Chapter 214
Chapter 214. The Wrong Opponent
Concealed weapons poured down from the sky.
Clang!
Most of them struck the floor, and even those that embedded themselves in her body avoided vital points.
Because the Blood Sect member knew that the Blood Demon wanted Tang So-hwa, the thought that they must not kill her had taken root in their minds.
So-hwa realized that they did not understand her body.
When So-hwa remained still, the Blood Sect member stopped throwing concealed weapons. Even so, more than twenty small hidden weapons were already embedded in her arms and legs.
As the surroundings grew quiet, Tang So-hwa pulled one flying dagger from her arm.
She threw it straight ahead, but the concealed weapon failed to reach the Deputy Hall Lord.
Kwang!
A flying dagger falling from above crushed her weapon.
Tang So-hwa paid it no mind and pulled out another concealed weapon lodged in her body, hurling it forward.
Kwang!
Once again, the weapon was driven into the floor.
Kwang! Bang! Bang!
The concealed weapons she threw failed to advance, as if it were only natural.
So-hwa, who had remained standing in the same spot, jumped down from the table. The Blood Sect member immediately threw concealed weapons to stop her.
Several flying daggers embedded themselves in her legs, yet So-hwa did not stop and kept running.
Growing desperate, all the Blood Sect members leapt down to the first floor.
Kwoong.
Dozens of Blood Sect members threw themselves forward to protect the Deputy Hall Lord and landed on the floor.
However, they failed to take more than a few steps before collapsing.
Those who had thrown themselves closer to Tang So-hwa could not even plant their feet on the ground and fell straight down.
Boom. Thud. Boom.
Dozens of Blood Sect members rushed her, yet not a single one could reach her.
It was because invisible poison had been spread around her.
It could not be seen, nor did it have a scent, but the moment one inhaled, it took effect.
In her previous life, when she had served as the Nine Turns Pavilion Lord, it had been one of the poisons Tang So-hwa treasured most.
The poisons currently stored in the Nine Turns Pavilion were not the Tang Clan's most powerful poisons.
That was because many had not yet been recorded—the time had not yet come.
To create a great poison capable of breaking bodies immune to all poisons, the Nine Turns Pavilion members had often refined the Eight Great Poisons. Tang So-hwa had been one of them.
Although refining the Eight Great Poisons to produce a poison that could break poison-immune bodies had ultimately failed, it had not been a pointless experiment.
In the process, they had been able to create useful poisons.
The paralysis poison Tang So-hwa was using was an invisible poison refined from Soul-Binding Poison.
Its drawbacks were its extremely short duration and narrow effective range, but because it was impossible to detect the poisoning, it was perfectly suited for a situation like this.
Tang So-hwa calmly swept her gaze around.
All the Blood Sect members who had approached carelessly were lying collapsed.
Gripping the flying dagger embedded in her shoulder, So-hwa spoke.
"To try and compete with the poisons of the Tang Clan... you chose the wrong opponent".
Paht.
As she threw the bloodstained flying dagger, she added,
"Using poison is my specialty".
The released dagger embedded itself in the body of a fallen Blood Sect member.
Thunk.
Tang So-hwa repeated the action.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
One by one, Tang So-hwa's bloodstained concealed weapons embedded themselves in the bodies of the paralyzed Blood Sect members.
The Deputy Hall Lord stared at So-hwa as he subtly twisted his wrist inward. Fortunately, he could still move his body—for now.
However, if he approached any closer, he too could be paralyzed, so he carefully gauged the situation.
By the time the dust rising from the floor had settled, So-hwa bent down and pulled out all the flying daggers embedded in her legs, throwing them as well.
Her movements looked extremely hurried, like someone pressed for time.
The Deputy Hall Lord found it pitiful, yet he did not try to stop her.
In any case, his subordinates would recover soon enough.
At present, the Deputy Hall Lord was worried about something other than the paralysis poison.
His gaze dropped to Tang So-hwa's sleeve.
That woman seemed to possess a peculiar object—something capable of controlling the Blood Demon's blood.
'Could she be holding the Blood Demon's divine artifact?'
He held his breath, wary of Tang So-hwa.
Though he harbored suspicion, it was difficult to conclude that Tang So-hwa had obtained the Blood Demon's divine artifact.
If she truly possessed the Blood Demon's will, she could kill him on the spot.
The Deputy Hall Lord quietly placed his hand over his heart.
His heart was beating calmly.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
After throwing all the concealed weapons she had pulled from her legs, So-hwa did not stop and began picking up the Blue Blood Hall's concealed weapons scattered on the floor.
At last, unable to restrain his curiosity, the Deputy Hall Lord opened his mouth.
"...... Just what are you trying to do?"
Asking such a question itself was humiliating, yet he could not refrain from asking.
Tang So-hwa did not give him an answer. Instead, taking advantage of the Deputy Hall Lord's hesitation, she drew a poison vial from her sleeve and splashed it over a flying dagger.
Shraak.
So-hwa once again hurled a concealed weapon at a fallen Blood Sect member.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The Deputy Hall Lord's brow knit sharply.
Her actions were incomprehensible, and that only made him more uneasy.
He knew that the Tang Clan was a bloodline with a peculiar culture of repaying grudges twofold. Yet in a life-or-death situation, being swept up by emotion and wasting strength pointlessly on one person after another was something he simply could not understand.
'There has to be some other scheme.'
In the end, the Deputy Hall Lord became convinced of the assumption that had unsettled him the most.
'Is that poisonous liquid a substance that controls the Blood Demon's Gu poison?'
As soon as he thought that, another doubt arose.
At the beginning, Tang So-hwa had pulled the concealed weapons embedded in her body and thrown them at his subordinates.
They had clearly been Blue Blood Hall concealed weapons, and she had flung them the instant she pulled them out, as if pressed for time—there had been no chance to coat them with poison.
'What exactly is she doing?'
Growing anxious, the Deputy Hall Lord turned his gaze toward the back door and shouted at the subordinate guarding it.
"What are you doing? Bind her at once!"
"Yes!"
He had wanted to keep the doorway secured, but in the end, the Deputy Hall Lord lost patience and decided to stop Tang So-hwa first.
Thaat.
A Blood Sect member rushed in as if flying. And just as swiftly as he approached, he toppled over comically, smashing his head into a table.
Kwaang!
Tang So-hwa twisted her body and threw a flying dagger at him.
Thunk.
The flying dagger stained with black poison liquid lodged itself in the fallen Blood Sect member's shoulder.
The Deputy Hall Lord guessed at her intent.
"You're luring them into the poison's range, aren't you?"
Tang So-hwa did not answer. She glanced at him briefly, but that was all. As if her goal were to embed concealed weapons into every Blood Sect member, she resumed firing, throwing flying daggers.
The Deputy Hall Lord instinctively judged that he had to stop this.
He raised his arm at once.
Paht. Phaat. Paht.
With a single light flick of his hand, six concealed weapons flew out.
They did not target Tang So-hwa.
Kwaang! Bang! Kwaang!
The concealed weapons embedded themselves into the wooden planks set by the back door.
The Deputy Hall Lord immediately lowered both hands to his sides. The concealed weapons were then returned.
Whiiik.
Because the weapons were embedded so firmly, the wooden planks came along with them as a whole.
The planks grazed past Tang So-hwa's side, stirring up a fierce gust of wind.
The Deputy Hall Lord immediately threw two more concealed weapons.
Phaat. Paht.
The returning wooden planks were pushed back again and slammed into a pillar.
Kwaang!
After stirring the air around Tang So-hwa, the Deputy Hall Lord ordered his subordinates.
"I've cleared the poison. Bind her again."
At the Deputy Hall Lord's permission, the subordinates guarding the door rushed in all at once. They pressed down on both of Tang So-hwa's shoulders and forced her to her knees.
Perhaps because she had already pierced every Blood Sect member's body, Tang So-hwa showed only a relieved expression and did not resist.
Watching the scene with bloodshot eyes, the Deputy Hall Lord shouted,
"Check inside her sleeves!"
He was worried that the snake-like woman might pull another crafty trick.
Suddenly frowning, the Deputy Hall Lord urgently changed his words.
"No, strip her completely! She might be carrying a red prayer bead or jewel on her body, seize them at once!"
From behind the Deputy Hall Lord, a blast of wind surged forward. The Black Sky Demon's internal energy ran wild. Unable to move his body, he had been watching everything.
Spitting out a curse, the Deputy Hall Lord muttered toward the Black Sky Demon,
"It's all over now. You might as well give up."
He turned back to Tang So-hwa and asked,
"Damn it, when does the paralysis poison you deployed wear off?"
It was a muttered question, as if to himself, yet Tang So-hwa answered calmly even while bound.
"It doesn't last very long. About half a quarter-hour to one quarter-hour."
The Deputy Hall Lord's brow twisted.
"It seems like a quarter-hour has already passed, so why can't they get up yet?"
The subordinates who had followed him were elites who properly understood Blood Arts.
With a bit of focus, they could detoxify most poisons quickly, and even if concealed weapons were lodged in vital points, they could recover their muscles and force them out themselves. Yet being paralyzed for so long by a poison whose duration was said to be a quarter-hour was strange.
Of course, he had heard rumors that the Tang Clan Head's eldest daughter possessed a genius-level talent for making poisons.
The Deputy Hall Lord became genuinely curious about the true nature of a poison capable of intoxicating those trained in Blood Arts.
But while he was admiring it, Tang So-hwa gave a shocking answer.
"When the paralysis wears off isn't important. All of your subordinates are already dead."