Chapter 222: Chapter 222

Il-mok was leaving Lanzhou for Pingliang County, wearing his furious wrathful vajra mask.

In the carriage with Il-mok sat Baek Cheon, Jeong Hyeon, and three women who had performed together at the recent gathering.

Behind them were carriages carrying musicians and carts with carpenters and cooks.

Il-mok had left Dam Bin and the others back in Lanzhou, along with orders to handle whatever came up while he was gone.

Then, a voice called out from behind; it was the Seven-Knot Beggar.

"Hahaha! I get it now! You're not mysterious, you're just shy!"

For some reason, Jeong Hyeon flinched. The 'shy' comment apparently hit a little too close to home for her.

In response to Seven-Knot Beggar's joke, Il-mok stuck his head slightly out of the carriage and called back.

"Ahem! My lightness skill is a bit rusty. You guys go on ahead, don't mind us!"

Il-mok and his party were moving while maintaining a certain distance from the beggars, since Il-mok would go berserk if he got too close to the beggars. Plus, it helped with his act as a mystical Incarnation of Maitreya persona, essentially killing two birds with one stone.

By the time they arrived at Pingliang County after two days of travel, the number of beggars in their entourage easily doubled.

The reason behind this is that the Little Tiger Beggar had sent letters throughout the Gansu Province to summon all of their available manpower to Pingliang County,

Some were already there waiting at Pingliang County, others joined on the road, and more were still coming.

And every single one of them who saw the state of the town had the same look of trauma that the word ‘horrified’ itself couldn’t do justice to the situation.

"Please... please send me to paradise..."

Most of the townspeople showed signs of anxiety or lethargy; it was a sight akin to a dying village.

When the Little Tiger Beggar heard from Il-mok why the townspeople had ended up in such a state, he roared in fury.

"Those sons of bitches! I swear, I will hunt the Blood Cult to the ends of the earth and wipe every last one of them out, even if that costs me my life.”

Il-mok nodded as well.

If the Ghost Valley Master was really connected to the Blood Cult, then those guys were the worst scum under heaven.

The first place Il-mok and his group headed to was the shantytown.

In this harsh era, there wasn't a place in the world without beggars, so Pingliang County had its share of beggars too, along with Beggars’ Gang members who were supposed to help them.

And the reason the Seven-Knot Beggar hadn't known about the terrible things happening here, despite having sect members present, was simple.

They too had already been addicted to the Butterfly Dream Grass.

Seeing the Beggars’ Gang members and beggars drooling or sitting with vacant expressions, the Seven-Knot Beggar squeezed his eyes shut. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Nove1Fire.net

"I could have sworn I heard that letters were being sent up consistently."

"These people are already addicted to the Butterfly Dream Grass. They probably threatened them, saying they would no longer send them to paradise if they reported the truth to the Beggars' Gang."

Il-mok spoke as if to soothe the Little Tiger Beggar.

Having read the diary left by the Ghost Valley Master's disciple, Il-mok knew they were already addicted to the Butterfly Dream Grass.

"But they could have sent word before they got hooked."

"That Ghost Valley Master and his disciples weren't idiots. Their heads worked just fine when it came to doing evil, so they probably got your people addicted first. Just look at their condition, don’t their withdrawal symptoms seem way worse than everyone else's?"

When the Little Tiger Beggar heard what Il-mok had read from the diary, the beggar’s fists clenched tightly as he looked at the addicted beggars.

Whether it was pity for their addiction or anger at them for failing in their duty as sect members, even Il-mok couldn't tell.

Il-mok couldn't tell if he was angry at what had been done to them or angry at them for failing in their duty.

"They're in no condition to work."

"Instead, we'll have to help them."

As the Seven-Knot Beggar looked at him with a quizzical face, Il-mok opened his mouth.

"We need to gather all those who are so severely addicted that they can't function at all and create a place to care for them."

Il-mok planned to leave that place to the physicians who would come from headquarters.

Obviously, they'd need to get the facilities properly set up before they arrived.

"So, I need you to have your men round up the most critical cases. Then, work with this carpenter here to set up an estate."

The carpenter who had come all the way to Pingliang County for this work responded in a reluctant tone.

"A-are you saying you want me to build an entire estate from scratch?"

"Of course not. Thanks to what the Ghost Valley Master and his disciples did, there are several ownerless houses. Just connect a few nearby houses and their grounds to make one estate; that should be enough."

"Th-that still won't be easy."

At the carpenter's response, Il-mok hid his smile and answered.

"Don't worry. All these beggars here are Beggars’ Gang disciples who've learned martial arts. Each one can easily do the work of four or five ordinary men. Plus, there are still many beggars who haven't arrived yet."

Il-mok was talking about the Beggars’ Gang members as if they were his own subordinates.

But he felt no guilt about it. He'd brought the Beggars’ Gang into this specifically to work them anyway.

"The Beggars’ Gang is known for their sense of righteousness, so you'll do your best to save those poor souls, won't you?"

When Il-mok subtly praised the Beggars’ Gang, the Seven-Knot Beggar readily took the bait.

"You're damn right we will!"

With his enthusiastic agreement, Il-mok forced himself to look serious and laid out the next step.

"While your men are gathering the critical patients, they should also set up a twenty-four-hour patrol of the town. These people are in withdrawal. Some might get violent, some might try to hurt themselves or even try to commit suicide. We need to keep everyone safe."

"Good point, those are all things that could very well happen."

The Little Tiger Beggar nodded in understanding, recalling the unstable appearance of the townspeople.

Having managed to lay out the first step, Il-mok let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

'This should buy us enough time until the physicians get here.'

The actual treatment process for the addicts would only be possible after they arrived.

He planned to have the Beggars’ Gang members build the estate where treatment would take place and prevent the addicts from causing incidents.

But Il-mok knew this alone was far from enough.

That's why he'd brought so many people with him.

Since his conversations with the Little Tiger Beggar had concluded, Il-mok turned to his companions and spoke.

"As you have all seen, the residents of this place are mostly people who have lost their will to live because of the Butterfly Dream Grass."

The faces of others who had come along with him were bitter.

"So what you all need to do is bring them joy. You need to show them that the paradise they saw while high on the Butterfly Dream Grass isn't the only pleasure in life."

At Il-mok's explanation, Baek Cheon's head shot up and he cried out with a face full of determination.

"This is the role I was born to play! I'll make them sing along and enjoy themselves just like the believers who participated in the gathering!"

Unlike Baek Cheon's confident attitude, the musicians who had come along wore worried expressions.

"I mean no disrespect to the Incarnation of Maitreya, but bringing joy to those addicted to drugs is no easy task."

Because they had been in the red-light district, they had some experience seeing people who were addicted to things similar to Butterfly Dream Grass.

"Hahaha! No matter how potent this Butterfly Dream Grass is, it can't compare to the joy created by my voice and performances!"

Baek Cheon was full of hot air, but Il-mok nodded in agreement with the musician's words.

"I know it's a difficult task. I'm not expecting them to miraculously snap out of it right away either. For now, our only job is to get these songs stuck in their heads. That's it."

At Il-mok's explanation, the musicians looked at each other and then nodded.

"We don't know if they'll find joy in our music, but we should be able to at least get them humming tunes."

"The hymns are quite addictive, after all."

"Hahaha! Have confidence! I, Baek Cheon, am right here with you all!"

Normally, Il-mok would have looked at Baek Cheon like he was crazy, but now he nodded with satisfaction.

At times , a brainless positive personality was actually helpful.

The musicians also let out small laughs at Baek Cheon's baseless confidence, their faces looking much more relaxed.

'Right. If my music can soothe them even a little, that's enough.'

Back when she worked as a courtesan in the red-light district, her performances had been nothing more than a means to raise the price, or at most, a way to set the mood before sharing a bed.

Compared to that, this work was truly rewarding.

Perhaps because her heart felt lighter, one of the musicians threw out a playful comment.

"Well, the cult is covering the bill, and our audience is the entire town. Guess we'd better play 'til our fingers fall off."

They were no longer courtesans of the red-light district.

With this job as a turning point, they had completely left the brothel and become the musical troupe of the Maitreya Luminous Cult.

"Oh, and by the way, it doesn't have to be hymns. And like you showed at the last gathering, you can perform plays too. Do that musical again if you want. The goal is to give these people a real show."

At Il-mok's instructions, the troupe members—including Baek Cheon and Jeong Hyeon—began playing instruments or singing as they moved among the townspeople of Pingliang County.

The gazes of the residents, who had been shuffling along listlessly or trembling with anxiety while biting their nails, naturally turned toward them.

Upbeat songs began to echo through Pingliang County, which had been shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

Watching the scene for a moment, Little Tiger Beggar asked Il-mok.

"Will those who were addicted to Butterfly Dream Grass really get better just by watching some songs or plays?"

"Let me ask you a question. Why do you think people addicted to the Butterfly Dream Grass or similar things become so listless and anxious?"

When Il-mok threw the question back, the Seven-Knot Beggar thought for a moment before answering.

"Because it's highly addictive? And since it's a kind of poison, it wrecks their bodies."

"That's part of it, but the biggest reason is probably because they've tasted too much pleasure."

At that puzzled reaction, Il-mok added.

"That's right. They've experienced a level of pleasure so intense that nothing in the real world can compare. So regular life feels gray and pointless. That's what they're addicted to: the escape from boring reality."

"So you're fighting fire with fire. Replacing one pleasure with another."

"Isn't that how it always is? When you break up with a lover, you throw yourself into something new or look for another love to forget them, right?"

When you lose the joy of romance, people either try to start a new relationship or fill the emptiness with something else that can replace that joy.

At Il-mok's words, which were full of wisdom, the Seven-Knot Beggar and the nearby beggars all showed awkward reactions.

"Ahem... I've never broken up with a lover, so I can't really relate."

Realizing his analogy was completely wasted on beggars, Il-mok sighed.

'Right, to have a breakup, you first need to have a girlfriend.'

They’d probably have a breakdown if he said that out loud, so he swallowed it and changed the subject.

"Anyway, that's why we're trying to create new things for the people here to enjoy. And this isn't just about songs and plays. It is merely the beginning."

Those performing songs and music for the people drowning in boredom in Pingliang County's marketplace right now were like a signal flare.

And since music was the only common source of entertainment in this era, it was perfect as a signal flare.

'Why stop with the locals?'

Il-mok had already turned his head to look at Mount Kongtong.

'That's one of the most famous tourist spots in the whole country, and it's right next door.'

There was no need to let such an excellent tourist destination just rot away right in front of them.

If they could lure even a fraction of the hikers and pilgrims who visit that mountain down into this little town, the profits would be insane.

The grand vision that Il-mok had conceived through the play was none other than to develop Pingliang County into a cultural and artistic tourist destination.

To breathe life into this dying county and capture the hearts of tourists and residents alike with various forms of entertainment.

'And the money the tourists spend will go straight into the pockets of the locals, so it's excellent from a welfare perspective too.'

Of course, a plan like that would require a massive amount of construction, a huge labor force, and a ton of cash.

But Il-mok didn't care.

"Now then, I should head over to Mount Kongtong."

No sooner had he spoken than there were beggars following behind him.

And not just any beggars, but an army of super-strong, martial-artist beggars.