Chronicles of the Reincarnated Demon God

Chapter 4: A Madman

The elders’ faces turned pale instantly as they watched Un-hwi chewing on what used to be Cheon Ha-jin

‘Damn it!’

‘This crazy bastard again!!’

‘We tried to remove him from his position because we didn’t want to see that look!’

Again! It’s that smile again!!

The elders felt their hearts sink and their anger rise as they saw the wicked smile on Un-hwi’s lips.

Even in the jianghu, people’s impression of him was that of:

A madman.

A master of chaos.

King of grudges, and so on.

The rumors surrounding him were all consistent.

—They say every time he smiles sinisterly, a sect gets destroyed.

—Don’t engage in any lengthy conversation with him. The moment you go, “Huh? Oh!”, you’ll find your life ruined, mired in tragedies.

That damned bastard always claimed he was the victim and the sane one, but no one believed him.

If he was really normal, then what were all those calamities that had befallen the jianghu?

Especially when he smiled like that, chaos always ensued.

All they could do was tremble in fear before this massive calamity.

Shiver…

* * *

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The Dead Soul Pill erupted as soon as it was absorbed into my body.

Death Qi is a force that living humans normally can’t handle.

But I was different.

As someone who deals with the dead, it was akin to an elixir to me.

I treated the Death Qi like poison and employed the Poison Dragon Heart Technique.

I guided the explosion caused by the collision between the inner energy of the Tang Family’s Qi Tempering Technique seated in my Dantian and the Death Qi towards the blocked meridians.

Many meridians collapsed. The hardened waste melted away and raced through my acupoints.

My body turned blue in an instant. A terrible state of poisoning by anyone’s standards.

There’s no need to describe the pain in words.

But I laughed.

Because all of this was ecstasy to me.

「To smile in such a state…!」

「Lesser Heavenly Demon, you really—」

“Shut up. I trust you all understand what you need to do from now on.”

The implication was clear: spill the beans about the mastermind if you don’t want to end up as a snack like Cheon Ha-jin.

Some of the more weak-willed elders finally stepped forward, lowering their heads.

「They are—」

「I! I will speak! So please, stop these horrific acts, I beg you!」

「You traitors! You think you’ll be safe after this… Argh!」

「What the hell are you babbling about, you son of a bitch?”」

If there were any who resisted, I would yank the chains hard and crush their heads.

With the nuisances quickly dealt with, the information I desired started to flow freely.

Had they been alive, extracting information would have been difficult due to things like binding vows or brainwashing. But once dead, none of that matters, does it?

It was a method I often used when interrogating during my time as ‘Yeon Un-hwi.’

So this time, too, I should be able to learn a lot about the mastermind.

But after a moment of reflection passed…

“Ha!”

I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

“The only thing you really know is that they operate under the name ‘Society’?”

It was beyond ridiculous.

A society.

Society, they say.

Are these bastards trying to fool me?

「I swear, it’s the truth!」

「Please believe us, Young Lord!」

「They have always been extremely secretive about their true identities!!」

“You’re telling me you became the loyal dogs of suspicious bastards who won’t even reveal their true identities? Yet you dared to poison the Heavenly Demon? You don’t expect me to believe that bullshit, do you?”

By now, I had dropped all pretense of formality.

If they want to be treated like adults, shouldn’t they act the part?

The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a religion.

A cult that revered its leader as a living god.

Naturally, words from the Heavenly Demon were no different from divine will and meant to be obeyed unconditionally.

Death was packaged as martyrdom, and war became a holy crusade for the propagation of the faith.

It wasn’t for nothing that the martial artists of the Central Plains feared this group of fanatics who would rush in without fear of death.

Of course, as elders, the thought of harming their Master, the Heavenly Demon, would have weighed heavily on their consciences.

Yet, the idea that they had blindly followed the words of an organization that had never revealed any information about itself was simply absurd.

「I swear! They claimed that they, and only they, were the ‘true’ gods! They emphasized that they were on a completely different level from the so-called Heavenly Demon, who was merely a god in name…!」

I narrowed my eyes at the flustered elder.

“Explain.”

Gulp!

The elder swallowed dryly and continued.

「Th-they showed miracles.」

“Miracles?”

「Yes!」

The other elders nodded vigorously.

「They displayed abilities just like the legendary divine beings or immortals! They flew through the sky riding swords, and with a wave of their hands, they commanded wind and rain!」

“Even high-level sorcerers can do such—”

「No, it’s different! Completely different! For sorcerers to perform such feats, they’d need to expend an enormous amount of energy and require significant preparation time. Isn’t that right?」

“And?”

「But they did all of that with a wave of their hands and did all of that effortlessly!」

“…Are you sure you weren’t fooled by some kind of illusion?”

「We may be in this sorry state now, with our lives in your hands, Young Lord, but we’re not fools who couldn’t notice such trickery.」

At this point, I had nothing to say.

In fact, until their betrayal, these individuals were said to be at the pinnacle of the demons who led the resurgence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

They had it all: power, cruelty, cunning, and even the pettiest of tricks in their minds.

But still, divine beings? Does that even make sense?

No, for a moment, something similar flashed through my mind.

Vestige Liberators (脫殼者).

Also known as Transcendents.

「Do you understand now, Young Lord? Why we had no choice but to become dogs that bark when they tell us to? What could mere mortals like us do in the presence of divine beings?」

Throughout his speech, the elder’s face was drained of all energy.

Yet, only one emotion remained in his eyes.

Fear.

“This is maddening.”

A fear that surpasses the weight carried by the name Heavenly Demon. How is this possible?

On the other hand, the fact that the mastermind’s power far exceeded my expectations made me tense.

A whirlwind of questions clouded my mind.

But the conclusion that remained afterward was just one.

—Master is in danger.

It seemed the situation was much more urgent than I had thought.

I needed to figure out how much time had passed during the Kalpa of the Primordial Spirit’s Wheel of Reincarnation and what had happened in the meantime.

Fortunately, it was almost time for the one sichen I had told Hyeongsam about to end.

“Alright. It seems you’ve blabbered all the necessary information, so I’ll release you as promised.”

「R-really?」

「Thank you, Young Lord!!」

The faces of the elders, which had been full of worry, finally brightened.

“Yes. Into my stomach.”

「!!」

「!!」

「W-what do you mean?」

「This is different from what you promised—」

“Since when have I been known for keeping my promises so well?”

Did these bastards think traitors who stabbed Master in the back would be allowed to walk away? From me?

Without even looking back, I yanked hard on the bundle of iron chains I was holding.

「You damned sociopathic bastard!!」

Crack! Crunch!

Their heads twisted one after another, coalescing into Dead Soul Pills.

This way, it becomes very easy to store them without worrying about their energy dispersing.

I smiled coldly.

Although they were mere traitors when alive, in death, they would become loyal servants, devoting their souls entirely to the cult.

And then.

A moment later.

Knock knock.

“Y-Young Master. I-It’s me, H-Hyeongsam. M-May I come in?”

“Come in.”

Hyeongsam entered, holding a bundle of documents.

* * *

Two months flew by in the blink of an eye.

Recently, strange rumors spread among the servants and maids in the usually peaceful Nine Dragon Branch Family.

—The Second Young Master has been confined in the White Pavilion for over two months.

—Under the strict orders of the Madam, no even food or water has been brought in once.

—Yet, the Young Master has never said he was hungry or thirsty.

—Every day, unidentifiable, wretched screams can be heard from the White Pavilion.

Un-hwi was clearly confined to the White Pavilion before all the servants under the Madam’s wrath.

Until then, the servants had expected that, as always, Un-hwi would cry and say, “Mother, I’m sorry” for a few days, and just when he was about to die, the Madam would personally come to take care of him.

But this time, that didn’t happen.

And that’s not all. He had been confined for two months without any food or drink.

Does this even make sense?

Even if he were a martial master, it might be understandable, but Un-hwi was hardly different from ordinary people; he could only survive without food and water for at most five days.

As a result, later on, rumors like this were added:

—The real Second Young Master has long since passed away, and the one in the White Pavilion is just a stand-in placed by the Madam to hide the truth.

— She’s doing it to avoid any rumors during the upcoming Clan Leader’s visit.

The rumor that Un-hwi might be dead.

Naturally, when Namgung Sanyeong heard this, she flew in rage.

“Which bastard dared to spout such nonsense!! Bring them before me immediately!”

A grand event was taking place within the Sichuan Tang Family. The main family and its branch were preparing for one event.

The Clan Leader’s visit.

The illustrious and great Dark Venerable was touring the Sichuan region.

The reason was simple.

―Recently, there have been continuous signs of unrest in the Tianshan Mountain Range, the nest of the demons. As such, the Dark Venerable himself is forming a special task force under his direct command. All branch families and outposts are to gather talented individuals.

Special task force!

A unit directly commanded by the Dark Venerable himself.

Anyone bearing the Tang surname couldn’t help but feel their heart race just hearing those words.

What if they caught the Dark Venerable’s eye and were taught one of his techniques?

Or even better, if they became his disciple?

Then, they could become the rising star of the Sichuan’s martial world.

This was precisely why Namgung Sanyeong’s nerves had been extremely on edge lately.

Coming from the Namgung Clan, she was well aware of the importance of the Clan Leader position in the Sichuan Tang family.

While in the Namgung family, there were figures like the Grand Elder or the Law Enforcer Elder who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Clan Leader, there was nothing of the sort in the Sichuan Tang Family.

The elders, seniors, and executives were all mere subordinates who hung on every word of the Clan Leader.

The position of the Tang Clan’s Leader was a seat of power that only the strongest could occupy!

The Tang surname was merely a prerequisite for participation.

Even an outsider who entered the family as a son-in-law could aim for that position.

It wasn’t for nothing that the martial arts world of the Central Plains sometimes whispered about the Sichuan Tang Family as a ‘small demonic cult’.

This was an event where one could catch the eye of such a person.

It was unthinkable to allow someone like Un-hwi, a mere illegitimate son, into such a sacred occasion.

Of course, it was unlikely that such a nobody would catch the Dark Venerable’s eye… but what if, just what if there was a possibility?

‘It must be him! The one who’s backing Un-hwi! That bastard must be plotting something!’

Just as Namgung Sanyeong’s imagination and paranoia spiraled out of control, a voice reached her —

“Please calm down, Mother. I will resolve this matter.”

Just then, the doors to the hall where Namgung Sanyeong stood opened, and a young man walked in leisurely.