Chapter 245
Chapter 245. The Blood Demon's Stronghold
Being summoned to the Four Seasons Hall was never a good thing, so any Alliance member would naturally feel tense at the Hall Lord's call.
Even so, Zhuge Ji-hwi knew that he himself was more tense than most.
A Four Seasons Hall attendant standing at the entrance recognized Zhuge Ji-hwi and guided him inside.
"A place has been prepared in the hall. Please come this way."
The attendant led him to a building tucked away in a corner.
The closer he got to the hall, the stiffer Zhuge Ji-hwi's expression became.
He wanted to ask why he was being led to the Winter Pavilion, where criminals were interrogated, but he kept his mouth shut, unable to reveal that he knew the Four Seasons Hall's layout so well.
Creeak.
The stoic attendant merely opened the door and showed him in, with no intention of entering himself. When Zhuge Ji-hwi stepped forward reluctantly, the door promptly closed behind him, just as expected.
Turning his head forward, Zhuge Ji-hwi swept his gaze across the Winter Pavilion.
As rumored, the atmosphere of the Winter Pavilion was bleak and chilling.
Step.
Reaching the center, he spotted a familiar face. A woman sat before a table with a single box resting atop it.
"...... Young Lady Tang So-hwa?"
The Tang Clan's eldest daughter lifted her head and met his gaze with eyes like black ink. There was something strange about that look. A wordless intent was conveyed—neither quite an invitation nor quite an order—to sit.
Zhuge Ji-hwi sat across from her, pretending to be calm, but he could not hide the unease in his heart.
"I heard that everyone who was at the headquarters has already left. Did Young Lady Tang remain behind?"
"So that news has already reached the Zhuge Clan?"
"Well, our clan is close to the headquarters."
The corners of Tang So-hwa's lips curved.
"We haven't informed the outside yet, but the Zhuge Clan seems remarkably quick to receive news from the headquarters."
Zhuge Ji-hwi could not answer.
Since the Zhuge Clan was in Hubei, he could have brushed it off by saying they had simply seen them pass by, but he could not bring himself to say that. Zhuge Ji-hwi knew that they had opened a passage and moved to Sichuan.
As he was about to change the subject, Tang So-hwa spoke first.
"I didn't come to put the Young Lord in a difficult position, so there's no need to be tense."
As if time were precious, she went straight to the point.
"I do not know how the Zhuge Clan came to be connected with the Blood Sect. I don't have the leisure to dig into that story right now. I simply came to ask how much the Young Lord knows about the Blood Demon."
Each time Tang So-hwa spoke a word, Zhuge Ji-hwi felt his heart pound heavily, but he turned his head to conceal his expression.
Then, as if the thought had just occurred to him, he asked casually,
"By the way, where is the Hall Lord? The Hall Lord sent a letter personally, but it seems he isn't here."
"The Hall Lord is having an audience with the Alliance Leader."
After answering, So-hwa drew the topic back again.
"I understand that you want to change the subject. If I were the Young Lord, I would find it difficult to discuss such matters with an outsider as well. However, we don't have time to waste. The Blood Demon may soon come to the Central Plains, so we must hurry."
Zhuge Ji-hwi tried not to show it, but his cheek twitched. So-hwa took that as his answer and explained further.
"If he no longer hesitates to display his might in the Central Plains, he may step forward himself to confront the sects. Therefore, we must learn in advance how he moves, so that when that day comes, we won't be caught defenseless."
Zhuge Ji-hwi smiled at her words.
"That's quite a strange thing to say."
As Zhuge Ji-hwi cut in, So-hwa closed her mouth and yielded the floor to him.
"You consider me a person of the Blood Sect, yet you urge me to hurry and stop the Blood Demon because the Central Plains will be endangered....... Isn't that strange? It sounds as though you see me not as a Blood Sect spy, but as a martial artist of the Central Plains."
"Just because the Zhuge Clan has become the Blood Sect's hound, I do not think the Young Lord is a Blood Sect spy."
"Hmm...... do you happen to know what my clan name is?"
Zhuge Ji-hwi scratched his chin and spoke with a hint of mockery, but instead of answering, So-hwa lowered her gaze.
She opened the box on the table. A jar holding a black liquid and a clean needle were revealed.
Her calm voice pierced Zhuge Ji-hwi's eardrums.
"If my thinking isn't mistaken, unlike the Clan Head, the Young Lord would wish to rid himself of the Gu poison, so I prepared this."
Tang So-hwa took out the needle and dipped it into the jar.
Zhuge Ji-hwi's throat bobbed noticeably.
Holding the needle, Tang So-hwa stared straight at him. It was as though she were telling him to extend his hand if he wished.
Zhuge Ji-hwi did not deliberate for long. Like someone afraid the opportunity might vanish, he immediately rolled up his sleeve and placed his arm on the table.
So-hwa drove the needle into his hand. The black antidote flowed straight into his body.
"Ugh."
Veins bulged along Zhuge Ji-hwi's forearm.
He struggled to endure the pain. Having seen how the antidote worked at the training ground, he seemed to have anticipated it.
When So-hwa withdrew the needle, black fluid poured steadily from the puncture.
For a long while, the Winter Pavilion was wrapped in silence.
After some time, when red blood finally began to drip, Zhuge Ji-hwi let out a breath.
As if it was still too early to relax, So-hwa offered advice.
"Try violating the restriction once."
At that, Zhuge Ji-hwi made an inexplicable move. He seemed to remain still, yet a warm current spread around him.
Before long, as if a fog were lifting, the warmth around them faded away.
Zhuge Ji-hwi's expression was strange. The smooth, sociable look he usually wore now felt cold. A chilling aura, tinged with something ghostly, clung to him.
"Why me? If you suspect the Zhuge Clan, I don't understand why you summoned me, the Young Lord of the Zhuge Clan."
"Because the Young Lord seems similar to the Four Seasons Hall Lord."
Zhuge Ji-hwi, who had been trying to find some kind of flaw, fell silent.
"Though he doesn't say it outright, it seems the Hall Lord also did not know about the relationship between the Zhuge Clan and the Blood Sect. He appears to have realized it only now. Even so, the Hall Lord did not stand on the side of the Zhuge Clan, but instead is trying to stop the Blood Sect that has burrowed into the Central Plains."
So-hwa, watching the Young Lord of the Zhuge Clan who was studying her, spoke again.
"I believe that when the Young Lord learned the truth, you must have felt the same way as the Hall Lord. However, unlike the Hall Lord, the Young Lord had neither the opportunity to leave the Zhuge Clan nor anyone to guard your back."
Zhuge Ji-hwi let out a hollow laugh.
"I don't know why you're suddenly trying to prick my conscience. If you're trying to instill guilt over the Blood Sect attacking the Tang Clan, that was something I knew nothing about, and the others probably didn't know either."
"No. I'm not here to settle past matters."
At this point, asking about what had already happened would yield nothing useful. So-hwa immediately asked what she needed to find out.
"If the Blood Demon crosses into the Central Plains, do you know where he might establish his stronghold?"
Zhuge Ji-hwi's eyes narrowed. Whether he did not understand or simply did not wish to answer, he remained silent.
So-hwa made her question more specific.
"If the Blood Demon comes to the Central Plains, would he stay with the Zhuge Clan?"
Zhuge Ji-hwi let out a small laugh.
"Since even the Clan Head harbored Gu poison, it's understandable that Young Lady Tang would make such a misunderstanding."
Zhuge Ji-hwi did not seem offended. He merely looked incredulous.
So-hwa explained why she had suspected as much.
"When I was once dragged to Jin Yin Mountain, I entered the Blood Demon's archive. I was told that everything inside consisted of precious items the Blood Demon had gathered while living a life close to immortality. The Blood Demon showed me records and said that the items and documents in the archive could not be taken outside Jin Yin Mountain."
So-hwa continued calmly.
"Also, the Blood Demon was translating records from the Outer Regions into the language of the Central Plains. However, isn't there a rumor that the Zhuge Clan possesses records from the Outer Regions? That's why I wondered whether the Outer Regions records said to be in the Zhuge Clan might be the Blood Demon's secret archive. If the Blood Demon moved his treasured archive to the Zhuge Clan, wouldn't it be reasonable to suspect that he intended to make it his residence?"
Zhuge Ji-hwi's face grew cold.
"From whom did you hear such things?"
"In Hubei, it's a rather well-known rumor. I heard that the Young Lord and the Four Seasons Hall Lord studied martial arts from the Outer Regions in an archive, fell into Qi (energy) deviation, and that the Hall Lord lost his eyesight."
Perhaps feeling sorry for bringing up rumors, So-hwa added,
"I don't believe stories about the two of you. I simply couldn't ignore the talk that the Zhuge Clan possesses records from the Outer Regions."
In truth, So-hwa already knew that the records held by the Zhuge Clan were the Blood Demon's secret archive.
When the Alliance Leader had visited the Zhuge Clan in his first life, Zhuge Ji-hwi had shown him the clan's archive, and through those records, the Alliance Leader had been able to reach Jin Yin Mountain.
However, she could not say that the Alliance Leader had told her this.
The Alliance Leader had lived many lives and met Zhuge Ji-hwi in a previous one, so such words would be impossible for the current Zhuge Ji-hwi to accept.
Zhuge Ji-hwi let out a groan.
"I didn't know Young Lady Tang was someone who lent an ear to rumors. Still, I don't understand why someone who listens to rumors would ask me such a question. Haven't you heard the rumors about the Blood Demon? They say he was the strongest under heaven, with followers as numerous as mountains. For someone like that, does it matter where he resides? He could stay anywhere. Wherever he plants his feet becomes a stronghold and a battlefield. Wouldn't he swallow and spit out the entire Central Plains at his whim, making it all his land?"
Zhuge Ji-hwi clicked his tongue and continued,
"If every place his feet touch is his land, why would he bother risking becoming a target by staying in a single spot within enemy territory?"
So-hwa realized that the worst assumption was true.
It seemed there was not just one or two places like the Zhuge Clan that served the Blood Demon.
Wherever the Blood Demon went, he appeared able to receive assistance.
Come to think of it, that made sense.
Even now, and even more as time passed, the Zhuge Clan's standing within the Murim Alliance headquarters had changed overwhelmingly.
The Zhuge Clan, the Murim Alliance headquarters, and the Anguk Merchant Group. Funds from the largest merchant guild in the Central Plains flowed into the martial clans that had become the Blood Demon's limbs.
Hubei, known as the crossroads of nine routes, was a place the Blood Demon could well choose as a focal point. Yet instead of concentrating his power there alone, he had spread his influence across many regions where sects and capital were intertwined.
There were such places even in Sichuan. Anhui was the same.
It meant that the Blood Demon had spread an influence that could have ended in Hubei across the entire Central Plains.
So-hwa's heart felt heavy, but she turned that fact around in her mind.
'If the Blood Demon can reside anywhere.......'
Rather than that, luring him to a place of her choosing might become the solution.