There is no one in the Central Plains who does not know that the term Demonic Cult means a band of rebels.
But few know why they became rebels.
The current dynasty did not much want it widely known that, hundreds of years ago, they had been the masters of the Central Plains.
So the Demonic Cult was merely a band of rebels, a dangerous, dangerous group of martial artists.
Naturally, the reality was not that simple.
The Demonic Cult was a coalition founded by the previous dynasty, which was called the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and the seven pillars that belonged to it, the Seven Demon Heavenly Pillars, were each powers that had in one way or another coveted the Central Plains from the Outer Regions.
The Blood Heaven Unit was one of the most alien among them, and at the same time one of the most feared.
If the Hermit Forest was a death too secret even to mention, the Blood Heaven Unit was destruction more reckless than anything.
So martial artists did not fear mentioning the Blood Heaven Unit's name.
Rather, they hoped never once in their lives to see it.
And Sa Pae-cheon, Captain of the Hermit Forest's Infiltration Unit, was no different.
[A letter has arrived. The First Squad of the Blood Heaven Unit has begun entering the Central Plains, bypassing the Sword Pavilion.]
Even now, his subordinates' letters kept arriving one after another. Since the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit had already arrived here first, it was only natural that his personal guard would head for Lizhou as well.
In his youth, while training in the Hermit Forest, he had seen the Blood Heaven Unit fight from afar a few times.
If you could call that fighting.
The Blood Heaven Unit, a group of blood men who led crimson blood ghouls about, slaughtered all life wherever they passed.
Death was the only salvation they bestowed upon the world, and a blessing as well.
At least, that was what they claimed.
No one knew their doctrine exactly, but from the outside, the Blood Heaven Unit seemed to be monsters who lived only to kill living things.
Yes. Monsters.
There was no martial artist in the world who thought of the Blood Heaven Unit as fellow humans.
‘Of all things, the Blood Heaven Unit.’
It was the same thought the Cult Leader had had in faraway Xinjiang.
Sa Pae-cheon thought he understood what had happened.
On the eve of the Great Undertaking, the one to stand at the very vanguard would certainly be the Blood Heaven Unit.
The plan had probably been to turn Sichuan into a sea of blood first, while the others poured into the Central Plains through the Hexi Corridor or the Great Steppe.
In that case, the problem was that the place the Sword Star had come to make contact was, of all places, Sichuan.
‘I hope this ends without incident.’
He had known an Elder-level figure of the Demonic Cult would come.
But no one had said it would be the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit.
Sa Pae-cheon could only resent the Hermit Forest Lord, whose face he did not even know.
‘But something has already happened.’
When the night he met the Sword Star gave way to morning, Heo Saeng, looking bewildered, set foot through Jeong Manor's main gate escorting the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit.
And another day had passed.
The Sword Star should have shown himself at Jeong Manor again last night.
But the Sword Star, who should have rushed over at once to face the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit, asking to meet the Cult Leader and to have his sincerity recognized, did not appear.
Why?
The day before, he had promised to send another letter. Or to visit in person.
It should have been a conversation that ended on good terms.
To begin with, the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit had half-deliberately walked in through the only mountain pass connecting Lizhou to Chengdu.
He had even gone out of his way to call over Heo Saeng, who happened to be passing, in the market street and have him show the way.
If a martial artist who was obviously not orthodox walked around, rumors would spread, and the Sword Star, a renowned orthodox figure, would have heard of it.
Yet there was no word.
He had also tried sending word to the Clear Wind Inn first.
But the three siblings were only huddled together training, as if by their father's order, and there was no trace of the Sword Star.
Could Sa Pae-cheon ask them where the Sword Star was?
Sa Pae-cheon now had to go for a private audience with the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit to report this.
It might be too heavy a burden for a mere Captain of the Infiltration Unit.
But an Elder of the Divine Cult had arrived at the branch, and the one responsible for Lizhou was Sa Pae-cheon.
So he had to go and report.
‘Where on earth has the Sword Star vanished to?’
With that question in mind, he had to report the facts exactly as they were.
Naturally, the Chairman of Jeong Manor had forbidden anyone from approaching the annex where the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit was staying, but even without that order, it had long since become a forbidden zone.
In just one day.
The scholars would want to keep their distance from a martial artist who was not even orthodox, and the martial artists, having felt his presence yesterday, were keeping their heads down.
To the eyes of those who had not crossed the wall of the Peak, only a fierce, menacing presence would be visible.
“Hoo.”
Sa Pae-cheon sighed despite himself as he walked.
The Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit was holding his domain in check within his inner image.
Even so, when a master of the Peak or above looked at the annex, what he saw was a fragment of a chilling crimson sky.
Though it was an absolute realm that had not been unfurled, the reek of blood seemed to flow out of it and eat into Jeong Manor.
Only the sky around the annex looked as if it had been dyed into a Blood Heaven.
An Absolute Master is a being who carries the phenomena of his inner image wherever he goes.
Just as what ordinary folk take for the monsoon rains is sometimes caused by some Absolute Master's domain passing through.
"Living natural disaster" was meant literally.
Sa Pae-cheon reached the door of the annex and bowed his head.
And he was about to ask permission to enter.
“Do not ask. Come in.”
A voice like a growl came from inside. Sa Pae-cheon opened the door and entered, head still bowed.
Inside the annex, the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit was meditating without even removing his bamboo hat.
A tyrannical red energy filled the room. His skin stung, and breathing grew difficult.
But raising one's cultivated power to resist would be discourteous.
Sa Pae-cheon held his breath and quietly reported every fact.
The face veiled in black shadow listened in silence.
When the Blood Heaven Unit's Blood Flow Eight Heavens Art reaches a certain realm, it casts a shadow over the face.
That shadow, which never lifts no matter how strong the light, had led to the Blood Heaven Unit being called "the Faceless."
No face, and reddened skin.
That was why the Blood Heaven Unit was not regarded as human.
The Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit, whose expression could not be read, spoke.
“I see. Lowly one of the Hermit Forest, then are you tracking the Sword Star's whereabouts?”
Still, a being who was the master of the Blood Heaven Unit was truly no monster raging without reason.
Sa Pae-cheon bowed his head as a subordinate, and the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit treated him as one.
“That is so. We are currently mobilizing every assassin hidden in Lizhou to track the Sword Star's whereabouts.”
“Stop.”
“……Understood.”
He was even flexible enough to explain his intent to a subordinate from a different chain of command.
“When matters go strangely awry, there is no need to overthink. If you assume it is a trap, you will be right nine times out of ten.”
“…….”
The words Sa Pae-cheon had feared most came from the mouth of the Demonic Cult's Elder.
If all this was a trap, who would bear the blame?
He himself, for hastily summoning an Elder of the Demonic Cult to Lizhou.
But he was not pressed on that point.
The Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit tilted his head, still in his meditative posture.
“Is it not suspicious? The Namgung's Sword Star suddenly joining the Demonic Cult? Had the Heavenly Demon not ordered this, I would never have believed it.”
He was right.
That would be the case for the Namgung Clan, a group that seemed the very embodiment of justice.
On top of that, the Blood Heaven Unit were beings whose ideology was the polar opposite of the Namgung Clan's.
But for Sa Pae-cheon, it was a dilemma. He had had no choice but to report.
“Is it not delightful? If this is a trap, how cornered must the Namgung, and the Central Plains, be? It means they are ready to throw away even their convictions.”
Sa Pae-cheon felt a chill.
The Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit was genuinely enjoying himself.
“I like those who fear me and keep me at a distance. When I offer up their flesh and skin as a sacrifice, that is when the thrill is greatest.”
Sa Pae-cheon was beginning to be unable to tell what the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit would say next. Only an ominous feeling filled his chest.
“I wonder whether the Heavenly Demon would be pleased if the Great Undertaking began a little sooner.”
But when he understood those words, his skin crawled.
Did the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit intend to start the Demonic-Orthodox War here and now?
“Lowly one of the Hermit Forest. Chasing the Sword Star's trail will not find him. If it is a trap, someone else will come. Perhaps leading a force. Report only that to me.”
“Understood.”
After that, the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit straightened his tilted head and closed his eyes. He seemed to have entered meditation.
At the same time, a cruel qi wave writhed and spread, and Sa Pae-cheon knew it was a dismissal.
Sa Pae-cheon backed out of the annex.
He thought that, against his will, he might have ended up at the vanguard of the Demonic-Orthodox War.
It was utterly bewildering.
Sa Pae-cheon, no great master, could not overcome the years.
So he had begun thinking of retirement. At the very least, he was at an age when he did not want to stand at the vanguard.
“Hoo…….”
The old man's sighs deepened.
The powder keg had been lit. If the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit had said that, it must already be burning fast.
***
A day passed without anything in particular happening.
I slept surprisingly well. Today too I got Taiji instruction from Hong-hyung and ate lunch.
The weather was a little less cold than yesterday, and the sunlight was clear.
The cloudless sky was as peaceful as ever.
One good thing about falling into this unknown world was that I could see a truly clean sky.
Stars that seem about to pour down, and a sky that seems to suck you in, which I could never see at the small, shabby orphanage in the modern world, are everywhere here if you just raise your head and look up.
My mood felt a little clearer too.
One day.
In just one day, a person can become far calmer and more at peace than you'd think.
The Sword Star had disappeared, but still no one knew.
Even less would they know it was me.
I'd also started calligraphy practice again, which I hadn't been able to put my hand to yesterday.
“Hey, Licentiate Heo. Who on earth is that person who went into the annex?”
A few martial artists asked me.
I shook my head and played dumb.
“If I knew that, would I still be a scholar? They told us not to even go near there, so…….”
Lowering my voice.
“You live longer if you play dumb, don't you?”
“Ahem, well, you've always been like that.”
“I don't want to get stabbed. Yesterday I got grabbed on the street out of nowhere, and was I ever startled.”
“Scholars usually keep away from the murim, but none of them go as far as you.”
It was what Hong-hyung had said yesterday too.
Even I think I keep my distance from the murim to an almost oversensitive degree.
But though it may be natural for people born and raised here, killing can never become natural to me.
I've seen so many dead men's eyes, yet even now it chills me when I recall them.
Even if I'd had talent, I'm not sure I could have belonged in that world.
So I just laughed it off as usual.
The weather is nice.
I left Jeong Manor.
“No dilettante young masters today either, huh.”
I said that to the two martial artist retainers standing guard at the gate.
Unlike the scholars, the martial artists took on light duties like this.
“The mood's grim, so the scholars are lying low. That person you brought, he's definitely not from the orthodox side, is he?”
“Probably not? Still, they say he's the Chairman's guest.”
“Ugh, I wish the Chairman had at least told us ahead of time…….”
“He showed up out of the blue, so what can you do.”
“True, normally Martial Artist Hong would've slipped us a hint.”
Since the Chairman of Jeong Manor had personally declared the man his guest, they were uneasy yet reassured.
With nothing in particular happening like this, I felt relieved too.
With a little time, I'd been able to think positively.
Right, it might be nothing.
From my position, knowing little of the murim and not being a martial artist, I can't really tell how great a being the Sword Star is.
I just vaguely think of him as a master vying for the top of the murim.
But even so, neither the Captain of the Blood Heaven Unit nor the Sword Star could take on an army alone.
And they couldn't unleash a bloodbath in Lizhou, which, small as it is, is at least a small city.
Since it's a frontier city, the Governor, the head of its officials, holds both military authority and troops.
If they value their lives, they wouldn't run amok in a city of this size.
Even so, no blade would reach my throat.
And would the Demonic Cult really start some Orthodox-Demonic War this sloppily?
Since the Demonic Cult is a band of rebels, not only orthodox martial artists but also the armies near the Sword Pavilion would swarm straight to Lizhou. They wouldn't really want to take on an army.
‘If nothing happens for about another week like this…….’
It'll surely end as a minor incident. My daily life will come back.
Then all that's left is the strange book I keep inside my robes even now.
Not a bad situation.
So let's live as usual.
A light walk is part of my routine too.
A little exercise along with studying can't be helped. People need time to empty their heads, move their feet, and fall into idle musing.
I went fairly often as far as the small market where Mister Jang's bookshop was.
Since I'd begged and done odd jobs there, I knew many merchants and beggars one way or another.
The sunlight was warm, so I walked avoiding the shade.
Jeong Manor was located in a somewhat more out-of-the-way part of Lizhou. But the area with Mister Jang's bookshop was also some distance from the center of Lizhou.
It was the place that comes into view soon after crossing the only mountain pass leading from Chengdu, the heart of Sichuan, to Lizhou.
‘If something happens, I could just run off toward Chengdu.’
After glancing briefly at the pass into Lizhou, I entered the market.
Someone had died the day before yesterday, and yesterday a giant in a black bamboo hat had passed through, yet people's daily lives went on as before.
All of it was familiar, utterly familiar.
After greeting the merchants I knew casually, I was in front of Mister Jang's bookshop.
The bloodstains had already been scrubbed away, leaving only something like a black smudge.
A day like any other.
“Miss, that's money we can't accept…….”
“Is there no way at all……?”
If only someone hadn't caught my eye, that is.
It was the youngest girl, surely the Namgung Clan's golden-branch, jade-leaf daughter.
For some reason, she was talking with the mill owner who sold sweets, and her shoulders slumped.
But the merchant was just as troubled.
With a sword-carrying martial artist showing disappointment right in front of him, he seemed frozen stiff with tension.
Namgung Clan or not, in Sichuan, far, far from home, she was just a strange martial artist.
I wondered how I might help, but then stopped short.
‘I've already gotten tangled up with too many martial artists yesterday and today. Let's not bother talking to her.’
Act as usual. As usual, don't have long conversations with people carrying swords, keep to my routine, go back, and keep studying.
I tried to brush past her just like that.
Maybe I underestimated a martial artist's sharp eyes.
“Licentiate? Oh? You are the Licentiate from the day before yesterday, are you not?”
But I never expected the Namgung Clan's golden-branch, jade-leaf daughter to stop me first.
I turned around, trying my best not to show my reluctance, and the merchant recognized me and brightened.
“Aigo, Licentiate Heo. Help me out here. This martial artist keeps begging me to take a banknote here in Sichuan somehow…….”
I could pretty much guess the rest without hearing more.
The youngest of the three siblings was holding a banknote issued by an Anhui money house, and the amount was absurd.
Her gaze was fixed on the honey-glazed sweets and rice cakes. Her eyes were practically sparkling. A little drool had even gathered at the corner of her mouth.
How absurd was it to pay for goods in this small market with a banknote?
One glance at the girl's face showed at once that she'd been raised delicately, like a flower in a greenhouse.
I sighed, went over to Mister Lee of the mill, and whispered quietly.
“Mister Lee, can't you just give them to her? She's carrying a sword.”
What on earth was he thinking, standing his ground against a weapon-carrying superhuman thug?
But Mister Lee of the mill pointlessly brought decades of mill-running grit to bear.
“Isn't she the Namgung miss from the Clear Wind Inn? She's not going to draw her sword just to get out of paying. I need to get paid.”
Even seeing my reluctant expression, he was ironclad. I let out another deep sigh and rummaged in my coin pouch.
Jeong Manor even paid its retainers an allowance. It wasn't much, but since I seldom spent it, I had a fair amount.
When I paid in coins on her behalf, Mister Lee of the mill grinned broadly and loaded the Namgung miss's arms with rice cakes and sweets.
Slipping in a little extra was probably his bare minimum of conscience.
“Become a Licentiate and you start spending big, huh. Go on, make something of yourself.”
“Make something of myself how……. Sigh.”
I'd been in Mister Lee's debt back when I was begging, and I'd also helped out here to make a living.
Though I got told off plenty for being bad at the work.
The girl, who had been watching all this, went round-eyed. She seemed a little slow to grasp the situation.
“Huh? Wait a moment. I just wanted to exchange a little money.”
She pointed at the banknote still clutched carefully in her hand, and I shook my head.
“If I had that kind of money, would I be living as a retainer?”
“……I see.”
Her shoulders drooped dejectedly.
Maybe she thought a Licentiate would have quite a lot of money. Maybe that was true in Anhui. But unfortunately, I, freeloading as a retainer, am poor.
“At least take this banknote!”
“No, it's fine. Please take it and go back.”
“I cannot do that. I have money.”
No thanks.
I want to get as far away as possible. I don't want to hold a banknote with the Namgung name on it.
Your father got sucked into my book just the day before yesterday, for crying out loud.
This is creepy as hell.
But seeing her face, hesitant yet set with resolve, she didn't look like she'd back down.
I remembered Hong-hyung also saying that the justice-fool Namgung were just as stubborn.
Then it suddenly dawned on me.
It came to mind because I felt calmer than yesterday.
‘Come to think of it, isn't this a rare opportunity? Should I talk with her a bit? She still won't know the Sword Star has disappeared, right?’
Just sounding out how much she doesn't know would be a gain.
Seeing a young lady of a noble house floundering in front of Mister Lee of the mill, she seemed harmless too.
“Then how about telling me a little about the murim as payment?”
I said that with the most peaceful, harmless smile I could manage.