The Plum Blossoms Do Not Fall
The sound of the bell.
When exactly had he received that Taoist name?
Four years old?
Or was it five?
A child without parents, he had been led by his master’s hand and entered the Mount Hua Sect.
From a young age, his innate intelligence and natural talent for martial arts had made him the direct disciple of the previous sect leader in a single stroke.
Not the current sect leader, but the one before him.
Out of concern that the generational lineage might become tangled, his Taoist name had been set with the character “Wall,” yet in terms of seniority, he stood on equal footing with the present sect leader.
He understood the sect’s supreme techniques far too easily. Like putting on clothes that perfectly fit his body, he absorbed every lesson with frightening speed.
In that way, he became a Plum Blossom Swordsman and everyone’s senior brother.
From childhood until now.
Remembering the love the sect had given him, he had always been a man as fresh and vibrant as the Mount Hua itself.
He looked after his junior brothers and sisters, cared for them, and taught them.
He lived with the joy of returning everything he had received back to Mount Hua.
Brilliant beyond anyone else, it had not been long since he sensed the strange currents in the air.
At some point, the sect leader’s every action, habit, and even the tone of his speech had begun to change in subtle ways.
It was a suspicion only Byuk Ryu could harbor, having served the sect leader more closely than any other disciple.
The fact that he disappeared every night. The way they exchanged messages at the Plum Blossom Courtyard.
His doubts had grown deeper, and he had even begun to find the traces they left behind.
“Demonic arts.”
The traces of demonic arts deeply imprinted upon the disciples of Mount Hua.
It was no coincidence.
It had been a provocation. A bold challenge that said, If you dare, then try.
And so Byuk Ryu had gradually become isolated.
Now, when it was impossible to tell who stood on whose side, the only thing he could do was send as many Plum Blossom Swordsmen outside the mountain as possible.
The bond between martial siblings ran deeper than loyalty to the sect leader.
Having risked their lives together on missions, the affection they shared was far more profound than simple friendship.
Clang! Clang!
Byuk Ryu stood before the gate.
He turned to look at me.
“Leave, little brother. This is a matter for Mount Hua.”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“I was the one who recklessly dragged them out.”
“It doesn’t matter. It was going to happen anyway.”
He smiled and ruffled my hair.
“It matters to me.”
I took his hand and stood beside him.
“I don’t want to see Mount Hua lose like that ever again.”
“……Lose again? What do you mean by……”
It was then.
A mysterious group climbed atop the wall outside the mountain gate.
They wore masks and night-clothes.
“Ah, they are warriors from my family.”
The moment the words left my mouth, Yu-ran and the Red Dragon Unit removed their masks.
“What are you doing? Why are you revealing your identities like that?”
“Sorry. It turned out that way.”
At my words, Yu-ran and the Red Dragon Unit members reluctantly stood at attention beside us.
“The Red Dragon Unit……”
Byuk Ryu recognized them instantly.
“Captain, please protect my sister, Lady Mong, and Elder Yak-seon. Our quarters are over there.”
“Yes, understood.”
Yu-ran took ten members of the Red Dragon Unit and quickly disappeared.
Soon after, Byuk Ryu closed and locked the mountain gate.
Not content with simply shutting it, he bent an iron skewer and hooked it across the doors.
“From now on, no one may leave beyond this gate without our permission.”
Byuk Ryu’s expression was flushed with excitement.
It seemed he thought there might still be a chance.
“I am showing you the shame of our sect. But since we are in a position where even one more hand would be welcome……”
Yes. I will not run away.
I will change the future that is to come.
The future had already changed.
The fact that the Mahwang Squad had moved first, and that the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were responding accordingly, was proof of that.
Just as the future had changed, I too would save every single person who could be saved.
“Do you know their identities?”
At my question, Byuk Ryu shook his head with a regretful expression.
“Unfortunately, I do not. Even though our brothers have been running around so desperately……”
“They are from the Demonic Cult.”
“……!”
Byuk Ryu’s face hardened at my words.
He stammered as he continued.
“The D-Demonic Cult? What are you saying?”
“Exactly as you heard. The Mahwang Squad of the Demonic Cult. That is their true identity.”
“The Demonic Cult…… Hah, does that mean the Ju family already knew about this?”
“No. Even within the family, not many know. This is, well, a secret between me and the brothers and sisters here.”
I looked around at the Plum Blossom Swordsmen and spoke quietly.
“It is a secret between us siblings.”
“A secret? Hah, with even the sect leader fallen into their hands, do you really think this can be protected as a secret?”
“It must be protected. That is why we have to…… kill every single member of the Mahwang Squad here.”
At the word “kill,” a thick killing intent rose among the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
They were the elite of the Mount Hua Sect.
Like the Taiji Swordsmen of Wudang and the Arhat Monks of Shaolin, they were masters whose skill was acknowledged throughout the martial world.
“We were already planning to kill the sect leader as well.”
I knew how long and deeply they had contemplated that decision.
As disciples of the sect, they also understood how grave a sin it was to harm their master and the leader of their order.
Yet the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were willing to shoulder all that karma.
Because if they did not step forward, it could lead to the destruction of the sect.
“What you saw, brother, was most likely the demonic arts of the demons. With that, we may be able to track down the Mahwang Squad in reverse.”
Demonic energy could be concealed.
Since the orthodox martial artists of the Central Plains feared and guarded against demonic arts more than anyone, the demons had studied ways to hide their demonic energy from the very beginning.
Therefore, the demons were more insidious and meticulous than anyone else.
“That means……”
“Yes. If the disciples of Mount Hua have already fallen to the demonic arts……”
I drew a line across my throat with my hand.
“We must kill them?”
“Yes.”
There would be enormous damage.
More than half of Mount Hua’s disciples might have already fallen into the hands of the Mahwang Squad.
We had to find and kill every last seed that had corrupted the noble spirit of Mount Hua and would eventually lead to its downfall.
“Can you do it?”
At my question, Byuk Ryu nodded without needing to think.
“We must cut them down. If the Mount Hua we love has rotted to the core, it is only natural that we pull it out by the roots and burn it away.”
“Well said, senior brother.”
“I agree.”
One by one, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen voiced their support.
Yes. The preparations were complete.
“Muyoung.”
I quietly called Muyoung.
Before coming here, I had already told him to go to the weapon vault and retrieve equipment, so he held a weapon in his hand.
I took Ju Seung-gyeong’s sword from him.
“I’m sorry to my sister.”
I would simply have to control my strength as gently as possible.
“Shall we go, then?”
At my words, everyone nodded with hardened expressions.
Jaha Palace. Deep within its secret chamber.
There was a hidden chamber inside Jaha Palace that no one knew about.
In that place, Musang Jin-in and the other elders were holding a secret meeting.
No, to be precise, they were members of the Mahwang Squad disguised as elders.
“It seems they’ve noticed.”
“I knew it would come to this. That’s why we should have killed all the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.”
“How are we supposed to call back those bastards who are always wandering outside?”
“Aigoo, brother. Can’t even the sect leader manage that much?”
The demons laughed mockingly.
Even as the situation turned against them, there was no tension in their demeanor.
That was because they possessed the skill to justify such confidence from the start.
“What about the preparations?”
“Already hundreds of Mount Hua’s fools have fallen under the suggestion. This is exactly when that bastard Sa-an Gwi-gun proves useful.”
Dominate the mind and plant suggestions.
It was the classic method of Sa-an Gwi-gun.
There was no way these men had learned the Soul-Destroying Illusion Art like him.
So how had they been able to plant suggestions in others?
Ting!
A small bell was held in one of the demons’ hands.
From a distance it looked like the skull of a beast, yet up close it was unmistakably a bell. It was one of the Demonic Cult’s ancient treasures.
Sa-an Gwi-gun had added an array to it, allowing it to easily plant suggestions in those with weak martial prowess.
“They look perfectly normal right now, but the moment the signal is sent, they’ll all turn into madmen with bloodshot eyes and slaughter their own allies. Hehehe.”
At the man’s words, Musang Jin-in nodded.
He was satisfied.
“Because of that brat from the Ju family, we had to accelerate the plan. He kept insisting we seal the mountain, saying he had noticed something.”
“Seal the mountain? Hah, has that bastard truly gone insane?”
“He said there was an enemy within. The moment I heard that, I knew.”
Ah, so the Ju family had noticed.
That also meant it would not be strange if warriors from the Ju family stormed in at any moment.
Musang Jin-in immediately gathered his subordinates and shared his decision.
“Hey, brother. I just heard that dog Byuk Ryu has locked the mountain gate! There’s nothing holding us back now!”
The mountain gate was locked?
Now it was certain.
“Heh heh. How dare he.”
A heavy aura began leaking from Musang Jin-in’s entire body.
The energy that surged up no longer wished to be hidden. It spread out in all directions like a vast sea.
“It’s a little early, but it can’t be helped.”
Once caught, there was no turning back.
“From today onward, the plum blossoms shall never see the sky again.”
“We obey!”
At Musang Jin-in’s command, the other members of the Mahwang Squad bowed their heads in unison.
Jaha Palace.
Me, forty members of the Red Dragon Unit, and twenty-eight Plum Blossom Swordsmen including Byuk Ryu climbed the stairs of Jaha Palace.
“The lights in the residence are……”
Extinguished.
Byuk Ryu gripped his sword with visible tension and slowly raised his aura.
The atmosphere of Jaha Palace was different from usual.
Not a single Mount Hua disciple who should have been guarding the area was present.
“As expected.”
It seemed the enemy had also noticed.
I expanded my senses even further.
If there was one thing my senses excelled at beyond anyone else, it was detecting demonic energy.
At the edge of that widely spread sense, something caught.
……There’s more than one?
The enemies were gathered together.
That meant they were already aware of us.
“They are inside Jaha Palace, brother.”
At my words, Byuk Ryu looked back at the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
A grave atmosphere.
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen lowered their stances at once, ready to storm into Jaha Palace.
“It looks like they know we’ve noticed them.”
I also drew my sword and slowly gathered my inner energy.
Since we had no idea when or how things might happen, from now on we had to raise our bodies’ tension to the highest level.
“We’re going in.”
The moment Byuk Ryu decided to advance.
Ting! Ting-a-ling!
The clear sound of a bell rang loudly throughout Jaha Palace.
“A bell?”
While everyone looked puzzled, I stopped walking with a hardened expression.
“This is…… the Gwi-hyeol-ryeong?”
The Gwi-hyeol-ryeong.
It was not one of the ten treasures used by the Cheonma, but it was still a demonic artifact of comparable power.
It was originally a ritual tool used for ceremonies or to summon spirits, but it was not limited to that purpose alone.
Array formation.
When an array was added to the Gwi-hyeol-ryeong, it could endlessly manipulate souls, they said.
Well, it was probably manipulating minds rather than actual souls.
Shhhshhh.
As soon as I finished speaking, the forest surrounding Jaha Palace began to move.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t the forest that was moving.
“They’ve come.”
Swoosh!
I spread energy along the tip of my sword.
Swinging the condensed sword energy in a single motion, I shouted urgently.
“They’re coming!”
Rumble!
It was an ambush.
The disciples of the Mount Hua Sect, their eyes glowing with a crimson madness, were charging toward us.