Chapter 45: Failed the Examination
Leaving behind the Poison Demon, who was completely absorbed in treating the patients(?), Iron Demon set off—and then caught sight of something in passing.
The appearance of the Guardian of the Faith, whom he had not properly seen for nearly twenty years.
Because of that, Iron Demon halted his steps, turned around, and asked Lee Tae, who was standing beside him.
“Hey. Third Squad Leader. Isn’t that the Guardian of the Faith over there?”
At Iron Demon’s question, Lee Tae turned around and scratched the back of his head.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never seen the Guardian of the Faith before……”
“How long has it been since you joined the Cult?”
“This year makes it my sixteenth year.”
Then it made sense that he had never seen him. It had been nearly twenty years since the Guardian of the Faith had cut off his visits to the main stronghold.
But then……
At that point, Iron Demon set aside his thoughts about the Guardian of the Faith and looked at Lee Tae, surprise filling his eyes.
“That’s fast. Becoming a squad leader in just sixteen years after joining.”
“Ah! I came in as experienced personnel.”
“Experienced? Where from—don’t tell me one of the Eighteen Demon Sects?”
“No. I used to be a military officer of Goryeo.”
“Goryeo? That eastern country that supposedly changed dynasties not long ago?”
“Yes. I was part of the Secret Intelligence Inspection Corps there.”
“Secret Intelligence Inspection Corps?”
“If we compare it to the Central Plains, I’d say somewhere between the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard? We gathered intelligence, had investigative authority, and even the right of on-the-spot execution…… It was quite a powerful position.”
“Then why throw away such a cushy post and come all the way to a foreign land?”
At Iron Demon’s crooked question, Lee Tae replied.
“It looked like a rebellion was about to break out, but the people up top were far too complacent. If I stayed any longer, I figured my neck wouldn’t remain attached. And given the nature of the job, I’d made plenty of enemies.”
“So you ran away?”
“I wouldn’t call it running…… But is it really okay to just stand around like this? We still have a long road ahead leading the merchant caravan.”
Only then did Iron Demon turn back. Because he, who had been at the very front, had stopped, the people of Golden Flower Manor were all halted in place, waiting.
“Damn it. Those bastards should’ve known to go around on their own. Let’s move!”
Muttering awkwardly, Iron Demon shouted “Let’s go!” and started walking again.
As the caravan resumed its movement, Lee Tae moved up to Iron Demon’s side at the very front.
“By the way, Chief Elder. What exactly is the Guardian of the Faith? Honestly, I’m hearing about it for the first time.”
“Ah! The Guardian of the Faith. Just some bastard who wastes precious rice and spouts nonsense. No need to care about him.”
“Is…… that so?”
“Yeah. So stop worrying and just focus on the road.”
At Iron Demon’s curt reply, Lee Tae fell back. At that moment, a mental voice transmission from the First Squad Leader reached his ears.
He’s the one in charge of the Bright Cult’s religious affairs.
Religious affairs?
We’re a cult too, you know. The Bright Cult! Naturally, we have believers, gatherings, and the Guardian Division that oversees those things. The one who supervises that Guardian Division is the Guardian of the Faith.
Then why am I hearing about this for the first time?
Ever since the current Cult Leader ascended to his position, he’s shown no interest in the religious side.
Why not?
During the last Maekbaek War, the place where Bright Cult information leaked the most was among the ordinary believers under the Guardian Division’s control. He saw them as traitors.
Then the reason they stopped showing their faces inside the Cult is……?
Right. Even if they came, they were treated like invisible people, and no one listened no matter what they said. On top of that, their support was cut off. From the Cult Leader’s point of view, his one and only master—the previous Cult Leader—had met his death because of their betrayal.
Ah……
Only then did Lee Tae fully grasp the situation. As he nodded, the First Squad Leader’s mental voice transmission ended.
Now understanding what the Guardian of the Faith represented, Lee Tae turned his head back and saw that there were even more people swarming around the inn than the day before.
“That’s a lot. It’s strange to see a place this crowded, especially coming from Cheonghae or Xinjiang.”
Perhaps he had heard the muttering—Iron Demon glanced back briefly, but that was all.
He soon turned his gaze forward again and focused on his own work. Maybe because he resembled his superior, Lee Tae also immediately lost interest and scanned the surroundings.
As long as the Bright Cult’s flag was flying, there wouldn’t be any bandits bold enough to approach—but work was work.
Though Iron Demon said it had been “only” sixteen years, Lee Tae had already become a Bright Cult martial artist to the very marrow of his bones.
If the assigned duty was guard work, then even in a place where no one ever came, a Bright Cult martial artist would spend twelve shijin—an entire day—keeping both eyes wide open!
Upon receiving word that the caravan had arrived, the Vice Cult Leader halted his training and came down toward the main gate where the guest quarters were gathered.
The training ground near the Vice Cult Leader’s residence belonged to the upper section of the Bright Cult’s sacred complex, built upward along the mountain terrain.
Spotting the Vice Cult Leader as he descended, Iron Demon hurriedly ran over.
“We’ve returned, Vice Cult Leader.”
“Welcome back. You’ve worked hard. But I was under the impression that the Southern Heavenly Mountains Route lay much farther south from here, and that even the Northern Route required crossing mountain ridges……”
“Ah! We thought we should pay our respects on the way…… And there was also something we absolutely needed to report.”
“What might that be……?”
At the Vice Cult Leader’s question, Iron Demon turned around. Lee Tae quickly brought over the person in charge of Golden Flower Manor’s Western Regions Trade Caravan, along with two young men he had dragged along.
Looking at them, the Vice Cult Leader asked.
“Who are they?”
At that moment, Lee Tae smacked the two youths on their backs, pushing them forward.
“We’re bandits!”
“We really are bandits!”
At the absurd declaration, the Vice Cult Leader looked at Iron Demon as if asking what nonsense this was. Iron Demon answered.
“On the way here, some bandits attacked us without any fear…… so we captured them. I wanted to make it clear that we didn’t clash with the Hundred Paths……”
Only then did the Vice Cult Leader understand what Iron Demon was trying to say—but strangely, Yul Han’s suspicion deepened instead.
The aura of the two youths standing before him was far too pure to be that of bandits or mountain brigands. They looked more like late-generation talents of the Hundred Paths who hadn’t yet been stained by the world……
“Is that really—”
Before the Vice Cult Leader could even finish asking “Is that true?”, the Golden Flower Manor merchant, whose back had been shoved by Lee Tae, stepped forward.
“I guarantee it!”
Looking at the merchant, Yul Han asked.
“A guarantee…… You do know who I am, yes?”
“Yes. Of course. You are the Vice Cult Leader.”
At the earnest answer, Yul Han curled his lips into a grin.
The merchant’s cheeks trembled violently in fear as he faced that smile. Leaning his face close to the trembling merchant, Yul Han asked.
“Do you know my nickname?”
“E-Emperor Salyejin!”
“That one doesn’t count.”
“Th-The Butcher of the Hundred Paths!”
“And there’s another, isn’t there?”
“H-Human Butcher. Hk!”
For some reason, the merchant swallowed a gasp of air. Pulling his face away, Yul Han roughly planted the crescent blade he had been holding from training.
Thud.
“I’ll ask again. Do you guarantee it?”
The Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult’s voice dropped with a distinctly colder edge than before. The first one to blurt something out was neither the merchant who had been questioned, nor the two youths trembling in fear at the Vice Cult Leader standing before them, nor even Lee Tae, who had forced them to give false testimony—it was Iron Demon.
“N-no! That’s not true! It was a lie.”
Even though Iron Demon knew that Lee Tae and the others were staring at him in shock, he had no choice but to step forward.
Letting it slide might have been one thing, but if he lied again after the Vice Cult Leader had already noticed and asked once more, the Vice Cult Leader Iron Demon knew would never let it pass.
No matter how much he hated failing the examination, it was still better than dying.
“Then who are they?”
At the Vice Cult Leader’s question, Iron Demon answered.
“They’re from the Hundred Paths…… the Qilian Sword Sect.”
“What exactly happened?”
“Those fools who had lost all sense attacked us……”
“And the injured?”
At the Vice Cult Leader’s question, Iron Demon squeezed his eyes shut and replied.
“We cut down four and buried them.”
“Hm…… So a grudge has been formed. There were no losses on the merchant caravan, I presume?”
“T-that is…….”
The Vice Cult Leader’s brow furrowed. He had assumed there would be no damage to the caravan since Iron Demon and the squad leaders of the Chief Elder Hall had been present.
Reading the Vice Cult Leader’s expression, Iron Demon answered.
“Yes. Four…… died.”
“What were you doing during that time?”
“Y-yes?”
“I’m asking what you were doing while four people under the Chief Elder were dying.”
The question was completely different from what Iron Demon had expected. He had anticipated being grilled over why he had disobeyed the order not to clash with the Hundred Paths, and why he had violated the command to avoid casualties. Instead, this unexpected question left him flustered.
“Th-that is…….”
Unable to answer immediately, Iron Demon hesitated, and Lee Tae hurriedly stepped forward in his stead.
“It was an ambush, so…….”
“You sound like the master of lies. Should I believe the squad leader’s words?”
“A-ah! Th-that is…….”
As Lee Tae froze in shock and confusion, the First Squad Leader stepped forward instead.
“It is the truth. The martial artists of the Qilian Sword Sect did launch an attack, Vice Cult Leader.”
“How many attacked? One or two hundred, perhaps?”
“N-no, it wasn’t like that……”
“Then how many were there?”
“There were six. We killed four and brought two in under escort.”
“So you’re saying that six people—including the Chief Elder and five squad leaders of the Chief Elder Hall—were attacked by an equal number of late-generation disciples from the Qilian Sword Sect, and you lost four. Is that correct?”
At the Vice Cult Leader’s neatly summarized assessment, not only the First Squad Leader who had answered, but also Iron Demon and all the members of the Chief Elder Hall stiffened.
They understood that the issue was no longer about failing to meet the conditions, but that their skill itself was being questioned.
The problem was that they lacked grounds to refute it. As the Vice Cult Leader said, they had been attacked by an equal number of late-generation martial artists from the Hundred Paths—and had still lost four.
Judging that his point had been fully understood, the Vice Cult Leader spoke.
“You are eliminated from the examination not for failing to meet the conditions, but for a lack of ability. Do you have any objections?”
When the Vice Cult Leader’s gaze fell upon him, Iron Demon opened his mouth slightly, then finally bowed his head.
It wasn’t that he had nothing to say, but that he knew better than anyone that anything he said would be nothing more than an excuse.
“N-no…… I do not.”
“Very well. Had you lacked ability and still tried to force excuses, I would have been truly disappointed. At least that much is fortunate. Then……”
As the Vice Cult Leader trailed off and turned his head, his gaze landed on someone among the onlookers. The Profound Demon jumped in alarm and stepped forward.
“M-me?”
“Yes. Since the Chief Elder Hall has been eliminated, the Deputy Elder…… ah! If things go well, you may soon become the Chief Elder. Begin the examination.”
At the Vice Cult Leader’s words, both Iron Demon and the squad leaders of the Chief Elder Hall who had been eliminated, as well as the Deputy Elder who had become the next examinee, all stiffened with grim expressions.
They had realized that failing the Vice Cult Leader’s examination meant losing the true Chief Elder position entirely.
And that meant the same could happen to the Deputy Elder position as well. That was why the Profound Demon’s expression had hardened just as much as Iron Demon’s.
Unable to utter a word under the Vice Cult Leader’s terrifying gaze, the Profound Demon hastily selected the squad leaders of the Deputy Elder Hall. Then, in place of the deeply dejected members of the Chief Elder Hall, he led the Golden Flower Manor merchants and set out on the journey once more.
The mission entrusted to them was the same as that of the Chief Elder Hall. From the perspective of the Deputy Elder Hall, the only consolation was that all they had left to do was safely escort them across the Heavenly Mountains.
Of course, the problem was that this was the most grueling part of the entire journey.
After the commotion subsided and the merchant caravan departed from the Bright Cult, Yul Han spoke to the Young Sect Master of the Qilian Sword Sect, who was trembling with fear.
“Your side initiated the attack, and our side also suffered casualties. Setting aside right and wrong, both sides have losses, so I believe it is meaningless to pursue responsibility. Do you agree?”
At Yul Han’s question, the Young Sect Master nodded fiercely.
“I-I agree.”
Indeed, no matter how drunk he had been, or how intoxicated with youthful bravado, had he known the opponent was Iron Demon, he would never have charged in.
Come to think of it, surviving after attacking Iron Demon and then facing the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult was nothing short of a miracle. He dared not hope for anything more.
“Good. Since the Golden Flower Manor side that just departed has also agreed, we will consider there to be no grudges among the Bright Cult, Golden Flower Manor, and the Qilian Sword Sect—all three.”
Turning his gaze away from the Young Sect Master, who was nodding so violently his neck might snap, Yul Han looked back at Iron Demon, who appeared half out of his senses.