Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 188
>Chapter Title: Maitreya Illuminated Cult (4)
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Several days later. Late evening.
People began gathering on the mid-slope of a mountain near Gorang County.
They had come to attend the second gathering of the Maitreya Illuminated Cult.
Thanks to the fall of the Red Thread Chamber, the number of participants had more than tripled compared to the first gathering.
“Maitreya will burn away all the evils of the world and is the light and hope that will save us pitiful mortals.”
“Believe in Him.”
The warriors of the Gorang County branch led the chanting of the sermons.
“Maitreya descends.”
“Salvation for all.”
The common folk attending the gathering responded in unison, as if reciting a spell.
Among them, the one praying most fervently was the girl who had been dragged to the Red Thread Chamber the night before.
The girl named Cheong had been proselytizing with all her might even before attending the gathering.
She had converted more new believers than the demons of the Gorang County branch.
“Repent. Repent and believe in Maitreya. Then peace will come to you.”
“Maitreya descends.”
“Salvation for all.”
Another sermon followed, and those listening began chanting the prayer without anyone leading.
Il-mok, who had been leisurely watching the gathering from atop a tree near the site, felt chills run down his spine.
‘I was right to hide my identity. Whew.’
The scene was far too cult-like.
The gathering continued for a long while after that. A middle-aged man, who had been glancing around uneasily with a distracted look, suddenly spoke up.
“But is Maitreya’s incarnation not coming today?”
The Gorang County Branch Leader, who was leading the gathering, answered.
“Maitreya’s incarnation descends only to purge evil in Maitreya’s stead. He visits the mortal world only when evils like the Red Thread Chamber appear.”
“There is evil!”
At the man’s shout, all eyes turned to the middle-aged man.
Amid that, the man cried out with madness gleaming in his eyes.
“Old Man Park of the alleyway pharmacy! Everyone knows what a vicious old coot he is, right? Charging full price for medicine to people too sick to work and earn money! He’s a ruthless villain profiting off the lives of us pitiful mortals!”
Il-mok, watching from the tree, clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘I knew it would come to this.’
It was just as he had roughly anticipated.
Humans weren’t good. It wasn’t that Il-mok had been fully brainwashed by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to think that way. He just knew from his days as a social welfare officer, having dealt with it too many times.
Especially, the malice and rage toward the world buried deep in the hearts of the poor surpassed imagination.
It went without saying that most of those who caused scenes with officials were such people.
“There’s someone worse than Old Man Park!”
“What about Madam Chae from the upper village? The way she bullies her maidservants and servants—anyone who’s been there comes back bawling their eyes out!”
Another wave of madness swept through the Maitreya Illuminated Cult gathering.
The madness called curses, where they denounced each other and prayed for heavenly punishment on those they disliked.
Il-mok watched for a moment, then unleashed his lightness skill and leaped down from the tree.
Tap.
As Il-mok landed, his face was already masked in anger.
“It’s... it’s the incarnation.”
“Maitreya’s incarnation has come!”
The believers who had seen Il-mok at the first gathering shouted, and the crowd erupted in screams.
Mad cries begging him to kill all those with grudges against them.
But their shouts didn’t last long.
“Begone!”
Il-mok’s roar, infused with inner power, drove away their madness.
“Eek...”
The intense aura and killing intent radiating from Il-mok’s body was far too heavy and terrifying for untrained commoners to bear.
Silence fell over the area, and Il-mok spoke lowly.
“Today, I have manifested again, sensing the flow of deep malice and grudges in this place.”
With that, Il-mok suddenly pointed his sword at the middle-aged man who had first shouted.
“Do you wish for this man called Old Man Park to die?”
“Y-Yes.”
The man trembled but answered with madness in his eyes, and soon, a pale gray energy rippled along Il-mok’s sword.
“Even if it means you die in his place?”
“!?”
While the man’s face paled at the unexpected question, Il-mok spoke again.
“Have you truly committed no sins? Never told a lie in your life, never quarreled with anyone?”
“T-That’s...”
“Can you truly be certain that no one will pray to Maitreya for your death?”
The man, face drained of color, couldn’t open his mouth and bowed his head, avoiding Il-mok’s gaze.
Only then did Il-mok slowly turn his head, scanning the faces of a few among the gathering.
“You are all greatly mistaken.”
They were the ones who had fervently spat curses moments ago.
“Maitreya descends to punish the evils of the mortal world. Then I ask you: can you boldly claim that you can escape Maitreya’s heavenly punishment?”
Was it Il-mok’s words? Or the relentless, murderous aura pouring from his body?
No one dared answer his question affirmatively.
As all bowed their heads and trembled, Il-mok continued.
“The day Maitreya descends upon the present world, all the world’s villains will face heavenly punishment. So what should you do? To avoid Maitreya’s wrath, you must first shun evil deeds and live helping others, no?”
Live virtuously.
Il-mok spat the obvious advice, then suddenly swung his sword toward the empty air.
The sword qi sliced past the terrified, frozen crowd, felling a distant towering tree with a thunderous boom.
“Villains like the Red Thread Chamber will all be cast into the pits of hell by Maitreya like that. On that day, light will come to those who have lived righteously.”
Il-mok, who had spoken so frighteningly until now, ended lowly. The girl called Cheong shouted.
“I repent! Every night I’ll repent my sins, believe Maitreya will punish the villains, and await that day!”
Right after she shouted, the Gorang County Branch Leader, realizing it was the perfect moment, cried out.
“Maitreya descends!!”
At his lead, those gathered shouted in unison.
“Salvation for all!!”
Why was that?
Even though they realized Maitreya was not a kind god who granted every wish they made.
“Maitreya descends!!”
“Salvation for all!!”
The faith shining in the eyes of those at the gathering had deepened further.
It was because of the awe called fear.
Humans, by nature, could not feel aspiration toward a being they could control at will.
“Repent!”
“Maitreya descends!”
“Salvation for all!!”
Danbin, blended among the people fervently praying with awe in their eyes, could realize it too.
Why Il-mok had suddenly stepped forward to admonish the mortals.
‘Could the Young Master have anticipated even this?’
Admiring Il-mok’s profound scheme, she thought.
‘Now I understand why the Sovereign cherishes the Eighth Young Master so.’
The Gorang County Branch Leader shared the same thought.
Of course, for Il-mok, it was simply.
‘Phew. No one will come looking for a while now.’
He had just threatened them because handling complaints was a hassle.
* * *
The next day, around afternoon.
In the branch hall, which still felt somewhat empty today, Il-mok was swinging his sword alone.
‘Tch. Was the Red Thread Chamber Lord too weak?’
But disappointingly, there was no particular enlightenment.
Enlightenments that used to barge in after every real battle hadn’t shown even a glimpse lately.
Indeed, the higher the level, the more elusive enlightenment became.
Creak.
As the grating sound of people returning to the branch hall reached him, Il-mok lowered his sword.
“You’ve worked hard.”
At Il-mok’s praise, Danbin replied on behalf of the group.
“What have we done? It’s all thanks to the Young Master setting the stage.”
The others nodded in agreement.
For Il-mok, it was a situation that didn’t quite click.
‘My meddling increased their workload, and they’re happy about it?’
In his third year with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Il-mok still couldn’t grasp the cultists’ mindset.
“Also, the investigation into what the Young Master ordered seems mostly complete.”
As Danbin said that and glanced at the Gorang County Branch Leader, he stepped forward and spoke.
“The Nancheon Society that the Red Thread Chamber Lord mentioned is a brazen evil faction claiming lordship over Nanju, Young Master.”
Nanju was the provincial capital of Gansu Province.
At the news that evil faction scum had taken over the capital, Il-mok frowned.
“Unexpected. The Martial Alliance is leaving them be?”
At Il-mok’s question, Danbin smiled coldly.
“Why would those hypocrites calling themselves the righteous faction covet Gansu Province, which brings no profit?”
Hearing her answer, Il-mok pieced together what he’d learned from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s education and the rumors he’d heard before joining.
‘I recall Gansu Province was quite prosperous in the past.’
Hundreds of years ago.
The Silk Road, used for exchanges between the Central Plains and the Western world, connected directly to Gansu Province.
Countless merchants passed through Gansu to reach Xinjiang, naturally amassing gold and treasures there for a time.
But after the era of war, travelers on the Silk Road dwindled rapidly, and then an incident occurred that made Gansu unusable as a trade route.
Precisely 120 years ago, when the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult established itself in Xinjiang.
With merchants abandoning Gansu, no longer viable for the Silk Road, the province gradually lost its vitality.
He even recalled hearing that major sects and trading companies avoided it entirely, fearing the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult might invade at any moment from neighboring Xinjiang.
‘So it was because of these crazy cultists.’
Having learned why evil factions ran rampant in Gansu, Il-mok sighed involuntarily.
As Il-mok scanned the group with a troubled expression, Danbin misunderstood its meaning and added.
“At best, the three sects of Sichuan Province and the two of Shaanxi Province might covet it, but they’re all watching each other, so none will move easily.”
The three of Sichuan were Qingcheng, Emei, and the Sichuan Tang Clan; the two of Shaanxi were Huashan and Zhongnan.
Though banded as the righteous faction, they weren’t fully united.
If one vacated to seize Gansu, the others would gladly raid their empty lair.
As thoughts of the Nine Great Sects and Seven Great Clans crossed his mind, Il-mok recalled content from murim novels he’d read in his previous life.
“Hm? But doesn’t Gansu have a famous righteous sect? What of the Kunlun Sect?”
It varied by novel, and most just name-dropped it, but Kunlun Sect was definitely often mentioned among the Nine Great Sects.
And Kunlun Mountain, the sect’s base, lay at the edge of Gansu Province.
But for some reason.
Danbin looked at Il-mok with a vague expression.
“The Kunlun Sect is now just a name, a sect in name only, Young Master.”
“That Kunlun Sect?”
As Il-mok asked with a face saying he knew nothing, Danbin organized her thoughts and answered briefly.
“Do you know of the greatest battle recorded in the history of the Tyrannical Heavenly Demon, one of the Three Great Heavenly Demons?”
Having graduated top from the Demonic Path Academy, Il-mok grasped the situation from that abrupt question alone.
The Tyrannical Heavenly Demon had passed 600 years ago, from when the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult still rampaged in the Central Plains. He was the Heavenly Demon who led the cult’s resurgence.
His radical approach of sweeping away anyone he disliked earned him the title Tyrannical Heavenly Demon later.
As was customary for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the succession war after his ascension erased most of his achievements like a mirage.
In any case, according to the history taught in the cult, the Tyrannical Heavenly Demon had single-handedly wiped out a group of lying Taoist bastards spreading false teachings.
That battle, where he slaughtered hundreds of Taoists alone, was recorded as his greatest feat.
So.
‘The lying Taoist hypocrites that the Tyrannical Heavenly Demon wiped out were the Kunlun Sect!!’
Il-mok realized just how biased and distorted his history education had been.