Chapter 75 - I'll Accept a Drink

Together with Jo Chunbae, I crossed the final security checkpoint into the inner compound. They checked our identities and searched us again, as they had already done twice, and reinspected the various ingredients he had brought.

Jo Chunbae was stiff with fear. The farther we went into the inner compound, the more powerful and frightening the warriors standing guard became, until he could barely breathe. Only after we were past the checkpoint did he relax.

"Whew. I've never been this nervous in my life."

"You needn't be so tense. I'm here, aren't I?"

"Of course. If not for you, Pavilion Master, how could I ever have come this far? This is my first time in the inner compound."

We were headed to the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's residence.

"What's your first impression of the inner compound?"

"I've been too frightened to get a proper look."

"There's nothing to fear. In this whole vast place, very few people work as hard as you do."

"Oh, please don't say that."

Jo Chunbae waved his hands, insisting it was nonsense, but the pleased corners of his mouth rose with every wave.

"I don't know what I've done to deserve such good fortune. The Second Young Master visits my tavern, and thanks to him I get to cook for people I could never have met even in my dreams. I never imagined I'd even come to the inner compound."

I had brought Jo Chunbae today to cook for us while I drank with the Wind Heaven Cult Leader, but my real purpose was to show him around the inner compound. He had once mentioned in passing that he wanted to see the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon's inner compound, and today I intended to grant that wish.

My personal cook, Cook Im, had lately been taking the other cooks to provide meals for the Wind Heaven Cult's demonic martial artists waiting in the outer compound, so I had ample reason to bring Jo Chunbae.

"I must have accumulated a great deal of merit in my past life."

"You must have saved Murim in your past life."

"Even if I didn't save all of Murim, I'm certain I beat at least one Orthodox Martial Alliance elder who invaded the Cult to death with an iron ladle."

I laughed cheerfully at his joke. Just then, some inner-compound warriors passing by greeted me respectfully. Jo Chunbae couldn't even meet the eyes of those burly, intimidating men.

"Now that I'm here, I'm pleased, but frightened too."

"That's why I established a local branch in Demon Family Village. This isn't a place people can easily visit. So keep an eye on the villagers and the branch, and be sure to let me know if there's anything I should hear."

"Yes, I will."

At last, we reached the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's residence.

"You've come?"

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader welcomed me warmly. I had promised to treat him to drinks once the new Soul-Seizing Demon was chosen. He was pleased that Cheong Seon had won, and since I had even declined a sacred relic, he appeared to be in excellent spirits.

"This is the proprietor of Merry Life Inn whom you met last time. Rather than bring cold dishes to serve you, I wanted us to enjoy his cooking fresh and hot, so I brought him along. I'll leave it to you."

"I'll put my very soul into these dishes."

"I don't particularly want to eat your soul, so just cook as you usually do."

"Yes!"

While Jo Chunbae prepared the food, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader and I went into the room.

"Congratulations on having a Demon Supreme as your disciple."

"I could never have accomplished it without you, Second Young Master. Thank you."

"It was thanks to how well you taught your disciple."

"Let's call it our victory."

We enjoyed our victory, exchanging these kind words. I had known Cheong Seon would win. Once a master of the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's caliber intervened, he would have secured victory by whatever means necessary. His opponent was far too formidable for the first disciple, Yang Do, to produce an upset.

Before long, Jo Chunbae's dishes and the wine arrived. The Wind Heaven Cult Leader tasted the food and was satisfied.

"The cook is quite skilled."

"I'll pass that along exactly as you said it. He'll be pleased."

We enjoyed the food and wine. Jo Chunbae must have made a special effort, because his cooking was superb today.

"Have you met with Father?"

"I'm to see him in the next few days."

"When you do, emphasize this: you've taken Cheong Seon as your disciple and will make her a stronger Soul-Seizing Demon than her predecessor. That is what matters most to Father."

"I understand. Thank you for telling me."

"Not at all."

As our drinking session grew livelier, I casually asked the Wind Heaven Cult Leader,

"May I offer the shackled gentleman over there a drink?"

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader flinched in surprise.

"Why do you want to give him wine?"

"There's no particular reason. I've seen him several times on my visits to you, and on a happy day like this, I'd like to offer him a cup."

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader smiled.

"He can't touch alcohol at all."

"Is that so?"

It was then that the shackled man spoke.

"I'll accept a drink."

I was startled, but the Wind Heaven Cult Leader was even more surprised. His expression slowly hardened. From that change he failed to conceal, I could guess that the shackled man had never once accepted wine from him.

"Then let me pour you a cup."

Pretending not to notice the Wind Heaven Cult Leader, who looked ready to explode, I rose from my seat. I took a cup and the wine bottle over to the shackled man, sat down in front of him, and held out the cup.

He lifted his bowed head and accepted it. I slowly filled his cup. I said nothing else, nor did I use sound transmission. I merely poured him a drink.

With his head bowed, the shackled man accepted the wine and drank it. Then he returned the cup to me and poured wine for me in turn. I accepted it too and drained it in one satisfying draught.

Until now, we had only exchanged glances. At last, we had shared a drink. We had drunk together without exchanging a single word, but that was enough for me.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader, who had watched us, seemed truly angry. Otherwise, he would never have said this.

"Do you know what his specialty is? He can sniff things out like a dog. He's astonishingly good at scenting anyone who comes to steal a sacred relic. Well? Don't those shackles look like a dog's leash? Hahahaha."

After those words, closer to contempt than a joke, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader laughed loudly. His laughter was the only sound in the room.

Then came silence.

His remark had been a clear misstep, an insult to the shackled man. I didn't respond with a clever quip that would give him a chance to recover from it. His rashness had handed me a gift of sorts.

I returned to my seat and poured wine into his cup, which he had emptied in the meantime.

"Here, have a drink."

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader gulped down the wine without a word. The shackled man sat with his head bowed as usual, motionless as a fossil.

Watching him, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader pressed his teeth into his lip. At least where the shackled man was concerned, he could neither conceal nor control his emotions. Much like the Blood Heaven Saber Demon in matters involving the Single Flower Sword Supreme.

I said my farewells and left earlier than I had originally planned. I had offered the shackled man wine and drunk what he poured for me, so I had accomplished the purpose of today's visit.

* * *

After Geom Mugeuk left, the atmosphere was chilly. Though the Wind Heaven Cult Leader acknowledged that he had been wrong, he was strangely upset. He didn't want to apologize, but forced himself to do so.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

The shackled man said nothing in response to his apology.

"I said I'm sorry."

When even his second apology elicited no response, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader finally exploded.

"Damn it! What do you think you're doing? I'm your master. You're my subordinate. Am I not allowed to say even that much? I've indulged you all this time, and now you've gotten too full of yourself, haven't you? Do you want to die? Is that it?"

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader shouted. Yet the voice inside him was berating him.

'What are you doing? What have you done right to justify all this shouting?'

The more he reproached himself, the louder his voice became.

"How much have I put up with all this time? Five chances to speak to me without deference? What lunatic gives a subordinate opportunities like that? I did! Only someone like me would do that! And you don't even appreciate it. You said you couldn't drink, didn't you? You said you'd rather die than drink! Yet you accept the Second Young Master's wine? And right after I said you couldn't drink?"

However angry he was, he should have stopped there. But the Wind Heaven Cult Leader couldn't contain his rising fury and crossed a line he should never have crossed.

The next instant, the space around them changed. It was not the place with the blue sky and fields that he always opened. They stood in the middle of a battlefield strewn with corpses and running with blood. The stench of blood assaulted their noses, making it difficult to remain there even for a moment.

"A place that suits you perfectly. From now on, it will be the only place you ever see!"

Above all, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader couldn't rein in his anger because, from beginning to end, he had been making this entire scene on his own. He had made the mistake, and he had gotten angry. The shackled man hadn't said a word. He had merely accepted a drink.

'No, he was the one who did wrong first. He shouldn't have accepted that wine. Didn't he say it himself? That I'm petty and greedy? If he knows that, why is he doing this?'

Then, as if he had read those inner thoughts, the shackled man spoke with perfect courtesy.

"I was thoughtless. I apologize."

His manner was so courteous that the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's heart sank. It began to pound with the fear that he might never again hear the shackled man speak openly and honestly to him.

'This isn't right. Apologize, now. Hurry!'

He shouted inwardly.

But the words of apology wouldn't come. He, too, had accumulated many grievances.

'Why should I apologize? I'm his master. I'm the Wind Heaven Cult Leader!'

They had argued many times, but never had they experienced a conflict this severe. He was at a loss as to what to do.

Had he been dealing with anyone else, he could have responded far more coolly. If it had been the Demonic Buddha, he would have shouted outwardly while calculating everything inwardly. But he couldn't do that with the shackled man.

The mountains of corpses and sea of blood before his eyes reflected the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's heart. He agonized over it again and again, but in the end, he could not apologize. Oblivious to his feelings, the wolves that had caught the scent of blood merely howled, their cries sounding cruel to him.

* * *

From a corner of the courtyard at the Blood Heaven Saber Demon's residence, I watched Seo Daeryong train. He had moved beyond the basics and was now practicing moves, and his skill with the saber was different from before.

Back at Merry Life Inn, I had told Seo Daeryong that although he was starting late, he would learn with greater dedication, and so he would be fine. My words had become reality.

He didn't neglect a single movement. And, as they say, intelligent people learn martial arts well too: Seo Daeryong was improving by leaps and bounds.

Just then, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon came over and stood beside me.

"Have you come to watch your subordinate suffer?"

"He suffers enough during the day. I don't have such a nasty hobby."

"Then what brings you here at this hour?"

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Come inside."

Leaving Seo Daeryong to his training, I entered the Blood Heaven Saber Demon's residence. I admired the books filling his wall shelves.

"You have so many books."

"Go on. Add what you really want to say."

"They don't suit you."

"They're for decoration, not reading."

"They don't suit you even as decoration."

"You brat! If you counted every book I read in my youth, they'd number as many as the people the Cult Leader has killed."

"Then you must have become a great scholar."

After exchanging these jokes, we got down to business.

"What did you want to discuss?"

"There's someone whose shackles I want to remove."

Startled by this unexpected remark, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon misunderstood.

"Have you found someone you want to release from the underground prison?"

"No. It's someone around me."

This time, he took it figuratively.

"Yes, everyone goes through life wearing some sort of shackles."

"What are yours, sir?"

"Mine..."

He seemed about to say something, then swallowed it and asked,

"Who is this person?"

"A subordinate of the Wind Heaven Cult Leader."

"Oh dear."

His expression already showed that he could see the difficulties ahead.

"If you want him, he must be a good man. Which means there's a strong chance the Wind Heaven Cult Leader values him too."

"Exactly."

"Does the Wind Heaven Cult Leader know you want him?"

"He doesn't."

"Have you discussed it with the subordinate?"

"No, I haven't said a single word to him about it yet. Still, I believe we understand each other's hearts."

"Hearts? You believe? Now this really is one mountain of trouble after another."

When I considered whom to consult about the shackled man, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon was the first person who came to mind. Even if he couldn't give me an answer, I felt that talking to him might help me find one myself. That was the kind of person he was to me.

"That's why I've come to you, isn't it? Please tell me how to do it."

"Did you leave a solution with me for safekeeping?"

I smiled broadly and replied with perfect confidence.

"Yes! Give me what I left with you. Show me a way through all these mountains of trouble."