Camellia 25

The Sect Leader’s bride had been absent for several days.

A bride who had yet to hold a proper wedding ceremony, vanishing of hid own accord, how disgraceful. Naturally, rumors were starting to circulate within the Demonic Sect.

And in Sacheon, the gossip was already in full swing: that a dazzlingly beautiful blood fiend was searching high and low across the province for a child.

It was because Seolyeong had blatantly revealed his identity. When he’d gone around with ordinary-colored eyes, few people had offered help. So he deliberately released his reverse transformation. Once it became known he was a blood fiend, people were more cooperative, if only out of fear.

Martial sects near Sacheon began to stir as well, with the nuns of Mount Amyeong expressing particular outrage.

It was common knowledge that Buddhist sects loathed blood fiends as symbols of evil. Martial artists training at Geumjeong Peak kept close watch on the fiend’s movements, and even the Sipman Daesan convened an emergency meeting.

Amyeong rarely descended from their mountain, but once they chose to fight, they were relentless, even to the point of mutual destruction. While many sects had more powerful martial techniques, few could rival Amyeong in mental fortitude. During the Madu’s campaign to conquer the martial world, the one group that took more effort to subdue than even the famously chaotic Mudang was Mount Amyeong.

Amyeong was a sect of warriors whose sheer willpower had even broken through the Madu’s illusion techniques.

That same illusion had once brought the heads of the Nine Great Sects and even the Gaebang’ Sect Master to their knees.

So the elders of the Cheonma Divine Sect were wary of any conflict with Amyeong.

Back in Akbindang, where Si Pungjae’s blood still stained the ceiling.

“Father has ordered Yeoso sa-hyeong ( senior) to be sent.”

This was delivered flatly by Yang Seogyeong, the Madu’s representative. Abducted from the Yang family of Sinchang at the age of four and raised by the Sect Leader, Seogyeong called him “Father.”

But their relationship wasn’t exactly paternal. When Seogyeong had first arrived, the only words he could utter were “Mother” and “Father,” and so the title stuck.

The Sect Leader had never corrected him. Knowing his jealous followers might harm the child, he gave Seogyeong the honor of calling him ‘Father,’ a title none dared challenge. No one wanted to test what would happen if they laid a hand on someone who called the Sect Leader that.

At the bottom of the 28-step staircase, the gathered elders turned in unison to look at Nabisalsoo.

Kneeling on one knee, Yeoso laid the inside of his wrist on his thigh and shouted,

“For the Supreme Lord of Heaven who ascends even the sky itself. I obey!”

Though his posture was respectful, his brown eyes burned with murderous intent as they stared at Seogyeong. Yeoso wanted nothing more than to bash that smug brat’s head in.

Though he called him sa-hyeong in public, Seogyeong treated every sect member as beneath him, everyone but the Sect Leader.

Even at six years old, his arrogance had been blinding. He acted like a model disciple in front of the Madu, but as soon as the man disappeared, he flipped like a lunatic. Being the closest in age, Yeoso had been forced to look after him for a while, and it had driven him mad.

Only Yeoso knew how twisted Seogyeong truly was. So every time Seogyeong acted as the Sect Leader’s proxy, Yeoso felt sick with frustration. Why was he, not Yeoso, standing at the Sect Leader’s side?

Well… what could be done? Born a scion of a noble family, and cursed with the fortune of being adopted by the Madu, Seogyeong was simply lucky. That was all.

Yeoso trudged off toward Sacheon.

The runaway bride’s whereabouts were easy to pick up without buying any information.

“You won’t believe it. That guy swayed those tight little hips and fluttered his lashes at me, I swear! Cute as a berry and laying it on thick, hell, even a guy like me got tempted!”

“You mean that shameless freak actually started stripping down and teasing you?”

“No lie! Undid my collar and rubbed his lips all over me. When he saw my crotch twitch, he went down on his knees and started sucking it, right there.”

“I bet a guy sucks even harder, huh?”

“It was like fucking the mouth of a hundred-year-old python. They say once you get a taste of sodomy, you can’t go back, and damn if that ain’t true. If you’re curious, go to Nakyung Inn before sundown. That freak’s holed up there looking for a man to shove it in.”

“The bastard living with that kind of moon-palace beauty must feel like he’s in heaven. But I doubt he can match my thrusting skills, I tell you.”

Just what the hell was that lunatic doing?

After eavesdropping on the vulgar chatter, Yeoso silently drew his axe.

He didn’t care whether the bride had actually pulled someone’s robes apart or not. Whether true or not, his mission was simply to bring him back to the sect.

But he couldn’t let such indecency stain the Sect Leader’s name.

How dare you disgrace my god.

“Cough!”

“Ugh!”

With a single swing of his axe, heads tumbled like fruit. Blood splashed in arcs, soaking Yeoso from head to toe.

He’d stand out looking like this, but he didn’t care.

He saw no need to hide. That was something righteous worms did. If anyone dared to point fingers at him, he’d just slice those fingers off and donate them as fertilizer. There were farms nearby anyway.

*

Half a day into Yeoso’s journey to Sacheon.

Yang Seogyeong, unusually unsettled, visited Haeseonggak.

This was the place where the Madu conducted official affairs. Painted deep green from the entrance, the building screamed of a power built on poison arts. The floor was paved with such polished blue stone that the untrained could easily slip.

The Sect Leader was reading a rare manual acquired from Yonyeong.

“…Forgive the intrusion, Father. Sa-hyeong has been defeated. I’ve heard that Sogyoju warned warned, “I won’t return to Seobang-nim’s bodom unless I find my disciple. Do not disturb me.”

Seogyeong, with a polite bow, relayed the message without embellishment, exactly the kind of speech the Sect Leader preferred.

“My bride said that?”

“Yes.”

“What’s Yeoso’s condition?”

“Grave. The physician is tending to him.”

“He made it back to Yeonhu, then.”

“Well… apparently the Sogyoju brought him. After dropping him off at the entrance, he returned to Sacheon.”

‘Sogyoju’ was the title Cheonsin had officially given Seolyeong. And Tang Yujae, who knew that Seolyeong was scouring the land in search of his disciple, let out a short laugh.

“Persistent, isn’t he. I figured he’d wear himself out in a few days and come crawling back.”

He had sent Nabisalsoo with the intention of trapping the bride using a net crafted from sound techniques. No matter how skilled the man was, he shouldn’t be able to escape that web.

Catching him would take some effort, but once he was in, dragging him back would be simple. That was why Yeoso had been chosen.

Now Cheonsin was curious: had Yeoso been crushed before he could even cast the net, or had he cast it and still failed to match the blood fiend’s agility?

Closing the sword manual, Cheonsin spoke.

“I’ve just mastered a new technique. I suppose it’s time to test it.”

At the Sect Leader’s declaration, Yang Seogyeong cautiously asked,

“Please… grant me the opportunity as well, Father.”

“You’re not ready yet.”

“But…”

“Tsk.”

“…Forgive me. I spoke rashly.”

Maybe once he could circulate his Qi in the upper danjeon without falling into deviation. For now, Cheonsin would be satisfied if he didn’t collapse after one strike from the bride.

He softened, thinking of how he might tease Seolyeong using the new martial art he’d learned from the Murong clan’s secret manual.

After ordering that Yeoso be given an elixir, Cheonsin tightened the loose cuffs of his robe.

To bring out the speed of Murong’s famed swift swordsmanship, every detail had to be immaculate from the very start.