Camellia 4

It wasn’t ordinary strength. Just the grip of a hand had completely overpowered him. The fool screamed inwardly in frustration.

‘Let go! How dare a wench mock a man! Let go this instant! I won’t say it again. While I’m still being merciful, release this hand!’

In reality, he couldn’t say a word and just flailed in midair like a fool.

While their skin was touching, Seolyeong realized the other person wasn’t the Madu. Their body was far too weak for someone who supposedly devastated Jungwon. Even the aura of poison was crude and poor in quality.

Poison techniques were useless if your body couldn’t support them.

That’s how poisons were. If they didn’t suit your system, they’d disrupt your qi flow and ruin your body rather than improve your martial arts. Though he walked the righteous path of the white way and the one in front of him belonged to the dark path of the demonic sect, he still wanted to say it, martial artist to martial artist.

Don’t rely on shortcuts like poison. Build real martial arts. That’s the only way to grow stronger.

‘But… if they were someone who’d listen to reason, they wouldn’t have run off and joined this place to begin with.’

Seolyeong clicked his tongue and threw the pale-faced man straight down onto the icy ground.

“You’re not my husband after all, are you? Where can I go to greet Sahyeol Amje?”

Sahyeol Amje was Cheonsin’s title. It wasn’t something the martial world gave him, of course, they just called him that like kids playing house, so Seolyeong tried saying it once.

A middle-aged man crawling on the ground snapped back.

“The Amje isn’t someone a wench like you can just meet because you want to…Ahh!”

“My goodness. Did you just say ‘wench’? That’s a rude way of speaking, don’t you think?”

Maybe it was because he had a younger sister, but Seolyeong was always especially irritated by people using derogatory words for women. And now he was just confused. How could these bastards treat someone who came to marry into the family like this?

Still, he couldn’t exactly start killing in-laws on the first day at the in-law’s house. So, like a physician checking a pulse, he gave the middle-aged man a firm massage. As his solid hands moved along the man’s body, rotten qi was forced back into place, causing him pain.

The other sect members stood around watching and laughing as black liquid leaked from every orifice of the man’s body. Now and then they chanted in rhythm, “Every man for himself! Every man for himself!”

Just as the man was practically sobbing and begging him to stop.

“Can a woman’s Adam’s apple really stick out that much?”

Someone muttered.

Silence fell. Seolyeong continued tormenting the man like nothing happened, but the other men exchanged glances.

It was true.

His hair was smooth like it had been oiled with camellia oil, and his skin was as pale as white jade. Even his jaw under the cloth mask looked feminine. But his build, far too large for a woman. Not fat, his bone structure itself was male. And above the average for a martial artist at that.

After fully restoring the man’s qi, Seolyeong clapped his hands with satisfaction, turned around, and shouted.

“Listen, Cheonma Divine Sect!”

His lips curved in a smile. He boldly threw off the veil that had been bothering him.

“I, the Camellia of Yonyeong, have crossed the snowy gorge and entered Yurigung to get married!”

It didn’t even sound like he was trying to speak loudly, yet his voice echoed through the air. If he had screamed properly, people’s eardrums might have burst, so this was him holding back.

Looking around the crowd, the red-eyed beauty smiled softly and raised his hands in greeting.

“From now on, address me as the Sect Leader’s bride.”

“……”

“Ahahahah! A pleasure to meet the in-laws!”

And so, the Camellia of Yonyeong was treated like a madman and kicked out.

It was all that cursed formation’s fault. He had simply followed the crowd of men heading somewhere, but suddenly the view flipped upside down.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back at the front gate.

Depressed, Seolyeong clicked his tongue. He’d even politely greeted them with a martial salute, and yet they threw him out without a shred of kindness. It felt like they’d completely dismissed his sincerity. He tried touching the gate again to see if he could re-enter, but this time, it didn’t budge.

“…Is this what they call ten-thousand-year snow?”

He sat in front of the Imugi gate and brushed the thick snow with his finger. Even gathering yang energy to heat it didn’t melt it. It looked like it would stay frozen for millennia.

“Ah… I’m thirsty.”

Maybe because he was a blood fiend, Seolyeong rarely felt hunger, but he got thirsty constantly. If only he could melt some snow to drink…

To make things worse, the boredom was growing. He was so bored he was going crazy. He half-wished some demonic sect bastards would show up to pick a fight.

But they didn’t show themselves at all. Like they had no time, no patience, or simply no interest in him.

He even tried taunting them, saying it was cowardly to hide behind a formation and ignore their guest, but it was no use. Before long, the sun had dipped behind the mountain and disappeared.

“Forget it.”

The snow-covered mountains fell into total darkness. Too tired to keep thinking, he flopped onto the ground.

Above him was the Imugi’s jaw, and beneath him was the eternal snow. It didn’t seem like a place for peaceful dreams, but he forced himself to sleep. What else was there to do?

Blood fiends were nocturnal by nature, sleeping during the day and staying active at night. But Seolyeong has been raised with human discipline for years, tried to sleep at night, at least consciously. After about four hours, his consciousness finally faded. Lying on the snow, he gathered yang energy in his danjeon to raise his body temperature and sleep warmly.

But he couldn’t understand why he felt so cold.

Unable to stand it, he opened his eyes. It was dark even with them open. A crushing weight pressed down on him. A cold that felt like it scraped his bones.

Seolyeong realized he was buried in snow.

He broke out of it in one move and frowned when he saw only the spot he had slept in had a thick pile of snow. It looked like someone had deliberately dumped it on him. Like they wanted him to freeze to death.

“Those demonic bastards are really petty…”

Naturally, Seolyeong assumed it was the sect’s doing. He brushed the snow off his shoulders and looked up at the sky. Still pitch black. That meant he could sleep longer…huh?

“…What’s that?”

Dangling just outside the Imugi’s head was a pair of short legs.

A child? As soon as the thought came to him, the figure lightly jumped down from the statue.

In Jungwon, you couldn’t judge by appearances. Even someone who looked like a child could be an expert who had reversed aging.

But the moment their eyes met, Seolyeong was sure.

That was just a kid. They had learned some martial arts, based on their landing posture, but their internal energy was poor and their foundation was a mess.

A pitiful danjeon.

A healthy flower could only bloom in good soil. And if the child’s body was the soil, then it was barren wasteland. Even the toughest seed wouldn’t sprout there.

Seolyeong unconsciously thought about the foundational techniques he wanted to teach and blurted out,

“You. Are you from the Cheonma Divine Sect?”

That had to be checked first. Letting in a kid that young, one who hadn’t even stabilized their danjeon… Seolyeong couldn’t help but feel annoyed. If they were going to keep the child around, the least they could do was teach him how to manage his energy properly.

He looked the boy over. Even in the dark, blood fiends could see like it was daylight.

His features were sharp for a child. He would definitely grow up to be a heartbreaker. But… what was that rag?

The thin leather clothes the boy wore were completely unsatisfactory. Children’s body temperatures rose and fell faster than adults’. Without proper clothes for the weather, they’d get sick. Seolyeong walked toward the boy. Despite stepping through the crisp snow, his steps made no sound.

The boy didn’t avoid him. He just stared blankly.

“I only have one set of clothes, so I can’t take it off for you. My bare body would be too seductive for a child your age. Hahaha!”

After finishing that bit of self-praise, he grabbed the boy’s hand and shoved it into his robe. Then he pulled the boy into his arms. The small body fit snugly against him.

Seolyeong spoke gently.

“I’ll hold you until your body warms up. I don’t know the details, but… walking around alone at this hour means you’re either lost, or something happened.”

Still holding the boy, he leapt up and sat on the Imugi’s head. The boy sat on his thigh and remained silent.

Seolyeong glanced at him and whispered softly, “Get some sleep.”

He knew the boy might try to attack him, but didn’t care. Unless a group of top-level masters attacked him at once, no one could even lay a finger on him.

Then, Seolyeong started humming the lullaby he often sang to Seolhyeon. His dark hair fluttered in the strong winds of the snowy mountains. Dawn was beginning to break.