TSBIRBV Ch 206

Chapter 206. Revelation (1)

“How splendid…”

Jinyoung, his murky eyes narrowed, pressed a finger hard between his brows as he muttered.

The reports before him had piled into a mountain—the accumulated “achievements” of Yegyeol in the past week.

The collapse of Chilgwae-dong.

The fire at Jinmyeong-dang.

The complete incineration of Yanghwa-gak.

The destruction of Gimyung-jeon.

Partial burial of Yeonggil-gak.

The collapse of the secret passage linking Chilgwae-dong to Yanghwa-gak.

The destruction of ornamental statues…

And of those statues, one had been a likeness of the previous Heavenly Demon, taken down from the public square and thrown into storage.

All these places had one thing in common: they were used to imprison hostages, to train them, or to torture them.

To see them so neatly and selectively destroyed—surely Samrang had assisted. An outsider like Mun Yegyeol could never have known the inner workings of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains so intimately.

And it had not been mere buildings lost. The keeper of Chilgwae-dong had been reduced to a hollow shell at the sight of his collapsed cave. Half the demons sleeping within Jinmyeong-dang had their hair seared clean off, yet refused to testify who the culprit was.

The cause of the blaze still had not been determined. One guard swore he had seen lightning strike from a clear sky, but who could believe such a thing? The weather had been bone-dry for days, without a single drop of rain. The fire roared until the demons could bring water to fight it.

At Yanghwa-gak, the librarians who tried to block Yegyeol from entering with his candle were all left with shattered right legs and Samrang’s blades buried in their hands.

The reason recorded: “The opponent struck first.”

And that very night, Yanghwa-gak and all the records stored within had been consumed in flames.

As for Gimyung-jeon—it had been swallowed when the mountain behind it collapsed in what could only be called artistic precision, and only Yeonggil-gak alone was taken with it. Yegyeol, who had been “passing by,” had pulled out the trapped disciples and claimed to know nothing more.

He was nothing less than a walking god of destruction.

At Yeonggil-gak, no one died, but those guarding it were so shaken they still trembled in fear. They could not bring themselves to summon their master’s disciple and demand to know how he had done it, so they cornered Samrang instead, but no matter how harshly pressed, she dissembled.

A vicious one…

Jinyoung shivered at the thought of that colleague’s feigned innocence.

The aftermath was manageable enough. Their lord had already decreed to let the disciple do as he pleased. But something gnawed at Jinyoung all the same.

“Why is he doing this?”

Closing the report with a sharp flap, Jinyoung frowned.

If he had not known better, he might have believed Je Haryang was using Yegyeol to enact the strategy of borrowing a knife to kill. But his lord was not a man to stain his disciple’s hands in his stead.

Which meant this was Mun Yegyeol’s own choice.

Swallowing his tangled thoughts, Jinyoung rose. He would have to submit reports on the destruction and the injured carried to the medical halls, and new budgets would need to be drawn.

When he stepped outside, the chill air of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains brushed his cheeks. He strode forward swiftly—then halted.

Ahead, at the path that led from Hyeonggeum-dang to the living quarters, stood Samrang. Just beyond her, Yegyeol faced someone obscured by the corner of a building. Samrang, watching with keen interest, turned when she sensed Jinyoung’s presence and greeted him with a flick of her eyes.

[Well met.]

At her soundless transmission, unease pricked Jinyoung, and he quickened his pace. As he rounded the corner, he finally saw who it was.

No less than Geum-ya, head of the Geum clan.

“What business brings you here?”

Jinyoung deliberately announced himself as he stepped between them.

“Jinyoung. It has been a while.”

Yegyeol waved, as if greeting an acquaintance on a stroll.

“Well, well. This path seems crowded today. One might think this is not the Ten Thousand Great Mountains but the bustling streets of Luoyang.”

Geum-ya sneered.

Draped in gaudy gold, the young clan head was the youngest of the six lords of the Demonic Families. The whispers called him rash, shallow, untested—a youth who had inherited his place after his predecessor was cut down by some mysterious assassin. He had yet to show any worth. But Jinyoung, for his part, watched him warily.

…Since his father’s death, this is the first time meeting him in private.

Jinyoung masked the heaviness in his heart with practiced ease.

“Lord Geum.”

“You seem unchanged. Perhaps a little stouter?”

The man’s tone was friendly, but his eyes glinted with petty anger.

“Well, no wonder. Your new master hardly seems to favor you—no reason for you to waste away.”

“Lord Mun is our lord’s guest.”

“Merely a guest…? Truly a tale to be believed.”

Geum-ya clicked his tongue and turned his sharp gaze upon Yegyeol.

“This outsider enters the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, and straightaway Chilgwae-dong, hallowed with our sect’s history, lies in ruins. Countless other halls, shattered. And you call him a guest?”

His voice was cold, mocking.

“You think such a word will shield him?”

“And if it does not?”

Yegyeol shrugged.

“Will you go running to Senior Brother, begging him to punish me?”

“Lord Mun…”

Jinyoung’s voice held warning, begging him to stop. This was no mere quarrel—it was the prelude to something worse.

“I am innocent. I was merely out walking in the fine weather, and this man blocked my path. Samrang can testify to that. Can you not?”

With Samrang at his side, none could doubt whose will she represented but Je Haryang’s.

“Yes. Lord Mun did nothing. It was Lord Geum who accosted him.”

Samrang spoke with all the injured dignity of the unjustly accused.

Given Yegyeol’s spree of destruction, the resentment brewing within the sect was natural. But Je Haryang had brushed it aside with orders to rebuild, cost be damned.

Wealth was no issue; under his reign, the Demonic Sect had never known greater prosperity. But the ancient powers, including the Six Families, had been stifled. Once dreaming of marching forth to claim the Central Plains, they now found themselves muzzled dogs.

And among them, the least patient was Geum-ya. That he would lash out at Je Haryang’s cherished disciple was inevitable.

“Will you call Chilgwae-dong a coincidence?”

“I went for a walk, and it happened to collapse. I nearly got buried myself.”

“Indeed. By Lord Mun’s command, I nearly lost my legs saving its keeper.” Samrang added.

“And Jinmyeong-dang? Lightning struck after you passed.”

“Believe lightning from a clear sky if you like. But me? To blame?” Yegyeol tilted his head in mock puzzlement.

“Tell me—do I look like a dragon who commands thunder?”

“That worm on your wrist did it.”

At that, the golden serpent coiled around Yegyeol’s wrist lifted its head, tongue flicking as it hissed menacingly at Geum-ya.

“Yes, yes. My Baembaemi is the mighty Thousand-Year Thunder Serpent. Better than any dragon.”

Geum-ya faltered under its gaze, but did not fall silent.

“Deny all you like. But you cannot deny Yanghwa-gak.”

His teeth ground with fury.

“Ah, that one I did burn. There was plenty worth burning.”

“How dare you destroy the Sect’s property—!”

“No.”

Yegyeol’s smile turned cold.

“It was the Heavenly Demon’s property.”

What belonged to Senior Brother belonged to him. Je Haryang had told him so himself.

“And you… you say you are head of the Geum clan? Such devotion you show my Senior Brother.”

Both Jinyoung and Geum-ya stared, as if struck by nonsense.

“For I have only been introduced to Samrang, to Jinyoung, and to Yaryul Hongyeo here. Not to you.”

Of course, the sting came only at the end. Geum-ya’s face flushed with rage.

“…So confident. But all blossoms fade. Today the Heavenly Demon may favor you—but how long will that last? When it ends, you will not even be able to stand before me, let alone speak so boldly.”

A dangerous remark indeed—saying plainly that once Je Haryang’s favor waned, Yegyeol would be forced to his knees.

“Then I shall cut off your head before that day comes.”

Unfazed, Yegyeol replied without fear.

“No thought for the consequences? When the Heavenly Demon takes a bride, you will be little more than a cast-aside paramour.”

Geum-ya spat through clenched teeth.

“…How novel.”

Yegyeol blinked.

So this was how one threatened to steal a guide from an esper.

As if such nonsense could wound him. If he could be undone by such words, he would never have dared to share a bed with another man in the first place.

“The Heavenly Demon turned the Eight Families into Six. To soothe the unrest and fear, he will surely take a wife from one of them.”

Geum-ya’s words made Yegyeol tilt his head toward Jinyoung.

“I truly do not know. But is it not the sky one must look to, if one would pluck down a star? Or is the Demonic Sect different?”

As expected… he understands our lord well.

To others, he might look like nothing more than a jealous concubine. But Jinyoung knew better—this was shrewdness.

Before reuniting with his disciple, Je Haryang had allowed no one near him. No physical intimacy, no emotional bonds. His life had been barren, stripped of connection, for all he had ever known had ended in loss.

“Without the lord’s will, there will be no consort. From what I have heard, there are no such plans.”

At Jinyoung’s words, Yegyeol’s face brightened with triumph.

“You hear that? My Senior Brother will remain a bachelor all his life, with only his one disciple at his side.”