Chapter 96: Where Are You Guys From
After making a fortune at the Sichuan Tang Clan, I headed to the Seonhwa Sect with Baek Mu-ho and Yi Hwa.
Contrary to my worries, Tang Sa-yeon did not join us.
The Myriad Poison Divine Lord had said he would gift me a divine weapon and a beauty. Tang Sa-yeon was certainly a beauty. Since she was even a direct descendant of the Tang Clan, they might even move at the clan level.
However, Tang Sa-yeon’s reaction was unexpectedly calm.
“I won’t follow you this time.”
Considering her initiative to blindly tag along when we secretly slipped away to gather herbs to cure the Myriad Poison Divine Lord, this made me tilt my head in wonder.
Moreover, what she said was also meaningful.
‘This time.’
It was safe to say it was a statement implying we would meet again soon.
Anyway, I was glad it was not the case right now. This was because if Tang Sa-yeon had tagged along, there would have been many minor annoyances like troublesome explanations or lies.
However, Master pointed out something I had failed to consider.
[However, the fact that the attackers tore off the face skins of the Seonhwa Sect’s people means they wanted to disguise themselves as the Seonhwa Sect’s people.]
“Yes, that should be it.”
[Then wouldn’t it be difficult to strike them openly?]
“That is how it goes.”
The Seonhwa Sect was an upright and good place. Naturally, their reputation in the region would be high.
We could not openly attack a place where they were disguised as such people.
‘This is bad…’
I knew the truth, but I could not provide any evidence.
Although the information obtained through the heavens was extremely pure, it certainly became a problem when sharing it with others.
Moreover, even if it turned out to be true, there was a high possibility that things would become troublesome.
People have a tendency to only see what they want to see. Even if the truth is laid out right in front of them, those who harbor doubts and talk behind others’ backs will definitely appear.
For example, a guy like Sagong Pae.
Baek Mu-ho’s advice was one thing, but Sagong Pae’s demeanor when he left for the Qingcheng Sect was also suspicious beyond measure. It felt as if he was hiding a dagger in his bosom.
[Let’s think this through.]
Fortunately, my masters said they would think about a countermeasure.
[So, those guys are planning to use the reputation of the Seonhwa Sect to stir something up.]
“Probably so.”
If their purpose was to stir up conflict between the orthodox and unorthodox factions while hiding their identities, they were highly likely to take an aggressive stance.
[Since the atmosphere between the orthodox and unorthodox is tense, will they make an appropriate excuse to pick a fight and crush them?]
[Well. I think that might be a bit tricky. If it gets torn during a fight, it will ruin everything. A human skin mask carries a higher risk of detection than one might think. Besides, it is quite uncomfortable and difficult to maintain, so it is not easy to wear for a long time.]
[Hmm! Then they won’t try to drag out the time. The moment they are exposed, they’re ruined.]
[They will likely end up causing a major incident and then pretending to have self-immolated. Since they can just burn the corpses of the already dead Seonhwa Sect disciples and pretend they immolated themselves. Burning them would also erase the traces of the face skin being torn off, so it would be cleanly settled.]
[That’s highly possible. Saying they attacked the wicked unorthodox faction for such-and-such reasons, and that they merely killed those who deserved to die. Then, they would leave behind some baseless stories in a suicide note claiming the unorthodox bastards are detestable scoundrels not worth dealing with, and commit suicide by self-immolation to prove it with their deaths. That would be clean. Shifting all the blame onto the unorthodox faction and pretending to commit suicide by immolation would leave no traces of the human skin mask, so they wouldn’t get caught. The perpetrators could slip away cleanly.]
[The fact that it was self-immolation would also draw attention. People would wonder how desperately they wanted to force their claims upon the world that they committed suicide in the most painful way possible.]
[Once the Seonhwa Sect’s accumulated reputation is brought into focus, well, it’s game over.]
Master Zhang Sanfeng and Master Heavenly Demon bandied words back and forth, weaving a story in the blink of an eye.
But listening to it, it sounded plausible.
To the point that I could not think of any other way.
If so.
“We can just block the demons of the Demonic Cult disguised in the Seonhwa Sect the moment they try to attack somewhere.”
And we can take the opportunity to tear off their human skin masks. Thinking rationally, that would be the most standard approach.
I thought so, but.
[Why make it so complicated?]
“Pardon?”
[You said their goal is to prevent the agreement between the orthodox and unorthodox, right?]
“That’s right.”
[Then, before they can play their tricks, disguise yourselves as the Heavenly Demon Cult and raid them.]
“…Pardon?”
What on earth do you mean by that?
Although I had devised a scheme in Go County to pin everything on the Demonic Cult, saying ‘This is all the Demonic Cult’s fault. Anyway, it’s their fault,’ this was telling us to completely disguise ourselves as the Demonic Cult and launch a preemptive strike.
[What’s the problem? Isn’t the lineup perfect? You, who learned my martial arts. The Divine Maiden of our cult. And your friend, who learned the temperament of my sword.]
“…That is indeed how it is.”
Hearing that, it made sense again.
Now that I thought about it, it was a lineup where running wild disguised as actual demons of the Demonic Cult wouldn’t feel awkward at all.
Since when did our group become so demonic?
‘In order to smash the heads of the Demonic Cult members disguised as orthodox martial artists, orthodox martial artists disguise themselves as the Demonic Cult?’
What is this?
It was confusing.
[So, do you dislike it?]
Did I dislike it?
“…I like it very much.”
I was already looking forward to seeing what expressions those demons, wearing human skin masks made by tearing off the face skins of the Seonhwa Sect’s people, would make when they died by Demonic Cult martial arts.
However, when I smashed their heads, I felt I should tear off the human skin masks first before breaking them.
‘Would it be a bit of a consolation to the deceased people of the Seonhwa Sect?’
It felt like it would be more of a consolation than simply killing them.
Certainly.
The remaining problem was how to explain the plan I had whispered about with my masters.
Even if Yi Hwa was easily convinced, Mu-ho was the problem.
I thought about mentioning the human skin mask, but if he asked how I knew, I would be at a loss for words.
Yet if we kept going like this, we might end up actually visiting the Seonhwa Sect and meeting them face-to-face. If that happened, things would get completely tangled.
In times like this, the best way was to gloss over it with something Mu-ho did not know well but definitely existed.
Fortunately, there was a way.
“Sorcery?”
“Yeah.”
“What is that? You mean the thing they use in places like the Maoshan Sect?”
“Right, that.”
“I thought it was just some trickery… Did such a thing really exist?”
Around the time we arrived at the outskirts of the village where the Seonhwa Sect was located, and when we obtained information from the village that there was no particular problem with the Seonhwa Sect, I started telling the story.
Naturally, Baek Mu-ho had a half-believing, half-doubting expression.
“I was surprised too, but it does exist.”
“Hmm…”
With a low groan, the look he cast toward Yi Hwa was cold. It carried the air of someone looking at a swindler trying to deceive him to plot something.
‘Turning this kind of distrust into trust actually makes them believe even more deeply.’
It was also a method well-utilized by swindlers. I had once heard an explanation about it from my grandfather’s friend when I was young.
They said that if you mix ninety percent of clear truth with ten percent of a lie, a hundred percent pure lie is created?
Damn ten-tenths.
Moreover, in Yi Hwa’s case, she could perform a trick that looked like sorcery while being verifiable with one’s own eyes.
“Yi Hwa.”
“Yes.”
At my signal, Yi Hwa spoke in a calm voice.
“Ignite.”
Fwoosh!
“Whoa!”
In an instant, a fist-sized flame flared up intensely right in front of Baek Mu-ho’s nose before dying down.
Startled, Baek Mu-ho looked around.
A martial artist with vast Yang-strong power might be able to pull off a similar trick, but there was no flow of internal energy whatsoever.
To anyone, it looked like sorcery.
‘It’s fascinating even when I look at it.’
Yi Hwa’s skill in handling the divine power of fire was impressive even to me.
To think she could draw divine power into the real world with just a single word!
It must be because she is the Divine Maiden that such a thing is possible.
‘If judged by martial arts standards, should I say it’s a realm beyond a Peak Master?’
On the other hand, I also coveted Yi Hwa’s talent.
Ever since I began keeping Yi Hwa by my side, the divine power of fire had been slowly accumulating. Once a certain amount of power gathered, it would be nice to learn how to utilize it.
“Okay. Now I know that sorcery really exists.”
The look in Baek Mu-ho’s eyes, which had been half-believing, changed.
“So?”
“There is a spell to confirm the presence of one’s kin. Since the downfall of my family, the only remaining relative of mine should be that person in the Seonhwa Sect, but right now, I cannot feel them at all.”
Yi Hwa explained in response to Baek Mu-ho’s question.
What an incredibly convenient setup.
Although there were no surviving kin left to prove the existence of such a spell, if it did exist, that itself told us the current state of the Seonhwa Sect.
“If they just went on a trip somewhere else for a bit…”
“Then at least there should be a sign of the direction they are in, but I cannot feel even that.”
“Then there’s indeed a problem.”
When given the right ingredients, Baek Mu-ho began putting them together on his own.
“You said it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary happened to the Seonhwa Sect from what the villagers said?”
“Indeed.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary happened, but the person who should be there is gone… If the ones targeting this kid’s family are the Demonic Cult bastards…”
The Demonic Cult is up to some trick.
Having reached that conclusion, Baek Mu-ho clicked his tongue and stroked the sword at his waist.
“Tsk! If we had just entered without knowing anything, we might have been completely caught off guard.”
“Probably.”
‘Though that wouldn’t have happened since I already knew.’
My words and thoughts ran on separate tracks.
At any rate, I had steered Baek Mu-ho’s thoughts to exactly where I wanted them.
“So, I had this thought.”
I brought out the plan I had hammered out with my masters.
“We disguise ourselves as the Demonic Cult and launch a surprise attack?”
“We backstab the ones who are planning to backstab. Do you dislike it?”
“No? I fucking love it. Hahaha!”
Seeing him laugh so heartily, he really seemed to like it.
Somehow it felt similar to what I had said to my master.
Birds of a feather flock together, I suppose?
“But if I use my sword poorly, traces of the Mount Hua Sect’s martial arts might be left behind. What should I do?”
‘What do you mean, what should you do? You already know the most awesome thing.’
“Can’t you just use it by embedding the sword temperament you got at Mount Song? That was a rather domineering temperament.”
“Ah, would that work?”
‘Of course it would. Whose sword do you think that is?’
“Yeah, that’ll do.”
With that, I was able to fill in the final piece of the plan I had envisioned.
***
The next day.
With the sun high in the sky, Baek Mu-ho and I charged toward the Seonhwa Sect.
Crash!
The villagers stared with wide eyes as we smashed through the main gate in one go.
It might also have been because we were wearing bizarre masks that partially covered our faces.
‘Let’s begin.’
Beginning with my signal, words that an orthodox martial artist must never utter spilled from our mouths.
“The Heavenly Demon has descended!”
“Ten thousand demons bow in submission!”
“The heroes of the Heavenly Demon Cult have arrived, so let the hypocrites of the orthodox faction come out and offer their necks!”
“If you do, we shall kill you without pain!”
It was acting. This was acting.
Baek Mu-ho seemed so immersed in the acting that he shouted with great realism and emotion, but as for me… was I any different?
[…My goodness.]
I could feel Master Zhang Sanfeng’s awkward displeasure even from here.
‘Master, you also played a part in this plan, you know?’
A sense of self-loathing welled up, but let’s cure that by watching the reactions before us.
Just then, there were Seonhwa Sect martial artists coming out, wondering what on earth was going on.
They were looking at us with dumbfounded expressions.
Every single one of them had a look that wanted to ask, ‘What? What is this? What are those bastards?’
Perhaps having gathered his wits, one of them stepped forward and asked with a hollow laugh.
“Who the hell are you guys?”
“We said we’re from the Heavenly Demon Cult. Are your ears clogged, you dumbass!”
Baek Mu-ho dynamically wielded his sword.
Though it was clumsy and lacking.
“Gasp!”
The temperament of Master Heavenly Demon, who reigned over ten thousand demons, was embedded in that sword.