Absolute Regression

The Lord of Moon Wind Sect, Chuseong, was barely containing his boiling anger.

“Don’t worry too much. Various sects in Honam have promised to cooperate with us.”

These were the words that infuriated him. Hearing it from Seok-hyung, someone he trusted, made it even worse.

“Cooperate? How? Be specific. How many people did they say they would send, and when and where?”

Seok-hyung couldn’t answer. While they had promised help, none of the sects had provided specific details. Despite keeping it secret, rumors had already spread that the Demonic Cult was involved.

“Think about it from their perspective. Do you think they’d send people to face the Demonic Cult? They might pretend to be worried, but they’re probably more concerned with securing their own gates.”

Chuseong abruptly stood up. Seok-hyung, sensing that he might break something, tried to calm him down.

“Please, calm down.”

“How can I stay calm when I’m furious? These Demonic Cult bastards! I’ll chew them up alive!”

Chuseong punched a hole in the wall. There were already over twenty holes in the wall from previous outbursts. Patch it up, and it gets broken again, and again.

Chuseong felt so resentful and wronged. He couldn’t contain his rising anger. And at the root of all those emotions was fear.

Fear that he might come back.

Chuseong couldn’t sleep at night, and his nerves were on edge.

“Let’s ask the Murim Alliance for help then.”

Moon Wind Sect was originally a sect between the orthodox and unorthodox factions, unaffiliated with either the Murim Alliance or the Unorthodox Alliance.

“If we do that, we’ll end up being controlled by the Murim Alliance. If they resolve this, they’ll use it as leverage to make us submit to them, and even if they fail, they’ll use it as an excuse to absorb us into the Murim Alliance.”

Sects affiliated with the Murim Alliance had to pay a fixed sum to the Alliance every year. This was the same for both the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Unorthodox Alliance. In return, they could receive help when problems arose.

While money was an issue, Chuseong didn’t want to belong to the orthodox faction.

Just then, someone spoke exactly what was on his mind.

“You wouldn’t want to be under those guys who do nothing but regularly extort money from you, right?”

Chuseong and Seok-hyung were startled and turned around. A young man had entered the main hall without them noticing.

Seok-hyung quickly stood between the Lord and the unknown visitor, drawing his sword.

“Who are you?”

The fact that someone had entered without them noticing made both of them tense.

Then the young man spoke.

“I am from the Divine Cult.”

By the way, the person who startled the two was none other than me.

I could have announced my arrival from the entrance, but I didn’t. The Moon Wind Sect was currently in a chaotic state, with numerous martial artists bustling around from the entrance to the interior.

“Please understand. I dislike crowded places, so I entered quietly.”

Chuseong motioned for Seok-hyung to step back. He acknowledged that if I had intended to ambush them, they would already be dead.

“I am Chuseong, the Lord of Moon Wind Sect.”

Having lost his father early, he was one of the youngest leaders of a sect in Honam Province, being in his late twenties.

I did not reveal my identity to him.

“I have come to handle the incident that occurred at your sect. Although I cannot disclose my identity due to circumstances, you should recognize this.”

I showed them the emblem engraved with the evil spirit, symbolizing our sect.

Naturally, Chuseong was suspicious.

“The emblem could be forged, so I cannot trust you based on that alone.”

“How could someone so suspicious like you fall for their tricks?”

“Watch your mouth!”

As Seok-hyung took a step forward, I extended my hand.

Swoosh.

The demonic energy I emitted constricted Seok-hyung’s body.

He let out a single groan and couldn’t move. His face turned red as he struggled to breathe.

“Sometimes, one’s skill can serve as proof of identity, don’t you think?”

Chuseong urgently spoke as the demonic energy enveloped the area.

“Stop! We’ve already lost too many subordinates; we can’t afford to lose another. Let him go.”

When I withdrew the demonic energy, Seok-hyung gasped for breath and regained movement. He glared at me with fearful eyes but still stood in front of Chuseong to protect him.

“I, too, have loyal subordinates like yours. Losing them would feel as if my heart were being torn apart. I’m sure it’s the same for you, Lord Chuseong, so let’s not act rashly.”

Although I spoke to Seok-hyung, the words were also meant for Chuseong. The perceptive Chuseong sent Seok-hyung away.

“Leave us.”

“Yes.”

Seeing him obediently leave in this situation, it was clear he had sent a secret message. Since neither of them could handle me alone, the order was likely to gather all the masters of Moon Wind Sect.

Even with just the two of us, Chuseong remained defiant.

“Why are you trying to clean up the mess you caused in the first place? What exactly are your intentions?”

“Not cleaning up, but investigating. The incident that occurred earlier wasn’t caused by us.”

Chuseong scoffed. He was convinced that it was us who committed the deeds, as he had fallen victim to Heavenly Society, who had impersonated our cult’s Demon Supreme.

Although similar incidents had occurred several times recently, the factions of the Central Plains were not yet aware of this.

In other words, it was a time when the Heavenly Society hadn’t fully emerged to the surface.

“Tell me what happened. If I came here to harm you, would we be having this verbal spar right now?”

That seemed to resonate with him, and Chuseong finally began to speak about the past incident.

“Someone came a while ago claiming to be from your Divine Cult.”

“Who did they say they were?”

“They said they were the Evil Smiling Demon.”

I knew they had impersonated our Demon Supreme, but I didn’t know the target was Soma.

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. What were they thinking, pretending to be none other than the Evil Smiling Demon, and what if they encountered the real one?

“What did he look like?”

“He wore a white mask.”

Well, since he was wearing a mask, the easiest Demon Supreme to impersonate would certainly be the Evil Smiling Demon.

“Did you believe him just because he wore a mask?”

Then Chuseong spoke with certainty.

“He was the real Evil Smiling Demon.”

“Why do you believe that?”

Suddenly, Chuseong was filled with anger.

“He killed the experts of our faction in an instant. Faces were punctured by his wind techniques, and bodies were shattered to pieces by his palm techniques. Among the dead were the top three experts of our faction. If he wasn’t the Evil Smiling Demon, who could he possibly be?”

It seemed that he imitated the Evil Smiling Demon’s unique demonic arts, the Frantic Demonic Palm, and the Blood Disaster Finger. Given the situation, Chuseong had no choice but to believe it.

“After turning those who tried to protect me into a sea of blood, the Evil Smiling Demon demanded that we swear loyalty and obedience to the Demonic Cult.” 1

He committed unnecessary killings solely to intimidate. That act alone made him an evil that deserved death.

“And do you know what else he did? If he had massacred us, it would have been less shocking than this. We would have thought we were unlucky to die.”

“What did he do?”

“He robbed us as he left. He demanded all the money we had on hand. He took all the faction’s money. How can you people, who stoop to thievery, talk so big?”

Given the situation, I could understand any curses that followed.

“How much did he take?”

“About sixty-two thousand nyang.”

Now, I could understand Chuseong’s anger. I could also understand why there were so many holes in the wall.

“If we had lost fighting for a different reason, it wouldn’t feel this unfair. Obey the Demonic Cult? Don’t make me laugh! That’s just an excuse; that guy killed my subordinates just to rob us. Do you understand? My subordinates died for mere money! He could have just asked for the money from the start!”

He couldn’t hold back and shouted.

“Argh! I’m so angry I can’t stand it. I’m not going to die a natural death.”

From the way Chuseong spoke, I thought he might have been a cheerful and pleasant person before. If things continued like this, he would never return to that state. The families, friends, and survivors of the deceased—the number of victims was still undetermined.

“Right now, Lord Chu is too angry to display his strengths.” 2

“And what are my strengths, exactly!”

I took out a piece of paper from my pocket and read it.

“Lord of Moon Wind Sect, Chuseong. Intelligent and good at making judgments. Has a strong sense of pride and is passionate.”

“Who made that assessment?”

“Our Cult’s Honam Branch Leader from the Heavenly Communication Pavilion. Would you like to meet him?”

Chuseong looked at me with a conflicted expression, wondering whether to believe me or not, then he weakly blamed himself.

“What good is intelligence and judgment if all I did was get helplessly beaten?”

“But you still need to get revenge, don’t you?”

At the mention of revenge, Chuseong’s eyes sharpened.

“I will, definitely.”

There was a time when I felt the same way.

Sleeping or eating, all I could think about was revenge. I couldn’t live a normal life because the only thought in my mind was how to take revenge.

Chuseong was the same. He was up against an enemy he couldn’t handle through normal means.

But fortunately, just as I had met Seo Jin, he had met the current me. His dire fate was thus altered.

“I will help you with that revenge.”

Chuseong went to the table and drank the cold tea straight from the pot.

“It really wasn’t you guys?”

“Doesn’t something feel off to you too? If the real Evil Smiling Demon had targeted your money, would he have left with only sixty-two thousand nyang? The whole place would have been stripped bare and you would have all been killed to silence you.”

“What if it was just a form of amusement?”

“If he enjoyed such amusements, he would have been killed by the Heavenly Demon. Even if it were for amusement, who would have survived here?”

“Honestly, it seemed strange to me too. That’s why I thought the Evil Smiling Demon had gone mad.”

Since he was known for constantly staring at a white wall every day, he might go mad eventually.

“He’s still sane. I met him not too long ago.”

Chuseong flinched when I said I had met Soma. However, he didn’t seem to think I was bluffing due to the skills I had shown.

“Are you saying the Evil Smiling Demon is really in your Cult?”

For a moment, I hesitated to answer. When I left, the Evil Smiling Demon wasn’t in the Valley of Wicked.

“He was.”

I answered this way not because I didn’t want to argue with Chuseong but because I was certain it wasn’t the Evil Smiling Demon’s doing. My father always said you can never truly know what’s inside a person, but there are still some things you can tell. No matter how evil Soma might be, he’s not someone who would do such a thing.

“If that guy was a fake, then the one in your Cult must be a fake too.”

How intense must his appearance have been for Chuseong to say something like that?

I slowly walked around the main hall, recalling the situation. Killing the martial artists of Moon Wind Sect and stealing money.

Why did he do such a thing? For money? Or to drag us into this? In this incomprehensible incident, I needed to find clues about them.

“Alright. Let’s say, as you said, that he was a fake. Why would that fake guy do this? To cause discord with the Martial Alliance? To start a war with the Demonic Cult?”

“If that were the case, he would have targeted the orthodox factions under the Martial Alliance.”

“Then what’s going on?”

“That’s why I’m here. To find out what’s going on.”

Chuseong stared at me for a moment, then opened the door and went out. Outside, Seok-hyung, who had gone out earlier, and dozens of Moon Wind Sect martial artists were patiently standing guard.

Chuseong went out alone and spoke to Seok-hyung.

“Dismiss the subordinates, clean out a guest room, and prepare it. We will host him as a guest for the time being.”

“Yes, understood.”

Seok-hyung looked relieved. He must have judged that he couldn’t handle me despite gathering the martial artists.

Chuseong came back inside.

“I can’t shake the thought that you might be in league with that guy. Still, I plan to trust you. Do you know why? Because right now, I have to cling to anything I can.”

Then he suddenly looked up at the ceiling and shouted.

“Father! Grandfather! Please help me! Don’t let me be mocked any longer! Watch over our sect! Save my subordinates!”

Seeing that he met me by fate, it seemed his ancestors were already helping him plenty.

After shouting out loud, he revealed his true feelings. He lowered his voice so that his subordinates outside couldn’t hear.

“Because you came, I’m ruined. If, as you say, he’s a fake Evil Smiling Demon, I can’t give up on revenge. If it were the real Demonic Cult, I might have been able to give up. But because of you, I’m on a bridge I can never return from. I have to cross this endless bridge of revenge for the rest of my life!”

“I will help you cross that bridge.”

In the past, I had left here in a rush, unable to conduct a proper investigation.

Back then, I didn’t see my father or Lee Ahn. I didn’t see others; I only saw myself, and the successor position. Naturally, I didn’t see Chuseong either.

“There are countless sects in the martial world, but there must be a reason they chose your sect. Why you? Young, intelligent, passionate, and proud. Besides what’s written on this paper, what else do you have?”

I approached him and stared directly into his eyes.

“There must be a reason they chose you. Quickly, give me an answer!”

1 : Either it’s really Soma who went out to cause trouble on purpose, or they foolishly used his name and Soma went out to slaughter them all. The first option would be a nice twist, while the second would increase the trust we have in him.

2 : Maybe it’s one of the reasons he was targeted like that, to reduce the number of sect leaders who would control the chaos as Hwa Moogi destroyed Murim ? Conspiration theories are always nice ^^

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