Free Web NovelSohwa did not immediately understand Hae-rak’s words. Only after turning them over once did she grasp their meaning. freёwebnovel.com
If she died, the means to free Hae-rak’s body would disappear.
Sohwa recalled a memory she had forgotten.
“Now that I think of it, there was something I meant to tell you back at Geumeunsan.”
Raising his eyebrows with interest, Hae-rak asked, “Oh? What is it?”
“I read the records the Blood Demon left in the vault. He believed there was superiority in blood. He wrote that superior blood dominates inferior blood, and inferior blood destroys itself.”
Hae-rak quickly lost interest. His reaction said, You bothered to ask that?
Leaning back against the chair, Hae-rak answered lazily.
“I’ve heard that drivel to death. That mad old man actually wrote it down again?”
Suddenly, Hae-rak let out a groan.
“But it didn’t seem completely wrong to me. The old man said that if the mother is superior and the father inferior, the child rejects the father’s blood and accepts the mother’s. So the child takes after the mother strongly—black hair like hers, a sharp jaw like hers. He said it erases the father’s features.”
“I thought it was a clue to the Blood Demon’s solitude, not about appearances.”
As if he had never considered that, Hae-rak tilted his head.
“Why do you think that?”
“It seemed like he was describing how the Blood Demon’s blood dominates a host’s will. He called blood the root of life, didn’t he? So with his own blood he destroys the host’s root and makes it obey.”
“...Sounds like the same perverted old man’s nonsense as usual, but if you found it strange, well, maybe you’re right.”
Hae-rak gave a short laugh.
“But did you come looking for me at Geumeunsan just to ask that?”
Sohwa nodded.
“No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer, so I wanted to ask your help.”
“What kind of help?”
In a calm voice, Sohwa said something shocking.
“I started wondering if my blood might be superior to the Blood Demon’s.”
“...And why do you think that?”
“When I cultivated the Blood Demon’s dokgo, I fed it my blood. My blood wasn’t destroyed, and the insect waited for and responded to it.”
Hae-rak rested his chin on his hand as if to say go on.
“Maybe my blood can erase the Blood Demon’s root and make it submit.”
Even as she spoke the words, she felt embarrassed at how absurd they sounded.
When Hae-rak did not answer, Sohwa hastily spoke again to dispel the awkwardness.
“Just a very small amount... Couldn’t I wound you slightly and try? I think we’d have to mix the blood to know.”
“It’s not an entirely wrong thought. The day I first promised to help you, even a drop of your blood—less than a drop—affected me.”
Taking that as consent, Sohwa drew a small knife from her sleeve. She had not even received his reply yet, but she acted first.
Though dumbfounded, Hae-rak obediently rolled up his sleeve, curious himself whether Sohwa’s theory might be true.
Yet the woman holding the knife did not move.
Watching her, Hae-rak asked, “Why are you hesitating?”
“I’m not certain.”
“...That’s not like you. It’s not your death on the line—you’d normally insist on cutting me open first.”
The black eyes staring down at the blade rose to meet his.
He had expected to see the composure of her tri-colored gaze, but Sohwa showed a trace of unease.
“If I was born with the Blood Demon’s blood and have the potential to erase his dokgo... then there might be side effects just as great.”
“You talk as if you’ve ever cared about that before.”
After a pause, Sohwa confessed.
“In fact, not long ago I heard from the Northern Sea Ice Palace bloodline how they expelled the Blood Demon’s dokgo.”
“What?”
“They said they drew it out using the Blood Demon’s Will.”
Hae-rak’s expression froze.
“You mean the relic that contains the Blood Demon’s blood?”
Hae-rak sprang up from his chair. His lips parted in disbelief.
“You’re telling me they could remove the dokgo with the Blood Demon’s Will? The Ice Palace rats escaped thanks to the old man’s relic?”
He was so shocked he could not continue speaking.
“Yes. They said the dokgo came out on its own when called by the Blood Demon’s Will.”
“No, wait—that thing. I gave that to you...”
Only then did Sohwa realize why Hae-rak had gone pale. To lessen the blow, she added,
“But they said it no longer works. The Blood Demon caught on, and now the dokgo can no longer be drawn out with his Will.”
Only then did Hae-rak sit down again.
Yet as he thought about it, his face darkened—it was not entirely good news.
“Damn it. One good method gone.”
“In any case, hearing that made me uneasy. If your blood has already settled into balance by dividing its dominance, what if adding mine again only causes confusion?”
“...”
“By luck, my blood is influencing you only enough not to harm you, but if that balance breaks, it could be dangerous. The orb containing the Blood Demon’s blood has that much effect on a host—if my blood is truly stronger...”
Watching Sohwa’s hesitation, Hae-rak’s lips curved faintly.
“You must be pretty worried about me, huh?”
Sohwa did not deny it and nodded.
“Why? Afraid your precious host might die?”
“How could I ever find another like you.”
“Is that really all?”
It did not sound like a question. Without waiting for her reply, Hae-rak continued.
“You know, you ask me a lot of questions, don’t you?”
Not something she had thought about before, Sohwa quietly searched her memories.
Hae-rak gave a small laugh as he watched her thinking.
“I ask you a lot of questions too. I’m always curious about you. I start wondering what you think, and I try to read your actions.”
Tilting his head with a strange look, Hae-rak said,
“‘Why do I want to know what you think?’—even that turns into a question.”
“...”
“Whether it’s curiosity or something else... I start wondering about that too.”
Ignoring the silence, he spoke evenly.
“Someday I thought I should ask. Whether you’re curious about me too—and then that curiosity makes me curious again.”
He asked again,
“Do you perhaps know why I’m like this?”
In the quiet room, their unreadable gazes tangled together.
Only listening until now, Sohwa finally spoke.
“Are all strong people like you?”
That, too, was a question.
Yet the answer came straight from the speaker’s own mouth.
“The strong have the leisure to think of such things.”
Not understanding, Hae-rak frowned.
“...I don’t see what strength or weakness has to do with this situation.”
“You have the leisure to wonder why you think the way you do while holding curiosity itself.”
Sohwa’s lips curved faintly. A sigh escaped between the red lips.
“I envy you.”
Hae-rak slowly removed the arm resting under his chin.
“I’d like to have the leisure to ponder things unrelated to the Blood Demon too. I don’t know if such a day will come.”
In truth, he knew it never would.
Sohwa was fighting the Blood ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Demon with a frail body in a situation where she could not see even a step ahead.
Her having come this far was heavenly luck, and she knew it well.
Because she knew her limits, she saw her situation objectively.
She had no room to think of anything beyond the Blood Cult.
To be more honest—to admit her weakness—she likely had no tomorrow.
She was not so ignorant as to feel safe simply because she had not yet fallen while walking on thin ice.
Her survival so far was a miracle, so dying suddenly would not be strange at all.
She had already discarded her life once. Having no great attachment to living, she did not fear death.
If she could kill the Blood Demon, wipe out the Blood Cult, and leave behind the groundwork, this life would be a grace far beyond her previous one.
Yet even knowing reality so well, she still envied the Blood Cult man before her—
That he had the room to think about what his heart felt.
That he could worry about what came after the Blood Demon.
'Do you just believe I will naturally kill the Blood Demon?'
Sohwa envied Hae-rak’s ease—
A life that could consider things outside of purpose; a privilege granted only to the strong, stirring faint resentment.
Rejecting her powerless thoughts, Sohwa asked,
“Will you stay on the island?”
After a long silence, Hae-rak replied,
“Yes.”
Sliding the blade back into her sleeve, Sohwa said, ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
“Then let’s wait a little longer. When I’m certain, I’ll try giving you my blood.”
Straightening his upper body, Hae-rak smiled bitterly.
“As you please.”
He said nothing more.
To break the uncomfortable silence, Sohwa asked,
“Where are you staying?”
Turning his head toward the window, he pointed with long fingers past the hot spring toward the city. Sohwa’s gaze followed his fingertips.
She saw a city shrouded in smoke, as if wrapped in clouds. A few pavilions rose above it. Pointing to one blue pavilion among them, Hae-rak said,
“Between the Eom family’s territory and the Han family’s territory there’s a cloth shop. I’m staying there.”
“That’s unexpected. I thought you’d be somewhere better than a cloth shop.”
Because the Crimson Blood Hall Lord was particular about everything, it surprised her that he stayed in such a place.
Hae-rak gave a small laugh.
“Come see it once. Then decide whether it’s a good place or not.”
Drawing back his hand, he added,
“The island’s temperature is awkward, so one must wear thick clothes, but as you see, the humidity is high and cloth spoils quickly. That’s why a lot of fabric is brought to that shop. How big do you think the pavilion is?”
At that, Sohwa frowned.
“There must be many customers coming and going—you could be discovered.”
“It’s fine. Thanks to the Crimson Blood Unit being away, the shop’s closed.”
Looking intently at him, Sohwa asked,
“Now that I think about it, you must also know where the Passages on the island are.”
“I do.”
“Can you tell me?”
“It’s not difficult.”
Hae-rak’s golden eyes turned toward her.
“But I don’t feel like telling you easily.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m in a bad mood.”
When Sohwa frowned, not understanding, Hae-rak’s face stayed expressionless.
“Next time, you come find me. If you beg that you need me, maybe I’ll feel like agreeing.”
He rose from his seat.
“You like risking your life running around, don’t you?”
Perched on the window frame, the Crimson Blood Hall Lord said in a cold voice,
“Then stake that life on finding me once.”
Before the words had even finished, he was gone.
Sohwa turned her gaze out the window. But the Crimson Blood Hall Lord’s figure, let alone his presence, could not be sensed.
His earlier words about being in a bad mood lingered unpleasantly, though she could not understand them.
'He said that if I die, I won’t die alone—so what kind of contradiction is telling me to risk my life...'
Still, perhaps because she had grown used to Hae-rak’s mood swings, she could faintly interpret the nonsense.
Anyway, it sounded like he wanted her to come find him.
Fixing her eyes on the pavilion Hae-rak had mentioned, Sohwa took out a map.
Tracing the route toward that pavilion, she narrowed her brows.
A strange stench drifted in from outside the window.
