Chapter 197
Chapter 197. The New Owner of the Will
Peng Sihyeon continued speaking without pause.
"I sent several letters to Clan Head Namgung. I asked him to help find Cheong-hae's trail, but no reply came. Your father has always treated me as if I were nobody, so I thought Namgung An was being stubborn again; I grew angry and resentful. I didn't know the Clan Head had delegated to you the task of urging assistance for Cheong-hae."
The Four Directions Hall Lord let out a heavy breath.
"We did not think Cheong-hae was dead, so we kept trying to find him. We tried to identify the intruder we lost track of on Gongdong Mountain. Cheong-hae reported that he suspected that the man might not be someone from the North Sea. So I intended to petition the Alliance Leader to go to the North Sea. Perhaps the palace disciples of the North Sea Ice Palace, who were annihilated, infiltrated the Central Plains and were rebuilding their power."
Peng Sihyeon looked at Namgung Jin and said,
"But once the Tang Clan announced the Blood Sect's resurgence and then, after checking the report you submitted, we realized Cheong-hae's death was tied not to the North Sea but to the Blood Sect. At that time, the Black Tortoise Pavilion Leader and I were thrown into great confusion. We had never heard of the Blood Sect using Ice Art. The two of us spent a great deal of time tracking the Blood Sect, but we could not find any Blood Sect practitioner who used Ice Art. Doubt about Ice Art grew in our minds, and we began discussing whether we should go back to the North Sea to investigate again. Not long after that conversation, an Alliance member who had been struck by the Yang Art in Shaanxi appeared."
Peng Sihyeon's voice grew cold.
"If the descendants of the Great Desert Solar Palace survive and are aiding the Blood Sect, then the descendants of the North Sea Ice Palace might do the same. So I decided to investigate the North Sea. I also had a convenient pretext: to avoid outside attention, I came to the North Sea branch claiming I was fetching medicinal herbs for the Ice Palace."
She walked toward the channel as if she had finished speaking.
"On the way to the North Sea, I thought about it. The Blood Demon destroyed the Outer Regions yet spared its descendants and allowed them to inherit the lineage, which makes no sense. Isn't that odd? When a sect is exterminated after a war between schools, the first thing done is to tear down its signboard and erase its martial arts and retainers. Why would the Blood Demon leave heirs alive, even leaving them their martial arts?"
Peng Sihyeon spoke as if puzzled, but her tone suggested she already knew the answer.
"As Tang So‑hwa said, it makes sense if the Blood Demon is a body that cannot cultivate qi on its own. The North Sea Ice Palace and the Great Desert Solar Palace are known for bodies born with extreme Yang and Yin. If someone must rely on others' qi their whole life, they would covet that innate qi. The Solar Palace's and Ice Palace's martial arts were probably developed for the optimal growth of pure Yang and pure Yin, so the Blood Demon might have risked everything to ensure the lineage continued."
She pulled out a sheet of iron buried beneath the water.
"But if one must forever depend on the internal force others have accumulated, wouldn't the Central Plains become something he desires?"
A dark voice added.
Chaaak.
A sigh laced the voice and cut into Namgung Jin's chest.
"Cheong-hae seems to have known quite a lot. Sending a few children home would have been something he could have done alone. If he asked the Clan Head for help, he was probably preparing something bigger."
Namgung Jin's gaze fell on the cracked iron plate.
"It seems that what Cheong-hae intended accidentally fell into our hands; we should finish it properly."
His eyes rose to the face of the Four Directions Hall Lord. She slipped a piece of Cold Iron into a thin crack in the stone, hid it, and turned.
"You said it yourself, didn't you? You wanted to finish what Cheong-hae started."
Peng Sihyeon said with an emotionless face.
"You should join the meetings. I am acting on the Murim Alliance Leader's authority, so any talks I hold with the North Sea Ice Palace can be regarded as official Murim Alliance agreements."
"Are you going to take me to headquarters?"
"Yes. I plan to bring you into the Four Directions Hall. Once we return, I'll put you in charge of affairs in the North Sea, whether that means giving you duties at a level you can handle, or letting you show bravado to unsettle the Black Tortoise Pavilion Leader, try whatever you can."
Peng Sihyeon tried to lighten the tense atmosphere with a joke.
But Namgung Jin's expression remained unchanged.
Hesitating, Namgung Jin finally spoke.
"Thank you for your words, but I've been expelled from headquarters. I'm prohibited from entering for a year."
"Expelled from headquarters..."
Peng Sihyeon's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes. I was accused of assaulting Tang So‑hwa in order to leave, and was dismissed."
"...... Was that Tang So‑hwa's idea?"
Namgung Jin remained silent, and Peng Sihyeon let out a deep sigh.
"How could someone like that come from that foolish Tang?"
Namgung Jin had no words in response, unwilling to agree with calling the Tang Clan Head "foolish."
Peng Sihyeon slung her sword and stepped out of the cave.
"Let's head to the Ice Palace first. We can think later about how to get back into the headquarters. Right now, knowing that Tang So‑hwa is inside the Ice Palace with the North Sea Seven Seats worries me more than the Blood Demon does."
Namgung Jin silently agreed, hiding his turbulent thoughts, and followed her as they set off.
* * *
Namgung Jin agreed in silence, burying his turmoil and following her.
When Namgung Jin and the Four Directions Hall Lord arrived at the Ice Palace, they regretted not hurrying more.
Climbing the mountain, they found nobles from the Han Clan kneeling in front of a stone building.
About thirty martial artists and a dozen or so nobles were kneeling on the white snow.
Seeing strong men in blue standing before the half‑undressed captives, they realized the Ice Palace had captured the Han Clan nobles.
With the North Sea Ice Palace's kin having retaken the palace, purging the nobles was to be expected.
What startled Namgung Jin and the Four Directions Hall Lord was not that the Han nobles had been captured.
It was that the Ice Palace martial artists surrounding the prisoners had drawn their swords.
They looked ready to cut throats at any moment.
"Damn."
The Four Directions Hall Lord muttered a curse.
The Ice Palace's hostility was understandable, but there was much to learn from those nobles. They needed information about the Blood Sect and how those men obtained intelligence in the Central Plains.
Thinking the same, Namgung Jin and the Hall Lord descended the mountain at once.
Sensing movement, the Ice Palace martial artists turned their gazes toward the mountain.
Only then did Peng Sihyeon, who had stopped, ask.
"What's happening?"
At her question, the First Seat answered.
"It's hard to know what you mean to ask."
"The disposition of North Sea nobles is the Ice Palace's jurisdiction, and we understand your intent. However, these are valuable sources of information. We cannot let them die so easily."
At those words, the First Seat slowly nodded.
"I agree."
He watched Peng Sihyeon with an unreadable look and added,
"We do not intend to kill them lightly either."
The First Seat sounded sincere. Peng Sihyeon kept silent.
'Were they just trying to intimidate us?'
But the murderous intent felt on the snowy peak was no joke. They truly harbored killing intent.
Reading the mood, Peng Sihyeon asked cautiously.
"Where are our Four Directions Hall members?"
"The Four Directions Hall moved north with the Second Leader. We are helping move the Yan and Dong clan prisoners to that area for the time being."
The concise answer and the manner of speaking felt cordial, at least more flexible than the Han posing as the North Sea branch leader.
When they first entered that building, the North Sea branch leader had been arrogant and had treated the Hall Lord as an equal or slightly beneath him.
But the Ice Palace martial artists conversing with Peng Sihyeon spoke little and showed respect to the Four Directions Hall. Even when discussing moving prisoners, they acted so.
Peng Sihyeon felt déjà vu.
He looked like someone she'd seen before.
At that moment, Tang So‑hwa, who had been quiet, spoke.
"Hall Lord, unlike the Yan and Dong Clans, the Han Clan is useful. They have proven their abilities as servants of the Blood Demon, so we intend to recruit them into the North Sea Ice Palace."
Peng Sihyeon wanted to ask why Tang So‑hwa was standing there talking like an Ice Palace martial artist, but she kept silent, curious about Tang So‑hwa's words.
"The Blood Demon can force its will upon hosts with the Gu poison. There are lethal arts that kill those who defy the Blood Demon's will, and there are antidotes too."
Tang So‑hwa spoke in a calm voice.
"Please look kindly on them. We were waiting until you arrived, Hall Lord."
The moment Tang So‑hwa finished speaking, an Ice Palace martial artist swung his sword.
Shhaak.
The blade, carrying no Yin energy, sliced through the torsos of the Han Clan martial artists.
Tang So‑hwa approached one of the bleeding martial artists, holding a jar and a brush. She dipped the brush into the ink in the jar and applied it to the wound.
She moved from one to another, painting the black liquid onto the injuries of about ten martial artists, then stepped back a pace.
Staring at the martial artists, she said,
"When the Blood Demon's will disappears, you will follow my will instead."
The martial artists tensed at her words.
Peng Sihyeon and Namgung Jin watched Tang So‑hwa and the Han nobles with expressions of disbelief, thinking her words absurd.
Then a deep furrow formed on Peng Sihyeon's brow.
Black lines had begun forming around the martial artists' wounds. The dark veins thickened and faded repeatedly.
"Ahhh!"
The martial artists screamed, twisting in pain, sometimes pressing their backs against the snow.
Observing the changes in the veins, Tang So‑hwa spoke again.
"Rise."
Most of the martial artists promptly obeyed, standing quickly. One, who was farther away and apparently hadn't heard, continued screaming and rubbing his body into the snow.
Soon, blood began pouring from his mouth and nose, and he stopped breathing.
A heavy silence fell over the snowy mountains.
The Han nobles watching grew pale.
Without giving them time to panic, Tang So‑hwa commanded,
"Sit back down."
At her words, all of them dropped to the ground with a thud.
Having survived under the Blood Sect's scrutiny, they adapted quickly. There might have been one to resist or show bravado, yet all obeyed Tang So‑hwa's command immediately.
She closed her mouth and remained silent.
A short while later, the martial artists drew deep, ragged breaths.
Black veins had appeared across their chests, and their faces turned a purplish hue. It seemed as if the veins leading to their hearts and lungs were blocked.
Tang So‑hwa finally spoke again.
"I had wanted you to lie on your backs, but I forgot to mention it."
The Han martial artists quickly obeyed, pressing their backs into the snow. Gradually, the black veins faded and disappeared.
A heavy silence lingered.
Tang So‑hwa lifted her gaze to the Four Directions Hall Lord.
Explaining her actions to the horrified leader, she said,
"In the Central Plains, many bear the Blood Demon's Gu poison. As you've seen, if they resist the will, they die. They have no choice but to follow the Blood Demon's orders. The Murim Alliance is no exception; even at headquarters, there are already those who carry the Blood Demon's blood."
Her eyes briefly slid to Namgung Jin. He knew what this 'Gu poison' was; it was the same Gu poison he had once given Tang So‑hwa.
"But not everyone is an enemy. Many wish to break free from the Blood Demon's will."
She spoke earnestly, hoping her sincerity would be understood.
"Having discovered the antidote, when we return to the Central Plains, I intend to liberate them from the Blood Demon's control."