I couldn't sleep that night. My mind kept replaying the scene from the clan hall—the anger, the shame, the politics. My eyes were red by morning.
As I entered the dining hall with my servant Sima Baoxiang, I noticed something unusual—everyone was present. Mother, father, sister... even the atmosphere was heavy.
Mother broke the silence.
"Rin," she said, "you don't need to worry. I'm not going to marry you off to some useless woman—especially not the Second Young Lady of the Bai Clan."
"I'm not going to marry at all," I said.
She slammed her hand on the table. "You have no idea how dangerous the outside world is! Do you think you can roam freely as a man? The path you're choosing is filled with pain and helplessness. Why won't you just listen to your mother? I'm not your enemy. I just want to protect you. I want you to be happy."
"Then let me grow stronger. Let me train. Let me be free. That's how I'll find happiness."
She stared at me in silence for a moment, then whispered, "You're just like your uncle…"
I blinked. "Uncle?"
Before she could answer, a guard entered.
"Matriarch, the First Elder is ready to depart for Fujian to meet with the merchant alliance."
Mother stood. "Very well."
She gave me one last look, filled with something I couldn't decipher, and left the hall.
Outside the manor, a massive caravan of nearly a hundred people was gathered.
The First Elder, Sima Jinhai, and her daughter Sima Moyue greeted my mother at the gates.
Mother said, "Make sure to bring good news. And… don't take things to heart. I'll consider your proposal about the Supreme Crane Sword Arts."
Jinhai gave a small smile and boarded the lead carriage.
Inside the carriage, Moyue whispered, "Mother… what are we really going to do it?"
Sima Jinhai looked out the window with cold eyes. "I will not let our family be sacrificed in vain."
Later, I sat by the pond, skipping stones.
Grandfather approached. "Why are you sitting here, looking like a lost puppy?"
"Grandpa... do you know about Uncle?"
His expression shifted instantly from lighthearted to shadowed.
"Where did you hear about you uncle?"
"Mother mentioned him this morning."
Grandfather sat beside me, silent for a moment. "Your uncle's name was Sima Haoxuan. He was your mother's elder brother. Just like you—stubborn, passionate, determined to grow strong without relying on others. Your mother supported him. Back then, she believed every person should learn to protect themselves."
He exhaled deeply.
"At the time, I was fighting the clan elders to give men the right to learn martial arts. Your grandmother was away, fighting in the Great Devil War. I couldn't give enough time to my own children. But they trained themselves.
When your uncle turned 20, and your mother was 18, he had already reached First-Class Warrior level. He wanted to earn fame, so he planned to eliminate a small bandit group that supposedly had only Second-Class fighters.
Your mother helped him escape the manor, believing he'd return in glory.
But the truth… the bandit group turned out to be a secret base of the Desire Cave Sect. And inside that base… dwelled the Lust Devil."
My eyes widened.
"We launched an emergency assault. Your grandmother led the elite squad. We destroyed the base… and found your uncle, chained to a wall, his body broken… drugged. Tortured."
Grandfather's voice trembled.
"We brought him back. Your mother was in shock. That night, she visited him alone. He said only this:
'I'm sorry. I can't live with this shame.'
He had stolen a small blade. He... he slit his own throat in front of her."
Tears welled in Grandfather's eyes.
"She screamed as she lose control over her own body I see the pain in my little girl eyes. We sealed her energy immediately. Her inner demon awakened, and she lost half her martial talent that day."
He wiped his face.
"If I had taken better care of them… maybe I wouldn't have lost my boy."
I sat in silence.
Only now did I start to truly understand my mother.
Meanwhile, the caravan didn't arrive at a merchant manor.
It arrived at the main hall of the Hundred Weapon Sect.
Sima Jinhai and Sima Moyue entered a grand chamber filled with chilling weapon energy. At its center was a throne made entirely of blades. Sitting atop it was none other than Tie Ruomei—the Ten Weapon Demoness and leader of the sect.
Beside her stood a masked woman clad in black armor—known in the Jianghu as the Asura Swordwoman, commander of the sect's guard.
Tie Ruomei's voice echoed.
"You're the First Elder of the Sima Clan? You've sent many requests. Speak."
Jinhai stepped forward. "We seek to join the Hundred Weapon Sect—and request your support in the destruction of the Sima Clan."
Ruomei laughed. "Many want to join. Many want enemies destroyed. Why should we help you? Sima Clan is under the Murim Alliance."
Jinhai's tone remained calm. "We have a justification the Alliance will accept. And we carry with us a long-forgotten debt owed by your sect."
"Oh?" Ruomei's interest piqued.
"A few years ago," Jinhai said, "you sent an invitation to the Evil Serpent Sect in Henan to join your alliance. Before they could deliver the contract, the Sima Clan found out and intercepted them.
They slaughtered the messengers, labeled the sect rogue, and destroyed it before your alliance was finalized."
Tie Ruomei's expression darkened. "Clever bastards. But the dead are dead. Why avenge them now?"
"Because," Jinhai continued, "in the Sima Clan Treasury lies a weapon—the Dark Empress Sword. One of the Ten Great Weapons of the Jianghu."
Silence.
Then Ruomei stood up, eyes wide.
"You should have led with that."
She turned to the Asura Swordwoman. "Tell Eclipse Witch to send a talisman to the Axe Elder, who is already near Henan. Send word that it's my personal order: destroy the Sima Clan."
"Yes, Sect Master."
"And have Eclipse Witch retrieve the Dark Empress Sword herself."
Ruomei turned back. "Your information pleases me. You're now part of the Hundred Weapon Sect. You'll command your own squad and gain access to the first level of our secret library."
Jinhai bowed. "Thank you, Sect Master."
In a remote village near Henan, a seven-foot-tall woman stood at the edge of a cliff, an enormous battle axe slung across her shoulder.
A talisman floated down from the sky.
She caught it.
"Sima Clan, huh?" she muttered, her lips curling into a grin.
"This trip just got interesting."