095
095
Sagong Hee, Lee Si-a.
Two women who would one day call each other sisters—though I couldn't yet guess who would end up the younger—had come face to face. But we'd only arranged to meet for a brief greeting. Before that, a little preparatory work was required.
Since Sagong Hee had already gone inside the villa, we needed to get inside as well.
"Go on ahead. We'll join you shortly."
"I'll be waiting, my lord."
Sagong Hee departed across the bridge. Since the Murim Alliance Leader had deliberately hidden her inside the villa, getting across the bridge and entering "officially" required a slightly tedious intermediate step.
"Let's go, Little Princess."
I hoisted Lee Si-a onto my back again and slipped out of the estate. The only way to cross the bridge without triggering the surrounding barrier was the Void Step.
"Would you stop groping my rear every time you carry me?"
"You like it."
"Drop dead, seriously."
With a woman and inner energy, there's nowhere you can't go.
I walked across the sky like an immortal and left the estate, departing Xuchang entirely and running beyond the north gate. Landing in a secluded forest, I retrieved clothes from a hidden wooden chest.
"Ready?"
"Of course."
Lee Si-a tossed aside the black robe, revealing the outfit I'd prepared for her underneath.
The garments were a tasteful blend of black and crimson, a color scheme rarely seen in the Central Plains—the sort of clothing every passerby would crane their neck to glimpse at least once.
"Ugh..."
Yet she was far more embarrassed than when she'd shown me her bare body. Her hands kept clinging to the hem of her skirt, and her legs wobbled unsteadily in the unfamiliar attire.
"Y-you really better be trustworthy, making me wear this."
"Of course. No one will dare lay a finger on you. Who would dare touch my woman?"
"And you think nobody's going to touch me while I'm walking around like this?"
"Naturally. You're so beautiful that mere mortals wouldn't even dream of it. Hahaha!"
I freely feasted my eyes on Lee Si-a's lower half. Since she lacked confidence in her upper body, I'd leveraged her long, slender frame and dressed her lower half in practically nothing.
Nothing?
Correction.
- Some girls walk around with side slits baring their legs, so isn't it strange to call a short skirt lewd? Thus, in the Blood Cult's standard uniform, the female members' skirts end a handspan above the knee.
I'd dressed the Little Princess of the Demonic Cult in a skirt worn by female Blood Cult officers.
"It is rather short."
The skirt reached midway down her thighs and was cinched tight enough to make it difficult to even extend her legs fully. Though I'd provided black under-shorts, exposing bare legs in public was still an unconventional act, even for a martial woman.
"It'll draw enough attention."
In truth, female Blood Cult officers had once gathered and wrecked Shaolin. How exactly they wrecked it needs no elaboration.
"You're just a pervert. I'll be branded a slut. Ugh..."
"Don't worry. If you're a Young Heavenly Demon, everyone will simply nod along."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
Face flushed, Lee Si-a tugged at her black gloves and glared at me.
"It means I'm a lewd, wanton woman, doesn't it?"
"Not necessarily, though at a glance I suppose it does look that way. But don't fret. From now on, you'll be the trendsetter leading Murim fashion."
Currently, Lee Si-a's outfit had a perfectly modest upper half with no exposed skin, but anyone whose gaze traveled downward would naturally misunderstand. Who in the world walked around with nearly eighty percent of their legs exposed?
'From here, it will slowly spread.'
Like a drop of blood spreading across white paper, the Blood Cult culture I'd retrieved from my memories would diffuse outward from the heart of the Murim.
'Who wouldn't worship a goddess once they see her?'
The Blood Cult Leader had once said:
- Women, by nature, get jealous when someone else looks much prettier, but they also have the desire to imitate her. You know, showing this much leg? I'd wager at least three in ten female martial artists confident in their legs will start walking around with them bare below the knee.
'Blood Cult Leader, I shall verify whether your words indeed hold true.'
In the future, the Blood Cult's fashion culture would certainly stimulate the carnal desires of both men and women, yet it also bore the infamy of an assassin organization's uniform.
But right now, there was no Blood Cult—only the pure, unveiled allure of Lee Si-a herself.
And since the lines of her legs surpassed anyone else's in beauty, no one would look at them and think, "How lewd, exposing her legs like that."
"They'll call you a Celestial Maiden when they see you. No one will dare utter the word 'lewd' out loud."
"In other words, they'll all be thinking it, won't they?"
"We live in a world where people curse the emperor in their minds—what won't they think? Try reading my thoughts right now."
"It's obvious. You're thinking nothing but lewd thoughts about laying Sagong Hee and me on the same bed and claiming both the Black and White Number One Flowers at once."
How on earth did she know? Still, she only had half the picture. Not exactly correct.
"...Ahem. Wrong. I can stake my manhood on that and say it proudly."
"What? Really? No way."
Lee Si-a tilted her head, thoroughly unconvinced. But I genuinely had no intention of claiming just the two of them at once.
'Three.'
Sagong Hee, Lee Si-a.
And Dokgo Yeon.
'Just thinking about doing it with three instead of two already makes my groin ache.'
"Your expression looks completely lecherous... Hmm..."
Lee Si-a tried to read my face, but her inner energy hadn't deepened enough yet. Still, she'd learn soon enough. After all, eventually the three of them would have to face me together.
"Then let's go, Little Princess. I've finished my preparations as well."
Just as the Little Princess would draw gazes with her attire, I too had completed my disguise. Instead of the black clothes suited for covert infiltration, I'd changed into the attire of a Confucian scholar, and a strong scent of medicinal herbs wafted from my garments.
"We enter separately. From now on..."
I placed my hands on Lee Si-a's shoulders and infused my energy into her.
"You must head toward the Murim Alliance alone."
* * *
A clamorous buzz filled the air.
The north gate of Xuchang was awash with the sound of murmuring crowds. Han Gu-man tilted his head and rose to his feet.
'The Nine Sects and One Gang, the Eight Great Families. Every person who could come is already here. Who else could possibly show up?'
Everyone intending to participate had already submitted their application. Latecomers would regretfully find the registration deadline passed; anyone arriving now was doomed to twiddle their thumbs as mere spectators.
So who on earth had arrived to cause such an uproar? Han Gu-man pushed through the throng and made his way forward.
"Huk!"
A goddess stood before his eyes. Or rather—a temptress clad in a style so rare in the Central Plains that the authorities might have arrested her for inciting lewdness.
'Insane.'
Goddess or temptress?
The contrast between her pure, demure upper half and her outrageously wanton lower half made Han Gu-man shift his stance awkwardly. Glancing around, he saw that even renowned masters from respectable sects—even Taoists—were standing with their hips slightly bent.
"Who are you?!"
The man who split the crowd in two stood far taller than the rest. At the sight of the red band tied around his head, everyone instantly recognized who he was.
"I am the legitimate heir of the great Namgung Clan, Exploding Dragon Namgung Pae!"
Namgung Pae's thunderous voice swept across the entire north gate. In the face of his Lion's Roar, which buried even the crowd's murmuring, the woman simply pulled her crimson lips into a slight smile. Everyone who saw that smile had no choice but to swallow hard.
"It's been a while for you as well."
"A-A while?"
"Oh my. Not recognizing me after only half a year. How disappointing."
"D-Disappointing—ahem! My apologies."
Namgung Pae immediately apologized. Failing to recognize a beautiful woman who claimed they'd met half a year ago was a grave offense, so he racked his memory.
'How could I possibly forget a beauty like this?'
Had her face undergone some Rebirth Transformation and become goddess-like? Namgung Pae searched his memories and then recalled one possibility he'd dismissed entirely.
"Ah!"
He knew who it was. But it was someone he'd never expected to see here—someone whose presence common sense had entirely ruled out.
"Could it be... the Little Princess?"
"Huh."
The woman gave a brief Bow with Hands Clasped and lightly inclined her head toward everyone.
"Little Princess of the Demonic Cult. I have come, at the invitation of the Murim Alliance Leader, to cheer on the ladies participating in the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle."
"D-Don't tell me you've brought Demonic Cult members...?"
"Of course not. I... have come alone."
The Little Princess spread her arms and gestured behind her with her eyes. Countless martial artists had already surrounded her in an encirclement formation; there was no gap for her to escape.
"This is my first time in this area, so I'm not sure where the Murim Alliance is located. If you won't guide me, kindly step aside."
Though she was a woman, her martial spirit outmatched any man's, and the warriors all swallowed hard. Han Gu-man was also slightly awestruck by the Little Princess's act of walking into the heart of the White Path Murim all by herself.
"She actually came just because we told her to...."
A moment later.
Martial artists from the Murim Alliance rushed over, half to escort and half to surveil the Little Princess, and guided her toward the Alliance. Yet not a single Demonic Cult member showed their face among the crowd trailing behind her.
* * *
"Little Princess, welcome to the Murim Alliance."
"Thank you for the warm reception."
The Little Princess stood poised before the Alliance Leader and all the Alliance's key figures. The Alliance Leader exchanged rapid telepathic messages with the Vice Alliance Leader, the Strategist, the Chief Administrator, and numerous others, trying to divine the Little Princess's intentions.
- This is clearly a Demonic Cult trap.
- But are the Flying Heaven Three Demons not absent?
- She truly came to the Alliance alone? Do you think the Heavenly Demon would simply stand by and watch that?
- It's troublesome when they actually show up just because we sent an invitation.
No one in the Alliance could guess why the Little Princess had come. They couldn't even begin to fathom what she was thinking.
"...Little Princess, please tell us the truth. Why have you come here?"
Ultimately, the Alliance Leader had no choice but to step up and ask point-blank. The Alliance's peak experts fixed their gazes on the Little Princess, trying to determine whether she was lying or hiding her true intentions.
"The reason...? There is nothing more to it."
The Little Princess covered her mouth and smiled with her eyes.
"The White Path's Number One Flower has boldly revealed herself. How could the Black Path's Number One Flower hide her face?"
"Ah!"
The Alliance Leader and the others immediately understood. The two women who could be called the representative flowers of the White and Black Path factions were, as the world well knew, fierce rivals in many ways.
In martial arts, and as women.
"The Little Princess is... a remarkable woman in many respects."
"Because I cannot lose to the Taiji Flower."
The martial artists nodded. If nothing else, wasn't the Murim the sort of place where pride and self-respect alone could start a war? Since the White Path's Number One Flower had shown her face at the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle, if the Black Path's Number One Flower remained hidden, the world would inevitably compare them.
- White really is better than black, after all.
Whatever the truth, they couldn't afford to lose in public opinion either. Her act of brazenly striding into the heart of the White Path Murim out of sheer pride was reckless yet admirable.
"Then I shall take my leave. I've yet to decide on lodgings."
"W-Wait just a moment."
Her overpowering spirit was impressive, but the chaos it caused was unwelcome. The Alliance Leader hastily stopped the Little Princess as she rose to depart.
"Staying outside the Alliance would cause various difficulties. So how about lodging within the Alliance estate for the time being?"
"The estate...? I hadn't particularly intended to rely on the Murim Alliance's assistance... Ah, is the Taiji Flower staying there, by any chance?"
"Y-Yes, she is."
At the mention of the Taiji Flower's presence, the Little Princess twisted the corner of her mouth upward.
"Then there must be a Martial Arts Arena as well, fufu. Understood. My thanks for the Alliance Leader's hospitality."
With that, the Little Princess made a Bow with Hands Clasped and offered her respects. After sending the Little Princess to the estate, the Alliance Leader returned to where the Alliance officers had gathered.
"Alliance Leader, I'm concerned. Will this truly be all right?"
"It's fine. The villa doesn't house only the Taiji Flower. Isn't that child there as well?"
"Still...."
"Should the Little Princess cause any trouble, my daughter will subdue her. So don't worry. Now—"
"Alliance Leader! A guest has arrived!!"
The one who burst in so abruptly was the Chief Administrator.
"What is it?"
"The person you've been searching for stands before the Alliance!"
"The person I've been searching for...? C-Could it be?!"
The Alliance Leader's eyes sparkled as he broke into a broad smile.
"Has he arrived?!"
"Yes!!"
The disciple of the Divine Doctor who could cure any illness.
The elusive young man who'd vanished from Hubei without a backward glance after the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering concluded, despite efforts to arrange a meeting.
Half a year spent praying fervently that he might stop by the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle, since injuries could always occur.
At last, the physician capable of treating his daughter's illness had arrived at the Alliance.
"Mubung!!"
The Alliance Leader shot from his seat and dashed out to welcome Mubung.