Chapter 210: Joining Forces (1)

"How did you even get here?"

Seo Jae-pil answered, looking like his world had ended.

"After the Young Master completed his training at the Hall of the Demonic Way, I sent a letter to the Demonic Physician and had a meeting with the elder. It was decided that I would return to the headquarters. However, the handover to my successor took some time, and by the time I finally made it back to headquarters, the Young Master had already left."

Seo Jae-pil spoke mournfully, as if the shock of that day still hadn't worn off.

"But I couldn't just give up like that, so I begged the Demonic Physician every single day. I asked him to send me wherever the Young Master was."

"You made that request knowing where I was and what I was doing?"

"Wherever that place might be, if the Young Master is there, wouldn't there be an abundance of research subjects?"

Yep, still a mad scientist.

"Haa. So you kept pestering him, and the Demonic Physician sent you here?"

"That's correct! The Young Master had requested additional personnel, so he said he would give me this opportunity!"

"...I see."

Il-mok let out a light sigh, realizing that this was all because of the Demonic Physician.

Not that he was totally shocked.

He had asked for a physician to be sent in the first place, and his brain was hardwired to run through all the possible what-ifs, so this was technically on the list.

It's just that...

'I figured since he was stuck way out at the academy when I left, there was no way he could follow me.'

He had considered the worst-case scenario—that Seo Jae-pil might have quit the Hall's infirmary and returned to the Pure Mind Hall in the meantime—but thought the chances were low.

"So what should I do from now on, Young Master?"

Unaware of Il-mok's inner thoughts, Seo Jae-pil asked with an innocent face.

It was the face of someone asking which humans he could use as test subjects.

"From now on, we'll be running a clinic under the name Maitreya Luminous Cult’s umbrella. Physician Seo, you'll provide free medical treatment and prescriptions to the people of this place at that clinic."

This was precisely why Il-mok had requested a physician from headquarters.

Nothing wins people over like free healthcare.

Hearing his orders, Seo Jae-pil's eyes sparkled as he replied.

"Does that mean I can conduct interviews during the process of examining and treating the people here? I've collected quite a few case studies on the psychology of those who learned Demonic Arts at the Hall of the Demonic Way and the main headquarters, so now I'd like to compare them with those who haven't learned Demonic Arts."

"Go ahead. Ah, but don't go dissecting living people or opening up their brains for your experiments. These are commoners, after all."

"Hahaha. You jest too much, Young Master. Would I really do such a thing?"

Il-mok simply look at that smiling face with eyes full of suspicion.

"Sigh... Just go. Miss Jin, take him to the clinic at the new compound. That part should be finished already."

"Yes, Young Master."

Once Physician Seo off with Jin Hayeon, Il-mok looked at those remaining in the hall.

Aside from Seon-ah, who stayed for guard duty, they were all faces he'd never seen before.

"I am Kang Yul, Third Squad Leader of White Tiger Corps."

"I am Ya Yul-pae, Fourth Squad Leader of Red Tiger Corps."

"I am Won Sul, Vice Head of the Orthodox Doctrine Division of the Demon-Teaching Pavilion."

"A pleasure to meet you. I am the Eighth Disciple, Il-mok. Can each of you tell me how many people you brought with you?"

"I have nine from the White Tiger Corps’ Third Squad, myself included."

"Red Tiger Corps’ Fourth Squad also brought nine, including myself."

"From the Demon-Teaching Pavilion, there are three of us, and since we were short on personnel, we brought three additional martial artists from the Sacred Order."

Twenty-four in total. Twenty-five if you counted Physician Seo.

Il-mok turned to the two combat squad leaders.

"Your mission is to sweep through the counties of this province and clean out all the low-life criminal gangs that are preying on the people."

The Heavenly Orchid Society had been a big organization since they were able to control Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu. But since they entrenched themselves in Lanzhou, they can’t expand their reach to other areas of Gasu.

That’s when the small gangs come into play.

With the big snake nestling comfortably in the capital, the smaller snakes are all free to cause trouble in other counties, like that Red Serpent Gang they'd already dealt with in Gulang County.

And since the Heavenly Orchid Society practically wiped out any faction that didn’t pay tribute to them, the scums who run rampant right now are pretty much gangs with the Heavenly Orchid Society as their backers.

"The Lanzhou Branch Leader has compiled information on the locations of these scums. Their crimes, their strengths, their weaknesses, all of that is in that file. Go talk to him first."

And Il-mok had already grasped the general state of these scums thanks to the Heavenly Orchid Society’s ledgers.

Those books contained detailed information about the factions they received tribute from or exchanged women and slaves with.

Using those books, he'd corresponded with the cult's other local branches and put together a complete intel package.

He had simply lacked the manpower to wipe them out until now.

And now, it was time for the blade of judgment to fall on those bastards who'd been running wild like they owned the place.

"We obey your command!"

At the order to fight evildoers for the sake of the people, Kang Yul and Ya Yul-pae answered in solemn voices.

It was truly a mission befitting the doctrine of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

After those two left the hall to get information from the Lanzhou Branch Leader, Il-mok looked at the middle-aged man who was the Vice Head of the Orthodox Doctrine Division of the Demon-Teaching Pavilion.

For some reason, the guy was smiling.

'Hehehehe. Sorry guys, but you're on your own.'

He was thinking about his poor coworkers back at the Demon-Teaching Pavilion who remained at headquarters.

The Demon-Teaching Pavilion was already the busiest organization at headquarters. And now, with three of them absent including himself, those who remained were probably having their limbs torn off in a storm of work.

But in his glee at having escaped that bureaucratic hell, he had forgotten one very important thing.

The person who had created that hell in the first place... was the Eighth Young Master, standing right in front of him.

"You and your team from the Demon-Teaching Pavilion have three jobs. First, I need you to invent the entire doctrine for our Maitreya Luminous Cult. Make it so that the people of the Central Plains can easily accept it by gradually mixing the doctrine of our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult into Buddhist scriptures."

"C-create the doctrine, you say?"

"That's right. Second, from now on, the Vice Head will be in charge of sermons at the gatherings. Teach the new believers the doctrine you've researched and prepared. By teaching the doctrine of Maitreya Luminous Cult, you must gradually make the believers familiar with our Divine Cult's doctrine."

"......"

"Lastly, teach the Thousand Character Classic to those who came with you and the people living here. Just as Physician Seo is running our free clinic, you guys are running our free school."

"......"

Won Sul's face, which had been glowing with happiness just moments ago, now looked like it was actively dying.

As if he couldn't even see Won Sul's face, Il-mok turned his head to look at Seon-ah.

"Tell Dam Bin to spread the word in the red-light district. If any courtesans or servants want to learn to read, they should come to that estate."

At the place that had been the Heavenly Orchid Society's estate, now stood a school and a clinic.

He had asked the craftsmen to prepare those two places first, and since they were repairing and renovating existing buildings rather than constructing new ones, they'd been able to finish quickly.

And Il-mok, having gifted Won Sul with a new hell, said with an indifferent face.

"Why are you still here and not on your way?"

"I-I obey your command."

As Won Sul walked away with the face of a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse, Il-mok gave instructions to Hyeokryeon Seon-ah.

"Take him to Dam Bin. You might as well stop by the red-light district together, then head to the school at the estate."

"I'll see to it, big brother."

And just like that, Il-mok finished offloading most of his work onto the new guys.

"Haaam."

He let out another yawn and lazy stretch and was about to take another nap when—

"Young Master! We have a problem!"

The two combat squad leaders he'd just sent away were back, and they had the Lanzhou Branch Leader with them.

"What is it now?" Il-mok asked, not even trying to hide his irritation.

“Young Master, bringing divine punishment onto those scums is no problem. It's the... other part of the mission."

"None of our guys are pretty enough to run a honey trap."

"......"

That was a problem that not even Il-mok, with his tendency to plan for every insane possibility, had ever thought of.

'...Fucking damn it. Good-looking or pretty people aren't exactly common. Especially if they're from combat squads, they'd have picked the best fighters, not the prettiest faces.'

Il-mok had so many attractive people around him that he'd started taking it for granted.

He thought for a second while the three of them stared at him expectantly.

Having quickly come up with a solution, Il-mok answered flatly.

"Go find Squad Leader Dam Bin and have her take you to the red-light district. The courtesans there are already followers. Just hire a few of them for a couple of days. Problem solved."

First came offloading. Now came outsourcing.

***

Around the time the new group from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult arrived in Lanzhou.

The Three-Knot Beggar, who had received orders from Hong Gae also arrived at the Beggars Gang’s main headquarters.

It was a hell of a long trip, all the way from Gansu to Hebei.

Though the Three-Knot Beggar was a First-Rate master in his own right, by the time he arrived in Tianjin where the main headquarters was located, his appearance was beyond miserable.

He was a beggar, so he already started with a low baseline, but now he looked so pathetic that the head of the entire Beggars Gang probably would've tossed him a coin.

As the Three-Knot Beggar—who was easily in the top five most miserable-looking beggars that had ever been seen—approached the main headquarters, a beggar standing guard while pretending to beg watched him intently.

As befitting the main headquarters, the guard beggar had four knots tied on his clothes.

But the suspicious gaze lasted only a moment.

After checking out the Three-Knot Beggar's genuinely pathetic state and seeing the three knots on his sash, the guard got up.

"Where are you from?"

"I've come to deliver a letter sent by Branch Leader Hong Gae of Lanzhou."

"Let me see. Lanzhou... Is this information related to the Heavenly Orchid Society?"

"Yes, but it's about the people who crushed the Heavenly Orchid Society."

At the Three-Knot Beggar's answer, the Four-Knot Beggar‘s eyes went wide. He leaned in close and whispered.

"Don't tell me the Demonic Cult invaded!?"

One would expect a terrible stench to emanate from the beggar as he came close and spoke, but the Three-Knot Beggar couldn't smell any bad odor at all. His own body odor was so bad that it canceled everything else out.

"It's a group called Maitreya Luminous Cult. Branch Leader Hong Gae said he couldn't make a judgment about them and asked the main headquarters to decide."

The guard realized this was a big deal. He stepped out of the way.

"Go on in."

The Three-Knot Beggar was finally able to enter the main headquarters, but there wasn't much to look at.

The Beggars Gang was a gathering of beggars to begin with, so their headquarters was just a really big slum.

As the Three-Knot Beggar entered the slum, a beggar with five knots approached him, and they had more or less the same conversation he'd had at the gate.

The Five-Knot Beggar then took the piece of bark with the message on it and went to a specific hut.

"Chief. A message came in from the Lanzhou Branch Leader."

That place was none other than the hut where the Chief of the Beggars Gang resided—the Drunken Jade Manor.