Camellia 3
by LiliumLate into the night.
With his father kidnapped and held in Yurigung, the first young master of the Murong clan, Murong Wi, who had now become the clan’s acting head, secretly summoned his sworn brother to his office.
“A forced marriage, against the Murong clan? If I send Hyeon to that monster as he demands, Father would rise from his grave to strike me down first. Even if it leads to war, I have no intention of selling off a woman for the sake of some cowardly peace.”
Thirteen years older than the Seol siblings, Murong Wi was a refined and handsome man. Though a bit old-fashioned in character, according to Seolhyeon, he was a man of unwavering righteousness, firm with the strong, gentle with the weak.
“Ahyeong.”
As Murong Wi called him by his childhood name, Seolyeong who was nodding off, answered with slurred words.
“Y-yes, hyung-nim…”
“You’re able to sleep even in this chaos?”
“Well… I stayed up all night in the archives… I was hunting through books until my eyes nearly fell out.”
The underground archive of Mount Yonyeong, said to house all Jungwon’ secret texts, was normally accessible only to Murong’s direct descendants. But with the former clan head’s permission, the Seol siblings were granted limited access. Still, the steward glared daggers at them each time they entered, so visits were rare.
Seolyeong rubbed his eyelids with both fingers and spoke.
“The martial arts the Sect Leader uses definitely seem to be from the fallen Tang family of Sacheon.”
Murong Wi immediately asked,
“Your basis?”
“First, the poison the Sect Leader uses is presumed to be the venom of the Thousand-Year Snake, a creature said to live hidden in rocks split by lightning. As you know, there’s no known method for handling that poison. It spreads without scent and seeps through the skin, often killing even the user. The Five Thousand Poison Compendium warns again and again that this poison must be stored for research only. I went so far as to read through every single forbidden text we recovered from the unorthodox sects, and not a single one mentioned how to utilize the Thousand-Year Snake’s venom.”
Murong Wi, seemingly understanding what he was implying, muttered grimly.
“If someone is able to handle that poison… then yes, I also think they must be from the Tang clan. If that family’s secret martial arts were linked to the Thousand-Year Snake, this all makes sense. Perhaps a survivor of the Blood Sea Massacre has returned to seek revenge on the martial world. That would explain why no one could counter the Sect Leader’s poison. It’s a long-lost technique resurfacing.”
“Exactly. Isn’t that also why no antidote has been found?”
Seolyeong pressed, and Murong Wi responded.
“Because only members of the Tang clan could create or neutralize it, no one else could stand against it.”
The two exchanged a glance.
Five years after the Great War, the Tang clan was annihilated by the Alliance after they were revealed to have served as spies for the Cheonma Divine Sect. The streets of Sacheon were littered with Tang corpses, and their once-grand estate burned to the ground.
The idea that the Tang clan might now be tied to the sect’s resurrection was not something that could be said aloud without irrefutable proof. Speaking carelessly would only provoke the Alliance.
Murong Wi’s lips parted, he was feeling guilty about the sentence that flowed out from his mouth.
“I may have to give you an impossible command. I can’t stand it.”
He had planned to ask Seolyeong to gather evidence about the Sect Leader’s identity and send it back to the clan, but then Seolyeong bowed respectfully and spoke first.
“I swear to heaven. I will uncover the truth behind the Cheonma Divine Sect and make sure it can never harm the martial world again.”
Murong Wi smiled bitterly.
“…One day, everyone will thank you for what you’ve done.”
“I don’t do this for gratitude.”
Seolyeong shrugged lightly, as if he already knew no thanks would ever come.
No matter how skilled he was, he was still a blood fiend. Murong Wi, who’d shared meals with him, knew he survived only on animal blood. But most people believed he secretly fed on humans. Even if they pretended to look the other way, their suspicion followed him day and night.
Murong Wi muttered,
“Let people say what they want. You are still the sworn brother of the Murong clan’s heir. Never forget who you are. Understood?”
Wearing his pristine white martial robes tinged with blue, Seolyeong looked every bit the picture of a proper nobleman, aside from the red eyes.
“Don’t you go forgetting about me either, once your brother-in-law gets married.”
Seolyeong grinned to lighten the mood and left the office.
Murong Wi finally let out the sigh he had been holding in.
“Ha…”
To save the one he loved, he was sending her brother into the jaws of the Madu. He hated himself for it.
In the martial world, weakness truly was a sin. If they had been strong enough to repel the sect’s invasion,
such a disgraceful situation would never have come to pass.
But these days of humiliation showed no signs of ending.
***
Cliffs lined the horizon, too vast to take in all at once.
With blinding snow swirling in the air,
Seolyeong felt like he had stepped into a painting or legend. He unconsciously let out a breath of awe.
“The Sect Leader’s martial arts must be quite something…”
Once martial arts reached a certain level, even nature responded.
It was said one could influence weather itself. Seolyeong, too, could summon deadly heat, though it never lasted long. Even that was a feat only possible because he was not fully human. A normal martial artist would need 600 years of training just to nudge a cloud out of place.
So he couldn’t help but doubt the Sect Leader’s origin.
If he really was a descendant of the Tang clan, he should be human.
What kind of path had he walked to become something so unreal, even ghosts would struggle to believe it?
Seolyeong’s curiosity flared. He composed himself and moved forward. Thanks to his mastery of heogong dapbo1, he reached the mountainside in a single bound. His breathing remained steady, his entire body supported by smooth inner energy. Soon, the massive palace gates of Yurigung came into view.
“Imugi2?”
Two imugi heads, mouths agape, sat atop the gate’s pillars. Each scale seemed carved from a different shade of obsidian, so detailed they looked alive.
Even the Murong estate, praised for its royal gardens and antiques, couldn’t compare to this one gate.
The bride shall arrive at Yeonhu Mountain alone. If she brings man or beast, their heads will be torn off and their brains devoured.
Seolyeong frowned slightly as he remembered the warning that had come with the threat letter.
He had come alone as instructed…
yet for all the sect’s theatrics about holding a grand wedding the moment the bride arrived, there was only silence.
As if they had deployed a formation to trap sound itself.
Suspicious.
Seolyeong gathered energy to his fingertips and gave the gate a gentle push. It swung open with a thunderous crash. Just as he stepped onto the snowfield beyond.
“Whoa.”
The ground twisted beneath him.
It was a formation after all.
The snowbanks curved like ridges and valleys, making it hard to find footing.
“A warped formation…”
Seolyeong narrowed his eyes and tried to find a flaw in the setup. No matter where he looked, he found no weak points. He couldn’t help but wonder who had built such a flawless formation. He was admiring the skill when…Boom! A deafening noise shook the earth as if heaven and earth had flipped. But Seolyeong landed lightly.
The cloth covering his face fluttered gently like a butterfly. Then came a loud, almost ridiculous laugh, echoing across the lake.
“Impressive, bride!”
Whistles rose from all directions.
Seolyeong blinked and looked around.
He now stood at the edge of a frozen lake. Tables carved from ice were scattered about. Men sat carelessly atop high-backed chairs, tearing into duck meat. Chunks of half-cooked flesh flew from their mouths as they shouted. They looked less like martial artists and more like a band of mountain bandits.
“Well, well. A fine young lady’s graced us with her presence! It must’ve been rough, traveling all this way, eh?”
Among the laughing men was one especially ugly figure. He looked just like the rumors Seolhyeon had described of the Sect Leader.
Without hesitation, Seolyeong walked toward the man. In a flash, he closed the distance without taking a single visible step.
The startled, squinty-eyed man blinked in shock as the bride’s much larger frame loomed over him. As the man flinched, overwhelmed by Seolyeong’s fierce presence..
“Cough…!”
Seolyeong grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him clean off the ground.
Then, in the softest, most composed tone, he asked,
“Are you, by any chance, to be this bride’s husband?”
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