I was struck dumb by the secret voice I heard as I stepped out of the quarters.

The Alliance Leader had realized that Gun Hye-rin was a woman of the Demonic Cult.

'What does that mean? With such a great battle looming, is he saying he’ll question me {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} later, not now? At what point did I give it away? What am I supposed to do now?'

I had thought of what I would do if I were discovered, but when it actually happened, my head swarmed with so many thoughts that I was lost.

I had a plan, sure—but at this moment, nothing came to mind.

That was how shocking it was.

I had suspected someone might find out, but never imagined it would be the Alliance Leader himself.

And he, of all people, bore immense hatred for the Blood Cult. Surely he would feel the same toward the Demonic Cult.

“Hehe. Now the three of us will be known as So-ryong’s wives, won’t we?”

“After all, we met the Alliance Leader himself.”

“If it means that, then the risk was worth it.”

While I was in a daze, my wives were pulling me along, excited and giddy, some leading, some following.

From their point of view, they had just been formally introduced to one of the highest figures in Murim. Of course they were pleased.

It was like being officially recognized.

It was just before we reached our quarters.

“Husband, what’s wrong?”

“So-ryong, what is it?”

“What’s the matter, Master?”

Only then did my wives notice my expression, now that we were nearly at the quarters. I pulled them all into my arms without a word.

“Oh my, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden, So-ryong?”

“Husband?”

“Master?”

Six breasts, pressing from the front and both sides.

In that suffocating moment, it felt as though I could die happy—and my heart calmed.

I once read an internet story that if a weak, exhausted boyfriend was asked, ‘Want to touch my breasts?’ he’d recover his strength instantly. Now, I could confirm the truth of that.

Surrounded by six breasts, my mind cleared, energy surged back.

'No, not you down there. Don’t you start getting energetic.'

It wasn’t that kind of energy I needed. While I was steadying the unruly fellow below, the Princess’s voice reached me.

“Really now. You said no before, but now you’ve had a change of heart? We’re a little embarrassed too, but if So-ryong wants it...”

“Ji-ryeon, what?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I told you, didn’t I? Emperors bed several women at once.”

“Oh, that.”

“The Empress shares his bed alone, but beneath her rank they go in pairs, threes, sixes, even nines, didn’t they?”

“Yes.”

Ji-ryeon was spreading another great misunderstanding.

'No, I’ll have to ask her what kind of sermons she was listening to at her temple days.'

Aren’t monks supposed to lecture on abstinence and discipline?

Ji-ryeon had lived at Bo-ta Temple—like chapel in a Christian school, she should have sat through religious lectures.

Yet here she was, saying such things. How much naughtier had she been back then?

I shook my head.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Hm? Then what is it?”

“Then why that face, Master?”

I steadied my breath, then told them why I was like this.

“I think we’ve been found out.”

“Found out?”

“Found out about what? That So-ryong wants to sleep with all three of us at once?”

“No, not that—about Hye-rin being of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”

All three of their bodies jolted in my arms.

As if struck by lightning.

“Found out!?”

“What are you saying, Master!?”

“So-ryong, explain clearly!”

Pressed by their urgent questions, I told them what had just happened.

“Actually, when I was leaving the Alliance Leader’s quarters just now, I heard a voice: ‘Why a woman of the Demonic Cult is at your side—we’ll speak of that after this campaign.’ It was the Alliance Leader’s voice.”

At my words, they all froze.

None of us had expected it would be discovered so soon.

When the Alliance Leader had asked to meet earlier, we hadn’t thought it would be serious.

“H-how? Even a martial artist of the Flame Realm couldn’t have sensed my qi! Impossible!”

Gun Hye-rin looked baffled, unable to understand how her aura had been detected.

The Princess quickly tried to reassure me.

“Don’t worry, So-ryong. Even if the Alliance Leader noticed, what could Murim do if I spoke to the Emperor? Don’t be too troubled.

Luckily, he didn’t raise it immediately and said we’d talk later. I’ll find a way by then.”

“W-will that really work? That was the plan, but...”

I couldn’t help worrying the Emperor might not shield us. At that moment, Hwa-eun pulled my face into her chest and patted my back.

“So-ryong, don’t worry. If nothing else works, then we’ll run.”

“Run?”

Looking up at her face between her breasts, I asked. Hwa-eun nodded firmly.

“Yes, to somewhere hard to find. Ah! Yizhou! We cleared out the pirates there and no one lives there now. Even if not there, if we hide away in such a place, who could find us?

We’ll flee to a land where no one knows us, and live happily there with our children.”

Maybe she was just saying it, but in that instant, I thought:

'That doesn’t sound so bad.'

Not in a place of bloodshed like this, but somewhere no one knew us, living happily with my three wives and children—that wouldn’t be bad at all.

***

Hwa-eun had suggested we run, but running was the very last resort.

First, I gathered Sister Seol, Lady Cheong-yu, and clever little Soto for a strategy meeting.

I had brought together the brains of our household.

Lady Cheong-yu, once holding high position in the Five Poisons Sect, was someone whose advice on such matters was invaluable. Sister Seol had long served as an elder of the Beast Palace, and her counsel was always sound. And Soto, the sharpest among the spirit beasts, could often see what others missed.

We needed to understand what the Alliance Leader’s true intentions were.

“Sister Seol, we’ve been exposed.”

“What?”

As we entered the quarters, I looked toward Gun Hye-rin, and Sister Seol’s blinking eyes widened, her face twisting in shock.

“E-exposed?”

But then came a meddling question.

“What’s been exposed?”

At my side, Gungbong was asking with an innocent look.

At that, I asked her to fetch Soto.

“Gungbong, go inside for now and bring Soto here.”

“Ah, fine. I only just got out and...”

She pouted, then quickly brightened with curiosity.

“But what’s been exposed, Master So-ryong?”

“Hye-rin being from the Heavenly Demon Cult.”

“What!? Lady Gun is from the Heavenly Demon Cult!?”

Despite my request, Gungbong blurted it out.

I grimaced and pleaded with her. Now wasn’t the time to explain everything.

“Gungbong! Please!”

“Ah, sorry. But it’s a shock.”

“You’re not the sort to care about such things, are you? Honestly, even if Hye-rin’s the Heavenly Demon, you wouldn’t think much of it.”

“That’s true. Um... Lady Gun may not be fun, but she doesn’t seem bad. Fine, I’ll go in. I’ll get a headache anyway, so I’ll let Soto explain later. Tell me afterward, Soto. Then talk among yourselves.”

Once Gungbong was tucked away, Soto took the lead again.

He nodded and said,

“You knew she’d be found out eventually.”

“Yes, but of all people, it had to be the very one we couldn’t afford to know.”

“Who?”

“The Alliance Leader.”

“...”

Soto’s jaw dropped.

It seemed he hadn’t imagined it would be the Alliance Leader himself.

“What!? Not just anyone, but the Alliance Leader? So-ryong, how did that happen?”

As Soto froze, Sister Seol, who had been listening, asked.

I roughly explained what had happened.

“So that’s how it was...”

When I finished, Sister Seol flopped back onto my bedding.

“Ha... why the Alliance Leader of all people...”

Her expression said she had a pounding headache.

Beside her, Soto finally spoke again.

“But it doesn’t feel like a bad sign. He said he’d keep it secret for now, didn’t he?”

“That’s true, but you know the saying: better the first blow. Not knowing what end it will come to makes it worse.”

We clung to the hope in Soto’s words, but waiting was pure torture.

Cheong-yu, with gentle voice, nodded from the side.

— Xia. Don’t worry too much, So-ryong. Soto is right. If the Alliance Leader had meant ill, he would have already locked you or Hye-rin away somewhere.

“Really?”

— Xiiia. Yes. In a campaign like this, you must secure the rear before marching forward. To leave it until after means his intention is favorable.

“That’s a relief.”

Soto and Lady Cheong-yu’s words eased me somewhat, but then Sister Seol spoke.

“Maybe it’s best to just run. What if... what if he’s only sparing you time to escape because you’re his heir?”

Her words made the anxiety rise all over again.

***

In those days of unease and nervous waiting, the expedition was finally set.

The Nine Great Sects, the Seven Great Clans, and countless martial artists of the Central Plains, joined by thirty-two thousand five hundred imperial guards.

The expeditionary force was divided into three armies.

The First Army: twelve thousand troops from Guangxi and fifteen hundred martial artists, set to advance along Dai Viet’s eastern coast toward its capital.

The Second Army: seventeen thousand five hundred troops from Guizhou and twenty-five hundred martial artists, totaling twenty thousand, set to march directly south from the Guangxi–Yunnan border straight toward the capital.

And the Third Army: three thousand regular troops and five thousand martial artists, totaling eight thousand, departing from Yunnan and striking down the western flank along the river.

Altogether: forty-one thousand five hundred.

Not a vast army for conquering a nation, but time could not be spared. So the nearby forces of Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan were scraped together.

More could have been raised, but even Hunan alone would have taken months to muster. They could not wait.

For moving an army is not simply a matter of gathering men and marching.

Supply is essential. Without supply, an army cannot fight.

And preparing supply on short notice is no simple task. That was why the border provinces—Yunnan and Guangxi, with Guizhou in support—moved first.

The longer they waited, the stronger the enemy would grow, the more advanced their martial arts. Time could not be given.

Even if they could not wipe them out, they had to whittle down their strength.

Before the massed host at the border, the imperial general dispatched by the court addressed them in a solemn voice.

“We are told that a wicked horde has toppled Dai Viet and now grows strong enough to threaten the Central Plains. This is not a war of conquest, but a war to defend Murim. Fight with the thought of protecting your families in the Central Plains. That is all.”

When his speech ended, the Alliance Leader stepped forward before the martial artists, and spoke short and weighty words.

“It is time to bring this long struggle to an end. Let us repay the blood debt of those who went before us.”

“Waaaaah!”

“Slaughter the Blood Cult fiends!”

“Slaughter them!”

—Boom. Boom. Boom.

With that short speech done, the First Army began its advance across the border.

For fear of unforeseen events, my wives and children remained at the Beast Palace.

Without me, the children had no one who could communicate with them properly.

If they were to be brought to the battlefield, someone versed in both communication and venom beasts was essential—and that was me. But I was bound for another task.

I was the hidden ultimate weapon of Murim.

With Hongbi at my side, I mounted Yeondu’s back and set out for the Island of Beginnings.

Hainan Island—the place where my adventure had first begun.

“Let’s go.”

There, the final of the Ten Great Venom Beasts awaited: Chimjo (Imperial Bird).

To face the Blood Demon, I had to claim Chimjo, ascend to the Realm of Ten Venoms, and step into the Gate of Life and Death.