Chapter 554

## Chapter 554: The Lazy One Takes Action (4)

“Food! Bring more food! Now!”

“Y-yes, right away!”

Jong-ya, the owner of the Crescent Moon Inn, piled all the dishes coming out of the kitchen onto trays and ran around frantically.

“H-here you go!”

As soon as he put the tray down, the food vanished instantly.

“Pass me that roast duck!”

“Hey, you! Are you going to eat it all yourself?”

“You steal food from your own father, you ungrateful brat?”

Jong-ya instinctively backed away.

*’Are these Beggars possessed by demons?’*

When six Beggars burst into the inn moments before, he had thought the day was ruined.

A good start is crucial for any business. If Beggars enter before opening, it’s as if the day is already lost.

Determined to beat those crazy people who were ruining his business, Jong-ya grabbed a club… until one of them showed something yellowish.

Carefully, he used the club to bring it closer.

If his eyes didn’t deceive him, it was gold. Pure gold.

“Bring all the food you have.”

At that moment, they weren’t Beggars, but gods of fortune.

*What does their appearance matter if they have money?*

His anger melted like snow in the sun, and soon he was guiding them with a servile smile.

But now…

*’How long are they going to keep eating?’*

The Crescent Moon Inn was large, with five cooks working simultaneously.

But even they were on the verge of collapse.

No matter how frantically they cooked, the guys devoured everything faster.

*’Will they end up eating the equivalent of that gold ingot?’*

It was absurd, but the scene before his eyes made it plausible.

The dishes piled up.

“Is the Gongbao chicken taking long?”

“Soup! We want something hot!”

*’Damn Beggars.’*

The gods had turned back into Beggars. After hours of serving dishes, their voracity finally diminished.

One of them, the most ragged, patted his belly, which was bulging like a toad, and smiled contentedly.

“Ah, now I feel alive.”

“Three days without a drop of water.”

“It was a struggle between dying by a sword or by starvation.”

Jangil shook his head in horror.

Although Beggars were used to hunger, they also hated it. Those who had suffered it knew its true terror. It was no coincidence that fasting was the worst punishment in the Beggar Sect.

With their stomachs full, their minds began to work.

“So, we don’t need to go through Mount Hua?”

“Mmm…”

Wei Jeonghan, more relaxed now, leaned back in his chair.

“We can send a message. Wasting time climbing that mountain is not a good idea.”

“I agree.”

“It’s best to go directly to Luoyang. The Master of Divine Abilities is there; we must discuss the situation with him.”

Everyone nodded.

Although there was room for debate, in times of war, it was wise to follow orders.

“Do we leave now?”

“…No. Let’s rest first.”

“Huh? In this situation?”

“Precisely because of that.”

Wei Jeonghan pointed to the group.

“External wounds are one thing, but internal ones don’t heal on their own. There’s no use arriving in Luoyang if we’re not in fighting condition.”

“But…”

“*We must* rest.”

He was emphatic.

“We’ve already transmitted the crucial information. Rushing won’t change anything. What’s important is to recover our energy and be ready to act. That’s how war is.”

“Hmm…”

Wei Yanho didn’t fully understand. But in war experience, Wei Jeonghan was a veteran, while he was a recruit with a new spear.

Besides…

The situation was urgent, but Wei Yanho wasn’t one to refuse a rest.

“W-well, let’s rest for a while.”

The words came out without thinking.

“Ggggggggggggggggggg.”

An involuntary groan escaped his lips.

The feeling of immersing himself in hot water, the steam rising in the tub, was an incomparable pleasure.

*’This is paradise’*, he thought, surrendering to the heat.

“Fuuuuuuuu.”

Wei Yanho sank completely, letting out a sigh.

Normally, he didn’t enjoy bathing. In fact, he detested any physical activity.

Moving made him hungry, and hunger demanded movement. The only solution to that cycle was not to move.

But after escaping from the demons, the accumulated blood and dust had dragged him here.

And now, the dirt was coming off.

“This is why people bathe.”

Not even during his five years without washing in the cave with Baek Muhan had he felt so uncomfortable.

Perhaps he was now more aware of hygiene, or the pursuit had been more brutal.

Submerged up to his chin, he leaned his head back.

*’How complicated.’*

With a moment of calm, his mind began to work. Until now, he had only thought about escaping from Xinjiang. He understood why Wei Jeonghan insisted on resting.

Moving frantically was useless. He needed to sort out his ideas.

The elites of the Demon Cult who disappeared.

The inexplicable movements of Baekgeom Fortress.

And…

*’The Heavenly Demon.’*

No one would understand.

How powerful that being was.

To others, it would sound like talking about castles in the air. Something intangible.

But Wei Yanho felt it clearly.

*’There is no one who can face him.’*

If that power was real, no one in the current martial world could defeat him. Not even with combined attacks.

That made it more mysterious.

If the Heavenly Demon existed and had such power, why mobilize the Demon Cult and provoke a war?

He himself was a living calamity.

Great figures like the Supreme Sovereign or the Sword Sage needed factions. Even the Great Demon King needed the Cult. But the truly powerful don’t need followers.

When his master traveled the world, the followers of the Great Family of the Infinity Sword only got in his way. Those who transcend don’t need factions. They are complete in themselves.

So, why did the Heavenly Demon control the Cult? Why didn’t he reveal his power and conquer everything?

*’There’s something more.’*

There had to be a reason.

Wei Yanho scratched his head.

He didn’t consider himself less intelligent than others, but deciphering conspiracies wasn’t his strong suit. Everyone has their skills.

His duty was to transmit the information to the thinkers. Let them worry.

What really disturbed him was something else.

*’Why was that sword there?’*

The sword stuck behind the Sacred Flame.

Wei Sanho’s sword.

That image shook him.

It could be a coincidence.

Or perhaps it meant nothing.

But…

Wei Yanho closed his eyes and submerged his head. After a long moment, he emerged.

*’My brother wouldn’t abandon it.’*

No matter how much Wei Sanho had joined the Cult, he would never discard that sword. It was the sword of the Wei Family of Guangdong. The last symbol that united him to his lineage.

Sticking it there was like declaring that he was no longer Wei Sanho of Guangdong. That disturbed him.

*’Why, damn it?’*

He didn’t understand it.

Why did Wei Sanho join the Cult?

Because of his father? Blood?

Nonsense.

Wei Yanho knew it: Wei Sanho wasn’t one to abandon his family for that. Even if his father died unjustly and the Central Plains was to blame, he would never join the Cult to take revenge.

Wei Sanho would have confronted the Cult and sought the truth in the Central Plains.

Then why?

The Heavenly Demon, Wei Sanho, the Sacred Flame, the Great Demon King, the Cult…

Everything swirled in his mind.

Leaning back, he murmured:

“It doesn’t matter.”

Any hidden truth, any reason Wei Sanho had, any grandiloquence, didn’t concern him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll fix it.”

His master was right.

He had said it many times.

“All your problems arise from your weakness. The strong have no problems. If you have a problem, the cause is one: weakness. Only weakness. Become strong. The world says that power isn’t everything, but that’s the consolation of the weak. Power is everything. With strength, you can solve any problem.”

*’How annoying that he’s always right.’*

The cause of everything was clear: Wei Yanho was weak. If he hadn’t lost against the Insane Demon, Wei Sanho wouldn’t have joined the Cult.

And even if he had, if Wei Yanho was strong enough to destroy the Cult, perhaps Wei Sanho would now be in Guangdong looking for a wife.

The cause was clear.

And the solution?

It was too.

Wei Yanho closed his eyes.

A ray of white light piercing the darkness.

Become strong.

That was the only thing he had to do.

Become strong.

“There is no time.”

He had to strengthen himself during this war. More and more.

Until he could endure the whole world.

Until he could illuminate the whole world.

Yes, like his master.

His hand moved slowly.

Chasing.

Chasing his master’s unreachable sword, his hand traced lines in the air as if bewitched.