Chapter 341
Chapter 341
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 341
>Chapter Title: Righteousness (3)
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A few days after settling down in Guangyuan County.
Il-mok was receiving regular reports through the local branch leader.
"Those bastards keep poking around the branches."
"Yes. They haven't directly harmed anyone, but they're going around seeking out the common folk, surveilling them, and watching our every move."
At the branch leader's explanation, Il-mok nearly let out a hollow laugh.
The sight of them flailing desperately to find some speck of dust to shake off was utterly ridiculous.
'Feels like getting audited by the tax authorities after catching the eye of some high-ranking official.'
Retaliatory tax investigation. Something you'd only hear about in movies, dramas, or the news—and now it was happening to him firsthand.
"Anyone would think they were imperial auditors or the Brocade Guard from the palace, the way they're digging in. What gives them the right?"
Il-mok clicked his tongue in disdain, and those nearby nodded in agreement.
Seeing their relaxed demeanor, Hwang Bo-yeon, who was with them, asked Il-mok with a face full of worry.
"Hero. As the saying goes, 'blowing on fur to find flaws'—if they keep forcing it, they might eventually dig up some pretext."
"Hahaha. Well said, Lady Kwon. Just as you say, they'll force out some pretext no matter what."
But then why was he so calm? She stared at him questioningly.
Il-mok continued nonchalantly toward her.
"Think of it the other way. Even if I or our Maitreya Divine Cult make a move, they'll still scrape together some forced pretext. Because they've already decided to drive us out."
"...Then why did you send them away that day without doing anything?"
"Lady Kwon. Because of you."
"Surely you don't mean you turned a blind eye to their behavior just because I was there?"
Il-mok shook his head at Hwang Bo-yeon's question.
"It was so you could see and hear for yourself and judge. See just how unreasonable they are, then compare whose faults are greater—ours or theirs. You didn't strike me as the narrow-minded type who'd side with them just because they're from the same Martial Alliance."
At Il-mok's words, Hwang Bo-yeon belatedly realized something and looked shocked.
'...So that's why he didn't bother kicking me out.'
No matter that she'd come for the alliance between the Hwang Bo Clan and the Maitreya Divine Cult, the Incarnation of Maitreya was treating her like one of their own.
Even now, as he received reports from his subordinates—despite the risk of exposing the cult's flaws—he hadn't stopped her from being there.
Now she saw it: this was all to show her the Maitreya Divine Cult's innocence.
'...That means he was that confident. What a magnanimous man.'
Perhaps that's why the Maitreya Divine Cult had grown so quickly under his leadership, saving the common folk along the way.
She felt anew a sense of awe.
'How can one man be so multifaceted?'
Not content with raising a faction to such heights in so short a time, he had the administrative skill and boldness to intimidate and rescue the commoners. And on top of that.
'To reach such a realm at just thirty-nine.'
To her, still at the entry of the transcendent realm, the Incarnation of Maitreya seemed at least at the peak of transcendent—or perhaps even in the profound realm.
The reason she gauged his level at the peak of transcendent was purely his age.
Among the current absolute experts of the Central Plains, none in the profound realm had reached it before forty.
She couldn't even imagine that the Incarnation of Maitreya wasn't just thirty-nine, but younger than her.
'A slight age gap is a shame, but a man like this would be more than enough even if Se-hee married him.'
Unbeknownst to herself, Hwang Bo-yeon was picturing her sister wed to the Incarnation of Maitreya.
Il-mok, the very subject, had no thought of marriage at all—and she had no clue.
* * *
The next day, around noon. Guests arrived at the Guangyuan County branch.
"Incarnation. The nuns from Emei and the Taoists from Qingcheng have returned."
At the branch leader's report, Il-mok rose from his leisurely sunbathing.
"Let's see what forced pretext they've brought this time."
At Il-mok's bold words, those nearby chuckled softly and followed him.
This time, even Hwang Bo-yeon unwittingly wore a faint smile.
As they stepped out to the branch entrance, an elderly nun stepped forward from the circle of nuns and Taoists surrounding it.
It was Extermination Nun.
"You strut around so boldly, yet behind the scenes, you've been up to the most vile deeds."
Il-mok couldn't help but snort a laugh at her sneering tone.
"Tell me, then—what are these vile deeds?"
At Il-mok's confident retort, Extermination Nun snorted and turned to look behind her.
The nuns parted, making way, and a young man scurried forward.
Il-mok didn't recognize him.
The man crept forward timidly, glancing around, until he reached Extermination Nun's side.
"Don't worry. We stake the name of the great Emei Sect on protecting you, benefactor. Just tell us what you've seen and heard. Amitabha."
At Extermination Nun's feigned benevolence, the man cautiously spoke.
"I-I'm originally from Wangchang County. There used to be a righteous sect called the Eight Virtues Sect, but then this Maitreya Divine Cult appeared and drove them out."
No sooner had he finished than the branch leader's transmission sound pierced Il-mok's ear.
—It's true there was a sect called Eight Virtues in Wangchang County, but they only pretended to be righteous on the surface. They terrorized and tormented the common folk.
From the branch leader's explanation, Il-mok grasped the situation.
'Playing it like this, are they?'
Meanwhile, the man eagerly spun tales of the Maitreya Divine Cult's nonexistent evils.
"Wangchang County was peaceful under the Eight Virtues Sect, but now it's gone! The Maitreya Divine Cult that drove them out just seizes tribute from the commoners by force, and they even secretly kidnap women and sell them without shame!"
Listening further seemed pointless, so Il-mok stepped in.
"So, you're saying you're from Wangchang County?"
At Il-mok's question, the chattering man flinched and hid behind Extermination Nun before answering.
"Y-Yes."
"Are you trying to intimidate the witness right now?"
Il-mok shrugged at Extermination Nun's aggressive question.
"We'll know if he's a witness or a fraud once we check."
"Check? Where?"
"Where else? He says he's from Wangchang County, so we go there and find out."
Wangchang County was at most an hour's ride away.
At Il-mok's words, Extermination Nun scolded loudly.
"You vile scum have obviously sealed the residents' mouths! How dare you try your tricks!"
"We sealed mouths? Hilarious. Looks like our Maitreya Divine Cult's name has become scarier than Emei or Qingcheng."
"You bastard! How dare you insult the great Emei Sect!!"
As Extermination Nun bellowed in a fit and a Qingcheng Taoist stepped forward.
Through his mask, Il-mok's lips curled into an open sneer.
"Otherwise, how could he not speak the truth even in front of Emei's nuns and Qingcheng's Taoists?"
At Il-mok's point, the nuns and Taoists all flinched momentarily.
Getting angry here would amount to admitting Emei and Qingcheng were inferior to the Maitreya Divine Cult.
As they hesitated, Il-mok turned to Hwang Bo-yeon.
"Plus, we have an impartial witness here to judge fairly—what's there to fear? If you're so confident, come with us to Wangchang County."
Realizing refusal now would question Lady Kwon's fairness, Extermination Nun scowled and replied.
"Fine. We'll go to Wangchang County. Let's see if you can keep flapping that wicked tongue there."
Sneering, Extermination Nun kept the so-called witness at her side and headed to the nuns.
Since it was just an hour's ride, Il-mok and his group, along with the nuns and Taoists, used lightness skills to head to Wangchang County.
Midway through their flight, Qingmu Zhenren sent a transmission to Extermination Nun.
—What plan do you have for Wangchang County?
—What plan? We just need to drive them out—that's all. That wicked bastard's riding the Hwang Bo Clan's back to rampage, but do you intend to let him run wild in Sichuan?
—But the man's you brought isn't telling the truth.
—Qingmu Zhenren. What exactly are you playing at? Do you even want to drive them out?
As Qingmu fell silent with a complicated expression, Extermination Nun glared and transmitted.
—If you're going to be like this, go back to Qingcheng and send someone else—or just shut up and follow.
At Extermination Nun's warning, Qingmu squeezed his eyes shut and muttered a Taoist invocation inwardly.
'Infinite Blessings.'
Qingcheng Sect bore countless scars from the war with the Blood Cult. Naturally, within Qingcheng, they yearned to reclaim past glory—and Qingmu Zhenren was no exception.
It was just...
'I never wanted it this way...'
Only the method was the problem.
'Better to fight the Blood Cult scum outright.'
They'd fallen into that Blood Cult trap, leading to the horrific fratricide where promising Qingcheng disciples slaughtered each other.
When he'd gone mad with vengeance, butchering Blood Cult bastards for that day's revenge, there'd been no such agonizing dilemmas.
Because enemy and ally, black and white, had been clear-cut.
But not now.
Opposing this method would split Qingcheng into factions.
Fearing the mingling of enemy-ally and black-white—fearing another day of slaughter among Qingcheng brothers—Qingmu couldn't voice opposition.
* * *
After an hour of lightness skills, they arrived at Wangchang County.
Upon arrival, Il-mok had his people gather the county's residents.
"We've called you all because this man has something to say!"
Il-mok pointed at the self-proclaimed witness—the fraud—and shouted before the crowd.
"The Maitreya Divine Cult, along with Sichuan's famed Emei and Qingcheng, are here—so speak freely, tell us his story, and state the facts. We'd be grateful!"
As soon as Il-mok finished, the residents' eyes turned to the man en masse.
For some reason, unlike in Guangyuan County, the man hung his head low, glancing nervously as he spoke.
"Or-originally, in this Wangchang County, there was a ri-righteous sect called the Eight Virtues Sect."
As his tale continued, hollow laughs and curses erupted from the crowd.
"What the hell is that lunatic babbling?"
"Eight Virtues Sect was righteous? Ha! All fancy words—those bastards came every day squeezing us for money, righteous my ass."
Then, a middle-aged man pointed at him in shock and yelled.
"Wait, that guy's one of them! From the Eight Virtues Sect! My side still aches where he beat me!!"
At his shout, other residents recognized the man and began clamoring noisily.
The man, who'd been droning on about the Maitreya Divine Cult's evils in a mumble, went pale and desperately looked to Extermination Nun.
"Hah!!"
Extermination Nun roared a lion's roar and blasted her energy at the residents.
"You wretches! You've clearly been possessed by demons!! How can you turn your backs on those who cared for you and bow to threats from such demonic outsiders!!"
She bellowed with full inner power for a moment.
"Today, I shall utterly exterminate these demonic outsiders and purge the demons from your minds..."
Mid-roar, Extermination Nun belatedly sensed something off.
The beings who'd initially flinched and trembled at her shout now reacted strangely.
They quickly regained calm faces and, for some reason, gazed gratefully somewhere with moved expressions.
Following their gazes, Extermination Nun turned—and saw the masked man.
"Now, how dare you."
The masked man approached her, radiating immense energy.
"In my presence."
When he reached her nose.
Thud.
"Intimidate my followers."
Unable to withstand the energy, Extermination Nun was already on both knees.