Chapter 260: What Your Names Shall Be
Chapter 260: What Your Names Shall Be
It had been a long time since I’d shared a meal with my father.
I cherished these moments—whether we were playing Go or eating together. These quiet, wordless exchanges with him were precious to me.
I usually played the chatterbox, but in truth, these moments felt more in tune with my nature. After all, I had spent most of my life in silence.
"Was your training difficult?"
"Physically, it wasn't hard. What was difficult was enduring the boredom of repetition."
"And how did you endure it?"
"Eventually, I emptied my mind. I realized this repetition would be my lifelong task, and that even if I escaped this boredom, another kind would surely be waiting for me. So, I just did it. Eventually, the repetition and the boredom seemed to become one with me."
My father smiled. It wasn't a smirk or a scoff. It was a smile of genuine pride, acknowledging that I had found the right path.
I explained to him in detail how I had interpreted the First Form, the trial and error I had faced, and how I had practiced it repeatedly. I spoke with the excitement of a child showing off, but in reality, I was providing him with information.
I wanted him to use it as a reference.
Father would likely compare my interpretation with his own to refine his technique even further. I truly hoped he would succeed. I hadn't regressed to become stronger than my father or to defeat him. I came back to survive alongside him.
"If you're finished eating, let's go settle our stomachs."
I followed him outside. Father looked toward the distant peak of Daecheon Mountain and spoke.
"Let's race to see who reaches the top first."
For some reason, he was proposing a contest of lightness skills.
"You haven't forgotten my promise to challenge you once I mastered the Rapid Speed Step, have you?"
"Well? Are you confident?"
"Of course I am. For your information, even the Demon Lords couldn't keep up with me."
"Go on, then. Start first!"
"You'll be stuck looking at my back, then."
The moment the words left my mouth, I bolted. I did this to give him an out—an excuse to fall back on if I actually managed to win.
I dashed forward at a terrifying pace using the Rapid Speed Step. Having reached Great Achievement in the technique, I was so fast I wondered if even my father could match this speed.
Right then, I heard the sharp whistle of wind from behind.
When I turned my head, Father was right beside me. He was gliding through the air, his posture upright and steady, his robes fluttering in the wind. Speed wasn't the only factor here.
He looks amazing!
While I was running as if my life depended on it, Father was moving with an air of aloof dignity. The Heavenly Demon Flight Technique at Great Achievement suited him so perfectly it seemed as if the martial art had been created specifically for him.
Well, if I wasn't going to look cool, I at least couldn't afford to be slow.
I ran with every ounce of strength I possessed. I felt as though I were moving as fast as a flash of light, yet it was Father who reached the summit first.
"I lost. I lost in style, and I lost in speed. It seems even the God of Wind is no match for the Heavenly Demon."
As I hung my head, Father spoke.
"The Rapid Speed Step is indeed fast."
Father rarely acknowledged other martial arts, but the Wind God Four Steps was one he respected. Then, something unexpected came from his lips.
"Once you reach Great Achievement in the Heavenly Demon Flight Technique, the result will be the same."
It was a word of recognition. There was a reason he had proposed the race, and a reason he was saying this now.
"I shall pass the Heavenly Demon Flight Technique on to you."
I understood why. It was because of what I had shared earlier regarding the First Form. You taught me one thing, so I shall teach you one in return. That was his way. Father never accepted anything for free.
"Thank you, Father."
I immediately prostrated myself before him.
"With your current level of insight into the ultimate principles of lightness skills, learning it won't be difficult, and reaching Great Achievement shouldn't take long. Now, listen closely."
Right there on the spot, Father transmitted the oral formula for the Heavenly Demon Flight Technique. Only after confirming several times that I had memorized it perfectly did the transmission end.
I gave him a deep bow.
"I am truly happy, Father."
My joy wasn't just because the Heavenly Demon Flight Technique was the greatest lightness skill in the Murim. Nor was it because of the possibility of combining it with the Wind God Four Steps to achieve even greater speed.
I was happy because this was the moment I inherited the last of my father's signature martial arts. From the Nine Calamities Demonic Art and the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Art to the Heavenly Demon Flight Technique—I had now learned all the core techniques my father possessed. My heart swelled with emotion.
"That's enough. Stand up."
"Yes, sir."
I stood side-by-side with my father on the cliff at the peak of Daecheon Mountain. The panoramic view of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult stretched out below us.
"When I became the Young Cult Leader, I climbed up here with my father."
I looked at him. I imagined him in his youth and pictured my grandfather standing beside him.
"My father's dream was the Unification of the Murim."
That was a fact I hadn't known. After a brief silence, I asked him, "And yours, Father?"
Father didn't answer. But I knew. I knew he dreamed of the Unification of the Murim. And he knew that I knew.
I brought up a topic that was difficult to broach, but one that had to be said eventually.
"Even if you achieve the great feat of Unification and receive the praise and respect of the entire world... you will not have mine."
It was a statement that could have provoked an outburst of rage, but Father said nothing. He understood by now what kind of heart his son possessed.
In silence, we gazed at the distant Cult, and then at the horizon and the sky beyond. To break the heavy atmosphere, I spoke in a more cheerful tone.
"Father, please give my friends some names. I've been trying to think of something cool myself. I thought about a ghost theme—Night Ghost, Blood Ghost, White Ghost, Heavenly Ghost—but then I realized that sounded too gloomy. So I thought of something more elegant, like a moon theme—Bright Moon, Waning Moon, Hidden Moon, Shimmering Moon—or perhaps something based on colors..."
Right then, Father spoke abruptly.
"East, West, South, North."
I flinched for a moment. "You're joking, right?"
Father looked at me with a completely expressionless face.
"Not even the Four Gentlemen or the Clear Wind and Bright Moon? Just... East, West, South, North?"
I couldn't tell if he was telling me not to waste time naming evil spirits, if it was a reaction to what I’d said about the Unification of the Murim, or if he genuinely thought those were good names.
"East, West, South, North!" he said it again, as if finalizing the decision.
What could I do when he was being like this?
Ah, I'm sorry, my ghosts!
"Oh, now that I hear it again, it's actually quite good. East Demon, West Demon, South Demon, North Demon. Easy to remember. Perfect. If anyone asks, I'll tell them my father named them! I'll brag about it."
I'm telling everyone you named them! Even so, Father didn't budge.
And so, the names of the four ghosts were finalized as East, West, South, and North.
*
After descending Daecheon Mountain, I headed straight for Tongcheon Pavilion. I needed to hear from Chief Strategist Sama Myeong about my next tasks.
As I entered the pavilion, the strategists I encountered greeted me with polite bows. Their gazes were favorable. Given the nature of their work, they knew more about me than anyone else, so the shift in their attitude was worth noting.
After passing through several layers of strict security, I entered the Tongcheon Pavilion operations room. Sama Myeong was in the middle of a meeting with other strategists in the conference room. When a strategist offered to notify Sama Myeong of my arrival, I told him to leave it be and waited for the meeting to end.
The place was a hive of activity. Missives arrived constantly through a dozen slots in the wall, categorized by region, and strategists sorted them by priority. Some were running around with documents, others were writing feverishly. Another was moving dozens of colored flags across a topographical map of the Central Plains. Everyone was busy.
The Murim was at peace, but this place was a battlefield. Or perhaps the Murim was at peace precisely because this place was a battlefield.
A short while later, Sama Myeong emerged from the meeting and looked surprised to see me.
"Young Cult Leader, when did you arrive?"
"A moment ago. I told them not to disturb you and that I would wait until the meeting was over."
"Let us go to my office."
"We can speak here. It's good to see the strategists at work. It makes me feel like I should live more diligently."
"That is hardly something for someone who has just emerged from closed-door training to say. You should rest for a while."
"And that is hardly something for someone who has a mountain of missions waiting for me to say."
Sama Myeong and I shared a smile.
"How was your training?"
"As soon as I finished, I ran to brag to my father without even shaving my beard."
The word 'brag' contained all the results he needed to know.
"My congratulations."
"It's thanks to you coordinating the external schedules. I'm sure I have a lot of catching up to do. What should I start with?"
"First, you must visit the Hunan and Jiangxi branches. The Hunan branch is the first point of conflict should a war with the Murim Alliance break out, and Jiangxi is a strategic stronghold for dealing with the Unorthodox Path Alliance. Your first task as Young Cult Leader is to visit these two branches and meet with their leaders."
"Understood."
"I will send the official mission orders tomorrow morning."
"Yes. I'll see you when I return."
As I turned to leave, Sama Myeong spoke. "In the future, the Young Cult Leader will have a great influence on the fate of this Cult."
I smiled and replied, "That's why I plan to visit you often, Strategist."
*
I was walking back to my quarters from Tongcheon Pavilion when a masked man appeared before me on a secluded path. Releasing his stealth and revealing himself was Hwi, the Captain of the Heavenly Demon Hall Guard.
"Uncle!"
"Young Cult Leader."
"Please, just call me Geuk-ah, like you did when I was little."
"I cannot do that."
It was moving to see him after so long.
"How long has it been? You have a lot more gray hair now, Uncle."
"I'm getting older, too."
"It's because serving my father is so exhausting, isn't it? He's incredibly demanding, right? Does he bully you?"
"It is the greatest joy of my life."
Hwi was exactly the man I remembered. A man for whom his duty as a guard was everything. A man for whom my father was everything.
"You used to carry me on your back on snowy days."
Hwi's eyes crinkled into crescents behind his mask as he smiled. "You remember that?"
"Of course. I loved it back then."
After our greetings, Hwi revealed the reason he had sought me out.
"Please take guards with you when you leave the Cult this time."
I didn't answer immediately. I had originally planned to go alone. He had come to me expecting exactly that.
"To be honest, it is not for your sake. I am well aware that your skills are such that guards might actually be a burden." Hwi didn't mince words. "It is for my juniors. If those children are with you, they will grow into excellent guards. I have watched your recent actions. To me, the Young Cult Leader appeared as a vast sea—a sea large enough to embrace all of my juniors."
Given his personality, it couldn't have been easy for him to come and say this to me. It showed how much he cherished the Heavenly Demon Guard and his juniors.
In my past life, they had all died with us. If it was a request from Hwi, who had dedicated his entire life to my father, then yes—I would take not just twelve, but twelve hundred if he asked.
"I will take them with me."
Hwi bowed deeply. "Thank you."
"No, Uncle." I bowed deeply to him in return.
When I looked up again, Hwi had already vanished. He wasn't a man who repaid debts with words, so he would surely try to repay this favor someday.
Uncle Hwi, there's no need for that. You and your juniors have already repaid everything with your lives.
*
My guards were training at the practice grounds. I watched them for a moment before stepping inside. They stopped their training and greeted me in unison with fist salutes.
"We greet the Young Cult Leader!"
Their thunderous greeting was full of spirit.
"Have you been training continuously for the past hundred days?"
Jeok-yeon stepped forward to answer. "Yes. We haven't missed a single day."
"But why are there only six of you?"
"Since we don't know when we might be deployed for escort duty, we've split into day and night shifts. We rotate the shifts once a month."
In other words, the night shift trained from evening until morning. I was truly impressed. Since it had been a while, I checked Jeok-yeon's eyes first. Knowing that refusal was useless, Jeok-yeon obediently removed his eyepatch.
I peered into his blood-red pupils and spoke. "Your Ghost Eye Technique has reached a new level."
Jeok-yeon looked startled. "That's correct. Did you realize that just by looking at the color of my eyes?"
"The shade has changed."
"I couldn't even tell myself, even though I look in the mirror every day."
I had discerned the difference using the New Eye Technique. Part of the reason my heart went out to him was because of my own New Eye Technique. I had learned mine for myself, but he had learned the Ghost Eye Technique for the sake of others. And that 'other' had ultimately become me.
Even if it was his choice and his fate, sacrificing one's eyes for another is never an easy thing. I channeled my True Qi into his eyes to soothe the strain.
"It feels different."
"How so?"
"The pain has lessened significantly."
If that was the case, it was likely due to the change in my internal energy. It had become much more profound and pure.
"You're leaving the Cult with me tomorrow. Official mission orders will arrive from Tongcheon Pavilion early in the morning."
The expressions of Jeok-yeon and the other guards brightened instantly. They were finally going on their first mission. I could feel their irrepressible excitement and joy. They were so happy that it would have been a disaster if I’d left them behind.
"Thank you for trusting us."
"Protect me well starting tomorrow. I'm counting on you all."
With a thunderous response, Jeok-yeon and the guards bowed. Right, since we're heading out, let's come back even stronger.
The next morning, two carriages departed from the Cult. It was my first official departure as the Young Cult Leader, accompanied by a formal escort.