Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 249
>Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon's Secret Cave (1)
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Gulping down his liquor until he was dead drunk, Paeng Ji-gwang suddenly shot to his feet.
“Young Master Paeng?”
“Master Paeng Ji-gwang?”
Before his companions could even try to stop him, he bolted out of the room and headed straight for the one where the voices were coming from.
‘The Tang Clan of Sichuan has fire under their asses? Heh heh heh. Let’s go see what this rumor’s about.’
A rumor about the Sichuan Tang Clan—the ones who had poisoned him—Paeng Ji-gwang simply couldn’t let that slide.
Slide.
Without hesitation, Paeng Ji-gwang flung open the door of the room where the voices were coming from and spoke up.
“I am Paeng Ji-gwang from the Paeng Clan far away in Honam. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I happened to overhear your conversation here. Sorry about that, but could you tell me more details?”
The people inside, who had been chatting, looked troubled at his question.
His companions, who had chased after him in a hurry, tried to hold him back, but Paeng Ji-gwang had already slipped his hand into his sleeve and pulled out some money.
“I’m not just asking you to talk for nothing. As my token of appreciation, I’ll cover all your food and drinks here.”
At his blunt offer, the troubled men cleared their throats and nodded.
“Hahaha. They say the four seas are all brothers, so no harm in sharing a drink together.”
As their attitudes shifted, the young martial artists exchanged glances.
They pondered what to do for a moment. But their youth and curiosity won out.
“But what exactly is this Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave?”
The impatient Paeng Ji-gwang fired off the first question, and one of the middle-aged men in the room answered in a reluctant tone.
“Well, it’s the Heavenly Demon’s secret cave, just like the name says.”
“The leader of the Demon Cult’s cave—why the hell is it in Sichuan?”
“Ah... Well, if you’re from Honam, you might not know. The rumor about the Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave has been around in Sichuan for quite a while.”
“???”
As the group all made puzzled faces, Je-gal Eun-yeong clapped her hands with a look of realization.
“Ah! You mean that Heavenly Demon who invaded the Central Plains a hundred and sixty years ago?”
“That’s right.”
“Hahaha. You know your old tales well.”
Seeing the group still didn’t get it, Je-gal Eun-yeong stepped in to explain.
She recounted the story of the final days of the Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon, who had invaded the Central Plains a hundred and sixty years ago.
The two middle-aged men chimed in alternately, adding to her explanation.
“But in the end, no one ever found that Heavenly Demon’s body.”
“He fought off the Martial Alliance masters at the last and escaped, but his wounds were so severe that everyone assumed he died. Plus, he never made it back to the Demon Cult, so the chances are very high he perished right here in Sichuan.”
“He must have died, but they just couldn’t find the corpse. And that’s why the rumor of the ‘Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave’ has been rampant in Sichuan for ages.”
“Before the Martial Alliance drove out the Demon Cult, they controlled Sichuan for a time, so the rumor was that the Heavenly Demon had secretly made a hideout back then.”
At their explanation, Hwang Bo-yeon tilted her head.
“Crazy Demon Cult bastards, maybe. But what would anyone want with a Heavenly Demon’s corpse from over a hundred years ago for that rumor to spread?”
“The Heavenly Demon was a monstrous villain, sure, but he was the supreme martial artist of his era, taking on hundreds of orthodox masters single-handedly. If there’s a secret cave where he hid at the end, wouldn’t something be left behind?”
“Rumors swirled about his final insights being there, or his divine sword slumbering inside, or treasures and elixirs he stashed for emergencies. All sorts of tales.”
Only then did the group nod as if they understood.
Insights, divine swords, elixirs—any one of them would make a martial artist’s eyes spin.
“They must’ve searched like mad, eyes bloodshot.”
“That was back in the day.”
“It’s gone undiscovered for so long that now it’s just a joke. The rumor spread so far and wide there’s no secret to it anymore.”
At the men’s explanation, Hwang Bo-yeon asked back.
“So, this joke of a Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave was really found recently?”
One man seemed unsure, but the other nodded.
“That’s the rumor, anyway.”
He seemed to be the one who had brought up the Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave earlier.
“There was a massive typhoon not long ago. A few days later, an herbalist climbing the mountains stumbled on a cave by chance. It was revealed because rocks and trees around it were smashed and broken.”
“Is there proof it’s the Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave?”
The man shrugged at Hwang Bo-yeon’s question.
“I haven’t seen it myself—how would I know? It’s just a rumor.”
“Then do you know where this cave is?”
For some reason, the man scanned the room nervously with a tense face before whispering his answer.
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.”
“????”
The young martial artists wondered what nonsense this was, but their faces grew deadly serious at his next words.
“The herbalist who first found the cave turned up dead a few days later. Everyone around him who heard about it from him—all dead.”
“…….”
“Rumor has it there are wanted posters with the cave’s location tortured out of that herbalist and his people, and folks are hunting for those posters. Including the Tang Clan, Ami, and even Qingcheng.”
The young martial artists, who had been grimacing at the ominous rumor, exchanged looks, nodded, and cupped their fists toward the middle-aged men.
“Thank you for the long story. As promised, we’ll cover the food and drinks here.”
After Hwang Bo-yeon and the young martial artists gave brief thanks and left.
The two middle-aged men, who had been chattering about every detail of the rumor, looked at each other and flashed sinister smiles.
* * *
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s branch in Gwangwon County, Sacheong Province.
Thud!
The branch leader of Gwangwon County burst into the branch in a frantic state and rushed toward Il-mok.
“...Even the Tang Clan attacking?”
Il-mok asked half-jokingly, but the branch leader shook his head vigorously and said.
“N-No, it’s far more u-urgent than that!”
“No one’s chasing you, so calm down and speak.”
“Th-The Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave has been found!”
“...Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave? Did Master have some hideout hidden in Sichuan?”
“N-Not the current Heavenly Demon’s cave—it’s the B-Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon’s cave!”
At the branch leader’s shout, the group’s expressions turned grave.
Guyang Mun and Ju Seo-yeon, who had returned after escorting the former Black Island Pavilion Master Mun Chang to Pyeongryang County, also looked serious, abandoning their usual lighthearted demeanor.
“Is that true?”
Il-mok, the only one keeping his composure, asked calmly, and the branch leader recounted the rumor.
“So, a hidden cave was found, and people are after the wanted posters showing its location? Including the three great powers?”
“Yes, Young Master!”
At the branch leader’s reply, Il-mok swallowed a sigh inwardly and looked around.
Everyone’s faces were frantic.
“We must find those posters right away, Young Master.”
“Indeed. It’s our chance to recover the Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon’s body after over a century.”
The fervent zealots Dam Bin and Jin Ha-yeon led the charge, but the others nodded in agreement too.
“...Doesn’t something feel off? It popped up out of nowhere at this timing. And if it’s a cave our Divine Cult left behind, how did no one know about it?”
Il-mok pointed out the logical inconsistencies, feeling uneasy, but it fell on deaf ears with the zealots.
“Maybe the Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon made it in secret?”
“Or perhaps it wasn’t a pre-made cave but a spot he hastily hid in while fleeing the Central Plains trash.”
“Leaving his body here is heartbreaking enough, but letting the orthodox vermin claim it first? How could we call ourselves devotees of the Divine Cult?”
Il-mok spoke again toward the group, who were unusually eloquent today.
“It could be a trap.”
“You think someone mistaking us for the Maitreya Illuminated Cult would use the name Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave for a trap?”
Il-mok realized it then. They had already made up their minds.
For these zealots, recovering the body of the Heavenly Demon they revered as a god was nothing short of a holy war.
‘Sigh. They’re easy to handle as zealots usually, but they won’t listen now.’
Normally, he could twist any doctrine to fit, and they’d follow with “As expected of the Young Master!” But not on this.
He couldn’t just charge into this shady business for the zealots’ sake, though.
Il-mok offered the utmost compromise.
“Nothing’s certain yet, so first, carefully track down these posters. We can go after the Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon’s body once everything’s confirmed.”
He prayed inwardly they’d fail to find the posters.
“Young Master, forgive me, but I’ll be stepping out for a bit.”
Dam Bin reported she’d go herself.
And a few days later.
She returned with two pieces of news.
“I’m sorry, Young Master. I had to hide my identity, so I failed to find the posters.”
Il-mok cheered inwardly at her report while keeping a somber face outwardly.
“But no need to worry. I’ve learned the ones who got the posters are gathering in one place, so we just need to follow them.”
At her follow-up, he had to swallow another sigh and pretend to be thrilled.
Or the zealots would brand him a heretic.
* * *
Il-mok and his group packed up and left Gwangwon County.
Their destination was Baekhak Mountain, one of the countless peaks near Jincheon County in Sacheong Province.
The closer they got to Baekhak Mountain, the more martial artists they saw, and the air grew thick with menace.
“As I said before leaving, don’t act rashly. We don’t even know if it’s really the Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon’s cave yet, so we’ll observe first.”
At Il-mok’s warning, the group nodded with anxious faces.
Even the usually composed Dam Bin and Jin Ha-yeon seemed pressed for time.
Il-mok swallowed a sigh at their sight and added words to calm them.
“Even if it is the real Heavenly Demon’s Secret Cave, we don’t need to rush in first. The Central Plains hypocrites are after manuals, insights, treasures, or elixirs anyway, right?”
A divine sword from the rumors was out of the question. The Heavenly Demon Sword—one of the Divine Cult’s symbols—hung at the side of the current Heavenly Demon, Il-mok’s master Hyeok-ryeon Il-hwi.
It was because the Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon had returned it and fought alone to buy time.
“No one would bother targeting the Blood Slaughter Heavenly Demon’s body, so we can move in later without issue.”
At Il-mok’s logical explanation, the zealots, who had seemed rushed, calmed a bit.
Of course, a master’s corpse could be a research subject. They might infer the martial arts’ features and secrets from muscle structure or meridian patterns. But.
‘After a hundred and sixty years, only bones will be left—no research value. Hell, bones would be lucky.’
With a corpse useless for study, there was even less to worry about.
Having calmed the group, Il-mok led them in stealth techniques up Baekhak Mountain.
He thought how his two years rolling in the Demonic Path Academy helped in moments like this.
They followed traces left across Baekhak Mountain for a good while.
Soon, various noises echoed from somewhere, and the group headed toward them.
From a safe distance from the source, Il-mok sent a transmission to the group.
- Halt. We’ll observe the situation first.
A large number of martial artists had split into four factions, locked in a tense standoff.
One group wore green uniforms, another consisted of nuns, and a third donned Taoist robes.
The last group was a motley crew without unified attire.
‘In order: Tang Clan, Ami Sect, Qingcheng. And the last is the rest allied together?’
Il-mok swept his gaze over them and glanced farther ahead.
There was the cave entrance.
It looked like someone had entered and a fight broke out—dark red bloodstains splattered everywhere at the mouth of the cave.