Rumble!
The mont her fist struck, Yeon felt her inner energy draining rapidly—as if soone had jamd a straw into her energy core and was sucking with all their might. Her vision began to blur.
Desperately clinging to her focus, she released a blast of fiercely condensed Lightning Qi from her fist.
CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!
It devoured the Elder’s red energy like a ravenous beast—and still, it wasn’t satisfied. It surged forward, bearing down on him. The composure on the Elder’s face vanished, replaced by disbelief.
“This kind of martial art... it makes no sense—”
BOOOOM!
A shockwave exploded, and both Yeon and the Elder were blasted in opposite directions.
Yeon recovered mid-air and rolled across the ground, executing a fall technique to reduce the impact. Panting heavily, she snapped her head up. Cheon Gang was running toward her.
What about the Elder?
The force of the Thunderclap Shaking Heaven had been far greater than she expected. Yeon was convinced he wouldn't be able to get back up. No—she hoped he wouldn’t. Her energy core had emptied completely in just one strike.
But the Elder... was rising.
Staggering, trembling, but still—getting up.
He survived that? Seriously?
As despair began to settle in Yeon’s chest, the Elder suddenly choked and vomited a mouthful of blood. His knees, which had barely held, collapsed underneath him.
The front of his long robe was soaked red. Among the blood he’d spewed, Yeon could see pieces of what looked like internal organs.
“Grrgh...”
He let out a thick, groaning breath and looked at Yeon, muttering hoarsely:
“You’re from the Hwang Bo Clan...?”
Even as Cheon Gang’s arm supported her, Yeon didn’t lower her guard. She wanted to hear it from the Elder’s own mouth—confirmation that he was from the Hundred Flower Cult.
“Yes. And you? Which faction are you with?”
“I never believed the cult master when he said Zhongyuan was vast... And yet, the Hwang Bo Clan... I never imagined such a hidden threat was lying in wait.”
Even at the end, he refused to answer the way she wanted. He mumbled to himself:
“To et death here, in Zhongyuan, on what was supposed to be a pleasure trip... Perhaps this too is the will of the heavens.”
As he finished his words, the Elder’s energy rapidly began to fade. His once-smooth face wrinkled in an instant, and he toppled to the ground in a pathetic heap.
Yeon remained tense, watching him carefully.
Then, suddenly—a small fla rose from the Elder’s fallen body.
It was black.
Not just dark, but pitch black—unnaturally so.
What the hell is that?
Even as the thought crossed her mind, she heard Cheon Gang’s voice.
“Th-that’s...!”
She turned. His eyes were trembling violently. She had never seen him this shaken.
“Cheon Gang? What is it?”
It was like he didn’t hear her. Staggering, he walked toward the black fla. Yeon had no choice but to follow.
Up close, the fla consuming the corpse was even more disturbing. Its jet-black flickering, like the darkness of an abyss, provoked a primal fear deep in the human psyche.
A sudden wave of unease gripped Yeon as she stared silently at it.
The fla burned through the Elder’s entire body, then flared up once—and vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
“Ahh...”
Cheon Gang let out a hollow groan and stood frozen. Then his face turned visibly pale—and all at once, he vomited a mouthful of bright red blood.
“Cheon Gang!”
“Miss Yeon...”
His eyes were sunken, voice barely holding on. He quickly sat down cross-legged. But his energy was surging chaotically, boiling out of control.
It was every martial artist’s nightmare: Deviation of the Heart.
“Why... why all of a sudden...?”
Blood ran from the corner of Cheon Gang’s mouth. Thick veins bulged across his forehead.
Sensing the critical danger, Yeon hastily checked her own internal energy. Though her energy core had been emptied, she found a faint trace of energy gathering there.
Touching soone in the middle of deviation is forbidden... But if I leave him like this, Cheon Gang could—
—beco crippled, or worse... die. That, Yeon could not allow.
Steeling herself, she sat down cross-legged behind Cheon Gang and reached out with both hands to his back—without hesitation.
The mont she made contact, a powerful suction pulled at her.
“Hh!”
The raging inner force instantly flooded her mind and body. She couldn’t pull away now, even if she wanted to. Their fates were tied together.
Yeon slowly guided her energy into his body, feeling her way through it.
This was her first ti encountering his inner force—and it wasn’t just deep and vast. It was mystical.
The sensation was like a gentle dragon, majestic and righteous—and yet, it had gone berserk. She was astonished it could even rampage like this.
Then, fragnts of emotion seeped into Yeon’s mind.
The fear Cheon Gang was feeling—deep-rooted, unshakable terror—made her eyebrows twitch.
Cheon Gang... what are you so afraid of?
Yeon carefully tried to connect with his inner energy.
The frenzied dragon hesitated—just a little. Perhaps his subconscious was responding to her.
Good. Just like that...
As if stroking the dragon’s whiskers, Yeon gently soothed and guided it. Whispering, hoping her heart would reach him:
Don’t be afraid, Cheon Gang. I’ll protect you.
Their two energies, once clashing, slowly began to embrace each other.
As she cald the furious dragon, Yeon drifted into a trance with him.
****
“Nnngh...”
After a long ditation, Cheon Gang slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Yeon’s face—her expression full of worry as she looked down at him.
“...Miss Yeon?”
“Cheon Gang, you’re awake?”
At the sound of her voice, his vision cleared.
There were Heo Yun and Tang Soso, unconscious but safe.
Wait—what about the monk?
Gongye had taken a direct hit from the Elder and collapsed. The image of him falling like a corpse flashed through Cheon Gang’s mind.
No way...
Then a voice called out near his ear, bright and unmistakable.
“You’ve awakened! Thank goodness. I was so worried.”
It was Gongye, fussing as always. He even pulled aside his robe to reveal a massive purple bruise, stamped like a seal on his chest.
“I nearly attained Nirvana myself. Whew... To think soone that terrifying existed. But tell —how in the world did you defeat him?”
Relief swept over Cheon Gang as the mories returned.
The mont when Miss Yeon struck down the Elder with her overwhelming martial art. The black fla that rose from his corpse. The ntal deviation that followed.
The tallic tang of blood in his mouth now tasted bitter with sha.
And then—suddenly, a question.
But how... how am I still alive?
As he retraced his mories, sothing surfaced.
Not a clear mory, exactly—more like a feeling.
As if soone familiar... had reached out and guided him through the darkness.
“Was it... Miss Yeon, perhaps?”
At his question, Yeon gave a faint smile.
“I just got lucky. Turns out our inner energy harmonized pretty well.”
Finally understanding what had happened, Cheon Gang let out a low sigh. There was no doubt—she had infused her energy into him to save his life.
I owe Miss Yeon my life.
Suppressing a heart deviation with soone else’s energy was extraordinarily difficult—and dangerous for the one doing it. Unless your energy was far deeper than your partner’s, the risk was even greater.
He bowed his head with a respectful martial salute, sincerity brimming in his voice.
“I will repay this debt one day. I swear it.”
“No need for that. I’m alive because of you too, rember?”
Yeon awkwardly returned his martial salute and added,
“For now, why don’t we get out of here? I’d love to search the Red Flower Gate, but I don’t have the strength left for it. And the stench is unbearable.”
“Yes.”
Cheon Gang nodded, and so did the others. Having narrowly escaped death, they were all on the verge of collapse.
By now, the color of the sky had changed. Far in the east, faint dawn light began peeling away the last layers of night.
Like a mirage born from that early light, a group of figures appeared in the distance.
“Miss Hwang Bo—!”
Waving both arms wildly as she ran was Baek Ju-a. Seeing her arrive so perfectly on ti, Yeon turned to the others.
“Looks like we can leave the cleanup to them.”
****
Thus, the chaotic events at the Baekha Escort Agency finally reached their conclusion.
The martial artists from unorthodox sects who attacked the agency were executed under national law, and the rchants who had supported the Palace of Ecstasy were arrested one by one. In particular, Heo Yun of the Eastern Tiger Trading Company stepped forward to testify against them.
Baek Ju-a and the remaining staff of the Escort Agency swept through the Red Flower Gate and gathered all evidence they could find—fortunately, enough to clear the na of the murdered Escort Chief. Once the investigation was complete, the findings would be made public.
The real surprise, however, was that Jogan, the subordinate of Eom Gilyeon, had survived. The Elder’s Wind Blast hadn’t missed—Jogan’s heart just happened to be on the other side of his chest, an extrely rare condition.
While he was recovering, Yeon interrogated him and managed to extract so key facts.
“The Red Flower Gate was backed by a religious group called the Hundred Flower Cult. You probably haven’t heard of it, but the Elder was one of their operatives.”
“So the martial artists from Red Flower were all cult mbers too?”
“No, not necessarily. Neither I nor the Gate Master were, after all.”
“Then why did they kill themselves so easily?”
“Because anyone who defies the Cult’s orders is killed—along with their entire family. That’s why we accepted their help in the first place, like the Bloodfire Sword Art and other techniques.”
Jogan admitted all this with painful honesty and looked at Yeon with desperate eyes.
“If they find out I’m alive, I don’t know what will happen. I don’t care if I die—but my family is innocent. Please... help .”
For a mont, Yeon faltered at the ntion of his family, but she didn’t show it. She kept her voice neutral.
“If you’re asking to let you go, I can’t. That’s not sothing I can decide alone.”
“I have no hidden motives. I just want to escape with my family and survive. I’ll cripple my energy core if you want. I’ll cut off my own arm. Please!”
He clung to her, pleading, but Yeon didn’t answer right away. Truthfully, she couldn’t fully trust his words yet.
Then Jogan’s expression changed. He seed to co to a decision.
“There’s one last piece of information I haven’t shared.”
“You think that’ll help now—?”
“It’s about the Elder. And the Hundred Flower Cult.”
“...What?”
Even Yeon couldn’t hide her reaction to that. Information about the Cult was her top priority.
“If you let go, I’ll tell you what the Elder ca to Zhongyuan to do. You can’t imagine what a risk that is for . Please...”
Yeon thought for a mont and offered him an alternative.
She suggested he surrender to a righteous sect—Shaolin, or if not them, the Hwang Bo Clan might offer him protection. But Jogan only shook his head, repeating how terrifying the Cult was.
The Elder’s objective in Zhongyuan.
It was sothing Yeon couldn’t ignore.
So she investigated Jogan’s family background first—and confird that he did, in fact, have ordinary, innocent relatives. After discussing the matter extensively with her companions, Yeon finally made a difficult decision.
“I’ll let you go. But under a few conditions.”
“I’m ready to accept whatever they are.”
“First, your energy core will be destroyed. And we’ll assign people to watch you. If you even hint at anything suspicious...”
“Then I’ll accept death. My family too, if necessary.”
“Good. One last thing—your release won’t be our secret alone. The people who need to know will be told.”
Yeon thought of the abbot of Shaolin. If anyone had to be inford, sohow... he felt more appropriate than even her own father, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Hwang Bo Jeonggun.
“Then allow to fulfill my side of the deal first.”
CRACK!
Without hesitation, Jogan destroyed his own energy core. Almost as if he was afraid Yeon might change her mind.
“Grrgh...”
He groaned in agony—now reduced to less than a normal person. His body had already been badly wounded, and now he was crippled on top of it.
For a mont, Yeon rembered how pompously he’d acted toward Cheon Gang when they first t.
I do feel a little sorry for him... but this is the best he could hope for.
As she watched him collect himself, her eyes were heavy with conflicted emotions.
“So,” she asked, “tell now.
What exactly was the Elder trying to do in Zhongyuan?”
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