Chapter 196: Black Lotus (1)
A day ago.
The atmosphere within the Wudang Sect's encampment south of Luoyang was utterly devastated.
Crash! Clang! Crack!
The one hurling tables and porcelain in a fit of rage was none other than the highly revered Gwan Hyun, known far and wide as a Daoist of deep cultivation.
“Venerable Buddha, Saber King! How dare those mongrels block the path of Wudang?!”
Blood vessels bulged in Gwan Hyun’s eyes.
“I’ll never let this end as it is. Never!”
“……”
“……”
The disciples kept their mouths tightly shut, remaining in complete silence.
They couldn’t risk opening their mouths and invoking the wrath of the Sect Leader.
“S-Sect Leader….”
“What is it?!”
At that moment, one of the second disciples rushed in from outside holding a letter.
“A-A message… from Black Lotus.”
“Black Lotus?!”
Gwan Hyun violently snatched the letter and tore open the envelope.
And soon after…
Tremble!
As he read through the contents, his hand began to tremble with shock and fear.
“S-Sect Leader?”
“It’s… It’s nothing.”
Gwan Hyun hastily waved his hand.
No matter how much shame he carried in front of his disciples, the contents of this letter must never reach their ears.
‘Those bastards… They’ve cornered me into burning my bridges!’
The letter detailed the conversation he’d once had with Colorful Flower Lord.
And it contained a threat—if he tried to flee from Luoyang, the information would immediately be spread throughout the central plains via the Beggars’ Sect.
‘I suspected something when those two appeared…’
It seemed that Soul-Corrupting Lust Fiend had already been dealt with, and the evidence he had been searching for had fallen into their hands.
“When are ‘those children’ supposed to arrive?”
Jeonmu stepped forward and answered.
“Judging by when the letter was sent, they should arrive here by tomorrow at the latest.”
“……”
After a brief silence, Gwan Hyun uttered something shocking.
“It seems we’ll need to cause a bloodbath in Luoyang.”
“S-Sect Leader?!”
Jeon Seok, who was still recovering from his injuries, suddenly lifted his head in shock.
“If Venerable Buddha and Saber King want to settle things with us once and for all, then we’ll give them what they want.”
“Settle things… how?”
“Those so-called respected elders of the orthodox sects stooped so low as to collude with demonic and unorthodox forces just to keep Wudang in check. Are we supposed to endure this forever?”
Nods
The first disciples all nodded in agreement.
They could perhaps understand it from Saber King, but even they had never imagined the Buddhist Sovereign of Shaolin would act in such a way.
Only Jeon Seok stood in opposition to the prevailing mood.
“N-No, we can’t, Sect Leader! No matter how far they’ve crossed the line, Wudang must still walk the righteous path!”
“Jeon Seok.”
Gwan Hyun looked at him with a pained expression.
“I respect your upright nature, but the brutal world of Murim cannot be survived with righteousness alone.”
“S-Sect Leader?!”
Jeon Seok was too stunned to speak.
For the man he revered so deeply to say such words!
“F-Fellow disciples! Say something! Surely you can’t believe this is right!”
“…Senior Martial Brother Jeon Seok.”
Chill!
Jeon Seok felt a cold dread in the eyes of his fellow disciples.
These same comrades he had shared brotherhood with—now, they were looking at him devoid of all emotion.
“Jeon Seok is still gravely injured, so he’s to be excluded from this mission.”
“Sect Leader!”
“Take him away. Jeon Hwi, look after Jeon Seok.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
One of the first disciples, Jeon Hwi, lowered his head and led Jeon Seok out of the room.
“Sigh, I excluded Jeon Seok from the plan precisely because he’s too upright… but it still came to this.”
“He’ll understand eventually, Sect Leader.”
“No. This is a sin I alone must bear.”
Letting out a bitter sigh, Gwan Hyun soon sharpened his gaze.
“The moment those kids arrive, we’ll do as they wish and drench Luoyang in blood. Whether it’s the puppet Black Lotus or whoever’s behind them, I’ll wipe them all out.”
His gaze turned toward a certain direction.
“Jeonmu.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“I have two orders for you.”
“Please speak.”
“Attack the Dokgo Clan and capture the Sword King’s granddaughter. Recover the Jade Green Heavenly Net Divine Sword from her.”
“Yes.”
“The second… take this.”
What Jeonmu received was a parchment map.
“While I battle the Black Lotus bastards, use this map to find the entrance to the Heaven of Sacred Spirits hidden somewhere in Luoyang.”
The scroll was filled with complex formulas and geometric patterns—on first glance, it certainly didn’t look like a regular map.
“Jeonmu, this may be difficult, but you must succeed. Just as Grand Heavenly Lord was convinced, that entrance surely exists somewhere in Luoyang!”
“I’ll stake my life on it.”
With a resolute expression, Jeonmu bowed deeply.
***
“U-Ugh…”
Jegal Eun slowly regained consciousness, her head throbbing with a brain-splitting headache.
Her mind was still hazy, and she couldn’t remember what had happened at all.
While she groaned from the pain, a nervous voice nearby spoke up.
“Y-Young Master Jin… don’t you think you hit her too hard?”
A lazy voice responded—
“It couldn’t be helped in that situation. Who told you to slip up and say something?”
“Uuugh! I told you, I had no choice back then! Eun-i is someone I really care about, you know?!”
“Then how about silencing her completely before your identity gets exposed?”
“…Did you even listen to what I just said?”
…So noisy.
I just wanted to sleep a bit more, but the buzzing voices beside me made it impossible to even pass out again.
Just as Jegal Eun was about to open her eyes weakly—
‘Hm? Wait a second?’
The memories that had sunk below the surface slowly began to rise again.
That divine pressure that destroyed the monster trying to kill her in one strike.
The masked twin-sword expert who showed that divine pressure—Demonic Sword Flower.
And the true identity of Demonic Sword Flower was none other than...
“Y-You're a servant of the Demonic Cult!”
“Nooooooo!”
As Jegal Eun screamed with wide-awake clarity, Baek Sang-ah flung herself toward her in panic.
Cheon Yura, watching the scene, narrowed her eyes sharply.
“Looks like she remembers everything. Maybe we should just eliminate her completely…”
“Absolutely not!”
Baek Sang-ah clung to Jegal Eun’s body and cried out, almost in tears.
“Unnie... being Demonic Sword Flower… you deceived everyone…”
“N-No! I mean, that’s not entirely wrong, but it’s not like that!”
Despite Baek Sang-ah’s desperate and sincere pleas, Jegal Eun remained unmoved.
She trembled with rage, overwhelmed by the betrayal swelling in her chest.
Since when had the Namcheon Baek Clan joined hands with the Demonic Cult? How far had their influence reached throughout the central plains?
Reading the emotional turmoil of her close younger friend, Baek Sang-ah’s eyes welled up as she looked for a final lifeline.
“Y-Young Master Jin. Please… say something to help...!”
“Alright, I understand.”
With a sense of duty to clear her name, I stepped forward to face Jegal Eun.
“Greetings, Lady Jegal.”
“…Senior Martial Brother Jin?”
Heavenly Divine Dragon, Jin Myeong.
Baek Sang-ah’s bodyguard and the future son-in-law of Namcheon.
But now that Baek Sang-ah had been exposed as a servant of the Demonic Cult, Jin Myeong’s identity was naturally under heavy suspicion as well.
And I gladly poured fuel on that suspicion.
“I am Jin Yeomyung, eldest son of the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan of the Heavenly Demon Cult. It’s the first time I greet you under my true name.”
“D-Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan…!”
“Hey!!!”
While Baek Sang-ah erupted in panic and Cheon Yura tried to restrain her, I calmly continued the conversation.
“Additionally, I’ve just been appointed as the First Strategist of the reformed Black Lotus.”
“……?!?!”
She was too shocked by the overwhelming truth to even form words.
“I’d like to make you an offer, Lady Jegal. Would you consider becoming the Second Strategist of Black Lotus?”
“S-Second Strategist?”
I let out a sigh as if grumbling.
“No matter how much experience I may have, building a large-scale organization from scratch is quite burdensome on my own. With help from a member of the renowned Jegal Clan, things would go much more smoothly.”
The men that Soul-Corrupting Lust Fiend had gathered were certainly capable, but they were merely operators—not leadership material.
“D-Do you really think I’d accept something like that?”
Naturally, Jegal Eun glared at me with eyes full of hatred.
Then, Cheon Yura let out a snicker and said,
“Her reaction’s kinda like yours, huh?”
“…Moonlit Sword Blossom!”
Jegal Eun now turned her glare to Cheon Yura.
“So you were never the heir of Moon Maiden Sect after all. That means you’re also from the Demonic Cult?!”
“Well, yeah.”
Cheon Yura calmly removed the elegant mask she’d been wearing.
Beneath it was a woman with sharp features yet a graceful, soft air.
“W-Wow, beautiful… Wait, that’s not the point!”
Jegal Eun shook her head violently to rid herself of the stray thought.
“Lady Cheon Arang, what is your true identity?”
She hadn’t expected an answer, but the other woman revealed herself without hesitation.
Which almost sent Jegal Eun into shock.
“I am Cheon Yura, Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
“Y-Y-Y-Young Cult Leadeeeeer?!”
The companion she’d traveled with for the past few weeks was the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult?!
Thud!
Baek Sang-ah collapsed beside her, mumbling that everything was ruined… but Cheon Yura went on as if she didn’t care.
“I’m also known by the title ‘Demonic Heavenly Flower.’ Heard of it?”
“T-The One Bloom on the Demon Path?!”
Just when Jegal Eun thought she couldn’t be shocked any further, it was like peeling an onion—another layer, another bombshell.
“H-How far have the orthodox sects fallen…!”
Just as she was about to sob and scream—
“Oh, you’ve awakened?”
“……!?!?!?”
The door opened, and in walked a monk in yellow robes and a small, hunched old man with curly hair.
Jegal Eun had met both of them at least once before as a direct member of the Jegal Clan.
“Venerable Buddha Great Master! Saber King Elder!”
Bound hand and foot, Jegal Eun desperately jerked her chin toward me and Baek Sang-ah.
“T-Those people are plotting something massive in Luoyang…!”
“What, still haven’t convinced her yet?”
“Wha… huh?”
I bowed slightly to Saber King.
“My apologies. She just regained consciousness.”
“Tch, this’ll lead to misunderstandings. Hurry up and explain.”
Clicking his tongue, Saber King casually sat nearby.
He then turned to Venerable Buddha and said, “The booze those unorthodox guys offered wasn’t bad. What do you think, brother? Want a sip too?”
“What is even happening….”
With her mind utterly frozen, I gently patted Jegal Eun’s shoulder.
“Um, I’m not sure if you’ll understand, but I’ll try to explain.”
“…Yes.”
Now as meek as a lamb from the continuous shocks, she listened as I explained Baek Sang-ah’s circumstances—leaving out only the most critical parts.
As the explanation went on, Jegal Eun nodded in a daze.
“So… unnie fled to the Demonic Cult to avoid external threats…”
“And those threats involve not just the Demonic Cult and Nine Great Sects, but the entire Central Plains…”
“And all of you are working to protect peace in the Central Plains…”
“Forming a faction with their support to fight back…”
With a proper dose of creative rewriting, appropriate exaggeration, and just the right amount of truth, I gradually persuaded Jegal Eun.
After nearly half an hour of retelling Baek Sang-ah’s tragic life, Jegal Eun looked at her beloved sister with teary admiration.
“Unnie… what kind of life have you been living….”
“Y-You actually believe me?”
Baek Sang-ah reached out and held Jegal Eun’s hands tightly.
“Wow, that tongue of yours is something else.”
Saber King shook his head behind me.
I’d spun the tale to make Baek Sang-ah seem like a heroic figure who sacrificed herself for the Central Plains, but when you stripped away the messy parts, the end result wasn’t far from the truth.
Because she had been sacrificing herself.
With a face full of purpose, I reached my hand out to Jegal Eun.
“Well? Will you join us?”
“Do you swear—on your honor and truth—that this Black Lotus is not for the Demonic Cult’s benefit?”
I nodded without hesitation.
It wasn’t even a lie, since the organization was formed completely against my wishes.
“Of course.”
“Since Sang-ah unnie endured all this disgrace for the Central Plains… I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
She shouted, full of burning conviction.
“I’ll do it!”
I immediately undid Jegal Eun’s bindings and helped her up.
“Welcome, Second Strategist.”
Thus, the rise of Black Lotus reached its peak.