Chapter 284 : Silk Road (1)
Chapter 284: Silk Road (1)
After the Hyeokryeon Family Head's visit, guests kept trickling in to Windrock Palace.
First came Ouyang Pae, the Head of the Ouyang Family, wanting to hear about his youngest son Ouyang Mun. Then Baek Unhak, the Baek Family Head, showed up asking about Baek Cheon's situation.
For some reason, the Law Enforcement Hall Master also dropped by to say hi, and the Eight Trigrams Hall Master came around trying to drop his sales pitch to Il-mok.
For better or worse, his Eldest Brother and Sixth Brother were tied up with Demon-Teaching Pavilion business, so they rarely showed up.
"Big Brother!"
The only person who showed up regularly every single day was Hyeokryeon Seon-ah.
When he wasn't entertaining guests, Il-mok spent his days training and preparing for his journey to the Silk Road. Several days passed like this until an unexpected visitor arrived.
"Young Master, the Black Tiger Corps Leader is here to see you."
It was Ouyang Hyeok, the Leader of the Black Tiger Corps and a member of the Guyang Family who had survived an attack by Allah’s fanatics with Il-mok back in Il-mok’s school days.
"It's great to see you again after so long, Black Tiger Corps Leader."
"Hahaha! It's been a year and a half. You’ve changed so much I almost didn't recognize you, Young Master Il-mok."
The middle-aged man with that distinctive scar under his eye laughed heartily as he greeted Il-mok.
A year and a half. Short if you looked at it one way, long if you looked at it another.
His appearance hadn't changed much, but the aura radiating from him was completely different.
'The Vice Leader was right.'
Right after they'd wiped out those fanatics of Allah, the Vice Leader of the Black Tiger Corps had assessed Il-mok, who was just a disciple at the Hall of the Demonic Way back then.
He believes Il-mok is a talent that will become a new god for the Divine Cult in the future.
Now, a year and a half later, the Eighth Young Master had reached a level that even Ouyang Hyeok, a veteran squad leader, couldn't even estimate.
His growth was so fast that "overwhelming talent" was the only way to describe it.
"Do I really look that different?"
When Il-mok smiled and joked, Ouyang Hyeok burst out laughing again.
"Hahaha! Well, your face is still as handsome as ever. Oh, that reminds me, I heard from the Family Head. He said my dear nephew got married thanks to you."
"You give me too much credit. It just happened because fate brought them together."
They chatted for a bit about Ouyang Mun, since they both knew him.
After breaking the ice with small talk, Il-mok cut to the chase first. "Master told me you'll be joining me on this mission."
"That's right, Young Master. The Black Tiger Corps members haven't ventured deep into the Huihui folks’ territory, but we've guarded the Tianshan Mountain Range and mingled with them quite a bit. So we know a thing or two about them."
The reason Ouyang Hyeok visited the Windrock Pavilion was due to Il-mok's mission.
Il-mok's new mission necessitates him to find someone who knows a thing or two about the Western Regions, so Ouyang Hyeok becomes the perfect person to choose since the two have some connection.
The two of them spent the next few days discussing many aspects of Xinjiang and the Western Regions for their journey to the west.
After several days of these preparations, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah showed up at Windrock Palace as usual, and Il-mok greeted her with a smile.
"I heard the news. Congratulations on passing the entrance exam and securing the top seat."
Despite the compliment, Seon-ah looked kinda bummed out.
"...But if I enter the Hall of the Demonic Way, I won't be able to Big Brother for two whole years."
She looked just like a little sister missing her big brother who was about to enlist, so Il-mok walked over and patted her head.
Of course, that was a delusion common among guys who never had a sister.
Most real little sisters couldn't care less whether their parents' son enlisted or not. You’d be lucky if they didn't sell your console on the online market while you were gone.
Blissfully ignorant of the reality of siblings, Il-mok patted Seon-ah’s head and said, "You waited for me when I was in the Hall, remember? This time, I’ll wait for you, so don't worry."
"…You’ll really wait for me?" Seon-ah looked up at him with big, watery eyes.
She looked kind of like a cat.
"Of course. Are you planning to go somewhere else after you graduate?"
"No! I’m going to join the Hidden Guard Pavilion and come right back to you!"
Hearing, Il-mok smiled gently and held out his pinky finger, just like when he'd first met her all those years ago.
"Alright then. Let's promise to meet again in two years."
Seon-ah must have remembered the old days too, because she beamed and hooked her pinky with his.
After successfully calming her down, Il-mok shook their linked hands and added a condition. "Oh, and when you get to the Hall of the Demonic Way, make sure you join the Meditation Club."
She was growing too fast, and he didn't want her to go crazy in there.
‘Hmm? Come to think of it, didn’t Instructor Chu ask me for a favor?’
Since he couldn't remember it, he figured it probably wasn't anything important.
***
About a month after Il-mok returned to the main headquarters, just a few days before Seon-ah was set to enter the Hall of the Demonic Way, the Heavenly Demon summoned him.
What welcomed Il-mok upon his visit to the Heavenly Demon Hall was a single letter and several wooden chests.
"These came from the Central Plains. The Dark Shadow Pavilion Lord couldn't stop praising you. He said the job was a breeze thanks to you. Hahaha."
The Dark Shadow Pavilion Lord was currently in the Central Plains.
He was there to get the supplies needed to open trade with the West, just as Il-mok had asked.
Since the Dark Shadow Pavilion originally managed the Central Plains Branches of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and their influence was growing thanks to the Maitreya Luminous Cult, the Heavenly Demon had sent the Dark Shadow Pavilion Lord to the Central Plains to look after Il-mok’s vacancy.
"It's all thanks to your grace, Master."
When Il-mok bowed flat on the floor to show his humility, the Heavenly Demon smiled and pointed at the chests.
"Take a look."
"Yes, Master."
Il-mok rose and walked over to the letter and the chests.
The letter's contents were straightforward.
According to people who'd traveled to the Western Regions by ship, the Semu people there went absolutely crazy for Central Plains porcelain and silk.
Of course, the letter also warned that while you could make a killing, getting there and back was a nightmare.
The Silk Road was blocked by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. The Northern Route was crawling with nomads, and the Sea Route was infested with Japanese and Western pirates.
Since it was a trip where you'd be lucky to survive even with nine extra lives, the markup on pottery and silk was insane. Basically, if you pulled it off, you'd be filthy rich.
'...If we can actually open this trade route, we’ll make enough money to feed everyone in the Cult and still have plenty left over.’
After reading through the entire letter, Il-mok opened the chests one by one to check their contents.
There were some medicinal herbs and other goods mixed in, but porcelain and silk made up the bulk of the cargo, just as he expected.
'They said these came from Gansu, Shaanxi, and Sichuan.'
Those were all regions where the Maitreya Luminous Cult had already established itself, or where it had been rapidly growing recently.
Since a lot of merchants and craftsmen there had joined the cult, the letter said it was pretty easy to get the goods.
"Il-mok, if you hadn't laid the groundwork with the Maitreya Luminous Cult, it would’ve taken us months just to get this stuff. Hahaha!"
The Heavenly Demon sounded genuinely impressed, but Il-mok hid his true feelings and bowed respectfully.
"I merely did what needed to be done."
'If it weren't for the damn Maitreya Luminous Cult, I could've lazed around for several more months!!'
He had no one to blame but himself for being so good at cult building.
***
The next day, Il-mok gathered his belongings and left Windrock Palace.
Jin Hayeon, Ju Seo-yeon, and Jeong Hyeon, who'd spent the past month at Windrock Palace attending to Il-mok, came along with him for the mission.
He'd already said his goodbyes to Seon-ah and Wi Jin-hak yesterday, so they headed straight for the main headquarters' entrance without delay.
Ouyang Hyeok and forty martial artists of the Black Tiger Corps were waiting for Il-mok there.
Some of them were carrying chests filled with goods for trade.
"We greet the Eighth Young Master!"
The Black Tiger Corps members shouted their greeting in unison. While Il-mok was casually bowing back, he spotted a familiar face.
"Eighth Young Master! It's been ages! How about a quick duel with me, Dokgo Pae!"
It was that crazy sparring addict from his school days.
'Right, he said he was joining a combat unit.'
While Il-mok was chuckling at Dokgo Pae's unchanged attitude, a man who looked like a squad leader smacked the back of his head.
Thwack!
"Hey, you useless piece of shit who's only good in a fight. Do you think we’re going on a picnic?"
"As long as a Cultist is good at fighting, that's all that matters! Who cares about the rest!"
"Heavenly Demon, please give me strength... Forget I said anything."
The man shook his head in exasperation, and Il-mok couldn't help but laugh.
'Wow. What the hell did he do this past year to get treated like that when he's the eldest son of one of the Five Great Demonic Families?'
Leaving his crazy classmate behind, Il-mok and the group started heading down the mountain.
Once they were out of the Tianshan Mountain Range, they stopped at a nearby village to get a wagon for the goods.
Strangely enough, they could find carts but no horses or camels.
"Take turns pulling the carts!"
That’s because it was a human-powered cart to begin with.
It was something that had emerged during the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's education reform.
These were the same carts martial corps members used to transport children back and forth between the villages with Elementary Demon Halls and their hometowns.
And so, Il-mok and the Black Tiger Corps members pulled the carts and used their lightness skill to cross Xinjiang.
True to its name as the Desert Road, they spent a few days cutting through sandstorms and dust.
Finally, they arrived at Kashgar, the border town between Xinjiang and the West.
There, they rested for a day and made their final preparations for the Western Regions.
They stocked up on emergency food and water, and most importantly, they got camels.
Sure, using their lightness skill would be faster than riding camels, but from here on out, they needed to conserve their internal energy and stamina.
The moment they headed west from Kashgar, they'd be leaving Heavenly Demon Divine Cult territory.
They rode their camels through a desolate sea of yellow sand where no road could be seen for quite a while.
"Y-Young Master. Over there... there’s something that looks like wooden totem poles."
Jeong Hyeon, whose senses had developed thanks to learning the Ghostly Spirit Divine Bow, pointed to something far in the distance.
Il-mok knew exactly what she was looking at, thanks to the old records he read and his talks with Ouyang Hyeok.
"Those are the graves of people who used to travel this route in the past."
"......"
Jeong Hyeon looked back and forth between Il-mok and the distant totems with a shocked expression.
"Y-You mean they just left the bodies here?"
"It's a desert, remember? Just surviving the crossing is hard enough; dragging a corpse along would be impossible. I heard that if someone died from sickness or injury, they’d just bury them in the sand, make a small mound, and keep moving."
In a way, they were really tragic.
Not just because their bodies were left behind. But because this spot was so close to the end of the desert.
The main reason people called the Southern Route the Desert Road was because of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang.
There probably used to be graves like those scattered throughout Xinjiang too.
It's just that over the two hundred years since the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult settled in Xinjiang, they’ve cleaned most of them up and given them proper funerals, except for the ones deep in the uninhabitable parts of the desert.
Who knows? Maybe there are still ruins or graves buried under the sand somewhere in Xinjiang.
But Il-mok wasn't an archaeologist, so he had zero interest in digging them up.
The reason only these graves remained was that this area wasn't under the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's control.
More importantly, it meant no one lived here.
Seeing Jeong Hyeon's complicated expression, Il-mok consoled her. "Good job finding them, though. Those graves prove we're on the old merchant route."
Ironically, the graves of those who died trying to escape the desert were now guiding them out of it.