Midway up a dark mountain slope untouched by moonlight.
The wind clawed at the branches. The stench of blood drifted on it.
I forced down my trembling breaths, clamping a hand over my mouth. My heart pounded in my ears.
…But aside from that.
It was quiet.
No, it had gone quiet.
Hidden in the tree, I slowly scanned my surroundings.
The screams of dying men and the clash of metal had completely stopped.
The brutal fight between the martial artists that had raged since early evening was over.
Now, only the occasional hoot of an owl filled the air.
“…”
Was now the time to run?
“…”
…It was still.
I strained my ears for a long while longer, but there were no signs of life, no footsteps.
Right, now’s the time.
Gotta bolt.
I glanced around cautiously before moving carefully.
My legs were numb from sitting on the branch for so long—
With a rustle, I slid down the tree.
—Squelch!
“Mmph!”
The wet, squishy sensation underfoot nearly made me scream, but I swallowed it just in time.
I looked down.
…A corpse.
Under the faint moonlight, the mangled face of the body came into view.
I couldn’t tell if it was a face or just chunks of meat.
The moment I saw that gruesome killing, terror overtook me, and I spun around—
“…Are you hurt anywhere?”
—but the voice from behind froze me solid.
I couldn’t even roll my eyes or lift my feet.
“I was wondering when you’d come down.”
Someone approached with cat-like steps that seemed to materialize from thin air, lightly stepping on the fallen leaves.
But those light footsteps felt like the prowl of a tiger to me.
—Rustle… rustle… stop.
She stopped behind me.
To me, unable to move, she said quietly.
“Shall we talk face-to-face?”
“…”
Gulping dryly, I forced my stiff body to turn.
The moment I turned, moonlight happened to illuminate her face.
My breath caught.
Fear aside…
…The leads in this world were all beautiful, as expected.
I’d seen her from afar a few times, but this was the first time facing her up close.
But why in this situation of all times!
I’d just come out looking for mushrooms to go with dinner…!
Why did I have to witness this fight…!
Glossy black hair cascading down to her chest, held back with a simple hairpin.
Sharp eyes, a glamorous yet refined beauty.
Like a watercolor painting come to life.
…A watercolor painted in blood, that is.
Blood glistening on her skin, she whispered.
“…I see. You’re the owner of the leather shop in the village.”
It was a menacing sight I could never have imagined from her usual elegant demeanor.
“We owe you much at the Emei Sect, from sturdy leather armor to those unique tools.”
Her mention of “unique tools” made me flinch, but as long as she hadn’t seen my basement, it was fine.
More than that, one thought filled my mind.
…I’m screwed.
She knows my face too?
She said.
“You know me too, don’t you, shop owner?”
I answered, trembling.
“…Ch-Cheongwol, junior sister.”
Her name—no, her dharma name—was Cheongwol.
Emei Sect’s second-generation disciple.
Just past her early twenties.
The righteous faction’s saint, called the “Thousand-Year Flower bloomed by the Emei Sect” in the jianghu.
A talent who had already become a first-rate martial artist.
It was thanks to her that I figured out the world I’d possessed into.
Back then, on the third day after possessing this random young orphan beggar body.
I’d somehow accepted the possession, but had no idea where I’d landed.
A wulin game? A novel? A movie?
“Wol-ah, come greet them.”
That vague question ended the moment the Emei Sect Leader descended to the village.
She, who had been just as young as me back then, introduced herself to the gathered villagers in her soft voice.
“…I am Cheongwol. Please take care of me when I come down on sect business.”
Emei Sect’s Cheongwol.
I realized it instantly.
“Ah, fuck.”
…This was ‘Blood Path’.
In this novel, countless side characters are swept away like fallen leaves and die miserably with the Demonic Cult’s emergence later on.
And Cheongwol stands at the center of that tragedy.
I know it.
Right now, she’s a promising young talent of the righteous faction, but someday she’ll fall to her heart demon and betray her sect.
Time passes, and she becomes one of the Demonic Cult’s Seven Heavens—the seven absolute masters.
She rises to a position where facing her like this would be impossible.
Countless side characters die by her hand.
Even innocent commoners are trampled under her feet.
The main culprit in this world’s devastation.
In that instant, I made my resolve.
Wulin? Jianghu? None of my business.
Just because I knew the future didn’t mean I planned to be a hero, nor did I have the confidence to steal the protagonist’s opportunities or manuals to become strong.
All I’m skilled with is a keyboard, smartphone, and spicy food—wield a sword?
What confidence?
So I kept my head down and lived quietly. The ending was a happy one anyway.
Ten years passed like that.
In that time, I avoided any entanglement with Cheongwol.
She went her way, I went mine.
I thought we’d keep orbiting separately.
…Until this very moment.
I glanced sideways at the piles of corpses.
…This crazy woman must already be possessed by her heart demon.
I thought it happened much later.
Instinctively averting my eyes, she spoke.
“You have no reason to be so afraid. I’m not going to do anything to you.”
Could the gap of those ten years on different paths feel any greater?
“…If your luck had been bad, you’d have run into the bandits… This feels more like I’ve helped you…”
“Th-that’s true…”
…She wasn’t wrong.
I clasped my hands in a formal salute first.
“Th-thank you. I survived thanks to you, junior sister.”
“…I merely followed Emei’s teachings.”
Her eyes curved like the moon.
The blood stench stinging my nose was nauseating.
The characters “Emei” embroidered vertically on the left chest of her uniform were soaked in blood too.
What kind of sect is Emei?
Lots of differences, but I’d call it the women’s Shaolin Temple.
One of the Nine Great Righteous Sects.
A righteous sect with strong Buddhist tones, influenced by Daoism, emphasizing morality, precepts, and ascetic lives.
A gathering of female martial artists who live in purity their whole lives.
And… originally a sect that avoids killing as much as possible.
Her cute, curved eyes opened slightly.
She asked.
“…You saw it all, didn’t you?”
As expected, the shy girl who had hidden behind the sect leader’s legs that day was gone.
“…This is troubling. I didn’t plan to go this far…”
“Th-they were scum who deserved to die, weren’t they!”
I shouted instinctively.
I weakly kicked at the chunks of meat on the ground to back her up.
Kicking hard felt gross.
“B-bandits deserve to die…! Of course! Seeing you valiantly cut them down was so refreshing!”
She slowly brought her bloodied finger to her chin.
“…They were scum who deserved to die.”
She rationalized it to herself.
“Unorthodox scum try to slaughter us mercilessly too… No reason for us to just take it.”
Cheongwol closed her eyes tightly, then looked at me with a slightly confused expression.
“…Does that make me strange?”
They were scum who deserved to die.
…But hearing that from a Buddhist sect disciple felt off.
Like if a Shaolin monk brutally butchered bandits—it’d look weird no matter what.
“…”
At my silence, Cheongwol sneered.
“…I guess I am twisted, huh?”
Realizing my mistake too late, I bowed my head low.
“N-no! I already said it—they deserved to die…”
She took a step toward me.
—Rustle.
Reflexively, I stepped back.
—Stop.
Then she advanced persistently again.
—Rustle.
“…If I’m not strange, why are you avoiding me?”
“A woman as beautiful as you approaching is a first for me…”
Cheongwol gave a fake smile at my answer, but it slowly hardened.
My heart did the same.
A long silence stretched between us.
“…”
“…”
…Huh?
Has the heart demon gone deep?
Breaking the silence, Cheongwol whispered.
“…Shop owner. If the sect leader saw me like this, she’d be disappointed… I can’t have that…”
What do you want me to do, you crazy woman?
Who told you to butcher people like this?
But I couldn’t say that.
“I-I saw nothing! Junior sister! My eyes are just for show! Look! Aren’t they like knotholes?”
Unable to bear the pressure, I yelled.
Blood slowly pooling at my feet soaked my cheap straw sandals.
Cheongwol smiled faintly and took another step, then another.
“…Is that so?”
She asked softly.
“You said my fighting was refreshing earlier…”
“N-no. Junior sister! I’m naturally timid and bad at looking at faces!”
“You recognized mine right away.”
“Huh? W-well… Y-your beauty is renowned across the Central Plains… I-I must’ve seen it with my ears. Yes, with my ears!”
“With your ears?”
“Your voice is like jade beads flowing, so I knew only Cheongwol junior sister could have such a beautiful voice…! If I was wrong, I apologize…!”
Flattery for my life.
No room for pride here.
I still sensed a chance.
Yeah.
If she were deep in her heart demon, I’d already be dead, right?
A bit of innocence must remain in her heart?
She wouldn’t kill an innocent commoner like me, even if unorthodox—right?
I quickly switched back to flattery mode.
“I-I didn’t even see anything, and m-my memory is terrible too!”
Cheongwol’s eyes gleamed slightly, as if she liked my intent.
“…You can do that for me?”
“Yes. Already forgotten. Who are you again, junior sister?”
She let out a disbelieving chuckle and sheathed her sword.
—Click!
“…I can trust you? I don’t trust people easily.”
Her voice was soft, but her tone carried deep distrust toward others.
“As I said, if this reaches the sect leader’s ears… I’ll be in big trouble.”
Does she realize?
This feels less like trusting me to let me go, and more like she can’t bring herself to kill an innocent like me.
If I were a martial artist, I’d be dead already. Unorthodox? Even more so.
Whatever the reason, I didn’t care. I nodded vigorously.
“…Your name?”
“…Han Seojin.”
Cheongwol let out a sigh.
I sighed inwardly too.
…Did I survive?
Still, no letting my guard down.
I squeezed out one last drop of flattery.
“Sh-should I help clean up the bodies?”
Cheongwol shook her head at my offer.
“…They’ll be beast food by tomorrow anyway.”
High-class looks spouting horrors.
“…”
“…”
Awkward silence returned after her words.
We stared at each other wordlessly.
…Isn’t this conversation over?
Why are we still standing here? I could go home.
I ventured carefully.
“Th-then I’ll take my leave—”
“—Shop owner.”
Cheongwol cut me off with a faint smile.
“Yes?”
My heart leaped again.
“…I have a favor to ask. It’s late to return to Emei, so I’d like to impose on you for the night.”
“…Yes?”
She lifted her blood-soaked uniform.
“My clothes need washing too… and time to dry… Surely your leather shop has a basement—”
“—N-no!”
I cut her off without thinking.
Even after, alarms blared in my head.
But no means no.
Not just because Cheongwol scared me.
Sweat poured down.
“…What?”
Cheongwol raised an eyebrow.
“…”
But I didn’t take it back.
…The basement.
The basement was a hard no, even on pain of death.
If she found out about the basement, I’d be pegged as unorthodox for sure.