Chapter 221: Chapter 221

After his meeting with the heir of the Beggars’ Gang wrapped up, Il-mok used his stealth techniques to carefully make his way back to the Lanzhou branch office, just in case anyone was tailing him.

He had some instructions for Dam Bin, so he asked Jin Hayeon where she was. Hearing that she was writing some kind of letter in one of the halls, he headed over there.

"Did your conversation with the beggar go well, Young Master?" Dam Bin asked.

Il-mok nodded, "By the way, what kind of letter are you writing?"

"Ah... I've been compiling all the missionary methods you've implemented to revitalize the cult. These methods are far too valuable to keep just within Lanzhou, so I'm thinking of submitting a report to The Supreme One."

Il-mok's response was less than enthusiastic.

"Even... those hymn things and all that?"

"Yes. As it happens, I have already asked Young Master Baek Cheon about how to read musical sheets and have all the hymn scores organized. Plus the clinics, the schools, the plan to use money seized from criminals to provide relief to the masses... I've learned so much from all of this."

Dam Bin let her imagination run wild for a moment. What would happen when all these countless missionary methods devised by the Eighth Young Master reached headquarters and were then distributed throughout Xinjiang and all the other branches?

Even more people would find salvation. She could easily picture a future where they all praised the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult together.

It was tragic, really.

Because her vision of the future didn't include the image of people getting their heads chopped off when this letter arrived at headquarters.

Of course, Il-mok wasn't exactly imagining anyone getting the guillotine either.

'They're not gonna dump more work on me because of this, right?'

He was just worried the Heavenly Demon might pile even more tasks on his plate.

As long as he wasn't the one getting screwed over, Il-mok didn't really give a damn.

Shaking off those stray thoughts, Il-mok pulled out a neatly folded letter from his sleeve and handed it to her.

"Actually, this works out perfectly. Once you finish writing that letter, include this letter too. But make sure only Master can read it."

The letter Il-mok handed over contained various pieces of information. From the intel he'd learned from the beggar, as well as a request for support to handle the situation in Pingliang County.

This was because at the main headquarters, there were physicians who had been researching drugs of a similar type to the Butterfly Dream Grass. Heck, there was even a warrior who’d been addicted to this drug and had recovered.

"I'll keep that in mind."

As Dam Bin respectfully received the letter, Il-mok added, "Oh, and in two days, I'll be heading to Pingliang with some people from the Beggars’ Gang. Find me some skilled carpenters who can do surveying and construction by then."

"You're planning to go yourself, Young Master?"

Il-mok nodded at her question, then glanced down at the sword sheath hanging at his side.

Inside that sheath, the demonic sword slept.

To save those poisoned by Butterfly Dream Grass and to appease the spirits bound to this sword, he needed to take the lead himself at first.

'Well, once things get rolling properly, I won't really need to do much anyway.'

Il-mok planned to set up the framework and then bail.

"In that case, we will also prepare to depart in two days."

Il-mok shook his head at Dam Bin's words.

"Right now, I've cleared the beggar's suspicions, but if we all move together, it might raise them again. I'll pick a small team myself."

"Understood, Young Master. So how many carpenters should I gather?"

"We're planning to get the manpower through the Beggars’ Gang anyway, so three or four master-level carpenters who can supervise should be enough."

"I'll ask Deok Gwang, the carpenter working on the estate construction with our followers."

"Good. Also, check the red-light district. See if any of the cooks there want to get out of the business. And while you're at it, find out if any of them know how to farm."

The journey was supposedly about spreading information on the Blood Cult to the Beggars’ Gang, or helping the people of Pingliang County. But the things Il-mok was requesting were pretty odd.

Still, Dam Bin didn't ask why.

Because of what she had witnessed so far, she had come to believe that there was a reason for everything he did.

After giving Dam Bin her instructions, Il-mok returned to his quarters and sat at his desk while deep in thought.

'I can use the beggars from the Beggars’ Gang for odd jobs, and I've arranged a minimal self-sustaining plan, but it still feels incomplete.'

As Il-mok wondered if there might be a better approach, he let out a soft sigh.

"Is this my damn OCD acting up again?"

It felt like he was pointlessly chasing perfection.

Just as Il-mok was shaking his head to clear his mind, he sensed someone beyond the door.

"Young Master, may I come in?"

It was Baek Cheon's voice.

The moment Il-mok gave permission, Baek Cheon burst in with his eyes sparkling brighter than usual.

They were way too bright compared to normal.

"Young Master, there's a gathering scheduled for tonight. But it's completely different from our usual gatherings."

At that unsettling look in his eyes, Il-mok frowned and asked, "What's so different about it?"

"Because I, Baek Cheon, have prepared a special performance. And since this performance was created entirely thanks to your advice, I came to ask if you'd please attend at least the first showing."

Il-mok's first thought was: What crazy shit has this lunatic prepared now?

But Il-mok didn’t go so far as to refuse his invitation.

'It's been a while since I went to a gathering anyway. Might be good to clear my head.'

Il-mok hadn't attended a single gathering since driving out the Beggars’ Gang members.

Just like before, Il-mok was hiding in a tree, watching the gathering.

'Holy shit. They're multiplying like cockroaches.'

The number of people gathered had grown several times over since his last visit.

The area around the stream was so packed with people that they obviously needed to find a new gathering place soon.

'That construction needs to finish up quickly.'

While Il-mok was thinking this, Won Sul from the Demon-Teaching Pavilion appeared wearing a mask and began his sermon.

Time passed as he taught Maitreya Luminous Cult's unique doctrine, which is a combination of Buddhism cleverly mixed with the tenets of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

"Today, instead of our hymn time, we'll be showing you a special performance!"

Baek Cheon stepped forward, capturing the people's attention with a voice imbued with internal energy.

The crowd's reaction was... lukewarm. Seemed like they were disappointed that their eagerly awaited hymn time had vanished.

But despite that lukewarm atmosphere, Baek Cheon's play began.

Il-mok watched the scene with a half-dazed expression.

What Baek Cheon was putting on wasn't just a simple play.

'That crazy bastard actually created an entire musical play.'

While the courtesans he'd brought along played instruments, one woman acted as a narrator and explained the story’s background in passionate tones:

"A time when the high and mighty lords fell into hedonism, distancing themselves from the affairs of state and indulging only in wine and women, while our lives fell into the mire, a time when it was a struggle to eat one meal a day. No, no. Even one meal in three days."

The narrator wasn't even done before the star of the show made his grand entrance. It was Baek Cheon, of course.

"O, the tragedy! The cries, grudges, and tears of the masses have reached Maitreya, and so I have descended to this world as Maitreya's seventh incarnation to save them!"

He drove the plot forward through soliloquies or conversations with minor supporting characters. Then suddenly, villains gathered together to ambush him.

"So you're the infamous villains of the Cloud and Rain Society!"

Facing off against the masked villains, he suddenly froze and burst into song.

“He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat…”

Hilariously, it was one of the cult's hymns.

And because everyone knew it, the entire crowd joined in for the chorus.

“Glo~ ry! Glory! O’ Divine Cult!!”

“Glo~ ry! Glory! O’ Divine Cult!!”

Watching this ridiculous scene, Il-mok had a realization.

'He didn't have enough time to create new songs for the opera, so he wrote a plot around existing hymns!'

Even as Il-mok pieced together Baek Cheon's intentions, the performance continued.

Il-mok didn’t know if Baek Cheon planned it this way, but using songs everyone already knew was a stroke of genius as the crowd was getting immersed in the play.

Every time a hymn came up during the play, the followers belted it out in sync with the courtesans' accompaniment.

And because they are completely immersed in the hymns, they also get completely immersed in the play before long.

Every time the hero of the play beats up the bad guy’s henchmen, the crowd goes wild.

As the story progressed further, a supporting character walked up onto the stage to help the hero, and the female audience lost their mind.

Recognizing him, the women cheered and called out:

"It’s the Jade-Faced Young Master!”

The supporting character was none other than Jeong Hyeon dressed as a man.

Baek Cheon had convinced (read: forced) her to join this play, promising her she wouldn't have to speak a single line.

'I am an idiot. Why did I agree to this...?'

Jeong Hyeon's face had gone deathly pale with regret.

—Junior Jeong! You told me you wanted to get over your stage fright! This is your chance! I even created a role with no dialogue just for you!

She cursed her past self for falling for Baek Cheon's sweet talk a few days ago.

"Look at that perfectly white skin!"

Meanwhile, the women were marveling at Jeong Hyeon's ashen face.

Jeong Hyeon was so scared that she was moving like a wooden puppet.

"And his eyes are so sad and dreamy!"

It was insane. The female audience was praising every single move the cross-dressing Jeong Hyeon made.

Their praise only made Jeong Hyeon's face paler and her body stiffer. Yet somehow, Baek Cheon—the one who'd dragged her into this—had his lips twitching upward.

Not because he was enjoying her suffering.

He wasn't the type to care much about other people's problems to begin with. Get full chapters from novel※fire.net

'Hehehehe. Everyone's praising me!'

The reason was that his disease was so advanced that it evolved to absorb praise directed at others and hear it as praise for himself.

"Let us defeat those villains together and bring salvation to the people!"

The even more excited Baek Cheon shouted in an extremely exaggerated tone.

And when the taciturn, dialogue-free Jeong Hyeon stiffly nodded her head—

The women's ear-splitting screams rang out.

The force of their screams made Baek Cheon actually shudder with delight.

Meanwhile, Il-mok who was watching this insane spectacle from up in the tree, found the corners of his mouth rising toward the heavens.

Not because he was enjoying the show.

'Why didn't I think of this before?'

But because a lightbulb had just gone off in his head at that moment.

He'd just found the final missing piece for that rehabilitation plan he'd been feeling unsatisfied with.