For a natural visit to the flower garden, I needed one person’s help.
“Are you moving?”
Amid the clothes and luggage filling the room, Ian lifted her head.
“You’re here?”
Ian was in the midst of preparing to leave the cult. She was about to set out to meet Seojin, the younger sister of the Ghost Spirit.
“There’s so much to prepare for a long journey. Clothes to change into, the uniform I’ll wear when I meet Lady Seo, food in case I get hungry on the way, Golden Wound Medicine and antidotes are packed, I won’t need medicine for getting sick from unfamiliar water, right? I packed a map too. And…”
“What are these?”
“Ah, those are bowls in case I end up camping, and these are seasonings. And this is leather to spread on the ground when I sleep.”
I took all the bowls out of her leather pouch.
“Don’t cook anything that requires bowls. Take only salt for seasoning. What’s this?”
“A book to read when I can’t sleep.”
“When have you ever read books like that! Pick just one!”
I helped her pack. No, I helped her unpack.
“When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning. I was going to come say goodbye to you anyway.”
“You’re going alone?”
“Yes. Woman to woman, I’m going to try persuading her.”
If Seojin, a descendant of the Ghost Gate, joined the Ghost Shadow Squad, its strength would improve greatly. She was skilled not only in formations, but also in ghost arts.
“No matter how much luggage you have, you can at least take this, right? Here, try wearing it.”
I held out what I had brought to her. Small daggers were densely fitted into a leather belt worn around the waist.
“These are daggers I specially asked Craftsman Gwak of the Iron Workshop to make. Use them when you’re in danger. It’s a gift for leaving the cult.”
“Ah! Thank you, Young Master!”
Ian was deeply moved by the unexpected gift.
After wrapping the leather belt around her waist, she swiftly drew daggers and threw them at the wall.
Four daggers stuck into the wall. If there had been a human-shaped drawing there, they would have been at the arms and legs.
I drew one dagger from her belt and threw it at the wall.
The dagger lodged in the neck.
“Always here.”
It was advice to harden her heart when facing an enemy.
“Remember this. The clumsy mercy I show may cause someone else to die.”
Ian nodded once, then threw another dagger.
It stuck right beside the one I had thrown.
I nodded to her with a look of approval.
Ian retrieved the daggers embedded in the wall and fastened them back at her waist.
“I really like them! Thank you, Young Master.”
“No need to treasure them too much. If you use them all, I’ll have more made for you.”
“I’ll go and come back safely. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried. Why would I worry about the direct subordinate captain of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s Young Cult Leader, and the daughter of the Fist Demon? In that sense, shall we take a short walk?”
“As you can see, I’m busy. Please pick that up over there. And bring me the clothes hanging there too.”
“A woman rejecting the Young Cult Leader of the Demon Cult!”
Of course, Ian’s pretending to be busy was just a joke.
“Even if you asked me to take a walk all the way beyond the borders, I’d have to go.”
She came to my side and was about to link arms with me, then flinched. In the past, she would get piggyback rides and link arms freely, but after I became Young Cult Leader, it seemed she found it difficult to treat me so casually.
When she and I left the residence, the guards waiting outside greeted her.
Ian greeted them as well. Since they were the two organizations closest to me, they were conscious of each other, whether they showed it or not. To be precise, Jeok Yeon, the head of the guards, was the one who paid a bit more attention.
When the guards followed behind us, Ian showed a faintly puzzled expression.
It had been a long time since the two of us had time alone, so she probably had not expected me to bring the guards along.
I felt sorry for not telling her in advance, but today’s outing was closer to official business than personal.
We left the main sect like that and entered Maga Village.
It felt good to walk with Ian after so long. We looked at goods being sold in the market and chatted about this and that until we arrived at the Pungryu Tavern. When I passed it by, Ian asked in surprise.
“Huh? Aren’t we going to Pungryu Tavern?”
“No.”
Since we had come out to Maga Village, she must have naturally assumed we were going to Pungryu Tavern.
We continued walking along that road and arrived at the flower garden on the outskirts that had been in Seo Daeryong’s report.
“Buy a flower. One that blooms well all through winter.”
“No way. Did you come here to buy me flowers?”
When I nodded, she looked even happier than when she had received the daggers.
“It’s my first time getting flowers as a gift!”
Before entering with her, the guards went in first and searched the interior.
A woman with a generous-looking face, apparently the owner, came out from the backyard of the flower garden holding a flowerpot.
The moment I saw her, startled and setting down the pot, I thought,
‘She looks familiar.’
She was definitely a woman I had seen somewhere. But I could not remember.
Of course, it would not be because I remembered buying flowers from her.
‘There’s something here.’
I examined her aura. If I had glanced at her absentmindedly, I would not have realized she was a martial artist. That was how well she concealed her aura.
Then I had hit the mark.
Sa Ujong must have visited this place every time because of that woman. If it had simply been a contact point, he would have come only once or twice, but the report said he had come often, almost every day. If so, he must have received something from that woman.
“Madam, please recommend a flower that would suit this beautiful young lady.”
At that, the middle-aged woman bowed politely and said,
“There are flowers befitting one so precious and beautiful. Now, please come this way.”
She led Ian over and introduced the flowers. Judging by her extensive knowledge of flowers, anyone would have taken her for the owner of the garden.
‘If she is a master capable of disguising herself to this degree, I should be able to remember her.’
Feeling puzzled, I looked around the flower garden. In Baek Cheongyeong’s workshop before, I had sensed mysterious energy from the dolls. But here, they were ordinary flowers and trees.
She was not one of the Twelve Earthly Branch Kings who had followed Hwa Mugi.
Then was she someone I had seen during my days as a wandering warrior? Or had I seen her while searching for other materials for the Grand Art?
I even examined her build. If not her face, perhaps her body or gait might remind me of someone, but still no one came to mind.
In the meantime, Ian chose a flower.
“She says this flowering tree lives the longest. A really pretty flower will bloom from this bud.”
Then she flinched in surprise.
“Ah! Come to think of it, I have to leave the cult tomorrow, don’t I?”
I answered with a smile.
“Do we not have a flower-growing expert?”
Guessing who I meant, Ian smiled in relief.
I paid the middle-aged woman for the flower.
She might find my sudden visit suspicious.
But she would also be confused. Because I had brought Ian here without saying anything to her, Ian was not acting; she was genuinely happy.
I had also deliberately brought the guards along. Since one would not come so grandly when investigating something, it would give her all sorts of things to think about.
Hey, who are you? If this is the first time I’ve seen you, why do you look so familiar?
* * *
The next day, when I stopped by Seo Daeryong’s office, he was watering a flowerpot. Now there were two flowerpots by the window.
“This is the flowerpot that Warrior Ian entrusted to me.”
Seo Daeryong put on an exaggerated air.
“Do you know what Warrior Ian said when she left this with me?”
“If you kill the flower, I won’t let you off?”
“It would have been better if she had. I could at least have protested, saying what kind of threat is that when she’s asking a favor.”
Seo Daeryong imitated Ian.
“Ah! Look at this flower bud. It’ll be so pretty when it blooms, won’t it? I’m really, really looking forward to it. It’s the first flower I’ve ever received from the Young Master. By the time I come back, it’ll have bloomed. Right?”
Seo Daeryong shook his head.
“You should have seen her eyes then. Those eyes sparkling with expectation, with tears glimmering in them. Ah! How am I supposed to let this flower die?”
Seo Daeryong had been thoroughly caught by Ian’s move, which was far scarier than a threat.
“Why are all the flowers entrusted to me ones that absolutely must not die?”
After sighing, Seo Daeryong looked at the flowerpot and said,
“Grow well here beside your elder brother.”
“Why elder brother?”
“Because they look alike. The flowering tree that the Sword Venerable gave me…”
The next moment, I burst out of Seo Daeryong’s office and ran.
I remembered who she was.
Hwan Yeo!
I had never seen her. And yet I had mistaken her for someone familiar because I knew someone who looked like her.
Among the Twelve Earthly Branch Kings who followed Hwa Mugi, the Fifth King.
The absolute master of illusions and Soul-Capturing Art, the Illusion King.
Hwan Yeo and the Illusion King were twins.
The fact that the Illusion King had an older twin sister was only revealed long after he had become active as one of the Twelve Earthly Branch Kings.
The reason the Illusion King had advanced so smoothly and risen to become one of the Twelve Earthly Branch Kings was because of Hwan Yeo, who operated in secret.
Moreover, the Illusion King and Hwan Yeo were famous for being terrifying and vicious. They mercilessly killed anyone who hindered their aims. They were cold-blooded people without blood or tears, using Soul-Capturing Art to make parents kill children, wives kill husbands, and friends kill friends. That was why everyone feared them.
‘The person Hwan Yeo is after is the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable!’
* * *
“The Sword Venerable has a secret message for you.”
Seeing the Demon Sword from the Northern Heaven Sword Clan, Cheongseon sighed. The person bowing his head in greeting was none other than Sa Ujong.
When she had refused to meet him, he had come openly under the pretext of running an errand for the Sword Venerable.
“Follow me.”
Cheongseon dismissed her subordinates and led Sa Ujong to the reception hall.
Once only the two of them remained, Cheongseon’s expression hardened coldly.
“Don’t you know that falsely invoking a Demon Venerable’s order is also a grave crime? If the Sword Venerable finds out, she won’t let you off.”
“Then go tell the Sword Venerable.”
Sa Ujong acted like an immature brat twisted by heartbreak.
“Are you really going to be like this? If you’re a man, you should know how to give up like one.”
“That’s rich coming from you, kicking a man aside just because you rose to the seat of Demon Venerable.”
“You think I abandoned you because I became a Demon Venerable?”
A sneer as cold as the look in her eyes crossed Cheongseon’s lips.
“You have someone else you like besides me, don’t you?”
She had belatedly realized that Sa Ujong was in love with the Ilhwa Sword Venerable.
“You thought I wouldn’t know you were thinking of that woman when you slept with me?”
As a woman, it wounded her pride so much she had not even wanted to say it aloud.
In truth, at first, she had not known in her wildest dreams. No matter how outstanding her appearance was, Cheongseon had never imagined he would love the Ilhwa Sword Venerable, who was old enough to be his parent, as a woman.
Sometimes he would gaze at the painting on the wall with heated eyes, but she had thought it was respect for the Sword Venerable.
But once the veil over her eyes was removed, she realized those were the eyes of a man looking at a woman. He had even looked at the Sword Venerable’s portrait while sleeping with her. Thinking of that made her want to kill him right here and now.
But since she had entrusted this matter to Geom Mugeuk, she had to soothe him properly and send him away.
“You should be grateful I let you live. Go back now.”
Sa Ujong needled her nerves until the end.
“It can’t be helped, can it? The Sword Venerable is more attractive. Any man would feel the same, I bet.”
Cheongseon clenched her fists tightly. What made her even angrier was that he thought she would not be able to kill him even if he said such things so carelessly.
“Do you know? Surprisingly, the Sword Venerable’s skin was better too.”
Sa Ujong chose the method that would infuriate someone the most. He compared, and compared again.
“Stop. If you don’t want to die.”
Cheongseon endured to the end. But Sa Ujong even fabricated things that had never happened as he provoked her.
“The Sword Venerable smells good. Is it because she practices arcane arts? I didn’t say it, but you had a foul smell. You wouldn’t know, but there were times I had to hold my nose while…”
Cheongseon whirled around. Both her eyes had turned black, even the whites.
Kiiiiiiiiii.
With a bizarre sound, pitch-black energy poured from Cheongseon’s eyes.
Haaaaaaa.
At the same time, red energy poured from Sa Ujong’s eyes. If ghostly wails sounded from Cheongseon’s Soul-Capturing Art, then from the Yin-Yang Reverse Soul Art rang a sound like the moans of a man and woman.
The red energy coiled around the incoming black energy like a snake and flew toward Cheongseon’s eyes. A single chance granted only to one who had shared a bed with the target.
‘I did it.’
When the red energy flew back along the black energy and burrowed into her eyes, Sa Ujong was so delighted he felt he might soar. He imagined the moment when he became a Demon Venerable and made the Ilhwa Sword Venerable his woman.
Right then!
‘!’
Sa Ujong’s eyes flew wide open.
Regardless of his will, his right hand had begun drawing his sword.
‘What? No!’
The woman at the flower garden had clearly said it. The moment the Yin-Yang Reverse Soul Art took hold, the Soul-Capturing Art Cheongseon had placed on him would be broken.
‘The Yin-Yang Reverse Soul Art definitely took hold properly, didn’t it?’
Even at this moment, the red energy was taking over both her eyes, pushing out her black energy.
But Cheongseon’s Soul-Capturing Art still controlled his body.
Srrrng.
With the sword he had drawn, he pointed it at his own neck.
Only then did Sa Ujong realize.
‘She deceived me.’
He realized too late that he could not break the opponent’s Soul-Capturing Art. He had been so careful and suspicious. Yet as if bewitched by something, he had been deceived by her.
‘Could it be… me too?’
The very moment suspicion arose that the woman from the flower garden might have planted some suggestion in him as well—
Slash!
He cut his own throat with the sword.
At that very moment, Geom Mugeuk rushed into the reception hall.
Sa Ujong was collapsing, a fountain of blood spraying from his neck.
Beyond him, Cheongseon came into view.
The red energy of the Yin-Yang Reverse Soul Art had now completely driven the black energy out of her pupils. The red energy that had filled her eyes gradually shrank until it became as small as a dot, and soon her eyes began returning to their usual state.
Geom Mugeuk could tell.
‘Cheongseon has fallen to Soul-Capturing Art.’
Originally, their target must have been the previous Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable.
But because I killed the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable in this life, their target must naturally have changed to Cheongseon. Now I knew for certain.
‘Before my regression, the traitor was the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable.’