Chapter 273: Before Riding the Storm (5)

[ Wind God — Grade 3 ]

[ Price: Heavenly King Divine Art Manual ]

I dug through the talents and eventually arrived here. No matter how much I thought about the others, none of them connected to the feeling I wanted. Wind God was a talent I had considered once before.

Wind God—the god of wind. At first, I thought it was a talent related to speed, so I had considered it as my next purchase.

But that was when I first saw Wind God. Besides, the Wandering Spirit I discovered later was, in my estimation, closer to the concept of speed.

Wind God could be interpreted in many ways, but Wandering Spirit was purely about speed.

As I knew it, Wind God commanded wind and whirlwinds, and sometimes controlled weather like rain, hail, and snow. As the god of travelers, it also served as a guide.

“…Hmm.”

A guide that leads the lost back to their path. Could that be returning things to their natural order?

I shook my head. It was all speculation anyway. If you’re going to hang talents with such ambiguous names, at least add some annotations.

In any case, I had found the clue. I should have asked Uncle Zhu Mun-hwan about the Heavenly King Divine Art Manual when we were under the sea. Back then, I was so focused on getting out that I only trained, missing that opportunity.

Zhu Mun-hwan’s son, Zhu Mun-won, was still alive. Perhaps he had the Heavenly King Divine Art?

He had information networks covering the entire Central Plains. Maybe I could find him. If he was dead, I hoped to at least learn of his death. I could pay my respects.

“Well, I should be heading out soon. I’ve gotten more or less what I needed.”

Before leaving, I briefly considered gathering some of the treasures stored in the warehouse. All sorts of spiritual medicines and the Eighteen Famous Swords I had sent were all there.

But I decided to leave them as they were. Rather than having all those treasures on me, it was safer to have them managed here. As long as I was here, everything here was essentially mine anyway.

“Did you leave something behind?”

When I stood still, Gwan Seo-ye asked. I shook my head.

“No. Let’s go.”

“I’ll escort you until you leave Toroban.”

“I don’t need an escort.”

“You’ll probably need one.”

I tilted my head at Gwan Seo-ye’s words, but as soon as we stepped out of the building, I understood what she meant.

“Ooh!”

“The Heavenly Demon has emerged!”

“Heavenly Demon!”

Had Toroban, such a small village, ever had this many people? Everywhere I looked, as far as my eyes could see, people packed every inch.

People crowded even the narrow alleyways, swaying like waves. It looked truly dangerous.

“Do not show disorderly behavior before the Heavenly Demon!”

Gwan Seo-ye shouted. It was her sharp voice, one I had never heard in either my previous or current life.

The crowd immediately began to organize. The title of Acting Priestess must have carried significant weight for them.

Even though most of the gathered crowd appeared older than Gwan Seo-ye, they maintained order without a single complaint.

Wherever I walked, people parted in orderly fashion. People gave me space to bow before me—some wept sadly, others wept with joy, and some rapidly muttered words I couldn’t understand. Each person’s emotion at meeting the Heavenly Demon was remarkably different.

They only called out to me, never asking for anything. It was a strange thing.

I didn’t believe in gods, but if I ever met one, I’d probably start by saying what I wanted. They didn’t believe in order to gain something from me. What they needed seemed to be faith itself.

All I had to do was wave my hand toward them. Each time my gaze fell upon someone, they looked immensely honored.

No matter how much people made way for me, they stood so densely packed that I could only move half a step at a half step. In the end, it took nearly three shichen to get out of Toroban.

When I finally reached the village outskirts where no people remained and turned back, I was drenched in sweat. Toroban was hot, but what was even hotter was the fervor of the Demonic Cult followers directed at me.

“You worked hard.”

Gwan Seo-ye smiled brightly. She too was drenched in sweat from controlling the crowd. Since she wasn’t a higher-level expert than me, it must have been even more taxing for her. But she showed no sign of it.

“You worked hard too.”

“It’s my duty.”

Gwan Seo-ye wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her green battle robe. Since I didn’t think of her as a friend, I was once again struck by how beautiful she was.

Not that I would do anything about it. I was hopeless in that area, and even in my previous life when we’d been close, nothing had ever happened between us.

Then Gwan Seo-ye suddenly spoke.

“Heavenly Demon.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m certain the Heavenly Demon is currently inhabiting a human body.”

“What’s that all of a sudden?”

“The real Heavenly Demon wouldn’t look at me with those eyes.”

“…”

Did I fail to control my eyes? Well, I was good at managing my expression, but controlling my pupils was difficult. That was truly the realm of the subconscious, of instinct.

So when I’d looked at Gwan Seo-ye’s sweat-soaked, visible skin, it had been instinct, and I couldn’t help it.

“Ahem. Well, that could happen. I am a man, after all.”

When I coughed awkwardly to hide my embarrassment, Gwan Seo-ye giggled.

“You may take me, Heavenly Demon.”

For a moment, I couldn’t believe my ears. While I was trying to figure out how to react, Gwan Seo-ye began drawing lines with branches and arranging stones.

Soon, Gwan Seo-ye pressed her hand to the formation and channeled her inner qi, and the branches that had looked randomly scattered began to rise upward.

In an instant, I felt a cool breeze—the first since leaving Gansu—and a sensation of being separated from the surrounding space.

A scene of desert sand swirling appeared, but that place was clearly separate from where we were now.

“What formation is this?”

“One that blocks the view from outside.”

“Quite convenient.”

“It won’t last long. It’s temporary.”

Gwan Seo-ye approached and wrapped her arm around the back of my neck. Her sweat-dampened, soft skin brushing against my neck gave me chills.

“…Hey.”

“Don’t say anything.”

Gwan Seo-ye’s finger pressed against my lips. I froze completely, as if a numbing acupoint had been struck.

Slowly, her damp body wrapped around me. Her hot breath was close enough to touch my skin directly.

“Heavenly Demon. Do you remember that time?”

“…What?”

“When we kissed at the inn.”

It was an embarrassing thing to say. But I couldn’t dodge it here. Her face was flushed too, so she was also speaking while enduring the embarrassment.

“I remember.”

“I actually didn’t understand myself back then. I had never done that with anyone before.”

“Don’t make it sound romantic. I was trying to give you medicine.”

“Normally, I would have used a regular method. That was also my first time kissing a man. I had never once in my life wanted to kiss a man, but for some reason, I wanted to then.”

Gwan Seo-ye’s clothing had slipped slightly, revealing one shoulder. I swallowed dryly without realizing it.

“Thinking about it now, it was so obvious. The Heavenly Demon was right there, and as a devout follower of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, it was only natural that I felt reverence. I was simply too ignorant to realize it.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course.”

I felt as if I were in a daze, drunk. The body fragrance emanating from Gwan Seo-ye’s close proximity seemed to have the power to bewitch.

“Heavenly Demon…”

Gwan Seo-ye whispered in my ear. Her voice was weak, drained of energy. Her body seemed to relax as well, leaning more into me, and I held her up, wrapping my arms around her. The mint scent brushing my nose tip grew stronger.

Gwan Seo-ye bit my ear and licked my earlobe with her tongue. Her soft tongue ravaged my ear.

I stiffened even more at the new sensations and sounds I had never experienced before.

“Seo-ye.”

It seemed to be the first time in this life that I had called her by her surname without the title. Gwan Seo-ye, also drunk on the atmosphere, gave no response and pressed her lips to mine.

It was the second time. The second time I had kissed Gwan Seo-ye. The first time had been too sudden, and since it was the first time for both of us, we hadn’t had time to feel anything. But this time was different. Our tongues intertwined deeply, as if each was trying to explore the other’s roots.

I slightly opened my eyes and looked at Gwan Seo-ye. Her porcelain skin and elegantly arched brows were beautiful.

“Heavenly Demon, I can feel it. Deep in my heart, I crave the Heavenly Demon’s soul and fragments. This is an irresistible force…”

Gwan Seo-ye pulled her lips away and spoke. When she tried to insert her hand into my robe, I came to my senses as if doused with cold water.

“Wait, Gwan Seo-ye.”

I grabbed Gwan Seo-ye’s wrist. One arm was still wrapped around her waist.

Her words just now. I recalled something. It was said that the Imperial Palace had mixed hostile martial arts formulas into the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard’s martial arts.

So they instinctively fought each other. And now Gwan Seo-ye was instinctively desiring me.

That was definitely because I had the Heavenly Demon’s qi. Nothing like this had ever happened in my previous life.

This was wrong. I held Gwan Seo-ye’s shoulders and pushed her away. I tidied her disheveled clothing for her.

“…Heavenly Demon?”

Gwan Seo-ye’s damp eyes looked at me.

I felt sorry for rejecting her, but wrong was wrong.

Right now, she wasn’t drawn to Muk Hui-yeong the person—she was only attracted to the Heavenly Demon’s qi. If I cherished Gwan Seo-ye as a friend, I couldn’t take her so irrationally.

“I’m sorry.”

“…You have nothing to be sorry for. Everything is as the Heavenly Demon wills.”

Gwan Seo-ye adjusted the clothes I had roughly tidied. Her face was still flushed.

I too desired Gwan See-ye. That was the instinct of a man. Who could look at Gwan Seo-ye and not feel desire? She was that beautiful.

But this too could be a sensation I felt because I had the Heavenly Demon’s qi. After all, Gwan Seo-ye also practiced the Demonic Cult’s internal arts.

After losing my mother at a young age and growing distant from my father, a pure fantasy of love might have unconsciously taken root in my heart. No, that was probably exactly it.

Because I craved love more than anyone else, I had rejected it, and because of that, I had become obsessed with money.

I had never seen or experienced the true form of love, but I was certain this wasn’t it. I wanted to be loved for who I was, and I wanted to give love focusing only on the other person. I didn’t want to be manipulated by qi acquired later.

“I’m leaving.”

“Yes. Please return anytime.”

Gwan Seo-ye saw me off with her face somewhat cooled.

If, if.

If I didn’t have the Heavenly Demon’s qi, and Gwan Seo-ye didn’t have demonic qi, would I have gladly accepted this moment?

Was the friendship I felt for her intertwined with romantic love? I was beginning to doubt even my feelings from my previous life.

Stepping out of the formation, the desert sand enveloped me. Perhaps because the wind held heat, my cheeks were still warm.