Chapter: 03
The Demonic Cult was an outside force based in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, northwest of the Central Plains martial world.
Long ago, there had been exchanges between the Demonic Cult and the martial artists of the Central Plains.
However, for reasons unknown, all contact between the two sides had been severed three hundred years ago.
According to legend, the Demonic Cult had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Central Plains martial world and sealed itself away.
In exchange for sparing their lives, they had sworn never to set foot in the Central Plains again.
But that agreement had been made three centuries ago.
The Demonic Cult of today was nothing more than a tribe of bloodthirsty savages.
A place where only the strong survived, while the weak were cast aside, living according to nothing but brutal instinct.
Raiders from beyond the borders, forever coveting the Central Plains.
Treacherous and deceitful to the core…
“If you can move around, then at least earn your meals.”
Ungrateful…
“How long are you planning to keep eating my food?”
“…”
Unhyeon fell silent.
No—he simply had nothing to say.
Because every word the child said was true.
Someone did bring them enough food every day, but it had been meant for the child from the very beginning.
All this time, the child had simply been sharing his own meals with Unhyeon.
“Ungrateful…”
Was the Demonic Cult really the ungrateful one?
Or was it himself?
I made a mistake.
No matter that the child belonged to the beast-like Demonic Cult, he was still the one who had saved Unhyeon’s life.
Treating his benefactor this way was shameful.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. Starting tomorrow, I’ll go out and look for food myself.”
The child let out a snort.
Then he walked over, plopped down beside Unhyeon on the wooden porch, and, as always, held out a rice ball.
As Unhyeon accepted it, his eyes drifted toward the child’s little sack.
Today, too, it was stuffed full of unfamiliar herbs.
“Where do you go every day?”
“The mountain.”
“And why do you go there?”
“I dunno. I get bored.”
“So you go to gather medicinal herbs.”
“Medicinal herbs?”
“Those. The ones in your bag.”
Unhyeon nodded toward the sack.
Most of the plants the child collected were unfamiliar even to him, but every now and then there were genuine medicinal herbs mixed in.
Whenever he ate what the child brought him, his body became noticeably lighter, as if by magic.
The rest were probably medicinal herbs as well.
“How remarkable. You don’t even know they’re medicinal herbs, yet you always manage to pick them.”
“I just pick the ones that smell nice.”
“The ones that smell nice?”
The child nodded with grains of rice still stuck to his lips.
“There are lots of things in the mountains that smell good. Looking for them is fun.”
“Oh?”
“So you’ve got quite the nose.”
Did he really distinguish medicinal herbs by smell?
Unhyeon had never heard of anyone with such a talent, though he had once read about it in a book.
Long ago, there had been a Divine Physician known as Master of a Hundred Medicines.
Though blind, his extraordinary sense of smell had allowed him to perceive everything around him.
They also said he was an exceptional herb gatherer.
Unhyeon didn’t know exactly how an enhanced sense of smell helped distinguish medicinal herbs from poisonous ones.
But it certainly wasn’t impossible.
“Tomorrow, I’ll come with you.”
“You’re coming with me?”
“Yes.”
“Do whatever you want!”
The child shouted as though he didn’t care one bit before abruptly turning his head away.
Yet the way his legs swung back and forth and the faint smile spreading across his face made it obvious that he was secretly delighted.
At that moment, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary child.
Not a beast.
Not a raider.
Just an innocent little boy.
“Come to think of it, I don’t even know your age or your name.”
“Hm?”
“How old are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
Had his parents never told him?
“I think I counted up to five once… but after that I forgot. It’s been so long that I don’t remember anymore.”
The child stretched out a few fingers as though trying to count before tilting his head.
“Maybe… five and another five?”
Seeing how confused he looked, Unhyeon decided not to press the matter.
Instead, he changed the subject.
“Then what is your name? Mine is Unhyeon.”
“Yeonwoo. Lee Yeonwoo.”
“Lee Yeonwoo. That’s a lovely name. Did your parents give it to you?”
It had only been an idle question.
Yet the child’s expression suddenly darkened.
“…?”
Yeonwoo stared quietly at Unhyeon for a moment.
Then he suddenly jumped off the porch.
Grabbing his little sack, he dashed around to the back of the house and never came back.
Unhyeon watched the path behind the house for a long while before finally realizing his mistake.
Damn it.
“I’ve made another mistake…”
Tap—tap, tap!
Unhyeon quickly followed behind Yeonwoo.
Though he still couldn’t use his internal energy, his body had been honed through a lifetime of training.
Keeping up with a child’s pace while climbing a mountain was effortless.
“It smells good!”
Every so often, Yeonwoo would suddenly run off somewhere before returning with medicinal herbs or wild fruit.
His sense of smell was even more extraordinary than Unhyeon had imagined.
“Hmm.”
While Yeonwoo disappeared once again, Unhyeon carefully observed his surroundings.
“So… earning my meals.”
If one could move, then naturally one should contribute.
Having spent so many years as the head of the Namgung Clan, constantly served by others, he had forgotten such a simple obligation.
Rustle…
Some distance away, he sensed an animal.
His hand rested lightly on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
His lowered gaze sharpened in an instant.
Crackle… Crackle…
Rabbit and bird meat slowly roasted over the fire until they turned a delicious golden brown.
The sun was setting, and the aroma of roasting meat filled the yard.
He’s surprisingly capable.
Unhyeon had expected hunting to be difficult after spending so long bedridden.
Instead, his body felt unexpectedly light.
It’s thanks to Yeonwoo.
Picking up a perfectly roasted rabbit leg, Unhyeon turned to hand it to the boy.
“Huh?!”
He gasped.
Yeonwoo was crouching right beside him, drool streaming from his mouth.
His eyes were completely fixed on the rabbit leg in Unhyeon’s hand.
Unhyeon looked back and forth between the rabbit leg and Yeonwoo before holding it out.
Yeonwoo looked up at him, still drooling.
“Can I eat it?”
“Eat as much as you like.”
The next moment happened in the blink of an eye.
Yeonwoo snatched the rabbit leg and devoured it ravenously.
Watching him, Unhyeon picked up another piece of meat for himself.
“Pass me the salt. It tastes even better if you sprinkle some on while it’s roasting.”
“Here.”
As he seasoned the meat over the fire, Unhyeon watched the child eating.
At some point, sharing meals with this child had become completely natural.
In fact…
The thought of eating without him now felt strangely lonely.
What an odd feeling.
“I noticed this from the beginning, but you really do love eating.”
“It’s because I almost starved to death.”
“Haha. Were you ever truly that hungry?”
“I was always hungry! Before… and now too!”
“But isn’t someone bringing you food every day?”
“That only started recently. It hasn’t been long since my mom sold me.”
Unhyeon’s brow twitched.
Was the child joking?
“Sold…? Are you saying your own mother sold you?”
Yeonwoo nodded while taking another huge bite of meat.
“Yeah. She said she’d use the money to go live in the Central Plains. They say there’s lots of food there that’s way more delicious than here.”
“What?!”
His parents had sold their own child?
Not only that—they had abandoned him afterward?
For Unhyeon, who had been raised with every privilege under the protection of the Namgung Clan, the idea of a mother abandoning her own child was beyond imagination.
Startled, he turned toward the boy.
“W-Who did she sell you to? Surely not the person who brings you food every day?”
“To that person’s master.”
“Master? He has a master?”
“Yep. He’s super rich! His house is really, really big.”
“That’s hardly the point! Why in the world did he buy you?”
Selling one’s own child was monstrous enough.
But what kind of person would actually pay money to buy a child?
“They said they’re sending me to the Demon Dragon Pass instead of one of their family’s children.”
“The Demon Dragon Pass…?”
“They said it’s where you take the test to become the Heavenly Demon. I don’t know what a Heavenly Demon is, but they said it’s someone really important.”
Unhyeon’s mouth fell open.
He had heard of it before.
Within the Demonic Cult, children were gathered together and forced to undergo trials.
The strongest among them would be selected.
Then those survivors would fight again.
And again.
Until only one remained alive.
That lone survivor would ascend to the position of Heavenly Demon.
It was the Demonic Cult’s brutal method of choosing its supreme leader—a system that embodied their creed of survival of the fittest.
But…
“Why are they sending you in someone else’s place?”
Wouldn’t every member of the Demonic Cult dream of becoming the Heavenly Demon?
The trial was a chance to claim the highest position.
Why would anyone give up such an opportunity by buying another child to take their place?
“They said everyone who goes there dies.”
“What…?”
“All the children their family sent before died. So they’re sending me instead. They want to protect their own kids.”
Only then did everything finally make sense.
A child living alone without parents.
Someone delivering him food every day.
The Demonic Cult manuals lying inside the room.
In other words… Yeonwoo is a sacrifice.
Unhyeon didn’t know how the trial was conducted or how cruel it truly was.
But the Demonic Cult had always been a place where the strong survived and the weak perished.
A place where the weak were barely considered human.
To them, it would seem perfectly natural for weak children to die during the process of selecting the strong.
And if participation in the trial was mandatory…
Then it’s entirely possible for a family to buy another child and send them in place of their own.
Yeonwoo was simply another victim of that corrupt system.
How utterly unforgivable…
Could people who committed such acts even be called human?
They were demons wearing human skin.
But…
Now that he knew the truth, he couldn’t simply stand by and watch.
“Yeonwoo.”
“Hm?”
Yeonwoo turned toward him.
His round eyes blinked innocently, shining with complete ignorance of his own fate.
“Come with me to the Central Plains.”
