Chapter 226: Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Rehabilitation (1)

After hearing the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord's explanation, Little Tiger Beggar responded indignantly.

“If he’s that kind of monster, the Beggars’ Gang won’t just sit on our hands! If you give us some more copies of that sketch, we’ll help look for him.”

The Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord had been about to refuse the offer, but quickly changed his mind.

'I can use the Beggars’ Gang for this. Actually, this works out perfectly.'

Since he'd already told them the guy in the picture was just a sex fiend, they'd never guess he was the Demonic Cult’s Eighth Young Master.

Besides, the Eighth Young Master was probably off somewhere pulling some scam under a fake name. That meant there was plenty of room to fool the Beggars’ Gang.

“I’ll get a painter to make some more copies for you. It’s a huge relief to have the Beggars’ Gang on our side.”

“Hahaha! Don’t mention it. When it comes to doing the right thing, we’re all on the same team.”

Hearing Little Tiger Beggar's honorable answer, the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord sneered inwardly.

'These stupid beggars are so easy to use.'

Over the next few days, beggars who had been living throughout Gansu Province began gathering in Pingliang County one by one.

They were put to work on the estate construction and clearing fields on Mount Kongtong. On top of that, they also started building stalls and stables at the entrance to Mount Kongtong.

Meanwhile, Il-mok was holding a very serious meeting with Baek Cheon and his crews and several members of the Beggars’ Gang.

“So, how do we make the show more fun? Let's have an open discussion. I want everyone to share what they've been thinking about during the performances these last few days.”

As Il-mok laid out the meeting's agenda, one member of the Beggars’ Gang shot his hand up.

It was The Three-Knot Beggar, who had recently been dragged into the performances. After watching his seniors' flashy choreographed martial arts demonstrations today, he felt he had no confidence whatsoever in performing it himself and had thus been wracking his brain for a solution.

"From what I've heard, the most important goal here in Pingliang County is entertainment."

“That is correct. Only joy can bring salvation to the people of this place.”

"Well, when it comes to entertainment, isn't it all about drinking and dancing? Let's build a tavern! Since Maitreya Luminous Cult already manages plenty of brothels, we can just bring some people over from there and it should be able to run just fine."

At that beggar's suggestion, the others nodded thoughtfully as if to say "indeed."

But Il-mok just shook his head.

Are you insane? Your plan to cure a drug addiction is to get them hooked on alcohol and sex? Just how far are you planning to destroy people's lives with such ridiculous talk?"

The second Il-mok shot him down, everyone who had been nodding along a second ago totally flipped.

“Whoa there, buddy. That's a dangerous idea.”

"You. Are you coming up with bad ideas just because you don't want to perform?"

When even his own gang members started ganging up on him, the beggar who made the suggestion just wilted.

Il-mok watched for a second, then spoke up to get the meeting back on track.

“And for the same reason, gambling is banned. No exceptions. Gambling might be fun, but it ruins people's lives. That's why I came up with a theatrical duel instead of gambling on matches."

Since he couldn’t exactly say ‘pro wrestling,’ Il-mok made up a fancy name for it. It basically meant “a duel where we planned out all the moves.”

The people gathered for the meeting finally nodded in understanding of Il-mok's intentions.

This was why Il-mok was so focused on making Pingliang County a cultural and artistic tourist destination rather than a pleasure district.

If they tried to replace Butterfly Dream Grass with alcohol, sex, and gambling, something truly horrific would happen.

It would be terrible for the townspeople, for one. For another, the demonic sword, which had been chilling out lately, might suddenly flip its lid and start flying around trying to chop his head off.

Once they understood his reasoning, the beggars and the band members all shut up.

'If you can’t have those three things, what other fun is there?'

For people who’d lived their whole lives as beggars and courtesans, the list of fun things to do was pretty short.

While everyone was at a loss for direction, Baek Cheon suddenly raised his hand high.

"O Incarnation of Maitreya! Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but I have a suggestion.”

“Let's hear it. Speak freely.”

"I was thinking we might be able to refine the theatrical duel that the Incarnation of Maitreya has invented."

Though he was daring to criticize a performance planned by the Incarnation of Maitreya himself, Il-mok didn't seem to mind at all.

Why would he stop the people actually doing the work from coming up with better ideas on their own?

If they got good enough to run the show themselves, he wouldn't have to lift a finger, which would be awesome for him.

"Since the theatrical duel is also a type of theater, how about incorporating music into it? We could have the two fighters in the middle and have the band playing at the same time.”

Baek Cheon’s idea was basically adding BGMs and OSTs into the fight, and that elicited gasps of admiration from others.

Il-mok also nodded his head as if to say it was a valid point, and he organized his thoughts.

What Il-mok was recalling were memories of the pro wrestling he'd watched back when he was Seo Ji-hoon.

'That's right, wrestlers have theme songs!'

Actually, he hadn't really watched wrestling since he was a kid, so the details were fuzzy.

Back in elementary school, he was totally into it because he thought it was real.

But then he found out it was all fake, and he just lost all interest. It was like finding out the truth about Santa.

And so he’d forgotten all about wrestling for more than ten years.

During his jaded civil servant days, he'd once seen a new employee watching pro wrestling on his phone during lunch break.

Il-mok would have just let it go, but their old-fashioned team leader had asked the newbie,

—That's all staged anyway, so why are you watching it when you're not even an elementary school kid?

To that question that showed zero respect for others' hobbies, the newbie had answered with a forced smile,

—Dramas, movies, and plays are all staged performances too, aren't they? Actually, this is way flashier than plays, so it's fun to watch. Hahaha.

That newbie's answer had made Seo Ji-hoon think, ‘Huh, he's got a point.’

'These huge, jacked dudes are throwing around moves that could kill or maim them if they screw up. I guess that is pretty exciting to watch.'

Of course, the old-fashioned team leader didn't get it.

—Tsk tsk. You should be thinking about your job, not watching that violent trash. Kids these days.

This was rich coming from the guy who was always dumping his work on other people, but Seo Ji-hoon just pretended he didn't hear anything.

He just took the new guy who was twitching like crazy from physically holding himself back from not punching the old scumbag and bought him a drink.

Anyway, that's the memory that sparked the whole wrestling idea.

After reviving his childhood memories of pro wrestling, Il-mok spoke up.

"Hmm. Playing music during the matches themselves would be too difficult, so how about we give each fighter their own theme song that will be played during their entrance? The bad guy gets something that sounds mean, and the good guy gets something that sounds cool and heroic.”

"As expected of the Incarnation of Maitreya! This Baek has once again opened his eyes to art today!"

Encouraged by Baek Cheon’s ass-kissing, Il-mok threw out another idea.

"And now that I think about it, even though the moves are exaggerated and choreographed, ordinary people who know nothing about martial arts won't really appreciate it just by watching with their eyes alone. We'll need a commentator to explain the techniques the two martial artists are using during the match."

Hearing that, Hong Gae spoke up with a dubious expression.

“What moves? Were there any actual moves in that fight?”

Since all the movements were exaggerated, they weren't real martial arts. Naturally, there weren't any actual techniques to speak of.

“Who cares? We can just make up some cool-sounding names, and as long as the commentator shouts out those martial art names and technique names, it'll be way more fun to watch."

What Hong Gae had pointed out wasn't important at all.

The only thing that mattered was, "Is the audience having a good time?"

So what if he’s doing a huge swing that would get him killed in a real fight?

If the announcer yells, “OH MY GOD! HE’S USING THE ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE OF THE TAIQING, SWORD STYLE, THE SINGLE HAND OF THE CLEAR WIND THAT BREAKS THE SKY!”, isn’t the crowd going to go wild?

Hong Gae, who’d busted his ass his whole life to get to be a Five-Knot Beggar, grabbed his spinning head.

“Okay, so if they have to explain the moves, the announcer needs to be a martial arts expert. I guess you want one of my guys to do that job, too?”

Il-mok shook his head at Hong Gae’s pointed question.

“The people of Pingliang County also need to gradually return to normal life, and to return to normal life, they each need their own way of making a living. We should pick out a few people from Pingliang County who have good speaking skills. Can you look around and see if there are any storytellers or professional book-readers in town?"

Storytellers were people who sold tales in marketplaces and inns, while book readers were people who read books aloud for others. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novelFirｅ.net

On top of a commentator, we could get some of those storytellers to write a script. Instead of just good guy versus bad guy, wouldn’t it be more fun if we made a whole story with a proper plot?”

“You’re really turning this into a massive stage play! Theme songs and now a plot! The ideas are just flowing out of you, O Incarnation!”

Il-mok nodded at Baek Cheon's admiration and summarized the situation.

"Alright then, let's wrap up the theatrical duel improvements there for now. Does anyone have any other ideas?”

Everyone looked at each other nervously until one of the female musicians raised her hand.

“When you talk about fun, you can't forget about the fun of eating, can you?”

“Brilliant! That’s an absolutely brilliant idea!”

Il-mok was so happy with her suggestion that he actually started clapping.

“Food is one of the greatest joys in life. And it won’t just help the people here. When we bring the tourists from the mountain to town, they’ll enjoy it too. It’ll be a huge boost for Pingliang’s economy.”

Hearing him praise her so much from a mix of embarrassment and pride.

Naturally, the other musicians around her also looked at her with admiring faces.

"Actually, this works out well. We might as well hold a cooking contest while we’re at it. It would be a good way to get people motivated.”

The cooking contest wasn't just about giving people something fun to do right now.

'If Pingliang County becomes famous for its food, more tourists will come just to eat. That means more inns and taverns, which means more jobs.'

Il-mok had already mapped out the next few steps in his head, but he had to focus on the here and now.

Improve the theatrical duel and hold a cooking contest.

With two main goals set, Il-mok nodded and wrapped up the meeting.

“Okay, the band will start composing and practicing the duel theme songs. The Beggars’ Gang, you guys find me some good talkers in town, and start spreading the word that we’re having a cooking contest.”

While various winds of change were blowing through Pingliang County, a letter from Dam Bin arrived at the main base in Xinjiang.

“Hahahaha! Hymns? I never would’ve thought of that, Master.”

Wi Jin-hak read the letter explaining all of Il-mok’s various missionary tactics and burst out laughing, constantly praising his youngest brother’s brilliance.

“Master, I don’t think we should just use these hymns for missionary work. We should change the name in the lyrics back to our Divine Cult’s name and teach it to the children, shouldn't we?"

Wi Jin-hak said with a big smile, suggesting something that would mean absolute hell for the people working under him.

“Hahaha. You’re right.”

The Heavenly Demon nodded in agreement with his eldest disciple's words, but he had a strange look on his face.

The Demonic Physician, who had been summoned to the Heavenly Demon Palace along with Wi Jin-hak, asked with a puzzled look at the Heavenly Demon's reaction.

"Is something troubling you, Lord of Ten Thousand Demons?"

In the Demonic Physician's mind, the Heavenly Demon wouldn't show such a reaction just because of the Eighth Young Master's missionary tactics.

After thinking for a second, the Heavenly Demon pulled another letter out of his sleeve. It wasn't the one from Dam Bin. It was a second one, slipped in by Il-mok.

The letter requesting that physicians be dispatched. And there were a few other things written in there as well.

The Heavenly Demon handed the letter to the Demonic Physician, and Wi Jin-hak also approached to read the letter together.

And by the time their eyes reached the end of the letter...

Both the Demonic Physician's and Wi Jin-hak's expressions had become quite serious.