020
020
"Move faster! There's no time to hesitate!"
The warriors on Wudang Mountain were in an uproar. The prison walls holding the Smallpox patients had collapsed, and now the quarantined patients were scrambling out through the gap—that alone was chaos enough.
"Senior Brother! This is suspicious no matter how you look at it! A perfectly solid prison wall doesn't just collapse overnight!"
"Clearly, someone pulled a trick!"
"Damn it, I said move instead of wasting time thinking! If those patients reach the foot of the mountain, it's all over!"
The Wudang disciples argued back and forth, wasting time. Some insisted they had to chase the infected immediately; others gave up, saying there was no point in pursuing them.
"You, you, and you! Head north, now! Chase down the escaped patients!"
"Hieek?! N-no! I refuse! Even if you're the Senior Brother, that's too much! Those patients really have Smallpox! Why don't you go, Senior Brother?!"
"You little—?!"
"I don't want to die of sickness! I'm going insane just being trapped here—what do you think will happen if I catch Smallpox?!"
Before they were martial artists, they were human, and the warriors deeply feared the epidemic that even martial arts couldn't overcome. Moreover, the Lead Disciple of Wudang lacked the experience to soothe the anger of the secular disciples and those of lower rank.
"Damn it, where is the Elder at a time like this...?!"
The Wudang Sect Leader and the elders were currently quarantined at the foot of the mountain.
The epidemic had broken out just as they were finishing an event below the mountain and about to return to the sect. Ultimately, only one elder—who hadn't attended the event—remained on the mountain to command the sect.
"Taoist Hyeonta, where in the world...?!"
"Senior Brother, a grave incident!!"
"What is it?!"
"The Elder has been attacked! Our junior brothers found him unconscious in the forest!"
"What?!"
All the warriors fell into chaos.
Taoist Hyeonta, who boasted considerable martial might even within the Wudang Sect, had been ambushed by someone at such a critical moment.
Taoist Hyeonta had stepped out with a stiff face, saying he was going for a walk—and was discovered almost turned into a cold corpse.
"The area was full of signs of battle! Clearly, he fought and then..."
"This is insane. Who would dare harm the Elder?!"
"Keuhup. And they even draped a white cloth over his face...! If he'd been found even a little later, he likely would have...!"
"......!!"
The warriors got goosebumps. A master possessing martial arts formidable enough to ambush and fell a Wudang elder was on Wudang Mountain—and right now, there was no martial artist on the mountain stronger than Taoist Hyeonta.
"D-don't tell me—our sect's secret manual...?!"
"T-that's impossible! Get a grip! We should be chasing the Smallpox patients right now! Don't confuse public and private matters!"
The warriors—mere hatchlings still at the level of martial novices—had an extremely shaky basis for their judgment.
If all of Wudang's secret manuals were to vanish because of their misjudgment, it would be a disgrace preventing them from ever showing their faces before their masters, their martial ancestors, and all the people of Wudang.
Should they chase the escaped patients?
Or risk their lives to protect the sect?
"Senior Brother! A grave incident!"
"What grave incident now?! What greater incident could there possibly be?!"
"The disciples who went to chase the escaped patients have been murdered! The area was overflowing with demonic energy! There's more than one or two of them!!"
"!!!"
"D-don't tell me—this is the Demonic Cult's scheme to seize our secret manual?!"
The warriors' choice was to seal the sect.
* * *
"Look here! The energy up on the mountain is abnormal! This is no time to be idling here, I say!!"
"E-elders, please calm yourselves. The Castle Lord will give his answer shortly."
The road leading up to Wudang Mountain was chaos, a clamor of shouts. White-haired Taoists in martial robes—the elders of Wudang—surrounded an official in uniform, pressuring him in silent fury.
"He's been gone for ages! When exactly is he coming back?!"
"W-we are just ordinary soldiers! Please, just wait a little, a little longer!!"
As the Wudang elders tried to force their way up the mountain and the soldiers struggled to hold them back, the bystanders' clamor grew louder. From the third floor of an inn with a clear view of the main road, a young man in a black bamboo hat quietly watched the commotion, sipping tea.
"You are truly amazing, Young Master."
Opposite him, a beautiful woman in martial attire raised the corners of her red lips. The young man shrugged and rested his arm on the railing.
"What's so amazing about it? It's a method even a child could come up with."
"It is the act of putting it directly into action that is amazing."
"What have I really done? I simply sent a dying warrior off to a nice place, that's all."
"To Wudang Mountain. Heh heh."
Raising an eyebrow, the young man picked up his chopsticks and lightly dabbed the tips with soy sauce.
Then he slightly tore the skin of one of the dumplings piled high on the plate and wiped the remaining soy sauce onto it. The rich scent of soy sauce seeped deep into the dumpling filling. Playfully, he picked up the dumpling and smirked unpleasantly.
"For the Hwacheon Demonic Sword—who remained loyal to the Cult until the very end."
"Heh heh. Father will be delighted."
"Right? Heh. Who would even imagine it? Using people to spread the flowers."
"Indeed."
The woman lowered her voice. She spoke so quietly that only the young man opposite her could hear.
"Of all things—a martial artist infected with Smallpox went to Wudang Mountain seeking revenge, and ended up spreading the epidemic... Ah, could there be a greater tragedy?"
"I know, right? Heh heh. That little sister of mine... she's probably turning in her grave right about now, isn't she?"
The young man took a large bite of the dumpling and cackled.
"Even the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pills—the ones she went to so much trouble to prepare for her subordinate—ended up in the Paeng Clan's hands because of that same subordinate's negligence. Truly a woman with no luck with people."
"Still, the Lady is currently receiving His affection."
The young man openly scowled, then quickly smoothed his expression and thrust his wine cup forward.
"But once my grand plan succeeds this time, Father will look upon me differently, won't he? Cheers."
"Heh heh. I sincerely hope you succeed."
"Don't worry. As long as no strange variables arise, my grand plan is perfect."
The man and woman emptied their cups, treating the sight of the Wudang elders being pinned down by the soldiers as entertainment to go with their wine.
* * *
- What? We caught Jegal So-so and Jegal Yu together? ...A mother-daughter combo, jackpot.
The Blood Cult Leader said that taking a mother and daughter together was a thrilling thing.
I hadn't quite grasped the thrill of possessing a woman of one generation and her daughter of the next. So the Blood Cult Leader had stood me there and passionately preached her own views.
- Look, listen. Even Emperor Gaozong of Tang took the Empress's older sister and her daughter as consorts! He didn't just take sisters together—he took a mother and her daughter! How could that not be thrilling?
If there's a concept you can't understand, try substituting something else to reason it out. Recalling those words of my master—who raised me and taught me—I attempted to comprehend the Blood Cult Leader's insane ideology.
A master and disciple teamed up to fight me, but both were defeated by me and died.
The moment I understood it that way, I realized that the taboo of taking a mother and daughter together could indeed provide a thrill for some people.
I hadn't managed to convey my empathy to the Blood Cult Leader; I couldn't say I understood her words. But I did grasp the concept itself.
So such taboo sexual acts really do exist in the world.
And while I was seriously debating whether to commit that taboo or not, I flew toward the source of a scream tearing through the air.
I'd originally planned to use this as a pretext to fully establish Sagong Hee as my slave through consensual sex—but if her mother turned out to be as breathtakingly beautiful as Sagong Hee herself, I'd have no choice but to reconsider.
So I rushed over, kneading Sagong Hee's buttocks with great expectations.
"That demon... is that your mother?"
"M-Mother...?"
Before me was a monster that had torn the limbs off two Wudang warriors and was eating their corpses like a beast.
Her whole body was bright red, her face grotesquely twisted like a demon's—unmistakably a monster. Even I got goosebumps when purple gleams burst from her eyes.
"Asking permission to take her daughter might cost me my head."
"H-how—why is she in such a state...?!"
"Why are you so surprised? A woman turned into a demon through the Demonic Cult's demonic arts, got infected with Smallpox, and is now rampaging. Tsk. Making matters worse."
It was the typical appearance of a woman using demonic arts—the Exploding Blood Great Art—to detonate her latent power, causing her qi and blood to twist. On top of that, the Smallpox rash writhed across one of her arms, making her look like a man-eating demon worse than a Jiangshi.
Kyaaaak!!
The demon flailed her talons, clawing at the bodies of the Wudang warriors. Judging by her unusual hand movements, she was a woman who had learned Claw Techniques. I'd wondered where Taiji Sword Empress got her martial bones from—and it seemed her mother was a martial artist too.
Though Sagong Hee herself probably didn't know.
Getting entangled in this seemed like it would drag me into a tiresome family tragedy, so I hid in the shadows before the demon noticed us.
"If left alone, she'll self-destruct within two hours. No reason to intervene robustly."
Sagong Hee's mother, chased by the Wudang warriors, had likely activated her demonic blood rampantly to kill them and was now being consumed by demonic energy. Yet I was merely disappointed: the one person who could have given me permission for consensual sex with Sagong Hee had just vanished.
"Perhaps her father is around? With her mother in that state, I thought I'd at least get permission from her father."
"You...! How can you say such things?!"
"I'm saying let's be efficient. So, is her father here?"
"...The prison exploded, so he escaped with us. We each fled separately."
Oddly, Sagong Hee was showing hostility. Had her father abandoned his children and run away?
"Is that so? Then I'll have to ask him whether he knew his wife practiced demonic arts."
I might as well notify him that I'll be taking Sagong Hee while I'm at it. I turned to go find her so-called father—but I couldn't turn, because Sagong Hee started yelling in my ear.
"Just a moment! Please wait!"
"Where do you get off giving orders—how annoying... Ha, you're pretty, so I'll let it slide once. Why?"
"My mother is heading down the mountain!!"
The demon, having torn the martial artists apart, began heading down the mountain. Lost in madness, she glanced around as if searching for something, her pace steadily quickening.
"If she's left like that, she'll attack the houses below!"
"Indeed. A first-rate demon will go after the houses. But before she reaches them, the Wudang priests will step in and vanquish her. In the meantime, I'll occupy myself with you. By the way, what does your father look like?"
"Just what kind of person are you...! Even for a lust demon, this is too much!!"
"Why? Should I kill your mother instead? Are you begging me with your own lips to kill your mother—who's become a demon and will cause a slaughter?"
Sagong Hee fell silent. She couldn't answer, but I read a resolute look in her eyes.
"Do you truly wish for me to dispose of the demon?"
"...No, save my mother..."
"Save her?"
"...I don't know why she became a demon, let alone why she got Smallpox. But if my mother has become a Plague Demon spreading Smallpox..."
"An unavoidable sacrifice for the greater good?"
Sagong Hee squeezed her eyes shut. Her choice twisted my insides a bit, but the demon was undeniably a dangerous existence.
"Indeed. Spreading demonic energy everywhere."
"Huh?"
"Look. At the Wudang warriors your mother killed."
Puhwaaak.
Blood fountained from the bodies of the Wudang warriors. An unfamiliar rash had erupted across their corpses. Their bodies collapsed, ruining themselves to a nauseating degree.
"She's turned into a Plague Demon. If she stays alive and moves, she'll become a Jiangshi spreading Smallpox."
"Hic...!"
I thrust my hand forward and unleashed my energy.
"The beauties of the world having their skin ravaged by Smallpox is a loss for the entire Central Plains."
Though only a minor technique that emits Yang Energy and creates flames, it bore a striking resemblance to the technique widely known in the world as the Samadhi True Fire.
The white flames blooming from my fingertips instantly reduced the Wudang warriors—who were turning into Plague Demons—to lumps of charcoal.
"Tsk. I will act solely for the peace of Murim, just this once."
"Oh my god."
Unlike the words she'd spat out before, this time pure admiration for my martial arts flowed from her. I shrugged.
"To think someone who possesses such martial arts spends his time chasing women..."
And in an instant, her admiration fell into slander. I made her shut her mouth by squeezing her buttocks tightly.
"Ahem. 'Chasing women.' Watch your mouth."
I turned toward the direction the demon had gone.
"I only go around chasing the most incomparably beautiful women under heaven!"
"You... crazy bastard..."
I complimented her by calling her an incomparably beautiful woman, and she cursed me.
Why?