The Blood Cult man furrowed his brow as if troubled."Mm, I didn’t bring in the Oseoksan, so I can’t answer that. I was curious about the reason myself.""You spoke as if you would answer anything."He drew his brows as though aggrieved."It’s the truth."He let out a sigh."Since someone pulled this prank in my territory, I’ve much to ponder on how to deal with the fellow.""So you’re saying it wasn’t the Blood Cult?"At the unbelievable words, Sohwa let a trace of poison slip into her smile. Yet he wasn’t offended by that smile; he waved a hand and replied,"No, no, I’m not denying it’s Blood Cult work. I even have a fair idea whose work it is.""Whose?"Perhaps because of the flower-bright clothes, every little move he made seemed to waft with floral scent—like a man with a flower field planted in his head.Tilting his head, he narrowed his eyes."If you want, I could tell you, but even if I said it, would you know who they are?"When Sohwa stayed silent, the Blood Cult man smiled gently and answered,"There’s a mad old man in the Blood Cult, and that old man keeps two dogs. They seem to be dogs that live in a red house. We had a report not long ago that one of them was seen in Guangdong."At the answer that flowed so readily, Sohwa kept silent.Naturally, she had no idea whom he meant.He smiled like he had expected as much."See? I told you even if I said it, you wouldn’t know."Sohwa’s expression turned strange.For three years she had tried to seize the Blood Cult’s threads, but thanks to those who hacked off the body rather than the tail, she had failed to find any leash. Judging from how they handled things, information about their members would not be a light thing.While she sank into thought over an answer whose truth she could not confirm, he folded his arms and asked,"Now, I’ve answered diligently. Your turn."Sohwa stepped back a pace from the heat surging as if to explode.He said he would ask questions—and suddenly raised his internal energy.In the instant she instinctively gauged a retreat, his figure vanished. At the same time, warmth settled on her arm."You don’t look like that outstanding a martial artist, yet you can sense my internal energy? Do you smell it, perhaps?"Before she knew it, the Blood Cult man had come flush to her back and laid his hand atop her clothes."You don’t look like such a special body, either."Without adding weight, he examined Sohwa’s body with the heat that flowed from his hand."Your external training is passable at best, honestly poor. Tossing a few small hidden weapons might not be beyond you, but put a sword in your hand and I doubt you’d last two hours. As for fists and kicks, not worth mentioning."The warmth that had been sweeping slowly up her arm drifted lazily around the nape of her neck."Strange… I can’t feel any trace at all of polished qi-cultivation. Do you even have a dantian? As the daughter of a martial clan, you would have learned an internal art from fairly young. It seems the rumor that you lack talent in the martial path is true."Laughter fell onto her crown."Well, seen one way, it was the right choice. Things that don’t work should be abandoned quickly. Thanks to focusing on the work of the poison house, you secured a decent position in your clan, didn’t you?"As if realizing he had misspoken, he shut his mouth, then opened it again."Right, Tang people don’t call it the Poison Hall but Gujeongak. My apologies—hear so much I muddle things."He jeered, flaunting his information network.Sohwa let him carry on, then opened her mouth for the first time."The fact I don’t have a heaven-blessed martial body is something anyone could tell at a glance, yet you’ve spent all this time just to confirm that."Turning her head, Sohwa met the gaze aimed down at her. Golden-tinged irises held her face.Unlike the smile fixed there from the start, his eyes were chill.To learn about him, Sohwa provoked."If it isn’t information sliced thin and plated for you, there isn’t much you can discover on your own, is there?"She wanted him to draw in internal energy and show her.She had lived decades with a husband who insulted with elegant words; she was confident in upending a person’s insides with words.But the Blood Cult man suddenly drew back and covered his mouth with a hand.Then, in a voice that sounded wounded, he murmured,"Words like that hurt my feelings."At the disconcerting reaction, Sohwa’s eyes narrowed. Yet he continued regardless."I only wanted to leave a good impression, so I tried bragging about what I know… You must like those who are reserved. Ah, that’s hard for me… Since childhood I’ve lived for the fun of scratching that mad old man’s nerves, so I never learned how to keep my mouth shut."Propping his cheek with a hand, he smiled."Have you no interest, perhaps, in a beauty who bravely overcame childhood scars? I could tell a tale to stir a righteous lady’s pity."He did seem not in his right mind, but each word he let out was strange.There was much to ask, and she knew chances like this were rare, yet Sohwa could not speak for a moment.The Blood Cult man, stifling a laugh, closed Sohwa’s slack jaw."Rumor had it you were like a hundred-year-old elder, but you don’t look so grown-up."Tap.When Sohwa slapped his hand away, the Blood Cult man’s lips slanted."So then."And he asked again what he’d been curious about."Was it by scent that you picked up my traces?""You do seem mad, but why say a crazy thing like sensing internal energy by smell?"Instead of retreating, he curved his lips."I once saw someone who distinguished another’s internal energy by scent."Watching Sohwa’s tightening face, the Blood Cult man added,"So I wondered if you were that sort of person, too."No sooner had his mouth closed than Sohwa shot back,"Who is that?""Mm, that I can’t say."He let out a sigh."Not for my sake—yours. If you know too much, you’ll be in danger."He lifted his shoulders in a shrug."If you knew who, you’d want to meet them, wouldn’t you? You’re the scion of a clan with money to spare and already command loyal hands and feet, so acting on that desire wouldn’t be hard."Shaking his head, he went on,"I can’t do something so wicked to a young lady so ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) much younger than me. I’m no beast; I won’t toss a rabbit-like woman into a tiger’s jaws."Sohwa was not soft enough to be taken in by a Blood Cult man, yet she grew curious.Why was this mad Blood Cult man showing her a favorable face?Whether genuine or not, why did he intend to leave such an impression?Staring quietly at him, Sohwa spoke."Was it you who came to the pavilion at night?"He nodded. Sohwa’s voice sank colder."Why?""To see if you’re someone of use."Golden light again glimmered in his eyes, and a warm breeze surged around them.He kept testing her.Without intent to kill, he leaked killing intent; with his gaze, he rifled through her pupils, trying to learn what lay within.Well, she was the same.Sohwa also tried to take his measure.The Blood Cult man before her differed from the remnants she had hunted.The Blood Cult men she had seen at Mount Emei were red of body. They said when one refines blood arts, the body reddens, yet this Blood Cult man, playing the second son of a merchant leader, showed no red aura even when he gathered internal energy.Yoonjin and Namgung Hyun were the same as this one. They too were of the Blood Cult, yet used the martial arts of Tang and Namgung."…How exactly is the Blood Cult structured?"Do those who operate inside the Cult have red bodies, and those who move outside look ordinary? Then do the ones outside not inherit the blood arts?Questions rose in her head.Can those who use martial arts other than blood arts still be called members of the Blood Cult?Sohwa tried to infer the martial arts he possessed.True energy bearing extreme yang.He used the arts of the Taeyang Palace of the Great Desert. And yet he had introduced himself as a member of the Blood Cult. Moreover, peculiarly, he…"When you say usefulness, do you mean sensing internal energy by smell."This Blood Cult man had noticed she could sense another’s internal energy.Though he did not know she could perceive it by other senses as well, not just scent."Yes.""You want me to use that ability for you?""That’s right.""What do you want to use it for?""I’ll tell you by and by."The Blood Cult man before her was a contradiction.He mocked her as a righteous-sect young lady, yet asked that a righteous-sect person become his helper.Not in his right mind.But to reveal his identity and make demands—he was earnest.It seemed this man required the sense that could perceive internal energy.Why?For what reason did this Blood Cult man need such an ability?Sohwa felt stifled.Because she knew nothing of the Blood Cult, even as information poured out before her eyes, she could not grasp it.Only one thing was certain.Observing the heat that tickled her skin, Sohwa moved her fingers.The martial artists she faced at Mount Emei three years ago had used cold internal energy.It had been so faint she had not taken it for ice arts, but perhaps it had been. Only her weakened body had kept her from exerting her full capability.If those were Blood Cult members who had learned the arts of the North Sea Ice Palace—And if this one was a Cult member who had learned the martial lore of the Taeyang Palace—Sohwa quietly weighed what they shared.The heat that spread from him prickled her skin. That ceaseless, crawling riot of sensation was not unfamiliar.It was a wave akin to the internal energy of those she had met at Mount Emei.Are the absorbed martial artists perhaps under the Blood Cult’s control?Breaking the silence, Sohwa spoke."Frankly, I don’t know how to prove I’m someone you need."Saying so, she drew out the hand hidden in her sleeve. In her white palm was a small wooden case.She held it out to Hae-rak."If in fifteen minutes your dantian feels sore and unpleasant, take out a blue pill and swallow it.""What is this?"Hae-rak narrowed his eyes, not understanding."An antidote pill. If you find you need the blue pill, come find me again. We’ll talk then.""Wait."Hae-rak knit his brows as if dumbfounded."Are you saying you just poisoned me?"Sohwa nodded calmly."Did you not tell me to prove my usefulness?""No, no. That’s not the sort of usefulness I meant.""I don’t know what it is you need. But I do know what I can give you. I dislike hasty assurances, but you’ll likely need it.""You—"Hae-rak let out a short laugh."What if, in fifteen minutes, I find I have no need of you? Why play a trick like this?"Despite the smile on his lips, his voice was cold."What if your poison doesn’t take to me? Why boast such empty words?"Still as if pinned to the spot, Sohwa suddenly stepped in close. She set her nose to the Blood Cult man’s nape.At the abrupt approach, Hae-rak flinched back. Lifting her head away, Sohwa said,"There’s no need to wait fifteen minutes—you’re already poisoned with Sangong Poison."The ambient heat shifted, turning as mild as spring sunlight.Soon that warmth became a scent she had not felt at all.Green yet heavy, like peony.Between the tepid warmth and peony scent, silence pooled.Sohwa saw his fingers twitch. He seemed flustered. Apparently he had never once been afflicted by Sangong Poison. To pen in the scattering internal energy, he hastily concealed his qi-blood.It was not his fault. It was Sangong Poison, created by the Master of Ten Thousand Poisons who studied the Poison-Impervious Body while freely spending the Tang Clan’s precious ingredients. He was not weak; he was merely unlucky.No—seen another way, he was very lucky.In this life he had met a Tang clanswoman adept at detoxification.Sohwa slowly took Hae-rak’s arm. Rolling up his sleeve, she set her fingers to his forearm. Like placing dots, her touch went up in steady intervals, and Hae-rak’s eyes followed.It was as if she were tracing his acupoints, yet she skipped several spots.What she was proving was not Hae-rak’s acupoints.Hae-rak’s face grew darker and darker.Only places that he alone could know emerged beneath Tang Sohwa’s fingertips.As doubt gathered in his golden eyes, Tang Sohwa’s gaze lifted. Clear eyes, holding not a speck of emotion, met his. And in a voice even more devoid of feeling, she proposed,"If you wish, I can remove the poison nodes within you."

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