I received deep gratitude from the head of the Cheongseong Sect for saving one of their women.
“You’ve saved the future of Cheongseong! Thank you! Truly, thank you! I will grant you any request, and from this day forward, consider yourself a benefactor of Cheongseong...!”
“It was nothing. I’m just glad I could help.”
Once again, I was hoping to at least get some useful information about spirit creatures, but there was no time for a proper conversation.
Why?
Because even before we could catch our breath, reports started pouring in that demonic cultivators had appeared all over.
“Headmaster! Two demonic cultivators were spotted near Cheongseong Mountain! Our elders led the Wind Surge Unit to intercept them, but two were seriously injured!”
“What!?”
“Clan Lord! The Choksan Sect party has arrived at the Nine-Tiered Gates, badly wounded!”
“Choksan Sect people!?”
“They were ambushed by demonic cultivators and barely managed to escape!”
Demonic cultivators were appearing everywhere.
The guests quickly formed squads and headed out to eliminate them, and a few days later, we too were deployed to face them.
***
—Crack!
“Guh-ugh!”
Kwon Ryong was struck in the chest and flung straight into the bushes.
Gwiseong rushed to block the incoming demonic ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) cultivator, but the sharp sound that followed—
—Changg!
His sword snapped in half and clattered toward Kwon Ryong’s side.
“Kwon Ryong!”
But the demonic cultivator didn’t stop.
I quickly gathered the energy for the Toad Explosive Palm, but just then, a shadow flashed past in front of me.
Hwa-eun charged at the demonic cultivator like a gust of wind.
Her speed was invisible to the eye, and the aura she exuded was overwhelming.
Rather than focusing on her reaching the Flower Realm, I was more impressed by the overwhelming bonus that came along with it. But now that she was in the Flower Realm, Hwa-eun also possessed overwhelming force.
—Crunch!
Hwa-eun stormed into the middle of the battlefield and, without a word, snapped the neck of the man unleashing dark energy upon the Dragon Fangs Trio, breaking it clean at the cervical spine.
Now that she was a master in the Flower Realm, there were few in the entire martial world who could stop her. She handled it like twisting a child’s wrist.
“O-One move?”
“One move, seriously...?”
The Dragon Fangs Trio, who had been struggling until Hwa-eun arrived, looked dumbfounded at the demonic cultivator whose head now dangled lifelessly to one side.
One of the brothers had his sword broken, and Kwon Ryong had taken internal injuries after a bloody fight. But the moment Hwa-eun arrived, the fight was over in a single blow.
‘Isn’t that a bit excessive, though?’
Sure, demonic cultivators were mindless and attacked everything on sight, so it was natural not to hold back.
But the way Hwa-eun was gripping the corpse by the collar even after snapping its neck... yeah, it felt a bit too much.
Even though the enemy was already dead, she couldn’t seem to suppress her fury.
It wasn’t just me who thought that. Gwiseong started to speak but hesitated as his wife stopped him with a hand.
“Uh...”
“Gwiseong, don’t. She’s in a...”
“In a mood? Ah—right! I should go check on Kwon Ryong instead.”
And Hwa-eun had every reason to be like this.
No one present could say a word about her excessive force.
Why?
Because due to the demonic cultivator attacks, our wedding had been indefinitely postponed.
The attacks began five days before the ceremony.
As reports came in of demonic cultivators appearing throughout Sichuan and attacking people, the guests who had gathered for the wedding scattered to deal with the threat.
And with the chaos, our wedding was postponed indefinitely.
As if that weren’t enough—
We now had to head out and fight these bastards ourselves, too. Who wouldn’t be angry?
‘I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Now I feel bad...’
The kind of grudge a woman feels when her wedding day is indefinitely postponed by monsters—that kind of wrath was said to bring frost in midsummer.
The icy aura swirling around Hwa-eun—who had originally given off cold and aloof vibes—was freezing now.
Just being near her made the chill seep into your bones. If anyone tried to speak to her, she'd lash out with such sharpness that nobody dared approach her.
But seeing her silently gripping the collar of a man whose neck she had snapped, I figured someone had to say something.
—Tap tap.
Someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I turned around and saw Gwiseong, who had said he’d check on Kwon Ryong, jerking his chin toward Hwa-eun.
Apparently, he wanted me to step in.
‘Ugh. I’m scared too, you know...’
Even if I had intended to speak, being pushed like this made me not want to anymore.
It wasn’t even directly my fault, but we were on this mission because of something I discovered, so I couldn’t ignore it either.
I cautiously spoke up.
“Hwa-eun? I think Moji and Soji are waiting...!”
“What. Did. You. Say? Oh, So-ryong, it’s you.”
The moment I brought up Moji and Soji—both perched on my shoulders, watching nervously—Hwa-eun snapped with sharp intensity.
She still responded sharply, but once she realized it was me who had spoken, she quickly adjusted her expression.
Seemed like she wasn’t too upset about me being the reason we got sent out.
‘Whew, that’s a relief.’
“Y-Yeah, it’s me.”
“Sorry. I guess I’m still a bit on edge from the fight. Anyway, Moji and Soji were waiting, huh? Good job, little ones.”
Mew-mew.
Mew.
As soon as Hwa-eun praised them, the two let out happy chirps.
“Such good little things.”
Mew-meww.
Mew.
I petted both of them in turn.
After all, they were the ones who tracked down the demonic cultivator.
—Thud.
Just as I was finishing patting Soji’s fluffy head, I heard a heavy thump.
I turned my head and saw Hwa-eun had finally let go of the corpse, letting it fall backward to the ground.
At the same time, a dark miasma began to seep outward.
“I’d been suppressing the miasma for a bit, but now I’ve released it.”
No wonder the miasma hadn’t burst out like it should’ve—Hwa-eun had been holding it back.
Now that it was finally flowing, Moji and Soji gently tickled my cheeks with their antennae.
They were clearly asking if they could eat it.
“Go ahead. Have at it.”
Mew-mew.
Mew.
With my permission, Moji and Soji leapt from my shoulders and flew to the corpse, beginning to absorb the miasma.
They made delighted sounds as they devoured it.
Mew-mew.
Mew.
“Eat up. All you want.”
Those two absolutely deserved a reward.
I hadn’t known until this morning, but it turns out that Moji and Soji possess a special ability to detect the miasma exuded by demonic cultivators.
Thanks to that, they’d led us straight to the struggling Dragon Fangs Trio.
Judging by the state we found them in, if we’d been even a little late, someone would’ve been seriously injured.
—Mew.
—Mew-mew.
“Hmm? What is it, Moji, Soji?”
—Tsrrr. 『Dad, they say they want us to go somewhere.』
“Go where?”
—Tssrt. 『They said they can sense that delicious aura again.』
“Delicious aura?”
Earlier at dawn, Moji and Soji had suddenly started begging me to go somewhere with them. These two usually never left the house, so I thought it was strange.
Then it occurred to me—clearly they were sensing something.
After all, a moth’s antennae have an extraordinary ability to detect chemical substances.
The feather-like structures on a moth’s antennae are called trichoid sensilla, and they can detect even minuscule traces of pheromones from the air.
Some species of moths can detect pheromones from over two kilometers away, find mates, and even track down food.
That thought reminded me—just a few days ago, these two were the ones who found the miasma when the woman from the Cheongseong Sect was in danger. That’s when I’d told the elders, and Hwa-eun and I had hurried out together.
Which is also why I’d been watching her mood earlier.
Just staying home while your wedding is indefinitely delayed is infuriating enough—but having to go out and work on top of it? That would drive anyone up the wall.
—Mew.
—Mew-mew-mew.
Moji and Soji continued happily slurping up the miasma.
Watching them made me wonder—
I had assumed they’d just been living off natural qi like other creatures, but now I started to wonder if they’d been starving all this time.
Worried, I thought I’d better check the Beast Pellet or Spirit Pill they created before their metamorphosis.
Just then, Ji-ryong approached, supporting Kwon Ryong, and spoke in a confused voice.
“This had to be a deliberate attack. But what could the purpose be?”
If it were the first time, you might write it off as coincidence. But a string of ambushes?
That had to be intentional.
Besides, demonic cultivators are martial artists who’ve fallen into Qi Deviation after learning demonic arts.
There’s no way this many people would fall into Qi Deviation all at once. It had to be someone’s doing—this was clearly orchestrated.
But the motive behind the attacks remained unknown, and that’s what left Ji-ryong so puzzled.
Everyone was speculating about who might be behind it, when suddenly—
“Could it be!?”
It was Gungbong’s voice.
Did she figure something out?
Seol tilted her head and asked with a frown.
“Could it be? Did you realize someth—wait, is this Soto talking, or Gungbong?”
“I’m Gungbong.”
“Ah, Gungbong, right.”
“Gungbong, got it.”
Everyone’s attention spiked for a moment when Gungbong said “could it be”, but once they realized it wasn’t Soto speaking, they all fell back into their own thoughts.
Gungbong, visibly annoyed, shouted.
“Hey! It was Soto who said it first!”
“Oh, well then we should listen.”
“Soto, what did you think of?”
Complete 180.
Gungbong looked dumbfounded, but come on, we’ve all sat through her nonsense before. She should understand our hesitation.
Though she pouted, her voice came out more cautious than angry.
She said someone might be trying to sabotage my wedding with Hwa-eun.
It was definitely Soto’s opinion, not Gungbong’s idea.
“Could it be someone’s trying to ruin your wedding?”
“My wedding with Hwa-eun?”
“Yes. If someone is orchestrating these attacks, then there has to be a motive. And what else is going on in Sichuan right now besides your wedding?”
“But Soto, like you said, there has to be something to gain. Who’d benefit from ruining our wedding?”
“Maybe ruining it is the goal.”
“Ruining the wedding itself?”
“Yes. Just to piss you off.”
Soto’s theory was that sabotaging the wedding was the entire goal. And if that were true, then I’d say the culprit succeeded completely.
—Crack!
A sharp sound snapped from beside me. I turned and saw Hwa-eun had driven her fingernails into the tree she was leaning against.
Her rage had hit a boiling point.
I quickly waved my hands in an attempt to calm her.
“Come on, no way. If someone wanted to sabotage our wedding, it’d be the Five Venoms Sect or the Blood Cult. But these guys are demonic cultivators. There’s no connection...”
If there really was someone behind this, it’d have to be one of our enemies—the Five Venoms Sect or the Blood Cult.
But these were just demonic cultivators.
We’ve had bad blood with the Five Venoms and the Blood Cult for a while. At this point, we could trade insults about each other’s ancestors and no one would blink.
So I’d understand them doing this.
But the demonic cultivators? We’d never even crossed paths before.
Then Ji-ryong chimed in with an unexpected comment.
“Actually, it’s not entirely impossible.”
“You think there’s a chance?”
“Yes, young master.”
I’d just said it was a stretch, trying to calm Hwa-eun down, but now Ji-ryong was saying there might be something to it.
The sound of fingernails digging into wood was joined by Ji-ryong’s calm explanation.
“The Blood Cult originally branched off from the Demonic Cult. They’re not completely unrelated.”
“Really?”
“Yes. One of the elders of the Demonic Cult defected and founded the Blood Cult. When the Blood Cult was at its peak, it tried to consume the Demonic Cult entirely. That weakened the Demonic Cult’s influence, which is what led to its destruction by the martial world’s alliance.”
“The Five Venoms... bastards...!”
Good info, for sure. But Hwa-eun’s anger gauge was clearly about to overflow.
At that moment, Moji and Soji, having absorbed all the miasma from the corpse, backed away and pointed in a new direction.
—Mew!
—Mew-mew!
—Tsrrr. 『Dad, we sense another tasty aura!』
A tasty aura.
More miasma, in other words.
Thinking that maybe some of the guests who had gone off to hunt demonic cultivators were engaged in battle, we—Yeondu, Cho, Moji, Soji, and Hwa-eun—rushed off into the mountains.
We found three demonic cultivators—but someone else had gotten there first.
A woman with golden hair and golden eyes—features that didn’t fit the Central Plains.
She was facing off against the demonic cultivators, exuding an even more powerful miasma than they were.
“I warned you this would happen! Out of pity, I’ll take your lives with my own hands!”
She clearly possessed demonic energy, but unlike the demonic cultivators, she still had her mind.
I had a strong feeling this woman was the key to unraveling everything happening here.
