Chapter 132. Hierarchy

The Intelligence Hall Master looked at Tang So-hwa with weary eyes.

"You seem to spend more time here than in your own quarters."

He sneered, but as always, the cold-blooded woman gave no reply.

The woman from the Central Plains came and went through the archives with the determination to read every record.

It had long been since she finished everything translated. She now skimmed even the illustrations of untranslated records, endlessly absorbing information about the Blood Sect. To call it studying day and night might sound odd, but to anyone else, she looked like she was preparing for the palace exam.

The moment she sat down, she began reading the records that the Intelligence Hall Master had translated at dawn.

Because she had pressed him, saying he needed to understand the Blood Demon's body well, he had translated the Blood Demon's own observations about his body into the language of the Central Plains. Since the Blood Demon himself had left them as records, it meant there was no issue with reading them. He, too, had re-read them while translating, but most of it was praise of the Blood Demon's own superior blood.

Watching Tang So-hwa focus with frightening intensity, the Intelligence Hall Master clicked his tongue inwardly.

'What is there to concentrate on so much?'

He lowered his head and turned back to his own work.

If she pressed him again to translate some strange thing first, he needed to prepare something new for her to read.

So-hwa had no interest in what the Intelligence Hall Master was thinking. She focused only on the records where the Blood Demon had observed his own body.

Yet there was nothing meaningful. It was only a fool who did not know shame, laying out long praises of his own body.

After turning the last page, So-hwa read the record from the beginning again.

And again.

Yet again.

She read the thin book several times over.

They said this single volume was all there was on the Blood Demon's body. Yet there was no hint of the Poison gu art, not even a mention of Poison gu itself.

The Blood Demon's Poison gu was his blood.

The will contained in his blood.

That was what seized the host.

'How could such a thing be possible?'

The only passage in the record that seemed remotely related to Poison gu was a single paragraph.

So-hwa fixed her eyes on the line where the Blood Demon boasted of his superiority.

『Blood is clearly divided into the superior and the inferior. When two bloods merge, the superior blood maintains its form, while the inferior submits and naturally disappears. A wise and obedient origin of life that avoids meaningless struggle and determines superiority. The blood that entered me left no trace, yet my blood could rule over another's life.』

So there was a hierarchy within blood?

A special kind of blood that could dominate others.

'In the end, isn't that dark arts?'

So-hwa looked down at her hand.

She had no power of dark arts. In living two lives, she had never once used any such sorcery. Of course, she had also never made anyone drink her blood.

As her thoughts trailed on, a faint wrinkle formed between her brows.

'... No, I have fed my blood before. It just wasn't to a person.'

Strangely, So-hwa's blood became the food of Poison gu. The Poison gu that had tasted her blood waited for her and always responded to her.

So-hwa once again set her eyes on the nonsense the Blood Demon had claimed.

『When two bloods merge, the superior blood maintains its form, while the inferior submits and naturally disappears.』

So-hwa had once tried consuming the Poison gu that Namgung Jin had brought her. Far from dominating her, that Poison gu had instead forced its way out of her body, making it impossible to create an antidote.

Soon, So-hwa arrived at a single hypothesis.

'Could it be that there is hierarchy even between the Blood Demon's blood and mine?'

If his blood had submitted to her, did that mean her blood was superior to his?

So-hwa's eyes darkened.

From this kind of self-praise record, there was no way to learn how the dark arts were actually performed.

Still, though she had not found a way to steal the Blood Demon's Poison gu art, she had gained a new hypothesis.

'If the Blood Demon's blood submits to mine...'

She fell into thought, unable to turn the page.

'... Does that mean his will could dissolve into my blood?'

Even if she could not control another through blood, perhaps it was possible to erase the Blood Demon's will.

So-hwa recalled the conversation she had with Haerak at the Yangtze River. He had said that lately the Poison gu's grip on him had weakened.

'Have I ever fed Haerak my blood? ... I do remember drawing blood from him, but...'

She retraced the day she had wounded Haerak's arm to extract the Poison gu. Slowly, her face stiffened.

The dagger with which she had cut Haerak's arm—

That dagger had been stained with her blood.

She had used her own blood to lure the Poison gu, so she had cut her own finger with the dagger and then wounded Haerak's arm with it.

Yet the blood on the dagger had not been much. Even if it had entered Haerak's wound, it would have been only the smallest trace.

And though not in liquid form, she had once fed him her blood.

When she had made the Poison gu antidote for him, she had given him a pill refined with her own blood. But the Poison gu had not pierced his stomach wall—instead, it had rushed toward his heart, seeking to kill him.

'So feeding blood isn't the method? Must the blood be directly mingled?'

Yet directly infusing blood into a person's body was an extremely dangerous method.

In times of war, it was not uncommon for gravely bleeding soldiers to be given another's blood. And the ones who received it died in agony from horrific side effects. Even the surgeons of the Yeonju Group, who cut open bodies for treatment, strictly forbade transfusion.

Unknowingly, So-hwa brushed her lips with her hand.

She recalled the time the Blood Demon had cut her tongue and used her teeth to slice open his own finger.

『Even with a single drop, it must take root within.』

A single drop of blood.

As she mulled over the Blood Demon's words, So-hwa quietly stroked the paper, then closed the book.

"Why are you leaving so soon?"

When she rose from her seat, the Intelligence Hall Master glanced at her.

It was strange to see her leave earlier than usual, so he asked, but as expected, she gave no reply. Watching her back vanish beyond the stair landing, he lowered his gaze again and returned to his work.

***

So-hwa went to look for Haerak.

But he was nowhere to be found—not even a strand of his hair. For someone who always lingered in her quarters as though it were his own room, this was unusual.

So-hwa walked toward the garden. Perhaps, out of boredom, he had gone to wreck the Blood Demon's garden.

As she neared the window, So-hwa's eyes narrowed.

A large messenger bird was lying on the windowsill, fast asleep with its beak open. It looked utterly exhausted.

So-hwa wondered if it was an illusion and reached out her hand toward Mae-hwa. Just as she was about to wake it, her hand froze. Next to it lay a familiar piece of cloth.

Her gaze darkened at the sight of the clumsy embroidery. It was the silk Ye-hwa had embroidered herself and sold dearly to Tang Hak for an expensive price. A gentle-hearted older brother had paid generously for the botched embroidery and always carried the hairtie with him.

Too embarrassed to tie it in his hair, he had instead always kept it close to his chest.

So-hwa slowly lifted her head.

Suddenly, a chill wind swept through the garden.

Ssshhhhh—

From a peachless garden, a peach blossom fragrance drifted in.

Upon her clear black pupils appeared the figure of an old man.

The Alliance Leader, as if expecting her here, approached without any sign of surprise.

Crossing the garden, he spoke in a dry tone.

"The longer one broods over a decision, the deeper the regret it brings. This time seems to be no different."

Along with his hollow voice, killing intent seeped out. It looked as though he was weighing whether to kill her on the spot.

So-hwa gripped the flying dagger hidden in her sleeve.

Step.

Yet the Alliance Leader kept his distance, eyes fixed on her.

Despite the heavy killing aura, he could not bring himself to strike.

This was the Blood Demon's hall. Even if he claimed that So-hwa had already been dead when he found her, that would suffice as an excuse.

Soon, the Alliance Leader spoke again.

"You are still alive. And seeing as you have not seized the Blood Demon's Hundred Apparitions, it seems you haven't managed to kill him either."

He came closer to the hall. With a wrinkled hand, he stroked the messenger bird once before stepping inside.

"What do you plan to do now? Since you failed to carry out your plan here at Jin Yin Mountain, surely you must have made another."

Leisurely, he let his gaze wander about the quarters before approaching the desk. Pulling aside a large cloth, he looked at the stack of records beneath.

The Alliance Leader gave a faint laugh and lifted his head.

"To think you were idly scribbling away—you must have had a very relaxed plan in mind."

When he placed a hand on the paper, So-hwa quickly snatched the record away. The internal energy she had gathered to burn the paper scattered uselessly.

The Alliance Leader frowned as he moved his smoking hand aside.

"You haven't understood a word of my advice."

"I understood."

"No, you did not."

He spoke coldly.

"Whatever you think, whatever plan you make—it will never go the way you want."

When So-hwa gave no reply, the Alliance Leader let out a sigh.

"Did you foresee my being here now?"

She had not.

She had thought the Alliance Leader would turn a blind eye to her disappearance. Seeing him before her now was bewildering.

He asked again.

"Then did you foresee the Tang Clan Head and the Young Lord entering the trial?"

"Did Father come as well?"

At the mention that not only Tang Hak but also Tang Ji-ha had come, So-hwa's brow furrowed.

"Along with the Black Sky Demon and your guards."

So-hwa's face turned pale, but the Alliance Leader's voice remained steady.

"Tell me—was it your plan to hand the Tang Clan's entire strength over to the Blood Demon?"

"Where are they now?"

So-hwa ignored his words and asked instead, but he took no offense.

On the contrary, he answered willingly.

The words she never wanted to hear pierced her eardrums.

"So that I can bring you out, your clan is drawing the Blood Demon’s eyes."

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