Chapter 306: What Kind of Demon Lord Believes in Superstitions?
Chapter 306: What Kind of Demon Lord Believes in Superstitions?
After leaving the Thousand Poison Forest, my next destination was the Great Drunken Forest.
As always, Yeo-bin, the Third Drunken Guest, guided me to the Drunken Demon.
"Does Lord Drunken Demon still drink as much as he used to?" I asked her as we crossed the lake by boat.
"He had cut back significantly for a while, but lately, it seems he’s been overindulging again."
Her eyes held a flicker of hope that I might be able to stop him. Yeo-bin was the only woman who truly cared for the Drunken Demon with all her heart.
Eventually, we reached the island and ascended the Drunken Dream Pavilion.
The Drunken Demon was already intoxicated.
"No matter how I look at it, did you really have to save me for last? Am I the lowest among the Demon Lords? That has to be it. Otherwise, there's no explanation for this."
He didn't even try to hide his disappointment.
"I saved you for last so I could drink comfortably with you, Brother."
"A fine excuse."
"Aigo, have a heart, Brother. It’s been a long, exhausting day."
I sat down across from him, stretching my legs out comfortably.
"You probably don't know this, but I feel most at ease when I'm with you."
"You mean I'm just an easy target!"
"Is that so?"
Shaking his head as if I were hopeless, the Drunken Demon poured me a drink. Before I knew it, the tension in his expression had melted away. Sometimes, a simple "Is that so?" carries more weight than a long-winded explanation.
We drank together.
As the potent liquor slid down my throat, my chest flared with heat. It was even stronger than the spirits he used to drink.
"I thought you said you were cutting back, but you're drinking even stronger stuff now."
"If that's too much, drink this instead."
He pulled another bottle from a stack in the pavilion and poured it for me, while he continued with his original, lethal brew.
What exactly was troubling him?
I was curious, but I didn't ask. There are only two ways to get the truth out of a drunkard: sober him up, or feed him more alcohol.
"Come on, another glass!"
Regardless of what his worries were, drinking with him after such a long time lifted my spirits.
"The atmosphere is incredible."
Tonight, the thick mist over the water and the moon glowing hazily through the clouds heightened the mood.
"Whenever I thought of a drink while I was away, this place always came to mind. I'd wonder if you were drinking, or if you were floating out on the lake."
"It's too cold to go into the water much these days."
"Time really flies."
It felt like spring just the other day, and now it was already cold. We drank in silence for a while, lost in our own thoughts. The Drunken Demon was definitely drinking more than usual.
"Yeo-bin was very worried about your drinking."
"Yeo-bin is always worried."
"Treat her well while she's still caring for you. Don't regret it later."
"Regret?"
He gave me a look asking what I meant, but I didn't answer. Why ask when he already knew? He might seem like someone who does nothing but drink, but the Drunken Demon is a delicate and sensitive man. How could he not know that Yeo-bin liked him? He was simply feigning ignorance.
Come to think of it, none of the Demon Lords had managed to form a family. At most, the Fist Demon had recently gained a daughter. Everyone else lived alone like this.
Was it because, as the Blood Heaven Blade Demon always said, family is the enemy? Or was it because family is a weakness?
"There's somewhere I need to go with you for a moment."
The Drunken Demon led me onto a boat.
He rowed to a shore on the opposite side of the entrance. After disembarking, he walked into the woods. I usually only visited the Drunken Dream Pavilion, but the Great Drunken Forest was actually quite vast.
After walking for a long time, a thick mist surrounded us. Sensing something strange, I looked closer and realized it wasn't mist. It was Liquor Qi. It was my first time seeing Liquor Qi spread out like a fog.
"If you're exposed to this, you'll collapse from intoxication. It's not the kind of Liquor Qi you can expel with internal energy, so an ordinary person could never pass through here. Stay close behind me."
As the Drunken Demon walked, the Liquor Qi parted to create a path. As if it were alive, the parted mist closed behind us as soon as we passed, erasing the trail.
It wasn't a place you could traverse with lightness skills. The fog-like Liquor Qi made it impossible to see ahead, and the path was as complex as a labyrinth. In the end, this was a forbidden area of the Great Drunken Forest that only the Drunken Demon could navigate.
Once we cleared the labyrinth, the Liquor Qi finally lifted. A single building stood before us.
"This is where generations of Great Drunken Demons have brewed their liquor."
I followed him inside. The interior was set up like a brewery. The equipment looked old and worn, but each piece seemed extraordinary. On the wall, shelves held bottles of liquor favored by previous Drunken Demons.
"I personally enjoy drinking a variety of spirits, so I don't drink the stuff here very often. Besides, while I have a talent for drinking, I don't have much of a knack for brewing. So I just come here occasionally to rest."
In the center of the brewery sat a uniquely shaped chalice. Looking down at it, the Drunken Demon spoke with a grave expression.
"The liquor essence spoiled recently."
Indeed, a foul, rotten smell was emanating from it.
"This has never happened once since I became a Demon Lord," he added, his face darkening. "It's an ill omen."
Only then did I understand why he had seemed so troubled.
"Am I going to die?"
"I guess you don't want to die yet."
"There's still so much liquor I haven't tasted."
"Don't worry. If you die, Brother, I'll buy up all the liquor in the Central Plains and pour it over your grave."
The Drunken Demon let out a sigh. It seemed his intuition was screaming, like a flock of birds taking flight or animals stampeding before an earthquake. I truly hadn't expected him to be this serious for such a reason.
"What kind of Demon Lord gets hung up on superstitions?"
"My Master once said that if the liquor essence spoils, something terrible will happen. Either a problem will arise for the Great Drunken Demon, or a problem will strike the Cult. Of course, I didn't believe it then."
But now that it had actually happened, he seemed deeply unsettled.
"If it bothers you that much, tell my father."
"No! I've only just cleared up the misunderstandings with the Cult Leader."
Originally, the Drunken Demon had mistakenly believed my father hated him. However, after learning that it was his Master my father disliked, not him, the misunderstanding had been resolved.
"I've even been giving the Cult Leader gifts of liquor. We've been getting along well. But if he hears the liquor essence spoiled, wouldn't it leave a bad taste in his mouth? He'd think, 'Of course, like master, like disciple. What a bunch of unlucky drunkards.'"
One might wonder why he worried about such things, but that was the kind of sensitive person the Drunken Demon was—especially when it came to his relationship with my father.
"Father would just dismiss it as a superstition and keep drinking. That's the kind of man he is."
I examined the chalice containing the spoiled essence and asked, "How do I clean this up? Don't try to scare me by saying it's a thousand-year-old treasure of the Great Drunken Forest that I'll break if I touch it."
"Why? You're going to clean it now? Forget it. I'll do it later."
"Why wait? You'll just sit here alone, wallowing in all sorts of gloomy thoughts while you clean it. Let's just get it over with while I'm here."
Together with the Drunken Demon, I emptied the spoiled essence from the chalice. While I fetched water to wash the vessel, he prepared to brew a new batch.
As I scrubbed the chalice, I said to him, "It didn't spoil because of you, Brother. There's someone trying to stir up trouble in the Cult lately. It probably spoiled because of that unlucky bastard."
"You don't need to make things up just to comfort me."
"I'm not making it up. I'm currently conducting a background check using both the Huangquan Pavilion and the Tongcheon Pavilion."
"Is there really such a person?"
"There is. I shouldn't underestimate you, Brother. You sensed it all."
Even so, the Drunken Demon's expression didn't fully relax. I couldn't just stand by and watch a Demon Lord be consumed by superstition.
"Brother, do you believe that a person's future is predetermined?"
"To some extent."
"I don't. My relationship with you changes right now depending on what I say to you, so how can anything be set in stone? I think the liquor essence spoiled because it was destiny's way of making you bring me here. If that hadn't happened, I would have never known this place existed. Who knows how the world works? Maybe one day I'll be in danger and have to flee here. This isn't an ill omen; it's a notification of a great destiny that will save your brother's life."
"You really are good at spinning things your way."
He laughed, seemingly exasperated, but the dark clouds over his heart had cleared significantly. His expression brightened.
"You were waiting for me just to hear something like that, weren't you?"
The Drunken Demon admitted it readily. "It was even better than I expected."
"Please feel free to use my services again, customer!"
I placed the clean chalice back in its original spot and said, "The price for my services is just a cup of wine and my superstition-loving brother."
*
When I returned to my quarters, the night guard greeted me warmly.
"You look exhausted, Young Cult Leader."
Since returning from the Jiangxi Branch, I had been meeting people almost without rest. And were they just any ordinary people?
"I'm going to rest now, so do not disturb me."
I entered my room as if I were about to collapse onto the bed, but instead of sleeping, I activated the Space-Time Displacement Technique.
How do I deal with an ill omen? Training.
If something unlucky is about to happen, I just have to eliminate it. I will endure by becoming a being that even misfortune cannot touch. I'm putting in this much effort to hold my ground. Misfortune, what can you possibly do to me?
Inside the Space-Time Displacement Technique, I activated the Time Heaven Secret Technique again to make time flow differently.
Through blood-sweating effort, I had reached a point where I could have twice as much time as the outside world. I didn't even hope for infinite time. The final goal of the Time Heaven Secret Technique was to create a tenfold difference. Just until I could achieve the Twelve-Star Great Achievement of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, please.
Today's training was the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. I had been repeatedly practicing only the First Form, but I instinctively felt it was time to learn the Second Form. Such was the state of my martial arts realm, having reached the ultimate principle.
Nine Calamities Demonic Art, Second Form: Great Annihilation Form (大滅式).
While the First Form, Annihilation Form, was an attack targeting a single person, the Second Form, Great Annihilation Form, was a technique for dealing with multiple opponents.
As I unleashed the Second Form, an evil ghost silently appeared before me with its back turned. It was the most terrifying-looking one among the four ghosts that appeared in the First Form.
In an instant, its body seemed to flicker.
Sshhh.
The ghost split. It divided into three.
Rumble!
The three ghosts thrust their swords forward, sweeping across the area ahead. Nothing remained where they passed. It was an attack that wiped out everything in its path, regardless of what was there.
As my mastery of the Second Form increased, the number of ghosts I could split would also increase. Eventually, it would become a technique that could split into dozens and sweep away everything in sight.
Of course, the amount of internal energy consumed would also increase according to the number of splits. I wondered how many my father could create.
I would surpass the number my father could produce. Just what was my limit?
My heart raced as I imagined the ghosts sweeping away everything before me. The image kept me from sleeping. I immersed myself in practicing the Second Form until morning, and by the time the sun rose, I was in a state of near-exhaustion.
Now it was truly time to rest.
I deactivated the Time Heaven Secret Technique and reactivated the Space-Time Displacement Technique. My most cherished space unfolded before me.
A hot sun, a blue sea, a pure white sandy beach, and a comfortable chair under a broad-leaved tree.
It had been a long time. I had saved this place on purpose, to open it on a day like this. I slumped into the chair. Looking at the sea and sky, as blue as the color of my sword force, my mind found peace.
Whether the liquor essence spoiled, whether Sa U-jong was acting up, or whether there was a mastermind behind it all—at this moment, I forgot everything and rested.
I placed the Secret Casket I had been carrying beside me. I had drawn eyes and a mouth on it, like a person. It had a wide, smiling expression. I had said I would eventually open it by telling it to "Open, open" every day, but I hadn't actually said those words since I obtained it.
"You rest too. People must have been pestering you to 'Open, open' for all those years; how hard that must have been. You rest, and I'll rest too."
Sleep washed over me. The god of sleep guided me to a presence I hadn't seen in a long time.
In my dream, I was standing in the sky. Above a sea that mirrored the heavens, I was within my own aura.
Then, a shadow fell, and the world grew dark. Turning around, I saw something massive blocking the sun. At first, I thought it was a tidal wave as high as a fortress wall, but it wasn't.
The Heavenly Demon Soul.
The entity that had shown itself to me several times had appeared in my dream. The Heavenly Demon Soul was looking down at me with its arms crossed. Since it had its back to the sun, I couldn't see its face clearly.
But I knew instinctively. This was my Heavenly Demon Soul.
I stared intensely at it, wanting to see its face. But at this moment, even the New Eye Technique did not work.
'Do you also want me to reach you faster?'
The Heavenly Demon Soul simply looked down at me in silence.
*
Three days later, I received the first report in Seo Dae-ryong's office.
"Despite a thorough investigation into Sa U-jong's assets, we found nothing suspicious."
"No traces of money changing hands?"
"None. Based on an analysis of his saving and spending habits, he is someone with very little interest in money."
Seo Dae-ryong asked cautiously, "Could he really have just wanted to die at the hands of the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord?"
I shook my head.
"That's actually a worse case. What you're saying is that he was moved by something other than money. If he were a heroic warrior, he might have moved for a great cause, but he's not that kind of person."
"So you believe someone is behind him, Young Cult Leader."
"I'm keeping various possibilities in mind."
Considering Baek Cheon-gyeong of the Mokcheon Family had infiltrated the Murim Alliance, I couldn't guarantee there wasn't someone like that within our Cult. I had to keep the possibility of a mastermind in mind for any future incidents.
"This is the record of Sa U-jong's daily routine."
I calmly reviewed his day as written on the paper. In a routine no different from that of an ordinary martial artist, one thing stood out.
"What's this flower garden?"
"He's been going to that garden frequently lately. Apparently, he just sits there blankly for a while. Since he used to help the One Flower Sword Venerable tend to his gardens, it might not be strange for him to frequent one."
"No, it is strange. If it were me, I wouldn't even want to look at a flower. I wouldn't have been suspicious if he had suddenly gone to learn the zither out of the blue. But he's periodically visiting a place that no one would think to suspect?"
"When you put it that way, it does seem suspicious. Ah, I'm so glad you weren't in my graduating class, Young Cult Leader. I never would have graduated at the top."
I laughed at his banter and stood up. It was clear where I was going now, so Seo Dae-ryong looked at a flower pot on the windowsill and spoke.
"Number Three, looks like you're about to get a friend."