Part 1,
Chapter 42. Three Years Later
A pitch-black night. Amid the darkness, red plum blossoms bloomed.
While the countless blossoming red lights briefly lit up the surroundings, the smooth figure of someone who hardly seemed human was revealed.
Contrary to his ghostly cold eyes, a gentle tone flowed out.
"What a shame. You were born with such a precious talent, too."
The masked figure clad in black took in the sight of the Mount Hua Sect disciple's clothing. The once-white martial robes of Mount Hua had been soaked in blood, turning a dark red.
The patches of white still remaining here and there seemed to represent how little life the disciple had left.
The plum blossom swordsman squeezed out all his strength, but his voice wouldn't come out properly.
"You......"
Yet the Blood Sect bastard in front of him quietly waited, as if thinking he could finish speaking.
"You... won’t be able... to leave... this mountain..."
"Are those your last words?"
The Blood Sect bastard, who had been silent, asked. The man who had kept provoking him throughout the fight had suddenly grown serious, which made the disciple let out a faint scoff. The Mount Hua disciple, who had been laughing, furrowed his brows.
"They're... not my last..."
He raised his sword as he spoke. His internal energy scattered in all directions, as unstable as his trembling arms.
"... No, you look like you're going to die soon even if I don't bother doing anything,"
At Haerak's words, the swordsman tightened his grip to suppress the shaking.
An attitude worthy of applause, even if from an enemy. It made Haerak once again realize he had truly come down to the Central Plains.
Haerak suddenly felt curious.
Whether this orthodox sect cub could maintain his pride even before death.
Slaash.
At that moment, darkness was torn in front of Haerak's eyes. A red sword energy that split his vision charged toward him. The plum blossom swordsman struck during the brief opening while Haerak was lost in thought.
Haerak raised his hand and grabbed the sword that was flying toward his heart. Then, the swirling red energy was all sucked into the palm of his hand.
The plum blossom swordsman swiftly pulled his sword back. He tried to strike the man's neck, but he couldn’t move. In that instant, a large hand had gripped the plum blossom swordsman's neck.
"Keugh!"
Soon, heat began to spread through the blood vessels of his neck. The heat surged up toward his Baihui acupoint like it was racing through his meridians, burning his body as it burst through.
"Kuaaahhh!"
The torn scream of the plum blossom swordsman signaled the approaching end.
It was then.
Kwa-gwang.
A sound like lightning striking came from somewhere, and the trees shook violently.
Haerak's lips curled.
"At times like this, I get jealous of those orthodox bastards."
He could feel the swordsman's internal energy drawing near. Haerak clicked his tongue, like letting out a sigh.
"The old men on that side sure aren't shy. They go begging for attention just to save their cubs."
They must have felt his internal energy, too, but despite coming alone, the orthodox bastard wasn't afraid to reveal his position. No, rather, he was trying to lure them toward him.
The sound of trees snapping under the relentless strikes of sword energy drew closer.
A strange heat rose in Haerak's eyes.
Just as he was about to lower his mask, a cold voice brushed his ear.
"Under no circumstances should you show your face."
"Why?"
"The Mount Zhongnan group has changed direction, too. The annihilation of the pursuit unit is a heavy burden. Let's withdraw for now."
Words that made too much sense pounded his eardrums.
At the deputy hall lord's nagging, the heat that had flared like a candle instantly vanished. Haerak regretfully left the cloth draped over his nose.
As he released his grip, the plum blossom swordsman's body dropped to the ground. Smoke was still rising from his body, but he was still breathing
As the deputy hall lord tried to finish him off, the Hall Lord laughed.
"Leave him."
Golden-tinted green eyes stared at the blood-drenched plum blossom swordsman.
"Leave the cub breathing, and the mother won’t think of following.”
The deputy hall lord, seemingly agreeing, pulled his hand back.
"By the way, why did you come here without a word... Hall Lord?"
Frowning, the deputy hall lord scanned the surroundings. But the unfaithful Hall Lord had apparently vanished first.
As if used to such situations, the deputy hall lord didn't panic and dashed off. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he spotted a man in a pale pink robe.
Even the radiant hem of his robe, soaked in moonlight, lost its brilliance before the smiling man's face.
"Hurry it up, will you? What kind of servant lags behind his master?"
"My apologies. I was delayed by a superior who fled first without cleaning up."
“That’s your fate.”
"......"
The deputy hall lord shot a disloyal glance at the Hall Lord and changed clothes.
The two men, now dressed in silk long robes, naturally entered the entrance to Hubei at the foot of the mountain.
As the surroundings grew noticeably livelier, the Hall Lord opened his mouth.
"Who could have opened the passage?"
He muttered to himself, but the tone carried rebuke.
The deputy hall lord answered with an expressionless face.
"Doesn't seem like anyone crossed over from this side, so it's probably someone from Jin Yin Mountain."
Jin Yin Mountain did not refer to a mountain in the Central Plains.
It was a place where the plains were filled with sand, and the peaks were covered in ice.
It referred to the Blood Sect's headquarters hidden in the Aigun Mountains. Surrounded by a formation that distorted sight, the Blood Demon's fortress gave the illusion of being on golden sand during the day and on silver snowfields at night.
Hence, the owner of the land called his home Jin Yin Mountain—Gold and Silver Mountain. Because the mad master owner it so, all who followed him viewed the Blood Demon's fortress that way.
'What kind of house has you looking for gold and silver like it's a vault?'
Haerak clicked his tongue as he mocked the Blood Demon.
"Indeed, I suppose it's about time the main sect got greedy again."
A sigh escaped on its own.
"Our old geezer is just so greedy. He already has so much."
The deputy hall lord let Haerak's insolent words pass through one ear, as if used to it. But Haerak pressed again, as if demanding an answer.
"They'll come down once they've assessed the situation, right?"
"They might have already come down."
Haerak squinted one eye and asked,
"Would it be the Red Blood Hall?"
"That was the original order, so if they've crossed, it's probably the Red Blood Hall."
As they entered the streets, the noise of the crowd filled the space between them. The Hall Lord formed a peculiar smile.
"If it's the Lord of Red Blood Hall, they'd normally come find me the moment they arrive. So why is it so quiet?"
"Perhaps they're trying to be cautious? Things have only just settled down—if they poke the bear and you flip the table, wouldn't that complicate matters in every way?"
"Like right now?"
"......"
So you do know.
The deputy hall lord looked at the Hall Lord with an expression of exasperation.
He swallowed a sigh and carefully asked,
"By the way, what will you do when that guy wakes up?"
"I should praise him. Isn't he quite something?"
"Young Master."
The deputy hall lord cautiously addressed him, voicing his unease.
It had been three years since the Hall Lord joined the Anguk Merchant Group.
Just a few days ago, traces were found that the passage in Shaanxi had been opened. It seemed someone from the main sect had crossed over, but no one sought out the Red Blood Hall. Displeased by that, Haerak crossed into Shaanxi and stirred up trouble.
He had gone through the trouble of erasing the Blood Sect's presence, only to raise people's guard toward it again.
"If you've cooked the porridge and fed it to the dog, you should at least let it eat. He's barely had a few bites, and you're taking the bowl away—how does that make any sense?"
Haerak exaggeratedly scrunched his eyes as he spoke.
"Even a dog isn't disturbed while eating. The one who mocked us as 'hunting dogs' and gave the Red Blood Hall its signboard—how could he forget a dog's nature? Tsk tsk, I think the old geezer's gone senile."
"If what you say is true, Young Master, then he's been senile for quite some time."
When the deputy hall lord agreed, Haerak smiled.
"If the hunting dog is thought to be useless, we just have to make him useful again. There's still too much left undone to end up in the pot just yet."
“Is it really necessary to make it useful in this way?”
"Aren't you wasting all the effort you've made until now?"
The deputy hall lord had seen how much the Hall Lord had done to erase all traces of the Blood Sect.
But today, with his own hands, he had undone the accomplishments of the past three years.
The deputy hall lord had heard the report that the passage had opened, together with the Hall Lord. And worried that he'd cause trouble, he had stayed by his side all day.
Judging from how things turned out, he ought to be praised for his excellent instincts. The Hall Lord hadn't defied expectations. His lunatic superior had attacked the Shaanxi branch's pursuit unit today.
It seemed he intended to provoke the Murim Alliance's wariness once more.
The martial artists of the Shaanxi branch who were attacked didn't seem to take the Hall Lord as an ordinary figure. They smuggled away the youngest-looking one among them. It seemed like a signal to request reinforcements, but in truth, they probably just wanted to get him out of the chaos for his own safety.
That must have provoked the Hall Lord's spite.
He suddenly chased after that young swordsman.
Worried, the deputy hall lord had urgently driven the Mount Hua martial artists far away and quickly followed Haerak. That, too, turned out to be a very good decision.
'Why in the world did he even try to reveal his face.......'
The deputy hall lord's head throbbed at the inscrutable behavior. But then the Hall Lord added yet another nerve-wracking remark.
"This is boring."
"...... Ah, you're bored, young master?"
The deputy hall lord glared at him with narrowed eyes, but Haerak simply stretched and nodded.
"How did the old geezer manage to hide away for so long? That's impressive."
"......"
"I used to hate how he dreamed big while doing nothing, but it turns out doing nothing is the hardest thing in the world."
He wanted to ignore it, but the man kept making anxious remarks.
When the deputy hall lord remained silent, unable to respond, the Hall Lord suddenly let out a sigh.
"No... still, if it's to claim such a vast land, that amount of hardship is nothing."
"......"
"A child who hasn't suffered doesn't deserve to eat sweets, don't you think?"
He tried hard not to reply, but it was a pointless effort.
The deputy hall lord finally opened his tightly clenched lips.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but... please don't, Young Master."
But his superior only smiled with that handsome face of his—and gave no answer.
***
Three years wasn't a short time, but the changes in the Tang Clan's Medical Hall had been particularly drastic.
Tang Hae-han wiped his forehead and paused his mopping for a moment.
"Expanding isn't always a good thing, huh."
So-hwa, who was organizing a basket of medicinal herbs nearby, looked up.
Now that someone was listening, Tang Hae-han began voicing his complaints in earnest.
"If we added another pavilion, shouldn't we have added more people too? That's just common sense, right?"
"Then go talk to the Lord of Medical Hall, Elder brother. Say that Nine Turns Pavilion is short on manpower and needs reinforcement.”
"...... I was just saying."
At the mention of the Lord of Medical Hall, Tang Hae-han bent down again and resumed scrubbing the floor.
Knowing just how serious the Lord of Medical Hall was about the hall's budget, Tang Hae-han, the Hall Lord’s son, quietly accepted reality.
It had been three years since the Blood Sect had revealed itself.
More than anyone else, the Lord of Medical Hall had put more effort than anyone else into protecting the secret archive of Nine Turns Pavilion. Even the blind maidservants who had once been allowed in the Nine Turns Pavilion just to clean were now completely barred from entering, which meant that the disciples themselves had to clean the Nine Turns Pavilion on their own.
One would think they'd get used to it over time, but the cleaning only felt harder with each passing day.
And for good reason—the pavilion had expanded, which meant more area to clean.
Even after all these years, Tang Hae-han still hadn't gotten used to mopping. As he scrubbed at a stain on the stone floor, he tilted his head. Just then, a calm voice spoke up.
"Don't waste your strength, Elder brother. If it's stained, you won't get it out with force. Soak it with that solution and leave it for half a day. It'll come off on its own."
"Really?"
Tang Hae-han obediently followed So-hwa's advice, laying a cloth soaked in the medicine over the stain.
He'd expected her to have the most complaints about the Hall Lord's decision, but So-hwa had none—and she even cleaned so thoroughly it was like she'd been professionally trained.
That struck him as a little odd.
Tang So-hwa was not the type to pity struggling servants and help with chores. Nor was she curious enough to take an interest in cleaning just to learn something new.
'Where in the world did she learn this kind of thing?'
She cleaned with the precision of a neglected concubine's daughter left to tend a pavilion all on her own.
Then again, this wasn't the only strange thing.
So-hwa had changed a lot over the past three years. Whatever had happened on Mount Emei seemed to have left a deep impression.
Tang Hae-han lowered his gaze once more and silently focused on cleaning.
He'd fallen behind in his research lately—he didn't want to lose even when it came to chores.
The two of them spent the whole day scrubbing until they stepped outside together to have their evening meal. But just as they exited the Medical Hall, someone called out to them.
"Elder Sister! Ah, Elder brother Hae-han, you're here too?"
A tall, handsome young man came running up to them with a bright smile. As the young man drew closer, Tang Hae-han's face turned to shock.
"W-What the hell have you been eating to grow like that?"
Mouth agape, Tang Hae-han looked up. To meet the young man's gaze, he had to tilt his head back until his neck almost cracked.
But Tang So-hwa didn't show the slightest surprise at seeing the completely changed Tang Hak.
"What are you doing here? What about your training?"
It had been over two years since he was dragged off to train on Mount Emei, but So-hwa remained composed even upon seeing her brother's transformation.
Tang Hak, on the other hand, looked overwhelmed and teary-eyed as he opened his mouth.
"Father summoned me, so I descended immediately. Elder sister, don't be surprised. It seems I'll be dispatched to the Sichuan branch. I've finally escaped that hellish training—no, I've gotten a chance to be recognized as a source of pride for the Tang Clan!"
***
Part 2,
At those words, So-hwa's eyes narrowed.
Tang Hae-han, also in disbelief, asked again.
"Did the Clan Head really say he's sending you to the Sichuan branch?"
"He hasn't said anything directly about the Sichuan branch yet, but from the look of it, I think I'll be dispatched there soon. This time, the Shaanxi branch requested support from our Sichuan branch."
Tang Hak said this with a proud expression, as if to emphasize.
"I've been chosen to visit the Shaanxi branch on behalf of the clan."