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071
The Emei Sect!
A sect headquartered on Mount Emei in the southwestern part of Sichuan. Its martial arts are characterized by a flickering, elusive quality—like the Wave-Breaking Wind Sword Style, where the blade vanishes and reappears in rapid flashes.
But if you had to name the single greatest difference from other sects, it would undoubtedly be gender.
"From the sect leader down to the disciples, women hold the overwhelming majority of the key positions."
"Isn't it a women-only sect?"
"That's a common misconception. Strictly speaking, a man can become the sect leader of the Emei Sect. The qualifications exist. But in practice, Emei has long since become a sect of women."
"So it's become a dead letter."
In the name of history and tradition, women had brought renown to the Emei Sect for so long that the outside world had come to view it as a "women's sect." And as that perception took hold, the number of male disciples naturally dwindled with each passing year.
—Why would a man join the Emei Sect?
That kind of prejudice pushed the sect's gender balance completely to one side.
"Little Princess, suppose you bore my child and sent them to a White Path sect in Sichuan. Which sect would you choose? Would you have them marry into the Sichuan Tang Clan, or would you send them to Qingcheng or Emei?"
"Let us skip past the part about why I would be bearing your child. Very well—if it were a son, I would send him to Qingcheng; if a daughter, to Emei."
The Little Princess delivered the orthodox answer.
"Exactly. That's the framework already fixed in the public mind. For a boy not born into the Tang Clan, it's the Qingcheng Sect. For a girl, the Emei Sect."
Unless you leave Sichuan Province entirely, those are the only two paths. The alternative is traveling to a distant region and finding a sect that matches the child's own temperament, or settling for one of the lesser, mid-sized sects within Sichuan.
"Then one more question. Suppose you were a disciple of the Emei Sect, and you married a country bumpkin like me, and we had a son—strong and handsome, taking after us both. Would you send him to Emei, or to Qingcheng?"
"......Qingcheng?"
The Little Princess hesitated before answering. She clearly recoiled at the thought of what would happen if she sent her own child to the Emei Sect.
"See? You can't picture the future, can you? What it looks like when a lone boy is dropped into a place overflowing with women."
"He would be tormented relentlessly."
"Torment would be getting off lightly. Imagine a ratio of four to six, three to seven—or even one to nine. Out of a hundred disciples, if ninety-nine are women and there is exactly one man, that place is nothing short of hell for him."
The Blood Cult Leader had spoken of this. In a female-dominated group, a man becomes nothing more than a slave. Wherever people are packed together and left to stagnate, they create their own narrow little society, she said, and unless you cut away the rotting flesh, it festers forever.
"As a woman of the same sect, having a man around is convenient enough—but when it comes to my own son, my own child suffering in a group packed with women, I simply can't bear to watch."
Viewed as a woman, the Emei Sect is a fine choice. But viewed as a mother with a son? Well. Could she really give it a high rating?
"So it comes down to maternal instinct?"
"Partly that. But more fundamentally, aren't Emei's martial arts rather difficult for men to learn? Most of the Emei Internal Energy Arts are divine arts biased heavily toward yin energy over yang. That is precisely why there are so few men."
Even with equal talent, if the martial arts one learns are inherently easier for women to master, then a man naturally gains no advantage whatsoever from studying Emei's techniques.
As a result, in the present era, the Emei Sect is ninety-nine percent women. Even the current sect leader, the Lust-Exorcising Abbess, is a woman, as are the countless disciples who will follow in her footsteps. If any men remain, they are almost certainly family members or relatives of the disciples.
"For that reason, the Emei Sect tends strongly toward meritocracy. Well—there's simply no room for the kind of controversy you see in other unorthodox sects, where someone supposedly slept their way into the position of successor."
"But aren't there factions?"
"What suppresses factions is overwhelming power. Just like the current Lust-Exorcising Abbess."
"I've heard she belonged to no faction and became sect leader through the support of her juniors."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess. According to the Flower Directory's standards, she might not be a withered bloom just yet, but she was a flower that had already passed full glory and was beginning to fade—though her beauty had not yet fully departed.
—Women of the Emei Sect Leader's age, you know, when you look at them from that mature-woman perspective, they actually have their own charm.
'Even if you scrutinize them from every mature angle, all you really see are wrinkles and creased flesh.'
I recalled the Lust-Exorcising Abbess as she had appeared during the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, when she had come to visit the physician.
'She was quite decent.'
She had certainly looked older, but she was a woman with the dignity of a noble matron. Outwardly she radiated a gentle maternal warmth, but in truth she was a demonness who had beaten lust-crazed Demonic Heads to death with her bare hands.
"Let me ask you one thing. The Lust-Exorcising Abbess was a woman ruthless enough to annihilate every last lust fiend in the Sichuan region. So how could someone like that become the sect leader of Emei? It's not as though there's no one stronger than her."
"Her martial arts are certainly formidable, but more than that, she secured the absolute support of the disciples. Even if the previous generation of elders opposed her, declaring her unqualified to be sect leader, they could not overcome her standing."
She had gained the devoted support of countless people and with that ascended to the position of sect leader.
"Exactly. The opposition from the senior generation was fierce, and the junior generation lionized the Lust-Exorcising Abbess. Her slaying of the Sichuan Sex Demon certainly played a large role, but the true reason Emei's junior disciples rallied behind the Lust-Exorcising Abbess was..."
"Was...?"
As we climbed the mountain toward the Emei Sect, I tidied the Little Princess's disheveled hair.
"Hair Liberation."
"......Pardon?"
The Little Princess's tense mouth dropped open. I smoothed her hair to one side and drew it forward. Her long tresses, reaching down to her waist, spilled softly over her shoulders.
"Though the sect is rooted in Buddhism and for a long time maintained the tradition of shaving the head to live as nuns, the Lust-Exorcising Abbess did otherwise. She actively encouraged her disciples to grow their hair."
"Th-that makes no sense. The Lust-Exorcising Abbess did that? The very woman who detests anything related to lust, of all people?"
Her surprise was perfectly understandable.
"Weren't all the Buddhist nuns of Emei required to shave their heads as proof of their devotion?"
"That was the old days. Now, do you think the Emei Sect spends more time serving the Buddha, or more time honing their martial arts?"
Even though it is a sect that, like Shaolin Temple, enshrines the Buddha, the Emei Sect has long since firmly established itself as a martial sect of the Murim.
"Little Princess, your thinking probably goes like this: growing one's hair is an act that declares 'I am a woman, not a nun,' and thereby promotes lust. The senior generation of Emei argued exactly that. But the Lust-Exorcising Abbess said this—"
—Since we will be violated simply for being of the Emei Sect regardless of whether our heads are shaved or not, wouldn't it be better to clearly assert our identity as women and live with dignity?
If you're going to be ravaged with a shaved head just as much as without, then she would refuse to shave and would instead cultivate her hair. Citing the Confucian principle that one must preserve the body, hair, and skin received from one's parents, she protected her juniors' locks.
"...It seems that in Sichuan, there truly were many Sex Demons who preyed on Emei disciples simply because they were from the Emei Sect. Especially in those days, there were fiends who specifically targeted hairless Buddhist nuns and violated them indiscriminately."
"I find that hard to understand. Do people actually get aroused by shaven-headed nuns?"
"They must, or those incidents wouldn't have happened. Though the Lust-Exorcising Abbess killed every last one of them."
The world is vast, and deviants are plentiful.
"At any rate, through the Hair Liberation policy, the Lust-Exorcising Abbess won the adulation of many female disciples. But the system soon began to crack. This time, everyone became so preoccupied with grooming themselves that they neglected their martial arts training."
"It sounds like a truly complicated problem."
"Indeed. And so the Emei Sect remains divided to this day. The Old Mother Faction—the elders who insist on upholding tradition and shaving the head—and the Haired Faction, the comparatively younger generation determined to keep the hair they have grown."
"The Old Mother Faction must be the stronger one. Once the Lust-Exorcising Abbess steps down as sect leader, the Haired Faction effectively loses its center of gravity."
The Little Princess's answer was accurate. The Haired Faction had held on this long only because one of their own occupied the seat of sect leader. If, for whatever reason, the Old Mother Faction gained the upper hand, every last Emei disciple would find their heads shaved clean and gleaming.
"But do I truly need to understand the Emei Sect's internal situation?"
"Of course. The reason I've explained all this—besides giving you insight into how Emei operates—is that information about the sect's current circumstances is directly connected to the existence of the 'Flame Demon.'"
The Little Princess flinched and stopped walking.
"What could possibly bring the Flame Demon here?"
"Hardly anything. When you eventually learn the Flame Demon's true identity, you will understand exactly why the Flame Demon is 'not' at Emei."
I was eliminating one candidate. The Flame Demon was not at Emei.
"The Flame Demon isn't at Emei? No—there's no way you'd just give me the answer that easily."
"Heh heh. Whether the Flame Demon is at Emei, you will soon discover for yourself. For now, let us confirm our objective."
If the Flame Demon wasn't here, why had we come to the Emei Sect at all? At my question, the Little Princess stroked her chin, then nodded and answered.
"Is it not to retrieve the 'Reclining Dragon Sword'—one of the Twin Old Eagle Swords?"
"Exactly. And to accomplish that, we will pass through that place."
I pointed to the main gate of the Emei Sect. The people passing nearby had already begun murmuring at the sight of the Little Princess and me.
"...Are you really going to walk in through the main gate?"
"Naturally. The opportunity comes only once. Well then—"
"Excuse us."
The warriors of the Emei Sect guarding the gate barred our path. One wore a headscarf while the other's long hair fluttered loose—as if the pair had been chosen to symbolize the two factions splitting Emei apart. I greeted them with a martial salute, clasping one fist in the other hand.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I heard there was a patient here and have come calling."
"Huh."
"...Could it be?"
The Little Princess gave me a hollow laugh, while the two guards glanced at each other, gauging the situation.
"Senior Sister, this gentleman is—"
"Doctor!!"
A delighted voice burst from within. I greeted the figure dashing toward us breathlessly with a gentle smile.
"It has been a long time, Abbess Jeongjo."
"I'd heard the rumors, but I never imagined you would come all the way to Mount Emei!"
Abbess Jeongjo's face was flushed with excitement as she welcomed me. After a quick survey of her surroundings, I got straight to the point.
"...I heard that the Emei Sect Leader suffered grave injuries after a martial duel with the Qingcheng Sect Leader."
"Ah...."
Abbess Jeongjo's face openly betrayed her disappointment. But without so much as blinking, I pressed on.
"If the Sect Leader is amenable, might I be permitted to examine her?"
A method of entering the Emei Sect.
"I am Mubung—a physician whose skill in treating the wounds of women has reached the level of an art."
Namely, treating a patient.
* * *
Moments later, summoned to the Sect Leader's chambers, I sat face to face with the Lust-Exorcising Abbess. The Little Princess had followed along, posing as my guard warrior.
"It feels as though we have not met since the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. Welcome to Mount Emei."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess greeted us—or, more precisely, me—with genuine warmth.
"You grow more beautiful by the day, Sect Leader."
"It is thanks to the medicine you gave me."
"Ha ha, the Divine Doctor would surely be delighted as well. All of my skills flow from him, after all."
"Ho ho ho, ever so humble."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess and I exchanged smiles and medicines. What I had given her were medicinal pills made from pomegranate, and she had presented me with a collection of Inner Cores from all manner of spirit creatures and beasts captured throughout the Sichuan region.
[Bi-cheon. What about the Sect Leader's injuries?]
[A lie.]
The Little Princess's brow furrowed sharply. The Sect Leader is a patient? That was nothing more than a public pretext—a convenient excuse for me to face the Sect Leader directly.
"Sect Leader. More to the point, your complexion is poor. Worry and anxiety are terrible for the skin."
"Sigh. Doctor... might I consult with you privately, in my chambers?"
"Of course. I am a physician—Mubung. Treating maladies of the heart is no less the duty of a true doctor, is it not?"
"...Huu. Very well. The truth is."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess rose from her seat and withdrew a sword stored inside a chest. The instant the Little Princess and I laid eyes on the blade gleaming with brilliant golden light, we knew it was the genuine article.
"One of the Twin Old Eagle Swords. I never imagined this object would cause such an enormous uproar. Sigh..."
"You seem to have suffered much anguish. ...In that case, allow me to assist you."
I rolled up my sleeves, and the Lust-Exorcising Abbess cast a subtly suggestive glance at my lower body. As she began to sway, I caught her and linked my arm through hers. She pressed her chest against my arm and began to rub her body against it.
"Let us retire to your bedchamber. I shall release the stagnant blood points troubling you."
"I will guide you. Come this way."
With a smile as fresh as spring blossoms, the Lust-Exorcising Abbess took my hand and led me deeper into the Sect Leader's quarters. I glanced toward the Reclining Dragon Sword and signaled the Little Princess, who stood frozen with her mouth hanging open.
[I will buy time with my body. Use the opportunity to accomplish the deed, Little Princess.]
In other words—a honey trap.