MUC 193

Chapter : 193

“B–Brother—! Kyaaaaaah!”

Eun Sowol hurriedly reached out toward Eun Baekhyun, but their bodies plunged helplessly down the cliff.

Dokgo Ryong flailed in midair, desperately regaining his balance.

In the blink of an eye, they reached a tree growing at the base of the cliff. With one arm, he shielded Eun Sowol, and with the other, he barely managed to grab a branch.

But the branch couldn’t withstand their combined weight and snapped. Still holding Eun Sowol, Dokgo Ryong tumbled down through the branches.

Thud, thud, thud—!

“Ugh…!”

It felt like his shoulder had dislocated. A dull, spreading pain surged through him, forcing a groan from his lips.

But regaining his senses, he immediately checked the person in his arms.

“Kid!”

Eun Sowol was unconscious. Thankfully, there were no visible injuries, but since they had rolled together several times, the impact might have harmed her fragile body.

Kyurung!

Baekun, who had landed safely elsewhere, rushed toward them.

Dokgo Ryong barely pushed himself upright and looked up.

Kugugugung…!

From the cliff they had fallen from, a thunderous roar echoed as clouds of dust scattered into the air.

“…That idiot…!”

Whenever Dokgo Ryong looked at Eun Baekhyun, he was reminded of his own childhood.

Though he had never heard the details, he could vaguely guess the boy’s unfortunate family background.

A situation where one had to silently endure grueling training.

A child who didn’t even know what he truly wanted.

It mirrored his own childhood so closely that when Eun Sowol asked if Baekhyun could stay with them, he couldn’t help but nod.

He hadn’t said it aloud, but if the boy truly had nowhere to go, he’d even considered taking responsibility for him himself…

‘This isn’t right!’

“Ugh…!”

Clutching his dislocated shoulder, Dokgo Ryong tried to stand, but his ankle throbbed madly as if it were injured too.

He couldn’t afford to waste time like this.

Just then—

“Brother!”

A familiar voice rang out. Dokgo Ryong jerked his head up, eyes widening.

“Baekseol?”

Baekseol was running toward him. Behind her came Jang Yonghwi, Dang Jinak, Yang Hwichun, and others.

“How did you all get here…?”

“How else?! We were waiting for you guys to come back!”

“Everyone else returned, but you didn’t, hyung!”

“We suspected you might’ve been delayed by those people, so we searched the area. Is Sowol all right?!”

Dang Jinak examined the unconscious Eun Sowol and confirmed she wasn’t seriously injured.

The others supported Dokgo Ryong, trying to help him move, but he groaned and grabbed Jang Yonghwi’s shoulder.

“Not yet… We can’t leave yet. There’s still an eight‑year‑old kid up there. He might get taken by them…!”

“You mean the Demonic Cult?”

“How dare they enter even the front yard of the Sichuan Tang Family!”

“You two return to the Tang Family estate first. We’ll stay and rescue the child.”

Leaving Dokgo Ryong and Eun Sowol in Baekseol and Dang Jinak’s care,

Yang Hwichun and Jang Yonghwi headed up the cliff to search for Eun Baekhyun.

They climbed the cliff and reached the summit via the shortest route, but—

“…Are we already too late?”

At the top, what appeared to be the child’s blood was scattered across the ground, along with clear traces of battle and fierce resistance.

“Still, he might not have gotten far. Let’s go!”

“Yes, Elder!”

Even so, the two refused to give up and pursued Eun Baekhyun.

“Looks like some flies have latched on.”

Someone was watching Yang Hwichun and Jang Yonghwi as they searched for Eun Baekhyun in the distance.

He observed their movements from atop a faraway mountain peak.

At his words, all the nearby Demonic Cult members were about to move—

“One of them is said to be the strongest among the Ten Kings, the Fire King. It would be wiser to withdraw quietly rather than cause a disturbance.”

A youthful voice from behind stopped the man.

The man narrowed his eyes and turned around.

Eun Baekhyun stood there expressionless, not a single wound on his body.

“You made this lord come out personally, and yet your neck is rather stiff. On top of that, I hear you killed two subordinates?”

As the man slowly extended his hand, the surrounding pressure and gravity shifted.

Kugugugu—!

The other Demonic Cult members nearby foamed at the mouth and collapsed. At the center of it all, Eun Baekhyun endured the crushing gravity, blood‑tinged tears streaming from his eyes as he clenched his teeth.

“I… apologize…! To deceive them… ngh… it couldn’t be helped…! Please forgive me!”

His knees buckled, and Eun Baekhyun bowed deeply, pressing his head toward the ground.

Only then did the man withdraw his hand, seemingly satisfied. Eun Baekhyun gasped for breath.

“Yes… I suppose this generous lord should overlook it. After all, you’re my son.”

The man’s cold hand cupped Eun Baekhyun’s cheek.

Forced to lift his head, Eun Baekhyun looked into the face of his biological father.

The leader of the Heavenly Demonic Divine Cult.

The man revered and worshipped by all cultists—

The Heavenly Demon, Cheon Hwiseong.

‘He really does look the same.’

Eun Baekhyun thought as he studied his father’s face.

It was identical to the portrait of Eun Hwirang depicted in Eun Sowol’s family painting.

They looked like two copies stamped from the same mold—except for one thing.

Their eyes.

Where Eun Hwirang’s eyes were gentle and kind, Cheon Hwiseong’s were filled with arrogance, looking down on everyone.

“…My son. How was your first outing into the Central Plains?”

“It was more ordinary than expected. However, the land is clearly more fertile than Mount Tianshan. I believe it’s better suited for our followers to live.”

“Yes, you’re right. We were robbed of this fertile land by those wretched Central Plains dogs. And that’s not all— even the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, the very essence of our sect, are in their grasp.”

After their defeat in the great war between orthodoxy and demonic paths, the Heavenly Demonic Cult was pushed back to Mount Tianshan in the northwest, near the frontier.

Their homeland lay in the southeast— the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

Though many cultists remained hidden throughout the Central Plains, few had managed to approach the mountains.

That was because the Martial Alliance, the Nine Sects, and the Five Great Families took turns monitoring the area.

If they reclaimed the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, they could seize the Central Plains and achieve dominion over the demonic path.

“You seemed to be enjoying yourself among the Central Plains folk, so I worried you might’ve been swayed by them, my son.”

The hand gripping Eun Baekhyun’s shoulder felt as cold as a corpse.

One wrong answer, and it felt as though all his qi and internal energy would be drained.

Suppressing his tension, Eun Baekhyun replied calmly.

“How could that be? I merely acted to lower their guard and escape naturally. Even I cannot yet defeat the one known as the Mad Demon.”

“Then that’s a relief. Even for me, killing my own son would be painful.”

‘As if you’ve ever called me your son before.’

The Heavenly Demon fathered dozens of children through countless wives to raise his successor.

Eun Baekhyun was merely one of them, and this was only the fifth time in his life he had met Cheon Hwiseong.

“We’ll withdraw for today. There’s no need to provoke the Fire King and heighten the Central Plains’ vigilance. The world will soon fall into my hands anyway.”

“Heavenly Demon Reborn! Ten Thousand Demons Bow!”

Following the cultists who shouted like fanatics, Eun Baekhyun also lowered his head and chanted, “Heavenly Demon Reborn, Ten Thousand Demons Bow.”

Cheon Hwiseong lifted the corner of his lips in satisfaction, his black robe embroidered with red patterns fluttering as he turned.

Walking behind him, Eun Baekhyun glanced back one last time.

‘We’ll meet again someday, Sowol.’

Because he felt certain their paths would cross again.

The fifth son of the Heavenly Demon, Eun Baekhyun—

Returns to the Demonic Cult.

Hot…

Cold…

It feels like my body’s going to shatter!

Pain far beyond even her first berserk episode engulfed Eun Sowol’s entire body.