The Plum Blossom That Never Falls
It was a memory from my previous life.
I hadn’t shared many conversations with Byeok Gong.
Yet because we had both endured the same kind of pain, I felt a certain kinship with him.
A ruined Mount Hua.
In that place where the laughter of disciples and the scoldings of their masters had vanished.
Only Byeok Gong remained standing tall.
The sword in his hand dripped with the still-wet blood of demonic practitioners.
His arm had been severed, and he suffered a grievous internal wound that should have killed him long ago, yet Byeok Gong refused to stop.
He cut and cut again.
Dozens, then hundreds of demonic practitioners fell beneath his blade.
Only when death finally closed in on him could I step forward.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
At my words, Byeok Gong gave a faint smile and shook his head.
His lower body had been cut away. He was in a state where it would have been perfectly normal for him to die at any moment, yet he clung to life with superhuman willpower.
Why?
It would have been easier to simply die, so why was he still breathing in such a wretched condition?
In that pool of blood, Byeok Gong was waiting for something.
“Doesn’t it hurt? Shall I send you on?”
When I asked, he shook his head.
“There is… something I must see.”
“What could you possibly want to see? What is there left to see in this ruined Mount Hua!”
Overwhelmed by the guilt of failing to protect him, I held him and wept.
Even when I had begged him to fight alongside me, he had left for Mount Hua, saying he had work to do.
Why was he lying here like this?
He should have run away, at least.
He should have fled and forgotten all about Mount Hua, living out the rest of his days in peace.
Then the wind blew.
“Ah…”
Only then did the corners of Byeok Gong’s mouth begin to lift.
The thing he had so desperately wanted to see.
“It’s finally scattering.”
Carried by the blowing wind, plum blossom petals fluttered down and gently settled on his face, one after another.
Yet they carried no fragrance.
“You fool…”
I held him and wept.
“Can you see them? These plum blossoms?”
A final flash of clarity.
Right before death, his speech grew clear and his eyes regained their light as his mind sharpened.
He reached out into the empty air and offered something to me.
But there was nothing in his hand.
“They fall and bloom again. Even if they fall once more, they will bloom again. That is the nature of plum blossoms.”
It was Byeok Gong’s memory. His sorrow.
His joy, his regret—everything he would carry with him even in death.
“Plum blossoms… never truly fall. They always…”
His hand dropped limply.
The sky was empty; not a single plum petal could be seen.
Yet in his eyes, something must have been visible.
I could only grip that hand tightly and swallow my sobs.
* * *
“Welcome, Young Hero.”
Byeok Gong, who had been sitting in meditation, rose and approached me.
Since I hadn’t bothered hiding my presence, he must have noticed me right away.
“Did you come alone?”
“No. My sister and Lady Mong came as well… but they’re currently very excited about touring the Mount Hua Sect.”
“Haha… I see. Ah, but I must apologize. I should be the one greeting you properly, yet my body is in this state…”
Even at a glance, Byeok Gong looked to be in considerable pain.
The heat radiating from him was so intense that merely standing nearby made the air feel scorching, and his face was flushed with fever.
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
“I’ll be fine after resting a little.”
Despite his words, I glanced around discreetly.
That ominous feeling I’d had since earlier still refused to fade.
It was as if something was watching me.
‘What is it?’
Even when I expanded my senses to their limit, nothing triggered them.
‘Just my imagination, perhaps.’
It left a bad taste in my mouth, but there was nothing I could do.
I exchanged a brief reunion with Byeok Gong and then turned away.
Leaving that place, I headed back toward the main mountain.
At the summit of the main mountain, atop the Jade Purity Palace, there was a training ground where the disciples of Mount Hua practiced.
‘Shall I take a look?’
I couldn’t resist my curiosity.
I made my way slowly toward the Jade Purity Palace.
The sight of the disciples training amidst Mount Hua’s breathtaking scenery—something I had never witnessed in my previous life—was truly beautiful.
So beautiful that no other word seemed adequate to describe it.
As I drew near, the disciples all stopped swinging their swords at once and stood at attention.
Then, instead of pressing their palms together in the typical Taoist salute, they offered me respectful fist salutes.
How very like Mount Hua.
I returned the gesture, and one of the disciples approached me.
“You must be the young lord from the Ju family, invited here by the Sect Leader?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I am Mae Ryang, a second-generation disciple of Mount Hua.”
“Nice to meet you, Daoist Mae Ryang. I am Ju Woo-jin.”
After the brief greeting, we moved on to the main topic.
“I am curious about the Ju family’s sword.”
“Pardon? So suddenly?”
“Yes. The disciples here are all third-generation. They are children who have only just received their daoist names and become official disciples.”
At those words, I looked out over the training ground.
They were certainly younger than Mae Ryang, and every one of them stared at me with bright, curious eyes.
Among them was even a child who looked no older than five or six.
“Please grant these disciples the opportunity to witness the Ju family’s sword, Young Lord.”
I pondered for a moment.
But the answer came quickly.
I wasn’t about to reveal the family’s secret techniques. Simply demonstrating a few basic sword forms would suffice.
Having made up my mind, I stepped onto the training ground.
Countless eyes turned toward me.
‘These are Mount Hua’s future pillars.’
Time would pass, and they would grow.
They would make their names known one by one, and among them would surely be those talented enough to become the next Sect Leader someday.
‘But that future does not exist.’
The problem was Mount Hua’s future.
When the Demonic Cult rose up, every one of them… would die.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my breath caught in my throat.
When I hesitated, Mae Ryang approached with a worried expression.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. It seems I got a little nervous.”
I picked up a wooden sword as naturally as I could.
Mount Hua’s sword was elegant, nimble, and razor-sharp.
It stood at the pinnacle of the Central Plains’ fast sword styles and had earned its fame through countless other supreme techniques.
So what could I present before such a sword?
‘The way to shatter speed.’
Before Mount Hua, I would break Mount Hua itself.
I slowly raised the wooden sword.
When I had faced Byeok Gong, I had used only bare-handed techniques.
But now it was the sword.
Before the prestige and dignity of a sword family.
Before the status of a sword sect, I would display that same dignity.
Srrk!
My foot drew a long arc before taking a short step forward.
The Ju family’s symbol was the dragon, and its sword forms were created by following the dragon’s movements.
And what the dragon symbolized was destruction.
Against speed, I offered strength.
It was slow, yet the profound insight contained within was mysterious.
It tore through the surroundings, creating gaps with its pressure to disturb the opponent.
And the moment of impact.
Rumble!
Sword light bloomed, and the area trembled.
Crack!
Damn. I failed to control my strength.
The wooden sword was covered in cracks.
The air was pushed aside by the descending blade, and the resulting wind pressure forced the disciples three steps backward.
A spectacular sight.
A single man had overwhelmed dozens of disciples.
“……”
The surroundings fell silent.
Soon after, Mae Ryang offered a fist salute and burst out in admiration.
“Heavy and deep. Slow in appearance, yet it contained a terrifying power that could not be hidden. As expected of the Ju family’s sword… its reputation is well-deserved, Young Lord.”
Mae Ryang was genuinely captivated by my swordplay.
Beyond admiration, his face clearly showed excitement.
‘Wait, I only showed it for the disciples. Why is he the one getting worked up?’
I smiled awkwardly and lowered my sword.
The wooden sword had broken.
“I’m sorry, this sword…”
“Please don’t worry about it. We have more than enough swords in storage.”
Heh. The disciples of Mount Hua really are all warm-hearted.
Unlike that bastard Namgung Sang.
I left the Jade Purity Palace amid the disciples’ cheers.
I had loosened up my body a little and taken in the sights of Mount Hua.
Now it was time to take care of what I needed to do.
* * *
First, I informed Yak-seon of Byeok Gong’s condition.
When I asked him to take a look, Yak-seon readily headed toward the training cave.
“Hmm.”
However, Yak-seon’s expression was slightly strange.
“This is no ordinary wound.”
At those words, Byeok Gong’s face hardened.
A wound? What wound?
“What kind of wound are you talking about?”
“Look here.”
Byeok Gong had removed his upper garment.
Yak-seon lifted his arm and showed the inside of it, revealing a wound that had been carved there.
It was so small that it would have been impossible to notice unless one was deliberately looking for it.
“Is this wound the problem?”
“Yes. Where did you get this injury?”
Byeok Gong glanced at me hesitantly.
“Please speak freely, Daoist. This man is no ordinary physician.”
“Well…”
After a brief moment of hesitation, Byeok Gong finally opened his mouth.
“I was injured at the Mong Family Villa some time ago.”
“Mong… Ah.”
What immediately came to mind was, of course, the Sura Blood Cult.
Byeok Gong had been present at that battle.
We had parted without even properly greeting each other.
It seemed he had injured his arm during that fight.
“I didn’t think much of it. I never imagined this wound… would become a problem.”
“That’s understandable. Hmm, this is troublesome.”
Yak-seon clicked his tongue in clear distress as he continued examining the wound.
It was the first time I had seen such a deeply troubled expression on his face.
It didn’t seem like an ordinary issue.
“This tiny wound has properly disturbed the meridians. The turbid energy that seeped inside is obstructing all blood flow.”
In other words, the blood could no longer circulate properly, and the energy itself was losing strength and dissipating.
“If left like this, even your primal origin will be damaged.”
The primal origin referred to what martial artists called the innate true qi—the very source of life.
It was an energy that could never be trained, and once lost, it was nearly impossible to restore. It was like the primordial force.
Every human possessed it, yet it existed in a realm that could never be touched.
‘So it really is the Blood Cult.’
How utterly vicious.
I had sensed a terrible demonic aura from the moment I first saw them, but their martial arts were equally cruel.
“Is there no way to treat it?”
“I’ve never seen this kind of energy before, so…”
Yak-seon bit his lip, then immediately ground several herbs on the spot and applied them to Byeok Gong’s arm.
“For now, we must block the meridians. I’ve mixed in a bit of paralyzing powder to prevent any internal energy from flowing through that area. This should serve as a temporary measure.”
Yak-seon let out a sigh as he stood up.
No matter who the patient was, Yak-seon always did his absolute best.
That dedication made me like him even more.
“I’ll need some medicinal ingredients. Blood-Stopping Grass and Spirit-Grounding Herb to halt the movement of blood, along with Pine Cone Pellet and the leaves of Silver-White Flower to seal the blood flow.”
They weren’t particularly difficult ingredients to obtain.
The only problem was that we were currently at Mount Hua.
“Is time critical?”
“It is. We need to get them as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the skin will begin to rot.”
Paralyzing powder was, after all, a poison.
If one kept slathering that much poison onto human skin, it would naturally fester and decay.
I nodded and immediately headed back toward the mountain gate.
Yak-seon was anxious, but I wasn’t worried at all.
As long as the ingredients weren’t rare, acquiring them would pose no problem.
“I’d like to borrow a messenger pigeon.”
I borrowed one from the Mount Hua Sect.
Then I sent it flying toward a designated location.
From here to the southernmost edge of Shaanxi.
It was headed for the Black King Faction, which had only recently begun exerting influence over Shaanxi territory.
Flap!
The messenger pigeon cut powerfully through the air.
As I turned away, my heart felt deeply unsettled.
‘Is it because of me?’
That Byeok Gong had suffered such a wound.
Was it because I, who knew the future, had clashed with the Blood Cult?
In my previous life, that wound had never existed.
“Let’s see how this goes.”
Instead, it only fueled my fighting spirit.
If fate continued to interfere with me, I would simply shatter it to pieces.
And so, the first day at Mount Hua passed into night.