What was the Mount Hua Sect?

It was one of the Ten Great Sects—the so-called Nine Pillars of the Martial Alliance—and a prestigious, famed lineage known as the Sword of Shaanxi.

Its Sect Leader was the Plum Blossom Single Sword, a Heaven-Beyond-Heaven figure on the same level as the Alliance Leader, Divine Spear.

He was even brought up once as a candidate for Martial Alliance Leader alongside Divine Spear.

They said there were more people who wanted him to rise to Alliance Leader, too.

‘Didn’t he say he wouldn’t step up because Mount Hua mattered more to him?’

I didn’t know the details, but I think that’s what he said.

So I heard Divine Spear ended up becoming the Alliance Leader.

‘Just that alone proves Mount Hua’s reputation is enough.’

Even without the Plum Blossom Single Sword, Mount Hua’s reputation was high—higher and higher. And when it came to the raw power of an organized unit, Mount Hua was the same as us with the Blue Moon Sect’s Small Moon Unit.

‘Because that place has the famous Plum Blossom Sword Unit.’

People compared the Blue Moon Sect’s Small Moon Unit, the Wudang Sect’s Taiji Sword Unit,

and the Mount Hua Sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Unit.

Which meant one thing: the Plum Blossom Sword Unit’s power was that outstanding.

The Sect Leader’s standing and fame. The Plum Blossom Sword Unit’s strength.

Even if you weighed everything else, it was true—Mount Hua was a sect that sat in a very high position among the Ten Great Sects.

‘...Yeah. I get that they’re amazing, but—’

Nobody didn’t know Mount Hua was a big deal, so fine, sure.

But—

“Why the hell is this here?”

I had to keep staring at the long robe in front of me with pure confusion.

A black long robe packed full of black fur.

It reeked of a noble aura—like you could tell at a glance it wasn’t some ordinary item.

No way you could miss that it was expensive. Precious.

But still.

“...No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like what we were looking for.”

I frowned as I looked at the flower embroidery—large on the back, small on the front.

I had to.

‘In the Central Plains, there’s only one place that uses a flower pattern like this.’

Mount Hua’s plum blossom.

Plum blossoms meant Mount Hua.

An embroidery this unmistakable belonged to only one place: the Mount Hua Sect—

‘So why is this here?’

Why was a robe bearing the Mount Hua Sect’s symbol getting spit out at me?

“You said it was the White Fang Silent Robe.”

How was this white?

I could scrub my eyes raw and I still wouldn’t find a speck of white on it.

When I asked Yoo Cheongil, that old man’s expression was a work of art too.

[No... wait... why is this...?]

“...You don’t know either, old man?”

[Why is the Black Night Robe here?]

The Black Night Robe.

Even if it wasn’t what we were looking for, Yoo Cheongil seemed to know what this robe was.

“You recognize it?”

[...It’s the robe that that plum-blossom bastard used to wear.]

“Plum-blossom bastard... you mean the Plum Blossom Single Sword?”

[Yeah.]

“...Tsk.”

Of all things, it was a robe the Plum Blossom Single Sword used to wear.

And Yoo Cheongil’s own robe—what he actually wanted—was nowhere to be found, but this thing pops out instead.

What the hell was going on? Did the Plum Blossom Single Sword sneak into the inner storeroom and swap robes?

‘What kind of insane bullshit is that?’

Even I thought it sounded absurd.

So if that wasn’t it, then what?

While I was stacking questions on questions—

[...Huh?]

Yoo Cheongil reacted.

“Old man?”

[Ah...! That’s what it was!]

“What is?”

[I remember.]

He really must’ve recalled it—he even started clapping like he was thrilled.

[The two of us got drunk as hell, decided to trade robes to try them on... and then I just took it and left.]

“...What?”

My face twisted immediately.

“...What... did you just say?”

[Oops. I died without swapping it back. Heh heh heh! Well, damn!]

“Well, damn my ass. Are you actually out of your mind?”

They swapped their symbolic robes while drinking and then separated like that?

‘The Sword Saint and the Alliance Leader—and that’s something they’d do?’

How was I supposed to process this? It wasn’t just unreasonable. It was incomprehensible.

[Heh heh. This is troublesome.]

“...Seriously... fuck...”

I was about to spit out a full string of curses, and barely held it back. At this point I was almost resigned. Whatever that old man did in the past, I was running out of things left to be shocked by.

‘The Divine Spear’s fiancée and the eyeball story was already too much.’

And now this was some “got drunk with the Plum Blossom Single Sword” incident.

‘How does it just...’

How did it keep coming, endlessly?

“...So what do we do with this?”

No White Fang Silent Robe, only the Black Night Robe.

“We can’t even wear it.”

[Of course you can’t, you idiot. If you wear that around, what do you think the world will make of it?]

“They’ll at least think I’m a lunatic.”

The Sword Saint’s successor walking around in the Mount Hua Sect’s symbolic robe. Just imagining it was ridiculous.

‘And I’ve got the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword too.’

Heh.

That wasn’t a “hybrid.” That was a deranged mutant.

“So what do you want me to do?”

[What else... You have to get it back. And while you’re at it, return this too.]

“...Meaning.”

No way.

“You’re not telling me to go to Shaanxi, are you?”

[Hey now. Of course not.]

“Hahaha. I believed you. There’s a limit to how insane you’re allowed to be.”

[Hahaha. Right, right.]

“Hahahaha...”

[Heh heh heh heh.]

“...”

[...It won’t work?]

“Will it work, you old bastard?”

What’re you asking me all sneaky for?

‘I just got back from Sichuan—how long has it even been?’

There was a limit to bullshit.

I went to Sichuan because of a mission. This was different.

And on top of that—

‘The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is involved, so I can’t even move.’

Moon-Thread Sword had hammered it down. I couldn’t just go wherever I wanted.

[...Hmmm.]

Yoo Cheongil knew that too, so he looked like he was thinking for a moment—

[Ah. Then it’ll work.]

“What will?”

[Send a letter to the Mount Hua Sect. Tell them to bring the White Fang Silent Robe here.]

“...Huh?”

[There’s no way they threw it away, and if the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is happening, those bastards will be coming too. We can trade then, can’t we?]

“...Ah.”

Send a letter and tell them to bring it?

“...Me.”

[Then who, kid? You and me—who else is there?]

“Right. I’m always the one wiping your shit.”

[‘Shit,’ he says. What a filthy word.]

“What do I say in the letter?”

[A cute mistake?]

“...”

[Your expression is scary.]

“Sorry. I can’t manage my face. Fuck.”

[...Your mouth doesn’t seem managed either...]

“Would you be any different?”

[...Kghm...]

There I was thinking I’d finally get something, so I came all the way down to the inner storeroom—

and I didn’t get what I wanted. Instead, I got tangled up with the Mount Hua Sect.

How was I supposed to be happy about that?

“Haaa...”

A deep sigh spilled out. Should I just quit everything? The thought flashed through my head.

‘Now it’s the Mount Hua Sect too?’

Namgung. Tang Clan.

Every damn thing was getting involved.

Stuff I never thought I’d get tangled with in my life.

Stuff I wanted to avoid, if possible.

No—getting tangled wasn’t the issue. Fine. Whatever.

‘But not like this. Not this stupidly.’

If I had to get involved, I wanted it to be through something normal.

[Ah, but... there is one good thing.]

“Sure. I bet it’s great. What, did you steal the Plum Blossom Single Sword’s sword this time—?”

[...How did you know?]

“Are you actually insane—”

[I tried and failed. And that’s not what I’m talking about.]

“...Then what?”

[While demanding the Black Night Robe and White Fang Silent Robe be exchanged... there’s one more thing to demand from the Mount Hua Sect.]

“...Demand?”

I listened, wondering what new nonsense was coming.

[Purple Firmament Pill.]

“...!”

[We’re also going to collect the Purple Firmament Pill we were promised in the letter, so tell them to bring that too.]

“Purple Firmament Pill...?”

That pill was a famed elixir—said to rival Shaolin’s Supreme Great Rejuvenation Pill.

But... the Purple Firmament Pill?

We were promised that?

[Yeah. Those bastards had some things worth squeezing out—]

“Sir, how are you only telling me something that important now?!”

[...—ugh... uh...]

“Should I go up right now and send a letter to the Mount Hua people?”

[...]

Yoo Cheongil’s expression rotted as he watched me.

Disgust. Contempt. He wore it like it was written on his face.

[Kid.]

“Yes, sir. Just say the word.”

[...You’re truly consistent.]

“Thank you for the compliment. Should we move right away?”

“...”

Yoo Cheongil finally lost his words.

I lost my conscience.

But I didn’t care.

‘Does conscience feed you?’

Sometimes it could.

But it sure as hell couldn’t feed me a Purple Firmament Pill.

So I decided to lay down steel.

Thick. Smooth. Shameless.

*****

After that, I got out of the inner storeroom and returned to my quarters.

There was nothing to gain by staying there, and once the sun came up, they’d realize I’d disappeared, so I needed to get back as fast as possible.

The difference from when I went in was simple: I went empty-handed, but I came back holding something.

In one hand, I carried the Black Night Robe—the Plum Blossom Single Sword’s long robe.

And in the other, I carried a purple jade ring.

Per Yoo Cheongil’s instructions, I brought the robe back and stashed it somewhere in a corner.

The jade ring, I tucked into my pouch and kept against my body.

Then I went straight to sleep.

For once, bedding that was warm and soft.

Even if I tried not to sleep, I couldn’t help it.

I just collapsed and sank into it.

But—

‘Huh?’

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing inside a strange space.

‘Ah.’

I checked the situation and let out a bitter groan.

‘Again?’

Another spirit-dream?

‘Does this old bastard have no conscience?’

He’d just wrung me dry in the inner storeroom, and now he wanted to pull this again?

‘...You can’t be this nasty. You can’t.’

I ground my teeth and spoke.

“...Quit hiding and come out.”

My voice echoed through the space.

This time, unlike what I always went through, it wasn’t a white space.

It was pitch-black. Completely black.

“Hey, I already know everything anyway, so hurry up and come out. What is it this time?”

What was he trying to make me do now?

“I should at least get one day to rest. How can you do this the second I get back?”

I kept venting with an aggrieved voice, but only my words echoed back.

No answer.

‘What?’

Where the hell did he go?

‘Where else? He’s obviously hiding.’

He had to be watching me from somewhere.

“Your personality’s always been rotten.”

It wasn’t just his face that was rotten. His temper was rotten too.

Especially his nature—it felt like it scraped bottom.

‘How is someone like you called the greatest hero of the orthodox world?’

Either the world’s eyes were crooked, or the old man lived his whole life acting.

“Ah, hell...”

No matter how much I called, he didn’t show.

So I started moving first.

And the moment I did—

SPLASH—!

“Huh?”

Moisture hit my foot.

‘What the hell—’

I looked down.

Water had risen up to my ankles.

Black, muddy water.

“What is this—!”

SPLASH—!

“Kgh!”

The instant I spoke, my body got yanked down into the water.

A second ago, I’d been standing just fine.

Now, somehow, I was trapped underwater.

Kgh... gkh!

No sound came out.

I couldn’t breathe.

Oxygen kept spilling out of my mouth in bubbling bursts.

I rolled my eyes wildly with a face twisted in pain, but all I could see was still a black world.

‘Bullshit...!’

I thought I’d been through every kind of hell.

Now it was drowning?

GLRK—!

It hurt. Spirit-dreams always did—pain that was basically no different from reality.

‘...You fucking—’

I was cursing as I clutched my throat—

‘Kuh... ugh...?’

Beyond my thrashing gaze, something started to appear in the water.

‘What... a person?’

It was a person.

Far away.

I could see someone’s back.

Was it Yoo Cheongil? No—didn’t feel like it.

“Kh—...”

I tried to call out, but underwater, my voice wouldn’t form.

My mind was fading fast—

and then the figure slowly turned around.

Their clothes were black, the water was black, and I couldn’t make out their face.

But the moment their gaze aimed at me—

“...!!!”

It felt like electricity crawled up my body.

I couldn’t see their face.

A black aura covered it so thoroughly there was nothing there.

And yet I knew—instinctively—that they were looking at me.

What was that?

What the hell was that?

What could possibly be—

‘So terrifying?’

It felt like someone grabbed my heart in their fist.

A sensation like it would burst if they squeezed even a little.

The water around me felt like pure death.

Vast. Distant. Horrifying.

All I could think about was getting out of here now.

Then—

the figure’s hand moved.

A finger lifted slowly to their lips.

SHH.

With that quiet sound—

“HUUH—!!”

My body jolted awake and I shot upright.

“Hah... hah...!”

With wide eyes, I looked down at my hands.

They were shaking like crazy.

My palms were drenched in sweat.

“What...”

I wiped my hands repeatedly against my clothes and tried to think.

“What was that...?”

What did I just dream?

Weirdly, I couldn’t remember.

“...I definitely... saw something, didn’t I?”

It felt like I’d had the nastiest nightmare.

“Fuuuuuck...”

I let out a long breath. Nightmares weren’t unusual.

But this one... the aftermath hit harder than anything in a while.

And I couldn’t even remember it.

“...Whatever it was.”

My skin still crawled.

“Haah...”

Anyway, I was awake. That was what mattered.

I started to rise fully—

—...like it matters.

—...not even close...

“...Huh?”

Voices.

I heard voices from somewhere.

Outside my door.

‘What... am I not fully awake yet?’

Was it some lingering hallucination?

Because otherwise, it made no sense.

‘That’s a woman’s voice.’

There was no world where I should be hearing a woman’s voice in my quarters.

And it wasn’t just one. It was two.

I turned my head. Smacked my cheek lightly.

The voices didn’t fade.

They got clearer.

—At best—

—Compared to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) you—

The closer I got to the door, the sharper it became.

So I grabbed the handle and opened it.

SKRRRRK—!!

The door slid open—

“...What the hell?”

And I had to go blank at what I saw outside.

“What are you two doing here?”

On the wooden floor outside my room—

the owners of those voices were sitting there: Cheon Hyein, the Moon Dancer of the Blue Moon Sect, and Murong Yeongsun of the Murong Clan.

And the two of them were glaring at each other like they wanted to peel skin off bone.