Chapter 12. There's a Reason for Everything
A single carriage raced down the main road through the pouring rain.
Inside sat Jaha, Hanseol, and Jo Unryong.
Wanggyeong was still in the driver's seat, guiding the carriage forward.
Jaha quietly organized his thoughts.
If those bastards come after us, the Water Thunder Formation should buy us more than enough time. I don't know how strong they are, but even if they're first-rate experts, I can trap them for at least a full day. If things go well, I might even wipe them all out.
The Water Thunder Formation was one of the formations Jaha had learned from his father, Jagang.
Jagang had always said that the leader of the Demonic Cult needed knowledge in many different fields, so he had even forced Jaha to study formations, something Jaha had little interest in.
Back when he was a naive child, Jaha had thought becoming the Cult Leader meant he could simply sit around and live comfortably.
Instead, both his martial arts training and his studies had doubled.
There had even been a time when he had wanted to give up becoming the Cult Leader altogether.
Martial arts, poison, medicine, formations...
Studying every field was incredibly difficult.
He had secretly run away dozens of times because of it.
But he could never escape his formation lessons.
Unlike the other subjects, Jagang personally taught him formations.
When you have nothing, and when you lack the strength to face a powerful enemy, formations are your only option. If you properly learn the art of formations, it's the same as carrying nine spare lives with you.
His father had repeated those words countless times.
Because of that, Jaha eventually stopped neglecting his formation studies.
He had become the Cult Leader at a young age and never knew when he might find himself trapped in a desperate situation.
And once he realized that he couldn't completely trust anyone around him, he had trained even more desperately than ever before.
He had believed that if he became as strong as his father, everyone would eventually follow him.
But before he could become as strong as his father...
He was betrayed.
As those memories resurfaced, a dull pain throbbed in his chest, like an old case of arthritis acting up.
Perhaps because of the rain, the pain seemed even worse.
The agony of the Seven Heavenly Demons stabbing and striking him with blades and palm techniques slowly rose from his memories like mist.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
Hanseol asked carefully.
Throughout the journey, Jaha had been frowning and repeatedly twitching his jaw muscles like someone suffering from a terrible toothache.
Hanseol had been watching him closely, so there was no way she would miss the change in his expression.
Thanks to her question, Jaha was pulled out of his painful memories.
"Ah! No. I'm fine."
When he saw the worried looks in Hanseol and Jo Unryong's eyes, the pain in his chest eased slightly.
Their concern gently soothed the wounds left behind by his painful memories.
For Jaha, who had rarely received comfort from anyone, it was a strange and unfamiliar feeling.
Then he thought back on everything he had done over the last several days.
He had torn the leather from the driver's seat to make protective waistguards.
He had arranged for them to stay safely inside the government office.
All of it had been because he was worried about Hanseol and Jo Unryong.
Because Byeokho's baekryeong constantly worried about them, Jaha had used his sharp mind to come up with solutions.
Until now, he had been working his brain constantly for the sake of those two.
Jaha stared quietly at them for a moment, then glanced out the window and pulled a map from inside his clothes.
He repeatedly compared the map with the scenery outside before muttering,
"I think we're almost there."
The carriage continued for roughly another fifteen minutes.
Then Jaha spoke toward the driver's seat.
"Stop the carriage."
Because of the heavy rain, he had to shout two more times before the carriage finally stopped.
"What is it?"
Wanggyeong asked as Jaha climbed out.
He was wearing rain gear, but he was still soaked like a drowned rat.
"We'll wait for the attackers here."
Wanggyeong frowned.
"Why would we deliberately wait for them? If we happen to encounter them along the way, that's one thing."
"Because waiting here gives us the advantage."
"How?"
Wanggyeong still sounded puzzled.
"Because this is the perfect terrain for setting up a formation."
Jaha was about to explain further, but stopped himself.
Even if he explained it, he doubted Wanggyeong would understand.
There was no reason to waste his mental energy explaining something unnecessary.
Right now, he needed to focus on setting up the formation.
Jaha turned to Hanseol and Jo Unryong.
"Seol, go break off around ten thick tree branches and bring them here. Unryong, find around ten stones about the size of a child's head."
Setting up a formation required preparation.
Simply sticking a few pieces of wood into the ground would never activate one.
The stronger the formation, the longer it took to construct.
Jaha began digging into the ground around the carriage and carving shallow trenches.
Soon, strange patterns covered the ground within several dozen meters.
Then he began arranging the branches and stones that Hanseol and Jo Unryong had gathered.
About a hundred jang away, the attackers watched them and snickered.
"Looks like they're digging their own graves."
"That place will become their grave soon enough."
A young man dressed in red joined their conversation.
"Kill them all if necessary, but do not damage the carriage under any circumstances."
"Understood, Little Heavenly Demon."
"Are we certain it's that carriage?"
"We've dismantled and searched every cart and carriage that left Yeongje County so far. I'm almost certain that's the one."
The young man called the Little Heavenly Demon nodded.
"It had better be inside that carriage."
"Even if it isn't, there are several other targets we're tracking. If it's not there, it'll be in one of the others. There's no need to worry so much."
"I stopped my father from intervening and volunteered to handle this myself. I want to succeed and prove myself to him."
The middle-aged man in black knew exactly how desperate the young master was to gain recognition from his father, the Heavenly Demon.
That was precisely why their lord had sent them along with him.
They were there to help their young master achieve something meaningful.
"Reporting."
A moment later, two trackers who had been scouting around the carriage returned.
"It appears they're setting up some kind of formation around the carriage."
"A formation? Hah. Do they think formations are children's games?"
Among all branches of martial knowledge, formations were one of the most difficult.
Someone lacking intelligence could never truly master them.
They required endless calculations, memorization, and understanding.
Martial techniques were different.
Even someone of limited intelligence could train a technique until their body memorized it.
But formations were a highly advanced field of study.
Without a capable mind, they could never be mastered.
The Little Heavenly Demon remembered the disappointed expression his father had shown when he failed to fully master formations.
After all, he was the son of a man who had earned the title of Illusion Heavenly Demon among the Seven Heavenly Demons through illusion techniques and extraordinary arts.
For the son of the Illusion Heavenly Demon to be weak in formations could become a serious flaw.
That was one reason he had personally volunteered for this mission.
He wanted to prove that he wasn't weak.
