Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 87

Nangong Zhao pulled a chair and sat next to Tang Yunseol.

"Why are you here? You left as if you weren't coming back."

"I have to report to the Chief Military Advisor. I've postponed the appointment until tomorrow morning."

"Yes. You don't have to see him..."

Originally, he had planned to see if the Alliance Leader was well and to meet Mado to find out the martial prowess of the top ten masters.

But if the Martial Alliance was so unfamiliar, he wondered if there was a need to do so.

'No. I have to see Mado.'

―Mado's whereabouts are certain. He is at the Martial Alliance. I heard that after being defeated by the Alliance Leader, he has been in seclusion at the Alliance, waiting for the day to compete again. The rest...

It was the Eight-Armed Divine Beggar who had told him that Mado was staying at the Alliance. Even the Eight-Armed Divine Beggar, the Chief Inspector of the Beggars' Sect who roamed the world, did not know the whereabouts of all the top ten masters.

Except for Seongseung from Shaolin, Muguk Jin-in from Wudang, and the head of the Nangong family, the 'Azure Sky Divine Sword', the rest were like clouds flowing with the wind.

So it was important to meet Mado.

'He said Mado was the second in the ranking of the top ten masters. If I know his martial arts, I can roughly guess the martial prowess of the rest of the top ten masters. Then I might be able to know at what level one can achieve 'rejuvenation'.'

The best thing would be to compete directly with the Alliance Leader, but that was a bit uncomfortable.

If he was as experienced as the Alliance Leader, he might be able to recognize that he had undergone 'rejuvenation'.

He had to find out his past as secretly as possible.

If the fact that he had undergone 'rejuvenation' spread in the martial world, it would surely become troublesome.

Baekji shook his head, imagining a scene where people flocked to see him as if they were watching a monkey.

Suddenly, the words 'kill and silence' flashed through his mind, and Tang Qianhui's face passed by.

'Did I save him for no reason?'

It was not right to kill him again after having saved him.

True Man Changshan was more bothersome than Tang Qianhui.

"Don't talk nonsense! You promised with your own mouth. If you postpone it tomorrow too..."

He was about to say he wouldn't let him off the hook, but he stopped.

If Baekji held out, there was no way to drag him.

"You said you keep your promises, right? Keep your promise. It's an important matter for you too."

Nangong Zhao thought that if Shangguan Ming saw Baekji in person, he would not think he was a Demonic Cult member.

'Can there be such a thoughtless demon? No... is that why he's a demon?'

Then it's a big problem...

Just then, the ordered dishes were laid on the table.

It was a feast.

"Even the food is unfamiliar..."

Baekji muttered, looking at the dishes.

"You said it was your first time at the Martial Alliance. Of course the Hubei food would be unfamiliar. You're from Shaanxi, aren't you?"

"Not necessarily. I, you see..."

He was about to say that he had seen the sea, walked the desert, and climbed snow-covered mountains, but seeing Nangong Zhao's sparkling eyes, he closed his mouth.

"Why did you stop talking?"

"...Sichuan food is more delicious."

"I think so too."

Tang Yunseol, who was born and raised in Sichuan, chimed in.

"Hmm. You say that because you haven't tasted the food of Xiaohang."

"Xiaohang?"

"Suzhou and Hangzhou have outstanding scenery, but their food is also delicious. If Seolmae wants to go, we can go together this time..."

At Nangong Zhao's words, Baekji asked, "Are you not working and just playing around?"

Nangong Zhao said, "I think I have to go home..."

Suzhou was not far from the Nangong family.

"Oh! Did you get a vacation?"

"Not really."

He could not say it was a mission.

"Miss Yunseol, follow him. You have to go to the Nangong family. I'll tell your family."

Tang Yunseol had brought Tang Qianhui's secret order to be delivered to the Alliance Leader.

She was scheduled to return immediately after delivering the secret order.

"Aren't you going, Honored One?"

"Why would I go there? I have some sense too... there's no reason for me to follow you to your in-laws' house to pay respects. Ah, is there? I'm the Honored One of the Household of the Tang family. Should I act as a matchmaker in that capacity?"

"Hey. What are you talking about!"

Nangong Zhao hurriedly covered Baekji's mouth.

Tang Yunseol turned her reddened face and looked out the window.

"Why are you like that? You two are of age, right? No, the chief investigator is long past that. In a little while, he'll smell like an old bachelor. Since I've set you up, I should see it through to the end with my own hands..."

"Can't you shut your mouth?"

Nangong Zhao stood up and dragged Baekji downstairs.

"You, what are you really doing?"

"You're asking because you don't know? I'm trying to set you two up."

Nangong Zhao knew too. That Baekji had been trying to set the two of them up from the beginning.

"What's the reason? Are you the incarnation of the 'Old Man under the Moon' or something?"

Baekji looked at Nangong Zhao silently.

"It's because it's pitiful. Is it good to live, exhausted by emptiness and loneliness, having lost your true nature?"

"Who are you talking about?"

Baekji, 'kok', poked Nangong Zhao's chest with his finger.

"Why are you pretending not to know? That's why you have nicknames like 'iron-faced young master' and 'cold-hearted iron gall'."

"..."

"Miss Yunseol is a warm-hearted person. She will comfort the wounds of your heart."

"What do you know!"

Nangong Zhao shouted.

"I can see everything."

"What?"

"The gloomy bottom of the 'iron-faced young master'! That's not a good thing. You weren't originally like that, were you?"

Nangong Zhao was at a loss for words.

'Is it true...?'

After a certain day, he had forgotten all about his childhood.

He knew better than anyone what Baekji was talking about.

"Nangong Zhao, what are you doing here? What are you doing?"

At the unexpected voice, he turned and saw Quan Bai and Seongcheon entering the Tianlong Restaurant.

"Oh, the chatterbox..."

Quan Bai's expression stiffened awkwardly.

In fact, he had come looking for him, knowing he was here.

Even though he had come prepared, seeing Baekji's face, he unknowingly remembered what he had experienced at the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect.

It was as if he had been possessed by a ghost.

At Baekji's instigation, he had been drawn in and had placed nearly a hundred Martial Alliance members in the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect.

When he had come to his senses, it was not something he should have done.

'That brat... is still speaking informally...'

Quan Bai sent a telepathic message to Seongcheon.

―You saw, right? He's that kind of brat. You must not get excited.

He had warned him on the way, but he was worried that the hot-tempered Seongcheon would ruin things, so he warned him again with a telepathic message.

Seongcheon, who looked like a peasant, was taciturn, and his fists went out before his words.

Although he hated facing Baekji, he had to carry out the Alliance Leader's orders.

"Haha. It seems we are destined to meet. It's even more pleasant to meet in a place like this. Are you in the middle of a meal? Shall we join you?"

"Yes, yes. It's good to see you. Let's go."

Unexpectedly, Baekji welcomed Quan Bai.

The three of them went up to the third floor again.

"Senior Quan... this person is?"

"He is Seongcheon, my old comrade."

"So you are Senior Seong. I have heard a lot about you."

Nangong Zhao introduced Tang Yunseol.

"I am Tang Yunseol of the Sichuan Tang family."

After the introductions were over, they sat down.

Baekji poured alcohol and passed a cup to each of them, saying, "What is it? Did the Alliance Leader send you?"

At Baekji's words, Quan Bai and Seongcheon, 'pfft', spat out their alcohol.

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"It's too obvious. You all knew I was coming to the Alliance. Seeing that you came as soon as I arrived, you must have some ulterior motive."

"That's not it..."

"No? The fact that the masters of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion move under the secret orders of the Alliance Leader is known to the world..."

Quan Bai waved his hands.

"Lower your voice. Our identities are top secret."

"Yes. Is that so? What's so great about that identity that it's top secret?"

Boom-!

Seongcheon slammed his fist on the table. The food bowls jumped up.

"Ugh!"

Baekji swept his hand and spread his ki. The many food bowls were gently placed back on the table.

Baekji glared at the peasant-like Seongcheon and said, "You look like a farmer, but you don't know the value of food?"

"You brat?"

Seongcheon, completely forgetting what Quan Bai had repeatedly told him, threw a punch.

Thwack!

Seongcheon's fist was caught in Baekji's palm.

"Ugh!"

Seongcheon's face contorted. Baekji had wrapped his palm around his fist.

He struggled to pull it out again, but it wouldn't move.

Quan Bai stood up from his seat and waved his hands.

"H-hey. I get it. I get it. Let's just go. This misunderstanding is really unpleasant!"

Baekji released Seongcheon's fist and grabbed Quan Bai's clothes.

"Where are you going as soon as you arrive? We've met after a long time. Let's have dinner together."

Then he poured alcohol into the cups again.

"I'll pretend I don't know. Cheer up."

Baekji passed the cups around again.

Seongcheon looked down at his fist with a blank face. For his fist, which could break a stone, to be unable to move.

He thought he knew why Quan Bai had stopped the Alliance Leader.

This brat was a master of a different dimension.

Baekji, for his part, was rolling his head.

When he had asked if the Alliance Leader had sent him, he had not missed the flustered light that had flashed in Quan Bai's eyes.

'The Alliance Leader did send him.'

Then it meant that the Alliance Leader was well and fine.

The possibility that had dropped after seeing the scenery of the Martial Alliance had completely disappeared.

'It's not like I'm the kind of person who would be the Alliance Leader.'

There was no need to meet the Alliance Leader.

Then all that was left was to meet Mado and find out his martial prowess.

And the Martial Alliance's Chief Military Advisor, Shangguan Ming.

'Since he's become a Chief Military Advisor, he must be full of curiosity. What should I give him to make him happy?'

If he did well, he might be able to get a glimpse of the records of the absolute masters that the Martial Alliance had collected.

After finishing his thoughts, he coaxed Quan Bai.

"What did the Alliance Leader say?"

"It seems you have misunderstood something. The Alliance Leader did not send me."

"Umm. It seems you don't know, but I can tell a lie like a ghost."

It was true.

At some point, Baekji himself had felt it.

Perhaps it was because he had gone through a period of being as clear and pure as a mirror after his 'rejuvenation'.

With clear eyes that had not a single speck of dust, he could see through to the depths of his opponent.

At Baekji's words, Quan Bai flinched.

Since his thoughts were being read time and time again, he thought it might be true.

But for now, he had no choice but to insist.

"Ahem. There's no such thing..."

But Seongcheon suddenly cut in.

"He is curious whether you are a Demonic Cult member or not."

"A Demonic Cult member? Me, a Demonic Cult member?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. Isn't half of the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect's martial force from the Demonic Cult? Isn't a master of the Demonic Cult also staying as a guest?"

If Quan Bai was cunning, Seongcheon was direct.

Nangong Zhao, 'umm', let out a groan.

Following the Chief Military Advisor, Shangguan Ming, even the Alliance Leader was suspicious of Baekji's origin.

It seemed better to reveal it before things got bigger.

It couldn't be the Demonic Cult.

Nangong Zhao said to Baekji, "Why don't you take this opportunity to reveal your martial sect?"

I want to know too.

Baekji muttered to himself and then said, "You know. In times like this, you should understand that I cannot reveal my martial sect due to unavoidable circumstances. To do so..."

"That's an old trick. It doesn't work these days."

"Yes. Is that so... alright. If you really want, I'll tell you. It's not really a secret. But..."

"But what?"

When Baekji trailed off, the impatient Quan Bai asked.

"I have to ask."

"Ask what?"

"Do you happen to know Mado?"

"I know. It's absurd for someone in the martial world not to know Mado, the second in the ranking of the top ten masters."

"I can only tell you if Mado gives me permission."

"What are you talking about? Is Mado the elder of your martial sect?"

"Not really... don't try to find out the detailed circumstances."

There were no detailed circumstances to speak of.

"Since the top ten masters are like the wind, who knows where Mado is? When I meet Mado later, I'll ask him if I can reveal my martial sect, and if he says yes, I'll answer you then."

Quan Bai's head spun rapidly.

'This brat's martial sect is Mado? If it's Mado...'

Mado's martial sect was also not known.

One day, he had appeared with a single saber and had wiped out the notorious 'Hundred Ghosts Sect' single-handedly, earning him the moniker 'Mado'.

At that time, not only the head of the 'Hundred Ghosts Sect' but also hundreds of others had their heads cut off and were rolling around, and the scene was so gruesome that he was given the wicked moniker.

After that, he had disappeared, but since the 'Hundred Ghosts Sect' itself had been so powerful, people ranked him second among the top ten masters.

'I can find out the martial sects of both of them at once!'

Quan Bai knew that Mado had been defeated by the Alliance Leader and was confined in a forest behind the Martial Alliance.

Baekji, seeing Quan Bai's eyes rolling, smiled inwardly.

'If I just stay still, he'll take me to Mado on his own.'

"Right! I have something to say to the chief investigator."

Baekji, with a serious face, said to Nangong Zhao.

"Tell the Chief Military Advisor. Does he want to catch the Blood Fiend?"

(End of Chapter)