Chapter 1: I slept with him for one night and he came back to life.

“Today’s Demonic Cult has been defeated.”

At a gathering of orphans, the Heavenly Demon spoke.

“Until a few years ago, I called myself the Supreme, but I was defeated in a life-and-death duel and returned to the Demonic Cult in disgrace.”

The man with long black hair, appearing to be in his mid-thirties, removed his martial robe in front of me and the other children.

“Look at these scars. The sword techniques of the Sword Saint etched into my body.”

It was horrific.
Worse than the corpses of my family, killed by Green Forest bandits.

The cross-shaped scar on his chest seemed deeper than a finger’s length.
Stitched with black thread, it looked like the wound would burst if the stitches unraveled.

“The Sword Saint, Moyong Cheon. I was defeated by him.”

Sword Saint Moyong Cheon.
A name I knew.

“He is the greatest under heaven, and I am the second greatest.”

The Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult was defeated by the greatest figure of the righteous sects.

“This is the Demonic Cult’s defeat. Since no one in the Cult surpasses me, this is the Cult’s defeat.”

Could one person’s defeat equate to the downfall of an entire group?

I didn’t fully grasp concepts like the Heavenly Demon or the Martial Alliance Leader, so I could only stare blankly at those standing behind him.

“My guardian warriors also lost to their rivals. The Cult’s masters were defeated by the leaders of the Nine Great Sects and the heads of the Five Great Clans.”

I see.
They were defeated.
But why was he telling this to us, orphans, locked in a cave?

“You must be wondering why. Why we brought you here. Why we gathered orphans from across the Central Plains.”

Contrary to rumors, the Heavenly Demon was kind.

“Do not fear.”

He had no choice but to be kind.

“You are the future and hope of the Demonic Cult, the ‘latent poison’ that will lead the righteous sects to ruin.”

A glimmer of ‘hope’ flickered in the Heavenly Demon’s eyes as he looked at us.

“We will inject deadly poison into your bodies. Using soul-subduing arts, we will place you under hypnosis. You will be unable to defy our commands.”

There was a hint of madness in his gaze.

“If today’s Demonic Cult cannot win, then the Demonic Cult of the future will.”

Not only the Heavenly Demon but also his guardian warriors shared this sentiment.

“Rising talents. A fine phrase, isn’t it? The next generation’s hidden dragons who will lead the righteous sects’ golden age. Those who will one day soar as dragons and phoenixes, earning countless praises.”

The Heavenly Demon extended his hand to the side.

“Kill them.”

He mimed slicing someone’s throat with his hand, emitting a dark, sticky aura.

“Your senior disciples. Childhood friends. Branch members of noble clans. Children of old friends. Children of enemies. It doesn’t matter how you approach them. Your mission is twofold.”

The Heavenly Demon had captured us orphans with a clear purpose.

“First, you will infiltrate various factions. You will erase your past, disguise yourselves, and blend into their ranks, reporting to the Demonic Cult periodically.”

One, they planned to use us as spies.

“Second, this is your primary mission. For example…”

The Heavenly Demon pointed at me.

“How old are you this year?”
“T-Ten years old.”
“Ho.”

I answered because he asked.
The guardians widened their eyes in surprise, and the Heavenly Demon bared his white teeth in an amused smile.

“You will infiltrate the Moyong Clan. By any means necessary, kill Moyong Cheon’s only daughter, Moyong Seol.”

“Your guardian warrior mentors, who will become your masters, will teach you the specifics.”

With that, the Heavenly Demon left the cave.

“…What are we supposed to do?”
“There’s hardly any martial talent among these kids. If not for the orders, they wouldn’t even qualify as outer disciples…”
“Heh heh heh. That’s a good thing. If they clumsily learned demonic arts, those sharp-witted bastards would notice.”

As the saying goes, ten people, ten colors.
The diverse guardian warriors passed by me one by one.

“Your mission determines our lives. Heh heh.”

Each guardian warrior seemed to have their own assigned group.

“Poison Demon, what about the kid infiltrating the Sichuan Tang Clan? Planning to send them in as a poison expert?”
“Hmm… maybe through cooking.”
“Poisoning the food?”
“No, making them ill through food. Like feeding them nothing but wheat flour to ruin their bodies.”
“Hah, that’s your grand plan?”
“Better than that seductress thinking of death by overindulgence.”

Was it because they were so-called demons?
Or because their usual method of ‘killing with force’ didn’t work, they were agonizing over new methods, resulting in these bizarre ideas?

“I’ll take these kids.”
“Fine, I’ll take these ones. The more girls, the better.”
“…Follow me.”

The ten guardian warriors each took their group of children and left.

About a hundred children had been brought here, but I was the only one left in the cave.

“…”

I gripped the fallen dagger tightly.
There was no warmth in its blade.

Was this a command to die?
Or was it the impulse of being abandoned even by the Demonic Cult?

“Planning to die?”

A woman crouched in front of me, grabbing the dagger I held.

“Or planning to kill just anyone with it?”

Her face was sickly pale.
She was beautiful, but the eerie aura emanating from her made it seem like a corpse was speaking.

“If so, why not entrust that life to this Demonic Healer?”

The Demonic Healer, White Mask.

I became her disciple, tasked with killing the precious daughter of the greatest under heaven.

Three years passed.

I turned thirteen, and each guardian warrior raised their disciples, constantly discussing ‘how to kill the next generation.’

“Disciple, what are some ways to kill the righteous sects’ rising talents?”

The Demonic Healer asked me while cleaning a deceased disciple’s body with a cloth.

“Become a master and kill the rising talents.”
“Correct. That’s why you and the other orphans keep dying.”

An orphan brought with me had been killed.
Beaten to death by another orphan.

“Raise a strong disciple to break their martial arts. Only martial artists with inner energy filling their minds would think of that.”

To become a disciple of the Fist Demon.
The other guardians’ disciples were no different.

“The Seduction Demon plans to violate the adult rising talents. Oh, was that too mature for a young disciple?”
“…”
“Heh heh heh. But that’s also a method of killing. There’s poisoning them into addiction, or trapping them with mechanical formations. And like this…”

My master, the Demonic Healer, drew a long needle.

Stab.

“There’s also killing through medicine.”

As she stabbed the needle into the corpse’s body, my master imparted her teachings.

“Memorize the blood points. You must become a physician.”
“Act as a physician and kill with a needle? If I fail, you die, Master.”
“Disciple, humans die anyway.”

My master sometimes seemed detached from life.

“Death comes early for some, suddenly for others, or can be delayed.”
“…”
“Have hope. No matter what the other guardians say, you will surely survive.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, from your face, I see you’re destined for trouble with women.”

It was probably a joke.

Maybe.

Seventeen years old.

“I heard Moyong Cheon’s daughter has the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.”

Hope for me, despair like a thunderbolt for others.

“Moyong Cheon’s only daughter is terminally ill.”

Nine Yin Severed Meridians.

A disease where twisted blood vessels, caused by excessive yin energy, disrupt the flow of qi, leading to death.

“The Demonic Healer said she doesn’t know how to cure it. Congratulations, you’ve completed your mission by doing nothing.”

The Heavenly Demon mocked me.
Among martial artists’ children, severed meridian syndrome is common, and the Nine Yin Severed Meridians is its worst form, leaving no chance of survival.

“We can’t let her die like that.”

The Heavenly Demon, now aged and withered on his throne, was filled with madness.

“This is an order. Before she dies of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, you kill her.”

The Heavenly Demon commanded.
With deadly poison embedded in my heart, I had to obey absolutely.

“Yes.”

Unless the poison was removed from my heart.

“Let’s go, disciple.”

As the Demonic Healer’s disciple and assistant physician, I headed to the Martial Alliance.

There, I met a white-haired girl.

She was beautiful.
To be honest, I fell for her at first sight.

They say a flower is most beautiful before it falls, and despite her sickly appearance, she was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Leader, even going to the Demonic Healer…”
“Look here, Sword Saint. Miss Moyong Seol is the hope of the righteous sects.”

The righteous sects had their own share of discussions.

“Listen, Demonic Healer and disciple. You will be presented as coming from Kunlun, not the Demonic Cult. You’ve placed first in a medical competition and found some answers to the Moyong Clan’s severed meridian issue.”
“Is Kunlun alright with this?”
“I am the leader of Kunlun and the Martial Alliance. How could my disciples object?”

I don’t know the details, but that’s how my master and I infiltrated the righteous sects under false identities.

Only the Martial Alliance Leader and the Sword Saint knew the truth.

“Are you the disciple of the Celestial Silk Fairy?”
“Yes, miss.”
“Don’t call me miss. Just… call me Seol.”

Thus, I approached my assassination target, Moyong Seol, as the disciple of a skilled physician.

“The treatment… it’s not progressing much, is it?”
“Yes, Miss Moyong.”

Through my medical training, I knew.

“I see. Then I’ll die shortly after becoming an adult. Maybe I’ll barely make it past my coming-of-age.”

Sometimes, treatment is useless for those who’ve given up on healing themselves.

“I have a request. Before I die, there’s so much I want to do. Will you help me?”

The girl wanted to experience as much as possible before her death.

“If dying is my fate, I want to do something, anything, before I go.”

I was the same.
If I didn’t kill Moyong Seol in the most brutal, heart-wrenching way to tear the Sword Saint apart, I was fated to be killed by the Heavenly Demon.

“Understood. What do you need help with?”
“Everything I can think of!”

The day before Moyong Seol’s coming-of-age.

“…Miss Moyong?”
“Shh.”

Near midnight, Moyong Seol slipped into my room wearing only a white robe.

“I’ll die tomorrow. Or maybe today.”
“…After midnight, it’s your birthday.”
“That’s why, as a birthday gift, I want to do something I’ve never done before.”

Moyong Seol pushed me back onto the bed as I half-rose.

“Will you help me?”
“…”

If I did, I’d die.

But if I was going to die anyway,
If it was the wish of a terminally ill person…

“If it’s not the Nine Yin Severed Meridians but shock from this that kills you?”
“Pfft, would that count as a good death?”

And so, I spent the last night of my life with a terminally ill woman.

Yes.

The precious daughter of the greatest under heaven.
On the day the terminally ill woman came of age, I spent a night with her.

Waiting for her final moments.

…
…
…

“Huh?”

Her blood points… opened.

“What… how did this…?”

I saved her.

…

I’m f*cked.