The New Recruits of the Dokjak-dang
It was an hour later when Baek-geomja finally regained consciousness.
Since his body had already been fully healed, the subsequent conversation proceeded quickly.
"I see... you have forgiven a sin so great that even death could not repay it."
It would not have been strange for Seong-jin to have simply cut his throat while he lay helpless. Even though he had shared the medicinal effects to save him, he had essentially used a divine elixir of the immortals; Baek-geomja had no excuse, even if he had two mouths to speak with.
It meant he had unconditionally pledged his cooperation.
"I know the place where he was creating the demons."
The scholar-rat inside the gourd screamed at Baek-geomja’s reaction, but his words were nothing more than empty cries.
The place they arrived at, following his directions, was a rented warehouse on the outskirts of the city. It was a property that a local merchant guild had purchased during the construction boom in Hubei when the Murim Alliance was first formed, but as the demand for new construction dwindled, they had been leasing it out to other merchant guilds or escort agencies.
The scholar-rat and Baek-geomja had been renting that warehouse to raise their rats in Hubei.
"Security was important, so I didn't hire anyone separately. So, the inside should be full of nothing but rats."
Baek-geomja guided the party to the warehouse and then stepped back. Even though his body was healed, his lost internal energy had not returned, so as someone no different from an ordinary person, he had no power to deal with the rats inside.
"Don't worry. I'm here."
Byeok-ha Nang-rang was reliable, but this task didn't particularly require martial prowess.
Seong-jin entered the warehouse, easily dispelled the formation installed inside, and discovered the rats. The rats within had been starving for days because the scholar-rat, who was supposed to bring them food, had not returned. Trapped in a place with neither food nor water, they were all exhausted and collapsed, so there was no need to fight.
Seong-jin opened the gourd and let water flow onto the floor. Since he hadn't just kept demons inside the vast gourd, he could simply pour the water onto the floor to form puddles, wetting the lips of the collapsed rats.
Yeong-myeong, who had been guarding the perimeter for any potential threats, was startled when the rats all began to speak in human tongues at once. The rats, who were in their original forms without using transformation techniques, were speaking through telepathy, substituting for human vocal organs.
"What is this...?"
"Don't be surprised. They were just collapsed from hunger. Since they are demons who have learned transformation techniques, they must have gained intelligence by consuming human fingernails and acquiring human memories."
"Demons who use transformation techniques and possess intelligence... does this mean they are the second and third scholar-rats?"
"Of course, if they fall down the wrong path like this, that could happen, but we must ensure they don't."
The field mouse demons were just ignorant creatures who followed the scholar-rat like a master simply because he fed them. Since the duty of an immortal is not to exterminate demons but to reform them, there was no reason to punish those whose only fault was eating what the scholar-rat gave them.
"Everything the scholar-rat taught you until now was wrong. I will teach you the right path, so if you follow me, I will share food with you."
At Seong-jin's words, the rats were ecstatic.
Yeong-myeong, who had been wary at first, quickly grasped the situation and lowered his guard after seeing the rats' foolish behavior.
"How come these guys act like neighborhood puppies?"
"They are beasts by nature. Since it hasn't been long since they became demons, they are children even by human standards."
The rats, having drunk water and regained their energy, were already gathered at Seong-jin's feet. Their behavior of clinging to his trouser legs or rubbing their heads against his legs reminded him of dogs or cats.
Seong-jin took out some Byeokgok-dan (grain-abstaining pills) from the gourd and sprinkled them for the rats who had barely quenched their thirst.
"Young demon beasts instinctively crave a master. It's the same logic as a beast looking for its parents. Depending on how they are taught, they can become beings that blindly serve their master, and considering the scholar-rat's purpose, he must have surely done so."
However, the rats here seemed to recognize the demon who gave them food as their master, rather than being loyal to the scholar-rat specifically.
'Is it because they harbor demonic energy in their middle dantian that they think I'm a demon?'
Considering that loyalty is only possible once one's mind has matured to a certain degree, they seemed closer to beasts that follow whoever feeds them.
"You intend to take these children with you? Are you planning to raise demons?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"They don't seem tainted by evil like the scholar-rat, but there are quite a few of them. Is there a suitable place to raise them away from human eyes?"
"I have already thought of that."
Seong-jin looked back at the rats and said, "Everyone, try to transform into humans."
The rats in the warehouse were still demons close to beasts, so their transformation techniques were incomplete, but thanks to that, their faces were different from the original Huashan Sect members, making them completely new people.
Seong-jin, having made the rats transform into humans, took them to the Dokjak-dang. There, he called out Do Il-ho and arranged employment for the rats.
"Could you hire them at the Dokjak-dang?"
"Pardon? Well, since we are the only brewery in the vicinity, we are always short of hands, but..."
Unless he expanded the business further in the future, he didn't have enough money to hire this many people right now. However, he didn't need to pay the rat demons the same wages as humans.
"You only need to provide room and board; you can make them work for free otherwise."
"Pardon?"
"This is all part of their training."
Even if they had only followed the scholar-rat who fed them without knowing anything, these rats had contributed to disturbing the world. To accumulate training, they needed to shed all their past evil deeds, and unpaid labor was an opportunity to quickly shed that karma.
"Is that really okay?"
"Yes, but if they ever want to quit in the future, you must let them go without any regrets."
"Aigoo, if they leave after eating from the same pot, I should at least give them enough travel expenses. Anyway, if the salary issue is fine, I would love to hire them. Many people quit after the last Salmun incident out of fear. We couldn't stop it since assassins really did invade the Dokjak-dang."
Thus, the rats came to work at the Dokjak-dang, and for Seong-jin, he only needed to stop by occasionally to check on the demons' training.
"Is it really okay to do this?"
"What is the problem?"
"Demons living among people..."
"Don't worry. Originally, good-natured demons all live like that."
"Huh?"
"Why do you think the 'Murim Non-Aggression Pact' was created? Since all demons were kicked out of government positions after Daji caused chaos, the demons only gathered and lived in the Murim world."
"Huh???"
While Yeong-myeong was completely frozen by the shocking truth, Seong-jin looked back at Byeok-ha Nang-rang and Baek-geomja.
"Is this all the demons you know of?"
"Hmm, that's right. I brought all the demons I had been raising from the main mountain while following this Hubei trip."
"Considering the scholar-rat's cunning nature, it wouldn't be strange if there were more demons he was preparing separately without even telling you, Baek-geomja. For a while, I will have to search this vicinity to see if there are any more demons."
"Hmm. Then it seems we should also check the main mountain in Shaanxi..."
"It seems we will have to split our personnel. Byeok-ha Nang-rang and Baek-geomja, you two should check Huashan. I and the Huashan Sword Dragon will search Hubei."
"Will you be okay?"
"In terms of personnel distribution, that seems best."
Since Baek-geomja and Seong-jin were the only ones here who knew a bit about demons or transformation techniques, it was necessary for the two of them to be on each side. The question was who would move with whom between Byeok-ha Nang-rang and the Huashan Sword Dragon, but it was better for Baek-geomja, who had lost all combat power, to move with Byeok-ha Nang-rang.
Additionally, since Yeong-myeong, a participant in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, couldn't return to Huashan alone leaving the Sect Leader behind, it was natural for Byeok-ha Nang-rang's side to head to Huashan.
"Therefore, with the personnel divided like this, you two go to Huashan, and we two will stay in Hubei until the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering ends to check for any remnants."
Didn't the scholar-rat also join hands with Baek-geomja to poison Byeok-ha Nang-rang? If she were there, it wouldn't be a big problem even if other demons remained at Huashan. On the other hand, people like Yeong-myeong could suffer from simple magic depending on their compatibility, but it would be fine if Seong-jin was with him.
"I understand your intentions well. But I'm worried about leaving Yeong-myeong behind even after receiving help."
"What's wrong with me?"
"So, take this at least."
Byeok-ha Nang-rang said that and draped the long robe she was wearing over Seong-jin's shoulders.
"Why are you doing this?"
"This robe is a divine object of the Huashan Sect that withstands even the heat of the Zixia Divine Art. No matter how powerful the flames it emits, it doesn't burn and protects the dignity of the Sect Leader."
"Master? Can you hear me?"
"Since it is an object also used as a Sect Leader's token, all the disciples of Huashan in the whole world, and all the secular families under the Huashan Sect, will help you."
It meant that even without revealing the detailed circumstances, just wearing this robe would serve as a kind of identification.
'This is...'
Hearing that and examining it closely, the robe was made of a material Seong-jin also knew.
'Wasn't this Fire-Washing Cloth (Hwawanpo)?'
Clothing made from the fur of a fire-light beast. The object also called the fur coat of a fire-rat was exactly the Fire-Washing Cloth. The fire-rat, a demon that lives in the fire of Huashan, possesses fur that does not burn, following its habit of living in fire. Therefore, if you weave clothes using the fur of such a fire-rat, a tool is created that does not feel heat even in fire and does not burn.
The fire-rat, which originally has white fur, has its fur turn red when in fire, and this characteristic was carried over to the Fire-Washing Cloth. When Byeok-ha Nang-rang was wearing it, it had a subtle pink glow even without emitting fire energy, but when Seong-jin wore it, it turned completely snow-white.
"Please forgive me for not being able to be with you with that. If there is anything you need help with, just grab anyone, state my name, and show them that."
"Are you sure you can give me an object that can be called a Sect Leader's token?"
"It's an object that would have fallen into the scholar-rat's hands if not for you. If there is anyone who expresses dissatisfaction, I will scold them all."
"I will receive it gratefully."
"I will return immediately after settling the household affairs, so don't get hurt until then. You understand?"
If demons remain at the main mountain, we don't know what might have happened while we were away.
"If it seems dangerous, don't touch it and wait for me. Promise? Otherwise, I'll be upset."
"Sect Leader, please have some dignity..."
Baek-geomja urged Byeok-ha Nang-rang and left for Huashan. Seong-jin, who was left behind, looked back at Yeong-myeong and said, "Then shall we start too?"
"Where do you intend to start? It will take a long time for two people to look around here."
"It's not two people. Don't we now have countless informants who will go out to deliver alcohol to every region every day?"
For bars, they would become an intelligence network second to none.
* * *
Meanwhile, while Huashan was busy with a series of incidents, the Murim Alliance was also in chaos.
"Shouldn't we stop the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering immediately and capture that guy called the Thunder-Demonic Asura?"
"If we do that, the Murim Alliance's event will end up being stopped just because of one demonic person! We cannot show such weakness to the seeds of the demonic path! This is the time to be even stronger..."
"Can you count the Thunder-Demonic Asura as just one demonic person? Even Baek-geomja fell to his hands, so it's worth issuing a pursuit order."
"Pursuit order or whatever, as long as Huashan keeps its mouth shut, it's useless for us to talk among ourselves..."
What calmed this chaos was a word from the Murim Alliance Leader.
"If you want to hold the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and also want to exterminate the demons, why don't you make the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering a competition to exterminate the evil paths instead of a confrontation between the younger generation?"
As always, the Murim Alliance Leader's unconventional remark was passed unanimously after intense discussion.