Chapter 21 : Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Yes, you have a taste of it too.
I was desperately rummaging through old memories.
The Blood Demon.
He was the one called the Red Mist Demonic Emperor before the Demonic Cult rose to prominence.
But I had surely seen that man before.
It was in the portrait sent by that prideful Sword Saint when he proposed an alliance with me.
However, the man standing before me now was clearly a completely different person from the one in that portrait.
But seeing the blood flow in my body react so crazily, this had to be the Red Mist Demonic Art, without a doubt.
The Red Mist Demonic Art was the absolute demonic art of the Demonic Cult, existing even before the great Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Within the Demonic Cult, the only person known to possess the Red Mist Demonic Art was the Blood Demon himself.
“So it is true. Your eyes are wavering. You are truly feeling my Red Mist.”
Only then did I realize that this Blood Demon had been testing my capabilities.
Even so, the fact that he read my emotions through my slight wavering was proof that this man's experience was no ordinary thing.
A belated regret washed over me for not having properly concealed my emotions, but it couldn't be helped.
If the opponent had read my hand, I had to reveal even more of my cards to muddy the board.
“To think that a ghost who should have died in Hamma Valley is alive and well like this, it’s going to make me piss my pants. This is why I can’t trust those bastards who hold brushes. Those historian scoundrels never leave behind the facts as they are in history.”
The man smiled faintly.
“Why do you conclude that I am the Blood Demon?”
“Well, the fact that your face is different is strange, but it is unmistakably the Red Mist Demonic Art. I have never heard a rumor that any demonic practitioner other than the Blood Demon has learned that fearsome demonic art.”
At my composed reply, the corners of the Blood Demon’s mouth twisted into an even more peculiar arc.
I wasn't one to be swayed by mere ridicule, but strangely, a flame ignited in my chest.
“It seems the time has finally come for the Jaegal bastards to fall. To think they would let a spy into the Nine Phoenix Gates.”
A spy, he said.
It was understandable that he would think so.
It was surprising enough that a mere brat could feel the Red Mist Demonic Art, and now I was even mentioning his portrait.
As I stood there smiling, neither affirming nor denying, his mouth slowly opened again.
“But I am curious. The Jaegal Clan is the one among the Five Great Clans that most thoroughly protects its kin. This is a place that no one but a blood relative of Jaegal can ever enter. How did you get through?”
“Even the collateral branches get to experience the Nine Phoenix Gates, don’t they?”
“They do not bring the likes of collateral branches before me.”
Hmm? Did he mean that the Nine Phoenix Gates were also divided by status?
But I immediately dismissed such questions.
What was important now was to further confuse this Blood Demon’s mind.
“But why do you say I am a spy?”
At once, the Blood Demon’s two eyes began to hold a fierce light.
“Are you suggesting we play twenty questions?”
“No, it’s just that. Would the Sword Saint really plant a spy in the Jaegal Clan, which can be considered under the Alliance’s command? Or could it be that this body is a spy for the Demonic Cult? If I had met the divine presence of a Bishop, I would have immediately responded with a full prostration, wouldn’t I?”
The man laughed wickedly.
“Did you deliberately leave one out?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Great Murim Alliance.”
Ha, were even the Demonic Cult bastards mocking me now?
“Excuse me, Lord Blood Demon. No, Lord Deceased-Presumed-to-be-Blood-Demon. The Great Murim Alliance has collapsed to its very foundations. With all the leaders dead, what kind of damn spy would they plant!”
“What? The Great Murim Alliance?”
Huh? He didn't know?
Did that mean this man had no communication whatsoever with the Jaegal Clan?
The Blood Demon, who had been silent for a moment with a confused face, clenched his teeth and asked back.
“I cannot easily believe it. Who was it? Who would dare to eliminate the Great Murim Alliance?”
I found this reaction from the Blood Demon surprising.
The way his face crumpled in anger at the news of the Great Murim Alliance's fall, it was as if he was truly indignant.
Could it be that the Demonic Cult guys were on my side?
No, that was absurd.
“To be so angered by the Great Murim Alliance's misfortune, you must be some kind of ally to the Demonic Cult, I suppose?”
“That mighty Alliance was never once able to cross the Yangtze River and descend south. If that Jin Family bastard was someone who could be so easily dealt with, he would have already died at the Qilian Mountains.”
This bastard.
Mentioning the Qilian Mountains, he was surely involved in the Heaven and Earth Net of that time.
As I was grinding my teeth inwardly, his voice was heard again.
“He was a man who protected the south of the Yangtze River for half a century with nothing but a three-inch tongue. Our cult, too, was played by his schemes countless times. Who was it? What great power has emerged? Don’t tell me that man touched the Imperial Family?”
With how much I bribed the officials, what kind of damn Imperial Family was he talking about?
At this point, I was actually getting interested.
I needed to probe this Blood Demon a little more.
“What could have stood in the way of an Alliance that had seized victory against the Demonic Cult in Hamma Valley? Having defeated the Demonic Cult, they were more than capable of taking on the Great Murim Alliance.”
“Hmph! By military force against the Jin Family bastard?”
“Why not? It’s as if they devoured seventy percent of the Murim, isn’t it?”
“Khahahahaha!”
Suddenly bursting into laughter, the man's gaze turned cold as he glared at me.
“How dare a whelp like you try to test me. Fine. I will play along.”
“I am opening my ears to listen attentively.”
A faint bloody glint began to form in the man’s eyes.
“That Jin Family bastard is secretly cooperating with the Four Hegemons of the Outer Regions. He’s the one who turned the Empress of the North Sea and the Beast of the Southern Barbarians, who were mortal enemies, into sworn siblings.”
To be honest, my heart sank.
How did this man know about the lawsuit between the Ice White Empress and the Beast King, and how did he even know about my mediation?
“What makes that man frightening is his art of persuasion, of capturing people. Once he sets a target, his recruitment never stops.”
“……”
“He binds people together with affection and heart. After clinking glasses and talking with him, you find yourself bewitched, becoming sworn brothers. He has formed countless such relationships, transforming the insignificant Black Way into the colossal Great Murim Alliance.”
It sounded like a compliment, yet strangely, my anger boiled.
Hearing my own story from someone else's mouth was an interesting experience, but actually going through it didn't feel good at all.
“If that method doesn't work, he'll find a weakness and exploit it. A talent for making bribes not seem like bribes. That Jin Family bastard already has three or four General's Offices in his grasp. The eunuch of the Eastern Depot is also on a leash held by him. Am I wrong?”
Wow, damn, this was genuinely surprising.
Matters like these were top-secret, known only to a few of my sworn brothers, Commander Gang Yu, and the Ghost Spirits.
Was this the cunning of the Demonic Cult, as expected?
I bit my lip and forced a smile.
“You must be well-fed. You’ve had your straws stuck in quite deep, haven’t you.”
“Do you think our cult is the only one that knows? A foolish miscalculation. The Sword Saint is also well aware that dealing with your Great Murim Alliance means clashing with the Four Hegemons of the Outer Regions and the General's Office.”
“Anyway, the world is full of cunning bastards in every direction.”
“So now you’re not denying it.”
As expected, this Blood Demon had begun to firmly believe I was a spy from the Great Murim Alliance.
Now was the time.
If I shattered that conviction here, his confusion would become uncontrollable.
“But what can I do? I am the proper third son of the Jaegal Clan Head, who has never even stepped outside this Jaegal Clan.”
“……What? The clan head's son?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
It was common knowledge in Jianghu that a Jaegal who couldn't pass the Nine Phoenix Gates could not leave the family estate.
This man must have known that fact well.
Soon, with an expression of disbelief, he shouted at me.
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
“Do I look like the kind of person who would tell a lie that would be immediately found out?”
The man’s face, his every detailed expression, froze like a painting.
As expected, this kind of deception was always thrilling and fun.
As if they had learned it from somewhere, why did all the guys who fell for my tricks make that same expression?
“I, I can't believe it! If you are the clan head’s young son, how do you know of my Red Mist Demonic Art! And you…!”
“Are you an idiot? My whole body is boiling with blood to the point that my teeth are chattering. If this isn't the Blood Demon's demonic art, would it be some divine art of the Orthodox Faction?”
“You also knew about my appearance!”
“Why can’t you consider your own fearsome infamy? Isn’t it the way of Jianghu for even an unknown young lady in some remote mountain village to shudder at the name of the Blood Demon—”
“Shut up!”
Zzzzt!
A dense demonic ki was tearing through the flesh of my entire body.
But I wouldn't be the Martial Emperor if I stopped here.
While groaning from the intense pain, I stubbornly forced my teeth apart and shot a smirk at him.
“Kugh… Is this also a gate of the Nine Phoenix Gates…?”
“You are definitely! You are…!”
That expression on his face right now was a result of the disparity in his experience.
Unless he knew about the reincarnation of this Martial Emperor, he would never be able to accept this contradiction.
If I thought about it from the opposite perspective, even if I were the one on the receiving end, it would be hard to come to my senses.
In that moment.
The Red Mist Demonic Art suddenly stopped.
Soon, the man slowly lifted his head and let out a fearsome voice.
“Don’t tell me all that talk about straws… was to probe my reaction and gather information?”
“For me, who has never experienced Jianghu, it’s a precious opportunity. When is experiencing the insight of the Blood Demon an ordinary event?”
But the man was violently shaking his head.
“There is definitely something about you! You are definitely not just a simple young Jaegal!”
Of course!
It’s easier for me to play around if you keep acting like this!
The man had watched all my actions: gathering dew with a torch and surviving with an anthill.
His questions started from there.
In the midst of that, I even revealed my past experience, so he would never regard me as an ordinary junior of the Jaegal Clan.
Finally, I had become the stronger one, psychologically superior.
“Let’s take it slow.”
I smiled brightly at the Blood Demon, who was staring at me intently.
“We have plenty of time to get to know each other, don’t we? This is only the first gate of the trial.”
“You…!”
I leaned against the earthen wall and casually rested my arm on my knee.
“First, let me ask what I’m curious about. What kind of deal did you strike with this Jaegal Clan?”
The monster before my eyes was a figure presumed to be none other than the Blood Demon.
To entrust a junior of the family to such a fearsome being without any restrictions?
The meaning of those words was that the Jaegal Clan had this fearsome Blood Demon by the throat.
“Isn’t that right? Why would this wise family entrust the martial arts instruction of their young blood relatives to you? It’s obvious you’ll only teach the ones you like, and if things go wrong, you’ll just kill them. Why are they making such a foolish gamble?”
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
The Blood Demon stared blankly at my shaking leg.
“Ah? So that’s why you needed the Demonic Cult's Demon Soul Pill? Then what’s with that Holy Divine Art with its profound yellow energy? It just doesn’t add up.”
I was smiling subtly for a moment, then opened my mouth again towards the man who had the flickering torch at his back.
“Don’t just stand there with your mouth shut. Sit here and let’s start building secrets, Lord Blood Demon.”
You Demonic Cult bastard.
You have a taste of Jin Gang-cheon’s art of persuasion too.