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Slice!
The black ebony desk split in half. It was a sturdy, high-grade wooden desk that could have lasted over a decade with proper care, yet it hadn't even been six months since its purchase before it was cut down by a sword.
"Don't take your anger out on innocent furniture, Senior Brother. It's all property of Wudang."
"Property? Proooo-per-ty?!"
The one who split the desk, Sect Leader Hyeon-cheol, shouted with a murderous glint in his eyes.
"Yes! Property! After the Cheonhwa Incident, we had no money and had to dig up wild herbs for months—something the old Wudang Sect could only dream of! And here you are, chopping up the furniture!"
"Get to the point."
At Taoist Hyeonta's composed words, Taoist Hyeoncheol grew even angrier.
"I am the Sect Leader!"
"I am aware."
"Is that any way to treat your Sect Leader, Hyeon-ta?!"
"Senior Brother Hyeongi, who ascended, told me before he left. If you ever strayed down the wrong path, I was to guide you correctly and not hesitate to speak harsh truths."
Slice! The desk was split in half once more. Taoist Hyeoncheol vented his anger by carving up the hapless furniture.
"I know! I know! He gave me that same earnest advice! I know it, and I've respected you for it! But you should have held back, at least when outsiders were present!"
"Is it not when outsiders are present that one should be more careful?"
"You old geezer, Hyeon-ta!!"
The veins in Taoist Hyeoncheol's forehead bulged.
"Why don't you understand! This was the perfect chance for Mount Hua to bow its head to Wudang! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride this momentum and prove to the world who holds the superior position!"
"Truly. Have you no shame? Using such things to satisfy your personal greed? And against someone you once served as a brother."
"Urk...!"
Taoist Hyeoncheol was left speechless.
Although his point was rather rude, righteousness and justification were both on Taoist Hyeonta's side.
His attempt to use his position as Sect Leader to boost his petty pride, his scheme to use the request of the lovesick Mount Hua Plum Blossom Sword Warrior to benefit Wudang, and his attempt to throw his weight around as someone greater than the Ranhwa Sword by manipulating the situation—all of it was worthy of condemnation.
"If you were an Elder, Senior Brother, I wouldn't have said a word. But aren't you the Sect Leader? What will happen later if the Ranhwa Sword becomes the Sect Leader of Mount Hua? He will not forget this."
"I can do it because I am the Sect Leader!"
Taoist Hyeoncheol began to lose his temper again.
"I am doing this to bring benefits to Wudang as its Sect Leader, so what exactly is your complaint?!"
"Have you forgotten that there are such things as limits?"
"If you dislike it so much, why don't you be the Sect Leader?!"
"Senior Brother."
Taoist Hyeonta released his inner energy outward. Taoist Hyeoncheol's hands froze under the pressure of Hyeon-ta's overwhelming presence.
"The only reason I acknowledge you as Sect Leader, Senior Brother, is because Senior Brother Hyeongi designated you as the Sect Leader."
"Are you saying... you don't acknowledge me?"
"I am saying that if the position of Sect Leader had fallen to me, I would not have declined it."
Taoist Hyeonta raised his energy in earnest. Taoist Hyeoncheol also raised his energy, desperately trying not to be pushed back in this contest of inner power.
"Do not forget. I still remember that on that day, you tried to take someone's hand."
"!!"
Taoist Hyeoncheol collapsed to the floor. His lips trembled faintly at Taoist Hyeonta's unexpected words, and Taoist Hyeonta reined in his sharply honed qi.
"Just as you are willing to do anything for Wudang, Senior Brother, I too will do anything for Wudang."
"...Get out!"
Taoist Hyeoncheol waved his hand dismissively. Taoist Hyeonta felt a pang of pity at his trembling hand but steeled his heart.
'He seems even worse than before.'
People do not change easily. He had hoped Taoist Hyeoncheol would change upon becoming Sect Leader, but as time passed, his old, un-leaderlike self seemed to be creeping back out, making Taoist Hyeonta sigh involuntarily.
"Very well. I also spoke too harshly, Senior Brother."
Taoist Hyeonta turned and walked out. After leaving the Sect Leader's office and walking for a while, he saw a man in red martial robes standing awkwardly in an ambiguous spot, holding a bottle of Bamboo Leaf Wine. The man smiled sheepishly.
"I was hoping we could share a drink after so long, but it seems the mood isn't right. My apologies. I didn't intend to eavesdrop."
"No. I apologize for showing you such a shameful sight."
"Nonsense. You're working hard. I'm in a similar position within Mount Hua myself."
The Ranhwa Sword smiled bitterly and shook the bottle of Bamboo Leaf Wine.
"Will you have a drink?"
"I've quit drinking. I can offer you my company in conversation, however."
"Aish, you've become terribly boring. Ever since you mastered the Taiji Wisdom Sword, you've turned into a stuffy old Taoist. I wonder where the roughneck who used to beat down Unorthodox scoundrels has gone..."
"Senior Ranhwa Sword, may I ask you one thing?"
At Taoist Hyeonta's serious voice, the Ranhwa Sword lowered the bottle he was about to drink from.
"What are you so curious about that you're setting the mood like this?"
"Anyone can catch lovesickness. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Even more so if the other party is the White Path's Number One Flower. At the very least, it's not something to move so secretly over."
"......."
"On the contrary, I find it more suspicious that you, Senior Ranhwa Sword, have come to Wudang in such a hurry. Are your intentions in seeking out the Taiji Flower truly pure? Or is this some foolish scheme to entangle the Taiji Flower with your Plum Blossom Swordwoman?"
"...I can't say it's pure, but the latter is absolutely not the case. No, it is pure, but it's just..."
Even under Taoist Hyeonta's sharp questioning, the Ranhwa Sword scratched his head as if truly perplexed.
"This is something I haven't even told the Sect Leader. I hear you're deeply connected to the Taiji Flower? Then listen carefully. So, right now..."
Whisper whisper.
At the truth the Ranhwa Sword revealed, goosebumps rose along Taoist Hyeonta's spine.
"How can such a thing be possible...!"
"Do not misunderstand. Do you understand? This is directly tied to the honor of Mount Hua."
"......."
Taoist Hyeonta nodded heavily.
* * *
The Mount Hua Sect established its territory near Mount Hua, the Western Peak of the Five Great Mountains.
Along with Wudang, Shaolin, Emei, and Kunlun, it boasted a tradition generations ahead of other sects, and no place in the Shaanxi region prided itself on a deeper history than the Mount Hua Sect.
Mount Hua was the pride of Shaanxi. In the world divided east and west by Luoyang in the Central Plains, Mount Hua had long reigned as the lord of the western region.
Therefore, Mount Hua never lacked for money. With thousands of secular disciples and students alone, and local powerful families who never spared their patronage while learning the martial arts of Mount Hua, the sect had become the true hegemon of Shaanxi.
"Mount Hua seems truly wealthy. Even the guest rooms are this luxurious."
"Though it gets a bit tiresome with plum blossoms plastered everywhere."
The room we entered was covered in plum blossom patterns from ceiling to floor. It wasn't built with plum wood, but the patterns embedded everywhere made the plum blossom fragrance seem to seep right into one's bones.
"Doesn't it feel different from when you saw the warriors of Mount Hua from afar? Just looking at this room tells you what kind of place Mount Hua is. What does it make you think?"
"It's splendid, and dizzying. ...But I don't think that's entirely a bad thing?"
"Exactly. That is the charm of Mount Hua."
Some might disparage it as pretentious, but what is the problem if a martial artist of the Murim wants to show off a bit based on the martial arts they've honed?
Most of Mount Hua's martial artists have outgoing personalities, and even though their roots are Taoist, they bear a stronger hue of heroic gallantry.
"You seem to view Mount Hua favorably, my lord, contrary to my expectations."
"Of course I do. Didn't they give us this spacious room—no, a grand mansion—for you? The best inns in Xi'an would be inferior to this."
Mount Hua did not treat the distant Taiji Flower disrespectfully. To repay her kindness for hurrying up the mountain within days of receiving the message, they opened the special guest quarters, rooms usually reserved only for visiting Sect Leaders.
"As they say, those with style recognize style. The greatest beauties and handsome men of the Martial World have visited Mount Hua, so they must give out rooms befitting that. Ah, I'm satisfied. The bed is soft, and the soundproofing is thorough."
Above all, the soft bed and the soundproofing were exactly to my liking.
"The bed is wide too—isn't it perfectly suited for a couple to lie down together? Though it's a shame they brought in a small extra bed, saying it's mine."
The fact that they bundled me into the same room as Sagong Hee made me want to award points to Mount Hua, but the separate little bed for me was a fly in the ointment.
"Even if we claim to be master and disciple, they're still stuck on the segregation of the sexes? Tsk, if they were going to do that, they shouldn't have put us in the same room to begin with."
"If that were the case, you would have just told me to ask for the same room. And anyway, you weren't planning on using that bed, were you?"
"Heh heh, you're right."
The place I should sleep was already decided to be in Sagong Hee's arms. That's why I deliberately chose to share a room with her as her attending disciple and servant.
"So, Master, I am in your care while we're at Mount Hua. From now on, I will treat you as my true master. Do you understand?"
"Understood. My disciple. If you have anything to convey, please use a telepathic message."
"Understood, Master."
Even at my playful use of formal speech, Sagong Hee felt a thrill and pulled me into her arms. Making myself look younger made her so delighted, as if I truly were her own little disciple.
"Fufufu, I was secretly envious whenever I saw Si-a and Yeon..."
During our time living together as four, I used a different tone only with Sagong Hee.
Lee Si-a was someone I had to serve. With Dokgo Yeon, our mutual respect and the freshness of it made it somewhat awkward to now speak casually.
Unlike those two, Sagong Hee was someone who started our relationship as my servant from the very beginning.
In other words, except when I had to act in front of others, I had no reason to speak formally to Sagong Hee when we were alone. She was delighted that I used formal speech with her even when it was just the two of us.
"Do you like it that much when I speak formally to you, Master?"
"Of course I do. Even if it's just for a moment, how could receiving deference from the greatest under heaven not be pleasant?"
I agree.
"This feeling of moral transgression, as if reality has turned upside down for just a moment, as if in a dream... My heart flutters for some reason."
If the Gucheon Hyeonnyeo said to me, 'I will kill you tomorrow, so please allow me to serve you just for today,' I'd have her licking even my toes.
Perhaps Sagong Hee was feeling a similar sensation right now.
"Then why don't you speak casually to me? Why do you keep using formal speech even with me? Could it be... you're envious of Yeon?"
"......."
Sagong Hee simply smiled and stroked my hair. It felt like being treated like a child, but if you buried your face in Sagong Hee's embrace and received her touch, any displeasure would fly far away.
"Master, I have something to tell you first. There are exactly four reasons why I've entered Mount Hua directly this time."
"Huh? Wasn't it two? One is to show your face to that Plum Blossom Swordwoman who's supposedly lovesick, and the other is to harvest the yin energy of Maiden Seon Ju-hee, isn't it?"
"There is one more."
Spreading the fame of the Taiji Flower's power widely.
"Master, now that we're here, shouldn't we show the Maehwa Sword Warriors who's stronger?"
A martial arts journey.
We will show them clearly before leaving—who is the number one under heaven in the White Path, if not the White Path's Number One Flower.
"Uh... and what is the remaining one?"
"Taking the prettiest sword of Mount Hua?"
"......My Lord? You said you were just going to harvest and leave?"
"Wait. It's a misunderstanding."
I had to spend a fairly long time clearing up the misunderstanding with Sagong Hee.
* * *
Late at night.
After putting Sagong Hee into a deep sleep, I sought her understanding and slipped out of the room.
'Reconnaissance is the foundation of assassination.'
There were ways to disappear by burying myself in the thick plum blossom fragrance all around, but right now, I was moving through the shadows, pushing the Murder King's Dark Shadow Divine Step to its extreme.
Regrettably, present-day Mount Hua had no one who would later rank within the Thirty Great Masters of the World. There was no one now who could be considered a Ten Great Masters of the World-level figure at Mount Hua.
If you broadened the scope to the Hundred Great Masters of the World, there might be three or four at best.
I had already grasped the news at a nearby inn that the Ranhwa Sword, one of them, had unfortunately gone to Wudang. Without the Ranhwa Sword here, there was no reason for my identity to be exposed.
'It's easier to infiltrate now that I've shrunk my body.'
Compressing my muscles and bones made it slightly uncomfortable, but if I moved carefully, there was no risk of getting caught. The massive inner energy consumption could also be quickly resolved with a single act of yin harvesting.
'They said the rooms where the Maehwa Sword Warriors stay are all attached to each other.'
Perhaps because they were fellow Maehwa Sword Warriors before being men and women, the three sword warriors' rooms were clustered closely together under a single pavilion. I concealed myself on the roof of the pavilion where they slept.
Jawooyang, Seon Ju-hee, and Ja Cheong-ha.
Which one among them had the gall to lie bedridden, just because they wanted to see my woman? I took out an assassination tool from my bosom.
'I'll make you a body that can never come outside again.'
When they wake up, they'd be bedridden for life, not from lovesickness but from a rage-induced illness. I pricked up my ears toward the rooms below.
Slick, slick, slick.
'That bastard, got him.'
The faint sound of a hand's private ministrations tickled my ears. They seemed to be trying to muffle the sound under the blanket, but they couldn't fool my ears.
'Daring to masturbate to my woman?'
Haah, haah, Taiji Flower...!
'...Huh?'
At the jarring voice, I momentarily wondered if I had misheard. But my ears hadn't been wrong.
Haah, aahhh... Lady Taiji Flower...!
"Ha."
My thought process froze for a moment. Then, I urgently returned to our guest quarters to seek Sagong Hee's opinion.
"Mmm... Lord... Hmph. My disciple, have you already finished harvesting and returned? Then you should present the results to your master—"
"Master, what should we do?"
"About what?"
Faced with this utterly unprecedented situation, I told Sagong Hee exactly what I had heard.
"The lovesick person... it was a woman, not a man."
"......."