Camellia 22

The object of imitation was undoubtedly someone from the orthodox sects.

Tang Yujae could vaguely guess what kind of image the wild and untamed bride wanted to present to others.

He clearly wanted to be the model of a righteous orthodox man, one who upheld the law of the strong but claimed to base it on chivalry, an absurd notion constantly spouted by the so-called righteous.

But it was a wish that would never come true.

Blood fiends could hardly feel human emotions. They were incapable of what people called human thinking. That didn’t mean they couldn’t feel sadness, joy, or grief. Blood fiends could laugh brightly, and they could shed fat teardrops like chicken poop.

What caused those expressions, though, was different from humans, and that difference caused problems.

The blood fiend race was a species armed with threats to human life. They lived by drinking human blood, reveled in slaughter, and relied solely on carnal desire to seek one another’s bodies.

It was said that in ancient times, there had been attempts at harmony between humans and blood fiends, trying to understand each other’s cultures. Blood fiends promised to only consume the blood that humans provided, and humans, in turn, promised to help them acquire high-quality blood without any hassle.

They even swore these pledges to their respective gods, but not even a month passed before the blood fiends broke their word.

A group of them launched a surprise attack on the second-largest village in Yunnan, plunging the people into terror. Their short patience triggered a massive bloodstorm.

As a result, the blood fiends turned the entire Murim Alliance into their enemy. Outnumbered, they were driven out of Jungwon and took refuge in the Cheonshan Mountains. Later, they formed an alliance with the emerging Demonic Sect in that region.

Before they became one of the Five Great Demonic Clans and took the surname “Eun,” they had already been abducting people and feeding on their blood. But after the Cheonma Divine Sect grew in power, the scale of their actions became exponentially worse.

Blood fiends saw humans as livestock. To them, humans were nothing more than prey, walking food storage. If they felt weak, they could randomly grab someone and tear their throat out, it didn’t matter.

Corpses drained of blood and dumped in the middle of roads only fueled human hatred toward them.

To make matters worse, they often mutilated the bodies just for fun. As the number of disfigured corpses, limbs twisted and painted all over, kept rising, the blood fiends’ infamy grew beyond time and place. Some even sold those human-skin paintings at auction. That their bloodline was despised and hated was only natural.

Tang Yujae thought,

With blood fiend blood in your veins, you can never become truly human, no matter how much you want to be. Whether it’s compassion or shame, you’ll never understand any of it. So stop pretending to be the embodiment of righteousness and keep to yourself, where you won’t get on my nerves.

It was during this long silence that Seolyeong, his gaze cast into empty space, suddenly muttered in a lonely voice,

“…You’re right. Sometimes I scare myself too.”

Caught off guard by the unexpected response, Tang Yujae raised one eyebrow.

“I’m afraid I’ll lose even the ability to imitate humans, and fall back into the sins engraved in my nature.”

It was an honest answer. Tang Yujae, who had expected him to blow up in anger and shout nonsense, quickly lost interest.

Seolyeong looked at him again and said,

“I won’t let that happen. For your sake too. So lower your guard and let this master help you. I’m not like the thugs who touched you without your consent, or tried to. I swear, even if I die, I won’t harm you.”

Seolyeong opened his palm and brought it near Yujae’s ankle. A warm, tingling sensation spread through the air. Even without touching skin to skin, his yang energy brushed over like drifting silk.

“Your ankles are especially weak. To walk through the sky, you need strength and flexibility in your ankles and calves….”

He spoke gently, like when teaching children at the Murong clan. Normally, Seolyeong’s over-the-top manner wasn’t popular with kids, but when he dropped the theatrics and showed his calm nature like now, he often became popular.

The tension in his features eased, and his expression turned softer. Without the forced smile, the upturned corners of his lips looked genuinely kind.

Seolyeong’s palm slowly covered the top of Yujae’s foot. His inner energy seeped in carefully, clearing the stagnant Qi in the meridians.

“If you’re not lusting after kids, then why are you so obsessed with me?”

At the bold question, Seolyeong let out a hearty laugh.

“Ha ha. How cheeky… You think your master’s obsessed with you?”

“If you’re going to deny it, go ask that crossdresser. How is it normal for someone who’s only seen a person a few times to act like you’ve some deep bond?”

“…Crossdresser?”

Seolyeong asked back, confused. Did he really figure out that Hwang Choseon was a man?

Choseon had such a beautiful appearance that he’d been called the most stunning in Sacheon. So Seolyeong asked to be sure.

“You mean the ‘noona’ you saw earlier? Wearing the green skirt that puffed out like petals?”

“If your eyes work properly, you wouldn’t be calling that guy ‘noona.’”

“My, what an astute mind my disciple has!”

Seolyeong burst into laughter, back to his usual exaggerated self. Just imagining how humiliated Hwang Choseon would be when he found out his secret had been exposed was delightful.

Scooting closer, Seolyeong sat right next to Yujae. He turned the boy around and gently placed a hand on his dry back.

“I made a vow while studying martial arts. If I ever came across a child in need, I’d become the kind of adult who would help them right away. I wouldn’t turn a blind eye and focus only on myself like some selfish man. If a child grows up feeling abandoned, they carry that emptiness their whole life. Even if they don’t mean to, resentment builds up inside them because they believe no one ever helped them. But listen.”

“……”

“If there’s even one person who reaches out their hand, despair lifts, and hope shines down like sunlight. The sorrow that once surged through you disappears, leaving only gratitude behind. Do you believe that a small act of kindness can change a person’s life entirely?”

Powerful energy pierced into his ice-cold meridians.

“I believe it. Your master believes that’s what keeps the world turning. Just imagine it. A world where everyone hates and ignores and tries to destroy each other. Could a world like that possibly hold together? Of course not. It would fall apart in no time.

But if everyone understands each other, loves and cares for each other… doesn’t that sound like a world worth living in?”

The dormant energies within Tang Yujae began to stir under the overwhelming yang energy.

Stimulating the frozen Qi and turning it into moving Qi was a delicate task. Seolyeong closed his eyes and focused.

Tang Yujae let out a short laugh. He knew exactly how the bride drew a line between the orthodox and the demonic.

A world where everyone was enemies versus a world where everyone admired each other.

The Demonic Sect belonged to the first. The orthodox sects to the second.

“Listening to you, it sounds like there’s no place more beautiful than the martial world.”

Seolyeong whispered in response to the distracting voice,

“Shh. You’ll have plenty of time to argue later. For now, close your eyes and just feel. Trace the path your energy moves through, and see how your body is changing. If you properly learn a cultivation method and manage your inner energy well, you’ll be able to cleanse your Qi even with a short meditation.”

The tightly packed coldness began to melt away.

Tang Yujae’s palms and soles tingled. Goosebumps rose up his arms. His nape flushed with heat.

A refined yang energy, incomparable to the Yangcheonju, flowed through his blood vessels and spread through his body.

He felt drowsy, like he had spring fever. His eyes blinked slowly as he leaned back.

Seolyeong opened his eyes as the boy gently leaned against him. The small body nestled deep into his arms.

Resting his chin atop the round head, Seolyeong stretched his arms forward and embraced him, like a mother bird protecting her egg.

“You’re getting sleepy, aren’t you?”

Whispering that he could sleep comfortably, Seolyeong raised his body temperature. If the boy was going to sleep, he wanted him to sleep warmly.

That body, which even divine physicians had given up on, finally found a brief moment of peace, thanks to one meddlesome blood fiend.