Chapter 498: From Now On, I Am the Culprit

TL: FoodieMonster007

Seo Daeryong ran up to Geom Woojin and bowed politely.

"Greetings to the Cult Leader."

Geom Woojin accepted Seo Daeryong's greeting.

"It's been a while."

Father also seemed a bit surprised by his appearance. The man being the Sanzu Hall Director Seo Daeryong was not an issue. The problem was that he was the disciple who had inherited the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's martial arts.

"Greetings to the Young Cult Leader."

Since Geom Woojin was present, Seo Daeryong also formally greeted Geom Mugeuk. Normally, he would have run over shouting, 'I missed you! Young Cult Leader!'

Under different circumstances, Geom Mugeuk would have joked around while accepting his greeting, but this was not the time for that. He had to help him maintain his authority as the Sanzu Hall Director in front of his father. The fun of joking around was fleeting, but this moment would influence Seo Daeryong's life from now on.

"What brings the Sanzu Hall Director here?"

Seo Daeryong sensed it. Not just Geom Mugeuk, but even Geom Woojin was surprised by his appearance.

He wanted to put on a tearful face and say this.

[I'm not supposed to be here, am I?]

However, he couldn't dare speak in such a way in front of the Cult Leader.

Geom Mugeuk read Seo Daeryong's feelings from his expression.

"We're in a situation where we shouldn't be meeting Director Seo right now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Right now, my father and I are with the culprit who annihilated the Anonymous Manor and the Great Justice Sect."

Realizing that the culprit was him, Seo Daeryong's eyes widened in surprise.

"Me?"

"Yes, you're the prime suspect right now."

Then, unexpected words came from Seo Daeryong's mouth.

"But how did you know? That I went there."

This time, it was Geom Mugeuk's turn to be surprised.

"You went there?"

"Yes, I did. I went to both places."

It wasn't even just one place. Unable to hold back, Geom Mugeuk shouted.

"So Director Seo was the culprit!"

At Geom Mugeuk's words, Seo Daeryong jumped.

"No, what are you…"

He started to react as he usually would but then continued speaking politely.

"Me, the culprit? I am not!"

Of course, it was a joke from Geom Mugeuk. He knew Seo Daeryong wasn't the type of person to wipe out an entire family. The reports said even the cooks and working women were all killed. He knew well that neither Seo Daeryong nor the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would commit such a cruel act.

Geom Mugeuk asked again, seriously.

"Why did you come to Chongqing?"

The answer he had hoped would not come, came. It would have been better if the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had just stayed in our Cult reading books.

"I came to see my Master."

The gaze of Geom Woojin, who had been listening, also grew intense.

He had a feeling when Seo Daeryong appeared. If the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was also here, this was no ordinary situation.

"Don't tell me? Is Elder Blade Demon here?"

Seo Daeryong nodded and answered.

"Yes, he is here."

"Tell me in detail what happened."

Seo Daeryong glanced once at Geom Mugeuk, then began to recount the past events in a trembling voice. He was speaking to Geom Mugeuk, but it was a report for the Cult Leader.

"Some time ago, my Master left the cult, saying he had something to attend to."

"And he didn't say what it was?"

"No. He only said he had a place to visit. But he seemed a little different than usual."

"Different in what way?"

Because the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was so strict when teaching martial arts, it wasn't easy for Seo Daeryong to read his master's emotions or inner thoughts.

However, the bond between them had deepened recently, and he would sometimes even tolerate Seo Daeryong's jokes. So he could sense his master's emotions better than before.

"He appeared composed on the outside, but for some reason, his expression was dark."

At those words, Geom Mugeuk's expression naturally hardened. Seo Daeryong was quick-witted. If it was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon of all people, what he saw must have been accurate. Had something happened to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon?

"But I couldn't ask any more questions."

That would be the case. When the Blood Heaven Blade Demon himself says he has business and is leaving the cult, how could one possibly pry?

"A long time after he left, this arrived for me."

As he said that, Seo Daeryong took something out from his robes. What he handed over was a book.

"Could this be?"

"That's right. It's the collection of poetry and paintings my Master always enjoyed reading."

This poetry collection was definitely the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's book. A note Geom Mugeuk had left when he borrowed and returned it remained on the first page.

[If the Elder hadn't become a martial artist, he would have become a poet.]

"This arrived?"

Geom Mugeuk's expression had become serious.

"And this was tucked between the pages of the book."

Seo Daeryong handed over another piece of paper.

[A certain month, a certain day. Chongqing, the Anonymous Manor.]

It was a message to meet at the annihilated Anonymous Manor.

Geom Mugeuk looked at his father in surprise. This was clearly no small matter. If there was a need to send a message to Seo Daeryong, he could have just sent a messenger pigeon. There was no reason to send a book. As expected, his father's gaze had turned cold and sunken.

"Is it the Elder's handwriting?"

"That's what I was unsure about. It looked similar, but also not. So I was going to have the handwriting analyst in my hall investigate it. But I changed my mind and departed immediately."

"Why did you leave without seeing the results?"

"On second thought, there was no need to confirm. If it was my Master's handwriting, I obviously had to come. And if it wasn't my Master's handwriting, I had to come even faster."

If someone else had written and sent it, it meant the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was in danger.

"If the Young Cult Leader had been there, I would have consulted you."

Geom Mugeuk was gone, and Lee Ahn was gone. To make matters worse, Jang Ho was also away from the cult with the Demonic Army. In the end, Seo Daeryong came to Chongqing alone.

Geom Mugeuk realized it. This was a conspiracy by someone who knew that Seo Daeryong would definitely come all the way to Chongqing. The culprit was someone who knew the circumstances of our Cult and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon well.

"I went to the Anonymous Manor on the date written there, but my Master was not present. I didn't know if the date was wrong or the place was wrong. But I couldn't just go back, so I waited at a nearby inn. I had a bad feeling about it. So I immediately reported the situation to the Head Strategist through the All-Knowing Hall."

"That was a good move."

As expected of the brilliant Seo Daeryong.

"As I was waiting, that night, someone sent a letter to the guest room I was staying in."

Geom Mugeuk guessed the contents of the letter exactly.

"Was it a message to meet at the Great Justice Sect?"

"That's right. Since I came up empty-handed before, I had to go. But this time, too, it was a bust. And the next day, those incidents happened one after another."

When we had turned our carriage around, Seo Daeryong was already here and had become entangled in these events.

"Chongqing was sealed off due to the incidents at the Anonymous Manor and the Great Justice Sect. I could have gotten out if I really wanted to, but I couldn't return without confirming my Master's safety. That's when a message came from the All-Knowing Hall. It said the Cult Leader and the Young Cult Leader were at a safehouse and that I should go there."

Strategist Sama had made the wisest choice.

Seo Daeryong asked Geom Mugeuk. Unless the Head Strategist had given special permission, even the Sanzu Hall Director could not have come to the Heavenly Demon's exclusive safehouse.

In this urgent situation, he asked, "But what did you mean earlier? Why am I the culprit? Is it because I visited those places?"

However, Geom Mugeuk had brought up the culprit before Seo Daeryong had said he visited those places.

Geom Mugeuk told him the reason.

"The martial arts that killed the Great Justice Sect's leader is the Heaven Destroying Demonic Blade Technique."

Startled, Seo Daeryong's eyes flew wide open.

"That can't be!"

That was why. Geom Mugeuk turned to his father and said.

"I don't know who it is, but they've concocted a rather plausible conspiracy."

I could feel my father's anger. Father would not have been this furious if someone had simply challenged him.

However, the culprit had provoked the Path of Demons by leaving behind the words 'Demonic World'. And now, they had provoked his father's Demon Supreme.

Because before he was my Blood Heaven Blade Demon, the Blade Demon was my father's Demon Supreme.

Geom Mugeuk could feel it. His father would never forgive the mastermind behind this incident.

Presently, Geom Woojin said softly.

"He's not someone who gets taken down easily, so there's no need to worry about him."

It was a statement that revealed his absolute trust in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. After saying that, his father went inside the building.

Geom Mugeuk said loudly to his father. His father's back was telling him. Find out where that man is, now.

"I will find out where the Elder is."

Once Geom Woojin entered his quarters, only Geom Mugeuk and Seo Daeryong remained in the safehouse courtyard.

At last, Seo Daeryong let out a sigh of relief. He had been very nervous in front of the Heavenly Demon. He tried hard not to show it, but he had been trembling a lot.

"I was afraid the Cult Leader would interrogate me, asking if it was my doing!"

The two of them now began to speak comfortably.

"No way. Father knows very well that you're not the kind of person to do something like that."

"He knows about me?"

Geom Mugeuk nodded.

"Do you think he would just give you the position of the Sanzu Hall Director because I recommended you? The Head Strategist probably reported everything about the man Seo Daeryong."

"He must know about my timidness too, then."

Separate from the seriousness of this situation, it was good to see Seo Daeryong after so long. Good people are always good to see, no matter when or in what situation.

"Have you been well?"

"Yes, I've been well."

You wouldn't know, Young Cult Leader. How much I missed you. I checked every day to see if you had returned.

"Did you take care of your business well?"

Geom Mugeuk nodded at Seo Daeryong's question.

"Of course. With who went, how could it not have ended well?"

He could trust Geom Mugeuk to handle it alone, but the Cult Leader had gone with him.

"When we were handling things there, I had no idea that the real problem was waiting here in Chongqing."

Seo Daeryong asked cautiously.

"Will my Master be alright?"

But he soon looked down at the poetry collection and shook his head.

"How can he be alright when this is in our hands?"

After despairing like that, he startled himself and shouted.

"What nonsense am I spouting! The Cult Leader said it too, didn't he? Our Master isn't someone who gets taken down easily anywhere. He'll be fine."

They say that the deeper the affection, the greater the worry. He had somehow managed when he was alone, but seeing Geom Mugeuk made all the worry he had been holding back burst out. Seo Daeryong hadn't been able to sleep properly since this incident began, worried about the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

Geom Mugeuk reassured Seo Daeryong.

"The Elder will be fine."

"He really will be, right?"

"Have my words ever been wrong?"

"Of course not, you've never been wrong!"

Geom Mugeuk thought of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. The image that came to mind now was not of him swinging a large dao, nor his unyielding gaze, nor his stubborn personality.

It was of him sitting quietly, reading a book.

That's why I believe. That he won't be easily defeated by anyone, anywhere. Because a Demon Supreme who reads books cannot be found anywhere else.

Geom Mugeuk put the book into his robes. He was certain this book would protect the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

"Since this is the Elder's business, you and I will have to solve it, right?"

A fire lit up in Seo Daeryong's eyes.

"What should I do? Just entrust me with anything."

"They tried to make you the culprit in this incident. There will probably be witnesses who saw you."

The person who mastered the martial art that killed the Great Justice Sect's leader visited the place beforehand? It was a situation with almost no way out. In that case?

"Let's move according to their intentions."

"How?"

"When else in your life will you get to be such a villain?"

He meant for Seo Daeryong to become the villain who massacred the Great Justice Sect. It seemed like he would refuse, saying he couldn't possibly do that, but Seo Daeryong answered readily.

"From now on, I am the culprit! Be careful, I'm a merciless and terrifying guy!"

"You'll do it? If this goes wrong, you could be branded as that kind of villain by other martial artists and this whole affair could end there. Aren't you scared?"

"I am scared," Seo Daeryong said honestly.

"You know, don't you? How cowardly and timid I am. How much I look after my own skin. And how I'm really conscious of what other people think."

But the reason he could overcome all of that was this.

"Still, I have to do it. It's for my Master. I have to do it even if I die."

Seo Daeryong remembered the moment he first met Geom Mugeuk. His dark, gloomy, and timid self back then. He also remembered when he first met the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. The day he got drunk and clung to his trouser leg. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon who had put him to bed. A man with such a neat personality.

When he thought of those times, what was there to hesitate about?

"It's a shame. That I can only be bait."

How could Geom Mugeuk not know his heart? His desire to play a cool role and resolve this incident. His longing to be acknowledged by the Blood Heaven Blade Demon for it.

But it was too much for now. The mastermind behind this incident was no ordinary person. Even playing the role of bait would not be easy.

"You're bait, but you're bait to catch a monster. The pinnacle of baits, a smart bait who was the valedictorian of his class, the best bait in the murim."

Seo Daeryong smiled faintly. If it weren't for this Young Cult Leader in front of him, he would have fainted several times already in this situation. But instead of running away and looking away, he was saying things like this.

"That bait, even if it's swallowed into the monster's stomach, you have to pull me out!"