Chapter 133. Send-off

The Alliance Leader's gaze fell upon So-hwa's hand. Staring at the bundle of papers, he asked.

"Did you go into the Blood Demon's archive? And smuggle out the records you saw there?"

"......"

"How much did that guy show you?"

Though he questioned her, it was as if he already knew what she had seen. When So-hwa did not answer, he supplied the reply himself.

"So, you too have come to understand just how obsessed the Blood Demon is with his so-called vessels."

"Have you ever entered the Blood Demon's archive yourself?"

The Alliance Leader's eyes lifted. Instead of answering, he spoke in a bitter voice.

"Master of Ten Thousand Poisons, imagine this."

Uttering the long-forgotten title, he prodded her.

"Think about what the Blood Demon, with his obsession with a martial artist's body and pure blood, would do to a direct descendant of the Tang Clan who has fallen into his hands."

His voice chilled as though delivering a punishment.

"Is that outcome any better than the fate of the Tang Clan you saw?"

The sound of crumpling paper broke the silence. It was from So-hwa's tightening grip. Perhaps taking that as her answer, the Alliance Leader added in a low voice.

"Today may be the first punishment you must face."

So-hwa kept her mouth shut, but the Alliance Leader allowed her no time for confusion. From his waist, he untied a sand pouch and let it hang upside down as he spoke.

"If the hall is left empty for more than an hour during the trial, the alarm will sound. A clamor loud enough to rouse even the Blood Demon from his slumber."

With a deep sigh, he raised his weary eyes.

"I know it will only lead to regret, yet today I intend to take you out. But if you do not wish it, I will not press you further. Should the Tang Clan remain here in Jin Yin Mountain to look for you, I will not stop them either."

"......"

"Even if something dreadful befalls my old friend and the good Young Lord, that too must be the will of Heaven. I shall bury my guilt here and depart."

His detached voice only stoked So-hwa's unease.

No sooner had he finished than a breeze stirred through the garden. Sensing it, the Alliance Leader slowly turned his head, then fixed his gaze once more upon the woman before him.

"See for yourself whether the plan you devised unfolds as you wished. And if fortune lets you turn back time again, then—do not seek me out."

The Alliance Leader was not one to speak idle words. Without waiting, he turned his back at once.

It could not be said that he was heartless. By sparing her life, he had already granted her goodwill.

So-hwa opened her lips as if to hold him back.

"Haerak...."

At the sudden name, the Alliance Leader frowned and turned his head. So-hwa hesitated, then spoke.

"Haerak is nowhere to be seen."

"Haerak is here, you say?"

Tang So-hwa nodded.

"If the Blood Demon learns that I've escaped, he will suspect Haerak."

The Alliance Leader let out a dry laugh.

"There's no need to worry about Haerak. The Blood Demon, as he is now, will never kill him. Surely you understand this already."

His eyes fell upon So-hwa's hand. The Blood Demon's secret manual.

It seemed he also knew of the Blood Demon's ties with Haerak.

Turning his body again, he moved on.

Watching his retreating back, So-hwa slipped the record into her sleeve. Grasping Tang Hak's hair tie, she lifted Mae-hwa.

She dashed after the Alliance Leader, who would not wait for her, through the garden.

At its end, the Alliance Leader stopped. Opening a formation, he said.

"Haerak will be able to keep his life, but not the Tang Clan. The Blood Demon will toy with them, testing their limits again and again, until they die in torment. You made the right choice."

So-hwa stared in silence at the formation he had opened.

He spoke of choices, but she had never had one.

Tang So-hwa could not gamble with the lives of the family who had come searching for her. From the beginning, there had only ever been one path.

Can one call it a choice if only one road exists?

"Let's go."

So-hwa crossed through the formation, following the Alliance Leader into the darkness.

Yet she ignored his warning that her plan could not succeed.

Plans were meant to change regardless of the will of the heavens. This was especially true for plans that took a long time and for goals that seemed impossible. It was something she had experienced countless times before exterminating the Namgung Clan.

For her, it was never the plan that remained unchanged, but the goal. As long as she did not give up, there would always be a path to reach the end. It was a vague conviction she had gained through her past life.

Walking through the forest draped in night, So-hwa adjusted her sleeve. The rustle of paper split the silence.

That sound grated on her.

Sometimes there were plans one wished not to alter, even knowing the circumstances.

So-hwa wished for Min Haerak's safety. She did not want to break her promise twice to the pitiful descendant of the Solar Palace.

Letting the Alliance Leader think whatever he wished, she hid her heart and quickened her pace.

***

Light-green leaves shimmered, and from time to time, the sound of peaceful water could be heard.

Deep in the mountains, where no one tread, stood a wooden building.

In front of it, hundreds were training in martial arts; within its halls, dozens were studying something else.

The Blue Blood Hall had always excelled in the art of changing appearances. Skilled in disguise arts and further empowered by the precious secret manual bestowed by the Blood Demon, they had mastered various arts of deception.

In a large hall, they taught the art of altering one's voice.

In a dim room, the art of reading the reactions of those before them.

In a hidden chamber underground, techniques to bewilder and confuse an opponent.

Like studying an internal energy method, they quietly focused on themselves and the surrounding currents of air as they learned these arts.

Because they were those who changed appearances, the Blue Blood Hall, paradoxically, was built deep within the mountains, far from the mundane world. They needed a world where none would recognize them, so that they could walk freely in their true forms.

The Blue Blood Hall was like a hometown to its Hall Lord.

He spent his time in peace, absorbing the elixirs gifted by the Blood Demon.

It had already been several days since he last left his quarters. To avoid disturbing him, the sect members naturally lowered their voices and trained quietly. But soon, their careful restraint was rendered meaningless.

Piiiiiiii—

A sharp, piercing wind sounded at the main gate.

Those training in the martial yard, as well as those practicing inside the halls, all stopped moving. Their eyes shifted. It had been a long time since they heard that alarm.

Piiiiiiii—

As though commanding the tense members to wake from their stupor, the piercing sound rang without pause. Those in the training yard instinctively looked toward the main hall, believing their Hall Lord would have heard it too—and that he would emerge first.

"What are you all standing there for!"

A man, appearing to hold the highest rank among them, barked out. Grabbing his weapon, he gave a short laugh.

"Move, now!"

"Yes!"

The members rushed into action. The Hall Lord, however, seemed to have no intention of leaving the hall just yet.

The first man to shout sprinted toward the main gate. The formation leading toward Jin Yin Mountain was already open.

It was at the very moment he tried to cross the passage.

Kwaang!

A thunderous roar rang out, and the man at the front line was flung backward.

Kwaaaang!

Those arriving belatedly skidded to a halt, unable to grasp what was happening.

"Aaaargh!"

The scream from the passage grew closer and closer.

The quick-witted among them turned, and through the broken ranks came into view a corpse shriveled like a dried husk, along with a wavering heat haze.

"It's the Main Blood Hall!"

One Blue Blood Hall member shouted, and at once those who had been assessing the situation turned and fled.

Though the Main Blood Hall Lord was technically beneath them, only a fool would belittle the one who had stormed their stronghold. If he had come alone to assault them, then the intruder could only be the Main Blood Hall Lord himself.

Through the cleared sightline, a tall young man appeared. The Main Blood Hall Lord, eyebrows thick and raised, crooked a finger.

"Don't make me waste my breath chasing you around. Get over here."

But the ones who had come forward first were swift and perceptive. They weren't foolish enough to charge headlong at the Main Blood Hall Lord.

In an instant, he closed in, tearing apart half of the fleeing formation.

The retreating members changed direction—intent on alerting the Blue Blood Hall Lord.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

"Ugh!"

But before they could even reach the Hall Lord's quarters, the foremost sect member suddenly collapsed to the ground, thrown off balance by wooden splinters lodged in his body.

"Hall Lord...."

The fallen man flinched as the door burst open and the Blue Blood Hall Lord stepped out, stretching with a refreshed expression. Leisurely, he approached and pulled the splinters from his subordinate's body.

"Why were you standing there and getting yourself hurt?"

The unusually gentle tone of the Blue Blood Hall Lord made the sect members who had been rushing after freeze in place.

He seemed to be in a very good mood.

Straightening after removing the shards, the Blue Blood Hall Lord looked ahead. The Main Blood Hall Lord stood clearly in the courtyard, most of the vanguard already annihilated. Beyond him, the open passage was visible, and the alarm was still ringing.

Clicking his tongue as he took in the situation, the Blue Blood Hall Lord spoke.

"It's been a while since the intruder alarm sounded, and now here you are blocking the way... Seems you came from the Central Plains to rescue that woman."

He let out a small laugh.

"Are you an idiot? Why are you helping her escape?"

In an instant, the Blue Blood Hall Lord's figure flickered to the center, standing face-to-face with the Main Blood Hall Lord. Clicking his tongue again, he said,

"If you keep her locked up in the Black Pavilion, you could at least tame her and indulge to your heart's content. Once she returns to the Central Plains, she won't be so easy to handle."

His voice carried bewilderment, as though he truly couldn't understand.

The Main Blood Hall Lord looked at him with disdain, shaking his head.

"Make sure you never run a merchant guild. With calculations that poor...."

"Whatever the case, it's to my benefit that you came here."

He gathered his internal energy into the wooden splinters in his hand. In an instant, the wood hardened like iron. A crooked smile tugged at the Blue Blood Hall Lord's lips.

"I've been meaning to test my cultivation once I finished circulating my qi—perfect timing. Facing you will be far more worthwhile than butchering that woman."

Even as he finished speaking, the wooden splinters shattered into dozens of pieces and shot toward the Main Blood Hall Lord.

But wood was poorly matched against fire. Before they could even touch his body, the fragments burned away in the heat.

In that moment, the Blue Blood Hall Lord closed the distance, trying to drive a shuriken into Haerak's face. Tilting his head at the last instant, Haerak evaded, shifting his body a step to the side. The angle changed.

With his back to the formation, the Blue Blood Hall Lord swung his dagger in rapid succession, pressing the Main Blood Hall Lord into the main compound.

And with a furious voice, he shouted,

"Don't just stand there—go and seize that woman! Whoever brings her back first will be richly rewarded!"

He added coldly,

"You can no longer excuse your failure to capture her because of this hound. Once I slaughter him, I'll kill every one of you I see from the front. Linger here idly, and you'll regret it."

It was a scathing rebuke for their hesitation. Snapping out of their stupor, the sect members scrambled toward the passage.

Fwoooosh—

"Uwaaaah!"

Haerak hurled his heat while fending off the Blue Blood Hall Lord. Unlucky ones struck by it had the backs of their necks scorched, but in that gap, dozens of sect members managed to break through the formation.

"Ah, missed them."

Haerak muttered ruefully as he flung his body forward, intending to block the passage.

Boom!

The Blue Blood Hall Lord, seeing through the Main Blood Hall Lord's scheme, immediately hurled a shuriken at him. A sharp blade grazed Haerak's arm, but it still couldn't prevent the two from switching positions.

Now with his back to the door, Haerak grinned.

"Better to be stuck here than to try crossing the passage, don't you think?"

He jeered as he shoved back a Blood Sect member.

"Even clinging to life for a moment is better. Everyone knows the living world is preferable to the underworld."

Kwaaang!

The Blue Blood Hall Lord charged into the sect members and flung his darts.

"Mad bastard. You're defying the Blood Demon himself!"

"If that were true, I'd be coughing up blood in front of you right now."

The Blue Blood Hall Lord, sensing something strange, furrowed his brow and threw more darts. The Main Blood Hall Lord dodged the incoming metal and replied.

"The old geezer doesn't want me dead. The will to survive nullifies any prohibition."

"What does your survival have to do with blocking our path?"

"It means it's fine—because I'm doing it to stay alive."

The nonsense made the Blue Blood Hall Lord bristle with irritation. He hurled a flurry of darts in frustration. The Main Blood Hall Lord caught a few flying straight at him, but because they were packed with internal energy, even gripping them split the flesh of his palm.

Still, he never exposed his back.

The sect members, unable to endure, charged into the passage.

"Uwaaaah!"

"Guhk!"

Those who bravely tried to break through between the two Hall Lords either burned alive in the Main Blood Hall Lord's heat or collapsed riddled with the Blue Blood Hall Lord's darts.

Even so, the sect members' numbers were great, and the Blue Blood Hall Lord—having just absorbed a powerful elixir—occasionally blocked Haerak and went on a rampage. Thanks to that, quite a few managed to slip through by sheer luck.

Time had already flown by. The passage opened and closed several times in that span.

Suddenly, the loud, grating roar of wind ceased. Then thunder crashed down.

Kwaarararaang!

It was the alarm that rang when a trial had been unattended for an hour. The sound was heard only at the central gate, east gate, and west gate, where the Blood Demon's hall stood.

Haerak, annoyance flashing in his eyes, looked at the Blue Blood Hall Lord.

"Thanks to you, I can't even send her off properly."

The Blue Blood Hall Lord wiped the blood from his lips and sneered.

"Why bother sending her off? You'll be by that wench's side soon enough."

Right now, everything in his reach became a weapon. He scooped up a handful of stones from the ground and hurled them. Propelled with explosive force, the pebbles shot forward like cannonballs.

Anyone could hear it—he meant to kill Haerak and send him to hell. But Haerak seemed to be thinking of something else. He nodded.

"You're right."

Kwaaaang!

The sharp stones, infused as darts, tore his robe and slashed his cheek, but a smile still tugged at Haerak's lips.

"True. I nearly wasted my effort. If I'll be seeing her again soon, why bother sending her off?"

At those mad words, the Blue Blood Hall Lord's eyes narrowed. In that instant, an overwhelming wave of heat surged like a tidal wave.

"Guhhhk!"

The moment the formation's gate shut, Haerak lunged forward and seized the Blue Blood Hall Lord by the throat.

"It seems he didn't give you a precious elixir after making you go through hell. You should be loyal to a decent person, Blue Blood Hall Lord. You pitiful bastard."

"Aaaargh!"

The heat was blinding, like having the sun shoved into his face. His reddened vision felt as if it were melting. Haerak, clutching the Blue Blood Hall Lord's face, flung him toward the cluster of sect members.

"Isn't it strange? When I see the Red Blood Hall Lord, it seems his eyesight recovers well, but it looks like your Hall Lord has a hard time recovering above his neck. I even asked if I could cut off your head, and the old geezer freaked out and told me to let you go.

The Blood Demon's mad hound spouted madness befitting his name. At such blasphemy, the sect members recoiled in horror, and the Main Blood Hall Lord added.

"You'll have a much higher chance of surviving if you put your effort into treating your Hall Lord than chasing after me. So don't follow."

The Main Blood Hall Lord reopened the closed formation.

After he vanished, the gate remained wide open for half a quarter of an hour, yet no one managed to follow him across.

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