Camellia 136

They were truly a picturesque pair.

A handsome young man with long lashes and sharp, slender eyes flushed shyly at tender words, while the woman with a cheerful expression burst into hearty laughter. Light kisses passed between them endlessly.

After spending a long while in each other’s arms, enjoying their secret rendezvous in the mountains, the two parted reluctantly when the woman had to return to her clan.

“You’ll come again in a month, right? You’ll be drowning in longing and suffering through the wait?”

The man’s playful question was met with a promise.

“If I can come sooner, I’ll send a message. Until then, don’t slack on your training. Practice that footwork I taught you, at least two hundred times a day. Understood? That’s the only way you’ll be acknowledged as a martial artist someday.”

“I already told you I was thrown out for having no talent.”

“You still won’t say which clan it was… but I’ll prove that they made a terrible mistake. You know the saying, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step? Train steadily, and one day, you’ll have your revenge on the clan that cast you aside. Don’t give up, Hwaryun.”

The man called Hwaryun pressed his lips to the woman’s eyelids with a soft hum. As she tilted her head back with a ticklish smile and finally turned to go, someone emerged from hiding, crimson hair fluttering behind him.

“Eternal glory! Eternal glory! Glory everlasting! Eun Yajeong, Pavilion Lord of Gwiryunggak, greets our sect leader, now bewitched by his first love!”

He shouted loudly enough to shake the mountain, then pressed his forehead into the dirt and giggled like a madman.

Even as he looked down on the man wheezing with laughter, Hwaryun’s face remained entirely expressionless, as cold and lifeless as stone, so different from the man who had just been smiling at a woman that it was chilling.

He stared silently at Yajeong with a face devoid of all human warmth.

Seolyeong, watching Eun Yajeong’s red eyes, felt as though a blade had pierced straight through his chest.

“How long do you intend to drag out this tiresome romance? Surely you know, more than half the hall masters, including that wretch from Daeyeonggak, are grinding their teeth, vowing to kill the whore who’s ensnared our sect leader.”

Yajeong sneered, and Hwaryun’s eyes grew colder still.

“…Whore?”

“Oh no, no, that’s not what I think, of course. I was only repeating what I heard. I just… misspoke, that’s all…ugh!”

“Your mouth has always been your worst enemy.”

Caught in a violent surge of internal energy, Eun Yajeong rolled across the ground, choking. His face flushed bright red, eyes rolling back as he foamed at the mouth. Only then did Hwaryun withdraw his force.

Coughing harshly, Yajeong wiped his lips and straightened his posture. Once again, he knelt politely on one knee and looked up at his master.

“It’s not just the pavilion lords. The Martial Alliance is also starting to sniff around.”

“What are they sniffing.”

“The scent of love, perhaps. We can’t be the only ones with spies in their ranks. Word must have reached them too, that our sect leader has been thoroughly captivated by a woman and is neglecting the great cause.”

“Then we find their spy.”

“Understood! …Damn it. But how?”

He responded reflexively, as any loyal servant must obey an order from the sect leader, but now looked sheepish. Strategy had never been Eun Yajeong’s strength. As a blood fiend, he excelled at ripping people apart, not at planning.

“Use our own agents. Use the ‘Four Eyes’ to leak false information to the martial world leadership. They won’t bite right away, but once the fish start nibbling, we can play along.”

Now it seemed Yajeong finally understood.

“So for example, we plant a rumor, say, that our sect leader is actually a woman, and let the Martial Alliance’s spies latch onto it and take it as truth. Then, once they’re convinced, they’ll expose themselves.”

“If you understand, then be gone.”

“Yes, yes, I shall do so with great honor. But my lord, I advise you as a friend, not as your servant, stay away from the younger sister of that ‘fat serpent.’”

“…”

“Think carefully, Hwaryun. The sect will never tolerate your love. There’s not a single believer who wants to see a righteous warrior become the consort of our sect leader.”

The madness and loyalty swirling in his eyes gave them a hue darker and redder than Seolyeong’s. The shadowy red that only crept into Seolyeong’s eyes in moments of unrestrained pleasure was, for Yajeong, their natural state.

Hwaryun gave no reply, only a detached look, and Eun Yajeong shrugged before vanishing from sight. Left alone, Hwaryun climbed the tallest tree and settled among its branches.

Seolyeong, witnessing the golden aura flickering around him, clearly the power of the imugi, could not hide his surprise.

“…Was the previous Cheonma also… involved with the imugi, I wonder? Are all the so-called greatest under heaven merely forging their martial power by relying on divine beasts?”

When he asked this in an almost accusatory tone, Sahyeol Amje cast him an indifferent glance.

“Who knows. I don’t. We’re moving now, so get ready.”

“To where?”

“To find out who the fat serpent is.”

Truthfully, there was already someone he suspected.

“If you have no intention of coming along, then stay here and wait.”

“That’s absolutely out of the question.”

Seolyeong entwined his fingers with Sahyeol Amje’s, speaking with stubborn resolve. He did not particularly care about who the fat or thin serpent might be, he simply had no wish to leave his husband’s side.

Tang Yujae, feeling his bride cling like a shadow, reached out and pinched his cheek. His grip was firm enough that Seolyeong’s pale cheeks flushed red and tears welled in his scarlet eyes. Staring into those vivid, glowing eyes, Sahyeol Amje suddenly said,

“You look nothing like him.”

“Pardon?”

“The man arguing with the Cheonma earlier and you. Your eyes are much livelier… and healthier.”

It was an unexpected comfort. Realizing what the sect leader meant, Seolyeong smiled, eyes still glistening.

Tang Yujae ruffled his hair in a rough but affectionate gesture before setting out to find the woman of the Namgung clan. His movement was swift and intense, a display of breathtaking gyeonggong, but not so fast that Seolyeong would be left behind. He had deliberately adjusted his speed. Knowing this, Seolyeong could not help but smile throughout their journey toward Namgung.

Standing before the Namgung clan manor as it had been over a decade ago, Seolyeong remarked,

“It looked even more lavish back then…”

The Namgung estate before the Great Demonic War, no, before the Great War of Demon and Justice, was dazzling, far more extravagant than its current state. Major buildings had been damaged during the war and hastily rebuilt, but this earlier splendor far outshone what he remembered. Even the trees lining the paths were adorned with gold trimmings, to the point where he wondered if thieves might not be tempted to steal them.

Visitors thronged the area, and Seolyeong instinctively tried to conceal his form, but Tang Yujae strode directly into the crowd without hesitation.

“What are you doing, husband!”

“They can’t see me anyway.”

“What?”

“If they could, the Cheonma would’ve noticed you already and cut your throat.”

“…Why mine, and not yours?”

“I’m stronger than he is. But you…”

“Enough. Stop talking nonsense.”

Seolyeong grumbled, hurrying to keep pace. The sect leader’s footwork was so swift and precise that walking beside him felt impossible, he could only manage to follow in quick pursuit.

“But seeing so many people in the Namgung manor, it must be before the Great War of Demon and…no, the Great Demonic War broke out, right?”

He caught himself just in time, almost saying Great War of Demon and Justice instead of Great Demonic War in front of his husband. Tang Yujae answered flatly,

“Of course not. The death squads are still struggling on Mount Tian right now.”

“Then who are all these people? They look so peaceful, as if none of them have anything to do with war.”

“Wasn’t your Murong clan the same, right up until your patriarch was abducted?”

“……”

“It’s always the ones on the front lines who suffer. Those who benefit are an entirely different matter, Ahyeong.”

A silence hung between them. Seolyeong realized that while the martial world was turning into a wasteland, the Murong clan had lived in relative luxury. He felt a twinge of shame.

But there was no time to remain quiet for long.

Inside the duel grounds, surrounded by high-quality blue granite, they encountered a scene, a young man, likely Namgung Woonpyeong, was crossing swords with a woman.

Taking a fierce strike head-on, the woman laughed brightly.

“You’ve grown stronger since last I saw you, brother! Have you been secretly training without telling me?”

“Stay close to home, Seonju. You know how much Mother worries about you.”

“I can handle my own safety. You be careful, brother. I hear you’re joining the death squads again, dragging along those brutes who know nothing but bellowing like beasts. You could at least take me along, but you..”

“Ha, Seonju. What kind of brother would drag his own sister into a battlefield?”

Their words made it clear.

The woman who had been secretly meeting with the Cheonma, was none other than Namgung Woonpyeong’s younger sister.