The Sale of Falling Moon Manor (2)
Ultimately, it was poison. The Formless Poison. The one that destroyed the dantian.
It had caused the tragedy in the Namgung Clan, defied even the Sichuan Tang Family’s legendary detoxification arts, and rendered the previous Heavenly Demon Divine Lord completely powerless.
What on earth was it? Who had created something like that and scattered it across the world like pesticide for flies?
The more effective a poison, the harder it was to handle and the more expensive it became.
Yet from the current situation, it was clear that this nameless poison had been used in staggering quantities everywhere.
Perhaps the sects that had been sealed or annihilated had also fallen victim to it, unable to exert their full strength.
No, it wasn’t a mere possibility. It was almost certainly the case.
If I hadn’t visited the Tang Family first, I probably would have suspected them right away.
But that wasn’t it either. Which meant the truth behind the Formless Poison remained completely shrouded in mystery.
“Do you know anything about that poison? If you do, I’ll buy you. If not, I’m afraid the deal is off.”
“I do know something! Well… actually, I don’t know it precisely. But there is something I can tell you!”
“That’s awfully lukewarm.”
“I-It will definitely be helpful! So please, buy me!”
She must have thought she knew more than I did, but the moment she realized I knew even more, desperation began to seep into her expression.
The initial composure was gone. Not that she was really in any position to act composed in the first place.
“It feels like I’m the one losing out here, but since you’re so desperate, I suppose I have no choice. In that case, I’ll set the price however I like.”
“W-Where do you get off saying that!?”
I ignored her protest and walked over to Wi Narin, who was still sitting down.
As I drew closer, she slowly uncrossed her legs.
Watching her, I couldn’t help but think this girl was quite entertaining.
She had always carried herself with arrogance and prickliness. As the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord, that was only natural.
She didn’t seem like the tyrannical type, but she was undoubtedly a woman who had never bowed her head to anyone except her own father.
“Stand up.”
Though her face clearly showed wounded pride, given the circumstances, Wi Narin rose slowly.
She naturally straightened her clothes, looked at me, then subtly averted her gaze.
I grabbed her chin and kissed her.
“Mmph! What! What are you doing!? Are you truly insane!?”
She was so startled that she pushed me away while scolding me in an oddly formal tone.
“That was the down payment. But it doesn’t seem like the price was properly paid yet.”
“Y-You’re crazy! You’re the one who’s supposed to pay the price! This is just…”
“So. Are you going to refuse?”
When I smiled and spoke, Wi Narin covered her mouth with the back of her hand and glared at me.
“If you sell yourself to me, I’ll give you the power to take your revenge with your own hands. To be honest, going to the Demonic Cult myself is too far and too much of a hassle. Besides, isn’t it better for you to carry out your own revenge? Just like you said, you won’t have to borrow external power.”
“...You’ll let me take revenge myself?”
“Yes.”
“Do you really think that makes sense? No matter how strong you are for having slain the Tyrant King, the main cult’s forces are still not something to be taken lightly! There’s no way I could handle all of them alone!”
“Right before I cut him down, all the demonic energy Chae Ji-gyu possessed vanished in an instant.”
At my words, Wi Narin’s eyes widened slightly.
“You call it Demon Transcendence, right? That’s what those who practice your demonic arts would say. Am I correct?”
“...Yes, that’s right.”
“If you reach the Demon Transcendence realm, wouldn’t you be able to carry out your revenge on your own? Or is that still not enough?”
“That’s… If it were as easy as you make it sound, the Divine Cult would have already swallowed the entire Central Plains.”
“That’s only because you hadn’t met me yet.”
“Ha! You really… are an arrogant man.”
She spoke as if she found it absurd, but Wi Narin couldn’t simply dismiss my words.
That was why her pupils were trembling like that.
“Alright. I’m going to count again. I’ll pay the down payment. If you’re interested, accept it obediently this time. Or you can refuse. In that case, we’ll simply end the transaction here.”
Having said that, I grabbed her chin once more.
Her gaze slid downward, unable to meet mine.
But there was no sign of refusal or rejection. This was tacit consent.
Was it because of her pride that she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud?
My lips covered hers again.
She flinched. Her lips trembled faintly.
Finding it amusing, I slipped my tongue inside.
The moment my tongue pushed between her closed lips, Wi Narin recoiled in shock, then stared at me with a dumbfounded expression and cried out.
“W-What are you doing!?”
“You rejected me.”
“N-No! That wasn’t a rejection! I was just surprised… No! There was never any mention of this from the start!?”
And from her reaction, I became certain of one thing.
“This is your first time kissing a man, isn’t it?”
“W-What did you say!? How dare you say something like that to a woman so casually!!!”
She jumped in outrage, but there was no denial in her reaction.
Seeing that, it seemed this woman was surprisingly honest.
Well, when you thought about it, she was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord.
Since she had never been married, there was no way she would have any experience with men.
What fool would dare covet the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord? Not even as a joke.
“Right. That doesn’t really matter. Anyway, this is your last chance. It’s pathetic that I have to try three times just to pay a simple down payment, but out of my great generosity, I’ll give you one final opportunity. If you’re going to keep acting like this, just say so now. So I don’t waste any more effort.”
Wi Narin probably didn’t even realize how flushed her face had become.
How could she be so easy to read? It seemed she had absolutely no resistance in this area.
Well, the women of this world were quite conservative. That only made it more fun.
I grabbed her chin again, and this time Wi Narin simply closed her eyes.
Her eyelids fluttered. She swallowed hard.
Anyone could see she was extremely nervous.
I kissed her again. And this time my tongue slipped between her lips.
There was no rejection this time.
Her lips parted slightly, and her hesitant tongue brushed against mine.
This was practically confirmation. She had never experienced a kiss like this before. I could say that with absolute certainty.
So I kept it light. There was no need to go intense from the very first time.
“Good. The deal is done. I’ve bought you, and in return, I will give you my full support in restoring the Demonic Cult to its former glory.”
“It’s the Divine Cult!”
“Sure. Call it whatever you want. In exchange, there are two conditions.”
“...Speak.”
“First. You will share all the information you know with me. Of course, I’m not demanding you hand everything over unconditionally. Just provide me with information equal to what you receive from me. Since I intend to spare no support for you, you should match that by supplying information accordingly.”
“I’ll decide that after seeing what you actually do.”
“Fine. Just don’t hold back. You’ll be more than satisfied. And second.”
Wi Narin looked at me with a slightly pouty expression. It was quite a complicated face.
But she didn’t seem particularly displeased. That was good enough.
Seeing that, the strong-respect-weak principle really was an excellent system. I wanted to recommend it wholeheartedly.
“In front of me, you are not Wi Narin. You are Na-rin. That is my policy, so keep that in mind.”
“What does that mean? I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t tell you to understand. Just remember it. Now then… since we’ve covered the conditions, shall I ask a few more things? You’re currently being pursued, aren’t you?”
“...Yes.”
I had thought as much.
The fact that the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord had come all this way without a single escort or attendant meant her situation was far from good.
Her clothes weren’t in terrible shape, but it didn’t look like she had gathered enough forces to be of any real help.
If she had, she would have tried to do something with them instead of coming all the way here to find me.
“Is there really no one around you who can help?”
“There are many people I could contact for help! But if I do, they’ll be put in danger…”
“So, no one. Then where have you been staying all this time? It doesn’t seem like you were in Xinjiang.”
“Here and there. Why?”
“You’ve been on the run. So you don’t have a fixed place to stay either?”
“Staying in one place is dangerous! So…”
“No place to stay, got it. I understand the situation roughly. Then you will stay here. At Falling Moon Manor.”
“Pardon?”
“From what I can tell, the Demonic Cult seems desperate to find you. Am I right?”
“...Yes.”
“Right now, the safest place in the entire Central Plains from the Demonic Cult is this city of Chang’an. Especially this Falling Moon Manor—the cult bastards won’t dare come near it. You know why, don’t you? So stay here. There should still be some of the preparations you made when you were trying to establish the Gansu Branch, so it shouldn’t be difficult to settle in.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll come back tomorrow morning. So rest for now.”
With those words, I turned and left Falling Moon Manor.
Then I completely concealed my presence, slipped back inside, and climbed onto the roof of the building next to the one Na-rin was in to observe.
It wasn’t that I particularly suspected her, but one could never be too careful.
I couldn’t just take her at her word and trust her blindly, so I had to do at least a minimal check.
Na-rin came out of the building and wandered around, seemingly looking for a suitable place to stay.
After quite a while, she seemed to find a decent spot and examined one building in particular.
Then she came out again, wandered around for a long time, and eventually found some food and what looked like clean martial robes.
So some of that was still left. Well, it would have been impossible to take everything in just one day.
After gathering the clothes and food, Na-rin removed the court dress she was wearing.
Her body was revealed. A captivating figure.
Somehow, I had become a shameless pervert secretly watching a woman change.
But after taking everything off, Na-rin lightly touched her lips, shook her head vigorously, and quickly changed into the martial robes.
Ha. Damn. How cute. So it really was her first kiss. That kind of delicious reaction…
Anyway, even after watching her for a long time, there was no sign of anyone appearing or her trying to contact anyone.
Well, that was good enough. I’d just have to trust her.
Looking at the situation, there didn’t seem to be any reason for her to go through an elaborate act just to deceive me.
In any case, it seemed fine.
There was no real need for me to help her, but this way I could resolve the nearly unknown side of the Demonic Cult.
Plus, I would be able to obtain more information about the Formless Poison.
So this transaction wasn’t bad. At least, not a loss for me.
It might be a bit easier to manage her if I brought her into Silent Sword Forest… but for now, this was probably better.
No matter what, this woman was a woman of the Demonic Cult.
Moreover, she was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord, who could not escape responsibility for the Righteous-Demonic Great War.
Even if the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord hadn’t ordered it, that didn’t mean there was no sin.
Since he couldn’t stop it, he bore that responsibility as well.
So it was only right that she resolve that responsibility and wrongdoing herself. That was why I had made this deal.
And the biggest reason was this.
It was only natural for the Heavenly Demon to be a woman. Therefore, I would make her the next Heavenly Demon.
If only to protect my own common sense.