Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Writhing (1)
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Hwa-ryeon voicing her reluctance to face excommunication.
And the Sword Phoenix, desperate to get her out of Mount Hua somehow.
Caught between their dilemma, I stroked Snow Python, who had suddenly revealed herself.
[Snow Python, do you know anything about the Strange Fire Spirit?]
Right now, the most suspicious thing here was the Strange Fire Spirit.
The spirit beast that this fake martial world’s Mount Hua Sect truly revered, with its shady tracks.
Descriptions said it alternated between the form of a plum tree and a serpent.
'But someone must have actually seen it.'
Since no one had actually seen it, there was no way to know if it was true or not.
[Strange Fire Spirit... Among spirit beasts, it's one of the odder ones, but this lord hasn't encountered it much, so I don't know a great deal.]
[Hmmm...]
Snow Python also claimed not to know much about the Strange Fire Spirit.
Even so, I could tell it was extraordinarily powerful.
Just look at Snow Python herself—she had shattered a formation that even the Zhuge couldn't breach right in front of them, and she possessed the power to manipulate the memories of countless masters.
Watching Snow Python call this her weakened state, I let out a sigh.
[Little master, I guarantee you—no spirit beast is worth trusting.]
[...?]
[I'm begging you.]
Snow Python coiled around my arm in warning, her voice turning a touch grave as she said that. I stroked her and nodded for now.
'But you're a spirit beast too.'
I wanted to say it, but...
I sensed she might be including herself, and hearing that for real would be terrifying, so I held my tongue.
'...What are you, exactly?'
The question flitted through my mind.
'Something feels off.'
It was right then, as that stifling sensation gnawed at me.
"......"
"......"
The two in front of me fell silent.
I pushed aside stray thoughts and spoke to them.
"I understand excommunication hasn't been decided yet."
Excommunication isn't that simple.
Mount Hua wouldn't let go of Hwa-ryeon easily.
Unless she committed some grave error, ousting their sect leader's disciple would be tough.
But as a contingency...
[If the Strange Fire Spirit perceives the plum blossom rooted in Little Hwa-ryeon's mindscape, she could be in danger.]
If chased out or excommunicated for a reason like that, then...
"However, if it comes to excommunication for some unexpected reason, please come to me. I'll care for you with all my heart."
"Ah......"
Hwa-ryeon let out a soft sigh.
I wanted to nurture the plum tree within her a bit more, but now wasn't the time.
I knew what the Strange Fire Spirit had done to Mount Hua.
Why, though?
The reason Mount Hua had met with disaster.
'...They said they were in secluded cultivation.'
And right after that, Mount Hua suffered.
So, perhaps back then too...
'Did the plums bloom...?'
The suspicion crossed my mind.
The thought that maybe Hwa-ryeon had made the plums bloom then.
"It might be best to call it a day. Zhuge Junior Sister is waiting outside, looking worried this way."
I masked my doubts and fears as best I could, saying that while pointing outside.
There I saw Zhuge Ji-yeon, her worried expression blooming into a bright smile.
'She must have waited a long time.'
A chuckle slipped out.
A massive rocky mountain.
Mount Hua.
And the sect rooted there, Mount Hua Sect.
Once called one of the Nine Great Sects, it had saved countless lives at the forefront during the first Righteous-Demonic War and the Righteous-Evil War.
Thus, revered by all around, Mount Hua was guarded by a single protective spirit.
[Mount Hua's child... winning the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament...]
"Yes, that's right."
The sacred spirit beast that only past sect leaders could converse with—the Strange Fire Spirit.
Beneath the massive burning tree, a man knelt and slowly recounted Hwa-ryeon's tale.
"...But suddenly, that child asked to be excommunicated."
[......]
Excommunication.
It meant being cast out from the sect or leaving of one's own accord.
And the sect leader knew full well what that would mean for Hwa-ryeon.
Mount Hua was her home, where her parents and siblings—her family—lived.
The name she bore was given by Mount Hua.
The clothes she wore and the sword at her side were gifts from Mount Hua.
Leaving it wasn't merely departing the sect.
[Her skills are exceptional, but respecting the child's will is also your duty.]
"...I know."
[It's regrettable for Mount Hua, but the exceptional ones always have sharp minds. What would you do by holding on?]
The Strange Fire Spirit spoke those words.
The sect leader tilted his head at the spirit's displeased air but nodded anyway.
Martial Alliance Leader Nangong Cheon.
Right after the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament ended, he spread out documents from the Beggars' Sect's Majestic Wind Horn and sank into thought.
Convinced there was a traitor in the righteous faction, he began scrutinizing the prime suspects one by one.
"...Tang Family of Sichuan, Mount Hua, Murong Family, Jinju Yan Clan."
He gathered their highly suspicious activities.
First up, the Tang Family of Sichuan.
A place overflowing with ominous vibes.
A clan byword for repaying favors double and grudges tenfold, they strove to return kindnesses regardless of righteous or demonic ties.
And when harboring resentment, they clung relentlessly.
With their poisons, they were a venomous house indeed.
And what worried Nangong Cheon was...
"...Evil Alliance."
The Evil Alliance, now a ghost of the past.
Someone from there might have bestowed a favor on the Tangs.
Indeed, even with the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament underway, the family head hadn't appeared.
Where on earth had the head been, and doing what?
The Beggars' Sect had investigated, but his tracks were nowhere to be found.
And right on cue, those tasked with assassinating Zhuge Ji-yeon had begun moving.
'But the Tangs have no real reason to bite the Zhuges.'
He decided to pass on that for now and shifted to Mount Hua.
Mount Hua had clashed sharply with the Sword Phoenix too.
She'd refused the sect leader's seat.
After that, she refused any interference from Mount Hua.
Yet this time, instead of the sect leader, she'd come to observe the tournament herself.
Was she truly just a proxy?
Or was she there to thwart something the sect leader planned?
Having earned the Phoenix title, Ji-yeon was no small figure—she'd be a key strategist for the righteous faction later. Teaming with the evil factions wasn't out of the question.
"......"
The Murongs and Jinjus hadn't even shown their faces this time.
Gathering all these suspicious threads gave Nangong Cheon a throbbing headache.
The fragile, ice-thin peace they'd barely preserved was cracking.
He knew from the records.
Countless sects wiped out, streets echoing with widows' screams for lost husbands.
Children wailing days on end for parents already gone from this world.
Righteous heroes drawing blades against blood ghosts, only to fall and become them.
Blood stench everywhere, women raped, men butchered, children hauled off as slaves.
Those records hammered home how precious this peace was.
The peace stolen by the evil rabble was about to shatter again.
"What troubles you so?"
Then, from behind—a breeze carrying peach blossoms and liquor.
Nangong Cheon squeezed his eyes shut and murmured low.
"...Wind Horn Hero."
"Care for a drink?"
With the wind, Wind Horn settled before Nangong Cheon.
Sighing at him, Nangong Cheon asked,
"Did you identify that master?"
"As if."
"......"
Nangong Cheon had seen it clearly.
The master invading the arena, blooming plum blossoms everywhere.
Swinging her sword flawlessly, her veil unruffled, subduing the later-generation talents in an instant and withdrawing gracefully—a woman.
'Zhuge's benefactor, she said.'
She'd called herself Zhuge's benefactor.
A noble figure bearing the precious Zhuge jade plaque.
What did that imply?
The Zhuges placed her on equal footing with him.
Equating the Sword Sovereign and Martial Alliance Leader with that woman—their strategist did.
It might seem minor, but it was monumental.
"Keep investigating her. How she knew to wipe out all those blood ghosts."
"...Got it."
Wind Horn nodded with a sly grin.
Nangong Cheon racked his brains harder at the sight.
At the same time.
"...Benefactor."
"Yes?"
"I entrust myself to you."
Just before departing for Mount Hua, Hwa-ryeon stopped Seo Ha-yeon and bowed deeply.
"From what the Sword Phoenix said, I feel I may no longer stay at Mount Hua."
"......"
"...So, to prepare for the worst, might I ask your next destination?"
"Ah......"
Ha-yeon hesitated a moment, then smiled brightly.
"Tang Family of Sichuan."
"I see."
"I'll head to the Tang Family of Sichuan. If you wish to meet me, please wait there."
Tang Family of Sichuan.
Ha-yeon's next stop.