242nd When else would you have an opportunity like this?
Grand Duke Geommuyang was standing alone at the edge of a cliff on Daecheon Mountain.
The buildings of the Cheonmasingyo Church looked small in the distance.
The black shaman held out his hand. If you hold it like this, it will fit in one hand like the Heavenly Demon Sect.
He opened his empty fist again and recalled what Geommu-geuk had said before.
―There is no coexistence between brothers in a power struggle? You end up killing each other? Who on earth decided that? Why should we be swayed by the precedents and suspicions of those idiots who can’t even control their own desires? So don’t even think about being swayed. If you ever feel anxious that I might kill your brother, come see me.
Then, even if I had gone, I should have gone ten times. I’ve been having nightmares a lot lately. Every time I dream, Geommugeuk laughs and kills himself.
―You’re so naive, hyung. Did you believe everything I said? Well, that’s why you’re going to end up like this. Did you think you could share power? The greatest power in the martial arts world at that? I appreciate you being so naive. It’s so pathetic, it’s so pathetic.
Then, I wake up and curse at him. I curse at him in every way I can, but I always lose. And Geommuyang knows. Those words Geommugeuk spits out are ultimately his own thoughts.
These days, Geommuyang has also been living a busy life.
I was handling school work, meeting with people in various positions, and going out to do external work. I was doing various things while even saving up time for sleep.
But the unstoppable pace of the sword dance could not be followed.
When I open my eyes, I find myself a disciple of Kwonma. When I open my eyes, I find myself wandering around the Cheondokrim Forest looking for poisonous insects. When I open my eyes, I find myself excommunicated from the evil Soma. And when I open my eyes again… … .
Because he was a person who couldn’t bark in the training hall, and he couldn’t run until he died carrying the evil Soma.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!
It seemed as if the enthusiasm of the people for the sword dance was ringing in my ears. I didn’t want to be a narrow-minded and fatal person, but it was hard to hold back this maddening jealousy.
Just when I felt like screaming, Mabul arrived there. He was small in stature and still had a golden glow.
“Did you call?”
“Welcome.”
Mabul stood next to him on the cliff.
“The evil Soma has awakened.”
“I heard that too.”
Geommuyang’s voice was dry. Mabul could tell. He was in a bad mood. The demons were turning away from Geommugeuk one by one, so of course it couldn’t be good.
Mabul understood Geommuyang’s feelings better than anyone else.
“Kwon Ma still supports the Grand Duke.”
The corners of Geommuyang’s mouth slightly curled up.
“The disciple is infinite.”
He also judged that Kwon Ma’s support would not last long.
“Kwon-ma is a person who distinguishes between public and private matters. He will not change the words he has spoken.”
Mabul quickly added.
“The Poison King will also support Confucius.”
“Barking in the training hall with Mugeuk?”
“So, Lee Gongja became further removed from his successor. The person who was to become Cheonma shouldn’t be like that.”
“Are you aware that Moo-geuk’s popularity at school has increased since that day?”
“What’s important is the leader’s will, not popularity. The Grand Duke is clearly the leader’s eldest son, and from a young age, he was believed to be the successor.”
Mabul tried to give him strength, but Geommuyang asked in a weak voice.
“When I look at Mabulnim and I these days, I think of ourselves as defeatists and unfounded optimists. Aren’t we?”
“Who is a defeatist?”
At Mabul’s question, Geommuyang’s expression slightly frowned.
I don’t know if Geommuyang knows. Mabul was frustrated and disappointed several times in his relationship with him, and almost fell into defeatism. He had to pull himself together several times to get to this point.
Mabul asked calmly.
“I have never been optimistic, but even if I were, why do you think it is unfounded?”
“So, do you believe that I can be your successor?”
Ma-Bul looked into Geommu-Yang’s eyes and answered firmly.
“I believe.”
“That’s the problem. Your eyes to judge the situation are so dark. While we were stagnant and rotting, Mugeuk burst like a waterfall and flowed into the sea.”
“No matter how talented a person is, we only need to do one thing well.”
“What is that?”
Mabul shouted loudly as if people were shouting from the top of a mountain.
“The Grand Duke is more suited to the position of the leader!”
His scream echoed and reverberated again and again.
When the echo died down, Mabul spoke.
“That’s all you have to do to convince everyone. There’s no need for you to feel hurt or angry that the Duke has taken the hearts of the Demon Lords. That’s all you have to do, Grand Duke.”
Geommuyang expressed his anger in a somewhat accented tone.
“It’s really frustrating! Do you really think that I am more suitable for the position of leader?”
Mabul said with confidence.
“Yes, it suits you better.”
“That’s why it’s an unfounded belief. Isn’t it true that Mabulnim was left to me because he was not chosen by Mugeuk?”
Geommuyang blurted out words that he should never have said, words that would have deeply hurt Mabul.
Surprisingly, Mabul wasn’t that upset, because those words sounded like a scream.
Until now, Geommuyang had treated herself while hiding her true feelings. It made me wonder what she was thinking now. But now, she was screaming that it was hard.
“That statement is completely baseless.”
As Ma-bul answered calmly, Geommu-yang took out a small vial from his bosom.
“Do you know what’s in here?”
“What did you hear?”
“It’s an invisible poison.”
Ma-Bul was shocked by the word ‘invisible poison.’
“Are you saying you will kill the scholar with that?”
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Then, Geommuyang answered without hesitation.
“There’s no reason I can’t kill you.”
Mabul looked at him and asked.
“Then why are you bringing it out here? Just because I asked you to have a drink with a scholar, please eat it! Kill it!”
After pushing him like that, Ma-bul tried to calm him down with all his heart.
“Don’t you know that you can’t do that? The Duke of Yi has declared that he will fight for the succession without shedding blood, but if you poison the Duke of Yi, no one will follow the Grand Duke. Not even the demons or the minions below them.”
The black sheep looked down at the vial and said.
“So… … I’m thinking about writing to you.”
match!
The black sheep’s head turned.
Ma-Bul jumped up and slapped him on the cheek without mercy.
The surprised Geommuyang looked at him. He had never dreamed that Mabul would touch his body, so he was extremely surprised.
Mabul held out his hand.
“Please.”
A cold energy was emanating from Mabul’s body along with a golden glow.
It was the first time that Geommuyang had seen Mabul get so angry in front of him.
“Please!”
In response to his force, Geommuyang gave him a vial of medicine.
Mabul opened the stopper and poured it down the cliff. He then threw the bottle away.
The two were silent for a long time.
“It’s my first time getting hit.”
“This is my first time hitting a cult leader’s blood relative.”
I thought the proud Geommuyang would go crazy and run wild, but he was surprisingly calm. If I had hit him when he said he was going to kill Geommugeuk, he might have exploded.
“It’s a waste, I paid a lot of money for this poison.”
“What a waste of time is the time spent having such vain thoughts.”
The corners of Geommuyang’s lips, which had been raised the whole time, returned to their original positions. Geommuyang sat down. He had been looking down at Mabul while talking until now, but now he was at eye level with him.
“Your Highness, look up at the sky.”
Mabul looked up at the sky.
Geommuyang’s gaze, which had been looking at the distant Cheonmasingyo, also turned towards the sky.
Originally, Mabul wasn’t like this. Geommuyang felt it. He and Mabul had changed a lot. Everyone was changing as they got entangled with Geommu Drama.
“You must overcome anxiety to become a successor. If the Duke of Yi is blowing like a typhoon, then the Grand Duke must become a rock. Be a rock that stands firm even in a typhoon.”
Geommuyang’s eyes wavered. This guy, Mabul, is serious.
The last remaining Amazon to him.
Come to think of it, Mabul was there from the beginning.
It was Amazon who stayed from the beginning to the end.
“I am not a rock, but a pebble that rolls around in a typhoon. You should go to Mugeuk too! Mugeuk will understand your heart better. He will speak better than I and be more considerate.”
“That’s why I don’t like it. It’s my role, so why should I, the Duke, do it? I’m the older one, so I should be considerate and understand. Just like I’m trying to understand the Duke right now.”
The blacksmith was moved to tears.
The last time we met, I said this to Geommugeuk.
―If you think that the Amazons are laughing in front of you, you are mistaken. They will ultimately make the choice that benefits them at the last minute.
I’ve lived with this mindset until now.
“Why did you choose me?”
The blowing wind blew the hems of their clothes.
“I think I like the Grand Duke better than the Duke of Li.”
Ma-bul said it with a smile as if it was a joke, but Geommu-yang did not smile.
When his life was pushed to the edge of a cliff, there was someone there to protect him.
A giant, half the height of an adult, was blocking his path like a giant.
“Then I will go down first.”
Mabul said goodbye and turned around.
“Your Majesty.”
“yes?”
“Actually, that medicine earlier wasn’t an intangible poison. It was a medicine for internal injuries made by a magician. I had no intention of drinking it.”
“I know.”
The black sheep was startled.
“You knew?”
Mabul took out the same vial from his bosom.
“I have it too.”
“You knew and you still hit me?”
Mabul smiled awkwardly.
“If not now, when else would I have the chance to strike the Archduke?”
Without waiting for an answer, Mabul quickly turned around and went down the mountain.
Looking at that sight, Geommuyang ended up laughing in disbelief.
The swordsman got up from his seat. He looked up at the sky instead of the Cheonmasingyo that was visible in the distance.
“… … If we continue like this, we’ll end up losing.”
It may have already been lost.
But I couldn’t just give up. I thought I had to do my best until the end.
Somehow I felt like I wouldn’t have nightmares today.
* * *
“Do you want to keep annoying me?”
Bloodthirsty Doma, who was reading a book, raised his head and looked at me.
I was going back and forth to the Bloodthirsty Horse’s room.
“I am thinking about something important.”
“So, what I’m saying is, why are we discussing such important issues here?”
“I feel like I’m getting smarter because there are so many books here.”
“Then go to Cheonmaseokgak and think about it. You’ll become the smartest person in the world.”
“There’s no elder there, right?”
I quietly approached the blood clot.
“When faced with a crisis, the person who comes to mind is an elder. What should I do?”
“Isn’t there a masked man you like? Even Mannyeonseolsam would give in to you. Go there and find out.”
I forced myself to hold back a laugh.
This petty person gets jealous sometimes, which is out of character for him. He was especially jealous of Soma.
“Who can you compare to our elders? Soma, just sit there and look at the wall in the evil song.”
“That can’t be right. I guess he’s just having a good time with the woman he came with, so I won’t bother him.”
“You even know that Cheonhwaruju is here.”
“Even if I don’t want to know, all kinds of reports come in all day long.”
Bloodthirsty Doma read a book.
“So, go and discuss this golden operation or whatever with the masked man or the drunkard.”
I sat on the floor next to the window seat where Hyeolcheondoma was reading a book.
“You gave it a grand name, but you didn’t make a single detailed plan. Since you’ve read so many books, shouldn’t there be a method in them?”
“You idiot, books are a place to escape from those ridiculous operations and rest. You’ll find the answer there.”
“Okay. We’ll stay here until we find the answer!”
“Whoever wants it!”
The moment I threw myself onto the bed, an invisible force pushed me away.
“Don’t go to bed wearing the clothes you wore outside!”
The blood clot led me to the door with the empty water.
I leaned against the window next to the door and thought about it.
“What on earth are you worried about?”
“This operation is difficult because it doesn’t just make Mabul my person.”
“Why can’t it be done with four people?”
There’s no way that Hyeolcheon Doma wouldn’t know the reason?
“If I steal the magic wand too, it would put my brother in a very difficult position.”
So I was worried that my brother might do something he shouldn’t do.
But Hyeolcheon Doma was looking at this situation from a different perspective than I was.
“Is that really so?”
“Isn’t it?”
After a moment, Hyeolcheondoma said.
“If even Mabul turns away, won’t the Archduke give up cleanly? I thought the Archduke was someone who was capable of that much.”
“!”
I guess I didn’t trust my brother more than the Bloodthirsty Dog. It was probably because of the bullying I had endured when I was young. I had a preconceived notion that if he was cornered, he would do something mean and lethal.
But, apart from me, there is also a relationship between my brother and the demons. To the demons, my brother is the one who steps down when they step down.
“You should give the Archduke a chance to properly admit defeat. The things you are worried about now will explode when you still have regrets.”
Hyeolcheondoma, who had been talking while looking down at the book, raised his head and looked at me.
“When you step, step firmly. For the sake of the Grand Duke.”
I looked at the blood clot machine without saying a word.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I always say this, but I wonder how I would live without you.”
“I always say this, but I think we’ll live well by sharing the masked man and the eternal snow ginseng.”
“You’re persistent.”
“Yeah, worry about your grudge. Why are you worrying about their relationship? How presumptuous.”
I bowed my head respectfully to the Bloodthirsty Demon.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I found the answer.”
What Hyeolcheondoma said is right.
Only when I confront him with all my might will my brother laugh in vain and admit defeat.
The clumsy consideration will only hurt Hyung’s pride. It will definitely make Mabul my person. Rather, when that happens, the relationship between Hyung and Mabul will also reach a new point.
After leaving Doma’s residence, I headed straight towards Mabul’s residence, which was teeming with monks.
