In the first place, I didn’t even think they would agree with my argument.

The Jade Seal of the Heavenly Venerate was the seal of the current Murim Alliance Leader, and the Righteous Sect believed without a doubt that the Son of Heaven was the Emperor, and they thought that they, who received his rule, had the power to govern the Central Plains.

In other words, the Jade Seal of the Heavenly Venerate was a symbol that granted legitimacy to the Murim Alliance.

Asking to return it was the same as telling them to hand over the Murim Alliance.

“Hah… What did you just say?!”

“I said I don’t like it. Our demand is the Jade Seal of the Heavenly Venerate, and we have no reason to back down even a single step. So if you have no intention of agreeing to that proposal, I’ll end this tedious meeting.”

I pushed my body back and spoke in a languid voice.

People’s gazes were fierce, but it wasn’t unbearable. And I had people supporting me.

I couldn’t know the exact reason why the Righteous Sect was making absurd demands and the Demon Cult seemed to be accepting them.

However, whether I liked it or not, my purpose was one: to not hold this meeting any longer. Complicated stories were a problem for later.

The one who grabbed me as I tried to get up from my seat and leave the meeting room was, as expected, Shin Hohyeol.

“Young Madam. You’re being too emotional. Be a little more serious and…”

“Whose side are you representing, Elder Shin Hohyeol?”

I tilted my head while looking at him holding onto me.

“I can’t understand how someone who should represent the interests of the Demon Cult more than anyone else is thinking more about the interests of the Righteous Sect. Are you an elder of the Demon Cult or an elder of the Murim Alliance? I don’t know what you want and why you’re sitting here. However.”

“…”

“At least make the distinction clear. If others see it, they might mistake the blood flowing in your body for that of the Righteous Sect.”

With those words, I turned my body completely.

In sync with my movement, Man Do, Joo Jonghak, and the members of the Blood Flow Thousand Wolves Corps followed behind me at once.

Before going out through the open door, I stopped and looked back.

I quietly observed the stiffened personnel on the Righteous Sect’s side and narrowed my eyes.

“…”

I turned my body again and completely left the meeting room.

* * *

Dawn.

The time to greet the light that opens the morning at the end of daybreak was darker and gloomier than the middle of the night filled with deep darkness.

Several groups of people were quietly passing through the corridor that was the darkest before sunrise.

They seemed familiar with the geography of this place and had no problem even though it was a dark corridor without a single light.

The man at the front quickly looked around and snapped his fingers.

In the darkness, a small group quickly moved forward in sync with the man’s gestures.

They stopped in front of a closed door and looked around.

The man controlling the group quickly approached, grabbed the door handle, and slowly opened it.

It was a large room. It was also filled with darkness.

Some of the group entered and approached the huge bed in the center of the room.

They surrounded the bed and drew their swords in unison.

They looked at each other, nodded, and forcefully stabbed the center of the bulging bed.

However, they only felt the sensation of piercing cloth, not the feeling of stabbing a person.

At that moment, those who had stabbed with their swords felt something was wrong.

“Capture them all.”

At the low voice, light descended and drove away the darkness.

And from the empty space where no one was before, people wearing the same uniforms rushed out and quickly subdued those holding swords before they could even resist.

“Argh!”

Terrible sounds of something breaking were heard.

It was the sound of shattering shins so they couldn’t escape.

More torches entered the room, completely driving away the darkness.

“Ugh!”

The man controlling the group widened his eyes and looked up at the man standing in front of him.

The man quietly looked at him, then turned his head to look behind him, stepped aside, and lightly bowed his head.

“We’ve captured them all.”

“Good work.”

At the slender and beautiful voice, the man who had fallen to the floor raised his head and looked up.

There, Moyong Sowol was looking at them with indifferent eyes.

“…”

Moyong Sowol gestured with her chin. The warrior beside her approached the bed and lifted the blanket.

Under the lifted blanket, torn cloth and fur scattered out. The man’s mouth clicked.

Moyong Sowol looked at him again and spoke softly.

“I had a feeling, and I was right.”

Moyong Sowol squatted down at a reasonable distance.

She said, ‘Unmask him,’ and the warrior holding the man removed his mask at her words.

The one revealed inside was a middle-aged man with a clean face. Moyong Sowol lifted the corners of her mouth diagonally.

“Long time no see. We’re old acquaintances… Do you remember?”

He also twisted his lips as if following Moyong Sowol’s smile.

“Seeing you after a long time, your senses are  bright. The Moyong clan’s wench drank the Demon Cult’s water and seems to be living well?”

“That’s right. I didn’t know it would turn out like this, but it did.”

“You talk well.”

Moyong Sowol lightly shrugged her shoulders. The middle-aged man babbling below.

Moyong Sowol stared at him intently and spoke calmly.

“By the way, what brings you here, Elder Moyong Beongeum? In such a sinister outfit and even holding a sharp sword.”

Moyong Sowol, who was in the midst of speaking, let out a short exclamation and chuckled.

“Ah! You can’t use the Moyong surname anymore, right?”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear such words from your mouth! Tearing apart and killing your damn brother or you wouldn’t be satisfying enough!”

She looked at the growling Moyong Beongeum with numb eyes and got up from her seat.

As if waiting, the warrior shoved his hand into Moyong Beongeum’s mouth and stuffed it with cloth.

Moyong Sowol looked around at the surroundings that had been somewhat organized and spoke softly to Joo Jonghak.

“Please take care of it.”

* * *

I was sitting quietly in the empty training ground with my eyes closed.

Meditation and breathing techniques.

I recalled the things I had learned and mastered in deep breaths.

Recall and recall again. Even if my body didn’t move, I envisioned what I had seen in my mind.

The opponents I had exchanged swords with so far were each extraordinary masters.

It was enough to imitate their movements and compare them with myself.

I had to become stronger.

I had to become a little more solid and familiar.

Now that I had faced with my own eyes that the place where I had lived was not simply a place full of flowers, peace, and warmth, I couldn’t be relaxed. I always thought it would be safe.

I knew that the people of the Demon Cult didn’t like me, but I thought it would be okay as long as I was by Hyuk Dojin’s side.

However, within just a few days of his departure, I had to face a threat to my life.

Moreover, it was from people of the same Righteous Sect, not the Demon Cult.

It seemed like everyone wished for my death. The Demon Cult, the Righteous Sect… and even my family.

My bed being slashed by swords wasn’t a familiar scene, but now I had to get used to it.

It was not a world where I could survive by hiding behind someone and just using my fingers and mouth.

If everyone tried to kill me, I also had to become strong enough to kill those who tried to kill me.

‘Flowering Realm.’

Can I open that door?

When I slowly opened my eyes after continuing deep meditation, I met eyes with Joo Jonghak, who was waiting right in front of me.

His mouth opened.

“Are you done with your meditation?”

I nodded as I got up from my seat.

“Yes. By the way, have you taken care of what I asked you to do?”

“I handled it as you said. I made sure to keep their mouths shut and confined them in rooms located in each building. However, I tried to find out the mastermind by preventing the man who led the attack from committing suicide and conducting a brief interrogation, but he wouldn’t open his mouth at all. It seems like it will take some time.”

“Thank you, Elder Joo Jonghak. I’ll think about that myself.”

“You mean… you will handle it personally?”

I smiled faintly at him, who was shaking his head, and put on my outer garment.

I untied the string that held my hair together, let my hair down, opened the door, and stepped out.

When I told Joo Jonghak to guide me to where Moyong Beongeum was, he took the lead as if he had been waiting.

As I was following behind him, Joo Jonghak’s voice came from in front.

“By the way, how did you know?”

Joo Jonghak’s gaze spun around and landed on me.

“That he would attack today.”

“It was a feeling.”

Yesterday, when I left after breaking up the meeting, what caught my eye was none other than the man standing next to Moyong Geum.

Although it was a face I had seen more than 10 years ago and my memory was hazy, there was no way I could forget that face.

Moyong Beongeum was now an excommunicated disciple who had been driven out of the Moyong clan and had lost his surname.

“Yes. It was a feeling that if he were to make a move, it would be today. I wasn’t sure, but there’s no harm in being prepared.”

“I see.”

Joo Jonghak nodded his head with a displeased expression.

“Still, I was surprised. When you suddenly called us and told us to prepare for an attack, I honestly had doubts.”

“But Elder Joo Jonghak followed my words.”

“Well, if it’s an order from the Young Madam, it should be treated the same as an order from the Young Cult Leader, shouldn’t it?”

I slowly smiled at his words.

Joo Jonghak, who was walking ahead, grabbed the door handle and turned to look at me.

When I nodded, he opened the door and entered.

There, Moyong Beongeum, who had tried to kill my brother Moyong Do ten years ago and now tried to kill me, his younger sister, was restrained with his eyes wide open.