Chapter 133: Whatever Happens Happens
Now, let’s organize things first.
The old man seen over there was definitely the old man who had moved into and started living in the building Yi Hwa had built next to my house. I remembered seeing him sweep outside the gate from time to time.
That he stayed together with Yi Hwa meant that he was related to the Demonic Cult.
The one sitting opposite him was a respected elder of Shaolin, who was called the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of the Orthodox faction. Since he was someone who could lecture even the Abbot of Shaolin, it was safe to say he was practically the supreme dignity of the Orthodox faction.
‘I am screwed…….’
The problem was that those two old codgers seemed to know each other.
“You have come.”
“Indeed.”
In fact, they were lightly exchanging words.
Cold sweat flowed from the intense tension.
Based on my experience, the Divine Monk was someone whose interpersonal relationships could hardly be called smooth. One could tell just by looking at his attitude when dealing with Monk Hye-won. That such a man was speaking informally meant that they shared no ordinary closeness (?).
‘Besides…….’
As I turned my gaze elsewhere, someone rushed toward me the moment our eyes met.
“Young Hero Yeon!”
It was Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon. Unlike her usual confident impression, she looked like a rabbit shivering in a tiger’s den.
She clung to me as if I were a lifeline dropped from heaven.
“Uh…… hmm……”
How should I put it, the temperature in the room seemed to drop rapidly.
Could it be the feeling of my neck getting cold?
I did not know why the image of Baek Mu-ho suddenly touching his neck out of the blue came to my mind.
“Young Lady Tang……”
“Yes!”
“Don’t you feel cold somehow?”
“It is a bit like that……. Eek!”
Surprised by something, Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon fled in fright and hurriedly returned to her original spot.
The chilly energy disappeared.
The Divine Monk, who had been quietly watching me, stepped forward.
“I have many things to ask you.”
For this person, there were too many words that I had to save.
Since he had such a willful personality, I had to be even more careful.
In the end, there was only one method I could choose.
“Pardon? I couldn’t hear you well.”
Unconditional denial.
And I had to inspect and piece together the situation one by one, carefully.
That was the only way to survive.
My survival instinct was warning me desperately.
“Samyang County……”
As I desperately organized my thoughts to find a path of survival, the voice of the person I least wanted to hear right now came from behind me.
“What an interesting place.”
“hahahaha……”
‘Fuck!’
The one who knew no shame before martial arts smacked his lips like a hungry wolf before a feast.
‘Someone…… someone save meeeeee.’
[A blessing in disguise. A blessing in disguise.]
‘Blessing or whatever, what kind of horse-head is that border old man anyway?!’
Regrettably, even Master Zhang Sanfeng in heaven was not of much help in this situation.
***
For now, I finished organizing my mind regarding the direction to take.
Considering that if I confessed everything truthfully, I might be packaged as the Heavenly Demon who suddenly appeared in the Central Plains martial world, this was a moment when a clever lie was needed.
However, to avoid the worst-case scenario where a lie bred another lie, I had to grasp the core well.
I recalled the advice I had received in the past from one of my grandfather’s friends.
The teaching that mixing ninety percent clear truth with ten percent lie creates a one-hundred percent pure lie.
Ten-tenths!
To achieve this, I had to keep my ears wide open while sparing my words as much as possible.
As expected, the Divine Monk was the first to step forward.
“As I practiced the Heavy Earth Divine Art you translated, I felt like there was a bit of a void, so I came to take a look. Perhaps because it is an ancient martial art, there are qi circulation methods not commonly used today, and there were parts where I wondered if I had misheard. Thanks to that, I met an old connection I never expected.”
“Is he someone you know?”
“Anyone who knows anything would know the alias and name of Giant Strength Hegemon Jong-geuk. He was also my worthy rival. Was it said that he is called the Vajra Iron Demonic Sovereign after the Orthodox-Unorthodox-Demonic Covenant?”
“……Just when was that story from?”
“Well. Since it’s a story from when I was actively roaming the martial world, would it be about one sexagenary cycle (60 years) ago? Well, is there a need to remember the details of one’s youth so meticulously.”
“Ah, yes.”
According to the Divine Monk’s explanation, it meant the old man named Jong-geuk had made a name for himself as a demon in his youth.
The fortunate thing was that since he was a figure from so long ago, most of the people who would recognize him would be in the ground.
He said that anyone who knew anything would know, but that standard was strictly the people of the Divine Monk’s era.
[He is not a bad guy. He was a fellow so honest that I felt it was a waste to leave him as a demon. But what is your relationship with the child named Yi Hwa?]
I was startled because he sent a sound transmission in a subtly strange manner.
‘Is it the Wisdom Light Mind Speech?’
Somehow, the voice echoing in my head felt strangely similar to when my masters spoke.
Next was the Demonic Cult old man called Jong-geuk, Elder Jong.
“I am Jong-geuk. As that friend said, I am called the Vajra Iron Demonic Sovereign. Sickened by the behavior of the Heavenly Demon Cult, I have currently left the Cult. Having heard that a wise man named Yeon Ja-yeom in the Central Plains is a great man who shares friendships with various people without looking at their backgrounds, I am temporarily relying on him.”
[Please forgive the rudeness of this servant.]
Similarly, Elder Jong, who secretly spoke to me using a sound transmission method similar to the Wisdom Light Mind Speech, locked eyes with me for a moment.
Whether he recognized me as the Heavenly Demon, his attitude in treating me was no less cautious than Yi Hwa’s.
Though he was a demon of the Demonic Cult, he possessed the gravity of someone as elderly as the Divine Monk.
In the midst of this, a very low-level (?) sound transmission poured out complaints.
[That wench Yi Hwa, she is staying together with that old monster Jong-geuk, what is her identity anyway? She said her family was ruined by the demons of the Demonic Cult, yet she hangs out with demons. Is it like an enemy of an enemy is a friend or something? Well, it’s good that she is not living under the same roof as Young Hero Yeon, though.]
It was a sound transmission sent by Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon.
‘This situation is better than I thought, isn’t it?’
Fortunately, the situation was far more positive than I had worried.
It felt like they highly valued the fact that Elder Jong criticized the current Demonic Cult and left it.
‘If I can just pass over like this without any major problems……’
[But who on earth is that person? What does she do? She is really scary.]
‘……Or maybe not.’
Deep fear was contained in Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon’s sound transmission.
Seeing her steal glances, it was easy to tell who she was talking about.
It was Sister Seol-ah, who was keeping her mouth shut quietly.
That was not the only obstacle.
“I have an interest in the martial arts of the Demonic Cult.”
It was Senior Jang Mun-gyeong.
I had been wondering why this man was being so quiet.
“Let’s clash.”
Elder Jong’s eyes twitched at Senior Jang Mun-gyeong’s provocation.
Even if we passed this place safely today, I felt the future ahead was plain to see.
‘……I want to flip everything over.’
Whatever happens, happens. Hahaha!
***
Just when I thought we had somehow patched up that gathering well, now my grandfather called for me.
As I entered my grandfather’s study, he welcomed me with a subtle smile.
“What an impressive lineup.”
“It is indeed.”
Elder Jong, the Vajra Iron Demonic Sovereign, who was one of the strongest and held a rank in the Demonic Cult, said to be the strongest single force, and the Divine Monk, who was the supreme dignity of the Orthodox faction in terms of seniority.
On top of that, even Senior Jang Mun-gyeong, who was renowned as one of the Ten Swords of Heaven.
Each and every one of them was an existence possessing power worthy of being called an army.
“It seems I have caused trouble for you, Grandfather.”
“Do not think that way. Rather, it was a great help. Had they not been here, the damage would have been severe.”
I thought I had caused a nuisance by selling my grandfather’s name, but Grandfather liked it instead, as if it were no big deal.
Certainly, considering the scale of those who were said to have invaded, it was no different from divine intervention.
Listening to Grandfather’s words, I had something coming to mind inwardly.
‘Did the Black Slaying Squad really move under the request of the Jungshin Merchant Group?’
Although the financial power of the Jungshin Merchant Group was quite considerable, I doubted it would be possible considering the prestige and the scale deployed by the Black Slaying Squad.
Judging by the attitude of that old man Jong In-geol or Yin Ji-seung whom I saw at the Jungshin Merchant Group, the Defeng Yin Clan was not very active in this matter. He must have pushed quite hard to draw in such a Defeng Yin Clan, and in that situation, wouldn’t it have been difficult to move the Black Slaying Squad?
However, the Black Slaying Squad moved.
And on a considerable scale at that.
It was possible to infer that there was another reason that moved the Black Slaying Squad.
‘Gwan Jung-yeon, the leader of the Dragon Scale Squad’s Group A, said that, didn’t he? That things are noisy up above lately.’
I had a feeling that Grandfather also had a foot in that.
Furthermore, the Dragon Scale Squad was infiltrated in the village.
I wondered why I had to go all the way to Sichuan if they were here, but it occurred to me that it could be so if there was circumstantial evidence that the Black Slaying Squad continuously targeted the village.
Perhaps they evacuated me from Samyang County using that letter as an excuse.
Various thoughts eventually converged into a single question.
‘What is Grandfather’s true identity?’
“Grandfather…… could I ask you one thing?”
“I think I know what you are curious about.”
Grandfather smiled broadly.
“Then it seems this grandfather will also have one thing he is curious about.”
“You too, Grandfather?”
“Yes. For instance, why the people of the Demonic Cult follow our grandson…… and so on.”
This was simply telling me not to ask.
Unlike other people, if it was Grandfather, it should be fine to tell him that I was recognized as the Heavenly Demon by the Demonic Cultists settled in Samyang County.
However, I did not know if he would believe the story about heaven.
It was not something I had to prove by force either.
‘He will tell me someday.’
Since I also had stories I could not disclose, this level seemed to be the best for now.
As I was about to withdraw after finishing the private meeting, Grandfather suddenly gave me advice as if he had just thought of it.
“It is classical, but when apologizing to the opposite sex, gifting flowers is quite effective.”
He seemed to have accurately predicted who the next person I would meet was.
And just as predicted, Sister Seol-ah was waiting outside Grandfather’s study.
She had a slightly grumpy expression.
As I approached carefully, Sister Seol-ah began to walk.
I followed and walked together with Sister Seol-ah.
Wordlessly, without conversation, we simply walked under the warm sunlight.
Between this gap, there was a subtle tickle that felt as if it were about to touch.
Like a water droplet sparkling in the sunlight, looking ready to burst at the slightest touch.
On the path we walked like that, a white wild flower suddenly caught my eye.
The face of Sister Seol-ah, who accepted the flower I had plucked, bloomed like a flower.
She smiled like a flower.
“Are you feeling a bit better?”
“No.”
She said no.
But despite that, her expression was good.
“Then why do you smile like that?”
“Just because. The weather is nice.”
Sister Seol-ah smiled without any shadows under the bright sunlight.
***
A man and a woman walking wordlessly under the sunlight.
In Jang So-wol’s eyes, that image appeared to be a warm sight where they communicated even without dialogue.
“It was so.”
Come to think of it, Yeon Cheong-un was like that from the start.
From the beginning, he did not hide his feelings from that Baek Seol-ah.
He revealed his heart and approached honestly.
It was different from when he dealt with Jang So-wol herself.
Always.
“Ah, has the first wife been decided.”
Tang Sa-yeon let out a sigh in regret.
Jang So-wol put a lot of strength into her face and endured, trying not to show it.
The area around her chest felt cold and aching.