Chapter 152: The End of Childhood (11)

A few hours after Cheonjeong and Soyak had gone to inspect Myeongjeok’s residence,

someone arrived there.

It was the Young Cult Leader, wearing Myeongjeok’s body.

“...It has the same scent.”

The Young Cult Leader looked quietly down at the ground.

The yard was spotless, not a single footprint left behind.

But scents could not be erased so easily.

He slowly stepped into the front courtyard, examining his surroundings.

“They cleaned up rather thoroughly.”

Almost no traces remained.

But there were traces that could not be undone.

The dust pushed aside from the doorframe when someone opened the door.

Fingerprints left in the ash of the furnace.

“Yes. They noticed...”

He had never believed that absolutely no one would ever find out.

But he had not expected it to be discovered so quickly either.

Of course, it was not a major problem.

All he had to do was leave whenever he pleased...

The Demonic Cult remnants in Shaanxi would guard him.

More importantly, he had already done everything he could do here.

The only thing left for him to do at Mount Hua...

Yes.

Perhaps it was simply to kill that girl born under the Heavenly Killing Star.

The Heavenly Killing Star.

A star whose name was formed from the characters for heaven and killing.

It shone only when someone destined to become the worst Slaughtering Ghost beneath heaven was born.

And those who killed the greatest number of people usually...

overturned the world.

Qin Shi Huang had done so and unified the Warring States.

The Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, had likewise overturned the world and united all beneath heaven.

No one could change the world without staining their hands with blood.

“I should at least meet her.”

Even the Flame-Saber Emperor Ak Jupae had fallen into the Demonic Cult’s hands.

When people came face-to-face with what they truly desired, they abandoned even their affiliations.

The Demonic Cult had always been powerful because it whispered to humanity’s most fundamental desires.

A promise to make them stronger faster than anyone else.

A promise to let them stand in a position of absolute superiority.

How many martial artists did not wish to become stronger?

Yet there were people like the Flame-Saber Emperor who had no interest in such things.

People whose martial prowess and talent were already sufficient, who had no reason to throw away their honor merely to gain more power.

But the Demonic Cult had embraced even such people.

No human being was without desire.

“...It would be nice to have her.”

And if not, there would be other ways.

The Young Cult Leader vanished from the spot, cheerfully humming to himself.

*****

“What did you say?”

“Brother Myeongjeok has vanished without a trace.”

At Myeonggon’s single statement, the elders stirred.

And naturally so.

Myeongjeok was the designated successor to the Sect Leader.

The man meant to inherit leadership of the sect had vanished?

There was no way that would not cause an uproar.

“Is this true? Did you verify it before speaking, Myeonggon?”

Jeongbeop, the Plum Blossom Wild Spear, asked Myeonggon in a low voice.

A man who had trained with the spear at Mount Hua, he was known as one of Mount Hua’s two eccentrics alongside Myeonggwang, the Monster Plum Blossom, who had cultivated the Falling Blossom Meteor Fist.

“Yes. His residence has been cold for a long time, and even the ash in the furnace had long since clumped together.”

“...This is troublesome. Where could he have gone? Sect Leader, do you know anything?”

At Jeongbeop’s question, every elder turned to Jeongyang.

But Jeongyang answered without so much as blinking.

“How would I know? He must have gone outside Mount Hua for a while.”

“For several days, without saying a word?”

At Myeonggon’s question, Jeongyang frowned.

Then his voice began to lower.

“Am I supposed to coddle a disciple who is fifty years old?”

“Is that not strange? A man designated to become the next Sect Leader leaves Mount Hua for several days. Surely he would not have failed to tell the Sect Leader where he was going.”

The elders nodded.

Myeonggon’s point was valid.

No matter that Myeongjeok was a middle-aged man in his fifties, fully capable of looking after himself.

He was the successor to the Great Mount Hua Sect.

If he was to leave the main mountain for several days, naturally he should have informed the Sect Leader beforehand.

If he left without doing so...

Unless something truly serious had happened, he would lose the support necessary to become the next Sect Leader.

But what serious matter could there possibly be?

Among the first-generation disciples of Myeongjeok’s generation, none still had living parents.

And as Daoists, none of them had married.

There was no major matter that could justify abandoning the sect and leaving without word.

“...What is your purpose in bringing this up now?”

“Sect Leader, I am saying this because I am sincerely worried for my Brother.”

“Are you not simply trying to pick a fight?”

Jeongyang slammed his hand down on the armrest of his chair and raised his voice.

His thunderous shout rang through the council chamber, and everyone fell silent at once.

Myeonggon narrowed his eyes and looked up at Jeongyang.

“Sect Leader.”

“Are you so eager to push your Brother aside?”

“Sect Leader!”

“Where did you get the nerve to raise your voice?”

At that moment, the doors to the council chamber burst open.

Jeongyang was about to shout at whoever had the audacity to throw open the doors to the elders’ council without even knocking...

Then he stopped.

“...Brother?”

“Sect Leader, Junior Brother. Your voice could be heard all the way outside.”

It was Jeonggang.

Leaning on his walking stick, he led his frail body into the council chamber.

For a moment, every elder looked to Jeongyang.

Then, despite themselves, they all rose to their feet.

“You have come, Eldest Brother.”

Jeongbeop was the first to offer a fist-and-palm salute and bow his head.

The few other elders did the same.

Jeongyang watched them with a displeased expression.

“Do not scold my disciple too harshly, Sect Leader, Junior Brother.”

“Brother...”

“He is my disciple.”

There was a saying that a father might discipline his own child, but no outsider should lay a hand on him.

That was what Jeonggang was pointing out.

Though he had lost all his internal energy and been reduced to a frail old man...

there was still a force in his gaze that could not be ignored.

“...Very well.”

“Thank you, Sect Leader, Junior Brother. More importantly, I hear Myeongjeok has disappeared?”

“He has not disappeared...”

“If he has not disappeared, should he not have shown himself by now?”

Jeonggang spoke while pointing toward the door with his chin.

Jeongyang was left speechless.

His own absence for several days had been enough to turn Mount Hua nearly upside down.

Any ordinary Mount Hua disciple would have rushed back the moment he heard.

Unless, of course, he was somewhere so far outside Mount Hua that he had not received the news at all.

But that was impossible.

What was Jeongyang supposed to ask of the Young Cult Leader?

To pretend to be his disciple for the sake of Jeongyang’s dignity?

Of that Little Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?

That would not even be worth asking.

Even if the Young Cult Leader agreed, how great a hold would that give him over Jeongyang?

Jeongyang knew that the wisest course was to avoid dealing with the Demonic Cult entirely.

The entanglement he already had with them was enough to make his head ache...

“But it is truly worrying.”

“What is it now, Brother?”

“Think about it, Sect Leader, Junior Brother. How could we pass the Sect Leader’s position to someone who abandons the sect so carelessly? Is that not right?”

Jeongyang pressed his lips together.

He was still a man of Mount Hua.

He had wanted to make the Great Mount Hua Sect the number one sect under heaven and reign at the head of that number one sect...

not hand the position of Sect Leader to the Young Cult Leader and turn Mount Hua into a lackey of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

To prevent that, he would have to pass the next Sect Leader’s position to someone else anyway.

And this excuse was the perfect opportunity to change the designated successor while appearing reluctant to do so.

Jeonggang was applying silent pressure to Jeongyang.

I know.

And if Jeongyang did not waste this opportunity, Jeonggang would help him save face.

Jeongyang and Jeonggang’s gazes collided.

“...I will consider it.”

“You have made a wise decision.”

*****

There was no way the Young Cult Leader did not know what was happening.

Jeongyang had been anxiously pacing through the Red Tile Pavilion for the past two hours.

And the Young Cult Leader himself knew well what would happen when the designated successor to a sect, its senior-most disciple, shut himself away and vanished.

“But this is new.”

The Young Cult Leader gave a crooked smile as he faced Eun Jeong and Soyak.

Then he shrugged.

“Is this not a place only the Sect Leader may enter?”

“But you are not the Sect Leader either, are you?”

Eun Jeong replied with an easy grin.

The Young Cult Leader let out a quiet laugh, then rose from his seat.

He stretched his entire body.

“Yes, yes. Why have you come all this way?”

“You seem to know.”

Soyak placed a hand on the hilt of Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge and snapped the words at him.

The blunt informality of her speech told the Young Cult Leader that they had realized who he was.

He began to laugh.

“What is so amusing?”

“So, you intend to kill me? The body of your Great Grand Master?”

Eun Jeong glanced at Soyak.

To kill a fellow disciple of Mount Hua...

But Soyak had already cut down Eunbyeok after he became a Demonic Beast.

SHIIING—!

A noble, dark blade slid free from its sheath.

“Do I look like someone who is afraid to kill?”

Internal energy and killing intent burst from her.

Her sleeves and black hair, dark as bundled silk, whipped in the air.

Her sword pointed straight at him.

There would be no avoiding a Life-or-Death Duel.