Since Passages had been made here and there in the Central Plains as well, it was plausible that there would be one in the Northern Sea, which the Blood Cult had ravaged decades ago. However, the island using it openly was another matter altogether.
Pretending to interact with the mainland while bringing in foreign goods was one thing, but openly using a Passage to distribute foreign goods was something else entirely.
'It meant there was no need to hide the Blood Cult’s sorcery on the island.'
If the Blood Cult’s sorcery controlled the island’s economy, then it was highly likely that the Northern branch and the Northern nobles were also being controlled by the Blood Cult.
Sohwa had not expected the Blood Cult to dominate the upper echelons.
'I thought they would hide themselves and move in secret, as in the Central Plains.'
It was said that the place that resisted Outland most fiercely had been the Northern Sea Ice Palace. She had heard that not only the lord of the Ice Palace but also the nobles of the Northern Sea had fought the Blood Cult to the end, throwing away their lives.
Having survived the war, accepted help from the Central Plains, and rebuilt the island, she had thought the Northern nobles would detest the Blood Cult—but apparently not.
'Perhaps they accepted the Blood Cult’s sorcery in order to survive...'
Continuing that thought, Sohwa swallowed a hollow laugh.
Accept the Blood Cult to survive?
For those who were said to have resisted the Blood Demon, throwing away their lives—was such a thing even conceivable?
Even if Tang Sohwa were to return to her previous life, she would not think of waiting upon the Blood Demon in order to rebuild the half-ruined Sichuan Tang Clan. All the more so, she had no intention of handing the Tang Clan’s land over to outsiders, whether from the Great Desert or the Northern Sea.
'Perhaps the rumor that the surviving Northern nobles fought the Blood Cult was not true either.'
Sohwa gauged the reason the harbor had declined.
If there was a Passage inside the island, they would have reason to eliminate places where outsiders might set foot. Whether scarce food or necessary goods, only by monopolizing supplies on the island could they tame the Northern Sea people.
'If outsiders are not coming and going to the mainland, they would, inevitably, have to watch the island’s mood.'
Now that the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s bloodline had gone into hiding, they would have needed a weapon to keep the Northern Sea people from helping them.
Sohwa spoke in a heavy voice to Namgung Jin, who was waiting for her answer.
“...It may be that there are no harbors along the coast.”
“Did you not just say that it would be normal for there to be a harbor along the coast?”
“It’s conjecture, but it seems the island is not interacting with the mainland. Rather...”
Hesitating, wondering if he would think the idea excessive, Sohwa, reluctantly, said, “There is a possibility they are controlling the Northern Sea people so they cannot contact outsiders.”
“Are you saying the island is controlling the common folk?”
“Yes. It seems there is a Passage on the island like the one we used to cross into the Northern Sea. Only if they alone procure what is needed from outside can they tame the Northern Sea people; so the ships would likely sail only from the island to the mainland.”
At Tang Sohwa’s words, Namgung Jin let out a sigh.
“I knew it would be a difficult road, but it seems it will be harder than I thought.”
Namgung Jin’s gaze fell to the map.
The vast Northern Sea looked even wider.
It no longer seemed possible to sit and hope the Northern Sea people would come to them.
Namgung Jin placed his hand over the map.
“If the island comes to the mainland to supply food or goods, they will not return with empty ships. If those in charge are vicious enough, they will demand something in return. Rare though it is, aren’t ice crystals or Binggeukjicho sometimes traded in the Central Plains? Ice crystals or Binggeukjicho would be procured on the mainland. There are limits to supplying rare elixirs from the island.”
It was plausible.
The framework the Blood Demon had painstakingly left behind had also been released. Those acknowledged by the Blood Demon were born with extreme yin constitutions. If they also obtained yin-based elixirs, they would become difficult to fight; it would make sense to collect them all and hide them.
Namgung Jin pointed to the western mountain range of the Northern Sea.
“First, let us examine the nearest mountains. There may be people in the mountains searching for elixirs. And if, watching the island’s mood, they cannot fish, might they not at least hunt in the mountains?”
Nodding, Sohwa drew her cloak tight and rose from her seat. Then Namgung Jin took her wrist.
“The fire is precious; let us warm ourselves a bit more today.”
“Should we not hurry? It will be difficult to sleep outdoors at night, so we must return before sunset.”
At that, Namgung Jin smiled.
“I am someone who wants to sleep indoors more than anyone, but when tracking something in the mountains, one must be prepared to camp for several days.”
Namgung Jin let out a sincere sigh.
“Since we do not know when we will enjoy this warmth again, rest comfortably today. At first light tomorrow, let us go out.”
Namgung Jin spoke like a man seasoned in tracking and sleeping rough.
In fact, the Young Clan Head had traveled the Central Plains pursuing the Blood Cult.
Sohwa sat back down. It would be foolish to ignore the opinion of one with experience.
“How long will the search take?”
“If we are lucky, we may find a village as soon as we climb the mountain; if unlucky, we may not find anything before we freeze to death.”
“......”
“Yes, that was an answer meaning we do not know how long it will take.”
With the corners of his mouth twitching, Namgung Jin leaned over the table. Pressing his finger on the foothills near the harbor, he said, “It would be good to comb through the entire range, but for now I would like to get a feel for things for about two days and then come down. The range is so long that to search it entirely, it would be better to wait for the Baekgeumgak people, get horses, and ride them.”
Sohwa nodded at Namgung Jin’s suggestion.
She took the map into her eyes and examined the mainland of the Northern Sea.
If there were Passages in the Northern Sea, there would be at least two.
Inside the island, and on the mainland.
Seeing that Baekgeumgak had brought supplies and set them down, they must have used the mainland Passage. If they had moved things from within the island to here, they would surely have been discovered.
'If the mainland Passage is also being managed by the Blood Cult, then the Ice Palace bloodline will not pass near it.'
While racking her brain to narrow the search range, Sohwa knit her brows.
'But if there is a Passage on the mainland, wouldn’t it suffice for the Ice Palace bloodline to use it like the Baekgeumgak people? They too were once of the Blood Cult, so they would know how to use the Passage.'
Judging by the Blood Cult brazenly blocking the sea routes, it seemed they believed the mainland Passage to be unusable by the Ice Palace bloodline.
'Perhaps the mainland Passage was being guarded by the Red Blood Hall Lord?'
Since the Red Blood Hall Lord was now at Geumeunsan, the Passage would be empty.
'Then, those who could use the mainland Passage now would be the Baekgeumgak cultists who know the Red Blood Hall Lord is absent, and...'
Continuing that thought, Sohwa suddenly grimaced.
One who knew the current situation and did not fear the Red Blood Hall Lord—the Crimson Blood Hall Lord.
'...Surely, he is not here?'
Hae-rak enjoyed defying the Blood Demon’s orders, and since he knew the Red Blood Hall Lord was at Geumeunsan, he might well have come out for a “stroll” in the Northern Sea.
She thought there was no reason for it, but he was such an unpredictable man that she could not help but worry.
'Before the Red Blood Hall Lord came, they said the Crimson Blood Hall Lord captured the Northern Sea bloodline; if he were to appear and so much as greet me as an acquaintance, the Northern Sea bloodline might try to kill me.'
Sohwa stopped herself from imagining that dreadful situation.
'No. He is not that mad.'
Compared to what he did, he was a man who thought with caution; it would be fine.
'Yes, he would not come to a place like this to do something insane without reason.'
Just as Sohwa forcibly ignored her unease, Namgung Jin spoke.
“But the shape of the mountain range is peculiar.”
Sohwa’s gaze fell to the map. The mountains set to the west curved slightly along the coast, as if embracing the Northern Sea.
The western range looked like the Northern Sea’s rampart.
“The mountain range is long.”
“Yes, it seems it will take a long time to go around the whole of it.”
Thinking there would be much to prepare, Sohwa stood up.
She gathered various items she had brought to the room, and, just in case, put important things into her travel bag.
After resting one night, Sohwa and Namgung Jin shouldered their packs and left the pavilion at first light.
***
Even though they had been walking since dawn, Tang Sohwa and Namgung Jin had found nothing by afternoon.
Reaching the mountain summit, Sohwa stopped.
'What is this?'
Each time she breathed, she felt heat in her lungs. Her eyes alternated between itching and relief.
There was no smell, nothing visible, but Sohwa felt a reaction of poison vapor.
But it was not poison.
At least, it had not been aimed at the two of them.
It was too slight an amount to think someone had administered poison.
Sohwa stopped Namgung Jin, who was walking ahead.
“Young Clan Head, one moment. There seems to be something ahead.”
“What do you mean, something?”
Namgung Jin seemed not to sense anything at all. On the contrary, in order to check what was there, he walked in the direction she had indicated.
But a huge tree blocked the path. Frowning, Namgung Jin brushed the tree trunk. There was a long horizontal groove dug into the bole.
Examining the tree, Namgung Jin said in a low voice, “It looks like traces where a rope was fixed.”
He passed the tree and moved forward slowly. After three or four steps, he suddenly stretched out his arm to keep Sohwa from coming.
Crash.
The ground beneath Namgung Jin’s foot collapsed. A small cairn covered by snow crumbled.
It was a crude trap made to confirm an intruder’s approach.
The stones rolled down and quickly vanished from sight, but the sound of their falling continued for a long while.
Cautiously taking one more step forward, Namgung Jin let out a short breath. There was a cliff right in front of him.
The gorge was about ten feet wide; seen from afar, it looked merely like a ridge with a low difference in level.
Turning his head to find the gorge’s end, he could not see it. A thin fissure, as if the mountain had been sliced by a blade, stretched endlessly along the range.
The cliff’s width was at most ten to twenty feet. It felt as though, at a run, one could leap across it.
If one misstepped and fell, one’s body would be shredded against the narrow rock walls.
Namgung Jin hesitated. Because the head of the gorge was hidden, he could not gauge its length. He did not know how far he would have to walk.
Then Sohwa called to him.
“Young Clan Head.”
“Yes.”
“There are rope marks over there.”
On the snowbank she pointed to, there were traces of rope.
“It seems there is a way down.”
Sohwa realized what she had felt as poison vapor.
It was sulfur.
Sulfur was an ingredient she often blended when making poison fumes.
At times, nature’s scent, like an artificially blended poison, harmed people. Sulfur was the same. Though not common, people visiting hot springs sometimes fainted or lost their lives from sulfur exposure.
It seemed there was a hot spring in that gorge.
'A hot spring...'
A hot spring was water that held geothermal heat. As it leaked out, it would dissolve sulfur in the rock walls and release a pungent odor.
Thus, there might well be ground nearby that could not vent water and held heat.
Sohwa stared at the endless gorge.
'If the gorge is this wide, there will be places where sulfur does not leak; with geothermal heat, we could escape the cold.'
The gorge that split the mountain lay parallel to the coast.
Looking toward the coast, Sohwa said, “If we go down the mountain and follow the coastline, we might find the gorge’s entrance. There could also be a cave that connects to the gorge along the way.”
Peering down into the narrow gorge, Namgung Jin nodded.
“Let us do that. It would be better to go down and look for it.”
As it was a safer choice than having their bodies torn to pieces, the two of them descended the mountain they had struggled to climb.
They had not gone far from the harbor, but the time they had wasted was long, and dusk fell quickly.
Realizing the sun was setting, Namgung Jin kept watch on the surroundings as he walked.
Soon, though it could hardly be called a cave, there appeared a place where the rock face was hollowed out. In a voice of relief, Namgung Jin said, “Young Lady Tang, let us spend the night there today and move when the sun rises.”
