225
After returning from the white-sand beach, the Blood Cult Leader invited us inside a building of a somewhat peculiar style, quite unlike those of the Central Plains. Dressed in the Blood Cult's distinctive black uniform, he offered a martial salute to Lee Si-a.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself once more. I am the one who received the title of Mad Demon from the Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult. I lead the Blood Cult."
The Mad Demon, and the Blood Cult Leader.
Lee Si-a looked intensely curious about how one man could hold sway over two such incompatible factions.
'I'm curious, too.'
I didn't know the details about him. So personally, I was looking forward to what he might say.
"About twenty years ago, in my youth, I once roamed the Central Plains Murim. Ah, I was so hot-blooded back then. When I was young, I tell you..."
With a slightly exasperated look, Lee Si-a sent me a silent plea for rescue.
"...back in my day, I tell you..."
'Bi-cheon, do something.'
I actually wanted to hear about his past, but since Lee Si-a was fed up, I had no choice. I seized an opening in his verbal torrent.
"...and so, back then, I met that bastard—"
"You met the Heavenly Demon and received the title of Mad Demon."
"That's right."
He stared at me with a sulky expression, then glanced at Lee Si-a's face, clicked his tongue, and continued.
"Personally, I thought the title of Blood Demon had a nicer ring to it, but that bastard called me the Mad Demon. He said every single word I spoke was lunatic raving the Central Plains Murim could never accept."
"What in the world did you say to make my father call you that?"
"Hmm..."
The Mad Demon stroked his chin. I secretly envied his neatly trimmed beard.
"A good Murim warrior is a dead Murim warrior."
"...Excuse me?"
"That was the thought I had while wandering the Martial World, Little Princess. The beings of Murim are a thug collective that offers no help whatsoever to the lands of the Central Plains. White Path and Demonic Cult alike. They are of no significance during national crises; rather, they are criminal syndicates that hinder proper administration."
At that stark, cynical remark, Lee Si-a's face drained of color. The Mad Demon's words disparaged the entire Central Plains Murim, lumping the White Path Murim together with the Demonic Cult.
"Who would love mobs that draw blades and brawl at the slightest provocation? Ah, weaponsmiths must love them. Pillsellers would love them too. Wouldn't Golden Spear Medicine sell like hotcakes?"
"What in the world..."
"That," he said with a hearty laugh, swerving the conversation, "is the kind of nonsense I used to spout back then."
"Ha, I spouted things like that everywhere I went, so everyone tried to tear me apart. But could I just sit still and take it? As I beat one after another to death, before I knew it, I came face-to-face with the Heavenly Demon."
"..."
His remarks were a bit problematic, but the past stories of a supreme master couldn't be anything but fascinating.
Moreover, for Lee Si-a, this was the story of how the Heavenly Demon brought the Mad Demon into the Demonic Cult's Ten Demons, so she was interested.
"Was it three days, or four? We dueled day and night without resting. Honestly, we fought with the intention of killing each other. My back still aches on rainy days because of that bastard's Heavenly Demon Divine Fist."
"Then..."
"But I pulled out every single hair on his head, so it was my victory. Since he exhausted all his inner energy in the fight against me, that bastard lost his hair."
"..."
Lee Si-a was shocked, and so was I. I had never dreamed that the one who caused the Heavenly Demon to suffer the side effects of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art stood before us now.
"I thought the Heavenly Demon had simply gone bald naturally."
"A martial artist of his level wouldn't have suffered such side effects in his youth; his talent was too outstanding. So after we went at it and ended in a draw with no clear victor... that bastard said this to me."
The Mad Demon imitated someone with a grave expression.
"You! Become my subordinate!"
"Did my father really say it like that?"
"No. I mean, that was the gist of it. How could I remember every single syllable he said? Little Princess, have you memorized every single meal you've ever... ah, never mind."
The Mad Demon waved off the topic.
"Later, when ties brought me down to the South Sea, I found that the bastard had made me the Mad Demon without even asking me. I tried to go all the way to Heavenly Mountain to demand what the hell this was about, but it's not like you can just pop over to the neighbor's house, can you? Going all that way to complain was too much trouble, so I just gave up."
"..."
That moment quenched much of my curiosity about the Mad Demon of the Three Wild Demons.
"By now, you should understand why I am the Mad Demon. And as for my true identity, I doubt there is a pressing need to speak further of it."
The Mad Demon fixed me with a meaningful gaze. Since he had already read my memories, he was treating me with considerable consideration and respect.
"Rather than being curious about who I am, wouldn't you be more curious about why I would commit such a deed?"
"Indeed. Tell us why, knowing the Blood Calamity is a fixed future, you still chose to ride its coattails and throw the Central Plains into chaos."
Through my blood, he had witnessed my past as Chu Ma-gwi, the times before that, and every moment I was the Blood Jiangshi.
"Hmm... it's simple."
The Mad Demon thumped his own chest with his fist.
"Because my heart still burns."
"..."
Lee Si-a shot me a look that begged for salvation. True to his moniker 'Mad Demon,' his words were far from easy to understand.
"Heh heh. I am sure you have many questions, but I have already leaked the secrets of heaven just by telling you who the mastermind behind the Blood Calamity is. I may have told you this much because I am who I am, but if I say any more, I will fall to ruin myself."
The Mad Demon tapped his own temple.
"Don't you have someone around you who read the heavens, tried to reveal it, and subsequently lost their mind?"
"The Illusion Demon."
The Illusion Demon's madness was partly a backlash from using the Soul-Hooking Technique, but it was also a case of him reading the heavenly secrets and twisting them for his own ends before crashing hard.
"That I could speak at all is only because this space is somewhat removed from the Central Plains, and because I learned so much from reading your memories through your blood. So you must find the Demon Flower..."
The Mad Demon stroked his chin with his hand.
"I don't know who that is either."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I only know that an entity bearing the name 'Demon Flower' is the true culprit. How could I know when I have never met or even heard of the being called Demon Flower?"
"Then how did the name 'Demon Flower' come about?"
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing)."
An unexpected name surfaced.
"And the Mysterious Maiden (Xuannü)."
My hands and feet turned cold at that name. He looked me straight in the eye, his gaze piercing me like a blade.
"The Mysterious Maiden spoke. She said that a being called the 'Demon Flower' from the Classic of Mountains and Seas would dye the world in blood. That is how I came to hear the word 'Demon Flower.'"
"Isn't the Mysterious Maiden the title of the Kunlun Sect Leader?"
As I kept my mouth shut, Lee Si-a asked in my stead. She likely assumed I didn't know much about the Mysterious Maiden, but in truth, I knew more about the Mysterious Maiden than either of them.
"Lust Demon."
The Mad Demon spoke in a voice of utmost gravity.
"If you truly intend to achieve something, you must not avoid your destiny. The key to the paradise you desire lies there; how long do you think you can keep running from it?"
"But..."
"That is your karma, and your fate. It is the atonement of your soul that you must pay. Do you believe you can solve everything by running away forever?"
"..."
Were there any words in life that could cut to the bone like these? The Mad Demon laid bare my whole heart, as if my own memories were shouting at me.
"The Little Princess does not seem to know, so I shall say no more. But bear this in mind. The karma you are to commit is the gravest sin in the Central Plains Murim, and that, at least, is a sin you must commit yourself, not something 'we' do together."
"...I know that down to my marrow."
I sensed the Mad Demon's thoughtful consideration. He smiled and refilled his glass.
"It seems lucky you understood, and I must make one request of you, Little Princess."
The Mad Demon directed another martial salute at Lee Si-a.
"If you truly love him, wait until he opens his mouth of his own accord. It seems you are already making all kinds of conjectures thanks to his own blabbering, but it would be far more proper to hear it from the person concerned than from me."
"...Yes, I understand. Thank you for your consideration, Mad Demon."
Beneath the table, Lee Si-a clasped my hand tightly. I reflexively flinched my hand away, but then quietly surrendered it to her touch.
"Thank you, Si-a."
"Didn't he ask me to wait, if I loved you?"
"Heh, it does my old heart good to see. This country bumpkin has nothing more to say. If you came to recruit the Mad Demon among the Ten Demons, the position of Mad Demon can be freely changed once you, Little Princess, ascend as the Heavenly Demon... ah, no."
The Mad Demon smiled at me with a lecherous face.
"You, honestly, you've got to take responsibility, don't you?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean, my daughter."
C-crush.
Lee Si-a suddenly clamped my hand with tremendous force. She silently began to interrogate both me and the Blood Cult Leader.
"Heh heh, Little Princess. Don't be too harsh. My little girl ran away from home, you see, and it's because she wants to meet this fellow."
"You're lying, aren't you?"
"Well, now. I don't lie."
"...Isn't a distorted truth not a lie either?"
The Mad Demon only smiled, covering his mouth with his liquor cup. Then, setting the empty cup down, he spoke seriously.
"...The collective known as the Blood Cult is not a subordinate group of the Demonic Cult. It is a strictly separate entity, and I will use any means and any method to achieve my goal."
"Mad Demon... Blood Cult Leader. What exactly are you aiming for?"
"Love?"
The Blood Cult Leader answered with a bitter smile.
"I am searching for a lost love."
His expression was so utterly sincere that it could not be seen as a lie.
* * *
The talk with the Mad Demon yielded considerable gains.
"At the very least, the Blood Cult Leader is not someone who will become our enemy straight away."
"That's a relief."
The Blood Cult Leader had said,
—There is a proper time for all things. It is a given that a fruit can be enjoyable to eat while green, but isn't it best when it is properly ripe?
"The Blood Cult Leader will likely ride the wave of the Blood Calamity to achieve his own goal."
"Then how should we respond? What is the Blood Cult's purpose?"
"The Moon Maiden's Descent. By offering the blood of one hundred thousand women as a sacrifice, they will descend a divine maiden into the body of a specific woman."
At my words, Lee Si-a's face went pale.
"That's insane. You mean causing the Blood Calamity means indiscriminate slaughter?"
"...Let me clear up one misunderstanding. The phrase 'offering the blood of one hundred thousand women as a sacrifice' is literal, but they don't necessarily have to kill to obtain it."
"By riding the Blood Calamity... you mean they plan to collect the blood of one hundred thousand women who are already dead?"
"Something like that."
That was the Blood Cult Leader's 'original' plan. Since the Bloody Era of Calamity was a certainty and could not be prevented, his aim was to ride along with it and collect the blood of the dead women.
The blood sack that would collect the blood of one hundred thousand women was none other than me, the Blood Jiangshi.
The twelve women selected as the Moon Maiden's candidates were the Twelve Blood Fairies.
And the Blood Cult's Young Lady, who inherited the Mad Demon's will and became the next Blood Cult Leader, had not only carried on his legacy, but truly desired to bring about the Moon Maiden's descent.
Just as the current Blood Cult Leader—her father—wanted to see the Moon Maiden, so too did the future Blood Cult Leader—his daughter—desire to meet the Moon Maiden.
"Then, my final question."
With an intensely serious voice, Lee Si-a cupped my face and smiled.
"If the Demonic Cult's Little Princess can become a Wife of the Lust Demon, what's this talk about the Blood Cult Young Lady not being a Wife of the Lust Demon...?"
"..."
"You. What's your relationship with the Blood Cult's Young Lady?"
* * *
"Cult Leader, what exactly is your relationship with that figure, the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon?"
"I met him for the first time today."
Hyeol Gyu-ryeong, the Blood Fairy, could not believe the Blood Cult Leader's words.
"What reason do you have to treat someone you've just met so specially? I simply cannot comprehend this situation."
"Don't try to understand. Just accept it."
"It makes no logical, common-sense, or rational sense. You have always said, Cult Leader, that humans must ceaselessly search for the truth, and that it is the process of pursuing the one true truth that tempers the human spirit."
"..."
The Blood Cult Leader puckered his lips. He seemed to be thinking up an excuse, yet was clearly reluctant to speak.
"Hmm... someone who will have that kind of relationship with So-ye in the future?"
"With the young lady?"
"Yes. In a way, you could call him my son-in-law."
"Cult Leader. Did you not say you would kill any man she brought home?"
"Yes. I did say that, but..."
The Blood Cult Leader gave a bitter smile and waved his hand in denial.
"I see a future where So-ye has him completely whipped, so how could I, in pity for him, dare to touch him? Even if I don't kill him, So-ye will likely kill him herself."
"...How am I supposed to take those words?"
"It's simple. They are tied by a red thread of fate (紅線). Heaven has already decided they are a pair, so how could I forcibly tear them apart?"
"Ah..."
Her eyes turning sentimental, Hyeol Gyu-ryeong pressed no further. Relieved inwardly, the Blood Cult Leader approached her.
"I know what fuels your anxiety. Whether that fellow might obstruct our plans. Whether this encounter here might affect the grand scheme of things. Whether my resolve might be shaken by meeting him."
Hyeol Gyu-ryeong unknowingly stepped backward. Before she knew it, her back was against the wall, and the Blood Cult Leader met her eyes.
"Gyu-ryeong."
The Blood Cult Leader placed a hand on the wall beside Hyeol Gyu-ryeong and gave a fierce smile.
"You trust me, don't you?"
At his words, all of Hyeol Gyu-ryeong's anger was quelled, and she surrendered.