Chapter 1
Chapter 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: A Taoist in the Demonic Cult
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Crash! Boom!
One stormy night, as thunder crashed and rain lashed down.
The room was incredibly small, barely large enough for one person to sit comfortably.
It wasn't just small; its simplicity revealed the owner's character.
A small writing desk, a bookshelf, and a single orchid pot exuding a noble grace.
The strangest thing, however, was the yellow talismans plastered all over the walls, each inscribed with the words, “Quickly, as if by law or decree.”
At a glance, one might mistake it for the room of a Taoist adept who practiced sorcery.
“O, Lord of Thunder, by the mighty voice of the Mother of Lightning, I pray you purge all illness from this body, and from all people. Make me a general of the Five Elements, a soldier of the Six Jia, that I may vanquish all evil energies and countless ghosts. Quickly, as if by law or decree.”
In the center of the room sat a young man of about twenty, eyes closed in reverence as he chanted the incantation.
He wore a loose-sleeved Taoist robe, his hair neatly arranged under a jade crown decorated with a vine pattern, giving him an overall tidy appearance.
Beyond his handsome looks, he possessed a strange, captivating charm. His name was Neung Un-bi.
“...Quickly, as if by law or decree.”
As Neung Un-bi continued to chant with his eyes closed, a polite voice reached his ears.
“Young Master.”
“...”
“Young Master!”
The calls were repeated several times, showing no sign of stopping until he answered.
Finally, Neung Un-bi broke off his ritual, rose with a deep sigh, and opened the door.
“Tsk, tsk, how could you be so rash? Did I not tell you I was in the middle of an important ritual?”
As he scolded in a voice feigning authority, the man standing outside the door furrowed his brow in disbelief.
“Ritual? What ritual...? And what’s with the sudden change in your speech? Are you trying to worry me? Just speak to me casually like you always do.”
“Ahem, Wang Cheon. I may have agreed to treat you as an equal, but your tone and expression are quite defiant.”
“Defiant? You’re just mimicking things without knowing what’s truly important.”
“Ahem!”
“Enough. I’ve been ordered to bring you over immediately.”
“By whom?”
“Who do you think? The only person who can summon the esteemed Third Young Master.”
True, there was only one such person.
“But at this late hour?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“How should I know?”
“You irresponsible man. You should have asked for the reason.”
“Me? How could I?”
“Right...”
Neung Un-bi nodded at Wang Cheon’s retort.
He had a good idea who had summoned him.
“Still, to be called at this hour... Hmm, did someone snitch on me again?”
“Snitch? Who needs to? This isn’t the first or second time you’ve done something like this, Young Master... The rumors are already widespread.”
“There are rumors? Good heavens... Amitabha...”
“Amitabha, my foot. Why do you keep acting like this? It’s not like you ever intended to deceive him in the first place.”
Judging by the sheer annoyance on Wang Cheon’s face, he had a lot of pent-up frustration.
“Ahem! Wang Cheon, what a hurtful thing to say. I’ve been so careful, in my own way.”
“Careful? You’re well past the age of learning to speak, but it seems you don’t quite grasp the meaning of the word. You always do things so openly, and I’m always the one left to clean up the mess.”
“No need to get so worked up.”
“I’ve reached my limit. I can’t cover for you this time, so you’re on your own, Young Master.”
At Wang Cheon’s words, Neung Un-bi said with a slightly flustered expression,
“My good man! Are you planning to abandon a comrade who has shared life and death with you?”
“Comrade, my ass. Who’s the one always causing trouble, and who’s the one who gets cursed out for it?”
“I’ve already been summoned by the Great Protector and got an earful.”
“Ah! And here I thought you were just tired... so those dark circles under your eyes were bruises?”
“It’s a mix! A mix!”
“You suffer a great deal because of me. Hahaha.”
Neung Un-bi comforted the fuming Wang Cheon with a look of pity.
“In any case, let’s go. It wouldn’t be right not to pay a visit when he has summoned me after so long.”
“Yes. Of course, you should... Huh? Wait a minute. Surely you’re not planning to go like that?”
“Hmm? Is something wrong?”
“Of course there is! That outfit alone is an act of disloyalty!”
“Ahem, my good man, judging a person by their outward appearance... Let’s hurry.”
“Huh? H-Hey!”
As Neung Un-bi strode ahead, his robes fluttering, Wang Cheon followed with a crumpled expression, as if to say, ‘to hell with it all.’
“Hah, damn it. I don’t even know anymore.”
Leaving the secluded thatched hut on the mountainside, it wasn't long before they arrived at the gate of a massive fortress.
What was peculiar was the demon statue carved next to the gate. It was so lifelike it seemed ready to leap out at any moment, making the gate look like the maw of hell.
“Hup!”
Upon Neung Un-bi’s arrival, the black-robed warriors guarding the gate gasped in surprise, then quickly bowed their heads, realizing their impoliteness.
“We greet the Third Young Master.”
“It’s been a while. May I enter?”
“Of course! We will open the gate!”
Wang Cheon shook his head at the sight of the warriors stepping back with flustered expressions.
Why did he even bother to ask?
As if there was anywhere within the fortress he couldn’t go.
Creeaak.
At the warrior’s signal, the fortress gates swung open, revealing the scene inside.
A massive main road.
A road wide enough for three or four carriages to pass side-by-side pierced the heart of the fortress, flanked by enormous training grounds on either side.
“Hmph, it’s been a while, but nothing has changed.”
As Neung Un-bi stepped onto the main road with a warm smile, the reactions of the passersby were all the same.
A gasp of ‘Hup’ or ‘Ah,’ followed by shock, and then they would respectfully prostrate themselves on the ground.
And they would not rise until he was completely out of sight.
As if quite accustomed to such scenes, Neung Un-bi trudged on, soon arriving at a seven-story pavilion at the end of the road.
“Hah!”
“Gasp!”
As expected...
The more the elderly middle-aged men, who were just stepping out of the pavilion chatting, looked breathtakingly stunned by Neung Un-bi’s appearance, the gloomier Wang Cheon’s expression became.
“Ah, n-no, Third Young Master. That attire is...”
“Ah, Elders. I acquired this just recently. What do you think? Don’t I look ready to ascend to immortality at any moment?”
“...Y-Yes, you do.”
As Neung Un-bi addressed both elders with a bright smile, the men called elders replied with contorted expressions.
He really did look like he was about to ascend.
If he met the master of the pavilion like that, he would probably be forcibly made to ascend, and then some.
The funny thing was that the so-called elders weren't glaring at the robed Neung Un-bi, but at Wang Cheon, who was trailing behind him, their eyes filled with killing intent.
“Ah, well... you see...”
But what would change by making excuses? No matter what he said, he would be the one to get cursed out.
Wang Cheon couldn’t say a word and followed Neung Un-bi with slumped shoulders.
* * *
Ignoring the consistent reactions, he climbed the stairs to the top floor of the pavilion.
There was only one room there.
A space prepared for just one person—the one permitted to look down upon the entire vast fortress at a single glance.
Neung Un-bi approached the master of the room, who sat in a tiger-skin-draped grand chair by a window where warm sunlight streamed in, knelt, and bowed.
“Your third, Un-bi, greets you, Master.”
“...”
The middle-aged man, who had been leaning back in the grand chair, turned his head slightly, his expression hardening like stone as he looked at Neung Un-bi.
After a long moment, he spoke.
“Ahem, my third.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You’re wearing a strange outfit.”
“I acquired it recently.”
“Oh, is thaaat so?”
As Neung Un-bi looked up and answered with a bright smile, a deep furrow formed between the middle-aged man’s brows.
“It’s quite comfortable.”
“Yes, so it seems.”
“...”
“By the way, I heard that while I was away, you went out to recuperate and ended up helping flood victims?”
“Yes. It was nothing.”
“I seeee. Well done.”
“Yes. While I was at it, I had Wang Cheon capture a Demonic practitioner who was drinking and causing a ruckus nearby, and I guided him onto the right path. Hahahaha!”
“Oh! You did?”
At the middle-aged man’s exclamation, Neung Un-bi puffed out his chest with a proud expression.
“He was tormenting the common folk with such heinous acts, so I tore off one of his arms to teach him to reflect on his actions.”
“Hmph. Yes, well done. Very weell done indeed.”
A second wrinkle formed between the middle-aged man’s brows.
“But tell me, my third.”
“Please speak.”
“That’s all well and good... but are you aware of your own identity?”
“Me?”
In response to Neung Un-bi’s question, the middle-aged man, who was forcing a smile, nodded as another furrow creased his brow.
“Oh, Master, am I not your third disciple, whom you cherish and love?”
At the bright expression, as if he’d given the correct answer, the middle-aged man’s smile vanished, replaced by explosive fury as he roared.
“Yes, indeeed! You know perfectly well! You know all too well, you brat!”
“And knowing that, you do something like that?! What? Going all the way to the outskirts of Qinghai to help flood victims? A plaque of appreciation? And if you find some demonic fool causing a scene among the commoners, you should just talk some sense into him and send him on his way, not beat him like a dog and tear his arm off! You crazy bastard!”
His master, the Heavenly Demon Emperor Dam Un-cheon, forgot all his dignity and shot up from his grand chair, screaming at the top of his lungs.
“And you dare to come see your master dressed like that? In the robes of a Taoist, the sworn enemies of our Cult? I spoiled this brat rotten! You’re dragging your master’s face through the mud! Through the mud!”
“Please calm yourself, Master. Your disciple worries you might collapse again from high blood pressure.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit! You crazy son of a bitch! Do you know what the elders are saying? Huh?”
“Master, how can you be swayed by the words of such vulgar men? Pay them no mind. Your disciple is fine.”
“You crazy bastard! Who’s worried about you! You are now... Aaargh...”
Because Neung Un-bi wouldn’t back down one bit, Dam Un-cheon ended up clutching the back of his neck.
“Master!”
“Stay away from me. I don’t even want the hem of that robe to touch me, you brat!”
“...”
Dam Un-cheon held out a hand to stop Neung Un-bi, then took a deep breath as if to calm himself.
“Hooo...”
Soon, Dam Un-cheon collapsed back into his grand chair, and the medical maids who had been on standby rushed over to massage the back of his neck and check his pulse.
Hah, what sins did I commit in my past life for this disciple of mine to suddenly start acting like such a lunatic?
Wasn’t this the same brat who once held grand ambitions of conquering the Murim and making it kneel, of washing the world in blood?
Moreover, Neung Un-bi was a prodigy who lacked nothing, be it his bone structure, talent, or achievements.
Should I say I had secretly marked him as the successor who would carry on my will?
But one year ago, it must have been around then.
This talent-filled brat suddenly fell into Qi Deviation.
The Cult’s physicians nursed him day and night for several days, and only after feeding him a Demonic Spirit Divine Pill, one of the Cult’s treasures, were they barely able to save him.
I heard that as soon as he woke up, he began acting like a different person, spouting nonsensical gibberish and attempting to escape in secret, among other eccentricities.
I figured it was due to the shock of having died and come back to life.
But from that point on, this crazy bastard completely changed.
He suddenly abandoned the residence I had prepared for him at great expense, built a hut outside the fortress, and became a recluse.
Everyone said he had become a cripple and should be cast out.
But while others might have been fooled, he couldn’t deceive my eyes. Forgetting my own dignity, I even went to check on him secretly out of concern.
If the disciple who had become a cripple hadn't been Neung Un-bi, I never would have resorted to such rat-like behavior.
In any case, when I observed the boy, I saw he was gradually regaining his strength.
His body had been ruined by the Qi Deviation, so at first, he seemed to struggle with practicing demonic arts, but he was recovering as time went on.
Just recently, hadn't he been emitting a pure demonic energy, like a heat haze, during his meditation?
But despite that, he didn’t stop acting like a cripple.
I understood.
The sky of the Demonic Path.
To claim that supreme position, one must endure the secret struggles against competitors.
So, he must have thought it was much safer to hide himself now that he was weakened by Qi Deviation.
Hadn’t he been kept in check for a long time because his talents were so extraordinary?
So I believed it was a decision made to protect himself until he became so strong that no one could touch him.
So I even issued a direct order as the Cult Leader.
No one was to approach his residence without permission, and whatever Neung Un-bi did was to be kept strictly confidential. I declared that I would rip the mouth off anyone who dared to speak carelessly about him.
So, what if he went out for some fresh air to recuperate and helped with a flood? Or his 'praiseworthy' act of beating a stranger from our path to a pulp?
I can understand all of it.
What’s the big deal?
Any idle chatter could be easily squashed with the authority of the Cult Leader.
But...
This goddamn bastard!
What did he say? A Taoist? A Taoist?!
Where in the world could you find such eccentricity?
Even with my orders in place, there was no way his rivals would just stand by and watch.
Furthermore, the Elder Council, likely at their instigation, was already requesting a private audience, making my head throb.
“Ugh, my head.”
As Dam Un-cheon clutched his head with a pained expression, Neung Un-bi approached with a worried look and asked,
“Hmm, Master? Do you have a headache?”
“...”
I have a very bad feeling about this.
What is this brat planning to do now?
“Hmm, how can your disciple stand by and watch you suffer, Master.”
“...?”
“A method I learned recently should be quite effective.”
“...!”
Spreading his hands wide and closing his eyes towards me... D-Don't tell me, this brat?
“O, Lord of Thunder...”
“Get out!”
“Quickly...”
“You crazy bastard!”
In the end, Dam Un-cheon’s suppressed anger finally exploded.