Chapter 200
Chapter 200. Time to Return
So-hwa judged that it was not a conversation worth stubbornly pressing her point over, so she did not add anything further.
She turned her body toward the Second Leader.
"Could you first guide the Four Directions Hall disciples to the main palace? I will take care of the cleanup and follow up shortly. There is no time, so please tell the Hall Lord to prepare to return directly to the Central Plains."
"Very well."
Bai Woon-Hyun agreed at once. Since he had wanted to pay his respects to the Four Directions Hall Lord before leaving, he was pleased to have the time.
The Fourth Seat also gave his permission with a glance.
Feeling that the presences had faded, So-hwa looked back at the old man.
"There is something I wish to ask."
The Fourth Seat gave a small nod, as if telling her to speak.
"Have you met the Main Blood Hall Lord?"
A brief silence followed.
That was the answer.
Tang So-hwa asked again.
"Do you know where he went?"
"Why ask me that?"
"Did he go to the Great Desert?"
When the Fourth Seat fell silent again, So-hwa asked in a lowered voice.
"Do you perhaps know why he left?"
Judging that there was no point in dodging the question, the Fourth Seat finally spoke.
"He said that if the Solar Palace were taken, the Blood Demon would be unable to go either to the North Sea or the Great Desert, and would fall into confusion. He also would not be able to cross into the Central Plains readily."
So-hwa's expression darkened. As expected, it was a ploy to buy time.
"How much time do you think that will buy?"
"The Blood Demon is a cautious one, and he poured great effort into the Central Plains, so the confusion will be great. It should buy quite a long time. However."
The Fourth Seat's blue gaze dropped to the bathtubs.
"That is a story from before he learned that someone had appeared who could unravel his will."
So-hwa gave a small nod.
"If I move to the Central Plains, then it will be difficult to delay things for long."
The Fourth Seat did not deny it.
"Those who bear the gu poison make freedom their life's greatest wish. Thus, rumors about you will spread quickly among the Profound Emptiness Pavilion disciples."
He spoke in a low voice.
"It will reach the Blood Demon's ears within days."
So-hwa agreed with the thought. Looking at the stained bathtubs with sunken eyes, she spoke.
"May I ask one favor?"
"Speak."
"If the Blood Demon goes first not to the North Sea but to the Great Desert or the Central Plains, then Jin Yin Mountain will be empty. And since the Red Blood Hall has been annihilated, the defenses of Jin Yin Mountain should not be that complicated."
The Fourth Seat's expression turned strange, but So-hwa did not see it. She had no leisure to notice anything else, busy organizing the thoughts she had carried with her the entire time crossing to the island.
"Among the Blood Demon's halls, there is a black hall."
"Are you referring to the Black Pavilion?"
"Yes. The Intelligence Hall Lord is confined in the Black Pavilion's secret archive."
Only then did Tang So-hwa lift her gaze.
"Please take him out of the Black Pavilion."
"Why save that man of all people?"
"No. I am not trying to save him."
Tang So-hwa let out a hollow laugh.
"There is something the Blood Demon ordered that disciple to do, something extremely important to him."
The Blood Demon had been organizing the secret manuals of the Outer Regions in order to create the Blood Jade. To finish the work quickly, it would have been better to assign many people, yet he left only the Intelligence Hall Lord in the Black Pavilion's secret archive.
He had also warned with his own mouth that anyone who entered the Black Pavilion's secret archive would not be able to leave Jin Yin Mountain.
It was clear how important he considered the Black Pavilion's archive.
The Intelligence Hall Lord was the only one permanently stationed there, and he was able to classify the records needed for the Blood Jade.
Thus, if the Intelligence Hall Lord were taken away, the Blood Demon's eyes would flip in fury.
"If the Blood Demon learns that the Intelligence Hall Lord has been abducted, he will immediately return to Jin Yin Mountain. There is no need to take the Intelligence Hall Lord outside Jin Yin Mountain. We only need to make the Blood Demon turn his steps back toward Jin Yin Mountain. Do not overexert yourself, hide him among the sands of Gold Mountain or the ice of Silver Mountain, and hold the Blood Demon there."
"I owe you a debt, so ordinarily I would help without asking for reasons, but since the Blood Demon's name has come up, I cannot help but ask. What are you thinking?"
“It is not particularly a brilliant master plan to explain.”
Her voice was strangely flat, without any rise or fall, yet now it seemed lowered with a sigh.
"If the Blood Demon crosses into the Central Plains, it will no longer be possible to avoid an all-out war, so time is needed to prepare the final move. And since I owe the Main Blood Hall Lord a debt, I cannot let him die; I must bring him back before he is absorbed by the Blood Demon."
Tang So-hwa rubbed at the corner of her eyes, as if tired.
"Truthfully, it is a move I would rather not use if possible. Thus, I will endure until the worst case arrives... but if a situation comes where I must use that move against the Blood Demon, I will need about a day to prepare."
When So-hwa finished speaking, silence settled over the hall. It was because the Fourth Seat continued his silence.
It was impossible to tell whether he meant to grant the favor or whether he was deliberating.
So-hwa patiently waited for the Fourth Seat to speak.
The faint light that had been filtering in through the window cracks vanished, and complete darkness fell.
Only then did the Fourth Seat open his mouth.
"Are you thinking of perishing together with the Blood Demon?"
So-hwa had intended to answer seriously, but laughter seeped into her voice.
"Was the Blood Demon someone who could perish together with the likes of me?"
"I ask because the phrase 'move' caught my attention."
"No. I merely said it because nothing came to mind after that; it is not some grand move worthy of perishing together with the Blood Demon. If you are asking what I am preparing, then I cannot answer."
Though she was in a position of asking a favor and thus tried to explain as fully as possible, she had no obligation to show even the weapon she held in her hand to an outsider.
The Fourth Seat felt a strange emotion at the line Tang So-hwa drew.
It felt ridiculous, and yet also somewhat disappointing.
And so, an uncharacteristically childish question slipped out of him.
“Could the Blood Demon not come to the North Sea first?
"Yes, that could happen."
Perhaps she thought it a reasonable possibility; Tang So-hwa accepted it seriously.
Watching the woman sink into thought, the Fourth Seat asked,
"Then will you use that move you are hiding for the sake of the North Sea as well?"
So-hwa looked at the Fourth Seat with an unreadable gaze.
She thought the Fourth Seat was being overly greedy.
Hadn't she already helped enough that what came after should be handled on one's own? While suspecting mutual destruction, she could not understand why he would probe her about using the same move for the North Sea.
However, regardless of how she felt, So-hwa nodded while meeting the Fourth Seat's eyes.
If the Blood Demon decided to move personally, they would meet sooner or later; refusing the North Sea's help held no meaning.
Delaying the encounter with the Blood Demon by a little would not make things safer.
"Yes, if that is what you want."
"Good."
The Fourth Seat was a man without much expression. Because of that, even subtle changes were keenly felt. Even the usually unperceptive Tang So-hwa sensed that his face had softened.
"I will do as you wish."
Since it was not a change large enough to openly ask for a reason, So-hwa swallowed her unease and nodded.
"It's time to return to the main palace."
The Fourth Seat said this as he unfolded his arms.
"Everyone's patience isn't very deep yet, so they'll be waiting for you and me to return quickly."
From the context, he seemed to be referring to the Seven Seats.
So-hwa had been surprised when she first encountered the first six of the Seven Seats. The age difference between them and the Fourth Seat was considerable.
Not only the Fifth and Sixth Seats beneath him, but even the First, Second, and Third Seats above him in rank were much younger.
The Fourth Seat treated the Seven Seats above him with meticulous courtesy.
'Yet now he speaks as though dealing with children.'
Were they all his disciples?
So-hwa had seen a similar relationship at home. The Black Sky Demon had taught the Tang Clan Head, and now he was also teaching the Young Lord.
Since the Black Sky Demon showed due respect to the Tang Clan Head, it seemed roughly similar.
At that moment, the Fourth Seat extended his hand and unleashed the Ice-Soul Divine Palm over the piled prisoners.
Crack.
Ice burst forth, enclosing the unconscious prisoners like a prison.
Having dealt with the prisoners in an instant, the Fourth Seat stepped out of the hall first, his face as calm as ever.
So-hwa gathered the five volumes of records from the side table and followed after him.
Now she understood why the Fourth Seat had said that the North Sea suited her disposition.
Watching him, despite their utterly different natures, it felt as though she were looking at the back of the Black Sky Demon.
She thought that the atmosphere of the Tang Clan and the North Sea Ice Palace was similar.
But they were not completely the same.
To hide the fact that her blood was the key, So-hwa had mixed her blood with ink.
Their goals aligned, so they were walking together for now, but her heart did not connect with the North Sea.
No—
Even with the Tang Clan, could she truly be honest before them?
'Should I tell them that I received the Blood Demon's blood?'
She held the records of the Gu poison close to her chest.
Step.
As she stepped outside the hall, a chill wrapped around her entire body. Pale breath scattered through the cold night air.
'If the Tang Clan learns that I am a descendant of the Blood Demon, will they still regard me as family?'
Above the pitch-black night sky, the Milky Way stretched out. Tang So-hwa's eyes slowly closed, then lifted again.
The long, straight road of the heavens seemed to urge her to keep running without stopping.
Whatever her feelings, there was neither the leisure to worry now, nor a place to abandon reality and flee to.
From the beginning, this had not been something she started in search of paradise.
She would simply do what she could.
Habitually touching her sleeve, So-hwa grasped the sole item hidden within.
A single old flying dagger added warmth to her frozen hand.
Her gaze, which had been fixed on the sky, dropped to the snowfield steeped in darkness.
The tranquil North Sea Ice Palace, with everything concluded, filled her sight.
It was time to return to the Central Plains.