Who threatened Cheonma Hara with a knife - Chapter 3



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Who threatened to call me Cheonmahara with a knife? Episode 3

pseudo

I knew what the nickname Cheonma meant.

The overwhelming symbol of martial arts who appears as the main character or final boss in most martial arts novels.

And above all, the leader of a group commonly referred to as the ‘Demonic Cult’ in martial arts novels.

Well, depending on the work, the Demonic Cult is called by various names such as Ilwolsingyo, Myeonggyo, Seonghwagyo, and Cheonma Shingyo.

In conclusion, it was said that he was the leader of a pseudo-religious group. And he was an ignorantly strong one at that.

‘So, in the end, does that mean I’m a disciple of a cult leader?’

Perhaps, it also meant that I might inherit that leadership position in the future.

‘Is it…okay?’

For me, who pursues a stable and peaceful life, it was a rather ambiguous feeling.

Naturally, the images of pseudo-religious leaders that we often see in the news in modern times came to mind.

‘… It might not be bad?’

The countless crimes they committed were certainly bad, but I wondered if their lives would be easier if they just stopped committing crimes.

Often, he would come out once a week, spout some nonsense, and show off some showmanship, such as throwing a volley of swear words or trying to get believers to join him. That was all.

Come to think of it, in the world of martial arts, you can actually shoot long winds, so there’s probably no need to show off fake showmanship.

Because it would be possible to actually shoot wind and fly through the sky using lightness techniques.

Even in modern times, with advanced science, there are people who are fascinated by such fake shows, so how much worse must it be here?

‘Ah, so that’s why the martial arts skills of the heavenly demons in martial arts novels are so strong?’

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the correlation between pseudo-religion and the martial arts of Cheonma.

Belatedly, I realized that the pseudo-religious leader who introduced his nickname, no, the future master, was looking at me intently.

“I’m sorry. I was taken aback by the unexpected nickname and ended up being rude.”

“Hahaha. Is there anything that could be this rude?”

The teacher smiled gently, stroked his beard, and then said something out of the blue.

“More than that, it’s really unique.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about your reaction. When you first woke up, you seemed a little surprised, but you quickly calmed down. You should have been scared or angry, but instead, you tried to have a logical conversation. And it’s the same now. Even after hearing this old man’s nickname, you didn’t seem scared, but rather seemed to be troubled by something.”

“Well, it’s just that things were so unexpected that it still doesn’t feel real.”

“Hehehehe. Don’t worry about it, I didn’t say that to grab the book. It means that he is deep and calm for his age, so I am very satisfied that this old man’s eyes are not wrong.”

At first I said I liked my body.

It feels a little strange, but that’s probably not what it meant.

It seemed that this body was a very good body for learning martial arts.

In addition, they tested my character through strange threats.

This time, I like my mentality and calmness.

Well, he was fifteen in body but thirty-four inside, so it was only natural… .

‘Why, it feels like the bean pods are getting thicker and thicker?’

Somehow, I had a feeling that it would become increasingly difficult to escape from the clutches of this demon.

However, it wasn’t so bad because the life of a cult leader seemed pretty livable.

If I had to revive a cult from scratch, I guess it would be easy in many ways to be the leader of an already established cult.

Having thought that far, I quickly opened my mouth.

“Oh, by the way, I think my introduction is late. My name is Ichimoku.”

If you heard the other person’s name, it was basic courtesy to tell them your own name as well.

“Hmm. It’s Ilmok… I think it’s the first time I’ve heard of the surname Il.”

“There is no specific surname. He used the character il (一) to mean the eldest son, and the character 木 (木), one of the few Chinese characters he knew, as his name.”

In this era of severe educational inequality, it was not unusual for there to be countless people who could barely read or write.

“Huh. Then what happened to his parents? He said the innkeeper was ‘like a parent,’ so it seems he wasn’t his biological father.”

“He passed away about a year ago. After that, he took me in and gave me food and a place to sleep instead of making me do things, and he taught me how to read and write.”

“He even told me the words… .”

Cheonma looked at me with pity and said.

“When you return to the church, I will conduct an investigation into the incident. At the very least, shouldn’t you know who murdered your parents? If you want, I will give you a chance to take revenge yourself, but if not, I will send the church’s soldiers to take revenge on you.”

“… If that assassin was you, didn’t he already die in the inn?”

When I asked in a trembling tone, Cheonma smiled gently and answered.

“Hahaha. In the end, that guy was just following orders. Who would take revenge for breaking a sword? Shouldn’t we punish the one who wielded that sword?”

“If they are the ones who wield the sword… .”

“Those who followed the old man’s footsteps. And shouldn’t we find and kill all those who ordered the murder and extermination of those who were in that inn?”

“… .”

I looked at the Cheonma with a gentle expression, promising mass slaughter, and thought.

‘Should I escape now?’

After all, the devil’s cult was the devil’s cult.

* * *

As you might expect, escape was impossible.

In the carriage was an old man who was a great master and kidnapper, but who was also perhaps my future teacher.

In addition, the man driving the carriage was also quite skilled.

As I found out later, the man driving the carriage was the man who had dealt with the assassins of the Murim Alliance at the inn.

In other words, there was a risk that I would end up like that if I tried to run away for no reason.

If the escort accompanying Cheonma was weak in the first place, then that would make even less sense.

In the end, I was briefly put into a carriage and moved, feeling a strange mixture of excitement and anxiety about becoming a cult leader.

I ended up at the headquarters of the Cheonmasin Church. It seemed like I had been unconscious for quite some time.

In any case, the two gatekeepers guarding the entrance immediately bowed to the ground as soon as they saw the horse getting off the carriage.

“Meet the master of Manma!”

Such warm greetings did not end with the two gatekeepers.

“Meet the master of Manma!”

“Save us!”

“Oh, my lord!!”

Why, every single person I met would bow down as if lying on the floor and praying earnestly.

And the one who was the subject of the prayer, Cheonma, smiled gently as if he was very familiar with them and accepted all their greetings.

As I followed Cheonma and confirmed all of his appearances, I had different feelings in many ways.

‘Is this the life of a cult leader?’

What should I say?

It’s a bit of a burdensome sight, though….

‘What’s going on?’

It was a sight that was truly worthy of the expression, “omnipotent power.”

Even though those who were bowing looked at me strangely as I followed after Cheonma, no one dared ask Cheonma a question.

It was just that the atmosphere was like, there must be a reason why the Great Heavenly Horse was bringing him around.

While walking around the garden together, feeling the majesty of the Heavenly Horse, the Heavenly Horse stopped in front of the garden with the words [Pungamjeon (風岩殿)] written on it.

“It must have been hard for you to travel so far without even learning martial arts, so take a day off here today.”

I was touched by Cheonma’s consideration and made up my mind.

“Thank you, sir. No, from now on I will call you Master.”

Perhaps it was because of the sudden change in title. The teacher stroked his beard and looked at me with interest.

“Have you finally made up your mind?”

“Yes. As the Master said, if this is the only option left, I think it would be the right life to do my best here.”

“Hahaha. Good idea.”

I opened my mouth to drive a wedge in, facing the teacher who was smiling gently.

“If so, even though it’s late, can I bow to you now?”

When people think of bowing to a teacher, they usually think of the rite of prostration, and I had the same thought, but this was a misconception.

The term “Gu-Bae-Ji-Rye” literally means the etiquette for nine bows.

Among the nine etiquettes, bowing to one’s superiors, such as teachers, parents, or rulers and subjects, is called “bowing to the head.”

When I confidently knelt down on the floor and bowed to the Heavenly Horse, the Master burst into hearty laughter.

“Hahahaha. It seems I have a really great disciple in my later years.”

The teacher who said this told me to get up and added one last word.

“Since I have to deal with all the big and small matters of the religion, even though I am a disciple, this old man cannot stay with me for twelve hours. So, I will pick a fight with you starting today. He will help you and teach you the things you need to know as a follower of the Cheonmasin Sect.”

As expected from someone of the highest rank, his speech was quite long, but it wasn’t boring at all.

‘What the hell… .’

As a civil servant in the Republic of Korea, I have been suffering from bullying that is not bullying, but rather bullying. But now I have a subordinate.

Of course, I didn’t intend to bully or harass her, but it was a moment that left me with special emotions in many ways.

‘As expected, life is a line.’

The best of all was my connections. Since the leader of the church became my teacher, I couldn’t think of a better connection than this.

And not long after the very busy teacher left, a voice like rolling jade beads was heard from the entrance to the manor.

“Your Majesty, Il-mok. I am Chen Ha-yeon, who has come to help you with your chores according to the will of the Heavenly Demon.”

I tried to open my mouth in a calm tone, hearing that voice that made me excited just by hearing it.

“You may come in.”

Since I wasn’t yet used to speaking in an authoritative tone, I first answered the Sibi politely.

And the woman who opened the door and came in, contrary to her name, Red Lotus, had pure white skin and dark black hair and eyebrows.

Like a doll.

‘crazy….’

She was the first beauty I had ever seen in my life.

To be exact, she was a beauty you would only see on TV. She had a kind of appearance that had nothing to do with me in real life.

It’s not that I haven’t dated even though I’m 34. I thought I had a certain level of immunity to women, but this was different.

How can a woman with such an appearance that it’s hard to even have a conversation with her, let alone date her, come into my life as my concubine?

‘Master, what kind of life are you living?’

If this is the life of a single disciple of the cult leader, what kind of life does the cult leader live?

A pink future keeps playing over and over in my head.

I tried to calm myself down by pressing the pause button, but the movie in my head started playing again right away, and before I knew it, I was playing a scene where I was thinking about a name for my second child.

She opened her mouth with a calm face.

“I heard from Heavenly Demon that Confucius turned fifteen this year.”

Let’s talk about age from the beginning.

Well, age is an important factor between men and women.

However, I am only fifteen in body, but my mind is in my mid-thirties. There shouldn’t be any major problems in continuing our relationship(?) in the future.

“That’s right.”

To my confident answer, she replied.

“If you do that, you will have to enter the Magic Hall next year when you turn sixteen.”

“What does the Magic Hall do?”

“It is an educational institution that selects the most outstanding children among the disciples and children of the believers and trains them to become future leaders of our new religion. Every year, children who turn sixteen enter the school.”

In a word, it was a training school for the elite.

‘Hmm… It’s probably a place to learn martial arts, so if we have to be specific, it’s like a military academy?’

With that thought in my head, I asked Jin Ha-yeon.

“If so, can I, as your disciple, just go in?”

“Even if you are a disciple of the Heavenly Demon, you must take the test and pass to enter.”

“… If it’s a place where only the most outstanding people can enter, then weren’t the others already preparing in advance?”

“Yes.”

“… You mean I have to get in there in just one year?”

“Yes.”

She answered in a tone that was extremely business-like.

“Well, that seems like a bit of an absurd condition, doesn’t it?”

“Since you only have one year, I told you to just ‘pass.’ Up until now, among Cheonma-nim’s disciples, there hasn’t been a single one who didn’t enter the exam with the highest honors or graduate with the highest honors.”

As expected, thanks to her cool-headed answer, I was able to realize one important fact.

I was not the only disciple of the Master. That meant there was no guarantee that I would necessarily become the leader.

But there was a more important matter left, so I asked her again.

“Then, what happens if I fail to enter the Magic Hall?”

“You will die.”

It seems that even the disciples of the cult leader were not in an easy position.