Chapter 184
Chapter 184. Red Cliff Talisman
Tang So-hwa looked at the man standing before her.
Perhaps Haerak didn't entertain other thoughts because he was strong.
It wasn't that he had leisure because he thought he could do it, or because he believed it wouldn't take long.
Maybe, faintly, he already believed he couldn't succeed. Maybe he knew it would take a very long time, and so, he was trying to wear himself down slowly.
Countless failures had carved scars into him.
It was the peculiar stubbornness of one who had learned, after facing an undefeatable foe, that he still could not give up.
The Alliance Leader tried to observe reality and minimize losses, while So-hwa clung desperately to every small plan as she drew nearer to the Blood Demon.
The Main Blood Hall Lord, before her, stood somewhere between the two.
He was obsessed with the Blood Demon, yet still capable of seeing reality clearly.
Had someone so young already experienced failure on par with the Alliance Leader's?
The Main Blood Hall Lord, who had just been teaching her about having composure, straightened his posture.
"Let's go."
Instead of answering, So-hwa followed after him.
She didn't know what she should say.
Crunch.
The sound of their steps pressing into snow deepened, and so did the heaviness in her heart.
***
Chaos broke out in Hubei.
The eldest daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan, who was to be interrogated by the Murim Alliance, had gone missing.
The Tang Clan accused the Murim Alliance of deliberately abducting their Clan Head's daughter, while the Murim Alliance suspected the Tang Clan of secretly helping her escape.
It was an unprecedented situation: the Blood Sect had infiltrated the Murim Alliance's headquarters, and one of the previously kidnapped alliance members had vanished again.
Yet, despite the scale of the incident, the repercussions were surprisingly muted.
The chaos had erupted on the same day the headquarters reopened its gates to the public, causing the alliance members to disperse back to their respective sects.
Having been confined for so long, none of them could afford to delay their return.
Still, the Blood Sect had infiltrated the Murim Alliance headquarters—right when fifteen of its top leaders were gathered there. There was no way their sects could be considered safe now.
Even the Tang Clan Head himself had returned to his sect in Sichuan, which said enough about the situation.
He had left behind the clan's strongest expert, the Black Sky Demon, and the Young Lord at headquarters—but he might as well not have.
The Murim Alliance officials who had to deal with those two for seven nights straight collapsed, clutching their necks in frustration. Eventually, the headquarters sent a formal letter demanding that the Tang Clan Head come in person, leaving Tang Min and the Young Lord to their own devices.
It was, by any measure, a complete mess.
Upon returning to Hubei, the Red Blood Hall Lord observed the Murim Alliance members encircling Platinum Pavilion.
Ever since the Blood Sect had half-destroyed the Platinum Pavilion, the Murim Alliance had stationed watchers there openly.
'It's a fortunate situation for the hound.'
Min Doyu approached one of the guards from the Murim Alliance and slipped something into his hand. The man feigned disgust but still accepted the silk pouch.
The Red Blood Hall Lord let out a silent, incredulous breath and turned away.
With the Alliance men standing guard like that, Tang So-hwa wouldn't be able to enter Platinum Pavilion.
And on this continent, the Murim Alliance was probably the second most desperate organization searching for Tang So-hwa.
The Red Blood Hall Lord lifted his black bamboo hat as he entered a tavern along the Yangtze River. Recognizing him, the server quietly led him to a private room.
Seated by the window, the Red Blood Hall Lord waited without a single movement.
Before long, a man entered. He wasn't a server by the look of his ragged clothes. Bowing low, he greeted him with a martial salute.
Tap.
"Hall Lord, I—wait, huh?"
The brush tucked behind his ear slipped and fell; he quickly stooped to pick it up. The Red Blood Hall Lord found the sight pathetic but didn't show it.
"Since the Blue Blood Hall Lord is in poor condition, I came in his stead. You said you might know where Tang So-hwa disappeared to. What did you mean by that?"
The Red Blood Hall Lord skipped any pleasantries and got straight to the point.
Not long ago, a message had arrived from the Central Plains for the Blue Blood Hall Lord. Having lost his sight to the hound, the Blue Blood Hall Lord couldn’t go himself and asked the Red Blood Hall Lord to travel to Hubei in his place.
A practitioner of forbidden arts had left a letter meant for the Blood Demon—but the Blue Blood Hall Lord didn't trust anyone else to deliver it.
"Yes, the sorcerer left a note, but... it's strange."
The man produced a torn scrap from a ledger. A scribble covered one corner.
Reading it, the Red Blood Hall Lord's brows furrowed. It spoke of how everything under heaven had its rightful owner, and that one mustn't touch even a hair of what wasn't theirs.
"... Isn't this a poem by Su Dongpo?"
(T/N): Su Dongpo - the famous Song dynasty poet, also known as Su Shi
It looked like drunken gibberish scrawled by a tipsy poet, and the Red Blood Hall Lord's face chilled with disdain. His gaze asked plainly: You made a fuss over this nonsense?
But the Blue Blood Hall member didn't cower. He continued, explaining his suspicion.
"The man isn't the sort to babble when drunk. He's cautious—more like a rat. The kind to crawl under your legs rather than boast. If he risked himself doing something this reckless after Tang So-hwa vanished, then they must have been closer than we thought."
"The Blood Demon was the one who ordered the sorcerer to get involved with Tang So-hwa. Why does that matter?"
"The Murim Alliance recently awarded the Cold Iron to Yeon-ah of the Wudang Sect. And as you know, Yeon-ah is the last disciple of the Yeonju Group—the same person who was with Tang So-hwa the day she revealed the Blood Sect's resurgence."
At that, the Red Blood Hall Lord fell silent.
Given permission to continue, the Blue Blood Hall member spoke faster.
"If Tang So-hwa asked Yeon-ah of the Yeonju Group for the Cold Iron and Namgung Hyun used that to open a passage for her, then her vanishing without a trace would make sense."
The Blood Sect members in Hubei were tracking Tang So-hwa.
A person always leaves some trace, and it was impossible to cross the wide Central Plains while hiding from the Blood Sect's sight.
Yet they couldn't find so much as a hair.
The member's eyes fixed on the Red Blood Hall Lord's red gaze.
"Perhaps she used a passage from the headquarters to go to the Great Desert or the North Sea."
The Red Blood Hall Lord looked down again at the scribble the sorcerer had left.
He tucked the paper into his robe and rose from his seat.
"I'll go verify it. You keep watch on that Namgung sorcerer."
"As you command."
The Blue Blood Hall member bowed with proper etiquette.
The Red Blood Hall Lord passed him and left the tavern. He headed straight for Jin Yin Mountain.
Without pause, he rushed to Jin Yin Mountain and, upon meeting the Blood Demon, relayed the note Namgung Hyun had left.
The Blood Demon merely snorted at the scribble and seemed amused.
"Pyo Wol."
He sighed without clear meaning, then turned his gaze to the Red Blood Hall Lord.
"Send word to the Great Desert and the North Sea to search for Tang So-hwa's appearance. Report immediately when she's found. And..."
The Blood Demon calculated in his head before asking,
"How many Red Blood members do you have?"
"About one to two hundred."
The Red Blood Hall Lord confessed bluntly—his numbers were humiliating. When a martial artist had penetrated Jin Yin Mountain, a hundred of his members had been annihilated. Learning that, he had raged and trained his men harshly.
Even allowing for the loss of elites, losing an entire mid-rank detachment to a single martial artist was an inexcusable rout. The Blood Demon knew it too.
Of those remaining, roughly a hundred were solid elites; the rest were in a pitiful state.
"Hmm."
The Blood Demon emitted a low, reproving sound and gestured.
The Red Blood Hall Lord stepped closer.
"It’s only a guess, but Haerak might be where that child is. He beat Cheong-il half to death just to make an escape route—there’s no way he’d have let her go alone. Besides, didn't you yourself say the Lord of Platinum Pavilion has gone on business, leaving Hubei unguarded?"
His red gaze studied his enormous retainer.
"But will you be alright?"
The Red Blood Hall Lord wanted to say it would be fine, but he could not.
The Blood Demon had already seen the arm the Red Blood Hall Lord had brought—he knew it was no match. To say everything was fine would have been a lie.
He dared not deceive the Blood Demon.
A silence followed; then the Blood Demon laughed and said,
"I'm not reproaching you. I'm offering help."
With a smooth motion, he moved his arm over a black basin. Blood dripped from the wound in his sword.
“I intend to pass down a new Blood Art, so bring me some faithful children. They’ll have to sustain more power than their bodies can handle—they’ll need to drink my blood.”
The Red Blood Hall Lord watched the Blood Demon's blood fall into the black basin and was momentarily speechless.
There had been a time when the Blood Demon, hoping his captured ones would not perish, personally taught them a blood art. He watched in awe as they grew dramatically—he envied it. It meant the Blood Demon had cherished them.
Moved, the Red Blood Hall Lord finally found his voice.
"Your boundless grace humbles me. M-may I too be taught the Blood Art if I receive your blood?"
The Red Blood Hall Lord spoke, his red eyes shining.
"If you give me the chance, I will make that hound obedient!"
His eyes shone as he pledged.
"Hahaha, no."
The Blood Demon laughed as if pleased by the request.
"Haerak is not someone who will obey simply because someone is stronger than him, and if you drink my blood, as you know, you will be unable to resist my will."
The first statement was true enough—he had seen the pup-like Haerak dare to challenge the Blood Demon countless times, and strength alone did not guarantee obedience.
But the second statement was hard to accept.
"I am a member who obeys the Lord's will more than anyone, so why would you worry about that?"
“You follow me, not my will—that will put you in danger.”
The Blood Demon said, tracing his dark lips.
"Even if I ordered you to bring Tang So-hwa back alive, you might not obey."
The Red Blood Hall Lord fell silent; the remark fit him too well.
In truth, he did not want to fetch Tang So-hwa—he wanted her dead, erased from the world.
When a woman from the Outer Regions had once made the Blood Jade that the Blood Demon had so desperately wanted, she then erased the method to make that Blood Jade from the world.
The Blood Jade that had been the Blood Demon's only weakness had paradoxically become the world's lone poison capable of killing him.
The Blood Demon had raged, imprisoned the woman, and ordered her to remanufacture the Blood Jade—but she had taken her own life.
Now, the Blood Demon claimed the Blood Jade had been completed again and ordered that Tang So-hwa be brought to him at all costs.
The Red Blood Hall Lord's feelings twisted—this could be the means to eliminate the Blood Demon. Yet, above all, he obeyed the Blood Demon's command. He suppressed his resentments and resolved to find that girl and present her to the Blood Demon.
"I will bring Tang So-hwa to Jin Yin Mountain alive."
"Is that so?"
"But I cannot promise she'll come out whole. She might be a threat to you, so I will break her spirit and train her as I see fit."
The Blood Demon's lips twitched.
"She's born of a body much like mine; cutting off a few limbs won't matter. Take her as you please. Just bring her breathing."
"I will bring her alive."
Clang.
At the word, a sword clattered to the floor before the Red Blood Hall Lord—the very blade that had wounded the Blood Demon's arm. The crimson-stained edge glinted in his face.
"Cut your arm with that. That will be enough."
Without hesitation, the Red Blood Hall Lord seized the Blood Demon's sword and sliced his own arm. The Blood Demon's blood seeped into the wound. He felt a strange sensation course through him, but it was not unpleasant.
Rather, his chest swelled. He clenched his trembling lips, and the Blood Demon stood.
"First, learn what I teach, then bring your men."
The Blood Demon gripped the Red Blood Hall Lord's bloodied arm and examined the wound. Satisfied that his blood had taken hold, he smiled with a small, satisfied curl of his mouth.