Chapter 238: Chapter 238

Chapter 238: Espionage (2)

In a quiet village about half a day's journey from Lanzhou, life had recently taken a turn for the better. Newest update provıded by NovelHub(.)net

Not long ago, this place had been plagued by a third-rate gang of thugs who terrorized the locals. But now that peace had finally settled over the village, a stranger arrived.

"You want to work as a waiter?"

The owner of the Yunhua Inn tilted his head at the young man who'd shown up for the first time today.

"I'd like to settle down here, but I don't have anything to my name and no way to make a living, so..." the young man explained.

"If you've got nothing, why bother settling down here of all places?"

In response to the innkeeper's question, the new guy launched into a long sob story about himself.

After spinning out a sob story that could've brought tears to anyone's eyes, the young man's face grew earnest as he declared with conviction, "But I've never once been told I lack work ethic, sir! Just give me one day to prove myself, and if I'm not good enough, you can throw me out and I won't complain!"

The offer to judge him after just one day convinced the innkeeper to give the young man a shot.

And so began the lunch rush.

The young man displayed remarkable people skills.

"Your noodles and dumplings are here, miss!"

"Oh my, 'miss,' he says. Look at this young man."

He flattered a woman who was clearly at least ten years his senior with ease and chatted with her pleasantly. That was just the beginning.

"Everything at our Yunhua Inn is delicious, but what the owner takes the most pride in has got to be the dongpo pork!"

When customers struck up conversations, he chatted with them as fluently as if he'd worked here for years.

"Boss! One Sweet and Sour Pork and a bottle of bamboo leaf liquor over here!"

On top of that, he was a machine. Even while engaging customers in lively conversation, he never missed a single detail or dropped the ball once.

You could tell he’d been doing this for years.

After the busy lunch rush finally died down, the innkeeper let out a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha. Looks like my luck's turned around lately. First the Maitreya Luminous Cult got rid of those damn bastards, and now I've got a great waiter working at my inn."

The young man smiled brightly with an innocent expression and asked, "You're too kind, sir. But what's this Maitreya Luminous Cult? The name sounds like some sort of religion, but it is the first I have heard of it."

The innkeeper proceeded to tell him about recent events. Of how people calling themselves Incarnations of Maitreya had shown up, wiped out the local thugs, and even shared inspiring words during their gatherings.

Lost in his praise of the Maitreya Luminous Cult, the innkeeper failed to notice one thing.

"Is that so? Sounds like a truly wonderful group."

He missed the young man’s cold glint under the innocent smile plastered on his face.

A few days later, when the Maitreya Luminous Cult held one of their regular gatherings, the young man showed up at the assembly site with the innkeeper, complete with that same innocent face.

While the young man greeted people he'd gotten to know over the past few days, someone wearing a wrathful deity mask appeared from somewhere, and the gathering began.

As the others concentrated on the masked man's words, singing hymns and becoming absorbed in the moment, the young man naturally blended into the crowd.

‘New face. That must be the new waiter everyone's talking about.'

The man in the wrathful deity mask leading the assembly had been watching the young man from the very beginning.

A few days later, Il-mok, who'd been spending his time as usual either sleeping in, meditating, or practicing his bizarre, creaky sword dance, received some news.

"Hmm. So we've been seeing more outsiders lately."

And it wasn't just in Lanzhou.

Reports were trickling in from Maitreya Luminous Cult branches that had firmly established themselves throughout Gansu Province.

Given the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's limited manpower, it should've been nearly impossible to set up branches of the Maitreya Luminous Cult in every single county and village across Gansu Province and continue their missionary work.

But Il-mok solved it the way he always did: "Outsourcing."

In the larger counties, they sent members from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult branches or people from the Demon-Teaching Pavilion to lead the gatherings and missionary work.

For smaller counties and villages, they hired converted literate people to send as representatives of their cult.

In other words, they'd sent out evangelists.

On top of that, since construction on the Hall of Arts in Pingliang County had been completed, they'd hired former beggars who'd become skilled in construction and carpentry and dispatched them to various areas.

Instead of massive structures like the chapel in Lanzhou or the Hall of Arts in Pingliang, Il-mok had ordered them to build modest gathering places suited to small villages.

Although the individual projects were small, continuously running construction across multiple villages would drain their funds massively.

But from the Maitreya Luminous Cult's perspective, that wasn't a problem.

They have plenty of money from Lanzhou’s red light district; on top of that, income has started to flow from Pingliang County as the region gradually establishes itself.

And honestly, Il-mok had no intention of skimming any of those profits.

Not because he was honest and upright.

But because he was surrounded by fanatics.

If he got caught stealing, the Heavenly Demon would find out, and he didn't even want to imagine what would happen then.

In any case, the fact that unfamiliar faces popped up throughout Gansu Province during this growth period is nothing but irritating.

They had just dealt with the dregs of the Hao Clan recently, and now this.

As Il-mok seemed deep in thought, Dam Bin spoke up.

"Are you thinking they might be Hao Clan spies?"

Then Jin Hayeon asked with a blank face, "In that case, wouldn't it be easier to just... eliminate them?"

As expected of an aspiring psychopath, but Il-mok shook his head.

"That'd be the easiest method, but we can't just kill everyone based on suspicion alone, can we?"

There were likely actual spies from the Hao Sect, but there would also be those who genuinely came from outside to settle down.

'If we start killing people left and right just because they seem suspicious, we risk shaking the believers’ faith in the Maitreya Luminous Cult. Massacres should be avoided if possible.'

It could jeopardize the Maitreya Luminous Cult's future just as it was properly establishing itself across Gansu Province.

"So you're planning to leave them alone?"

"The best approach is to watch them and only take out the ones with proof. But we don't have the manpower. Gansu is huge, and we don't have enough people to tail every stranger," Il-mok sighed.

The only solutions coming to mind were either the worst option of killing them all or some idealistic resolution that was impossible to implement.

There was a commotion outside, and a familiar voice came from the entrance.

"Young Master! We've returned!"

"We heard you were here and ran over as fast as we could!"

It was Ouyang Mun and Ju Seo-yeon.

The two had finally returned after completing their tour across Gansu Province.

The moment Il-mok's response fell, both of them scrambled inside.

"Greetings, Young Master!"

"Greetings, Young Master!"

They bowed to Il-mok, then immediately swiveled their heads toward Jin Hayeon.

After Ouyang Mun and Ju Seo-yeon clasped their fists in greeting to Il-mok, they turned their heads to look at Jin Hayeon.

"Hayeon. Have you been well?"

"Long time no see! Senior Jin!"

Yep. They rushed here to see Jin Hayeon, not him.

Il-mok already had a headache, and they were being loud and chaotic, but for some reason, he didn't get mad.

"You've both arrived at just the right time. I have some extra work for you."

"B-but we just got back..."

As the two muttered with expressions like puppies who'd been given food only to have it snatched away, Il-mok smiled broadly, "Don't worry, it's nothing hard. Just watching someone for a while."

Why would he get mad when free labor just walked through the door?

So, without even getting a good look at Jin Hayeon, Ouyang Mun got kicked out with weird orders and ended up in a quiet village.

'He said to watch the outsider working as a waiter at  Yunhua Inn.'

He was told the guy might be a Hao Clan spy, so if he saw anything suspicious, he should capture him alive.

'I honestly hope he is a spy.'

Not because he wanted to earn merit. But simply because the sooner he caught the bastard, the sooner he could return to Lanzhou.

Only then could he spend time with Jin Hayeon again.

With those thoughts, Ouyang Mun walked into Yunhua Inn.

Usually, it’s best to stay hidden when watching someone, but in a tiny village , never bumping into him would be impossible.

"Oh my. First time seeing you around here. Are you a traveler?"

The waiter was super friendly, so Ouyang Mun put on a friendly face and replied with a hearty smile.

"Just a wanderer drifting from place to place. The atmosphere here seems quite peaceful, so I'm thinking about staying for a while."

Ouyang Mun ordered food and made small talk with the waiter, then booked a room at the inn after finishing his meal.

As befitting someone who'd completed training at the Hall of the Demonic Way and once served with the combat unit, Ouyang Mun skillfully executed his stealth arts to slip out of his room and put the waiter under constant watch.

During working hours, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.

“Glo~ ry! Glory! O’ Divine Cult!!”

"Looks like those lyrics really stuck with you."

"Ahem. Yes. I only heard it once during the last gathering, but I can't stop humming it."

He was just being friendly, chatting up the owner and the customers.

'...Should I interpret that as information gathering and capture him now?'

Ouyang Mun desperately wanted to go back to Lanzhou, but he managed to resist the urge.

And so, for several days, he only saw the waiter face-to-face at meals and spent the rest of the time watching him from the shadows.

Then the innkeeper, the waiter, and the village residents all gathered somewhere. Another gathering day had arrived.

Ouyang Mun followed them while maintaining his stealth, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy.

As expected of a guy with such great social skills, he was fitting right in with the villagers even though he’d only been there a few days.

Each time a sermon concluded,

"The Advent of Maitreya!"

He shouted the slogans with great enthusiasm.

"The hymn we'll sing this time is We Shall Fight Against the Wicked."

And he cheered passionately at the mere announcement of singing a hymn.

“Glo~ ry! Glory! O’ Divine Cult!!”

Even though this was only his second gathering, he was singing the hymns with tremendous fervor.

Watching the scene from a distance, Ouyang Mun tilted his head.

'...I can't tell if he's acting or if he's genuinely become a believer.'

A few days later, several letters arrived at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's branch in Lanzhou.

Ju Seo-yeon and Ouyang Mun weren't the only ones Il-mok had assigned for surveillance.

Il-mok hadn’t just sent Ouyang Mun and Ju Seo-yeon; he’d deployed a bunch of other warriors from the combat unit to watch as many outsiders as they could.

And the results of several days of surveillance were written in the letters that had just arrived.

"...He's singing hymns really loudly? This one says the same thing."

Il-mok was just as confused as everyone else.

After all, you couldn't exactly accuse someone of being a traitor just because they're really into a cult's activities.

"Tsk. At least we've got two who are definitely suspicious. They know martial arts but are trying to get jobs as waiters or cooks."

"Shall we capture them immediately?"

Just as Il-mok was about to answer Jin Hayeon's question, he sensed a presence from outside.

"Young Master. An urgent message has arrived from the owner of the Crimson Silk Pavilion."

Il-mok stepped out and asked Dam Bin, "What's the news?"

Then, the usually unfazed Dam Bin answered with an oddly awkward expression.

"Well... apparently one of the courtesans who recently joined the red-light district has come forward claiming to be a spy sent by the Hao Clan."

Il-mok was equally dumbfounded.

"Come again? What kind of bullshit is that?"

"I only know what the Crimson Silk Pavilion Master wrote in his letter. I think we have to go there to find out what's really happening."

Il-mok got ready and headed to the Crimson Silk Pavilion with Dam Bin and Jin Hayeon.

"Advent of Maitreya! Salvation for All! We greet the Incarnations of Maitreya!!"

The Master of the Crimson Silk Pavilion greeted them calmly despite their sudden visit.

And following the Master were two women who hurriedly followed his actions.

"Advent of Maitreya! Salvation for All! We greet the Incarnations of Maitreya!!"

Il-mok vaguely recognized one of the women.

She was the woman who got caught and tortured for trying to escape the Red Blossom Pavilion. He remembered her because he'd been the one to save her.

But he couldn't help but wonder.

'What is she doing here?'