AR Chapter 79

As he was about to flip the drinking table, a stream of internal energy flowed in and pressed down on the table.

When he looked up, it was Blood Heavens Saber Demon.

He sent a secret sound transmission to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

-Be patient. If the table flips, what you’ll see isn’t the bottom of the table, but your own bottom.

Feeling that it was well-intentioned restraint, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader took his hands off the table. Blood Heavens Saber Demon’s eyes said: I understand you to some extent too.

Geom Mugeuk spoke to the shackled man again.

“Since you’ve been bound here for a long time, I thought you might want something made from these shackles.”

The shackled man didn’t decline and requested one item.

“Then please make a fan for me.”

“Is that enough?”

“It’s sufficient.”

I entrusted the shackles to Jang Ho.

“Take these to Master Gwak at our cult’s iron workshop and ask him to make a fan with eternal iron ribs, and with the rest, make eight daggers, as many as the number of people gathered today. It’s also a commemoration of our gathering today, so let’s each take one.”

Eight daggers included ones for the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader and the shackled man.

Then Seo Daeryong said:

“I don’t know about the others, but I’m not sure if I should receive such a precious dagger.”

“Me too.”

“I feel the same way.”

Lee Ahn and Jang Ho also stepped forward.

“Instead of being modest, work to death to repay it!”

At my joke, everyone bowed their heads, feeling honored.

“Thank you so much.”

On the other hand, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader’s reaction was cold.

“Why are you including mine too?”

“I want to commemorate today.”

“What if I don’t want to commemorate it?”

Then the shackled man sent a secret sound transmission.

-Accept it graciously. You’re excited because of me, but don’t you also have the great task of advancing into the Central Plains?

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader was so grateful to the shackled man. He was trying until the end. It was only himself who couldn’t live up to expectations.

“I’m joking, give me one too. Those shackles are meaningful to me as well.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

“By the way, you’re really amazing. A dagger made of eternal iron would be hard to get even in the Central Plains. And you’re giving them to everyone.”

“They’re that precious to me.”

“There’s no guarantee those precious people will remain precious later, is there?”

“It’s not a gift given with the future in mind.”

“Then?”

“It’s a gift given for the gratitude they’ve shown me until now.”

At Geom Mugeuk’s words, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader couldn’t continue. As if understanding his feelings, Blood Heavens Saber Demon poured him a drink and said:

“Didn’t we say earlier? That we can’t handle ascending dragons. It’s probably best to just let them go with peace of mind.”

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader silently emptied his cup.

The precarious drinking party that seemed like it might explode at any moment continued.

As they drank one or two cups back and forth, everyone got drunk.

“Investigator Seo. Stop drinking. At this rate, you’ll be clinging to Master’s pant legs again today.”

At Lee Ahn’s restraint, Seo Daeryong shouted loudly.

“I’m perfectly fine!”

“Your speech is already slurred.”

“Don’t worry, I said! I’m not drunk.”

Seo Daeryong, who seemed to have a lot pent up lately, started drinking heavily, and Lee Ahn, who had been trying to stop him, was also sipping the alcohol she had been holding back throughout her training.

Geom Mugeuk looked at Jang Ho. Jang Ho sent a look saying he would take good care of the two, so don’t worry.

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around? You getting drunk, and those two stopping you.”

“That’s right.”

“If they show any signs of getting rowdy, give them each a punch with that big fist of yours.”

“That’s not easy either. Both of them have been quite formidable lately.”

Of course, Seo Daeryong was still far off, but in Lee Ahn’s case, it couldn’t be said for certain that she would unconditionally lose to Jang Ho. After all, the Soaring Heaven Sword Arts was a martial art that could kill Jang Ho if he let his guard down.

Watching this scene, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader said to the Demon Supremes:

“The world has turned upside down. It’s become a world where we have to cater to our subordinates.”

It wasn’t a comment about Lee Ahn and Seo Daeryong, but a lament about the shackled man. Then he asked Geom Mugeuk:

“What does Second Young Master think? Do you intend to run the cult while being mindful of your subordinates’ feelings even when you become the Cult Leader?”

Instead of answering, Geom Mugeuk asked the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader:

“Do you know what’s characteristic of people who can’t do their work?”

“Isn’t it because they’re incompetent and lazy?”

“That could be. But there’s a more common characteristic.”

“What is it?”

“They lack awareness.”

For a moment, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader’s expression hardened. He was clearly about to say something contrary to his words.

“Are you saying I should be mindful of my subordinates’ feelings? Will that make the cult run properly? What if we get devoured by those righteous sects while doing that?”

“You need to be aware to know what kind of person your subordinate is. You need to be aware to know what they’re feeling. I reject forced loyalty.”

“Enough!”

Finally, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader flipped the drinking table.

Everyone looked at him with surprised faces as the table crashed over. Although their clothes were stained with alcohol and food, no one paid attention to that.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader shouted:

“It’s all pretense. It’s pretense to look good to you. He just says that, but he’ll secretly drag away and kill any subordinate who doesn’t listen. He’s not being mindful of his subordinates’ feelings now, he’s being mindful of your feelings. He’s putting on an act because he wants to take you away.”

His words echoed loudly. To others, it might seem like a sudden outburst, but for him, it was an explosion of what had been building up.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had resisted the urge to flip the drinking table several times. But when he heard the words “forced loyalty” in Geom Mugeuk’s last statement, the dam he had been holding back finally broke.

It was a time when he was feeling self-reproach and even a sense of victimization, thinking that the shackled man, or perhaps other subordinates, were all showing him forced loyalty.

Silence fell over the place.

Looking at the bottom of the overturned table, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader gritted his teeth.

‘Damn it! What am I supposed to do? Is this me? What am I supposed to do if I don’t want to hear such words! Damn it!’

The overturned drinking table signaled the end of today’s long, drawn-out battle.

“I seem to have been rude. Please forgive me. It’s late today, so I’ll come back tomorrow to apologize properly.”

With Geom Mugeuk’s apology, Blood Heavens Saber Demon and One-Flower Sword Supreme said their goodbyes.

It was behavior that shouldn’t be done in front of the Demon Supremes. The two could have gotten angry in this situation, but for Geom Mugeuk’s sake, they didn’t show any reaction.

Jang Ho followed, taking care of the shackles, Seo Daeryong, and Lee Ahn.

Geom Mugeuk thanked everyone with a smile. Without them, this gathering wouldn’t have been possible in the first place.

They parted at the entrance. No one mentioned the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

Jang Ho, Seo Daeryong, and Lee Ahn went to the Flowing Wind Tavern, saying they would have one more drink together. Blood Heavens Saber Demon and One-Flower Sword Supreme returned to their quarters, saying they were tired, and Geom Mugeuk also headed to his quarters.

***

The shackled man stood up.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader found the sight of the shackled man walking towards him very unfamiliar.

The shackled man picked up one of the fallen wine bottles from the floor and drank straight from the bottle. Then he held out that bottle to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader took the bottle and drank.

Perhaps they could have sat side by side and drank like this from the beginning. What had they been so afraid of?

“I kept you in shackles because I was afraid you might kill me. No, to be more honest, I was afraid I might kill you.”

“That’s not it.”

“It’s not?”

“You just didn’t have any thoughts.”

“What?”

“The reasons you just mentioned are thoughts you’ve had only recently. Before that, you lived without thinking, right? You just kept me bound because you bound me at first. Out of habit.”

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader couldn’t refute. As he said, he had lived without thinking. It was only recently, after getting entangled with Second Young Master, that he realized these shackles were such a big problem.

Nevertheless, the shackled man comforted the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

“It’s okay. Everyone lives like this.”

“How is it okay? You’re trying to leave because of this.”

“My leaving isn’t because of that. It’s not because you kept me in shackles.”

“Then why? Do you think you can change the world with Second Young Master?”

“I don’t have dreams of changing the world.”

“Then why? Why on earth!”

The reason was something the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader never expected.

“I’m leaving because I couldn’t predict anything.”

“What?”

“I handled everything related to the martial arts world situation outside the Central Plains with you.”

“That’s right.”

“In that process, I couldn’t predict anything related to Second Young Master.”

“But you did! You predicted he would come when you said he would. You predicted he would demand divine artifacts too.”

The shackled man shook his head.

“Those are meaningless things. Many reports related to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult came in from outside the Central Plains. A considerable number of them were about Second Young Master. Each time, Second Young Master exceeded my expectations. I didn’t know he would kill the Demonic Army Commander, I didn’t know he would kill the Soul-Seizing Demon. I especially didn’t know he would draw in Blood Heavens Saber Demon. I didn’t know he would bring all the people he leads today. I didn’t even know he would demand the shackles. How can this be? Yes, that’s right. Maybe Second Young Master is smarter than me, so I might be treated poorly if I go. He might be disappointed, thinking, ‘What? I brought him as a military advisor, but he’s not as good as he looks?’ But still, I need to go and see. I need to go and see why I couldn’t predict anything, what kind of person he is to be able to act like this. I’ve become truly curious.”

It was the first time the shackled man had spoken so much.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader could tell. That he could no longer hold him back. He asked one last time.

“Can’t it really work with me?”

“It can. Let’s go together.”

“You crazy bastard, where do you keep saying we should go together! How do you think my subordinates would see me? Do you think they would follow me going under a young Second Young Master?”

“Then let’s abandon everything and go.”

“What?”

“Hand over the Cult Leader position to your successor and come with me. Let’s live a new life.”

All sorts of curses came to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader’s mind. But there was a sense of defeat that preceded anger.

“Where would I be useful without the title of Heavenly Wind Cult Leader?”

“Without that title, you would become quite a cool person. You’ve lived a mediocre life bound by that title your whole life. You’re not the only one who’s lived bound by shackles.”

“What are you saying.”

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader threw and broke the wine bottle he was holding.

“You’re telling me to step down from the Cult Leader position voluntarily? This position where I can kill anyone I want to kill with a word, eat anything I want to eat, and call for all sorts of beautiful women?”

“Are you happy because of that?”

“Of course I’m happy! No, let’s say I’m not that happy. So what? Will I become happy if I step down from this position? Are you saying happiness that didn’t exist when I was Cult Leader will come walking on its own?”

“I don’t know that either. You have to find that yourself.”

“You’re trying to ruin me. You’re throwing a fit trying to make me unhappy.”

“Maybe so.”

“Damn it! I should just kill you and end this.”

“It’s too late for that.”

“What?”

“If you wanted to kill me, you should have done it before Second Young Master came. If you kill me after Second Young Master removed my shackles, how do you think his feelings towards you would be? He would blame himself for my death, and that would turn into hatred towards you. If that happens, you’ll never be able to leave the outside world. For your own sake too, you can’t kill me.”

“Damn it!”

“Accept it as fate.”

“Don’t talk about fate! Where is there a fate that discriminates against people like this?”

“Chief, you are the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader. You’re a person who ruled by discriminating against everyone outside the Central Plains. How can the word discrimination come out of your mouth?”

After being silent for a while, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader blurted out:

“I’ve lost. Yes, I’ve lost to you smart people who speak well. Go.”

He meant it sincerely.

It was the moment he gave up on the shackled man.

“Go and suffer to death. Regret leaving me to death. Go, go. I’m sending you away because it’s disgusting.”

Finally, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader truly removed the shackles.

At that moment, the shackled man put something down in front of the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader. Surprisingly, it was a key that looked exactly like the key that could unlock the shackles.

“What is this? Don’t tell me… Is this the key to the shackles?”

The shackled man nodded. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader was shocked. The key that was hanging on the necklace earlier had been taken by Geom Mugeuk’s subordinate along with the shackles, but here was another identical key.

“I forged it a few years ago.”

“How on earth? No, then why didn’t you escape?”

The shackled man didn’t explain about that.

“If you could unlock the shackles, you must have had chances to kill me too? Why didn’t you kill me?”

“It’s probably similar to the reason you didn’t kill me even when I cursed at you. You said it, didn’t you? That I’m the person who understands and recognizes you the most. I’m the same.”

The moment he heard those words, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader’s heart swelled and his eyes grew hot.

This is why. This is why this farewell is so difficult and regretful.

Looking down at the key, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader said:

“To bring this out at this moment. I’m a loser until the end.”

Then the shackled man made a deep bow right there. And with the most respectful expression and words he had never shown before, he greeted:

“That’s not true. The fact that you didn’t kill me, and that you’re letting me go so readily. At least to me, you were a cool person, Chief. The reason I lived like this, even though I could have escaped, even though I wanted to die several times, is perhaps because I grew attached to you, Chief. I will never forget the grace of freeing me today. I look forward to the day we can be together again, Chief.”

With that, the shackled man left the room.

Left alone, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader pounded the floor with his fist.

He felt relieved yet regretful, and while feeling that way, he felt empty, and while feeling that way, he was happy. And he was sad.