A Flower in the Darkness
Knock. Knock.
“Young master, you have a visitor.”
The servant announced it while rapping on the door to my quarters.
“Let him in.”
“Yes, young master.”
The door soon opened, and a familiar man stepped inside.
Blood Hand Poison Emperor.
Just as I expected, the bastard had entered the Ju family grounds.
A man who overestimates himself far too much.
I knew him well. One of the Twelve Demon Emperors, a being without equal when it came to poison—he was poison itself. He enjoyed revealing himself, approaching enemies with false friendliness, testing them, winning their trust, and then turning that trust into a weapon.
So I approached him using his own methods.
“Welcome.”
“……”
I remained seated and faced the Blood Hand Poison Emperor. He tilted his head, looking puzzled.
“No informal speech this time?”
“If you prefer it, I can speak that way.”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor shrugged at my question.
“Whatever suits you.”
He sat down across from me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. A servant soon brought tea. Its rich aroma filled the entire room.
“Well, we aren’t exactly close enough for pleasant conversation. Let’s get straight to the point.”
With those words, the Blood Hand Poison Emperor placed a stack of promissory notes before me.
“Ten ten-thousand-tael notes and one fifty-thousand-tael note. One hundred and fifty thousand taels in total.”
“Oh?”
I nodded. There was no need to examine them closely; the seal of the Heavenly Martial Treasury was clearly stamped on each one.
I lifted my teacup first and took a slow sip.
“Now hand over the Great Rejuvenation Pill, young master.”
“Let’s talk after we’ve enjoyed the tea.”
I set my empty cup down. The Blood Hand Poison Emperor simply stared at the cup placed before him without touching it.
“How do I know you haven’t put something in here?”
“Hmm? That wounds me. Surely you don’t think I’d poison it?”
For the briefest instant, the Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s expression froze before smoothing out again. It was only a flicker, but because I knew him so well, I alone could read the reaction.
“How could that be? This is the Ju family, after all.”
With those words, the Blood Hand Poison Emperor picked up the teacup and emptied it in one gulp.
“Mm. The aftertaste is strangely sweet. The aroma is remarkably rich as well. I’ve never tasted this tea before.”
He looked genuinely satisfied. I offered a vague smile in return.
“It’s made from the Beautiful Spirit Herb that can only be harvested from the summit of Jade Flower Mountain. In all the Central Plains, only the Ju family can produce it.”
With that, I rose from my seat.
I said those same words to you once before, Blood Hand Poison Emperor.
I turned away so he couldn’t see my face and quietly crushed down the rage welling up inside me.
Ptooey. What the hell is this?
Back then, the Blood Hand Poison Emperor had taken one sip of the tea I had carefully prepared and spat it out on the spot. I had gone to great lengths to obtain that Beautiful Spirit Herb. I had served it to him with sincerity.
They called him the last hope of the righteous path, so I had expectations. To think his only talent was brewing tea like this. Damn it, I wasted my time.
Those were the words I had barely caught through my fading consciousness as the trap closed in and my mind slipped away.
The very tea you had scorned. The tea you spat out, calling it tasteless—you’re savoring it now, praising its sweet aftertaste.
“Have you ever heard of the Dark Flower in the Shadows?”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor tilted his head at my question.
“A single flower blooming in darkness? Why are you asking about that…”
“It’s something I heard countless times whenever darkness fell upon the world.”
“……”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor fell silent at the abrupt remark and listened quietly. I walked slowly to one corner of the room, retrieved the small chest I had prepared, and continued speaking.
“That single flower could not overcome the darkness in the end. It was ultimately broken.”
“……”
I set the chest down in front of him.
“Is this the Great Rejuvenation Pill?”
“Open it.”
“Oh ho.”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s eyes gleamed. The moment his hand reached for the wooden chest, I seized his wrist.
His face twisted as he glared at me.
“Isn’t it amusing? The greatest scoundrel under heaven. A worthless wretch who did nothing but beat servants and chase women—calling himself a noble flower blooming in the darkness.”
“……Hm?”
“But now that I think about it, that flower wasn’t completely broken after all.”
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, the Blood Hand Poison Emperor glanced around the room. It was starkly empty. Far too plain to belong to Ju Woo-jin, the youngest scion of the Ju family, infamous for his lust, greed, and tyrannical arrogance.
Just as suspicion began to surface in his eyes, I casually released his wrist.
“Open it.”
“……”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor opened the chest at once. With a soft click, the seal broke. A sweet, fragrant scent exploded outward, instantly overpowering the tea aroma and saturating the entire room.
“Huuup.”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor inhaled the scent with clear pleasure, nodding as he reached for the contents. A single pill wrapped in plain paper.
Sorry about this.
“Hm?”
When he opened the wrapping, what lay inside was not the Great Rejuvenation Pill. Instead, it was the source of the fragrance filling the room.
“What in the world is this… young master?”
A small medicine bottle emerged from the paper. The Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s expression hardened visibly. First came confusion. Then fury at having been deceived.
“Do you know? That single flower blooming alone in the darkness may not have released its own fragrance and may have been broken, but its roots were embedded quite firmly.”
“I’m asking you what the hell this is…”
“Shut your mouth. Blood Hand Poison Emperor. Or should I simply call you Poison Emperor now? One of the Twelve Demon Emperors of the Demonic Cult. Poison Emperor.”
“……!”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s eyes flew wide open. He scanned every direction, confirmed no one else was present, and immediately raised his hand. The fragrant scent that had filled the room was violently expelled, replaced by a suffocating killing intent that flooded the space.
But I remained completely unaffected. I had already given him every gift I intended to give.
No antidote exists. Even the creator cannot neutralize it. The fragrance is so enchanting it cannot be recognized as poison until the moment the victim’s energy scatters and their mind collapses.
“Ugh.”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor dropped to one knee and collapsed.
“Urghhh.”
His eyes flooded with horror.
When? How?
Poison? He hadn’t noticed anything at all. He was the one called the Poison Emperor of the world. There was no way he could have missed it if poison had been used. His trembling gaze fell on the teacup he had drunk from. Had that fragrant, sweet tea truly contained a toxin powerful enough to incapacitate even him?
“Surprised?”
I stepped closer to the fallen Blood Hand Poison Emperor.
“A type of energy-scattering poison. Combined with… the very toxin you were trying to create.”
Nine Flame Soul-Controlling Incense. The very thing he had been trying to refine—I had created it and gifted it back to him.
Even though I made it, this is a poison that not even I can neutralize. A toxin with no antidote whatsoever!
Recalling the arrogant declarations he had shouted in my previous life, I grabbed a fistful of his hair.
“F-fuck… Just how much did you figure out?”
“What do you mean? The Heavenly Demon’s ten-year plan? Or the fact that you dared to poison the Ju family’s matriarch?”
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s face crumpled into an expression of pure despair.
He knows everything. About the Demonic Cult… the Twelve Demon Emperors… my entire scheme!
Everything he had done had been exposed. If this mere young master knew, it meant the entire Ju family knew.
I have to escape.
His internal energy was disintegrating. This was no ordinary energy-scattering poison. His mind was growing hazy, and his entire body had begun to tremble violently. The man once called the Poison Emperor of the world had fallen to a poison whose name he did not even know.
Even in his disoriented state, the Blood Hand Poison Emperor calculated rapidly.
Breaking through this brat is no problem. The real issue is the Ju family, but…
He immediately sprang into action. With his energy continuing to scatter, he had no time to hesitate. He kicked the door open and bolted straight ahead.
What?
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor glanced back. No one was pursuing him.
Of course not.
“Yes, run. Run anywhere you can.”
Because I hadn’t even begun yet.
I watched the Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s retreating figure and began to move slowly. The hunt had just started.
The fragrance of the Nine Flame Soul-Controlling Incense was so enchanting and unique that it was impossible to recognize as poison. Because of that very scent, thousands of righteous martial artists had lost their lives in my previous existence.
I knew the formula for the Nine Flame Soul-Controlling Incense. It was all thanks to the Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s love of showing off. Believing he had me completely cornered, he had babbled countless things he should never have said while my consciousness faded. Among them was the complete manufacturing method of the Nine Flame Soul-Controlling Incense.
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor who had trampled over others and looked down with a smug, triumphant expression—I would return the exact treatment I had received from him.
I followed slowly behind the fleeing Blood Hand Poison Emperor. His internal energy was scattering. Unable to fight or flee properly, he ran with his tail between his legs. The great Blood Hand Poison Emperor, thrown into complete panic, was running for his life.
The reason the normally cautious and thorough bastard had revealed himself so carelessly was simple complacency—along with the existence of the Great Rejuvenation Pill that would fulfill his long-held desire.
I was lucky.
The situation had unfolded so perfectly in my favor that I could think of no other description.
And then…
“Stop right there.”
Someone blocked my path. It was the entrance to the trail leading up Jade Flower Mountain. The scent trailing from the Blood Hand Poison Emperor clearly continued far ahead.
“……”
I calmly examined the figures standing in my way. They wore deep black martial uniforms and emanated a painfully familiar aura.
Black Water Unit.
One of the completed products the Blood Hand Poison Emperor had cultivated. These beings were qualitatively different from the Black Blood Unit I had encountered before. Unlike the Black Blood Unit that specialized in luring and kidnapping, these were genuine high-level demonic warriors who could be called a true military force.
“I knew you would step forward.”
“……”
I nodded casually. It seemed the Blood Hand Poison Emperor had summoned every one of his subordinates. I had anticipated it and prepared thoroughly.
“The fact that you’ve come out means there are others nearby, doesn’t it?”
I turned my gaze toward the presences I could feel. If the Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s works were the Black Water Unit and Red Water Unit, then his masterpiece was naturally the Blue Water Envoys.
“You’re all here.”
Six powerful auras closing in from every direction—I rejoiced inwardly. All six remaining Blue Water Envoys, excluding the one I had already eliminated, had gathered in one place. In the end, luring the Blood Hand Poison Emperor to the Ju family had been a divine move. His own meticulous nature had driven him straight into the trap.
“You. What are you muttering about?”
A woman emerged from between the Black Water Unit members. Dark murderous intent flickered behind her sunken eyes. The faint blue spots visible on her skin confirmed she was a Blue Water Envoy.
“When I met you before, you were completed products. You were strong. You possessed bodies as hard as corpse warriors and lethal poison that could be felt with every breath.”
“……”
“But now… you’re pathetically weak.”
Killing intent surged upward.
“All of you shall become nourishment for the Beautiful Spirit Herbs planted on Jade Flower Mountain.”
Boom!
I seized the initiative.
One of the Ju family’s secret light-body techniques. Footwork and qinggong optimized for piercing straight-line distances in a single breath. The distance between us vanished instantly.
I closed the gap in an instant and seized the foremost Blue Water Envoy by the throat.
And then—
Thud!
A heavy momentum swept across the area. A familiar yet alien energy. Profound yet unrestrained, a savage power that seemed capable of shattering everything it touched.
The moment I circulated it, ferocious demonic energy erupted. The energy I had deliberately hidden until now surged forth without restraint.
Beneath the clear sky of Jade Flower Mountain, a single dark-crimson flower bloomed.