Chapter 288 – Ghosts (4)

It had been a few days since Hong Yeon-hwa gathered the officials and explained the situation.

In a spacious room, the high-ranking officials of the Cheonma Divine Sect, including Black Sword Grandmaster, Ma Nae, and Suragumma, were gathered again.

Ma Nae and Myeongwoljin-in were explaining what they had discovered so far in front of the officials, who were occupying their seats at the long desk.

Well, there wasn’t much to discover, to be honest.

First of all, the deceased warriors from the past come back to life like ghosts.

From third-rate to Hwagyeong, they randomly come back to life, but their range of movement is limited to the vicinity of their death.

They can still use martial arts, but their overall power is weaker than when they were alive.

Their intelligence is reduced to the level of beasts, and they spew out words filled with resentment, as if they have become real ghosts, with a terrifying appearance.

However, their bodies are made of soil and rotten blood, so if you can land a solid blow, you can destroy even a first-rate warrior.

This is quite rare news. It’s still a story from before Hong Yeon-hwa reached her full potential, but aren’t these the annoying gangsters who barely withstood the punches of the Cheonma?

But the ones appearing now are not just Hong Yeon-hwa. Even if they are warriors who have mastered wide-ranging martial arts like Ganggigong or Eumgong, they can be swept away in an instant.

Of course, if the mysterious monk behind this incident directly uses his powers, it is possible to overcome all of this to some extent.

They can move away from the place of their death or speak their testimony clearly, instead of repeating their incoherent grudges.

It hasn’t been confirmed yet if they can become stronger in terms of powerlessness, but…

It’s strange that everything else is possible, but this one thing isn’t. It’s better to think that it’s possible.

In addition, since they manipulate a strange energy through rotten blood, if blood suddenly pours out, it’s best to dodge it.

Once a dead person is killed again, it seems they won’t come back to life anymore, so it’s advised to strike them down as soon as they appear.

They have discovered quite a lot in a short period of time.

At first, the officials were cautious and wary of Myeongwoljin-in because he was a monk from another world, but…

It seems that’s no longer the case.

As the explanation continued, their eyes, which were initially somewhat stern, softened, revealing a depth of knowledge and presenting ways to protect the common people from the indiscriminate phenomena occurring throughout the Middle Realm.

It wasn’t rude to say, but the officials’ gaze became considerably gentler.

Hong Yeon-hwa, who was watching this change with satisfaction, tilted her head with a sense of accomplishment as the explanation was coming to an end and Myeongwoljin-in and Ma Nae were being asked various questions by the officials.

As I watched them, a curious thought crossed my mind, so I discreetly jabbed Hong Yeon-hwa’s side.

“Huh?!”

Oops, did I jab too hard?

Yeon-hwa jolted and quickly stood up from her seat.

The room, which had been buzzing with conversation just moments ago, suddenly fell silent.

All eyes focused on me, and Yeon-hwa blushed, coughing awkwardly.

“Ahem, ahem. What are you doing, touching me like that out of nowhere?”

“Yeon-hwa, what were you expecting when you suddenly said something like that?! I just lightly poked your side!”

I couldn’t believe it. I made a weird sound, and now she’s hitting me…!

I shouted loudly to make sure no one misunderstood… but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

Everyone looked at me with warm, knowing smiles.

“Hehe… I never thought I’d see such a sight from the Cheonma Divine Sect…”

Suragumma, who had almost died before reaching the Suragumma level, wiped away tears with his sleeve, as if deeply moved.

No way! I only touched her side…!

I tried to urge Yeon-hwa to say something with my eyes.

“Puh-heng.”

Yeon-hwa chuckled at my predicament.

In that moment, I couldn’t help but grab her soft, plump cheeks.

Her cheeks stretched like soft rice cakes, and I could hear her familiar scream.

“Kkkeung!”

Yeon-hwa tried to break free, but there was no chance.

With precise control over my strength, I moved my arms in sync with Yeon-hwa’s movements, nullifying her feeble resistance.

“Let go! Let go of me! Don’t you see we’re in an important meeting?”

“And who started fooling around during this important meeting?”

Strictly speaking, it was the question time after the meeting had ended.

The retaliation, wondering how human skin could be so soft and squishy, didn’t last long.

When her cheeks turned red, Yeon-hwa’s arms drooped, partly due to my swinging arms.

And besides, I was starting to feel a bit self-conscious about the gazes around us.

Anyway, I let go, and Yeon-hwa scolded the surroundings, massaging her cheeks with a pouty voice.

“While I’m being persecuted like this, what the hell are you all doing?”

“Persecuted… are you serious?”

Ma Nae, like a zookeeper witnessing a strange spectacle of ducks and otters making various sounds and signals, raised an eyebrow.

“In my eyes, it looked like the Cheonma Divine Sect was enjoying themselves.”

“It didn’t just look like we were enjoying ourselves, we were actually enjoying ourselves. I saw your smirk.”

And to top it off, Black Sword Grandmaster, who had claimed to have been Yeon-hwa’s bodyguard since childhood, chimed in, causing Yeon-hwa’s lips to twitch.

“Aish. So you’ve returned home, but you’re not on my side, huh?”

Hong Yeon-hwa pouted, her lips twitching just like Black Sword Grandmaster had said.

She hurriedly tried to regain control of her expression, but it was already too late.

Everyone here had already seen it.

When Suragumma returned, badly injured and filled with anger, Hong Yeon-hwa had shown her sharp fury. But now that Suragumma had somewhat recovered, she had returned to her usual demeanor.

Of course, that didn’t mean she had truly calmed down.

If she had, we wouldn’t have held this meeting in the first place.

For some reason, Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been poking my cheek for no reason, seemed satisfied after a while and let out a light sigh as she removed her hand.

“Phew.”

Tap, tap.

And then she lightly tapped her own cheek a couple of times to refresh the atmosphere.

After dispelling the previous tension, Hong Yeon-hwa opened her mouth with a serious tone.

“You’ve done a lot of investigation in this short time. First of all, well done. And I formally express my gratitude to Myeongwoljinin, who helped me once again.”

“No need to make a big deal out of it. As a true monk, it is my duty to cultivate myself and guide the people towards the path of sages and virtuous individuals.”

Myeongwoljinin nodded with a solemn voice.

“Leaving aside such principles and using the methods of the demonic realm to disturb the peace of the stable world and make the common people anxious, how can we just sit back and watch?”

Was there such a rule?

Well, in our world, the Mosan Faction has held power for a long time. There must be a reason for that.

Although he seemed strange when he wandered around here and there, complaining about the strange atmosphere, he really does seem like a true monk at times like this.

He is a true monk, after all.

Anyway, Hong Yeon-hwa nodded her head as she looked at the other officers who were making uncertain expressions in response to Myeongwoljinin’s words.

“If you think so, then thank you. Now, as we planned before, it’s time to announce my return and the suppression… Manoe, how prepared are you?”

“We can do it right away.”

This is what I heard before.

Originally, the plan was to announce Hong Yeon-hwa’s return along with news of her marriage, but we decided to postpone the wedding and focus on this matter for now.

Has the preparation already been completed?

Hong Yeon-hwa glanced at the officers one by one and then opened her mouth.

“As I said before, this time, I’m not going alone, but I intend to take all of you with me. However, if everyone really follows along, won’t it be difficult to operate the religion?”

“Don’t worry, Cheonma-nim. We have already prepared for that. Everything will go smoothly for a while.”

“Good, that’s fast.”

“Well, I was the only one working behind the scenes anyway.”

Ma Nae, with his shiny bald head, responded absentmindedly.

The other officers were known for their fighting skills, but when it came to actual work, Ma Nae was the one who did everything on his own.

Since the practical matters of the organization were handled by their staff, they could focus on their own tasks and let things run smoothly.

Some of the officers flinched, perhaps aware of Ma Nae’s struggles. Hong Yeon-hwa nodded and spoke up.

“Tomorrow.”

“Do you plan to announce it tomorrow…?”

“That’s right. Apart from Suragumma, there are only a few injured individuals. There’s no reason to delay any longer.”

“That’s true. If anyone dares to ignore your words, they tend to resort to more extreme measures.”

“Exactly. Gather the nearby followers and commoners at noon tomorrow. Also, make sure we’re ready to head to Taesan the next day.”

“Understood.”

Ma Nae bowed deeply and gave a brief response.

Seeing his reliable figure, a sudden anger welled up inside me.

Of course, it wasn’t directed at Ma Nae.

After all the hardships we went through, we managed to overthrow the Samaryeonju and rise to power. We had wealth, influence, and the newly established Sadoyeon. I thought that after our recent marriage and the revelation of our hidden reincarnation, we could finally put an end to our past and look forward to a happy future.

But just before turning the page and starting a new chapter, some crazy bastard had to come out of nowhere and cause a huge problem.

And it was a fucking big problem.

Of course, I wasn’t worried.

He may be a nuisance, but he wouldn’t be able to surpass Hong Yeon-hwa, let alone me or the other women. And certainly not the high-ranking officials of the Cheonma Religion.

But it’s still frustrating to deal with.

As I silently fumed, absentmindedly tapping the hilt of my sword against my hip, Hong Yeon-hwa, who had neatly concluded the meeting, asked me.

“By the way, why did you poke my side earlier?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. We’re allowed to access the religion’s library, right?”

“Well, you’re my husband and my younger brother, so it’s only natural.”

“Myeongwoljinin probably thinks it’s natural too, but I thought it would be nice to open up part of the library to him as well, since he’s helping us.”

Working for free, even if it seems fine at the time, can leave a bitter taste in your mouth when you think about it later, don’t you think?