Sohwa looked at Pang Shihyeon with the feeling of placing a bet.
At first, she had held her tongue for fear of being taken for a Blood Cult spy, but now it felt like she could ask for help.
After all, the Four-Directions Hall Administrator had seen with her own eyes that the Outland’s peace was an illusion fabricated by the Blood Cult.
After a long silence, Pang Shihyeon asked,
“If someone has the Blood Demon’s Dokgo, do they follow the Blood Demon’s will regardless of their own?”
It was something Sohwa had already explained.
She did not know what answer Pang Shihyeon wanted, but she replied first.
“Yes. As you just saw, the Dokgo kills its host.”
“How long have Blood Cultists carrying the Dokgo been in the Central Plains?”
“I don’t know the exact timing.”
“Do you think the Blood Demon’s Dokgo existed twenty years ago?”
Sohwa closed her mouth.
She understood why Pang Shihyeon was asking.
It sounded as though Pang Shihyeon was asking whether Baek Unhyeon had carried the Blood Demon’s Dokgo.
Sohwa could not answer.
Baek Unhyeon had borne the Blood Demon’s Dokgo, but she had no way of knowing whether deceiving Pang Shihyeon back then had been the Blood Demon’s Will or Baek Unhyeon’s own.
She could not meddle in matters of the heart, so Sohwa remained silent.
Just then, one of the Han family nobles kneeling in the front row stood up.
“You fools! How can you join hands with these Central Plains curs who aren’t even worth half a man?”
The Northern Sea noble looked to be quite old. With clouded eyes, he stared at the Seven Seats and said,
“Do you really think those Central Plains people are better than we are?”
When the seven of the Seven Seats did not so much as twitch, the old man let out a hollow laugh.
“Do you know whose hand killed Baek Unho—the one you call your liberator?”
A sense of foreboding hardened Sohwa’s face. She thought she had to shut that mouth, but the old man’s words were faster.
“It was that Four-Directions Hall Administrator standing right there. The woman who killed Baek Unho, who reached for a divine object to free you, and even tried to kill Baek Unhyeon! If Baek Unhyeon hadn’t managed to escape that day and died there, you wouldn’t even be standing here now! It was that woman who drove the Baek brothers into the jaws of death!”
Sohwa knew that the Four-Directions Hall had massacred Baek Unhyeon’s group.
But she had not known there had been a brother of Baek Unhyeon among them.
She shifted her gaze and searched the Four-Directions Hall Administrator’s face.
It seemed this was the first she was hearing of it as well.
Pang Shihyeon stood there frozen.
The Han family elder continued his revelation.
“And do you know who that young man next to her is? He’s the Namgung Little Clan Head who killed Baek Unhae! The Central Plains bastard who took your blood relatives and the Yuhyeon Pavilion brats away, tortured them, and killed them!”
At the old man’s cry, Namgung Jin closed his eyes.
“These Central Plains people are the enemies who butchered your clan! And you would join hands with them? Say you’ll go back to the Central Plains and help free all the cultists? Ha! You’re dancing to the tune of Central Plains hypocrisy, you stupid wretches, you—urk!”
Boom.
The old man’s shrill voice was cut off.
The First Seat, who had unleashed Ice-White Divine Palm, calmly lowered his hand as if nothing had happened.
He did not spare a glance for the frozen corpse. His cold eyes were fixed solely on the Central Plains people.
The First Seat’s low voice split the silence.
“Are you the Namgung Little Clan Head?”
Namgung Jin slowly opened his eyes. Even then, he clasped his hands politely and answered,
“Yes. I am Namgung Jin, Little Clan Head of the Namgung family.”
He gave only a brief introduction, offering no excuses at all.
Sohwa knew it was not her place to step in, but she spoke in place of the foolish Namgung Jin.
“It’s true that the Little Clan Head took the Ice Palace bloodline to the Anhui Branch, but he did not torture them. As soon as they arrived in Anhui, all the cultists died, and it seems the Northern Sea Ice Palace bloodline took their own life for breaking the Blood Demon’s prohibition.”
Without looking at Sohwa, the First Seat gave a slight nod.
She could not tell whether he meant that he understood or that she should be quiet.
While Sohwa waited for the First Seat’s reaction, he descended the steps.
Crunch.
Passing the frozen corpse, he stopped an arm’s length in front of Namgung Jin.
With an indifferent face, the First Seat looked down at him.
“So you were the cousin Namgung Cheonghae spoke of.”
At the sound of his voice, Sohwa’s brows rose.
Anyone could hear the goodwill in it.
He had hardly spoken at all until now, which made his attitude all the clearer.
Quietly, Sohwa looked around.
Not only the Seven Seats but also the faces of the Ice Palace warriors surrounding the prisoners had relaxed. For some reason, the Northern Sea people were showing Namgung Jin goodwill.
“I’d heard such praise of the Little Clan Head of your family that I expected someone impressive, but you’re smaller than I thought.”
The First Seat let out a small chuckle.
“Seems he was just another great-clan martial artist after all. He did like gilding his own family.”
It seemed there had indeed been a connection between Namgung Cheonghae and the Ice Palace warriors.
'What on earth happened between them?'
At that moment, the corners of Namgung Jin’s eyes began to redden. Tears fell; he quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand and changed the subject.
“Are there still Northern Sea people left in the Central Plains?”
The First Seat nodded.
“We did our best, but it was impossible to find everyone in three years.”
Namgung Jin tried to maintain a calm demeanor, but it clearly wasn’t easy. In a trembling voice, he said,
“Once I return to the Central Plains, I’ll search for the Northern Sea people. I’ll do everything I can to help rebuild the Northern Sea in my brother’s stead.”
“Rebuilding the Northern Sea is our task. We have no intention of relying on outsiders. What Namgung Cheonghae and I were aligned on was not the Northern Sea’s reconstruction.”
“Then what did you talk about?”
The First Seat brushed across Namgung Jin’s shoulder as if patting it.
“Eradicating the Blood Cult that remains in the Central Plains is something your people need as well, but it is something we must absolutely do. Vermin like that must disappear from this world.”
The First Seat’s eyes slid sideways. The Han family retainers seemed to grate on him.
“We can speak of the details inside.”
As he turned toward the building, the Four-Directions Hall Administrator stopped him with her voice.
“It may just be my imagination...”
When the First Seat looked back at them, Pang Shihyeon asked in a cold tone,
“Did you not meet me on Gongdong Mountain?”
“I think that, too, would be best discussed inside.”
“Your face is different. Were you wearing a human-skin mask?”
“It was not human skin.”
As Pang Shihyeon bristled with wariness, the First Seat cut through her suspicion.
“As Young Lady Tang just said, the Han family retainers are too useful for us to kill carelessly. If it’s a question they can hear, by all means ask it here, but it doesn’t seem to be, so let’s go inside and talk.”
“If we’re going to speak in private, let me ask just one more thing first.”
Taking in the assembled Northern Sea Ice Palace warriors and the faces of the Han family nobles, Pang Shihyeon asked,
“What did he mean when he said I killed Baek Unhyeon’s brother?”
It was a blunt question.
After a brief silence, the First Seat spoke again.
“Exactly what it sounded like. On the day you wiped out Baek Unhyeon’s group, Baek Unhyeon the Great Hero’s younger brother was up on the mountain.”
“...You’re saying Baek Unhyeon’s brother was there?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hate Baek Unhyeon and his brother?”
The First Seat did not bother to hide his displeasure; his brows drew together.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You clearly recognized that I was the Four-Directions Hall Administrator when we were on Gongdong Mountain. You could have killed me, so why did you let me live? Saying it was for Cheonghae’s sake doesn’t convince me, when I... when I killed your blood relatives. Why did you spare me?”
Pang Shihyeon was confused.
Even though defeat was a humiliation for a martial artist, she showed no hesitation in revealing that she had lost to the First Seat. It was as if her thoughts had collapsed.
The First Seat answered her question with a question.
“Did you not spare Baek Unhyeon the Great Hero as well?”
As if telling her to arrive at the answer herself.
“You couldn’t kill him either. Wouldn’t Baek Unhyeon the Great Hero grieve if he learned you had died?”
The First Seat did not continue the conversation.
He turned his back and headed for the steps.
As he passed by Sohwa, he asked,
“What do you plan to do with the prisoners?”
“Since we don’t know how the situation will change, I intend to change the Blood Demon’s Will right now.”
“When you’re finished, come inside too. It would be good for us to discuss our direction together.”
“I’m grateful for the offer, but once I deal with the Han family retainers, I intend to go straight to the northern sector where the Dong and Eom families are being held.”
“Can’t you go later?”
Sohwa shook her head.
“No. There’s no time. I plan to return to the Central Plains today. Confirming the prisoners’ Dokgo is the most urgent task, so I have to go to the Northern Mountain first.”
The First Seat’s gaze briefly rose to the Fourth Seat.
Whether the Fourth Seat gave him some kind of signal or not, the First Seat flinched ever so slightly.
He soon lowered his head again.
“Do as you find convenient.”
No sooner had he spoken than the First Seat went inside, and five of the Seven Seats followed behind him. Only the Fourth Seat remained at Sohwa’s side.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Sohwa was about to follow him northward.
But Namgung Jin grabbed her wrist.
“Where are you going?”
Swallowing his anger, he asked,
“You’re saying you’re leaving today as well—what are you thinking this time?”
“I’ll explain the details after we go back. Even if there’s more you have to do in the Northern Sea, there’s a Passage, so you can always come again later. For now, I want us to return to the main house as quickly as possible.”
Sohwa’s face was expressionless, but anyone listening to her could tell she was in a hurry.
“There’s no time, so let’s divide the work. Administrator and Little Clan Head, you discuss your course with the Seven Seats, and I’ll go with the Black Tortoise Pavilion Lord to check the prisoners’ condition and run a few experiments.”
“Why are you in such a rush? Has something happened at the main house?”
“Nothing has happened at the main house. I just need the Blood Cult to learn as soon as possible that I’ve gone back to the Central Plains.”
What bothered Sohwa was the Crimson Blood Hall Lord’s behavior.
If Min Hae-rak had gone to the Central Plains, he would never have needed to entrust the Baekgeumgak cultists to her. If he were in the Central Plains, that was the kind of thing he could ask of her any time.
It felt as though the Crimson Blood Hall Lord had gone very far away.
It seemed to be a dangerous place where it would be hard to predict when he might return.
Her best guess was that he had gone to the Great Desert.
The only dangerous place that came to mind as somewhere Min Hae-rak would go was the Great Desert.
If he had left Baekgeumgak in the Central Plains and gone alone, then he likely wasn’t trying to settle in the Great Desert.
Sohwa’s eyes darkened.
'...He’s the one buying time.'
Before long, the Blood Demon would cross over to the Northern Sea Ice Palace. But if the Sun Palace in the Great Desert was also to fall, he might try to reclaim that side first.
Sohwa knew there was still a place in the Great Desert where a Frame was being raised. The Blood Demon would not want to lose the Frame, so he might retake the Sun Palace before the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
Even at the fastest pace, the distance between the Great Desert and the Northern Sea took a week to travel.
For at least a week, they could be free from the Blood Demon’s attention.
The longer someone could hold out against the Blood Demon, the longer that period would grow.
'It seems I’m not the one stirring up trouble—he is.'
Before the Crimson Blood Hall Lord caused a commotion in the Great Desert and lured the Blood Demon, news that she had gone to the Central Plains needed to reach the Blood Demon’s ears.
No one knew where the Blood Demon would turn, but it would be hard for him to strike the Great Desert, the Northern Sea, and the Central Plains all at once.
Of course, no one could say how long the Blood Demon’s confusion would last.
Which meant there was no time.
They had to put the Central Plains in order before the Blood Demon made his choice.
“Little Clan Head, please return the Passage now.”
Namgung Jin still seemed angry with her, but he obediently took out the Passage and handed it back.
As Sohwa tucked it into her sleeve, she said,
“For the time being, I’ll be the one holding onto the Passage.”
