By the time Geom Mugeuk and Seo Daeryong left the Southern Path Sect, it had grown dark.
Seo Daeryong walked along, lost in thought, a worried look on his face.
“Now that you’re about to get married, all sorts of worries are popping up, aren’t they?”
“My youngest sister-in-law once mentioned something to me.”
Seo Daeryong, who used to follow Dan-yeon around calling her brother-in-law, now called her his youngest sister-in-law more comfortably than ever.
“She said her older sister was feeling burdened by the idea of a wedding ceremony.”
Geom Mugeuk could understand her feelings.
She knew no one here, and her only family were her two younger sisters.
“She said she wasn't ashamed of having no guests, but she was worried it might cause me trouble. At the time, I just laughed it off, saying I had no friends or family either.”
But still, Seo Daeryong had Lee Ahn and Jang Ho, as well as the investigators and enforcers.
They alone would be enough to fill the groom's side with guests.
“I’ll take care of the matter of Miss Dan’s guests.”
“Will you really do that for me?”
When Geom Mugeuk nodded, Seo Daeryong’s face brightened.
“Once marriage talks begin in earnest, feelings can get hurt over the smallest things. Be careful with your words, no matter what.”
“Yes!”
“Well then, see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Geom Mugeuk smiled as he watched Seo Daeryong’s retreating back, running off in excitement.
Yes, marriage is best done when things are this good, before you know any better.
Geom Mugeuk started walking again.
He was not heading to his residence, but to the Demon Family Village.
The lights of the Flowing Wine Tavern were out.
Jo Chun-bae was cleaning up the empty tavern alone after even the tavern boy had gone home.
Just then, a voice he was overjoyed to hear came from outside.
“Innkeeper.”
The moment he heard that voice, Jo Chun-bae shouted and ran out.
“Young Cult Master!”
But in his haste, he tripped on the threshold.
“Whoa!”
Just as he was about to fly forward and crash to the ground, he stopped in mid-air.
A gentle energy was supporting him.
He felt like he was riding a soft cloud as he flew through the air and landed in front of Geom Mugeuk.
“I was just so happy to see you! Thank you, Young Cult Master!”
“Our innkeeper needs to be more careful of falling than of flying swords now.”
The two men faced each other and smiled brightly.
Jo Chun-bae was so happy to see him, Geom Mugeuk wondered what would have happened if he hadn't come.
Since he had been too busy to see Jo Chun-bae when he returned from his last trip outside the sect, it had been quite a while since they had seen each other.
“Have you been well?”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been well. Our Young Cult Master has become even more handsome and dashing.”
“If only all the women in the world had eyes like our innkeeper.”
After exchanging greetings, the two went inside.
Although the tavern was closed for the night, Jo Chun-bae rolled up his sleeves.
“How many will there be? I’ll start preparing the food.”
“I’m not meeting anyone. I just came because I wanted to have a drink with you.”
For a moment, Jo Chun-bae’s heart swelled.
Who was he, just an old tavern innkeeper.
He was truly grateful that Geom Mugeuk remembered him and came to visit like this.
“I don’t need any side dishes. Let’s just have a drink.”
Geom Mugeuk went up to the second floor.
The seat he always took was spotless.
It was clear how much Jo Chun-bae cared for that spot, even when there were no customers.
Jo Chun-bae brought up some wine and simple snacks.
“Here, innkeeper. Have a glass of my wine first.”
As always, Jo Chun-bae accepted the wine with a look of reverence and respectfully poured a drink for Geom Mugeuk.
“Well, let’s have a drink.”
The two men toasted and drained their cups.
Jo Chun-bae turned his body and drank it all in one go.
“Did the business you went out for go well?”
At Jo Chun-bae’s question, Geom Mugeuk looked back at the characters written on the wall and said.
“I just came back from saving one of the people who left their words there.”
“Goodness!”
Jo Chun-bae shook his head with a look of amazement, as if it were something he could never even imagine.
“Has anything happened in the Demon Family Village?”
“When people live so closely together, things are always happening.”
“Tell me about it.”
Jo Chun-bae told him various stories.
A child was born to a merchant’s family, someone else injured their leg, and another person moved away.
Even while a plot to kill the Unorthodox Alliance Leader was underway, their lives continued.
Even if another plot unfolded tomorrow, even if a great war between the Righteous and Demonic factions were to break out, Jo Chun-bae would still open the doors of the Flowing Wine Tavern in the morning.
Geom Mugeuk finally felt that he had returned home.
When he shed his desire for Great Mastery that had clouded his eyes, he could see Jo Chun-bae clearly.
“You know the person who sells dolls in front?”
“Of course, I do.”
“He has a new doll of the First Young Master.”
“Ah! It’s finally out.”
Jo Chun-bae ran over to the counter and brought back a small box.
“I bought this in case the Young Cult Master came, so I could give it to you.”
Geom Mugeuk opened the box.
The stern face was unmistakably his older brother.
Geom Mugeuk recalled the dolls displayed in his father’s room.
Perhaps this doll was already standing on his father’s shelf.
“Come to think of it, innkeeper, you only bought my brother’s doll, not mine.”
As if to say, I knew this would happen.
“I’ve already bought three of yours, Young Cult Master. I have one at home and I sent one to my hometown.”
After chatting about this and that, Jo Chun-bae went downstairs, saying Geom Mugeuk should drink comfortably by himself.
He declined the offer of more wine, saying that drinking on a day like this would lead to mistakes, so Geom Mugeuk didn't force him.
He only had that one first glass.
Geom Mugeuk drank alone for a while, then looked down at the first floor.
Jo Chun-bae was sitting at the moonlit counter, looking out the window.
Suddenly, the image of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon reading a book overlapped with his form.
Geom Mugeuk knew.
What the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had spoken of was Jo Chun-bae’s current state.
No matter how happy he was to see him, no matter how much he wanted to drink with him, Jo Chun-bae was a man who lived by his principles, unfazed by fleeting emotions.
That very image was the teaching of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon itself.
Innkeeper, you have already achieved Great Mastery.
“Innkeeper.”
When Geom Mugeuk called, Jo Chun-bae looked up at the second floor and asked.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Please pack some good wine for me.”
“It seems you’re going to meet someone special.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled and said something cryptic.
“I’m trying to run farther away from Great Mastery.”
In the training grounds illuminated by torches, martial artists were training late into the night.
Twelve martial artists.
They were Geom Mugeuk’s personal escort martial artists, unleashing their swords in unison as they formed a single sword formation.
They were all training together, regardless of whether they were on the day or night guard.
They formed a circle and thrust their swords out in all directions at once.
The sword formation they were practicing was a guardian formation meant to protect one person.
The lifeblood of a sword formation was harmony and connection.
They covered each other’s weaknesses, moving as one body.
The force behind their swords was extraordinary.
Their auras were incomparably sharper than when they had first come to Geom Mugeuk.
And so, after a round of training.
Haa, haa, haa.
Only the sound of held breaths echoed in the space.
Just then, a voice suddenly spoke.
“You’re getting pretty good.”
Startled, the escort martial artists turned around.
Geom Mugeuk was sitting in the space in the middle of the sword formation they had been protecting.
“Young Cult Master!”
At the shout of Jeok-yeon, the head of the escort, Geom Mugeuk smiled and said.
“Everyone, sit as you are.”
The escorts sat down, facing the inside of the circle.
They all had surprised expressions.
There were twelve of them, yet no one had noticed the Young Cult Master coming in and sitting down in the middle.
“Is everyone tired?”
“No, sir!”
At their thunderous reply, Geom Mugeuk attended to Jeok-yeon first.
“Guard Jeok, I know you’re the one working the hardest.”
Jeok-yeon was delighted by those words.
He wasn’t working so hard just to be recognized, but hearing that he was acknowledged made him truly grateful.
“I know it isn’t easy being my escort.”
When they were first assigned as the Young Cult Master’s guards, they must have expected something different from this.
They probably imagined traveling the Central Plains with the Young Cult Master, gaining all sorts of experience.
But aside from one trip outside the sect and guarding him within the sect when he was Acting Cult Master, they had spent most of their time training in martial arts.
Jeok-yeon spoke to Geom Mugeuk.
“We trained with the sole determination that we must become stronger to protect you, Young Cult Master.”
But…
With an expression that was somewhere between laughing and crying, Jeok-yeon said.
“You’ve returned even stronger.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled at Jeok-yeon.
“Am I the kind of person who would just accept anyone’s protection?”
Geom Mugeuk opened the bundle he had brought with him.
What was inside flew out to everyone.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
What flew out simultaneously were wine cups.
He had decided to drink with them and brought twelve cups.
The wine cups didn't fly all the way, but hovered in front of them.
The escorts stared at the cups floating before them with shocked faces.
A thought crossed all their minds.
Is this even possible?
Geom Mugeuk was now displaying the divine might of moving twelve objects simultaneously with his will.
Including his own cup, that made thirteen, and it soon became fourteen.
Slowly, a wine bottle floated into the air and began to pour wine into the cup hovering in front of Jeok-yeon.
Drip, drip.
After filling the cup, the bottle moved towards another martial artist’s cup.
The bottle didn’t go to the martial artist right next to him.
The cup it sought out was that of Number Two.
He had revealed to Geom Mugeuk before that when they went outside, they were called by their code names, from number one to number twelve.
After filling Number Two’s cup, the bottle moved to the cup of Number Three, who was sitting a little farther away, and then to Number Four’s cup.
Geom Mugeuk remembered them all precisely, from Number Two to the youngest, number twelve, from what he had heard back then.
The escorts were inwardly moved because they thought the Young Cult Master didn't know much about them.
“You remembered all of us.”
At Jeok-yeon’s emotional tone, Geom Mugeuk wore a sorry expression.
How indifferent must he have been for them to be moved by something like this?
“Become stronger. That’s how you’ll protect me!”
Geom Mugeuk didn't apologize to them.
An apology like, ‘I made you guys train just so I could go around comfortably,’ would only hurt their pride even more.
He had made a big resolution today to not be hasty.
“Be hasty. Be more hasty than anyone else. We don't know when our Young Cult Master will become the Cult Master! Wake up in the middle of the night and swing your sword! Understand?”
“Yes!”
When Geom Mugeuk grabbed the cup floating in front of him, the twelve escorts also grabbed theirs.
The Young Cult Master they were to protect was a person who said such things while keeping thirteen cups floating in the air.
They had to protect such a person, and when such a person told them to become stronger, how could they not be stimulated?
“I permit you. Continue to grow stronger.”
Having finished speaking, Geom Mugeuk drank his wine, and the escorts also emptied their cups in unison.
“And tomorrow, you’ll need to look imposing, so make sure your clothes are properly ironed!”
Cha Iran was looking out the window.
The first day at the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect had dawned.
The quarters Geom Mugeuk had prepared for her were truly excellent.
It wasn't just her room that was good.
The rooms provided for her subordinates were also clean and neat.
Special care had been taken with the beds and bedding, which were all new.
As they say, see one thing and you know ten.
There was a reason she was here.
Just then, the First Assassin came and reported.
“We are ready.”
“Let’s go.”
Geom Mugeuk had summoned all of them.
They wore martial robes instead of their splendid clothes.
A new life was about to begin.
When they arrived at the training grounds, a short distance from their quarters, there were people already waiting.
It was the Ghost Shadow Branch, led by Lee Ahn.
The Ghost Shadow Unit's First Squad, led by Blue Mask, and the Ghost Shadow Unit's Second Squad, led by Seo Jin, stood with extraordinary auras.
They were a perfect example of what a well-disciplined organization looked like.
Lee Ahn stood before them.
Cha Iran felt that Lee Ahn, standing before her subordinates, was different from when she had seen her in Anhui.
‘She wasn't revealing her true aura back then.’
Lee Ahn introduced Blue Mask and Seo Jin to Cha Iran.
Blue Mask was originally a person who could have become the next Evil Heart Laughing Demon, so his aura was anything but ordinary, and Seo Jin’s aura had also changed after she returned from the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall and underwent grueling martial arts and Ghost Arts training.
Unlike Cha Iran, who looked at them calmly, the female assassins were feeling an unknown sense of rivalry.
From now on, they had to live as martial artists, not assassins.
It was time to change their confidence of being able to assassinate anyone into the confidence of being able to fight and defeat anyone.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk appeared.
Twelve escorts followed behind Geom Mugeuk, wearing the official uniforms of the escort guards.
The symbol of the Heavenly Demon Hall Guards was embroidered on their chests.
A demon drawn inside a shield.
Also, the character for ‘Demon’ was embroidered in a powerful script on the black masks they wore.
Everyone present was formidable, but the escort martial artists were not outdone in the slightest.
Seeing them, Cha Iran and the female assassins were once again reminded that Geom Mugeuk was the Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
Upon Geom Mugeuk’s arrival, everyone present bowed respectfully in unison.
“We greet the Young Cult Master!”
Geom Mugeuk also formally received their greeting with a clasped fist salute.
As the time was what it was, he also gave a nod to Dan-yeon, the youngest of the Ghost Shadow Branch.
Then he asked Cha Iran.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thanks to your consideration, I slept very soundly.”
The women standing behind her also bowed their heads in unison to express their gratitude.
How could they not know? That special care had been taken for them.
“I intend to give you the position of Branch Master. However, I need the Cult Master’s permission, so you’ll have to wait a bit. In the meantime, you can come up with a name.”
Then, Cha Iran said something unexpected.
“If possible, we would like to join the Ghost Shadow Branch.”
It was a truly unexpected statement.
“Do you know what that means?”
“I do.”
It meant she would be placed under Lee Ahn.
Cha Iran’s gaze turned to Blue Mask and Seo Jin.
“Those two also don’t seem like people who would remain as mere squad leaders.”
Geom Mugeuk then properly introduced the two.
“The First Squad Leader is someone who gave up on becoming the next Evil Heart Laughing Demon, and the Second Squad Leader is a descendant of the Ghost Gate.”
As expected! Cha Iran nodded with a look of understanding.
“It will take a lot of effort and time for us who have lived as assassins to live as martial artists. I will learn under Miss Lee, no, Branch Master Lee. And since I have decided to serve the Young Cult Master, I believe rank is not important.”
Geom Mugeuk thought her choice was truly wise.
However, he was not the one to make this decision.
“Lee Ahn. Will you accept them as the Third Squad?”
Lee Ahn looked at Cha Iran.
There were reasons to accept and reasons to refuse.
Her deliberation was not long.
For Geom Mugeuk’s sake, and for Blue Mask and Seo Jin’s sake, she had to accept them.
What burdensome squad leaders!
“I will accept you as the Third Squad Leader of the Ghost Shadow Branch.”
Cha Iran also respectfully bowed to Lee Ahn.
“I greet the Branch Master.”
“I look forward to working with you.”
It was the moment the Ghost Shadow Branch was finally complete with the addition of Cha Iran.
Geom Mugeuk looked at the three women with a heart full of emotion.
Lee Ahn, Seo Jin, and Cha Iran.
The three women who had saved his life in his past life and in his current one had now gathered under the name of the Ghost Shadow Branch.
Geom Mugeuk said to Cha Iran.
“I have a first mission that I am giving directly to the Ghost Shadow Unit's Third Squad.”
“Please speak.”
Geom Mugeuk’s mission was something she had never imagined.
“You must become guests at a wedding ceremony.”
Startled for a moment, Cha Iran then asked with cold eyes.
“Is the person we have to kill the groom? Or the bride?”