I Don't Tell Lies

Learning how to break the seal had been no small achievement for Sun Wukong. There was no need to kill them for nothing now. It was a pity that Baek-an-magun — a man who had clearly held a rather high ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rank — had lost even his reason in the process, but Wukong didn't particularly care.

I'll just catch another one like him.

They had already shown their faces once. A demon that had bared its true nature could never truly hide. Even if instinct drove them to vanish in the face of danger, they would always seize the next chance to sink those hideous fangs in again. Catching another one would be enough.

Sun Wukong never clung to what had already slipped through his fingers, and he never let greed get the better of him. But whatever landed in his palm, he gripped without mercy.

"Been keeping well, have you?"

"...Thanks to you."

"Good, good. Eat plenty. Sleep well. That's how a person lives a long life."

"Are you saying you intend to keep us alive that long?"

The voice was venomous. The look that surfaced on her face was born of raw anxiety.

Sun Wukong regarded the Shandong Seven Shadows, huddled together around Neung.

Heh. These spiders. Their sisterhood really is something — this life and the last.

Wukong stroked his chin, then drove the steel staff he'd been carrying on his back straight into the earth.

KWAANG!

The staff stood perfectly upright, planted in the ground like a pillar. The faces of the Shandong Seven Shadows went deathly white. Wukong raised an arm and leaned against it, casual as anything.

"Why would I kill you?"

"..."

Well. When you slam a monstrous weapon into the dirt and then say something like that...

"And we're supposed to find that reassuring?"

"We haven't even built any trust between us yet. That's not how this works."

Wukong clicked his tongue.

"Are you loyal to that organization? Blindly?"

There was no answer. But it was enough. He had read every emotion in the way their faces darkened in that single instant.

Just as he'd expected. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Whatever their circumstances, unlike the others he had encountered so far, they did not follow the organization out of any loyalty that came from the heart. It was the seal planted in their minds, and the watchers assigned to them.

The latter problem, at least, had been solved. The seven men Muhwa had killed had been their overseers. And with Baek-an-magun — clearly their commander — reduced to that state, they had no watchers for the time being.

Besides, as long as I have these girls with me, they're hostages of a sort.

The Shandong Seven Shadows were valuable enough assets that the other side had assigned watchers to them. Someone would surely come to reclaim them — just as Honse-mawang had come searching for the Seven Star Sword fragments. And even setting that aside, there were plenty of other advantages.

Wukong drummed his fingers against the steel staff.

"How about we make a deal. I don't want loyalty or any of that nonsense. A transaction seems like the right word for it."

Even at that, the Shandong Seven Shadows' reaction was lukewarm. Neung spoke.

"What kind of deal are you proposing? Our lives?"

A dark light crossed her face.

"I'm afraid we have nothing to offer in exchange for our lives. No — we can't offer anything."

"Wrong."

Wukong shut her down without hesitation.

"You can give me exactly what I want. I'll make it so you can."

Neung tilted her head. Wukong grinned and tapped his temple with a finger.

"That trap in your heads. The trap."

"......!"

"I'll break it for you."

The Shandong Seven Shadows all began to murmur at once. Even Neung's pupils trembled violently. But only for a moment. She composed herself and shot back, sharp as a blade.

"And you think that's possible?"

"I wouldn't have brought it up if I couldn't do it."

"No — wait. That's far too dangerous. Do you really think no one has ever tried to break it?"

As Neung laid out the reality of their situation, the excited faces of the other courtesans darkened in an instant.

"It's inside our heads. The moment you try to undo it, how horrific it would be..."

She couldn't finish the sentence.

Wukong's eyes flashed.

So someone actually tried to break the seal.

One of their own, no less.

Honse-mawang and Baek-an-magun only ever showed blind loyalty. But someone in their organization tried to break free of the seal themselves. That's certain. The higher-ranking officers can command that kind of blind devotion — but not the ones beneath them.

The picture was coming together.

The higher the rank, the more they were given something that bought their loyalty.

And he could guess what that something was.

That trick they used to draw out latent potential.

Come to think of it, Sa Hyeol-cheol-gwi and Baek-an-magun had been markedly different. When Sa Hyeol-cheol-gwi used that trick, it had never felt particularly dangerous. It hadn't seemed like he was pouring out every last drop of his potential. Baek-an-magun had been another matter entirely.

His Upper Dantian opened.

And from within that Upper Dantian, he had drawn out the power his soul itself had possessed. Not an ability latent in the flesh — but a power that had lain dormant in the soul.

Yoryeok.

The previous life of Baek-an-magun. The yoryeok that had remained in the soul of the Hundred-Eyed Demon — a high-ranking yaoguai. It had been faint, a mere trickle, but it had been there. Mixed in.

Even a sliver of yoryeok would drive a human mad with desire.

A bitter smile came unbidden. In the old days, how many humans had there been who, willing to become raving lunatics, accepted yoryeok from demons and became their lackeys? How many more had worshipped demons as gods, offered up sacrifices, and lost themselves in that intoxication?

It was that seductive. The officers had likely been drunk on that power, and so they offered up their blind loyalty. But not everyone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would be like that. If evidence emerged that the Shandong Seven Shadows before him had broken free of their grasp...

It could stir unrest among their ranks.

Defectors might even appear. He stood to gain more than he'd expected.

Sun Wukong stroked his chin.

"So. Would you rather I just cave your skulls in with this staff right here and now?"

He gave the steel staff he was leaning against a few casual taps. Every last one of the Shandong Seven Shadows went deathly pale. A single blow would turn their heads to pulp. Their bones wouldn't even leave behind powder.

"You think I'd say all this without having tried it first?"

Neung's pupils trembled.

"You mean..."

"I've already broken one."

"Is that person still alive?"

"They're alive."

Well, they'd lost their mind, but...

Wukong thought of Baek-an-magun, who could no longer even speak, and nodded.

It wasn't a lie. He had broken the seal. The man was alive. Where was the falsehood? Baek-an-magun had simply been... damaged, from Wukong poking around here and there while he practiced.

Neung closed her mouth, her expression one of deep thought. The faces of the other courtesans beside her, however, had brightened considerably. The way they fussed among themselves made them look like children who didn't know what to do with themselves.

Wukong wore a wry smile. A red thread of fate clearly bound him to these women. Faint though the color was, they had unquestionably met him as enemies in a past life. And yet he felt no particular urge to simply strike them down.

I'm starting to understand what Sanzang used to say.

What was it Sanzang had said? Wukong had torn apart a demon that had tried to devour him — and Sanzang had scolded him for it.

Well. Even if I went back to that moment...

Wukong would have torn that demon apart all the same. How could he leave a demon that had tried to eat Sanzang unpunished?

A bad fate in a past life doesn't have to be a bad fate now. That's the idea.

Fate was something you made yourself. Wukong believed he could change that red thread — if not to pure white, then at least to something transparent. Depending on how they acted, of course.

If they get too full of themselves, well, the bad fate stays a bad fate.

Just as Wukong was lost in thought, Neung finished her deliberation and spoke.

"Then what is it you want from us? You said this was a deal."

"Everything you know about that organization."

"I figured as much."

"And your talents."

"Our talents...?"

"What else? You've got those famous looks. Might as well put them to use."

Neung was silent for a moment. Wukong watched her expression carefully. She was the type whose inner thoughts were hard to read from her face — skilled at hiding her emotions. He liked that about her.

When she finished thinking, a gleam entered Neung's eyes. She had made her decision.

"Let's add one more condition."

"What?"

"Protect us."

"Protect you?"

"Even if the trap is broken, they won't let us go. Disposing of traitors who know their secrets is only natural."

"So you want me to keep you safe."

"We'll be working for you. Isn't it a superior's duty to protect the people they employ?"

"Hmm."

"Besides, you're clearly strong. All the watchers assigned to us have vanished — after you left, no less. And I suspect..."

"That's right. I caught that pop-eyed bastard too."

"I knew it..."

"Lord Baek-an-magun..."

"He really..."

The Shandong Seven Shadows let out a chorus of gasps — wonder, horror, shock, and awe all tangled together.

Didn't see that condition coming.

Not because he hadn't been interested. Because it was so obvious it hadn't needed saying. There was nothing special about Neung's proposal. Safety was a prerequisite for any kind of work, wasn't it? And yet the fact that she'd felt the need to bring it up...

They're that terrified of them.

They feared the organization they belonged to. Feared it enough to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worry about what came after, even once the seal was broken. Wukong grinned.

"That's a condition I actually like."

"Pardon?"

"I'll protect you, no question. I'll smash every last bastard who comes after you."

After all, just by employing the Shandong Seven Shadows, those people would come looking on their own. How convenient was that? No need to go hunting at all.

At Wukong's agreement, Neung's face eased considerably. Knowing that someone skilled enough to capture Baek-an-magun would be protecting them, she couldn't help but feel relieved.

"Well, I don't know how you ended up under people like that, but at least on this side you'll be able to live freely. I'm not the interfering type."

"...We didn't choose this work because we wanted to."

Neung's voice trembled faintly. Wukong watched her in silence. She was a courtesan — a seductress who even used the Heart-Stealing Art — and yet right now she gave off the air of a single fragile blossom.

Wukong snorted.

"Forget it. I don't care what kind of past you have. I'm not even curious."

"..."

"I like that you use your head. That's what I want from you. But don't try to play me. I really will tear that pretty mouth of yours apart."

"......!"

Wukong was still smiling. The words that came from that cheerful grin were savage. Neung bit down hard on her lip and composed herself.

"I'm sorry. It's a habit."

"You're a natural at it."

Wukong grinned.

"A beautiful woman with a tragic past — that's the kind of thing that sets a man's heart on fire."

"At least it doesn't seem to work on you."

Wukong cackled. In that brief exchange, Neung had tried her tricks again. She'd let a glimpse of a tragic past slip through, angling to draw a man in. She might actually have a sad past. But the fact that she was trying to use it — he liked that.

"It'll never work on me, so give it up. But I like the skill. Those are exactly the talents I wanted."

"All right. Then we have a deal. So — how do you plan to break the trap in our heads?"

"Simple."

Wukong took a step closer. His voice was calm, almost gentle.

"This seal is planted in your heads — right in the Upper Dantian."

"......!"

"That's why it's so hard to undo. Touch it wrong and the soul shatters. The brain is destroyed and you die on the spot. Instant death."

Just hearing it was horrifying. Every one of the Shandong Seven Shadows swallowed hard. Only Neung kept her gaze fixed on him, her face resolute.

"But my method is simple. It doesn't even hurt. It's easy."

Wukong extended a finger and placed it on the crown of Neung's head. She flinched, but she stayed still. He grinned. His utterly casual demeanor was so reassuring that even Neung began to relax, her tension easing just a little.

Then he pressed down on the crown of her head. Neung's eyes flew wide.

"I just pull the soul right out, break the seal, and put the soul back in the head. See? Simple, right?"

"......!"

She tried to say something, but unfortunately she never got the chance. Her soul came out faster than the words.