“You’re definitely insane.”
The words came naturally out of Hwa Moogi’s mouth.
Geom Mugeuk grinned brightly like a madman.
“Yeah, even if it’s something like that, you say it first. You, me, and those people inside you too. Everyone says whatever they want. No wronged ghosts dying without speaking today.”
Geom Mugeuk looked around at the people seated together.
“Father, if you have something to say, please say it as well.”
At that, Geom Woojin made a rare joke.
“Our family already has enough with just you.”
Geom Mugeuk replied cheerfully.
“I’ll speak as the representative of the Geom family!”
Jin Paecheon’s gaze, as he watched Geom Mugeuk, was incomparably gentle.
After seeing him converse with the Martial Emperor Divine Sword, his trust had deepened even further.
He himself had spoken with the Martial Emperor Divine Sword first. He had tried his best, but he had not been able to move his heart. Yet Geom Mugeuk had properly comforted him. He was a hundred times better than his old self.
Baek Jagang was admiring him from another angle. While Geom Mugeuk spoke to him, not once had chills run down his spine. It was astonishing that every word he said was sincere.
“Alliance Leaders, please speak comfortably as well!”
As Geom Mugeuk was about to turn his head again, he noticed the displeased expression of the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult.
“Why don’t you tell me to speak comfortably?”
“You’ll do that even if I tell you not to.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Then at least take the credit first.”
“The credit?”
Geom Mugeuk spoke as if he had witnessed what happened before arriving.
“You must have been the one handling our side’s talking when I wasn’t here, right? How much trouble you must have gone through speaking on behalf of those stiff, silent people?”
“You really miss nothing.”
“I might miss everything else, but how could I miss your efforts, Cult Leader?”
After filling the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult’s face with emotion, Geom Mugeuk turned back to Hwa Moogi.
“If you have something to say, say it freely.”
Of course, Hwa Moogi did not say a single word. His gaze carried a mocking tone, as if saying, *Do you think I’d open my mouth just because of that?*
“Well. They say even someone who usually throws a tantrum can’t do it when a mat is laid out for them. If we say, ‘Let’s talk,’ even the words that were coming out will disappear.”
Of course, Geom Mugeuk did well whether there was a mat or not.
“You called me insane, right? Then you’re even more insane.”
Hwa Moogi found it absurd. To be called insane by an insane person! But hearing what followed, he did not feel bad.
“You stormed in here alone, didn’t you? You’re probably the only person in martial history who tried to fight the entire martial world alone. There was no one before you, and there won’t be anyone after you. You’ve set an unprecedented record.”
Of course, Hwa Moogi was not someone who would be swayed so easily.
“Don’t try to butter me up. I have nothing to say to you.”
“I’m not buttering you up. That’s just the truth.”
Hwa Moogi tried not to engage in conversation at all, but Geom Mugeuk’s words kept provoking him.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
A completely unexpected question came from Geom Mugeuk.
“Why did you come attacking?”
Hwa Moogi and the others naturally interpreted this question like this: Why the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult first, not the Martial Alliance or the Unorthodox Alliance? But that was not it.
“You could’ve lived a different life, couldn’t you? With that level of martial arts, you could’ve lived quite an impressive life.”
Hwa Moogi could not answer. Surprisingly, he had never once considered living a different life.
Because he was the Heavenly Killing Star, because he harbored souls, because the seal had been broken.
He had thought it was only natural to attack. Only natural to kill them all and take over this martial world.
Geom Mugeuk continued:
“You could’ve just said this, right? ‘A fate given by heaven? Don’t make me laugh. I won’t live according to it no matter what!’”
“Heaven gave me this great power—do you think it gave it to me just to live an ordinary life? If someone like me was sent by heaven, then it’s all because of you.”
It was the same thing he had been saying ever since arriving here. But it did not work on Geom Mugeuk.
“Is that your thought? Or something the Dark Palace Master or the souls inside you told you?”
Hwa Moogi could not answer that it was his own thought.
Had he been struck at the core? His gaze sank coldly.
“You speak freely because it’s not your problem.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry about that.”
“This must be your goal. To confuse me with that silver tongue of yours.”
Geom Mugeuk drank the alcohol in front of him.
“I can’t help but be selfish, too. Do you think suggesting a conversation is for your sake? It’s for the people here and me. To understand you better, so we can kill you more certainly. Even if my words sound pathetic, please understand.”
Hwa Moogi now understood. Why everyone had changed the moment Geom Mugeuk arrived.
In such a short time, he lifted people’s spirits, angered them, confused them, and made them feel emotional ups and downs several times.
He had said he wouldn’t talk, yet before he knew it, he was already engaging with him, his nerves on edge.
That was enough curiosity about Geom Mugeuk. Just as he was about to stand and draw his sword—
“Ah, right. I should thank someone inside you.”
Naturally, he assumed it would be the Demonic Cult Leader. But it was someone entirely unexpected.
“Please call out the Unorthodox Alliance Leader.”
The most surprised person at those words was Baek Jagang. He had met the Martial Emperor Divine Sword by going back three hundred years, but what connection did he have with Joo Ga-shin?
“For what reason?”
“You’ll find out if you watch.”
If he had asked for the Demonic Cult Leader, Hwa Moogi would never have granted it. But even he was curious why thanks were owed to the Unorthodox Alliance Leader.
“We said no ghosts would die without speaking!”
Hwa Moogi granted the request.
His gaze settled calmly as Joo Ga-shin appeared. He too did not know why Geom Mugeuk had called for him.
“Why are you looking for me?”
It was a question everyone was curious about.
“This makes the third time we’ve met today.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s answer, Joo Ga-shin frowned in confusion.
“Third time? If we met three hundred years ago and now, this should be the second time.”
“I saw you at your grave.”
At that moment, Joo Ga-shin’s gaze sharpened.
“You gave me a gift there.”
Geom Mugeuk had obtained the final bead from Joo Ga-shin’s corpse
.
But he did not reveal what it was.
There was a reason he did not speak about the energy of the Six-Origin Energies.
It was because Hwa Moogi would not know about it.
The Dark Palace Master would never have told him about the only power capable of controlling him.
Until witnessing that day, Geom Mugeuk had thought the leaders of the Righteous, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions who gathered that day had divided the Six-Origin Energies among themselves, and that parts of it had later flowed into places like the Ice Palace and the Heavenly Wind Cult.
But on that day, they had all been absorbed into the Secret Box, trapped inside transparent beads, and had fallen into the hands of the Dark Palace Master.
Did six beads emerge from the Secret Box afterward? Or had they existed elsewhere from the beginning? Since he had returned to the present without seeing that part, even Geom Mugeuk did not know.
At least one thing was certain. The Six-Origin Energies had been distributed across various places not by those present that day, but by someone else.
“So please eat the dish that the Martial Emperor Divine Sword could not.”
“Do you know what kind of person I am, to tell me to eat this?”
He did not know everything about him. But he could guess one thing.
“You are someone who has not yet abandoned your dream, aren’t you?”
Joo Ga-shin’s eyes sharpened.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because you intervened in that matter three hundred years ago in pursuit of unifying the martial world.”
Baek Jagang, listening, inwardly admired him. He knew Joo Ga-shin had not abandoned his dream because he had heard his proposal. Yet Geom Mugeuk had read his heart perfectly without hearing any of that.
“That will not happen. So if you have anything you wish to say, say it all. If not now, you will never get the chance.”
It sounded like telling him not to leave regrets before dying.
After staring at Geom Mugeuk for a moment, Joo Ga-shin flatly refused.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
Just as Joo Ga-shin was about to disappear, Geom Mugeuk suddenly mentioned something unexpected.
“At your grave, I saw the Red Wolf you used to keep.”
“!”
“Ah, of course, I didn’t see it in person—I saw it in a painting. It looked truly magnificent and handsome.”
At the mention of the Red Wolf, for the first time, an emotion flickered in Joo Ga-shin’s eyes.
It was longing.
“Even from the painting of you together, I could tell how much you cherished it.”
Joo Ga-shin nodded.
“The only one…”
He did not finish his sentence.
Perhaps he had meant, *the only one who understood me.*
“Have a drink for the Red Wolf. It must have grieved your death deeply.”
Geom Mugeuk lifted the cup before him.
A man who seemed like he would never raise a cup for any other reason—
Joo Ga-shin lifted his cup. And he raised it toward Baek Jagang as well.
It was a gesture inviting him to drink together.
He still hoped Baek Jagang would accept his proposal. That he would somehow save him and allow him to live as one beneath and above ten thousand.
Baek Jagang raised his cup and quietly toasted in the air.
Just as Joo Ga-shin was about to bring the cup to his lips—
Clang.
Once again, the cup fell and shattered on the ground.
His gaze had changed again. And this time, it was not Hwa Moogi who returned.
“How pathetic.”
It was the Demonic Cult Leader, Hyeok Do-cheon.
“The Righteous and the Unorthodox are all the same. What’s so great about bringing in a few external forces that you feel guilty for three hundred years? And in a situation like this, you’re missing some mere beast?”
Geom Mugeuk spoke to him.
“Let me correct two things. They weren’t ‘mere external forces,’ they were the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Unorthodox Alliance. And that wasn’t ‘some mere beast,’ it was a wolf. A very handsome wolf named Red Wolf.”
Hyeok Do-cheon glared at him with blazing eyes.
“You said that if I hadn’t been absorbed into the Secret Box, our cult would have become worse?”
His gaze shifted to Geom Woojin. From their first meeting, he had not liked him either.
“Insolent brat. You’re exactly like your father.”
Of course, to Geom Mugeuk, that was the highest praise.
“Being told I resemble my father is what I like to hear most. Thank you for your kind words.”
Thinking he was being mocked, Hyeok Do-cheon bristled. Demonic energy and killing intent surged.
“You dare insult a former Cult Leader?”
Geom Mugeuk spoke calmly.
“The Heavenly Demon I know does not shatter a cup shared with a successor after three hundred years. So whoever you are, go back in, and send out the real Demonic Cult Leader.”
Hyeok Do-cheon stared at him silently.
“You’re certainly no ordinary bastard!”
There was a reason he had pushed out Joo Ga-shin to appear.
“Looking at you, a thought suddenly occurred to me.”
For him, it was far more important than guilt or wolves.
“I’ll ask directly. Can you get me out of this body?”
Everyone present was shocked by that question. No one had expected him to suddenly appear and ask such a thing.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“If the Secret Box took you back three hundred years, it must have regarded you as special.”
That was not the only reason. The Dark Palace Master had said everything collapsed because of the Young Cult Leader. Just seeing how he made the Heavenly Killing Star sit at the table and handled him proved he was no ordinary man.
Hyeok Do-cheon asked with blazing eyes:
“Do you know a way?”
All eyes focused on Geom Mugeuk. Surely, even he wouldn’t say he knew—
But a shocking answer came from his mouth.
“I should be able to get you out of that body.”
Though not in the way he desired.
Hyeok Do-cheon’s eyes widened. Because he said *should be able to*, rather than *I can*, it sounded even more trustworthy.
Everyone listening was shocked. Even Hwa Moogi must have been shocked, and the other souls as well. Baek Jagang, who had not once felt chills, was the most shocked of all.
Soon, Hyeok Do-cheon burst into loud laughter that echoed thunderously.
Then he abruptly stopped and glared again.
“Is that true?”
That single question carried shock, doubt, expectation, and excitement all at once.
“If it’s a lie, I’ll tear you apart alive!”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the shattered bowl on the ground and said:
“But you should have asked such an important question before breaking the cup.”
Though doubtful, Hyeok Do-cheon proposed with hope that it might be true:
“If you can just get me out, I’ll grant you anything you want!”
Certain that this would be what he desired, he added excitedly:
“I’ll help you achieve unification of the martial world.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk burst into loud laughter. It seemed like laughter of joy—
“For me, even the current unification of the martial world is more than enough trouble. Honestly, it’s harder than dealing with all of you!”
Hyeok Do-cheon could not understand what he meant.
Meanwhile, those present each showed different expressions—some faint smiles, others slight awkwardness.
Only Geom Woojin showed no change at all.
“If I can just get out…”
As Hyeok Do-cheon continued with anticipation, he suddenly fell silent.
He had already returned to Hwa Moogi. He could grant anything else, but he blocked this matter entirely.
“As expected! You don’t deviate even an inch from what I thought. You say you can take them out of my body? Are you trying to deceive the Demonic Cult Leader with such nonsense?”
Geom Mugeuk, who had been quietly watching him, suddenly asked:
“Do you not want it?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if you’re okay with them being inside your body. They read your thoughts, read your emotions. Don’t you hate that?”
Hwa Moogi’s expression stiffened. His relationship with those souls was not something that could be explained or concluded in a few words.
Geom Mugeuk asked him:
“What are they to you?”
Hwa Moogi did not answer. He slowly stood up, drew his black sword, and pointed it at Geom Mugeuk.
An overwhelming killing intent he had never experienced before surged toward him, but Geom Mugeuk remained at ease.
“Sure, fighting is a kind of conversation too. But I prefer conversations done with words. There are still people who haven’t spoken yet.”
But Hwa Moogi’s killing intent grew even denser. He no longer intended to be played by Geom Mugeuk’s silver tongue.
Geom Mugeuk accepted the fight.
“Fine, let’s fight. Once you get beaten half to death, you’ll say this—‘Let’s please talk with words!’”
Though he spoke as if he would strike at any moment, Geom Mugeuk still remained seated.
There was a reason for that. He looked at someone and spoke—words no one present had expected.
“Father, beat that bastard half to death and sit him back in front of me.”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult thought Geom Mugeuk was joking because he had not yet personally witnessed how strong the opponent was.
“Young Cult Leader, that guy is no ordinary opponent. He even restored all his internal energy with a technique called Reverse Heaven Demon Absorption Art!”
But Geom Mugeuk was not joking.
“That’s why I’m asking my father.”
In Geom Mugeuk’s eyes was absolute trust in his father.
Geom Woojin, who had been silently watching his son, slowly stood up.
“I’ve eaten, so shall I digest a bit?”
Comments (0)
Your Reaction?
0 Responses
Join the discussion
Please sign in or create an account to post comments and join the community.
Discussion