Chapter 62: Give Him What You Hate to Give the Most

TL: FoodieMonster007

The question was unexpected. I never thought the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would ask if I planned to kill him too.

What should I say?

After a moment of thought, I gave my answer.

"My demonic path doesn't involve breaking tables in an inn or killing friends."

For a moment, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was speechless. He stared at me with a complicated expression, then asked softly, "Am I your friend?"

"……"

He knew I didn't mean 'friend' in the conventional sense. I didn't need to explain.

"Then what will I do? I'll be frank. I won't walk on eggshells or consider your status as an Elder. I'll just say, 'I don't like this and that about you. You're too old-fashioned! You're so boring. Where did your old charm go? Find it!' Then we'll put our heads together and find a way to get along."

"And if we can't find a way? What if I still don't change?"

"If you try and still don't change, then there's nothing to be done. We'll have to get by on old memories, but if you don't even try? Then we'll have to fight. Won't we both feel better after beating each other up, regardless of who's wrong?"

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon stared at me, then burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha."

It was the heartiest laugh I had heard from him since we met. He laughed for a while, then suddenly stopped and spoke to me.

"I need to change something I told you before."

"What is it?"

"I said my life was filled with nothing but misfortune… I don't think that's entirely true anymore."

In that moment, I heard it clearly. It was the sound of the door to his heart opening a little wider.

From now on, I will listen for this sound. Hearing the sound of these doors opening, often and from many people, will be the moments I grow. It will become a weapon as important to me as the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. Hwa Mugi, what sound are you hearing right now?

Late that night, after the Blood Heaven Blade Demon left, an unexpected visitor arrived. It was, surprisingly, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

"What brings you here so late at night?"

"I came because I have something to tell you."

"Please, come in."

"It's an urgent matter. Let's go this way."

The surroundings darkened, then brightened. We stood in a different space. It was the same demonic art the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme had used several times. He also knew this demonic art from the Blood Cult lineage.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader looked at me and asked meaningfully, "What do you think? Doesn't this martial art seem familiar?"

He looked at me as if he knew everything and expected me to be honest.

"This is the first time I've seen this martial art."

"I doubt that. Didn't you see this space when you fought the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme?"

"What are you talking about?"

At that, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's expression turned cold.

"You killed the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme in this space."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I flatly denied it. He pressed his claim with conviction.

"She died in the space created by the soul-stealing art, so it looked like qi deviation, but you can't fool my eyes."

"Do you have any proof?"

"I have no proof. I can't even guess how you did it. However, I'm certain that you were the one who killed her."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because I can't read you."

I was inwardly surprised. I had never underestimated the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, but I didn't expect him to believe I had killed the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme for such a reason. His belief stemmed from absolute confidence in his own intuition.

"You killed the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme. I can't read you either, so I suppose you could kill me too."

"I never thought someone as wise as you would make such a misjudgment."

He had grasped my nature with perfect accuracy.

"I'm not trying to provoke you, so relax. I don't want to die in a place like this, like the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme."

He also didn't overestimate his own abilities.

"I'll say it again, you're mistaken."

He ignored my words and continued speaking.

"There's only one reason the soul-stealing art didn't work on you. You must have inherited the Nine Calamities Demonic Art."

"If you're so sure, why haven't you told the other Demon Supremes? If you told them my father secretly passed the Nine Calamities Demonic Art to me, all hell would break loose. I heard you're particularly close with the Demonic Buddha."

"Are there really friends in the murim? People only meet out of necessity. The Demonic Buddha is probably the same."

"Then what do you need from me?"

"This time, I'm doing you a favor. I came today to make sure you don't forget my goodwill."

The moment I heard that, I knew. There was a problem between the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader and the other seven Demon Supremes. Or perhaps their relationship was never as close as I had thought.

"Let's get one thing straight. So far, Cult Leader, you haven't done me any favors."

"What?"

"You won't tell the seven Demon Supremes because you can't, not because you don't want to. You have no proof. Are you going to tell them, 'I can't read the Second Young Lord, so he must be the culprit!'? Your pride wouldn't allow that."

"I could at least convey my suspicion that it might be you."

"That would actually be to my advantage. They'd think, 'His skills are great enough to kill the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme? The Cult Leader might have already passed down the Nine Calamities Demonic Art?' They can't be sure without proof, but they won't be able to treat me carelessly. It will help me seize control of the situation going forward. You've actually hindered me."

"What?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader hadn't expected this turn of events and couldn't refute my words.

Though on the defensive, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader didn't panic. He knew the life lesson to never make a decision from a disadvantageous position.

"Let's meet once more before you leave."

The moment he finished speaking, the surroundings changed. He left immediately.

I smiled as I watched his retreating back. I didn't sense a conspiracy from him. Instead, a thought came to me.

Our dear Cult Leader came all this way on his own two feet just to try and do me a favor.

Only the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, the divine objects, and the shackled man were in the large, lavishly decorated room provided by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

The shackled man sat like a stone statue before the Echoing Thunder Bell. He raised his head toward the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader and spoke words no one else would dare to imagine.

"You fucking idiot, why are you asking me that?"

Cursing the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader like this was a crime punishable by being torn limb from limb.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader simply smiled as if this were common and held up one finger.

"You're the only one here, so who else would I ask?"

"Ask the grim reaper standing behind you. Ask him when you're going to kick the bucket."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader held up another finger.

"I asked, and the grim reaper replied. He said I'll die after you, so unfortunately, you won't get to see my death."

"Good for you for living so long, you pig bastard."

At the man's curse, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader held up a third finger and laughed cheerfully.

"Only two more left!"

The man was limited to five curses or informal remarks directed at the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader per day.

This wasn't because the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had a strange penchant for insults. Nor was it because the shackled man possessed a superior sense of smell.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader kept the man alive despite his rudeness because he possessed a brilliant mind. At first, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader hadn't known just how intelligent the man was.

But after spending a long time in the same room, he realized the truth. The man's true value was not his sense of smell, but his outstanding judgment and intelligence.

From the day he realized the man was smarter than the Heavenly Wind Cult's Strategist, the shackled man became the cult's true strategist.

He endured the curses to listen to the man's advice. The advice was almost always accurate and eventually returned as profit.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader didn't try to force obedience through pain. He knew the shackled man had no great attachment to life and would willingly choose death if pressured.

Though the man had no attachment to life, he did not take his own. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had once asked why, but the man never answered.

"Why are you in such a bad mood?"

"Would you be in a good mood if you were me?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader held up a fourth finger. The man picked up his shackles and shook them, sending a clanking sound through the room.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader flicked a finger. The surroundings darkened and then brightened, changing the location to a green field.

There, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader unlocked the man's ten-thousand-year cold iron shackles. He wore the key around his own neck.

Once the shackles were removed, the man's expression relaxed. The freed man ran around frantically like a puppy on a snowy day before looking up at the sky and flopping onto his back.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader walked over and looked down at the man.

"You big-headed Cult Leader bastard, get out of the way! You're blocking the sky!"

"It's a fake sky."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader held up the fifth and final finger.

Having used up all five chances, the man's tone became polite.

"Cult Leader, I miss even this fake sky dearly. Please step aside."

His attitude changed in an instant, as if he were acting.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader stepped aside and asked, "As you advised, I showed favor to the Second Young Lord, but he demanded a more concrete favor."

The man looked up at the sky. His eyes, visible through his long, flowing hair, were exceptionally clear.

"Will the Second Young Lord really become the successor?"

"You said the Second Young Lord killed the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme, didn't you?"

"I'm certain."

"If someone like that doesn't become the successor, who will? A young man who's barely twenty years old can't kill the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme."

"His skills are incredible, but…"

"Are you afraid? Afraid the Second Young Lord might kill you too, Cult Leader?"

If anyone else had said this, their head would have flown off, but the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader simply nodded.

"It'd be a lie to say I'm not afraid. A bastard who can kill a Demon Supreme can kill anyone."

For some time now, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had been speaking frankly with the shackled man.

"There's another reason you must win over the Second Young Lord."

"What is it?"

"Do you really think the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Cult Leader doesn't know his son killed the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme?"

"He knows?"

"Of course he knows. The current Heavenly Demon is an extraordinary man with great ambitions. Why do you think a man like that has been so quiet until now?"

"Why is that?"

"Think! Don't just waste food!"

"Wasn't that an insult just now?"

"It wasn't. My voice was just loud."

"Be careful."

"I will. I was just telling you to think."

"I don't want to. You do the thinking. If I did the thinking too, there'd be no reason for you to be alive, would there?"

The man looked at the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader with open annoyance. Still, his words came out politely.

"When an extraordinary man is silent, it means he's preparing for a single, decisive blow."

"The unification of the Central Plains?"

"I don't know about that. In any case, this incident was either ordered by the Heavenly Demon, or he knew about it and pretended not to. The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme was the one among the Eight Demon Supremes that the Murim Alliance found most troublesome. Just like how the people of the Central Plains fear you, Cult Leader, and yet he allowed his son to kill her? This means the Heavenly Demon has decided to replace the Eight Demon Supremes one by one. After replacing the Eight Demon Supremes with his own limbs, where do you think the Heavenly Demon will strike?"

"Us?"

"The current Heavenly Demon won't go to war with the Murim Alliance with us at his back. He'll either push us to the vanguard or eliminate us before he starts."

"Damn it!"

"A wind of change is blowing in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. If you can't feel this wind, you'll die. The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme was holed up in her own world and died because she couldn't feel this wind. We must decide whether to hide from the wind behind the wall of the Eight Demon Supremes, or to hide behind the wall that is the Heavenly Demon."

"Your thoughts are with the Heavenly Demon?"

"The Heavenly Demon's side will win."

"The reason?"

"Because that great man, Geom Woojin, would never start a fight he couldn't win. So, you must unconditionally side with the Second Young Lord. First, win his favor with a gift."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader nodded.

"What should I give him?"

"Give him what you hate to give the most. That's how we'll survive. Now, that's enough advice!"

The man, still lying down, shouted. "Stop bothering me and get out!"

This space was the only place the man could feel free. He stared at the fake sky and screamed.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Unlike the man releasing his pent-up frustration, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader stood with his hands behind his back, lost in thought.

A moment later, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader decided what to give and spoke to the man.

"That's enough!"

The created space began to disappear.

The panicked man shot to his feet and shouted.

"No! Please! Just a little longer! You goddamn bastard! No!"

Despite his desperate cry, which even broke the rules, the green field vanished, and with it, the man's freedom.