Free Web NovelThe energy lingering at his fingertips was sucked into the engraving with a sudden pull.
Ssshhh.
A fierce wind rose, and then a strange hole abruptly opened in midair.
The Heukcheon Amgui, startled, forgot to be angry and simply stared blankly.
"What is this?"
"It is a Passage sorcery the Blood Cult uses. It only stays open for a short while, so you should hurry."
The Heukcheon Amgui shouted in shock.
"Are you insane? You don’t even know what this is, and you just go through it like that!" freewēbnoveℓ.com
"If you send energy into the upper side while in the Central Plains, it connects to the Northern Sea, and if you send energy into the underside, it connects to the Great Desert. Conversely, from the Northern Sea, if you send energy into the Northern Sea side, it links back to the Central Plains, and from the Great Desert, if you send energy into the Great Desert side, it links to the Central—"
"No! That’s not what I meant when I asked what this is!"
The Heukcheon Amgui exploded at Sohwa, who was explaining in all seriousness.
Her eyelids lowered slightly, and her eyes narrowed.
"Have you perhaps lost your nerve?"
"It’s not fear, it’s that I can’t just trust such a wicked formation and—"
"The Four-Directions Hall Administrator also came through it."
When Sohwa cut in, the Heukcheon Amgui flinched.
"...Pang Shihyeon?"
"Yes. The Young Clan Head Namgung Jin and I also verified the sorcery."
"..."
Sohwa watched the silent Heukcheon Amgui for a moment, then cautiously suggested,
"If it still makes you uneasy, I can bring the Young Clan Head and the Four-Directions Hall Administrator to confirm it for you. They are on the first floor right now, so—"
Before Sohwa finished speaking, the Heukcheon Amgui stepped through the Passage.
There was no immediate return.
Only after more than enough time had passed to count to a hundred inwardly did the Heukcheon Amgui come back.
Tang Min shook snow from hair and clothes caked white and cursed.
Now that he had checked it himself and seen it was nothing else, he did not make a fuss. Once washed clean, Tang Min sat in a chair and let out a sigh.
"Was what I just saw truly the Northern Sea? No, that isn’t the point. Whether that place is the Northern Sea or not, the fact that the Blood Cult can create something like this at all is the real problem."
As Sohwa retrieved the Passage, she answered,
"They say it is not something just anyone can make. I was told there is only one person within the Blood Cult who can wield sorcery to this degree."
"And how would you know that?"
The Heukcheon Amgui’s voice was rough with anger, yet Sohwa instead sensed that the fury had receded.
That question was a curiosity that could only arise on the premise that he believed what she said.
"After confirming the Blood Cult’s rampage at Mount Emei, I have been tracking Blood Cult members, and recently I recruited a few of them."
"Recruited? What sort of bastards would cooperate with you?"
Sohwa could not answer.
If it became known that those standing on her side within the Blood Cult were the Namgung Clan Head’s second son, the sub–clan head of the Anguk Trading Company, and the Northern Sea Ice Palace, the Martial World of the Central Plains would be torn to pieces.
Instead of explaining, Sohwa used the Heukcheon Amgui’s distrust to sidestep the answer.
"There is also a spy of the Blood Cult here at headquarters. If those names reach the Blood Cult, we will no longer be able to receive help, so I will tell you once we leave headquarters."
Because Tang Min had already assumed there would be Blood Cult spies at headquarters, he nodded in agreement.
"Fine. All the more reason we must get out of here quickly."
No sooner had he spoken than the quick-tempered Tang Min got up from his seat.
"No. Right now we need headquarters’ help." freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"What? Do you not understand who has put a wanted order out for you?"
Tang Min thundered, but Sohwa ignored the anger and explained.
"In the Central Plains, the Blood Cult exists as a cell structure, so even if we are lucky enough to catch a member, it is difficult to find those above them. They cut off the tail, making pursuit impossible. But if we use headquarters, we can make them walk to me of their own accord."
"Walk to you? What in hell is that supposed to mean now?"
Tang Min was the sort who, for the most part, listened well to what those below had to say. Whether it was a lie or the truth, he believed it was better if they confessed to him first.
Knowing he was mustering patience to listen, Sohwa answered as concisely as possible so her explanation would not grow long.
"The Blood Cult Leader uses a peculiar poison art. By planting Dokgo in a member’s body, he can force them to obey his will. In the Northern Sea, I found the method to antidote that Dokgo."
Sohwa took out a small bottle and placed it on the side table.
"It is a very small Dokgo, like ash, and the antidote is another Dokgo of a similar sort."
Tang Min opened it at once.
"If just a few drops of that ash-like liquid enter a Blood Cult member’s body, it drives out the Blood Cult’s Dokgo and frees the host."
"Are you saying Dokgo will drive out Dokgo?"
"Yes."
Tang Min gave a hollow laugh.
"This Dokgo multiplies very quickly, so you need not worry about the budget. I can produce more than enough to liberate every Blood Cult member in the Central Plains."
Sohwa added the concrete plan.
"I have already asked the Sagye Hall Administrator to summon as many Alliance members as possible. I will show the antidote in front of everyone and make the infiltrated Blood Cult members within the Martial Alliance come to me of their own accord."
"All right. I understand what you mean. But this is extremely dangerous. Give the medicine to the Sagye Hall Administrator instead and let them go to the Sagye Hall Administrator, not you."
Sohwa shook her head.
"The Sagye Hall Administrator is far too strong. It would be difficult for them to muster the courage to seek him. It is better if I am the one holding the antidote. I am not that strong; anyone can easily come to me."
Tang Min’s mouth opened and closed in disbelief before he shouted,
"Exactly! The fact that you are weak is the problem! Who knows what they might do to you!"
"The Supreme Elder will be with me, so I will be fine."
Sohwa’s gaze flicked down toward the window.
"And the Four-Directions Hall Administrator will also be staying in the Tang Clan’s pavilion for some time. The Young Clan Head Namgung Jin will likely be expelled soon due to headquarters regulations, but he will endure as long as he can..."
Tang Min spoke in an icy voice.
"Do you not understand what I am saying?"
Sohwa’s eyes returned to Tang Min.
"You do not know the nature of the monsters at the bottom. Even if you restore their freedom, you think those bastards will treat you like a benefactor?"
Tang Min let out a bitter laugh.
"On the contrary, to keep others from becoming free, they might try to kill you the moment they escape their Dokgo. Not because they are madmen loyal to the Blood Cult. I am saying they might kill you out of jealousy that others could become free."
As he spoke, his temper seemed to rise; the Heukcheon Amgui clenched a fist.
"There are plenty of bastards who will kill their benefactor for that alone—or for even less. Yes, you might not know. But the Four-Directions Hall Administrator and the Sagye Hall Administrator! These Administrators! They know damned well how this world works—so how can men who know that much use a child who doesn’t even make a full fist as a shield!"
Tang Min slammed his fist down on the table in agitation.
"No. I insisted."
Sohwa cut off his suspicions.
"The Sagye Hall Administrator wanted me to hand over the antidote and the method, and the Four-Directions Hall Administrator wanted to lure the Blood Cult members personally."
The Heukcheon Amgui let out a long breath and gave an order.
"Then hand it over to those headquarters bastards. Throw them the antidote and the method, and let the Four-Directions Hall Administrator deal with the Blood Cult dogs himself. We will go back to the Tang Clan now."
"The Alliance Leader has issued a wanted order for me. I cannot go to the Tang Clan."
"You think I don’t know that?"
Tang Min bellowed again. Sohwa stubbornly responded in a calm voice.
"In a situation like this, we cannot afford to make the Tang Clan hostile to headquarters."
"That is not something you need to worry about. Do not act so arrogant—just prepare to leave."
The corners of Sohwa’s lips lifted quietly. The moonlight filtering through the paper window softly lit that smile.
Tang Min’s brow furrowed.
"You’re smiling? You’re smiling in this situation?"
His voice shook, his anger rising to the very top of his head.
It was a situation in which anyone would have been terrified, but Tang Sohwa, with a blank face, asked in return,
"If this is not something I should worry about, then what should I do?"
Her chilly voice weighed down the silence.
"Apart from fleeing the Blood Cult, my fundamental reason for going to the Northern Sea was to help rebuild the Northern Sea Ice Palace."
The Heukcheon Amgui scowled.
It sounded like nonsense, but no words came out. Unbelievable events had been happening one after another, and Sohwa had always been at their center.
He had no idea how that child knew such things, but what she was saying now might not be a lie.
"The Outland Five Palaces were already absorbed under the Blood Cult’s dominion when they lost the war against the Blood Cult."
Because there had already been rumors that a disciple of Mount Hua had fallen victim to Burning Sun Art, the Heukcheon Amgui had long suspected a fusion between the Outland Five Palaces and the Blood Cult, so he was not surprised.
"I do not know about the other Branches of the Outland, but the Northern Sea Branch did not exist at all, and the Northern Sea nobles were only pretending to be Branch members and making sport of the Martial Alliance of the Central Plains."
In a flat voice, Sohwa asked,
"I do not say this to criticize you, but until now, Supreme Elder, you did not even know what was happening, did you?"
She stared at the silent Supreme Elder and continued.
"Nor can anyone guarantee that none of the fifteen headquarters Branches have fallen into the Blood Cult’s hands. But if the Tang Clan becomes hostile to headquarters in this situation, can you be sure you will not be toyed with by the Blood Cult?"
"..."
"If the Blood Cult uses the Martial Alliance’s hand to cast a net and frame the Tang Clan, can you be sure you will be able to avoid it?"
As Sohwa waited for an answer that did not come, expression slowly drained from her face.
The Supreme Elder, who had tried to rescue the clan retainers without any real countermeasure, remained silent.
Tang Min was not ignorant of the price of taking Sohwa away.
In fact, he might have understood the loss more clearly than Sohwa. Yet he had still been willing to accept it.
Whether because of the Tang Clan’s rule of valuing its retainers, or because of his personal feelings.
Sohwa swallowed a heavy breath, her chest tightening as though a stone had been placed upon her heart.
"Both you and I know what will happen because of me. If you say it is not something I should concern myself with, then what should I do?"
It would have been reason enough to get angry that a much younger retainer was contradicting the Supreme Elder, but Tang Min was quiet.
He thought about something for a long time, then finally spoke.
"But there is something."
The Heukcheon Amgui’s voice, unlike usual, was grave.
"You have never been dispatched to a Branch, nor have you gone on any notable journeys, so how is it that you know the Blood Cult so well?"
Tang Min’s face was as calm as an abyss.
"You easily formed ties with the Sagye Hall and the Four-Directions Hall—bonds that others spend their entire youth to obtain—and even drew the Alliance Leader’s attention. The favor and hostility you receive are things your age and limited range of activity should never allow."
Unstable energy rippled through the tense air.
"Sohwa."
Tang Min’s voice trembled ever so slightly.
"I will ask only once, so answer me."
The question that he had swallowed so many times, unable to bring himself to ask, finally escaped his lips.
"Have you, too, ever belonged to the Blood Cult?"
