Chuseong of Wolpungmun was struggling to suppress his boiling anger.

“Do not worry so much. Several sects in Honam have promised to cooperate with us.”

It was precisely such words that made him furious. And hearing them come from his trusted elder brother Seokhyeong made it even worse.

“Cooperate? How? Be specific. How many will they send, and when and where?”

Seokhyeong couldn’t answer. They had only said they would help, but no sect had stepped forward with concrete plans. Though they had kept this secret, rumors were already spreading that the Demon Cult was involved.

“Put yourself in their shoes. Do you think they’d send you out to face the Demon Cult bastards? They’d pretend to care on the surface, but inside they’d be busy locking up their own doors.”

Chuseong stood up abruptly. His fierce aura looked like he was ready to smash something immediately, but Seokhyeong stopped him.

“Calm down.”

“How can I calm down when I’m so angry? Those Demon Cult bastards! I’ll chew them alive!”

Bang!

Chuseong punched the wall, making a hole. Since the incident, more than twenty holes had appeared in the walls. Whenever they patched one, another got broken again and again.

Chuseong was overwhelmed with rage and injustice. His fury was uncontrollable. And at the root of all these emotions was fear.

Fear that the bastard might return.

Chuseong couldn’t sleep at night, his nerves razor-sharp.

“Even now, you should ask for help from the Martial Alliance.”

Wolpungmun was originally a righteous sect, not affiliated with the Martial Alliance or the Path of the Dead Alliance.

“If we do that, we’ll become puppets of the Martial Alliance. If they solve this issue, they’ll force us to obey them unconditionally using that as a pretext. And even if they don’t, they’ll find excuses to subordinate us anyway.”

Sects belonging to the Martial Alliance had to pay a set amount annually. The same went for the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Path of the Dead Alliance. In return, they could get help when problems arose.

Money aside, Chuseong did not want to belong to a righteous sect.

At that moment, someone spoke exactly what he was thinking.

“You don’t want to be under those who never help but keep squeezing money, right?”

Chuseong and Seokhyeong turned around in surprise. A young man had entered the main hall unnoticed.

Seokhyeong drew his sword, standing between the sect leader and the man.

“Who are you?”

They had not noticed him until he came in, which made them tense.

The young man said,

“I am from the New Cult.”

It was me who shocked them so much.

I could have announced myself at the entrance but chose not to. Wolpungmun was in chaos, crowded with countless warriors from entrance to interior.

“Please forgive me. I came quietly because I dislike crowds.”

Chuseong stepped back with Seokhyeong. They knew that if I had intended to ambush them, they would already be dead.

“I am Chuseong, the leader of Wolpungmun.”

Having lost his father early, he was among the youngest sect leaders in Honam Province, in his late twenties.

I did not reveal my identity.

“I came to handle the recent incident at your sect. I cannot disclose my identity for now, but surely you understand this?”

I showed them the talisman engraved with the evil spirit symbol representing my sect.

Naturally, Chuseong was suspicious at first.

“Talisman can be forged. I cannot trust just that.”

“How could someone so suspicious be fooled by those bastards?”

“That’s harsh!”

As Seokhyeong stepped forward, I extended my hand.

Whoosh.

The magical energy I emitted wrapped around Seokhyeong’s body tightly.

He gasped, unable to move, his face turning bright red from suffocation.

“Sometimes skill can substitute for identity, don’t you think?”

Seeing the magical pressure around him, Chuseong hurriedly spoke.

“Stop! We have already lost many underlings this time. We can’t afford more losses. Release him.”

I withdrew the magic. Seokhyeong gasped and could move again. He glared at me fearfully but still blocked the way to protect Chuseong.

“I have loyal subordinates like you do. Losing them feels like my heart is torn out. It’s the same for Chuseong here, so don’t act rashly.”

Though I spoke to Seokhyeong, it was meant for Chuseong as well. Sensing this, Chuseong sent Seokhyeong out.

“You go out now.”

“Yes.”

Seeing him leave obediently, I assumed he had sent a message. They must have realized the two of them couldn’t handle me alone, so the order was likely to gather all Wolpungmun’s experts.

Even alone, Chuseong stood firm.

“You cause trouble whenever you want, and now you come to clean up? What exactly are your intentions?”

“This is not cleanup but investigation. The previous incident was not our doing.”

Chuseong scoffed. He had been deceived by Cheonmyeonghoe, who impersonated Ma Jons, and believed firmly it was us.

Several similar incidents had happened recently, but the martial arts sects of Central Plains did not all know this yet.

Cheonmyeonghoe had not fully surfaced.

“Tell me what happened. If I came to harm you, would we be arguing now like this?”

His words seemed to resonate, and Chuseong finally opened up about the previous incident.

“A while ago, someone came claiming to be from the New Cult.”

“Who?”

“He was Geukak Soma.”

They knew Ma Jons were impersonated, but did not know it was Geukak Soma specifically.

I laughed dryly. If you were caught by the real Geukak Soma, why pretend to be Geukak Soma?

“What did he look like?”

“He wore a white mask.”

Well, that made sense. Wearing a mask, impersonating Geukak Soma would be easiest.

“Did you believe him just because he wore a mask?”

Chuseong spoke confidently.

“He was the real Geukak Soma.”

“Why do you believe that?”

Suddenly, Chuseong was overcome with rage.

“He killed our top warriors in an instant. His lightning strike pierced faces with holes, and his palm technique shattered bodies to pieces. Among the dead was one of our top three experts. If he wasn’t Geukak Soma, then who was he?”

He had apparently mimicked Geukak Soma’s Poison Palm Art and Blood Fang Technique. Given this, Chuseong could only believe it.

“After slaughtering those who tried to protect me, Geukak Soma forced us to swear allegiance to the Demon Cult.”

He killed unnecessarily just to intimidate. Such an act deserved death.

“Do you know what else he did? It would have been less absurd if he had massacred us all. At least then we could say we were just unlucky to die.”

“What did he do?”

“He took all the money. He demanded everything we could give. He cleaned out the sect’s funds. How dare you thieves!”

Given the circumstances, any curses were understandable.

“How much money?”

“About sixty-two thousand nyang.”

Now I understood Chuseong’s rage and why there were so many holes in the walls.

“I wouldn’t be this resentful if we had lost because of other reasons. Obedience to the Demon Cult? That’s nonsense! It’s an excuse. That bastard killed my men just to take their money. Do you understand? My men died for money! He should have just asked for money from the start!”

He shouted, unable to contain himself.

“Arrgh! I’m so furious I can’t stand it. I won’t die in shame.”

Judging from his words, I thought he was usually a cheerful person. But now, he would never return to that time. Families, friends, survivors of the dead—the number of victims was still unknown.

“Right now, Chuseong is too angry to show his strengths.”

“What strengths do I have?”

I took out a paper and read.

“Wolpungmun’s leader Chuseong is intelligent and perceptive. Proud and hot-tempered.”

“Who wrote that?”

“The Head of Honam Branch of our sect’s Tongcheong Pavilion. Want to meet him?”

Chuseong looked at me with eyes uncertain whether to believe this or not, then sighed in self-reproach.

“Being intelligent and perceptive means what? I was helplessly beaten like this.”

“But shouldn’t you still take revenge?”

At the word revenge, Chuseong’s eyes hardened.

“I will. I definitely will.”

I once felt the same way.

Sleeping, eating, seeing people—revenge was all I thought about. I couldn’t live normally.

Chuseong was the same. His enemy was impossible to face normally.

But fortunately, just as ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) I met Seojin, he met me.

“I will help you with that revenge.”

Chuseong went to the table and drank the cold tea straight from the pot.

“Are you really not involved in this?”

“Don’t you find it strange? If the real Geukak Soma targeted your money, would he only take sixty-two thousand nyang? The whole foundation would have been uprooted.”

“What if it was just some game?”

“If he played games like that, he’d be killed by the Heavenly Demon Cult leader. Even if it were a game, who would survive here?”

“I honestly thought Geukak Soma was crazy.”

Staring at the white wall like that would drive anyone mad.

“I’m still sane. I met him not long ago.”

When I said I had met Geukak Soma, Chuseong flinched in surprise but didn’t think I was bluffing due to the skills I displayed.

“Are you really with the real Geukak Soma in your sect?”

For a moment, I hesitated to answer. When I left, Geukak Soma wasn’t in the Evil Person Valley.

“Yes, he was.”

It wasn’t because I didn’t want to argue with Chuseong. I was certain it wasn’t Geukak Soma’s doing. My father said you can never know what’s inside a person’s heart, but some things are obvious. No matter how evil Geukak Soma is, he wouldn’t do this.

“If he’s a fake, then whoever is in your sect is fake too.”

I wondered how strong their impression must have been to say that.

I slowly looked around the main hall, recalling the scene: killing Wolpungmun’s warriors and stealing money.

Why did they do this? For money? Or to lure us in? I had to find clues about them in this incomprehensible incident.

“Fine. Let’s say you’re right, and he was a fake. Why would a fake do this? To create discord with the Martial Alliance? To start a war?”

“If that was the case, they would have targeted righteous sects belonging to the Martial Alliance.”

“Then what is it?”

“That’s why I came—to find out.”

Chuseong, who had been staring at me, opened the door and went outside. Seokhyeong and dozens of Wolpungmun warriors were camped there.

Chuseong spoke to Seokhyeong alone.

“Withdraw your men and clean the guest rooms. We’ll treat them as honored guests for now.”

“Yes, understood.”

Seokhyeong looked relieved. Although they had gathered warriors, they judged they could not handle me.

Chuseong returned inside.

“I can’t get rid of the thought that you might be working with that bastard. But I’m willing to trust you. Do you know why? Because I have to grab at any straw I can.”

Then he suddenly looked up and shouted,

“Father! Grandfather! Please help me! Don’t let me be humiliated anymore! Protect our sect! Save my subordinates!”

Since fate brought us together, his ancestors must be helping enough.

After that outburst, he lowered his voice to avoid being heard by the subordinates outside.

“Because you came, I’m doomed. If that was a fake Geukak Soma like you say, I cannot stop seeking revenge. If it were the real Demon Cult, I could give up. Because of you, I stand on a bridge I can never cross back from. I have to cross this endless bridge of revenge forever!”

“I will help you cross that bridge.”

In the past, I arrived late and left without proper investigation.

Back then, I ignored my father, ignored Ian, and ignored others. I only saw myself, so naturally I ignored Chuseong.

“There are many sects in the martial world, but there must be a reason they chose your sect. Why you? Young, intelligent, hot-tempered, and proud. Aside from what’s on this paper, what else do you have?”

I approached him and looked intently into his face.

“Surely there’s a reason those bastards chose you. Tell me!”