Chapter 159: The Newcomers (1)

Shortly after the villagers, who had lost themselves in religious fervor, finally settled down…

"There's plenty of water, so just take one bucket each!"

The cult members stepped in to mediate, distributing water from the well to the villagers.

"Damn it!! Daaamn iiiit~!"

Well, except for one deranged Dokgo Pae, who was ceaselessly swinging his greatsword at empty air like a maniac.

"The enlightenment of the Dokgo’s Nine Swords!!!"

‘Why does that lunatic keep prattling on about enlightenment? It will only worsen his side effects.’

Il-mok watched Dokgo Pae's outburst with disdain, but then a disturbing realization hit him.

‘...Oh. That's actually normal behavior.’

Il-mok then frantically shook his head.

‘Dokgo Pae, normal? No way in hell! I'm the normal one here. Obviously.’

He absolutely could not accept that the lunatic was normal and he was the crazy one.

While Il-mok was lost in self-rationalization, the task of distributing water to the villagers was concluded.

Once he snapped out of it, Il-mok casually approached the branch leader.

"Actually, creating this well here is pretty much like drinking poison to quench thirst. The water flowing from this vein was the very water that supplied the village well, so the supply to the old well will now inevitably decrease sharply.”

"Ah..."

The branch leader, who'd been high on the miracle of a new well appearing, finally grasped the critical point and let out a faint groan.

"What I'm saying is, you can't just hand out tons of water right now just because there's a lot. Everyone's caught up in the excitement today, so it would be best to explain the situation calmly after things have settled down.”

Since this new well would dry up the old one, the villagers would have to trek all the way here to get water from now on.

But it wasn't entirely bad news. The old well was already running dry anyway, and this spot had way more water flowing through it.

“It might be better in the long run to either have the branch’s martial artists transport water, or just move the whole village closer to here. That might be better all around, but you should talk it over with everyone."

After filling the branch leader in on how to handle the aftermath, Il-mok could finally head back to the village to rest.

***

Around noon the next day.

The cult members, who'd worked their asses off digging the well until late into the night, finally prepared to leave the village after sleeping in until the sun was high in the sky.

A tiny village of barely two hundred people didn't exactly have lodging facilities for over sixty guests.

However, the deeply moved villagers had willingly offered their own homes.

A couple with a child would squeeze together to sleep in a corner of their tiny room to free up another, or an old couple would offer a now-empty room.

And even now, as the cult members were leaving,

"May the Heavenly Demon descend! May the Ten Thousand Demons bring fortune!!"

"We pray that the Heavenly Demon's blessing goes with the warriors of the Divine Cult!"

Every single villager came out to bow and chant blessings at the departing group.

Watching this devout spectacle, the cult members all wore satisfied expressions as they left the village, and Il-mok was no different.

It wasn't just because he had saved the villagers who were suffering from thirst.

‘When was the last time I had a proper bath?’

Thanks to the fresh water from the newly dug well, Il-mok had finally been able to deal with his hygiene obsession properly.

For the next ten or so days, Il-mok traveled the vast wastelands of Xinjiang with the White Sparrow Corps.

There were days his hygiene compulsion threatened to flare up after being worn down by camping in the wild, and there were also days they stopped in a reasonably large village to rest comfortably.

Sometimes he'd witness the bizarre sight of people pulling carts with little kids in them. They were warriors from a martial unit assigned to the Elementary Demon School, which his Eldest Brother had taken charge of.

After spending these unremarkable days, the time to return to the Tianshan Mountains Range had finally come.

Maybe it was because they were getting close to home, the wasteland gave way to grasslands, and after more time passed, the outline of the Tianshan Mountain Range slowly appeared in the distance.

"Corps Leader."

Il-mok approached the White Sparrow Corps Leader and pulled a stack of letters from his sleeve.

"I know this is presumptuous, but could you deliver these to my Master?"

Unlike the White Sparrow Corps, which was returning to headquarters after completing their mission, Il-mok had to go back to the Hall of the Demonic Way.

And by tradition, students at the Hall of the Demonic Way weren't allowed any contact with headquarters. This was due to the stuffy, old-fashioned reasoning that they should focus solely on training and self-development.

But since this involved Il-mok's Master, the Heavenly Demon, the Corps Leader asked out of curiosity.

"What are these that you want me to deliver to the Supreme One?"

"Letters outlining improvements I thought of while working with the White Sparrow Corps."

It was pretty uncharacteristic of Il-mok to stick his neck out and create work for himself.

But he had his reasons.

If word of what happened at that well-digging village reached his Master, he'd definitely get orders to come up with more improvement plans and whatnot.

Il-mok had reached the conclusion that it was better to take the beating first rather than suffer his Master's nagging and trigger his obsessive compulsions. It was better to organize and present the improvement plans proactively.

Plus, there was another reason.

‘I can’t be the only one to suffer.’

These improvement plans had a little trap hidden in them.

"...Improvement plans."

The Corps Leader stroked his gruff beard and muttered, accepting the stack of letters Il-mok handed him.

“Is this something I am permitted to read?”

There was a hint of displeasure in his question, and Il-mok answered politely.

"Yes, sir."

As soon as Il-mok finished his reply, the Corps Leader dove into reading the letters.

The reason for his bad mood was simple.

‘So the top-secret mission the Heavenly Demon gave the Eighth Young Master was to monitor our martial unit?’

Because of that word "improvements," the Corps Leader figured it might be about improving how the White Sparrow Corps handled missions.

But not long after he started reading, he realized he'd misunderstood.

"Huh..."

At one point while reading the letter, the Corps Leader let out a deep breath and looked at Il-mok like he was looking at some kind of monster.

"...I think I understand why the Supreme One gave you a different top-secret mission instead of sending you to a martial unit.”

Il-mok gave a bitter smile at the Corps Leader's high praise.

"I just got lucky."

He was lucky, indeed.

‘Damn it.’

It was the result of having modern knowledge combined with the obsessive-compulsive disorder from the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword.

Unaware of Il-mok’s inner thoughts, the Corps Leader simply took it as modesty and smiled warmly.

"Normally, I'm not supposed to deliver letters from the Demonic Way students, but since this matter pertains to your role as the Eighth Young Master and not a student, I'll make sure to deliver it."

The Corps Leader carefully folded the stack of letters and tucked them into his chest like he would protect them even at the cost of his life.

After more time passed and they reached the vicinity of the Tianshan Mountain Range, the White Sparrow Corps members and the Hall students exchanged light farewells and parted ways.

"Thank you for your teachings, seniors!"

"We'll definitely become excellent cult members and meet you again!"

"Haha! Let's meet again in a year!"

The Corps Leader headed toward the main headquarters compound with his members, and once they arrived, he ordered them to rest.

He then walked straight toward the Heavenly Demon Palace.

"I greet the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons!"

"Rise. You said Il-mok asked you to deliver letters to me?"

“That is correct.”

The Corps Leader stood up at the Heavenly Demon's command and held out the letters.

The Hidden Guard Pavilion Master, who served as the Heavenly Demon's personal bodyguard, accepted the letters, checked something, and then handed them to the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon's eyes lit up like a martial artist who'd discovered some legendary technique as he read through the letters.

‘Hohoho. I wonder what sort of marvelous change our youngest will bring about this time.’

He read with anticipation, and the more he read, the more that anticipation was fulfilled.

***

The most important task for our Divine Cult is to prevent the evil latent in all humans from running rampant. However, this land of Xinjiang is an environment all too suitable for evil to run rampant. Unlike the fertile Central Plains, more than half of this land is wasteland, and because of this, there is always a shortage of food and water.

The title written on the letter Il-mok had sent to the Heavenly Demon was, "Xinjiang Wasteland Development Plan."

First, there is a need to expand Xinjiang’s grasslands. It is impossible to turn a desert into a grassland all at once. However, if we consistently plant and cultivate new grass and trees at the border between the grasslands and the wasteland every year, it is possible to gradually expand the territory of the grasslands.

...

Additionally, the children who attend schools and academies can participate in this work. Regularly watering the trees or grass they planted themselves and watching them grow will greatly help with children's emotional stability. Therefore, how about designating one day each year when all the children plant grass and trees together as 'Arbor Day' and making it a festival?

...

There's a saying that mulberry fields become the blue sea. But the mulberry fields doesn’t become an ocean overnight. Expanding Xinjiang's grasslands is the same. We won't see big changes immediately, but after several decades, no one will be able to remember what old Xinjiang looked like.

Il-mok personally called it the "Make Our Xinjiang Green" project.

His biggest inspiration came from memories of elementary school.

Memories of planting flowers and trees with little shovels on Arbor Day.

Plus, Arbor Day was a kind of strategic move.

A strategy to increase holidays for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a batshit crazy organization that thought working or training year-round was totally normal.

Il-mok planned to trick the Heavenly Demon into adding more holidays, starting with this Arbor Day, so he could legally get some rest.

And Il-mok's scheme didn't stop at just one holiday.

Since even I, who have just begun to learn sorcery, was able to detect a water vein, the sorcerers of the Eight Trigrams Hall and the An Family should definitely be able to locate water veins. We must utilize them to create a map of Xinjiang’s water veins.

...

For large villages near water sources like Turpan and Hami, we should expand the grasslands, while for other villages, we should create new water sources in nearby locations based on the water vein map and form new grasslands and villages centered around them.

...

If we simply try to force the villagers to relocate, it could cause unrest, but new water sources will be a great temptation for them. Moreover, we have education to add to that temptation. We can utilize the warriors of the martial units and branch quarters to build new schools and academies and encourage the villagers to move.

...

Il-mok completed the plan by also adding a project for the villages and people currently suffering from water shortages.

This plan was the trap Il-mok had prepared.

A trap filled with rage about not wanting to be buried in work alone.

And the Heavenly Demon moved exactly as Il-mok intended after reading all the letters.

"Summon the Eight Trigrams Hall Master and the An Family Head immediately. And gather all the Corps Leaders and the Grand Teacher."

The Grand Teacher was the head of a newly created institution to handle the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's education, the Demon-Teaching Pavilion.

It was none other than the First Disciple, Wi Jin-hak.

And from this moment on, a massive storm was about to hit the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

A terrible storm of work that would grind up all the fighters from the warriors, sorcerers from the Eight Trigrams Hall, and everyone in the Demon-Teaching Pavilion.

***

Meanwhile, the one who had dropped the bomb was strolling along a mountain path with a refreshed face.

‘Hehehe. Now they won't have time to pay attention to me.’

For this to stabilize, a large portion of the headquarters' personnel would have to be grounded for quite a while.

If things went well, they might still be busy running around even after Il-mok graduated from the Hall.

‘If I can get assigned to a Central Plains branch during that chaos, I'll be living the good life from then on!’

Despite being a member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Il-mok was indulging in a very Taoist flight of fancy.

While he was imagining a peaceful future with a gleeful expression, Il-mok and the other students reached the entrance to the Hall of the Demonic Way.

The students, covered in dust from traveling all over Xinjiang for over a month, began passing through the main gate in their grimy robes.

And in the training grounds of the Hall, to which they had returned for the first time in a month, stood unfamiliar young men and women staring at them.