Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 121

Baekji talked about what he had experienced at the Tang family and the Martial Alliance.

Yang Soryeong listened with great interest and then sighed.

"You really went through a lot. Just thinking about a Blood Demon is terrifying. Why would anyone want to become something like that?"

"The Blood Sect believes they can live forever. Imagine if the fake Ascetic Changseon had taken over Baek Yeon-do's body without anyone knowing. He would have gotten married again, become the White Mountain Sect Master... and when he got old, he would have taken over another brat's body."

"Ugh..."

Yang Soryeong, who had almost married the fake Ascetic Changseon, felt like she was going to vomit and patted her chest.

"What is that? It's a monster. Does the Blood Cult Leader want to create a world of monsters?"

"Who knows what's inside that madman's head."

The two ate snacks in the Songhwa Hall living room and played with Baekho.

Baekho had now shed his kitten-like appearance.

Even when Baekji called him, he arrogantly pretended not to notice.

"The expenses are high, but the income is low. I guess I lack business acumen."

Yang Soryeong sighed, saying that the merchant guild was in the red.

"It's no use telling me. I know even less."

"It's just that I have nowhere to talk about it. I'm the merchant guild master, after all... it's awkward to go and ask somewhere."

Baekji laughed.

"Didn't you say so, Master? That it's natural to say you don't know what you don't know. That it's wrong to pretend to know what you don't. What does it matter if the merchant guild master doesn't know? Go and ask."

"..."

"You said that trying to learn is what's important."

"That's right. I guess my greed got the better of me."

Yang Soryeong lightly tapped her own head and laughed.

"I need to rethink it from the beginning."

"Yes. Take your time. You're still young, Master."

"But I can't just keep failing."

"It's okay. Have you forgotten that I said I would make you rich?"

"I don't want to get rich thanks to my disciple. I'll become a rich master and give my disciple lots and lots of money."

Bangbang came in and announced, "A courtesan named Hongyan has come to see you."

"Alright. I'm coming."

Baekji left the Songhwa Hall and went to the empty hall.

"What is it? Ajok should have settled the Hongmeng Brothel's money."

Baekji had repaid the money he had borrowed from the Hongmeng Brothel.

"Have you forgotten? There's someone you were supposed to meet at the Hongmeng Brothel."

"Oh? He's here already? Wow, that's fast. He's called the Demonic Advisor, does he ride some kind of demonic horse?"

How far is it from Tianshan to here?

"You see how formidable our cult is, right? You should be careful. You can come to the Hongmeng Brothel this evening. But... I'd prefer it if you came alone."

"Alright. You think it'll be easier to catch me that way, right?"

"Yes."

Hongyan scurried out of the empty hall as if fleeing.

Other people had become cautious after learning that Baekji was an absolute master, but Hongyan was becoming more impudent by the day.

When evening came, Baekji headed to the Hongmeng Brothel.

The atmosphere of Joga-hyeon was quite different from when the White Mountain Sect was there.

Somehow, it was more vibrant, and there were more people coming and going.

The Hongmeng Brothel was no different from usual.

It was bustling with the laughter of men seeking alcohol and women, and courtesans trying to open their purses.

When Baekji entered, Hongyan came out to greet him.

"I will guide you to the fifth floor."

The fifth floor, where Baekji had brought his disciples and caused a ruckus, had been neatly repaired.

Hongyan guided him only to the front of the door and stood demurely. Her attitude was extremely polite.

"Please go in."

Baekji pushed the door and entered.

An old woman was sitting across the spacious room.

'Huh? Didn't she say he was a young brat?'

As he was bewildered, the old woman shot up and stared intently at Baekji.

She looked as if she was half out of her mind.

Her lips just trembled as if she was trying to speak but couldn't.

"What's wrong? Grandma? Are you sick somewhere?"

Finally, the old woman took a step forward and opened her mouth.

"Y-Young Lord! It really is you, Young Lord?"

'Young Lord?'

Baekji's heart sank. A premonition that the inevitable had come flashed through his mind.

"It's me, Wolseon. Don't you recognize this old woman? It's Wolseon, who served you when you were young, Young Lord."

"..."

"My goodness, how can this be... What on earth happened to you? Is rejuvenation really possible?"

Wolseon, in the middle of speaking, burst into tears.

"Sob. Not knowing this, I thought something had happened to the Young Lord... I was so worried... sob."

"..."

Baekji's mind went blank.

An old woman who suddenly called him Young Lord.

Was it a prank?

He looked at Wolseon's expression.

He could tell it wasn't a prank.

So I was the Demonic Cult's Young Lord!

Baekji's legs gave out.

He staggered and plopped down on a nearby chair.

He had suspected it, but he was flustered now that it was revealed to be true.

At that moment, the side door opened and a young man entered.

Is that brat the Demonic Advisor?

The sleek man in his late twenties holding a folding fan was exactly as he had imagined the Demonic Advisor to be after hearing Hongyan's words.

Even though it was the first time seeing him, he didn't feel unfamiliar.

Come to think of it, Tie Yantai and Jian Yi were also like that.

So I was the Young Lord.

The Demonic Cult's Young Lord.

"I greet the Young Lord."

The Demonic Advisor closed his fan and politely cupped his fists.

* * *

The Demonic Advisor spoke.

About a year ago, the Cult Leader's residence, the Divine Palace, was destroyed, and the Young Lord disappeared. The cult was in an uproar, but the commotion subsided when it became known that it was something that had happened while the Young Lord was training in a divine art.

The search for the Young Lord was conducted secretly, but there was no way to find any trace of him.

Three of the Four Divine Generals, excluding the Northern Divine General who had lost contact, went out to the Central Plains.

Still, there were no results, and then a meaningful inquiry came from Jian Yi.

"Jian Yi asked the Cult Leader if rejuvenation was really possible. And he said he wanted to know the efficacy and whereabouts of the miraculous elixir that the Divine Doctor of Life and Death was manufacturing."

The Demonic Advisor asked the Cult Leader and heard that it was possible. And he thoroughly searched the residence where the Divine Doctor of Life and Death had stayed and found a diary in a secret space.

And by matching the Young Lord's actions before his disappearance with the circumstances, he found out one fact.

"The miraculous elixir needed for the Cult Leader to ascend to the Heavenly Throne... it seems you ate it."

'I stole and ate the Cult Leader's miraculous medicine? I knew it. I guess I've always been one to eat any miraculous medicine I could get my hands on.'

The Demonic Advisor asked Jian Yi the intention of his inquiry, and Jian Yi sent a reply saying that he had met an absolute master who looked exactly like the Young Lord. He added a lengthy explanation of the reasons for his logical reasoning and said that he was chasing the Divine Doctor of Life and Death with Hogeukryeong.

'That old scholar, I felt uneasy about him for some reason. That brat, in the end...'

He regretted not having beaten him more at that time.

The Demonic Advisor, based on a few clues, hypothesized that the Young Lord had undergone rejuvenation and had suffered from cultivation deviation in the process, losing his memory.

'Yes, you are very smart.'

The Demonic Advisor looked for a way to prove his hypothesis and thought of Wolseon, who had served the Young Lord when he was young. Even if he underwent rejuvenation, he wouldn't become a different person... someone who knew his face would be the most accurate.

"Knowing that the Young Lord was in the Martial Alliance, I was on my way to the Central Plains in a hurry. In case his identity was revealed, I didn't know what those brats would do."

Then he received the message sent by Hongyan and immediately turned towards Sichuan.

'So that's why you came so quickly. In the end, I was the one who called you?'

* * *

"Are you guys colluding... to deceive me?"

"Of course not. Young Lord... do you really not know me?"

Wolseon wiped her tears and touched Baekji's face.

"Stop, I understand how you feel, but stop touching me. Even if you're a grandmother, an unrelated woman shouldn't just touch a man's face."

"It's me, Wolseon! When the Young Lord was injured while training in martial arts, I was the one who wiped you down, applied compresses, and put on medicine... sob. To be able to live a new life through rejuvenation but to have lost all your memories... what kind of cruel twist of fate is this."

"Yes. Calm down. Calm down. Hey, Hongyan... have this grandmother rest in another room for a while. It seems she's not in her right mind yet from the long journey."

Hongyan, who had been listening from outside, rushed in.

Hongyan's face was also red with excitement at the surprising news.

"No, Young Lord... how could the Young Lord do this to me..."

Hongyan supported the sobbing Wolseon and went to the next room.

"Hoo-ah..."

Baekji took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.

"Let's calm down, calm down..."

Baekji paced back and forth in the room, but no thoughts came to mind.

'The Demonic Cult's Young Lord... hmm. So what do I do now?'

Baekji's eyes fell on the Demonic Advisor, who was gracefully fanning himself with a folding fan.

He suddenly felt a surge of anger at the leisurely appearance, as if he had thrown a thunderbolt and was just watching, feigning ignorance.

"Stop waving that. Did all you military advisors make a promise to imitate Zhuge Liang?"

The Demonic Advisor flinched, then folded his fan and said, "I was also surprised that my reasoning was correct, so I was calming down... Seeing you get angry like this, you must be the Young Lord. You once said the same thing when you saw me fanning myself. Have your memories perhaps returned?"

'Memories? They're not coming back. They're not coming back.'

He knew now. The past memories would not return.

Only the habits remained.

How can I act as the Demonic Cult's Young Lord without any memories...

Wait, don't I have to become the Cult Leader later?

Oh, right, he said the Cult Leader was alive.

If I stole and ate the Cult Leader's miraculous elixir...?

Wouldn't he try to kill me?

"Is the Cult Leader well? Is he healthy?"

"He is in robust health. However, he often says he has no appetite these days, perhaps because he is worried about you, Young Lord."

"He's worried about me?"

"Wouldn't that be natural? His only son and the Young Lord has gone missing..."

"Wait... does that mean the Cult Leader is my father?"

The Demonic Advisor's face turned pale.

"You really don't remember anything."

"Hmm..."

Baekji plopped down on the chair.

So that's how it was. I had a father too.

A father wouldn't beat his son to death for stealing and eating a miraculous elixir.

No, if he's the Demonic Cult Leader, he might...

But... they said the Demonic Cult Leader was over a hundred years old, and I'm his son?

"How old was I before the reincarnation?"

"Information about the Young Lord is top secret... you were probably over seventy."

Seventy? Over seventy years old...

I really was old.

Then what about children...?

"By any chance... did I have any children?"

"No. After that incident, I heard that the Young Lord did not keep any women close."

"That incident?"

"Ah! You wouldn't remember that incident either. According to the records I've seen... about forty years ago from now!"

.

.

.

Soya-hu.

The day he ascended to the position of Young Lord after a fierce competition with the heirs of the Twelve Guardian Families.

He is betrayed by Hyuk-ryeonjong, his greatest rival and best friend in the competition for the heir.

Hyuk-ryeonjong killed Soya-hu's lover, Byeok Un-seol, and fled.

Soya-hu, who had lost his lover just before their wedding, went berserk and eventually found Hyuk-ryeonjong.

"They say that on that day, even though it was broad daylight, the sky of Tianshan was covered with gray clouds and was as dark as night. And that fine snowflakes were falling in that sky."

This Demonic Advisor, who was describing an unpleasant past event in such detail, also seemed to be not in his right mind.

"The Young Lord and Hyuk-ryeonjong fought a fierce battle, and in the end, he was defeated. And the Young Lord is said to have said this."

―Why? Why you? Was it because of the position of Young Lord? If so, you should have aimed your sword at me. Un-seol... Un-seol!

―Hahaha... wouldn't that make you go mad? A mad Demonic Cult Leader... hahaha... I want to see a mad Demonic Cult Leader! Before I die, shall I also tell you what I did to Un-seol?

"The Young Lord could not listen anymore. So he drew his sword... Paat..."

The Demonic Advisor even made a sound with his mouth and mimicked striking down with a sword with his folding fan.

Then, after a moment of silence for effect, he continued in a solemn tone.

"But the surprising thing is that that wasn't the end!"

"..."

Baekji decided to beat up the Demonic Advisor after hearing the whole story.

To convey someone else's misfortune as if it were a play.

He was a brat with zero empathy.

At the same time, he reflected on the atrocities he had committed against the 'Four Hegemons of Shaanxi'.

'Four Hegemons of Shaanxi, you suffered a lot.'

(End of Chapter)