Chapter 144 Meow Meow Nyang
“Ugh…”
Squeeeeze.
My short body stretched out long.
“Hehe. This can’t be helped, after all.”
“Kiiyaong!”
Tang So-yeong, who used the excuse of observing me to fumble with my body along with the spiders.
Although her ulterior motives were obvious, I decided to let it slide.
I could just put that dumpling-haired head of hers in my mouth after everything was over.
“…Is it just me, or does it feel all damp and gloomy?”
“Keek kek.”
It was already too late for you, Tang-whatever-your-name-is.
But I’ll forgive you if you do your job well.
Tang So-yeong examined me with a serious expression.
She slowly caressed my scales, then placed her hand on my belly fat.
“Gekkek!”
Thump.
“Kyaah! It hurts!”
Anyone trying to invade my precious parts must endure the trial of my bites.
Tang So-yeong somehow endured my nibbles.
Of course, she whined and whimpered the entire time.
“…I’ve figured out the cause!”
I stopped chewing on her.
As expected of the prodigy from the Tang Clan, Tang So-yeong.
I had faith in your abilities.
“You’ve suffered the side effects of pushing your inner energy to its limit!”
Looking down at me with a triumphant expression was the fallen member of the Tang Clan, Tang-whatever-her-name-was.
Meow meow nyang.
“Kyaaah!”
I knew that already. Baek Yeon-yeong knew that too, and so did Shikshik.
“…But not only that, I’ve also found the solution!”
As expected of Tang So-yeong.
I never doubted you.
I calmly waited for her to speak.
This kind of waiting was fine.
Our Tang So-yeong was a precious asset who knew how to restore my body.
“And the solution is… eating well and resting properly.”
“Gek.”
Om nom nom.
“Kyaaah! I’m serious, really serious!”
To think she would offer such a solution.
Grrr.
“Kyaaah! It hurts! I’m bleeding!”
This divine beast was disappointed in the Tang Clan of Sichuan.
That’s why you people are always stealing Mancheonhwau of the Open Sect.
“It feels like my heart hurts more than my fingers.”
The energy pouch wasn’t to my liking either.
“This is enough, for now…! Hmm? What was I trying to explain again?”
Tang So-yeong started muttering nonsense on her own.
Honestly, perhaps it wasn’t my body that needed fixing but her head.
“What’s with that face? It’s because of Go Dae-hyeop that I ended up like this!”
“Keek kek.”
Smack.
“Ugh! Why are you hitting my butt!”
“Kiyooo!”
“Why are you angry! Kyaah!”
One of the buildings of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Celestial Dragon House, was unusually noisy.
“The sky darkening like this… What in the world is going on!”
A sudden darkness had come.
Even the elders, who had been through countless battles, were witnessing an unprecedented phenomenon.
If it were a case of the moon eclipsing the sun, it would be somewhat understandable.
Though the exact cause was unclear, it wasn’t unheard of for such things to happen before.
But this time, it was different.
Something like a black fog had obscured the sun.
Furthermore, embedded in that fog were bizarre, blood-red eyes.
With such an unprecedented situation, all the elders of the sect gathered at the Celestial Dragon House.
“Calm yourselves. It disappeared soon enough.”
“Even if it was a temporary phenomenon, shouldn’t we dispatch an investigation team right away?”
“But the Cult Leader has sealed off access to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. What are we supposed to do?”
“The situation is different now!”
Small and large arguments erupted.
All the elders were eminent martial artists.
Their overwhelming power was enough to represent their respective clans.
Their presence was also a deterrent that kept the Martial Alliance from rashly meddling with the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
With so many martial artists in one place, disagreements were bound to occur.
Baek Seol-hwa, the shrine maiden of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, furrowed her brows.
It wasn’t because of the ruckus the elders were making, even though she was there.
It was because Baek Yeon-yeong was looking down at them with a curious expression.
“Enough. The Cult Leader is waiting for you.”
Baek Seol-hwa, unable to take it anymore, stepped in to stop them.
“The Cult Leader? Huh, what!”
Why didn’t the elders of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult know that the Cult Leader was here?
The answer was simple.
Baek Yeon-yeong had always been like this.
When the Firebird went on a rampage, or when the eight-headed snake devoured mountains.
Even during serious incidents when the elders had gathered for meetings, she never showed her face.
The meetings of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had evolved into a process where the elders exchanged opinions and then later reported directly to the Cult Leader.
It was a bizarre structure, but no one dared to voice complaints.
Because Baek Yeon-yeong was the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Whenever the elders fussed and tried to come up with countermeasures, Baek Yeon-yeong acted alone.
It was she who subdued the Firebird and extracted the mountain from the serpent’s maw.
The results of the elders’ meetings were often rendered useless.
By the time they reported to her, all the incidents had already been resolved.
It wasn’t that the elders were slow or incompetent.
Baek Yeon-yeong was simply too strong and too fast.
That’s why they hadn’t expected her to attend this time either.
The elders were just discussing the black fog and preparing to report to Baek Yeon-yeong.
But Baek Yeon-yeong had been waiting for them from the start.
Moreover, she had intentionally concealed her presence, so it wasn’t strange that the elders hadn’t noticed her.
“The Supreme of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult…!”
“Enough.”
With a single word, Baek Yeon-yeong silenced the elders who were trying to pay their respects.
“Paying respects once a day is enough.”
Baek Yeon-yeong, who had been watching from the second floor, descended to the first.
An unprecedented event occurred.
Baek Yeon-yeong began to speak to the elders about this incident.
Though her inability to explain things properly, a quirk she was known for, still lingered, the elders had known her for a long time.
The elders, knowing that failing to understand her words meant they were no longer worthy of their position, did their best to comprehend.
The power that had forced Baek Yeon-yeong, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, to appear.
The owner of that power: Heoseong, Taese.
An evil god attempting to spread his malice by controlling spiritual creatures.
It was clear that he had arrived.
“Taese…”
The elders muttered the name Taese.
Since they were a group that revered the Heavenly Demon, they couldn’t help but be aware of Taese’s existence.
“Cult Leader, then to deal with Taese now…”
“It’s fine. I’ve already taken care of him, so there’s no need to worry for the time being.”
Taese had been dealt with.
The brightening sky was proof that her words were true.
However, the fact that she attended the meeting indicated there was another reason.
“But this incident has given the Martial Alliance the justification they needed.”
The unexplained phenomenon in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
“They’ll say, ‘The wicked Demon Cult is plotting something.'”
Even if they knew the truth, they wouldn’t care.
What they needed was a pretext.
“They’ll unite, claiming the righteous Martial Alliance is coming together to stop the evil schemes of the Demon Cult.”
Their real objective was the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
More specifically, they were after the spiritual creatures within the mountains.
Even though it was a fact they had tried to hide as much as possible, it was bound to leak.
Baek Yeon-yeong hadn’t slaughtered the people who entered the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains because she knew this.
Even from the perspective of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, they needed high-level warriors to target the mountains.
“I might have exaggerated a little, but in any case, they’ll attempt to cross into our Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.”
She didn’t want the Martial Alliance to mobilize.
If they united, even Baek Yeon-yeong would have difficulty dealing with them.
However, there was no chance they would truly unite.
Their goal wasn’t to defeat the Demon Cult, but to obtain precious cores.
It was obvious they would shift the blame to one another while each tried to gain the most benefit.
“There’s only one thing I have to say to you all.”
But it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
“Each elder should prepare for the Martial Alliance’s invasion.”
The hearts of the elders began to race.
Baek Yeon-yeong was different from previous Cult Leaders.
She had risen to her position with nothing, and unlike the others, she had never sought to expand into the Central Plains.
Her role was managing the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, and her belief was to ensure the cult members never went hungry.
She focused more on internal affairs than on war.
The elders had harbored some dissatisfaction with her actions, but they, too, were followers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Her actions aligned with the teachings of the cult, so even if they were discontent, they followed her will without objection.
Now, Baek Yeon-yeong had given the order to prepare for an invasion.
At first glance, it might seem like an obvious command.
However, the elders took it differently.
Preparing for an invasion also meant being ready to march into the Central Plains at any time.
She had finally made up her mind.
The elders realized the reason Baek Yeon-yeong had attended this meeting.
This, too, was a justification.
If the Martial Alliance truly attacked first, it was practically a declaration that she would immediately advance into the Central Plains.
Of course, the elders didn’t rule out the possibility that they had jumped to conclusions.
She might have simply been telling them to get ready in case the enemy attacked.
“And there’s one more important thing left.”
Gulp.
The elders swallowed nervously.
The Cult Leader’s intention would be made clear with these words.
Perhaps she would order a preemptive strike in this chaotic situation.
Or use deception to trap the Martial Alliance in a cunning scheme.
Any method would be acceptable.
If it was the Cult Leader’s command, they were ready to give their lives to carve a path into the Central Plains.
Just a small hint would be enough.
Just a glimpse of the Cult Leader’s resolve to invade the Martial Alliance.
But the words that followed were not what the elders expected.
“Does anyone know what food Seokcheok would like?”
Baek Yeon-yeong, who had been wearing a dignified expression, was now smiling softly.
As she gazed at her little pinky.
A small, round, red mark had bloomed there.
It looked almost like a ring. Staring at it, she murmured to herself.
“He’s grown so thin, I feel like I need to feed him something.”
The meeting ended, but the elders couldn’t easily leave their seats.
They couldn’t comprehend the Cult Leader’s words.
Surely there must be a deeper meaning they didn’t understand.
There’s no way she had really gathered them just because she was curious about what food a lizard liked.
It was possible for her to be attached to a pet lizard.
After all, various spiritual creatures lived within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
But for the lizard’s food to take priority over remnants of Taese or the Martial Alliance’s invasion?
Even if they conceded, considering the Cult Leader’s status and power, and regarded those issues as trivial.
Then naturally, the reason for attending the meeting would become asking about the lizard’s food.
That couldn’t be.
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Baek Yeon-yeong, would never do something like that.
“Seokcheok….”
The elders of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult kept murmuring that word.
Trying to decipher the meaning of the Cult Leader’s words.
Believing there must be another hidden meaning.