[Hehe. So this is the outcome?]
I covered my face with my palm at the sound of Hae Ack-chun’s laughter in my head.
This, didn’t it seem like I had already planned for this since the start?
I wanted to explain it to him, but then I began to hear Baek Ryeon-ha’s words,
[Young Master seems quite skilled. A beautiful person wants to come under your umbrella just like that.]
Unlike usual, she was speaking with a cold look on her face.
She definitely seemed to have misunderstood this. This had confirmed the thoughts she held back when we were training the illusion technique–I was being branded as a womanizer for sure now.
I had to explain myself.
-Too late. Just accept it.
Late? What is late? I need to correct this.
-What good would knowing the truth do? Understand that you are too late to perform any countermeasures.
‘…’
I was speechless.
It seems like this bloody atmosphere was saying that everyone thought ill of me.
Sima Young only expressed her intention to join me, but why did I feel like I had turned into a public enemy?
It felt as if I would soon be struck with an iron plate. And Baek Ryeon-ha spoke in a dry voice,
“The results have been decided. Miss Sima is going to move under Vice Commander So.”
-From Young Master So to Vice Commander So.
‘…’
It was chilly in the early summer.
When such results were announced, Seo Kalma looked quite disappointed.
I didn’t dare make any eye contact, as I didn’t want any more hate being directed at me.
“Then let’s get ready and move.”
“Yes!”
With her orders falling, the warriors all moved in unison.
My clothes were prepared by the procession before I came. And clearly, my rank was doing well.
-They all have blood parasites right?
Well, true.
It was also semi-compulsory to follow the higher-ranked warrior. So it was no exaggeration to say that she needed to be taught as she hadn’t received any training in the Six Blood Valley.
“Yah!”
Fuck!
It was Son Jwa-baek, his eyes blazing,
“What have you done to Miss Sima to make her come under…”
“Vice Commander!”
The moment he wanted to relieve his anger, Sima Young called.
And when I turned, she was running to my side.
-Like a pet dog.
Before she acted like a ferocious viper, but now she had on a bright face.
Thanks to her innocent face, the position I had fixed myself over the years had been shaken.
As she approached, Song Jwa-baek’s angry face melted.
-I guess he really liked her.
“M-Miss Sima.”
-Oh my, look at him stuttering.
Right.
Like any young man or woman.
-Well she is pretty.
Right.
She was slim and beautiful. It wasn’t for nothing that the warriors of the Blood Sect were jealous of me.
But they had no idea about her
-Wonhwi. You are the man
‘…!?’
I almost spat the water out of my mouth.
-What? You are the real man?
No, what nonsense is this?
When I have someone I like, my heart will pound hard and my heart would not simply be swayed by the beauty of someone.
-Huh?
I have seen too many cases of beauties hiding the thorns on them. When I was a spy in the Murim Alliance, I had seen it all too clearly.
-Been through some bad times?
‘… no.’
-Only in the past?
Let’s skip over that part.
And there were only a handful of women in Murim who were pure.
I had realized early on that the more beautiful or higher the status, the more important it was to build a friendship with them.
“Vice Commander, did I do well?”
Sima Young spoke with twinkling eyes as if openly begging for me to praise her.
Do I have to say she did good?
-She is the daughter of one of the Four Great Evils, Wonhwi,
Iron Sword warned me in a low voice. Right, she was the daughter of Sima Chak.
I had to be patient with her. But since I had taken her in, I had to teach her a couple of things.
“Miss. At times like this…”
Song Jaw-baek interrupted,
“Miss Sima. My name is Song Jwa-baek, companion of this guy, no, Vice Commander So.”
He spoke while trying to hide the anger rising in his voice, as Short Sword said,
-This idiot pretending to be something he isn’t.
Don’t tease him too much.
At this age, it was natural to want to look good for the person you liked. Well, it was a time when the world felt nice.
But I was curious.
This guy, who would become one of the Black and White Twins 10 years from now, acted like this.
“You are a companion of Vice Commander So?” She asked, tilting her head.
I think I could understand her doubt.
It was because Song Jwa-baek didn’t seem like anything more than a first-rate warrior.
She was puzzled.
Wait. Come to think of it, it was strange how she chose me like this.
I’m also someone who gives out the feeling of a first-rate warrior. Surely, she didn’t think I was some expert warrior just because I was flying through the air with the silver thread, right?
“Haha. I don’t look like it, right? I look a little more manly than him.”
In order to make himself look good, he clenched his forearm muscles.
“Ah. Yes.”
She nodded as if she wasn’t interested in him
“Vice Commander! Vice Commander!”
“Once is enough, Miss.”
“I said that the only face I know is you, so I came under you. Did I do well?”
Uh?
Was that the only reason? That was it?
I would be happy if you said you had some ulterior motive.
Maybe she saw me gazing at Seo Kalma, but Sima Young fiddled with the hair under her ear and smiled,
“I am kind of scared of others. The only scary person I want to be with is my father.”
‘Ah…’
Well, I could imagine that, since her father was one of the Four Great Evils. Still, I had to teach her the basic etiquette of the sect here.
If she made some mistake, everyone would put the blame on me, and not her. But it was Song Jwa-baek who intervened.
“Miss Sima. Our teacher isn’t that easy either, he is scary too.”
He was joking around in a low voice, but she didn’t respond to it, almost as if she was uninterested.
Her eyes wouldn’t leave me! And thanks to this, Song Jwa-baek was glaring at me.
“What are you people doing!? Stop messing around and get ready to move!”
Hae Ack-chun who was talking with Baek Ryen-ha, Seo Kalma and Han Baekha yelled at us.
Sima Young smiled as she whispered,
“I think it is like this.”
This isn’t what I said.
After a fortnight.
Kaifeng city with the merchant union.
There was a manor full of flowers. In the middle of this manor was a woman with red hair sitting cross-legged in a luxurious and comfortable chair as she fanned her body.
Her appearance looked so harmonious with the colorful flowers.
However, a scene that didn’t seem to suit her was happening just right in front of her.
“Huak that is it.”
A large man which his whole body tied up with rope spoke with difficulty. His clothes were stained with blood and his face was full of bruises.
The middle-aged man spoke in a voice of regret,
“I carried out my mission despite losing my subordinates. But it…”
Pinch!
“Accck!”
Someone poked a finger into the shoulder of the man. Behind him stood a six foot tall man.
He was Jang Ryong, the First Blood Star.
“Didn’t I tell you to answer only the questions you are asked?”
“Uh…you bastard!”
“Looks like you have enough strength.”
“Ughh. I held up my end of the deal!”
“You are the one who failed your mission and ran away alone.”
Poke!
Jang Ryong’s finger dug deeper into the middle-aged man called Oh Gal.
The pain was too much for his body to handle.
“Aaaack! Stop it! Stop!”
“Stop what?”
Jang Ryong smiled. He was the kind who enjoyed others’ pain.
“Ughh. Please… please have mercy on me. There was no mention of Elder Seo Kalma being there.”
Jang Ryong ignored the request, almost as if he had no intention of letting the man live. In a panic, Oh Gal spoke as if he had remembered something.
“S-still just as Jang Ryong instructed, my Sajae killed So Wonhwi, the disciple of…”
Poke!
“Kuak!”
It was before he finished speaking, that his neck was broken.
The smile on the face of Jang Ryong vanished.
And it was then
Chak!
‘Huh.’
Something passed by Jang Ryong’s ear. It was a splendid sword that cracked the ground it had embedded itself into.
Jang Ryong immediately knelt down on one knee toward the master of the sword.
Tat!
There was a woman with red hair, Baek Hye-hyang who looked at him with displeasure.
“My lady.”
“The story changed a bit.”
“There seems to be some misunderstanding.”
Baek Hye-hyang fed up with the excuses, smiled,
“Misunderstand? Me?”
“…”
“What did I say?”
“… to bring the Fourth Elder down on his knees for you.”
“And is that this?”
“I apologize.”
Jang Ryong bowed his head but his face was stained with irritation. Blood trickled down his ear which had been cut by the sword.
‘All because of him?’
He could guess why.
Baek Hye-hyang who come back from the Valley spoke about a guy called So Wonhwi and his clever tricks, and she was clearly interested in him.
Come to think of it, a year back there was a time when she showed great interest in him.
And she was the kind to turn possessive of what she liked.
‘She cannot be curious about him, right?’
Surely if he was talented enough for her to want to covet him it was fine. But he, the First Blood Star, didn’t like it.
It was a warning to the people to show that she could steal even the elders if she wanted to. But he didn’t think she would be hung up on this one.
“This is no fun.”
Her cold laugh filled with killing intent.
Jang Ryong’s heart began to pound. If it was before half a year the situation would be different, but now she had surpassed him.
Her growth was terrifying.
‘Blood of the Blood Demon…’
More than anyone else, she had the blood of the Blood Demon.
That was why he supported her, ignoring everything else.
Pak!
Jang Ryong pulled out her sword which was lodged into the ground and grabbed the edge of her sword with the other hand and put it to his neck.
“If you want something in return, I will give you my life.”
“Such a pity. He was a nice guy.”
Baek Hye-hyang shook her head. And then spoke to him in a cold voice,
“Don’t act out and put your sword down.”
“…”
Jang Ryong, who hesitated for a moment, quietly lowered his sword. Of course, he too had no intention of dying here.
He was only acting to calm her anger. As long as the composition of the power struggle was clear, she wouldn’t give him up.
It was then.
Tak!
A warrior jumped into the room, bowed to Baek Hye-hyang, and said,
“It has just been announced by the United Warriors at the meeting with the Murim Alliance.”
“What?”
Jang Ryong got up in surprise.
The long-awaited event had come and Jang Ryong looked at Baek Hye-hyang.
She mumbled with a smile,
“The time has come.”
It has been a month since the valley was abandoned.
In Jiangkou County southeast of Guizhou province.
In a spacious manor located on the outskirts of it, prepared by commander Jang Mun-wong.
Normally, this was the place where Hae Ack-chun was preparing to raise us all, but since he decided to support Baek Ryeon-ha, this was being used to support the troops.
The subordinates of the Second Elder and the Bloody Hand Witch would soon gather here too.
According to Hae Ack-chun, Baek Ryeon-ha has been wandering around the Jianghu for ten years. And even if it wasn’t the Murim Alliance, the people of Baek Hye-hyang had been targeting her.
And now things have changed
She, too, has grown to some extent.
She had two of the venerable dignitaries on her side and one Blood Star who decided to follow her.
Baek Ryeon-ha now had the force on her side and she sent messengers with letters to the Second Blood Star.
As the alliance of greater Murim broke down faster than expected, the conflict within the Blood Sect would accelerate too.
I, who was in the outer training hall, entered the manor.
-Why were you suddenly called?
‘Well.’
This was an emergency summons.
Executives such as Hae Ack-chun, Seo Kalma, and Han Baekha discussed most matters but seeing how they had called me, it seemed like something was happening.
Thanks to this, I was hurriedly moving to the place I was called. However, on the way to the main hall, I ran into someone.
‘Uh?’
It was Song Jwa-baek and Song Woo-hyun. And Song Jwa-baek spoke with a sad face,
“What? You were called too?”
That is what I want to say!
Seeing that these two were called too, I was even more confused now.
