Chapter 20: Blood Sword Fragrance Ok-ryeong-1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 20: Blood Sword Fragrance Ok-ryeong-1
Inside the Chrysanthemum Pavilion of the Phoenix Hall, Cheonmu Alliance.
"Ah, as I thought, nothing beats a good soak to get rid of fatigue."
Lee Jae-won, the Leader of the Cheonmu Alliance, was currently soaking in a medicinal bath.
Perhaps because it had been a while, he felt his exhaustion melting away more than usual. The last time he had stepped into the Phoenix Hall’s communal bath was the day the renovations were completed—the day he had a massive group fuck with all his wives. The memory made this visit feel even more special.
"It’s a shame I can’t get laid right now..."
He lamented the fact that he couldn't play as filthily as he had back then. Unlike twenty years ago, the nerves between his wives were frayed, and they absolutely loathed the idea of having sex together.
Furthermore, he was supposed to be away from the Phoenix Hall on a secret mission. If he called his wives in for a romp, it could easily spark unwanted rumors. Thus, Lee Jae-won swallowed his regrets and gave up on the idea of communal bath sex.
He was an arrogant, self-centered man, but he wasn't stupid enough to do something that would needlessly tarnish his reputation.
As he soaked, Lee Jae-won stared at the warm pool. That was the entrance to the hideout the Murim Alliance had built in the past. It was a secret shelter and a training hall for future contingencies, created by the first Alliance Leader to prevent any unforeseen disasters.
Of course, ever since the defeat of the Heavenly Demon Emperor, it had served as Lee Jae-won's personal treasure vault.
When he first deduced that Jang Sam had entered that place, he couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. The image of the boy somehow finding his way in there to survive reminded him of his younger self, fleeing from the Black Armored Cavalry.
But at the same time, he was worried.
He didn't give a damn about Jang Sam’s well-being, but the treasures hidden in that sanctuary were a different story. There were martial arts manuals with enough power to bring a bloodbath to the Murim if even a single volume was leaked, enough weapons to arm at least a thousand men, and above all, the Overlord Ghost-Face Armor—one of the Six Great Treasures of the Murim.
The Overlord Ghost-Face Armor was Lee Jae-won's biggest concern.
After all, hadn't he claimed to have given it up for the safety of the Murim, only to secretly stash it away for himself? If the world found out that the Overlord Ghost-Face Armor was hidden beneath the Cheonmu Alliance, everyone would surely point their fingers at him.
That was why, when he ordered Ju Gwang to bring Jang Sam back, he also ordered the silencing of the team leaders who went with him. They would be honored as righteous martial artists who died in the line of duty while capturing the heinous murderer Jang Sam, and the Alliance would hold a grand funeral for them. They would be designated as persons of merit, and their sects would receive massive compensation and benefits.
What a happy ending. He was certain they would be satisfied even in hell.
"Anyway, when are they coming out?"
It had already been four hours since Ju Gwang and the team leaders entered. Yet, there wasn't a single sign of them. He was waiting because it seemed about time for them to emerge, but not even an ant showed its face.
"Well, they’ll probably be shitting blood trying to climb back up."
There were two ways to leave the hideout. One was to return through the entrance they came in, and the other was through a secret exit hidden within the sanctuary.
However, Lee Jae-won had hidden the location of the secret exit from Ju Gwang. It was a precaution against potential betrayal. It would be troublesome if Ju Gwang, ordered to retrieve the Overlord Ghost-Face Armor, decided to take it and vanish.
If Ju Gwang, who had been loyal to Lee Jae-won for twenty years, had known this, he would have beaten the ground in regret for ever becoming his subordinate.
Lee Jae-won, who trusted no one but himself, had no choice but to sit and wait in the communal bath.
"No, this is taking too long."
The depth to the bottom of the hideout was considerable, but for a Super-Peak expert like Ju Gwang, it shouldn't have been a difficult climb. Doubt began to cloud his mind.
"Could it be... Jang Sam?"
Lee Jae-won’s doubt began to turn into anxiety. If Jang Sam had managed to get his hands on the Overlord Ghost-Face Armor, it wasn't impossible for him to defeat Ju Gwang.
As suspicion turned into conviction, Lee Jae-won moved quickly. He hurriedly threw on his clothes. Just as he was about to enter the hideout's entrance, smoke began to billow out.
Sizzle.
"What the fuck?!"
"Cough! Hack!"
Along with the rising smoke, the sound of continuous coughing echoed from the entrance. Lee Jae-won dove into the hole immediately.
As he descended, the smoke grew thicker and the coughing louder.
Cough! Hack!
Whoosh!
After falling for a while, he spotted Ju Gwang, who was hacking up a lung. Lee Jae-won grabbed Ju Gwang by the hair and threw him straight back up.
"Aaaagh!"
Ju Gwang soared upward, enduring the agonizing sensation of his scalp being ripped. Fortunately, the entrance was wide enough for two people to fit comfortably, so throwing him was easy. Lee Jae-won followed right behind him, ascending rapidly.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Having already reached the realm of Sky-Walking, Lee Jae-won exited the hideout with ease.
Thud.
The moment Lee Jae-won stepped outside, he saw Ju Gwang kneeling on the floor. He was a pathetic sight. Both his arms were gone, and his right eye and ear had been slashed by a sword, clearly rendered useless. Furthermore, he was covered in burn marks and black ash, as if he had been swallowed by a fire demon.
The middle-aged warrior, who once exuded a boisterous charm befitting his title 'Ju Gwang of the Great Tyrant Blade,' was nowhere to be found.
"What the fuck, Ju Gwang? Where the hell are your arms?"
"Please kill me, my Lord!"
"I'll decide whether you live or die after I hear what happened. Start talking, you bastard!"
Feeling an indescribable terror at Lee Jae-won’s murderous tone, Ju Gwang began to stammer out his report.
"Jang Sam...!!! He did this to me!"
"That brat is just a piece of shit in the Peak Realm. You're telling me it makes sense for one Super-Peak expert and four Peak experts to get trashed by him?"
"The Jang Sam we met in the hideout... was already a master who had entered the Super-Peak Realm!"
"Even so, you're a man on the verge of the Transcendent Realm! Does it make sense for you to get your limbs hacked off by a brat who just stepped into the Super-Peak Realm?"
"Jang Sam’s level was not that of a fledgling... He was a Super-Peak expert who had fully mastered his realm...!"
"Wait! Then what about the Overlord Ghost-Face Armor?! Where is it?"
"That... because Jang Sam set fire to the hideout, I couldn't retrieve it in time..."
Thwack!
Before he could even finish, Lee Jae-won’s fist slammed into Ju Gwang.
"You useless piece of shit!!!!!! Do you have any idea what that is? It’s one of the Six Great Treasures of the Murim! You should have retrieved it even if it meant your death! You forgot about it just to save your own skin?!"
Thwack!
Thud!
Crack!
Lee Jae-won, who had been pummeling him, suddenly stopped.
"Wait... if he set a fire, what about my other treasures?!"
"I believe... they have all been burned to ashes."
"AAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!! JANG SAAAAAAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lee Jae-won’s scream echoed through the Phoenix Hall. He was consumed by an overwhelming rage. What kind of treasures were in that place? Weapons enough to train thousands of warriors and peerless manuals he had personally collected. The fact that all of it was gone made his blood boil.
"And you still expect to live, Ju Gwang?!"
"H-Hieee! Please kill me!"
"Fine. If that’s your wish, I’ll kill you myself!"
Squelch.
Lee Jae-won raised a single finger and drove it through Ju Gwang’s skull. Ju Gwang, his skull pierced, sprayed brain fluid through the hole and died instantly.
Ju Gwang, a Super-Peak expert who had risen from a wandering ronin to the Vice-Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, met his end at the hands of the man he had served loyally for twenty years.
"FUCK!!!!!"
Even after killing Ju Gwang, Lee Jae-won’s anger was not sated. He wanted to go and beat Jang Sam to death right this instant, but by the time the armless Ju Gwang had made it back up, Jang Sam would have long since vanished. Finding him in the vast Central Plains would be like finding a needle in a desert.
"Jang Sam, I will make you wish you were neither dead nor alive!!!"
Lee Jae-won could only swallow his rage while cursing Jang Sam’s name.
That day, a pursuit squad of unprecedented scale was organized within the Cheonmu Alliance. It was because the 'Thousand-Face Lecher' Jang Sam had murdered Ju Gwang and four team leaders, including the 'Giant Dragon Spear.'
The enraged Alliance Leader personally joined the pursuit, and portraits of Jang Sam were distributed to every branch of the Cheonmu Alliance, requesting cooperation in his capture. The bounty on his head reached a thousand gold taels, and the entire Murim went into a frenzy to find him.
*
Meanwhile, Jang Sam, who had escaped through the secret exit, reached a secluded, nameless mountain. It seemed the exit of the hideout was connected to this place.
As he stepped outside, the dark night welcomed him. Sun-woo had been hoping for bright sunlight, so he was slightly disappointed, but the fresh air he hadn't breathed in a long time was more than enough to satisfy him.
Lost in sentiment for a moment, Sun-woo looked up at the sky. He began to look around as if searching for something. After a while, he found the brilliantly shining North Star. Since the North Star always indicates true north, Sun-woo was able to easily deduce his orientation.
Having figured out the directions, Sun-woo began to run blindly toward the west. The Cheonmu Alliance was located in Jinan, Shandong. Since Shandong Province was on the eastern edge, he figured he could escape its reach by heading west.
To put as much distance as possible between himself and the Cheonmu Alliance, Sun-woo used the Wind-Dust Step to traverse the mountain paths.
Tap. Tap.
Sun-woo rushed out of the mountains with a speed as swift as the wind. He ran until the taste of sweetness filled his mouth and his legs began to tremble. Only when his legs refused to move any further did he finally stop.
Even though he had run until he was exhausted, the surroundings were still nothing but mountain paths. Since it was a mountain, it would actually be more difficult for a search party to find him.
Comforting himself with that thought, Sun-woo slumped down against a large tree.
Thud.
He took out a Fasting Pill he had stashed in his robes and began to think deeply as he ate it.
Crunch.
Munch. Munch.
Actually, when he first made his escape plan, his intention was to sneak into the Cheonmu Alliance and meet his master, Lee Jae-won, to claim his innocence. But now that he knew of his master’s betrayal through Ju Gwang, he needed to change everything.
He had considered fleeing as a worst-case scenario, but no suitable location came to mind.
'Where should I go?'
In truth, it was hard to find a place in the Central Plains where Lee Jae-won’s influence didn't reach. A natural philanderer, Lee Jae-won had not only formed marital ties with major sects and clans in every region but had also established Cheonmu Alliance branches everywhere.
Sun-woo racked his brain. If he wanted a place where Lee Jae-won’s influence was minimal, it would be the Outer Murim or the Demonic Cult’s territory, but those were far too distant from Shandong.
'Isn't there somewhere nearby where I can hide?'
Sun-woo felt a sense of urgency. No matter how much of a Super-Peak expert he had become, he was still no match for Lee Jae-won. If he didn't find a hiding spot soon, he would eventually become a handful of lonely ghost-dust in Lee Jae-won’s hands.
Sun-woo tried to recall the contents of the novel as much as possible, thinking of places Lee Jae-won wouldn't go.
'A place Lee Jae-won wouldn't go... a place that makes him uncomfortable...'
Then.
Suddenly, passages from the novel began to flash through Sun-woo’s mind.
[[Lee Jae-won roughly grabbed Ok-ryeong’s hand.
"Jae-won, you mustn't do this. Am I not your master?"
"Master, this is all your fault. How can you be a master and possess such a seductive body?"
At Lee Jae-won’s words, Ok-ryeong’s face flushed red.
"What nonsense is this! Stop this at once. If you back down now, I shall keep this a secret."
"I'm sorry, but I can no longer endure. Your tits, your buttocks... everything about you won't leave my mind. Please understand your unworthy disciple."
Strip.
As he finished speaking, Lee Jae-won lowered his trousers, revealing a massive phallus. His manhood boasted a monstrous size, and seeing it, Ok-ryeong’s face turned even redder.
"Master, I heard you have spent your entire life honing your martial arts while staying away from men. Today, your disciple shall let you taste the flavor of a man’s cock."
"You scoundrel! How dare you say such things to your master!"
Enraged by Lee Jae-won’s vulgar words, Ok-ryeong concentrated her internal energy.
"What?!"
But no matter how hard she tried, her energy refused to gather.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"It’s useless. You have already been poisoned by Energy-Dispersing Poison."
"You... Lee Jae-won!! How can you call yourself a disciple after doing this!"
"Today, I approach you not as a disciple, but as a man. Master... no, Ok-ryeong."
Having said his piece, Lee Jae-won began to slowly strip off Ok-ryeong’s trousers.
"No! Let go of me! You can't!"
As her trousers came down, her white undergarments appeared before his eyes. And soon, when even those were removed, Ok-ryeong’s secret garden was revealed.
Perhaps because she had spent her life training and avoiding men, her pussy was tightly closed. Whether she suffered from congenital hairlessness or had groomed herself, a smooth, bald mountain without a single hair was visible.
The sight of Ok-ryeong’s lower half was so beautiful it left Lee Jae-won entranced.
"Master, your unworthy disciple can wait no longer."
Lee Jae-won’s phallus began to align with Ok-ryeong’s folds.
Plunge.
"AAAAAAAGH!!"
Soon, White Flower Peak was filled with nothing but the screams of Ok-ryeong as her hymen was torn apart.]]
The passages faded from his mind, and Sun-woo snapped back to reality.
'This is it!'
Sun-woo cheered internally. He had thought of a place that was close to Shandong but where Lee Jae-won would never look.
A place that made Lee Jae-won uncomfortable.
A place close to the Cheonmu Alliance, yet one he loathed to visit.
That place was White Flower Peak, home to Blood Sword Fragrance Ok-ryeong—the woman who had been Lee Jae-won’s master before Seon-ong.