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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: To the Central Plains (2)
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* * *
'Hmm. More people than I expected.'
On the day of departure for the Central Plains, Jinmyeong arrived at the Heavenly Demon Castle and saw the people gathered for the mission.
'Are the Cult Leader's disciples here too?'
He saw the familiar face of Gye Buil, as well as the other four disciples he had recalled the moment he awoke in this place.
'I don't really know the rest, though...'
There were others besides them, but he couldn't remember their faces clearly.
But one thing was clear.
The gazes most of them sent his way were far from friendly.
"If you've arrived, come over here."
A man with sharp features called out to Jinmyeong, then turned his head away.
"Hurry and prepare. We're leaving immediately."
At the man's words, the warriors scowled.
"Is that the Leader of the Demonic Shadow Brigade?"
"I can't believe that guy is in charge."
Only after hearing the warriors' mutterings did Jinmyeong realize who the sharp-featured man was.
The Demonic Shadow Brigade.
The Heavenly Demon's personal unit.
And the Heavenly Demon's shadow.
A group composed of a thousand peak masters.
The man, Neung Byeokmun, stood at the pinnacle of the Demonic Shadow Brigade and was one of the Heavenly Demon's most trusted men, alongside the Mad Demon, Shin Horyang.
'They don't seem too happy about it.'
The warriors appeared displeased with Neung Byeokmun giving them orders.
Even if he was the Leader of the Demonic Shadow Brigade, trusted by the Heavenly Demon, his social standing wasn't particularly high.
'They're almost all young warriors. And just by looking at them, you can tell they're of high status.'
The group consisted mostly of vigorous young warriors, and judging by their high-born appearance, their pride was likely just as high.
'In most novels, when a group like this moves, trouble usually follows.'
He had thought it wouldn't be too difficult since it wasn't an event mentioned in the original story.
But looking at the group, he had a feeling it wouldn't be a smooth journey.
'The Brigade Leader is going to have a tough time.'
Leading a group like this wouldn't be easy.
"I'll give you one warning. My top priority is completing this mission. If anyone gets in the way of that, I will cut off their head, no matter who they are."
The Brigade Leader said, his cold eyes scanning the warriors.
'He's treating them like baggage.'
It seemed that, contrary to Jinmyeong's thoughts, the Brigade Leader had no intention of actually leading the group.
"To think I have to be with these brats. It would have been better if the Demonic Shadow Brigade had just handled this..."
The Brigade Leader clicked his tongue and muttered.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
The young warriors bristled at his words, but the Brigade Leader ignored them and continued speaking.
"Hurry up and get ready. We're leaving soon."
At the Brigade Leader's command, the other warriors also began to prepare for departure.
Then, as Jinmyeong looked around, he spotted someone.
'Mok Jagyeong.'
The Heavenly Demon's first disciple, Mok Jagyeong.
With a pleasant smile, he was chatting with the other disciples.
'He's strong, but that's not all...'
He feels like he's hiding something.
'He's not as strong as the Cult Leader or the Vice Cult Leader.'
But he felt more wary of him than when he looked at those two.
'The strongest one here is definitely the Brigade Leader.'
As if to prove he wasn't the Heavenly Demon's right-hand man for nothing.
However, Jinmyeong found himself more concerned with Mok Jagyeong than with the Brigade Leader.
"Oh. Our youngest brother is here."
Did he sense Jinmyeong's gaze?
Mok Jagyeong smiled and approached him as their eyes met.
"It's been a while."
"Haha. Is 'it's been a while' the right thing to say? I heard you lost your memories."
Mok Jagyeong chuckled at Jinmyeong's response.
"Yes. But I recognized you the moment I saw you, Senior Brother."
"I see. But why are you standing here alone? Why not join the others?"
Mok Jagyeong turned his head and glanced at where he had been standing moments before.
There, the other senior and junior brothers were watching the two of them.
"Ah. Is it because of our fourth brother?"
Mok Jagyeong jumped to his own conclusion and nodded.
Seeing Gye Buil glaring at Jinmyeong without reacting, it seemed he knew what had happened between them.
"That's not it."
It wasn't because of Gye Buil that Jinmyeong wasn't mingling with the Heavenly Demon's disciples.
'They ignored me so much when I couldn't learn martial arts.'
The current Jinmyeong hadn't personally received their scornful gazes.
But when he opened his eyes in this body, the first thing he remembered was the cold stares of his senior brothers.
He must have suffered so much that, even without having experienced it directly, his face would stiffen just by looking at them.
'Besides, I still don't know who tried to kill me.'
All of the Heavenly Demon's disciples were suspects.
'But I have to find out.'
He thought that to uncover the truth, he might have to stay with them after all.
"Alright, let's get moving!"
At the shout from Neung Byeokmun, the Brigade Leader, people slowly began to gather.
"Lady Shin, you've arrived."
Mok Jagyeong spotted a woman among the crowd and showed a look of pleasant surprise.
"Why don't you come over here?"
The woman considered Mok Jagyeong's words for a moment, then nodded and approached the two of them.
'She has a cold demeanor.'
Jinmyeong watched the approaching woman and searched his memory.
But nothing about her came to mind.
"It feels like it's been a long time. Have you been well?"
"Indeed."
The woman simply nodded and gave a short reply to Mok Jagyeong's words.
"You seem to have gotten stronger."
"You as well, Young Master Mok."
"Haha. Thank you."
The woman, who had been conversing with Mok Jagyeong, immediately turned her head toward Jinmyeong.
"It's been a while."
"I'm sorry, but I don't know who..."
"You lost your memories, didn't you? Even if you hadn't, it's been so long you probably wouldn't remember anyway."
Watching the woman reply so casually, Jinmyeong found himself nodding.
It seemed he had rarely, if ever, met this woman, given her absence from his memories.
"I'm Shin Yehyang."
"Lady Shin is also the Vice Cult Leader's only daughter."
Hearing Mok Jagyeong's words, Jinmyeong looked at the saber slung across her back.
'I thought I'd seen it somewhere. It looks similar to the Vice Cult Leader's saber.'
Why hadn't he realized it sooner?
'Come to think of it, her aura is similar to the Vice Cult Leader's.'
Was it because he'd just heard she was the Mad Demon's daughter?
Indeed, looking at her closely, she did seem to evoke the image of the Mad Demon.
'Though their looks are nothing alike...'
Jinmyeong kept repeating the name Shin Yehyang in his mind.
It wasn't just because she was beautiful.
'I feel like I've heard that name somewhere.'
The name Shin Yehyang.
It didn't come to him right away.
But it felt familiar.
That meant she was a character from the original novel.
'Hmm. Did she fight the protagonist?'
Since the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was an enemy of the protagonist, it was a possibility, but that didn't seem to be it.
'If anything, I don't remember the ones who fought the protagonist and died very well.'
In fact, he could hardly remember anyone besides Mok Jagyeong.
'In that case, the only thing left is...'
Someone who helps the protagonist.
To be precise, the person who leads the protagonist to the cave of fortuitous encounters that Jinmyeong had claimed instead.
'If she really is that person, then this woman...'
...hated the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
'Her identity was never properly revealed back then. But if she's the Vice Cult Leader's daughter...'
The Vice Cult Leader, who doesn't even appear in the original, and his daughter, who hates the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
He was starting to foresee events that weren't in the original story.
'This has gotten quite interesting.'
An entirely unexpected person had appeared.
Jinmyeong thought he could gain quite a lot from this mission.
* * *
A few days after leaving the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, they entered the Kunlun Mountains.
'I need Yang Jeon.'
Jinmyeong desperately felt the need for Yang Jeon to resolve his questions.
He had felt it before they left, but it was definitely only young warriors.
'And it feels like the ten members of the Demonic Shadow Brigade are escorting the young warriors.'
He had thought it was a fairly important mission, enough for the Heavenly Demon to order it himself.
'There are too few of them.'
Even with the Heavenly Demon's disciples and the Vice Cult Leader's daughter, Shin Yehyang, they were all very young warriors.
'It's strange that only these young warriors are being sent on such an important mission.'
So much so that even the Brigade Leader was complaining.
'As he said, couldn't the Demonic Shadow Brigade have just handled it?'
He wondered if there was a reason for specifically sending only the young warriors, making the ten Brigade members look like escorts.
"Hmph!"
Jinmyeong frowned at the sudden presence he felt.
It seemed Jinmyeong wasn't the only one who felt it.
Most of the warriors also stopped in their tracks, their hands moving to their weapons.
"What brings the members of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult here?"
Soon, figures dressed in a fine blend of white and blue appeared.
They had already surrounded the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
'Is that the Kunlun Sect?'
Jinmyeong could tell they were the Daoists of the Kunlun Sect, guardians of the Kunlun Mountains.
"What else would our presence here mean?"
The Brigade Leader, Neung Byeokmun, shouted back at the middle-aged Daoist who had asked the question.
This path was the one the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult took to the Central Plains, so being here meant they intended to go there.
"I mean, why have the members of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult suddenly come here?"
He asked for the reason they were heading to the Central Plains, and the answer was that they were heading to the Central Plains.
The middle-aged Daoist, Daoist Heo Un, didn't seem angry as he calmly asked again.
"Haha. Doesn't the Righteous Alliance do the same? Young warriors traveling the Central Plains to gain experience."
"And the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult intends to do the same?"
At Neung Byeokmun's reply, Daoist Heo Un narrowed his eyes and looked at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's party.
"It seems plausible that they're here to gain experience..."
But Daoist Heo Un's gaze was fixed on two people.
Mok Jagyeong and Shin Yehyang.
"Aren't some of them a bit too strong to be 'gaining experience'?"
"Strength and experience are two different things, are they not?"
"Hoho. If you claim the Blood-Laughing Demon is a young master in need of experience, everyone will laugh."
The Blood-Laughing Demon, Mok Jagyeong.
Once, he had gotten into a conflict with members of the Heretical Factions in the Central Plains.
And he alone had killed over ten of their warriors.
Mok Jagyeong had laughed with such joy amidst the blood of his victims, earning him the moniker of Blood-Laughing Demon.
"And you also have the Mad Wind Demonic Flower, do you not?"
Shin Yehyang wasn't famous for causing trouble in the Central Plains like Mok Jagyeong.
However, as the only daughter of the Vice Cult Leader, the Mad Demon, and being on par with the Heavenly Demon's disciples, she was considered a person of interest by the Righteous Alliance.
"Still, our numbers are small, are they not?"
"But..."
As Neung Byeokmun said, it wasn't a large enough force to wage war.
It was just a group of nearly thirty people.
But perhaps because they were from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Daoist Heo Un wanted to stop them from crossing the Kunlun Mountains.
"Surely the Kunlun and the Righteous Alliance aren't so weak they can't even stop a group of this size?"
Mok Jagyeong interjected, as if noticing Daoist Heo Un's hesitation.
At those words, Daoist Heo Un's face twitched.
He couldn't just let that remark, which belittled Kunlun and the Righteous Alliance, slide.
"You filthy demon! Just because you have a mouth, you dare spew such nonsense!"
But it wasn't Daoist Heo Un who had gotten angry.
He whipped his head around with a startled expression.
A young Daoist with a face full of rage was rushing forward.
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