Camellia 12
by LiliumOnly the purple magnolias retained their color in the all-white world, glowing faintly beneath the sunlight. Carried on the cold wind of snow, the blossoms fluttered through the air.
A reddish-purple petal drifted down and landed softly on Seolyeong’s smooth hair.
The sight was overwhelming enough to make him stop in his tracks. When he reached his hand out toward the sky, a petal dropped lightly onto his palm.
Strangely, the garden was dotted with fragrant purple magnolias in bloom. Seolyeong found himself wondering why, despite freezing everything else, the magnolia trees had been left untouched. As he gazed down at the snowy ground, he noticed that the fallen petals seemed to form distinct characters. He raised his eyebrows.
“‘Seo Seo1’…?”
He muttered the characters and dropped to one knee.
At first he thought it was a coincidence, but given that this was the headquarters of the demonic sect, it was unlikely that such a message was meaningless.
He could already guess who had done it.
Wasn’t this the garden attached to Gwanju Hall?
If so, unless something was very wrong, the one who spelled out the word in flowers could only be Sahyeol Amje. What puzzled Seolyeong was why the infamously cruel sect leader had sent him a character meaning “auspicious.”
Wondering if perhaps only he could see the writing, he turned to ask Seonwol-do.
“Hey mutt. Can you see that the petals spell out ‘Seo Seo’ too?”
In response, the Flowing Water Transformation Sword rang rapidly like a lump of metal vibrating in agreement. Ziiiing, ziiing! Its aura swirled with yellow and pale green. That meant it was excited, likely because someone capable of using flower petals to form characters was nearby, a true master. Those colors always showed when the sword was stimulated.
Seolyeong was equally impressed.
“They say a real master is one who commands nature itself with ease… How unfortunate such a person ended up a lackey of the demonic sect.”
The Murim Alliance suspected that the demonic leader had reached at least the level of chojeoljeong2. That wasn’t just the leadership around the Lord of the Alliance opinion, most martial artists across the martial world agreed. In the past, poison arts had been looked down upon in the martial world, but after witnessing firsthand their ability to obliterate even top-tier masters, many had revised their thinking.
Especially since there was currently no proper way to counter the sect leader’s poison arts. Even the hard-won peace had been granted by him as if tossing a bone, premised on a forced marriage. If he had truly intended to destroy Jungwon, the tragedy would have been far worse.
‘I let my guard down this time.’
The old Cheonma Divine Sect had once been the subject of in-depth studies, particularly about the unique training method behind their demonic arts.
The Cheonma Divine Sect, a sect formed by fanatics who worshipped the Heavenly Demon, had kidnapped innocent martial artists for human sacrifice and grew their power through a forbidden scripture passed down internally, called the Saseogyeong (Death Sequence Sutra).
Even the name was horrific. A manual that dealt with the order of death? Fortunately, the Saseogyeong had been destroyed by chojeoljeong master Yu Hoon, who was rumored to have ascended to immortality.
The new demonic sect that rose in its place had inherited the legacy of the Cheonma Divine Sect. Apart from rumors that most of its members practiced poison arts, not much else was known.
There were whispers that they trained in techniques on par with the Saseogyeong, but since no member had confirmed this, it wasn’t credible.
Every captured sect member had committed suicide without fail. Not a single one left room for interrogation, all biting down on the hidden poison tucked between their molars. Their corpses, blackened lips and fingertips included, emitted toxic fumes even as they decomposed, making recovery nearly impossible.
It was bad enough that even the local authorities, who usually turned a blind eye to the martial world, had issued a warning. They asked martial artists to be cautious to avoid civilian casualties from the poisoned corpses. After that, the Murim Alliance suffered even greater setbacks.
They were already helpless against the sect leader’s poison arts, and now they couldn’t even freely subdue sect members for fear of toxic aftermath. Victory seemed completely out of reach. The most ridiculous part was that the emperor kept pressuring the Alliance Leader through golden messenger birds to eliminate the demonic sect. Seolyeong had heard that every time the Leader received one of those golden letters, his health took a turn for the worse.
As he lightly traced the flower characters, still feeling unsettled, he was about to rise to his feet.
Flit, flit
Another shower of petals fell.
This time, the rain of flowers was so heavy it turned his entire field of vision violet.
“My, how beautiful… almost as lovely as my face.”
Seolyeong murmured and closed his eyes.
The swirling petals wrapped around his whole body.
From above, a calm and deep voice spoke.
“I heard you were known as the madman of the Murong clan.”
Seolyeong was startled by the voice and he looked up. The man who now stood before him had appeared without a trace. He gulped.
Of all things, he had been kneeling like someone in worship. The posture was almost too perfect for meeting a heavenly being.
This was the husband he was meeting properly for the first time since entering Yeonhu Mountain.
As he expected, the man who had filled Gwanju Hall with yin energy at dawn was indeed the sect leader.
A single mole sat perfectly under his right eye. His eyes were sharply defined, his nose as if drawn by a master artist, and his skin was flawless without a single scar.
Contrary to the vicious rumors, Sahyeol Amje was quite striking in appearance. He spoke again.
“So, how does it feel to be called the Mad Bride even here?”
Seolyeong chose silence in the face of the casual taunt. Mad bride? You’re the mad husband. Had he forgotten everything that happened this morning?
That same immense yin energy still lingered around the man. And that energy, even more than any pleasure-seeking pervert who practiced energy-absorbing techniques, had an unfathomable depth. True, it was more stable than at dawn, but still..
As the silence stretched, the man muttered,
“Seems I’ve married a mute.”
At last, Seolyeong spoke.
“Forgive my boldness… but, do you happen to remember our meeting?”
Given how out of his mind the man had been, he thought he might have erased the memory as a form of self-defense. Still, Seolyeong wasn’t going to blame him. The man had clearly been suffering. Seolyeong wasn’t so petty as to resent someone for forgetting something like that. In fact, he was magnanimous enough to embrace him with compassion.
But the sect leader said nothing.
So Seolyeong echoed his earlier words.
“Or is it that I have gained a mute groom?”
Finally, the man’s tightly sealed lips parted. His voice, low and smooth, flowed out comfortably.
“If you’re referring to how you crawled onto the bed and played coy, then… maybe.”
“…Pardon?”
“I recall it vaguely.”
That was… a wildly inaccurate version of what Seolyeong remembered. In fact, it was the exact opposite. He couldn’t tell if the sect leader was making a twisted joke or actually believed what he was saying. His expression remained cold and unreadable. He wasn’t the type to let emotions show on his face.
Brushing snow off his knee, Seolyeong stood and cleared his throat. He deliberately added a nasal lilt to his smooth baritone before responding.
“Regrettably, it was you, dear husband, who played coy.”
His tone was nothing like when he spoke to Si Pungjae or Nabisalsoo. It was his own idea of being polite to a husband. But if Nabisalsoo had heard it, he would’ve flown into a rage, shouting that he dared insult his god.
With his slanted eyes and smiling lips, Seolyeong looked like a blooming flower. Yet the sect leader didn’t react.
Usually, when Seolyeong smiled like that, men would buckle at the knees. This man didn’t even flinch.
Seolyeong felt his pride slightly stung, he added,
“You sucked on my fingers, crawled naked between my legs, and stared up at me like you were begging to be opened. You panted like a mutt in heat. I thought you were going to take me right then and there.”
He laughed into the back of his hand as he recalled the early morning scene, his full lashes fluttering dramatically. If the third son of the Murong clan had seen this, he probably would’ve drawn his sword on the spot, shouting, “Today I’ll finally sever the neck of that wretch!”
0 Comments