...Flower of Evil...

Iseul could see the shocked face of Zhang Linghe. The light was slowly slipping away from her sight. She almost closed her eyes but not before hearing a sudden voice which was too much familiar to the ear.

"How dare you to touch her soul?"

She completely lost her sight and went unconscious.

[Past time begins from now on]

Iseul,the newly appointed General of the royal army,rode her horse with a team of twenty Royal guards towards the deep inside the woods. Iseul had been in a war for a week and won it the day before yesterday. She slaughtered every fucking enemy who came infront of her and displayed her great battle spirit through this war. No one in the royal army knew about her status as the royal princess but she had already won the hearts of everyone. People were singing her good and praying her blessings of the heavens.

Finally, everyone recognised her but not as the daughter of the King but as the young capable lady General of the kingdom.

Iseul was about to go to her kingdom right after finishing the war but she got this sudden emergency news of an ambush attack. She didn't have any time to rest and headed towards the place where the attackers were hiding with a team of twenty soldiers.

Her spiritual energy was a bit low since she hasn't taken a blink of sleep for a week now but she could still fight. Her long hair in the high pony tail was swaying with the speeding wind and her bruised lips were freezing with the cold wind.

As they reached the place,she was confused seeing no one around. Still,she didn't let her guard down and stopped her horse and signalled her men to stop too. She listened to the sound of the forest but nothing seemed to be weird or strange.

Was the message she received was a false message? If someone was hiding,she could sense it but right now,she could only hear the natural sound of the forest. There was no killing intentions sweeping through the forest but wait.... There is. She could sense it. Behind her! Widening her eyes,she stood up on her horse and jumped forward, unleashing her sword.

It was indeed an ambush. But not by the enemy. But by her own people! The twenty men she brought were bearing heavy killing intentions towards her! They had already got off their horses and was ready to attack her in unison.

Woah!

What a terrible betrayal! They had been fighting a war side by side a few days ago and now?

"What do you think you are doing?", Iseul asked tightening her grip around her sword.

"We are given the orders to take you down after the war ended",one of the soldiers was brave enough to speak. Iseul noticed him. This man was always jealous of her before. He had tried sparring with her before but he could never win against her. And maybe or maybe not,she might have stepped on his ego few times. Who would like to see a junior girl to go around displaying great sword skills than the seniors? And suddenly becoming a general? It was indeed a thing to be jealous.

"And who gave you the orders?"

The soldier who spoke earlier,answered again. "This is his majesty's orders"

Iseul wasn't an idiot. She knew that the King will never give such an order even though he despises her with his whole heart. To him,she was a treasure card which could be used later to spread his authority over other Kingdoms through a marriage. She had known it for a long time and that's why she joined the army to escape from that unwanted marriage. To the society, she is just niece from Queen's side and the Queen was kind enough to adopt the girl as her own. That was the story King gave to the society when she was introduced to the army.

This is a trap set up by none other that Queen herself. If Iseul was to gain power by remaining in her position as the general, then political parties will eventually take her side. Other Princes' mothers were all in Queen's side except Prince Yoongi's mother. But Prince Yoongi is no longer a problem right now. Few months ago,he had ascended to heaven as a god.

[This doesn't mean he is dead. He shaded his human body and reached the peak of immortality and became a heavenly official]

The only threat to the throne is Iseul. Queen had never liked her anyways. It all began when an immortal master gave a disturbing prophecy about Iseul when she was born.

"She will be the doom of everyone. She will kill the seven red dragons and claim the throne to herself. She is the beginning of darkness"

No one needs a master to understand the meaning of this simple prophecy. The seven red dragons are none other than the seven royal Princes of the kingdom.

The stupid prophecy brought a huge scar to her life. Even though her brothers never believed it,there were people who believed it. Queen was one of them.

Iseul,"If you came to kill me,then you must know that you will never be able to lay a finger on me. Right?"

The soldier smirked. "I know. That why I blocked your spiritual energy temporarily. It must be working right now"

Iseul was dumbfounded. When did he do something like that?, "...what?", Just then she remembered something. Before coming here,she had drunk some water given by him. She cursed under her breath. This is her lesson to not trust people. No matter how much you trust others,you can't expect it from others.

No wonder she felt so weak on her way. Suddenly, she coughed a mouthful of blood and felt on her knees. She supported herself with her sword and puked out blood. She raised her savage beasty eyes to glare at her soldiers. Her chin was dripping with blood. "A bunch of cowards. You had to go this far to kill me huh?"

"Of course. We,your closest people,are the only people who know your weaknesses. We can't fight with you when you are full of spiritual energy. But right, it will be a piece of cake"

Iseul hissed feeling dizzy. "Queen's dogs", she mumbled and tried to stand but her legs were already having a hard time.

The soldiers unsheathed their swords and surrounded her. She could see some hesitant soldiers. She really treated them as her family and helped them to improve their skills. She could understand that they had no choice but still she felt betrayed.

She couldn't even lift her arm to fight back. She felt like she was paralysed. But she collected the remaining spiritual energy and stood up with her all might. Holding the sword with both of her hands,she tried to defend herself.

She gasped feeling a sword piercing through her abdomen. More blood came out of her mouth. Another sword pierced her chest.

Just as another sword was about to pierced through her chest,s sudden swoosh sound stopped them. Everyone became alerted.

Out of nowhere, red spiritual bindings were shot and made a prison to trap every soldier. It was not the pure spirited power of an immortal cultivator. Everyone could feel the essence of Evil in those bindings.

"A demonic cultivator!"

Iseul was kneeling on the ground with the help of her sword and she was the only one who was not trapped inside those evil bindings.

"Ah,what a noise! I was just having my little nap here!"

Everyone looked hearing the voice. They were shocked to see a man in a tree branch. He was wearing a cloth around his face so no one could see his face. He really must have been sleeping all this time and that explained why no one felt his presence in the woods.

The man was in his youth and he was wearing black robes with black boots. A sword was on his waist and a long whop. Across his right eye,there was a scar. His hair was not that long but it was tied into a half high pony tail.

"You demonic cultivator! How dare you to use your dirty tricks on us! Release us! Right now!",one soldier raged.

The youth rolled his eyes and laughed. "Weren't you the ones who used dirty tricks to trick your own leader?", His eyes swept to Iseul who was struggling to keep her pose. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I swear! You guys were just talking loud and I heard", he shrugged his shoulders.

"YOU —", Before the main culprit could say anything, the youth jumped down and landed perfectly before standing up elegantly.

"We don't have any business with you! Let us go and leave this land!",Another soldier screamed.

The youth clasped his hands behind his back and looked at him. "Neither do I have any business with you. Then,I'll take my leave"

Even though he said he is going to leave,he headed towards the injured princess.

Iseul didn't see any killing intentions from his body,so she stayed still.It's not like she could move anyways. She was badly injured and was in the brink of her death. The youth crouched down to her level. "I'm just paying back", he mumbled before picking up Iseul.

Iseul was shocked. She didn't even know to which reason she should be shocked,is it because he is carrying her now? Or the sentence he uttered? Paying back? Have they met before? But she was sure that he had never met someone like this.

She wanted to ask so many questions but she couldn't even move her tongue right now. Her consciousness was slowly slipping away.

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Hope you enjoyed!

See ya soon!

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