Chapter 40 – Everyone, Co With
Deep within a bamboo forest.
The child who had bumped into Sado Hwan was now sprinting with all his strength.
“Huff, huff!”
He caught his breath and kept glancing behind him, checking for pursuers.
Seeing no one following, he started whistling in a strange, irregular rhythm.
Whi~ Whi-hi~ Whi~!
How long did he wait?
Ssshhh...
From between the bamboo stalks, several figures erged. They were all just kids, at most in their mid-to-late teens.
“Bro!”
“You back, Soya?”
“It's huge! Huge!”
The boy, called Soya, raised a coin pouch toward the kid who seed to be their leader.
“Look at this! It's heavy as hell! I don't know for sure, but it's gotta be loaded.”
The leader opened the pouch. Inside were tightly packed silver taels.
“Wh-whoa!”
“H-how much is all this?”
“We can eat at three tis a day with this!”
The other children cheered at the sight of the pouch.
“Soya, who’d you steal this from?”
“Huh? I dunno. So good-looking guy. Real nice too. Didn’t even realize I took it. He was like, totally clueless. Hehe.”
“Damn it!”
The leader's face twisted into a grimace.
“You idiot! You think soone carrying that much money around casually is just a normal guy? He could be from the Main Hall! How many tis have I told you to assess the mark first?!”
“B-but, bro… nothing happened though?”
“That’s what makes it worse. He let you go. He could’ve caught you if he wanted to!”
The leader bit his lip. Then he whistled sharply again.
Grrrr...
A shadow—black and beastly—lood within the forest.
But none of the kids were scared. They approached the creature casually.
“Everyone, back to the Cradle. We’re abandoning this spot.”
***
Skybreaker spoke up.
[How’d you do that? Did you really anticipate this and tell your subordinates not to interfere?]
How? It’s obvious.
[Obvious?]
It’s a rule—if you flash money around in a marketplace, you’re getting robbed.
Once again, the world of Return of the Murim had proven itself ruled by clichés.
If this were a novel, people would probably call the plot lazy for being this convenient.
“This way.”
Saweol guided us, now wearing her mask. When she worked as part of the Black Shadow Corps, she always wore it like second nature.
Though she often ca off as clumsy, the Corps was actually specialized in tracking and assassination. Catching a runaway child? Easy as breathing for her.
Despite the kid’s attempts to mislead us, Saweol managed to track him through a winding path. It led to an isolated bamboo forest trail.
Saweol and Tak Horak were ready to use lightfoot techniques. That was standard for any pursuit.
The issue was—
I can’t use lightfoot at all.
So I leaned into the act instead.
“Quite the scenic bamboo grove.”
“You’re not going after him right away?”
“He’s a rat in a jar. No need to rush. Just make sure we don’t lose the trail.”
Saweol looked at with a puzzled expression.
“Indeed, as expected of you, Captain! You’re moving calmly on purpose to avoid startling the prey—how wise!”
Thanks, Horak. Always reliable for unprompted praise.
“Wait a mont…”
Saweol crouched, inspecting the ground. Then she stood, slightly tilting her head.
“There are wolf tracks here. Judging by the size and depth, it’s about as large as a bull.”
“Maybe that brat got eaten?”
I shook my head.
“We’ve found the right place. Follow the wolf tracks.”
Though confused, neither Saweol nor Tak questioned .
A little while later—
“…He’s riding a wolf?”
We arrived at a cave. In front of it were dozens of wolves—and kids riding them. They looked like they were ready to set out on an adventure.
Upon spotting us, the wolves growled and bared their teeth.
Tak Horak looked dumbfounded.
“Are these kids… actually living with beasts?”
Even Saweol seed shocked. Maybe this was different from the Cradle she once knew.
The reason for that change was likely the boy at the very front. A teen, possibly in his late teens, sat atop a massive wolf—about the size of a bull.
He had a rebellious look written all over him, with “stubborn as hell” practically engraved on his face.
"Cho-ryang, the One-Eyed Beast Master."
With one eye covered by a bandage, he would one day ta beasts and unleash chaos across the martial world.
You might laugh at the idea of “just a beast,” but a wolf that size could tear apart a third-rate martial artist before they even fought back.
And if that beast was a mystic beast?
In Return of the Murim, there are four major power sources:
Elixirs, martial arts, weapons, and mystic beasts.
Mystic beasts are creatures exposed long enough to nature’s energy or relics to gain intelligence and strength far beyond normal animals. Even top-tier Peak Realm masters could struggle against one.
To ta not one, but dozens, and command them simultaneously?
That made Cho-ryang a walking disaster.
Now that I thought about it—He was the reason the Tang Clan of Sichuan eventually went downhill, wasn’t he?
Cho-ryang had devastated Sichuan.
He had singlehandedly sealed off Mount Ei, and wiped out 30% of the Tang Clan’s martial forces.
Many direct descendants had either died or beco crippled.
“Tang Siyuk should be thanking in the future.”
Of course, the Cho-ryang I knew was a future version of him. Right now, he just looked like a rebellious teenager.
Still, his ability was already there. Just the fact that he had tad this many wolves proved it. And that lead wolf—clearly part mystic beast—radiated power.
“Who are you?”
Cho-ryang barked sharply.
“You insolent—do you know who this man is?!”
Tak Horak burst forward.
“And who is he?”
“If I may explain—”
“That’s enough.”
I stepped past Horak.
Judging by the tension, dropping my na wasn’t going to help. Better to go straight to the point.
“There’s a kid here who took my coin pouch. Ah, there you are.”
The boy who had tried to hide behind soone else flinched when I pointed him out. Cho-ryang moved to block my view.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. Now move. We’ve got places to be.”
“That won’t do. I’ve got business too.”
“Then we’ll just go through you.”
He patted the wolf’s head. It growled, clearly understanding his intention.
I sighed. I’d hoped for words, but it looked like this little rebel wouldn’t listen.
“Saweol, Tak Horak.”
“Yes.”
“Subdue them.”
“Understood! I’ll slice off their limbs so they can’t escape!”
“But don’t hurt the kids. And preferably not the wolves either.”
Both Saweol and Tak gave baffled looks. In the cult, “subdue” usually ant crippling the target permanently.
Still—
When the boss says jump…
Shortly after—
“You bastards!”
All the children were incapacitated, their acupuncture points sealed.
The wolves, once nacing, had been reduced to whimpering dogs after a few smacks.
Of course. Saweol was brushing against Transcendent Peak, and Tak Horak was a seasoned First-rate fighter.
“D-don’t co any closer!”
Growl!
Even the growling of Cho-ryang’s lead wolf no longer held any threat. It rely stood in front of Cho-ryang, shielding him protectively as he knelt.
I stood before him.
If the wolf pounced, I could just teleport away using Blink.
“Cho-ryang. I let that kid steal from —so I could find you.”
“What kind of ga are you playing?! How do you know my na?!”
“My na is Sado Hwan. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”
“Sado Hwan… the Sura Demon…”
Cho-ryang’s face twisted in shock. Soone from the Main Hall, from the most noble of the Six Demon Families, was standing in front of him.
“I want to bring you into the Sado household.”
“What…?”
“I’ll teach you martial arts. Give you food. A warm place to sleep. Everything you need to use your talents.”
“Don’t lie to .”
Cho-ryang grit his teeth.
“I’ve heard that crap too many tis. You think I don’t know how this works? They lure us in and we never see them again. They probably died cleaning up after so noble.”
Strangely, I felt… sympathy.
In my real life, I lost my entire family at a young age. Was I this broken back then too?
To be honest, what I was doing wasn’t so different from what he described. I wanted Cho-ryang on my side because of his ability. Ultimately, I wanted soone to fight instead of .
So I could survive. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
But just then—
Saweol stepped up beside . She pulled down her mask, revealing her face. Cho-ryang’s eyes widened.
“Y-you’re…”
He recognized her.
Understandable, since she’d left this place around ten years ago. With her skills, she must’ve been famous even back then.
Without a word, she pulled her mask back up and stood behind . It felt like a silent gesture—trust this man.
Kind of moving, honestly.
But her masked eyes gave away nothing. Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe she just wanted to help the kids. After all, the Cradle had been defeated far too easily.
“I’ll say it again. I’m offering you a chance. Co with , and you’ll learn martial arts, sleep in comfort, and have the ans to show the world what you can do.”
Cho-ryang bit his lip. He hesitated. That’s when it happened.
“Run, bro!”
The boy who had stolen my pouch shouted.
“We don’t need you anymore!”
“Yeah! We can live just fine without you!”
“All you do is boss us around and hit us! Get lost!”
Suddenly, the children began hurling harsh words at Cho-ryang. Their eyes were filled with tears. It brought back a mory.
At the orphanage, we’d say the sa things to kids getting adopted. We’d try to break our emotional bonds, tell them to forget us and go be happy.
“You little brats…”
“Who said he’s going alone?”
I raised my voice for all to hear.
“The Sado family is richer than you can imagine. Housing all of you? That’s nothing.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Also—”
I flicked Cho-ryang’s forehead.
“Speak more politely from now on.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“Vice-captain Saweol. Squad leader Tak. Release their pressure points.”
“Understood.”
Saweol and Tak unsealed the kids.
As soon as they could move, the children rushed at Cho-ryang and hugged him tightly.
“Bro!”
“Big bro!”
“Who was it that said he’s stubborn and hits people and should get lost?”
“Not ! Must’ve been Soya!”
“No way, it wasn’t!”
A small laugh escaped as I turned away.
[Impressive.]
Skybreaker spoke in admiration.
“What now?”
[A true cultist must gather followers. Even as a Monster, you’re quite sothing—forming a faction already.]
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with the wrong idea.
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