Chapter 316: After the Fire (1)

In Cheong’s personal opinion, Nam Munhae of the Jangheung Guild was an absolute fucking bitch who deserved to die.

Everyone in Naknyeong likely agreed.

And if the rest of the Central Plains ever found out the truth, they’d probably spit on her name without hesitation.

Because this ancient, primitive, undeveloped land wasn’t some place where survival came easy—

—and there were no naïve idiots going around spouting moral bullshit like “but life is sacred...”

No, not here.

Still, even a woman who deserved to die a hundred times—

No. Even if she deserved to die three thousand times—

she was, to Nam Munseong, a beloved daughter.

What kind of father could watch his child dragged away right before his eyes, guilty or not?

And now she was to be handed over to her enemies. The kind of end that awaited her...

He didn’t even want to imagine it.

But Nam Munseong wasn’t just any old man.

He was the giant who had built the greatest trading guild in the region.

A lesser man would’ve collapsed in grief, wailing and cursing the heavens.

But he didn’t.

He looked for a solution.

He called for his three sons, and said:

“We must get Heaya back. One of you—who will go?”

“Father? Please, calm down. Start from the beginning. Go where?”

“Where else!? To Naknyeong, of course!”

Nam Munseong roared.

“Go there. Bow your heads. Press your foreheads to the dirt and beg.

And throw money. Those people are beggars now, after the flood swept everything away.

Yeah. Give thirty gwan to the county magistrate of Naknyeong, and make sure Hyunseung gets a nice little cut too.”

“You mean...”

“I’ve told you before—public sentiment can be bought with gold.

Tell them their families are dead, and give ten gold taels per head.

They probably wouldn’t have earned that much in their entire lives anyway.

The ones who survived will laugh it off and say their useless relatives got what was coming.

Honestly, some might even wish more had died.”

If Cheong had heard this, she would’ve choked.

If they’d done this from the start,

If the money had rained down when Cheong was still sweating her guts out as a makeshift doctor and carpenter...

If they had sent relief instead of silence—

—there would’ve been no need to spark the fire now spreading across the hearts of the people.

But of course, they never meant to.

So it was always inevitable.

Still, even belated, gold was effective.

The problem now was time.

They had to settle the matter before Nam Munhae fell into the hands of those lowborn beggars and met a horrific fate.

“Spend whatever it takes. Throw the gold. And that bitch...”

Hatred boiled in Nam Munseong’s eyes.

“Oh yes. She’s a righteous hero, isn’t she? A noble lady of the orthodox sects who can’t be touched, huh?”

Once upon a time, Jangheung Guild had hired many formidable ronin.

Even one of the so-called Five Rogue Legends—the famed Gujeol Ronin—had once been in their service.

But the Gujeol Ronin had turned his back on them.

Rather than face the chaos, he’d abandoned the guild, taking his junior disciples and Nam Munhae with him under the excuse of “protecting” her.

If even he fled, who else dared stand against her?

The other ronin scattered like rats soon after.

They hadn’t even had time to request aid from the local officials or the sects of Western Chang’an who had long fed off the guild’s protection money.

So the house was left defenseless when the crowd came.

“I don’t care if I spend my entire fortune—

—I’ll make sure that bitch pays.

If the righteous sects won’t touch her, then we’ll go to the demonic ones.

Who will go?”

“Father? Where—?”

“Go to the Blood Sabre Union!

Tell them I’ll pay a thousand gwan if they kill the Celestial Sword!”

The previous bounty on Eonyeong (Ximen Qing) had been ten thousand gwan.

So this was comparatively cheap.

But given that the Blood Sabre Union made most of their money off fake relics and illicit trade—often involving former people turned “goods”—and raked in obscene profits across the Central Plains,

it was perhaps unfair to compare them to a single provincial guild.

“Why are we wasting time!? We don’t know when Heaya will reach Naknyeong!

How much gold do we have on hand? Prepare it immediately!”

And then Nam Munseong bolted out the door.

His three sons looked at each other.

And then, the youngest—now the “baby” by default—broke the silence.

“Brothers? We need to talk. What the hell’s he thinking, tossing out gold like that? Has the old man lost his mind?

Heaya’s not that pretty.”

The guild’s fortune was mostly tied up in credit notes and loan agreements.

Their liquid assets weren’t even enough to shower over Naknyeong like that.

Ten gold taels per victim?

Even excluding the families that died out completely, that added up to over a thousand gwan.

Then you had to bribe the provincial governors to frame it as an unfortunate natural disaster—

And of course, make generous offerings to the Prefectural Inspector.

And now there’s a bounty for another thousand gwan?

“At this rate, we’re all going broke.

And if that bitch does come back, she’ll just swagger in and reclaim her spot as heir.

The old man always treated her like his only real child.

I can’t stand it anymore.”

The other two looked at him.

These three had never once felt any brotherly affection for each other.

They were rivals, trained to compete for inheritance like wolves tearing at the same scrap.

But just for this moment—

Their eyes met.

And they understood each other.

****

And now—

The talk of Chang’an, the capital of the Western Regions, was none other than the Celestial Sword Ximen Qing and the glorious victory she achieved with ten thousand citizens at her side.

Of course, it hadn’t actually been ten thousand people.

Barely a thousand, if that.

But tales of valor were always inflated.

Exaggerating the truth wasn’t lying—it was a universal human instinct, found in every race, culture, and century.

And so, the Celestial Sword had to be a hero.

The more legendary her role, the more glorious it made those who stood with her.

Thus, Ximen Qing was now declared the wisest mind among all warriors.

A beauty so radiant that even Xi Shi would lower her head in shame—

Not just the fairest under heaven, but across all of history.

She was the Heavenly Maiden who descended to walk among the people.

The one flower among countless weeds.

The first bloom among the people—

A Crimson Bloom. A Crimson Flame.

Crimson... Flame?

Yes—The Crimson Flame.

A shiver ran through the crowd.

What was this emotion surging inside them?

They didn’t know.

But with that, a new title began to spread like wildfire:

Crimson Flame Fairy, Ximen Qing.

And there were some—already in tears—who felt something even more profound:

The most exalted one has descended. Even arrogant men of Chang’an bow before her like loyal dogs.

She is the Light of our lives.

The Sun incarnate.

The Crimson Flame isn’t just a flower—it is fire.

The sacred flame will burn across the land.

Crimson Flame Rises.

And when that time comes—

The world will know its true master.

Sacred Flame Unites All. Crimson Flame One World.

The fanatics' loyalty grew ever stronger.

They had already been indoctrinated from youth—

But now, they were indistinguishable from the madness itself.

When someone values a single command from their master more than their own life,

that’s not loyalty.

That’s insanity.

And so, Cheong’s name surged higher and higher—about to pierce the heavens.

The power of the people, the will of the customers, the belief that we are the true masters who feed the merchants—

—that idea spread like wildfire.

And the wind to fan that fire arrived the very next day:

The Guildmaster of Jangheung has collapsed!

A massive stroke.

His limbs twisted.

His face caved in.

He could no longer speak.

Truly, divine punishment.

What else could it be?

He’d been perfectly healthy just yesterday—

And now he was a broken husk.

But there were three people who saw it differently.

“Father, your life force is something else.

You drank that poison and you still didn’t die?

Hm. Was it the ginseng? Said it was a hundred-year-old root from Goryeo. Maybe that was the problem.”

“Well, big brother’s poison smelled a bit too strong.

Had to mix it with the tonic to hide it, right?

He only swallowed it whole because he thought it was good for him.”

“Isn’t this better anyway?

Let him linger—maybe people will even call us dutiful sons.”

Nam Munseong screamed in silence.

He couldn’t speak.

He couldn’t move.

Only his left ring finger twitched ever so slightly.

The rest of him was paralyzed, trapped inside his own body, mind intact.

They say the royal ginseng of Goryeo is the king of all roots.

Guess this made him the living proof.

“Father, not that you can hear us...

But try not to be too mad.

Remember when I was little, and I gave a coin to a beggar?

You slapped me.

Told me I was unfit to be a merchant’s son.

Told me to be ruthless.

So I did.

And now, you want me to burn our fortune to save that bitch? No way.”

“Exactly. You always said the taker is king, the giver a fool.

So what are we, huh?

Are we fools now?

Is she your only child or something?”

“Don’t be too upset. You brought this on yourself.

You know something? I’ve never once felt brotherly love.

Not once.

You clawed your way up by stabbing your own brothers in the back—

What made you think we’d see her as family?”

And then the second son laughed.

“Funny, though. Now I kinda get what ‘brotherhood’ means.

Jangheung Guild is done.

So let’s split it three ways and actually get along.”

“Let’s be real—Father only ever cared about the eldest and the baby.

We were never even treated like sons.

Okay, second brother got a decent marriage deal...

But me? Did he ever give a damn about me?”

“Decent? You think I wanted to marry that troll-looking hag?

Fucking daughter of the Prefectural Inspector—I can’t even take a concubine!”

“Well then, second brother gets the brothels and pleasure halls.

May as well make a living playing with women.”

“You, youngest—damn, I never realized you were this sharp.

Fine. I’ll take the pleasure houses.

We’ve got a new boss now, so how about a drink?

We get wasted after Dad collapses, it still counts as filial piety, right?”

“Ahem.

You think I had it easy as the eldest?

Screw competition—let’s just go into business together.

Let’s bury the hatchet.”

For the first time, a trace of brotherly affection bloomed in their hearts.

They had never once been brothers.

Only rivals, forced into blood sport over a dead man’s inheritance.

Now, that was over.

Nam Munseong watched them go, and his soul collapsed into despair.

Not only had he failed to raise his children—he had birthed monsters.

Three sons who poisoned their father for money.

One daughter who murdered three thousand people.

You bastards... You think you’ll get away with this?

You’ll be punished too!

You’ll ALL be punished!

Now, only now—

did Nam Munseong cry out to Heaven.

From the inside of a useless body

that could twitch one finger, and nothing more.