How the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult Lives Chapter 92 : A Different Apology, the Same Reason

Chapter 92: A Different Apology, the Sa Reason

At first, it had been sothing done rely out of repaynt, but when additional food was distributed to them, the situation entered an entirely different phase.

From the Bright Cult’s perspective, it was only natural.

Whether they were martial artists or scholars, once they beca mbers of the Bright Cult’s main stronghold, they were the sa. Accordingly, they were supplied with the sa amount of food that the Bright Cult’s martial artists had been receiving.

The scholars, of course, shared that food with their families. Since it was one person’s share divided among several mouths, it was hardly abundant, but it was still true that they were eating better than others.

Children who had been wasting away began to put on flesh.

Those who saw this each began to wish to devote themselves to the Bright Cult.

As a result, scholars and literati overflowed in number, and craftsn as well were being expanded on a massive scale.

The Bright Cult, which had previously been patched up crudely by martial artists even when things broke or collapsed, changed noticeably once it passed through the hands of skilled craftsn.

Naturally, food was being distributed to them as well.

That was the reason the population of the Bright Cult’s main stronghold was swelling by the day.

In the midst of all that, the Vice Cult Leader returned.

“So many people have increased.”

At Yul Han’s remark, Cold Blade Blood, who had returned along with the rice transport unit, continued with an explanation.

After hearing the circumstances from him, Yul Han could only nod.

He himself had encountered, all too easily, the sight of people suffering from the great famine outside.

That was why.

He had been unable to bring himself to drive them away and had allowed quite a few to accompany him.

Looking at those companions, Cold Blade Blood asked the Vice Cult Leader,

“But who are they?”

As Cold Blade Blood looked at the people who had followed in—loaded with belongings on carts, in baskets, in packs, and in bundles—Yul Han replied,

“They are people from Jade Forest Stronghold.”

“Jade Forest Stronghold… you an bandits!”

At the raised voice, the Jade Forest Stronghold bandits, who had been about to scowl as if wondering who dared to call them bandits, quickly let their expressions wilt.

That was because they had realized that the one speaking of bandits was Cold Blade Blood, one of the Bright Cult’s Thirteen Bloods.

Watching those bandits lower their tails with a startled gaze, Cold Blade Blood heard Yul Han answer with a bitter smile,

“Yes. Sohow, we ended up coming together.”

That was right.

The Jade Forest Stronghold bandits had followed all the way to the Bright Cult.

There was only one reason.

They had been frightened by Yul Han’s words that the force behind the bloodshed still remained.

The sense of crisis—that the ones who could make even the dead move might target them again—shook Jade Forest Stronghold to its core.

Perhaps because of that, they had brought along even the remaining family mbers from their mountain stronghold on Jade Forest Mountain and followed Yul Han.

Yul Han could not bring himself to drive them away.

Even if they were bandits and their families, there were many children whose bellies were bloated from hunger and elderly with hollow eyes, having gone a long ti without proper food.

They were starving.

Why would a large mountain stronghold, one that counted among the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds, be starving?

The great famine did not spare bandits either.

Among the goods they plundered from rchant caravans, the proportion of food had dropped sharply.

The rate at which they could buy rice with valuables dwindled as well. Not only were prices high, but it was increasingly common that even with money, rice could not be bought.

Naturally, they had no choice but to starve in proportion to what was lacking.

Even as the lives of the common people were being so thoroughly devastated, rchants and those in power did not release relief grain.

They did not even take asures to sell in bulk the rice filling their granaries.

This was so even though the grain they had stockpiled over several years before the bad harvest was overflowing to the point of rotting away.

They refused to release it because prices had skyrocketed beyond all bounds.

Maintaining those high prices yielded far greater profit than releasing large quantities of grain and lowering them.

The perception spread that releasing rice was a loss.

As long as their own wealth continued to grow, the fact that soone else was dying held not even the slightest value for them.

That was the kind of world it was.

A world where even bandits went hungry.

Thus, the Jade Forest Stronghold bandits and their families who followed Yul Han were fortunately not driven out.

Though so were displeased because they had co with the Vice Cult Leader, they could not expel them.

The Cult Leader, the elders, and the martial artists all watched the Vice Cult Leader’s expression carefully.

Thanks to that, the Jade Forest Stronghold bandits and their families, who were able to settle in the Bright Cult, received a proper al for the first ti in a long while.

There were only a few simple side dishes and a single bowl of rice piled high, but many burst into tears upon seeing it set before them.

Even the Stronghold Lord could not rember the last ti he had truly seen a bowl of rice.

It had been over a year of barely surviving by throwing whatever food they obtained into a pot to make thin gruel.

That was why people had recently been saying that the mountains were stripped bare of trees and that there were no edible roots left.

People had been peeling bark from trees and digging up grass to boil into gruel.

Everyone had been struggling with all their might just to avoid starving to death.

It was not a one-ti thing.

Every ti the Bright Cult ate, they were given food as well.

Seeing that repetition, Gu Tae, Dok Yang, and Dan Yang sent people to bring even the mbers of their own mountain Strongholds into the Bright Cult.

Once again, Yul Han could not turn away those who knelt and begged.

That was why the Bright Cult beca crowded with Green Forest bandits and their families.

To help them, many instructors from the Guardian Division were also active within the main stronghold.

Lately, the number of instructors had been steadily increasing.

That was because more and more people who had been deeply moved were receiving education from the Guardian Division and becoming instructors.

Watching this with displeasure, Iron Demon grumbled,

“It’s the end tis. The end tis. To think our Bright Cult would be crawling with people.”

At Iron Demon’s grumbling, Ghost Demon let out a small chuckle.

“Yeah, it is the end tis… but isn’t it not so bad?”

“What?”

“Doesn’t it feel like people are actually living? Before, sohow, it felt bleak and gloomy.”

At Ghost Demon’s reply, Iron Demon stared at him in disbelief.

Among the Five Demons, the most inscrutable was Profound Demon, but the most bleak had been Ghost Demon.

That was only natural, since he practiced martial arts that used ghostly energy.

And yet—

“I never thought I’d hear sothing like that from you.”

“Because I use ghostly energy, that’s exactly why I miss people more. No one tries to co near .”

As Ghost Demon spoke, a young girl suddenly ran up to his side.

“This…”

In the girl’s outstretched hand was a piece of fruit pastry.

Judging by its crude shape made from jujubes distributed as rations, it looked like sothing made at ho.

As I looked in surprise, I saw a woman standing so distance away, smiling awkwardly.

Her clothing suggested she was one of the families of the bandits who had been increasing in number lately.

But Ghost Demon’s gaze as he looked at her was gentle. Soon lowering his eyes to the little girl, Ghost Demon accepted the pastry.

“Goodness, our Yeon… thank you.”

The young girl smiled faintly at Ghost Demon and ran back to her mother. The woman embraced her daughter, bowed deeply to Ghost Demon, and then turned away.

Iron Demon, who had been watching the scene closely, asked,

“What was that about?”

“What do you an?”

“Looks like you know them.”

“It’s nothing.”

“What do you an, nothing?”

Judging by Iron Demon’s stubborn expression, he clearly intended to keep pestering him until he got an answer, so Ghost Demon reluctantly replied,

“The child was sick, but they couldn’t get help from the dical Hall, so I just took a look.”

There were many more people now, but the number of physicians was insufficient. Having grasped the situation, Iron Demon nodded and asked,

“But you don’t know dicine.”

“Poison Demon returned together with the Vice Cult Leader.”

In short, it ant he had brought Poison Demon to treat her.

At those words, Iron Demon’s eyes narrowed at once.

“You didn’t, by any chance…?”

At Iron Demon’s question, Ghost Demon hurriedly started walking away.

“Don’t say nonsense. Unless you want to die.”

Iron Demon hastily followed the preemptive Ghost Demon and asked,

“You bastard, you…”

“Tsk. I told you to be quiet!”

Seeing Ghost Demon’s obvious fluster, Iron Demon burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha! So the ghost-possessed one finally t his match. Hahaha!”

Iron Demon’s booming laughter was soon swallowed up by the bustling noise and frantic activity of the Bright Cult’s main stronghold.

Amid that sea of people, the Bright Cult’s instructors moved busily about.

There were quite a few instructors who staggered from not having eaten properly, but none of them stopped moving.

Because they knew that the more they suffered, the more comfortable the believers would beco.

From the highest level of the main stronghold, the Vice Cult Leader watched that scene quietly, then for the first ti since his return, headed toward the Cult Leader’s residence.

The Cult Leader asked at the words suddenly thrown at him by Yul Han, who had returned yet never once shown his face,

“You want to give out more rice?”

“Yes. Please increase the amount of food going to the Guardian Division.”

“Since it’s what you brought in, I suppose I should give it if you ask, but…”

At the Cult Leader’s words, Yul Han shook his head.

“How could you say that? That I brought it in? It’s thanks to the Cult Leader’s permission, and the result of the elders’ and the martial artists under the elders’ chambers’ efforts.”

“Your words are sweet, but the result is the sa. If it weren’t for you, none of this would have happened.”

“……”

Watching the silent Yul Han, the Cult Leader continued,

“I’m not saying this out of jealousy. So there’s no need to make that face.”

“I’m sorry, Cult Leader.”

“So how much more are you asking for?”

“About three tis the current amount…”

Perhaps because it was too much, Yul Han’s voice trailed off. The Cult Leader turned his gaze away from him and looked at the strategist who was present.

“Is it possible?”

“It is possible, but we would have to reduce the martial artists’ rations by the amount that would be diverted. The total food coming in from Golden Flower Manor is calibrated to what the existing martial artists consud over a year.”

At the strategist’s reply, the Cult Leader asked,

“How much would we need to cut?”

“Reducing it by one al should suffice.”

“Then do that. If they’re too full, it only gets in the way of training anyway. A lighter stomach is fine—more than enough.”

Knowing well that this was only being said because it was a request from his own senior brother, the strategist smiled bitterly and bowed his head.

“Yes. I will make the arrangents.”

The Cult Leader nodded at the strategist’s answer and asked Yul Han,

“Is that settled?”

“Yes. Thank you, Cult Leader.”

Yul Han bowed and turned to leave, but the Cult Leader’s voice stopped him.

“Han.”

At the call, Yul Han reluctantly halted and slowly turned back.

Sensing that sothing was amiss between the two, the strategist excused himself to handle matters, leaving only Yul Han and the Cult Leader in the residence.

Only then did the Cult Leader open his mouth.

“What happened out there?”

“Nothing… happened.”

“Even when our relationship wasn’t good, you and I never exchanged lies. I’ll ask again. What happened?”

At the Cult Leader’s question, Yul Han’s slowly lifted gaze wavered.

The Cult Leader’s face he now faced again rose vividly from his mories.

The Cult Leader’s face from when he had cut him down, from when he had cut down their master, from when he had cut down their senior and junior brothers.

He looked younger than now, and his eyes seed even more stubborn, but it was unmistakably the Cult Leader.

“Why… did you do it?”

At Yul Han’s question, the Cult Leader replied with a deeply subdued expression.

“So it was still that matter after all. I’ve already said this, but this senior brother thought that if only that child were gone, you would be free. Looking back now, it was foolish. I was wrong. This senior brother… was wrong.”

It was an apology for sothing else, yet Yul Han’s heart wavered.

In truth, it wasn’t the Cult Leader’s fault.

They had been the ones who rushed in trying to kill him.

If one were to assign bla, then since awakening in his current state, he himself—who had killed countless people who ca trying to kill him—would also have to be called a sinner.

“Haa…”

Knowing that, it was still difficult for him to look the Cult Leader straight in the face.

Because of that, Yul Han turned away with a sigh and said,

“I know it wasn’t senior brother’s fault.”

Leaving only those words behind, Yul Han exited the Cult Leader’s residence.

Left alone, the Cult Leader drew a sorrowful smile.

“At least he still calls senior brother again. That, at least, is sothing to be grateful for.”

Since his return, hearing him co once and consistently call him ‘Cult Leader’ had felt like a dagger piercing his heart.

When the strategist had asked whether he was a hidden child of his, his heart had skipped a beat. It wasn’t because he was truly his child, but because he regarded him as one.

Like his own child—like his other self.

That such a child was suffering because of his own mistake pained the Cult Leader deeply.

“Damn it! If only I could go back.”

The Cult Leader’s voice, steeped in regret, settled heavily throughout his residence.