"What is this, why are they moving around in a crowd at this hour?"
Sensing that something was wrong, Tang Hak whispered quietly to Sohwa.
"We will talk to them. Older Sister, please avoid their eyes for now."
Sohwa nodded and went inside.
From beyond the door, Tang Hak’s voice could be heard.
"What brings you here?"
"Someone has died in Sagye Hall. There is a witness who says the culprit fled into this pavilion, so please open the door."
The voice was calm. It was Hwangbo Rim, hearing that, who grew more agitated and asked back,
"Pardon? Someone died? What in the world are you talking about?"
"An official standing guard at Sagye Hall was killed. Someone saw the killer jump over this wall, so step aside."
The Inspection Corps martial artist kindly explained once more, but Tang Hak and Hwangbo Rim could not open the door.
With Tang Sohwa and Namgung Jin hiding inside, it was hard to permit entry.
Sagye Hall and Four-Directions Hall were internal auditing bodies that quietly cooperated among themselves, so information rarely leaked out.
But the Inspection Corps managed matters outside the Martial Alliance and frequently dealt with the outside world.
If Tang Sohwa and Namgung Jin were handed over to the Inspection Corps, their whereabouts would spread across all of Hubei in a single night.
Thinking to find the intruder himself, Hwangbo Rim asked for a description.
"We will look for the culprits first. What did they look like?"
The headquarters martial artist rejected Hwangbo Rim’s goodwill in a chilly voice.
"You would have difficulty catching them, so step aside."
"Aren’t you looking down on us a bit too much?"
When Hwangbo Rim showed displeasure, a toneless voice came back.
"We are looking for Namgung Jin. Since you have ties with him, even if you fail to find him, rumors will spread that you hid him, so we will search personally."
At that shocking statement, Sohwa’s eyes widened.
At that moment, a presence was felt behind her.
Sensing the commotion, the Four-Directions Hall Administrator and the Heukcheon Amgui were coming this way.
Sohwa quietly approached them.
"What is it?"
"The Inspection Corps is asking that we open the door and let them search the pavilion."
"The Inspection Corps? I will go and talk to them."
Pang Shihyeon seemed to think it nothing serious, her face composed as she walked past Sohwa.
Sohwa stepped back to block Pang Shihyeon’s path.
"The Inspection Corps is looking for Little Clan Head Namgung Jin."
"Namgung Jin? Why?"
"It seems someone has framed the Little Clan Head. They say he killed a Sagye Hall martial artist and entered the Tang Clan pavilion."
Sohwa added in a whisper,
"And just earlier, a Blood Cult person who was imitating Namgung Jin came to the Medical Division."
All expression vanished from the Heukcheon Amgui’s face.
Having once seen a Blood Cult person who could imitate someone perfectly, he grasped the situation from that single sentence of Sohwa’s.
But Pang Shihyeon, who had never seen a Blue Blood Hall cultist, frowned.
"What a ridiculous misunderstanding...... I will go out and clear this up."
The Heukcheon Amgui caught the Four-Directions Hall Administrator’s arm.
Without a word, Tang Min stopped Pang Shihyeon, then asked Sohwa in a dark voice,
"Where is Namgung Jin now?"
"I do not know. I went looking for places where Little Clan Head Namgung Jin might be, but neither he nor that Blood Cult bastard were there."
The uproar outside grew more intense.
"Hey now, how can you shove people around like that?"
"If you would just trust us for a moment......."
The headquarters martial artist was trying to push his way in by sheer force, and it seemed Hwangbo Rim and Tang Hak were blocking him.
The Heukcheon Amgui listened quietly, then let out a sigh.
"Whether it was intentional or not, if we are to undergo an Inspection Corps investigation, we may all end up torn apart."
Sohwa agreed with that. At the very least, it seemed unlikely they could count on protection from Sagye Hall and Four-Directions Hall.
With a Sagye Hall official murdered and the suspect being someone who had entered headquarters together with the Four-Directions Hall Administrator, the Inspection Corps had more than enough pretext to act.
If they did not hand Namgung Jin over, they would be suspected of being in league with him, but even if they found Namgung Jin, they had no intention of letting the Inspection Corps bind him in chains.
Pang Shihyeon, understanding the situation, no longer insisted she would settle it herself. She muttered to herself,
"Why did they have to imitate Little Clan Head Namgung Jin of all people?"
Sohwa had her suspicions, but did not give them voice.
This was the year Namgung Jin died. She had vaguely assumed it was Namgung Hyun’s doing, but it seemed Namgung Jin had been removed with the help of the Blue Blood Hall.
'Back then as well, did they lure Namgung Jin out like this and separate the Little Clan Head from his retainers?'
If fate did not change from her previous life, Namgung Jin might return as a corpse.
What bothered Sohwa even more was that the Blood Cult bastard had taken Namgung Jin instead of her.
'In the middle of this, is there a reason Namgung Jin is needed before me?'
Sohwa quietly chewed over her thoughts.
What lay between Namgung Jin and the Blood Cult was Namgung Hyun.
Then, as if something had come to mind, her eyes darkened.
Sohwa slipped a hand inside her clothes. Her fingertips brushed against Han Cheol.
Namgung Hyun had prepared in advance the mold for making a Passage.
'If he planned to create a Passage in Hubei, then was it the Blue Blood Hall that was supposed to deliver the Passage to the Blood Demon?'
If at this time the Blue Blood Hall had helped Namgung Hyun kill Namgung Jin—
'Was the price of the Passage Namgung Jin?'
Sohwa guessed at the reason the Blue Blood Hall had taken Namgung Jin.
'It seems the Iron Blood Hall is trying to negotiate again with Namgung Hyun to obtain a Passage.'
Since Sohwa had intercepted the Passage that should have gone to the Blue Blood Hall, it seemed they were belatedly trying to soothe Namgung Hyun’s mood.
'......Because I completely shut all the Passages of the Northern Sea, the Namgung sorcerer’s abilities have become even more important to the Cult.'
Unexpectedly, she had helped solidify Namgung Hyun’s position inside the Blood Cult.
In a sunken voice, Sohwa said,
"It seems there is a Blood Cult group trying to kill Namgung Jin......."
Pang Shihyeon cut off Sohwa’s words.
"Do you know who took the Little Clan Head?"
"It is not certain, but there is a Blood Cult base on the Yangtze. They are skilled at imitating people, so I believe the Blood Cult bastard living there took Namgung Jin."
Without further thought, Pang Shihyeon looked at the Heukcheon Amgui.
"Heukcheon Amgui, please look for Little Clan Head Namgung Jin. I will accompany the Inspection Corps on the inspection and buy some time."
In a cold voice, the Heukcheon Amgui asked Sohwa,
"What is the exact location?"
They did not ask how Tang Sohwa knew and moved immediately. They believed she knew the Blood Cult well.
Though that faith left her a bit uneasy, they had no time to waste, so Sohwa spoke at once of what she knew.
"It is the inn between Honghae Pavilion and the ferry dock on the Yangtze."
The Heukcheon Amgui turned his head toward the Four-Directions Hall Administrator.
"I will take Sohwa with me, so when things are settled, send someone to the pavilion."
"If there are Blood Cult bastards there, will it not be dangerous? They will target Young Lady Tang."
"It is better to have her by my side than to let the Inspection Corps use interrogation as a pretext to shackle her in the dungeon."
Sohwa quietly nodded.
If there was a Blue Blood Hall bastard among the Inspection Corps, they might naturally replace her with an imitation while she was in the dungeon.
The Four-Directions Hall Administrator, seemingly in agreement, spoke in a low voice,
"If you go out the back door, there is a training ground. If you go past the old tree on the left, to Wuhan......."
"Previously, the Sagye Hall Lord informed me of the road leading to Wuhan."
The Four-Directions Hall Administrator stopped explaining. After briefly meeting her eyes, Pang Shihyeon walked toward the main gate.
"Please follow me."
Sohwa quietly guided the Heukcheon Amgui along the way.
***
The hem of a blue long robe swept the underground stairway.
Red lanterns dimly lit the corridor at intervals, but it was hard to make out the embroidery on his clothes or the subtle shifts of expression. Even so, in the gloomy underground, the man’s features alone shone distinctly, as if catching a different light.
When he opened the red door and stepped inside, the middle-aged man within rose to his feet.
"How could you do such a thing without even consulting anyone?"
A Blue Blood Hall cultist wearing Namgung Jin’s face sat down again with a smile lingering on that face.
Looking at Namgung Jin, who was bound on the floor, he spoke.
"You must have used something strong. How is it that he still has not come to?"
"I was worried he might wake, so I applied the needles once more."
At the middle-aged man’s reply, the cultist’s eyes shifted as he looked at Namgung Jin. The man did not shrink under that sharp gaze. On the contrary, he spoke in a voice tinged with anger.
"If you went that far, you should have brought Tang Sohwa as well. How could you waste the opportunity and bring back someone useless?"
The Blue Blood Hall Vice Unit Leader let out a thin sneer.
"Because the Hall Lord favors you, I have held my tongue, but do you realize you are actually the root of all this trouble?"
Perhaps aware that he was at fault, the man closed his mouth.
The Vice Unit Leader let out a small sigh.
"Knowing how much the Cult Leader cherishes the sorcerer, how could you cause this mess instead of soothing that temper even once? If you at least had the sense to say something like, ‘I will obtain Han Cheol for you later,’ that rat-like bastard would not have clung to the Tang Clan woman."
"That bastard did not betray us out of grudge against me. I looked into it, and the House Union had already planted affection......."
"Affection?"
The Vice Unit Leader burst into laughter.
"Fine. Think of it as having merely made a mistake with Cheongyeon; that is not the worst way to see it."
Straightening his posture, the Vice Unit Leader lowered his hand. With his fingers, he brushed away the strands stuck to Namgung Jin’s cheek.
The sweat-dampened hair slipped back, revealing a blue silk cord. It was silk embroidered with the Namgung crest.
"To think a man who killed his older brother and wanted the entire clan under his heel betrayed the Cult Leader over a mere infatuation with a woman—well, when your judgment is that pathetic, of course you paved Tang Sohwa’s escape route to the Northern Sea and lost all the Passages there."
"......"
"The Blood Demon is very, very angry. Just as the Blood Demon wants to see Tang Sohwa quickly, the Blood Demon wants to meet the Namgung sorcerer as soon as possible too, so you should use this opportunity to make up for your mistake."
The man swallowed dryly.
The result of letting someone else snatch Namgung Hyun’s Passage had been devastating. With all the Passages of the Northern Sea, which the Blood Demon had painstakingly prepared, shut down, it was difficult to imagine how furious the Blood Demon must be.
On top of that, with the hundred ghosts of the Northern Sea having seized the island, it was hard even to send the sorcerer to the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
Only after the Blood Demon personally took care of the Northern Sea would it be possible to restore the Passages, but from what he had heard, the Crimson Blood Hall Lord had gone off to subjugate the Sun Palace, and now that Tang Sohwa had returned to the Central Plains, it was not easy for the Blood Demon to move rashly.
The new Passage whose priority the Blood Demon had temporarily put aside had become incredibly precious. Along with that, the price of a sorcerer who could connect distances that far had grown extremely high.
It was to curry that bastard’s favor personally that the Blue Blood Hall Vice Unit Leader had gone so far as to kidnap the Namgung family’s eldest son.
The man looked once at Namgung Jin and once at the Vice Unit Leader, then let out a deep breath.
"......Will you be able to bear it?"
"What?"
"The Namgung Little Clan Head. There will surely be someone tracking him."
"And what of it?"
The Vice Unit Leader crossed his legs and leaned comfortably against the backrest.
"Since the Alliance Leader has promised to spirit Tang Sohwa away, if I take this chance to lure the headquarters personnel outside, will that not make the Alliance Leader’s work easier as well? I killed one dim-witted Sagye Hall fool, so this time that Zhuge bastard’s eyes will be glued to it and he will not be able to interfere carelessly."
"......This is not something you should take so lightly."
The man’s wrinkles deepened.
"Recent events in Hubei are flowing in directions no one expected. Whatever you are thinking, there is no guarantee things will go according to your will, Vice Unit Leader, so you must be careful."
"Useless talk."
When the Vice Unit Leader scoffed, the man added in defiance,
"This is not Geumeunsan."
The hem of the man’s shabby robe fluttered. Unable to suppress his anger, he spoke in a low voice.
"It cannot be compared to Geumeunsan, where everything is controlled. It would be wiser to move after we find out why Tang Sohwa has returned......."
Bang.
Color rose in the man’s face. He raised his trembling hand, biting hard on his lip. Grabbing his cut forearm, he endured the pain and continued.
"......That would have been the wise course."
Clicking his tongue with a laugh, the Vice Unit Leader spoke.
"Stubborn, aren’t you."
Shaking his head as if tired of it all, he stood up.
"Even without you making such a fuss, I do have plans of my own. Since there will be people on the trail, I will move here and there for a while and draw the headquarters people far away."
It was the moment he was about to add that the man should keep a close eye on the Little Clan Head.
Bang, bang, bang.
They heard the sound of someone hurrying down the stairs.
The Vice Unit Leader’s eyes narrowed. As he turned his head toward the door, a subordinate’s voice rang out.
"V–Vice Unit Leader, it seems we will have to close the inn."
"Why?"
"We have received word that the Inspection Corps has entered the Tang Clan pavilion. But they say the Heukcheon Amgui and Tang Sohwa were not inside."
"Is that so? They may have fled. Though they likely have not gone far."
The Vice Unit Leader thought it was also a good thing if Tang Sohwa came out of headquarters.
He was about to change his plan to catch Tang Sohwa first when the subordinate spoke again in a tense voice.
"But just now, a report came in from Wuhan that the Heukcheon Amgui has been seen."
"Oh, so he has come out to Wuhan?"
"Yes, it is possible they have found our location, so we should send the guests away before things get noisy."
As he passed by the cultist, the Vice Unit Leader spoke.
"Indeed, if the Heukcheon Amgui is coming in person, we must show proper courtesy. Gather everyone from the pleasure house and the iron rooms—no, gather everyone outside as well."
"Yes!"
The cultist ran straight out of the inn. The Vice Unit Leader, satisfied, patted his own face and went up to the ground floor.
