Chapter 143: The Celestial Flower Tower Master

Read more at Nineheavens.org

One woman and one man seated in Dark Hall’s guest hall.

As two teacups on the dark red table sent up wisps of steam, a calm voice leaked out.

“Dark Hall’s fresh start… Somehow I’m looking forward to it.”

The owner of the voice was a woman in her twenties seated before the table.

Was a flower speaking?

The appearance of the woman dressed in snow-white palace attire was an extraordinary beauty surpassing the level of simply being beautiful.

Neatly coiled hair like that of a well-bred maiden, a smooth forehead seemingly carefully groomed, eyebrows shaped like slender crescent moons, beneath them two pupils shining clearly like sunlit water, and an elegant nose curved gracefully upward with plump, ripely tempting lips like fruit… It was a stunning beauty that no man could take his eyes off of.

Also.

The white palace attire wrapping her slender yet curvaceous body was splendidly embroidered with orchid patterns reminiscent of an artist’s craftsmanship, giving the feeling of enhancing that beauty even further.

An alluring and sensual beauty.

With skin as clean and white as snow and a face that could be compared to flowers or the moon – this woman’s identity was the Tower Master of Celestial Flower Tower, an information-gathering organization of the unorthodox martial world.

Gongse Dan-yeong.

A first-rate female martial talent who was twenty-five years old this year and had earned the alias White Dream Beauty due to her spectacular appearance.

Her main martial art was the use of the uncommon whip, and she was a master of the so-called Jade Net Whip Technique.

Though Celestial Flower Tower had built its reputation as an information-gathering organization, its foundation was distinctly a faction of the unorthodox world, so its combat strength was by no means weak.

Though it didn’t boast a scale massive enough to be counted on ten fingers across this entire region like Dark Hall, it was a solid faction that had well-established substance, including elite masters.

Thus, there were hardly any martial world people who would carelessly look down on them just because over eighty percent of their members were women.

In particular, White Dream Beauty Gongse Dan-yeong’s martial reputation was so high that she could stand shoulder to shoulder with the famous mid-level masters of this region.

Not long ago, a young master from the Seven Dawn Sword Family, a famous orthodox martial family in this region, had challenged her to a spar out of curiosity, only to be defeated in less than thirty seconds – there was no room to doubt her martial skill.

Soon, the man in his forties seated beside her spoke while stroking his teacup.

“Yes, Tower Master. Dark Sword Fragrance is a promising figure, so I expect he will lead well. He’s a precious customer our Tower absolutely cannot miss.”

An unremarkable ordinary face, but the formless presence flowing around his body was quite extraordinary.

Bald with a short dark beard, he was Black Blade Great Father Yeok Bi-mang, the Deputy Tower Master known as Celestial Flower Tower’s greatest master.

He had earned that alias for skillfully wielding a blackish blade about four chi in length, and he was a remarkable powerhouse who ranked among the upper tier of famous masters from both orthodox and unorthodox factions in this region.

Gongse Dan-yeong wore a faint smile as she took a sip of tea, then cast a meaningful gaze.

“If Dark Hall were still under that former Hall Master… I wouldn’t have responded. Anyway, our intelligence brought good results.”

“Ah, so you’re finally going to mention that.”

“Yes. It’s time for him to know as well. Also, there’s a need to prove just how thorough our Tower is in keeping secrets… Ah, it looks like they’re coming now.”

Gongse Dan-yeong fixed her gaze on the door as she spoke.

Then footsteps were heard.

SLIDE-

The antique lattice door opened smoothly and Dark Sword Fragrance Mun Bin and Nine Springs Swordsman Gwang Ryo appeared.

Simultaneously, Gongse Dan-yeong and Yeok Bi-mang stood up from their seats in unison and gave courteous greetings.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Gongse Dan-yeong, the Tower Master of Celestial Flower Tower.”

“I’m Yeok Bi-mang, the Deputy Tower Master who has been at this Tower Master’s side for twenty years.”

Gwang Ryo and Mun Bin then returned the greeting.

“Yes, pleasure to meet you. I am Gwang Ryo, the captain of the First Squad of our Hall’s Dark Ming Sword Unit.”

“I am the new Hall Master Mun Bin. I’ve heard much about you. I never expected you to respond this quickly – first, thank you for your trouble coming such a long way.”

Following that, the four sat down with the table between them.

Mun Bin looked at Gongse Dan-yeong seated across from him and was greatly impressed inside.

‘Wow… The rumors weren’t exaggerated.’

The reason was her beauty.

None of the beauties he had seen until now could compare to the Gongse Dan-yeong before him.

GULP.

Dry spit went down his throat on its own.

He felt breathless.

Just from meeting eyes with her, his head felt blank as if time had stopped in this space.

‘They said that among the eight beauties of Hunan Province, the Celestial Flower Tower Master was the greatest – seeing her in person, I understand. She’s truly a beauty of ice-like purity and jade-like quality.’

At that moment, Gongse Dan-yeong’s cheeks reddened slightly as she said.

“Ah, if you stare at me so intensely, it’s embarrassing…”

“Ah! This was discourteous… My apologies. Y-you are beautiful as I’d heard. I was startled. It’s not flattery. Haha, ha…”

Mun Bin scratched his head with an awkward smile.

Gwang Ryo beside him saw that and snickered internally.

‘Pfft. Hall Master, really, why are you so flustered? But… That incredible beauty is truly not of this world.’

Gongse Dan-yeong gave a pretty eye-smile as she lightly brushed back her hair by her ear.

“Receiving such praise from the distinguished and imposing Hall Master Mun makes me feel particularly good. I’m not speaking empty words either.”

Then she immediately got to the main topic.

“Looking at the official document, it says you’re looking for an information-gathering organization to make a contract with Dark Hall and carry out certain work – have representatives from other candidate organizations visited besides our Tower?”

“No. No one has come yet.”

“Oh my, is that so? So our Tower was the first to respond. That’s fortunate.”

“Pardon? What do you mean by fortunate…?”

“It means our Tower will gladly accept whatever conditions. Also, we will prepare a special clause in the information trade agreement promising to provide everything to Dark Hall at priority and half price.”

“…!”

Mun Bin couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

It was an extraordinary offer.

‘But why…?’

But Gongse Dan-yeong continued regardless.

“Let’s say I was attracted to Hall Master Mun’s character. We can adjust the detailed conditions later – if you like our Tower’s priority offer, I hope you can give a definite answer right now using this occasion.”

“Hmm…”

As Mun Bin swallowed his contemplation, what Cheol Ryu-heun had said recently flashed through his mind.

-Don’t mention our Sect and do it as if Dark Hall needs it. We’ll discuss the rest of the details when the time comes.

‘Right… Celestial Flower Tower handles a lot of high-grade information, so it was a faction I had prioritized. Let’s accept without dragging it out. Since it’s not our Hall but Sect Master Cheol who needs it, this is essentially all I can do right now. The rest needs to be discussed with Sect Master Cheol.’

The moment Mun Bin made his decision, a strange light flickered in Gongse Dan-yeong’s eyes.

“Are you troubled? Our Tower looks at the person first. So if I judge that they can be trusted, I extend my hand – but in the opposite case, no matter how much money they offer, I coldly refuse. To put it simply, I absolutely don’t accept requests from wicked people like the Netherworld Sword Fork.”

“Ah… So that’s why you rejected outright when he asked you to find the Ghost Shadow Sword Technique before?”

“That’s right. And I also judged that finding the whereabouts of the Ghost Shadow Sword Technique was impossible.”

“I see.”

Having heard that, Mun Bin’s trust in Celestial Flower Tower grew.

At that moment, Gongse Dan-yeong’s eyes rested on Gwang Ryo’s face.

“The truth behind the Blue Wave Gang incident – the one who let that information reach Captain Gwang’s ears was our Tower.”

At that, not just Gwang Ryo but Mun Bin’s dark pupils rippled with great waves.

‘…!’

The incident Gongse Dan-yeong just mentioned referred to the matter a year ago when Jeo Gyeom killed Mun Bin’s family with his own hands and then pinned the blame on the completely unrelated Blue Wave Gang leader.

Yet… She had never expected that Celestial Flower Tower had uncovered that secret and leaked the information.

“You’re both surprised. Our Tower also obtained that information by chance. To pretend not to know it… The nature of that crime was too bad. So we worked to make sure no one would know the information came from our Tower, guiding Captain Gwang to find out. We couldn’t tell you openly since our safety was at stake. I have many people under me… As Tower Master, I have the duty to protect all of them. But I never expected the punishment of him to be wrapped up this quickly. Anyway, the result is fortunate.”

Mun Bin suddenly bowed his head and spoke in a respectful voice.

“Thank you. I am in debt to Celestial Flower Tower.”

“Oh my, what are you saying… No. I’m only sorry that due to our Tower’s position of not being able to actively intervene despite knowing the hidden truth, we couldn’t help you more in other ways. So wanting to lighten that burden on my heart is why I made this extraordinary offer first.”

Mun Bin nodded as he replied.

“Celestial Flower Tower’s ability to maintain secrets is truly outstanding. If you hadn’t told us about that matter today, no one including myself would have known. I will give you a definite answer right here and now. Our Hall’s choice is Celestial Flower Tower. I will separately send official documents to the other candidate organizations.”

“Ah… I’m delighted. Thank you, Hall Master Mun.”

Gongse Dan-yeong looked at Mun Bin with peculiar light in her eyes and drew a bright smile.

Seeing that, Gwang Ryo tilted his head.

‘Somehow…’

It was somehow a warm gaze.

No.

It felt like the kind of look that comes out when facing a sweetheart one holds in one’s heart…

Meanwhile.

Black Blade Great Father Yeok Bi-mang, who had been sitting silently, chuckled to himself and muttered internally.

‘Hehe. Tower Master, are you that pleased? To be facing the person who was your first love and unrequited love…’

He recalled what Gongse Dan-yeong had said with a very excited expression before coming here.

-That Ten Heavenly Weapon our Tower obtained – I’m going to give it to Hall Master Mun as a gift! Then my feelings… He’ll understand them, right?

* * *

FLUTTER FLUTTER, FLUTTER FLUTTER-!

The sound of clothes flapping fiercely was heard incessantly, then suddenly stopped at some moment.

THUD.

A figure who had stopped his swift movement fixed his gaze forward while radiating thick killing intent and fighting spirit.

It was Neung Po.

About three jang ahead, a martial sect stood firmly, blending with the dense forest.

Black Forest Hall.

A wicked group that gnawed at the lives of powerless commoners – the den of a filthy tribe that someone must punish without fail.

Neung Po had buried the corpses of mother and daughter Jang Min and Hong Cheong, gone to his dumpling shop to retrieve his sword, and came straight here.

Yes.

The time had come.

He felt that even if he drenched his hands in blood today, he would have no regrets.

‘Right now, within me exists only cruelty instead of mercy. As an extreme demon who punishes extreme evil…’

His eyes flashed as he strode forward without hesitation.

THUD, THUD.

Toward Black Forest Hall’s main gate, brightly lit with torches.

But.

In the pitch-black thicket like darkness, a figure was positioned alone, quietly watching Neung Po’s retreating back.

‘This is interesting.’

The identity of that figure was none other than Cheol Ryu-heun.