The Severed Lotus
A strikingly handsome youth stood there with a weary expression.
“Is the person beside you your disciple?”
“Ah, no. He is… a member of Haomun.”
So Wol-hwa concealed Dan Yeop’s true identity. The Five Great Sword Sects did not look favorably upon Haomun’s recent activities.
Gongson Chan nodded and addressed the youth.
“Young friend, my name is Gongson Chan. What is your name?”
“I am called Dan Yeop.”
“A fine name. The Blood Emperor is roaming these parts, so be careful. If he notices you, you will not survive.”
“Yes.”
Gongson Chan glanced at So Wol-hwa before turning away.
Once the Cheondohoe punitive force had moved on, So Wol-hwa spoke to Dan Yeop.
“We should follow them.”
Since Haomun had no further information to offer and the Blood Emperor was nearby, traveling with the others seemed wiser. Dan Yeop did not object. At present, it was better to trust the judgment of the Five Great Sword Sects than Haomun.
Jin Ha-cheong, the chief steward, glanced back and said,
“Chief, the Haomun members are following us. What shall we do?”
“They seem frightened. Leave them be.”
“Understood.”
At that moment, Gongson Ji, the strategist, suddenly spoke.
“Chief, last night Lord Yoo Jeong-pung of the Yu clan asked why the Blood Emperor, who had been active in Gangnam, had come all the way to Guannei.”
“Why? Do you have a guess?”
“Yesterday I thought it was because of the kidnapped Haomun member, so the destination would be Mun Mountain. But now that Mun Mountain is this clean, that cannot be it. The last place the Blood Emperor was seen was Hanyu Village, correct?”
“That is what I heard as well.”
“It seems we were deceived by the Blood Emperor.”
“Deceived?”
“The Blood Emperor’s true destination may not have been Mun Mountain, but Yeosan.”
“Yeosan? Are you suggesting the Blood Emperor is targeting Hwacheong Palace?”
Gongson Chan, being a quick-witted man, immediately thought of Hwacheong Palace.
“Both Yeosan and Mun Mountain lie near Hanyu Village. He could have lured the Cheondohoe to Mun Mountain and then headed for Yeosan.”
Gongson Chan hastily summoned Yoo Jeong-pung, the outer hall lord of the Jongnam Sect and wielder of the Falling Goose Sword.
“Lord Yoo, do you know anything about the current situation at Hwacheong Palace?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
Several Jongnam disciples served among the palace guards, so various reports reached the sect.
“Do you know who is currently at Hwacheong Palace?”
“I heard that Lee Deok-myeong, the deputy governor of the Anseo Protectorate and an imperial clansman, is there. He often stops by to rest after his western patrols.”
Gongson Chan turned sharply to his daughter.
Gongson Ji nodded and said,
“He may have been the target from the beginning. Lee Deok-myeong is a notoriously greedy military official, known as the Money Ghost.”
“Why would a great demonic head like the Blood Emperor target him?”
“I do not know. Perhaps someone placed a bounty on him…”
With no other leads, Gongson Chan led the punitive force toward Yeosan.
68. Heaven Does Not Punish
Yeosan.
At the beginning of the Si hour (9 a.m.), the Cheondohoe punitive force finally arrived at Yeosan. They halted at a distance from Hwacheong Palace.
After surveying the palace, Jin Ha-cheong, the Lightning Sword, tilted his head.
“Strange. The security appears tighter than usual.”
Yoo Jeong-pung, the Falling Goose Sword, added,
“It looks quite chaotic. Something must have happened to Deputy Governor Lee Deok-myeong.”
Just then, a group of soldiers approached from the palace after spotting the martial artists. They stopped about five jang away, and an officer shouted,
“I am Colonel Sa Sa-myeong of the Imperial Guard! Who are you people?”
His voice carried the authority befitting a fifth-rank military official. To avoid unnecessary conflict, Gongson Chan, the Heavenly Diviner, stepped forward.
“So it is Colonel Sa. I am Gongson Chan, head of the Gongson clan. The people with me are experts from the Five Great Sword Sects.”
Sa Sa-myeong’s stern expression finally relaxed.
“So it is Great Hero Gongson. What brings you here?”
“We are pursuing the Blood Emperor.”
“Ah! You are too late. That accursed fiend—haah!”
Sa Sa-myeong sighed heavily mid-sentence. Gongson Chan waited quietly for him to continue.
“Last night he killed Deputy Governor Lee Deok-myeong and vanished.”
“What! Do you know which direction that demonic head went?”
“A soldier saw him heading south.”
“I see. Was there anything else unusual?”
“Beside the deputy governor’s body…”
Sa Sa-myeong suddenly stopped, visibly troubled. After a brief hesitation, he decided to speak. Although they were martial artists, the Five Great Sword Sects maintained close ties with the imperial court.
“A piece of paper bearing the image of a white lotus was left behind.”
“What! The Thousand Lotuses?”
Sa Sa-myeong nodded with a grim face.
“Who else but those traitors of the Thousand Lotuses would leave such a thing? And this morning, while searching the area, we found the body of a woman whose head had been severed.”
“Where is the body?”
“We moved it to an empty pavilion in the annex for an autopsy.”
“Understood. Thank you for your assistance in locating the Blood Emperor. We will take our leave now.”
His heart racing, Gongson Chan signaled his intent to end the conversation. Sa Sa-myeong had no desire to detain him.
“If you find that fiend, please avenge our deputy governor.”
“We will.”
Gongson Chan clasped his hands in a respectful bow and turned away. Sa Sa-myeong and his soldiers watched the martial artists depart.
After everyone had left, only two people remained.
“Why have you stayed behind?”
So Wol-hwa, the patrol leader, stepped forward in place of the pale-faced Dan Yeop.
“Last night, a female disciple of our sect was abducted by the Blood Emperor. You mentioned finding a woman’s body. May we examine it to see if she is one of ours?”
So Wol-hwa deliberately avoided naming her sect, fearing they might be driven away. But Sa Sa-myeong was no ordinary officer.
“I see. Which sect are you from? You do not seem to belong to the Five Great Sword Sects. Are you from the Hyeonmu Pavilion? Or the Jongnam Sect?”
“We are from Haomun.”
“……”
Sa Sa-myeong looked at the middle-aged woman with a hint of surprise. He had only heard rumors and was seeing a Haomun member in person for the first time. Regaining his composure, he gestured to An-rok, the villa head.
“Villa Head An, show these people the body.”
“Yes.”
An-rok glanced at So Wol-hwa and said,
“Follow me.”
“Yes.”
So Wol-hwa and Dan Yeop followed the officer into Hwacheong Palace.
***
An-rok stopped in front of a pavilion after walking briskly.
“Here it is. The autopsy has not yet begun, so look with your eyes only.”
After giving the warning out of concern, An-rok strode into the pavilion. So Wol-hwa and Dan Yeop quietly followed.
Inside, several beds were lined up, each bearing a body covered by a white cloth. An-rok pulled back the cloth from one of them.
So Wol-hwa’s face hardened instantly. The head had been crudely attached to the torso—it was Baek Yu-hwa, the Munwi.
“Is she a disciple of Haomun?”
“……Yes.”
So Wol-hwa instinctively looked at Dan Yeop. He had spent the entire night searching Mun Mountain; she worried how he would react to seeing the body.
As expected.
Dan Yeop’s contorted expression was almost unbearable to witness. Moments later, an overwhelming aura erupted from his entire body.
Whooooosh—
His hair stood on end, and his robes whipped violently as though caught in a typhoon.
Flap-flap-flap—!
The white cloths covering the bodies flew in all directions.
An-rok flinched at the bizarre sight.
‘W-what? He is not from Haomun?’
Officers were carefully selected martial artists. Naturally, they had seen and heard much since childhood. What was unfolding before him was no feat a mere Haomun member could perform. This was a divine technique possible only for supreme masters.
‘Ghh…’
An-rok felt his ears ringing and his eyeballs threatening to burst from the sudden pressure. He instinctively staggered backward.
Glancing sideways, he saw blood streaming from the middle-aged woman’s nose. A warm sensation trickled down his own chin. When he wiped it with his palm, it was blood.
Then the woman, gripping the edge of a bed, spoke through clenched teeth.
“Chief Dan…”
Dizziness washed over An-rok, and he braced himself against the wall.
His head throbbed as if it would split open. Fearing he might die, he shouted after the woman.
“Chief Dan!”
At the officer’s deep cry, Dan Yeop snapped back to his senses. The Tae-eul Qi that should have remained in his dantian had surged outward. He hurriedly gathered it using the Tae-eul-bon-won-yeon-seong-gyeol. Only then did the rampaging energy slowly subside.
The white cloths dancing in the air drifted downward. Some settled back over the bodies, but most fell to the floor.
‘What happened?’
He found himself in an unfamiliar pavilion, with six bodies laid out on six beds. The decapitated corpse in front of him looked strangely familiar.
‘What! Baek Yu-hwa? So she really died.’
Impulsively, he examined the other bodies. Their uniforms marked them as officers, but their faces were unknown to him.
‘What did Dunce Dan Yeop do here?’
Finally regaining her composure, So Wol-hwa spoke cautiously.
“At least she does not look like she suffered.”
Dan Yeop nodded. Seeing her usual expression brought him a small measure of comfort.
At that moment, An-rok, who had been watching nervously, cautiously interjected.
“It was the Blood Emperor’s doing. As you can see from the cut, ordinary martial artists could never replicate it. The victim likely died without even realizing it.”
An-rok had naturally switched to honorific speech. After witnessing the realm of “intent that wounds,” he had no choice. To him, the youth was no Haomun member, but a supreme master.
Dan Yeop looked at Baek Yu-hwa again. He could not explain why, but his mood was foul. His chest felt heavy, and his head grew slightly warm.
Without thinking, he made a vow.
“I will definitely avenge you, Fourth Sister Baek.”
He gently closed Baek Yu-hwa’s eyes and covered her with the white cloth.
“Officer.”
“Yes!”
At the youth’s call, An-rok quickly stepped forward.
“I would like to take Fourth Sister Baek’s body with me. What procedures are required?”
“Since the young lady has no connection to the Blood Emperor, once Colonel Sa grants permission, you may take—rather, escort—her away immediately.”
“Then please speak to Colonel Sa on our behalf. I would like to go with you right now.”
“Yes! Please wait a moment!”
An-rok dashed outside the moment he finished speaking.
So Wol-hwa, who had been watching Dan Yeop, asked carefully,
“You must have been close to Munwi Baek?”
“Yes. Before my mind became clear like it is now, Fourth Sister Baek once taught me martial arts at Byeongmachong.”
“Ah! So that is what happened.”
So Wol-hwa looked at Dan Yeop with pity. Both he and Baek Yu-hwa were in the prime of their youth; affection must have blossomed between them. Only now did she understand why Dan Yeop had frantically searched Mun Mountain.
Shortly afterward, An-rok returned with Sa Sa-myeong. Whatever An-rok had told him, Sa Sa-myeong readily accommodated Dan Yeop’s request. He even procured a coffin from somewhere.
Dan Yeop personally placed Baek Yu-hwa’s body inside the coffin.
At noon, under the escort of the Imperial Guard officers, a single carriage departed from Hwacheong Palace.