Chapter 29: Chapter 29
Ji Dae-ho wore a bitter expression.
He’d already known about the holes in Jang I-seo’s dantian through the personnel records. But,
“Your dantian is truly ruined. Nine holes, not one. I could hardly believe it even seeing it with my own eyes.”
That body was indeed that body. Jang I-seo breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head away. Whichever side he showed, it wasn’t a body he wanted anyone to see. And he had no desire to discuss the obvious dead end.
But Ji Dae-ho pressed on without reading the room.
“Your internal energy constantly leaks, so it never accumulates beyond a certain point. Without refinement, your meridians are clogged with impurities.”
He knew. Who wouldn’t? It was his own body. He could recite every detail of the Nine-Orifice Body in his sleep.
“Judging by movement alone, you’ve more than enough talent to make a name for yourself under heaven. But your body can’t keep up. No matter how deeply you grasp the principles, you’ll peak at first-rate. Nothing beyond.”
Was this man mocking him? Anger flared, but the moment he saw Ji Dae-ho’s eyes, he realized there was no ridicule in them.
Regret.
Those eyes radiated profound, genuine regret.
Jang I-seo suppressed his irritation and asked coldly.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Come to the Guardian Dragon Hall.”
Jang I-seo’s eyes went round. Come to the Guardian Dragon Hall? Was he telling an adjutant to become his subordinate? An absurd proposition. But Ji Dae-ho continued without batting an eye, entirely serious.
“Taking those arrows means you were ambushed, I assume. That will keep happening. The Slaughterhouse won’t stop hunting, emboldened by the Ma family’s influence.”
Was that something the Guardian Dragon Hall Master, responsible for security, should be saying? Jang I-seo asked in disbelief.
“Then what have you been doing instead of your job? I asked you to get an apology from the Sa brothers, not make me a pincushion. Is this all that comes of trusting you?”
“That apology. I’ll secure it. The moment you join the Guardian Dragon Hall. Right now, if you wish. So come. Become my man, and no one will dare touch you.”
Jang I-seo narrowed his eyes. What that meant was… either that he couldn’t protect Jang I-seo while he remained beside the Seventh Young Master. Or that the Seventh Young Master lacked the power to protect him.
Neither sat well.
“Why? Feeling pity? Because of my body?”
“Because it’s a waste. The Two-Headed Twin Demon Yang-yu rated you the worst, but Yang-yo praised you as the finest. I side with the latter. Your talent is far too precious to rot away. But if you remain at the Seventh Small Palace, you’ll be in constant danger. The Ma family will never let you go.”
This man was sincere. How much had he even seen of him? A hollow laugh rose. He’d heard Ji Dae-ho was eccentric, but seeing it in person exceeded expectations. They said he fixated once interested. But to fixate on this rotting body of all things.
“You overestimate me.”
“Before becoming Hall Master, my job was to assess warriors’ aptitude and assign them to duties. I take a certain pride in that.”
“You weren’t suited for it.”
“Perhaps. But it wouldn’t be a bad arrangement for you. At the very least, you’d be doing far more meaningful work for the cult than what you’re doing now.”
Meaningful work… Perhaps. Uncovering talent might be better than dancing with blades beside a good-for-nothing. Sure. If he were genuinely someone who cared about the Demonic Cult.
Jang I-seo tossed out his reply in a voice stripped of all sincerity.
“Can you cure my body? Then I’ll consider it.”
Ji Dae-ho nodded enthusiastically, eyes blazing with conviction.
“I’ll search. I’ll go to the Sixth Elder, the Poison-Born Demon Physician, and find an answer.”
“I suppose my question was too difficult. Even if Hua Tuo rose from the dead, this body couldn’t be fixed. I’m telling you to give up.”
“Even if it can’t be cured. There’s still much you could do here. You could train talented youths. Research martial arts. Anything…”
Jang I-seo shook his head.
“I want exactly one thing. For the Seventh Young Master to become Young Cult Leader. I’ll decline your mediation with the Slaughterhouse. I’ll handle that myself.”
“You…”
Jang I-seo rose from the bed and dressed, pulling on his upper garment, wrist guard, and belongings neatly folded beside him.
“I appreciate your concern. But further interference is unwelcome. I am the Seventh Young Master’s adjutant and his man. I’ll treat today’s conversation as though it never happened. Don’t follow me. I’d like a moment alone.”
He performed a fist-and-palm salute and headed for the door. Ji Dae-ho drew a deep breath and spoke to his back.
“Whenever you change your mind, tell me. Your seat will always be waiting.”
Creeeak.
Jang I-seo answered with silence and stepped outside.
*
‘Sorry, but the work that means something to me isn’t in the Guardian Dragon Hall.’
Jang I-seo glanced back at the closed door and walked out.
Ji Dae-ho had called it a forward outpost, but what he saw upon exiting was far too impressive for that label.
High ceilings. Tiger engravings crafted by master hands. A scale rivaling any grand estate.
Naturally, age showed. Worn spots and cobwebs in the corners. But still, impressive.
“Must have had quite a garrison stationed here once. The floor’s especially worn.”
He crouched and ran his hand across the surface. Cracks and depressions dotted the stone, the kind of wear produced by decades of countless people running across it.
“During wartime, there can’t have been a busier place than this.”
The wars between the Righteous, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions spanned centuries of Gangho history. This outpost had likely been built over a hundred years ago.
“Should’ve asked for directions out.”
And the old man actually didn’t follow him out. Jang I-seo smirked and wandered the corridors aimlessly. The building was far larger than expected, and before long he’d strayed well beyond where he’d started.
Pushing open a cobwebbed door, he found what looked like a kitchen. From the condition of the utensils, it hadn’t been used in decades either.
Exploring further, he spotted a back door leading outside. Jang I-seo walked over and pushed it open.
A breathtaking sight filled his vision.
“That’s…”
A colossal, majestic cliff face rising from atop a low hill. Embedded in its center, an enormous iron door roughly five zhang, fifteen meters, tall.
And carved into the wall above, characters large enough to read from a great distance.
The cliff-carved labyrinth. The Heavenly Demon Palace.
This was the place. The heart of Cheonsan. The residence of the greatest under heaven, the Heavenly Demon.
Thump, thump.
Just looking at it made his heart swell, loneliness surging like a tide.
Naturally. The era of peace was now in its nineteenth year, but for over a decade before that, the man beyond those doors had been the Central Plains’ greatest enemy, a figure who made the world tremble.
“Wish I could have gone with Mao.”
The regret itched. Merely glimpsing the interior of the Heavenly Demon Palace would have been an intelligence coup of the highest order. Instead, the Slaughterhouse had cost him that chance.
‘A gift demands a return gift. You squandered your chance to settle this with a single apology. Wait. I’ll repay you, one way or another.’
Jang I-seo let the cold edge flash and vanish. Opportunities would keep coming. No need to rush.
He was about to turn back with that positive thought.
“Hm?”
Jang I-seo stopped, then turned around again.
He dropped into a crouch. Out in the knee-high weeds, something drew his eye.
‘A well?’
Yes. A well with a closed lid, surrounded by undergrowth. A well that radiated an inexplicable sense of unease, ringed entirely by dense vegetation.
Drawn toward it, Jang I-seo pushed the lid open with a grind. Dust erupted like foam. Impossible to guess how long it had been untouched.
Peering inside, he found a bone-dry floor. Not particularly deep. A well that had simply run its course.
Nothing worth a second glance.
But,
Jang I-seo surveyed the surroundings and leaped in without hesitation.
He pressed his hand against the wall, calling up old memories. One by one, feeling for each point. And,
‘This is…!’
Horror washed over him.
* * *
Meanwhile, Mao, who had arrived at the Heavenly Demon Palace’s main gate earlier, stood thoroughly cowed, swallowing dry repeatedly.
With good reason.
First, this massive blue-green thing that had thwarted him every time. The colossal iron door that refused to budge no matter how hard he pushed. Just looking at it made him dizzy.
And second.
“Did you come alone?”
A figure dressed entirely in white from head to toe, like a sorcerer. Not a trace of facial hair, face powdered ghostly white like a demon.
The one who served the Cult Leader, resided in the Heavenly Demon Palace, and reigned at the very summit alongside the Right Emissary as a First Grade Ghost.
The Radiant Left Emissary, Baek-ya.
That was why.
“No. I’m alone. I mean, yes. That’s right, alone.”
Mao stammered, trying desperately to hide how cowed he felt. He stole a sideways glance at the Radiant Left Emissary.
How could the man look exactly as he had decades ago without aging? Given that he’d been a notorious warlord generations past, Mao genuinely suspected he might be a demon.
“You have one chance.”
The Radiant Left Emissary showed no further interest. His voice carried no emotion whatsoever. He gestured toward the door with a loose sleeve that revealed only his long white nails.
“Begin.”
Since you’re here, do your business and go.
Mao nodded and planted himself before the door. He tilted his head all the way back. Mao yielded to no one in build, but this door was absurdly oversized.
“Huu…”
Exhaling a long breath, Mao pondered.
The door of the Heavenly Demon Palace that tested the first qualification.
Every other heir besides himself had already thrown these doors open. And when they first opened it, they received a great gift and homework from their father, the Heavenly Demon.
The next breakfast, they’d bring their completed assignment and receive another corresponding gift. That was how the heirs had grown stronger by leaps and bounds.
“Everyone except genius Mao.”
But that was ancient history now.
Why?
“Because I’ve grasped a secret technique.”
At his grandiose declaration, the Radiant Left Emissary’s eyebrows twitched. Secret technique?
“More.”
Mao spread his feet shoulder-width apart with a deadly serious expression.
“The.”
Left hand forward. Right fist clenched tight, drawn back.
“Bet…”
His waist twisted.
“TER-!”
VWOOM!
An extraordinary heat erupted from Mao’s body. The Radiant Left Emissary’s eyebrows climbed even higher.
And the moment his fist shot forward.
KWAAAAANG!
The doors of the Heavenly Demon Palace swung wide open.