Chapter 188: Maitreya Luminous Cult (4)

A few days later, late evening.

People started gathering on the mountainside near Gulang County.

They were coming together for the second assembly of the Maitreya Luminous Cult.

Thanks to the incident where the Red Serpent Gang fell, the number of attendees had easily tripled compared to the first gathering.

"Maitreya is the light and hope who will burn away all the world's evil and save us poor souls."

"Believe in him."

As the martial artists from Gulang County's branch led the sermon, the gathered common folk responded like they were chanting some kind of mantra.

“The Advent of Maitreya!"

“Salvation for All People!"

Among them, the most desperate in her prayers was that girl who'd been dragged to the Red Serpent Gang on that fateful night.

The girl named Cheong-ah had been with all her might even before joining the assembly.

She'd actually converted more new believers than the cult members from Gulang County's branch did.

"Repent! All of you, repent and believe in Maitreya! If you do, peace will come to you."

“The Advent of Maitreya!"

“Salvation for All People!"

Once again, someone's sermon continued, and those listening began reciting the prayer without anyone taking the lead.

Il-mok, who had been leisurely watching the gathering while hiding in a tree near the assembly area, felt a shiver run down his spine.

'Good thing I kept my identity hidden. Ugh.'

The whole thing just looked like it came straight out of a horror genre cult-themed movie.

The assembly went on for quite a while. Then, a middle-aged guy who'd been anxiously looking around with a restless expression suddenly spoke up.

"But isn't Maitreya's incarnation supposed to show up today?"

The Gulang County Branch Leader answered as if anticipating that question.

"Maitreya's incarnation is the one who cleanses evil in Maitreya's place. He only descends to the mortal world when there's evil like the Red Serpent Gang."

"But there is evil!"

At the man's cry, everyone's attention focused on the middle-aged guy.

With eyes that seemed touched by madness, he yelled out.

"That Old Man Park who runs the pharmacy in the marketplace! You all know what a horrible bastard he is, right? He makes sick people who can't even work pay for their medicine every single time! He's a vicious bastard who makes money off poor people's lives!"

Il-mok clicked his tongue internally as he watched from the tree.

'I knew this would happen.'

It was pretty much what he'd expected.

Humanity was not inherently virtuous. This was not a thought that came from being completely indoctrinated by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. He knew it all too well from dealing with these kinds of people so many times during his days as a civil servant.

Especially the malice and rage toward the world that festered deep in poor people's hearts. That shit was beyond imagination.

It went without saying that most of the troublemakers who gave civil servants hell were exactly those types of people.

“There’s someone even worse than Old Man Park!”

"What about Mrs. Chae from the upper district! She hounds her maids and servants so relentlessly that anyone who works there once comes out a sobbing mess!”

A different kind of madness swept through the Maitreya Luminous Cult's assembly.

The madness named ‘hatred,’ where people accused one another, praying that those they disliked would receive divine punishment.

After watching this for a moment, Il-mok used his lightness skill to jump down from the tree.

Thud.

By the time Il-mok's feet hit the ground, an angry mask had already appeared on his face.

"It's the incarnation!"

"Maitreya's incarnation has come!"

The believers who'd seen Il-mok at the first assembly shouted out, and people immediately started screaming all at once.

Screams filled with madness, begging him to kill everyone they had grudges against.

But their screaming didn't last long.

"SILENCE!"

The internal energy imbued within that shout swept away their madness.

“Hk…”

The waves of internal energy and killing intent radiating from Il-mok's body were way too heavy and terrifying for ordinary people to handle.

As silence fell over the area, Il-mok spoke in a low voice.

"Today, I have manifested here again because I sensed a flow of deep malice and resentment.”

Having said that, Il-mok suddenly pointed his sword at the middle-aged man who'd shouted first.

"Do you wish for this man called Old Man Park to die?"

"Y-yes."

The man answered while trembling, but with madness still in his eyes. A gray-colored energy began swirling around Il-mok's sword.

“What if you pay for your life in exchange for that?”

"?!"

While the man's face went white at the unexpected question, Il-mok spoke again.

"Have you truly committed no sins? Never told a lie in your life, never fought with anyone?"

"That's... that is..."

"Are you really confident that no one is praying to Maitreya for your death?"

The man whose face had gone pale couldn't bring himself to speak and hung his head to avoid Il-mok's gaze.

Only then did Il-mok slowly turn his head and look at the faces of several people who'd joined the assembly.

“You all are laboring under a great misunderstanding.”

His gaze fell upon those who had been so earnestly spitting out hatred just a moment ago.

"Maitreya will descend to punish the world's evil. So let me ask you this. Can you guarantee that you'll be able to escape Maitreya's divine punishment?"

Was it because of Il-mok's words? Or was it because of the murderous aura continuously emanating from his body?

Not a single person dared to confidently answer "yes" to Il-mok's question.

While everyone trembled with their heads bowed low, Il-mok's words continued.

"On the day Maitreya descends to this world, all the world's evildoers will receive divine punishment. So what should you be doing? Shouldn't you first think about avoiding evil and living to help others in order to escape Maitreya's wrath?"

Live a good life.

After spouting this clichéd message, Il-mok suddenly swung his sword toward empty air.

The Sword Qi that swept past the people frozen in terror traveled far and split a thick tree in the distance with a thunderous roar.

"Evil scums like those from the Red Serpent Gang will all be cast into hell's pit by Maitreya. When that day comes, a great light shall find those who have lived virtuous lives.”

After speaking so intimidatingly, Il-mok ended with those quiet words. The girl called Cheong-ah shouted out.

"I will repent! Every night I'll repent my sins, believing that Maitreya will punish the wicked, and I'll wait for that day!"

Right after she shouted that, the Gulang County Branch Leader also yelled.

“The Advent of Maitreya!!"

Following his lead, everyone gathered there and shouted in unison.

“Salvation for All People!!"

Why was it?

Despite realizing that Maitreya was not a kind god who would grant every wish they prayed for…

“The Advent of Maitreya!!"

“Salvation for All People!!"

The faith in the eyes of those gathered at the assembly had grown even deeper.

It was because of the reverence that came from fear.

Humans naturally don't feel admiration for beings they can control at will.

"Let us repent!"

“The Advent of Maitreya!”

“Salvation for All People!!”

Dam Bin also realized something thanks to the reverence in the eyes of the people fervently offering prayers.

She now understood why Il-mok had suddenly stepped forward to admonish the masses.

'Don't tell me the Young Master had anticipated everything up to this point?'

Amazed by Il-mok's scheme, she thought.

'Now I think I understand why the Supreme One cherishes the Eighth Young Master so dearly.'

The Gulang County Branch Leader was thinking the same thing.

Of course, Il-mok was just thinking. 'Phew. Now no one should come looking for me for a while.'

He had only threatened them because he couldn't be bothered to handle their unreasonable complaints.

***

The next afternoon.

Il-mok was swinging his sword alone at the deserted branch headquarters.

'Tsk. Guess that Red Serpent Gang’s boss is too weak.'

Unfortunately, he wasn't getting any particular insights.

The enlightenment that used to come rushing whenever he experienced real combat hadn't shown its face recently.

It’s clear that the higher one’s level, the more remote the prospect of gaining enlightenment becomes.

Creak.

When he heard the unpleasant friction sound and people returning to the branch, Il-mok lowered his sword.

“Good work.”

At Il-mok's praise, Dam Bin answered on behalf of everyone.

“We didn’t do anything. It's all thanks to you setting up the situation, Young Master."

The others nodded in agreement.

For Il-mok, it was a situation he couldn't quite relate to.

'They're happy even though I gave them more work to do.'

Three years since being dragged into the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and Il-mok still could not understand the thought process of these cultists.

“Furthermore, the investigation into the matter you instructed us on is roughly finished.”

As she said this, Dam Bin looked at the Gulang County Branch Leader, who stepped forward and spoke.

"The Heavenly Orchid Society that the Red Serpent Gang’s boss mentioned is a group of lawless heretical martial artists who claim to be the masters of Lanzhou, Young Master."

Lanzhou was the capital of Gansu Province.

Hearing the news that a bunch of heretic bastards had taken control of the capital, Il-mok frowned.

"Now, that surprises me. I can't believe the Murim Alliance is just leaving those guys alone."

Dam Bin just smiled coldly.

"Why would those hypocrites who call themselves the Orthodox Faction be interested in Gansu Province, which doesn't make any money?"

Her answer made Il-mok recall what he had learned about Gansu when he was learning in the main headquarters.

'I'm pretty sure I heard that Gansu Province used to be quite wealthy in the past.'

Hundreds of years ago, to be precise.

The Silk Road that was used when the Central Plains traded with the Western world was directly connected to Gansu province.

Countless merchants passed through Gansu Province to use the Silk Road on their way to Xinjiang, and naturally, there was a time when gold and treasures flowed into Gansu Province.

However, after going through periods of war, the number of people using the Silk Road rapidly decreased, and then an incident occurred that made it impossible to use Gansu Province as a trade route.

That incident was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult establishing itself in Xinjiang about two hundred years ago.

With Gansu no longer viable as part of the Silk Road, the number of merchants visiting dwindled and Gansu Province gradually lost its vitality.

He even recalled hearing that because it was right next to Xinjiang, large sects and merchant caravans wouldn’t even come near the place, fearing that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult could invade at any moment.

'It was because of these crazy cultist bastards.'

As Il-mok looked over his companions with disgust, Dam Bin misunderstood the meaning behind that look and added.

"The only factions that might be interested are the three from Sichuan Province and two sects from Shaanxi Province, but they're too busy watching each other to move easily."

The three from Sichuan were Qingcheng, Emei, and the Sichuan Tang Family, while the two sects from Shaanxi were Mount Hua and Zhongnan.

Though they were grouped together as orthodox sects, they weren't completely on the same side.

They could be described as having the kind of relationship where if one left home to occupy Gansu, the others would gladly ransack their rival’s empty house while wearing a smile.

Thinking about the Nine Sects & One Gang and the Seven Great Families, Il-mok remembered something from a martial arts novel he'd read in his previous life.

"Huh? But wasn't there a famous orthodox sect in Gansu Province? What happened to the Kongtong Sect?"

Though the name varied from novel to novel, and in most cases it only appeared at the level of being mentioned by name, Kongtong Sect was definitely a name often mentioned among the Nine Sects & One Gang.

And Kongtong Mountain, the base of the Kongtong Sect, was located at the edge of Gansu Province.

But for some reason, Dam-bin looked at Il-mok with a somewhat ambiguous expression.

"The Kongtong Sect is now just a sect that exists in name only, Young Master."

"That Kongtong Sect?"

When Il-mok asked back with a face that said he didn't understand anything, Dam Bin briefly organized her thoughts and then answered succinctly.

“Do you know of the greatest battle recorded in the history of the Third Heavenly Demon, the Hegemonic Heavenly Demon?"

As someone who had graduated first from the Hall of the Demonic Way, Il-mok understood the situation just from that seemingly random question.

The Hegemonic Heavenly Demon died over six hundred years ago. He was a figure from when the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was still active in the Central Plains, and he led the cult's revival.

He was so renowned for his unconventional path of sweeping away anyone who displeased him that he was posthumously given the name Hegemonic Heavenly Demon.

As was customary for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the majority of the Hegemonic Heavenly Demon’s accomplishments vanished like a mirage due to the war of succession that followed his ascension.

Anyway, according to the history he'd learned from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Hegemonic Heavenly Demon had once gone alone to sweep away some Daoist bastards who were spreading false teachings.

That battle where he slaughtered hundreds of Daoist priests by himself was recorded as the greatest battle among the Hegemonic Heavenly Demon's achievements.

So that meant.

'So hypocritical Daoist bastards that the Hegemonic Heavenly Demon swept away were the Kongtong Sect!!'

Il-mok realized just how biased and distorted the history he had been taught truly was.