Unable to hide his excitement, Gong Son Wu’s words made Dokgo Cheon slightly surprised, causing him to touch his own face.

‘Indeed, my eyebrows are more slanted than usual.’

It seemed like there was a slight furrow between his brows as well.

Dokgo Cheon spent a long time touching his face, going “Hmm. Hmmm.”

“Answer me. Since when?”

“When I embraced her.”

“What?”

Dokgo Cheon looked down at the unconscious Na Rin and continued speaking.

“When I… held Ju Na Rin in my arms, my face moved.”

What on earth does that mean?

‘Embracing Na Rin brought back his emotions?’

Gong Son Wu tilted his head in confusion, but nothing immediately came to mind.

The only thing certain was that among the hundreds and thousands of treatments they had employed to revive Dokgo Cheon’s emotions, there was no treatment called “hugging a young child.”

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but…”

Gong Son Wu continued, with a bright smile spreading across his face.

“Congratulations, Cheon.”

At the name he hadn’t heard in a long time, an awkward light flashed across Dokgo Cheon’s face before fading.

Even the feeling of awkwardness was something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“I see.”

Is this what emotion feels like?

‘It’s warm.’

Joy. Anger. Sadness. Pleasure.

Dokgo Cheon felt all these words were distant. Should he say they lacked shape, making their presence faint?

But one thing he could know for certain was the temperature.

The warmth that settled in his chest when he held Na Rin. The sourceless comfort he felt when their eyes met.

The heart that heated up like tempering steel in his desire to protect Na Rin.

All of it was temperature.

“By the way, how’s the child’s condition? Should we call a doctor?”

Gong Son Wu’s words brought him back to his senses.

‘That’s right. Ju Na Rin has lost consciousness. She needs a doctor’s care.’

She hadn’t been directly attacked so she probably wasn’t seriously injured, but she might have strained her body to the point of fainting.

“That would be good.”

“Alright. I’ll call a doctor right away… No, I’ll take her to the Medical Palace. Hand her over.”

At that, Dokgo Cheon’s eyes widened slightly as if he had heard something unbelievable.

“Hand over Ju Na Rin?”

“Yes, hand her over. You’re the Cult Leader now. Do you want to run around carrying a child? The Demon Commanders and Elders would love to see that.”

“Hmm.”

Dokgo Cheon frowned, but there was no flaw in Gong Son Wu’s words.

It was clear that if he, as the Cult Leader, ran around carrying a young child, it would cause problems with his dignity.

“Come on, give her here. We need to show her to a doctor as soon as possible.”

“…Alright.”

Na Rin’s body was lightly transferred from Dokgo Cheon’s arms to Gong Son Wu.

At that moment.

‘Ah.’

Is this how it feels when someone slices open your belly and steals your insides?

An inexplicable feeling of emptiness enveloped Dokgo Cheon and then dissipated into the air in an instant.

Like a flower that had bloomed on a rock for a season and then withered.

Not even a sense of emptiness remained in his desolately dry heart.

“Let’s go quickly.”

As Dokgo Cheon watched Gong Son Wu’s back as he carried Na Rin away, a fundamental question arose in his mind.

‘Why should I follow?’

She’s just a commoner child.

Whether she lives or dies, it shouldn’t matter to me.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“…What?”

Dokgo Cheon added with his usual cold expression.

“I mean, take care of the child’s treatment yourself, Ji Guk Cheon.”

“But, just a moment ago…”

“I’ve wasted time.”

Dokgo Cheon stood up, dusted off his clothes, and turned around.

His attitude showed no concern for what might happen to Na Rin.

‘He’s back to his old self?’

Gong Son Wu felt like the sky was falling.

For a moment, it had seemed like his old friend had returned.

“Cheon!”

Gong Son Wu, still carrying Na Rin, stepped in front of Dokgo Cheon to block his path.

Despite the sudden rudeness, Dokgo Cheon’s expression remained unchanged.

‘I can’t let this end like it never happened.’

Gong Son Wu said.

“Hold her.”

“…?”

“Just shut up and hold her!”

Dokgo Cheon’s expression twisted with displeasure as he was forced to take Na Rin into his arms.

“I don’t understand what you’re doing.”

“Ha…!”

This is it.

This was it.

An uncontrollable smile spread across Gong Son Wu’s face.

“Haha! Hahaha!”

“…?”

Anyone who heard this would laugh.

The world’s greatest villain. The Cult Leader.

To think that Dokgo Cheon, the Heavenly Demon, could only feel emotions when holding a young child.

Dokgo Cheon grumbled with an uncomfortable expression.

“Why are you laughing? Shouldn’t we hurry and take Ju Na Rin to the Medical Palace?”

“Right. Haha! Of course. Come on, let’s go to the Medical Palace.”

Dokgo Cheon was displeased with Gong Son Wu’s continuous laughter, but decided to ignore it.

He was worried that if he said anything, he might have to hand Na Rin over again.

‘I will carry her myself.’

Dokgo Cheon quietly closed his eyes and smiled slightly as he looked at the sleeping Na Rin.

Ju Na Rin.

This small child was the benefactor who had restored the heart of a man who had lost it.

“The Heavenly Demon rules, ten thousand demons submit.”

“Rise.”

“I obey.”

The old man who slowly rose from his seat was named Mu Sa Pyeong.

He was the head of the Medical Palace and the Cult Leader’s personal physician.

Mu Sa Pyeong looked at Na Rin, who was unconscious in the Cult Leader’s arms.

‘She looks familiar…’

As he tried to recall where he might have seen her before, Gong Son Wu spoke.

“There are two things you need to examine. First is the child’s health, and second is the effect this child has on the Cult Leader. You should know what kind of effect I’m talking about from the letter you received, right?”

“Yes, but…”

The head of the Medical Palace hesitated to answer.

He had read the letter Gong Son Wu sent, but he found it hard to believe its contents.

‘Could it be that Ji Guk Cheon Wang’s excessive concern for the Cult Leader has caused him to become delusional?’

It wasn’t unreasonable for the head of the Medical Palace to think this way.

The idea that holding a young child could cure the Cult Leader’s condition?

There couldn’t possibly be an illness that improves just by embracing someone.

Moreover… since the day Dokgo Cheon’s condition first appeared years ago until now, Gong Son Wu was the only one who never gave up searching for a cure.

“Anyway, I’ll examine the child.”

As the head of the Medical Palace reached out to take Na Rin’s wrist to check her pulse, it happened.

Swish.

Dokgo Cheon pulled Na Rin close to him.

With eyes like a mother beast protecting its young.

“Cult Leader…?”

“Don’t touch her carelessly.”

Surprise flashed in the eyes of the head of the Medical Palace.

When was the last time Dokgo Cheon had shown such clear emotion in the past few years?

“Now do you believe me? Hmm?”

As Gong Son Wu interjected with a hint of laughter in his voice, the head of the Medical Palace looke

As even Gong Son Wu joined in, Dokgo Cheon’s firm gaze shifted to Na Rin in his arms.

Honestly, he didn’t want to give up even a fingertip, but the thought of the child dying was even more terrible.

‘I don’t want to feel that kind of emotion again.’

Perhaps it was because he hadn’t felt emotions for so long.

The sense of loss Dokgo Cheon felt when he briefly let go of Na Rin seemed more powerful and painful than any other emotion. It was as if he had lost something that should never be damaged.

After some deliberation, Dokgo Cheon extended one of Na Rin’s arms to the head of the Medical Palace.

“If you harm the child even slightly, you won’t remain unscathed either.”

Gulp.

Dokgo Cheon spoke so easily the words a doctor fears most.

The head of the Medical Palace carefully took Na Rin’s wrist and closed his eyes.

The most sensitive fingertips in the Demonic Cult took Na Rin’s pulse.

‘How strange.’

A faint, weak pulse beat precariously, as if it might fade at any moment.

Like a riverbed dried up from a long drought, thirsty, yet not losing enough vitality to revive.

But what was this?

How could a dried-up riverbed without a drop of water suddenly become as vast as the Yangtze River?

‘It’s as if someone with no internal energy has expanded their meridians to the limit.’

It was a fortunate diagnosis for Na Rin.

The vast riverbed that the head of the Medical Palace perceived as dried up was actually brimming with the internal energy of a 24-year-old.

“Have you found out anything?”

The head of the Medical Palace contemplated and removed his hand.

Gong Son Wu asked, and Dokgo Cheon listened.

“First, I’ll report on the child’s health condition.”

The head of the Medical Palace answered carefully.

“There are no particular injuries, no blockages or knots. Though the energy is weak, there’s no sign of toxins, so we can’t call her a patient.”

“That’s a relief.”

It was Dokgo Cheon who spoke. He had already snatched Na Rin back into his arms.

Both the act of being relieved at the news of the child’s safety and the possessive embrace as if she were his own offspring seemed extremely awkward for him.

“What do you think about the second issue?”

“Hmm.”

The head of the Medical Palace pondered the ‘second issue’ Gong Son Wu mentioned.

Embracing that child improves Dokgo Cheon’s condition. That fact couldn’t be denied.

The problem was the cause and the process, but…

Pathetically, nothing came to mind.

“We need time.”

“What time?”

“Time to monitor changes in the Cult Leader’s condition and the child’s condition depending on the situation, and to experiment with various possibilities.”

“That’s something we can just do. What time…”

At this point, a glint appeared in Gong Son Wu’s eyes.

“Are you saying we should keep this a secret?”

“Not everyone is like you, Ji Guk Cheon Wang.”

Gong Son Wu’s fist clenched tightly.

He didn’t need to hear more to understand.

The faction that benefited most from Dokgo Cheon losing his emotions. The faction that hoped his illness would never be cured.

‘The Demon Commander faction.’

In the Demonic Cult, the true bone is the Cult Leader faction. They pursue powerful martial arts based on myths and religion. The real Demonic Cult that coined the term ‘strong survive’. They are the priests of the Demonic Cult as a religion.

And serving beneath them are the true bone Elder faction. The influence of the Elder faction, which governs and guides the parishes full of common believers, spans the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

Lastly, the Demon Commander faction are the six-rank nobles who can never become aristocrats no matter what they do.

The so-called Seven Great Demon Commanders are powerful and materially wealthy, but they couldn’t join the mainstream.

‘Because their origins are different.’

Blood Cult, Betrayal Cult, Manifest Cult, Esoteric Cult, Evil Cult… Countless religions knelt under the name of the Demonic Cult, too many to count.

The Demon Commander faction were their descendants.

The Demon Commander faction, consistently ostracized for the sin of worshipping defeated gods. For them, an emotionless Cult Leader who treated all factions equally must have been convenient.

“I understand what the head of the Medical Palace is saying. We’ll keep it a secret for now.”

“Then from now on…”

While the head of the Medical Palace and Gong Son Wu planned for the future, Dokgo Cheon was focusing solely on brushing away the fine hairs flowing over Na Rin’s forehead.

Small, round, and soft forehead.

He kept feeling as if wiping away all the fine hairs that kept falling, scattering his thoughts, would reveal something like a pale full moon.