Into the Plum Blossoms 3
Mount Hua was still Mount Hua. Ranked among the Five Great Mountains, its treacherous slopes chewed through their stamina without mercy.
Convenient paths did exist, of course. But for a party that had snuck in, using them was out of the question.
Forced to pick their way through the wild terrain alone, their search stretched longer and longer, and their strength kept draining away.
The only comfort was that they were drawing closer, little by little.
Looks like we'll be there soon… though there are quite a few people around.
This is just a guess, but I think they're Cheongung. If Mount Hua had found it on their own, there's no way the Plum Blossom Swordmasters would be running off the main peak.
They had discovered the Gongcheongseogyu, of all things. For the Plum Blossom Swordmasters to abandon their posts for some other mission? Mount Hua would never allow it.
For all that they flew the banner of the Orthodox Path and called themselves a righteous sect, Mount Hua was still a worldly order that knew the value of treasure. Unless the entire martial world were on the brink of collapse, they would drop everything and race straight for the Gongcheongseogyu. Which meant Mount Hua itself knew nothing of the matter.
There was also a Cheongung mole somewhere inside Mount Hua. Who it was remained a mystery — but somehow, Gi-woon had a strong feeling he would meet that person today.
Let's move again.
Shin Gi-woon and his companions took roughly one gak to steady their breathing. There was no more time to hesitate. Ryu-jin's guidance had kept leading them toward sheer cliffs, so they had circled wide to conserve their strength. Now only a straight run remained.
They had been flying along on lightfoot for a while when Shin Gi-woon perched on a plum tree and raised a clenched fist.
A halt signal.
We've got company ahead. Not Mount Hua robes… those bastards look like Cheongung.
Cheongung is after the Gongcheongseogyu?
Still a guess, but who else would have the guts to operate on Mount Hua behind the sect's back?
Shall we take them all out?
Sama Yul toyed with the hidden weapons in her sleeve. Bi So-hyang drew a bundle of iron bolts from her pouch. The moment the order came, they would strike.
The cave ran deep; anyone already inside would never notice a change at the entrance. Fewer than ten men stood guard outside.
They had brought a minimal force to keep things quiet.
I'll take three. So-hyang, four. Yul, three.
No further signal was needed. Shin Gi-woon kicked lightly off the tree and soared into the air. Circling overhead, he poured inner energy into the White Fang Spear and drove it down at the three sentries scanning the perimeter.
KWA-GWA-GWANG!!
"Wh-what the—?!"
"Ambush— kuhk!"
"KRAAAAGH!!"
The patrol's skill was nothing special. Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul's strikes landed clean as well. Without raising any real alarm, the three of them slipped into the cave.
"The thick plum blossom scent should mask the blood. But we can't rule out reinforcements. Finish this as fast as we can."
"Right."
Shin Gi-woon took the lead and shot deeper into the tunnel. There were no formations — if there had been, Ryu-jin would have warned them.
The footprints were still fresh. If they ran hard, they would not be late. Without a word, Gi-woon pushed his lightfoot faster.
The other two kept pace without difficulty. An assassin and an archer, their lightfoot was nearly a match for Shin Gi-woon, who had reached the Transcendent Realm.
He could have gone faster still, but there was no need to exhaust his companions for nothing.
After a stretch of running, Gi-woon was forced to stop. A corpse lay ahead.
"Why is there a body…?"
"Internal fighting, maybe?"
"Could be the Gongcheongseogyu is scarce."
"From here on, we go carefully."
By all logic, there should have been no corpses. The people who had come here were almost certainly Cheongung — and Cheongung killing their own?
Even the Demonic Cult did not do that. Internal strife was the one thing that must never happen. On a battlefield, the most terrifying blade was not the enemy's, but an ally's sword thrusting from an unexpected angle. Was Cheongung somehow tolerant of civil war?
The stray thought drifted through his mind, then he shook it off. The deeper they went, the higher the tension climbed.
The tunnel ran in a single straight line — nowhere to hide. Conversely, nowhere for an enemy to set an ambush either.
Traps… no chance of those. Anyone who had the leisure to plant traps here would already have stripped every last elixir from the place.
Then it happened.
"Everyone — run deeper!!"
Shin Gi-woon felt a presence hurtling down the cave at terrifying speed. Instinct screamed at him. This was no half-baked fighter. This was a true master.
Caught between two fronts, they would have no hope. Better to drop lower and seize the high ground.
Gi-woon poured everything into his lightfoot. Seconds later, his feet touched down in a vast open chamber.
The problem was—
"…Shit."
"Intruders!"
"Stop the intruders!!"
The chamber was enormous. The people inside numbered well over fifty.
Coming in as a mob like that, they ought to have suffocated from lack of air. Did they not understand how caves worked? More bodies meant everyone lost. Cut even one person and the available oxygen jumped. Which meant fighting here put Shin Gi-woon's party at a severe disadvantage.
And to make matters worse—
"Only three little rats. Have you come here determined to die?"
"Mount Hua…"
An old man in robes embroidered with plum blossoms. A senior expert of the Mount Hua Sect — an elder, by the look of him — had joined the fray.
What made it even more absurd was the way the men filling the chamber closed in a ring around Gi-woon's party… while treating the Mount Hua elder as one of their own. The elder was an ally of theirs — but the Mount Hua Sect itself was not.
That settled it. Shin Gi-woon was certain now. These people were Cheongung.
"Cheongung, are you?"
"You already know a name that has not even formed its alliance yet… So you are children of the Demonic Cult."
"Looks like you're after the Gongcheongseogyu. Think we'll just let you have it?"
"You are mistaken. Do you truly believe three of you can handle these numbers?"
The Mount Hua elder — Hwaseon Jinin — released his aura. A dense fragrance of plum blossoms filled the air, and the cave trembled faintly.
Madness. If the place collapsed and buried them alive, what then?
Shin Gi-woon considered the worst case. The moment the ceiling looked ready to give, Gongcheongseogyu or not, they would run.
I'll take the old Mount Hua bastard. You two handle the rest. Can you manage?
Sama Yul and Bi So-hyang both nodded. The cramped space blunted their specialties, but they were proper Peak experts. They could handle it. The real problem was Hwaseon Jinin.
A Transcendent master… and one brushing the extreme edge of the demonic path, at that.
In other words, on par with Lee Hyeong-seop — or stronger. Shin Gi-woon, who had only just stepped into the Transcendent Realm, felt no certainty he could win.
But as always, he thought the same thing. This was a fight he had to win. If it couldn't be done, make it done.
Win or lose, the other side would be wiped out either way. No point hiding anything.
"Surrender. I will end it at merely crippling your dantians."
"And I'm supposed to trust that? From Cheongung scum?"
"I give you my word. I, Hwaseon, will guarantee your lives."
"Bullshit. You're going to kill us all. There's no way you'd leave kids who know about the Gongcheongseogyu alive. Not a sly old bastard like you."
Shin Gi-woon's words cut sharp. Hwaseon's eyes narrowed; he shook his head.
"…I was prepared to show mercy. So be it. Kill them all."
"Yes, sir!"
"Stay alive."
"Don't worry."
"We've got your back."
Two opposing commands.
Hwaseon and Shin Gi-woon hurled themselves at each other—
Chaaeng!
—and the desperate struggle for the Gongcheongseogyu began.
Meanwhile, at the Mount Hua Sect perched upon the mountain's summit—
An old man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out over Mount Hua's spectacular scenery, when he felt a tremor rising from somewhere on the mountain.
It was no natural quake. In all the years since the Mount Hua Sect had been founded, the mountain had never once suffered an earthquake.
And yet a faint tremor had been felt. Proof that someone was clashing below.
"So your words were true after all. I had hoped otherwise."
"I have evidence, so I expect you to believe everything I say. The martial world is in danger, Immortal Sword of Mount Hua."
Immortal Sword of Mount Hua.
A title passed down solely to the sect masters of Mount Hua through the generations — a title that required not only the master's seat, but proof that one's martial prowess had reached the Flower Realm.
The old man with his hands behind his back was Hwa-jin, the Immortal Sword of Mount Hua.
The current sect master of Mount Hua, and a man who stood firmly among the upper ranks of the Hundred Great Masters under Heaven.
Word of a visitor had brought him racing back to Shaanxi — but he had never dreamed that visitor would be this man.
"Must I truly look the other way? Now that I know a traitor exists among us?"
"Do not concern yourself. The traitor will not live to see tomorrow's sun."
"And what of Mount Hua's honor?"
"Will you choose honor, or survival?"
Hwa-jin bit down on his lip and turned away. Words he had spoken in the past held his mouth shut and would not let go.
If he had taken that counsel to heart back then — could he have prevented what was happening now?
There was no way to know.
"You chose survival. That choice has saved your life."
"…Were you planning to kill me?"
"Anything that serves no purpose must be removed in advance."
Chilling. The man's aura made that chill twice as sharp.
"The next time we meet, it will not be a situation for leisurely conversation."
"…"
"I take my leave."
The man departed. Hwa-jin swallowed his rage and ground his teeth. He cursed himself for being so crushed by that aura that he could do nothing at all.
Two Saints, One Venerable, One Demon — the name given to the active Profound Realm masters of the martial world.
But there were always those who moved in secret, wherever they pleased. The man who had left after delivering what was not quite a threat was one of them.
A spear master who had reached the supreme realm — the Profound Realm.