Chapter 4. My In-Laws Are Kind of a Big Deal (3)
The ruler of the Western Regions' martial world, founded upon a religion that had traveled from the distant west beyond the Silk Road.
The master of a hundred thousand followers of the Demonic Path, ruling the vast and barren lands from the Heavenly Mountains to the great desert connected to the Western Regions.
As a single faction, it was the largest force in the martial world.
Calling it a nation of its own would not even be strange.
The people of the Central Plains feared and respected that place by one name.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“My father is the Cult Leader there.”
“...Is that really something you should say so casually?”
I felt dizzy.
I had expected Wolyeong's family to be unusual.
I had even considered the possibility that she might have some connection with the Demonic Cult.
After all, my home was in Gansu, near territory controlled by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
But I had never imagined she was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's leader.
In other words, the daughter of the Heavenly Demon himself.
“What does it matter? He’s the Cult Leader to everyone else. To me, he’s just Father.”
“Then those three older brothers you mentioned before...”
“They are the First Young Master, Second Young Master, and Third Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. And since I’m Father's only daughter, I’m called the Princess.”
Wolyeong scratched the back of her head and smiled brightly.
It was difficult to believe this was the same woman who had just pressured the old man who tried to kill me.
That old man was apparently the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Guangming Left Envoy.
“By the way, Uncle Left, why did you take so long to find me? If you wanted to, you should have been able to find me much sooner.”
“...”
The Left Envoy glared at me.
His expression made it obvious he did not want to speak in front of an outsider.
Wolyeong simply laughed and lightly slapped his shoulder.
“Oh, Uncle Left! This man isn’t an outsider to our Cult. He swore he would follow me to the end.”
“He is the Princess's benefactor, so our Cult will treat him as a guest. However, until he formally enters the Cult, I cannot recognize him as one of us.”
“You’re still as strict as ever.”
“The Princess and the Young Masters break the Cult's laws as easily as they eat meals. Someone must maintain discipline.”
“Why say it like that? Breaking rules is my brothers' specialty. I’m nowhere near as bad as them.”
The Guangming Left Envoy.
Was this old man really that Guangming Left Envoy?
His martial arts were only at the early stages of the Transcendent Peak Realm, but he had become the Heavenly Demon's left arm through his extraordinary intelligence.
And that old monster was sitting in front of me.
Moreover, my woman called him Uncle.
I pinched my cheek, wondering whether I was dreaming.
It hurt.
This was reality.
What am I supposed to do now?
If I tell him what kind of relationship Wolyeong and I have, this demonic old man is absolutely going to...
“Anyway, Uncle Left, let me formally introduce Great Hero Bi Anso. He is the benefactor who saved my life.”
“Ahem! I was terribly rude earlier. I failed to recognize the Princess's benefactor.”
“N, no. I wasn’t exactly innocent either.”
The Left Envoy and I bowed to each other.
Then Wolyeong spoke in a cheerful, clear voice.
“I’m glad you two made peace. It wouldn’t be good for the Left Envoy to fight with the man who will become the Cult's Prince Consort.”
“...What did you just say?”
Oh, my head.
“The Cult's Prince Consort. In other words, the man who will become my husband.”
Wolyeong tightly hugged my arm.
I was going insane.
“You haven’t forgotten your promise to cling to me like a leech wherever I go, have you?”
“Um... I think the person you should be holding right now is Uncle Left, not me.”
Holy shit.
Look at all that blood rushing into the Left Envoy's face.
Was his head about to explode?
“I will kill you.”
“U, Uncle Left. Please calm down first...”
“Do not call me that, you bastard who deserves to be torn apart! I swear I will rip your thing into pieces!!”
It took nearly two full shichen, around four hours, to calm down the Guangming Left Envoy.
During those four hours, I felt like I dipped my toes into the road to the afterlife at least three times.
I seriously thought I was going to die.
“After the Black-and-White Demon Venerable's rebellion, we could not be certain how many traitors still remained within the Cult. Because of that, we had no choice but to delay the search.”
I finally understood why the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had taken so long to find Wolyeong.
If they had tried to search for her before removing the internal traitors, they might have accidentally revealed her location to those same enemies.
“Why did that creepy Black-and-White Demon Venerable suddenly rebel anyway? I don’t understand. He could barely even raise his head in front of Father.”
“While the Princess was away from the Cult, the Cult Leader achieved Great Completion of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
Wolyeong was so shocked that she sprayed the water she had been drinking.
Most of it hit the Left Envoy's face.
He somehow kept a completely expressionless face.
“Would you like a towel?”
“Keep your mouth shut before I rip out your tongue, you bastard who deserves to be chewed apart.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And give me the towel.”
What a crazy old man.
I had a feeling we would never become close.
Still, I should give him the towel.
He might really kill me otherwise.
The Left Envoy wiped his face with the towel and continued.
“When attempting Great Completion of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, one inevitably falls into qi deviation. Even among the Cult Leaders of previous generations, many failed during that process and died.”
“So that insolent Black-and-White Demon Venerable expected Father to fail as well.”
“The Young Masters were all away from the Cult, and most of the other Demon Venerables had been dispatched to regions where we were clashing with the Martial Alliance. From the Black-and-White Demon Venerable's perspective, the rebellion could not fail.”
Of course, that was assuming the Cult Leader failed to achieve Great Completion.
The people who attacked Wolyeong were probably also subordinates of that traitor.
“For the time being, the Cult Leader's achievement of Great Completion will remain an absolute secret. We do not know how the Martial Alliance would react if they learned of it. Therefore...”
The Left Envoy sent me a displeased look.
“We must make certain this damned womanizing bastard who deserves to be torn apart keeps his mouth shut.”
“Uncle Left! What kind of way is that to speak about the man who will become Prince Consort?”
Wolyeong smiled brightly again.
The Left Envoy stared into the distance.
He almost looked as though he had reached enlightenment.
“Princess. Do you truly believe the Cult Leader will approve your marriage to this damned womanizer of unknown origin?”
“Excuse me, Uncle Left, but I have a perfectly good name, Bi Anso.”
“Shut your mouth!! And did I not tell you to stop calling me Uncle Left?!”
For an old man, his voice was impressive.
My ears hurt.
I should keep quiet for a while.
“The Young Masters and the Princess are not in positions where you can decide your own marriages. The Princess will have to marry a son of another Demonic Clan.”
