Chapter 191
Chapter 191. Warmth
Her heavy eyelids pressed down as if trying to crush her consciousness, and her sense of reality slowly faded away.
She couldn't tell whether the shapes floating before her eyes were truly the bodies of Blood Sect members or merely shards of ice.
"Just throw it! I said throw it!"
Steel cables and wooden planks were laid across the ship's rail. It seemed they were trying to move the heated stones from the other side of the deck to this one.
A red-hot stone was hauled up to the railing. So-hwa knew it was meant for her—but she couldn't move.
Drdrdrk.
The faint sound of the cable unwinding reached her ears.
Around the plank, arrows gleamed in the moonlight, lined up in perfect formation.
Everything under the full moon's glow felt dreamlike.
The smoke rising around the burning rock shimmered with silver light. The warmth that spread outward was quickly swallowed by darkness again, but even that brief heat felt comforting.
So-hwa almost wished the rock would fall on her. Her frozen body longed instinctively for warmth.
But the man about to throw the stone suddenly froze.
At the same time, light flared from his torso—a great circle traced across his body.
Thud.
Everything outside that glowing ring collapsed, his limbs falling away as if disintegrated. Yet the yellow robe he wore was left spotless, untouched by a single drop of blood.
The arrows once aimed at her turned inward—toward the ship itself.
Like petals scattering in the wind, blunt shapes surged up among the arrows and then crumbled again.
"Aaaargh!"
Someone screamed. One man, terrified, tried to leap overboard, but even as he moved, a massive circle branded itself across his chest like a seal.
His scream blurred, muffled, as though submerged underwater.
All sensation dimmed, and So-hwa's eyes fluttered shut.
Shhhk.
She felt her body being lifted upward. Her soaked padded robes weighed her down, the drag of seawater pulling at her limbs until her body felt like it might tear apart.
The hands that pulled her free stripped the heavy garment from her and tossed it aside.
The moment she broke the surface, the cold struck even harder.
But it lasted only an instant. Wet strands of hair slid back as a warm hand brushed them away. That same hand cupped her cheek, then trailed down her neck—pressing gently against her arteries, wiping away the moisture.
The warmth spread faintly along her veins before fading.
Perhaps sensing this, Min Haerak repeated the motion—rubbing her shoulders through the folds of her clothes, slipping his broad sleeve around her stiff arm, pulling her close, and placing a hand on her waist. Just as his touch was about to reach deeper, So-hwa caught his hand.
Tang So-hwa gathered all her strength and forced her eyes open. Through the blurred haze of her vision, she saw the face of the Main Blood Hall Lord.
Clutching the edge of his purple cloak, she managed to whisper.
"That robe... please..."
Even though she couldn't finish the sentence, Haerak understood. He immediately took off the robe and wrapped it around her.
Her torn clothes exposed much of her bare skin.
Neither the Fourth Seat nor the Murim Alliance members yet knew the truth about her body—but anyone seeing how her wounds had already begun to close would realize soon enough.
That terrified her.
For a powerful martial artist, such recovery could be a blessing. But for someone like her, it was a fatal weakness.
It meant that no matter how much pain she endured, she could be kept alive indefinitely. It was permission to inflict endless pain until they got what they wanted.
Even after suffering unbearable agony, she had not died. This secret could never be revealed.
Tang So-hwa clung to the last thread of her fading consciousness and forced out her words.
"Don't let... anyone see me... for one shichen..."
The sound broke apart before it was even clear, barely understandable. Frustration tightened her throat, her eyes reddened, and her breathing grew ragged.
But she knew she wouldn't get another chance to speak.
Then, through her dimming vision, she saw a large hand rising toward her.
"I'll make sure no one sees you for one shichen. Now, rest."
As he closed her eyelids, Min Haerak spoke softly. Understanding her plea, he carefully adjusted the cloak to cover her entire body.
As her tension melted away, So-hwa's mind finally slipped into darkness the moment Haerak lifted her in his arms.
He turned immediately toward the clinic outside the island.
Splash..
But before he could take more than a few steps, an old man from the North Sea Ice Palace—apparently finished clearing the ship—stepped in his way.
The Fourth Seat lowered his gaze.
"I know what you're thinking, but I'm not about to hand her over to the Blood Demon."
The old man's blue gaze rose slowly. He hadn't withdrawn his internal energy—he still didn't trust Haerak.
"You heard it too, didn't you? Do you know what absurd notion she's entertaining right now?"
Haerak spoke in a tone lower than usual.
“What do you think comes after the North Sea? I already fell for that ridiculous talk before you did, so move.
But the Fourth Seat did not move.
A flash of gold began to gleam in the Main Blood Hall Lord's eyes.
"Since the Blood Demon's crossing over, shall we just pick off the North Sea men and go home? I'm not in the mood to do you any favors, old man. Move."
The Fourth Seat's gaze drifted toward the cliff.
"Didn't you break the passage?"
"We shut all the passages inside the Ice Palace, but I don't know about those outside the palace."
Haerak felt the man's agitation and tightened his hold on Tang So-hwa.
"I heard the Han Clan had already noticed and had gone to inform the Blood Demon. Why don't you hurry and go over before those men of yours get caught?"
Haerak tilted the corner of his mouth.
“If that old geezer might give the Central Plains men a quick death, but he’d haul off the North Sea men to be used for breeding—do you really want to see that again?”
The Fourth Seat disappeared from sight.
The North Sea men always put their bloodline first; in a situation where the Blood Demon might cross over, they wouldn't hold out to protect outsiders.
As soon as the Fourth Seat left, Haerak moved directly off the island.
If he went to one of the pavilions inside the island, the Central Plains men would likely come looking.
It was already clear that the Blood Sect members knew something about Tang So-hwa's constitution; whoever was trying to hide the secret of her body was likely from the Central Plains.
A voice that once advised him to find somewhere to rest his heart flickered through Haerak's mind, and he chuckled dryly.
'You really don't have anywhere to rest your heart, do you?'
He reached the harbor and went straight into the clinic.
The empty clinic was filled with cold air. He stretched out his hand and lit the brazier as soon as he entered.
Whoosh.
As he prepared to lay So-hwa on the heated bench, he noticed her clothes were wet. He hesitated for a moment over changing her into dry garments, but worried about how she might react upon waking, so he instead gathered heat in his palms with internal energy.
"... I didn't train so hard for this kind of thing."
He felt a twinge of self-reproach as he brushed away the wet fabric and warmed her body.
The warmth seemed to calm So-hwa's trembling; her face smoothed and grew peaceful.
As Haerak smoothed the robe, something felt off, and he peered closer.
There were many tears in the fabric, but their placement was strange. Below the knees, there were no rips, but the sleeves and torso were shredded.
"......"
Haerak silently took So-hwa's wrist and turned it over.
A slender fingertip brushed past her knee and returned to its place.
He immediately rolled So-hwa onto her stomach to inspect her back. Her shoulders and flank were torn, but the center of her back remained clean.
In a cool voice, he muttered.
"How ruthless..."
The Blood Sect members in the dark water wouldn't have swung their weapons recklessly. They'd dived together—there was a real risk someone might stab a comrade, or worse, sever the throat of the one the Will of the Blood Demon had ordered to be taken.
All the spear marks on the cloth were self-inflicted.
It looked as if she'd used a palm-sized dagger to stab herself here and there while moving.
Through the blood-stained hems, perfectly healed skin showed.
Haerak rose and fetched a cloth to cover the wounds.
Unrolling a long strip, he rolled up her sleeve to the shoulder.
Rustle.
The sound of cloth slicing through the silence was heavy.
He wrapped the thin fabric around her wrist.
Despite all she had endured, her skin looked untouched—as if she had never been wounded at all.
The Main Blood Hall Lord focused intently on covering her flawless skin with the cloth. After wrapping both arms, he let his gaze fall to her skirt. Deciding that was the most he could do, he made his peace with it.
He fetched a blanket and covered her completely.
Unless someone was completely mad, they wouldn't lift the blanket of a person who had collapsed in pain, so she would be fine.
'Not that it matters. I'll be here until she wakes anyway.'
Haerak leaned back against the wall, his gaze drifting toward the window. Pale light slipped through the narrow gap of the shutter; dawn was breaking.
More time had passed than he'd thought.
Yet Tang So-hwa still hadn't awakened.
"So one shichen really is a long time, huh."
He recalled the fire in Hubei. That day, she had lost consciousness just like this—and she'd stayed asleep for roughly the same length of time.
The Main Blood Hall Lord's eyes darkened.
'So when she brushes against death, she sleeps for about a shichen before waking?'
Tang So-hwa's body resembled the Blood Demon's. Haerak had never seen that old monster in danger, but even he must have limits.
Still, the Blood Demon probably recovered faster than this—less than a shichen, most likely. His body was even more monstrous than hers.
Haerak was still weighing the Blood Demon's weaknesses when he lifted his gaze.
He sensed movement outside the window.
Quietly, he reached out and pulled the blanket higher, up to So-hwa's chin, completely hiding her. Then he spoke.
"So the Central Plains men managed to seal the passage outside the palace properly? You got here fast."
There was no reply—only the sound of the window opening.
Creaaak.
Bai Gwi stood before the window, his gaze lowering. His eyes fell immediately on Tang So-hwa.
Thud.
The Main Blood Hall Lord shot out a hand, seizing the wrist of the Fourth Seat just as the old man reached toward So-hwa's face.
The hand froze midair.
Haerak's killing intent flared sharp as ice, but Bai Gwi's eyes stayed fixed on So-hwa's face.
“The Blood Demon had one way of telling my lineage apart. He believed that anyone with a mole by the eye was my kin.”
His tone was distant, heavy with something close to nostalgia.
"And a long time ago, the Blood Demon took my younger sister away to Jin Yin Mountain."
Though Haerak was not a man of few words, he couldn't speak in reply.
He understood exactly what the old man was implying.
The Blood Demon occasionally took in women who matched his peculiar tastes, bringing them into his abode. This had happened several times, even in the Great Desert where he lived.
Haerak already knew that Tang So-hwa had received the Blood Demon's blood—and that her mother's name had been Jin Su.
Jin Su. The woman who never smiled.
A faint crease formed between Haerak's brows as he looked at the Bai Gwi.
Three years ago, when he'd been hunting down the Ice Palace sect in the North Sea, he'd met this man a few times.
Perhaps it was the circumstances, but he had never once seen the old man smile. No—“smile” wasn’t even something that belonged to that expressionless face.
Haerak's gaze lowered to the woman lying on the floor.
Different faces entirely—and yet, for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were alike.