The Demonic Cult Serial Murder Case: #5 Absolutely Not
Seolgajik wore an expression of pure incomprehension. Why not? It’s not that difficult, is it? His face looked like it belonged to someone thinking exactly that.
“Not desperate enough, I see. But wouldn’t it be better to crawl between someone’s legs and survive first, then plan for the future?”
It was an allusion to the historical tale known in the Central Plains as the humiliation of crawling between the legs. It referred to the shame of literally crawling through a man’s crotch. The story was famous as the dark past of Han Xin, the great general of the Chu-Han period and widely regarded as the greatest commander in Chinese history. Though he eventually achieved the future he had planned for by enduring that shame, his later years were utterly miserable.
“Isn’t it better than dying? There are a few lecherous demonic heads who would find your type appealing.”
“Haa.” Cheong let out a heavy sigh. “Forget it. People have this thing called dignity, you know?”
Seolgajik’s face hardened noticeably. His dazed eyes and regret-filled wrinkles made it seem like he was groping for some memory from the distant past. Then he shook his head and apologized.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. Living in this state just to stay alive, I stopped thinking about such things.”
“Oh. But I do have one close old man. The Purple Lightning Demon Lord. A foul-mouthed grandfather.”
“That pitiful old wreck?”
Seolgajik looked Cheong up and down. “Well. That makes sense.”
“I definitely felt offended just now?”
“I heard his daughter died around your age. Only, her personality was apparently comparable to the three great evil women of the age. That’s probably why he doesn’t see you as a stranger.”
“Strange. Why do I keep feeling worse? My hands are starting to itch for no reason.”
Cheong waved her pale, white-glowing hand. Seolgajik immediately shut his mouth.
“I know about it too, you know? I have ears. I heard ages ago that the old man had gone senile. Still, you have to say something before anyone can know, right? If you decide in advance that someone won’t work, then what?”
“But the Purple Lightning Demon Lord has lived his entire life as an extremely devout demonic cultist. No matter what antics you pull, I doubt he’ll help you.”
Cheong waved her hand, changing the subject. “Forget it. Just look into ways to kill, burn, and steal. From the way you were talking earlier, you’re clearly the real expert here, Seolgajik.”
Seolgajik gave a short laugh. “Of course. I’ve spent every waking and sleeping moment imagining the world’s destruction. Isn’t that the basic qualification of a professional?”
“Whoa. How reassuring! How brilliant!”
“Pretending to have a lame leg, then leaving only traces of Sosu Magong when you set out to kill—you’re quite meticulous yourself.”
“It’s because I’m talented. You’re talented too, Seolgajik.”
It was the sight of two great demonic heads flattering each other and snickering.
“A divine maiden disciple would use a sword. Can you handle a blade or a spear? Even if you’re not proficient, as long as you can imitate the remaining traces, it should be enough.”
“Obviously. Who do you think I am? Just tell me what you need.”
Seolgajik nodded. “Then first, it would be good to burn the Inner Palace’s Taepyeong Group. So……”
By the time he returned before sunrise, closed his eyes with a comfortable mind, and opened them again, it was already lunchtime. After a deep, refreshing sleep, Cheong’s mind and body felt impossibly invigorated.
Wow. What the hell is the Daejeong Seongong? Its effect is insane.
But, hmm. It’s not entirely good.
Normally when waking from sleep, one should feel hazy, with strength drained from every limb and a parched throat. There was a certain pleasure in enduring that thirst, tossing and turning in bed, and savoring the last remnants of drowsiness. Waking up this clear-headed felt like losing perhaps a hundredth of one’s life, if not half.
Cheong spent time in bed with such bright, alert eyes. Whether sleepy or not, lazing around ended up the same.
Before long, someone burst through the door as if trying to break it. It was Cheong’s utterly insignificant senior sister, Gyeon Po-hui.
“Junior sister! You’re coming to eat, right!”
Normally, no one asked if you were going to eat the moment you woke up. Usually there was no one searching for food the instant their eyes opened. But anyone who lived with Cheong for even three days would start asking if she wanted to eat instead of greeting her. Because Cheong was the kind of person who looked for food the moment she opened her eyes.
Gyeon Po-hui closed the door, entered with light steps, and opened the wardrobe. She gathered the underclothes, inner robes, and outer robes, hugged them to her chest, and headed for the bed. Cheong, as if used to the routine, spread her arms, lifted her legs, and answered with a series of wriggles. Gyeon Po-hui matched her rhythm perfectly and dressed her. The movements were natural and carried the smoothness of long practice.
“What’s for lunch today?”
“Dried fish with eggplant soup?”
“Ah, no……”
Chinese cuisine, with a few exceptions, was simply a list of ingredients and cooking methods. Only at times like this did the usually strict Cheong display cleverness. Bangnapjanggeoneo meant dried fish cooked and tossed in a thick, reduced sauce. Among the foods from her hometown that Cheong remembered, there was a matching dish called codarijorim.
Cheong’s pupils trembled pitifully. “How can a reality like this exist……”
“Junior sister!? Are you okay!?”
“I’m not okay. Record today’s date. Starting next year it’ll be the day the Hwanhui Palace cooks have to prepare a collective memorial feast, and I don’t want to be part of it.”
“Hmm…… Then, should we eat out?”
It was welcome news, but Cheong shook her head. “Today I’m eating with the old man. I have something to discuss.”
Gyeon Po-hui’s shoulders drooped. She glanced at Cheong cautiously.
“If I’m being a bother……”
She was, a little. Even when she had been the youngest, Gyeon Po-hui had been everyone’s toy in the Hwanhui Palace. Now she was treated as if she didn’t exist at all. The technical term was “rider exclusion.” Rumors openly circulated that despite her lacking skill, she had stolen the position of second disciple through connections. Still, that didn’t spare her from the bullying, so the lower-ranking members suffered every single day. If the dim-witted senior sister had at least handled herself well, things might have been different. But because the harassment was severe and indiscriminate, she earned contempt from above and a mixture of contempt and fear from below. So it wasn’t that Cheong couldn’t understand the desperate way she clung to her every day.
In truth, back when Cheong had been losing her mind, she had taken advantage of Gyeon Po-hui’s situation and treated her like a maid. If the girl made even one mistake, Cheong would put on a serious face and say she didn’t want to see her anymore, or mutter to herself about bringing in another child to raise as second disciple, openly showing disappointment. In the end, this was all karma.
Inside Cheong, the triangular lump of conscience spun wildly. It had almost become perfectly round, but because the basic conscience module had always been the size of a bean, there were still a few spots where it scraped.
“It’s not that. Let’s eat dinner out together.”
“Yes! And let’s do evening training together too!”
Oh come on, you’re pushing it right now?
But it was already too awkward to refuse. After forcing a nod, Gyeon Po-hui’s face brightened like the sun itself and she scampered out of the room.
Left alone, Cheong waited for Choe-ri-ong’s visit.
Growl.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to her. What if the old man doesn’t come today?
Fortunately, Cheong did not have to experience one of the most terrible things a human could suffer in this world—skipping lunch. The stingy Choe-ri-ong, who had already eaten lunch by himself, came looking for her and suggested they have tea.
“No, while someone was starving and waiting, you went and ate alone? I didn’t think you were that kind of person, old man.”
“Did you make an appointment in advance saying you’d wait? You spout nonsense like it’s the most natural thing in the world.”
“That’s not important. The important part is that I’m hungry.”
“Tsk. Vicious wench. I wonder where that temper comes from.”
The original human backrest grumbled as he lifted Cheong into his arms. It was a comfortable ride worthy of the original, the supreme riding experience of a supreme demonic head.
Eating becomes even more enjoyable when done with many people. Because the number of dishes increases. Of course, Cheong could eliminate the competition and finish the food faster than anyone else. The important thing was variety. In that regard, Choe-ri-ong was an excellent dining partner. This old man looked like a pure skeleton wearing faded old clothes, as if he never ate properly, yet he suspiciously had a lot of money. If that was the case, what was the point of having money? So it wouldn’t matter if she took a little for herself, right?
Cheong finished her meal with the intensity of battle. She ate like someone with a personal grudge against the food. Choe-ri-ong nagged the entire time, but since it was just the foul-mouthed old man’s nonsense, it didn’t hurt at all.
“Even a pig would eat more modestly than that.”
This was what Choe-ri-ong said after calling people over and ordering every dessert on the menu, right as Cheong was finishing her meal.
“Aww. Then if I eat more modestly than a pig, is that something to brag about? Anyway, compared to a pig, no matter how I eat it’s not something worth bragging about.”
“Hehe. That mouth of yours.”
“Enough. Old man. I can’t live like this. I’m planning to cause a proper mess and run away, so decide clearly. Is it me, or the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?”
Cheong suddenly charged straight in. Choe-ri-ong flinched hard.
“Child.”
“There are bad guys everywhere. What is survival of the fittest? A law of nature? That’s wrong too, but even if we say it’s right, still. Shouldn’t people live by human laws instead of animal laws?”
“That won’t last long either. Soon the Heavenly Demon will descend upon this land, liberate the Central Plains, and under his leadership a new world will open where all people under heaven are equal.”
“Isn’t that guy the biggest problem? That Jijon bastard was a complete scumbag, wasn’t he?”
“That is……”
Choe-ri-ong seemed at a loss for words, his mouth opening and closing. In the end, Cheong had no choice but to bring up something unpleasant even to say.
“Do you know that scumbag is planning to devour me right now? He gave me piles of Fairy Arts and told me to master them. I’d rather die than go through that. I’ll really bite my tongue and die.”
People don’t die from biting their tongue. Humans weren’t designed to be such fragile creatures. Of course, if one was unlucky the severed tongue could roll back, block the airway, and cause death by suffocation. But what did Cheong know about that?
Choe-ri-ong let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Haa. Child. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“About what?”
“The current Jijon who exists now and the future Heavenly Demon Jijon who accepts the Heavenly Demon Soul and completes the divine art are completely different beings. Once he completes the divine art, he will no longer be interested in you.”
“How would you know that, old man? You have to make sense. Interest disappears? Does mastering the divine art suddenly make him prefer men or something?”
“That……”
Choe-ri-ong suddenly faltered as if his tongue had gotten stuck. He avoided her eyes and continued.
“……I cannot tell you.”
“For real? He’s going to become gay—I mean, a sodomite?”
Cheong asked back in shock. She was so surprised that a Western word she normally never used slipped out.