Chapter 355
Chapter 355
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 355
>Chapter Title: Preparation (5)
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“Judging by Cheok Pae-myeong’s attitude, that guy has already branded us as enemies. He’ll probably scramble to find some pretext no matter what.”
“Then, the north will be the most dangerous.”
Il-mok nodded at Jin Ha-yeon’s response.
“If they monitor our caravan’s movements, there’s definitely a risk of getting exposed.”
The route the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult used to travel between the Central Plains and the Western Regions was the Tianshan South Road—the desert path crossing Xinjiang.
It was simply a slightly detour route that skirted the Northern Grasslands just enough to cross the Tianshan Mountains, all to fool the Central Plains factions.
If those guys sent spies as far as that northern grassland region, they’d inevitably notice the Maitreya Divine Cult’s caravan crossing into Xinjiang.
“So, first, we need to tighten surveillance on the caravan. Spies might infiltrate it, or there could be ones tailing it while staying hidden.”
“I’ll instruct them to be vigilant. Then, what if they slip into the north without following the caravan—how should we handle that?”
“We’ve already made preparations for that, so no need to worry too much.”
Jin Ha-yeon nodded at Il-mok’s answer, and Jeong-hyeon, who had been listening in, cautiously spoke up.
Even if he still stuttered and couldn’t meet eyes, Jeong-hyeon could now join conversations without much difficulty.
“I-is it because the no-northern nomads have become the M-Maitreya Divine Cult’s be-believers?”
“That’s right. To explain in detail, the northern nomads live in tribe units with vast spaces between settlements. An outsider showing up there can’t help but stand out.”
“Ah… Since the nomads are be-believers, if a suspicious outsider ap-appears, word will quickly reach us, right?”
Il-mok nodded with an expression that said she’d hit the nail on the head, and Jeong-hyeon cautiously asked again.
“Wh-what’s the plan if suspicious people show up?”
At that question, Il-mok answered with a cold expression.
“The north is a barren place, isn’t it? With vast wastelands between nomad settlements, even if they get killed by bandits there, it wouldn’t be anything unusual.”
It was code for disguising the spies’ deaths as bandit work and wiping them all out.
“Young Master, if I may speak boldly, won’t the Divine Cult lack manpower to monitor and eliminate spies in the north?”
Il-mok replied to Jin Ha-yeon’s question.
“No need to worry about that. There are already people operating in the north. We can just leave it to them.”
It was Il-mok who had already written in the letter to Wi Jin-hak, asking them to handle this task.
Remembering that for a moment, Il-mok chuckled.
‘Senior Brother’s really gotten the hang of handling people. Assigning that mad old coot to a job like this.’
At Il-mok’s smile, Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a posed a question.
“Did something good come to mind?”
“Haha. Just thinking about the guy perfect for playing the bandit role. How should I put it—he’s just so suited for banditry.”
* * *
Just as Il-mok was stepping out of the Xinjiang headquarters, and Wi Jin-hak was appointing Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang as the Demonic Horse Pavilion Leader.
There were people crossing the northern foothills of the Heavenly Myriad Mountains and entering the northern grassland region.
They wore black martial uniforms, and some among them donned the masks of the Angry Four Heavenly Kings.
Among those not wearing the Four Heavenly Kings masks, some had the look of Central Plains folk, while others resembled northern nomads in build and features.
The former were Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors, the latter former slaves.
They had been captured by Huihui Cultists, sold into slavery, rescued by Il-mok, and somehow ended up as Divine Cult followers.
Among the nomads who had been receiving indoctrination at the missionary camps, the ones with the deepest faith had been selected and sent here.
The group of about fifty left the northern Heavenly Myriad Mountains and headed for the nearest nomad settlement.
That place had originally been territory ruled by the Oirat tribe.
But after Oirat’s chieftain and Batur, Tara Gai, lost his life to Hyeok-ryeon Il-hwi, the northern Heavenly Myriad Mountains nomads had splintered into factions, repeatedly merging and splitting.
And the spot the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors were heading to now was one of the tribes that had survived that chaos.
As they approached the nomad village, the villagers hurriedly mobilized.
Children and women hid in tents, while the young men grabbed spears or curved swords, mounted horses, and began nocking arrows one by one.
The men from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult halted at a distance just ambiguous enough to be out of arrow range.
The masked man at their center stepped forward and bellowed.
“The mightiest warrior, come forward! Test your mettle against me!!”
Even from dozens of zhang away, his shout rang out as vividly as if screamed right next to them.
It was laced with tremendous inner power.
He was none other than Dokgo Ryong, the head of the Dokgo Clan.
When Wi Jin-hak assigned Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang the Demonic Horse Pavilion Leader position, he had said there was a separate task for Dokgo Ryong.
And now, Dokgo Ryong was setting out to carry out that very task.
Namely, to convert the northern Heavenly Myriad Mountains nomads under the name of the Maitreya Divine Cult.
It was to absorb their strength by bringing them in, and if they became Maitreya Divine Cult believers, it would make fooling the Central Plains even easier.
The simple reason Wi Jin-hak entrusted this vital mission to Dokgo Ryong was that, unlike the nomads near the Central Plains, those settled in the northern Heavenly Myriad Mountains were all fiercely warlike.
Just like the old Oirat tribe.
Thus, Dokgo Ryong—perfectly suited as a shock trooper—was to subdue the tribes by force, then civilize them through the Maitreya Divine Cult’s compassion and teachings.
Perhaps because they were indeed warlike nomads, they only showed startled reactions to Dokgo Ryong’s shout—no one stepped forward.
They just kept arrows trained on them, exuding an air ready to erupt into battle at any moment.
“Do you all want to die together!!”
When a second shout laced with inner power drew no response, and furious Dokgo Ryong was about to order a charge—
“Pl-please wait a moment!!”
A nomadic convert traveling with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult desperately shouted in broken Central Plains tongue.
“Th-they don’t know the Central Plains language.”
“Ah….”
Dokgo Ryong let out a dumb exclamation upon realizing his mistake, then burst into hearty laughter.
“Kwahahaha! Then you translate for me!”
The nomadic convert stepped forward with a reluctant expression.
After the nomadic convert translated Dokgo Ryong’s words, the men in the village murmured, and soon a middle-aged man mounted a horse and came forward.
“Kwahahahaha!”
Dokgo Ryong laughed uproariously in satisfaction and charged straight at the middle-aged man.
“Come on, satisfy me once!!”
Dokgo Ryong unleashed a ferocious, attack-only sword art, and the nomadic man, unable to withstand the brutal power in his massive sword swings, fell from his horse after just three exchanges.
The man had anticipated his defeat from the start. That initial shout alone had made the gap all too clear.
“Urgh. What do you plan to do with us now?”
As the man asked with a face full of unease, the nomadic convert hurriedly translated.
“Kwahahaha! From now on, you’ll follow our Maitreya Divine Cult’s doctrines! Do that, and I’ll teach you our doctrines and script, and bestow daily provisions upon you!”
At those generous terms, the man asked with an anxious look.
“All fancy words. You’re not planning to treat us like slaves, are you?”
He had to say it, even if it meant death—for the sake of his tribe.
Dokgo Ryong replied to his question.
“Are your ears broken? Or your head? When the hell did I ever say anything about slaves?”
With that, Dokgo Ryong glared at the nomadic convert handling translation.
“You’re not translating it weird, are you?”
“W-why would I!”
The startled nomadic convert hurriedly told the nomadic man.
“You won’t be used as slaves!”
“Then, what happens if we don’t obey?”
At the nomadic man’s question, Dokgo Ryong swung his massive sword to point north and west.
“Get lost to the north or west. From now on, this is Maitreya Divine Cult territory!”
If they didn’t follow, they’d just be driven out—no killing.
His tone and voice were terrifying, but the content was utterly merciful.
At those groundbreaking terms, the nomadic man looked at the translator.
“You really translated that right?”
“…Hah. One guy and another.”
Unlike Dokgo Ryong’s suspicion, the nomadic convert sighed and answered.
“If you can’t trust it, just leave with your tribesfolk as the messenger said. But don’t think of resisting. You’ll all get massacred.”
At the threat that wasn’t quite a threat, the man swallowed hard, and the nomadic convert added.
“Since you seem like kin, I’ll say one more thing. These folks aren’t hypocrites who say one thing and do another. So why don’t we follow the… Maitreya Divine Cult too?”
After pondering the nomadic convert’s words, the nomadic man cautiously spoke.
“Can I discuss it with the tribesfolk and decide?”
Dokgo Ryong heartily laughed at the man’s question and replied.
“Do so! If you wanna die, go ahead and resist! Thinking of tasting blood after so long has me itching.”
The translator, after some thought, filtered it appropriately.
“Ahem. He says discuss freely and decide.”
The nomadic man bowed his head and returned to the village.
After half a shichen of discussion, he emerged again.
“We will follow the Maitreya Divine Cult.”
“What a pity. So anticlimactic from the start. I was hoping for a proper fight.”
“He says it’s a truly excellent choice. Just trust and follow us.”
The nomadic convert gladly conveyed something entirely different from Dokgo Ryong’s words.
Under the man’s guidance, the Maitreya Divine Cult warriors entered the village and distributed some of the rice and foodstuffs they’d brought.
On top of that, the nomadic converts freely displayed the skills they’d learned at the missionary camps.
They sang hymns, taught the village nomads Central Plains script or Maitreya Divine Cult doctrines.
And the next day, they left a few nomadic converts and Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors behind, then set out again.
Taking a few warriors from the absorbed village in their stead.
They headed to another new village.
Some villages were absorbed after their strongest warrior fell to Dokgo Ryong, just like before.
Other tribes chose to leave north or west instead of following the Maitreya Divine Cult.
And in yet other tribes—
Slash.
They got cocky for no reason and ended up collectively sliced by Dokgo Ryong’s blade.
After days of such advances, they were short on manpower.
They had to leave a few nomadic converts for missionary work at each village, plus Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors to protect them and monitor the nomads.
But it wasn’t a big problem.
Warriors contributed from the absorbed villages were fighting alongside Dokgo Ryong.
“And as expected of Clan Head Dokgo. I never dreamed you’d pushed this far already.”
Reinforcements arrived right on schedule.
They came bearing extra supplies to stock the absorbed villages.
After they joined Dokgo Ryong—distributing food at the absorbed villages along the way—Dokgo Ryong set out on the expedition again.
“Uhahaha! This time, I hope some decent ones put up a real fight!”
He looked like a lunatic itching for battle rather than someone civilizing with Maitreya Divine Cult doctrines, but Dokgo Ryong faithfully followed the orders of his lord, Wi Jin-hak.
How long had it been since he’d been smashing and absorbing nomad tribes left and right, expanding territory?
Among the new reinforcements, there was a familiar face to Dokgo Ryong.
“Pae-ya! What brings you here!”
It was Dokgo Pae, Dokgo Ryong’s eldest grandson.
“Grandfather! The Cult Leader sent me with orders. He said since you’re handling important work, come assist and learn from you!”
“Uhahaha! The Cult Leader truly has a grand vessel!”
Dokgo Ryong laughed uproariously.
In truth, it was simply Il-mok’s advice: since they were assigning Dokgo Ryong this kind of task anyway, why not send similar sorts along?
He’d considered sending the entire three generations of Dokgos, but couldn’t leave the clan headquarters totally empty, so he’d left only the young clan head—Dokgo Ryong’s eldest son—behind.
“Grandfather, the Cult Leader entrusted me with a letter to deliver to you specifically.”
“A letter from the Cult Leader. Let’s see it.”
When Dokgo Ryong extended his hand, Dokgo Pae boldly pulled the letter from his bosom and handed it over.
After reading the contents, Dokgo Ryong burst into hearty laughter, and Dokgo Pae asked.
“What does it say, Grandfather?”
“The Righteous hypocrites might send spies to this area soon. So, disguise it as bandit work and exterminate them all—that’s the order.”
“Then, we finally get to fight those Righteous hypocrites!?”
Dokgo Pae asked with a face about to die of joy, and Dokgo Ryong nodded vigorously.
“Exactly! Let’s quench our thirst with Righteous blood this time! Kwahahaha!!”
“Got it, Grandfather! Uhahaha!”
The grandfather and grandson faced each other and erupted in mad laughter.
Anyone would take them for bandits or brigands, fierce as they looked.