Chapter 229: Chapter 229

Chapter 229: Rehabilitation (4)

Inside the government office in Pingliang County, a fierce argument was raging.

"Come on, this makes the story way too flat! And if the Azure Sword Hero keeps winning every single time, we'll have to keep creating new villains from scratch!"

“Hey! The good guy is supposed to win! That’s how it works! What are you, some kind of Demonic Cult spy?”

They were arguing about the theatrical duel.

Surprisingly, the people arguing the hardest weren't even the martial artists who actually performed in these shows.

It was the storytellers that the beggars had dragged in who were really getting into it. And Baek Cheon was right there with them, fully absorbed in the debate.

The actual performers tried to chime in every now and then, but—

"We'd prefer if we didn't have any lines..."

"I'll write you some dialogue later, so just practice for now! What are you? A fucking scarecrow? My neck is getting stiff when I hear your delivery!”

They'd just get chewed out by the storytellers for even opening their mouths.

The storytellers were rediscovering a joy they'd forgotten.

Though they had been lost in a false nirvana due to the Butterfly Dream Grass and the  Formation, they were people who had once cherished the sight of an audience listening raptly to their tales.

For them, their greatest pleasure came from seeing people get fired up over their stories.

“We have a huge audience! We have to give them a real story with real acting!”

"Absolutely right! That's why we need a deeper, more meaningful narrative—"

“Hey! Did you forget already? The only thing that matters is that it’s fun!”

“You think everyone just wants dumb fun like you? We need to tell a story with a real message!”

Ever since they saw the crowd going wild for their acting and their commentary, they had gotten dead serious about this whole wrestling thing.

And watching their heated debate from a few steps away were Il-mok and Hong Gae.

"Haha. The show is getting better every day. I love to see it.”

“Ahem. As a martial artist, I personally can’t stand to watch this stuff. But the townspeople love it, so what can I do?” Hong Gae spoke in a sour tone.

He'd had his doubts about whether this would actually work, but now that it was clearly working, he didn't really have much to say about it.

And he wasn't just talking about the theatrical duel either.

"I've been hearing good things from people visiting Mount Kongtong lately. About the inn, the stalls, the stable, all of it.”

Word hadn't spread far enough yet to bring in huge crowds, but it was definitely having an impact.

Plus, the whole trick to get people from the mountain to visit Pingliang County was working too.

And given how ridiculously huge this country was, it would take a while for the news to really get out.

‘But this stupid theatrical duel is something you can’t see anywhere else, just like what the Maitreya folks said. There’s no way word won’t spread.'

At this point, it'd be stupid not to admit it was working.

There was just one problem left.

“So, how long are you planning on using my guys for this? Sorry, but we can't do this forever.”

Il-mok answered in a reassuring tone.

“The story needs new characters every now and then, right? Don't worry, we'll start swapping your guys out with our own people from the Maitreya Luminous Cult.”

There were already teams of his people running around Gansu, taking down evil sects.

Il-mok figured he could just call some of them over and make them act in the show.

'The Cult’s fighters are all at the Peak Realm. They'll put on a much better show than these beggars.'

Moreover, they could go beyond simply flashing extravagant moves; they could even use stuff like Sword Qi and the like. How spectacular would that be?

The problem was that they'd also learned Demonic Arts and, and because they were so high-level, they were all a little crazy.

'But by then, the physicians will be working here too. So they can act in the show and get therapy on the side. Two birds, one stone.'

Il-mok had come up with what he thought was a reasonable solution.

He decided not to worry about the fighters who might die of humiliation from doing fake and embarrassing techniques in public or the physicians who'd be overworked to death.

'Hmm. Now that I think about it, the physicians should be arriving in Gansu Province right about now.'

Something occurred to Il-mok, and he turned to Hong Gae.

“I need to head to Lanzhou for a bit to get the next stage of the plan ready. You hold down the fort here, keep working with the band and looking after the townspeople.”

He wasn't just going to Lanzhou to pick up the physicians.

'The construction there should be almost finished. It’s about time to get one of those ready here, too.'

The next day, Il-mok packed his things and headed to Lanzhou by himself.

He took a carriage and got there two days later in the afternoon.

His first stop, as always, was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's branch office in Lanzhou.

The people there welcomed him warmly.

"We greet Young Master Il-mok."

"We greet the Eighth Disciple of the Heavenly Demon."

"Welcome back, Brother!"

Il-mok nodded at the various greetings, then asked Dam Bin first.

"Was there any trouble over the past month?"

"Since you'd already established the framework, Young Master, there were no particular issues."

"And how's that construction project coming along?"

"It was completed two days ago. There's a gathering scheduled for tonight. Would you like to attend?"

Il-mok nodded at Dam Bin's question, then asked another.

"Oh, right. Have the physicians from headquarters shown up yet?”

"They haven't arrived yet, but given the timing, they should be here soon."

Having confirmed the two main items on his agenda, Il-mok nodded, and Seon-ah chimed in.

“Brother, are you going back to Pingliang after the physicians get here?”

"Then can I come with you this time?"

"...I'm sorry, Seon-ah. There are still many Beggars’ Gang members there, so it'd be too risky for you to be seen."

The others might be fine, but Seon-ah was too risky. They had all reached the Peak Realm in their twenties, but Seon-ah had reached the Peak Realm at only fifteen.

That was absolutely impossible with the orthodox martial arts of the Central Plains. Plus, her red hair and red eyes were a dead giveaway.

She could dye her hair, but hiding her eyes was tough.

"...Beggar bastards. I'll kill them all."

Il-mok was pretty sure he heard what she said, but decided to pretend he hadn't.

'She's just a kid. Kids say stuff like that when they’re mad. It’s fine.'

Looking away, he noticed that aside from Seon-ah, everyone else seemed content being here.

In fact, Ouyang Mun and Ju Seo-yeon were practically giddy just because they got to hang out with Jin Hayeon.

It kind of pissed him off that those two lives seemed so much easier than his.

"I'm planning to give new assignments to some members of the Red Tiger and White Dragon Corps who are traveling around Gansu Province. Miss Ju and Young Warrior Ouyang, prepare to join them soon."

Seeing their shocked faces made Il-mok feel a whole lot better. The source of thɪs content is novel fire.net

Il-mok headed to the Maitreya Luminous Cult's estate with his companions.

A huge building stood in the middle of it.

To be precise, the framework had been partially built before, and now the interior was completely finished as well.

And despite the late hour, quite a few people were walking around the Maitreya Luminous Cult's estate.

Every single one of them was heading toward the massive building.

Il-mok and his group used some basic stealth skills and went around to the side instead of the main entrance.

They were heading for a secret door that only the key Maitreya Luminous Cult figures used.

When they entered the massive building, the front area was set up like a temple with a Buddha statue, candlesticks for lighting candles, and a platform for speakers.

The big open area in front of the stage, which should have been empty, was now packed with people.

Right when it seemed like not a single other person could fit inside, a guy wearing a wrathful deity mask got up on the stage.

“Thanks for coming, everyone! Let’s begin tonight's gathering!"

The guy started things off by shouting the Maitreya Luminous Cult's teachings, using his internal energy to make his voice boom.

“The Advent of Maitreya!”

Each time he proclaimed a teaching, the people would chant the Cult's slogans and bow down.

And after a suitable period of preaching had passed, musicians came forward with their instruments and began to play.

"Oh Maitreya, we thank you. For granting us light."

Simultaneously, everyone gathered in the hall began singing hymns together.

This massive hall was essentially a worship center. Given that it was the Maitreya Luminous Cult, there was naturally a Buddha statue there.

Instead of gathering in some sketchy location in the dead of night for meetings, Il-mok had simply built this massive gathering place.

'Hmm. Standing through the whole service must suck. Should I get some chairs? Like a church or a cathedral. Then again, they all start flailing around like they’re having a fit whenever they sing, so maybe chairs would just get in the way.'

Watching the cult-like frenzy of the gathering, Il-mok looked for areas to improve.

'Hmm. Since space is already tight, the best solution would be to make a special seating area just for the old and weak people.'

Turning his gaze away from the scene of madness he'd created, Il-mok asked Dam Bin beside him.

"If it was completed two days ago, this must be the first gathering held here."

"That's correct, Young Master."

And it was already this packed on day one.

'Did the cult missionary tactics work too well?'

Clutching his spinning head, he got to his original point.

"Then tell the carpenters and workers who handled this construction tomorrow that we need a major project of similar scale in Pingliang County."

"Are you planning to hold gatherings there as well?"

"Well, we'll need to hold gatherings there too."

"But wouldn't that location have far fewer people than this provincial capital?"

"Ah. The services aren't the main reason for the building.”

"I'll inform the message to Deok Gwang the carpenter and his crew.”

Dam Bin was curious about Il-mok's explanation but didn't ask about the specific purpose.

Right after the service, I got back to the branch office and was about to get some rest, but I had an unexpected visitor.

The unwelcome visitor with dark circles under his eyes was none other than Physician Seo Jae-pil.

“Ahem. You need a break or something? We’ve got more physicians coming soon. I can assign one to help you out.”

I thought he was just overworked, but his answer was unexpected.

“I heard all about Pingliang from Squad Leader Dam Bin! How could you abandon me and take other physicians when there’s such a perfect—I mean, a place with so many poor, suffering people!”

He looked like he was about to drop dead, but he wasn’t asking for less work; he was begging for more.

'Did this bastard almost blurt out ‘perfect research opportunity’?'

Yep, that was the thought process of a man completely insane about medicine.

But crazy or not, he was genuinely reliable when it came to medicine. In fact, he probably got so skilled because he was so crazy.

"Ahem. If you want to go that badly, you can come as well. But you'll need to hand things over to the new physician, so make sure the transition is properly prepared."

“I’ll give it my all!”

He looked like a zombie, but he was grinning from ear to ear because he got more work. It was genuinely creepy.

Maybe because he got what he wanted, the mad scientist turned his attention to me.

"By the way, I heard from Squad Leader Dam Bin that you've made progress with your Demonic Arts. May I ask how the side effects have been recently?"

Translation: “How crazy are you right now?”

I thought about it for a second, then answered.

"The side effect has definitely lessened a bit. But there's one thing that bothers me."