Plum Blossoms Fall (4)
“How dare a filthy Sapa sect like you challenge our Huashan Sect……”
Provoked by Hyeon Yucheon, Blue Crane Scholar Jo Hanpyeong flew into a rage and summoned Huashan Sect's elite forces.
The moment Huashan Sect reacted and Hyeon Yucheon along with the Demon Sword Sect warriors began to assemble—
“He's right!”
“The Demon Sword Sect Lord speaks true!”
“This was nothing more than the result of a formal duel!”
“If Huashan Sect surrounds the Demon Sword Sect members now, we'll fight back too!”
Something astonishing happened.
The crowd, mostly composed of orthodox Murim folk with their biased views, suddenly sided with Hyeon Yucheon?
In truth, it was nothing short of a miracle—and a reaction born from witnessing Hyeon Yucheon's martial prowess firsthand.
“The duel challenge was bait… to kill me? Then you'll have to deal with those thousands of people over there too.”
Public opinion favored Hyeon Yucheon, and the justification lay firmly with the Demon Sword Sect.
“Ugh……”
Jo Hanpyeong looked utterly flustered as the crowd he'd assumed would back him turned away.
In truth, he'd pressured the Demon Sword Sect warriors banking on the people eagerly fighting on Huashan's side.
“Plum Wind Cloud Jang Unhwi paid for his crimes, and I exacted my revenge. Anything else?”
Hyeon Yucheon slowly stepped forward toward the Huashan group.
Step. Step.
Escorted by the Black Wolf Three Swords, Hyeon Yucheon advanced. Strangely, the Huashan warriors backed away in panic.
This was Huashan Sect's home ground, yet host and guest had reversed roles.
In place of their deceased sect leader, Jo Hanpyeong broke into a cold sweat and spoke.
“The duel is over… Everyone, disperse.”
-Huashan Sect's sect leader, Plum Wind Cloud Jang Unhwi, has died!
-Demon Sword Sect Lord Demon Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon is victorious!
The rumors spread like wildfire. Soon after, Huashan Sect issued an official statement.
With the deceased Plum Wind Cloud Jang Unhwi gone, Blue Crane Scholar Jo Hanpyeong assumed the temporary role of acting sect leader.
Jo Hanpyeong spoke officially toward the Central Plains—and targeting the Murim Alliance with his true intent.
“Our Huashan Sect shall… refrain from action and remain silent for the time being. We will no longer receive visitors.”
He called it restraint, but it was effectively a sect closure declaration.
Of course, compared to the Beggars' Sect's full closure, they still retained some forces.
The problem was that their sect leader—their top expert—had died pathetically in public, and now the Plum Blossom Three Swords, meant to lead the next generation, were gone too. Huashan had lost its momentum.
Such open rumors circulated across the Central Plains.
Inside the Demon Sword Sect, the atmosphere was festive.
“Congratulations, Sect Lord.”
“You've finally taken down Plum Wind Cloud.”
As various sect members, Jeong Se-in, and So Jaun offered repeated congratulations, Hyeon Yucheon—for some reason—remained deep in thought.
Noticing this, So Jaun tilted her head and asked.
“Is there another problem?”
So Jaun couldn't understand him.
Even with many enemies left, shouldn't he rejoice at defeating a formidable foe like Jang Unhwi?
Yet he showed no joy, lost in contemplation, which puzzled her.
“There's an unresolved question.”
“A question? What kind?”
“Why did Jang Unhwi challenge me to a duel?”
Indeed.
At first, receiving the challenge felt like a gift—scratching his back without effort. But now, with everything over, doubts arose.
Why on earth did Plum Wind Cloud Jang Unhwi request a duel with me? What wind blew him my way?
He'd initially thought it was Jang Unhwi's twisted jealousy, given his own rising fame.
But no matter how he pondered, that didn't fit.
“There must be some reason.”
Hearing Hyeon Yucheon, Jeong Se-in, who'd been watching, had a hunch.
“Could it be…!”
Jeong Se-in's brief words drew everyone's attention.
“Someone's request or plea.”
Hyeon Yucheon and So Jaun found it highly convincing.
“That makes sense.”
“But… who could move Huashan Sect's leader, one of the Heaven's Five Venerables, Plum Wind Cloud?”
So Jaun had a point.
Someone capable of swaying Jang Unhwi could be counted on one hand.
Then Jeong Se-in spoke.
“Recently, when we struck back at the Seok Family's Shaanxi branch, Seok Mujin—the second son of the family head—acted unusually subdued.”
Jeong Se-in's insight greatly aided Hyeon Yucheon.
Combining everyone's opinions, Hyeon Yucheon reached the truth.
“That rat bastard schemed it.”
Seok Mujin alone couldn't move Jang Unhwi, but invoking the Seok Family name made it plausible.
Moreover—
“Huashan is in Shaanxi, so it's almost certainly Seok Mujin, head of the Shaanxi branch.”
Having concluded, Hyeon Yucheon moved at once.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Seok Mujin had sent assassins with cunning; now it was Hyeon Yucheon's turn.
“This isn't what I wanted……”
Seok Mujin drowned his frustrations in alcohol amid the nonstop bad news.
This wasn't the outcome he'd aimed for in moving Jang Unhwi.
Who could've known Plum Wind Cloud would lose?
It was utterly absurd.
Everything that could go wrong did.
The Seok Family's Shaanxi branch was in mourning.
Their vast capital was being overshadowed by the rival Demon Sword Merchant Association right across the street, and a provincial audit had slapped them with massive fines.
Yet Seok Mujin hadn't given up hope.
If Jang Unhwi kills Hyeon Yucheon… the Demon Sword Sect, having grown too fast, will crumble just as quickly.
But no—Hyeon Yucheon lived, while Jang Unhwi died.
And with him, Cheok Myeong—the most promising of his generation—and the entire Plum Blossom Three Swords.
Unwittingly, Seok Mujin had hastened Huashan's fall.
“Damn it, daaaamn!”
Seok Mujin screamed as he reached for more liquor, only to find it gone.
Never had he faced so many failures in his life.
With even alcohol to numb the pain depleted, his rage swelled monstrously.
“Why the hell couldn't you kill just that one guy?!”
In his fury, Seok Mujin suddenly thought of someone.
What if… my brother?
Seok Family's eldest young master, Seok Muyong.
Born a merchant's son yet blessed with innate martial talent and genius.
He even knew the Demon Sword Sect's arts inside out, didn't he?
No one seemed better suited to take down Demon Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon.
“Hurry and contact my brother……”
Just as despairing Seok Mujin brightened with renewed hope—
“Yes, why not send a letter to your brother right away?”
It came then.
A chilling voice from behind Seok Mujin.
This was his private chamber, off-limits even to guards.
Yet a stranger's voice?
An intruder.
“W-Who is it?”
Even drunk, a cold sweat trickled down Seok Mujin's back.
Normally, he'd scoff.
Who would dare touch the Seok Family's second young master?
But lately, challengers rose against the Seok Family—and his youngest brother Seok Muyoung's body had been shipped back to headquarters.
“Who? How rude. Didn't you crave my head?”
Seok Mujin knew instantly.
Demon Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon!
The mention of his head clicked it.
Why was he, who should be at Demon Sword Sect, here in his chamber?
“There… must've been family guards. How did you get in?”
That was Seok Mujin's burning question.
Jang Unhwi wouldn't blab, but paranoia had led to unprecedented security.
The crumbling Shaanxi branch had hired extra warriors solely to guard his door.
“There were. Not anymore.”
At Hyeon Yucheon's curt reply, Seok Mujin shuddered like a speared fish.
Casual as it sounded, it meant they'd all died by his hand.
Impossible. He killed dozens of experts without a sound?
Drunk or not, he'd hear screams or combat noise.
Not noticing meant Hyeon Yucheon surpassed all expectations.
“Not bad. A merchant's ploy—when business failed, you went for my head.”
Swish!
Hyeon Yucheon calmly placed a hand on Seok Mujin's shoulder.
So serene and natural, they could pass for friends.
“N-No, I didn't……”
Seok Mujin tried to deny amid the blatant accusation, but—
“Too late to back out. That's not the Seok Family way, is it?”
Hyeon Yucheon even smiled brightly.
“It wasn't me. Jang Unhwi acted not because of me, but……”
“I didn't ask. What's that got to do with anything?”
The thief betrays himself—Seok Mujin babbled guiltily before the question.
Paradoxically, it sounded like an admission.
“Really, it wasn't me!”
“True or not, it doesn't matter. Anyway… have you contacted your brother Seok Muyong?”
That was Hyeon Yucheon's chief interest.
The reason he'd kept Seok Mujin alive this long.
“Why seek my brother?”
“He infiltrated my Demon Sword Sect in disguise and betrayed my master.”
Hyeon Yucheon's flawless answer left Seok Mujin speechless, even with ten mouths.
All he could do was feign ignorance desperately.
“A frame job. Who spreads such lies……”
Hyeon Yucheon cut him short.
He had no plan to lure Seok Muyong via Seok Mujin anyway.
Kill the Seok heirs from youngest to second—eventually, I'll meet Seok Muyong.
No need to rush.
The prime cut should be savored last.
“You know who I am, right?”
Hyeon Yucheon draped an arm around Seok Mujin's shoulder with a brutally cruel smile.
Shiver, shiver!
Meeting those eyes plunged Seok Mujin into terror unlike any in his life.
No starving beast could match that gaze.
“Don't fear. I'll torment you only as much as the Seok Family did to the Mangeum Clan.”
Those words sealed Seok Mujin's death.