Emei Sect.
One of the nine sects representing the righteous faction, a sect based in Sichuan known as one of the Nine Sects and One Union.
Unlike other sects, it was peculiar in that it was maintained solely by female monks.
What was the reason? I don't really know.
It's probably best to say I have no interest.
What little I do know is that it wasn't always like this.
Only that since the Blood Demon War, they had expelled male disciples and begun composing themselves solely of female disciples.
Because of this, people often wondered how they could maintain their seat in the Nine Sects and One Alliance composed only of women, but.
To me, it didn't seem like a particularly meaningful topic.
'Once you've cultivated internal energy in your body, where is there male or female?'
From an ordinary perspective, a martial artist has already crossed that line.
You should only divide by realm; the moment you bring gender into it, it becomes meaningless talk.
'The bastards who go easy on women because they're women are the biggest problem.'
That sort of thing is only permitted for ordinary people; for martial artists, it's meaningless.
That's why they die like fools falling for honey traps, or have their throats slit in a moment of hesitation.
In truth, when the devils were conquering Sichuan, the Emei Sect was the most troublesome.
It wasn't that their martial might was overwhelmingly superior or their strategies exceptional. Problems simply occurred because they lusted after them for being women.
The female monks of Emei grew out their hair despite being monks.
Though not very long, they wore it short or in bobs.
Perhaps because of that, beastly bastards would commit all sorts of unspeakable acts.
'The Black Flame Division was under my management, but...'
I burned them alive if they showed such behavior, so there were no problems in the Black Flame Division.
But I couldn't do the same with the Ghost Sword Division and the Green-Clad Secret Assault Division.
Later, I crushed the Sword Demon and caught one of the Secret Assault Division to pull out his entrails, and things quieted down then.
Thanks to that, the conquest of Sichuan almost had issues.
'Anyway.'
Ignoring such matters, I had to look at the woman before me first.
A bob cut reaching her shoulders and a deep scar running across her cheek.
She looked to be around thirty or so.
'I don't know who she is.'
She isn't a famous martial artist.
At least, she wasn't someone I recognized by appearance.
I met the eyes of the scarred woman. More precisely, the Emei Sect disciple.
"What is it."
"...Keuk."
When I put strength into the hand gripping her throat, the woman groaned.
I had severed the flow of her internal energy and sealed her movements.
Her realm was at best the peak.
I swept my other hand over the woman's body.
"...!!"
She twisted her expression as if humiliated, but I didn't care.
'Judging by her muscles, she's an assassin.'
Judging by her developed state, she was indeed an assassin.
However, looking at the calluses on her hands, she seemed to be someone who used palm techniques.
An assassin and a fist artist... It was a somewhat subtle combination.
"Truly a question. Why is a Sichuan nun doing such a thing?"
I loosened the strength in my hand slightly and asked.
"W-what... do you mean... W-why on earth are you doing this all of a sudden!"
As expected, the woman feigned ignorance to my question.
As I listened to her words, I calmly gazed into her eyes.
Her pupils were shaking like crazy.
Her breathing was rough and her heartbeat was violent.
Was it fear, or confusion?
There would be a subtle difference, but I couldn't discern that far.
However.
'She recognized me.'
She definitely called me Xiao Yanluo upon seeing me.
Ordinary people almost never recognize me on sight.
The Alliance had deliberately made an agreement with the Beggars' Sect to keep it that way.
And thanks to my own low profile as well.
Yet she recognized me at once.
'It's not strange.'
Even if rumors hadn't spread widely, I was known to some extent; if someone was interested and had looked into me, it was possible they'd figure it out.
But.
'It didn't feel like that.'
The woman's reaction wasn't purely surprise.
'This meeting itself is problematic from the start.'
Let's figure out the cause of this entanglement.
"Emei nun, do you have business with our young lady Pi Yanyan?"
"...P-Pi Yanyan?"
"Pi Yanyan."
"A collateral branch of the Xi'an Pi family."
"The alias that Bongsun currently holds."
"Also."
"She was also bait I had scattered."
'Yes, bait.'
Yiling Sword Empress was a figure the Alliance kept extremely secret, while at the same time several other powers paid close attention to her.
Truly strange.
Decades had passed since she died, and the position of Sword Empress had already been taken by Huashan.
Was there any reason to watch for and block her traces?
The Alliance certainly might, but for others, it raises questions.
Yiling Sword Empress was known to have no affiliated power.
In the end, it was revealed that she did have a separate force, but.
'That was merely a scheme of the Alliance anyway.'
I couldn't believe it.
Even if it were true, it didn't matter.
'If it's real, I can make it look fake.'
Evidence is something you create.
The existence of Yiling Sword Empress was nothing more than a dagger to me.
However.
'Who is it?'
Who else could be trying to figure this out, apart from the Alliance and me?
It was something I had always been curious about.
Who could it be?
Who was moving, and for what reason?
'Is it someone who can help me?'
More precisely, someone useful to my plans?
Or someone who would become a useless obstacle?
I was curious about that, and to find out, I had to scatter bait.
Bait valuable enough that someone would bite the moment they saw it.
Yet precious enough that they couldn't easily notice it.
I cast it upon the sea, and surprisingly, immediately someone bit.
That was none other than.
'Emei Sect.'
The Sichuan nuns, or the guardians of Sichuan.
In my previous life, they hadn't distinguished themselves even when on the brink of destruction, yet there had been unusually many rumors.
From there, the bait was taken.
"...L-let go... let me go. Xiao Yanluo, why on earth are you doing this!"
"First of all."
Ignoring the woman's cry, I asked first.
"Why were you looking at that child?"
Outside the preliminary rounds of the Martial Tournament.
There, the woman had been looking at Bongsun.
Or rather, it was reported she was looking.
It was a report from the subordinates of the Dark King I had placed all around.
I had ordered them to tell me if anyone was watching Bongsun or acting strangely.
"What are you saying? Who on earth was I even looking at..."
Even as she spat out words, her breathing gradually steadied.
Her pulse was rough but steady.
'She's a highly trained individual.'
This made it ambiguous whether she was lying or acting.
Fortunately, there were other ways to find out even without this.
"Was it not the child?"
I tilted my head slightly and asked.
"Then, were you looking at the Guiying Wood?"
"...!"
*Thud.*
'I knew it.'
Feeling the shift in her reaction, I raised the corner of my mouth.
The woman's eyes grew wider, and her barely restored breathing broke.
"...Wha... what."
She tried desperately to catch her breath, but it was already too late.
"I'm talking about what young lady Pi was carrying. I thought you might have been surprised seeing it."
"That's what the Sword Empress used to carry around. Right?"
The more I asked while smiling, the more her cheeks trembled.
Her expression was already broken.
Her eyes were filled with shock at how I could possibly know.
That reaction was truly delectable.
'I made sure she knew precisely so this would happen. Of course.'
"Guiying Wood.
One might think it's just some kind of tree from the name, but it is strictly a precious artifact. One of the weapons made from such an artifact.
Its form is that of a staff carved from wood, but.
'If desired, it can become a wooden sword or a spear.'
It would change shape according to the wielder's wish.
It was no different from a precious artifact in function.
Yiling Sword Empress is known to have used a wooden sword; she must have used the Guiying Wood in such a form."
"H-how do you..."
"How I know isn't important. What's important is why you reacted that way upon seeing it. Isn't it?"
The staff Bongsun carried had a flower pattern embroidered in black thread.
This was one of the characteristics of the Guiying Wood.
Yiling Sword Empress likely made this into a handle to hide it.
The Ghost Spear of my previous life also concealed the embroidered part.
This too I learned later from the Ghost Spear.
And there was the biggest reason I used the Guiying Wood as bait.
It was that.
'The Guiying Wood is passed down through bloodline.'
The characteristic of this precious artifact was bloodline inheritance.
Only blood relatives could use it.
This was the same trait held by the Thunder Fang of the Nangong family.
However.
While the Thunder Fang could be used by anyone of the Nangong family recognized by the artifact.
'The Guiying Wood requires a true blood relative.'
It was a trait the Ghost Spear spoke of; in truth, apart from the Ghost Spear himself, no one could touch the Guiying Wood.
That's what made me think.
'The powers had been searching for the Sword Empress's blood relatives for a long time.'
I know they have been grasping information about the Sword Empress, and whether she had children.
The information I gathered said as much.
Then.
'How did they try to identify them?'
They wouldn't simply be looking for someone who resembled her.
There must have been some method.
I thought it was the Guiying Wood.
Thus, I ordered Bongsun to carry it openly without hiding the pattern.
The Alliance, who should be looking harder, seemed unaware of this.
'It means the Murim Alliance doesn't know about Yiling Sword Empress's child, let alone the trait of the Guiying Wood.'
Considering this, the Emei martial artist who seemed to notice Bongsun and fled.
That nameless one....
'Knows about the Guiying Wood. And knows that trait.'
That was the right way to see it.
"I'll ask again. Was your target our Bong... no, young lady Pi? Or the Guiying Wood?"
There was no answer.
She seemed to have already realized.
That there was no way to escape, and that she had failed to manage her expression.
So I grabbed her cheek to open her mouth.
"Keok!?"
In the moment the woman panicked at the sudden situation.
I sent a bit of energy to sweep the inside of her mouth.
'No poison.'
She didn't seem to have hidden a poison pill under her molars or tongue.
After confirming, I maintained my strength in case she tried to bite her tongue to commit suicide.
"Whatever the case, it's true that the Emei Sect is involved...."
"Kkeureok... Kkeuk."
"A question remains. Why has this happened all of a sudden?"
Yiling Sword Empress is known to be unaffiliated.
She didn't particularly belong to any family or sect; I had understood she rose to her position purely through swordsmanship.
'What is it.'
Why is Emei looking for Bongsun?
'No, perhaps they're not looking for Bongsun but for the Guiying Wood?'
Could the Guiying Wood have been Emei's representative precious artifact?
'That's possible.'
Rather than the intention of looking for the Sword Empress's bloodline to do something, isn't it possible that Yiling Sword Empress stole away with Emei's precious artifact?
So it's possible they've been searching for it for a long time.
A sect's representative precious artifact holds such value, after all.
'This is pure speculation, though.'
I'll keep it in mind since you never know.
'For now, it's enough to know that the Emei Sect is involved.'
It was a harvest of sorts.
I scattered some bait and they got hooked so easily; I should be grateful.
'Now then, for the last matter.'
"Keuk...."
The woman couldn't even close her mouth and trembled.
Unfortunately, my business wasn't over yet.
"Honestly, I don't care about Pi Yanyan or the Guiying Wood. The question I'm about to ask is the most important."
Finding out is simple: turn her into a devil and make her spit out the answer.
I just didn't want to corrupt someone without understanding the circumstances if possible.
So I asked.
"I drank some poison this morning."
"..."
"Was that your doing?"
*Twitch.*
The woman's movements changed.
I didn't miss it.
"Seems like it?"
"N-no... noo...."
Was she denying it? Because I was holding her cheek, her pronunciation was quite slurred.
I clicked my tongue shortly at her.
"Ah, I feel a bit sorry to that old man Poison King. I thought it was obviously him."
Unfortunately (?) it seems my second guess was right.
When I spoke with certainty, the woman expressed denial and spat out answers with her eyes.
How did you know?
How can you pinpoint it exactly?
It's no wonder she's surprised.
There would be neither evidence nor reason to think the Emei Sect had poisoned her.
But.
"I heard some rumors."
Unfortunately, I happen to have a lot of information from my previous life, contrary to appearances.
"The Emei Sect, known as the Sichuan nuns... are said to be resorting to petty schemes out of jealousy toward male martial artists who are recently rising in prominence."
"...!"
"Right?"
It's a lie.
This was something I heard in my previous life. In reality, it was a rumor that hadn't spread yet.
It was a rumor that had crept up around the time the Little Sword Saint was in his prime.
That Emei was playing dirty tricks against men behind the scenes.
I asked, recalling such rumors.
The problem is.
"When I looked into it, circumstances had been captured from several others besides me."
It seems that rumor was true after all.
"...Keu... eop...."
Servants, or tavern keepers.
Or even prostitutes.
From the previous night to dawn today. Attempts to poison tea or food here and there in Henan were confirmed.
They were accounts obtained by running a separate assassin squad.
The perpetrators were different, but the poison used was the same, and all failed.
They had paid untrained people large sums to employ crude methods.
In my view, it was obvious they were meant to fail.
The common point here is.
'That the victims were all participants in the Martial Tournament, though the perpetrators differed.'
And that they were all men gradually showing prominence.
Young male martial artists whose names were just beginning to rise.
They were the ones targeted for poisoning.
'And all failed.'
The victims were fewer than ten.
Entangled in unknown threats from outside the region, they didn't easily speak of it.
The funny thing is, none requested protection from the Alliance.
Why is that? The Murim Alliance is surely the most trustworthy in Henan.
'...This is probably less about a martial artist's pride and more that.'
Even though they were orthodox faction martial artists, it seemed they didn't actually trust the Alliance.
Truly a mess.
"N-no..."
"Why go so far? I'm curious."
I don't believe her denials at all.
It's funny enough that the rumors from my previous life are true, but why on earth did they do this? That was what made me quite curious.
At this point, I've more or less secured justification, so should I just turn her into a devil?
Should I ask then?
Hesitation sprouts naturally.
It was an excellent situation to do so.
'Because I can gain other information besides that about the Yiling Sword Empress.'
I hadn't planned to add more devils for the time being, but for convenience's sake, it was tolerable.
Shall I corrupt her?
In the midst of such worries.
"Hmm."
A good idea came to mind.
At this point, more than one or two powers are entangled.
Emei and the Murim Alliance.
Other great families are also being a nuisance. What I need to know here is.
'Whether the Alliance and Emei are in a cooperative relationship.'
Or hostile forces.
'Probably, since they both bear the name of the orthodox faction, they don't seem hostile.'
But it didn't seem like they were in a complete cooperative relationship either.
If they were cooperating, it would be strange for the Alliance to not know information about the Sword Empress.
I don't know what their relationship is.
'At least to me, they are both hostile forces.'
Rather than suffering caught between them, it was right to use a much more convenient method.
"Good."
I finished my thoughts and smiled.
The woman trembled for some reason upon seeing my smile.
Looking at her, I put strength into my grip.
*Crack-!*
******************
A large residence in the north of Henan Province.
It was one of the areas managed by the Murim Alliance.
It was currently the residence used by Emei Sect disciples.
Inside the third largest residence in the jurisdiction.
There.
"Kyaahhh-!"
A sharp scream echoed.
"M-Martial Sister!"
"Something happened to Yanying...!!"
The women in Taoist robes all checked the situation and turned pale.
In their center lay a woman, already dead having breathed her last.
It was Yanying, the second-generation disciple of Emei who had gone on a mission.
"W-what the...!"
A corpse suddenly discovered in a field.
As the women faced the situation and were all frowning.
"...Make way."
Everyone flinched and trembled at the voice from behind.
Immediately the women moved aside to make way.
Then an old woman walked toward Yanying's corpse with dignified steps.
The cold corpse.
Judging by the marks on the neck, she seemed to have died in a single blow.
Looking at this, the old woman asked her surroundings with sharp eyes.
"...What on earth happened here?"
"W-we were standing guard when it suddenly appeared...."
"...What?"
The old woman's expression wrinkled upon hearing the explanation.
This is space managed by the Alliance; or if not, it was where disciples were keeping watch.
And yet, a human corpse appeared suddenly in such an open space without any obstacles?
And what's more.
'The child I sent on a mission?'
One of the five I gave a secret mission to last night?
It was incomprehensible.
Sensing something strange, the old woman examined the corpse again.
"Hmm...?"
She suddenly saw something clutched in the corpse's hand.
The old woman immediately tried to pull out what the corpse was holding.
The body was gradually stiffening and wouldn't open easily, so she applied force and a snapping sound rang from the grip.
*Crunch-!!!*
Only after mangling the corpse's hand could she pull out an unknown missive.
Paying no heed to the ruined hand, the old woman checked it and had to furrow her brows.
On the missive was the crest symbolizing the Murim Alliance, along with a single line of text.
[Do not approach the secret any further.]
The moment she saw the text on the missive.
*Whoosh-!*
"Sect Leader!"
"It's dangerous!"
The missive she was holding suddenly caught fire and disappeared.
"...Ha."
The old woman.
No, the Emei Sect Leader and one of the Three Authorities of the Seven Absolutes.
The Pink Moon Fist Immortal's face twisted as if overcome with rage.