Chapter 74 - Trust Your Instincts

“Lately, I've been looking for a strategist.”

This was what I had come to tell Sima Myeong today.

“Am I not enough for you?”

I smiled at his joke and replied, “Father and I are both rather greedy men, aren't we? He would never share you with me, Strategist Sima. You know my father well enough.”

Sima Myeong avoided answering with a smile.

“That's why I came to ask your advice. I wanted to ask what sort of strategist I should look for.”

For a while, he said nothing, toying with his wine cup. He looked calm, but his mind would be working rapidly.

From my reasons for coming to how much he should tell me, and what consequences his words might have for himself, the Cult, or the succession struggle—he would be sorting through all those thoughts.

I didn't know what made a good strategist. But experience had taught me one thing.

A good strategist ultimately made good choices.

As far as I knew, Sima Myeong was a better strategist than anyone else. He would surely give me the right answer.

He drank another cup of wine. By the time I refilled it, he had finished thinking.

He gave me a meaningful look and asked, “Perhaps you've already made up your mind?”

That question carried an important meaning. I could tell that Sima Myeong already knew about the shackled man. He even knew that this was the person I had in mind.

What he was really asking me was this:

—Are you considering that man from the Wind Heaven Cult as your strategist?

Perhaps that was only natural. There was no way Chief Strategist Sima Myeong wouldn't know about the shackled man serving as the Wind Heaven Cult's strategist.

I had been visiting the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's quarters lately under the pretext of investigating the theft. Now I had suddenly asked to meet and said I wanted a strategist. Naturally, he would have thought of that man.

“There is someone I'm considering, but I'm not certain yet.”

He would never answer if I asked outright, so I posed the question with my eyes.

—May I take him as my strategist?

Sima Myeong looked at me, withholding his answer. The most important words of today's meeting were about to come.

“No one can be certain when it comes to winning someone over. The results only emerge after a long process. So, for now, trust your instincts, Second Young Master.”

Trust my instincts.

It was ordinary advice that anyone could have given.

But here, it meant something different. He knew I had the shackled man in mind, yet told me to trust my instincts. In the end, he was advising me to accept him.

He would never have said that if the shackled man posed a threat to the Cult. It meant the man's abilities had earned Sima Myeong's recognition.

Sima Myeong wasn't one of my people, but at least his loyalty to the Cult ran deep. Given the possibility that I might become the Heavenly Demon, he wouldn't recommend just anyone.

“Yes. I'll trust my instincts.”

As I raised my cup, Sima Myeong nodded once, then joined me in a hearty toast.

All he had told me today was to trust my own instincts.

Should Father or a Demon Supreme later question him about recommending the shackled man to me, he would be beyond reproach. The same applied even to me. I couldn't demand to know why he had recommended the man. Sima Myeong had merely told me to trust my instincts; he hadn't recommended anyone.

We drank for two full double-hours.

We talked about all manner of things, but Sima Myeong never lost a shred of composure or let a single careless word slip.

* * *

Several days passed.

Outwardly, they were no different from any other days, but behind the scenes, the Demon Supremes were engaged in all manner of scheming and political maneuvering.

And today, the fateful day had finally arrived.

“They must be in the middle of voting now.”

I nodded at Seo Daeryong's words.

“Probably.”

The Demon Supremes were meeting now to decide who would become the next Demon Supreme.

I didn't know whether the Blood Heaven Saber Demon or the Single Flower Sword Supreme had persuaded the others. I hadn't visited them to ask, and neither had come to tell me.

“You're involved in this too, aren't you, Pavilion Master?”

I readily nodded.

“Does it hurt your feelings that there's so much you don't know, even though you're my right-hand man?”

“No, I'd rather never know. I absolutely won't sulk over being left out of things like this. Please keep doing them without telling me. Even if you unite the martial world, I'd be perfectly happy to hear about it through rumors the next day!”

“You've always been this funny, haven't you? You were just pretending to be gloomy when we first met.”

“Now even I'm confused about what sort of person I am.”

“Being cheerful is good. She'll like that better too.”

“She?”

“That junior colleague you like.”

“You mean the woman even I'd forgotten about?”

Seo Daeryong nodded as though he had given up denying it.

“Thanks to you, Pavilion Master, we'll end up married.”

“Then you'll have to eat together first. Ask her to have a meal with you.”

“Why bother someone who's busy?”

“What does being busy have to do with eating? Putting that kind of pressure on yourself from the start ruins things that might otherwise work out. Just approach her as someone she can comfortably see often.”

I noticed a faint gleam in Seo Daeryong's eyes.

“Does seeing each other often really change anything?”

“Of course it does. But don't become too comfortable. This is the most important part: don't let her think you're a pushover!”

“How do I avoid looking like a pushover? Should I give her a fierce stare?”

“Good heavens!”

When I sighed, Seo Daeryong hastily added, “I'm joking. Just joking.”

“Knowing you're not makes it even sadder.”

“I'm not that clueless.”

I never got to determine whether that was true. A subordinate rushed in to report the voting results.

“The results are in.”

“How did it go?”

“It was a tie.”

“A tie? There are seven Demon Supremes. How could it be a tie?”

“Apparently, one of them abstained.”

“Ah, abstaining was an option too.”

Which Demon Supreme had voted for whom wasn't made public. It seemed that either the Blood Heaven Saber Demon or the Single Flower Sword Supreme had only managed to persuade half of them.

“And?”

“They reportedly decided to settle it with a martial contest between the first and third disciples. It will take place tomorrow.”

“So it comes to this after all.”

They probably hadn't intended it, but the decision would ultimately be made through a martial contest. From the Western Illusion Formation's perspective, this was actually a good outcome. Putting the more skilled candidate in the Demon Supreme's seat would leave no room for complaints.

After the subordinate left, Seo Daeryong asked, “Who do you think will win?”

“Why do you ask?”

“So I can go to the marketplace and place a bet. For someone on a meager salary, this is the chance to turn his life around.”

“Bet everything you own on Cheong Seon!”

“Why the third disciple?”

“You're not betting on the third disciple. You're betting on the Wind Heaven Cult Leader. No, to be precise, on his desperation. He won't let his disciple lose. Where are you going?”

“To mortgage my house!”

Seo Daeryong opened the door and started out, then stopped.

“Aren't you going to stop me?”

“You won't gamble anyway.”

“How do you know?”

“Gamblers chase sudden riches. They don't think about changing their circumstances the way you do.”

Seo Daeryong grinned and closed the door.

“I'm really going now. Off to have a meal with a fierce stare.”

I walked over to the window.

Martial artists hurried to and fro across the training grounds, where dim twilight had settled. Having heard the voting results, the various organizations would be watching tomorrow's outcome closely.

Cheong Seon's victory mattered, but the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Single Flower Sword Supreme mattered more to me. Without them, we could never have come this far.

'Thank you, elders.'

* * *

The martial contest took place the following day.

The seven Demon Supremes, their subordinates, and all the Western Illusion Formation's ghost sorcerers gathered around the fighting platform. Spectators other than the Demon Supremes' direct subordinates were allowed to watch this match, so the Wind Heaven Cult Leader and I took our seats as well. Father, however, did not attend.

The first disciple, Yang Do, and the third disciple, Cheong Seon, stepped onto the platform.

Cheers erupted from the Western Illusion Formation's ghost sorcerers at their appearance.

They still fell far short of the late Soul-Seizing Demon, but one of them would become the next Demon Supreme and lead the Western Illusion Formation. Its fate would diverge depending on who that person was.

Would Yang Do, the established favorite, win? Or would it be Cheong Seon, who had learned martial arts from the Wind Heaven Cult Leader?

Expectations favored Yang Do by roughly seven to three. Although Cheong Seon had become the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's disciple, she had had too little time to learn his martial arts.

Neither Yang Do nor Cheong Seon had been taught the Art of Space-Time Transposition, so we could watch them fight. Otherwise, it would have been the most anticlimactic contest imaginable. Both would have vanished before our eyes, only reappearing once the outcome was decided.

There were no courteous greetings between them.

“You cowardly bitch. You sold out our master.”

“Dragging our master into this is itself selling him out, you stupid senior brother.”

The contest began with those icy insults. Both knew their futures and their lives were at stake, and neither showed any mercy.

Black smoke conjured by Yang Do engulfed Cheong Seon, while her soul-seizing sorcery invaded his mind. Ghostly wails rang out, and a haunted wind blew.

A black monster sprang from the floor to drag its opponent down, while a red hand burst out of thin air to tear its opponent's head off.

Though this was a fight between disciples rather than Demon Supremes, it was fiercer and more powerful than expected. Everyone was startled, having expected little.

KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOM!

The earth shook with a deafening roar, and thunder even sounded from the clear sky.

The demonic martial artists watching despaired as they thought:

How on earth could they defend against those moves?

This fight between his disciples alone made it clear why the orthodox factions had considered the Soul-Seizing Demon the most difficult opponent to handle. One move after another emerged with no obvious way to counter it.

Everyone held their breath.

No one looked down on them for throwing hidden weapons or rolling across the floor.

A black evil spirit sprang out to take an incoming hidden weapon in the fighter's place, and even while they rolled, ghost qi poured from their hands. Blood that melted the floor surged at the opponent, while a shimmering haze tried to tear both of the opponent's arms off.

They employed every means at their disposal in a desperate, brutal struggle. It wouldn't have seemed strange if one had bitten out the other's throat. The demonic martial artists watching were swept up in intense emotion.

Then, all at once!

The ghostly wailing that had sounded throughout the fight stopped.

The gray smoke swirling madly around them vanished, revealing the two standing face-to-face.

Everyone knew the fight was finally over. But they couldn't yet tell who had won.

Yang Do spoke first.

“That last move?”

“A lethal demonic technique I learned from my new master.”

“I've known since we were children... what a fucking bitch you are.”

“Then you must know very well that I'll become an even greater Soul-Seizing Demon than our late master.”

Leaving him standing there, Cheong Seon walked toward the gathered ghost sorcerers. She addressed them in a clear, ringing voice.

“And that will make our Western Illusion Formation the greatest of the Eight Demons!”

The instant she finished speaking—

SPURT-SPURT-SPURT!

Blood sprayed like fountains from the first disciple Yang Do's mouth, nose, and ears. His blood vessels ruptured throughout his body, and he collapsed to the floor.

No one had expected Cheong Seon to kill the first disciple so brutally, and silence fell for an instant. Then cheers erupted, shaking the entire venue.

WAAAAAAH!

Cheong Seon slowly approached the seats of the seven Demon Supremes.

She respectfully cupped her fist in her palm.

“My greetings to you. I am Cheong Seon.”

Those who had voted for her were smiling; those who hadn't wore rigid expressions.

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon rose from his seat and shouted on their behalf, “The Western Illusion Formation has a new master!”

Everyone cheered at his cry.

It was the moment a new Soul-Seizing Demon was born.

Cheong Seon looked at the Wind Heaven Cult Leader and respectfully saluted him with cupped hands.

Then she turned to me and offered a greeting.

But she didn't spare even a glance in Sa Ujong's direction.

Perhaps he had hoped for at least a furtive exchange of looks; Sa Ujong appeared deeply disappointed. For some time now, his life had stopped going the way he wanted.