25

Namgung Pa stepped up onto the platform and shouted.

“All of you heroes gathered here, along with the members of the Namgung Family, have taken up your swords for the belief in freedom and equality.”

His momentum was like a roaring tiger, and the internal energy echoing around the platform resembled rolling thunder and lightning.

“Right now, we stand at a trial to determine whether that very community—no, whether any organization conceived and sustained by such spirit and conviction—can truly endure for long. In the north, the Apostles run rampant in their cruelty. In the west, demonic paths flourish unchecked. In the east, barbarians grow ever more brazen. And in the south, the strength of the Murim Alliance weakens with each passing day. All of us gathered here must dedicate ourselves to protecting the justice and balance that our ancestors have upheld for generations. That is why this Namgung Mo has invited you here today!”

At that moment, Namgung Yul walked out beside Namgung Pa as he continued his speech.

The famed beauties of the Namgung Family attendants were reduced to mere leaves beside flowers once they stood next to Namgung Yul.

Rather than Namgung Pa’s impassioned address, the audience could not tear their eyes away from Namgung Yul’s otherworldly beauty, scarcely believing she was human.

“So that’s why her epithet is Sword Flower. Truly, her reputation is well deserved.”

“So the one performing the Sacred Sword Offering at today’s Blood Oath Ceremony is Lady Namgung.”

“They say she’s the genius who entered Deungcheon Academy as the top-ranked student.”

“To possess literary talent, martial prowess, beauty, and grace so perfectly… can she really be human?”

Soon, Namgung Yul passed through the crowd and headed toward the altar.

She wore a white dance robe with long, flowing sleeves, and in both hands she carried the Namgung Family’s treasured heirloom and sacred sword, the “Fish Intestine Sword.”

…Squeeze!

Namgung Yul pulled the sword tightly to her chest.

The Fish Intestine Sword was a sacred blade said to have been personally bestowed upon the Namgung Family by an emperor of the past, a treasure among treasures with a legend claiming it once aided a great deed after being hidden inside a fish’s body.

Under the countless gazes pouring down upon her, Namgung Yul gripped the Fish Intestine Sword even more tightly.

Suddenly, her father’s joking words came to mind.

“…The sword. You won’t let anyone take it from you, will you?”

At the time, she had laughed it off, thinking no one would dare touch the Namgung Family’s heirloom. But standing here now… it no longer felt like a joke.

Admiration, reverence, jealousy, greed… countless emotions pierced toward the Fish Intestine Sword resting against her chest.

They were emotions far too immense for a girl not yet even of age to bear.

Yet she was a wise woman, one who knew how to sublimate pressure into a sense of duty.

Savoring the gazes directed at her, Namgung Yul strode confidently toward the altar.

And apart from all that, she was also feeling a thrilling sensation surging through her entire body, stepping forward one pace at a time with a pleasure she herself could not quite understand.

Soon, Namgung Yul stood before the towering altar.

This stage had been constructed solely for today’s ritual and was the tallest structure within the vast Namgung estate.

Namgung Yul slowly ascended the steps.

Step— step— step—

A total of one hundred and eight steps spread out beneath her feet.

At last, she stood alone at a lofty height from which she could look down upon everyone, including the family head, Namgung Pa.

…Whoosh!

The sacred flames brought forth were transferred to the four corners of the altar.

Thud— thud— thud— thud—

To the booming of drums played by the musicians below, the flames surged violently.

Shing—

Namgung Yul drew the Fish Intestine Sword.

Cold sword light scattered outward, and a bluish killing intent spilled down from the altar.

“…”

Following Namgung Yul’s gaze, the eyes of tens of thousands moved as one.

She soon walked toward the offering hanging at one corner of the altar.

A wolf, its four legs bound, suspended from a tall black pole.

As large as an average tiger, the wolf hung upside down, its tongue lolling out as it lay dead.

Beneath the inverted wolf, a large bronze basin had been placed.

Namgung Yul’s task was now racing toward its climax.

Swoosh…

She raised the sacred Fish Intestine Sword high.

Soon, Namgung Yul would swing the blade and sever the wolf’s neck.

Then, the still-warm blood would gush forth like a fountain, filling the bronze basin, after which the leaders of Anhui Province would ascend the altar one by one, share the blood, and swear their oath of alliance.

Thus, the Blood Oath of this grand assembly would conclude splendidly and triumphantly.

Flutter—

The hem of Namgung Yul’s dance robe billowed in the wind.

Those white sleeves would soon be soaked with the wolf’s red, dangerous blood, and the crowd would be intoxicated with a strange mix of anticipation, excitement, and exaltation.

Knowing this well, Namgung Yul did not immediately place the sword against the wolf’s body. Instead, she lightly circled around it, using the flowing waves of her robe to seize and release the crowd’s souls at will.

—On the empty platform, a yellow candle melts silently through the night.
—The sleeves are long, and the heavens wide.
—On peach-blossom cheeks, two drops seem ready to fall.
—Though harried by worldly affairs, worries shine like starlight.

Each time her robe swept across the sky and brushed the earth, the crowd grew ever more intoxicated by Namgung Yul’s sword dance.

At last.

The dance reached its peak.

The blazing fires below the altar cast a strange flush upon Namgung Yul’s face, and each time she panted for breath and beads of sweat rolled down like pearls, cold dew formed upon the brows of the spectators as well.

Finally, Namgung Yul stood before the wolf, Fish Intestine Sword in hand.

When the flames surged highest and the incense spread most thickly, Namgung Yul lowered the blade of the Fish Intestine Sword to the wolf’s neck.

Thud— thud— thud— thud—

The drums grew even louder.

The vibrations shook the air itself, trembling beneath the skin.

Now, blood would be spilled.

The moment of the oath would arrive.

It would be red as blood and sharp as a blade.

All the spectators swallowed dryly as they awaited it.

…However.

What happened next utterly betrayed everyone’s expectations and common sense.

…Twitch!

The wolf’s body moved.

Though the blade had not yet touched it, the body trembled as if alive and shifted toward Namgung Yul.

Gurgle—

The belly of the inverted wolf suddenly swelled, then split open vertically, and something burst forth from within.

“…!”

Before Namgung Yul could even react, what shot out was a blood-soaked human hand.

…Grab!

A blood-drenched man burst out from the wolf’s abdomen.

He wore only trousers, his upper body bare, but his entire body was soaked in blood, making it impossible at a glance to tell whether he was clothed or naked.

Most striking of all was the scalp of a wolf cub stretched over his head.

“…! …! …!”

They say that when a person is too shocked, they cannot even scream.

With reflexes befitting one of Murim’s greatest prodigies, Namgung Yul leaped backward.

But—

Whish—

The assailant’s grip was as vicious and relentless as a venomous serpent’s jaws.

The blood-soaked hand changed its trajectory midair and fell straight toward the back of Namgung Yul’s neck.

“Eek!?”

She tried to swing the Fish Intestine Sword in her hand, but the distance was too close for the blade to move properly.

Crunch!

Like a hawk snatching a chick, the man spread his crimson fingers and seized Namgung Yul’s pale throat.

…Crack!

Caught in that terrifying grip, squeezing with monstrous strength, Namgung Yul was forced to expel what little breath remained.

“Kgh!?”

To think that the first touch of a man she ever experienced would be this ruthless and violent.

It was a situation Namgung Yul had never once imagined since her birth.

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

The audience below the altar, caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, could not even comprehend what was happening.

As mentioned before, when people witness something too unreal before their eyes, they freeze in a daze.

And the assailant clad in wolf hide exploited that very opening, seizing control of the situation in an instant.

Clatter! Thud! Clang!

The scabbard of the Fish Intestine Sword bounced several times across the altar floor before falling down onto the dirt below.

Only then did Namgung Pa snap back to his senses.

“W-What bastard is this!?”

The Namgung Family warriors drew their swords and rushed toward the altar, but none dared climb up.

After all, the Fish Intestine Sword—now in the assailant’s grasp—was poised as if it might shave away Namgung Yul’s throat at any moment.

Squeeze—

Feeling the bluish killing intent pressing into her pale skin, Namgung Yul squeezed her eyes shut.

The grip on the back of her neck felt like the jaws of a ferocious beast clamped down tight.

The densely packed muscles, the overpowering stench of blood, the stiff texture of wolf fur.

All of it overwhelmed Namgung Yul.

It crushed her so completely that she could not even entertain a stray thought, leaving no room for the will to resist to take root.

Under the collective gaze of everyone gathered within the Namgung estate, the wolf’s jaws finally opened.

“Listen well, you sons of bitches of the Namgung Family.”

The words left every mouth hanging wide open.