Chapter 141. The Identity of the Tang Clan Head's Eldest Daughter

As there was no sign of the passage opening, Muso cautiously asked,

"Hall Lord, could you try opening it once?"

"I do not know this formation."

"Try something at least. Attempt a method used to open other formations."

Growing frustrated, Muso pressed on, but the Hall Lord shook his head.

"If the formation is forcibly broken, the spell may collapse. If the passage closes, the Alliance Leader will not be able to return."

Hearing this, Muso could only keep his mouth shut.

In truth, the one most worried for the Alliance Leader here was the Four Seasons Hall Lord.

He accepted that there was no method and simply waited for the Alliance Leader. Then, waiting was the best choice.

The Hall Lord trusted the Alliance Leader and waited, but one thing caught his mind.

'It should not take this long to deal with the Blood Sect members. Just what is he doing?'

Zhuge In-hwi felt doubt spreading in his heart and turned his attention away from the gate. He immediately turned his body and asked Namgung Jin,

"Young Lord, how did you come here?"

Namgung Jin shifted his gaze from Tang So-hwa.

Straightening his posture, he spoke in a calm voice.

"You may not know, but the Blood Sect attacked the Platinum Pavilion."

"What? They dared touch even pavilions outside the headquarters?"

The Sword Saint interjected angrily.

The Hall Lord, on the other hand, stayed silent, as if waiting for an explanation.

"Yes. They said they would guide us to the place where the Blood Sect moved the goods looted from Platinum Pavilion, so we followed and discovered this place."

Namgung Jin's voice was heavy.

"However, we did not know that here there was a gate leading to the Blood Sect's stronghold."

"Who would have known? That a Blood Sect formation was so close to Wuhan."

The Sword Saint clicked his tongue.

Though the conversation was grave, Tang So-hwa paid no mind to the voices behind her.

Her attention was fixed on the one lying upon the rock.

Tang Hak's body was in ruins.

His clothes were rags as if torn by the claws of a beast of prey, and the flesh of his face and body was ripped away in several places.

Han-won lowered himself beside So-hwa and offered comfort.

"The only medicine I had was the disinfectant and salve given by the Divine Physician, so I treated him as best as I could. Still, since no fingers were severed and no bones broken, there should be no problem for him to wield hidden weapons again."

So-hwa's gaze dropped to her younger brother's hands. His fingers were mangled to the point that bone was exposed. Yet unlike the other wounds, there was no trace of blood on them.

Tang Hak's hands had been washed with disinfectant and completely covered in healing salve. Han-won had poured out all the medicine he carried, so that Tang Hak wouldn’t lose the use of his hand.

For a martial artist, it was a blessing beyond measure.

"... You must have been in chaos too, but you treated him properly."

"Of course. I've endured the Divine Physician's nagging for over three years—if I couldn't do at least this much, could I still be called a person?"

Han-won, who was tasked with protecting Tang So-hwa, often went in and out of the Medical Hall as though it were his own home.

While waiting for So-hwa when she went to the Nine Turns Pavilion, he would receive various things from the Divine Physician and the other physicians.

Especially on days when he returned injured from going outside, he would be nagged to the point of brainwashing about disinfecting and treating wounds quickly. Because of that, he carried the disinfectant and salve made by the Divine Physician as a matter of habit.

Tang So-hwa felt genuine gratitude toward Han-won.

Tang Hak had been injured within the Blood Demon's formation. That meant Han-won could have been in danger, too.

Even so, he had unhesitatingly spent all his medicine on the Young Lord.

Han-won did not realize it, but Tang So-hwa silently resolved that one day she would repay him.

For Tang So-hwa to decide on repaying a favor was something so rare it might happen only once in a lifetime.

Thus, at this moment, it was impossible for her to be seriously concerned about the Alliance Leader. His safety was beyond her interest.

Even less did she notice that Namgung Hyun, standing behind her, was silently watching her.

So when Namgung Hyun approached to lift Tang Hak into his arms, she instinctively showed a sharp reaction.

"What are you doing?"

It was a cold voice she had never once shown him.

Though he might have been expected to be taken aback by such an unfamiliar attitude, Namgung Hyun replied in a calm tone.

"Since the Young Lord's condition is severe, I will first escort him to the physician. The others must be exhausted after days of travel, but I am fine."

At that moment, someone behind them intercepted So-hwa's answer.

"That will not do."

It was Zhuge In-hwi.

Though he seemed wholly preoccupied with worrying about the Alliance Leader, it appeared he had kept an ear open here as well.

Zhuge In-hwi approached them and said.

"The Young Lord must first return and undergo inspection."

Normally, Tang So-hwa would not have argued against the words of the Four Seasons Hall Lord, but now it was different.

Shielding Tang Hak, So-hwa sneered.

"How do you intend to inspect someone unconscious? Will you try reading his mind?"

"Consciousness is not an issue. The inspection is merely a formality to be shown."

"A formality?"

"The Tang Clan agreed, as a condition for leaving the headquarters, that upon return, they would first undergo inspection. If the Young Lord is taken elsewhere instead of returning with us in this situation, it will arouse suspicion. Then, I will not be able to help you."

Though his body faced Tang So-hwa, the Hall Lord's words were directed at the Tang Clan Head.

"Since the Clan Head himself publicly declared it, keeping that promise will cause less trouble. The Zhuge Clan Head will not give an opportunity otherwise."

"I know."

The Tang Clan Head answered coldly.

It sounded as though there was some story behind it, but So-hwa could not understand his words.

Still, she could roughly grasp the situation.

The Alliance was suspicious of the Tang Clan, and the Tang Clan had ignored that suspicion to come and rescue her.

Come to think of it, the rescue party was small.

The Alliance Leader had moved and even entered the Blood Sect's stronghold.

Having escaped from the Blood Demon's dwelling, they had breathed a sigh of relief that they had all survived by luck, and these few here were all of them.

'... Father forced himself to come.'

Realizing that the other Alliance members were not favorable to the Tang Clan, So-hwa's eyes darkened.

In a deep voice, she replied.

"I understand your intent, Hall Lord. But the Young Lord must receive treatment as soon as we return."

The Hall Lord nodded slightly, agreeing on that point.

"I will summon the Divine Physician and the other physicians to the Four Seasons Hall."

"Then, would it not be acceptable if I moved now? I will return first, undergo inspection at the Four Seasons Hall, and have the Young Lord treated."

At her words, the Hall Lord's once-smooth brow creased.

Even though the Alliance Leader, who had saved her, was trapped in the passage, she spoke of returning first.

She had no concern for the Alliance Leader's situation.

‘And to think the Alliance Leader went through all this trouble because of her.’

Zhuge In-hwi was not someone who easily revealed emotion, but at Tang So-hwa's brazen attitude, he spoke words that did not need to be said.

"The Alliance Leader has accompanied you to save you, Young Lady Tang. And it seems he stayed behind in the passage to hold off the Blood Demon."

Silence fell, as though all had been thinking the same thing.

After giving her a moment to reflect, Zhuge In-hwi spoke again.

"And yet, Young Lady Tang, do you really think this is the time to be saying such things?"

"The Alliance Leader... stayed in the passage to hold off the Blood Demon?"

Her voice made it sound as if she had only now realized his peril, but Zhuge In-hwi sensed something else.

The sharp, bristling force around her suddenly slackened.

As though mocking him.

Though her expression was hidden, the eldest daughter of the Tang Clan was clearly looking at him with disdain.

Zhuge In-hwi could not understand the feeling she gave him and wanted to ask, but with so many eyes watching, he swallowed the question.

Instead, to force this selfish woman to retract her words, he raised another matter.

"Doesn't it strike you as odd that the Young Lord alone ended up so gravely injured?"

The moment he mentioned the Young Lord, the once-slackened force around her tightened sharply again.

"While we were drawing the Blood Sect members' attention, the younger martial artists of the Zhuge Clan and the Young Lord were left behind in another formation. It was meant to keep them safe."

Zhuge In-hwi, gauging the subtle currents around her, pressed on.

"And yet, the Blood Sect members surged toward the formation where they were."

"......"

"The Young Lord begged the others not to retreat, but to endure for just one quarter of an hour. He was worried that if he led the Blood Sect members away earlier than the time the Alliance Leader had mentioned, then when Young Lady Tang reached the entrance, you would be placed in danger."

Through the silence, her force quaked violently.

"So he pleaded with those with him to hold out for just a quarter-hour. To wait, so that he could buy you some time."

The Four Seasons Hall Lord lifted his hand slowly.

That hand pointed to Zhuge Cheon-yu of the Zhuge Clan.

"Those youths, just as the Young Lord asked, endured against the Blood Sect members for a quarter-hour, isolated and besieged. They said they could not stop him from stepping into death's door for the sake of his sister's escape."

Tang So-hwa said nothing, but the atmosphere around her had clearly changed.

The force that had been sharp and cold as a sword now fell away in heavy drops, like steel melting in fire.

‘What a strange emotion…’

Too heavy, too crushed to be mere defiance. Too heated, too wrathful to be grief.

It was a depth of emotion far beyond her years—deep, tangled, and fierce.

This was hardly the only strange thing about Tang So-hwa.

The Blood Demon had personally brought her to his stronghold, and it was she who had first revealed the Blood Sect's resurgence.

‘Just what is your identity?’

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