Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 209
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 209. Seeds of the Divine Physician (4)
“Five places?!”
“That’s correct.”
Neung Hyeong seemed to have already heard this, as he moved to one side and plopped down heavily.
Moyong Bi asked seriously.
“Please tell me the details.”
Sama Hyeon took out several neatly folded papers from his chest.
“None of them are famous sects in Jianghu. There weren’t any places that stood out in their regions, and instead they were sects hidden in mountain valleys or had little interaction with nearby people. Ah, there’s one exception though.”
“Hong Clan Sword Family?”
“That’s right.”
Sama Hyeon unfolded the second paper.
“Here it is. Hong Jeong Sect of Hong An County in Hubei, Sam Byeong Gate of Tianmen, Gu Jeol Gate of Tongshan, and Il Sword Family located in the northeastern outskirts of Wuxue.”
“…?”
“And including the Hong Clan Sword Family of Wuhan, these five sects have been completely destroyed.”
“By completely destroyed, do you mean everyone was killed?”
“That’s correct. The four sects I mentioned earlier are less than half the size of the Hong Clan Sword Family. Still, this is a major incident that wouldn’t be strange to call a blood massacre.”
Excluding the Hong Clan Sword Family, even if each sect had only fifty people, it was an incident where a whopping two hundred people died.
Moreover, if it wasn’t from an epidemic but someone murdered them, this was no ordinary matter.
“Wait.”
Moyong Bi tilted his head.
“Wuhan, Hong An, Tianmen… yes, I remember up to Tongshan. Then where is Wuxue?”
Sama Hyeon’s eyes sparkled.
Thinking that he was truly an amazing person for checking the locations first, he opened his mouth.
“It’s a county quite far east from Wuhan. To be precise, it’s southeast, but you could just consider it east.”
“…Well, look at that?”
At that moment, Guo Lao, who had approached at some point, spoke with a serious face.
“The sects located in four places – north, south, east, and west – centered around Wuhan have been destroyed.”
North of Wuhan was Hong An, west was Tianmen, south was Tongshan, and east was Wuxue.
“When were they destroyed?”
“The first place to be destroyed was Hong An.”
Everyone listening was surprised and serious, but Moyong Bi was especially serious.
“Next was Sam Byeong Gate of Tian Men County, then Il Sword Family of Wuxue, and Gu Jeol Gate of Tongshan in that order.”
“The very last was the Hong Clan Sword Family in the center of Wuhan?”
“That’s correct.”
Guo Lao looked at Moyong Bi and said.
“It feels like they put a period at the end.”
“Indeed.”
Moyong Su Hyang asked.
“But those four sects earlier, if they were destroyed before the Hong Clan Sword Family, why weren’t they known about sooner?”
Guo Lao answered instead of Sama Hyeon.
“As you said, it’s probably because they had little interaction with nearby residents. If the side that attacked those sects was the same, what they considered first were probably sects with little exchange with their surroundings.”
Sama Hyeon looked at Guo Lao with surprise. It was because his insight was much sharper than he had thought.
“That’s correct. Moreover, Hubei Province is vast. In fact, looking at the entire Central Plains, hundreds of sects disappear and emerge every day. Ah, of course, more than half of them are close to very small gangs.”
“That’s right.”
“Hubei is the same. It’s too vast to just call it one region. Moreover, unless it was a sect with frequent interaction with surrounding people or great power, it was inevitable that discovery would be delayed.”
Rather than making excuses for the Hubei Branch, it was closer to meaning that the side that attacked the destroyed sects was determined.
Then, Neung Hyeong interjected with his characteristic sarcastic tone.
“That’s just looking at the surface.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to him.
Neung Hyeong, with his arms crossed, looked at Moyong Bi and asked.
“Do you also think one-dimensionally like those idiots?”
“Sometimes the simple answer is correct.”
“I’ve heard enough of your people’s defense, so do you think that way too?”
Moyong Bi silently shook his head.
Sama Hyeon asked back.
“Then what does the Grand Young Master think?”
“It’s true that they moved secretly. It’s also true that they targeted places that wouldn’t be easily noticed by the surroundings. At least looking at just the apparent phenomena.”
“Pardon?”
Moyong Bi let out a bitter smile.
“The Main Family House, what do you think of it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s small and tiny, isn’t it? Unlike the past.”
Sama Hyeon cleared his throat.
“It’s modest.”
“Not many people have ambitions for such a small and tiny martial family. Past glory? It would be nice to reclaim it, but what’s more important is reality – that’s what we Moyong Clan Members say.”
“Pardon?”
“But we have to try as much as we can. For that, I, our Youngest, and Elder Sister are all working hard. To become stronger, to grow bigger.”
“What does that…?”
Neung Hyeong interjected with a sharp voice.
“Don’t you still understand what he’s trying to make you realize?”
Moyong Su Hyang looked at Neung Hyeong in shock.
“Uncle! No matter how crazy you are, such words to the Branch Leader are rude!”
“Don’t you be rude to me, you brat!”
“Even if you’re crazy, you should be gracefully crazy. Why do you keep acting like this? Should I give you a few needle stabs to the head? Let some blood out?”
Neung Hyeong, who had been trembling, suddenly turned his head away. It was an attitude of not wanting to even talk.
Moyong Bi sighed and said.
“That bastard is right.”
“Please explain.”
“Even our Main Family House, which doesn’t have much ambition, is trying to grow, but those four sects had almost no interaction with their surroundings?”
“…?!”
“No matter how vast Hubei is, could there be many such sects? Moreover, in four regions about a hundred li away from Wuhan, such sects just happened to exist one by one?”
Sama Hyeon’s mouth fell open and Guo Lao’s eyes sparkled.
“Young Master, do you mean those four sects were also in league with the attackers?”
“That’s what I think.”
It was a shocking statement.
“Branch Leader, do you know when those four destroyed sects took root in their regions?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes! It’s written here.”
Sama Hyeon read haltingly.
“Hong Jeong Gate of Hong An County nineteen years, Sam Byeong Sect of Tian Men County eighteen years, Gu Jeol Gate of Tong San County twenty years, Il Sword Family of Mu Hyeol County… sixteen years.”
“And the Hong Clan Sword Family grew tremendously right after the war with Seonghyeol Palace.”
“…!!”
“All five destroyed sects were officially established after the war with Seonghyeol Palace ended.”
Sama Hyeon’s complexion turned pale.
On the other hand, faint anger was rising on Guo Lao’s face.
“The sudden appearance of Ma In… I thought it would be natural, but they’re definitely descendants of Seonghyeol.”
“You think so?”
“Wouldn’t that be natural? Those bastards did many bizarre things during the past war that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine. Among them, they once devastated an entire region for no reason.”
Neung Hyeong’s face became uncomfortable.
Moyong Bi said.
“South Sichuan?”
“That’s correct.”
“That wasn’t done for some bizarre reason like sorcery or human sacrifice.”
“…What?”
“It was literally a scorched earth operation. Wiping out even the nearby residents – it’s extremely cruel, but from the attacking side’s perspective, it can be seen as a rational tactic.”
Moyong Su Hyang looked at Moyong Bi as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Th-that’s a rational tactic?”
“There’s no morality in war. If you exclude morality, it was a very rational operation.”
“Why?!”
“Swiftly massacring even nearby residents becomes a bad move in normal situations. There are risks like unnecessarily gaining resistance after conquest or, in the worst case, facing counterattacks from the residents who lived there. It’s like the leader of a newly arrived organization killing off the producers.”
“But why does that become a rational operation?”
“Massacre warfare in battles that must be won has the effect of destroying the enemy’s administrative network.”
“…Huh?”
“In the past, Sichuan Province was a place that responded particularly fiercely to Seonghyeol Palace. Even common citizens who knew no martial arts would try to participate in battle with farming tools or bows. If such people scout enemy movements and inform the Martial Alliance side in advance, could Seonghyeol Palace succeed in their attacks properly?”
At these words beyond imagination, Moyong Su Hyang’s mouth gaped like a fish.
Moyong Bi continued with a serious expression.
“But this incident is too different in nature from Seonghyeol Palace’s past advance that conducted massacre warfare in South Sichuan. I’ll need to investigate more thoroughly, but the four sects excluding the Hong Clan Sword Family were definitely places organized by descendants of demons for some purpose.”
Sama Hyeon clicked his tongue.
“Grand Young Master’s insight is truly remarkable. I couldn’t even imagine…”
“It’s because you’re not familiar with such matters. The Alliance Leader would have noticed.”
“In any case, if as Grand Young Master says, the four sects were allied with demonic organizations and were massacred for some reason.”
Everyone’s faces became serious.
“Just what on earth are these bastards plotting?”
Moyong Bi, who had been thinking deeply, glanced at Neung Hyeong.
Neung Hyeong’s face looked very troubled.
“Please wait here for a moment. Su Hyang, bring the Alliance Leader a cup of tea.”
“Huh? Elder Brother, where are you going?”
“I’m going to have a chat with this bastard.”
Moyong Bi said to Neung Hyeong.
“Let’s go to the room for a moment.”
* * *
Moyong Bi, sitting on the bed, looked at Neung Hyeong.
“Do you know how to read maps?”
“Crazy bastard. Is there anyone who can’t read maps?”
“Hongai, Tianmen, Tongshan, Wuxue, and Wuhan.”
“…”
“If you connect the lines of east, west, south, north, and center, it forms a cross.”
“…”
“If you set fire to the locations, it would make a very plausible altar. Don’t you think?”
Neung Hyeong smiled bitterly.
“Five Gates Pure Fire.”
“Because they worship fire, they’re called the Fire Worship Sect… Seonghyeol Palace’s predecessor was definitely the Fire Worship Sect, right?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me these bastards are trying to create a giant altar by marking points in all four directions within a hundred li of Wuhan as the center?”
Neung Hyeong’s face, which had been tinged with bitterness, gradually became more serious.
“Five Gates Pure Fire is not just a pattern laid under an altar, nor just fire.”
“Then what is it?”
“In the Fire Worship Sect, five times a day, they wash away sins and purify souls before sacred fire. All believers do this if there’s nothing else to do.”
“How idle of them.”
“But that’s just the doctrine of the Fire Worship Sect.”
“What do you mean?”
Neung Hyeong’s eyes became bloodshot.
“People of the Central Plains always reject those from other regions. The Fire Worship Sect too. They call it the Fire Worship Sect because they worship fire, but the original religion that was its predecessor didn’t actually worship fire.”
“…?”
“It was to preserve the sacred fire used in the five daily ceremonies, not worshipping fire itself. The religion that was the Fire Worship Sect’s predecessor was like that.”
“Then what about the Fire Worship Sect?”
“You could say the Fire Worship Sect is a religion reborn when the stupid people of this land, who had rejected that very religion, flocked to it en masse.”
Moyong Bi’s eyes widened. This was a fact he had never known before.
“The Fire Worship Sect’s predecessor…”
“Five Gates Pure Fire is literally just part of a ceremony to cleanse souls, not something to be created like drawing a picture while killing people. Though I never believed in it anyway.”
“Then?”
“It’s neither Seonghyeol Palace nor its predecessor, the Fire Worship Sect.”
The corners of Neung Hyeong’s eyes trembled.
“The Fire Worship Sect’s predecessor, a religion that originated long ago in distant Persia.”
“…?!”
“This giant Five Gates Pure Fire must be the work of an evil sect imitating the doctrines of Persia’s original religion.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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