Chapter 215
Chapter 215. The Truth Revealed
"What did you say?"
The Deputy Hall Lord stared at her with a stupid expression.
The Blood Sect member binding So-hwa, angered by that insolent attitude, immediately swung a shuriken.
Shraak.
The waist tie was severed, and Tang So-hwa's long robe fell open. When the Blood Sect member stripped the robe away, a thin inner garment was revealed.
They did not stop there and cut the cloth around her shoulders and legs as well.
Rip.
Her arms and legs were laid bare in the open air.
Tang So-hwa was not wearing the Blood Demon's divine artifact.
The Deputy Hall Lord frowned.
'If it's not the Blood Demon's divine artifact, then what is it? A new poison?'
Indeed, if that woman truly possessed a divine artifact, she would never have endured such humiliation. She would have killed him before they could strip her robe.
'Damn it...... then what in the world is it?'
His thoughts in disarray, the Deputy Hall Lord flipped over the body of a subordinate fallen before him with his foot, as if to confirm.
Having focused entirely on Tang So-hwa, he had not seen how his subordinate had died.
The Deputy Hall Lord's face stiffened as he surveyed the condition of the body.
Faint black blotches trailing toward the nape of the neck caught his eye.
This one, too, had black veins sprouting around the heart.
The Blood Demon's Gu poison had killed his subordinates once again.
"Kuh."
"Kuhhk!"
Startled by the screams, the Deputy Hall Lord snapped his head around.
The two subordinates who had been binding Tang So-hwa were rolling on the floor, clutching their throats.
In the meantime, Tang So-hwa, having freed herself, picked up her long robe and put it back on.
The Deputy Hall Lord's brow furrowed sharply.
The skin of her palms was peeled raw. On the floor lay rotted binding ropes and a shattered vial.
"Don't tell me, you used the Bone-Melting Powder?"
She was a madwoman.
He could not comprehend a martial artist sacrificing her hands just to free herself.
Shraak.
At that moment, Tang So-hwa slipped her hand back into her sleeve.
The Deputy Hall Lord charged at her with bloodshot eyes. Afraid she might use poison again, he attacked her head-on.
Shraak.
But Tang So-hwa was a fraction faster.
When she extended her hand, pink-hued sand spread out around her.
The Deputy Hall Lord paid it no mind and leapt high into the air, vaulting over the cloud of red sand.
Thaat.
The instant he landed and snatched Tang So-hwa's arm, the Deputy Hall Lord froze. The arm slick with blood felt smooth.
Staring at the arm stained with dried blood, the Deputy Hall Lord narrowed his eyes.
“……Did the Blood Demon bestow Blood Arts upon you as well?”
In that instant, every sound in the pavilion vanished.
Taking the silence as affirmation, the Deputy Hall Lord looked back and forth between his subordinates and the woman with an expression of disbelief.
His voice trembled.
"Just what...... are you? Have you also become one of the Sect?"
The Blue Blood Hall Lord was a tight-lipped man, and loyalty to the Blood Demon came before all else. He had not revealed Tang So-hwa's constitution to anyone—not even to his favored Deputy Hall Lord.
Ignorant of the truth, the Deputy Hall Lord tightened his grip in fear.
The slight tremor was conveyed directly to the woman facing him.
Eyes as dark as an abyss fixed upon him.
Soon, the woman spoke in a calm voice.
"...... Now you're the only one left."
The cryptic words drilled into his eardrums.
Then the woman stated her purpose.
"The Blue Blood Hall's lineage will end here today."
It was a threat that scarcely sounded like one.
The gap in martial power between him and Tang So-hwa was the difference between heaven and earth.
And yet, the Deputy Hall Lord could not react at all.
He realized that he was frozen.
It felt like a cornered rat facing a venomous serpent.
He could not understand why that woman was acting like a predator, while he felt like prey.
Feeling fear toward someone not even his match was humiliating.
Trying to conceal his trembling, he let out a hollow laugh.
"Do you think you can defeat me?"
The answer came back at once, in a voice devoid of laughter.
"The difference in realms doesn't matter."
The hem of the Tang Clan woman's robe shifted ever so slightly. The Deputy Hall Lord's gaze dropped straight to her hand. He saw a fist dripping with red blood.
A concealed weapon was clenched in that blood-soaked hand. Tang So-hwa was gripping not the handle, but the blade of the flying dagger.
The weapon was not wet with another's blood—it was soaked entirely in her own—yet that sight was all the more terrifying.
A cold voice pressed down on the Deputy Hall Lord's eardrums.
"You can't kill me, but I can kill you, so that difference is enough."
'Because I only need to put a single drop of blood inside you.'
Tang So-hwa immediately threw the concealed weapon in her hand.
Whish.
Naturally, the flying dagger failed to reach the Deputy Hall Lord.
He lightly knocked it aside with the edge of his hand.
The Deputy Hall Lord released Tang So-hwa's wrist. Intense pain flared as if his palm had caught fire. When he pulled his hand away, he was horrified.
"You truly are insane."
His palm and Tang So-hwa's wrist had turned black. The blood vessels had burst, and necrosis had set in.
He quickly gathered his internal energy and restored his palm. Though it was his left hand, he was a martial artist who threw concealed weapons with both hands, so his effective strength had been cut in half.
Tang So-hwa did not miss that opening and hurled flying daggers in succession.
Kwaang!
Rather than meeting the attack head-on, the Deputy Hall Lord twisted his body and let it slip past.
Judging by her conduct, it was obvious she had used some sort of trick on the concealed weapons as well.
Kwaang! Bang!
As if sensing that he was recovering, Tang So-hwa deliberately aimed for the pathways through which his internal energy flowed.
He had no idea how she had discerned his blood channels in the midst of this.
The Deputy Hall Lord needed time. Just a brief moment to focus on recovery. He wanted to ask for protection, but all of his subordinates were already.......
"Damn it."
Muttering a curse, he made a great leap.
Thap. Thaat.
Planting his foot against a pillar, he used the momentum to vault over the second-floor railing.
Drrrk—thud.
Watching him enter the room, Tang So-hwa also leapt.
The time it took a Blood Sect member to recover was their weakness. She could not afford to miss this moment.
Without a shred of hesitation, Tang So-hwa vaulted over the second-floor railing and followed the Deputy Hall Lord into the room.
Bang! Kwaang! Bang!
Violent explosions echoed through the pavilion. Doors shattered, and the sharp sound of wind slicing through the air filled the silence without pause.
"Enough already!"
The Deputy Hall Lord's shout rang out. At times, he screamed in pain. The sounds of things toppling and breaking continued endlessly.
Crack!
After a long while, the sound of wood splitting thundered out.
Kwaang!
The papered door burst apart, and Tang So-hwa—now bearing a red line across her neck—came tumbling down to the first floor.
Gasping for breath, Tang So-hwa touched the back of her neck, then climbed back up to the second floor.
Thaat.
Once more, noise and screams rang out.
"Aaaaargh!"
That dreadful sound went on for a very long time.
By the time sunlight settled onto the first floor, all sound had vanished.
The whites of Tang Min's eyes had turned red. Every blood vessel had burst.
Rage clouded his vision, yet he did not give up and continued to force strength into his fingers.
Twitch.
His index finger slowly bent.
At last, the paralysis was lifting. He kept gathering his internal energy, trying to push the poison out, but it did not work.
He would have to wait until the poison withdrew of its own accord and released him.
However, the Black Sky Demon was not so patient by nature. He did not give up and continued resisting the poison.
At that moment, a small sound cut through the silence.
Drrrk.
The sound of a door opening was followed by footsteps.
A step taken with great effort seemed about to falter, yet barely continued.
Tap.
That faint sound drew closer.
A hand supporting the Black Sky Demon's back lifted his upper body.
Slender fingers began probing his pressure points. After striking the points at his solar plexus and near his lower right abdomen, Tang So-hwa clasped the Black Sky Demon's stiff hand.
"Soul-Binding Poison lasts for about half a day. If you force your strength, your meridians and muscles will be damaged...... you've already been hurt quite badly."
As she loosened his curled fingers, So-hwa continued,
"I'll give you the antidote, even after the paralysis lifts, don't move for about half a quarter-hour and focus on circulating your energy first."
The Black Sky Demon's eyes fixed on So-hwa.
Her voice was calm, but her appearance was wretched. It seemed she had waited for her wounds to close somewhat before wiping away the blood and coming down, yet her complexion was pale like a corpse.
Her clothes were so slashed they could be called rags, and her long hair had been cut in half on the right side, leaving it uneven.
With no time to even look in a mirror, Tang So-hwa had come down in that state to check on the Black Sky Demon.
She did not know what expression Tang Min was wearing as he looked at her.
With trembling hands, So-hwa took a small wooden case from her sleeve. She removed a yellow pill and placed it straight into Tang Min's mouth. Pressing the pressure points at his jaw and throat, she sent the medicine down into his stomach.
As the tension left her, So-hwa let out a small breath.
Her vision blurred, and her body felt heavy.
After risking her life and fighting for half a day, her strength had been completely drained.
'No. Not now.......'
Gritting her teeth, she clung to her fraying consciousness and turned her gaze toward the inside of the pavilion.
She had to find Namgung Jin and take him with her.
But in her current condition, she could not save Namgung Jin. There was not even a guarantee that Namgung Jin was in the warehouse the Hao Sect had told her about.
Cold sweat beaded on So-hwa's forehead.
'I have to hold on for half a quarter-hour.......'
Until the Black Sky Demon was detoxified and recovered his body, she would have to stand guard herself.
As she barely held her scattered awareness together, a long robe settled over her shoulders.
When she lifted her head, Tang Min—already on his feet—was covering her with his own robe.
"It's best...... not to move. It's a matter of the mind, so it might...... never fully recover......."
Without answering, he adjusted her clothes and tied the waist sash for her.
"So-hwa."
So-hwa's upper body tilted forward. Tang Min caught her in his arms and spoke as he stroked her back.
"Even if you have ties to the Blood Sect, that's fine."
"......."
"Even if you once belonged to the Blood Sect, or even if you still do, that's fine."
Like someone soothing a pitiful beast, Tang Min wrapped his arms around So-hwa's shoulders.
"Whatever burden you're carrying, I'll fight for you whenever you need it, so don't shoulder it alone."
As the warmth of his hand stroking her head seeped in, her consciousness gradually faded.
"You have more than one adult who will protect you. Why try to bear such an unbearable burden at such a young age?"
The Black Sky Demon's voice sank into her fading awareness.
"Please...... don't let me lose you without knowing anything."
Unable to answer, Tang So-hwa let her consciousness slip away in the embrace of the great mountain of the Tang Clan.