Chapter 211
Chapter 211. The Blue Blood Hall's Inn
The woman formed a smile whose meaning was hard to read.
Instead of protesting her innocence or confessing to being a Blood Sect member, she spoke in a gentle voice.
"Not only the Red Sea Pavilion, but all the Blood Sect members in this area have been summoned to the inn, so the Red Sea Pavilion is safe."
“Since my presence here means it is no longer safe, why did you call for me?”
"The other day, the Black Sky Demon once spared my child, so you could say I'm sparing someone else's child once in return."
The aura emanating from the woman felt warm.
A heat different from killing intent spread through the surroundings.
The woman was on guard in all directions.
Not through words, but through the flow of her aura, So-hwa sensed that she was prepared to fight someone other than herself.
"Are the Blood Sect members gathered at the inn a force that the Black Sky Demon needs to worry about?"
"Actually, I haven't been in Wuhan for long myself, so I don't know very well. But judging by how the other Blood Sect members treat him, he seems to be of high rank. And since the Black Sky Demon is getting older now, I thought it might be burdensome for him to fight while dragging a ‘lump’ along, so I decided to remove that lump for him.”
So-hwa asked to see whether the woman knew about the Blood Sect's organization.
"Do you know about the Blue Blood Hall and the Red Blood Hall?"
The woman's expression remained calm, but her internal energy surged.
"You don't know?"
"Hm. I could tell they seemed divided into factions among themselves, but I didn't know the names of their organizations."
Whether it was sincere or not, her internal energy settled down.
So-hwa quietly turned her head toward the window.
Despite the Black Sky Demon having gone inside, no sound came from the inn. As if trapped within a formation, all energy was completely sealed.
Even if someone died or a battle broke out inside, it seemed outsiders would find it difficult to know.
Whoooosh.
The sound of trees rubbing together was carried on the cool river wind.
"Do you happen to know where the Young Lord is being held?"
"The Young Lord will be safe. If they intended to kill him, they wouldn't have taken him away in such a roundabout manner."
So-hwa also believed that Namgung Jin was both a gift to win over Namgung Hyun and a threat.
Staring at the inn, from which she could feel nothing at all, she asked again.
"Do you know where they hide people?"
After a brief silence, the woman answered.
"I hear there's a warehouse behind the lodgings where they store alcohol. They say they don't let staff enter there, which makes it suspicious. I can't be certain the Young Lord is there, though."
"Thank you."
She had learned everything she needed to know.
The face of the Hao Sect member based in Hubei, and the fact that the Blue Blood Hall members were gathered inside.
So-hwa had seen what the Red Blood Hall bastards became after receiving the Blood Demon's blood in the North Sea.
There was no way they didn't know who the Black Sky Demon was, yet the Blue Blood Hall bastards hadn't fled and instead lured him into their den.
Seeing how confident they were, she could guess what they had received from the Blood Demon.
So-hwa placed her hand on the window frame to gauge the height.
Step.
As she retreated several steps back, the Hao Sect member hurried toward her.
“It's danger—!”
Thud!
But before she could stop her, Tang So-hwa vanished out the window.
Landing on the roof that covered the window of the second floor, So-hwa opened the window and slipped inside. Then, absurdly enough, she shut the window right away.
The Hao Sect member stared at the closed window and let out a hollow laugh.
“……Now I see why they say someone so quiet is just like the Black Sky Demon.”
She gazed at the pavilion with bitter eyes, but made no move.
Coming out like this alone had taken great courage, and it was an action she could not escape being reprimanded for by the Sect Leader.
She had done all she could. She could only hope that the Black Sky Demon was not yet senile, and that this time as well, he would not die.
* * *
The river wind was unusually fierce that night. A small ferry boat tied in front of the inn rocked violently, letting out noisy creaks.
Tang Min stopped in front of the inn.
Beyond the door, he sensed an aura packed with people.
It wasn't the warmth typical of humans, but rather a chilling, murderous intent that bothered him.
Even if it weren't Tang Min, any martial artist sensitive to internal energy would have noticed that the place was full of assassins.
Tang Min was certain that the owner who had cleared out the area around the inn was a Blood Sect bastard.
It meant the Blood Sect had infiltrated deeply enough to control the streets of Wuhan.
His darkened gaze lifted upward.
He felt a heavy aura pressing down from above. The higher the floor, the denser the energy became—those Blood Sect bastards seemed skilled in long-range attacks.
It was highly likely that hidden weapons were their main strength.
That didn't mean there was no one on the first floor. Though far from the door, killing intent had pooled in the direction of the Yangtze River.
Tang Min stood still, reading their tactics through his senses.
Hidden weapons were more advantageous when thrown from above, so there was no need to crowd the first floor.
If their intent had been to prevent his escape, they should have held their breath near the entrance and blocked his retreat from behind.
Yet they were clustered far from the entrance.
It wasn't a standard deployment.
'There must be a door further inside.'
Whether it led outside or underground, it seemed they had stationed defensive forces in front of that door.
Tang Min pinpointed where Namgung Jin was being hidden.
With the direction set, there was no need to hesitate any longer.
Tang Min opened the inn's door.
Creeeak.
The heavy door let out a spine-chilling sound, but he paid it no mind and stepped inside.
The inn had a structure where the center was wide open all the way to the ceiling. The central area appeared to be the dining hall.
Strangely, long black drapes hung down, dividing each table into separate sections.
Tang Min's gaze slowly rose upward.
Corridors and doors were visible beyond the railings. Every door was shut.
Surveying the layout, Tang Min walked into the central dining hall. As the shadows that had covered his head disappeared, his field of vision opened up.
The moment he fully stepped out of the shadows, every door flew open.
Whoosh. Whiiik. Whoosh.
Dozens of hidden weapons poured down like a sudden downpour, rushing toward Tang Min.
Tang Min lightly tossed the flying daggers held in both hands.
Kwang. Bang. Kwang.
The two blades shot upward in crossing arcs, striking several of the incoming hidden weapons.
Aimed at the same target, those slight interferences disrupted one another's trajectories, creating severe friction.
Bang. Kwang.
The hidden weapons that missed Tang Min ricocheted wildly, colliding and shoving each other aside.
The Blood Sect member drew new hidden weapons. In that brief gap, Tang Min moved. Since the Blood Sect members were positioned on the upper floors, they could clearly track his route.
Tang Min sprinted toward the inner part of the pavilion. He seemed to be heading for the back door leading to the warehouse.
An enraged shout rang out from the third floor.
"Stop him!"
As if obeying the command, flying daggers and throwing daggers rained down at once.
Tang Min intended to deal with the Blood Sect members on the first floor first, but the movements of those above were faster.
As Tang Min passed by the table placed at the very center, several hidden weapons had already grazed his body.
Slash.
Tang Min knocked aside the incoming weapons with the edge of his hand.
Leaping into the air, he landed atop the central table. Extending his arms, Tang Min spun rapidly. Energy flooded his fingertips, and his long sleeves billowed.
As he disrupted the flow of air, the surrounding black curtains convulsed violently, as if resisting.
Tang Min forcefully expelled the internal energy he had been drawing into his dantian. The swirling black drapes were all hurled upward at once.
Whoosh.
The spread-out fabric blotted out the air like dark storm clouds.
Thud. Thwack. Thud. Thud.
Hardened by air resistance, the curtain-like barrier caught the hidden weapons.
The Blood Sect members panicked.
With their view blocked, they could no longer see their target.
One hot-tempered Blood Sect member stepped up to the railing and craned his head out.
"Where did—ugh!"
A flying dagger shot straight up, piercing his jaw. His body toppled backward.
Thump.
A nearby Blood Sect member instinctively took a step back.
Thud. Thwack. Thud.
The sound of metal digging into flesh echoed from below.
Like a hornet's nest being disturbed, hidden weapons swept through the second-floor corridor from all directions.
Swish.
By the time the fluttering black drapes settled back down, the Blood Sect members on the second floor had been completely wiped out.
It all happened in an instant.
A brief silence followed.
The Blood Sect members on the third and fourth floors retreated another step from the railing in tension.
They sharpened their senses.
They could feel the internal energy of a few people near the back door on the first floor, but they were all allies. The presence was far too weak to be mistaken for the monstrous internal energy of the Black Sky Demon.
One martial artist standing on the third floor broke into a cold sweat.
'... Where did he go?'
At that moment, a massive presence surged from the opposite side. The Blood Sect member reflexively hurled a flying dagger.
Kwang.
Deflected by a thrown blade flying in, the dagger bounced back and lodged itself in his eye.
"Aaagh!"
Clutching his face, the Blood Sect member collapsed. At the same time, thuds sounded here and there as people fell.
"Aaaaargh!"
Screams battered the eardrums without pause.
The Deputy Hall Lord pulled out a hidden weapon and recovered his breath in silence.
He felt blood squirming at two acupoints connected to the Baihui point.
When the trembling around his eyes subsided, footsteps drew near once more.
Step.
Sensing the presence, the Deputy Hall Lord slowly opened his eyes. Though hazy, his restored vision could distinguish shapes without difficulty.
At that moment, the Black Sky Demon leapt and landed atop the railing.
Tap.
The Blue Blood Hall Lord lifted his head and fixed his gaze on the Black Sky Demon.
In his sharpened vision, the Black Sky Demon's cold face came clearly into view.