Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Shall We Sleep Together, Mother? (1)
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Xinjiang.
This region, commonly classified as the far west, housed the base of a group that everyone in the Jianghu martial world knew of, but few truly understood.
The group called itself the Ming Cult, though martial artists commonly referred to it as the Demonic Cult. It was led by one man—their leader, also known by the title Divine Demon.
Some claimed he had a three-pronged forked tongue, four pupils, and fangs pierced with tiny holes that could suck the blood spilled by his enemies.
The master of such rumors, the Divine Demon, now furrowed his handsome, roguishly attractive face as he pronounced four characters, biting them off like teeth.
"Blood... Demon... Heirs?"
Though he had long passed seventy, his face still retained the tautness of a man in his early thirties.
But the elder before him paid that no mind, bowing his head with the utmost respect as he replied.
"Indeed. They say in the Jianghu, those who have caught the Blood Demon's eye are called that."
"What is that old man plotting now? If he so kindly shared the locations of our sect's branches with me, shouldn't he at least tell me what he plans to do with them?"
Kidnapping and raising talented youths from rival factions wasn't uncommon in the unorthodox sects.
Children around three or four years old usually had no set values, not even memories that stuck.
But snatching grown young men whose worldviews were already fully formed—and not even keeping them properly contained? What on earth was he scheming?
He couldn't even guess.
"If he wanted to build up his own faction, he could've at least joined our cult or rallied some low-level unorthodox rabble."
The Divine Demon imagined it.
Gathering a motley crew of unorthodox sect riffraff, then shouting, 'You're all my subordinates now!' at them.
Crushing any dissent with a few blasts of Finger Wind, executing those who pretended to submit only to flee as examples.
Then picking some famous orthodox sect, raiding it, burning it down, raping their women—that'd roughly unite them.
Smash their plaque and hang up a big 'Blood Demon Sect' sign, and voilà: a faction at the Blood Demon's beck and call.
"I can't figure out what goes through that man's head."
"...I'm aware of what you're saying, but shouldn't we be focusing on countermeasures right now?"
"Countermeasures?"
"The Second Elder is probably already on the move. He'll be spreading word that the Blood Demon—who's been playing nice all this time—is finally stirring up trouble to build his own power."
The Divine Demon scowled.
"Everyone except the few who know that's nonsense will be getting antsy. 'Better us take over the martial world than hand it to the Blood Demon,' they'll say."
"Exactly."
"Don't you think I've sent the Second Elder enough signals, First Elder? That I'm not interested in unifying the martial world."
"..."
"Do those fools even know what 'unifying the martial world' really means?"
Unmistakable irritation laced the Divine Demon's voice, and the First Elder immediately bowed his head low.
"Unifying the martial world... Does it mean wiping out the Martial Alliance, the Nine Great Sects and Eight Schools, and all Five Great Families?"
"...Even that wouldn't be the end of it."
"Right. Even in my predecessors' time, plenty wanted the martial world under our cult's heel. They crushed the orthodox sects with overwhelming force and made it a Ming Cult world—for a few decades, at least!"
BAM!
As the Divine Demon slammed the armrest of his chair, the startled First Elder discreetly clasped his hands in a polite gesture.
"And what was left? In the end, those orthodox bastards—we who'd spent those decades building strength—chased us back to this frontier! How many times must we repeat this?!"
"..."
"Tell the Second Elder this: If he wants to unify the martial world, find a way to make it last—something that holds for at least a few centuries—or shut up and stop filling the faithful with empty hopes."
"...Understood. But what about the young lady...?"
"Tell Kyung-ah that if she's got complaints, she can take my head and the leader's seat."
The First Elder wondered how they maintained such warm daughter-father relations amid all this grim talk of beheading.
"The strong rule. The strong aren't always right, but they have the power to clean up their own messes. That's why you heed the strong."
"...Yes."
"Falling for the Second Elder's words is her choice, but if she wants to overrule me, she'll need the strength to back it up."
"Then, what shall we do about investigating the Blood Demon's actions?"
The Divine Demon shook his head at the First Elder's question—meddling too much might draw the faithful's attention.
"For now, conduct the investigation slowly using only your own subordinates. I'll write a letter for you to deliver to the Underground Network."
"The recipient... the Blood Demon, I presume?"
"He didn't tell me, so what can I do? The underling has to ask the superior first. Who knows—he might just casually spill it again. That's the tricky part about him."
The First Elder averted his eyes cautiously at the leader's nonchalant self-reference as the "underling."
"I believe I'll catch up someday... An underling should bow before the superior, after all. Whether that underling becomes the Sword Saint Huangbo Un-geom or the Divine Demon Yeong Ho-sang."
The First Elder got chills watching those sharp eyes flash even as he called himself the underling.
"Blood Demon Heirs?"
What the hell was that? Like 'The authentic taste endorsed by the Blood Demon!' or something?
"Yes! They say some folks in the Jianghu, including Hero Kang, are being called that!"
The kid who looked about mid-teens was named Tang Mu-hon.
Peng Yeon-hwa's son and Tang Young's younger brother. In other words, the next head of the Tang Family.
On my way back from some enjoyable dual cultivation sex with Peng Yeon-hwa, I'd been caught by Tang Young, who dragged this boy along.
"I've heard you're an incredible master, Hero Kang! They say you're even receiving personal instruction from Mother..."
"It's not quite instruction. She just points out flaws in my martial arts."
Instruction meant formally taking someone as a master-disciple. Peng Yeon-hwa wasn't my master.
Tang Mu-hon smacked his forehead as if realizing his mistake and corrected himself.
"I see, not quite... Anyway, that's why I really wanted to meet you!"
What was with this attitude? It was like a fanboy begging an autographed baseball from his favorite player. Kinda burdensome.
Tang Young had been snippy when we first met, which annoyed me, but this was even more overwhelming.
On top of that, the guilt I'd felt upon meeting Namgung Hye came flooding back.
Well, not quite as bad as then. Did that mean my conscience was getting numb to banging milfs?
"Mu-hon, time to go. You've trained all day, so Hero Kang must be tired too. He'll be staying with the Tang Family for a while, so you'll see him again."
Tang Young was surprisingly playing the proper big sister role.
Tang Mu-hon bobbed his head, apologizing for not thinking of my fatigue and wishing me rest.
'Even one suspicious point with the Blood Demon gets you this kind of treatment...'
After constantly bowing as a novice underling, having them look at me with eyes of admiration left me at a loss.
As I glanced at the departing Tang siblings and headed to my quarters, the building soon came into view.
I'd already washed up in the bathhouse attached to the training grounds, so no need for that. Eat dinner, nap a bit.
Tang Hye-won was coming tonight, so a preemptive snooze would let me enjoy the night without strain.
After asking a maid for a simple dinner—which I wolfed down—the sun had fully set.
In local time, it was around the first watch (about 7:30 PM).
Now I could even tell time by the sun and moon. I was a local through and through.
Taking a short walk around the quarters to aid digestion before bed, a maid came trotting up to me.
"Young hero, do you have a moment?"
"Sure, what's up?"
The maid looked queasy at my formal speech but quickly got to the point.
"Actually, Lady Zhuge..."
Apparently, Zhuge Mi-ryeong was calling for her son while having nightmares.
She'd done it often since being dragged to her master last time, but tonight was especially bad, so she'd sent for me.
I told the maid to follow slowly, then dashed off using my movement technique to Zhuge Mi-ryeong's chambers.
"Hyeon-a... Hyeon-a..."
Even before entering, I could hear Zhuge Mi-ryeong's pained murmurs.
Opening the door, I saw maids already wiping her tears and sweat, but she kept calling for her son like she was possessed.
"Hyeon-a, Hyeon-a... Take Mother with you... Take Mother too...!"
In her dream, memories of her real son must have resurfaced. Tears streamed as she begged to be taken along—it was heartbreaking.
I gently waved off the maids and reached out to grasp Zhuge Mi-ryeong's flailing hand.
"Mother, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, so don't worry."
"Hyeon-a, Hyeon-a..."
Even holding my hand, she murmured for her son, but soon her breathing steadied, and she fell into peaceful sleep.
I took a clean cloth from a maid and wiped the tears and drool from her face.
"Young hero, thank you. Lady Zhuge has been suffering so much..."
"It's fine. If it happens again, just call for me."
Her husband was supposed to handle the emotional care, but Go Cheon wasn't here tonight.
Even if Shaanxi and Sichuan bordered each other, what business kept him shuttling back and forth to the escort agency?
"I'll keep watch tonight, so go rest or tend to your duties."
"Young hero, we can't ask that of you..."
The maids protested, but I shooed them out with a wave.
I'm human too—no matter how tempting the milf, I wouldn't get hard for a mother who couldn't sleep thinking of her son.
First, I'd let go of her hand and sit watch by her side.
With that thought, I tried to release our clasped hands and pull away.
Huh?
It wouldn't come loose? Her grip was insanely strong!
"Mm..."
Zhuge Mi-ryeong felt the morning sunlight peeking through her eyelids and opened her eyes. She'd had another nightmare last night, but unlike usual, her body felt refreshed.
A warm hand grasping hers must have let her sleep peacefully after that.
At the thought, she felt the texture of the hand holding hers.
"Hyeon-a, my son..."
Turning her head, there was her son—curled up asleep by her bedside, clutching her hand.
Seeing her sturdy boy, who took after his father, huddled like that stirred complex feelings of pride and pity.
He must have found his nightmare-plagued mother last night and held her hand through the night.
'That's why I didn't want to tell him...'
She hadn't wanted to burden her busy son—who was learning martial arts from Peng Yeon-hwa—with extra worries. But now that he knew...
Accepting her son's grateful devotion for staying up holding her hand, Zhuge Mi-ryeong shook his shoulder to wake him, letting him rest a bit more.