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Emperor Shaolie—meaning Yoo Hyeon-deok, the man who swore an oath of brotherhood beneath the peach tree at the end of the Later Han and became emperor.
— Ai ai
— Beneath the peach tree
— We swore an oath of brotherhood
As a martial artist, he commanded the era's strongest warriors such as Gwan Un-jang and Jang Ik-deok; as a strategist, he was a lord who placed Marquis Wu Zhuge Kongming in charge of his plans. Assessments of him vary.
A man who commanded the Central Plains through personal charisma.
A master of looking left and right.
Not simply a good-natured man, but a schemer rivaling his sworn enemy.
The word "if" does not exist in history, but if he had truly defeated Jo Wi and revived the Han imperial house, the history of this land would have been different.
— Ah, so the Northern Campaign succeeded?
But there is no "if," and reality is harsh. The Northern Campaign failed, and Shu Han fell.
Yet this very "if" works most enjoyably in unofficial histories—the other stories apart from the official records. The gossip that storytellers love is the prime example, and it applies to historical figures in the same way.
Thus, the "Emperor Shaolie Twin Sword Uproar" now swirling throughout Sichuan has become so interwoven with every conjecture and wild speculation about Emperor Shaolie that no one can tell truth from falsehood.
"And what does the young hero think?"
The woman with the powdered face, the courtesan Seo-hui, asked as she filled my cup with wine. Beautiful as a butterfly yet carrying poison within, her cosmetic scent left a biting fragrance in the air.
"At the very least, Emperor Shaolie's martial arts were outstanding. Wielding twin swords from horseback—ordinary skill hardly suffices."
"Oh my, then does the young hero also believe the theory that he was the mightiest swordsman under heaven? That he overpowered Gwan Un-jang and Jang Ik-deok with sheer strength to become eldest brother?"
"Not to that extent."
I emptied the cup in one gulp. Just as every Sichuan dish boasts a sharp, spicy kick, the deliberately ordered fire wine burned hot down my throat.
"The Romance talks about it. Three men—the Lord, Gwan Un-jang, and Jang Ik-deok—fighting together against the era's strongest warrior, Yeo Bong-seon."
"That's a novel, though."
"Even if it's a made-up story, can you dismiss it as nonsense? Although Emperor Shaolie became the weak link that gave Yeo Bong-seon an opening to flee, the mere fact that he withstood Yeo Bong-seon's ultimate technique proves his martial prowess. Like this."
"Oh my!"
I abruptly cupped Seo-hui's breast. Not on the scale of Sagong Hee's, but with a presence all its own—a modest size, perfectly fitting one hand.
"Even if he was no peak or transcendent-level master, at first-rate he could comfortably hold his own."
"Are you comparing my breast to Emperor Shaolie's martial arts?"
"Heh heh, it means you're first-rate, and Emperor Shaolie likely possessed that level of military strength by today's standards. Of course, being the strongest in martial arts and being a good ruler are two different things."
Thinking of how the Jegal Clan's progenitor, Zhuge Kongming, remained loyal even into later generations, one could assess him as a man with ample personal magnetism. That's what the Blood Cult Leader had said.
"Young master, you seem remarkably indifferent to Emperor Shaolie himself?"
"Naturally. What I'm interested in is Emperor Shaolie's twin swords."
Although he possessed first-rate strength, the martial art left on Emperor Shaolie's twin swords was, without exaggeration, the mightiest sword art—worthy of being acclaimed as the best under heaven.
"Its name is Heavenly Dragon Emperor."
"What, such a grandiose name. Even if someone offered it as a title, no one would want it."
"Keuheuheu, you'll find out soon enough. Heuheuheu."
Seo-hui laughed scornfully and refilled my cup, but before long she would be jolted by the spread of that name.
'Because the sword art actually exists.'
The Heavenly Dragon Emperor Twin High Sword.
Even the man who used it found the name too long and called it simply the Dragon Emperor Sword—a legendary martial art.
It was the martial art of the Sword Emperor, a peer of the Gwangcheon Asura Sword—the Sword Emperor's art that I had taught Sam-gu—and a sword art that could only manifest its true power when wielded with twin swords.
At the same time, it was the sword art Emperor Shaolie had used, destined to be passed down through the generations but severed in the next era. Deliberately lost by design.
Then why was such a powerful martial art lost, not transmitted to the present?
"Have you ever entertained this thought? That there are no useless sons beneath a tiger father. What if Liu Shan, Emperor Shaolie's son—the Later Ruler—had only been pretending to be a fool? What if he deliberately hid the art, fearful of being killed by Jo Wi, who kept Emperor Shaolie's martial ability in check?"
"Pfft, now you're reaching. If he'd been a capable man, how could Shu Han have fallen so utterly?"
"He was so capable that he buried everything. Heu heu."
He hid the clan's secret martial art, one that his own body could not accept, inside his late father's treasured swords.
Thus the lineage was severed, but of course it was impossible to utterly destroy it. So the Later Ruler left the martial arts formula on his late father's twin swords, so that anyone who grasped both swords together could learn the art.
Had the treasure map never come to light, it would never have surfaced. But once exposed, seekers would inevitably appear, and if someone of talent discovered it, it was a transcendent martial art capable of threatening the Ten Great Masters of the World.
— Emperor Shaolie had the talent to rule men but lacked the martial talent of his two brothers. Imagine if Emperor Shaolie had possessed talent like Gwan Un-jang or Jang Ik-deok. He'd have beaten down every Yellow Turban rebel with the Dragon Emperor Sword and been hailed as "the human dragon in the Central Plains" while riding his horse.
Such a martial art would later be inherited by a certain youth through this very uproar, and in the future it would become renowned across the world as the dual sword art that was used in a life-and-death battle against the Blood Jiangshi and suffered a crushing defeat. All in the hands of the man who, like the Sword Emperor or Sword Empress, had received the daring title of Sword Emperor.
'But that convoluted drama is none of my business.'
Whether the original owner absolutely must acquire the Heavenly Dragon Emperor Sword to fulfill his clan's long-cherished wish doesn't matter—I only need the swords themselves. Sagong Hee didn't require the Dragon Emperor Sword's art; she simply needed two famous swords that hadn't rusted even after the passing of ages.
'Honestly, how damn annoying it is to deal with a bastard wielding the Dragon Emperor Sword.'
And the most upright method of finding the swords was to create a "justification."
"Hypothetically, if someone suddenly appeared claiming to be Emperor Shaolie's descendant and demanded the swords be handed over, what do you think would happen?"
"......There would be no proof, wouldn't there?"
"Heh heh, exactly. But if there were undeniable proof?"
"Pff, what kind of proof could there be in this world? It's not like the Jegal Clan that so meticulously maintains its genealogy."
"That's why it's a hypothetical. If."
I whispered the information to Seo-hui as though sharing a secret.
"If the moment Emperor Shaolie's descendant grasps the twin swords, the finest dual sword art under heaven, hidden within the swords, unfolds? If it were a sword art only his descendant could use?"
"......"
Seo-hui forced the corners of her lips upward and filled the empty cup with wine. But I caught the trembling of her hand.
"...Young master, you truly possess a vivid imagination."
"Imagination? Heh heh, who knows. Whether it's imagination or not, you'll learn soon enough."
I raised my head and downed the drink in one go. I had already enjoyed everything to be enjoyed with Seo-hui and wrung all there was to wring from her, so the time had come to leave.
That way, the truths I'd let slip under the influence of alcohol would spread in every direction.
"Until next time."
"Do come again, young master."
I grabbed a clean bottle of wine, rose, kissed Seo-hui, and departed the pleasure house. Then, right there in the alley, I purified my entire body and lips with Samadhi True Fire, and with a spotless appearance, I sprang up to the roof of the pleasure house.
'The Beggar Sect is best at gathering information.'
Glug-glug. I tilted the bottle and drank fire wine straight, savoring the commotion below.
'But for spreading information, the Hao Sect is the best.'
— We have to inform the sect leader of this at once!
"Burp."
Did Seo-hui know? That I knew she was a Hao Sect operative and had deliberately chosen her. That among the women in the pleasure house, I had purposely selected her because she possessed the highest internal energy.
"Absorption of Yin to Nourish Yang sure is sweet."
I gained internal energy; she spread information. I toyed with my earlobe with one hand and left the rooftop. My destination was the guest room where the Little Princess and I were staying, and after tidying myself once more, I crawled in through the window.
Soft, soft breathing.
The Little Princess lay quietly in her bed. Perhaps expecting me to return late at night, she had long been lying in bed, asleep. Maybe because of the cold wind that came through the window when I opened it, she stirred fitfully.
'She's so young she sleeps restlessly.'
I neatly straightened the Little Princess's disheveled blanket. Then I sensed it in an instant.
Thump, thump, thump.
She was tense. She was afraid right now. I tidied her bangs damp with cold sweat, then whispered in a very low voice close to her ear.
"Don't worry. It's me. No lecherous villain will dare lay a finger on you."
"...Where have you been at such a late hour?"
'You are that lecherous villain, you son of a bitch.' The Little Princess, her tone so implying, slowly opened her eyes and met my eyes. Even in the dark, the crimson light glowing brightly was as beautiful as a red jade and held a demonic allure that you couldn't look away from.
"A guardian protector absent from his post for two watches. And you still call yourself Bi-cheon?"
"I left four protectors; how could that be?"
I pointed at the four swords floating in the air. The four iron swords lifted by the Taiji Wisdom Sword's Qi-Controlled Sword Art surrounded the Little Princess from all sides as if guarding her.
"Allow me to introduce them: starting from here, Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise. For blades made in a neighborhood smithy, they carry quite sharp sword energy and..."
"That's not what I'm talking about!"
The Little Princess exploded. Raising her upper body, she shouted at me with a crisp, ringing voice.
"You said you're a Lust Demon! Aren't you targeting me! So stop stalling and just, just..."
"Just? Just? Finish your sentence, Little Princess! My ears are wide open and listening!"
Please, please. I clenched both fists tight and waited for the words to leave her lips.
"Just, just..."
Considering the future Little Princess's temperament, there was only one thing she could say.
— Just screw me already and get it over with, you son of a bitch! How long am I supposed to live on tenterhooks, worrying about when you'll screw me?!!
You son of a bitch, one-palm-entering-battlefield. Anticipation began to swell along with the Yang Energy in my lower dantian.
Repaying grace with virginity? Repaying grace like this?
— If someone has shown you grace, you must repay it at least in the same coin.
'Blood Cult Leader, I will do as you say.'
I'm merely following the Blood Cult Leader's words. If there's a problem, it's all her responsibility. She took my virginity, so isn't it the natural order for me to take her maidenhead?
"......It's nothing. No, haah."
At the Little Princess's words, I slumped involuntarily. So did she.
'As expected of a virgin, she still feels resistance.'
It's a response somewhat different from what I anticipated, but it's not particularly a bad thing. After all, how could you fault a girl who has just come of age for wanting to protect her chastity?
'How glad I'd be the day she gives it to me.'
The feeling would be different from the moment I first consummated things with Sagong Hee. The Little Princess had already half-allowed her body to me.
The fact that she said nothing even though we took the same room.
And that, even now, though she tried to tell me to just pounce on her, the permission wouldn't fall easily, as if something was caught in her throat.
'Something seems to be weighing on her mind, but she doesn't know what it is.'
The Little Princess wasn't a woman who was particularly concerned with her own chastity. The very fact that she had at least granted her body and her virginity as a reward to the hunchback who succeeded in a mission meant she was a woman who enjoyed pleasure to some degree, and enjoying pleasure was a common trait among practitioners of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
'Though I have no intention of making her that way.'
She will enjoy pleasure, but only with the Lust Demon. For that, I had to create not just physical pleasure but also a mental bond and exchange along with the physical relationship.
— The taste of a cock can be forgotten in a year, but love for a husband will last at least ten years.
'Blood Cult Leader. Your theory was adequately proven through Sagong Hee.'
I will make the Little Princess mine through love. The woman who gave her body even to a hunchback, I will make into a woman who only knows me.
To do that, I had to take her heart first, not her body.
"...Bi-cheon. I have something to say to you."
The Little Princess looked straight at me and opened her mouth.
"Fight me."