Crimson Clouds Over the Blue Clouds
It was a pitch-black night, devoid of even a sliver of moonlight.
Deep in the nameless mountains on the road to Anhui, a fierce wind howled through the towering pines, the only sound tearing apart the heavy silence. Thick clouds blanketed the sky, swallowing both moon and stars, and in that absolute darkness three men had settled beneath a tree to prepare their night camp.
Clack. Clack.
In the trackless depths of the forest, the sharp ring of flint striking steel echoed before a small spark caught and bloomed into a crackling campfire. Crimson flames pushed back the thick gloom, casting a soft glow across the three men’s faces.
All three were swordsmen with blades at their waists, yet one stood out with unmistakable presence.
He looked no more than twenty, his face still carrying the soft lines of youth. Yet an aura of noble dignity clung to him, something impossible to approach carelessly. His skin was as white and flawless as white jade, untouched by the rigors of mountain travel. Beneath neatly tied black hair, clear blue eyes shimmered like a tranquil lake, glowing softly even in the dark.
He was the next patriarch of the ancient and illustrious Moyong Clan of Gusu, a family with centuries of history. Among the greatest young talents of the current generation—the Five Dragons and Four Phoenixes—he occupied the most dazzling position.
Blue Cloud Sword Dragon Moyong Seong-hwi. That was his name.
“Brother Seong-hwi, wouldn’t it be wiser to build the fire higher?”
The man sitting beside the flames spoke up. It was Namgung Jin, direct descendant of the Namgung Clan and a close friend of Moyong Seong-hwi. With his sharp eyes and handsome features, he stroked the long sword at his waist while warily scanning their surroundings.
“No, this is sufficient. Thank you.”
Moyong Seong-hwi answered with a gentle smile. His voice carried a warmth that could soothe the heart simply by listening.
“Still, today’s bandit extermination went more smoothly than expected, didn’t it?”
The third man, polishing his blade by the fire, lifted his head. Moyong Hak, a collateral relative of the Moyong Clan. A robust warrior with a powerful build, he carried a markedly different atmosphere from his kinsman Moyong Seong-hwi.
“I was braced for a real fight after hearing those were the infamous bandits of Baekje Mountain, but they turned out to be nothing but rabble.”
“Exactly. Even their so-called chief couldn’t last three moves against Brother Seong-hwi before losing his head.”
“It must be the result of our relentless training. We’ve grown that strong. It’s something to celebrate.”
Despite the two men’s hearty exchange, Moyong Seong-hwi’s expression remained clouded. His blue eyes stared fixedly into the flickering flames, lost in deep thought.
“…Brother Seong-hwi? Why such a serious face?”
At Namgung Jin’s question, Moyong Seong-hwi spoke quietly.
“Doesn’t it feel off?”
“Pardon?”
“It wasn’t that their resistance was too fierce. It’s that there was almost none at all. For the size of their mountain stronghold, the defending force was absurdly small.”
Moyong Hak burst into loud laughter as he watched him.
“Hahaha! Brother Seong-hwi, you always worry too much. The three of us joined forces. A mere bandit crew like that could never stand against us.”
“Mm, indeed.”
Namgung Jin nodded with a relaxed smile, agreeing.
“When you put it that way…”
“Brother Hak is right. We’ve simply grown too strong. Come, let’s rest well tonight and set out early tomor—”
The moment Namgung Jin lifted his water pouch with a grin, it happened.
Swish—
No warning. Not even a trace of killing intent.
A single red line sliced through the pitch-black darkness.
“Gurgh…!!”
Blood erupted from Namgung Jin’s throat like a fountain. Before the smile could even fade from his lips, his cleanly severed head tumbled to the ground.
Hiss!
Crimson blood gushed from the stump like a geyser, pouring over the campfire and plunging the surroundings into sudden darkness.
“J-Jin-ah?!”
“What the hell was that?!”
Clang!
Moyong Hak and Moyong Seong-hwi shot to their feet in horror. They drew their swords on pure instinct, but their eyes could only make out the same impenetrable blackness.
“Who goes there! Show yourself!”
Moyong Hak raised his blade and shouted into the void. No answer came.
Shriek!
Once more, a chilling sound of splitting air rang from the unseen darkness.
“Hak! Dodge!”
Moyong Seong-hwi hurled himself forward like lightning.
A single streak of lightning surged upward from below.
The blade aimed at Moyong Hak’s throat from the shadows was barely deflected. Sparks exploded between clashing swords, faintly revealing the enemy’s silhouette.
“Khh… haa…!”
It was a mysterious assailant wrapped in blood-red robes.
“I blocked—!”
Just as relief began to cross Moyong Seong-hwi’s face, his blue eyes flooded with shock. From behind the first assassin he had parried, a second crimson figure seeped out like a ghost.
“There’s more than one!”
“Khh… ha… hrrrrgh!!!”
With a spine-chilling laugh, the second assailant’s sword hurtled toward Moyong Hak’s now-defenseless neck.
“No!!!”
Thud!
Before Moyong Seong-hwi could intervene, the blade buried itself in Moyong Hak’s throat.
“Kk… urk… Brother…”
With those last words, Moyong Hak coughed up blood and collapsed limply to the ground.
“Hak!!”
In a single instant, both companions had been slaughtered. The mountain reeked of blood and death. Moyong Seong-hwi’s blue eyes blazed with desperate light.
“Who are you?!”
He ground his teeth and leveled his sword at the two crimson-robed figures who had finally revealed themselves.
“…Khh… ha…!”
No words. Only action.
In answer, both assailants swung their weapons simultaneously. Red sword lights streaked toward Moyong Seong-hwi from both sides.
“Hup!”
Moyong Seong-hwi drew a deep breath and surged his inner energy.
His sword tip scattered, creating dozens of illusory afterimages. Like light piercing thick fog, dazzling sword flowers momentarily blinded the enemies’ vision.
Clang! Kang!
Metallic clashes rang out in rapid succession. After barely deflecting the blows and retreating by a hair’s breadth, Moyong Seong-hwi found the two assailants pressing their attack without pause.
Slash!
While one charged from the front, the other circled to his flank, seeking an opening.
His movement was like flowing phantoms. Afterimages split into three directions at once as Moyong Seong-hwi’s sword cut through the air toward the enemy before him, but the man merely tilted his head slightly and evaded.
Slice! Schick!
“Ugh!”
Red lines were carved across Moyong Seong-hwi’s shoulder and thigh. In this desperate situation, cold sweat poured down his face as he bit his lower lip.
Despite being outnumbered, after only a few exchanges he could tell both opponents possessed higher martial attainment than himself. And the strange sensation spreading from the wounds—
Don’t tell me it’s poison…?!
The cuts burned as if seared by fire, and feeling began to fade at terrifying speed.
Swish, swish!
The moment his stance faltered, crimson sword lights poured down like a monsoon, filling his entire field of vision. With no room to dodge, sickening sounds of tearing flesh erupted from his shoulder, thigh, and forearm in rapid succession.
Thud! Crack!
Flesh flew. Fresh blood sprayed from his shoulder, thigh, and arms. The poison seeping through the wounds raced along his extraordinary meridians, devouring his protective energy.
Clang! Clang-clang! Shing—!
His limbs grew as heavy as lead. Even the inner energy boiling in his dantian was being eroded and scattered by the toxin. Yet Moyong Seong-hwi clung desperately to his fading consciousness and swung his sword like a madman.
“Khh… ah…! Too… slow!!”
But these were no ordinary assassins. Even poisoned, the swordplay of the Blue Cloud Sword Dragon—the genius the entire Murim watched with envy—remained dazzling and precise. Still, it was not enough to overcome the absolute gap in skill.
Before the combined assault of two supreme experts, his sword strikes were nothing more than a fleeting struggle to delay the inevitable.
“Gurgh…!”
At last Moyong Seong-hwi dropped to one knee, vomiting dark blood. Strength had left his legs. His vision blurred. His fingertips turned icy cold.
“It’s… over… young master.”
One of the assailants, voice like a beast’s growl, raised his crimson blade high.
“Ugh…!”
Death stared him in the face. Moyong Seong-hwi glanced back in despair.
The place he had reached while desperately fending off their onslaught was the edge of a sheer cliff. Below yawned an endless abyss of pure darkness.
I cannot die here.
It wasn’t mere fear of death. Nor was it any shallow resentment.
My sword… must not break here.
That sword carried the honor of his clan, the pride of the Moyong family. For the countless retainers who trusted and relied on him, for the powerless commoners he protected, he could not fall in this place.
It was his noble duty as the next patriarch, and the self-respect of one who had taken up the sword for the weak—something he had to defend until the very end.
Shhhhh—
Beyond the roaring wind, the faint sound of water rose from beneath the cliff.
Rather than die by these bastards’ hands…!
A thread of hope, thinner than a spider’s silk. Even if it led into darkness deeper than despair, it was worth staking his life on.
“Die!!!”
Swish!
Both assailants swung their blades at once, but Moyong Seong-hwi had already thrown himself into the void without hesitation. His body tumbled down the sheer cliff into the pitch-black abyss.
Whooooosh!!!
Wind screamed past his ears. His vision grew dimmer.
Beyond his fading consciousness, his body was completely swallowed by the darkness beneath the cliff.
—
BOOM!
A tremendous crash against the water’s surface sent a massive pillar of spray shooting skyward.
By sheer luck, Moyong Seong-hwi had fallen into a deep mountain lake where dark blue waves churned. Yet he was given no time to breathe in relief.
“Khh… ugh…!”
The impact of the fall was monstrous. It felt as if a giant hammer had struck his entire body. His organs twisted violently and his bones screamed. To make matters worse, the lake’s bone-chilling cold pierced his wounds, spreading the poison through his body in an instant alongside the freezing energy.
Move, damn it! Move!
But his arms and legs had already stiffened like iron. He struggled with all his might, yet his paralyzed body only sank helplessly toward the bottomless abyss.
Glub, glub—
Silver bubbles leaked from his mouth, dancing upward toward the distant surface. The pressure in his lungs felt ready to burst. His vision darkened to pure black. At the edge of his fading mind, the last flickers of life were dying out.
Is this… the end?
Just before terror and despair could swallow him completely—
Splash!
A sharp sound tore through the silent water, echoing into the depths. Over his blurring pupils, a pure white figure cut through the current without hesitation and rushed toward him.
Grab!
A hand both soft and powerful seized him by the nape of his neck. The next instant, his lead-heavy body was hauled upward and broke through the surface.
“Haaah—!”
The moment he emerged, the blocked airway burst open and violent coughing erupted. Pulled to safety by unknown hands, he lay limp as a waterlogged rag, wracked by painful spasms.
“Cough, hack, haa… krrgh…!!!”
The poison had already seeped into his very bones, leaving him without strength to move even a single finger.
Consciousness flickering, vision flashing. Clinging to the final fragments of his hazy mind, Moyong Seong-hwi struggled to lift his head and see the face of his savior—
…!!!
At the sight before him, he drew in a sharp breath.
Where the clouds had parted, starlight poured down like a galaxy onto the lakeshore. A woman stood there, gazing down at him with a startled expression.
Her white robes, soaked through, clung to her body, revealing curves of impossible allure. Hair like black ebony, darker than the night itself, framed eyes that burned like crimson jewels, seizing his soul.
Was this what fatal beauty looked like?
Forgetting even the agony that bound his body, Moyong Seong-hwi stared, entranced, and whispered.
“…Heavenly maiden?”
With those final words, he etched the image of the woman looking down at him deep into his mind. Then Moyong Seong-hwi’s consciousness sank completely into an endless swamp of darkness.