The Blue Woman #1
"Crack! I killed him!"
I'd taken down that motherfucking dog Geuk-hyeon! And with my brand-new technique, Gui Hon Gyeok Ryu Pa.
This was something I'd been developing on my own. When I unleash Gui-gyeok-cham, I can gather my gui qi and detonate it for extra destructive power. But Gui-hon-il-seom turns that explosive force into propulsion, shooting straight ahead in a piercing thrust.
That's where I got the idea. What if I combined the two? As I deploy Gui-hon-il-seom and charge forward, I ignite my gui qi again right at the moment of impact, exploding on the stab.
And holy shit, it worked perfectly. It shattered Geuk-hyeon's defense—superior swordsmanship to mine—and caught him off guard, blowing one of his fingers clean off.
Hell, at first he even reflexively blocked my Gui-hon-il-seom with some fancy trick. Without the Gui Hon Gyeok Ryu Pa, I might've been the one in trouble.
No way he saw an explosion bursting from my sword coming. And with that, victory was mine.
"Raaargh!"
The thrill of triumph exploded through me, mixed with pure joy that my new move had landed flawlessly. I roared, basking in the sheer liberation of it all.
Fuck those Meng Hu Dai bastards. I could've kept pounding them all day. And I did it right in the heart of enemy territory, taking out the one who'd shown his true colors without leaving a shred of evidence.
The rush was insane.
"Geun-hyeop! Well done!"
"Nice one!"
The two women pressed close, praising me.
"D-Deputy Leader!"
"Geuk-hyeon... he's dead...!"
Geuk-hyeon was down, but the fight wasn't over. Yuan cavalry were still swarming in, and the surviving Meng Hu Dai goons were hanging on too. Snap out of it—plenty to do.
"Those Meng Hu Dai fuckers. We gotta wipe 'em all out."
"Understood. Whether this outrage was Geuk-hyeon's personal deviation or the whole Meng Hu Dai gone rotten, it doesn't matter anymore. We eliminate them all."
Namgung Serin, daughter of the Namgung family, was ice-cold and ruthless.
"O-Okhwa Geom! Spare us!"
"We were just—"
"Gyaaah!"
The Meng Hu Dai remnants, clustered together without their anchor, desperately fended off the cavalry while begging for mercy. But...
"No need for words. The rift between us can only end with one side dead."
"Okhwa Geom!"
"Let's go, Geun-hyeop. Finish them off, then shake the cavalry and retreat."
"Right."
"Nooooo!"
Scattered remnants without a leader were powerless. Under Ha-young's cover fire, we dodged the cavalry and pressed the Meng Hu Dai. Caught between horsemen and us, they...
"Mercy, pleeease!"
...all fell.
"Hey! Hurry back! We gotta bolt before they encircle us!"
"Serin! Let's move!"
"Yes!"
The moment we mopped up Meng Hu Dai, we bolted toward the dense woods. The skull-mounted ghost cavalry gave chase on their hellsteeds, but their numbers were thin—no real threat as we slipped away.
Once we had some breathing room, Serin spoke up.
"By the way, Geun-hyeop. That last move."
"Gui Hon Gyeok Ryu Pa. A follow-up to Gui-hon-il-seom. I added a gui qi detonation like Gui-gyeok-cham, and as you saw, it was a smashing success. Heh."
"I see. Well done."
Serin's expression softened.
"So that's what all that hard training was for. You've refined your unique martial art beautifully—tailored to its traits with such precision... Indeed. Even Geuk-hyeon couldn't have anticipated it."
"Exactly."
Just using gui qi is unpredictable enough. Throw in a special twist like that? No way to handle it. That's why murim folk obsess over hiding their trump cards.
"But I'm a bit worried."
"Huh? About what?"
Ha-young tilted her head.
"Killing Meng Hu Dai? Nah, we're good. No survivors. Who'd know it was us? Just say we got ambushed by the cavalry on recon, and Meng Hu Dai fought bravely to let us escape. Done."
That was my plan too, but...
"Not that. What if the bodies give us away?"
"Unlikely."
Serin shook her head.
"The corpse ghosts will swarm soon enough. Meng Hu Dai's remains will vanish without a trace."
"No, I mean they might rise as corpse ghosts."
"Ah, that? No need to worry."
"Why not?"
"Because they didn't die to corpse ghosts."
Ha-young jumped in with the explanation.
"We killed 'em. That means no rising as corpse ghosts. They'll just be chow for the real ones."
"Oh, gotcha."
News to me.
"No worries then."
"Precisely, Geun-hyeop."
We kept moving. Time to head back.
"Oh, Geun-hyeop. We'll report the Meng Hu Dai incident with some... embellishment."
"Embellish it?"
"Yes. They attacked us with vile, impure intentions—most unpleasant. But stating the facts outright? They won't believe it. It'll just breed suspicion."
"Hm."
"It's frustratingly unfair, but framing it as Meng Hu Dai heroically fighting to save us will please the Murim Alliance."
"Fair point."
No sense earning their grudge. After seeing what Geuk-hyeon pulled, mentioning bad blood could make the Alliance send hunters after us for "daring to tarnish our honor." Better bury the grudge, as Serin said. No upside to airing it.
"Yeah. Spilling the bad blood just invites suspicion over their wipeout. Let's sync up: tragic recon accident."
"Agreed."
"Yes. So be it."
We hashed out our story on the way back. But one loose end nagged.
Geuk-hyeon and his direct flunkies—who rolled with us—were all dead. Fine. But Deputy Leader Gong Son-tan and some other Meng Hu Dai were on separate ops, still alive. They know our beef.
They might talk... What to do? I brought it up, and Serin replied.
"No issue. Even if they do, it's just the opinion of an absent deputy from a wiped-out unit. Besides, I'm Namgung Serin, the Okhwa Geom. Wi Ha-young is a Mosan Sect Taoist."
"You've got credibility."
"Exactly. And if Gong Son-tan questions the wipeout, implying we did something? It's an insult to Meng Hu Dai and us. Admits they're weak enough to fall to us, and declares enmity with Namgung and Mosan Sect."
"Huh."
She was spot on.
"What the hell is murim...?"
One word, and it's all face, politics. Nothing straightforward—everything twisted. What a pain.
An ominously foreboding forest depths. Amid the ghosts' lair, where the stench of corpses wafted, stood a blue beauty in winged robes.
"Oh my...?"
Saseon-nyeo, the Azure Beauty, tilted her head at the scattered bones. An eerie power emanated from the remains gnawed by corpse ghosts.
"...What is this?"
She extended her pale, delicate hand, caressing a bone.
"Mmm."
A smile curved her lips—enchanting enough to captivate, yet her aura was chilling and sinister. Anyone would sense ill intent behind such a woman's smile.
Her body rose, robes fluttering like a true fairy's. But calling the one who birthed and commanded countless corpses a fairy? Hardly.
"Hee hee... I wonder who wielded such power?"
Saseon-nyeo felt her cold heart quicken.
"This girl must investigate."
"Meng Hu Dai's leader fell in battle. Thought he was the decent one—my mistake. Understood."
The Jinyiwei nodded indifferently and issued the guest dismissal order.
Stepping out, I felt dazed. A report of Meng Hu Dai heroically wiped out, and that's his takeaway? Barely fazed. He skimmed our hard-won intel on the Yuan cavalry too.
"We gave the full report, but he didn't seem to care. Brushed off the cavalry info like it was nothing."
"Is that so?"
Serin crossed her arms, suspicious.
"Not a trivial matter... They'll investigate later, no doubt. Doesn't feel over to me."
"Figured. Good to know."
"Yes. Stay cautious, Geun-hyeop. But glossing over the cavalry intel is odd."
Ha-young, lounging on the bed munching dangwa, chimed in.
"That's 'cause reinforcements are coming, right? The Great Ming army'll sweep 'em. Details don't matter."
"Then why send us on early recon?"
"Beats me. How should I know what Jinyiwei thinks?"
"..."
No comeback. Fair. Jinyiwei are infamous enigmas—emperor's spy corps, elite masters. Rare contact since we arrived, and he's barely moved. What's his game?