Chapter 235
Chapter 235. Escape
Tang Hae-han went straight up to the seventh floor. As expected, the Nine Turns Pavilion Leader was there.
"At a time when even a single hand is precious, where do you think you're wandering off to?"
Sensing his presence, the Pavilion Leader snapped in an angry voice.
"The Nine Turns Pavilion can't even bring in more people! If you're gone, who do you expect to take your place? How can you be so irresponsible!"
The Pavilion Leader looked completely absorbed in compounding poisons. So much so that even while scolding a pavilion member, he couldn't spare a glance.
"Pavilion Leader, by any chance, have you gone to refill the reservoir with poison?"
"In a situation like this, how could the Pavilion Leader leave the Nine Turns Pavilion? Hojung went to fill it."
"I see."
Tang Hae-han approached the Pavilion Leader and took several medicine bottles out of his pouch. They were filled with poison solutions he had newly prepared that morning.
"I've already finished the blending, so there's no need to add more."
"I think we should double the concentration of the poison released into the moat."
Leaving out the fact that the moat's outlet had been blocked, Tang Hae-han explained his reasoning.
"I ran into the Black Tiger Unit outside. The martial artists on watch seem to be doubting the moat's poisonous miasma, so it would be better to increase the concentration."
It might have sounded presumptuous, but the Pavilion Leader mulled over Tang Hae-han's words.
After pondering, he let out a low hum.
"I heard the ones at the west gate were saying the moat felt strange as well. Those Demonic Sect bastards might have tampered with the waterway from outside, or dispersed the poisonous miasma with the wind."
It seemed the martial artists' complaints had been weighing on him, too.
For the first time, the Nine Turns Pavilion Leader lifted his gaze. He reached out his hand toward Tang Hae-han.
"Give it here."
As Tang Hae-han suggested, the Pavilion Leader doubled the poison's concentration.
The container, rising up to their knees, was filled to the brim with poison solution. The two carefully sealed it and carried it down to the first floor.
"Go and refill the reservoir."
"Yes."
"This time, don't wander off anywhere else. The Red Tiger Unit asked for poison powder, so we're sorely short-handed."
"Yes, I absolutely won't wander off."
Cutting off the Pavilion Leader's words, Tang Hae-han left the Nine Turns Pavilion.
He walked toward the Medical Hall and set the large container down on the floor. This boundary between the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard was a place where outsiders could enter.
Tang Hae-han waited for a Black Tiger Unit martial artist. The deputy leader had told him not to go to the reservoir himself, but to wait, saying he would send someone.
However, even after quite some time had passed, no Black Tiger Unit martial artist appeared. There were no footsteps—only the screams of those being treated.
'...... Did something happen?'
Tang Hae-han began to worry about the deputy leader.
There had been three of them on the outer wall. Since they had blocked the moat's outlet, they must have bodies unaffected by poisonous miasma, and they were agile enough to evade the outer wall's formations.
Anxious thoughts filled his mind.
'Could it be that the deputy leader couldn't handle them alone?'
Just then—
A long shadow fell across the Medical Hall floor. Someone wearing the Black Tiger Unit's martial uniform was approaching.
"I was sent by the deputy leader. Is this the poison to be put into the moat?"
"Yes. I've been waiting quite a while."
Tang Hae-han snapped irritably and handed over the container.
"Be careful. It's twice as concentrated as the poison solution usually used."
"I'll be careful."
The martial artist lifted the container as lightly as if gripping a wad of cotton. Tang Hae-han felt a fleeting sense of deprivation at the difference in strength, but quickly brushed it aside.
To think such absurd feelings were surfacing—it seemed his mind had relaxed too much.
'Worrying about the Four Tiger Units really was pointless.'
With a much lighter heart, Tang Hae-han returned to the Nine Turns Pavilion.
He refocused on his own task.
First, he helped the Pavilion Leader prepare antidote pills.
The antidote pills the Tang Clan's martial artists had taken had lost their efficacy over time. Therefore, they had to quickly produce and distribute new pills for them to consume.
The Nine Turns Pavilion was an extremely closed place, with only sixteen pavilion members allowed entry, so there was a severe lack of manpower.
And now Tang So-hwa was absent, leaving fifteen people to trim ingredients and roll each antidote pill by hand for hundreds of recipients. On top of that, they had to compound poison solutions to be poured into the moat every four hours and refill the reservoir.
That wasn't all. Each martial unit had its own separate requests, turning the Nine Turns Pavilion into utter chaos.
Tang Hae-han focused on rolling the pills.
Creak.
The Pavilion Leader entered the second-floor manufacturing room. In a weary voice, he asked someone,
"Where is the poison powder the Red Tiger Unit requested?"
"Hojung is compounding it over there."
"Do you know how much he's made?"
"His hands are quite slow, but I think he's made about half."
The Nine Turns Pavilion Leader beat his chest and headed toward the poison powder workstation.
"Ahh. Back then, I should've thrown myself on the floor and begged the Clan Head to increase the Nine Turns Pavilion's manpower......."
As if he had heard nothing, Tang Hae-han calmly transferred the antidote pills into boxes.
The pavilion members seated beside him did the same. None of them had the leisure to worry about anything else.
"I should take these to the Medical Hall first."
When about three boxes were filled, the colleague sitting across from him picked them up and went to the Medical Hall.
Since outsiders were not allowed into the Nine Turns Pavilion, leaving the boxes at the Medical Hall allowed the martial artists to come and take antidote pills at regular intervals on their own.
Thud.
After filling the last box, Tang Hae-han wiped the sweat beading at the tip of his chin.
"I'll take these to the Medical Hall, so you should rest a bit."
"No, I'll do it."
At that, a middle-aged pavilion member clicked his tongue.
"You're going to get a nosebleed. You're still young, why is your body in such a state?"
Tang Hae-han checked the back of his hand. He had thought it was sweat, but bloodstains were spreading. It seemed that handling the poison solution at increased concentration had affected his body.
'I should've been more careful, it was about time the antidote's efficacy weakened.'
Tang Hae-han grabbed a nearby cloth. Unfortunately, there were no clean ones. With no time to rest, there was certainly no time to clean. He roughly wiped his nose with an unstained part, then tore off a piece of the remaining antidote dough and ate it.
"Tang Hae-han."
At the Nine Turns Pavilion Leader's voice, Tang Hae-han turned around while chewing the dough.
The Pavilion Leader was holding a box as well.
"Please give it to me. I'll take it."
He hurried over and took it from him.
"This is the poison powder requested by the Red Tiger Unit. This is the maximum the Nine Turns Pavilion can send right now, so tell them to make up for the shortage with the poison sand portioned into this blue pouch."
"Yes, understood."
As Tang Hae-han was about to hurry out, the Pavilion Leader called him.
"Hae-han."
"Yes?"
The Pavilion Leader looked at him for a moment with an unreadable expression.
"...... Be careful."
"Yes, I'll deliver it carefully."
There was concern in the Pavilion Leader's voice. Tang Hae-han thought it must be because he had a nosebleed staining his face. He quickly lowered his head and left the Nine Turns Pavilion.
"Kuaaagh!"
"Hurry and move him. Here, lay him down here."
The sounds of the Medical Hall reached him.
It seemed even noisier than before. Though it grated on him, Tang Hae-han turned away.
Since passing through the inner courtyard was faster to reach the rear gate, Tang Hae-han headed into the inner courtyard instead of the Medical Hall.
As he walked down the dark path, an uneasy feeling crept over him.
It was too quiet.
As if everyone had fled to avoid a natural predator, there was not the slightest sign of life.
When Tang Hae-han reached the rear gate, his ear twitched slightly.
Through the silence came the sound of horses neighing.
As he pushed open the middle gate and stepped out, his brow furrowed.
The open yard by the rear gate was packed with people and horses.
"Brother Hae-han is here."
At Ye-hwa's small voice, Tang Hae-han narrowed his eyes.
Looking closer, he saw two children seated on a horse, with an adult behind them.
The adult's face was familiar.
It was the ladies, along with the Red Tiger Unit's martial artists.
The Red Tiger Unit's unit leader approached him.
"You made it in time."
Guessing the situation, Tang Hae-han asked,
"Are you leaving now?"
"We are about to. We were waiting for you."
The unit leader pointed at a horse. Two large bags were strapped to either side.
"That's your horse. We'll use the box you brought as reserve supplies, so hold it tight and don't spill anything when you ride."
Tang Hae-han frowned.
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm going with you?"
"The Medical Hall Lord asked us to take care of you."
The Grand Madam approached. She was holding Ye-hwa and Yu-hwa.
"You were right. Once the outer wall falls, it will happen in an instant. We should have hurried even more."
"What do you mean by that?"
"There's no time. We'll talk while moving."
As he said that, the unit leader tried to lift Tang Hae-han by force. However, Tang Hae-han took a large step back.
"The outer wall will fall in an instant. What do you mean by that?"
It should have been at least two hours since the moat had been restored. And yet the outer wall had fallen?
"Just now, the west gate collapsed. The Demonkin are swarming there to force their way in, so we need to leave while the rear gate is still sparse."
Tang Hae-han turned around, his face drained of color. Of course, from the rear gate, there was no way to see what was happening at the west gate.
Then something seemed to click, and Tang Hae-han froze.
The screams of patients he had heard from the Medical Hall had dwindled, and before he left, the Nine Turns Pavilion Leader had shown a strange attitude.
While he had been focused on his work, everyone else had grasped the situation and left the Nine Turns Pavilion—either to see their families one last time or to lend a hand at the Medical Hall.
Tang Hae-han's gaze lifted to the Grand Madam.
He was the son of the Medical Hall Lord and the Clan Head's nephew. Thus, by fortune of birth, he had been given a chance to flee alongside the direct line.
In a stiff voice, Tang Hae-han asked,
"About two hours ago, we released new poison into the moat. How is it that the moat's defensive system has already collapsed?"
"How would I know that? There's no time to explain. Will you only be satisfied if everyone becomes endangered waiting for you?"
Tang Hae-han met the dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on him.
A chill ran down his spine.
Reality finally sank in.
If the defensive system collapsed, if the gates were opened, and they could no longer stop the Demonkin—
The martial forces would fight the Demonkin until the Tang Clan was exterminated, while the inner courtyard would smuggle out the direct line and secret manuals to preserve the Tang Clan's future. But as someone responsible for the defense, there was nothing he could do.
And this was something he must not do.
At the very least, this could not be the final move.
Step.
Tang Hae-han retreated.
"...... I can't go."