Chapter 58: I Must Take the Family Head Position
Sado Gwang was dead!
The Mad Demon Six Families were in an uproar.
Ordinary cult members might not know, but anyone of note among the Six Families was well aware.
The Sado Family, once just another minor clan, had risen to claim one of the seats among the Mad Demon Six Families entirely thanks to Sado Gwang.
Before becoming a cripple, he had been a promising prodigy. After, he became a shadowy strategist weaving unfathomable schemes.
And now, that Sado Gwang was dead.
The Sado Family was still conducting searches, but it was impossible. A man who could barely walk on his own had plummeted into the depths of Forgotten Soul Valley.
The Six Families speculated he must have drowned in the deep waters below.
His death set off a chain of reactions.
"The Sado Family has no real roots... This is our chance to seize their seat among the Six Families."
Some spoke with ambition burning in their eyes.
"This just got interesting... He was really at the Super Peak?"
Others showed keen interest.
"The promise."
And some recalled old oaths.
Thus, lanterns floated into the sky.
A week had passed since Sado Gwang fell from the cliffs of Forgotten Soul Valley.
The Sado Family threw everything they had into the search. Everyone except those on missions or dispatched elsewhere—including the Black Shadow Corps—was mobilized.
It was such a ferocious effort that some families mistook it for preparations for war.
Yet after a full week, no trace of Sado Gwang was found. Nothing but scraps of the outer robe he'd been wearing.
All that remained was an empty wheelchair.
"...We must hold the funeral."
Sado Mu Yeol, head of the Sado Family, looked as if his face had turned to ash.
The funeral proceeded quietly.
I attended dressed in black mourning garb.
Only a select few high-ranking members—the direct lineage and elders—were present.
An altar had been set up in what was usually the training grounds. It was the standard kind you'd see in Murim Returner, but nothing lay atop it. Chairs were arranged in a circle around the altar.
The ceremony hadn't begun yet, so people sat or milled about. They seemed subtly divided into two factions.
My arrival stirred murmurs among them.
Sado Mu Yeol, who had been seated, shot to his feet, kicking his chair aside and pointing at me accusingly.
His eyes burned with deep hatred as he glared.
"How dare you... How dare you show your face here!"
His aura was sharp enough to draw a sword at any moment. Of course, he wouldn't. He believed I was a Super Peak master.
"The one who should be here doesn't come, and you do."
Whether from faith in the family's power or not, Sado Mu Yeol hurled abuse at me relentlessly.
"You killed him, didn't you? You, you!"
"Family Head!"
At that moment, a wizened old man beside him restrained Sado Mu Yeol. From his face and robes, I easily recalled his identity.
First Elder, Sado Gi.
He led the "Elder Faction," which split power in the Sado Family alongside the "Family Head Faction."
Officially, aside from me—Sado Hwan—and Sa Wol, he was the family's top expert. Estimated at late Peak realm. He looked more like a righteous faction Taoist than a cultist, with his pristine features and demeanor.
"Mind your dignity. This is the funeral of the eldest young master—raise your voice here?"
"Let go, First Elder!"
"Why the rage?"
"Why? You ask why?"
Sado Mu Yeol's eyes bulged as he snapped at the elder.
"That bastard committed the crime of killing my brother! And yet?"
"Strange, isn't it?"
The First Elder tilted his head, but I could tell it wasn't genuine puzzlement.
"Didn't you yourself strike down your brother, Family Head?"
"That was—"
"The foremost virtue of the cult is strength supremacy, Family Head. The strong merely exercised their rights! Holding him accountable would violate that virtue outright. Shall we question your legitimacy first?"
"......"
"Besides, there's no proof the second young master tried to kill the eldest. Witnesses say he tried to save him from that woman Sa Wol's assassination attempt."
Sado Mu Yeol's face flushed beet red, like a ripe persimmon. He looked ready to keel over from high blood pressure any second.
In the end, he spun on his heel and stormed back to his seat.
What a mess this family is.
The Sado Family's rapid rise had created a severely distorted structure.
Those from its minor clan origins, with some history and pride in their inherited arts, formed the Elder Faction and trained diligently. But they alone couldn't elevate the family.
So the Sado Family recruited new experts en masse—through wealth, blackmail, or whatever means. They formed the Family Head Faction.
The two groups clashed constantly, causing friction. Sado Gwang had mediated it all.
Well, intentionally so.
Sado Gwang wasn't even someone you'd trust as a father. To keep the Family Head Faction from scheming, he'd covertly backed the Elder Faction, forcing a rivalry.
He'd pit them against each other, always coming out on top.
I had to admit it.
When it came to rigging the board in his favor, the bastard was unparalleled.
That's why I was certain.
Sado Gwang hadn't died.
He's definitely alive.
Setting aside how Murim Returner's world was a cliché mashup, looking back, his attitude had been suspiciously calm.
It was a clear disadvantageous position.
He suspected I was a fake, but I had Sa Wol—a human weapon who'd awakened to Super Peak.
The warriors he'd brought were all flailing in her mental image even now.
Yet he hadn't shown panic or dismay.
And his defenses were too flimsy.
Even if Pa Cheon had briefly fused "Whirlflow" and "Domination" for devastating power, getting neutralized by one strike didn't add up.
Given his line of work, Sado Gwang was constantly at risk of assassination or attack, so he decked himself out with treasures and artifacts.
A guy like that going down to a single prepared technique?
No way.
So it was reasonable to assume he was alive.
Just like when he'd emerged from Punishment Cave to fake his disappearance—he was probably hiding somewhere, plotting again.
Of course, I couldn't tell Pa Cheon that.
[......]
Since that day, he'd lost his voice.
If he at least showed expressions, I could guess his thoughts, but he didn't even emerge from his sheath. He wasn't unresponsive, though—he moved when needed.
Seemed his own heart wasn't settled. Only time would heal it.
Thanks to that, I'd spent the week pondering how to survive—and crush Sado Gwang's schemes.
- I'll prepare a seat beside the Family Head for you, Second Young Master.
A transmission reached my ear. No doubt the First Elder's voice, laced with caution.
Being a faction leader meant hyper-sensitivity to power balances.
Mocking the Family Head while treading carefully with me meant my presence in the family had skyrocketed due to this incident.
As I moved, warriors hurriedly cleared a spot—right beside the Family Head. I sat slowly.
Can't afford to look weak.
In the cult, weakness meant getting devoured.
I stared straight ahead. A scorching glare bored into my profile—Sado Mu Yeol, probably glaring daggers, eager to kill.
As he opened his mouth to speak, the ceremony began.
The doors opened, and pallbearers carried a coffin laden with items. Clothes and the wheelchair Sado Gwang had favored in life.
The coffin was placed on the altar, surrounded by papers inscribed with incantations.
In the orthodox world, Taoists might read eulogies, but no such rites here. Instead, a cult-appropriate ritual awaited.
Cremation.
Cultists revered sacred flame. For esteemed figures, they'd use a portion of that holy fire for funerals—the highest honor.
Though that's impossible now, thanks to his own karma.
Only the rightful heirs of Gwangmyeongseongga could handle the sacred flame—the lineage Sado Gwang had exterminated.
Even Sa Wol can't manage it.
Only her brother Hwarang could.
Anyway, they substituted with oil-soaked firewood, lighting it to bring the rite to its peak. Flames licked the coffin.
Crackle, crackle!
Hot waves beat against our faces.
Then Sado Mu Yeol spoke.
"Killing my son and having the gall to act shameless."
"I tried to save my brother."
"Traces of destruction littered Forgotten Soul Valley."
I turned. His eyes blazed like the pyre, but I saw the shadow of fear lurking.
"Who else but you could have done it?"
"And so?"
"What?"
"So what can you do about it, Family Head?"
"......"
I turned back forward.
"Other families lack even two or three Super Peak masters, yet we hold a seat among the Six Families solely thanks to my brother's schemes. Will you cast me out now?"
That's why the Sado Family was called "rootless." Super Peak numbers measured a clan's worth.
"Without brother or me—the Super Peak—what's left of the Sado Family?"
We had plenty of Peak experts, but Sado Gwang had roped them in—they weren't truly loyal.
Without his restraint, they'd likely scatter.
Sado Mu Yeol fell silent, then paled as reality sank in.
No wonder. Sado Gwang had made all the "judgments" for him; his sense of reality had atrophied.
Such an emotional, simplistic man could only be head because Sado Gwang found him easy to manipulate.
"That's why."
I'd spent the week thinking: how to survive, how to shatter Sado Gwang's plots.
He was a genius. Even knowing the original story, I'd fallen into his intricate trap.
I admitted it. I couldn't fully grasp or predict his plans.
No way to spot his puppets among those gathered here.
But I couldn't just take it lying down.
So I said it.
"I must take the family head position."