Chapter 2
When I opened my eyes again
How long had I been floating above the world?
With a feeling as if I were being sucked somewhere, my eyes snapped open.
"-Do you understand, Un-hwi? On the day the Head of the Family descends, you must know what you are to do."
Bzzzz—
My ears rang loudly.
On top of that, a ringing in my ears was added.
It was as if dozens of swarms of bees were hovering around me.
"Calm, and you must remain calm. Keep your place in mind. When the Head of the Family asks something, show proper courtesy, but always know your position and bow your head accordingly. And after that, you must not step outside your residence, the White Pavilion—”
Still, as I tried in some way to regain consciousness, the sounds around me gradually began to become distinguishable.
The blurry world slowly regained clarity and its colors returned.
A woman with fierce eyes was glaring at this side (it seemed to be the body I had possessed).
In one hand, she held a birch rod stained with blood.
Huh?
Blood?
It seemed my soul was still out of place… but how badly must someone have behaved to get blood on a birch rod from being beaten?
Having never imagined such a situation, an involuntary, awkward laugh escaped me.
Contrary to my worries about failure, the Original Divine Cycle seemed to have succeeded safely.
However, it seemed that this new life I was about to face was as fated and tragic as my previous life.
The Original Divine Cycle can only be cast on a body that has either recently died or is on the verge of death.
This is because it replaces the seat of the previous soul, which means the body my soul has now descended into also belonged to someone who had died.
No matter how much I disliked this body, beating someone to the point of death…
Even a mere servant wouldn’t be treated like this.
…Or could it be some criminal who committed an unforgivable act?
If they were full of grudges, that would be troublesome…
Just in case, I quickly searched through the memories left in this body.
But the results were completely different from what I had expected.
The age of this body was only seventeen this year. Still a child.
The woman in front of me was this child’s stepmother.
When I looked down at my arms, they were covered with red bloodstains and bruises over pale skin.
The clothes were filthy and reeked, unlike the woman adorned in luxurious silk.
I began to understand what kind of treatment this child had endured.
This is f***ed up, really.
I’ve lived in the Demon Path, full of inhuman people, but every time I saw humans like this, disgust welled up naturally.
“Auntie.”
“……What?”
The voice that had been babbling to itself suddenly stopped.
Like a broken wind-up doll.
Over her stiffened pupils, the unfamiliar child’s (handsome enough to rival my past life self, which I found appealing) coldly smiling face could be seen.
“Your breath stinks. Mind moving that face out of the way?”
“!!”
In an instant, the woman’s face flushed bright red.
It was very satisfying to see.
* * *
“Until you realize what your fault is, don’t even think about stepping outside that place!”
Bang!
I was locked away in some nameless pavilion.
“You too must never give that child water or food! If you secretly feed them again out of pity like last time and get caught, I will tie you up in a rice chest and throw you into the well—remember that!”
Did the auntie swallow a trumpet? Her voice carried incredibly far.
Unlike me, who was chuckling, the maidservants trembled and answered weakly.
It seemed this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
“What were you thinking when you said that, young master? You, of all people, who know Lady’s temper better than anyone! Because of you, we’re all going to suffer too!”
The butler who had followed me into the pavilion sighed deeply.
At the same time, he gave a look of contempt and reproach… ha!
I couldn’t help but laugh. It was ridiculous.
Come to think of it, this guy had been openly following that auntie’s orders even before coming here, right?
“What are you staring at like that?”
“Why? Is it not okay to just look?”
I hadn’t read all the lingering thoughts left in this body yet.
But understanding the situation I was currently in wasn’t particularly difficult.
It was a place even I, who had once been a minor master of the Heavenly Demon Sect, had at least heard of.
- Tang Sect Nine Dragons Branch.
Also called the “Nine Dragons Sub-Branch,” this place was a branch run by the Sichuan Tang Sect, famous for its poisons and hidden weapons.
Jiulong County is a key transportation area, stretching west to the western hall of Podalab Palace and Qinghai, where the Kunlun Sect resides, and south to Yunnan, home to the Heavenly Dragon Temple, Zhenchang Sect, and Odok Gate, among others.
It had stuck in my memory because even in the White Book created by the Heavenly Sect to prepare for conflict with the Central Plains martial world, it was listed as a strategic point that must be captured in the event of war.
Naturally, the Sichuan Tang Sect could not ignore this if it wanted to maintain its hegemony.
Thus, the sect’s Dark Lord at the time, Tang Munhyeok, entrusted the protection of Jiulong County to Tang Hosan, the right-hand man of his youth who had traversed the Sichuan martial world alongside him, known as the Wild Wind Rogue.
Tang Hosan, along with several members of the Wild Wind Squad he led, established the sub-branch.
That was the origin of this Nine Dragons Branch.
Tang Hosan was a well-known and respected figure even in the wider martial world.
In fact, he was a hero who had made remarkable achievements in helping the Sichuan Tang Sect defeat the Qingcheng Sect and Amipa of the Western Faction, becoming the ruler of the Sichuan martial world.
The number of disciples who had lost their lives to the poisons he had spread was not small, and reports even stated he must be executed… and now I had possessed the body of his child?
The body I had taken over, “Tang Un-hwi,” was the offspring of a maid with whom Tang Hosan had shared a drunken night.
In other words, he was an illegitimate child.
Tang Hosan took Tang Un-hwi in, but never treated him as a son.
Therefore, the martial arts he inherited were only things like Tang Sect Qi Techniques that ordinary branch families could learn.
In this situation, the other family members could not help but neglect Tang Un-hwi, and especially the matriarch, Namgung Sanyeong (that auntie from before), who constantly found fault and even beat him.
“…….”
No matter how randomly the possession target had been chosen, there was nothing to say—ending up in a situation like this was just… unfortunate.
This is exactly why I’ve always avoided gambling, especially dice games or street swindles… sigh!
Father, mother, family environment—if you compared all of this with my previous life, you could probably bet on who had the worse fate.
There was at least one half-sister who occasionally looked after Tang Un-hwi, but she wasn’t in the branch now, so she didn’t count.
“Stop talking nonsense and tell me what you intend to do! How exactly are you going to take responsibility for this!”
On top of that, the head butler didn’t show any pity for this poor child—instead, he scolded him for daring to resist.
It reminded me exactly of the neighborhood kids who used to pick fights with me when I was young.
What did I do after becoming my master’s disciple later?
Step, step—
“?”
I approached silently, and the butler stared at me blankly, as if asking why I was doing this.
His gaze was still full of contempt.
Smaaash!
Without looking back, I slammed my palm into his face.
“Y-Young master?”
The butler clutched his burning red cheek, looking at me in disbelief.
“Bite down hard.”
“What—”
“I clearly said bite down hard.”
Smaaash!
His head snapped to the other side.
“If you do this, I won’t just stand by—”
Smaaash!
“The lady will kno—”
Smaaash!
“St-stop!”
Smaaash! Smaaash! Smaaash! Smaaash!
I hit the butler’s cheeks relentlessly.
When he lifted his head, I struck the other side; when he bent down, I grabbed the back of his neck and hit him again.
My hands hurt so much I thought they might fall off… but well, I hadn’t just passively endured life under bridges, either.
The real “Yeon Un-hwi” would strike with a fist and follow up with a stone to the back of the head.
After proudly becoming a disciple of the Divine Sword Heavenly Demon, I had sent those who tormented me straight to prison, and after becoming a minor sect leader, I forced them into labor in the mines.
My master had said, “Do you really have to go this far? You will be the future sect leader; now you must bear the past mistakes of the believers.”
Who knows?
My thoughts haven’t changed, even now, Master. I believe everything you said, but this is one thing I will not concede.
A stone in my eyes. A club in my teeth. If I didn’t repay tenfold for each hit, I was always the one who suffered.
Smaaash!
“P-p-p-please s-s-s-save me, y-yo-young m-m-master…!”
In the end, the butler, face swollen like a steamed bun, clutched my leg.
A few of his teeth had even fallen out, making him look dazed.
“Why should I?”
“I-I-I didn’t know my place! I-I-I overstepped! So please—”
“So why should I save someone who foolishly opens their mouth without knowing their place?”
“Th-that’s—!”
When making a threat, you have to do it properly. Otherwise, it might really end in death.
You have to drive someone into a dead-end alley and trigger fear for your voice to reach the depths of their soul.
Tsss-tssst–
In an instant, a violet streak of light flared up over my eyes like fire.
Violet Demon Eye.
A technique that shakes the opponent’s spirit and firmly imprints my existence on their mind.
It was a method I often used when controlling followers as the Lesser Heavenly Demon.
By now, this butler probably saw me as the form of a ghostly god wearing an iron mask.
Tremble… tremble… tremble…
Sure enough, the butler’s face went pale, and he began to tremble like a leaf.
He couldn’t even bring himself to meet my eyes.
“Hyungsam, you were chosen as my personal butler only because your mother was a childhood friend. I pulled you out of a life that could have ended as a mere servant, yet instead of showing gratitude, you display this kind of behavior?”
“I-I will never show such disrespect again! P-please have mercy!”
No matter how much the Nine Dragons Branch was a sub-branch separated from the main house, it still bore the Tang family name.
The Sichuan Tang Sect was famous among all martial families for its strict discipline. The Nine Dragons Branch was no exception.
Rebellion from a subordinate naturally meant execution. Even lesser offenses, like contempt of a superior, could easily result in being maimed and expelled.
Even after being chased out, there was still a problem. Who in the world would dare to employ someone who had fallen out of favor with the Tang family?
The influence of the Tang Sect in Sichuan was that immense.
Watching him scrape and beg in fear, I realized he was finally in a state to listen to me.
“Then from now on, you can do everything I tell you, right?”
Hyungsam nodded furiously.
* * *
“Master! Master has changed!”
As soon as Hyungsam left the White Pavilion, he began running frantically, as if someone were chasing him.
“I’ll give you exactly one shijin (2 hours). Within that time, bring me all the items I ordered. If not… well, you can figure out the consequences.”
Eyes that shimmered like quicksilver.
A voice as cold as the Northern Sea.
The new image of Un-hwi, firmly established in one corner of my mind, was completely different from the frail figure I had been before.
Whether Un-hwi had been hiding this side all along, or whether the punishments from the matriarch had built up so much that it finally exploded, no one could say.
The problem now was that this anger could turn on himself.
Because of this, Hyungsam completely forgot Namgung Sanyeong’s repeated instructions: “If Master tries anything reckless or behaves suspiciously, report it immediately.”
“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die…! If I fail to do what I’m told, I’ll be eaten alive, ughhh!”
Hyungsam clearly saw it: the huge demonic face looming behind Un-hwi.
Its jagged, saw-like teeth made it look as if it could devour him at any moment.
Of course, it was probably just an illusion. Still, the fear that had firmly rooted itself did not fade easily.
The time given was only one shijin.
To complete everything within that time, he had to hurry as much as possible.
* * *
“Ugh… trying to use sorcery without qi really makes my head throb.”
After sending Hyungsam away, I draped myself casually on the bed and pressed my temples with my index fingers.
All the techniques I had mastered were based on the brain gate and upper dantian.
But using a high-level technique like the Violet Demon Eye with this body, which hadn’t properly trained in martial arts because of fear of blades, left quite a backlash.
Still, in a place where I had no one to trust, if I wanted to properly build a foundation, I needed at least one body I could freely manipulate.
Hyungsam would probably never dare defy me for the rest of his life.
I had firmly engraved fear of me into his unconscious through the illusion.
“Alright, then… shall we take a look?”
Once the headache had subsided a bit, I sat cross-legged and straightened my back.
It was time to inspect this body.
If my guess was correct, this body had exactly one advantage over the body I had originally had, which had its own limitations.
Upon careful observation… below the navel, on the right side.
A dantian.
Chronicles of the Reincarnated Demon God
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