Chapter 236
Chapter 236. Fall
Tang Hae-han set the box down. As if fleeing, he shoved open the middle gate and ran toward the west gate—the one said to have fallen.
He couldn't believe that the outer wall had collapsed.
"Uaaagh!"
Screams and the clash of metal pierced his eardrums. Tang Hae-han stopped, his gaze lifting.
Sparks scattered across the bluish-green sky tinged with the light of dawn.
Beyond the burned middle gate, he saw Tang Clan martial artists locked in combat with the Demonkin. He also saw corpses piled around them.
The martial artist facing two Demonkin alone was someone he recognized. They had never exchanged words, but like most martial artists, that man often came to the Medical Hall.
Then the two Demonkin lunged at the Tang Clan martial artist.
Chwaak.
Two blades plunged into the man's body.
Tang Hae-han squeezed his eyes shut without realizing it. He hurriedly opened them again, but the two Demonkin were already right in front of him.
The instant two swords flew toward Tang Hae-han's abdomen—
"Khk."
The Demonkin who was struck in the neck by a flying dagger was flung upward.
Puk. Puuk.
Hidden weapons also struck the forehead and chest of the Demonkin running beside it.
As the two Demonkin collapsed, a familiar back appeared in front of Tang Hae-han.
"Deputy Leader......."
Tang Hae-han called out to him in a trembling voice.
The deputy leader spoke coldly.
"If you go to the rear gate, the Red Tiger Unit should be there. They may have already left, but if you take a horse, you'll catch up quickly. I sent all the horses in the inner courtyard to the rear gate, so there should be at least one left."
He poured out advice, intent on saving Tang Hae-han's life.
"Even if there's no horse, get out through the rear gate immediately and run."
Even in the midst of this, he was trying to save Tang Hae-han.
Swallowing the surge of emotion, Tang Hae-han forced himself to speak.
"I doubled the poison concentration in the moat. Even if it spreads slowly, two hours has passed, so a poison mist should have formed by now. Then how can so many Demonkin cross the moat? Are you certain the poison was properly released?"
Unable to understand, Tang Hae-han pressed the question, almost petulantly.
It was as if he wanted to shift the blame and ease his guilt.
Perhaps sensing that ignoble thought, a frown creased the deputy leader's brow.
"Properly released?"
No, he didn't seem angry, but rather puzzled.
"I heard there wasn't enough time to make it? Didn't I tell you to go back, since you would finish it and release the poison yourself?"
“What?”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
They had both understood.
The deputy leader's face went even paler than Tang Hae-han's.
"I left someone at the front gate to wait for the Sichuan branch......."
Murmuring to himself, the deputy leader looked toward the front gate and bit his lip.
It seemed a suspected infiltrator had been left there.
"Aaagh!"
A shrill scream rang out from the west gate. A Black Tiger Unit martial artist who had rushed in as support was clutching his arm.
As if making up his mind, the deputy leader asked Tang Hae-han,
"If you go to the front gate, there'll be a female martial artist named Ran-hee. Tell her to watch out for Gukhyung."
"Understood."
The moment he finished speaking, the deputy leader rushed off to block the west gate.
Tang Hae-han also ran toward the front gate.
As he ran, he repeated in his mind what he could do and what he had to do.
'Find Ran-hee, stop the infiltrator at the front gate, then return to the Medical Hall and evacuate everyone through the rear gate.'
However, tragically, it seemed there was nothing he could actually do.
Crossing the path, Tang Hae-han spotted the Medical Hall in flames.
The stench of burning and screams drifted all the way to him.
"Move them quickly!"
"Kuaaagh!"
The Medical Hall physicians were supporting patients, pushing through the flames. Among them, he saw the Medical Hall Lord.
Crack.
A charred beam collapsed, falling over the Medical Hall Lord as he supported a patient.
"Hall Lord!"
Tang Hae-han instinctively turned toward the Medical Hall.
Pa-at.
At that moment, a flying hidden weapon narrowly grazed his shoulder.
It was someone wearing the Tang Clan martial robe. And yet, he was aiming for Tang Hae-han—his attitude as if he knew exactly who Tang Hae-han was.
Kwaang! Bang!
The hidden weapons flying at him were fierce, but they did not aim for vital points. Tang Hae-han realized that the infiltrator wanted something from him.
Instead of going to the Medical Hall, Tang Hae-han lured the man and slipped into the Nine Turns Pavilion to hide.
The Nine Turns Pavilion was silent. It seemed all the pavilion members had evacuated or gone to the Medical Hall to move patients.
Kwaang!
As a hidden weapon punched through the door, Tang Hae-han cursed inwardly.
Dodging the infiltrator, he hurried up the stairs. When he reached the sixth floor, the view outside the window filled his eyes.
As if set deliberately, buildings all over the compound were burning. This was no accidental spread of fire.
'The granaries, the armory, the Medical Hall, the vault.......'
Everything important in the Tang Clan compound was burning.
Watching the flames, Tang Hae-han read the situation.
They had no intention of taking the Tang Clan members prisoner or letting them live.
Annihilation.
They weren't coveting the Tang Clan's assets—they were destroying everything. And there was no way they would spare the people.
Just then, he saw a mass of torches moving through the inner courtyard.
At incredible speed. There was no hesitation in their direction, as if they were pursuing someone.
They were heading for the rear gate.
The gate through which Ye-hwa and Yu-hwa had fled.
Without realizing it, Tang Hae-han leaned out the window.
"No!"
A group of Demonkin using qinggong moved in an instant and exited beyond the rear gate. Even worse, more than twenty martial artists were running in from afar. They were absolutely not dressed like the Tang Clan. The direction they were heading was also the rear gate.
Bang!
As a hidden weapon embedded itself in the window frame, Tang Hae-han recoiled.
He ran all the way to the eighth floor, pouring the antidote pills from his sleeve into his mouth.
Tang Hae-han quickly packed all Eight Great Poisons into a box and hurled it outside.
Splash.
The box fell into the pond and bobbed up, floating gently on the surface.
"Damn it, don't tell me that's the Eight Great Poisons?"
The infiltrator who had chased after him asked, his face drained of color.
As expected, this bastard's objective was the Eight Great Poisons.
When the man closed in, Tang Hae-han threw himself forward and leapt into the pond.
Chwaak.
Cutting through the water, Tang Hae-han surfaced, clutching the box as he climbed back out.
Chwarreuk.
He opened the poison bottles and poured them into the pond, then threw in all the pills as well.
"What are you doing?!"
The infiltrator, who had been about to jump in after him, only stuck his head out and shouted furiously.
"Stop! Aagh! Stop it!"
Rather than letting them fall into the Demonkin's hands, he would rather destroy everything. Such a horrific thing—using the Tang Clan poison to kill the Tang Clan people—must never happen. Even if it meant his own death, he could not allow that.
"Khk."
Tang Hae-han spat up blood. In desperation, he dumped the remaining antidote into his mouth, but it was difficult to withstand the power of the Eight Great Poisons.
Blood streamed from his eyes and nose as Tang Hae-han released all the great poisons into the pond, rendering them useless.
No more shouts came from the infiltrator.
It seemed he was coming down himself to stop him.
Biting his lip as he looked at the Nine Turns Pavilion, Tang Hae-han struggled to his feet and extinguished the lantern hanging at the entrance.
Crunch.
Fire caught on the crumpled paper lantern. Holding the spark in his hand, Tang Hae-han took a deep breath.
"Hoo."
With trembling hands, he threw the fire into the pond.
Fwoosh!
As flames ignited on the surface of the pond, a crimson inferno surged upward like a dragon ascending to the heavens.
It was only a matter of time before the fire spread to the pavilion.
Kwaang!
At the ear-splitting noise, Tang Hae-han turned around.
Seeing the flames rising from the Nine Turns Pavilion, infiltrators began to swarm this way.
With the Tang Clan's poison storehouse—usable immediately as a weapon—being destroyed, it was only natural they would be thrown into turmoil. Sensing their approaching presence, Tang Hae-han muttered softly,
"Not a single thing here is for you."
Tang Hae-han spat out blood once more and drew a flying dagger from his sleeve.
Through the fire and smoke consuming the Medical Hall, dozens of silhouettes appeared. There couldn't be that many spies, so Demonkin must be mixed among them. Seeing the outlines of long swords approaching, his suspicion seemed correct.
He had no way of knowing how many Demonkin had crossed over while he had been wasting time making useless antidote pills.
The common trait of those bastards who sold out their comrades and slaughtered even innocent physicians was the cruelty of committing murder without a shred of hesitation.
The same was true on this side.
Swish!
As if luring them into the smoke, Tang Hae-han hurled every hidden weapon he had.
After killing them, he planned to enter the Nine Turns Pavilion and neutralize every remaining poison.
If the Tang Clan was to fall, that was the final duty Tang Hae-han had to carry out.
Prepared for death, Tang Hae-han's hands trembled slightly.
With bloodshot eyes, he glared at them and waited for them to draw near.
"Come."
It was at that moment.
Saaaa—
It was as if dark clouds had descended from the sky; his vision dimmed. For a moment, he wondered if his eyesight had failed, and then black droplets poured down like rain.
Swish!
Dozens of metal projectiles sliced through the air, and each time, blood sprayed into the sky.
As flying daggers pierced through the droplets again, the blood soared even higher from the movement, veiling the heavens.
It was a sight as if red rain were falling from a black sky.
Tang Hae-han's heaving chest swelled and fell repeatedly in excitement.
Amid the corpses carpeting the ground, he saw a man standing tall. The Black Sky Demon scolded him as he looked on.
"You lunatic. Not knowing your place. Who do you think you are to fight to the death?! You should have been running for your life!”
"Heuuu... Grand Elder......."
Strength drained from Tang Hae-han, and he collapsed to the ground. For the first time, that irritating voice felt welcome.
Amid the crushed shouts and noise, calm footsteps cut through. A cool touch clasped his wrist.
When he lifted his head, Tang So-hwa was examining him with an expressionless face.
"I guess it really was my time to die."
"......."
"Even your ghostlike face feels a welcome sight…”
Murmuring as if joking, Tang Hae-han collapsed into So-hwa's arms.
She gently stroked his back.
That hand, its emotion unreadable, was trembling ever so slightly.