“……you have gone far beyond being disrespectful.”, the Crazy Heavenly Demon suddenly interjected as he staggered to get up.
Kumiho sighed and apologized once more with another bow to the Crazy Heavenly Demon. Even though she had bowed to both Lee Sungmin, Heoju and the Crazy Heavenly Demon, the three of them continued to glare at her angrily.
Although he had been caught by surprise, Kumiho’s strength was beyond Lee Sungmin’s imagination. Lee Sungmin felt that even if he fought with all his might, he would not survive if she seriously wanted to kill him.
Her strength, from what she had shown, was comparable to Geniella’s, the Vampire Queen in Travia.
“I’m sorry I misunderstood. I thought that of course, Heoju would be after your body.”
[Sometime long ago I did, but it’s not the case anymore.], Heoju grumbled. [His body and soul are incredibly eerie. I don’t want to get killed by messing with it.]
Heoju spoke truthfully, as he knew Lee Sungmin was someone incredibly special and not someone that a monster should even think of possessing.
“……if you’re worried about that…….”, Kumiho spoke quietly in a suggestive tone.
[I said I don’t need it.], Heoju cut her off abruptly as he didn’t want to listen to her bullshit any longer.
Kumiho’s shoulders flinched at his cold remark. She finally understood that Heoju was not going to possess Lee Sungmin, as he had rejected her firmly multiple times at this point.
‘Is it affection maybe?’ , Kumiho suddenly thought, as she couldn’t come up with a reason why Heoju would adamantly refuse possessing Lee Sungmin’s body.
Kumiho furrowed her brows. She couldn’t be sure of it, but if it was true, then it was something completely unheard of.
The Heoju that Kumiho remembered, was known to have zero affection for humans, was utterly ruthless in slaughtering them, and amassed fear.
“I… I wanted to help you because I thought you wanted to see me.”, Kumiho stuttered.
[You’ve done something unnecessary. Thanks to you, I’m in a total bind.], Heoju grumbled in discontent.
“……sorry.”, Kumiho muttered sheepishly.
[Whatever. It was out of respect for me, after all. Why are you acting so shut up though?], Heoju spoke arrogantly to Kumiho’s suddenly meek behavior.
Heoju then turned to Lee Sungmin and spat out at him, [Didn’t you come here to ask Kumiho some things?]
Lee Sungmin collected his thoughts quickly and calmed his emotional state. He was embarrassed and angry at the sudden situation that Kumiho had forced on him.
But Lee Sungmin was well aware that if he acted according to his feelings, he would do things terribly wrong. Lee Sungmin nodded after taking a deep breath.
“A few years ago. Kumiho, you might not remember, but you saved a tribe from a crisis that nearly wiped them out. Do you remember the incident?”, Lee Sungmin asked in a cool manner.
“Of course I remember.”, Kumiho replied to Sungmin with a respectful tone once again.
“I came down South to meet that tribe recently. I wanted to ask if we can meet the tribesman you rescued and took with you. And the other thing I wanted to ask related to that tribe, was if you knew the identity of the fire-breathing monster that attacked them.”
At Lee Sungmin’s words, Kumiho was silent for a moment. After a while, Kumiho smiled and opened her mouth.
“Do you want a method to balance the forces with the technique they practiced?”
“If possible.”, Lee Sungmin didn’t hide his true intention with it.
“You’re a weirdo, I can see that. Frau told me about you. About the strong destiny that is intertwined with you. You’re standing in the middle of a monster and a human being. Your body was so mixed with the power of the yokai, that your eye is golden and you’re almost a complete halfling. But yet, your humanity has somehow not collapsed.”, Kumiho looked up to the flame of Heoju swaying in the air, saying so.
“A tribe that deals with forces of the yokai. They were worshippers of the dead Heoju that they praised as their god. Their hundreds of years of worship have allowed them to delve into the remnants of Heoju’s fear, and use it for their own techniques. But their ability to handle the technique itself was so weak, it wasn’t enough for them to maintain their humanity.”, she spoke in a matter-of-factly tone.
“……are there any side effects?”, Lee Sungmin asked.
“As I said, the tribesmen were able to wield the yokai power because they managed to receive it after hundreds of years of worship. They used that power as a breathing technique, and they lumped that force together with their personal techniques forming a new technique that was unstable. Those who worshipped the power and used it on it’s own without trying to tamper with it were relatively safe, but the others who did not and mixed the techniques, suffered from madness.”
“…well shit.”, the Crazy Heavenly Demon groaned.
He realized what caused his madness through the past 10 years, going on berserk killing sprees. Kumiho stayed silent as she turned to Lee Sungmin.
“Frau said that it’s impossible for humans to handle the yokai powers on their own though.”
Lee Sungmin spoke as he realized that even without the tribesman mixing their own techniques with the yokai powers, they could still not handle it.
“If you’re a pure human being, yes, that would be that case. But you’re not a pure human being. As long as you don’t revert to being completely human again or become a complete monster, you won’t lose your humanity even if you use the yokai powers, meaning you can utilize them in your current state as long as you keep using the correct method.”, answered Kumiho.
It was true that Lee Sungmin felt a little relieved at the words, but he could not express his feelings because he could not fully believe Kumiho’s words and decided to only take them at face value.
“And as for your other question, the identity of the fire-breathing monster that attacked the tribe. It was Chusung.”, Kumiho continued.
When the Crazy Heavenly Demon heard the name Chusung, his eyes widened and glistened with murderous intent. Kumiho tilted her head and looked at the Crazy Heavenly Demon as she felt the sudden murderous intent.
“Where is Chusung right now?”, Lee Sungmin quickly asked.
“Why are you looking for him?”, Kumiho asked as she narrowed her eyes.
“Revenge.”
This time it was the Crazy Heavenly Demon who answered her.
Kumiho looked at the Crazy Heavenly Demon with an amused expression and spoke, “You’re a brilliant warrior, but it’s going to be hard to kill Chusung, even for you. Humans and monster’s strength are difficult to compare, and Chusung has been a monster that has lived for many years accumulating his power.”
“It’s none of your business.”, the Crazy Heavenly Demon replied coldly to her.
“Chusung left this city a while ago.”, Kumiho replied with a smirk.
“When I met Chusung back in the village of the tribe. I chased him down and tried to kill Chusung in this city. I …wanted to protect the town where I could feel the remnants of Heoju’s power. Because of that, Chusung became aware I was chasing him and fled as soon as he heard of it.”, Kumiho spoke as she looked to the ceiling with a smile of nostalgia.
“Chusung left the City of Endless Night?”, Byuk Won-Pae questioned her.
“Yes, I don’t know where Chusung is right now. If he comes back here, I’ll kill him myself.”
Kumiho responded with a devilish grin, clearly trying to incite a reaction out of the Crazy Heavenly Demon.
Byuk Won-Pae’s face contorted at her words and shook his clenched fists. He thought he would meet Chusung if he came here to the City of Endless Night, where several monsters reside.
But, Chusung had already left the City of Endless Night. Lee Sungmin had found the answers he was looking for in terms of dealing with the powers of Heoju, but the Crazy Heavenly Demon wasn’t as fortunate.
“Well then.”, Kumiho spoke as she raised herself up.
“As you requested, I will let you meet the survivors of the tribe. It’s a good time to do so.”, she continued.
“What do you mean ‘good time to do so’?”, Lee Sungmin asked confusedly at her cryptic words.
“In the next few days, I will have to leave from here.”, Kumiho responded with a serene expression, retaining her dignified look from earlier.
“There are many restrictions because of the training I am currently undergoing. So I have to leave periodically every now and then to go back to the mountains I’ve been training in.”
“Restrictions? No way, are you training at the Mountain of Mush?”, Lee Sungmin widened his eyes in disbelief.
“Ah ha ha… I know about the Mountain of Mush, but it is not the Mountain of Mush that I am training at, the mountains I’m training in are not that far away from here.”, Kumiho turned around saying so.
“I would actually like to invite you to come with me if you have the time to train with me but, I should show you where the other tribesmen are first.”, she said and signaled Lee Sungmin and his party to follow.
Standing in the middle of the garden, Kumiho raised her right hand and drew a letter in the air with her index finger.
Then the space trembled and cracked. As they walked into the portal of space, Lee Sungmin could see a large, oriental-styled mansion built in a spacious forest.
“There are plenty of enemies of mine that try to look for me. Thus, I usually live here in solitude.”, Kumiho explained to Lee Sungmin and his party.
There were signs of activity all over the forest. Lee Sungmin stroked his spear reflexively, feeling the keen gazes looking at him from all over.
Kumiho raised her hand as if to signal the gazes to stop.
“They’re not hostile people. Please show yourselves.”, Kumiho spoke out, looking at the blank forestry.
The nearby bushes shook and a young man with a healthy appearance walked out. Starting with him, more and more people who had been hiding could be seen.
Men and women of varied and mixed ages walked out to greet them. The moment Lee Sungmin saw them, he felt an inexplicable feeling of similarity to them.
[It’s because of my powers.], Heoju murmured, sensing Lee Sungmin’s thoughts.
“Who are you?”, the first young man to walk out, spoke.
The survivors in the village were also feeling an intangible feeling of similarity to Lee Sungmin, and they were wary of such impulsive feelings. As Lee Sungmin saw them looking at him with wary gazes, he wondered how to explain the circumstances.
[No need to say anything.], Heoju spoke to him in a reassuring tone and materialized into the flame form of his spirit he had taken on earlier in front of Kumiho.
The survivors who saw the flame, immediately widened their eyes in shock and recognized Heoju’s presence. Indeed there was no need for talk, as they knew that flame as the god they had worshipped for hundreds of years.
They immediately knelt down in their spots and bowed their heads in reverence to Heoju’s flame.
“Oh my God!”, one of the villagers amongst the kneeling crowd cried out in shock.
Since Heoju seemingly materialized out of Lee Sungmin’s body, they thought Lee Sungmin was the new advent of the god they worshipped.
Heoju gave a smug laugh as if such a reaction were natural, and Lee Sungmin frowned at Heoju in embarrassment.
—
Since meeting the villagers a while back with Kumiho, Lee Sungmin, the Crazy Heavenly Demon and Rubia had been living in the forest.
The villagers were not leaving the forest, and Lee Sungmin had some things to learn from them. The villagers were surprised to learn that Lee Sungmin would still not balance the power of Heoju out.
“You can’t use your divine power?”, asked Abrom, with a puzzled look.
Abrom was the first man that Lee Sungmin had seen when meeting the villagers a few days ago.
Lee Sungmin had already told them not to call him the advent several times repeatedly, but the villagers, including Abrom, were calling Lee Sungmin as however they wanted, even though they said they would respect him.
‘What kind of nerve is that?….’ , Lee Sungmin was irritated with the unconditional awe and veneration in their eyes and manner of speech.
[ Pft… Have you still not realized that this old man is a God to those humans?], Heoju mocked Lee Sungmin in a prideful tone of voice.
Lee Sungmin just nodded his head, dropping the words in one ear and out the other.
“How to then…”, Abrom stroked his chin and was lost in thought.
Their technique of handling the power of Heoju was called ‘the godly breathing technique’, but it was just a pointless name and seemingly normal breathing method used in meditation.
The Crazy Heavenly Demon had mastered it, too, but he could not instruct Lee Sungmin, as he had taken an Oath when he first learnt it, not to pass it on to any other person and would lose his cultivation if he broke the Oath.
“I’ll have to write a book.”, Abrom replied, nodding his head with a determined expression.
—-
Two days had passed since then, without receiving the book from Abrom.
Suddenly, Kumiho came.
“As I said last time. I have to leave you for a while, so I’m just here to say goodbye for a bit.”, she spoke to Lee Sungmin.
“How long will you be gone?”, Lee Sungmin asked her.
“I’ll be gone for about 15 days or so.”, she replied expressionlessly.
Usually, it takes 2000 years for a demon fox to grow none-tails fully.
In the case of Kumiho, the time was shortened to 500 years. Lee Sungmin conjectured there must have been some kind of outside influence to expedite her growth.
Lee Sungmin still knew nothing about her.
“I left the portal open. You can leave this forest whenever you want, but if possible……I hope to see you again when I get back.”, Kumiho blushed slightly.
Lee Sungmin was feeling that the target of Kumiho’s words and facial expression was not himself, but rather Heoju.
[If I could, I would like to as well.], Heoju replied with a sullen voice.
“……perhaps, even if you don’t remember, I was indebted to you. That’s why I became a monster to attain the strength to repay you, but…… I couldn’t stop you from destroying yourself. I wanted to show you that I still cared about my debt to you, and protected these people in your stead.”, Kumiho spoke to Heoju, her cheeks flushing bright red in embarrassment.
[I do not remember such a debt, nor have I asked you to do this, so I do not feel grateful. But I’ll acknowledge that you protected these people in respect of me.], Heoju replied.
Lee Sungmin, who was listening quietly, felt Heoju’s attitude was very arrogant, but Kumiho looked thrilled when she heard it. ( T/N : LOL Heoju’s a yandere confirmed and Kumiho is a fangirl masochist PAHAHAHAH)
Kumiho answered in a quivering voice, with her head bowed, “……thank you.”
With her heartfelt gratitude, Kumiho left the forest.
—
Soon, another two days passed until Abrom came back to Lee Sungmin.
“Here you are.”, Abrom spoke with a cheerful expression handing Lee Sungmin a thin book.
After receiving the book, Lee Sungmin couldn’t understand and had no choice but to ask.
“It’s not that thick. Why did it take four days?”, he asked.
“That’s…because only few of us know how to write.”, Abrom replied in a dejected manner looking at the ground in embarrassment.
“You could have asked me.”, Lee Sungmin replied, tilting his head.
“How can I ask the advent for such a favor?”, Abrom trembled with a look of deep regret and fear.
“Then just ask others…… there’s an old man I came with who is literate.”, Lee Sungmin replied casually trying to diffuse Abrom’s extreme reactions.
“This is our tribute to the advent. How can I get help from foreigners of the tribe?”, Abrom replied still with a look of unwavering faith, fear and respect.
Feeling as if he had spent four days in vain, Lee Sungmin sighed at the rather uncomfortable circumstances.