may become cult leader someday. I ought to meet him.”

“The First Young Master will become cult leader.”

Even without that firm declaration, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader knew the Demonic Buddha actively supported the First Young Master. If the Second Young Master had the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, the First Young Master had the Demonic Buddha.

“The way things are going, that isn't necessarily certain.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hasn't the Second Young Master risen to become Pavilion Master of Yellow Springs Pavilion? It looks to anyone as though the Heavenly Demon is grooming his successor.”

“Ha, my friend. All that time beyond the frontiers has dulled your insight.”

After offending his companion with an entirely unnecessary remark, the Demonic Buddha continued.

“I see it the other way around. He intends to make the First Young Master his successor, so he gave the Second Young Master another position. Be content with that—that's what he's telling him.”

“That may be so. This is my first visit to the Central Plains in quite some time. It's a pity I'll be leaving without seeing the First Young Master.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader never revealed his true thoughts to the Demonic Buddha.

“Why do you support the First Young Master?”

“Because he'll become the successor. Why ask something so obvious?”

“What makes you so certain?”

“Just a hunch.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader knew the Demonic Buddha was not a man who decided matters this important on a mere hunch. He simply did not want to share anything concerning the First Young Master.

'How can we call ourselves friends when we're like this?'

But he was no different. He would never tell the Demonic Buddha anything important about the Second Young Master, either.

“Listen, Cult Leader.”

“What is it?”

“Don't even think of meddling. There are plenty of eyes on you here, too.”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“Why haven't you gone home?”

“Are you telling me to get lost now that my business is finished?”

“That isn't what I meant.”

Their words had an edge, but both men's voices remained gentle and composed.

“Then leave me be. I'm enjoying my first trip to the Central Plains in a long while. Why? Do you need to charge me for the room?”

“When you visit someone else's home, you should stay quietly and leave. Surely you shouldn't shit in their inner room?”

“Ha. Some bastard's dog has taken a shit, and I'm getting blamed for it.”

“This is advice from a friend. Don't stir up needless trouble. Go back to the Wind Heaven Cult.”

In truth, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader was inwardly taken aback. He had not expected the Demonic Buddha to come and tell him to leave so openly. Whatever their private feelings, they had at least maintained the outward courtesy of pretending to be close.

“Am I someone who must come when told and go when told?”

His voice was still composed, but the words themselves were a gleaming blade.

“Aren't you?”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader's expression hardened, and the air around them turned cold in an instant.

Then the Demonic Buddha broke into a broad smile.

“A joke, a joke! My friend, there's no need to look so grave over a little teasing. You really have lost your touch, staying beyond the frontiers all this time. Enjoy yourself as long as you like. Let's spend the rest of our lives playing here together. Hahaha.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader laughed with him, as though he had never been angry.

“Apparently so. Too much of that bleak, sandy wind must have made me bleak as well. That's the sort of place the lands beyond the frontiers are.”

“I'll buy you a drink somewhere with a pleasant atmosphere. Somewhere with beauties who will melt our cult leader's bleakness like snow.”

“Should a monk be frequenting such places? Doesn't your Buddha scold you?”

“The Buddha I serve sometimes manifests as a Buddha of Lust.”

“Splendid.”

The two men smiled at each other.

“Then let's get together one of these days!”

“Certainly.”

The Demonic Buddha left the room with a hearty laugh.

Once he was gone, the smile vanished from the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's face. He asked the shackled man,

“What do you think?”

“He's anxious. It seems he's noticed that you intend to join forces with the Second Young Master.”

“Is that something to be so anxious about?”

“It means he's that wary of the Second Young Master. He's judging him correctly.”

“What should I do now?”

“Think for yourself. Don't get into the habit of asking me everything.”

“My life and the fate of my cult are at stake now. Don't play hard to get.”

The man turned to face him and shook his shackles.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader looked reluctant, but in the end he opened a new space.

Looking out over the green field, the man's face lit up as though he could soar into the sky.

As he unlocked the ten-thousand-year cold-iron shackles with the key hanging around his neck, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader asked,

“Why do you like this place so much?”

For a fleeting instant, a tender longing passed through the man's eyes. But it disappeared so quickly that the Wind Heaven Cult Leader, bent over to remove the shackles, did not see it.

“Try spending all day in shackles yourself, Cult Leader. Let's trade places for just one day.”

“I'll decline.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader gave the man a little time to savor his freedom.

The man was unusually calm today. Perhaps that was why he offered the necessary advice at once as he gazed over the field.

“The Demonic Buddha will make you leave by whatever means he can. He'll probably use his own cult leader.”

But the Wind Heaven Cult Leader had no intention of leaving meekly. He was determined to use this opportunity to establish a foothold for expansion into the Central Plains, whatever it took.

“What should I do?”

“Go to the Second Young Master and ask how you can remain here. He will certainly give you a way.”

“Might you know that way yourself?”

“Even if I do, you must give the Second Young Master a gift and hear it from him.”

“I don't understand. Why must I cling to him like this?”

“Then whom will you cling to?”

For a moment, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader had no answer. The Heavenly Demon disliked him, and the First Young Master enjoyed the support of the Demonic Buddha and other Demon Supremes.

Only the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had formally joined forces with the Second Young Master. The remaining Demon Supremes were either neutral or believed the First Young Master would become the successor. He truly had nowhere to plant his feet.

“If you don't want to cling to him, you can stay holed up beyond the frontiers, coming when told and going when told. Then you'll live comfortably, eating well and dressing well, for the rest of your life.”

Had the man cursed at him as he said it, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader might have been less angry. The politeness only enraged him further.

“Don't provoke my pride with that sort of talk!”

But the man paid no heed to his feelings.

“The way to win this fight is simple. Choose wisely, then trust your choice to the end. Simple, isn't it? So simple that it's actually difficult to put into practice. Losers never understand, even at the very end, that victory depended on whether they upheld these simple principles.”

“Enough nagging! Enough lecturing!”

“If you don't think you can uphold that principle, we should return home, just as the Demonic Buddha said.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader was about to explode and tell him to shut up, but he calmed himself.

The man infuriated him several times more than the Demonic Buddha did, yet everything he said proved right when he listened. So instead of getting angry, the leader revealed his true feelings.

“I don't want to keep giving the Second Young Master things. Honestly, it pains me to part with them. It pains me far too much. I still regret giving him the Art of Space-Time Transposition. I didn't sleep a wink yesterday, thinking I should never have given it to him.”

No one would ever imagine that he, the supreme ruler of the martial world beyond the frontiers, had such a disposition. Nor that he lived with rebukes like this one.

“That's because you're petty and greedy.”

Whenever he heard such words, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader felt his anger surge to the top of his head, yet at the same time experienced a strange pleasure.

He had concealed his true nature better than anyone, but there was at least one person who knew exactly what sort of man he was. It was something like the sense of kinship that came from that knowledge.

“But what can I do if I hate parting with them? And now you want me to give him more?”

“Once you've made your choice, trust it. Give to him. Give him everything.”

“I don't want to part with it! I don't want to give him a single thing!”

Ordinarily, this would have been the moment curses burst from the shackled man's mouth. Today, however, he remained calm to the end.

“Let's just go home and spend our lives dusting the sacred relics and ringing the bell. That would suit a man of your caliber perfectly, Cult Leader.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader pressed his teeth into his lip.

“I'm going to break out. I'm doing this to smash this petty heart of mine, no bigger than a soy-sauce dish, and break free! I will establish the Wind Heaven Cult's headquarters in the Central Plains. With my own hands, I'll accomplish what my predecessors could not.”

He would have preferred to be cursed at, but the shackled man merely sighed.

“... You probably won't.”

After that, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader remained silent for a long time, lost in thought. It was a day that had left him terribly angry, yet the fabricated space lasted until his internal energy ran dry.