Chapter 276
Side Story, Chapter 4. Tang So-hwa's Private Meeting
A rumor spread that the Fourth Elder had once again brought a wanderer into his residence.
Strangely enough, it was hard to find anyone who had actually seen the man's face.
"I heard this wanderer's specialty is stealth arts. Maybe that's why none of us have seen him?"
"Well, if it's a skill the Fourth Elder coveted, it must be impressive."
"They say that stealth arts at their peak can't be perceived even if they pass right in front of you. Maybe he's that kind of master."
"But if someone's a master of stealth arts, isn't it hard to make a name for themselves? How do you even judge whether they've reached the pinnacle?"
The Tang Clan's martial artists discussed why the wanderer had not been seen; their curiosity piqued.
In truth, Hamgu simply had not stepped outside the Fourth Elder's residence. He had not been showing off any stealth arts.
For several days now, Hamgu had skipped meals and was wailing in despair.
"Hngh......."
Crying beneath his blankets, Hamgu suddenly poked his head out when he heard footsteps approaching from afar.
"S-so, how did it go?"
Hamgu asked loudly, but when the maidservant reached the door, she could not bring herself to answer and only moved her lips.
"H-hey, why aren't you saying anything?"
Unable to endure it, Hamgu urged her on, and the maidservant finally replied,
"…She said she has a private meeting with the Clan Head, so it's difficult to make time right now."
"Did she, by any chance, ask about my condition?"
"She did not."
Hamgu frowned, then spoke in an urgent voice.
"Go back and bring Young Lady Tang as soon as the private meeting is over!"
"Um, Young Warrior… Young Lady Tang So-hwa is not someone I can simply summon because I wish to."
"It doesn't matter. Use whatever means you must and bring her!"
Hamgu shouted with bloodshot eyes. Suspicion toward Tang So-hwa had begun to rise within him.
On the day the luncheon ended, Hamgu had gone to Tang So-hwa's quarters.
Despite his visit, Tang So-hwa had not seemed surprised at all.
Rather, she served him tea and asked where he had come from, and where he planned to go if he was not inducted.
During their long conversation, inexplicable laughter occasionally slipped in.
The atmosphere had been that good.
If he had set his mind to it, he could have slept in her inner quarters and left the next morning.
And yet, for some reason, his stomach kept rumbling, making it impossible for him to sit for long.
Hamgu promised to come again the next day and hurried back to his residence. Even when the abdominal pain began that evening, he could not immediately suspect Tang So-hwa.
After two days passed, he slowly began to feel that something was wrong. Despite not having eaten anything, he continued to expel something through his anus.
In the end, a physician came to see him.
After checking Hamgu's condition, the physician's face went deathly pale. Then, without even giving a diagnosis, he fled.
Hamgu hurriedly chased after the physician, but the man refused to diagnose him, begging to be spared like a madman.
When Hamgu grabbed him and tried to drag him back to the room after striking the signal again, the physician struggled not to enter, shouting, "Receive treatment from someone of the Nine Turns Pavilion. I can't say anything more!"
Needing to return to the chamber pot, Hamgu let him go, and at the mention of the Nine Turns Pavilion, Tang So-hwa came to mind.
He knew she belonged to the Nine Turns Pavilion.
'Could it be.......'
Sitting on the chamber pot, Hamgu felt goosebumps rise.
Still, if she had poisoned him, there must have been a reason—but he could not guess what it might be.
'...... Could it be that she knew I was from the Blood Sect?
But if she poisoned me knowing of my ties to the Blood Sect, then using such a crude poison doesn't make sense.'
'She would have bound me immediately and tortured me. Why would she use such a frivolous poison?'
Hamgu frowned.
This was a trashy poison unbefitting of a woman who had dealt with the Blood Demon.
Even as he suspected Tang So-hwa, he could not be certain.
Then, as evening approached, Hamgu became convinced that this was Tang So-hwa's doing.
"She said the weeds blooming in the garden were irritating her today and needed to be removed......."
"She said she needs to have next year's clothes fitted now......."
"She forgot an urgent bathing appointment...... said she has to wash immediately, so she told me to have you come another time......."
As the maidservant reported in a trembling voice, Hamgu slammed his fist into the floor.
"There's a limit to how much you can toy with someone! An urgent bathing appointment? I've never once in my life heard such nonsense!"
He had asked her to check his condition since he seemed to have been poisoned, yet Tang So-hwa never once asked about his state. Instead, she kept avoiding him, saying she was busy and could not come.
At this point, even Hamgu had no choice but to realize that Tang So-hwa had poisoned him.
"Damn it!"
Clutching his rumbling stomach, Hamgu staggered out from beneath the blankets.
Sitting on the chamber pot, he ground his teeth.
If his body allowed it, he would have kicked the door open and demanded answers at once. But after days of pouring out fluids, he had no strength left.
With sunken eyes and hollowed cheeks, his face trembled uncontrollably.
"Damn it all. How long do I have to endure this humiliation......."
Tears streamed down Hamgu's face, born of shame and fear.
"Hnghh......."
The maidservant spoke with pity.
"How did you end up offending the Nine Turns Pavilion? In the Tang Clan, one must never cross the Nine Turns Pavilion."
Even the Tang Clan members themselves were cautious of that den of poisons, unsure what kind of harm might befall them—yet somehow an outsider had provoked their displeasure and was suffering this humiliation.
She thought that this Young warrior was now doomed to die an ignoble death.
Worse still, this man named Hamgu was said to be a wanderer with no backing. Even if his corpse were casually burned, no one would know.
"You could try reporting this to another institution, but if Young Lady Tang So-hwa truly poisoned you, it would be meaningless. The Clan Head dotes on her, so there's a strong chance he'll simply cover it up."
The maidservant swallowed the rest of her words, but Hamgu understood their meaning.
Rather than expose his daughter's shame, the Clan Head would judge it better to kill an outsider and erase the matter. Keeping silent would be safer.
In despair, Hamgu sobbed as he asked,
"Hnghh...... is there, is there no way at all?"
Swayed by compassion, the maidservant hesitated.
"There is, actually, one way......."
"What is it? Please, tell me!"
"You must never say that I told you."
"Of course!"
After some hesitation, the maidservant pressed herself against the door and whispered in a small voice,
"They say someone from the Murim Alliance headquarters is on their way."
"The Murim Alliance headquarters?"
"Yes. A high-ranking figure is coming, so the Chief Steward ordered preparations as if for the Alliance of Noble Clans Meeting."
Her voice dropped even lower.
"During the Alliance of Noble Clans Meeting, poisoning is forbidden, so all poisons are withdrawn, and the Nine Turns Pavilion closes its doors. So......."
Though she seemed to think it was a good idea, the maidservant faltered for a moment.
"If you appear in that state during the banquet with the headquarters, the Chief Steward will order the physician to treat you. Then the Medical Hall will be able to treat you without having to mind the Nine Turns Pavilion. Also, since they closed the Nine Turns Pavilion and prevented poisons from circulating… the Clan Head will likely think the Young Lady won't be suspected and will let it pass quietly."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, because they avoid commotion during the period they welcome the headquarters. The superiors will hurry to provide treatment."
Hamgu rolled his eyes. The maidservant's words sounded like a good plan—but it meant wandering outside in this state.
Hamgu fell into thought.
Though humiliating, it seemed better than wasting away in a back room and being poisoned to death.
'Once my body is restored, I'll have my revenge on that woman. I'll send her to the filthiest, roughest brothel there is!'
Grinding his teeth, Hamgu waited for the headquarters to arrive.
However, regrettably, going outside to draw the headquarters' attention was not a good idea.
Unaware that the reason a high-ranking figure from the Murim Alliance was visiting was because of him, Hamgu glared with bloodshot eyes as he prepared his third mistake.
* * *
Namgung Jin, who was leading the way, raised his token. Upon spotting him atop the high ramparts, the gatekeeper sent a signal downward.
As the sound of the bridge lowering rang out, Zhuge In-hwi's head turned in that direction.
He, too, had visited the Tang Clan estate several times before. As such, the sound of water tickling his ears felt familiar.
He had heard that a dense poison had been administered, yet it sounded as though clear water was flowing. There was no trace of a foul energy coming from the moat.
The sight of the Tang Clan estate, having regained its peace, came across as a crisp, lucid sound.
The moment they entered within the walls, a sudden silence fell.
Zhuge In-hwi realized that Namgung Jin was staring at something.
"What are you looking at?"
At the question, Namgung Jin let out a small laugh.
"The pond connected to the moat is full of golden carp."
"Is that something unusual?"
"Young Lord Hak lamented that poison had seeped into the pond floor and that no living creatures would be able to survive there for a while. But thankfully, the land has already recovered enough for fish to swim again."
Namgung Jin had been staying in the Tang Clan estate during the Blood Sect's assault.
The collapsed walls and the damaged buildings within the Tang Clan had been restored, but Namgung Jin paid them little mind. The carp swimming gracefully, however, struck him as remarkable.
It seemed that the movement full of vitality resonated more deeply with him than precious wood or stone touched by a craftsman’s hands.
Just then, a commotion arose in the distance.
Seeing the group from the Anguk Merchant Group, Namgung Jin let out a hollow breath.
At the ambiguous sound—neither a laugh nor a sigh—Zhuge In-hwi asked,
"Who are they?"
"The Anguk Merchant Group."
One of Zhuge In-hwi's eyebrows lifted.
"I stayed with the Myeongcheon Merchant Group for some time, but I didn't realize they were still in Sichuan."
Namgung Jin added in a somewhat uncomfortable tone.
“Well, it's because you haven't seen it, Hall Lord. They say he’s staying at the Myeongcheon Merchant Group, but the Merchant Group Young Head has lived almost exclusively at the Tang Clan estate. It was under the pretext of helping with the reconstruction. I remember him as a strange person because the Merchant Group Young Head often stayed alone in the guest pavilion.”
Zhuge In-hwi smiled at that.
He understood why Namgung Jin was bristling.
It was because he understood why Namgung Hyun was being so defensive.
Min Yeo-hong is called the Anguk Merchant Group Young Head, but Namgung Hyun and the Four Seasons Hall Lord vaguely sensed his true identity.
When Tang So-hwa departed for the North Sea, she had received help from the Platinum Pavilion.
And the owner of the Platinum Pavilion was Min Yeo-hong, the Anguk Merchant Group's second son and its Young Head.
The Young Head turned his head and looked toward the Murim Alliance delegation.
The moment Min Yeo-hong's gaze met Namgung Jin's, he offered a respectful greeting. His movements were delicate, with not a trace of martial energy to be felt.
Tang Clan members clustered around him like clouds, continuously speaking to the Young Head.
"You arrived sooner than expected, Young Head. Haha. We cleaned and dressed up the pavilion again this morning, so please go take a look."
"By the way, how is your health these days, Young Head? The air's been cold, shall we prepare warm bathwater first?"
Their flustered voices carried all the way over.
They followed him about, worried he might be blown away by a breeze or shatter if he fell.
It was easy to see just how thoroughly Min Yeo-hong had won over the Tang Clan.
The Four Seasons Hall members entering the Tang Clan estate could understand the Tang Clan's reaction.
According to the reports that came into the SummerPavilion, the Tang Clan estate had been half-destroyed by the Blood Sect's surprise attack.
Yet the Tang Clan estate before their eyes bore no trace of such devastation.
Normally, newly built or repaired sections stood out, but the restoration had been carried out with such painstaking care that even the years etched into the wood flowed on seamlessly.
Namgung Jin explained to the Four Seasons Hall members what the Tang Clan estate had been like on the day of its restoration.
"When I first saw it, I thought it would take at least a year to rebuild, but it was finished far sooner than expected."
They said the Anguk Merchant Group had readily procured even materials that were hard to come by, greatly enhancing the completeness of the restoration. At a glance, their contribution was remarkable.
After all, in the current Central Plains, no group could acquire goods faster or more efficiently than the Anguk Merchant Group. With such people helping in the reconstruction, it was no wonder the Tang Clan was completely won over.
Step.
A Tang Clan member from the Chief Steward's office approached them.
"I pay my respects to the Four Seasons Hall Lord of the Murim Alliance."
The Tang Clan member bowed politely with a smile.
"You must be tired after the long journey, so please head to your quarters. We will take care of the horses."
As the Four Seasons Hall Lord dismounted and handed over the reins, he said,
"If it's all right, I'd like to meet Young Lady Tang So-hwa before going to my lodgings."
At his words, the Tang Clan member wore a troubled expression.
"Oh dear, what a shame. If only you had arrived a bit earlier. There is already a guest who came before you, so it will be difficult to arrange a meeting right away."
"Could it be that she is meeting the Young Head who just arrived?"
"No. The Young Head did request a meeting as well, but there is someone who arrived even before him."
At that, Zhuge In-hwi's expression grew peculiar.
Using the Four Seasons Hall, he had thoroughly investigated Tang So-hwa. As such, he knew that her network was not very wide.
In truth, there had been no need to investigate. Anyone who spoke with Tang So-hwa for even a brief moment could tell that there were few people around her.
As if proving that fact, most of the people who had recently visited her had been the Blood Sect members—those who revealed their identities and came seeking an antidote in exchange for their freedom.
For that reason, the Four Seasons Hall Lord could not help but feel curious about the visitor who had come to see Tang So-hwa.
"May I ask who it is?"
At Zhuge In-hwi's question, the Tang Clan member tilted his head.
"Hm? That's strange."
He narrowed his eyes and asked in return,
“Did you not hear that she was coming here?”
“What does that mean?”
At the incomprehensible words, Zhuge In-hwi’s eyes darkened.
The Tang Clan member suppressed the unpleasant feeling of being tested and answered.
Soon, words that would fluster even Zhuge In-hwi pierced his eardrums.
"Young Lady Zhuge Cheon-yu has visited the Tang Clan estate. She said she came to meet Young Lady Tang So-hwa, so we prepared a place for her at once."