Chapter 192
Chapter 192. Reclaim
As suspicion flickered in Haerak's eyes, the Fourth Seat spoke.
“She appears to have received the blood of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, so I must examine her.”
Haerak let out a hollow laugh.
“She doesn’t have any yin energy. She hasn’t even opened her meridians, much less built up any inner energy.”
“I’ll know when I see it.”
The Main Blood Hall Lord tossed the Fourth Seat's hand and said.
“Know what by seeing? You already know her meridians are completely blocked, old man."
The Fourth Seat stepped back; he didn't want to start an unnecessary fight with an unconscious person beside them.
It wasn't an urgent matter; he could check later.
No—on second thought, it would be proper to get permission before examining her
Realizing he'd been hasty, the Fourth Seat straightened up.
"Are you going to stay here the whole time?"
“I have to stay until she wakes up. Someone as shameless as the old man might come again."
"......."
"Why the aggrieved look? Is snooping on a sleeping person's meridians the kind of thing someone your age should do?"
The Fourth Seat had no defense.
Stealing a look at a sleeping person's meridians was a despicable act his pride could not allow.
That much showed how shaken he was by what he'd seen in the North Sea.
The corpses of the Blood Sect members that had drifted on the black sea.
It was a scene reminiscent of the Will of the Blood Demon.
He felt the need to calm himself.
Preparing to leave for a moment, the Fourth Seat spoke.
"I'm going to check the passage on the mainland and come back. You stay here in the meantime."
"If you're really going to block the passage, you won't have time to stand around here talking, will you?"
"I've been told the other kids already went to breach the passage, so I only need to confirm."
“I didn't ask about them, so don't be long-winded, and go.”
The Fourth Seat stared silently at the Blood Demon's hound for a moment.
As he had felt three years ago, it was a boundlessly frivolous and rude creature.
Perhaps irritated by the silence, the Main Blood Hall Lord frowned and asked.
"Is it because you're old? Can't hear well? I'm not stopping you. Why are you still not leaving?"
The Fourth Seat said in a cold voice.
“...You absolutely must wait here until I return.”
If, upon returning, this murderous intent remained, the Fourth Seat intended to kill the Main Blood Hall Lord.
The Blood Demon's hound, who couldn't possibly know that thought, answered with a sneer.
"I can't promise you that."
Its gaze shifted down to Tang So-hwa.
"If she wakes up, I plan to go to the Great Desert."
"Why the Great Desert?"
“It seems she'll pull this stunt in the Great Desert as well, so I want to reduce her time there.”
He lifted Tang So-hwa's sleeve and pointed to the cloth wrapping the wound, saying.
Despite the unkind explanation, the Fourth Seat understood the implied meaning.
"Are you trying to reclaim the Great Desert branch?"
Haerak nodded.
"Alone?"
"Recapturing it isn't a difficult feat. Why bring a bunch along? The issue is how long you can hold it after taking it back."
Haerak's gaze lifted.
"You're not sitting out because it's hard to take the Ice Palace, are you?"
Whether it's the Solar Palace or the Ice Palace, taking the palace itself is easy. What comes after reclaim is the true start of war.
The Fourth Seat had been training children born with Extreme Yin bodies to prepare for that day.
In truth, the Fourth Seat had been waiting for the perfect circumstances, but he could no longer be stubborn.
Those left in the gorge could no longer hold out, and with the Red Blood Hall Lord absent, now was an opportunity for compromise.
As if reading that thought, the Main Blood Hall Lord asked.
“Considering you’ve joined hands with the Central Plains men, it seems you’re somewhat ready to fight. What is your current strength?”
"Do you think I'm going to tell you if you ask like that?"
Haerak gave a hollow laugh.
“Indeed, it must be hard to disclose your strength when you’re confused whether I’m the Blood Demon's ally or the Great Desert's dissenter.
He retreated as if he understood.
"Then listen and judge for yourself."
Min Haerak briefed the Fourth Seat on the situation.
"Now that war has broken out, the North Sea can't pull out. If the North Sea and the Blood Sect start fighting, the Blood Sect's forces will be scattered, and that would be a good chance for the Great Desert. No, if not now, there won't be another chance to escape the Blood Sect in the future.”
His voice lowered.
“But as you know, the Blood Demon’s priority right now isn’t the Great Desert or the North Sea—it’s the Central Plains. That old geezer is even more obsessed with this Central Plains woman’s body than either of us.”
Haerak toyed with Tang So-hwa's sleeve.
"This Central Plains woman still doesn't know what the Blood Demon's obsession is like. But you and I do. If word gets out that she returned to the Central Plains, the Blood Demon might cross over there himself."
"The Blood Demon would go to the Central Plains?"
The Fourth Seat asked back, as if unable to believe it.
He tried to listen to the Great Desert man's thought quietly, but the idea was too absurd to hold that posture. It was that kind of impossible talk.
The Great Desert man nodded slowly.
“Since he chased her all the way to Qinghai and then came to his senses and returned, we must consider the possibility of him making the outlandish journey to the Central Plains.”
Haerak sighed.
"Maybe that could be an opportunity for us, too. If the Blood Demon appears, the prideful Central Plains won't stand idle. If the Great Desert, the North Sea, and the Central Plains all throw themselves at the Blood Demon, even the Blood Demon will have a hard time."
"Don't think of that as an opportunity. Whether the Central Plains or the North Sea, the worst case is the Blood Demon leaving Jin Yin Mountain. The best thing is to keep him from getting out at all costs."
“I agree. It would be best for everyone if that crazy old geezer quietly died on Jin Yin Mountain—but is that likely? He’s not the sort to peacefully live out his days and die gently, is he?”
The Fourth Seat remained quiet.
He, too, didn't think the Blood Demon would stay quietly on Jin Yin Mountain.
He had only pointed out that the worst-case scenario—the Blood Demon leaving Jin Yin Mountain and acting directly—would be catastrophic.
He had risked the lives of his kin and trained for three years to face that worst-case scenario.
Hearing the Fourth Seat's silence, Haerak went on.
“It’s only a guess, but if we can reclaim both the Ice Palace and the Solar Palace at once, the Blood Demon won’t move so easily. Neither you nor I are easy targets for the Blood Sect, so he’d have to send a valued force. If he dispatches both the Red Blood Hall and the Blue Blood Hall, Jin Yin Mountain’s defenses will weaken.”
In fact, the Blood Demon had already sent the Red Blood Hall to the North Sea, and their forces were effectively shattered. The Blue Blood Hall's Lord also wasn't in a position to function properly, so the moment they crossed to the North Sea or the Great Desert, they'd be annihilated.
So the Blood Demon could either gather the reserve forces in the Outer Regions or cross over himself, but that choice was not simple.
The forces stationed in the Outer Regions were mostly built up to settle in the Central Plains. Sending them to the North Sea or the Great Desert would greatly damage them, and rebuilding those forces would delay plans to move into the Central Plains.
And the Blood Demon crossing personally was dangerous.
Haerak raised a finger and pointed at the two of them.
“With two rebels who know the location of Jin-Yin Mountain, he’s in for a headache. Once we learn the Blood Demon’s away, we’ll start with the Black Pavilion, but knowing how cautious that old geezer is, I doubt he’ll head straight into the Central Plains. At least we’ll buy ourselves some time to make him hesitate.”
The Solar Palace man said bitterly.
"While she returns to the Central Plains, let's keep his attention occupied for a while. The Great Desert and the North Sea don't need to form an alliance, but instead of acting alone, wouldn't simultaneous strikes at the Blood Sect's throat have a better chance of success?"
Haerak wanted to send So-hwa to the Central Plains.
She wanted to separate the Profound Emptiness Pavilion members in the Central Plains. Her plan is to draw out the Blood Demon's Gu poison and cut them off from the Blood Sect.
Just as he had been cut off.
And today, she seemed to have found an answer.
Haerak recalled the corpses of the Blood Sect members drifting on the sea.
Tang So-hwa had told him she wanted to injure herself. She said she needed to see blood touch blood to find the answer.
However, uncharacteristically, she was afraid because she didn't know what the result would be.
Haerak finally understood why.
The Blood Demon had claimed that inferior blood is extinguished by superior blood, but there was no reason for the entire Red Blood Hall to have been slaughtered merely because the Blood Demon's Gu poison had vanished.
Min Haerak fiddled with So-hwa's sleeve, then pulled the blanket over to completely cover the arm frayed by the blade.
"Whether today becomes our chance to break free from the Blood Sect, or finally the end of this tiresome life, I don't know. But let's try. One way or another, it'll be something, right?"
"What an amusing situation."
At the Fourth Seat's sudden remark, Haerak lifted his head again.
The old man spoke in a calm tone.
"Isn't fate interesting? A child bearing the Blood Demon's blood now stands with the Great Desert and the North Sea, seeking to ruin the Blood Demon's plan."
"Fate, my foot."
Haerak gave a hollow laugh.
“It’s retribution.”
The Fourth Seat's gaze lowered.
The Main Blood Hall Lord's hand rested atop the blanket, his fingertips brushing lightly over the edge of the cloth. Watching him, the Fourth Seat asked.
"Have you fallen for her or something?"
Even without a clear subject, min Haerak understood the question.
"Who knows."
The Main Blood Hall Lord's hand moved upward, brushing the woman's red lips as he answered.
"I don't know either. Whether it's curiosity or something else."
"Enjoying your youth, I see."
At the dry remark, Haerak chuckled softly.
"This isn't really the time to enjoy anything, is it?"
Yet despite his words, the Main Blood Hall Lord didn't withdraw his hand.
"At least I know now is not the time.”
"Why?"
“Because I don’t want to do anything that pleases the old geezer.”
Though incomprehensible to others, the Fourth Seat understood that answer.
The Blood Demon treasured those with Extreme Yang constitutions. The Great Desert man before him was the only unbeliever to have ever reached the rank of Hall Lord. The Blood Demon would never have left that body untouched.
He'd long since come of age, so the Blood Demon must have tried to carry on his bloodline through Min Haerak. The Fourth Seat knew all too well what the Blood Demon was capable of doing.
Seeing that he had no intention of pleasing the old geezer meant that this Great Desert man had fiercely resisted every temptation the Blood Demon had offered.
He didn't know how that was possible, but given that the Main Blood Hall Lord's madness was famous even in the North Sea, it wasn't hard to believe. They even said the Blood Demon himself was fed up with the man's insanity.
It was the opposite choice of his own—to leave many descendants of the Ice Palace bloodline and build a martial force.
The hound before him didn't seem the type to endure quietly; if ever faced with the choice of surrendering his child to the Blood Demon, he would likely choose death instead.
It was a choice worth respecting. Even he, who had made the same decision, often found it unbearable to live with.
As the Fourth Seat watched the young man and woman, a fundamental question suddenly crossed his mind.
"Then... are your feelings mutual?"
The one who'd been running his mouth nonstop suddenly fell silent.
The Fourth Seat frowned.
"...... When your feelings aren’t even mutual, do you really need to use the Blood Demon as an excuse?”
Haerak lifted his cold gaze.
"Aren't you going? Didn't you say you'd check the passage?"
Seeing the old man's impassive face, Haerak sneered.
"Judging from how those Ice Palace runaways fared, you'd think even the Blood Demon's guards could kill you in one blow. What makes you so confident? What could you possibly have achieved in three years?"
The Fourth Seat didn't react to Haerak's provocation.
"Stay strong, young one."
Even in his indifferent voice, mockery could be felt.
"And three years is enough time for many things to change."
Leaving behind those cryptic words, the Fourth Seat disappeared.
The pointless comment irritated Haerak, but since the man had already gone, there was nothing to say. Haerak quietly closed the window.