Chapter 42: An Unexpected Turn of Events
At the moment when Poison Demon left the Heavenly Mountains, leading the squad leaders under his command along with masters of poison arts, a wager formed among the Bright Cult’s martial artists.
It concerned what kind of test the Vice Cult Leader had presented to Poison Demon.
Because it had been conveyed through Mental Voice Transmission, there was no one who had heard what it actually was.
For that reason, amid countless rampant speculations, the elders came together as a group to seek out Yul Han.
Just when it seemed the elders were finally about to challenge him collectively, the Second Elder, Profound Demon, stepped forward.
“Please grant us a petition for fairness, Vice Cult Leader.”
“Fairness… you say?”
“Yes. By nature, is not fairness the foremost principle of any test?”
The martial artists around them, who had been pricking up their ears, all took on expressions that clearly said, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’ There had never been a precedent of the Bright Cult weighing something like fairness.
In truth, the Bright Cult’s foremost maxim, Might Makes Right, itself stood worlds apart from anything resembling fairness.
Yet Profound Demon and the elders, who could not possibly be unaware of this, shamelessly pressed on with faces as thick as iron plates.
“Is that not so, Vice Cult Leader?”
From their perspective, it was likely an argument put forth in desperation, a bid to find some path to survival. But from Yul Han’s standpoint, it was an unsolicited favor.
“That’s right. Fairness is important.”
“Just as expected of the Vice Cult Leader. Then, if I may say so, we would like to undergo the same test as the Chief Elder.”
They deliberately avoided even mentioning the matter entrusted to the Fifth Elder, Poison Demon. They did not know what test he had received, and the fact that Poison Demon had left with an expression as if he had chewed through an entire sack of salt suggested it was by no means an easy one.
At those elders, Yul Han let out a faint chuckle.
It was a laugh of sheer disbelief, but—
Flinch.
The elders’ expressions stiffened instantly, and a creeping dread spread across their faces. They feared he might shout about their insolence and swing his crescent blade on the spot.
To those elders, Yul Han replied,
“If that is the will of the elders, then so be it. However, since the tests cannot be conducted simultaneously, let us proceed once the Chief Elder returns.”
“How could we object!”
As joyful as Profound Demon’s voice sounded, the faces of the elders lined up behind him brightened as well.
They believed they had bought time. That meant they now had leeway to prepare countermeasures.
Knowing exactly what they were thinking, Yul Han nevertheless accepted without resistance.
Thus, as the elders’ inspection was pushed back, the tests for the hall leaders and squad leaders were likewise delayed.
The fire at their feet had effectively turned into a neighboring house fire. The problem, of course, was that such fires inevitably spread to one’s own home—but at least it was not an immediate crisis that would burn everything to the ground.
Taking comfort in that fact, the hall leaders and squad leaders clamored noisily as they searched for tactical and strategic manuals—texts that had all but vanished within the cult.
Kunlun watched the Bright Cult with intense interest.
They simply could not discern the Vice Cult Leader’s true intentions.
True enough, the Vice Cult Leader had said many things. The problem was that Kunlun could not bring itself to trust those words.
After all, the mistrust between the two sides ran far too deep to be bridged by mere speech.
As Kunlun continued to keep a close eye on the Bright Cult for various reasons, puzzling information began pouring in.
“They are… looking for books, you say?”
At Shin Jijinren’s question, the Pavilion Lord of Sangho Pavilion, who was responsible for Kunlun’s intelligence, nodded.
“Yes, Sect Master. We have confirmed that requests are flooding in to every place the Bright Cult can contact, asking them to procure books.”
“What kind of books could they possibly be seeking?”
“Most of them are military manuals dealing with tactics and strategy.”
“Military manuals?”
“Yes. Because of that, we suspect the Bright Cult may be preparing for another White Horse War.”
At the Pavilion Lord’s answer, Shin Jijinren asked,
“Given the Bright Cult’s past behavior, military manuals seem unrelated to invasion. On what basis did you reach that conclusion?”
“In the last White Horse War, the Bright Cult’s defeat was due to a lack of tactics. We judged that they might be attempting to make up for that.”
“That was when they had no Strategist. Now, does the Bright Cult not have one?”
“That Strategist is surrounded by rumors, yet his identity has never been confirmed…”
“You believe it is false?”
“Yes. Not only us, but the Martial Alliance and the other Nine Sects share a similar view.”
“Hm… false, you say…”
At that point, the Vice Cult Leader he had encountered before suddenly came to mind. Separate from his deep mistrust of the Bright Cult, there had been no hint of falsehood in the impression the Vice Cult Leader left behind.
With that memory resurfacing, Shin Jijinren spoke.
“Is there really a need to prepare so ostentatiously for the White Horse War at this point? If I were the Vice Cult Leader, I could have inflicted tremendous damage long ago. To miss all those opportunities and only now—does that not seem difficult to understand?”
“To be honest, that very issue has troubled us as well. But aside from that, we cannot find another explanation…”
Indeed, if they were not preparing for the White Horse War, there was little reason for Bright Cult martial artists—who were said to be obsessed solely with training—to suddenly seek out military manuals.
Even so…
“Observe a bit more. There are simply too many things that do not sit right.”
“Yes, Sect Master.”
After answering, the Pavilion Lord of Sangho Pavilion withdrew. Shin Jijinren then cast his gaze out the window. Kunlun’s verdant scenery looked the same as yesterday, yet somehow felt different.
“Why is it? What is it that stirs the heart of this foolish Daoist?”
Shin Jijinren’s troubled murmur lingered within the Sect Master’s chambers of Kunlun.
* * *
At no place was the shock greater than at Golden Flower Manor.
They knew that an escort would be coming from the Bright Cult, but they had never even imagined that it would be one of the Five Demons of the world—let alone Iron Demon, ranked first among them.
Iron Demon, his face deeply creased with dissatisfaction, barked out impatiently.
“Hurry it up already! Why are you all so damn slow? At this rate, do you think we’ll even be able to leave today?!”
One of the squad leaders approached Iron Demon’s side and spoke in a hushed whisper.
“Um… Chief Elder.”
“Why the hell are you whispering?!”
“Well… that is… we were told we need to be kind…”
At that moment, the conditions the Vice Cult Leader had rattled off in rapid succession before they left the Bright Cult flashed through his mind.
<No clashes with the Hundred Paths during the schedule. No drinking alcohol. Do not get close to women. Do not harm commerce. Do not seize goods. Do not intimidate. And be kind.>
It was definitely there. “Be kind.”
Forcing his automatically twisted expression back into place, Iron Demon spoke.
“T-take it slow. Slowly. If we can’t leave today, we’ll leave tomorrow. Damn it. Ah! That wasn’t a curse. Just, you know, a verbal filler. You get it, right? Just how we talk.”
“Y-yes indeed. Please do not concern yourself. Great Hero Iron Demon. And we will make sure to depart today without fail, so please wait just a moment.”
“Will you? Good, then. Ah! And let’s be clear about one thing. I’m not forcing you or anything.”
“Pardon? Ah! Yes. O-of course. This is voluntary. Completely voluntary.”
Iron Demon smiled as he looked at the Golden Flower Manor Lord, who placed particular emphasis on the word “voluntary.”
The problem was that the smile looked like that of a ferocious beast just before pouncing.
In any case, perhaps thanks to that, the Golden Flower Manor trade caravan was assembled in just half a day after the Bright Cult’s escort arrived.
A Western Regions trade caravan departing for the first time in three full years had been prepared in half a day—enough to show just how frantically everyone had moved.
Of course, that was only possible because preparations had already been underway.
At any rate, as the sun sank over Golden Flower Manor, the Western Regions trade caravan finally set off.
It was a large group, consisting of one hundred laborers carrying bundled packs, twenty caravan escort warriors, and six merchants in charge of transactions.
At the front stood Iron Demon and five squad leaders from the Chief Elder’s hall. Naturally, the Bright Cult’s banner flew foremost.
The people of Golden Flower Manor watched that banner fluttering ahead of them with eyes filled with anxiety.
After all, Lanzhou—the region they were departing through—was clearly the front yard of the Kongtong Sect, one pillar of the Hundred Paths.
Sure enough, along the main roads the caravan passed, Hundred Paths martial artists glaring with rage were frequently spotted.
In some cases, dozens gathered together in mobs, causing no small amount of tension.
Fortunately, however, both sides—those of the Hundred Paths and the Bright Cult martial artists led by Iron Demon—did nothing more than glare at one another.
Thanks to that, the Golden Flower Manor Western Regions trade caravan safely made its way out of Lanzhou.
Whether traveling or trading, the rule was to walk by day and rest by night. But since the Golden Flower Manor caravan had departed at dusk, they decided to continue marching until late into the night on the first day.
Perhaps driven by an obsession with quickly escaping Lanzhou—the front yard of the Kongtong Sect—and Gansu itself, no one in the caravan voiced any complaints about the decision.
After all, no one was ignorant of how dangerous it was to brazenly pass through Hundred Paths territory while flying the Bright Cult’s banner.
Because of that, even as they walked along dark mountain paths, the caravan’s pace was remarkably fast.
Gansu was a land that stretched long from north to south, and the atmosphere of its southern and northern regions differed greatly.
The south still belonged to the cultural sphere of the Central Plains, but northern Gansu was more heavily influenced by nomadic tribes and wild peoples of the steppes and western wastelands.
As a result, the martial world ecosystem there also displayed tendencies quite different from the south.
More free-spirited, rougher—something like that. At the center of northern Gansu’s martial world stood the Qilian Mountains.
Though treacherous yet not particularly vast, these mountains housed no fewer than six sects clustered together.
Among them, the largest was the Qilian Sword Sect.
To be honest, the other five sects had all branched off from the Qilian Sword Sect.
Because their history and origins were intricately tangled, each claimed to be the “original” or the “main line,” but by common acknowledgment, the true native of the Qilian Mountains was the Qilian Sword Sect.
The Qilian Sword Sect’s alignment leaned toward neutrality between orthodox and unorthodox, but following the Hundred Paths’ expansion policy, it had joined the Martial Alliance as an official Hundred Paths sect.
At one time, it had been powerful enough to rival the Kongtong Sect, but after its strength was broken in a conflict with the Great Snow Blade Sect—also located in northern Gansu—it had struggled to regain momentum.
The Young Sect Master of the Qilian Sword Sect happened to be visiting Lanzhou when he spotted the Golden Flower Manor caravan passing by with the Bright Cult’s banner flying high.
Youth bred boldness and fearlessness. Unfortunately, the Young Sect Master of the Qilian Sword Sect was no exception.
Only twenty-three years old, this promising young martial artist—who dreamed of restoring the Qilian Sword Sect as the hegemon of Gansu—believed he had seized an opportunity to make the sect’s name resound throughout the world.
Of course, the fact that he was somewhat drunk, and that there was no expert in his group capable of recognizing Iron Demon, formed the backdrop of this decision.
Even so, the opponent was the Bright Cult.
That Bright Cult—the very synonym for blood, death, and destruction.
To even entertain the thought of drawing a blade against those flying its banner required considerable courage.
Once the attack was decided, their swift movements were commendable, and their choice of a narrow chokepoint was fairly sound.
The tactic of striking the rear and middle simultaneously also deserved praise.
The caravan’s escort warriors, scattered through the rear and middle, reacted to the sudden ambush and fought back, but under the fast and savage assault of the Qilian Sword Sect, they collapsed helplessly.
Though early, the Qilian Sword Sect’s experts had clearly seized the advantage.
Naturally, that advantage lasted only an instant.
It took Iron Demon and the squad leaders—who had been walking at the front beneath the Bright Cult’s banner—no more than a few breaths to rush to the rear and middle.
It was hardly even a fight.
Because Iron Demon, standing at the boundary between human and transcendent being, had stepped in.
After cutting down four of the six Qilian Sword Sect martial artists involved in the ambush and beating the remaining two to death, Iron Demon realized just how serious the problem was.
“Who did you say you were?”
“I am Ji Juhyeon, the Young Sect Master of the Qilian Sword Sect, bearing the title Azure Heaven Qilian Ranger!”
The lofty-sounding epithet never even registered. After the words “Qilian Sword Sect,” everything else went in one ear and out the other.
“If it’s the Qilian Sword Sect, then that means the Hundred Paths, right?”
At Iron Demon’s flustered question, the squad leaders—looking even more panicked than he was—nodded their heads violently.
The squad leaders understood all too well the predicament they were in.
“…This is fucked.”
At Iron Demon’s muttering, the squad leaders’ heads nodded in grim agreement.