Flowers Don't Remain Red For Ten Days

The cold had not yet subsided, and the wind was biting. The dozens of martial artists gathered at Kang Family Manor shivered unknowingly. Even though they had cultivated internal energy, they were so focused on one particular fact that they had no spare energy to pay attention to the cold.

Kang Family Manor preserved the tragedy from ten years ago intact. The collapsed beams and broken plaques had long lost their original appearance due to dust and cobwebs. The only evidence that it was Kang Family Manor was the profusely blooming plum trees.

When Kang Yul-cheon first entered Gyeongguk and settled down, he is said to have carefully buried plum seeds from his hometown in the very center of the courtyard. As if knowing that devotion, even without anyone tending to them, they bloomed on time without fail.

The plum blossoms, which reveal their presence for only a few days a year, were scattering red petals here and there as if knowing what day it was today. As if to soothe the martial artists who showed not a trace of smile, the petals settled one by one on their heads and shoulders.

“Yun-seon! Today is the day you pay the price for committing parricide!”

A thick voice rising from the dantian resounded loudly across the wide courtyard of Kang Family Manor.

“That’s right!”

Numerous people shouted in voices that seemed prearranged. They all had solemn faces and were excited. However, the man who appeared to be their target did not move at all.

“Is my crime really parricide?”

The man said, raising one corner of his lip as if it were amusing. His long black hair was half down, so his face wasn’t clearly visible, but his eyes shone sharply with no hesitation.

“How truly arrogant.”

A white-haired Taoist in a blue robe parted the crowd and stepped forward a few paces. It was Go Yu-saeng, an elder of the Yellow Stone Sect.

“You killed Jo Yang, the Venerable Elder who was your master’s sworn brother. Is there a greater crime than this?”

“That’s right!”

As Go Yu-saeng’s shout ceased, the agreeing voices of the crowd echoed once more like an echo.

“I ask again. What you want is my death? Or…”

The man pulled out a palm-sized book from his chest. The noisy courtyard fell silent in an instant.

“This scripture?”

As he swept his hair back with his hand, a long scar from his forehead to his temple became visible. Without that scar, he would surely have been a strikingly handsome man.

“Both!”

Breaking the silence, a scholar dressed in white shouted.

“First, I apologize for stepping forward like this in front of the senior elders of the martial world.”

The scholar clasped his hands, bowed his head, and politely saluted¹ the martial artists standing all around. As he stepped forward, Go Yu-saeng returned to the Yellow Stone Sect with a sullen expression.

“I am Hyeongjin from Dhuta Mountain. In the martial world, I am also called Baek Wi-haeng²”

The martial artists who had been murmuring without recognizing him nodded vigorously upon hearing the introduction. There was no one in the martial world who wielded a sword and didn’t know Baek Wi-haeng. Moreover, he was even the disciple of Jo Yang, who stood at the center of this controversy.

“How can I compensate for the sorrow of losing my master? However, if I can punish him, perhaps I can at least have some pride when I meet my master later.”

“That’s right!”

Once again, the crowd expressed strong agreement with his opinion.

“I am all for that. However, the crime of turning the martial world into a sea of blood cannot be forgiven, so that culprit, this ‘Commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra³’, must be destroyed.”

As Baek Wi-haeng’s words ended, the courtyard was filled with cheers. This was the real reason they had gathered. The book that had made Kang Yun-seon—who stood there sneering with twitching eyebrows—an absolute master. Over the past ten or so years, there was no sect, large or small, in the martial world that hadn’t coveted it. This time, it was the only opportunity to access that great Heart’s Technique.

“How truly amusing!”

Yun-seon threw his head back and laughed loudly for a long while. His figure standing beneath the red plum blossoms seemed like that of a demon.

“Hyeongjin, Hyeongjin, are you truly not ashamed before your master?”

Ceasing his laughter, Yun-seon shifted the sword he was holding to his left hand. It was Yun-seon’s treasured sword, Water Moon. In an instant, all the warriors gripped their weapons with all their might. For there was no one present who could face Yun-seon wielding Water Moon alone.

Baek Wi-haeng, Hyeongjin, also flinched but feigned composure and smiled.

“Yun-seon, weren’t we once like brothers? Considering your face, commit no more sins and accept the result.”

“The result?”

At that moment, the plum blossom petals seemed to shake a bit more. When Yun-seon’s figure vanished from sight, the flag bearers of the Five Great Mountain Swords standing nearby all felt an immense chill. As they shifted their gaze to follow his shadow, Yun-seon’s grip already held Hyeongjin’s nape.

“Kang Yun-seon!”

Hyeongjin shouted, but due to Yun-seon’s nails digging into his nape, he could resist no further.

“This is the result, isn’t it? This is the difference between you and me.”

Yun-seon slowly raised the sword in his left hand and pointed at the faces of the Five Great Mountain Swords sect leaders one by one. What truly disgusting figures they were. Yun-seon burst into laughter with a face full of contempt. Among those famous ones, there was not a single one worthy of respect.

“Stop it now.”

At that moment, a thin and calm voice resounded fully throughout the courtyard. The martial artists whipped their heads around searching for the voice’s owner but couldn’t spot anyone in particular.

“Isn’t it just to hand over the Saṃdhinirmocana?”

Soon, a woman’s figure began to appear. The voice had clearly come from nearby, yet the woman’s form emerged from across the main gate of Kang Family Manor.

“Ju-un…”

Yun-seon muttered her name under his breath. Hearing that, Hyeongjin quickly rolled his eyes. Perhaps this was the perfect opportunity.

“Yun-seon, let go now.”

Ju-un lightly grasped his right hand, which was still tightly clutching Hyeongjin’s neck. Yun-seon’s face, which had been full of sneers, gradually distorted.

“You too are ultimately the same as them.”

Yun-seon’s voice, chewing out each word, carried a faint tremor. Ju-un let out a deep sigh. From the start, she hadn’t thought she could easily stop him.

“If what you desire is revenge, I will do it. But not now.”

Yun-seon’s eyes, gazing at Ju-un, began to fill with bloodshot veins. Soon, his eyes turned red. The tears welling up in his large eyes seemed like blood.

“Then shouldn’t I kill you first?”

In an instant, the strength drained from Yun-seon’s right hand. The moment his anger toward Hyeongjin shifted to Ju-un, the force dispersed. Hyeongjin was not foolish enough to miss that chance.

He relaxed the tension in his captured neck and pulled his chin back, easily escaping Yun-seon’s grip. Using the method of Cloud-Stepping Stride he widened the distance by about two feet. Immediately after, he gathered palm qi in his right hand and released it toward Yun-seon. No matter how great a master, a palm strike at that range was bound to be fatal.

Unlike the agitated Yun-seon, Ju-un noticed Hyeongjin’s movements in an instant. Knowing his cunning nature well, she intuited that the moment he pulled away, a palm strike would come flying.

“Get out of the way!”

Ju-un slapped Yun-seon’s face—which was turned toward her—hard to disrupt his balance, then struck his knee with her left foot. Unable to prepare for the sudden attack, Yun-seon felt the impact on his knee and simultaneously retreated three steps using the Cloud-Stepping Stride. At that moment, Hyeongjin’s palm strike flowed between the two of them.

“Oh.”

Without exception, everyone in the courtyard let out exclamations. Cloud-Stepping Stride was an internal martial art of the Emptiness Dhuta Sect that even first-rate masters found difficult to learn, and it was rare to see it performed in person. Yet, witnessing two demonstrations in just a few moves, they couldn’t help but admire the swift and flashy technique.

“Isn’t launching a sneak attack cowardly?”

As Ju-un glared at him and shouted, Hyeongjin fanned himself as if it were laughable.

“This is not something for Senior Sister to interfere in.”

Yun-seon let out a hollow laugh at the exchange between the two. He wouldn’t be fooled by supposed allies badmouthing each other. It was merely an act to deceive everyone until the end.

“Since it’s come to this anyway, let’s have a sword dance.”

Yun-seon giggled and returned to his original position in an instant. His movements were so light that even the thin plum blossom branches he brushed against showed no motion.

Ju-un’s pupils trembled violently as she looked at Yun-seon. It was obvious what he intended to do. There was no need to hesitate. She had to stop his next action.

“No!”

Ju-un launched her body and reached the spot beneath the plum blossom tree where Yun-seon stood in a single bound. Her lightness skill surpassed Yun-seon’s, allowing her to move much faster. However, as if anticipating it, Yun-seon leaped upward into the tree before she arrived. The scripture in his hand was already torn into several pieces.

“The peerless secret manual you all desire is right here!”

With a chilling laugh, the torn sheets of paper began to scatter. The people in the courtyard stared blankly at the sky, unable to comprehend what had happened.

“It’s the Saṃdhinirmocana!”

“Pick it up!”

“It’s over here!”

Someone’s shout marked the beginning. In no time, numerous martial artists began tangling together in the courtyard. Even a single page of that manual could make one a master. They hurled themselves for that one page.

Clang! Clang!

The number of people far exceeded the torn papers. Those who realized that if they didn’t seize it, they would get nothing began drawing their weapons. These were treasures that had once shone to protect the peace of the martial world. The weapons, now swayed by their owners’ desires, were losing their original value.

“Hand it over! It’s mine!”

“Aaah!”

The disciples of the prestigious Orthodox sects, who had shared the same cause until moments ago, now targeted each other’s lives for a mere scrap of paper. They felt no pangs of conscience as they trampled hands or slashed shoulders. Survival of the fittest. Blinded by desire, they were no different from beasts.

The courtyard viewed from above was a scene of hell. Ju-un trembled with an indescribable fear. The martial artists from prestigious Orthodox sects who had gathered shouting for justice were nowhere to be seen. Only beasts trampling each other with eyes reddened by greed filled the space.

“This is the truth you spoke of.”

From behind her back, Yun-seon’s agitated voice rang out. Ju-un couldn’t bring herself to turn around and froze in place like a statue. Who had turned that kind child into this?

Before long, Kang Family Manor was dyed in red. Whether it was the red of the plum blossoms or someone’s blood droplets, it was impossible to tell.