Chapter 77: Chapter 77
– Wolha Village, Seventh Small Palace.
CLANG! CLAANG!
Accompanied by an ear-piercing noise, the unfinished construction of the main gate was still underway.
A massive cloth covered the exterior, hiding the details, but they were clearly building an iron fortress. The sheer size of the wall alone was overwhelming.
At a rough estimate, the length alone spanned about fifteen meters.
Standing right in front of it, one had to tilt their head far back just to see the top.
“Formation mechanisms are like intricately interlocking gears. Even the slightest misalignment will prevent them from activating. So stack them carefully. Very carefully!”
Inside, under Jegal Gwi-ryong’s supervision, Yong-tae and the rest of the Black Dragon Faction were working diligently.
Perhaps having grown accustomed to the work, they carried out their tasks without complaint, standing firm.
“Have some of this while you work.”
Chwi Hong-ran had visited them, bringing snacks for the workers.
“Kahaha! Thank you for the food, miss!”
“Proprietress! We’re always grateful for the food.”
Yong-tae and Mae-gi, their faces drenched in sweat, plopped down on the ground and devoured the prepared meat fritters and cold tea.
Watching them, Chwi Hong-ran let out a hollow laugh and surveyed the bamboo grove with empty eyes.
It had been roughly ten days since Jang I-seo and Mao departed.
It was about time for them to return.
The silence was profoundly disheartening.
Knowing that Jang I-seo hadn’t been in good condition right up until his departure made her even more anxious.
Please, let nothing have gone wrong. Please appear at that crossroad with a bright smile.
She had repeated this to herself hundreds of times, pushing away dark thoughts.
Had her feelings reached them?
FWOOSH.
A warmer breeze than usual blew through the bamboo grove.
Soon, two figures approached from the distant forest path. Covering her mouth, Chwi Hong-ran let out a small gasp.
“Ah…”
Yong-tae and Mae-gi also sensed their presence and turned their heads.
“Huh?”
“Uh…”
It was them.
“We’re back!”
Mao, the tall, handsome young master, striding forward with the confidence of a triumphant hero returning home.
And behind him, Jang I-seo, offering his usual gentle smile.
On that day when the bamboo leaves scattered in the breeze.
They had finally returned.
“T-the Seventh Young Master is back!”
“Senior Brother!”
Color flooded back into their previously pale eyes, and bright smiles of pure joy bloomed on their faces.
“Y-you brats! You’re supposed to be eating, where do you think you’re going!”
Leaving the bewildered Jegal Gwi-ryong behind, Yong-tae and his men dropped what they were eating and bolted toward them.
Mao placed a hand on his hip and shouted.
“The genius returns!”
They had finally returned.
To the Seventh Small Palace.
*
With Mao and Jang I-seo’s return, the Seventh Small Palace bustled with life for the first time in a while.
Over drinks, Yong-tae and Mae-gi enthusiastically poured out everything they had learned, while Jegal Gwi-ryong unleashed a storm of criticism, claiming they still had a long way to go.
Jang I-seo listened in silence, and Mao, laughing uproariously, boasted about how incredible he had been, asking if they knew just how amazing he was.
Before they knew it, time had flown by, and the sun was beginning to set.
Jegal Gwi-ryong and the Black Dragon Faction retired to their lodgings at Chiseonru, and Mao went to bed early.
Jang I-seo and Chwi Hong-ran naturally took a stroll before moving to the second floor of the annex.
“I didn’t know you had decorated the place this much.”
Unlike the empty space from before, the annex was now furnished with an elegant, antique charm.
A sigh of admiration escaped him the moment he saw it. It wasn’t crude; the neat decorations and potted plants clearly reflected his own tastes.
“I had some free time while waiting…”
As she confessed with a flushed face, Jang I-seo smiled his thanks and patted her shoulder. She hadn’t needed to go this far.
Her kindness made him feel unnecessarily apologetic.
“I prepared an office for you over here.”
Hong-ran guided him to the left room on the second floor. Stepping inside, he found a cozy, well-decorated space with a table in the center, perfectly sized for a conversation among four or five people.
She entered first, pulled out the chair at the head of the table, and stood politely to the side, waiting.
Originally, Jang I-seo would have felt uncomfortable with such excessive treatment.
But seeing as how he had grown accustomed to it, he must have spent quite a long time with her.
Jang I-seo chuckled and took his seat, and she sat down beside him.
Looking at her wavering eyes, he immediately knew what she wanted to hear first.
“Fortunately.”
Jang I-seo broke the ice first, laying her worries to rest.
“My life is no longer in danger.”
“Ah…”
“I caused you to worry. I’m sorry.”
“It’s… it’s nothing…”
Chwi Hong-ran forced back her tears and lowered her head.
Seeing this, Jang I-seo vaguely grasped how anxiously she must have waited.
Having a colleague who cared for him this much was truly a blessing.
“Then, are you truly alright now?”
“Look. I’m perfectly fine.”
Jang I-seo smiled broadly and rolled up his sleeve. Flawless, clean, fair skin was revealed, completely healed.
“Thank goodness. Truly…”
“I got lucky. I never dreamed I’d live to see the day I’d benefit from the Cult Leader’s grace.”
Jang I-seo smiled warmly. Hong-ran felt her heart flutter and involuntarily swallowed hard.
It wasn’t simply because she was happy to see him.
How should she put it? He felt different from before. She had only looked into his eyes, yet her hands and feet trembled as if a prey animal was instinctively fearing its natural predator, struck by an overwhelming sense of pressure.
She couldn’t have known yet, but this was because Jang I-seo had gestated the Heavenly Demon Ghost, the very essence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, within him.
*
The gift from Cult Leader Jin U-gwang: the Heavenly Demon Ghost.
Though it was still a dormant, fetal entity, she had mastered a high-tier demonic art and instinctively sensed its aura.
‘Do the cultists know? That the Master is looking down upon them in silence, stirring up a solemn wind?’
And that it might one day become a massive typhoon that would sweep them all away without them even knowing why.
More than just a savior, she wanted to watch the path he would walk as a fellow human being. She wanted to see with her own eyes what kind of change he could bring to this corrupt and diseased Demonic Cult, even if he had once walked the righteous path.
Preferably, as someone walking beside him…
‘What am I thinking right now…!’
Hong-ran stole a glance at him, violently shook off her swelling emotions, and let out a sigh to dispel them.
“I trust nothing major happened?”
She replied in a composed tone to Jang I-seo’s question.
“Yes. While you were away, there were no incidents in Wolha Village. Perhaps due to the aftermath of blocking the Slaughterhouse, the number of people causing trouble has noticeably decreased.”
“That makes sense. Even if it doesn’t look like it, the ears of Cheonsan are sharp.”
However, contrary to his words, Jang I-seo’s expression was grim.
“Do you have something on your mind?”
“It’s going to get rowdy again soon.”
How long had it been since the Slaughterhouse issue was resolved? But there was more than enough reason for it.
“The Cult Leader bestowed the Hundred Commander’s Seal upon the Seventh Young Master.”
“What? The Hundred Commander’s Seal… isn’t that a divine token held only by the First Young Master and the Second Young Master?”
“Exactly.”
When Jang I-seo nodded, Chwi Hong-ran was startled.
The seven heirs acknowledged by the Cult Leader.
The so-called Seven Young Masters.
Among them, the three considered the most promising candidates for Young Cult Leader were granted special authority by the Cult Leader.
That authority was the Seal, which allowed them to build their own forces.
Thus, each of them possessed their own faction.
First, the Moon Mad Ten Ghosts, ten silver-masked masters serving Sa Hae-ryeong.
They were all monsters among monsters, originating from the most brutal Mad Dragon Hall, who had once roamed the battlefields alongside Narak, the former adjutant.
But they were only ten men.
While sufficient as swords, their numbers were not enough to openly threaten other organizations at the forefront.
The real threats were the other two.
‘The First Young Master’s Black Fire Guards and the Second Young Master’s Hundred Strange Brigade.’
Both consisted of a hundred men each, fully capable of easily dismantling most organizations within the Demonic Cult on their own.
In short, they were walking incarnations of power.
And now, the Seventh Young Master had gained the exact same authority to form a faction of one hundred.
“Then isn’t this a good thing for us?”
She was right. That was likely why the Cult Leader had given it as a gift.
However.
“Joy is often followed by disaster. Good things always invite interference.”
“What do you mean by that…”
“At a time when the hierarchy for selecting the Young Cult Leader is becoming clear, the Cult Leader bestows the Hundred Commander’s Seal upon the Seventh Young Master. It’s only natural that everyone’s attention will be drawn to him. They’ll probably think it’s favoritism. And what happens then?”
At Jang I-seo’s words, she swallowed quietly.
“Are you saying the First Young Master will make a move?”
“Definitely.”
Jang I-seo was certain.
Based on his investigations, the First Young Master, Cheon Mu-gi, was a man who masked his intentions with calmness, harboring dozens of vipers in his belly.
Until now, he had left Mao alone because he was a mere troublemaker.
The moment he thought Mao was receiving the Cult Leader’s favor, he would undoubtedly try to intervene somehow.
“Couldn’t you be overthinking this? Gathering a force of a hundred isn’t an easy task, and besides, isn’t this the Seventh Young Master we’re talking about?”
True, Mao, the troublemaker Seventh Young Master.
A boy who received nothing but ridicule instead of expectations, no matter what he did in the public eye.
However,
“If we only consider ourselves, you’re right. But the First Young Master will think differently. He will absolutely not overlook this situation.”
“Why is that?”
She couldn’t understand it at all.
Why would the First Young Master fear the Seventh Young Master, who was merely evaluated as a troublemaker?
But there was a clear reason why Jang I-seo was so certain.
“Because he will think we belong to the Third Young Lady.”
“Ah…!”
A realization struck Hong-ran’s mind like a thunderclap. Jang I-seo’s words made perfect sense immediately.
If he were a mere troublemaker, a Hundred Commander’s Seal or a Ten Commander’s Seal would just be an annoyance. But if his rival Sa Hae-ryeong was behind it, it was a different story.
“He’ll feel a sense of crisis.”
Exactly.
The Seventh Young Master she cared for had obtained the Hundred Commander’s Seal alongside the adjutant she had recommended.
How would the First Young Master interpret this?
He would likely think he had been struck by Sa Hae-ryeong.
Therefore, retaliation was inevitable.
“It was going to be difficult already… but now it’s going to be even harder.”
“Right. But we still have to grow our ranks. That’s the only way we’ll survive this fight.”
There are different weight classes in a fight. Just as a freshwater predator like a catfish becomes nothing but a quick snack in the ocean, the fight Jang I-seo was discussing now was in an entirely different league than their conflict with the Slaughterhouse.
The Nine Great Sects, the Five Great Families, and even the Unorthodox Alliance.
It was a stage where the core pillars of the Demonic Cult, the very entities that made the world tremble in fear, clashed against each other.
If they relied on petty tricks, they would be devoured before they could even squirm.
If only he knew how the First Young Master would move…
As Jang I-seo’s silence lengthened, Hong-ran gently broached the subject.
“How about asking the Counter-Espionage Division for help? They assisted us before, didn’t they?”
“Impossible.”
He wasn’t someone moved by past favors or sentiment.
He would help with matters regarding the cult because he had to, but this was an entirely different realm of politics.
Money might work, but they definitely wouldn’t move otherwise.
And to move them, it was obvious that emptying the entire Heavenly Demon Treasury wouldn’t be enough. They would demand an astronomical sum for every swing of a sword.
‘The Gold-Cleaving Blade is laying golden eggs! Kahaha!’
Just thinking about it was dreadful.
Instead…
“It would be better to put up a notice.”
An open recruitment.