Chapter 42: He'll Notice, Your Big Brother
[It's home...]
Pa Cheon said in a wistful voice.
A massive gate loomed before my eyes. Beyond it stretched countless pavilions in ornate Eastern style, but honestly, they didn't move me much. They were flashy enough, sure, but nothing you wouldn't see anywhere in East Asian culture. The all-metal buildings of the Geum Ga family would have been far more novel.
"Hold up a moment."
Sado Gwang spoke. I halted at his words. I was the one pulling his wheelchair along. Deep down, I wanted to shove it—hell, push it right down the stairs—but I couldn't afford to arouse suspicion.
This was the first reason the protagonist of Murim Return had drawn suspicion: not pushing Sado Gwang's wheelchair. Sado Hwan had always done it. Outwardly, it painted a picture of brotherly affection, or at least a dutiful younger brother caring for his crippled older one.
In truth, it was to keep him close and relentlessly brainwash him.
Come to think of it, even Pa Cheon was a victim here.
Anyway, I had to mimic it, so I was pushing the damn thing.
"You must be weary from the journey, so rest well, little brother. The family head has entered secluded cultivation, so no need to pay respects."
"...The family head is in seclusion?"
Sado Gwang's face took on a faint air of suspicion at my question.
"When his proud son reaches Super Peak and flaunts Flying Sword everywhere, shouldn't the family head strive harder as well?"
He knew, of course. I'd shown off my skills in front of the Black Shadow Corps, after all. I'd even baited it deliberately, spreading rumors about me throughout the cult as much as possible. Eight out of ten in the Black Shadow Corps were his plants anyway—if he hadn't heard, that would have been suspicious.
"You'll have to tell me every last detail of what happened in the jianghu, little brother. Won't you?"
Sado Gwang was the one who'd created Sado Hwan. That meant he knew every intimate detail about him—far more than Pa Cheon, the spirit dwelling in the sword.
Naturally, he knew Sado Hwan could never reach Super Peak. After all, Sado Gwang was the one who'd forced the incomplete Heavenly Demon Divine Art on him, blocking his meridians in the process.
"...Yes, big brother."
"Good. That's my good little brother."
Sado Gwang flashed what seemed like a warm smile. But from my perspective, it was obvious theater. His mouth and eyes were smiling, sure. But the emotion in those pupils was anything but warmth.
It was suspicion.
"Sa Wol, division leader, follow me. Oh, and one more thing."
Sado Gwang glanced at the cradle's children.
"Those children are the ones you took in?"
"...Yes."
"Building a faction is a vital virtue for anyone in the cult. Well done. However."
He averted his gaze.
"We can't just take in any riffraff to our family, can we? Lowborn scum without roots—they'll turn and bite their master someday, after you've fed and sheltered them."
Sa Wol's body twitched faintly at Sado Gwang's arrogantly twisted words. It was obvious who he meant. The cradle kids understood too, shrinking back in fear. Some looked on the verge of tears, while Cho Ryang clenched his fists in secret.
[He's right, of course.]
I shook my head inwardly. No wonder Pa Cheon turned out such an asshole, steeped in that mindset.
"Remember this. A hunting dog that proves useless..."
[Gets boiled alive.]
"...gets boiled alive."
This was aimed right at me, no doubt. The tongue control to condemn thirty people in ten seconds flat was downright awe-inspiring.
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Good. Then let's have lunch together tomorrow."
I bowed my head. Sado Gwang wheeled away, Sa Wol bowed to me and followed.
One of Sado Gwang's nameless underlings moved to lead the kids away somewhere.
"Hold."
"But—"
"You dare block me?"
I gathered internal energy in my eyes. The underling flinched at my glare.
"Are you trying to bar my path?"
"S-sorry!"
He backed away in terror.
I ignored him and approached Cho Ryang.
"Cho Ryang."
"Yes, Division Leader."
"Obey whatever they say. Follow their orders."
—If they offer elixirs claiming they're good for you, never swallow. Pretend to and spit them out.
I transmitted the real message via puppetry technique at the same time. Speaking aloud at this range would be audible to Sado Gwang's underlings.
Besides, even Pa Cheon couldn't hear this puppet-transmitted transmission.
The quick-witted Cho Ryang didn't show surprise or ask questions. He just nodded.
If they gave the kids elixirs, they'd be laced with Gu Poison, no doubt. Just like with Sa Wol. One burst from the heart poison meant instant death—a murim time bomb.
I couldn't stand by and watch the kids I'd brought get addicted.
—I brought you here. No matter what, I'll protect you.
"Take them. Many are malnourished, so wash them well, feed them properly, and build up their strength."
"Yes!"
But leaving it at that? They'd beat or torment the kids for sure. To cultists steeped in survival of the fittest, children were disposable—especially bottom-scum orphans without noble blood.
"These children are mine. Mistreat them as you would me, and I'll wipe out your entire clan."
Sado Gwang's underling bowed frantically in horror.
[That's right. A true cultist treasures his subordinates like his own body.]
So that's why Sa Wol got tormented?
[...Well.]
Whatever. Let's head to your room.
[Monster. Even with your pitiful discernment, you'll be satisfied. The places we've stayed before will seem like trash by comparison.]
Pa Cheon led the way confidently.
"...And so it was."
Sado Gwang was receiving Sa Wol's report.
Every single thing Sado Hwan had encountered wandering the jianghu—every gesture, every action.
"A Sword Dragon from the East..."
Tap, tap!
Sado Gwang's fingers drummed the table. Frail fingers so thin they might snap at a touch.
"Casually wielding Flying Sword, the mark of a Super Peak master, excavating ruins, alliances with the Paeng and Tang families aside... even acknowledged by that Kunlun's Un Yeop Ja as a powerhouse. Our Hwan did all that."
What was Kunlun?
The sect that most hampered the cult's plans. Those who styled themselves the jianghu's umbrella against the cult's rain.
Shaolin? Wudang? Hwasan?
Tang? Paeng?
There were plenty of famed orthodox sects and great families, but none tormented the cult like Kunlun.
Isolated in remote mountains, the cult sent spies into the jianghu to gather intel. But Kunlun blocked them time and again.
At the center was Un Yeop Ja. By some method, nine or even ten out of ten spies fell to him. That was why cult influence was weakest in Cheonghae Province, bordering the cult's domain.
Fooling that Kunlun's, that Un Yeop Ja's discerning eye? Sado Hwan?
Impossible.
Sado Gwang knew Sado Hwan best.
Because Sado Hwan was a man he had created.
Sado Hwan was his alter ego, his shadow.
And shadows don't move without their master.
So it's that, after all.
Sado Gwang's fingers halted their odd rhythm. His thoughts had reached a conclusion.
"Does that make sense to you?"
Sa Wol bowed her head at his question.
"Then answer, Sa Wol. What was the Sado Hwan you saw like?"
"..."
Sa Wol recalled Sado Hwan's image.
First came the incompetent yet arrogant fool—like a yapping pup or rattling empty cart.
But at some point, he'd changed.
To save my subordinates, I'll deny the Sovereign as many times as it takes.
He'd denied the Heavenly Demon—living god to cultists—to protect her, whom he always called "wench."
I know you want me dead. But we've got to go home, right?
Mercy even to a subordinate who'd dared draw steel on him.
Don't mope in the fog, Sa Wol. Would the Black Shadow leader look so unseemly?
He'd pulled her from heart demon possession, as the past consumed her.
Don't take pride in the gutter, Sa Wol. You're not the only one who's seen hell. The Sado family, and big brother...
And that unmistakable sense of kinship.
Its source? The enmity toward Sado Gwang that Sado Hwan had revealed.
Sado Hwan, who trusted and followed Sado Gwang more than Heavenly Demon or parents.
All an act?
As the "why" arose, Sa Wol's eyes fell on Sado Gwang's body.
Frail to the point of fragility, unable to stand without his wheelchair, helpless without attendants.
Without the Gu Poison in his heart, killable with a finger.
Yet the man who manipulated the Asura Apostle—one of the Six Demonic Families' leaders—with those powerless fingers. Through vile plots, schemes, and exploiting weaknesses.
A man who clashed with cultists' pride in strength supremacy.
...So that's it.
Sa Wol finally understood.
A true cultist who knew real pride and honor would correct even blood kin if wrong.
Sado Hwan... were you a true cultist after all?
The moment he emerged from that cave, he'd chosen the thorny path. Like a chick hatching from its egg.
"Are you deaf?"
"...No. Sorry. I was lost in thought."
"Stupid bitch."
Sado Gwang clicked his tongue.
"I'll submit a disciplinary report on you. See if you last seven days in the Punishment Cave."
"...Yes."
"Get out."
Sa Wol bowed and left.
"These fools, all blind as bats."
Sado Gwang opened a drawer. Even that simple act drained him—his condition was dire.
At this rate, three or four years at most.
His wasting body showed no sign of recovery.
He eyed the paper from the drawer.
Soul Swap Great Law. Sword Saint Appears.
"So the Soul Swap Great Law..."
Whoosh!
The paper ignited in the candle flame.
"...does exist."
Sado Gwang's eyes gleamed ferociously.
And at the same time.
In Sado Hwan's residence.
"Probably."
Sado Hwan said.
"Your big brother will catch on that our bodies swapped."
Pretending to Be the Heavenly Demon