Completion
For this plan, Yeonggi worked alongside me. Myeongsuk had explained the plan from start to finish so thoroughly that he carried out his part without needing much conversation with me. He barely spoke all day, answering only with a nod or a few short words whenever I asked him something. Still, as someone who spent twenty-four hours a day with me, I found myself wanting to share a little personal talk—but I didn't force it.
I opened the door to Juri's room. In just a few days the air inside had grown thick and stale. There was a vent, but the foulness had a reason. The room reeked of human sweat, and beneath it hung a damp, humid stench.
When I stepped inside, Juri turned to look at me. In the first day or two she had smiled, even jumped up to greet me. Now she only watched me, breathing hard. I shut the door behind me and sat down beside her.
Her whole body was slick with sweat. She hadn't been exercising, and the room wasn't hot. I crouched next to her and spoke in a low voice.
"Why are you breathing so hard?"
Juri answered between ragged breaths.
"I've always let my instincts run free so easily. I never knew how hard it would be to hold them back."
I nodded.
"That's right. You can't govern your heart if you can't govern your desires. Think of this week as practice in standing firm against those urges. Endure as long as you can. Don't just grit your teeth—think about your life, over and over. You'll gain something from it."
She looked at me with eyes gone soft and unfocused. I drew her into a gentle, warm embrace, then slipped out of the room at once.
After several days of repentance, Juri went home. She was scheduled to return to the repentance chamber after a short rest. I wondered whether she would come back of her own free will, but against my fears she returned to Simanjeong early. She stripped of her own accord, sat before the small desk in the room, and began to pray. In front of her lay the scripture Mireyeong had written for us.
Juri's heart, which had been crumbling under the terminal diagnosis of an incurable disease, was slowly tipping toward me and Cheonsiman-gyo. The psychological work was mine. And because Myeongsuk believed sexual desire was the most effective way to keep her spirit weak, Yeonggi took charge of the food that heightened her lust and the role of the man who left her aching. Every night he entered that room, bared his muscle-packed body, and tempted her—only to leave her burning, never giving her what she craved.
"She's a sexually developed person," Myeongsuk told me one day at a meeting. "Not complete, of course, but her libido is several times that of an ordinary person."
I tilted my head.
"Developed? Incomplete? What does that mean?"
Myeongsuk's expression turned awkward.
"There's such a thing. Anyway, her desire is very strong, so stimulating it will make her suffering worse."
I frowned.
"How do you know that?"
She looked flustered, as if she hadn't expected me to press so hard, then said,
"We've already investigated everything. That's how we know."
I could feel she was hiding something. Pushing harder now would only get me silence or lies, so I let it go. For the moment I needed to stay focused on Ma Juri.
Gaslighting Ma Juri did not take long. After two or three weeks, Myeongsuk returned from seeing her and said everything was ready. Now it was my turn. Right on schedule, Jo Byeongsu contacted Yongjin and, in the most courteous language, demanded that the land be sold back. Yongjin was fully prepared; he refused with equal politeness. As expected, the threats followed. Innocent believers would be hurt, Jo Byeongsu said, and the resulting rumors would plunge our order into crisis.
The perfect moment for Ma Juri's role had arrived. I went to her. She greeted me with an easy smile, pressing her palms together in a relaxed bow. The day before, she had confessed her entire past to me in a full confession, then spent a scorching night with Yeonggi and finally drained the sexual hunger that had been building for so long.
"You've come?"
I smiled gently, took her hand, and led her to the bed. We sat facing each other.
"How are you feeling now?"
Juri answered with a peaceful smile.
"They said my illness will break out soon. Symptoms like dementia, they told me. And my cranial nerves will be paralyzed very quickly. I'm grateful. I was able to face my sinful past and repent before it was too late. All thanks to the Jisin."
I nodded and stroked her cheek softly. She went on.
"And I learned I can master even that damned lust of mine. The Cheongisa helped me a great deal."
I nodded. It wasn't because she had achieved some enlightenment; it was because we had stopped mixing the aphrodisiac into her food, and because Yeonggi had so thoroughly satisfied her the night before. Then Juri said the words I had been waiting for.
"And before it's too late, there's one more thing I want to settle."
I let my hand slide slowly from her cheek down to her breast. Her body twitched. Overcome it? She was still aroused by nothing more than this touch.
"That grandmother you mentioned?"
Juri nodded.
"In a way, that grandmother is the benefactor who led me to Cheonsiman-gyo. I don't want her to spend what's left of her life in sorrow the way I almost did."
I began to knead her breast in earnest.
"You said she donated her ancestral mountain land to Cheonsiman-gyo."
Her eyes were growing hazy.
"Yes… but I know. I know Jo Byeongsu is after that land."
I took my hand from her breast and trailed it down her body until it reached her sex. Juri's body jerked. She was already wet.
There it was—the story I wanted. And this might have been the first time the name Jo Byeongsu had come cleanly from her lips instead of "that man" or "that bastard." I had never once asked her who she was relying on, or who stood behind him. I had only softened her heart and kept prodding her.
For someone with my gift of the tongue, cooking Juri had never been difficult. Even before we met face to face, the terminal diagnosis had already left her heart half-broken, and after listening to me at our gatherings she had been thoroughly steeped in emotion. Meeting the very cult leader who had made her so receptive and hearing him speak in person—honestly, she had already been leaning toward me before I said much of anything.
"Jo Byeongsu? Who's that?"
I asked, freshly reminded that pretending not to know what you already know is one of the hardest things in the world.
"The man who takes the drugs I import. His real business is real estate, but under the protection of powerful backers he works as a drug supplier. Of course a cut of the profit goes to those backers. I knew he was using dirty methods to pressure powerless people and get whatever he wanted. I knew, and I still looked the other way."
This was the effect of gaslighting. She poured everything out without even being asked.
"I looked away from that grandmother's grief too. But her face kept coming back to me, and it tormented me the whole time I prayed."
I nodded.
"I'd heard a rumor they were pressing her to sell the land…"
Juri's face twisted.
"They wouldn't have put it that politely. And their work will start soon. What they always use is family."
I already knew Jo Byeongsu's past and his specialties. Still, I widened my eyes and pretended to be shocked.
"They threaten people with their families?"
Juri looked as if she had expected the surprise.
"Yes. That bastard said he's never seen anyone hold out once he threatens their family. Even people with no family fold the moment he goes after whoever is closest to them."