Chapter 65 - Refuse, and You’ll Be Dragged Beyond the Frontiers

After visiting the local branch in Demon Family Village on business, I stopped by the Merry Life Tavern. As always, Jo Chunbae greeted me warmly.

"Welcome, Pavilion Master."

"I was feeling hungry, so I dropped in."

"I’ll prepare your favorites and make sure they’re delicious."

Just as he was about to hurry to the kitchen, Jo Chunbae turned back.

"Pavilion Master, may I ask you something?"

"Ask anything you like."

"Someone of your standing could visit a much finer tavern. Why do you always come to ours?"

"You still haven’t figured that out?"

"Please tell me."

"The liquor is good, the food is delicious, the atmosphere is pleasant, you bring me exactly what I like without my having to ask, and the owner is handsome. Do I need any more reasons?"

"That’s more than enough. I’ll make you something delicious."

He hurried to the kitchen with a broad smile and a spring in his step.

He probably had no idea how important this place was to me. Demon Family Village was the very foundation of the Demonic Path I intended to establish.

Neither the visiting Wind Heaven Cult Leader nor the Eight Demon Supremes mattered as much as Jo Chunbae and the people who lived here. The moment I forgot this place, no matter how prettily I dressed up my actions, it would be hard to find any difference between me and the Eight Demon Supremes.

A little later, just as Jo Chunbae brought out the food, a commotion broke out outside.

I went to the window and looked down. Someone lay on the ground, with a large man raging in front of him. One glance was enough to tell that he was very drunk.

"What are you glaring at, you bastard?"

"I wasn’t glaring at you."

"Yes, you were."

The brute struck him without hesitation.

"How dare you lie to me, you little shit!"

The man being beaten had been walking with his family. His wife stepped forward to stop it.

"Stop it!"

"Get out of my way! Who does this damned woman think she is?"

He showed her no mercy for being a woman. He shoved her roughly to the ground, and a child of about six or seven ran to her.

"Mom!"

Seeing both parents struck had left the child badly frightened.

Even with a child present, the brute did not stop. Instead, the crying irritated him.

"Shut up, you little shit!"

He raised his hand to strike even the child.

THUD!

The brute flew backward.

The man on the ground had leaped to his feet and landed a punch on him.

His wife and child ran to him. Astonished that her husband had knocked the brute down, she asked,

"How did you...?"

"My fist moved before I knew it."

The man who had thrown the punch looked just as bewildered.

"Let’s hurry and go."

"Yes, let’s."

The family left, giving the brute a wide berth.

Only after they had gone did the brute come to his senses and get up.

"That bastard! Where did he go? I’ll find him and kill the whole lot of them—the bitch and the brat too. Does anyone know who he was? Tell me!"

He grabbed a bystander by the collar and began terrorizing him.

Then a voice came from the second floor.

"Does this really call for going that far?"

The brute looked up toward the voice.

"Who just opened his fucking mouth?"

I was the one waving from the second-floor window.

The drunken man did not recognize me. Countless low-ranking martial artists had never seen my face.

Behind me, Jo Chunbae whispered that the man was always causing trouble in the marketplace. I could have guessed his usual behavior without being told. Several people in the crowd recognized me, yet none of them warned him.

"I’m asking whether meeting someone’s eyes is reason enough to beat a father in front of his child."

"Who are you to lecture me, you wet-behind-the-ears little shit? Besides, you bastard, I got hit too!"

That had been my doing.

If I had stepped in and punished him myself, the child would have spent a lifetime remembering the sight of both parents being beaten.

So, just as I would move an object through the air, I had used object manipulation through the air to move the man’s body and deliver a punch. I wanted the child to remember a brave father.

"You’re going to slaughter a family because you took one punch? Does this really have to go that far?"

"Come down here! You can fucking die in their place."

"I was just about to come down anyway."

As I leaped down, the brute seized the opportunity to throw a punch at me.

I slipped past his fist, caught his wrist, and twisted it.

CRUNCH!

In an instant, his arm was wrung out like wet laundry.

"Aaaaargh! It hurts! You bastard! You!"

He charged at me like a madman, and without hesitation, I twisted and crushed his other arm as well.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

He screamed that the pain was killing him. Had he not been so drunk, he would already have passed out. The alcohol was keeping him on his feet.

"Exactly. This didn’t call for going this far, did it? Meeting someone’s eyes was no reason to beat him. Taking one punch was no reason to slaughter a family. Getting drunk and acting like a fucking lunatic was no reason to end up with crippled arms, was it? So why the hell did you do it? None of this had to happen."

Instead of begging forgiveness, the man glared at me as though he wanted to kill me. A lifetime spent beating and tormenting others had left him incapable of even a single wise choice, right up to the end. Later, he would regret it and blame the liquor.

"Die!"

When he lunged to headbutt me, I shattered his dantian too. Only then did he lose consciousness.

I had the Cult martial artists on patrol transport him to Yellow Springs Pavilion. I intended to uncover every crime he had committed and send him to prison for the longest possible sentence.

Despite his miserable state, those who knew him looked delighted.

I addressed the onlookers.

"Nowhere in the Cult’s laws does it say that practicing demonic martial arts gives you permission to commit evil. If any Cult martial artist behaves like this again, over there..."

I pointed to the Yellow Springs Pavilion branch across from the tavern.

"Report them there!"

Jo Chunbae began clapping, and everyone joined in with cheers and applause. Without exaggeration, my popularity in Demon Family Village surpassed Father’s.

Jo Chunbae approached with a delighted expression.

"Today’s meal is on me."

Then someone spoke behind me.

"Might I join you for that free meal?"

I turned around. To my surprise, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader stood there.

I looked at Jo Chunbae.

"Refuse, and you’ll be dragged beyond the frontiers. He’s the Wind Heaven Cult Leader, after all."

Jo Chunbae’s eyes widened, and he looked ready to faint. Thanks to me, he had recently hosted several important guests. Now even the Wind Heaven Cult Leader had appeared as a customer.

I sat across from the Wind Heaven Cult Leader at my usual table on the second floor.

"Did you mean what you said earlier? That practitioners of demonic martial arts shouldn’t take evil deeds for granted?"

"Yes."

"That hardly sounds like something the young lord of the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon would say."

"I dislike being bound by convention. Young people are like that these days."

"So I really am old-fashioned."

"Keep young people around you, then. With an open mind. That’s made the Blood Heaven Saber Demon younger lately."

"Has it? Ha ha ha."

As he chuckled heartily, I filled his cup.

"It seems the rumors were wrong, though."

"What rumors?"

"I heard that you never stray even one step from your sacred relics, yet I keep seeing you out and about."

Both his previous visit and this one went against his own rule.

"Perhaps it’s because I trust the leader of the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon more than the leader of the Wind Heaven Cult."

He meant that he trusted Father. Though he said it jokingly, he probably meant it. At the very least, he trusted Father not to stand by and let his sacred relics be stolen within the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon.

I smiled and picked up my chopsticks.

"Please, help yourself."

Since the Wind Heaven Cult Leader ate only fine cuisine, I had expected the food here not to suit his palate. Yet he cleaned his plate. Perhaps he cared less about formalities than I had thought.

"The food is quite good."

"I’m glad you enjoyed it."

After the meal, we drank tea rather than liquor. He said that not only did he dislike drinking liquor with meals, but he always had tea immediately afterward.

"Have you tried performing the Art of Space-Time Transposition?"

"Yes."

"Everyone fails at first, so don’t let it bother you too much."

He assumed I had failed to create a space. He had said that even the fastest first attempt would take several days, so he naturally took my presence here to mean I had failed.

"I succeeded."

"What?"

"The space was wonderful. I think I’m going to become completely absorbed in this martial art."

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader was startled.

"You’ve already performed it?"

"Yes."

"How long did it take?"

"About two double-hours."

He was so astonished that he even let out a short gasp.

"Really?"

His expression said he could not possibly believe it.

"It seems to suit my aptitude."

"Frankly, I can’t believe it."

"Why would I lie to you?"

"Unless you were a martial genius, that would be... No, even a martial genius couldn’t do it in two double-hours!"

Rather than insisting again that it had taken two double-hours, I sipped my tea.

"Is it true?"

I nodded.

"Could you show me later?"

It was hardly polite to distrust someone and press the matter so persistently. But I understood his doubts, so I readily nodded.

"Certainly."

"Thank you."

As though his anxiety were burning him up inside, he drained his cold tea in one gulp.

I waited a moment for him to calm down, then asked quietly,

"What brought you to see me today, anyway?"

"I have a favor to ask."

"Please, go ahead."

"The Demonic Buddha is trying to send me back beyond the frontiers."

"Why?"

"Because of you."

"Because of me?"

"He’s wary of us joining forces. So give me a reason to stay."

I suspected that was not his only reason for coming. How could he have known whether I could provide a justification for his staying? This was an excuse to grow closer to me. There was a way to find out whether I was right.

"What will you give me in return?"

"That’s rather cold, considering our relationship."

"You and I don’t have a ‘relationship’ yet, Cult Leader. Though we have made one deal."

I gave him no opening. Only by showing him how thorough I was could I steer our dealings to my advantage. That was also why I had told him I had opened the space in two double-hours: to give him absolute confidence that he could rely on me.

"What do you want?"

"May I choose one of the sacred relics you brought?"

His expression stiffened at once.

"Have you gone mad?"

I answered calmly, almost as though returning his question.

"Not as mad as you, I imagine, trying to expand into the Central Plains amid all this turmoil after a Demon Supreme’s death."

* * *

I entered his quarters with the Wind Heaven Cult Leader.

He had accepted my proposal. Just as I had expected, he wanted to join forces with me—even at the cost of a precious sacred relic. This was not payment for a favor. It was a gift.

Why was he going to such lengths to ally with me? Something must have changed in his heart.

Inside the room, a shackled man sat with his back to us, gazing at the Thunderous Sound Bell.

I had briefly thought about my failure to rescue him when I took the Blood-Eye Purifying Water. I had assumed I would never meet him again in this life, yet here he was.

"Who is that man?"

As I asked the Wind Heaven Cult Leader, pretending not to know, I noticed the look in his eyes as he regarded the man. It was not the way someone looked at a subordinate or a slave.

Nor did the man offer any greeting when the Wind Heaven Cult Leader entered. Normally, he would have turned around to pay his respects.

I was certain theirs was no ordinary master-servant relationship.

"A subordinate who guards the Thunderous Sound Bell."

"I see."

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader looked over the sacred relics and spoke quietly.

"You must not ask for the Thunderous Sound Bell or the Blood Buddha."

"Of course. So that is the Wind Heaven Cult’s famous Thunderous Sound Bell."

I walked toward it as though seeing it for the first time.

The moment I had taken this bell in my life before regression flashed through my mind. The evil spirit engraved on it seemed to be staring at me, asking, “You again?”

"What do you think, seeing it in person?"

"It’s magnificent."

As I spoke, I glanced down at the shackled man. In truth, he interested me more than the Thunderous Sound Bell. I had used the bell as an excuse to approach because I wanted a closer look at him.

Then the man, who had been sitting with his head lowered, raised it slightly to look at me. Our eyes met through his long, hanging hair. He was far younger than I had imagined, and his gaze was clear.

He lowered his head again. Our eyes had met only briefly, yet something about his gaze was difficult to forget.

"Now, choose."

"I will."

I slowly examined the display stand holding the sacred relics. Of course, I already knew exactly what the relics here were.

I selected one of them.

"Please give me this one."

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader’s expression instantly hardened.

Then I saw it.

Just as the Wind Heaven Cult Leader was about to blurt out a refusal, he flinched and closed his mouth.

Instinctively, I sensed a fact as important as the sacred relic I had chosen.

‘The shackled man sent the Wind Heaven Cult Leader a sound transmission!’