Chapter 88: From the Moment the Umbilical Cord Was Cut

TL: FoodieMonster007

Geom Muyang washed the blood from his body. He stood before a bronze mirror as a maid helped him into fresh clothes.

He put a thin, blade-deflecting treasured armor over his bare skin. Then he layered a slightly thicker treasured armor on top. He openly displayed his obsession with avoiding death, at least to the Demonic Buddha.

The Demonic Buddha sat in a chair and watched him.

Geom Muyang said nothing. One might have expected him to be furious about the Yunnan Eccentric Duo, and the Demonic Buddha could tell he was angry.

"The Second Young Lord is…" The Demonic Buddha trailed off. He had planned to say, 'He's changed so much,' but thought it too obvious. He changed his phrasing.

"…What kind of person is he?"

Geom Muyang answered, his reflection visible in the bronze mirror.

"I thought I knew my younger brother well, but after seeing him earlier, I realize I don't. He wasn't originally this kind of child…"

"You must forget about the past!"

When the Demonic Buddha suddenly raised his voice, the maid adjusting Geom Muyang's collar flinched. Her fingernail accidentally scratched his neck.

"Ah! I'm sorry, please spare me."

The maid prostrated herself on the spot and begged for forgiveness. The atmosphere instantly cooled.

"Why would I kill you over something like this?"

Geom Muyang spoke gently.

The Demonic Buddha interjected coldly.

"But can you really not kill her? You'd spare a maid who scarred the precious body of the man who will become the Heavenly Demon? How ridiculous would that look to others if they heard?"

The maid pleaded desperately.

"Please! Spare my life!"

Geom Muyang helped her up.

"Everyone makes mistakes. You may leave now."

"Thank you, Young Lord. Thank you so much."

The maid left the room.

"You shouldn't be seen easily forgiving the mistakes of your subordinates. You should have at least given her some punishment."

Geom Muyang suddenly asked, "Did you ask what kind of person my brother is?"

"Yes, I did."

"If the same thing happened to him, he's the kind of child who would buy the startled maid a meal. He's been a warm-hearted child since he was young."

"Even so, you must not let your guard down."

"I'm not saying we should let our guard down. Didn't you see Mugeuk's people earlier?"

Geom Muyang's gaze in the mirror shifted from the Demonic Buddha to his own reflection.

"Honestly, I was a little envious."

The Demonic Buddha sometimes found Geom Muyang unpredictable. He handled matters with brilliance and composure, only to suddenly reveal his inner thoughts like this.

While the Demonic Buddha contemplated how to react, Geom Muyang walked over. He sat opposite the Demonic Buddha, poured cold tea into a cup, and drank it.

"Demon Supreme, what are you so worried about?"

"The Second Young Lord's skill is one thing, but more importantly, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon is a cunning old man. The fact that he chose the Second Young Lord definitely means there's a good reason for it. Whether it's because he buys meals for maids, or because there's something else we don't know."

Then Geom Muyang said something unexpected.

"I believe the answer is Father."

The Demonic Buddha was startled by those words.

"What do you mean by that?"

"While I was away, Father supported Mugeuk. He bestowed the Black Demon Sword and appointed him to the position of the Sanzu Hall Director. He's testing to see how I'll deal with Mugeuk now that he has gained power. I believe this is the final test to become the successor."

For a moment, he thought it might be possible, but the Demonic Buddha soon shook his head.

"That can't be it. In the process of the Second Young Lord's rise, the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme died. The cause of death was said to be qi deviation, but there are many suspicious points."

At first, he had believed the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's words that Geom Mugeuk was not responsible. Now, he no longer did.

"It could be the Second Young Lord's work, and you still think it's a test from the Cult Leader? The Cult Leader cherished her as one of the mainstays of our Cult."

"Father probably didn't expect it to go that far. Mugeuk possesses capabilities that exceed Father's expectations."

"Then did the Second Young Lord really kill the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme?"

In response, Geom Muyang posed a question instead of answering.

"Demon Supreme, could you kill the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme?"

"I, of course… can kill her!"

The brief hesitation revealed the level of the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's skill. Even the Demonic Buddha was not confident against the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme.

"That's right. You could have killed her, Demonic Buddha, but it wouldn't have been easy."

After saving the Demonic Buddha's face, Geom Muyang continued with what he originally intended to say.

"Neither I nor Mugeuk could kill the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme with our current martial arts skills. However, it might be possible with the help of one person."

"Who would that be?"

Geom Muyang did not answer, as if telling him to think for himself. The Demonic Buddha pondered for a moment, then flinched and shouted.

"Don't tell me… is it the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader?"

"Correct. With his help, it would have been possible to kill the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme."

The Demonic Buddha thought it was plausible, yet one question remained.

"Why would the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader do that?"

"To advance into the Central Plains. After all, didn't he take the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's disciple as his own?"

"Ah!"

The Demonic Buddha had never once suspected such a thing. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader was behind it from the beginning?

"And then he shamelessly came to investigate the body? Is that what you're saying?"

The Demonic Buddha's relationship with the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had recently soured. Suspicion and anger clouded his objective judgment.

"The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader knew that the Demon Supremes would summon him. It was also the only way he could enter our Cult with confidence."

One final doubt held the Demonic Buddha back.

"But the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader doesn't have the guts for something like that. If it were revealed that he killed the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme, the entire Heavenly Wind Cult would be annihilated. It's impossible."

"There's something Father has always told me since I was young. Never assume you know someone completely."

The Demonic Buddha was confused. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader he knew was not the type to commit such a grand act. However, Geom Muyang's words fit perfectly, and there was another reason added to it.

"Isn't it obvious just from the fact that the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's Strategist went to Mugeuk? As you said, would that meticulous Blood Heaven Blade Demon have joined hands with him for no reason? He must have joined because of this background."

If this is true?

"Damn it! To think I walked right in and brought the murderer here myself!"

"Don't blame yourself. On the contrary, I will use this situation to my advantage and seize control of the Demon Supremes."

"What if the situation doesn't go as planned?"

Geom Muyang casually mentioned the words the Demonic Buddha could not bring himself to say.

"Are you asking if I'll kill Mugeuk? No, I won't kill him. How would Father look upon a brother who kills his younger sibling?"

The Demonic Buddha realized something. Geom Muyang would not kill Geom Mugeuk, not because he was his brother, but because their father was watching.

"Then what do you intend to do?"

"I will bring all those who have attached themselves to Mugeuk to my side. Mugeuk has strong pride. If his own people turn their backs on him, he will leave the cult on his own. You saw it earlier, didn't you? The people who left without watching Mugeuk's duel. I will make those people truly abandon Mugeuk. Let's see if he can still smile and joke then."

"Leaving the Second Young Lord alive will become a future problem."

"Even if he leaves like that, if a crisis befalls our Cult, he's the type to come save us, not kill us. That is his greatest weakness."

Geom Muyang stood up again and walked to the mirror. Staring at his reflection, he spoke calmly.

"The grand chair in the Heavenly Demon Hall is the most solid seat in this murim. It's not a seat a soft-hearted person like Mugeuk can sit in, and he shouldn't."

The next morning, I arrived at the Heavenly Demon Hall and met my brother at the entrance.

"It's been a while since we've entered the Heavenly Demon Hall side by side like this."

"It has."

We walked together.

"Nervous?"

"Not really."

However, my brother was nervous. He always grew unusually stiff before Father. Since he was young, my brother had wanted to look good in Father's eyes.

Once, when we were young, Father called him 'our eldest son' just one time. He boasted about it not for days, but for years.

If I am currently captivated by Hwa Mugi, then my brother is captivated by Father.

My brother and I entered the Heavenly Demon Hall. Father and Head Strategist Sama Myeong were there. We walked the path of blood side by side. Demonic statues on all sides watched my brother's return and our entrance with cold, strange eyes.

"Father, have you been well?"

My brother gave a deep bow to Father.

"Welcome back."

I studied Father's expression. His face, turned toward my brother, held a hint of welcome. My brother, on the other hand, was tense. I could feel him trembling.

"You seem pleased that your eldest son has returned."

Father did not respond to my words.

This Father felt different from the one who walked with me through the Demon Village. I understand this more taciturn Father.

Before my regression, around this time, Father was already thinking of my brother as the successor. Although I shook Father's heart by regressing this time, the person who had first entered that heart was my brother.

If I fail to understand Father's feelings toward my brother, I'll never win this fight. I must not forget that my ultimate enemy is neither Father nor my brother.

"How did the matter you went for turn out?"

My brother answered Father's question with confidence.

"I have overcome all the trials, right up to the final gate."

At those words, Father's expression brightened. My brother had not gone to the frontier to handle trivial tasks.

The Nine Demonic Walls.

The Nine Demonic Walls was the Cult's secret training ground, hidden in the frontier. Father had opened that place to my brother. The Nine Demonic Walls, much like the Little Heaven Cave, could only be entered with the Heavenly Demon's permission.

Overcoming the Nine Demonic Walls was no easy task. It was a trial one level higher than the Little Heaven Cave I had previously passed. However, one could give up and leave the Nine Demonic Walls midway. It could be seen as a safer, yet more difficult, trial.

Sama Myeong was also greatly pleased.

"Congratulations, First Young Lord. To think you passed through the Nine Demonic Walls. Blood truly doesn't lie, it seems."

My brother also inherited Father's blood. In terms of martial arts talent, he was second to none.

I feigned ignorance and asked, "What did he pass through?"

At that, Sama Myeong smiled and said, "The First Young Lord has passed through the Nine Demonic Walls."

I rushed forward and hugged my brother.

"That's amazing, brother!"

Father and Sama Myeong were startled by my action. My brother, the target of my hug, had already experienced my change. He meekly accepted my congratulations.

"Thanks."

"Then you must have achieved complete mastery of the Soaring Sky Sword Art too, right?"

If it had been just the two of us, he wouldn't have answered, but since Father was present, my brother answered honestly. Of course, he spoke to Father, not me.

"Father, in the process of passing through the Nine Demonic Walls, I also achieved complete mastery of the Soaring Sky Sword Art."

"Congratulations."

"It is all thanks to your teachings, Father. Thank you, Father."

Father's gaze turned to my brother and me.

What could Father be thinking right now?

"Congratulations, First Young Lord."

"Thank you, Strategist."

"Congratulations, brother."

"Thanks."

"In this friendly atmosphere, I have something to say to you, Father."

My gaze turned to Father.

"For us, the severing of the umbilical cord was the signal that the fight for succession had begun. That has been our life, and it's the life we will have to continue living. So, I'd like to say this. Father, this time, I want to try having a good-willed competition with my brother. What do you think, brother?"

Instead of answering me, my brother spoke to Father.

"Father, I didn't realize Mugeuk had grown up so much while I was away. He has truly matured."

Father just looked down at us in silence. What was he thinking? Was he, even at this moment, scoring us to see who would be a more suitable successor?

Father made no comment on my words. A good-willed competition? If it had been just the two of us, he might have called it cheap sentimentality that would get me killed.

I said it anyway to tell Father that I would try to embrace my brother and move forward with him.

"You may both leave and rest now."

My brother and I bowed to Father. We walked back down the path of blood and left the Heavenly Demon Hall.

At the entrance, I asked, "Brother, why do you want to become the Heavenly Demon?"

My brother said abruptly, "Because if I don't become the Heavenly Demon, I'll die."

I expected a different answer from my brother. It was a truly unexpected reply.

"Do you die if you lose the succession fight?"

"Until now, they've all died."

"Can't we just not kill each other? The brothers Geom Muyang and Geom Mugeuk, displaying a brotherly love that will go down in the history of the Demonic Cult."

"Do you think other brothers didn't feel that way? In the end… humans always betray each other."

"We can just choose not to, can't we?"

Geom Muyang scoffed at my words and started walking away.

I shouted to my brother, who was walking away in the distance. "I was serious. About having a good-willed competition."

My brother stopped walking and turned back to me. "Then you should have first asked if there's any such thing as 'good will' in my heart. Do you have it?"

"I do."

"Then I guess I'll be starting this fight with an advantage."

Watching my brother's back as he started walking again, I finally let out a small laugh.

Right, how could this be easy? It's already so difficult to make someone favorable toward me into one of my own people. Still, brother, we have to succeed. Because the name of the throwing knife that will stab us in the back isn't 'brotherly love', it's Hwa Mugi.