Chapter 865 ·It’s Because You Haven’t Been Dragged Away Yet

Indulgence Sect.

It was the name of the organization that Jin Hagun had been tracking recently. Contrary to its name, which suggested a pursuit of beauty, it was an utterly vile organization.

The first time Jin Hagun learned about them was while investigating a series of consecutive disappearance cases. As women of the martial world began to vanish one after another, Jin Hagun and the Demon-Slaying Brigade dug into the case in earnest.

During that process, they uncovered a single name.

Indulgence Sect.

It was not an official martial faction, but a secret organization. They kidnapped women of the Jianghu and sold them off, operating a human trafficking ring. Their targets were primarily beautiful women, but their crimes did not end there. They committed unforgivable atrocities, abducting even young girls rather than limiting themselves to adults.

After a long pursuit, they finally captured those responsible for abducting the women. However, they turned out to be nothing more than underlings carrying out orders. The organization was thoroughly compartmentalized. They did not even know who was giving the orders, acting only after receiving money and written instructions.

Once the lower branches had been swept up, the bastards immediately ceased all kidnappings. Their intention was obvious. They meant to wait for the Demon-Slaying Brigade's investigation to end in failure.

Jin Hagun was furious.

And despairing.

The Demon-Slaying Brigade couldn’t focus solely on them, so at this rate, they would have no choice but to bury the case and move on to other matters. They wouldn’t be able to catch them until they committed evil again.

And by then, they would move even more secretly, meaning countless more victims would have to appear before any new clues surfaced.

‘We should have caught them at the very beginning somehow.’

And yet, Geom Mugeuk brought up that Indulgence Sect.

Soon after, even more shocking words flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.

“There’s the Indulgence Sect Leader in this room.”

“!”

Clack clack clack clack.

All the martial artists of the Demon-Slaying Brigade raised their qi and leveled their swords in every direction, standing on full alert. They had followed Jin Hagun for a long time and had spent enough time around Geom Mugeuk to know one thing: no matter how many absurd things he said, he was not someone who would joke about a matter like this.

Jin Hagun’s gaze turned to the man hanging on the wall.

“That one?”

Naturally, he thought it must be him, but Geom Mugeuk slowly shook his head.

‘Not him?’

It couldn't be the Sect Leader of the Chuga Sword Gate or his son. As the thought crossed his mind that it might be one of the fallen martial artists, he immediately dismissed it.

‘No.’

Jin Hagun suddenly recalled that Lee Ahn had mercilessly beaten the second son, Chu Jung. She had even said there would be no later chance to beat him again.

“Don’t tell me?”

At Jin Hagun’s shock, Geom Mugeuk nodded.

Jin Hagun's gaze shifted to Chu Jung behind them. In that moment, he finally found the answer to the question he had asked earlier: what exactly had he done?

Not only Jin Hagun, but all the Demon-Slaying Brigade martial artists were stunned. A descendant of a prestigious family was the head of the Indulgence Sect?

The one who received the greatest shock, of course, was his father, Chu Yeom.

“You insane bastard!”

Chu Yeom reflexively drew his sword and tried to step forward.

Clack.

The half-drawn sword slid back into its sheath.

Someone was pressing down on the end of the hilt with a finger.

It was Lee Ahn.

In a flash, she had rushed in and stood right beside Chu Yeom, gazing at him as she spoke calmly.

“I understand how you feel, but he is not someone you should be pointing your sword at.”

Chu Yeom realized that this young woman was far stronger than him. Even if he was agitated, there was no way he would have allowed someone to get this close so easily. Moreover, even though she was pressing the hilt with just a finger, the sword wouldn’t come out.

“Who are you people?”

At his trembling question, Lee Ahn lightly stepped back and said,

“Who we are isn’t important. What matters right now is who your son is.”

She was completely different from the earlier image of her tearing apart a chicken leg.

Jin Hagun could tell. The her he had seen before and the her now were different.

‘She’s gotten much stronger.’

Moreover, while traveling, she had been discussing martial arts with Geom Mugeuk whenever they had the chance, and her level was still rising.

At Jin Hagun’s signal, two Demon-Slaying Brigade martial artists rushed in from both sides and restrained Chu Yeom’s Devil’s Hole.

“What are you doing?!”

He shouted in protest, but it was already too late. His Devil's Hole had been sealed. It was for his own sake. If he lashed out in agitation over his son, he would only end up suffering greater losses.

Jin Hagun spoke calmly to him.

“Please remain calm. I will uncover the truth of this incident.”

Chu Yeom flinched and then made a suspicious expression.

“Could it be? Has the Martial Alliance plotted to eliminate our sect?”

It was an understandable misunderstanding. Two unknown masters had kidnapped his son, and the commander of the Demon-Slaying Brigade who came to rescue him seemed to know those culprits.

Understanding him, Jin Hagun did not get angry at the rude remark.

“If you have committed an evil deed that deserves to vanish at the hands of the Demon-Slaying Brigade, then in the end, that statement would be correct. However, if not, then please watch a little longer.”

Chu Yeom said nothing more. What he had just said was clearly a slip of the tongue. He had insulted the Alliance, the Demon-Slaying Brigade, and even the Young Leader.

Jin Hagun turned back to Geom Mugeuk. Sect Leader Chu, how could you possibly know? When that man in front of you takes action like this, it means all preparations are already complete.

“Is there evidence that Young Hero Chu is the Indulgence Sect Leader?”

“Of course there is.”

“Then do you also know where the women he sold off are now?”

In truth, this was the most important question for Jin Hagun. Saving them was the top priority.

He had assumed Geom Mugeuk would naturally have figured it out.

“There isn’t a single one who was sold.”

“Not a single one?”

To the puzzled Jin Hagun, Geom Mugeuk revealed a shocking truth.

“The Indulgence Sect never existed in the first place.”

“!”

The shocking revelations continued.

“The Indulgence Sect was a fabricated organization created to throw you into confusion.”

Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned to Chu Jung.

“As you investigated the disappearance cases and gradually closed in on the truth, that man created a fake organization called the Indulgence Sect. He spent money to recruit a handful of men, making them appear to be members of a compartmentalized network. Then he put them to use. He had them actually kidnap women and made sure they would be caught by you.”

“Why would he do that?”

“As long as you believed this was the work of a human trafficking organization, you would never catch the real culprit.”

It made sense. No one could have imagined that the descendant of a prestigious orthodox sect, especially a kind and intelligent young successor like him, would be running such an operation.

But there was still something Jin Hagun couldn’t understand.

“Even without creating such an organization, no one would have suspected that Chu Jung committed such acts.”

As if it was a valid question, Chu Yeom also nodded, waiting for the answer.

The reply was just as shocking.

“He didn’t create it to protect himself. He created it to protect his master.”

At the mention of “master,” Chu Yeom shouted.

“Now your nonsense is exposed. I am Jung’s master.”

Meanwhile, Jin Hagun realized who the “master” Geom Mugeuk spoke of was.

His gaze naturally turned to the man hanging on the wall.

“So that man is the master.”

Geom Mugeuk nodded and extended his hand forward.

Srrrk.

As Geom Mugeuk used Void Telekinesis, the man with his head lowered slowly lifted it. Though still unconscious, his face was no longer that of the handsome middle-aged man they had seen earlier at the inn.

Instead, he revealed the appearance of a much older elder. His true face had been exposed.

At that moment, Demon-Slaying Brigade martial artist Jeong Gyeong recognized who the old man was.

“It’s the Lustful Demon.”

Everyone was shocked by his identity.

He was a notorious sexual predator—a criminal of the martial world, infamous for raping and murdering countless women. He was known for draining their vital essence after killing them, an utterly vile individual.

At the Martial Alliance, they had pursued him relentlessly, trying to capture him no matter what. Last year, they had even deployed the Celestial Silk Snare and cornered him, yet in the end, they failed to catch him.

And yet, that very Lustful Demon had been captured here.

The Lustful Demon had approached Geom Mugeuk and Lee Ahn at the inn, buying them drinks and food.

As he walked toward them earlier, Geom Mugeuk had asked Lee Ahn with a glance whether she could recognize him. Lee Ahn responded with a nod, indicating that she could.

What he had been asking was whether she could see through the Face-Preserving Technique that kept the man’s appearance youthful.

Geom Mugeuk had already reached the level where he could recognize those who had mastered such techniques at a glance, and he had also taught Lee Ahn how to identify their unique aura and traits.

Demon-Slaying Brigade martial artist Jeong Gyeong belatedly recalled something and spoke.

“Come to think of it, the place where the Martial Alliance lost him back then was near here.”

Jin Hagun's expression darkened. If the Lustful Demon had been involved in this matter...

“Then all the kidnapped women must be dead.”

The Lustful Demon he knew never left his victims alive.

As expected, his assumption was correct. Geom Mugeuk let out a sigh and said,

“They all died after having their vital essence drained.”

Jin Hagun, along with the Demon-Slaying Brigade martial artists, all let out sighs of grief. They had wanted to save the women who had been sold off. Naturally, their gazes grew fierce.

Now, there was only one final thing Jin Hagun wanted to know.

“How did you capture him?”

“I didn’t capture him. He came to us on his own.”

Jin Hagun understood.

The Lustful Demon had been drawn in by Lee Ahn’s beauty and attempted his usual depravity, only to be captured instead. Of all targets to choose, he had chosen the worst possible ones. To men like him, the two of them were nothing short of a natural disaster.

“He tried to drug us, so we captured him and uncovered that he was the Lustful Demon. At the time, I didn't even intend to hand him over to you, since you're busy. I was going to punish him and kill him. But then he said something like this: if we stopped the pain, he'd tell us who the Indulgence Sect Leader causing all the recent uproar in the martial world was.”

Only now did Jin Hagun understand the full picture.

“You can hear the rest from him directly.”

Geom Mugeuk flicked his finger, sending a gust that pressed a pressure point and awakened the man who had been put to sleep.

The man blinked as he woke and looked at the people standing before him.

Even at the sight of Jin Hagun and the Demon-Slaying Brigade lined up, he showed no fear. Instead, a sneer instinctively formed at the corner of his lips.

Jin Hagun asked him,

“Did you threaten Chu Jung and take him as your disciple?”

The Lustful Demon sneered.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?”

At that moment, Geom Mugeuk spoke from the side.

“Answer politely.”

The Lustful Demon glanced sideways without thinking, and their eyes met.

He blinked once.

Then terror seized him.

“Ugh...!”

The ease in his eyes vanished, replaced with fear. Only now did he recall what had happened before he lost consciousness.

“Shh.”

At Geom Mugeuk’s quiet gesture, the Lustful Demon clamped his mouth shut like a shell.

“This is the Young Leader of the Martial Alliance. Answer him respectfully.”

At the mention of “Young Leader,” the Lustful Demon’s eyes widened, but the one he truly feared was still Geom Mugeuk.

“Understood.”

It was the first time he had shown such obedience.

“I’ll tell everything truthfully, so make sure you keep your promise.”

He reminded them of the promise again, and Geom Mugeuk nodded without hesitation.

“What did you ask just now?”

“I asked if you threatened Chu Jung and made him your disciple.”

The Lustful Demon’s gaze shifted to Chu Jung.

“I was dying from severe injuries after being caught in the Celestial Silk Snare. That boy saved me.”

The truly shocking part came next.

“Even after knowing who I was, he wanted to become my disciple.”

Everyone present was stunned. It wasn't that he had been forced to become a disciple. If anything, it was the exact opposite.

“The moment I saw that boy, I knew. He was born with stronger lust and evil intent than anyone else. Completely devoid of even the slightest compassion. He was a child who would surpass me… what a shame.”

Of course, Chu Jung strongly denied it.

“That’s a lie. It’s a false accusation to trap me.”

At that, the Lustful Demon sighed as he looked at him.

“It’s over, my disciple. We… chose the wrong target.”

At his lament, Chu Yeom shouted angrily.

“Shut up! How dare a filthy sex demon spout such nonsense? Young Leader, you’re not actually going to believe the words of someone like him, are you? Everything is just his claim! Without evidence, you cannot brand my son a criminal!”

At that moment, the Lustful Demon turned cold eyes toward Chu Yeom and said,

“The aura of the lust arts he learned from me is flowing through your son’s body. If you check his Internal Energy, you’ll know immediately. He’s already drained nine women.”

At the mention of nine, Chu Yeom was shaken.

“You could have forcibly injected it into him!”

Leaving aside how absurd that claim was, what Jin Hagun found questionable was this:

“Then why didn’t your son say that first? That the man hanging on the wall forced him to become a disciple.”

Chu Yeom flinched.

It was a valid point. If he were innocent, he would have first claimed he had been forced into discipleship and that the man had forcibly infused that energy into his body.

“He must have been too flustered.”

Geom Mugeuk drove the final nail in.

“Since the Indulgence Sect was operated as a compartmentalized network, there must be records about the organization. If you search his residence, there will be a hidden vault, and related evidence will be there. A comparison of handwriting will confirm it.”

“That too could have been fabricated and planted!”

As Chu Yeom desperately tried to protect his son, Jin Hagun asked him,

“Sect Leader Chu, can you handle your son from here on?”

“!”

Silence fell over the room.

Chu Yeom slowly turned to look at his son.

“I will never let you be falsely accused—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

His son wasn’t looking at him. The anger in his eyes as he glared at the Lustful Demon was different from the anger of someone falsely accused.

As if he realized he could no longer hide it, Chu Jung revealed his true nature.

“You idiot bastard! I told you to stay still for a while! You couldn’t even endure a few days and ruined everything!”

At the cold tone and gaze, Chu Yeom was shocked. It felt as though he was looking at a stranger, not his son.

The Lustful Demon burst into loud laughter.

“My disciple, even if I were to die, how could I possibly ignore a beauty like that?”

As if he had done his part, he turned to Geom Mugeuk and said,

“Make sure you keep your promise.”

With a wave of Geom Mugeuk’s hand, the man’s pressure points were sealed again, and he fell back asleep.

“What promise did you make with him?”

Surely, Geom Mugeuk hadn’t promised to release such a villain.

“I promised not to take him to the Main Cult. I gave him quite a scare while punishing him. I told him I would take him there, keep him alive through treatment, and inflict that pain on him for the rest of his life.”

At times like this, Jin Hagun felt something beyond anger. He felt the limits of justice itself. Every time he saw evil men who mocked righteousness collapse in fear before an even greater evil, a flame would surge within his chest.

“I tried to at least find out where the women’s bodies were buried, but he said only that man knows the location.”

Jin Hagun walked over and stared directly at Chu Jung.

“Where did you bury the bodies of the women you killed?”

Chu Jung’s eyes were empty, with only a single point of malice embedded within them.

The moment Jin Hagun saw the strange smile forming at his lips, he knew.

That man would never reveal where the bodies were buried.

No matter how much they interrogated him, they would never get the answer they wanted. Even under torture, he would remain silent. In fact, he would take pleasure in withholding the truth until the very end. That was simply the kind of man he was.

It seemed Geom Mugeuk, standing behind, felt the same.

“Send him to us.”

Jin Hagun turned to look at Geom Mugeuk.

Just as Chu Jung had revealed his true nature, in this moment, Geom Mugeuk was also revealing exactly who he was.

“It’s because none of you have been dragged into the Main Cult’s underground yet.”