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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Mount Hua Sect's Lady
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Mount Hua Sect.
On a cliff surrounded by pine trees sat a training ground.
In the training ground before the sun had even risen, a single girl swung a sword. She wore threadbare clothes that made it clear at a glance she'd grown up neglected and unloved.
"First Form, Plum Blossom Roadside. Second Form, Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance."
Even the sword was decrepit, with chipped and missing teeth, and far too large for the girl's small hands and frame.
"Plum Blossom Falling, Plum Blossom Blood Rain."
Swish!
The girl's hands moved, and the sword—bigger than she was—swept smoothly from above downward, from left to right.
True to the forms, the quivering sword tip traced plum blossoms in the air, while her feet and hands followed paths as light and graceful as a butterfly in dance.
"Twenty-Fourth Form, Plum Blossom Fragrance a Thousand Miles."
The final move of the 24 Plum Blossom Sword Techniques was demonstrated with great effort by this mere fourteen-year-old girl at the sword's tip.
It wasn't a clumsy sketch; she'd trained it nearly to perfection. From the sword trail she drew rose the thick scent of plum blossoms.
Amid the plum flowers embroidering the empty air and the intensifying fragrance, the girl snapped her eyes open.
Among the dozens of flower traces left by the sword tip, she smiled faintly.
Sword grime smeared messily across her face, yet in that instant, the scrawny little girl looked strangely serene.
"Done."
She'd had to practice in secret, out of everyone's sight, but she knew her progress was faster than anyone's.
'With this... maybe, just maybe, I'll finally get some praise.'
For once, the girl's—Dohwa's—heart pounded.
It had been almost like thieving in her training... but still.
She'd heard even the older Sect Leaders found it hard to draw out the fragrance from the Plum Blossom Fragrance a Thousand Miles form.
This time, she might finally be treated like a proper martial artist.
Her chest swelled with pride as she happily slid the sword into its sheath. Then she whipped around.
Someone was watching.
In the dim dawn light, beneath a massive pine tree, stood Hu—the top disciple of Mount Hua Sect.
Hu glared at the girl and muttered through gritted teeth.
"...So you've finally grasped the essence."
The girl who'd been sneaking out at dawn for her thief-like training—Dohwa—lowered her eyes.
"...S-Senior Brother. I'm sorry."
"Senior Brother? Who's your senior brother? Ha... You ragtag wench, aspiring to be a martial artist."
"Senior Brother... but..."
"Talking back?"
A sharp crack rang out, and Dohwa's cheek snapped to the side.
Still too young—her tiny hand barely covered the cheek—tears welled up in the child's eyes.
Honestly, she could have dodged it. But doing so would only bring harsher punishment.
"If I catch you touching a sword again, I'll shatter that arm of yours. Know that. Orphan brat—how dare you covet Mount Hua Sect's sword arts?"
Hu slapped her cheek once more and turned away.
Dohwa stared blankly at his retreating back, rage bubbling inside her.
She could take the insults aimed at her. But dragging her late parents into it? That she couldn't endure. No one insulted her parents but her.
Even if she was illegitimate, she'd heard her mother had given her all in the Great War Against the Demonic Cult and died for Mount Hua Sect.
'No reason to hear that.'
Gritting her teeth, Dohwa—for once—couldn't hold back and glared at Hu.
"I've done everything you asked! I sweep all the pine needles piling up in the front yard every day, cook all the meals for you seniors, scrub all the floors! You said if I handle it all alone, I could use the training ground at dawn! You said I could read any manuals in the archive freely!"
Hu narrowed his eyes and shot her a glare.
A sinister smile crept across his lips.
If she'd truly comprehended the manuals, would he have let her read them?
Watching this girl's achievements—half his age—made his gut churn with envy.
Ten years younger than him, and she'd already reached heights he'd never touched. If the Sect Leader found out, he might take her as a formal disciple despite her being a girl. No—even name her successor.
That side-branch filth. That illegitimate bloodline.
He couldn't stand it.
Hu stepped closer to Dohwa.
Overwhelmed by his oppressive aura at such close range, Dohwa unwittingly staggered backward.
"I've put up with your wild antics so far, and now you're making a fool of me?"
"...That's not it."
"You dare. Are you saying my skills fall short? That I'm laughable?"
"W-When did I say that?"
Crack.
At the sound of gravel underfoot, Dohwa glanced aside in surprise—then whipped around.
A sheer cliff dropped away behind her.
To ward off Demonic Cult invasions, Mount Hua Sect had built its home high in impassable mountains, full of such precipices.
How had she been backed to the edge?
"D-Dangerous, isn't it?"
As Dohwa grimaced and tried to sidestep him, Hu shoved her without mercy.
But Dohwa's skills were far superior.
Even with her life on the line, she couldn't just take the hit. She seized his seemingly sluggish hand, planted a foot lightly on his arm, and leaped upward.
"Where do you think you're going."
At that moment, Hu channeled inner energy into his hand, seized her ankle, and slammed her downward like he was hurling trash.
If it was a mistake, it was never imagining someone from the same sect trying to kill her.
Another mistake: living a life filled with daily effort, she hadn't foreseen jealousy-blinded eyes over effort.
And another: from morning, she'd poured every ounce of her energy into training, leaving no inner power behind.
Dohwa blankly watched herself tumbling off the cliff.
Even the grotesque glee spreading across Hu's face as he looked down from afar.
Dohwa was found at the cliff's base, clinging to life by a thread.
Her legs and dantian utterly wrecked, reduced to a half-corpse unable even to speak—those who saw her were horrified, but no one uncovered her story.
She lived on like that for another year.
Her sole joys were inwardly reciting the manuals from memory and listening to stories from a girl who read books aloud to the patients sharing her ward.
Then, in early April, she withered away like plum petals fading all too slowly.
"Child, let's go."
Thinking death had come at the sound of that voice, Dohwa pried open her tightly shut eyes and looked ahead.
A man in a black hat and black robe—a grim silhouette—was gazing at her.
His appearance was too obvious for guessing who he was.
"Reaper of Souls?"
"Yes."
Dohwa blankly took in the sight of her own corpse lying on the bed, then let out a hollow laugh.
'Ha, ridiculous.'
Even in death, that was all that came to mind.
It was too unjust, too absurd.
"What are you waiting for? Aren't you coming?"
She shrieked at the Reaper of Souls—who wore a wide hat and strode ahead before turning back.
"Ah, I can't die like this!"
"...What did you say?"
"No, think about it! I lived my whole life neglected like that and died. I trained so hard in secret, thought my arts would finally shine—and bam, dead. I never even got to use them once, never got to show off!"
She'd thought him emotionless, but the Reaper of Souls sighed.
"Life is like that by nature. Who departs without regrets?"
"Even so, this is too much!"
"Too much how?"
Dohwa clenched her fists tight.
"Doesn't life deserve at least one good part? I lost my mom at birth, lived shunned my whole life for being illegitimate. What kind of fate is dying murdered by some idiot?"
The Reaper of Souls started to reply, then fell silent at the sight of tears gushing from the young girl's eyes.
"Right? Others grow up bathed in their parents' love. Me? Why couldn't I have that once? Is that the fate you talk about? A destiny I just have to accept?"
"Child."
"Why?!"
"Why do you keep calling me?!"
Her face twisted, her whole body heaving with sobs—the sight was utterly pitiable, even to the Reaper of Souls.
He'd witnessed countless deaths, yet children's always tugged at the heart. Especially if they'd lived a little longer, maybe.
This child was still too young to fully grasp the injustice she'd endured—and that was heartbreaking.
The Reaper of Souls let out a small sigh and turned to her.
Then, in his mind, he pictured the wheels of fate from other worlds.
He knew he shouldn't... but he had no choice.
From beneath his broad hat, shadowed features carefully scanned Dohwa's face.
"Then, if given another chance, would you live?"
Dohwa, slumped on the ground, jerked her head up. Light sparkled through her tear-streaked face.
"Another life? What kind?"
The Reaper of Souls exhaled long toward the sky, like a sigh, and continued.
"Some regret their lives like you, while others discard theirs before it's full. Will you take up that one?"
"...What do you mean."
"She has grandparents and parents, but it's hard to say she's loved. A young flower wilting under life's weight, too heavy for her vessel."
Dohwa blinked blankly. Fresh tears trickled from her eyes.
Stealing someone else's life—robbing their chance? As she blinked in doubt, the Reaper of Souls knelt to meet her gaze.
"You endured such a grueling life, yet your soul remains pure."
"...Huh?"
"You're taking nothing from anyone. That child has already let go of life. Without you, her soulless body heads only to death."
"...Really? Then I'll go! I'll do it!"
"You will?"
"So what if no love? Having parents at all—that's what I envied most."
"The weight of that life won't be easy."
"Having a life at all is enough."
Did her bold reply please him?
Dohwa thought she glimpsed a faint smile on the approaching Reaper of Souls' face.
"Very well, then live as you wish. It may not be a long life, but if so, we'll meet again."
"But is it really?"
"You've been deceived your whole life."
Dohwa watched blankly as he tore a page from the thick ledger in his hand and slipped it into another from his sleeve. Then her vision blurred.
"Tha...nk... you."
Not understanding what was happening, she uttered thanks for the first time someone had pitied her. Even if he was the Reaper of Souls.
'...Gasp!'
Dohwa jolted awake at the choking sensation blocking her throat.
Nothing but pitch blackness before her eyes.
But she knew she was underwater from the suffocating pressure on her lungs.
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