Does the Heavenly Demon Use Taoist Magic? (9)
“Weren’t you watching my stream from the beginning? Why would you say something like that?”
“Why are there so many people with memory loss around here?”
It took a little over twenty minutes to bring down the Green Forest leader with Taoist magic. There was a limit to the power of the spells I could use, so there was no way to finish it any faster. I could have forced it if I wanted to. I could have created water spheres and hurled them with my hands, claiming it still counted as using magic. But that would have given the viewers an excuse to nitpick. Those damned people would cause an uproar over the smallest thing. To avoid giving them any ammunition, the straightforward approach was best.
With the patience of a gardener pruning branches, I slowly whittled the Green Forest leader down until he was dead, and this chaos erupted. When I checked what had caused the uproar, it turned out to be the betting pool. I had clearly told Harin to bet on how long it would take me to defeat the Green Forest leader, so why were the categories split into one minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, and more than five? I had said from the start that I would defeat him using only Taoist magic. I had even shown them the extent of his regeneration at the beginning. How could anyone have thought I would one-shot him, Harin?
Even stranger was that the viewers hadn’t protested at all. How did I know? Look at the betting ratios. Thirty percent bet on under one minute, forty percent on under two minutes. The percentage betting on more than five minutes was so small it had to be measured in fractions of a percent. With the situation like this, it was no surprise the chat had descended into madness.
“Why is that idiot Harin spamming the chat?”
The absurdity of it made me speak without thinking. Had she placed a bet and then invested in it, only to lose? If she was going to do that, she should have at least asked me for advice, you fool.
Anyway, looking at the chat consumed by madness, I could tell that any attempt at communication would be impossible for a while. The viewers would calm down on their own as the game progressed, so I decided to let them enjoy themselves until then.
Baru, who had been examining the corpse sprawled on the ground after it could no longer regenerate, extended her energy to inspect the body.
“Do you understand what kind of spell it was?”
“Broadly speaking, it’s no different from what was used last time, but it’s become more refined.”
“Is that so?”
Judging by Baru’s serious expression, the degree of growth was not insignificant. Perhaps the Blood Cult would expand its influence faster than I remembered. If I met Baek Hwaryeong later, I would have to ask her about the Blood Cult.
Having finished her inspection, Baru rose and struck the ground with her staff. The Green Forest leader’s corpse scattered across the floor. The Blood Cult’s magic had vanished, returning the body to where it belonged. Then Baru moved her staff again, and dark clouds gathered in the sky as rain began to fall. As the steady droplets fell from above, the burning flames gradually bowed their heads, leaving only embers behind.
Hmm. It seems it will take me a long time to catch up to Baru with Taoist magic.
“The work is done. Let’s head back.”
“Alright.”
“And Min-ga. I’ll teach you the basics of the various spells you need to memorize next.”
“...Do I really have to memorize them?”
“I don’t understand why you’re asking something so obvious.”
It felt like the things I had to study were steadily increasing.
Yang Han-mun sighed as he looked over the documents regarding the Green Forest, which was growing in power. It was truly a troublesome matter. The bandits had blocked the roads leading to Hwaeum and were causing chaos.
Yang Han-mun had not simply left the Green Forest bandits unchecked. As a capable magistrate, he had made efforts from the beginning to expel them. But all of it had been in vain. The problem was that the Green Forest group was unnaturally strong. Neither the government troops nor the wanderers and outsiders had been able to deal with them. With each failure, the Green Forest’s momentum grew, and the sighs of Hwaeum’s residents deepened.
If the old Mount Hua Sect had not fallen, would things have been different? Yang Han-mun, who had maintained stability through cooperation with Mount Hua in the past, considered this before recalling why the sect had fallen and shook his head. They had deserved their destruction. Clinging to them would serve no purpose.
It was better to think about how to resolve this rather than waste time on useless thoughts. As Yang Han-mun looked down at the papers, he heard a knock at the door. He set down his brush and called for them to enter.
“What is it?”
“The current Mount Hua Sect Leader has come to visit.”
Why would someone who had established their own sect and never left it come here? As Yang Han-mun wondered this, his subordinate continued.
“She says she has come to discuss matters regarding the Green Forest near Hwaeum.”
“Has she come to help?”
The current Mount Hua Sect Leader was undoubtedly strong—strong enough that it would be difficult to find an equal in the current murim. She could probably handle the Green Forest group without much trouble. But the problem was her affiliations. If he sought help from someone the Murim Alliance considered their greatest enemy, the immediate problem might be solved, but he would earn the Murim Alliance’s displeasure. No matter how much glory it had lost, the Murim Alliance was still the Murim Alliance. For Yang Han-mun, who could not easily seek help from the unorthodox factions, it was an unavoidable partner.
The Mount Hua Sect Leader’s hand was as tempting as sweet rain, but he had no choice but to refuse with a heavy heart...
“No. She says she has already dealt with it.”
“What?”
“She says she has wiped out the Green Forest group.”
...Huh? Already?!
“It seems my reputation is worse than I thought.”
After explaining the situation to Hwaeum’s magistrate and offering to help if similar incidents occurred, the magistrate had replied that it would be difficult. Cooperating with me, the Murim Alliance’s greatest enemy, could put Hwaeum itself in danger.
“It couldn’t be helped.”
Think about it. Had I ever done anything with the intention of causing trouble? The conflict with the Murim Alliance had been started by them first. The matter with Baek Hwaryeong had also begun because that girl showed interest first.
“And I don’t know what you all think, but I acted quite leniently by my standards.”
In the end, I had resolved both situations without spilling a single drop of blood. If I had been in a sharper mood, I would have painted my clothes with the color of blood.
Those who didn’t know my past self seemed unable to understand what I was saying. There was no need to make them understand anyway. What would be the point of forcing them to comprehend?
Well, regardless. The one fortunate thing was that the Hwaeum magistrate had said he would request my help through unofficial channels if anything happened. After all, Hwaeum was where the stone mountain Baru protected was located. If trouble arose there, it would cause me considerable inconvenience as well, so it was better to establish a cooperative system.
After finishing my meeting with the Hwaeum magistrate, I headed to the Beggars’ Inn to report the completion of the request. It was troublesome, but if I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t be able to clear the tutorial. Once this was over, I could receive Taoist magic lessons from Baru and then end the stream. With that thought, I opened the door, and the innkeeper’s eyes met mine. The moment she saw my face, she pressed her forehead to the floor.
“I’m sorry! Mount Hua Sect Leader! I still haven’t prepared a reward that would satisfy you! Please forgive me!”
““Please forgive me!””
Watching everyone in the inn bow their heads in unison, I couldn’t help but clutch my forehead. It was a familiar sight. Even their trembling in fear and begging for mercy when I showed signs of a headache was familiar. I couldn’t understand what I had done to deserve this. When had I ever harmed any of them? I had never threatened anyone in this inn, so why was I being treated as an object of terror?
“What wrong have I committed here?!”
This was unfair! I could understand being treated this way in the murim where I originally lived, but not here! Why did I have to reign as an object of terror even in this place? I had never wanted this treatment, so why?!
“Hey.”
After today’s stream ended, I once again stepped through the air. The small country called the Republic of Korea was only minutes away from anywhere, so I could go anywhere as if taking a stroll.
“I’m sorry, but—”
The reason I had returned to this remote island after leaving yesterday without doing anything—because it had seemed too much to handle—was simple. Think about it. I could use the Taoist magic that created water spheres. It wouldn’t cause storms or set the world ablaze. It simply created water. If I used it over the sea, there might be a small disturbance, but no great disaster would occur. So there shouldn’t be any problem.
“Could you please listen to me?!”
“Shut up, snake-head. Can’t you see I’m concentrating?”
This was a critical moment to check whether there was a barrier or not. Why did he have to butt in and cause trouble?
“It’s too dangerous! What if the island sinks because of this?!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll pull it back up.”
“The creatures living here might die!”
“That’s not my concern.”
“And, so...”
I understood why he was struggling so desperately. But it was annoying. I directed the energy under my control toward the dragon and glared at him.
“Snake-head. Which is more important—the island or your life?”
“...”
“Don’t think my mercy will last forever.”
The dragon swallowed at my warning and soon closed his mouth obediently. However, he didn’t leave. Seeing that he stayed even while knowing he could be in danger showed he had some sense of responsibility as a guardian.
Well, if he wasn’t going to interfere, it wasn’t my business what choice he made. I exhaled and gathered the surging energy around me at my fingertips.
“I’m starting.”
Now then, barrier. Show yourself.