Chapter 172
You really… don’t know the Heavenly Demon?
Hey, that can’t be!
The name Heavenly Demon, along with the Martial God, was one of the most famous names in the Murim world, to the point that even a passing little kid would know it.
There was no way Un-hwi Yeo wouldn’t know such a name.
But what in the world was this reaction?
Still, wondering if he really didn’t know, So-baek Jin began to explain once more with exaggerated gestures.
“Excuse me, valued client. The Heavenly Demon has appeared. I’m saying that a devil who might turn all of Murim into a living hell has appeared.”
The news about the Heavenly Demon he had obtained with great difficulty.
Fortunately, it was possible because he had an informant within the Demonic Cult who had been trading with him for a long time.
In fact, when he first heard this news, Jin So-baek wanted to deny reality.
But since it had already happened, what could he do?
However, even so, he hadn’t expected Yeo Un-hwi to show such a lack of reaction.
Jin So-baek continued as if he were frustrated.
“Do you not understand how serious an issue this is? Or does it just not hit home for you? An incredibly terrifying king of demons has appeared. Yes?”
He didn’t go so far as to say, “So you, the Successor of the Martial God, need to stop him somehow!”
Soon, Yeo Un-hwi chuckled and opened his mouth.
“Right. I understood you perfectly. But you’ve never even seen this Heavenly Demon in person, so why are you calling him an evil god, a devil, or the king of demons? He might actually be a good person. And maybe he’s incredibly handsome, too.”
“Hah! Don’t say things you know nothing about. There is no way that’s true! How could the Heavenly Demon be a good person! And he might be handsome?”
Jin So-baek snorted and continued.
“Hahaha! I guarantee you, he is definitely a hideous man who looks exactly like a hungry ghost that just crawled out of hell. But excuse me, client. Why are you clenching your fist like that? It’s scary.”
“Ah. I almost threw a punch without realizing it.”
Yeo Un-hwi unclinched his fist and calmed the fussing Jin So-baek.
“Anyway, this Heavenly Demon has no intention of smashing Murim to pieces like you’re worried about, so rest easy.”
“Huh? How do you know that, client? Gasp! Don’t tell me you’ve already met him?”
“No, well, it’s not that, but this new Heavenly Demon… is actually me.”
“Ah. I see. And here I was wondering what it was. Hahaha! …Eh? What did you just say?”
Yeo Un-hwi nodded at Jin So-baek, who had a blank look on his face for a moment.
“I am the evil god you mentioned, the king of demons who looks like a hungry ghost that just crawled out of hell.”
“…You’re joking, right?”
“Hardly.”
“So you’re saying you are the Heavenly Demon…?”
“I told you I am.”
“Uwaaaaaaack!”
Jin So-baek was so shocked that snot shot out of his nose, and his eyes grew so wide they looked like they would pop out at any moment.
To think Jin So-baek’s handsome face could look this funny.
He clutched his chest, which felt like it had almost dropped to the floor, and looked at Yeo Un-hwi.
“Y-y-y-y-you became the Heavenly Demon?”
“It just happened somehow, though it was an unwanted title.”
“No, how in the world does the Successor of the Martial God invade the Demonic Cult and come back as the Heavenly Demon? Huh?”
He was genuinely, truly curious.
It made absolutely no sense, and even as a joke, it wasn’t funny at all.
That was how absurd the story was.
Soon, Yeo Un-hwi, the very culmination and human embodiment of that absurd story, let out a hollow laugh and opened his mouth.
“Well, you see, as for how it happened…”
Soon, Yeo Un-hwi recounted the events that had taken place in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains exactly as they happened.
“…Hah, hahahaha.”
Every single one of them was an unbelievable story.
Of course, he already knew the facts through his investigations, but hearing about those events directly from the person involved felt completely different.
They were truly experiences that defied imagination.
Furthermore, there was the 'Light to Enter the Heavenly Road'.
Because it was one of the representative artifacts symbolizing the Demonic Cult, Jin So-baek had already heard its name before.
What was even more surprising was the fact that the power of the Four Great Protectors, a hidden force arranged for the Heavenly Demon, was on par with the Twelve Venerables, and Yeo Un-hwi’s declaration that from now on, he would make the Demonic Heavenly Cult a place that ruled over all demons under Heaven rather than being the source of Demonic Force.
That made the already incredibly shocked Jin So-baek’s heart pound even harder.
“So that’s what happened.”
He was still so shocked that he felt like he was going to get indigestion, but even so, he thought it was a huge relief.
That Un-hwi Yeo was the Heavenly Demon.
At the very least, the Heavenly Demon of this era was not a murderous ghost crazed with blood and murder.
Rather, he was someone who protected the weak and powerless.
To think such a person was the Heavenly Demon.
It was simply amazing.
Come to think of it, this might be the birth of the most terrifying master in all of Murim.
To think that a single man had inherited everything from both the greatest of all time, the Martial God, and the foremost demon of all ages, the Heavenly Demon.
'Just what kind of blessing did he receive?'
His feelings of envy lasted only a moment.
Jin So-baek soon realized that there would be responsibilities and a mission that Yeo Un-hwi would have to shoulder because of it, and he folded those thoughts away.
Just how massive a destiny was waiting for that man for the heavens to arrange such immense power for him?
Even just roughly estimating its size and weight made him feel like goosebumps were breaking out all over his body.
'It’s too much for me, absolutely.'
Even if he were given billions of gold, he would decline such a destiny.
Because his lifelong dream and goal were simply to fulfill his own mission and responsibilities once he reached a certain age, step down from the position of sect master, and enjoy his twilight years in leisure.
“I understand. Then I will have to be as careful as possible with my words regarding the Heavenly Demon part.”
“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”
For now, the only people Yeo Un-hwi had revealed this fact to without hiding anything were his family and Jin So-baek.
He had no intention of going out of his way to let many people know.
It was a truly unavoidable situation.
That way, he would be able to use that power as a hidden trump card someday.
“By the way, about you and the Hao Sect.”
“Yes?”
Seeing that Jin So-baek seemed to have calmed down to some extent, Yeo Un-hwi brought up the topic he had wanted to discuss since meeting him today.
“Do you happen to have any thoughts of joining the Great Heaven Alliance?”
“Excuse me? Us?”
Jin So-baek’s eyes widened. This was yet another completely unexpected topic.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Hardly.”
“But we are an unorthodox faction.”
Although it wasn’t because they wanted to be.
They had never robbed or killed anyone, nor had they ever done anything unjust, but the Hao Sect was classified as an unorthodox faction just like that.
That was due to the social status of the people who made up the majority of the Hao Sect.
Because most of them were of lowly status.
Naturally, they were frequently despised by others.
But was he asking them to join the Great Heaven Alliance?
Of course, he had already attended the Five Great Families' family head meeting and had just heard words of gratitude, but there was a huge difference between that and this.
If someone else had made this proposal, he would have suspected their ulterior motives immediately.
He would have considered it obvious that they were trying to use the Hao Sect and himself for their own benefit however they pleased.
Have there been only one or two such bastards up until now?
But So-baek Jin knew.
That Yeo Un-hwi was not that kind of person.
If he had been that kind of person in the first place, their relationship wouldn’t have deepened to this extent.
Moreover, above all else, Yeo Un-hwi was already maintaining an incredibly good relationship with the Hao Sect and obtaining information from them, and no matter how one looked at it, he was not in a position where he lacked anything enough to make such a proposal with hidden motives.
No, rather, were the ones who were lacking.
'Our Hao Sect.'
Therefore, this had to be seen simply as Yeo Un-hwi’s goodwill and a token of gratitude for helping with the recent events.
However,
“I will have to decline.”
Although it was an incredibly gratifying proposal, Jin So-baek shook his head.
“Why?”
“First of all, we know our place. You could say we know our limits well. Traditionally, one must know one’s limits well in order not to break one’s relationship with a client and to live a long life. And secondly, we cannot cause harm to the Great Heaven Alliance through our actions.”
He gave two reasons, but in the end, it was just one reason.
The public perception of the organization known as the Hao Sect
Of course, in his heart, Jin So-baek wanted to accept that proposal a hundred times over.
But reality was not like that.
In fact, even now, he was being as careful as possible for fear of rumors spreading that the prestigious family, the Peng Family, was associating with the Hao Sect.
Hidden behind Jin So-baek’s brazen appearance, his true self was that kind and good a person.
He hated this reality more than anything, but he had grown used to it by now.
Looking at Jin So-baek, who couldn’t hide such a sorrowful smile, Yeo Un-hwi slowly opened his mouth.
“Who decided that?”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked who decided the place where you and the Hao Sect belong, that place that fits your limits. Was it this prejudice-filled world, or was it you and the Hao Sect, who grew tired of that prejudice and gave up, accepting that reality as something unavoidable?”
“That’s!”
He was about to say, “You don’t know! You know nothing about what we’ve been through and how desperately we’ve lived!”
But for some reason, his lips wouldn’t part.
The moment he flared up and met Yeo Un-hwi’s gaze, Jin So-baek’s entire body froze stiff.
That gaze was one that seemed to understand their hearts better than anyone else.
But it didn’t make sense.
As far as he knew, Yeo Un-hwi had lived as a scholar before becoming the son-in-law of the Peng Family.
There was no way he could have ever faced the kind of desperate failures in life and the prejudice of the world that they had experienced.
Furthermore, the Yeo Un-hwi he had seen so far was a man who seemed as if he had never experienced a single failure since the day he was born into this world.
There was no way such a man could have had such experiences, right?
But what in the world was that gaze?
A gaze that looked as if he had already lost absolutely everything, as if he had desperately hit rock bottom in life.
Jin So-baek didn’t know.
The man in front of his eyes was the one who had lived a life experiencing the most desperate failure and tasting the most horrific despair.
Amidst the atmosphere that had suddenly grown incredibly heavy, a soft smile spread across Yeo Un-hwi’s face.
“You gave this and that reason, but above all else, the Great Heaven Alliance is a fence to protect my people. And it wouldn’t make sense if you and the Hao Sect weren’t inside that fence.”
At first, it was just a financial relationship.
But they were the ones who had first helped Yeo Un-hwi with all their sincerity.
Above all, if Jin So-baek and the Hao Sect hadn’t been there the moment the Demonic Cult targeted the Peng Family, and if Yeo Un-hwi had been a step too late because of it, Yeo Un-hwi would have lost everything in this life as well.
Just thinking about it made him dizzy.
Therefore, to Yeo Un-hwi, Jin So-baek was a Benefactor he couldn’t be more grateful for.
Thus, Yeo Un-hwi made up his mind.
No matter what anyone in the world said, he would protect Jin So-baek and the Hao Sect.
“The place where you belong: I want that place to be the Great Heaven Alliance. I mean this sincerely.”