Chapter 379: Crossroads (4)
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“Since the person to ask has vanished, I suppose I should ask you instead.”
I asked in as gentle a voice as possible. Though I was a savior from the commoners’ perspective, the fact that I had committed murder in front of them remained unchanged. In fact, within their eyes, there was fear along with awe.
“Y-you may ask any question. What would we not do for our benefactor?”
The word benefactor pricked me a bit. Had a person named me not regressed, a war like this would not have broken out in the first place.
However, my emotions were rather dulled to feel guilt even for parts beyond my control.
“Is it common for commoners to be attacked like this?”
“Oh, don’t even get me started. It seems the imperial palace has made up its mind completely.”
“Made up its mind?”
“Setting aside the fight with the New Justice Association right now, have popular uprisings not broken out in various places? As if seeking to pluck the sprouts of popular uprisings this time as well, they are exceedingly relentless.”
Ah. Only then did I understand why the Blood Cultists had moved like that.
The imperial palace seemed to use the current opportunity as a pretext to suppress even the popular uprisings.
That was why, contrary to my intentions, damage to the common people was increasing.
“However, why would that be something for Great Hero to worry about?”
Those were unexpected words. I wondered if he was saying words to comfort me, but looking with Heavenly Eye, it was not that either.
“Since it is a war triggered by martial artists, how could I not worry?”
“Though it sounds funny coming from a person who was just begging for his life from those Demonic Cult bastards a moment ago, do we not have our own lives in our own way? Though our lives are like flies before martial artists, that does not mean we have no lives of our own.”
The commoner said.
“In truth, the reason we became targets of subjugation like this is that information leaked that we were colluding with the popular uprising organization. In fact, we truly did so as well.”
This too was unexpected to me. From the imperial palace’s perspective, they were not innocent people after all. Of course, that did not mean their slaughter was justified.
“Is life truly that complicated? Of course, looking from up close it is complicated, but looking from that close, how many things would not be complicated? Anything is complicated when viewed up close and simple when viewed from afar. If we view life from afar like that, we simply need to accept the consequences of our own actions. Is that not what karma means?”
At my words, Cho Seo-gi fell into silence.
Indeed, from a certain point onward, I had simply resolved: to accept what was to come without avoidance, and to do what I had to do. Was it because of that? My heart had actually grown much more at peace.
We were merely different people. They chose the four occupations of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, while martial artists chose martial arts. No one could claim which among those choices was superior.
A tiger and a rabbit live different lives. A tiger does not protect a rabbit just because it is strong. Because a rabbit lacks horns and sharp teeth, it was given swift legs. Life was structured like that.
“I understand well.”
“At any rate, we are fortunate. To think the New Justice Association Master, the martial artist receiving the most attention in the Jianghu right now, would directly help us.”
“Did you know?”
“There is nothing to know or not know. Even if we are ignorant bumpkins from the countryside, we know there is only one person in the current Jianghu who can unleash that degree of martial prowess at such a young age.”
They had known all along that I was the New Justice Association Master. I wondered if that was also why we were able to share such a long conversation.
Perhaps I could have met someone other than this person in this place. That other person might have resented me even while knowing I was the New Justice Association Master. Because not all commoners thought like this person.
However, the fact that they appeared before me right now was an inevitability in itself.
The more I transcended, the more I felt: just how narrow a space I had been trapped in. And even now after transcending, I felt what a small being I was. No matter how much I made choices with free will in the middle, ultimately, it was within the loose yet fine mesh of nature.
“Still, since this village has been targeted by the imperial palace once, gather the remaining people and head to Wuhan. If you go to the New Justice Association or the Wudang Sect, they will guide you well.”
“Thank you, Great Hero.”
Having finished conversing with them, I left the village. I felt that perhaps, there was no need for me to fear so greatly right now.
Other people and I were fundamentally strangers. That was not cold-hearted, but natural. Just as my heart did not waver at the death of someone from the Western Regions.
Ultimately, my current feeling of alienation toward humanity was also nothing particularly special. Because we were strangers from the very beginning. We had merely grown a tiny bit distant. Because I was a very small being. It was the same principle as a flea jumping with all its life being merely a few human steps.
Thinking like that, my mind became slightly at ease.
“Association Master.”
At that moment, a group appeared from the darkness. There was only one group that would appear in such a secluded place.
“We pay homage to the Heavenly Demon.”
It was Gwan Seo-ye and her group of the Heavenly Demonic Cult. They had clearly brought everyone along, leaving only the minimum personnel in Turpan.
“Long time no see. Is something the matter?”
It was Gwan Seo-ye, who rarely appeared unless there was a particular matter. When not seen, she was usually focusing on gathering intelligence.
“Because gathering intelligence is now meaningless. What meaning would information that changes every minute and second have? Rather, judging that gathering our people to directly assist the Heavenly Demon was better, we have come.”
“Mmh.”
Demonic qi wafted thick and strong. While the Wudang Sect and a few people knew I led a branch of the Demonic Cult, other people did not know.
Even regarding the Demonic Cult that traded with the imperial palace, I alone was naming them the Blood Cult, while commoners simply lumped them together as the Demonic Cult, did they not?
“Can you bastards not change your name?”
“……Pardon?”
Gwan Seo-ye wore a rare flustered expression.
“Do you dislike the name Seo-ye?”
“No, that name doesn’t matter. I mean the cult’s name.”
Gwan Seo-ye’s expression turned even more bewildered.
“I liked the branch name of the Cult Leader currently locked in the Forbidden City. Ming Cult? Wouldn’t that be a bit better?”
“I understand what you are concerned about.”
Gwan Seo-ye nodded in understanding.
“Heavenly Demon, for an ordinary person, parents bestow their name. Even for a destitute orphan, they are bound to use a name someone bestowed upon them.”
“And?”
“However, for a god, the existence of parents does not exist. Because they are beings who have stepped out of worldly shackles. Therefore, the laws of nature do not apply to immortals. Thus, a god names their own name directly.”
“Ah, you’re telling me to name it.”
“Presumptuous as it may be, that is so. Changing our cult’s name is something only Heavenly Demon can do.”
I came to deliberate. A name was important. Even if the essence did not change, in the superficial world, there was nothing as important as what was directly seen and heard.
“Then let’s just go with Ming Cult. That would be the cleanest.”
Since Uncle Ju Mun-hwan’s Heavenly King Gate belonged to the Ming Cult side, wouldn’t I be their Heavenly Demon as well? And it was the same that the two branches acknowledged each other while not acknowledging the Blood Cult.
“If you so desire.”
“Is it fine to decide so abruptly like that? Shouldn’t we listen to what the other branch has to say too?”
“They are a gentler group than us. Because they are people who regard religion like scholarship. If we tell them the Heavenly Demon directly appeared and bestowed the name, they will likely acknowledge it as well.”
“Do they not have a Heavenly Demon?”
“They probably do not. In truth, it is normal for there to be only one Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon of the Blood Cult is a self-proclaimed one. He is not a proper Heavenly Demon.”
“How is that determined?”
“It is not something to be determined. It is already determined.”
Gwan Seo-ye’s words were resolute.
“This is a matter prior to consciousness. No one designated me as Gwan Seo-ye. Because I am already Gwan Seo-ye. The same applies to Heavenly Demon.”
“I was originally the Heavenly Demon?”
“That is so.”
“……Mmh.”
After deliberating for a moment, I spoke. There was something in Gwan Seo-ye’s words I could not accept.
“In truth, I was originally a person without demonic qi. I became like this after taking a certain medicine. Something called the Divine Demon Pill.”
“That too was likely an arrangement.”
“Isn’t that a bit far-fetched?”
“A god cannot be created. That is just like a watermill made by humans weaving a human. Humans came after gods, so how could a human create a god? A god’s arrangement is intertwined into realms beyond human consciousness. Right now, because Heavenly Demon also possesses a human physical body, you may not be conscious of it, but you will come to know soon. And in my view, that does not seem far off either.”
Gwan Seo-ye was sharp. She had already perceived that I had transcended. Then again, she could also read my demonic qi. She had realized I had grown closer to divinity.
“I know there is madness in the lineage where Heavenly Demon resides. That too is highly likely to be related to the arrangement.”
“Madness?”
What was this talk again? Certainly, madness was planted in my bloodline, but it had hardly ever manifested in me. Feeling it anew, knowing even the madness of my clan made their intelligence network truly terrifying.
“Because a human harbors a god, madness arises. It is a natural result. What would happen if a lion were conceived in a rabbit’s body?”
“……Then the madness in our family is also because of me?”
“That is our deduction.”
Gwan Seo-ye spoke plainly, but I was quite shocked. Was that why madness had hardly manifested in me? The madness that had existed across ancestral generations. Because they were humans, and I was a god.
If this were the case, my thoughts had no choice but to change. If so, were not my father and our lineage ultimately people who had suffered damage because of me? Of course, Gwan Seo-ye had said it was a deduction, so it was not certain.
“Someday, it will all be revealed.”
Gwan Seo-ye spoke as if it were nothing. Even if she could not affirm the madness, setting aside the concept of worship, she was someone who affirmed that I was a god.
“An astonishing thing. Even so, it doesn’t seem my task will change, though.”
“That is so. Simply move as your heart inclines. The direction the Heavenly Demon treads shall be the very path. Foolish humans that we are, we do not know even a single day ahead. We have no choice but to follow in Heavenly Demon’s footsteps.”
Gwan Seo-ye politely knelt on one knee. The other martial artists of the Demonic Cult—no, the Ming Cult—also knelt down.
“We shall follow quietly from behind, so if a needed task arises, please summon us.”
Gwan Seo-ye and the Ming Cultists vanished as if swallowed into the darkness. It seemed to be their unique movement technique.
“……A god, is it.”
Blankly, I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my palm.
Human skin and warm flesh. Were all of these merely a shell?
However, it was difficult to easily believe. That I was a god. It was to the point of wondering if it were mere megalomania.
At any rate, just as I said, the task to be done remained unchanged: heading to Beijing. That was all.
Stepping out of Hubei, I entered Henan. Henan and Shandong were regions that took the brunt of the flood damage. Because they were regions where the Yellow River overflowed. Therefore, they were also the places where popular uprisings proceeded most fiercely, and being close to Beijing, they were also places where suppression was easy.
That meant Henan itself had been devastated. The moment I stepped into Henan, my footsteps were constantly tripped by corpses of commoners and government soldiers at every turn.
“…….”
Blood was flowing across the entire Central Plains. I wanted to prevent blood as much as possible. Somehow, such a thought arose.
Gwan Seo-ye had told me to act as my heart inclined. Yet I was still confused: whether I was human or a god. Whether I was feeling a sense of kinship toward humans or not.
Though my thoughts wavered like that, where my heart inclined was certain. From the countless crossroads branching out, only now did I choose a single path.