Chapter 76: If I Decide to Live

TL: FoodieMonster007

I definitely relied on the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. Just as I relied on my father, a separate part of me relied on the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

"Solve it with what you do best."

"What's that?"

"Just kill the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader."

I laughed loudly, thinking it was a joke, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was serious.

"Why are you laughing? It'd kill two birds with one stone. If you kill the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, no one will dare oppose you becoming the successor. Plus, you'll get the subordinate you want."

"I'm not going to kill the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader."

"……"

"He's not a good person, but he's not evil enough to deserve death."

"That's not the real reason, is it? Isn't it because you can't kill your treasure trove?"

"Well, there is that."

"You're a villain."

"I admit it."

"Why do you admit it so easily?"

"How can I catch villains if I'm too nice? I'll become a proper villain. That's why I'll bear the Karmic Retribution and go to hell myself."

"Hell is for people like me. You should walk a flowery path."

I felt his sincerity and was inwardly moved.

"You've already made your decision, haven't you?"

"……"

After my conversation with Head Strategist Sama Myeong, I decided to make the shackled man my subordinate.

"He belongs to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, so you can't just carelessly steal him away."

"That's right."

"Then you have to leave it to him. Make it so he comes to you on his own."

"But he's a man bound in shackles."

"He has to break those shackles himself. Doesn't he have to show that much ability to be worth recruiting?"

"You have a point, but I'm not confident I've given him that level of certainty. We haven't even exchanged a single word yet."

That was why I came to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. I believed that while others might not, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would understand how I felt.

Indeed, instead of calling me a madman, he gave me an answer I had not considered.

"Then give him that certainty."

"……"

"Show him your people."

"!"

"If you show him your people, he'll be able to see what kind of person you are. If the man you're trying to recruit is smart, he'll be convinced just by seeing your subordinates. He probably won't be able to resist coming to you."

I stared at him quietly. I never expected him to give me such advice. It was even more valuable because it was steeped in his own experience.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's the best advice."

"Honestly, it's not that great, is it?"

"Because the first among my people is you, Elder. That's why it's the best advice."

"Then it's the worst advice."

This time, I laughed first, and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon laughed along.

"Anyone who sees me will run away, so show him the others. I wasn't including myself when I said that."

I told him firmly.

"You have to come too, Elder."

"I refuse."

"It's not because I want to show you to him, Elder."

"Then?"

"I want to show you as well. To show you who I've chosen."

"……"

"Wouldn't you be able to understand me better then?"

"But why?"

"I want to give you confidence in me, and I want to get closer to you, Elder. This really is killing two birds with one stone."

The corner of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's eye twitched. He usually made that expression when he was angry, but this time it was a reaction born of awkwardness.

"You have some nerve saying such cheesy things to my face."

"Let's go."

I shot up from my seat.

"……"

"You're going to go anyway, so why delay? Let's take everyone who's available. I'll show everyone. Show them who I've chosen, and through that, show them what kind of person I am."

"As expected… you're a madman."

"Hahaha."

You see? It's this hard to make one person my own.

That applied to both the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the shackled man.

The air in the room was cold.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader stared out the window, and the shackled man stared at the Echoing Thunder Bell. The two of them remained silent for a long time.

The winner of this contest of who would speak first was decided from the start. The shackled man could go a whole year without saying a single word.

In the end, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader spoke first.

"I'm sorry."

It was a difficult apology. He had hoped the response would not come easily, but the shackled man replied as if he had been waiting.

"It's fine."

He had agonized over that apology, so the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's anger flared again when it was accepted so nonchalantly.

However, just like before, this was not a situation where he could afford to be angry. Opening the space filled with corpses had been a huge mistake. He knew how much the shackled man loved the space with the blue sky and green fields.

"Giving the sacred object to the Second Young Lord recently must have caused a lot of anger to build up in me without my realizing. I'm sorry."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader apologized again.

"It's fine."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's expression hardened at the consistently toned reply. Lacking the confidence to hide his face, he continued to stare out the window. He bit his lip until it bled.

All sorts of distracting thoughts tormented him.

Is this all because I'm narrow-minded and greedy? Because I'm a petty man? Damn it! How can I talk about advancing into the Central Plains when I can't even win the heart of one subordinate? The others must be even worse. They might pledge loyalty on the outside, but they're probably laughing at me on the inside.

If he tried to circulate his qi at a time like this, he would surely suffer from qi deviation.

Just then, a voice came from behind him.

"Cult Leader."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader was overcome with emotion the moment he heard those words. He had been angry and self-recriminating, but deep down, he had been terrified that he would never hear those words again.

"What?"

"Cult Leader, you're trying to hold onto my heart while keeping me bound in shackles. Didn't I tell you before? Neither you nor I are fortunate enough to have everything without giving something up."

"I am the one who rules the Outer Regions Murim! If I'm not fortunate, then who is?"

"Did you conquer the Outer Regions Murim with your own strength? Cult Leader, you simply inherited it. Granted, if that's considered fortune, it's a great one, but the fortune I'm talking about isn't the kind you're born with."

"Provoking me again! You're pissing me off!"

At that, the shackled man fell silent.

An awkward silence fell for a moment.

He was pissed off when the man spoke, and pissed off when he did not.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader knew exactly where his anger had originated from today.

"Why did you accept the Second Young Lord's wine?"

"Just because."

"What do you mean, 'just because'? Tell me the reason. I have the right to know."

The shackled man did not answer. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader asked abruptly. It was the one question he really did not want to ask.

"Don't tell me you want to go to the Second Young Lord?"

The shackled man neither confirmed nor denied it.

For a moment, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader felt his legs go weak.

"You're really going to leave? Really?"

"I haven't decided anything yet."

"That means the same thing!"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader roared, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"When did you two conspire? Did you communicate via telepathy behind my back?"

He would have preferred an affirmative answer.

"We never used telepathy."

"Then how?"

"I read his heart. The Second Young Lord wants me."

"Cut the bullshit! I said, cut the bullshit! Who do you think you are, imitating the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme? What hearts are you reading?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader now understood why he had been so offended and angry when Geom Mugeuk poured wine for the shackled man earlier. It was not because he had refused his wine and accepted the Second Young Lord's.

It was because he had foreseen this. His fate, his instincts, his premonition had read this damn situation.

"Do you think I'll let you go? I'd kill you before I ever let you go!"

"Then you'll have to kill me now."

"What?"

"Kill me while you still can. You won't be able to later."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's entire body trembled with rage.

The shackled man was the only one who understood his heart. Kill such a person? Lose him to someone else?

"You're saying this because you think I can't kill you, right? Because you look down on me!"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader strode toward the shackled man.

He raised his hand high.

One palm strike would free him from all his anguish.

If the shackled man had looked up at his face, he might have actually struck him down.

However, the shackled man kept his head bowed, as if to spare him the guilt.

Seeing him calmly accept death, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader could not bring himself to strike.

"If you can't kill me now, you'll never be able to. If I decide to live, no one can kill me. So if you're going to kill me, it has to be now."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's hand trembled in the air.

But in the end, he could not strike.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader slowly lowered his hand. The anger that had erupted like lava now subsided.

"You think you can just run away by yourself from this chaotic world? This easily? No way! I won't let you."

The shackled man slowly raised his head. Their gazes met and tangled in the air, filled with complex emotions.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had not given up hope yet.

"You said you haven't decided to leave yet, right?"

"Right. Not yet."

"Then I just have to make sure you're not taken from me, right? I just have to become a better man than the Second Young Lord, right?"

A smile formed on the shackled man's lips. It was a natural smile, not a forced one.

"Yes, this is how we'll live from now on."

"I told you not to talk like we're parting ways!"

"Don't be obsessed with me. I only seem more valuable because someone else wants me."

"Shut up! Give me a chance to persuade you before you decide who to serve. They say even hate can turn into affection, and we've spent years in the same room, so I can at least struggle a bit. I'll hold onto you with everything I've got."

"It still won't work. You're no match for him."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader sighed. The now-empty sacred object already told him that he was out of his depth.

"I can't just let you go. If you're going, take me with you."

The shackled man let out a small laugh. It was the first time he had laughed today after their argument.

"Alright. Let's go to the Second Young Lord together."

"What?"

He never expected him to suggest they go together, so the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader wore a dazed expression.

"Are you crazy?"

However, what the shackled man said next was even more surprising.

"Didn't you say you decided to make the Second Young Lord into the Heavenly Demon? Let's go together and help make him the Heavenly Demon. Then your dream, Cult Leader, will naturally come true. The Second Young Lord right now is the kind of person who would even build the Heavenly Wind Cult Headquarters next to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."

"You madman! How can you say that?"

Just then, a subordinate spoke from outside.

"The Second Young Lord and his guests have arrived."

"Guests?"

"Yes. There are five people in his party."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader sighed and shook his head.

"Ah! He really pushes things frighteningly hard."

Normally, he would have snapped in irritation, but the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's face was relaxed, as if he had let go of his burdens.

"You were right. We talk about the Second Young Lord too much. That's why he always shows up when we talk about him."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader said to his subordinate.

"Show them in at once, and prepare a grand spread of wine and snacks."

"……"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader looked at the shackled man. His gaze was different from usual.

"It seems fate wants us to settle this over you. Alright, let's decide today. Whether the Second Young Lord dies, or I die. Whether you go to the Second Young Lord, or you stay with me. Let's decide it all today, but you must judge fairly."

"In that regard, the Second Young Lord is actually at a disadvantage. As you said, Cult Leader, I have more affection for you."

"Good. Then that's settled."

Soon after, Geom Mugeuk and his party entered.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader greeted his guests with a hearty laugh, as if nothing had happened.

"Hahaha, welcome!"

And so, the decisive drinking party that would change their fates began.