By Zephyria 
HF 30
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* * *
Upon storming the thatched cottage of the seven-stringed zither player, Eum Yohwa immediately launched her gold threads the moment she saw the man standing in the yard. The man wore a bamboo hat, obscuring his face, but it didn’t matter to Eum Yohwa whether he was the zither player or not. She intended to start by taking off one of his arms.
The disciples who had followed her also extended their gold threads from all directions to constrict the zither player. Since the man’s martial prowess might be greater than expected, she had warned her disciples not to let their guard down.
The man was unable to even intercept the flying gold threads, and his body was instantly entwined. Eum Yohwa’s disciples surrounded the man standing in the yard from all sides.
Seeing the gold threads pulled taut, Eum Yohwa applied force, intending to sever his arm. She expected the arm to be sliced off with a clean snap, but instead, screams erupted from her own disciples. The hands and arms of the disciples holding the gold threads had exploded.
The disciples were struck without even knowing what had happened, but Eum Yohwa understood. The man had reversed the internal energy the disciples had channeled into the gold threads.
“Die!”
Eum Yohwa quickly deployed her lightfoot technique and launched her gold threads. Her voice, carrying internal energy, sounded as if it would tear one’s ears apart. She could control as many as twenty gold threads, yet not a single one could penetrate the man’s skin.
The only thing that took a hit was the bamboo hat. As the sharp gold threads split the hat in half, black hair spilled out, revealing a serene face.
Bloodshot veins appeared in Eum Yohwa’s eyes as she launched her gold threads once more. Why was the Cult Leader, who was said to have entered closed-door cultivation, here! Did that mean he hadn’t entered closed-door cultivation because he couldn’t control his overflowing fire energy?
Eum Yohwa belatedly tried to retract her gold threads, but she was pulled in as if dragged toward the Cult Leader. Flung by the recoil, Eum Yohwa tumbled across the ground, supporting herself with both arms and snapping her head up.
“Cu… Cult Leader!”
Simultaneously, the gold threads entwined around Mu-gyeong’s body burst all at once. “Aaaagh!” Eum Yohwa shrieked. The internal power released by the Cult Leader poured directly through the gold threads.
Though she barely managed to prevent her arms from being severed, Eum Yohwa scrambled backward while collapsed on the ground. Blood dripped from both of Eum Yohwa’s forearms. Droplets of blood also fell from the gold threads hanging loosely from her hands, soaking the ground.
“Were you coveting my position?”
“It is a misunderstanding… I never had any intention of harming the Cult Leader! There is surely a great misunderstanding…!”
“And yet, it has been a long time since I’ve felt such killing intent.”
She had to make an excuse somehow. However, since she had projected murderous intent toward the Cult Leader, it was treason regardless of the reason.
Anger flared within her, wondering if her son had also been killed by the Cult Leader, but it was short-lived. The sight of the Cult Leader walking toward her indifferently with his hands behind his back was utterly terrifying.
Scratching the ground with her fingernails, she kicked off the earth and fled as if crawling. The gold threads, which she had cut short for fear of being caught by the Cult Leader, fluttered at the ends of her sleeves.
Hearing groans from here and there, she knew that some of her disciples had survived. However, she deployed her lightfoot technique without looking back. The terror that the Cult Leader’s hand was reaching for her made it impossible to turn around.
Having abandoned even her disciples, Eum Yohwa fled the main sect. Since she had effectively challenged the Cult Leader’s authority, she had to hide. It didn’t matter why the Cult Leader was at the zither player’s residence. She focused solely on survival.
Fleeing from the main sect, she climbed the strange rocks of the Bangobong Forest. Because her internal energy was depleted, she climbed the rocks with her bare hands, causing her fingernails to be ripped off, but she did not hesitate until she reached the summit.
“Brother! Brother Sword Demon!”
She finally reached the top and shouted. However, the Sword Demon’s thatched hut was filled only with a bleak atmosphere. Cursing him as a useless bastard, she slumped into a chair in the hut.
Eum Yohwa’s mastery of lightfoot techniques was as considerable as her sound-based attacks. Furthermore, since she had drawn upon her innate true qi—the source of internal energy—to perform the technique, even the Cult Leader must have found it burdensome to chase her.
In exchange, she had lost about 15 years of cultivation power, but she didn’t regret it if it was the price for her life. As long as she had the blood cult’s blood god pill, recovery was entirely possible.
While panting in the chair, she suddenly bolted upright.
Was the zither player actually the Cult Leader? But imagining the Cult Leader changing his appearance and skeletal structure to play the seven-stringed zither at the Jade Pavilion was not easy.
Or perhaps, knowing she was connected to the blood cult, had he harmed her son first? However, the Cult Leader had always been a mere observer, no matter what happened. Despite this, the suspicion that the Cult Leader might have killed Yeom Ji-gong would not leave her mind.
“Get a grip.”
Eum Yohwa clutched her head at her own absurd leaps in logic. He was the Heavenly Demon. He was a man with the authority to kill Yeom Ji-gong without reason. Therefore, if the Cult Leader had killed Yeom Ji-gong, he would have displayed his head publicly; there was no reason to hide it.
Why was the Cult Leader at the zither player’s residence? Since that question remained unanswered, her thoughts would not settle.
“Brother!”
She shouted happily the moment she saw a man leaping up the strange rocks. Upon seeing Eum Yohwa, the Sword Demon’s wrinkled eyes widened slightly.
“Where have you been! We must go to the blood cult immediately! I’ve been framed for attempting to harm the Cult Leader.”
Eum Yohwa spoke while glancing around frantically. In her anxiety, she even bit her blood-stained hands as she hurriedly retrieved the pipa she had given to the Sword Demon.
Her true strength lay not in gold threads, but in sound-based attacks using musical instruments. However, even if she had brought her favorite seven-stringed zither, she wouldn’t have been able to touch a single hair on the Cult Leader’s head.
“What are you doing! We had a promise! I alone have smuggled hundreds of children out of this cult. Things have turned out this way, but the blood cult cannot abandon us. Hurry and come with me to Blood Demon Valley!”
Eum Yohwa tried to leave the hut in haste. However, the Sword Demon muttered with a grave expression.
“Framed for attempting to harm the Cult Leader, you say…”
Eum Yohwa nodded with a look of grievance. The Sword Demon let out a small sigh, saying, “Then it cannot be helped.”
“There might be the Cult Leader’s spies following us, so I will cover the rear. You lead the way.”
Clutching the pipa dearly, Eum Yohwa continued to nod and took the lead. However, as she reached the point where she had to descend the strange rocks, she stopped hesitantly before the cliff. Seeing her appear afraid of the cliff, the Sword Demon chuckled and said, “If you’re scared, shall I carry you on my back?”
“Brother.”
“Yes.”
At that moment, red demonic energy began to swirl around Eum Yohwa’s hand holding the pipa.
“Brother Sword Demon.”
“I told you, go ahead.”
With a sudden spin, Eum Yohwa violently plucked the strings with her demonic-energy-infused hand and screamed.
“Damn it! It was all within Cheon Mu-gyeong’s palm!”
From her hand, the Ten Thousand Flowers Corpse Divider, created by drawing upon her innate true qi, was unleashed. Along with the illusion of fluttering red petals, blades of sound waves surged like a storm. It was a domineering sound-based attack that would twist one’s qi and blood if hit directly.
The Sword Demon drew the sword from his hip and sliced through the sound infused with internal energy. The petals seemed to be cut in all directions, scattering like pollen, but immediately after, the vibration of the strings released by Eum Yohwa shook his mind. A dizziness occurred that made his temples throb.
However, Eum Yohwa’s hands were already tattered from climbing the rocks, and even without that, the Sword Demon had reached a higher realm than she. The Sword Demon evaded and sliced through her sound-based attack and lunged forward.
Shink! Eum Yohwa’s body was pierced by the Sword Demon’s blade along with the pipa. Coughing up blood, Eum Yohwa glared at the Sword Demon as if she wanted to tear him apart.
“How on earth did you know?”
The Sword Demon asked while the sword was still embedded. Wrinkles were deeply etched around his eyes. However, Eum Yohwa belatedly realized that the Sword Demon had one eye closed.
“I asked how you knew. Wasn’t it quite convincing?”
But Eum Yohwa only smiled bitterly without answering. She had truly been fooled as well. However, the Sword Demon had never once spoken comfortably to her.
Because she was the only person he had loved in his life, he had always respected her and had even brought the blood god pill for Yeom Ji-gong, who wasn’t even his own kin. The pipa had not been stolen; Eum Yohwa had given it to him as a gift because she could not accept his feelings.
Yet, Eum Yohwa met her death without saying a single word until the end. Withdrawing the sword from her body, the Sword Demon rested his hand on his hip.
“Tsk, just how far has the blood cult extended its reach?”
As the Sword Demon peeled away the skin of his face, a gentle impression was revealed. It was Do-gyeon, with a long scar running through one eye.