Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Personality Wrecker
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Watching Un Hwi munch away at what had once been Cheonhajin with a grin on his face, the elders' complexions turned deathly pale in an instant.
'Damn it all!'
'Crazy bastard's at it again!!'
'That's exactly why we tried to drag him down from the throne—we couldn't stand the sight of him!'
Again! That smile again!!
Just looking at the wicked smirk playing on Un Hwi's lips made the elders' hearts sink and their tempers flare.
Even in the jianghu, his reputation was straightforward.
Personality wrecker.
Chaos specialist.
King of grudges, and so on.
The rumors swirling around him were all the same.
—Every time he flashes that sleazy grin, a sect gets smashed to pieces.
—Don't engage him in any long conversations. The moment you go 'Huh? What?', you'll already be swept up in some disaster, your life in the gutter.
That damn guy always claimed he was the victim, the normal one—but no one bought it.
If he were really normal, what do you call all the catastrophes that had ravaged the jianghu?
Especially when he smiled like that—calm waters always turned into storms.
All they could do was tremble before that massive disaster.
Shiver...
* * *
Boom! Rumble rumble!
The moment the wraith pills were absorbed into my body, they detonated.
Death qi is an energy no living human can handle.
But I was different.
Dealing with the dead made it more like a spiritual medicine for me.
I treated the death qi like poison and circulated it with the Poison Dragon Heart Formula.
I directed the explosion from the clash between the Tang clan's breathing technique inner energy settled in my dantian and the death qi toward my sealed meridians.
A good number of those meridians crumbled. Stagnant waste dissolved and raced through my acupoints.
My body turned blue-black in seconds. Anyone who saw it would think it was a horrific poisoning case.
No need to describe the pain.
But I laughed.
To me, it was all pure ecstasy.
"What kind of state is that to be smiling in...!"
"Little Heavenly Demon, you truly—"
"Shut up. You should know exactly what you need to do from now on."
If they didn't want to end up as a snack like Cheonhajin, they better spill everything about the shadowy cabal.
A few of the more timid elders finally hung their heads and stepped forward.
"They—"
"I'll do it! I'll talk! Just stop this horrific bullshit, please!"
"You traitors! You think you'll get away with— Aaaargh!"
"What're you yapping about, you retard."
Any who resisted got their skulls smashed by a sharp yank on the iron chains.
With the troublemakers cleared out quick, the info started flowing.
If they were alive, restrictions or brainwashing might've made prying it out tough—but once dead? No such thing.
Even back in my Un Yunhwi days, I'd used this method for interrogations now and then.
So this time, I'd learn plenty about the shadowy cabal.
.
.
But after one round of confession time...
"Ha!"
I let out a hollow laugh.
"All you really know is that they go by 'the Assembly'?"
It was beyond absurd.
The Assembly.
That's it.
These idiots tried to screw me over raw?
"It's true!"
"Believe us, Young Cult Leader!"
"They've always been extremely reluctant to reveal anything about themselves!"
"So you became lapdogs for some shady group that won't even show their faces? And you fed poison to the Heavenly Demon? You don't expect me to buy that crap, right?"
Even honorifics were gone from my mouth now.
If they wanted adult treatment, they needed to act like adults.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a religion.
An evil cult that revered its leader as a living god.
Naturally, the Heavenly Demon's words were the words of god, his decisions the will of god—unquestionable.
Death was martyrdom, war a holy crusade for proselytizing.
No wonder the Central Plains martial world feared these fanatics who charged into death.
For the elders, harming their master—the Heavenly Demon god—must've required massive mental gymnastics.
But blindly following some group with zero intel? Ridiculous.
"It's true! They stressed that they were the 'true' gods! Far above a Heavenly Demon who was just a so-called god in name!"
I narrowed my eyes at the flustering elder.
"Tell me more."
Gulp!
The elder swallowed dryly and continued.
"They showed us miracles."
"Miracles?"
"Yes!"
The other elders nodded furiously.
"They appeared just like the gods and immortals from legends! Flying through the skies on swords, summoning wind and rain with a gesture!"
"That's something high shamans can—"
"No! Completely different! Shamans need massive mana drain and long prep times, right?"
"And?"
"But they did it all with just a gesture! No cost at all!"
"...Not some illusion trick?"
"Look at us now, lives in your hands, Young Cult Leader—but you think we wouldn't spot that?"
I had nothing to say to that.
Before betraying, these guys were the pinnacle demons who led the cult's resurgence.
Strength, cruelty, cunning, petty tricks—all top-tier.
But gods? Come on.
Though something similar did flash through my mind for a second.
...The molters.
"Now you get it, Young Cult Leader? Why we had no choice but to become their barking dogs? What could mere mortals like us do against gods?"
His face was drained of all energy as he spoke.
Yet the emotion left in his eyes was one.
Fear.
"Unbelievable."
Fear surpassing the weight of the name Heavenly Demon? Ridiculous.
On the flip side, it made me tense—the shadowy cabal's power far exceeded my expectations.
My head swirled with questions.
But one conclusion remained.
—Master's in danger.
The situation seemed way more urgent than I'd thought.
I'd need to figure out how long the Original Soul Reincarnation Tribulation took and what happened in the meantime.
Luckily, the one hour I'd told Hyung Sam about was almost up.
"Alright. You've blabbed all the info I need, so I'll let you go as promised."
"R-Really?"
"Thank you, Young Cult Leader!!"
Relief finally bloomed on their worried faces.
"Yeah. Into my stomach."
"!!"
"!!"
"W-What do you mean!"
"That's not what you—"
"When have I ever kept a promise that well?"
No matter how scared, where did they think they were going—traitors who'd stabbed their master in the back?
Without a glance, I yanked hard on the bundle of iron chains in my hand.
"You goddamn personality-wrecking bastard!!"
Crunch crunch!
Their heads twisted off one by one, condensing into wraith pills.
Stored like this, no worry about the energy dispersing—super convenient.
I smiled coldly.
Alive, they were mere traitors—but dead, their souls would serve the cult loyally.
And.
A moment later.
Knock knock.
"Y-Young Master. Th-This lowly one, Hy-Hyung Sam. M-May I enter?"
"Come in."
Hyung Sam entered, clutching a stack of documents.
* * *
Two months flew by like an arrow.
Lately, bizarre rumors spread among the servants and maids in the Nine Dragons Branch Family, usually so peaceful.
—Young Master I has been confined in the White Hall for over two months.
—By the matriarch's strict order, not a single bit of food or water has gone in.
—Yet Young Master I has never complained of hunger or thirst.
—Every day, inexplicable choking screams echo from the White Hall.
Un Hwi had been locked in the White Hall amid the matriarch's fury, right in front of all the servants.
Up to then, they'd figured—as always—he'd wail "Mother, forgive me!" for days until near death, then she'd personally release him.
But not this time.
And not just that—they'd cut off food and water completely for two months.
Impossible.
Even a qi cultivator might last; Un Hwi, barely more than a mortal, tops out at five days without sustenance.
Soon, even wilder rumors cropped up.
—The real Young Master I died long ago; what's in the White Hall is a body double the matriarch planted to hide it.
—Prep for the upcoming clan head visit, to avoid scandal.
Rumors that Un Hwi might be dead.
Naturally, Namgung San-yeong flipped out upon hearing.
"Which bastard dared spout that nonsense!! Drag them to me now!"
A massive event was underway across the Tang Clan branches, including the main house in Sichuan.
The clan head's visit.
The radiant, mighty Dark Venerable was touring the Sichuan region.
Simple reason.
—Suspicious activity keeps popping up in the Tianshan Mountains, demons' nest. The Dark Venerable will form his own direct special task force—gather talent from all branches and sub-branches.
Special task force!
Under the Dark Venerable's personal command.
Any Tang blood felt their heart race at the words.
Catch his eye, learn one of his ultimate arts?
Become his disciple?
You'd be a rising star in Sichuan martial world.
That sharpened Namgung San-yeong's nerves lately.
From the South Palace Clan, she knew the clan head's position in the Tang Clan.
South Palace had elders or protectors on par with the head—but not Sichuan Tang.
Elders, executives—all mere underlings who jumped at the clan head's word.
The Tang clan head's seat was for the strongest alone—might makes right!
Bloodline was just entry ticket.
Even an outsider son-in-law could aim for it.
No wonder Central Plains whispered "little demonic cult" about Sichuan Tang.
An event to catch that man's eye.
No way a bastard like Un Hwi belonged in such a sacred gathering.
Sure, that idiot catching his notice was unlikely... but what if? Just in case?
'It's him! Un Hwi's backer! That damn nobody's plotting something!'
As Namgung San-yeong conjured a fictional foe and paranoia bloomed...
"Please calm down first, Mother. I'll handle this."
Right then, the doors to her hall opened, and a young man strolled in leisurely.
Reincarnation Demon God Chronicles