Prologue: The Moon Veiled by Clouds
It was a deep night, the moon veiled behind thick clouds. The room was thick with seductive smoke drifting from an incense burner. Candle flames swayed gently, casting two shadows across the bed.
One belonged to a pot-bellied, middle-aged martial artist. He was none other than Jin Mu-gak, the Blue Wind Elder, a high-ranking figure of the righteous sects. Having retired from the Murim Alliance, he now lived in seclusion here, quietly wielding his lingering power. At this moment, his eyes burned with naked greed.
The woman seated before him was a peerless beauty the world might never see again. Bing Ok-yeon. Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her skin, pale as white jade, seemed to radiate a faint chill even in the candlelight. The thin silk of her robes clung to her body, revealing every lush, supple curve. Her eyes gleamed coldly, yet the smile playing at her lips was sweet and intoxicating. She was a woman who exuded both frost and flame, an irresistible allure no one could defy.
For several days now, Bing Ok-yeon had asked Jin Mu-gak to recount the martial exploits of his youth. Today, that request had brought her all the way to his private chamber.
“Esteemed Elder… what amusing tale will you share with me tonight?”
Her whisper was low and velvety. When a single fingertip brushed the back of his hand, the middle-aged man’s breath hitched.
“Hehe… a story fit to delight a lady such as yourself, Miss Bing. It seems this old man will have to stay up all night pondering one. My experiences are not so plentiful, after all.”
The old expert’s words carried a veiled suggestion that they might pass the night together. Despite claiming limited experience, he launched into one boast after another.
“In my younger days, the Mount Hua Sect was overflowing with masters. They used to say that if a second-generation disciple didn’t carry the fragrance of plum blossoms, he wasn’t worthy of being called a son of Mount Hua. One day, something rather interesting happened. My senior brother, who always loved showing off, suddenly challenged me out of nowhere…”
His self-aggrandizing tales eventually drifted toward his bedroom prowess. As he spoke, he fondled the thing inside his trousers as though displaying a trophy. The face of the old, shabby, pot-bellied Taoist glistened with lust.
He pulled her toward the bed. Bing Ok-yeon offered no real resistance, only a faint smile. It could have been mockery, pleasure, or the forced suppression of revulsion; it was impossible to tell.
Her outer robe slid away with a whisper, revealing the soft silk undergarment beneath. Jin Mu-gak let out an admiring gasp. He had expected beauty from her appearance, yet nowhere in his long life had he encountered a woman this flawless.
“Hoo… with such a delicate frame, it must be difficult to survive in the martial world. Why not abandon those dreams and stay here with me? I may be old, but my swordsmanship remains first-rate.”
Bing Ok-yeon lowered her brows as if troubled, letting out a soft, breathless moan. The sight made Jin Mu-gak’s breathing turn ragged. His expression revealed an almost frantic desire to tear away the rest of her clothing.
Yet preparation was still required. Even in this dreamlike moment, his longtime companion refused to stir. He needed to soothe his old friend.
“Just a moment, just a moment!”
He turned and reached into his robes, then frantically searched for the teacup on the round table. Once he dissolved the powder into the tea and drank it, the young beauty would be his.
The very instant he let his guard down completely—
“Khuk…!”
Jin Mu-gak’s eyes flew wide. He stared at Bing Ok-yeon in disbelief. That beautiful face, that seductive body; only now did he realize it had all been a trap.
He pitched forward and collapsed. He would never rise again.
Bing Ok-yeon gazed down at the corpse with utter indifference. A sword tip appeared as if from nowhere, and she methodically searched his body, picking through the filth as carefully as one might rummage through garbage.
Once she had taken what she wanted, she smiled once more and began to thoroughly ransack the room.
The following morning, in the heart of the town where Jin Mu-gak had resided, a huge poster was affixed to a pillar in the busiest square. The ink had not yet dried; the paper fluttered in the breeze. Its contents could be summarized as follows.
Crimes of Jin Mu-gak, Elder of the Murim Alliance and Mount Hua Sect:
• Drugging and defiling women with aphrodisiacs
• Embezzling sect treasures and wealth out of greed
• Countless murders, rapes, and acts of plunder committed in the surrounding region
The true face of the so-called righteous elder is hereby exposed.
Ledgers and fragments of letters are attached as irrefutable evidence.
People heading to the morning market began to gather one by one. What started as hushed whispers soon swelled into shock, then rage. The evidence of corruption and crime was undeniable.
“Elder Jin Mu-gak… did things like this?”
“The vengeful spirit of Baek Family Manor? Which Baek family is that…?”
“Could it be that one? The family of the Heavenly Killing Star. That traitor was definitely a Baek, wasn’t he?”
And somewhere in that square, a woman stood at a distance, silently watching the scene. After listening quietly to the crowd’s conversations, she turned and slipped away without a sound.