The Deal at Falling Moon Manor in Chang'an (1)
"I thought I made it perfectly clear that you lot from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult weren't to show your faces here again."
When I stepped out and spoke, the woman didn't even flinch. She simply looked straight at me, then answered with a bright, radiant smile.
"As expected! I knew you'd appear if I waited here. And you didn't keep me waiting long at all!"
Glossy jet-black hair that shone like ebony. Equally dark eyes. Red lips. A leisurely bearing.
Even the easy composure of someone who had come by appointment.
"You came here on purpose?"
"Allow me to introduce myself. This lady is called Wi Narin."
She offered a graceful bow and smiled sweetly.
Information about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult wasn't widely known, but a few facts had been confirmed beyond doubt. One of those was that only a single bloodline carried the surname "Wi" within the cult.
The cult leader himself—the current Heavenly Demon, the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord Wi Pae-seong—and his children.
"How interesting. If the countless experts from the righteous factions knew you were here, they'd abandon whatever they were doing and come running barefoot."
"The countless experts from the righteous factions have no idea I'm here."
"But I found out, didn't I?"
"Oh my? You're simply taking my word for it? You don't suspect this lady might be lying?"
"Are you lying?"
"No."
"Then that's that."
"Who exactly are you talking to?"
"I'm talking to you. Wi Narin, right?"
"Yes. This lady is indeed Wi Narin."
What an intriguing woman.
She showed not the slightest tension, completely composed and at ease.
Her age... was difficult to guess. Women's ages were always the hardest to estimate. Even with my keen senses, the accuracy dropped significantly. Still, she didn't seem to have passed twenty-five.
Her martial prowess was roughly at the Transformation Realm. Since she cultivated demonic arts, that put her at the mid-stage of Extreme Demon. Slightly below Chae Ji-gyu.
That much was certain, unlike her age. I was confident in reading qi and gauging the level of attainment.
"So. Why would the daughter of the cult leader be here all alone? Don't tell me you're meeting a lover for a secret rendezvous?"
"Of course I came to meet you. I heard what happened at this place, Falling Moon Manor."
"And what do you want?"
"To sell myself to you."
"Sell yourself? Why?"
"Oh my? Even after I say something like that, how can you react so indifferently? Are you not tempted at all? This lady is known as the greatest beauty of the demonic path, you know?"
"Hmm. So you're the greatest beauty of the demonic path? This whole situation... it wouldn't happen to be because of your father's influence, would it?"
In truth, there was no need to provoke her like this.
But that brazen, utterly relaxed attitude of hers was slightly irritating. It was as if everything revolved around her.
"Oh my. Are you a man who still doesn't understand other men? Since when do men consider a woman's father when appreciating her beauty?"
"Hmm. True enough. That's not it. Though there's no need for a man to understand other men, either."
"Indeed, that makes sense too. I've learned something good."
Still perfectly at ease. She even had the grace to play along with light teasing.
I couldn't fathom what she was relying on to act this way.
It couldn't be her Extreme Demon cultivation. She would have come here knowing that the Tyrant King had died in this place.
"Fine. I can see that your beauty is genuine. However, I have no interest in you. Therefore, I have no reason to buy you."
"Oh my? Why not? Does this lady not stir your desires?"
"More than that, I have no interest in whatever scheme you've cooked up by coming here. And I gave a clear warning. If any more of you from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult loiter around this place, I would march straight into your headquarters."
"Ah! That's right. In fact, that is my purpose. This lady hurried here the moment I heard those words. So please, go to the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace and slaughter every single person there, won't you? You said it yourself—surely you won't go back on your word?"
"Hmm? What is this? Some new form of patricide?"
"Patricide? How can you say such a thing? This lady is a filial daughter through and through."
"Isn't your father the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord?"
"He is. I told you. This lady is Wi Narin."
"And yet you're asking me to go to the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace and kill them all?"
"Yes. There are no longer any loyal followers of the Divine Cult there. Only filth that has discarded honor and pride. They deserve to be purged."
"What exactly are you saying?"
"Well? Have you grown interested in purchasing this lady now?"
Wi Narin traced her red lips with a finger and smiled sweetly. The charming dimples that formed. An alluring smile.
It was true that this woman possessed exceptional beauty. Her appearance made the title of greatest beauty of the demonic path seem no exaggeration.
However, my heart remained unmoved.
The attitude that screamed she intended to use me. That was the problem.
The way she refused to cede even an inch of control was the same.
"No."
"You mustn't deceive yourself. You must already feel some curiosity toward this lady."
"You certainly have a tendency to overestimate yourself."
"I have reason to."
With that, she pulled out the chair beside the table, sat down, and crossed her legs. Her pale thighs were fully exposed in a deliberately seductive pose.
Watching her, I felt a strange sense of dissonance.
What was it? Why did this feel so awkward?
"Going to the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace and punishing everyone there wouldn't be difficult. But you wouldn't come out of it unscathed, would you? That's why I can't buy you. Since you also belong to the cult, you'd be a target for punishment as well."
"Divine Cult."
"What?"
"Not the Demonic Cult. The Divine Cult. Heavenly. Demon. Divine. Cult."
"That's what you people call yourselves."
"True. No matter how many times we say it to the people of the Central Plains, it means nothing. In any case, you cannot kill this lady."
"Why not?"
"Because this lady holds far too much inside her head?"
Wi Narin tapped her temple lightly.
"Information?"
"That's right."
"Is it really necessary?"
"Necessary? Do you have any idea how many secret archives are in the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace? How many hidden passages? How many detailed profiles of those who must be punished? I have all of it."
"I have no interest in archives. Whatever is in them would just be wealth, secret manuals, and spiritual herbs. Hidden passages? Why would I need those? I can just walk through the front gate. Detailed profiles of those to be punished? I don't understand what you mean at all. Do you think I'd bother deciding who lives and who dies while I'm there to punish them?"
For the first time, the smile on Wi Narin's face dimmed.
It hadn't completely vanished, but the ease had definitely left that smile.
"You truly are arrogant."
"Well. I'm neither crazy nor arrogant."
"I don't understand your standards."
"You don't need to. Now then, choose."
"Choose what?"
"Whether you'll be violated and then killed, or killed and then violated."
At that, the smile completely disappeared from Wi Narin's face.
A faint hint of contempt rose in its place. But it was quickly erased, and the smile returned.
"That last remark went a bit too far. I know you're not that kind of person."
"What do you know about me?"
"You're the one who cut down Chae Ji-gyu yet sent his body back intact. The one who could have annihilated everyone at Falling Moon Manor twice over but let them leave safely. The one who personally severed the Tyrant King's head so his corpse wouldn't be disgraced. If someone like you says such things, wouldn't it naturally feel awkward?"
I suppose so. Even thinking about it myself, it did feel off.
It must have seemed strange since it wasn't like me at all.
In any case, watching Wi Narin smile brightly again, I organized the current situation in my head.
This was a woman who hadn't come here without considering the possibility of death or being used.
She had called herself a filial daughter. Yet she had also told me to go to the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace and kill everyone there.
There was only one conclusion I could draw from that.
"Has the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord died?"
Wi Narin's expression froze completely in a way it hadn't before.
It was as if the mask she had been wearing until now had been stripped away entirely.
"...How fortunate. It seems you're not such a dull person after all."
"When you reveal everything and then say it like that, it does sting a little."
"Haa. Yes. This lady misspoke there. I'm sorry."
"How did it happen? Betrayal?"
"...If you want to know more, buy this lady."
"The situation must still be manageable, then? Or perhaps you haven't abandoned your pride yet? It would be far more effective to simply ask for help."
Struck right where it hurt, Wi Narin couldn't say a word.
Her lips were slightly bitten. Her gaze avoided mine.
If I prodded just a little more, she would probably shed tears.
"Even if I wanted to buy you, I wouldn't know what to pay with. So why not speak honestly?"
"How could... the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord of the Great Heavenly Demon Divine Cult possibly ask an outsider for revenge? That cannot be done."
"But selling your body is fine?"
"This lady never said she would sell her body!"
The woman glared at me as she shouted. A trace of stubbornness showed in her expression.
"Right. You said you would sell yourself. When negotiating with men in the future, choose your words more carefully. It causes misunderstandings."
Wi Narin subtly averted her eyes.
Seeing that, I felt I could learn quite a lot about this woman.
The daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord. A woman who had been greatly respected within the cult.
She acted quite boldly in front of me, but it was obvious she was cornered.
"Still, there are many problems. You are the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord who caused the Righteous-Demonic Great War. From the perspective of the righteous factions, you're the child of their greatest enemy. How could I possibly help someone like you?"
"My father did not cause the Righteous-Demonic Great War! That was..."
Wi Narin started to say something but immediately closed her mouth.
Did she think she was revealing too much? She was the one in desperate need.
"Ah. The Heavenly Demon Divine Lord was betrayed, and those traitors caused the Righteous-Demonic Great War? You're not going to tell me such a cliché story, are you? No matter how much the strong revere the strong, how could someone like the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord fall to mere betrayal?"
"Th-there was no choice! The poison those bastards used destroyed my father's body in an instant! If not for that, Father would never have..."
"Wait."
"...Yes?"
"Poison, you said?"
"Yes! Poison! That poison..."
"It must have clogged his meridians and destroyed his dantian. Incurable by normal means. His qi would have leaked from the shattered dantian, invading his head and destroying his mind. It would have damaged his internal organs so he couldn't even eat properly. He would have been forced to lie there as if dead."
Wi Narin stared at me with a bewildered expression.
"How... How do you know that?!"
Hah. This is truly astonishing.
I knew the Formless Poison was vicious, but to think it had even neutralized the current Heavenly Demon, the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord himself?