Chapter 183
Chapter 183. A Different Thought
A sound split the air.
Thud.
So-hwa turned her head toward the noise. The once-quiet snow mountain now had its stillness broken. It sounded as if it came from far away.
"Don't mind it. They're breaking the ice. It's coming from outside the island, so it has nothing to do with us."
At those words, So-hwa flinched. The Fourth Seat had promised to guard the ship.
Worried that something might have happened to him, she was about to ask when Haerak spoke in a calm tone.
"From what I heard earlier, the Yan Clan's ships all sank off the northeastern coast not long ago. The elders here think it's disastrous if the North Sea freezes over completely. So, the Yan Clan's Grand Clan Head borrowed ships and personally went out to sea to break the ice before it froze any further."
Thud.
Haerak gave a faint laugh at the echoing sound.
"I thought it would take them quite a while since the ice must be thick, but perhaps they decided to clear only the area around the island first? The Dong Clan's harbor should be to the west, yet if we can already hear it from here, they probably didn't go very far."
"Even with outsiders on the island, is it all right to divert their strength outside?"
"They've been uneasy ever since the Ice Palace bloodline fled. Can't blame them for that. If the ones from the Ice Palace ever take back their domain, those people would be the first to die."
Haerak sneered. So-hwa closed her mouth, not knowing what to say.
Crunch.
The sound of footsteps pressing into snow filled the silence.
As they climbed the mountain, So-hwa asked,
"Do you not resent the ones in the Solar Palace?"
"Why would I? There wasn't even much of a betrayal. The Palace Lord simply couldn't control his own temper and got himself killed."
"......"
"The ones occupying the Great Desert branch now are mostly people from the Central Plains. They've got nothing to do with the Desert. Come to think of it, they're pitiful too. Because of the Blood Demon's blood they carry, they serve even more devoutly than any Blood Sect member here."
"You really don't seem to have any lingering attachment to the Great Desert."
"None."
There was truly no emotion in his voice.
So-hwa found it hard to understand that kind of heart, but since she didn't know his full circumstances, she couldn't ask recklessly.
"If you don't wish it, there's no need to reclaim the Solar Palace, but..."
She hesitated before continuing.
"Still, I don't like the thought of letting the Blood Demon have it."
Haerak stayed silent. So-hwa walked beside him and spoke softly.
"Someday, you'll need a place where you can live in peace, too."
"I already have a house in Hubei. What's there to worry about? You've been there yourself."
"I mean a place that wasn't given by the Blood Sect — somewhere that has nothing to do with it."
"......"
"Maybe it's meddlesome of me to say so, but I hope you can settle and put down roots wherever you wish, even if it's not in the Great Desert. In a world without the Blood Demon. You're capable enough to do that."
"I didn't know you thought so highly of me."
His tone was teasing, but So-hwa meant every word.
"You're someone who can think ahead even amid hardship — someone who deserves the leisure to do so. You should live a life as rich as your abilities allow."
In her previous life, Haerak truly had lived such a prosperous life.
He had been the merchant leader of Anguk Merchant Group and had married Zhuge Cheon-yu, enjoying the power of the Zhuge Clan as well.
He possessed one of the greatest fortunes in the Central Plains, had a famed beauty for a wife, and lived under the protection of the influential Zhuge Clan, a powerhouse within the Murim Alliance.
But now she understood that such a life had come with deep contradictions.
Min Haerak, for all his cold exterior, knew how to care for those around him. He wasn't exactly warm, but he must have felt some burden when it came to killing his wife's brother.
So-hwa remembered how, upon returning from Jin Yin Mountain, Zhuge In-hwi had sent his younger sister back first.
Zhuge Cheon-yu, too, had both feared and admired her brother.
If Haerak killed Zhuge In-hwi — his wife's brother and the sworn enemy of the Blood Sect — it was likely under the Blood Demon's command.
Min Yeo-hong's flawless life had been one granted to her as a servant of the Blood Demon's will.
For a descendant of the Solar Palace, who despised the Blood Demon, it could never have been a happy life.
Had the Solar Palace not fallen, Haerak would have lived as the master of the Great Desert, enjoying wealth and power rivaling that of his previous life.
Then he would never have had to kill his own family under the enemy's command.
So-hwa hoped that in this lifetime, Min Haerak would find a world untouched by the Blood Demon — a place where he could truly belong.
While she pondered his past life, Haerak opened his mouth to speak.
"You?"
Tang So-hwa turned, not understanding the counterquestion. Haerak asked with an expressionless face.
"Why do you speak as if you can't live like that?"
"I have roots deep enough already; I don't need to carve out a new haven."
So-hwa loved the Tang Clan and had no intention of leaving.
"And besides, I don't have the leisure or the ability to think about anything beyond the Blood Demon. Not being satisfied here would be greed."
Haerak frowned.
"Why do you imagine you need some special 'ability' just to think? Don't make lame excuses — you're always thinking useless things anyway."
Annoyance crept into Haerak's voice. So-hwa only tilted the corner of her mouth; she didn't argue.
"Why are you smiling again? I said that to rile you up — why are you smiling?"
When Haerak looked incredulous, So-hwa answered,
"Because it seems obvious our thoughts will differ."
"In what way?"
"I need to be far from the Blood Demon to cut off its limbs, but you need to stay close to it to wound it, don't you?"
So-hwa felt his gaze land on her, but did not meet it.
"My best attack is weakening the Blood Demon's power, and if I get caught daydreaming, there's almost nothing I can do."
Her eyes drifted to the cliff beyond the eastern snowy peaks.
"Isn't it the same now? There are only remnants of the Red Blood Hall left; without you, I can't breach the passage. So I must throw everything into what I can do before the Blood Demon catches me."
"......"
"If I meet the Blood Demon while I'm thinking of other things, how ashamed will I feel for wasting time? I might only be able to make the pills the Blood Demon wants and poison him — and if I'm careless, I'll be helping the Blood Demon erase my family."
Her voice flowed calmly through the stillness.
Entering the shelter of tree shadows, the light dimmed. The scent of blood and a presence prickled the air.
This was no longer a place to continue a conversation.
So-hwa closed her mouth.
But the man beside her did not end the discussion. Stopping in his tracks, Min Haerak asked,
"If I buy you time."
So-hwa turned to follow the still figure. Haerak fixed his dark eyes on her and spoke slowly, word by word.
"Would you be willing to think of other things?"
Before she could answer, the Main Blood Hall Lord asked again.
"I don't know how much time you need, but if I give you that time, would you be willing to let your mind wander?"
A faint crease cut across So-hwa's brow.
"You know how much time I need."
"Tell me. It doesn't matter how long."
Silence stretched. The question couldn't be answered with a simple calculation; even those who bragged would know that. So-hwa didn't understand why he was asking.
She shifted her body forward to inspect the figure hidden in shadow.
"This is a waste of time, too. We haven't even sealed the passage yet — what if the remnants of the Red Blood Hall cross over while we're doing this?"
"You don't need to worry about that. Just answer."
The Main Blood Hall Lord did not move. He waited.
So-hwa finally turned back.
"I don't know why you insist on pointless stubbornness. Do you really think I can calculate time down to the minute?"
The Main Blood Hall Lord didn't react as if that was the answer he wanted. So-hwa exhaled in frustration.
She'd come this far and couldn't leave alone, so she had to indulge this absurd quarrel.
"What answer do you want? Shall I say a month? Shall I say a year? Will you believe that?"
"I'll believe you, so say it."
"......"
"Be it a month or a year. Tell me how much time you need."
"Do you truly think I could kill the Blood Demon within whatever time I say?"
Haerak went silent again. It seemed he wouldn't speak until she gave a number.
So-hwa asked in a dry tone.
"If you're so sure, then you do the math. How long will it take to retake the North Sea and return it to the Ice Palace's bloodline, restore your clan to the Solar Palace, then go back to the Central Plains and dismantle the Profound Emptiness Pavilion's members?"
"......"
"The time I want is a month—no, I'd prefer tomorrow. It doesn't have to happen the way I said. If the Blood Demon dies of some mysterious illness, or is struck by sudden divine punishment and dies, that's fine too. Anything works."
The more she spoke, the more she felt time itself was irrelevant.
She spoke her thoughts plainly.
"No matter how long it takes, as long as the Blood Demon disappears, I don't care. Even if it's tomorrow."
"All right."
The Main Blood Hall Lord stepped forward as if satisfied with her answer.
"Time is just an excuse."
"......"
"Leisure of the heart doesn't come from time. Nor does strength."
Haerak moved closer and said,
"It all depends on your will, and you can have it whenever you want."
Stopping just short of her, he added,
"If you have people who help you and you believe you'll eventually succeed, you can devote yourself to thoughts entirely unrelated to the old geezer whenever you wish."
"......"
"Just trust a little. Trust yourself, and the likes of me standing beside you."
The Main Blood Hall Lord bowed and locked eyes with her. He tapped So-hwa's ear with his finger.
"And please—just breathe. Breathe."
The ruby pendant hanging in the air swayed from the motion. He steadied the moving earring and said,
"If you drown in thoughts of that old geezer and your goal becomes desperate, you won't hold up. Practice having some slack. This isn't something that finishes in a day or two; to endure, you must learn to erase that old geezer from your mind."