By Zephyria 
HF 4
==
It was true that Mu-gyeong had a strikingly handsome face, but such an extreme reaction…
“Little one, you’re going to spill all the broth at this rate.”
With a smile, Ho-yeon told the boy to calm down and set the small tray-table on the table himself. He then spoke kindly, stopping the child who looked ready to drop to his knees on the floor.
“You don’t have to be so formal.”
“…Y-yes, Young Master, truly… thank you so much.”
The waiter, his voice trembling like a goat, kept his eyes cast down as he placed the bowls of noodles one by one. His hands shook violently as he set down three plates of dumplings, glancing warily at Mu-gyeong. Perhaps it was because Mu-gyeong was wearing a sword.
“He must have suffered a lot at the hands of swordsmen, despite being so young,” Ho-yeon murmured pityingly, watching the waiter vanish hurriedly back into the kitchen.
“Even without a sword, people usually react like that.”
“Pardon?”
Was he seriously suggesting that he was so handsome that everyone had a seizure upon seeing him? Ho-yeon was momentarily flustered by Mu-gyeong’s nonchalance. Still, since Ho-yeon had never seen a man so handsome, he didn’t push the issue.
“By the way, where exactly are we?”
“Mist Valley.”
It was a village Ho-yeon had never heard of. Since his benefactor was a man of few words, Ho-yeon felt it would be awkward to press him for details about where Mist Valley was, so he sought out the waiter under the pretext of taking care of some business.
Despite his face still being pale, the waiter answered his questions readily. He explained that Mist Valley was a small village near the demonic cult headquarters and added that everyone there, including himself, were members of the demonic cult.
Ho-yeon’s eyes widened. He had only reached the vicinity of the hundred thousand great mountains yesterday. To have reached the interior of the hundred thousand great mountains, and near the main sect no less, in a single day was shocking. Ho-yeon considered pretending to go out for business, but seeing that Mu-gyeong didn’t seem particularly interested, he simply returned to his seat.
Ho-yeon stared at the noodles in front of him for a moment, then squeezed out his voice, knowing it was shameless.
“Which direction are you heading, Benefactor? If you are on your way back to the demonic cult headquarters, would it be alright if I accompanied you?”
The stronghold of the demonic cult was never revealed to outsiders, but Ho-yeon was an exception. Had it not been for the attackers, he would have headed to the demonic cult safely on his own.
“As long as you don’t faint.”
Having fainted after the man saved his life, Ho-yeon’s embarrassment was beyond words.
“I’ll follow you well this time, so don’t worry. I’ll fill my stomach first.”
Ho-yeon smiled faintly, hiding his awkwardness. Only then did he pick up his chopsticks. However, a single plate of dumplings contained as many as eight pieces. Normally, Ho-yeon felt full with just a quarter-bowl of noodles and one dumpling. It was because his digestive system was weak, preventing him from eating much.
Usually, people would ask why he ate so little, but Mu-gyeong didn’t seem to care. Still, since Mu-gyeong finished everything that remained, the money wasn’t wasted.
“I’ll pay for this. And once I arrive at the demonic cult, I will send word to the ice palace to ensure I repay your kindness.”
Ho-yeon took coins from the inner pocket of his light armor and placed them on the table. It was a relief that he had managed to pack some silver and copper coins when he left.
If he had known the journey would be this dangerous, he would have asked the Palace Master for more money. He thought he had received a generous amount, but considering the price of his life, it was infinitely insufficient.
When he sent word to the ice palace, since all the money and spirit medicine he brought had been looted, he fully intended to request that they send him a promissory note. He was told the Snowy Shadow Squad would protect him even in the demonic cult, but now they were all dead. Ho-yeon prayed for their souls once more.
Then, feeling a gaze upon him, he realized Mu-gyeong was looking at his face. Ho-yeon quickly felt around his mouth with his hand, wondering if something was stuck to his lips.
“It was missing from the portrait.”
Ho-yeon let out a small, “Ah…” Mu-gyeong’s gaze, indifferent yet steady, lingered briefly on Ho-yeon’s chin. It seemed the artist had missed the two moles beneath his lips when painting the portrait.
“It’s refreshing to see something that wasn’t there.”
Mu-gyeong drank the remaining tea.
* * *
“Has the Cult Leader not returned yet?”
The face of the right guardian, who assisted the Cult Leader most closely, was full of worry. Though the Leader was always unpredictable, the right guardian always suffered whenever he left without a word. As he frowned gloomily, the scar from an old tear in his lip became more prominent.
The current leader of the demonic cult was a god-like existence called the ‘heavenly demon.’ As the strongest individual with overwhelming martial prowess, he reigned as an absolute being, like a god, within the cult.
However, no one called the previous leader the heavenly demon.
While the previous leader’s martial prowess was superior to any other demonic practitioner, it was because he had failed to fully master the heavenly demon divine art.
But his descendant, the current leader, was truly the heavenly demon.
Having mastered the heavenly demon divine art at a young age and ascended to the position of leader, no one doubted that he was the heavenly demon. However, he had a problem: the well-known nine yang severed meridian. But contrary to popular belief, the heavenly demon did not have the nine yang severed meridian.
It was simply a problem that arose because the yang energy in his body became excessively strong after consuming the inner core of a fire dragon.
“So you are saying we still do not know who attacked the ice palace.”
“Yes, I am sorry, but that is the case.”
The right guardian had received a report from his direct subordinate about the attack on the ice palace, but no body presumed to be Wi Ho-yeon had been found anywhere.
“We must find Wi Ho-yeon before the Cult Leader returns.”
After giving orders to his subordinate, the right guardian put his hands behind his back and looked up at the moon in the night sky. The full moon was clearly reflected in the pond of the Guardian Hall where he resided. He wished the full moon would shine upon the place where the Cult Leader was.
“Right Guardian! Hey, Right Guardian!”
Suddenly, the left guardian came running breathlessly from one side of the pond. His long, narrow eyes gave him a mean impression, making one wonder if they were even open. In his heart, he wanted to assist the Cult Leader without needing a right or left distinction, but even a reckless fellow like that was a peerless strategist.
“…Ribbit! …Ribbit!”
Is that idiot now imitating frogs? The right guardian opened his fan with a snap, looking disgusted. He flicked it outward as if telling the other to get lost.
“Mist Valley! Mist Valley!”
However, as he drew closer, the words became clear. The right guardian wore an expression of complete confusion.
“The Cult Leader! He was in Mist Valley! At the Cheongsan Inn!”
Only then did the right guardian recall that Mist Valley was the name of a village within the hundred thousand great mountains.
“Why would the Cult Leader be in such a rural place? Tsk tsk, Left Guardian, you must have brought back wrong information again.”
The left guardian, gasping for air, placed a hand on the right guardian’s shoulder, urging him to listen more closely. The right guardian slapped the hand away with a loud snap of his fan.
“But who is the waiter at the Cheongsan Inn! Is he not the external scout I sent to monitor Mist Valley! Of course, he said he thought he saw wrong because there’s no way the Cult Leader would visit such a humble place, but I’ve checked and it’s certain! He said the eyes of the horse pulling the cart were gleaming!”
“What do you mean, a cart?”
“He was carrying a corpse on it. A very pale and erotic beauty!”
The right guardian pressed his forehead with his fan.
“You mean a pale and fair beauty, you fool! And why on earth would the Cult Leader be pulling a cart! Where did you hear such useless rumors!”
“Right Guardian, listen carefully. He said the horse suddenly stood on two legs and walked, and its eyes were rolling around like this, like this! It must be the Cult Leader’s Gwangcheon Black Horse!”
The left guardian mimicked flipping his eyelids back.
At the mention of a horse walking on two legs, the right guardian wondered if it could be true. Still, Mist Valley. There was absolutely no reason for the Cult Leader to be in such a place.
“Furthermore, that horse bit other mares in the stable and tried to trample their testicles. Where else in the world is there a horse that walks on two legs and goes mad with the urge to attack whenever it sees a male horse?”
The moment he heard about the aggression toward male horses, the right guardian was certain. A horse that walks on two legs might happen occasionally, but combined with aggression toward males, it was undoubtedly the Gwangcheon Black Horse.
* * *
An extreme secret martial art passed down only to the leaders of the demonic cult. Only a leader who has mastered it and become an absolute being is given the title of Heavenly Demon.