Chapter 33: The Man Called a God
Yang Jin stared at me with wide, bloodshot eyes.
His lips were trembling; he seemed quite shaken.
After bowing his head in thought for a moment, he opened his mouth with great difficulty.
“…Yes. I am a Red Blood Unit Leader of the Blood Cult.”
A Red Blood Unit Leader, you say?
I suppose those wretches gathered together and even created ranks for themselves.
Regardless, the fact that he was from the Blood Cult was not all that surprising.
Who else but the Blood Cult could awaken a skeleton? They had been prattling on about guardians and the like ever since we entered the secret cave.
“Speak.”
“Yes? What… should I speak of?”
“Everything you know.”
Yang Jin bit his lip hard.
Was he agonizing over where to start and how much to reveal?
Just then, the woman placed a tray of food in front of me.
“@#&%$.”
It was fruit, prepared for easy eating.
Perhaps she was saying, "You must be hungry, so eat while you talk."
I expressed my gratitude to the woman with a smile, and she blushed, retreated, and knelt down once more.
“My, my. My legs are going to fall asleep.”
The woman smiled and reached out both hands toward me.
Her sparkling eyes and bronze skin were brimming with vitality. She was a woman with a charm quite distinct from the women of the Central Plains.
“Are you telling me to eat?”
When I pointed at the fruit, the woman nodded.
I picked one up and put it in my mouth, then offered another to her.
The woman beamed as she watched me chew, but when I offered her the fruit, she shook her head and declined.
“It’s delicious. Let’s eat together.”
When I insisted, she opened her small lips with a slightly troubled expression and swallowed the fruit.
Watching her cheeks move as she chewed, she looked like a cute squirrel.
“Hahaha!”
“……?”
I couldn't help but laugh.
The woman, eyes wide, tilted her head.
“It is nothing. Eat comfortably.”
I turned my head to look at Yang Jin.
Perhaps because the atmosphere had lightened thanks to the woman, Yang Jin’s posture seemed a bit more relaxed.
I spat the seed from the fruit out immediately.
*Thwack!*
“Ouch!”
Yang Jin tumbled backward.
“You bastard, stop acting so pathetic. Get up already!”
“I, I am sorry!”
Yang Jin scrambled to his feet and knelt again.
A bump had risen prominently in the center of his forehead.
“Nothing to say? Then you must die.”
“No! No! I will tell you! I have so much to say that I was just trying to organize my thoughts!”
“Start.”
“Yes!”
I leaned back, resting my head on my arm to listen at my leisure.
At that, the woman rushed over and supported my head with her hands.
It was an unexpected gesture, so I looked up at her, wondering why she was doing it.
But her eyes were filled with reverence.
“Are you offering your lap as a pillow?”
I didn't know the language, but the meaning seemed to get across; she gently cradled my head and placed it on her lap.
Won't her legs go numb?
She looked so happy that I couldn't bring myself to stop her.
Above all, her fresh, natural scent tickled the tip of my nose, making me feel quite pleasant.
Thanks to that, I treated Yang Jin with a bit more leniency.
“Why are you just staring instead of starting? Do you want me to pull your tongue out?”
“I, I will tell you!”
From then on, Yang Jin’s long story began.
The woman gently stroked my hair and massaged my neck and shoulders with her small hands. I doubted my hardened muscles would feel much from her touch, but for some reason, I began to feel drowsy.
Every now and then, she would feed me more of the prepared fruit.
It was cozy. It was comfortable.
I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this way.
Even in the midst of that, Yang Jin began to desperately spill everything he knew.
“Just as the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult is not always called the Blood Demon, our Cult Leader is not always called the Blood Demon either! Only when one possesses sufficient divine power and majesty is one granted the qualification to be called the Blood Demon!”
He could have just talked about the secret cave.
Yang Jin began to ramble on about the long history of the Blood Cult, which was entirely unnecessary.
Under normal circumstances, I would have slapped his mouth shut, but the woman’s touch was so gentle that I kept listening.
Not only was it useless chatter, but the more I heard, the more absurd the content became.
Men who bathed in the blood of children to awaken the power of the Blood Demon, men who drank the fresh blood of virgins, men who would lose their minds and slaughter their own subordinates whenever they got angry.
The behavior of those called Cult Leaders was truly preposterous.
“And you call yourselves a cult?”
“That is why… we were punished.”
The Blood Cult, which had once thrown the world of Murim into chaos, eventually vanished from history.
Not only the Righteous Factions but even the Demonic Cult had joined forces to eradicate them.
Since that was over a hundred years ago, it was strange enough that a member of the Blood Cult was still running around.
“What about the secret cave? You were the ones who solved the Map of the Fighting God, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Why?”
Now I could finally hear the question I had been curious about.
Yang Jin swallowed hard and began to speak his mind.
“After the cult fell, the remaining descendants chased after a legend for a long time.”
“A legend?”
“He was the greatest among all the Blood Demons in history, the one who achieved the era of the Blood World—a truly great being.”
“Hmm.”
Yang Jin’s eyes sparkled.
It seemed the one Yang Jin was talking about was the very Blood Demon the Fighting God had faced.
“We wanted to awaken him once more. If only he would return, the cultists who have been scattered and oppressed by the people of the Central Plains would finally be liberated.”
“He is a man who died long ago. Do you think resurrection is possible?”
“In truth, even the senior members of the cult were skeptical. But you saw it in the secret cave, Great Hero. The legend was real.”
Even in this situation, Yang Jin’s eyes gleamed with excitement at the thought of the skeleton.
*Spit!*
With a *thwack*, Yang Jin rolled backward.
“Ouch!”
“You cultist bastard. That’s your problem. If you just lived quietly, would anyone say anything? Why do you have to go around killing innocent people, you idiots.”
“Ugh… the Demon God will awaken. It is not too late even now. Please receive the blood of the Demon God. I will personally recommend you to the High Priest of the cult.”
“You crazy bastard.”
I sat up straight.
The woman quickly stepped back.
“What was that skeleton in the secret cave?”
“He is… one of the four Great Guardians of the Demon God.”
“Does the Demon God or whatever have to awaken if that thing is awakened?”
“That is correct. Once all four Great Guardians open their eyes, the seal will be broken and the Demon God will manifest.”
“Hmm.”
Simple enough.
The Demon God Yang Jin spoke of was likely the Blood Demon who had fought the Fighting God.
In the end, it meant that to stop his summoning, I just had to make sure the remaining guardians didn't wake up.
However, the Fighting God had said the Blood Demon would know something about me.
I was slightly torn between whether I should stop it from the start, or let them awaken, question them, and then beat them down.
Anyway.
“Then, since one skeleton has been smashed, the resurrection of the Demon God is ruined, isn't it?”
“No. The fact that the Guardian opened his eyes means the door has been opened. It is just that he will not be able to see the resurrection of the Demon God.”
Was he feeling a bit emboldened?
His eyes held a hint of resentment as he looked at me.
I chuckled and continued to ask.
“So. Where are the other three?”
“That is…”
Since it was the most important matter, Yang Jin hesitated, his eyes darting back and forth.
I pulled a throwing knife from my wrist.
“I think this is as far as we go.”
“T-that, I don’t know! That is all I know!”
“It’s obvious you’re hiding something. Don’t try to sell me snake oil.”
I raised the hand holding the throwing knife.
Yang Jin prostrated himself on the floor in a panic.
“I will tell you! I will tell you!”
“Good. Where are they?”
“The four Great Guardians were buried in each of the four cardinal directions: the Azure Soul of the East, the Red Monster of the West, the Flame Empress of the South, and the Ghost King of the North! The one you fought, Great Hero, was the Red Monster, famous for his powerful body techniques—”
*Whoosh! Thwack!*
“Arghhhhh!”
I had flicked the throwing knife lightly.
Yang Jin clutched his shoulder and screamed.
“You’re loud.”
“Ugh… ugh… Yes.”
“So, where are they? The ones you call Azure Soul, Flame Empress, and Ghost King.”
“The closest one from here is the resting place of the Flame Empress, but… that place is…”
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, I felt a foreign energy.
“Ugh… Argh!!”
I jumped to my feet.
Yang Jin’s head began to squirm and swell.
The native woman also shrieked and stood up.
*Boom!*
Yang Jin’s head exploded like a firecracker.
Brain matter, flesh, and shattered bone fragments sprayed in all directions.
I quickly pulled the woman into my arms and turned my body.
*Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!!*
The filthy debris pelted my back.
If not for my Boundless Divine Body Art, the destructive force would have been enough to cause me significant trouble.
“@!”
“####!”
Two warriors guarding the outside shouted and rushed in.
I raised my hand to reassure them.
“It is nothing.”
The warriors stared wide-eyed, alternating between me and the headless corpse of Yang Jin, before shedding tears and bowing deeply to me.
I was wondering why they were doing that when the woman’s hand touched my back.
“Ah… ah…!!”
I turned my head to see that the woman was also crying.
Good grief.
I understood, as they had lost so many family members and neighbors.
“Incarnation! What has happened!”
The old woman, San-ru, rushed inside in a hurry.
Quickly grasping the situation, San-ru comforted the warriors, had them clear away Yang Jin’s corpse, and examined the wounds on my back.
“Fortunately, it is not a deep wound. If you apply some medicinal herbs, it will heal soon.”
“You need not worry about it.”
“What are you doing? Go quickly and bring the herbs.”
At San-ru’s instruction, the woman wiped away her tears and ran outside.
“What is that woman’s name?”
“Her name is Dana.”
“Dana.”
San-ru scanned the interior.
Perhaps because he was a filthy wretch, he had died in a filthy way. The floor, the walls, and even the ceiling—every corner of the house was a mess with the man’s remains.
It seemed that a restrictive spell had been placed on the locations of the four Great Guardians.
‘If it’s a restriction of this level, the power of the Blood Cult must be quite significant.’
That might be fine in old stories.
But in the last five years, I hadn't heard a single word about the Blood Cult.
Yet, they had scattered the Map of the Fighting God to throw Sichuan into chaos and had even cast such powerful restrictive spells. It was possible they had even reached the high-ranking officials of the Imperial Capital.
The very fact that they had been doing these things in secret meant they were no ordinary villains.
‘In the end, the mastermind behind this conspiracy is the Blood Cult.’
The first mission was complete.
I had even gained the Divine Art of the Fighting God as a reward.
The next mission would likely be to prevent the resurrection of the Blood Demon.
It seemed I would be quite busy from here on out.
"Incarnation, we should relocate."
"I don't mind."
"That will not do. This place is filled with impure energy. We must burn the house to purify it."
"Hmm... If you say so, then do as you wish."
"Yes. Please, step outside first."
I walked out with San-ru.
I had wondered why it was so noisy outside; it seemed the entire village had gathered. Thirty or so natives were prostrated before me.
I asked San-ru, "Why are they doing that?"
"These children were ignorant and could not believe in the existence of the Incarnation."
"And?"
"But you captured the tribe's enemy and punished him with such miraculous power, so they have finally come to believe in you. Please forgive the sins of these foolish children."
San-ru also prostrated himself and bowed.
Dana, who happened to be running up with medicinal herbs in her hands, widened her eyes and prostrated herself on the ground as well.
In this small village deep within a jungle untouched by civilization, I had become a god, regardless of my own will.
* * *
I followed Dana’s lead and moved to my new quarters.
On the way, I stopped by to check on Dang Cheon-u; his breathing and pulse had stabilized significantly. It seemed San-ru’s treatment had been effective.
“#!@.”
As soon as we entered the new dwelling, Dana began cleaning busily.
There wasn't much furniture to speak of, so it seemed like a quick sweep would suffice, but it clearly didn't meet her standards.
“Dana. That’s enough, you can go now.”
“……!”
Perhaps it was because I had called her name.
Dana, who had been sitting and wiping away dust, turned to look at me with wide, round eyes.
I pointed toward the door and spoke again.
“You’ve worked hard. Go and get some rest now.”
“…….”
Dana’s eyes sparkled.
She looked just like a puppy waiting for a treat.
“Dana. I said that’s enough.”
“……!”
Dana jumped to her feet, beaming brightly.
Her bronze-toned face flushed red; was being called by her name really such a pleasant thing?
Regardless, Dana bowed deeply and scurried outside.
“Alone at last.”
I flopped onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
It was a roof made of thick tree trunks covered in leaves and sealed with mud. Since it wasn't a particularly windy area, that seemed sufficient to keep the rain out.
I gazed up at the roof, letting my mind go blank for a moment.
Even so, various thoughts flashed through my head like a revolving lantern.
Zhang Sanfeng, the Fighting God, the Blood Demon, the Blood Cult, Dang Hwa-rin, Dang Cheon-u….
“Damn it. Forget it.”
I sprang up from my spot and sat in a cross-legged position.
I had dealt with the skeleton and gained quite a bit of experience, so shouldn't I raise my stats?
I immediately focused my mind and entered the state of internal energy circulation.
*Hummm.*
With that familiar sensation of sinking away, I found myself standing alone on the white desert.
I wondered if the Fighting God might be there, but he was nowhere to be seen.
The world was as constant as ever.
The white desert, the solitary shrine, the pitch-black sky, and the stars shining like jewels.
“Huh?”
I looked up at the sky, blinking in surprise, my mouth hanging open.
The stars… they were strange.
0 Comments