Nothing Ever Works Out
"Before that, help me clean up this place. It's a total mess from the Blood Sect's attack, so if you assist with the cleanup..."
Seo Ryang chuckled at Baek Su-gyeong's shameless request, as if finding it amusing.
"Interesting. You dare make demands of me?"
"Even if the Blood Sect Lord had come instead of you, it would've been the same."
"Impressive guts. A real man needs that kind of nerve. I like it."
Grinning, Seo Ryang turned to the Flame King Guard warriors.
"Su-gyeong here wants help cleaning up this disaster. What do you think?"
"We live only to obey the Holy Lord's command."
"Hmph. No fun at all. Every one of my sect's followers... tsk."
Clicking his tongue, Seo Ryang issued the order.
"Clear the debris. Ignore whatever that Baekdo guy says."
"As you command."
Baek Su-gyeong felt a hollow emptiness wash over him. He'd just bluffed his way through it, and yet Seo Ryang had gone along with it anyway. He wasn't sure about anything else, but it was clear the Ilwolgyo Lord held him in exceptionally high regard. The fact that he wasn't slaughtering all the Baekdo folk gathered here—just because he might dislike it—was already a massive show of mercy. And now he'd even granted this near-absurd request.
That left Baek Su-gyeong with nothing to say.
"This good enough for you, Su-gyeong?"
"I have no idea why you're being so nice to me..."
"It's respect for the one who changed my sect's ways and brought me some entertainment. You've got more guts than I expected, and it suits you."
Seo Ryang laughed.
"We've cleared out those pesky Sura Church bastards and lent a hand, so now I'll make a request of my own."
"...If it's something I can't accept, I won't—even if you put a sword to my throat."
"I wouldn't make a demand like that."
Seo Ryang's expression soured slightly.
"What would I gain from acting like some petty thug? I'm not telling you to devote yourself to my sect. The Divine Firmament lands would be too harsh for someone living in the Central Plains anyway."
"Then...?"
"Su-gyeong, I intend to use you as a token to forge a pact with the righteous Murim factions. Of course, only while you're still alive."
A pact? What on earth did that mean?
Baek Su-gyeong couldn't fathom the Ilwolgyo Lord's intentions. Seo Ryang smirked at his complicated expression.
"Take your time to think it over. I'll come find you again on the last day of the martial tournament. The Flame King Guard is yours to borrow."
"What do you—!"
Ignoring Baek Su-gyeong's protest, Seo Ryang's form shot lightly into the sky. His voice followed from above.
"Flame King Guard, obey Su-gyeong's every command until I give separate orders. If even a single hair on his head is harmed, I'll have every last one of your heads."
"We receive the Holy Lord's command!"
As the Flame King Guard warriors responded in unison, Baek Su-gyeong stared in dumbfounded disbelief. The demonic lord from the Divine Firmament laughed as his voice echoed through the sky.
"See you soon, Su-gyeong!"
Baek Su-gyeong watched the Ilwolgyo Lord's back as he appeared like a storm, sorted everything out, and vanished just as quickly. A throbbing headache pulsed in his skull.
"Heavens..."
He hadn't even finished a single novel, so why rain down trials like this?
Rubbing his aching head, Baek Su-gyeong closed his eyes.
"I'm going mad."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he collapsed as if fainting.
"Teacher!"
"Branch Lord! Pull yourself together!"
"Master Baek! Call a physician!"
The three women's panicked voices rang out across the arena.
"The Blood Sect, you say?"
The voice carried a subtle undercurrent of fury. It didn't erupt like a volcano, but it was enough to convey the speaker's deep anger. Countless officials bowed their heads before him.
In the gorgeously adorned grand hall, a man from the Pingchen Palace sat upon the dragon throne at its center—the sole Son of Heaven of the current dynasty, Emperor Mingzheng. He glared down fiercely at the commander of the Imperial Guard who had delivered the report.
"Did His Majesty not hear clearly?"
At the aged prime minister's question, the kneeling military officer in the center of the hall replied.
"It was indeed the Blood Sect."
"Heh..."
"After the old Murim ended and the new began, they never once set foot in the jianghu."
Murmurs about Murim erupted here and there.
Emperor Mingzheng spoke.
"Silence."
The officials fell quiet at the emperor's dignified command. If anyone here was the most furious, it was him. He had a bitter history with the Blood Sect. The mother of Princess Jugeum Ye—the late Empress Sohyeon of the Tang clan—had lost her life because of them. The grudge ran deep.
"The Blood Sect..."
Anger laced Emperor Mingzheng's voice. The officials held their breath, awaiting his words. Unease spread.
The Blood Sect was a Murim force. In the past, they'd used that very fact to block all-out war with them. Hadn't Baek Su-gyeong's Wudang Sword Hero popularized the notion of non-interference in Murim affairs? The imperial court meddling in jianghu matters would surely provoke backlash.
I could raise an army right now and raze Tianshan to the ground, and it still wouldn't be enough...
Emperor Mingzheng tilted his head and pressed a hand to his forehead. Deep down, he wanted nothing more than to mobilize the troops and wage war on the Blood Sect nesting in Tianshan. But he couldn't. Princess Jugeum Ye's letter, delivered through a military officer, had explicitly warned against it. Even without that, the civil and military officials would surely oppose it vehemently once more.
When Empress Sohyeon had been kidnapped by the Blood Sect, returned, and then passed away soon after, they'd balked at committing the full might of the palace to eradicate them—citing Murim's watchful eyes. It had later come to light that the Blood Sect had pulled strings from the shadows, prompting Emperor Mingzheng to purge the court in rage. It was tantamount to treason.
...I'm furious.
The emperor's eyebrows twisted into an inverted eight.
His one and only wife was gone, and now they'd targeted his daughter too. What was wrong with raising an army to punish them? The Confucian scholars droning on about the Three Bonds and Five Relationships were nothing but pedants. They invoked those principles when convenient, but lit up with fury at any Murim entanglement. Associating with those brigand-like Murim rabble was unacceptable? What nonsense.
Of course, he knew how strong Murim folk could be. Before the Zhu dynasty's rise, he'd fought alongside countless warriors—he couldn't not know. That pathological fear was why the officials dreaded them so. And surely some hid alliances with Murim powers behind the scenes.
"Hoo..."
The officials flinched at the sigh heavy with displeasure. Even Wusang Geomhu Kyung Jo-yeom, the supreme instructor of the palace warriors, was a ronin once scorned by the jianghu.
His head throbbed.
I was never meant to inherit the throne.
Clashes between emotion and reason were common, but hating the throne for demanding cold rationality even in family matters was inevitable. Emperor Mingzheng closed his eyes, then opened them and spoke.
"They will pay for attempting to assassinate a sovereign."
Everything else could be overlooked. But they'd targeted the sole blood heir left by Empress Sohyeon. That stoked his rage further.
"I hereby declare the Blood Sect a public enemy of Murim and the Central Plains! The heretical cult that deceives the world and the people shall be exterminated upon discovery! But ensure no harm comes to the common folk—investigate thoroughly!"
"Your Imperial Majesty's mercy is boundless!!"
In that moment, the Blood Sect's future turned grim, branded not just a Murim public enemy but one officially recognized by the imperial court itself.
"Mm."
How long had he been unconscious? Baek Su-gyeong stirred from his deep slumber and realized he lay amid flickering candle shadows. Lifting his head slightly, he saw Namgung So-min and So Ssaang-a leaning against each other, fast asleep. They'd stayed by his side without leaving.
Blinking amid the soft bedding, Baek Su-gyeong wondered,
How much time has passed?
His sense of time was fuzzy. His last memory was screaming his defiance at the Ilwolgyo Lord before blacking out. No way to know how long since then. He wanted to ask So Ssaang-a or Namgung So-min, but their exhausted faces made it hard to wake them.
The Blood Sect wasn't enough—now Ilwolgyo too...
His head throbbed. The scale kept escalating; he couldn't handle it. He hadn't even finished a single novel, yet these overwhelming crises piled up one after another. It left him dizzy.
And the Ilwolgyo Lord seemed inexplicably fond of him, which made his headache even worse.
What happened to the tournament...?
Every time this damn tournament happened, chaos erupted. It felt like some massive event trigger. Common in wuxia novels, sure—but living it was far more disorienting. He hadn't even seen one go to completion, which fueled his frustration too.
Not that it was the only reason he felt sour.
"Hoo..."
Baek Su-gyeong's sigh ran deep. Witnessing death up close had his stomach churning. He'd clashed with bandits as an escort, but he'd buried those memories. Feeling that same gut-wrenching revulsion again turned his insides.
Clenching his eyes shut did nothing; the scene of people dying was seared into his retinas like a red-hot brand, refusing to fade.
Unable to bear lying there staring at the ceiling, he carefully rose, mindful not to wake Namgung So-min and So Ssaang-a. Not seeing Gal Ye-ryeong, he recalled the Ilwolgyo Lord's words.
Haomen...
One of the Ten Demonic Subsects tied to the Black Brush Party. Disappointment toward Gal Ye-ryeong welled up, but he had no right to judge. His life had only been prolonged because Wudang Sword Hero appealed to these Central Plains warriors. Without that, furious Wudang swordsmen would've ended him long ago.
Maybe the god who dropped me here is pulling the strings, he thought.
Stepping out for fresh night air, an Imperial Guard warrior blocked his path.
"Lord Su-gyeong, you can't just wander out of your room."
"Stay cooped up any longer, and I'll suffocate. I'm not going anywhere—just let me breathe here."
"No can do. Princess's strict orders: remain in your room until fully recovered."
At mention of Jugeum Ye's command, a vein pulsed in Baek Su-gyeong's forehead.
"I have no intention of obeying that."
"Lord Su-gyeong."
"If it's that serious, tell the princess I want to speak with her."
"You've only just woken. Your face is pale—please rest inside."
Baek Su-gyeong clicked his tongue at the guard's words. He'd come out for air to ease his frustration, but even that was denied. This was exactly why he hated tangling with the palace.
Come to think of it, he had no idea where he was. Looking at the guard, he asked,
"Where is this place, anyway?"
"The Luoyang Detached Palace, south of Luoyang."
"Detached Palace?"
Recalling what that meant, Baek Su-gyeong's face hardened like stone. Secondary residences built for imperial kin on vacation, tomb visits, or wartime refuge. It meant he'd stumbled right into another power he wanted nothing to do with—the palace's annex.
"Lord Su-gyeong?"
Letting out a hollow laugh, Baek Su-gyeong covered his face with his hands.
Really, nothing ever went his way.