Free Web NovelIf gathering them was difficult, he had been told to just tear up the nearby earth and pretend he had dug it out, but in truth, whether he mashed up the soil or harvested the roots, the time it took was about the same.
'If I’m going to do it anyway, it’s better to dig them up properly and bring them back.'
Min Doyu walked on, studying the rough map Tang Sohwa had drawn.
The medicinal ingredients she had mentioned were things that could be obtained even in the Central Plains. Occasionally there were precious ones among them, but so long as you paid the proper price, you could buy them without much trouble.
However, Min Doyu soon understood why Tang Sohwa had coveted the garden’s herbs.
'How in the world did they cultivate them to grow like this?'
The herbs in the garden were in extremely good condition.
Even with the same ingredient, the effect differed depending on size and condition, so the plants in this garden were hard to even put a value on.
He walked all around the vast garden, gathering as many herbs as he could. Just when he had finished collecting everything Tang Sohwa had asked for, he heard a sound as if the sky were collapsing.
Kwaaang.
When a peal of thunder crashed down a second time, someone came out of the Black Pavilion.
Min Doyu narrowed his eyes as he checked the group.
“What’s that behind you?”
Following after the Fourth Seat, an Ice Palace martial artist was carrying a block of ice on their back. When he looked closely, it had the outline of a person.
“D-don’t tell me that’s the storehouse manager?”
Min Doyu asked in shock, but the Ice Palace martial artist was calm.
“I sealed the meridians first, so his life is not in danger.”
“No, his body is not like an Ice Palace martial artist’s. If you freeze him like this, he could die!”
Min Doyu gathered heat in his hand. As he tried to melt the frozen man, the Fourth Seat blocked that hand.
“If you do that, then he really could die. We’ll take care of this; you concern yourself with that lot in the back.”
Min Doyu turned around.
He saw Ice Palace martial artists and Crimson Blood Hall men coming this way.
Normally, Crimson Blood Hall or Blue Blood Hall scum did not dare cross over to the Blood Demon’s pavilion.
But perhaps because Central Plains people had recently raided Geumeunsan, Crimson Blood Hall men were now running toward the Black Pavilion.
There were not many of them.
Now one of those men had to be sent to the Blood Demon.
Min Doyu was about to say that he would stay here.
But he had no need to say it out loud. Before he could open his mouth, their presences had already vanished into the distance.
“They’re fast...”
Ever since he had seen them in the Northern Sea, he had felt it, but Ice Palace bastards were truly accomplished when it came to running away.
Min Doyu let out a hollow laugh, not the slightest bit resentful.
“Fine. We each go our own way now.”
It was not as if they had some deep bond.
They had come this far together, and that was enough. There was no need for them to cross over to the Northern Sea as well.
He tucked the herbs into his breast and flexed his hand open.
Tang Sohwa had said there was no need to overexert himself bringing the herbs. Even seeing signs that they had been taken would be enough for the Blood Demon to guess she had sent him, so that alone would suffice.
'If she’s thinking of luring the Blood Demon, that woman’s not in her right mind either.'
At the time he had been too flustered to pay much attention to those words, but the more time passed, the more embarrassed he felt by his own reaction.
Min Doyu now meant to cross over to Sichuan.
A woman far younger than he was was preparing alone to receive the Blood Demon; he could not just stand by and watch.
'And if the Blood Demon can tell just from the traces that it was Tang Sohwa’s doing, then that means these herbs are that important to her, doesn’t it?'
Heat blossoms flared at Min Doyu’s fingertips. Hot heat flowed along his meridians.
'Unlike Northern Sea bastards, the Great Desert does not turn away from ties.'
His body, now clean with the Blood Demon’s blood gone, made ready to receive a Crimson Blood Hall cultist.
***
The second floor was a place where a waterway had been drawn in by human hands, so in truth, the Sun Palace was effectively a single-story building. But perhaps because it sat in a high place, when the curtain was drawn back, the vast desert came into view at a glance.
Watching the darkness settle over the desert, Hae-rak muttered to himself.
“If only the Northern Sea bastards had left, it wouldn’t take that long...but since Doyu went with them, it’ll take a bit of time.”
Perhaps even he had grown tired of talking to himself, because he broke his promise not to disturb her and got up, walking over to Sohwa. She had been scribbling something for a while now.
Sitting down across from her, Hae-rak subtly peeked at the writing and spoke.
“Do you have any idea how fast Northern Sea bastards are? Blink and they’re gone. I almost never let people slip through my fingers, but those guys run so fast that the ones I’ve actually caught are few and far between.”
“I see.”
Sohwa did answer, but it did not seem she had really heard him.
Unable to endure his boredom, Hae-rak laid his palm over the paper.
“If you can say it with your mouth, why put your hand through all that trouble?”
“I’m uneasy that the qi screen might be pierced.”
She was writing down the materials for whatever she meant to make once she went back.
“I don’t even know what that old man is doing right now. How could I possibly know what’s going on inside here?”
“The Blood Demon’s aura sensing is sharper, so of course we might not know, but he might be able to, no?”
Hae-rak shook his head.
“For you and me, our lives are on the line, so it’s normal for us to keep all our senses focused on that old man’s movements, but he thinks he can kill us whenever he wants, so he’s not going to care much what we’re doing. If a tiger is outside, you hold your breath and listen closely for approaching sounds, but if a rabbit is making a racket outside, you just wish it would be quiet, don’t you?”
He outright took the brush from Sohwa’s hand.
“The Blood Demon has lived long and has an excellent eye for people. You said you threatened not to make a formation if he tried to spy on you, didn’t you? Even I, who haven’t lived that long, can see your nature at a glance; the Blood Demon has no need to test your temperament.”
“......”
“Besides, this is a dreamlike situation where even I’m being cooperative, so right now that old man is worrying himself sick that he’ll mess things up, not peeking in here.”
Sohwa lifted her head. But though her gaze had risen, she did not particularly look persuaded.
Warmth descended over Sohwa’s fierce eyes.
“Use this time to close your eyes instead.”
As he moved his hand aside, Sohwa flicked her gaze at what she had written so far.
“If you’re bored, read this.” freewebnσvel.cѳm
Just then apparently curious, Hae-rak pulled the paper toward himself and read.
“Myeongcheon Trading Company?”
“It’s the place closest to Sichuan, so it’d be best to get things from there. And since you have ties with them, you can quietly smuggle some out, can’t you?”
“Do you remember this is the place I said I’d let you send a betrothal letter from?”
Sohwa nodded. Since Hae-rak had personally confirmed with his own mouth that Yehwa’s husband was connected to the Blood Cult, that incident had stuck in her memory.
“Mm. Bringing goods from Myeongcheon Trading Company isn’t difficult, but the news could leak. We haven’t had contact in a few months, and in the meantime you’ve turned the cult upside down, so the internal cohesion has weakened a lot.”
Tilting his head, Hae-rak added,
“Well, aside from that, it’s not far from the Tang manor, so you can get this much within a day.”
“That’s enough.”
Sohwa began voicing her plan out loud.
“As soon as we cross into Sichuan, go to Myeongcheon Trading Company. We have to get the goods as quickly as possible, so it’d be best if you move personally.”
Hae-rak did not ask why and simply nodded obediently.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“For the time being, the Black Pavilion’s manager will be staying in the Northern Sea. If possible, later, take Zhuge Jihwi to the Northern Sea and let him meet that man.”
“Zhuge Jihwi? Why are you suddenly bringing him up?”
“To restore the Sagye Hall Administrator’s sight, he wants the Blood Demon’s secret manual. And the Black Pavilion’s manager’s condition is not very good. We don’t know when he might die, so let him get that answer while the man is still alive. If possible.”
“And what do we get out of it?”
Sohwa pressed her lips shut for a moment, then spoke.
“If there’s anything you want from him, ask. He’ll likely grant it.”
“What, so you’re saying it has nothing to do with what we’re doing right now?”
Hae-rak narrowed his eyes.
“It’s not as if it has absolutely nothing to do with it, is it? Even after the Blood Demon disappears, the Sagye Hall Administrator will try to wipe out the remnants that remain, so if the Administrator regains his sight and grows stronger, that’s good for you as well, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see why I have to go all the way to the Northern Sea for something that has nothing to do with getting rid of the Blood Demon. As you know, I’m not exactly on good terms with those Northern Sea bastards.”
“Even if the Blood Demon disappears, the Blood Cult isn’t going to vanish overnight, so if you cultivate allies in the Outland and Central Plains, it’ll help you as well.”
“If it’s something after the Blood Demon’s gone, then there’s only one thing I’m interested in.”
Sohwa had expected to be ignored or to get a cold answer, but instead, the corner of her mouth curled up.
The words had been half meant as teasing, so Hae-rak’s expression turned puzzled.
“...What, is it something so good that just thinking about it makes you laugh?”
“No, it’s just like you to have enough room in your head to think that far ahead.”
“And there you go again, talking like someone who has no room at all.”
When Sohwa averted her gaze, Hae-rak hooked a hand under her chin and forcibly drew her eyes back to his.
“Once we get over this big mountain, you’ll have plenty of time too, won’t you?”
But Sohwa did not open her mouth.
She had never been someone who talked a lot, but even so, she usually answered when asked a question.
As the silence grew long, Hae-rak opened his mouth again. But just as he was about to speak, he twisted his body toward the door and withdrew his qi barrier.
A voice he had never heard before flowed in from beyond the door.
“I have come because there is something I wish to say.”
It was a strangely swaggering tone. It did not sound like someone from the Sun Palace.
And he smelled a familiar scent. Sohwa too realized who it was.
For a brief moment, her eyes met Hae-rak’s. Both of them guessed why a Crimson Blood Hall cultist had come looking for them.
A strange voice, mixed with self-reproach and bravado, could be heard.
“My aura sensing is so dull that I can hardly feel anything, so please don’t worry about me. And I was told to attend on you if you needed anything, so if there’s something, order me as you like. I’ve never done it before, so I’m not very good at it, but since it’s a command from the Blood Demon, I won’t be negligent.”
“The old man sent you to wait on us?”
At his disrespectful words toward the Blood Demon, a little hiccuping sound came.
“...Yes.”
“If he’s that worried, he ought to wait on us himself.”
He could feel the uneasy, roiling qi.
But the one teasing him was unconcerned and kept asking.
“Did he call you all the way to the Great Desert just to ask you to do something like that?”
As if he did not want to engage in conversation, the man bit back his words as best he could.
“In any case, please just keep doing what you were doing, and if you need anything, there’s no need to come out; just call for me.”
Hae-rak’s eyes rolled toward Sohwa. Sohwa nodded in answer.
While the man was speaking, he could no longer sense the Blood Demon’s qi.
News of the incident at Geumeunsan had reached him, and it seemed the Blood Demon had left his seat.
Sohwa took the Passage out of her sleeve. Hae-rak accepted it in her stead.
It was time to return to the Central Plains.
Now that they had proof the Blood Demon had gone out from Geumeunsan, they had to hurry and bring things to an end.
