Chapter 312: That Door Can Never Be Opened
Chapter 312: That Door Can Never Be Opened
Geom Mu-geuk called out from the garden courtyard.
"Is the owner in?"
Hwan-yeo emerged from the back of the garden.
"Welcome, Young Cult Leader."
As she greeted him warmly, she had returned to her usual guise—the stout, kindly owner of the garden.
"Ah, so you were here. I thought you might have fled. I was just about to commission a painter for a wanted poster."
When Hwan-yeo stiffened slightly, Geom Mu-geuk added with a smile, "I’m joking. Why would our dear owner run away when she’s committed no crime?"
As if he were now familiar with the place, Geom Mu-geuk walked over to a flowerpot in the corner.
"You have some new flowers."
"They arrived just a moment ago."
Geom Mu-geuk crouched down to admire the blooms. This was the Young Cult Leader’s third visit.
He clearly has an ulterior motive.
Perhaps it was because of the dream she’d had earlier, but Hwan-yeo felt a greater sense of unease than during his previous visits. Her subordinates had reported that the Pungcheon Cult Leader had returned. Perhaps he had realized that the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord had fallen victim to the Yin-Yang Soul Reversal Technique.
If so, he should just capture and kill me. Why is he hesitating?
The Young Cult Leader could strike at any moment. She remained fully prepared, ready to trigger her illusions in a heartbeat.
Regardless of the tension coiling in her heart, Geom Mu-geuk remained nonchalant.
"I understand why that dead martial artist kept coming here. Being here strangely puts my mind at ease."
"I’m truly grateful you feel that way."
"Do you know anything else about that man?"
"No. He was a man of very few words."
When she had used Sa U-jong, she hadn't expected to fall under such heavy suspicion. Since he had been romantically entangled with the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord, she assumed the investigation would naturally focus on that.
Why did things get so twisted?
The answer to that question was currently crouching right in front of her.
"Is it strange that I visit so often?"
"No. I already knew you were close with the people of Ma Clan Village. Aren't you particularly close with the owner of the Pungryu Tavern over there?"
A cold smile played on Geom Mu-geuk’s lips. Her words, spoken as if they were trivial, carried an underlying threat: I know the people you care about.
Geom Mu-geuk stood up and turned toward her. The cold smile was gone, replaced by a pleasant, friendly expression.
"You seem to know a lot about me."
"I know you are someone who doesn't care about status. Since you're friends with a tavern owner, surely you can be friends with a garden owner as well?"
Their gazes locked. Their behavior toward each other was perfectly natural, yet charged.
"Do you have any family?"
It would have been nice to say she had a twin sister, but she knew he wasn't such an easy opponent.
"No, I have no one."
"It must be lonely, being all alone."
"I live my life regarding these flowers and trees as my family."
Through today's conversation, Geom Mu-geuk felt certain of one thing: it would take a very long time to squeeze the name of the Illusion King out of this meticulous woman.
Even when winter passed and the spring buds burst forth, it wouldn't be easy. But this woman was too dangerous to spend a long time courting.
"I have some news for you, owner."
If he couldn't reach her through peace, he would have to drive her into a corner.
"What kind of news?"
"There is good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"I'll hear the bad news first."
"The Pungcheon Cult Leader has returned to resolve this incident. Since it involves the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord, he will be investigating personally. In a short while, he will lead the Demon Army here to search the garden himself."
Because Geom Mu-geuk had exposed this information so openly, Hwan-yeo was actually confused. If he truly suspected her, he should have just come with the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
"The Pungcheon Cult Leader was confident. He said that if he inspected the place himself, he would definitely find a clue."
She wasn't worried about the garden. There was nothing here that could serve as evidence regarding illusions or soul-seizing techniques. There was no proof that could reveal her true identity.
The problem was herself.
What if the Pungcheon Cult Leader saw her in person? A man of his caliber might see through her disguise. She could hide from the Young Cult Leader, but she wasn't confident she could do the same with the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
I have to leave before I cross paths with him.
The reason she hadn't left immediately after hearing the report of his return was because of this Young Cult Leader. Could she perhaps prevent him from releasing her wanted poster and sending a pursuit squad?
What if he was telling her this because he truly believed in her? It was still suspicious, but what if it were true?
"I still believe you are innocent. After all, there is no such thing as an evil person who loves flowers."
Fine, I have nothing to lose. She was confident she could escape the Young Cult Leader if it came down to it.
"And the good news?"
"Have a meal with me. It's on me."
Hwan-yeo was startled by the unexpected proposal. Why did he want to eat with her? To poison the food? There were much easier ways to subdue her.
Truly, this man was impossible to read. Because she couldn't pin him down, she kept getting swept up in his pace.
"Isn't that even worse news? I'd get indigestion eating with someone as noble as you, Young Cult Leader."
Geom Mu-geuk laughed loudly.
"I knew it. I had a feeling our owner was a witty person."
Despite his banter, Hwan-yeo remained serious.
"You treat me casually, but this is very difficult for me. Just seeing you is hard enough; if I were to meet someone like the Pungcheon Cult Leader, I would surely collapse. If you truly believe I am innocent, please allow me to close the garden for a while and visit my hometown."
Even if a wanted poster was released and a pursuit squad was sent, there was no way they would catch her.
The problem was that the person who gave her this mission would consider her incompetent. If her identity was exposed and she was hunted by the Demonic Cult, her brother would take the lead in future roles, and she would be relegated to a supporting one. That was not what she wanted. She wanted to be the light, not the shadow.
"You said you believed me, didn't you?"
"Of course."
"Then I beg of you. Please, let me go."
"I'll let you go once you've met the Pungcheon Cult Leader. I'll be by your side, so don't worry."
Hwan-yeo stared intently at Geom Mu-geuk. The look in her eyes changed.
"A noble person like yourself is speaking with a forked tongue. You said you didn't suspect me."
"I don't."
Geom Mu-geuk now pushed the situation into the next phase.
"Suspicion is something you feel when you're unsure. Why would I suspect you when I'm certain you're the culprit?"
"!"
Hwan-yeo was stunned. She never imagined Geom Mu-geuk would say such a thing.
"To think a person who loves flowers was actually a villain."
Coincidentally, Geom Mu-geuk’s words were nearly identical to what he had said in her dream.
Hwan-yeo realized it then.
He was playing with me from the very beginning!
However, there was one thing she was curious about.
"Since when did you know?"
Hwan-yeo's aura shifted. Her true self—the one who could cast soul-seizing techniques on a Demon Lord and stand tall before the Young Cult Leader—emerged.
"From the start."
He meant he had known since the moment he first came to buy flowers for a woman.
Hwan-yeo sighed.
"So you were trying to find out why I plotted this."
She naturally assumed that was the case, but Geom Mu-geuk’s answer was unexpected.
"You don't even know the reason yourself, do you?"
Hwan-yeo's expression froze.
"You're just doing what someone else told you to do, aren't you? You don't know what his goal is. Whether he wants to kill me or my father... he wouldn't have told a disposable tool like you."
Hwan-yeo's aura grew turbulent. The rage embedded in her shifting energy was an admission of his words.
"Until now, your status as the Young Cult Leader might have been a shield that protected your life. I wonder if that shield will work against me?"
"I wouldn't know. I don't know what kind of spear you're holding."
It was at that moment.
Far beyond the garden wall, a group of martial artists could be seen approaching.
Leading them was the Pungcheon Cult Leader, followed by the Demon Army. Because of his massive frame, he was easily visible even from a distance.
"While they search the garden, let's have that meal."
Hwan-yeo accepted the proposal coldly.
"That meal... I'll be the one buying."
The moment she clapped her hands, the surroundings transformed.
* * *
A space within an illusion.
Before my eyes stood a restaurant selling liquor and food.
The Ghost Soul Restaurant.
Hwan-yeo’s appearance had changed. Her eyes were slanted and sharp, and her lips had turned a vivid, blood-red. Her appearance within the illusion was the polar opposite of her usual self.
"If I had known you looked like this, I wouldn't have asked to eat with you."
At my words, Hwan-yeo frowned and gave a cold, mocking sneer.
As she walked forward, the doors of the Ghost Soul Restaurant swung wide open on their own.
I followed her inside.
The restaurant was bustling with customers. As soon as I entered, the laughing and chatting crowd fell silent in unison, and every eye turned toward me.
Their hollow, vacant eyes held no souls. They were ghost souls.
The place was filled with them, and a powerful ghostly qi permeated the air. My Heavenly Demon Body Protection Art activated automatically, beginning to shield me.
I walked slowly toward the seat where Hwan-yeo had sat down. Even the look in her eyes was relaxed now. I could tell she felt absolutely safe, at least here in the Ghost Soul Restaurant.
An old man stood beside her.
"This is Gwi Suk, the owner of the Ghost Soul Restaurant."
I could feel it. This old man was also an absolute master of illusions.
Thinking back to my life before the regression, the Illusion King and Hwan-yeo, like the other Twelve Zodiac Kings, had many subordinates. This old man named Gwi Suk must have been one of them.
"Gwi Suk, the guest who came with me today is a precious person of the Divine Cult, so please take special care of him."
Gwi Suk glared at me coldly.
"There is no such thing as a 'precious' status in the Demonic Cult! They are all insignificant wretches."
I could feel a powerful ghostly qi in his voice. If Hwan-yeo was proficient in soul-seizing within illusions, this old man felt specialized in ghost arts.
I called out to Gwi Suk’s back as he strode away.
"Hey, owner! The Cult has changed a lot, so drop your prejudices!"
Hwan-yeo marveled at how I didn't seem intimidated at all.
"I truly have no choice but to acknowledge you. At your age, such aura and composure are difficult even to imitate."
"You'll realize this is nothing once you've dealt with our Demon Lords. Ugh, nobody knows what those people were like at first. Who could possibly understand how much my heart has been scorched black by them?"
A soul-seizing energy now flowed openly from Hwan-yeo’s long, slanted eyes. She was attempting to use her soul-seizing technique to read my inner thoughts. However, because the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Art was active, her evil sorcery didn't work.
"If you weren't trying to figure out my intentions, then why were you watching me?"
"Because I was curious, of course. Who is the mastermind behind all this?"
"Why did you give up without finding out? If you hadn't mobilized the Pungcheon Cult Leader, you might have learned more about me."
"Because you're not the type to give answers easily."
She nodded, her expression saying I had judged correctly.
"I decided that you weren't worth spending my precious time on."
I spoke as if I had given up, but I hadn't. If this final gambit didn't work, I would take her hostage to draw out the Illusion King. I would find out even if I had to torture her. I would find out by any means necessary. This matter concerned the life and death of the Pungcheon Cult Leader. If all else failed, I would make myself the target of their revenge and wait for the Illusion King.
This was my repayment to the Pungcheon Cult Leader, who had given me everything without reservation.
Just then, a waiter brought the liquor first. The waiter was also a ghost soul with hollow eyes.
I sniffed the liquor.
"Isn't this the kind of wine only the dead drink?"
At the mention of the dead, the noisy surroundings fell silent again, and everyone looked our way.
The ghostly qi contained in those vacant eyes... if not for the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Art, I would have been overcome with terror, my whole body trembling.
I locked eyes with a ghost soul sitting next to me. I felt its desire to pounce on me at any moment. But it didn't dare.
Hwan-yeo knew exactly why.
"Young Cult Leader, what you rely on must be the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. You're right; you, who have mastered the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, cannot be killed by illusions."
This was the majesty of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. The majesty of an absolute demonic art that no evil sorcery or illusion could penetrate.
"If you knew that, why did you bring me here?"
"Because even if I can't kill you, I can trap you."
I scanned the surroundings with my Blood Eye Purifying Water and New Eye Technique. There was no bluish light anywhere. Just like in my fight with the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord, finding a counter-dispelling method wouldn't be easy.
"If I kill you, this place will disappear as well."
Even in the face of death, she was confident.
"I guarantee you this. If you kill me here, you, Young Cult Leader, will never leave this place. You will be trapped here forever with these ghost souls. It's the same even if I take my own life. The moment I die, the counter-dispelling method itself vanishes."
As if to confirm her words, the ghost souls all looked toward me at once. Their hollow gazes seemed to say: Let's stay together forever.
I looked at the door we had entered through. Hwan-yeo spoke confidently, as if reading my thought that I could just leave through that door.
"That door can never be opened from the inside."
"The Pungcheon Cult Leader will come to save me."
"You don't know what the situation is like outside that door, do you?"
Acting leisurely, Hwan-yeo made a grand declaration.
"That door won't open even if the Pungcheon Cult Leader's grandfather himself came for it."
It was the moment those words left her mouth.
Screeeeeeeak.
The door began to open slowly with a loud, heavy groan.
Startled, Hwan-yeo bolted upright. Not only her, but Gwi Suk, who had poked his head out from the kitchen, also wore a grave expression. The ghost souls all turned toward the door in unison.
A man stepped inside through the opening.
It was the Pungcheon Cult Leader. A ghost soul that had been clinging to his shoulder fell to the floor with a thud. The severed hand of a ghost soul was still attached to his ankle.
"Who said that? That I couldn't open it?"
Beyond the open door, the outside was visible. Indeed, as Hwan-yeo had said, the landscape was different from when we entered. It was hell itself, with flames soaring in the distance and a rain of blood falling. The corpses of ghost souls were strewn endlessly across the horizon.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader had carved his way through those ghost souls to find me.
"I have quite a lot to get back from our wicked Young Cult Leader, you see."