Chapter 9: The Demonic Path As I See It

TL: FoodieMonster007

The next day, Lee Ahn found me, looking flustered.

"How did I get back yesterday?"

"You carried me back on your back. I don't remember how I got here."

Lee Ahn's cheeks flushed red.

"Don't lie to me. I… I wasn't that drunk. Was I heavy? I'm sorry, Young Master."

"I'd be lying if I said you were light, but you weren't heavy enough for an apology. Look at these biceps!"

"Oh, dear. Your already thin arms have gotten even thinner."

"Look at these bulging muscles properly!"

After some joking, Lee Ahn bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Young Master."

"Let's drink again sometime."

"Yes, Young Master."

She started to turn away, then asked again.

"If I happened to have made any mistakes in what I said, please find it in your generous heart to forgive me. Honestly, I can't remember what I said."

"You didn't make any mistakes, so don't worry. Ah, but if you do make a mistake next time, just use your pardon ticket."

"A pardon ticket? What's that?"

"It's the right to be forgiven if you make a mistake or do something wrong to me."

"You gave me one? I don't think I received it."

I held out my hand.

"Shake."

Lee Ahn took my hand with her own large one.

"There. I've just issued it."

"Since you're giving one, can't you be generous and make it ten? I'm going to follow you for the rest of my life, so one won't be enough, will it?"

"No way! Just one. So use it wisely!"

"Yes! Young Master!"

Her smiling eyes disappeared into her cheeks.

If anyone needs to be forgiven in this life, it's me, not you. You're the one who should be issuing me about fifty pardon tickets…

That night, I sat alone, training in qi emission.

I sensed three locations at once. The qi I sent to my left detected a person.

Lately, I had become engrossed in the fun of identifying people through their qi. When I found someone, I scanned them from head to toe, checking their height, weapon, and martial arts level.

This time was no different. I was about to examine the person.

The person subtly sidestepped.

I thought it was a coincidence and sent my qi toward him again, but the person moved to the opposite side, dodging my qi again.

Surely he's not dodging it knowingly?

An opponent should never be able to detect this thin, stealthy thread of qi.

Yet, the person dodged it deftly, as if he could feel my qi.

Who could it be?

Curious, I left my room and continued to emit my qi.

I practiced emitting qi while moving. It consumed several times more mental energy than training while stationary, but in a real battle, I would need to emit qi on the move more often.

I felt the person retreat. I chased after him, but he stayed just out of reach.

I arrived at a pavilion in the inner palace.

When I saw who stood there, I sighed in relief.

"Father!"

The person who led my qi here was my father.

"Of course. I was tense, thinking someone else had sensed my qi."

"What's so great about your qi? Even the dog dozing under that wall would've noticed it."

"Aren't dogs just naturally perceptive? But what brings you to my residence?"

"I was just passing by."

He said that, but he had clearly come for me.

"Meeting you like this, even by chance, must prove we have a fateful relationship."

"That's enough of your nonsense."

"……"

I fell silent and joined my father in watching the night sky.

A moment later, I asked.

"When will you decide on a successor?"

"In a hundred years. You all are still far from ready."

"Let's make it a hundred days. I think I'm pretty much there."

"If that were true, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon wouldn't have come to see you."

"How did you know?"

It was a private meeting, yet my father knew. He was keeping an eye on me. He also knew I had been afflicted with the Qi Dispersing Poison.

"The Blood Heaven Blade Demon came to see me right after he met with you."

"What did he say?"

"He wanted me to punish you."

"What?"

The unexpected words startled me. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon went straight to my father to ask for my punishment?

"It was unexpected. He's not the type to ask me for something like that over a mere disciple's death."

"Why on earth would he do that?"

Though I feigned ignorance, I could guess the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's inner thoughts. He was testing the relationship between my father and me. He wanted to see if my father would actually punish me and what kind of punishment it would be. He was trying to find out if my father considered me a successor.

"So I intend to punish you."

"There's no justification to punish me. That disciple deserved to die."

"Justification can be created."

I drew my sword and etched a long line on the ground. I marked off about a tenth of it and spoke.

"The Blood Heaven Blade Demon told me this longer side represents how much you regard him. Did your justification for punishing me come from the length of this line?"

Instead of answering, my father repeated a question I had asked at the hunting grounds.

"You asked which of the Demon Supremes I trust the most, didn't you?"

"……"

Father gave his answer.

"I trust no one."

I understood. With that answer, he also confirmed that the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's line was inaccurate.

"Which side are you on? The side that trusts people, or the side that doesn't?"

"That depends on the person."

"And how can you know what kind of person they are?"

"Don't you get to know them by spending time with them?"

"A foolish thought. You can never know the human heart. No matter how transparent a person beside you may seem, you must never think you know them."

I suddenly thought of Lee Ahn. I thought I knew her well, but I kept discovering new sides to her. It was the same principle.

"I will keep that in mind."

"Did you say you needed to establish discipline in our Cult?"

"……"

"Cut the nonsense about rooting out corruption. Tell me your honest thoughts."

"May I be truly honest?"

"Have you ever reported to me with falsehoods?"

"That's not it. It's just that this answer might be disrespectful."

"Speak."

"I believe that at some point, we… lost the Demonic Path."

The muscle below my father's eye twitched. I should not have said that, at least not to him.

"What is the Demonic Path as you see it?"

"The Demonic Path as I see it is…"

After a brief pause, I revealed the thoughts I had long kept buried.

"I believe it's our Cult's unique creed to strike down absolute evil."

Father's eyes widened, perhaps because the answer was unexpected. He turned to look at me.

"…Our Cult's creed to strike down absolute evil?"

"I don't believe our counterpart is the orthodox sects."

"Then what is it?"

"Absolute evil."

I was certain my father would not easily accept what I was about to say. Still, I calmly conveyed my thoughts.

"In this world, there exists an evil so cowardly, vicious, and wicked that it is beyond human comprehension. An absolute evil that would make even a demon click its tongue and turn away. I believe the justice and chivalry of the orthodox sects can suppress lesser evils, but not this absolute evil. The orthodox sects inherently hold forgiveness at their core. As long as they cherish humanity, how can they possibly handle an evil that has abandoned its own humanity to run rampant?"

Father stared at me. I had never seen him focus on my words so intently. Perhaps, deep down, he had been thinking something similar.

"Wasn't that absolute evil us?"

No, Father. In my world, I hope the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is not the absolute evil. I will make sure it is not.

I continued, "The only existence in the murim that can eliminate a vile and vicious evil in an even more vile and vicious manner. I believe this is where we must find our reason for being. Whether we are good or evil is not important. Sometimes we will have the face of good, sometimes the face of evil. When the great evils that the orthodox sects could not handle kneel and tremble before us, that is when the true Demonic Path will be established. Only then will the murim truly bow before our Cult's dignity. They will ask for our help when they cannot solve their problems, saying only the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult can save the murim. This is the Demonic Path as I see it."

I could swear my father had never had such a thought, nor had he ever heard one like it.

This idea was not something I learned within our Cult. It was something I felt for myself while wandering the Central Plains my entire life.

"If we fail to properly establish the Demonic Path, we won't last long. To justify our killing intent… we must punish ourselves."

Even my father, who was adept at hiding his emotions, could not conceal his shock. This was the man who would shoot a finger qi bullet at my face to check for lies, yet, at this moment, my father showed no reaction, even though I had just said things that should have earned me ten finger qi bullets.

Father was lost in deep thought. I had lived longer than him, but I couldn't guess what he was thinking.

But I felt one thing for certain.

Though only a few days had passed since my return, both my father's fate and my own were changing. We had begun to turn toward a different future.

Finally, my father broke the long silence.

"Do you have any more arrogance left to spout?"

"No, not for today."

I scratched my head and smiled sheepishly.

"I think I know why the Blood Heaven Blade Demon came to me and asked me to punish you."

"Why is that?"

Father's eyes shone with intense conviction.

"He read something in you. That's why he's trying to test you through me."

"He must have read my potential to become the successor."

"It could also be the danger that you'll ruin our Cult."

"Whichever it is… that old bag of bones is surprisingly sharp."

After a moment, my father seemed to make a decision and strode out of the pavilion.

"Follow me."

Father led me to the deepest part of the Heavenly Demon Hall, a place I knew well by reputation.

A small plaque hung above a stone cave.

Little Heaven Cave.

I was so surprised I shouted at my father.

"Surely you're not telling me to go in there?"

This place was a training grotto for the prodigies who would become the Heavenly Demon.

Usually, the Heavenly Demon's disciples or children entered when they were being tested.

One should never underestimate it just because it was a training grotto.

You could enter as you pleased, but leaving was another matter. I had heard that if you couldn't pass the gates, you could never leave. The success rate was fifty percent. In fact, half of the Heavenly Demon's bloodline who entered this place had died here.

That was why even my ambitious older brother never volunteered to enter.

However, it was also a place one had to pass through to become the Heavenly Demon. All who became the Heavenly Demon had passed through here. In that sense, being the Heavenly Demon was one of the most extreme professions.

"I also entered this place when I was your age."

"So how long did it take you to come out?"

"Two months."

"Good heavens. You want me to spend two months of my glorious youth in this dark, damp place?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. It took two months because it was me. The average time to break through is three years."

Father was regarded as the most martially talented of all past Heavenly Demons. The Heavenly Martial Body was likely possible because I inherited his blood.

"Father, why are you doing this to me?"

"Didn't I say it earlier? I intend to punish you."

"Isn't this punishment too harsh?"

"Yangpo, whom you killed, will spend eternity underground."

"To the cheers and applause of the people he tormented."

But my father's mind was already made up.

Father. Are you really sending me to a place where I could die? Just because that old man, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, told you to punish me?

I suddenly remembered what my father had said about mind-reading during the hunt.

Do you not care if your son dies? Or are you hoping I'll emerge stronger?

After all, if I failed to come out alive, it was a punishment. If I survived, it could also be a reward.

Or are you trying to protect me from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, now that I'm sticking out like an awl in a pocket?

Because my father never revealed his thoughts, I had no way of knowing his intentions.

Father placed his hand on a stone slab beside the cave and infused his unique qi. The stone door opened.

RUMBLE.

Father's eyes told me to get in without any more complaints, so I stopped resisting.

"Fine. I'll come out even faster than you did."

RUUUMBLE.

Through the closing stone door, my father spoke with a heartless yet vexing smile.

"Whatever you do. Just don't die."