Chapter 9
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Meeting the Cult Leader (4)
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Drip.
Sweat trickled down his forehead, stinging the corners of his eyes.
Woooooong!!
A ringing filled his ears. All it took was a single shift in the man's gaze for the warm spring breeze to turn into a biting winter gale.
“So, what I mean is…”
“Disappointing.”
Lee Cheonsang tossed the word out casually as he refilled his cup.
Cheon Hajin screamed internally.
What did I do wrong? I just said I wanted to go out for a bit, didn't I? And for god's sake, when someone's talking, don't interrupt!
The words swirling in his head were all things he could never say aloud.
Cheon Hajin took a deep breath.
“Cult Leader.”
Without even glancing at him, Lee Cheonsang simply continued to slowly empty and refill his cup.
“I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding…”
“A misunderstanding?”
His voice remained indifferent. It was impossible to grasp what this man was thinking.
‘This is driving me crazy! I can't read his expression!’
Besides that, the way he kept cutting him off made it difficult to even open his mouth.
But he couldn't just stay silent. He was the one who had set this stage; he couldn't just go back after sweating buckets.
Cheon Hajin's eyes darted around as he wracked his brain.
What should I do? He doesn't seem furious, but he doesn't look pleased either. Then again, nothing I said was particularly joyful.
After a moment of frantically trying to figure things out, Cheon Hajin felt a sense of resignation.
‘…Damn it.’
Fuck it, I don't know.
A direct approach is the only way now. This man clearly hates beating around the bush more than he hates a viper.
He even seems to have no doubt that his own thoughts are correct.
Fine! I want to cut ties with this place! You're right! I admit it!
‘Since it's come to this, I might as well go all out!’
You only live once, not twice… or three times?!
I've already died once. There's nothing to regret or fear about dying again.
“Cult Leader!”
A booming start.
Cheon Hajin lifted his head high.
“I…!”
It was then.
Vwoom!
‘…!!’
His body froze solid.
Lee Cheonsang's expression was as indifferent as before. He wasn't particularly releasing his internal energy or exuding his presence.
But as Cheon Hajin looked into the eyes of the one and only Demonic God under the heavens, he felt a chill that froze him to the bone.
Eyes that held the flames of the deepest hell.
The gaze of the absolute being was, in itself, dignity, a threat, and terror.
A man who needed no useless words or actions to prove himself, a man complete in his own right, was there.
The most powerful Demonic God of the era, one who could toy with the principles of the universe and even burn the heavens,
was about to swallow whole a Lord of Death who had not yet shed his human guise.
“…Ah, it's not that I'm trying to cut ties, exactly.”
A light glinted in Lee Cheonsang's eyes.
“Then?”
Cheon Hajin stammered.
“I just wanted to get some fresh air.”
“…”
“I, uh… haven't been well for very long, you see. And I lost my martial arts in the process.”
“And?”
“Things are just a bit complicated, that's all. I've tried to get a grip on myself, but it's not as easy as it sounds.”
“…”
“S-so I thought I'd try going out for a bit… I came to ask for your permission. Yes, that's right. That's it.”
“…”
“How could I ever dare to think of cutting ties with the Cult, puhaha! I, Cheon… Seo Ryang! I'm not going anywhere! Of course not.”
Lee Cheonsang's eyes narrowed slightly.
A look of surprise entered his eyes as he watched his disciple chattering like a sparrow.
“Is that so.”
“Yes, yes, that's right.”
“So you asked to see me just to get permission to go out?”
…Ah?
‘Th-this is bad.’
Cheon Hajin cursed his own simplicity.
Thinking about it, it really was an absurd thing to do.
To request an audience with the Cult Leader of the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon, the Supreme Lord of All Demons, for something as trivial as permission to go out?
Anyone would find it ridiculous. He should have come with a reason more significant than just asking for permission to leave.
No wonder he thought I was talking about cutting ties. Severing ties would be a reason significant enough to request a meeting with the great Cult Leader of the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
‘But to me, just going out is a significant reason!’
But would the other person think it was important?
“…I also wanted to see my master's face after so long.”
Lee Cheonsang's eyebrow twitched.
It was the first change in his expression, but Cheon Hajin was too busy chattering away to notice.
“I may be in this state, but as your disciple, I still have a duty, don't I?
I haven't been able to repay even a hundredth of the grace you've shown me, and I felt it was a great burden on my heart that I couldn't even greet you properly…”
He was already on this path. Cheon Hajin tried his best to appeal to the man's emotions.
They say you can repay a monetary debt, but not a debt of the heart. That's how important a person's feelings are.
Isn't the relationship between a master and disciple also a bond forged by heaven, just like blood ties?
I don't know if this man of stone even has emotions, but surely he wouldn't get angry at a disciple who came because he missed his master, right?
Psssssh.
The cup in Lee Cheonsang's hand crumbled into dust and scattered.
His expression remained indifferent, but the blazing light in his eyes seemed to speak of his twisted mood.
‘…Why is he angry?!’
Saaaaah!
The heavy air grew scorching hot.
“You spoke of a disciple's duty?”
“Yes?”
“If you knew your duty, you wouldn't have appeared before me in such a pathetic state.”
Cheon Hajin's jaw dropped.
A disciple who survived qi deviation and came to pay his respects is being told he doesn't know his duty?
What? Am I the strange one? No, I seriously don't get it. How is this not knowing my duty? Someone please explain it to me!
Lee Cheonsang rose from his seat.
Kuuung!
He was intimidating even when seated, but standing, he was as immense as a great mountain.
He turned his back and spoke bluntly.
“In three days, I will send someone.”
“…?”
Three days? Someone?
“Leave.”
Leave? Back to my residence?!
Cheon Hajin was dumbfounded.
Wait! What about my request? The outing? Can I just leave on my own? Should I really do that?
“Um…”
Lee Cheonsang glanced back at Cheon Hajin.
A surge of anger welled up.
For some reason, that silent glance made him angry.
The more I watch this guy, the more he just says whatever he wants without explanation!
Does he have no consideration for the other person? Does he even know what a conversation is?! Huh?!
I may look like this now, but I was once one of the Ten Grandmasters of the world!
Cheon Hajin rose indignantly.
And then politely bowed at the waist.
“I'll see you later.”
Let's just go back for now.
* * *
“You summoned me, Cult Leader.”
“Mm.”
Lee Cheonsang, who had been sitting on the grand chair and received Mu Dam's greeting, rose from his seat.
Step, step.
The mere act of walking was enough to make one tense.
Even Mu Dam, said to be on par with the Ten Grandmasters, felt the fine hairs on his body stand on end as Lee Cheonsang approached.
Pour.
Having moved to the window, Lee Cheonsang opened one of the many liquor bottles and filled a cup.
Mu Dam remained in a full prostration.
“Come here.”
“Yes.”
Rising to his feet, Mu Dam approached Lee Cheonsang with cautious steps.
Lee Cheonsang held out the cup.
“Have a drink.”
“I am honored.”
Mu Dam respectfully took the cup, turned his head to drain it, then immediately took three steps back, knelt, and bowed his head.
It was a gesture impossible without the utmost reverence for the other person. Such was the Great Protector's attitude toward the god incarnate in human form.
Lee Cheonsang asked calmly.
“What has happened with the third one lately?”
A look of puzzlement crossed Mu Dam's face. Lee Cheonsang rarely asked about his disciples.
He was curious, but burying one's curiosity was the duty of one who served a god.
“He has been recovering in his residence.”
“Is that all?”
“…Yes.”
“I see.”
The indifference in his brief reply was unchanged.
However, Mu Dam, who had served Lee Cheonsang for decades, could tell. The Cult Leader was slightly different today.
It was blasphemous to even guess, but if he had to put a finger on it…
‘Interest?’
In whom? Surely not in the Third Young Master?
As Mu Dam tilted his head in thought, he was startled by Lee Cheonsang's next words.
“He was quite something.”
“…?”
“I picked him up thinking he was a lesser dragon, but he turned out to be a venomous snake. So I was disappointed.”
“Pardon?”
“But seeing him again today, I saw he was holding a wish-granting jewel in his mouth.”
Mu Dam's eyes wavered.
The corner of Lee Cheonsang's mouth lifted slightly.
It was a minuscule movement, but for an expression that seemed like it wouldn't change in a thousand years to shift at all was astounding.
Lee Cheonsang recalled the time at the Pavilion of Judgment.
The mysterious and astonishing sight his third disciple had shown him.
‘He had strayed from the demonic, but in its place, he 'understood' death.’
The Pavilion of Judgment.
It wasn't called the pavilion for judging demons for nothing.
The formation surrounding it was a supreme construct, an ancient, ultimate formation improved over generations, maintained by the Cult Leader's demonic energy.
To judge a demon.
The 'demon' was the subject brought by the Cult Leader, and the ones to judge were the Cult Leader and the formation.
Since the formation was maintained by the Cult Leader's demonic energy, the master of the Pavilion of Judgment could only be the Cult Leader.
The Pavilion of Judgment gives form to the heart of the one who enters the formation.
It not only shows their current state and what they pursue, but it even reveals a part of their subconscious.
What if the subject was not to the Cult Leader's liking?
What if even a sliver of killing intent arose in the Cult Leader's heart?
Then, according to the Cult Leader's will, the demonic formation known as the Pavilion of Judgment would attack the subject. The moment he truly wished to kill, it would be brutally destroyed.
It was the best way to see into a person's inner thoughts. However, the Pavilion of Judgment could not be kept open indefinitely.
The method of opening the formation, the duration, and the time until it could be opened again were secrets known only to the Cult Leader.
“Is the Solitary Bamboo Forest being managed well?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes! We send personnel from the Hall of Protectors to manage it every two days.”
“Casualties?”
“We average five casualties a month, but thankfully, there have been no deaths in the last four months.”
“You've raised the boys well.”
Lee Cheonsang emptied his cup and held it out to Mu Dam, who carefully refilled it.
But Lee Cheonsang still held the cup out.
“Join me.”
“Pardon?”
Lee Cheonsang said no more.
Looking honored, Mu Dam filled his own cup and carefully raised it.
Clink!
The sound of the cups clinking was exceptionally clear.
One man drained his cup briskly, the other, respectfully.
“Consider it a gift for your hard work until now.”
“Ah, not at all! It was my duty.”
Mu Dam's face flushed with emotion. He never imagined the Cult Leader would offer a toast.
Neither heavenly nectar nor the temptation of a world-toppling beauty could be sweeter than this. It was a gift he would never forget, even at the moment of his death.
While he was intoxicated by the Cult Leader's gift.
“Have the boys withdraw for a while.”
“…Pardon?”
Putting down his cup, Lee Cheonsang went and sat in the grand chair.
“I'm sending the third one to the Solitary Bamboo Garden.”
Mu Dam's face turned pale.
“To the Solitary Bamboo Garden… you say?”
He knew just how important the Solitary Bamboo Garden was to the Cult.
And that it was just as dangerous, if not more so.
Lee Cheonsang rested his chin on his hand.
Was Mu Dam mistaken, or did he see a flicker of interest on that otherwise indifferent face?
“It's a suitable place to get some fresh air.”