Chronicles of the Demon Faction - Chapter 912



Only Krnovel

Side story 262. Devouring desire (6)

Lee Cheon-sang, who came out of the Blood Soul Pavilion, was heading towards Jamiru when a thought suddenly occurred to him and he stopped walking.

‘if?’

He shook his head inwardly as he considered one possibility.

‘If you look at the situation alone, it’s not impossible. However, if you consider all the circumstances, it’s almost impossible. It’s unlikely that the author made the move.’

This incident allowed Lee Cheon-sang to clearly see how far his position had risen in the Shinto civil war.

They are clearly out of the league. The civil war leaders and warriors regard the Seventy-Two Horsemen as a group of rotten masters with serious character flaws, but at least Lee Cheon-sang and Seo Pil are exceptions.

It’s not the best, but I don’t think it’s the worst either. Just like before, it’s still awkward to leave it alone, and it’s an ambiguous existence that you can’t touch. That’s Lee Cheon-sang.

‘It’s not that I didn’t induce it, but if it weren’t for Elder Baekgolshinma, it wouldn’t have been easy. People are convinced that the elder and I have some kind of relationship.’

That was also true. Whether it was a business relationship or a priestly relationship, he was friendly with the White Bone Demon. The possibility of them becoming enemies in the future was extremely low.

But there is another reason why the leaders cannot openly touch him. It is also due to his relationship with the White Bone Demon.

‘The horse race.’

The only existence that the White Bone Goddess pushes for.

Even his grandson, Yoo Sang-cheon, was sent to the side story, but he is providing a lot of support to Lee Cheon-sang.

The meaning was simple and clear. Baekgolshinma chose Lee Cheon-sang as the successor to the nameless martial arts and included him as a member of the Jongmahoe.

And it was true.

The Jongmahoe was not an organization that you could join if you wanted to, nor was it an organization that you could reject if you didn’t want to. Lee Cheon-sang was already a member of the Jongmahoe without even realizing it. As Dong-jun had said, his will was not needed.

Of course, Lee Cheon-sang did not refuse to be a member of the Jongma Society. He believed that it was right for him to belong there, whether it meant death or food.

‘The important thing is how much influence the Jongmahoe can exert on the leaders. Although it is an organization without substance, the Jongmahoe is something that many people have high expectations of. However, I do not know whether it is an organization that only has high expectations or whether it is considered an organization with the highest authority that can be considered an inviolable area.’

If I had to guess, I would say that the leadership would not touch the Jongmahoe easily.

But if the presence of the Horse Race begins to tighten their leash, then they may risk their lives to break it.

That was the Jongmahoe that Lee Cheon-sang saw. It was a somewhat precarious organization with no substance, but that is why it has been maintained until now.

However, as time passes, the power of the Jongmahoe will grow and the leaders will increasingly feel the burden of getting rid of the Jongmahoe.

The reason was simple: the Protestant religion was changing.

At the center of that change, if the Jongma member who supports you takes the lead and seizes power, the possibility of obtaining the strongest power in the Shinkyo increases. From then on, they will keep each other in check with the Jongma Association.

In this way, the Jongmahoe was becoming a truly strange organization that was both thrilling and gave rise to tremendous expectations.

‘That is, as the presence of the horse racing association grows, the influence and power of its members will also grow stronger.’

Lee Cheon-sang thought of Dong-jun.

‘He’s strong. I don’t know how many Mines belong to the Jongmahoe, but he’s definitely one of the strongest.’

If we look at pure brute force, he has a very high chance of being the final winner. And if we think about the conversation we had the other day, he seems to be quite intelligent.

‘still.’

But it’s still not enough.

Lee Cheon-sang thought that Dong-jun was trying to slander Baekgol Shinma by moving the elders who supported him.

If you look at the situation, it’s not impossible. Behind Dong-jun are the Eumya Shinma and Jasodaema, and since Dong-jun himself is an outstanding talent, you can’t ignore him.

‘But the odds of that not happening are very high.’

Dongjun is someone who can see the situation. The probability that the elders will follow Dongjun’s words is low in the first place, but even if they could, they would not think of making another mess of the school by putting a big shot in front.

It would have been better to just use those great skills to assassinate the members of the Jongma Association. I’m still very confused.

‘No matter how you look at it, it’s ambiguous whether the Jongma members can move the elders. If that’s the case… … .’

After thinking about it again, Lee Cheon-sang headed back to Jamiru.

After a while.

“Hmm.”

Seo-pil’s eyes slowly sank.

“That happened.”

“What do you think, Commander Seo?”

Seo-pil, who had been thinking about it carefully, spoke carefully.

“As Baek Won-ju, no, I mean Hwan-hee Won-ju, rumors are common. If you stay in the information unit for a few days, you will see how many outrageous rumors are spread every day.”

“… … .”

“The ability to discern what is real among the messy and sometimes insightful rumors is the ability to analyze information. But even the best in the field are bound to make mistakes once in a while.”

“I think it’s natural.”

“That’s right. Even the greatest geniuses can’t know the details of what happens in every case. In reality, there are many cases where rumors that are spread around from place to place just because they want to talk nonsense are vaguely expressed.”

Seo-pil smiled bitterly.

“Many people get hurt because of rumors spread for fun, jealousy, or without thinking. If the incident spreads, the person who spread the rumor also gets hurt. Working in this industry, you often realize that no one dies as easily as people who are loose-lipped.”

Lee Cheon-sang’s eyes deepened.

Rumors spread by those with loose lips will soon come back to haunt you like a sword.

That is, if someone had really actively spread this rumor, it meant that they were confident that they could avoid or endure the disaster that would come back as a sword.

“Coming back, it is not easy to determine whether such rumors were spread intentionally by someone or whether they were just false rumors.”

“I see.”

“but…….”

Seo-pil, who had been opening his mouth for a moment, opened his eyes.

“There is a way.”

“What way is there?”

“If we can’t immediately determine the truth, we can create an incident that everyone can understand. If we look for people who act or speak differently than usual in that situation, we can determine whether it’s a natural rumor or an intentional rumor.”

Seo-pil’s eyes lit up.

“How much time do you have?”

“The intelligence agency investigation will begin tomorrow.”

“It’s urgent.”

“That’s what it is.”

“then…….”

It was only after two hours had passed that Seo-pil, who had been lost in thought once again, opened his mouth.

“My lord, there is a place you can go with me.”

“Where?”

“This is the residence of Elder Kwanghyeol Shinma.”

For a moment, Lee Cheon-sang’s eyes flashed.

“Are you going to touch him?”

“Elder Kwang-hyeol Shinma is not someone who can easily join hands with anyone. He is someone who acts strictly for his own benefit. Therefore, if he does well, he could become a firebomb that can shake up this incident from its roots.”

“As you know, he is a scary person. He could easily lose his life on the spot.”

“I came under your command and live each day risking my life. It’s nothing new.”

“… … Okay, let’s go together. But, how do you plan on persuading him?”

Seo-pil smiled.

“We need to piece together the pieces that haven’t been resolved yet. I think the time has finally come.”

* * *

“Master, shall I prepare the bed?”

Baekheon shook his head at Aritaun Sibi’s words.

“I want to be alone for a while. Go inside and rest.”

“Huh? Oh, yes!”

The embarrassed Sibi hurriedly greeted them and then turned around.

Baekheon, who was drinking alone in his bedroom, suddenly distorted his face.

Jeaaang!

The bottle of liquor thrown against the wall shattered into pieces.

Baek-heon thought that the piece of the bottle was not much different from his own heart. Over the past few days, his heart and pride had been torn and shattered, and there was no sign of recovery.

“I feel really dirty.”

Baekheon’s face, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling, seemed to have aged a little.

“No matter how hard I try to hold on to the rope that’s coming down, the damned heavens are always so cruel.”

Baekheon made a joke.

It was a mockery that seemed to be made while looking at someone with longing, which could not help but be bitter when directed at them.

“Is that how it ends up being?”

It was a face and voice that contained a strange sadness that made it seem like he had given up everything.

“… … This is better. Those who are meant to be swept away will be swept away. That’s life.”

It was a strange thing to say.

If he had been lamenting his own situation, he would not have said such a thing. Baekheon was clearly speaking to ‘others’ now.

“I didn’t want this kind of ending, but it’s not so bad. Maybe it’s better. It would be better to go down into the haystack with your own fire than to bleed to death in this dirty place.”

Baekheon lifted his glass.

“There’s no need for us to see each other off. Have a nice trip.”

He held out his glass into the empty air as if he was toasting, then brought it to his lips.

That was when.

“Master.”

Baekheon, who was about to pour his drink, put down his glass.

“What’s going on?”

“A guest has arrived.”

“customer?”

Because he was lost in his own emotions, he didn’t even know who was coming. Baekheon slowly expanded his senses.

“… … !”

Baekheon’s face became strange.

It seemed distorted and bitter. It seemed like something was expected, but it also seemed like something was given up.

“It’s done. Tell them to go back.”

“Yes. However, the guests asked me to convey something.”

“What is the message?”

“He said he would give you a few ducks that would lay gold, not gold itself.”

At that moment, Baekheon’s eyes sparkled.

“I will give birth to gold… … .”

It was a word that raised the feeling that had sunk to rock bottom into interest.

Today was a bit sentimental, but Baekheon was still Baekheon. He was honest about his desires. So he was ‘commemorating’ someone out of the blue. It was because he wanted to do that.

Baekheon thought about it for a moment.

‘What kind of tricks are you trying to pull now?’

I’ve been hit hard by that guy a couple of times. Once indirectly, once directly.

But the reason I didn’t catch and kill him was because I knew that I shouldn’t have done that, even before the justification. If he wasn’t an elder, I wouldn’t know, but as an elder, he was in a position where I couldn’t kill him easily.

‘What a lucky guy.’

Well, thanks to that, we were able to capture the extremely annoying general, so we were both lucky.

Anyway, there was nothing to lose by being patient with him. I wondered what I could get if I just endured the unpleasantness.

“Guide the two horsemen to the pavilion.”