Chapter 362 : You raised your child this well

Translator: FenrirTL

Editor/Quality Checker: Saphartlantis

Murim Term Consultant: Kopke

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Chapter 362: You raised your child this well?

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

Geom Mugeuk bowed politely and turned around.

The essence of this provocation lay in turning his back. My father wouldn’t send someone away for the greater cause, but you would.

Geom Mugeuk strode away with firm steps. Call me, just call me already! He had no hesitation in his stride, unlike how desperate he was inside.

“Wait.”

At Baek Jagang’s call, a triumphant smile formed at the corner of Geom Mugeuk’s lips before it was quickly hidden.

Geom Mugeuk turned innocently to face him.

“Yes, sir?”

“Where are you planning to go?”

“Didn’t you just tell me to return to the Cult?”

Baek Jagang’s small eyes narrowed sharply, like a line drawn across.

If he let him go like this, he’d become someone who sacrificed the greater cause for his pride.

Of course, he knew this was Geom Mugeuk’s provocation.

The problem was that the comparison was being made to Heavenly Demon Geom Woojin.

Anyone else might be fine, but losing to Geom Woojin was something he could never accept. Geom Woojin was a lifelong nemesis. A hated rival he couldn’t help but acknowledge.

“Do you really think your father would’ve told you to bow to me ten times?”

How could Baek Jagang not see through the provocation? It was time for honesty. Geom Mugeuk let out a small sigh and said,

“I lied. My father would’ve been furious.”

Geom Mugeuk bowed his head to Baek Jagang.

“I’m sorry. I used a lowly trick.”

Geom Mugeuk openly admitted that he had provoked him on purpose.

“You knew it was lowly?”

“Yes.”

Upon that admission, Baek Jagang’s expression eased a little.

“That’s how desperate I am.”

“Even if someone’s desperate, I should be the one who is—why are you the one who’s desperate?”

He maintained a calm demeanor, but Baek Jagang felt a creeping sense of danger.

The safehouse had been breached, and his successor had been attacked. And now, the deputy strategist of the Alliance was suspected to be behind it all.

He never took the matter lightly. If he had, he wouldn’t have even shown up here. He simply didn’t want to appear anxious in front of the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader.

In contrast, Geom Mugeuk’s desperation was deeply personal.

“I truly consider the Young Leader a friend. I hope he inherits the leadership of the Alliance safely.”

Baek Jagang still didn’t feel that chill in his ear.

It was a sense that worked on many people, but there were always those it didn’t affect. He wasn’t a fortune teller, after all.

And this Geom Mugeuk would have to be counted among the exceptions.

The Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult telling the truth? That absolutely couldn’t be real. 1

“Why do you want to be friends with Sa-in?”

Geom Mugeuk answered without hesitation.

“Because I believe he can pave a new path for the Alliance.”

“A new path? What exactly do you mean by a new path?”

“I don’t know that either. It’s a path the Young Leader will have to discover. But whether it’s my Demonic path, or his Unorthodox’s path, I do believe there will be a new ideal in our generation.”

Geom Mugeuk knew. He knew exactly what Baek Jagang was thinking right now. He himself had been the same before the regression. If some green youth started talking about ideals, deep down, he would’ve thought exactly like Baek Jagang.

‘You’re only saying that because you don’t know how the real world works.’

But he had lived that reality to its bitter end. That life—sometimes pitiful, sometimes astonishing and magnificent—he had lived it, enduring all its pain and tribulation.

Of course, that didn’t mean he now held the right answers, or that living through it once guaranteed he’d live this life well. He knew that even if he lived a hundred times over, without effort, he couldn’t live it well. In fact, just having lived through it might hold him back and hurl his life into ruin.

Baek Jagang—that’s why he was putting in the effort. If they let things be, both he and Geom Mugeuk would die, and the Twelve Zodiac Kings would rule the martial world in a bitter, hopeless reality full of despair.

“What do you feel when you think of my father?”

Sure enough, Baek Jagang’s eyes sparkled at the mention of his father.

“First, you feel angry and want to beat him in a fight, don’t you? But when I think of the Young Leader, I feel happy. The first thought I get is wanting to laugh, talk, and have fun with him. In our martial world, we won’t fight each other or hate each other. We’ll be at the seaside, chasing girls and messing around.”

“That’s nothing but childish idealism.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because people with power will never be satisfied with just that. You, and Sa-in too—you’ll both change.”

Geom Mugeuk looked up at the sky for a moment.

“Before coming here, I sat with the Young Leader and looked up at the sky. We imagined what it’d be like when our hair turns white like those clouds. Do you really think we’ll change?”

Baek Jagang didn’t answer. His expression said, Do you really need me to say it out loud? Geom Mugeuk nodded.

“Then I’ll try to change for the better. I’ll try to change as little for the worse as I can.”

Baek Jagang silently observed Geom Mugeuk. He had to admit that anyone who could make him listen to nonsense like this wasn’t just an ordinary fellow.

‘A dream, huh.’

Come to think of it, he had never really thought about it before. How could a dreamer rule the Demonic Cult? The Demonic Cult was a place where closing your eyes meant death.

Suddenly, a desire welled up in him to hear the words from that Geom Mugeuk’s mouth: “Alliance Leader, you were right. My thoughts were nothing but childish idealism.” He wanted to teach him a lesson. The son of Geom Woojin.

But Geom Mugeuk knew that it wasn’t ideals or friendship that would catch Baek Jagang’s interest.

The thing that would grip his attention the most powerfully was this:

“My father once said something about you.”

Indeed, Baek Jagang’s gaze turned sharp.

“What did he say?”

“It might be disrespectful, but may I quote him exactly as he said it?”

“Go ahead.”

After a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk spoke.

“He’s a man with big dreams for someone from the unorthodox faction.”

Once again, Baek Jagang let out a disbelieving laugh. It should have been offensive, but instead, it oddly felt like recognition, so he didn’t dislike it as much as he should have.

Yes, if it’s Geom Woojin. If it’s him, he’s someone who has the right to say such things.

Then Geom Mugeuk asked suddenly,

“Is the dream the Alliance Leader dreams the same as my father’s dream?”

Baek Jagang flinched for a moment.

He knew. He knew that Geom Woojin dreamed of unifying the martial world. He had even warned Bih Sa-in about it.

And now, the young cult leader of the Demonic Cult was asking.

Do you also dream of unifying the martial world?

It was a question no one had dared ask before, and of course, one he had never answered.

He skipped over the obvious retort: I don’t know what your father’s dream is.

Though he still wasn’t sure what kind of person this Young Cult Leader truly was, he could at least tell that Geom Mugeuk was someone with whom skipping the unnecessary still left the conversation intact.

“And if I do?”

After a moment’s silence, Geom Mugeuk calmly replied.

“Then I ask that you dream a different dream.”

Baek Jagang exploded with fury and shouted,

“You want your father to be the only one dreaming that dream?!”

A powerful force swept over Geom Mugeuk, but the fully mastered Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique shielded him far more comfortably than before.

“No. I’ll wake him up, too.”

As the pressure suppressing Geom Mugeuk vanished, Baek Jagang burst out laughing. It was the first time he had laughed out loud since the two had met.

“You know your father even less than I do. If you try shaking him to wake him up, you’ll never become the next Heavenly Demon. He might just crush your skull in his sleep.”

That was how the leader of the Unorthodox Alliance saw his father.

Geom Mugeuk sighed and said,

“Maybe.”

At least in one respect, Baek Jagang was clearly drawn to Geom Mugeuk. The way he admitted things when they needed to be admitted. He didn’t have the stubborn pride that came from being half-smart. He wasn’t the kind of person who left others frustrated. 2

And there was another thing that made him likable—his unpredictable words kept things from ever getting dull.

“Alliance Leader, I’m hungry.”

This, too, was the first time anyone had said such a thing since he became the leader of the Unorthodox Alliance. Who would dare say they were hungry while looking at him?

“Please, buy me a meal.”

This guy knew. He knew that it was hard to turn away someone who said they were hungry.

Baek Jagang thought of Geom Woojin again. Of that cold, blunt man’s demeanor.

‘With that personality, it’s amazing you managed to raise a kid like this.’

Right. Even if I send him off, I should at least feed him first.

Baek Jagang spoke into the air.

“Prepare the carriage.”

From somewhere came the voice of his escort leader, Ingung.

“Yes, sir!”

While they waited for the carriage, the two stood in silence, gazing at the river flowing beneath the mountain in the distance.

“I like this place. It’s quiet, and the scenery is beautiful.”

“If there’s someone I want to kill discreetly, I summon them here.”

Looking down at his feet, Geom Mugeuk glanced back at Baek Jagang and said,

“You weren’t joking.”

“No.”

“Was I almost killed too?”

“It was close.”

Baek Jagang didn’t necessarily like Geom Mugeuk, but he did enjoy this kind of conversation. After all, he had lived a stiff, rigid life ever since becoming the leader of the Unorthodox Alliance.

“Do you still have people you want to kill? At your level, it feels like there’d be no one left.”

“There are plenty. Wrath builds up with age, after all.”

Geom Mugeuk let out a faint smile.

Seeing that smile—the one that seemed to say I already know all of that—Baek Jagang couldn’t help but think to himself:

‘What could a young guy like you possibly know?’

That’s why he kept wanting to dig deeper. No matter how clever he might be, he’s still just a kid, and he wanted to prove it.

“Why? Do you think your father doesn’t kill? You might only see the noble, dignified side of him, but in the shadows, corpses are piling up every day. Think the righteous sects are any different? They stamp ‘demonic being’ on someone’s forehead, call them ‘unorthodox’, and kill them without a second thought.”

That, perhaps, was the reason this man didn’t believe in ideals. The reason he tried to fill those small eyes with nothing but cold reality.

“In your ideal world, no one dies, I suppose.”

“No. I’ll kill even more.”

“!”

Baek Jagang looked at Geom Mugeuk, startled.

“You might think it strange coming from the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but I hate those who’ve given up on being human. I’ll kill every last one of them.”

It wasn’t something the Young Cult Leader should be saying, and even less so to the leader of the Demonic Cult, so Geom Mugeuk softened the weight of his words with a bit of humor.

“You know that phrase, ‘If there’s good, then there must be evil’? Sounds like something evil people made up, don’t you think? I’m just trying to hold on, however I can. Did you come up with that line yourself, Alliance Leader?”

Baek Jagang felt something stir within him. That he wasn’t someone incapable of smiling. When asked if he’d coined the phrase, he’d almost burst out laughing again.

“In your Demonic Path, we’d probably be the first to die.” 3

“That’s exactly why I support and cheer for the Young Leader.”

Baek Jagang realized it more clearly now—this Young Cult Leader was no easy opponent.

He suddenly missed Bih Sa-in.

If Geom Woojin had raised a son this well, then perhaps he himself had grown complacent.

If he was being outdone by Geom Woojin, he couldn’t allow his own disciple—his own child—to fall behind.

Child? Right. Whether disciple or child, it was the same. 4

Whether it was because of the sense of defeat that he couldn’t surpass Geom Woojin, or simply because he had always regarded Bih Sa-in like a child of his own—he wasn’t sure. But at the very least, right now, he was engaged in a parenting contest.

Just then, the carriage driven by Ingung, wearing a bamboo hat with a face veil, arrived. To avoid drawing attention, it wasn’t the carriage of the Unorthodox Alliance leader, but an ordinary one like those often seen in the marketplace.

The two climbed aboard. Even inside the carriage, for the sake of discretion, bamboo hats with face veils had been prepared.

“Where are we going?”

“You said you were hungry, didn’t you?”

The carriage carrying the two of them arrived at a shabby noodle stall a little ways out from the marketplace. 5

“It’s a place I come to from time to time.”

And so, the two had a meal there.

Geom Mugeuk found himself once again marveling at the incredible experiences life occasionally tossed his way. Dining with the leader of the Unorthodox Alliance just outside the Alliance’s main division? When they had first set off for this place, who could’ve imagined it?

“I have a favorite spot near our headquarters too. If the opportunity comes, I’d like to treat you there, Alliance Leader.”

Baek Jagang gave a slight nod, but inwardly thought it would never happen. Unless a war broke out and the main division of the Demonic Cult was conquered—then maybe. But in that case, would food even go down? You’re the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. 6

While they were eating, Geom Mugeuk brought up Hyeok Sagun.

“Hyeok Sagun has no doubt served as an outstanding strategist until now. In hindsight, he was too perfect, and likely very lucky as well. From now on, try viewing him as a traitor. You’ll start to see a different side of him.”

He wasn’t worried about him getting caught by saying such things. Baek Jagang wasn’t someone whose inner thoughts were easily exposed. Besides, he was already observing things from multiple angles.

“If what you’re saying is true, then the Chief Strategist who stepped down due to illness must’ve been taken out by him too.”

“Yes. I believe he was poisoned.”

“Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Because I figured the Alliance Leader would notice sooner or later anyway.”

Baek Jagang looked deeply at Geom Mugeuk. He didn’t know what the real face behind that veil looked like, but one thing was certain. Even with all that talking, he meticulously chose what to say and what not to.

The reason his interest in Geom Mugeuk kept deepening was, at its core, Geom Woojin.

'He raised a child this well? That cold-hearted man?'

These thoughts kept rising unbidden. At the very least, I don’t want to lose this fight.

“When is the day you said you'd be coming to the Alliance?”

“Two days from now.”

“See you then.”

Baek Jagang withdrew his intent to send Geom Mugeuk away.

As he rose from his seat, Geom Mugeuk spoke.

“Before you go, please scold the Young Leader a little.”

“Scold him? Why?”

“He probably feels really sorry he couldn’t come out himself. If he hears that you scolded him, it might actually help ease his mind.”

Baek Jagang was genuinely surprised.

You’re considering how Bih Sa-in feels? And something so easily overlooked, at that? This young brat? 7

Now he began to understand, just a little, why people had spoken of being bewitched.

“Don’t get used to it.”

At Baek Jagang’s words, Geom Mugeuk looked puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“Tell that to Sa-in. He’ll understand.”

It was probably a line from a past conversation between Bih Sa-in and Baek Jagang.

“I’ll pass it on.”

With that, Baek Jagang parted ways with Geom Mugeuk and boarded the carriage. The light radiating from those small eyes of his shone fiercely, as if about to consume the entire world.

'Just look at these brats!'

And to his surprise, the latest addition to “these brats” was none other than Geom Woojin.

It may have been a battle he was fighting alone in his heart, but now even the fathers had joined in, turning this into a full-on two-against-two match.

1 : He has a pretty big prejudice. Then again, everyone who have dealt with the pre-Mugeuk Demons who react the same XDXDXD

2 : Not too much. Or at least, not for this reason XDXDXD

3 : “At the very least, in my Demonic Path, we will not break innocent tables.” XDXDXD

4 : A teacher for one day, and a father forlife.

5 : Old style, wooden ramen stalls/noodle carts have a certain charm to them. Sitting on a stool under the awning, in a quiet alleyway….. There's a romance there. It’s like how swords will always be cooler than modern guns. Sci-fi and western guns are in another category ^^

6 : Naaaah, there definitely will be a world summit conference from the 3 leaders of the main factions of the Central Plains at the Flowing Wind Tavern ^^ Let’s give Jo Chunbae lots of stories to boast about to his grandchildrens !!!

7 : Even older people often forget other’s feelings.