The Heavenly Demon Cult Serial Murder Case: #5 Chinese People Are Absolutely Not Allowed.
“The Taepyeongdan burned down, so I went to offer my condolences. When I came back, our Ja-ungwoladae was on fire. The moment I saw it, I burst into tears,” testified Simi Pyeong, a survivor of the Ja-ungwoladae. Of course, those were tears of relief. He had bought drinks to console a friend who lost his job and thereby saved his own life. Truly, one must practice kindness. However, such sentiment held no sway with Seok Hum-hum, the Cult’s most impartial and merciless investigator.
“You were supposed to be on night watch at that exact hour, were you not? Yet you claim you went to offer condolences?”
“H-how did you—”
“There was a warrior who survived the attack by being in the latrine. He testified that the night watchman had abandoned his post entirely. No wonder the villains could strike without anyone noticing.”
Seok Hum-hum cast a frigid glare. “By the authority of a senior investigator, I shall render judgment on the spot. Deserting your post is no different from aiding the enemy. Death penalty.”
“W-wait a moment, Investigator!”
“Do not feel too wronged. The warrior in the latrine also failed to fight and hid instead, so he has been sentenced to death for desertion. The two of you shall hang side by side.”
“Investigator! I am innocent! Just because the squad leader drank during night watch—everyone does it! Since when is that a capital offense? Investigator! Investigator!”
“Do you truly not know your crime?”
“Then what else are we supposed to do on night watch if not drink? Are we meant to stand at the empty gate like raw recruits, eyes wide open in the dead of night, just in case someone attacks? That is something you only have to do before you reach the six-year mark!”
Simi Pyeong was genuinely indignant. For a squad leader with over five and a half years of service—the so-called “six-year bend”—drinking on night watch was simply common sense. Seok Hum-hum shook his head. When one was surrounded by pointless discipline, cruel punishments, and superiors who turned a blind eye, even a decent man would end up like this.
As Seok Hum-hum left the temporary detention cell, he gave the order. “Take him to the prison—no, there is no prison. Execute him immediately and hang the body in the street.”
“Yes, Investigator.”
The reply was exceedingly polite. After all, Senior Investigator Seok Hum-hum was universally acknowledged as the Cult’s finest. His arrest rate for cases he handled exceeded one hundred percent, reaching a staggering four hundred and twenty percent. For every ten cases, he caught ten culprits and then arrested an additional thirty-two people who voluntarily confessed to crimes. The identities of those thirty-two remained a mystery, but since they had obstructed the investigation, they were executed and their motives would never be known. Even under brutal torture, they had insisted they were the culprits to the very end, compounding their crime with the offense of concealing the truth and spreading falsehoods.
“Still, this is a clever and daring crime that exploits the gaps in our reasoning. The culprit is no ordinary person.”
The day after the Taepyeongdan burned, the same culprit struck the Punghwa Unit under the Outer Hall Combat Division. No one had imagined the attacker would use the exact same method the very next day. The Punghwa Unit’s fate was inevitable. And last night—the third consecutive night—the Ja-ungwoladae suffered the same fate. Even after two identical attacks, the culprit had carried out a third massacre. Such unpredictable cunning!
Seok Hum-hum finally acknowledged that he had met a true nemesis. The culprit had sneaked in at night, slaughtered everyone while they slept, and then set the place ablaze. A true man, even with a grudge, should settle matters openly under the sun before all eyes. How could anyone resort to such despicable methods…?
“Ah! So that is it! I have solved one riddle!”
“Investigator? Have you discovered something?”
“The culprit may be a woman. This is not a man’s method. I ordered the arrest of all men who recently entered the city—include the women as well.”
It was a sharp deduction from the investigator whose arrest rate reached four hundred and twenty percent. Yet the culprit was originally a woman, and traces of the Blood Shadow Thunderbolt Technique pointed to an insider. The assistant investigator, swordsman, and executioner, Wa Sun-ja, thought as much but dared not voice it. Who would dare cough in the presence of the four-hundred-and-twenty-percent legend?
“Yes, Investigator.”
“Investigate thoroughly. The honor of the Taepyeongdan is at stake. Remember what I always say?”
“Yes. Torture already knows the answer. I have engraved it deeply in my heart.”
Seok Hum-hum nodded with a cold expression.
—
“Lately, there have been so many corpses hanging in the streets! The stench of rotting flesh is so bad you can barely breathe! And the bugs are swarming everywhere! So let’s go take a look together!”
Cheong tilted her head. Strange. Why had the conversation suddenly reached this conclusion? The premise and conclusion seemed completely disconnected.
“Why would we go look at stinking, bug-infested corpses?”
“To throw rocks, obviously! If you hit the limbs and make the body fall, you get one coin. If you hit the neck and drop the torso, you get three!”
“Ah. I see. Is this a traditional pastime of the Cult?”
“Yep!”
Gyeon Po-hui answered with a radiant smile. Cheong thought to herself, These Demonic Cult bastards really are something else. Now they are desecrating corpses? She did not know that this custom had originally come from the Central Plains. And even if she blamed the Central Plains, they would have their own grievances. The act of desecrating a criminal’s corpse for amusement was a natural human impulse practiced across both East and West. It was a ruler’s manual from barbaric times, remarkably effective at instilling obedience to the law and fostering communal consciousness.
Cheong made a disgusted face and looked at Gyeon Po-hui. “Sajeo.”
“Hm?”
“Would you… like to go to the Central Plains?”
“No!”
The answer was swift and decisive. Cheong had expected her to agree. Well, if she did not want to go, there was nothing to be done. It was her life to live. She could not force her.
Instead of insisting, Cheong asked for the reason. “Why?”
“Why would I go to that terrifying Central Plains?”
Gyeon Po-hui countered. Cheong had an answer ready, but the girl had been brainwashed into viewing the Central Plains as hell on earth. So Cheong gave a simple reply.
“Because I am going?”
“Then I will go too!”
This one really does not have long to live. She looked like the type who would follow anyone offering candy. A girl who knew only how dangerous the Central Plains were was following along without a second thought. Well, now that she thought about it, the girl really was thoughtless. Still, her heart was somewhat admirable.
Cheong gave her a warning instead. “It is a secret, so do not go around telling anyone.”
“Okay! I will never tell!”
Afterward, in the afternoon, it was once again time for the authentic Chinese massage session with Master Kang, the complaint lodger. She had wondered why there were so many complaint lodgers, but then realized that the Demonic Cult members themselves were the Cult’s complaint lodgers. With a Nature Realm complaint lodger at the very top, those below naturally had strong opinions of their own.
Only about ten measures of the Celestial Heart Harmony remained. If she dragged things out, she would have roughly half a month. After that, it would be time to head for the Cheonma Tomb.
While organizing her thoughts, Cheong suddenly realized the importance of the moment and spoke up in a hurry. “Ah, right there! My waist! Master, could you press a little harder? Why is an old man so weak? At this rate I will lose all my strength and will not even be able to play the flute. Ah, yes. That is perfect.”
Enjoying Master Kang’s careful hands pressing firmly above her tailbone, Cheong continued her thoughts. Seolgajik had said he planned to escape before then. She might as well take the support along. They could meet in Sichuan. After all, she would have to stop by the Emei Sect anyway.
—
‘Tonight is the new moon—a good opportunity to kill the Sura Demon Sword. He is an extremely sharp and cunning Demonic leader, and I hear he is in the late stage of the Transcendent Realm, on the verge of the Harmonious Realm. Of course, it is dangerous, so whether you kill him or not is your choice.’
‘What? You want me to fight a Transcendent Realm master? Seolgajik, do you want to fight me first?’
‘The Sura Demon Sword is the lord of the Sura Gate. If the gate lord dies, there will be a funeral. It is another chance to wipe out an entire sect after the Demon King’s Gate.’
So Cheong had spent the entire day deliberating. In the end, she concluded it was worth attempting.
‘Due to the side effects of his demonic arts, the Sura Demon Sword can only sleep after seeing a virgin’s blood.’
‘He kills a virgin every single day?’
‘Not every day. Even in the Demonic Cult, where would he find that many virgins? So he kills twice a month, every fifteen days, and sleeps soundly for a full day afterward.’
‘Ah. So we strike while he sleeps?’
‘Well. Everyone knows the Sura Demon Sword is vulnerable then, so his guards will be extraordinarily tight.’
‘Then what are we supposed to do?’
‘That is for you to figure out. I have some ideas, but I do not know if you can pull them off.’
Seolgajik was not affiliated with the Demonic Cult. He had no connections or spies planted inside. If he had possessed that level of capability, he would not have had the large “latrine” brand stamped on his forehead. Even so, the plans he devised from scraps of information he had picked up here and there were remarkably accurate. He was the kind of person Cheong alone would call the greatest mind in the Central Plains.
Because of that, there were no detailed instructions. Cheong would have to solve everything herself as a proper martial artist. That was why she was now sitting with her rear planted near the rear gate of the Sura Gate on the night of the new moon.
She had come because it seemed like a good opportunity, but… was this really right? Was this okay?
Cheong let out a long sigh. After some time, she spotted a figure in black approaching, carrying a large sack. It was a strange sack. Something inside was writhing and bulging, constantly pushing against the fabric. In proper academic terms, this was a textbook example of an abduction. And now it was Cheong’s turn to take the contents of that sack in their place.
Of course, Cheong had her own beliefs. If things went wrong, she could just run. If caught, she could reveal her identity and threaten them. She might get cursed at, but was she going to throw away the Boksinjeok? Was she going to leave the Cheonma Tomb unopened? If she succeeded, she would kill a great Demonic leader. If she failed, she would just get cursed at. There was really no reason not to try.
Seolgajik had said that “seeing a virgin’s blood” did not mean actual blood. It was virgin blood or something like that. He killed them after the deed, so the two were not that different. Cheong stopped thinking.
Fuck it. Whatever happens, happens.