How the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult Lives Chapter 130 : Decision

Chapter 130: Decision

At Zhuge Hoon’s cry of shock, Zhuge Wuliang approached his side and nodded.

“That’s correct. It is the Enemy Pellet we once called The Truth of the Buddha Ghost.”

“M-My heavens!”

Zhuge Hoon had no choice but to be astonished.

The Enemy Pellet was the most vicious way of using Demonic Art.

The reason the Enemy Pellet had been created was due to the Demonic Path’s attempt to overco the shortcomings of Demonic Art.

At the very least, they could not allow the birth of soone who couldn’t even kill a single ant.

So the thod they chose was to extract a soul from the very bottom of the underworld, from the worst hell imaginable.

To do that, what was required were the most primal desires of humans.

Only when Demonic Art was ford by gathering the energy emitted from those desires did the Enemy Pellet finally open.

If one consud this Enemy Pellet and achieved Spirit Possession, then one hundred out of one hundred tis, a murderous ghost driven mad by slaughter karma would descend.

Just as the Buddha Ghost had been born three hundred years ago.

In other words, the knowledge obtained while resolving the Rebellion of the Buddha Ghost three hundred years ago had created the very scene now unfolding before Zhuge Hoon’s eyes.

That was why Zhuge Hoon was so shocked. And to him, Zhuge Wuliang said,

“Was it not a brilliant choice? Tell , is there any place where people’s primal desires erupt more fiercely than the fad pleasure quarters of Suzhou, known as the Fragrant Haven of the World? After seeing this place, I realized that the title Thousand-Year Prodigy was hardly excessive for Brother Giyeon.”

“Is this the ti to admire that? If that is used, murderous ghosts will run rampant everywhere. And you are not worried about that?”

“Have you forgotten? The conversation we once shared in the past.”

“The past… could it be the White Enemy Pellet?”

“Indeed. It is an Enemy Pellet, yet one through which the possessed spirit can be controlled at will.”

“But that was only a theory—”

Zhuge Hoon’s voice trailed off there.

As he followed Zhuge Wuliang’s gaze, who had turned at his own words, he belatedly realized there was another person present.

“W-Who are you?”

“Do you not recognize him? It is Chan-young, Brother Hoon’s own younger brother.”

Zhuge Chan-young, Zhuge Hoon’s biological younger brother, had left the clan ten years ago at the age of fifteen, and all contact had been lost.

Though a direct descendant of the clan head, Zhuge Chan-young had neither exceptional martial talent nor remarkable intellect. Unable to endure the cold stares of the clan mbers, he had run away from ho.

After that, news of him had completely ceased, and Zhuge Hoon had long believed him dead.

At Zhuge Wuliang’s claim that this man was his younger brother, Zhuge Hoon examined him closely. There did seem to be faint traces of the boy Chan-young had once been.

No matter how much ti had passed, the reason Zhuge Hoon had failed to recognize his own brother at once was because the man’s face looked unnatural, as though he were wearing a human-skin mask.

Perhaps noticing Zhuge Hoon’s unease, Zhuge Wuliang added an explanation.

“It is because he consud the White Enemy Pellet.”

At Zhuge Wuliang’s words, Zhuge Hoon’s eyes widened.

Turning his gaze away from him, Zhuge Wuliang looked at the man referred to as Zhuge Chan-young and said,

“Enough playing around. Awaken.”

The mont Zhuge Wuliang finished speaking, Zhuge Chan-young—who had stood with his eyes closed like a corpse all this ti—opened them.

“Kekeke. So that’s him? The one who claims to be the elder brother of this wretched body.”

The voice that flowed out was a mixture of the Chan-young Zhuge Hoon rembered and a murky, low tone.

Seeing Zhuge Hoon startled by it, Zhuge Wuliang explained again,

“It is due to Spirit Possession. The voice, the face—Chan-young’s and that of the one who descended have rged, thus resulting in this.”

“M-My heavens. How could Chan-young—!”

“It seems Brother Giyeon never stopped searching for Chan-young. After long effort, he found him, but by then it was too late. He had already suffered wounds beyond recovery.”

Now that he heard it, Zhuge Hoon saw the long scar left across Chan-young’s exposed chest.

The thickness of the scar alone told how deep the wound must have been.

Watching Zhuge Hoon’s face grow heavy, Zhuge Wuliang continued,

“They say that even in a state facing death, Chan-young made a wish. He wanted to live as a strong man. If there was a way, he begged to be made so. Even if it was after his death, he asked that soone at least lie and say that he had lived that way.”

“Then…?”

“Brother Giyeon said that this was the only way he could grant Chan-young’s wish. It just so happened that the first White Enemy Pellet had been completed.”

“When was that?”

At Zhuge Hoon’s subdued question, Zhuge Wuliang answered,

“A year ago, as I understand it. That was also when I first learned of this matter.”

At that reply, Zhuge Hoon asked,

“And the result?”

“It succeeded. The soul of the Slaughter Demon Gireon descended, yet not a single person has been killed to this day.”

“G-Gireon Slaughter Demon!”

It was a na that would shock anyone.

For he was listed among the Ten Great Murderous Ghosts of all ti.

His level was at the Supre Peak.

His strength was undoubtedly exceptional, but not to the extent that it alone would warrant inclusion among the Ten Great Murderous Ghosts.

Yet the reason the na Slaughter Demon Gireon was listed among them was his cruelty.

He killed without distinction—man or woman, young or old, whether they knew martial arts or not.

There was no reason.

If the day was clear, he killed because it was clear. If it was cloudy, he killed because it was cloudy. If he felt bad, he killed because he felt bad. If he felt good, he killed because he felt good.

At any ti. Anyone.

It was said that the number of those slain by Slaughter Demon Gireon’s hand had surpassed ten thousand.

At the revelation that such a man’s soul had descended, Zhuge Hoon was stunned.

And at him, Zhuge Chan-young—no, Slaughter Demon Gireon—let out a low laugh.

“Khuhuhu. This body is sowhat famous, you know. Kuhahaha.”

At Slaughter Demon Gireon’s grotesque laughter, Zhuge Hoon stared at him with pale eyes. Zhuge Wuliang spoke to him.

“Perhaps the reason I was suddenly summoned was to explain this to you, Brother. Now then, what will you do?”

“Was this ever a matter in which I had a choice?”

“In this world, is there anything without choice? The real question is whether one has the confidence to bear responsibility for the consequences of that choice.”

“If I refuse, what happens?”

“Please do not do that. I prefer you, Brother Hoon, more than my own elder brother Giyeon. Do not force to hold the power of life and death over you. I beg you.”

In short, refusal ant death.

The thought that imdiately surfaced was, ‘How?’

Just as Zhuge Giyeon had been, Zhuge Wuliang was utterly hopeless in martial arts. The two brothers had built their reputation through intellect.

In contrast, Zhuge Hoon himself was already a Supre Peak martial artist.

Among the experts possessed by the Zhuge Clan, his strength ranked within the top three.

Though he had not yet been listed among the Hundred Great Masters of the Jianghu due to limited activity, he had already earned the nickna Little Dagger Hero.

Naturally, Zhuge Wuliang could not deal with Zhuge Hoon. If such a man dared to utter such words, then—

“You don’t an!”

Zhuge Hoon’s startled gaze landed upon Slaughter Demon Gireon, who was leaking killing intent.

Possessed by a spirit or not, they were threatening to use his own younger brother to kill him.

Though they were both at the Supre Peak, Spirit Possession always drew out power beyond that of the original body.

He would surely be able to contend even against one at the Transcendent Realm.

That ant Zhuge Hoon was in danger.

As Zhuge Hoon stood there in stunned despair, Zhuge Wuliang spoke.

“Please, do not make it co to that. I beg you.”

He clasped his hands together in supplication. Zhuge Hoon stared at him for a long mont before asking,

“What are the chances of success?”

“See for yourself. As you have already witnessed, the Enemy Pellets are complete. All that remains is to turn them into White Enemy Pellets.”

“For the White Enemy Pellet… the righteous spirit of a chivalrous warrior is required.”

“I know. A soul that burns with a heart of chivalry.”

“No such person would simply offer up their soul. Even if one existed, where would you find them?”

Zhuge Hoon stared deeply into Zhuge Wuliang’s silent eyes for a long while. Then his own eyes widened.

“Don’t tell !”

“Indeed. That is why Brother Giyeon finally revealed the truth to the elder brother you trusted and relied on more than even your own younger brother.”

“You’re insane! Are you saying we feed those to the hundred prodigies the clan is currently raising?”

“There are exactly fifty Enemy Pellets. Feed them fifty souls to create White Enemy Pellets, and give the remaining fifty to form possessed bodies. Is that not the perfect number?”

Only now did Zhuge Hoon understand why Zhuge Giyeon had proposed that the number of prodigies to be invested in the clan’s restoration plan be set at one hundred.

The entire plan had already been in his mind.

Co to think of it, he had insisted that at least half be chosen not for skill, but for their sense of chivalry. That, too, had been for this very purpose.

When the Clan Head had asked why such a thing was necessary, Zhuge Giyeon had replied at the ti, “So that they do not betray the clan after gaining strength.”

But that had not been his true intention.

He had simply needed prey with strong chivalrous hearts.

And they were to be none other than the Zhuge Clan’s own younger generation talents.

“Madman…!”

As Zhuge Hoon spat out the words once more, Zhuge Wuliang asked,

“So, Brother, do you oppose it?”

Seeing the face of Zhuge Chan-young—no, Slaughter Demon Gireon—who looked as though he desperately wanted him to say he opposed it, Zhuge Hoon hesitated briefly before nodding.

“Damn it! There’s no helping it. I cannot stab Brother Giyeon in the back—the one I trust even more than my own elder brother.”

At Zhuge Hoon’s answer, a smile curled upon Zhuge Wuliang’s lips.

Though Great Master Jeongbeop had led them into Suzhou, once inside the city, Monk Ilyeon took the lead again.

It was his task to trace the vestiges left behind by souls.

As they moved, Monk Ilyeon suddenly halted and wore an awkward expression once more.

In his line of sight stretched a long row of pleasure houses.

The trail had led into Suzhou’s fad entertainnt district.

“If that place is hell, then if I do not go, who will? Surely I need not quote the Buddha’s words to you,” Great Master Jeongbeop said, as if reproaching him for stopping.

Monk Ilyeon shook his head.

“That is not incorrect… but is it truly the right choice? Even now, many eyes are watching us. To enter there—while wearing monk’s robes and Daoist attire?”

Only then did Great Master Jeongbeop realize the reason for Monk Ilyeon’s hesitation, and he let out an awkward murmur.

“Amitabha…”

Indeed, if monks and Daoists entered the pleasure district, rumors would spread like wildfire.

For Room 32, who needed to avoid public attention, this was the very situation they had to avoid.

“Are you certain the trail connects there?”

At Daoist Chamyeong’s question, Monk Ilyeon nodded.

“I am certain. However, whether the trace began from the Ghost Sect Massacre, or from another spiritual vestige, is unclear.”

“The spiritual vestiges you can track ultimately belong to a Murderous Ghost. The only recent massacre was the Ghost Sect Massacre, so it must be related. Is that not so?”

If a Murderous Ghost had manifested, it would not have remained quiet. Thus, if it was truly a Murderous Ghost’s trace, it was highly likely connected to the recent Ghost Sect Massacre.

After confirming Monk Ilyeon’s nod, Daoist Chamyeong spoke.

“If attire is the issue, we can simply change. Let us hurry.”

At his words, the group withdrew for the mont. They needed to procure new clothing.

Right after the mbers of Room 32 retreated, Zhuge Hoon and Zhuge Wuliang revealed themselves, both wearing troubled expressions.

“Those are the people from Room 32 you belong to?”

At Zhuge Hoon’s question, Zhuge Wuliang nodded.

“Correct. It seems they followed the spiritual vestige. This is troubleso.”

“Can we divert their attention?”

“They are not people who handle matters carelessly.”

“Then what do we do?”

At Zhuge Hoon’s question, Zhuge Wuliang pondered briefly before turning his head.

There stood Slaughter Demon Gireon in the guise of Zhuge Chan-young.

Zhuge Hoon could guess what Zhuge Wuliang was thinking.

He intended to throw Slaughter Demon Gireon out as a sacrificial offering.

If that happened, even in death, the na Zhuge Chan-young would be cast into the gutter.

For what Slaughter Demon Gireon would do before being sacrificed was obvious.

Realizing this, Zhuge Hoon hurriedly stepped forward.

“Wait!”