Chapter 133: The Eve (1)

She landed lightly in the training ground of Flower-Haze Hall.

It was still before dawn.

Soyak gazed for a moment at the moon hanging bright and full in the sky.

Come to think of it, both her master and Eldest Brother seemed to enjoy looking at the moon.

They often gazed at it beyond the window.

Had Eunsong, her master, not told her to look at the moon a while before leaving?

“......When I think of it that way, they’re alike.”

Cheonjeong and Eunsong had quite a few points of resemblance.

Their way of speaking was similar, and they both seemed to like gazing at the moon.

The way they treated her was much the same too.

Eunsong, too, if he could protect Soyak by taking a blade in her place......

Would surely have leapt in without hesitation.

Even the way they occasionally said something witty was similar.

Should she call it like master, like disciple?

Or did people come to resemble each other as they taught and learned?

Just as she was about to enter Flower-Haze Hall while having those trivial thoughts......

Her eyes met Cheonjeong’s as he sat on the steps.

“......Ah.”

“What do you mean, ‘ah’? Did you have fun playing outside?”

“Th-that’s.......”

There was no way to make an excuse.

She had not thought she would be caught at the scene this quickly.

She had thought everyone was asleep, but apparently not.

Soyak hunched her shoulders and pointlessly watched Cheonjeong’s expression.

All third-generation disciples in Flower-Haze Hall were under Cheonjeong’s supervision.

In other words.

Just as it was Cheonjeong’s merit when each third-generation disciple here trained diligently.

The scolding and criticism earned by running around was also Cheonjeong’s fault.

Soyak bit her lips, which had gone dry, and mumbled in a tiny voice.

“There was something that bothered me.......”

“Very well. Tell me. What matter bothered you enough that you secretly slipped out in the dead of night while everyone was asleep?”

His voice was not angry.

Nor was his expression angry.

If anything, he looked interested.

Soyak could not tell whether he truly was not angry......

Or whether she had misread the situation.

Still, she did worry about whether it would be all right for Cheonjeong to be the first person to hear about that cave and the Demonic Energy.

Inside the Mount Hua Sect, there was a cave filled with Demonic Energy.

It was a place where something connected to the Demonic Cult had been sealed......

And whatever had been sealed inside had now escaped, leaving it empty.

It was the kind of news that would make anyone react in one of two ways.

One side would snort and tell her to stop making absurd, unamusing jokes.

The other would turn pale with shock and run to report to the Sect Leader.

Soyak lightly spread her energy to check whether anyone was hiding nearby and listening in.

There was certainly no one caught by her senses for energy.

Inside Flower-Haze Hall, no third-generation disciple could deceive Soyak’s senses for energy.

Only then did Soyak let out a relieved sigh and lower her voice.

“......You must keep this secret.”

“Is this something serious enough to be called a secret?”

“Yes. I will tell Master, Great Grand Master, and Grand Master tomorrow as well...... but right now, you are the first to hear this news, Eldest Brother.”

Cheonjeong’s eyes widened.

She was telling him before Eunsong, Myeonggon, and even Jeongyang.

For a moment, he wondered whether it was all right for him to be the very first to hear this story.

“......Before you tell me, first tell me what it concerns.”

“It concerns the Demonic Cult and the Mount Hua Sect.”

“Good heavens.”

Cheonjeong’s face went pale.

The Demonic Cult and Mount Hua......

No matter how one put them together, it made no sense. But Soyak must certainly have seen something again.

She would never tell a lie.

Then this meant she had found traces of the Demonic Cult inside the Mount Hua Sect.

If the Sect Leader had not known, that was a serious problem......

And if he had known.

If he had known and left it alone, that was an even greater problem.

Either case might develop into internal strife within the Mount Hua Sect.

If that happened, Cheonjeong, who was only Eldest Brother and a third-generation disciple, would be left with nothing he could do.

Most of all, he could not even guarantee the safety of Soyak, who had become his source of information.

Some information was safer left unknown.

Cheonjeong let out a sigh and shook his head.

It seemed this was not information he could handle.

“This will not do.”

“Yes?”

Soyak tilted her head.

Cheonjeong shrugged and smiled bitterly.

“I think it would be right to tell Master first. Even if I hear that information, not only is there nothing I can do, it may even become dangerous.”

“......That may truly be the case.”

“Right?”

Cheonjeong brushed off his regret and rose from his seat.

Then he held out his hand to Soyak.

She could stand by herself, but Soyak did not want to leave Eldest Brother’s hand hanging awkwardly in the air.

Cheonjeong lightly put strength into his grip and pulled Soyak to her feet.

“Now you should go get at least a little sleep. I stayed awake all night waiting for you, so......”

“......Why did you not sleep?”

“How could I, when I was worried?”

Cheonjeong shrugged and went up the steps first.

Soyak gazed a while longer at the moon visible beyond the window on the landing......

Then, as expected, returned to her room.

*****

Red Tile Pavilion.

The Young Cult Leader and Jeongyang sat facing each other.

On the table, a fine white tea displayed a clear radiance......

But it had already gone cold.

“I say this just in case, but you must not simply kill her on the spot.”

“I know that much as well. You underestimate the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult too greatly.”

“You people were the sort to kill first and look later. Surely that is not something you can blame me for?”

Instead of answering, the Young Cult Leader grinned.

Jeongyang had received a definite answer that he would not do it.

But there was no guarantee he would keep that promise.

That was the problem.

Cheon Soyak was certainly a headache and a thorn in his side.

Because that child existed, attention was focused on Jeonggang and his disciples.

As for himself......

He now had no Myeongjeok, no Eunbyeok, and no Cheonhwa or Cheonju, whom Eunbyeok had been raising.

“......Ha.”

Should he take on a new disciple?

But if he did, the absurd situation would arise where the other disciples had to treat a teenage boy as a first-generation disciple.

There would be a problem of generation rank.

Until now, he had criticized Jeonggang and Eunsong’s unstable recruitment of disciples......

If he suddenly did the same thing, he would lose even what respect and popularity he still had within Mount Hua.

That, at least, he did not want.

“But I truly am curious, Sect Leader.”

“About what?”

“Why not kill her secretly and leave no one the wiser?”

Jeongyang let out a sigh.

Then he began to tell the story.

From the day Soyak first arrived.

The matter of defeating Namgung Seon, the Sword Sovereign’s grandson.

Then how she had made her name at the Shandong Ak Family and killed the Dark Emperor at the Zhuge Household.

The more he listened, the brighter the Young Cult Leader’s eyes flashed.

They changed as if he were a predator watching prey......

And by the end, his gaze was that of someone looking at an interesting toy.

“As expected of the Heavenly Killing Star.”

“Ha. Yes, you could say she is a girl born with a fate similar to you people.”

“That remains to be seen. Judging from what she has done until now, it does not seem as if she would join our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, does it?”

The words had been a casual probe.

But with that one remark, Jeongyang could not help imagining it for an instant.

A fourteen-year-old master with talent that had already surpassed Transcendent Apex.

What if such a child abandoned Mount Hua and joined the Demonic Cult?

The blame and resentment of the entire martial world would likely turn toward Mount Hua.

And the Namgung Household would not view it favorably either.

It would be one thing if they had killed her outright or buried the matter.

But they would have merely increased their enemies by sending her over as the Demonic Cult’s combat force.

“......What a dreadful thing to say.”

“Did you not call her a thorn in your side? I shall personally take her in. If you merely create the opportunity......”

“I told you not to speak nonsense. That child is still a disciple of Mount Hua!”

The Young Cult Leader snorted.

Then he narrowed his eyes......

And saw through Jeongyang’s true feelings in a single stroke.

“Do not disguise a choice made for your own safety and security as a choice made for that child, Sect Leader.”

“......Kuh.”

“A disciple of Mount Hua, how touching. You just said it yourself, did you not? That she is a headache and a thorn in your side. Did you not think it would be better if she disappeared?”

Jeongyang fell silent.

But the very fact that he could not firmly deny that question was no different from proof that it was true.

If he were a true Sect Leader who cherished his disciples, he would have denied it over and over without hesitation.

The Young Cult Leader sneered at the Sect Leader, who could not answer.

Then he leaned back against his chair and put his legs up on the table.

It was an extremely arrogant posture, but Jeongyang could not stop him.

“Shall I guess?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your true feelings.”

The Young Cult Leader’s eyes, his pupils......

Changed like a snake’s in that instant.

They narrowed into slits, shedding a bewitching red gleam.

Jeongyang instinctively knew that this was a Demonic Cult evil rite.

“What are you doing!”

Jeongyang hurriedly drew up the internal energy of the Purple Haze Divine Art.

The Purple Haze True Qi that filled his dantian circulated along his acupoints and blocked the Young Cult Leader’s evil rite.

It was a technique that burrowed into the opponent’s mind through the gaze, rifled through that mind, pulled up fragments of memory, and verified truth and falsehood.

Jeongyang narrowly succeeded in protecting his own mind.

“You bastard!!!”

“Why get so angry? I was merely curious whether it was true.”

“You dare use an evil rite on me, the Sect Leader, inside the Mount Hua Sect?”

“So?”

Jeongyang’s words caught in his throat for an instant.

How could he come out so shamelessly?

But the Young Cult Leader had a perfectly fitting countermeasure that allowed him to act that way.

“So what are you going to do about it, Sect Leader?”

“What did you say?”

“Will you fight me here? Then I shall shout it out in a loud voice. I will say that I am the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader, that I took over your disciple’s [N O V E L I G H T] body, that I tried to rummage through your mind, and that the ones who released me were none other than you people.”

Jeongyang could not make any reply.